Mt. Biking - Ipswich Levington

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Owner: mas
Member

Member#: 7693
Location:
Registered: 29-06-2008
Diary Entries: 381

14th September 2020
Mt. Biking: Ipswich Levington
Wind Direction: East
Wind Stength: 6kts
Surf / Sea State: n/a
Air Temperature: warm
Sea Temperature: n/a
Weather: Sunny
Max Speed: 26.4 mph (knots - unless stated otherwise)
Distance Covered: 40.8 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)

Great day for riding, sunny but not scorching, with a gentle easterly breeze to boot. After fitting a new chain to the Hybrid / MTB is was time to give it a decent run out on / off road.
I had been avoiding off road due to dodgy tyres and old chain. Recently had fitted Schwalbe’s bullet proof Marathon 700 x 32C biased to road riding, so need to see the off road performance as I went minimum width from 38C to 32C. Also went for top of the range Shimano chain, hoping to prevent failures on my long rides.
Today was 40 mile target, hoping to mix road with 30% off road. My off road route turning at Claydon towards the historic church St Mary’s all off road thru fields towards Henly, then cut back up towards Ipswich by pass and the normal road route to Bucklesham via Rushmere. Onwards to Purdis Heath and cross at Straight road to Old Felixstowe road, crossing towards Nacton village.
Turn right to Nacton shores, next to the school entrance and down to the shores, riding some rough terrain along the shores to Levington, then back up to the Ship pub and reverse the route.
I haven’t ridden for a week so decided not to push it but keep the HR over a 100 into fatburn / cardio zones. Tanked up with half of litre + cereal bar setting off to hip-hop artist 2 Pac blaring out in the Livall Smart helmet.
Pacing to music I was already up to PB’s clocking the first 5 miles in 20 mins (15mph), but HR was now 135 which is too high for 40 miles but the left run off road at Claydon was approaching so kept the road pace up. Certainly 32C on my Hybrid / MTB with the front shoxs locked to hard is nearly as quick as my road bike.
Not having ridden off road for awhile, it was a shock how hard the up slopes were, but the tyres kept good grip so was well happy, although the surface was dry. Not sure if I would get decent grip in the wet (not planning to test that either). This off road stretch from Claydon to Henly road is real nice country side and I didn’t see another person. I was tempted to ride up to the historic church, but didn’t want to lose too much time as started late at 2pm.
After first feed station I realised I had lost my 2nd bottled water, from the shirt off road, which was a pain as I really need 2 litres on 40 miles. Tagged some roadies on Colchester road all the way to Purdis heath which was great boost but as I wasn’t chasing time, I dropped off their pace of just over 15mph which really is slow for roadies.
Nacton village downhill to the shores was flat out, but a few cars were leaving the carparks so had to slow up. Nice breeze along the shore to Levington, but I nearly came a cropper trying to get up the one hill I have never manage – not sure why I keep trying. First the hill gear kept slipping (another poxy fault to sort) but I slowed so much, I hit a tree root and fell, crashing the cliff side and nearly went over the edge with the big drop! HR went up then. Lucky no damage.
Nice bit to Levington off road but loads of dog walkers slowed me up, so switch route and went back up the road to the Ship pub instead of riding to the Marina. I started getting knee pain and knew straight away my saddle had slipped. Amazing how ½ inch makes the difference! Yep after checking my tape marker, it had dropped ½ inch. Corrected that but I still had no low crank and even when I kicked it over the rear derailleur weren’t selecting some gears, and always the ones I wanted.
Stayed on road all the way home from North Ipswich due to the low gear issue, but really nice ride at decent road pace, non stop apart from walking up Nacton shores hill and fixing the seat.
Did 40.8 mils, burnt 3520 cals in 3hrs 27mins, average HR 105 maxing out at 152HR, so it was a decent work out. Off road is so much nicer than busy tarmac, and my suspension bike is so much more comfortable and so easier than 40 mls on the road bike.

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