1st 100km of the year!!

Our second training session together saw us meet the first 100km of the year. Adam and I gained a new member of our training team, Ben Auty. Welcome to the team mate.

As usual we arranged to meet at Wynyard Cricket Club (Adam and Ben cycling from Hartlepool, me from Middlesbrough), however shortly before meeting up I suffered the first puncture of the day in Billingham. Neither Adam or I had packed any spares and it took Ben to come to our rescue!! Valuable lessons learnt!!

After mending the puncture we set off towards Bishopton and Ben had his first taste of a climb on the run up to Carlton were we past a couple of fellow cyclists. Once through Bishopton Adam arranged for us to turn right and head towards Sedgefield however these roads were new to us and ended up with a couple of wrong turns.

Once back on track we headed towards Sadberge, under the a66 towards Middleton St George. Think the wind was behind us on this stretch as we virtually flew towards Hurworth. No additional trouble with the bikes and things were going well. Through Hurworth and towards Croft we decided to look for a coffee stop at around 35miles. Raffles Restaurant at The Croft Hotel were very welcoming.

After the stop we headed out towards Northallerton but took a sharp left and headed towards Worsall and Yarm. By now we were starting to feel the burn but at least our feet weren't cold. This is by far the longest Ben had ever been and although fatigued he was doing well.

After a right turn towards Yarm High Street and battling the traffic we headed out through Eaglescliffe towards the outskirts of Stockton and Darlington Back Lane, were I managed to snap a couple of pics whilst riding (not recommended if you value your phone). Once on the outskirts of Stockton we took a right and headed back towards Carlton were ever slight uphill started to send the exercise burn through our legs.

Last climb was up towards Wynyard Hall. Steep and short we all gritted our teeth and powered up as we knew the end was nigh!! We departed again at Wynyard Cricket Club and Adam and Ben traveled down the A689 towards Hartlepool and I headed back to Middlesbrough via Billingham.

Around 1km from home I ended up with my 2nd puncture of the day and ended with my walking the rest of the journey home in my socks and cycling shoes in hand!!

Not the best end to a great days cycling but what a day!!! Next week I think we should be heading into the moors to tackle some killer climbs!!