I’ve had to concede I’m not a cycling Flandrian. The cold grey windy months that should have been leading through Spring to early Summer have deterred me from getting out on the bike and building up the miles in preparation for BikeOxford and Albania. I have done quite a few hour sessions on the exercise bike which have helped, but I think I shall have to downgrade from the 80 to the 50 mile BikeOxford in less than two weeks’ time.

On the plus side I did do a 50 mile ride yesterday morning (Sunday). Admittedly it was fairly flat apart from Aston Hill on the A40 near Stokenchurch, but it’s further than any of the scheduled days in Albania and I keep telling myself we’ll have all day to do the distances. The BikeOxford route is hillier but I know most of the roads and I’m confident it won’t be a problem. I’ll have to save the longer rides for later in the year.

Here’s the route of yesterday’s ride.