What a difference a day makes!

Having set my mind to taking out a second group, (even if it was just me!) on the Vita Team ride today, I headed up to the shop meeting Paul on the way. He wanted to join me on my breakaway ride, and we discussed a possible route, and how we would peel off the back of the main ride after about 15mins.
We got to the Shop and as people arrived I explained mine and Paul's plan, and extended an invitation to anyone to join. Dave (the coach) arrived and told us the planned route, out round the coast and back, which was perfect for me and Paul to tag on to to start with. There were 10 of us in total, and we headed out into the chilly morning. As we rode along Mill Hill Road Dave told us all to go into the Little ring and spin for a while. This suited me as it kept the pace down but kept the legs moving and the heart pumping, all good for burning the fat!!
The only Puncture today was for Paul, so that is now 3 rides without one for me, phew!!
We kept on spinning out to New Brighton, where we had a quick stop for those who were feeling the cold!!!

As you can see the weather was great today, even the breeze was manageable, apart from when I was on the front of the group!!
We headed back towards West Kirby, still spinning in the small ring, until we reached Meols Drive. We upped the pace and headed to the Marine lake, where we lined out and put in some big effort, I was nicely tucked in second wheel, and as we reached the last 20m pulled out from Sean's tow, and darted past to win the race he didn't realise he was in!! It is the only time I will ever get past him I'm sure!!
Dave's plan was to then head out to Hoylake and Thornton to finish the loop, and this was where I decided to head back to the shop, as Claire was meeting me at 12 because the Bike is staying at Vita for a bit of a Spa break!!
Paul and I split with the rest at the bottom of Montgomery Hill and headed back to the shop as the rest headed up Telegraph Road.
When I got back to the Shop, There was the rest of the group, already munching grapes and bananas, they had decided to call it a day at the top of the climb and head back. I wish I had stayed with them now, Telegradaph is a much nicer climb than Montgomery!!

Thanks to Dave's idea of spinning today, I was able to keep up even with my chest being a bit tight. A good lesson for me when I'm going out over the winter.

So the Bike is now on Holiday, awaiting a long overdue service and some winter tyres. Should feel like a new bike when I get it back on Thursday.

We are off for a few days now, and no opportunity to ride, or update the blog, so enjoy the peace!!

Today's Ride Details: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/123384739#