KENT CA 12 Hour Time Trial

[Mohammad L]

Decided to do this 12 hour down in the Ashford-Rye area in Kent. Chilly morning but warmed up as the ride progressed. Most of it was on lumpy country lanes and a bit on single carriageways. Was off at 6.52 am

Immediately in the first 30 minutes, my legs were feeling not too good. However, gradually the average speed kept increasing and I passed 50 miles in 2.14.56 and 100 miles in 4.29.15. Started to get severe nausea after 92 miles and eventually culminated in a violent vomiting episode at 110 miles. I was in no mood whatsoever to continue after that - funnily enough I had experienced the same nausea in the Kent 100 earlier in june. Must be something about those roads. To make matters worse, my phone fell out on a single carriageway part and got completely wrecked as the traffic passed over it. The shell casing was dismantled, the screen was shattered, the sim card...well.....that was non-existent. I didn't fancy assembling the jigsaw pieces. My heart felt heavy at that moment because it was sentimental value despite being a very old, cheap nokia 3650.

Anyway, I deliberately started to eat and drink less after the vomiting, having a date every half hour and just drinking water. I had a bad patch between 4 and 6 hours. Fortunately, I had summoned all my will power to continue and kept turning the pedals at a decent rate on the shorter 12 mile circuits. My arse was sore, my forearms were in agony from being on the armrests. I just wanted it to end. At 8.5 hours, they redirected us onto the finishing circuit and I was averaging 20mph here on every single lap I did. I did 7 in total and kept pushing the big gear in aero all the way until Timekepper 2 said 'Finish'. So glad was I to hear those words - I experienced a whole conglomerate of emotions at that moment. 223 miles in 12 hours. 16th out of 67 competitors

Looking back on the last year, I find it surreal that I only started cycling in Septermber 2011 and training properly from late May 2012, and since then I've completed all the distances in time trialling (10,25,50,100,12hr, 24hr). I never in my wildest dreams back in september thought I would go beyond a 25 mile tt! I find timetrialling a very emotional sport at times but one that is very satisfying when you cross the checkerboard or you hear that longed for 'Finish' from the circuit timekepper. A very mentally difficult summer training especially during Ramadan but I'm glad I did it. Now only a few 10s and 25s left in my schedule....

Cheers, Mo

[Mohammad L]

Some great shots courtesy of Keith Burden:

[img]http://i49.tinypic.com/1zeuf4.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i45.tinypic.com/2ytrx50.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i50.tinypic.com/9rptgp.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i46.tinypic.com/b66bz6.jpg[/img]

[Andrew G]

Excellent ride again Mo, nice to hear of someone having a good one. You have to sort out your nutrition though, vomiting is not normal! You should be eating and drinking little and often in these long races and consume a huge amount of calories to try and replace what you're using. The vomiting is probably your system reacting badly to not getting enough fuel, your bodies default reaction is often to hit the eject button as it thinks something is harming it and its method of dealing with it is to clear out and start again.

[SteveD]

Another fantastic ride Mo - you do like to do it the hard way. I have ridden the kent roads in the past and they are definitely not easy. I look forward to chatting with you about your ride next time I see you (club dinner maybe?).

[Phil H]

[quote="Andrew G"] ...The vomiting is probably your system reacting badly to not getting enough fuel, your bodies default reaction is often to hit the eject button as it thinks something is harming it and its method of dealing with it is to clear out and start again.

[Andrew G]

Talking to Mo I can't imagine its taken on too much, he rode a 100 on one bottle!

[Mohammad L]

Last 15mins flying on the Finishing Circuit - pic courtesy of Alyson Nye :

[img]http://i46.tinypic.com/kccg2o.jpg[/img]

[Sylv]

Well done Mo "Fahrrad", as you say great progress in a short time!

Nice bike (fahrrad) too - are you suspended on wires though?