Sting is in!

After my 30km countryside loop on Saturday I was keen to get Sting out for another ride so decided to commute into work yesterday. It is just under a 30km trip each way but I am lucky enough to have a number of options with the route. Given the roads were still very wet and a number of large potholes are appearing again I planned my route via some of the local country roads. They are more hilly (chance to check out Sting's range of gears) and the lighting is poor (chance to try my trusty Exposure and Lezyne lights on Sting), however the big upside is that the traffic is much lighter and I can take my time and swerve more easily to miss large puddles (mini lakes) and any potholes.

My morning commute was nice and steady, I still need to get more used to the feel of the Brompton and this was a good opportunity. Details of my route can be found on Strava - a journey that took me past Lancing College (a bit like Hogwarts from the Harry Potter books / films) and Shoreham airport before joining the coast road and cycle paths into Brighton.

At lunchtime I did venture into Evans Cycles, yet again, to purchase some larger overshoes (Endura) that could fit over my new Mavic MTB leisure shoes and give them some protection from the road grime and surface water. Also during my lunch break I made the rather bold decision of entering Sting and myself into the Brompton World Championships (BWC) in July. I have only had the bike for less than a week and I entering the World Championships - am I mad!

I was aware of this great event when I first researched the Brompton bicycle and thought then I would love to have a crack at entering but expected it to be on my 'to do' list for 2015/6 rather than this year. Anyway, nothing ventured...

For more information on the BWC take a look at the following link: http://bwc.brompton.com/

I also recommend you read some of the great blogs from members of the London Brompton Club who have great stories to tell about the BWC and have a lot experience across all the disciplines (sprint, marathon and world championship). I am not going for the treble - one thing at a time!

So just to bring you up to date - I had a faster commute home, partly because I drafted behind a road bike for the first 20mins along the seafront to Shoreham. The roadie was one of my buddies from work and although originally sceptical that I could keep up was quite impressed that the old boy on the Brompton stayed with him for the full distance. There were a few surprised faces as we passed around 20 cyclists from Brighton to Shoreham, a number of which had high-end carbon road machines. I know what it is like to be passed by a Brompton when you are riding at speed on a road bike, so it is nice to see it from the other side.

I record most of my training (including details of my swimming and running sessions) on my original blog - Tri Hard Training. On a future post I will try to tell followers a little more about my other sporting goals and background but meanwhile thank you for your interest. I hope to meet a number of you during one of my future Brompton adventures.

Stay safe and 'keep the rubber side down'