Planning

With the attempt creeping ever nearer, my nerves, doubts and confidence ebb and flow. Today will be another good test as I shall be training along the A4, a stretch of the route between Hungerford and Chippenham. The schedule is for a ride in different HR Zones, so it will be interesting to note my speed at various efforts on the actual roads.

The real news is that a dry date has been set, June 12th, complete with support car and feed stations. It should be as real to 1st August as possible. Each feed station will have two people just incase the first snatch doesn't go according to plan. They are are positioned on slow points along the route mostly hills.

The schedule is as good as finialised, the start point and check points have been decided, only the timings need to adjusted following the test run.

Other administration includes my membership to RRA. I still need to arrange the official time keeper and observers, hire the signs for the car amongst other minor things. The check list is getting smaller which is a weight of my shoulders. My focus can return to training and the daunting prospect of the ride itself.

I'm thinking of having my Garmin display set as I do in Time Trials, just showing heart rate zone and distance, this allows a quick reference at a glance. But I have a nightmare of riding my heart out in the attempt or dry run and all the while the people in the suppost car driving behind can see I have exceeded the time already. Yet I struggle on in ignorance.

I'll just have to wait for June 12th to see if it is a premonition. Of course I have a 50m TT lined up for May 9th which will also tell me a lot.