Day 7 - 30th Dec

Cold and Frosty... These were the critical words to describe this ride. This was by far the coldest, longest and hilliest ride of the entire challenge.

The route was one that I have done on many occasions so I was quite familiar with most of the route. What I was not so familiar with was how bad some of the road segments could get under frosty conditions.

For this ride I had some welcoming company to share the delights of what was to follow. Unsure if anybody else was going to join in the ride we head out with the sunshine on our faces. However, by the time we reached the quaint town of Ickleton we were engulfed in fog and colder temperatures. Constantly rubbing down my lenses as the fog was misting became a periodic event though not the case for my ride partner who unfortunately left his glasses at home.

The annoying part of the ride for me was when the Garmin started to randomly lost GPS reception after we were shrouded in fog. This repeatedly became an issue and at some times the reception was lost for extended periods of time.

Regardless of the conditions we were actually enjoying the ride. And no more so when we finally reached the rest stop cafe so we could rest, enjoy a hot drink and attempt to dry out a bit.

Fueled and rested we ventured out on the remainder of the route back to Cambridge. What we thought would be a nice simply part of the section turned out to be quite technical. This was due to a variety of shaded road segments where the frost refused to clear out. We took it easy and managed to get through each challenging unscathed.

Once home I was pleasantly surprised I managed to stay upright throughout the entire ride. There were of course a few wobbles where I luckily stayed on two wheels.

Route - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/14773381

Recording - https://www.strava.com/activities/815816035

Accumulative Mileage - 295.7 miles (476.08 km)

Day 4 - Rest Day

Just chilled out with family and friends and got to finally watch Star Wars - Rougue One.

What was a day off from cycling actually included a few light miles to the Cinema and back. Only that I forgot to record the return leg. This activity should added 7 miles, but only 3.4 due to sloppiness on my part.

Accumulative Milage - 121.4 miles (195.6 km)

Day 3 - Boxing Day

Slightly longer ride today in mostly similar conditions to yesterday.

It certainly pays to study your ride in detail as I encountered a few hiccups in two sections in the route.

The first was to come across a section of a mud trail after 1/4 mile of smooth road which you can see to the right on the zoomed in image

Looking on the Garmin it appeared as a shortcut which was kind of silly given that it was hardly saving me that much time. Doubling back on the main road I was able to continue the long way round.

The second mixup had me almost jump on a converted trail from an old railway line in Sudbury. When I approached the point where the route wanted to take me in the wrong direction I questioned the route and proceeded the way I thought was correct. I then passed where the route was wanted to take me and decided to investigate. I spoke with a few locals to enquire as to how passable the trail was with my bike. I received mixed responses and thought maybe this could be doable and avoid having to go through the town center during Boxing Day. Just as I was about to go for it a mountain biker passed me and spurted up the trail ramp and was gone. At this point I opted out and went through the town center on a diversion. Not as bad as I thought and after a few miles I was back on course.

Overall the traffic conditions were not that bad considering the day it was.

Route - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18142778
Recording - https://www.strava.com/activities/811815754

Accumulative Mileage - 118.1 miles (190.14 km)

Day 2 - Xmas Day

Xmas Day and the challenge continues. Early start to the day to get the ride done as early as possible

Today's ride was a blustery but warm ride. Forecasted temps were around 12 degrees at noon although about an hour into my ride I saw the Garmin register around 6. Scattered appearances from the Sun did indeed warm things up throughout the ride.

Winds were forecasted around 20mph from the SW.

Ride was an anti clockwise crossing loop so I battled a little headwind at the start before heading on the Southern section of the loop. Once I was moving towards the E things started to shift and fun times kicked in. Once I reached the turning point on the Northern section it felt like I had hit a brick wall battling the headwind. Battling on I persevered through this arduous section of the ride until I was eventually heading in an Easterly direction back to where I started.

Quite a respectable ride given the winds I had to battle throughout the ride.

Route - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18142754
Recording - https://www.strava.com/activities/810929290

Accumulative Mileage - 69.9 miles (112.54 km)

Day 8 - New Years Eve

The final opportunity to put in some miles for this challenge. Previously you may have heard me whine about the Busway as a route to ride on. Normally this is the case for all rides that I plan north of Cambridge.

However, back in January 2016 when I purchased my Trek Emonda I took the bike on a trip on the Busway to St Ives. Therefore I thought it would be fitting to end the year repeating the same very ride that I started the year on.

It's not the most exciting route to ride as just simply straight(ish). However, you are treated so some welcoming views on both directions after about 5 miles out of Cambridge.

I add a few extra miles as I cycled to a New Years Eve party early in the evening

Route - N/A

Recording - https://www.strava.com/activities/816724016

Accumulative Mileage - 324.1 miles (521.80 km)