At last, last long ride/run brick before Ironman UK

For the last couple of weeks we have attempted a 90 mile bike ride, but have been beaten by strong winds and heavy rain. 

Today when We opened the blinds we were greeted by the sight of an air balloon above the house over the road, no! not one, two.

And at the back of the house more.

We took the dog out for his walk and the sky was filling with balloons and the air was filled with the roar of their burners. I was filled with childish excitement taking loads of pics.

The balloons were being launched from Bedale sports fields on the Leyburn Road

This was my favourite, Lumpy.

And soon they drifted away

The balloons meant it must be a calmer day with less wind than previous weekends, the 90 miler was on. Martin arrived and the rain started, but it was not cold or windy. We headed out to Masham, then Leyburn, Billy had issues with his seat and we had a couple of stops for him to sort it. The rain came and went as we rode toCatterick and Richmond, but still we decided to try the route that I had mapped 3 weeks ago, we went to Redmire down a steep hill. The views of Castle Bolton were stunning from the top. Then we went on to Carperby, Askrigg and Hardraw before finally arriving in Hawes after a slow slog where we couldn't get much pace up. After a comfort break in Hawes we headed back by Bainbridge and Aysgarth. Now it was time, 62 miles in, to make some time back up. The pace was quick and the hills short and sharp and we soon slogged our way up to Leyburn from Wensley, ah! 11 miles home and mainly downhill. We made it home in 6 hr 48 after riding 91 miles with over 4000 ft of elevation. 6 hours 15 without stops.

Martin then went home, an injury means he is not running at the moment. Billy and I sorted our bikes and went for a 10 mile run, Billy had a nice 9 mile loop then we ran down the lane for the extra mile. I did fine until about 6 miles, then I had to really dig in, the last couple of miles were really tough, but I was happy to complete 10 miles in under 2 hours after such a tough ride.

The Athlete Guide for Ironman UK arrived today, 4 weeks to go. It's all very real now.