Rest, Recover & Ride On.
Knowing when to rest, and when to get back on the bike, is always a tricky balance after any big ride.
With the Blaenau 600 being the first ultra I had ever completed, I may have been a little naïve about how quick the recovery process would be. In my head it was just two days in the saddle, so a rest week should be enough for me to bounce back, but riding for 48 hours continuously is an undertaking that I had underestimated the impact of. Even in my years as a pro road racer, nothing has ever pushed my body that far over the limit in one hit.
Perhaps in a year where I was building off a nice big base things might be different, but that certainly wasn’t the case this time around.
I tackled my fatigue in the same way I have with all of my riding this year, and I just tried to listen to my body. I spent a few weeks doing almost nothing on the bike, aside from some short spins when I summoned up enough motivation to drag myself out, because I just didn’t want to ride. I felt drained, and getting back on the bike too soon would be a mistake, particularly if I was only doing it because I felt like I should.
Once this initial recovery period had passed, however, I knew I needed to do something to get my head and legs back in the game with only a month to go until GBDuro. This remains my main focus for the year, and I want to arrive at the start line feeling good.
The idea of riding the same old roads and trails around Bristol wasn’t inspiring me much, so I took an impromptu few days of holiday from work, booked a last minute campsite in Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales, packed my bike and bags, mapped a few rides, and headed out into the hills.
I decided on a fairly simple route for the first day, covering just over 100kms of road and gravel on some easy trails. There was plenty of climbing to wake up the legs, but as predicted I felt pretty stiff and sluggish, so the main aim was to enjoy being on the bike again, which I definitely did!
The tired, heavy, feeling I had been carrying around dissipated in the first hour of the ride, and the remaining five were just pure fun.
Day two was the biggest in terms of distance sitting at around 160kms, following the majority of the Wildcat 100 route. With a very high percentage of off-road, and lots of elevation gain, it took me just over 8 hours to complete. A perfect re-introduction to riding long, surrounded by stunning scenery.
I spent my final day on the Trans-Cambrian Way, riding much of the second half of the route, which I hadn’t done before, and then lapping back to Rhayader on the beautiful backroads.
This is one of my favourite parts of the country to ride in, and it did not disappoint. The roads and trails weaving through the countryside and over the Cambrian climbs are really something special, and as usual I found myself with the place almost entirely to myself.
Perfect conditions, stunning terrain, and a great way to finish off this little block.
Sometimes it’s about the massive challenges, the rides that push you to the limit, and the events that you build up to for months, and sometimes it’s about the spontaneous small scale adventures that you set out on purely for the fun of it.
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The Road to GBDuro with Molly Weaver
