The clue was in the title

"Mad Jack Fullers", 120km out of Hailsham.

The pre-ride notes said that this was a 120km ride with 2,500m of climb. On paper that didn't sound too severe but in reality this was a really toughie, not helped that I've not really had my serious cycling shoes on since finishing the Etape last July. 2,500m of climb up a mountain is pretty straightforward, you find a gear and grind away for an hour or two. Mad Jack though had other ideas, bouncing the route in a saw-tooth fashion up and over the Sussex downs a few dozen times. This is the type of ride I always struggle with, up for 5 minutes, down the other side in 30 seconds, brake sharply at the bottom as you cross the river and round the corner and then up and over again - repeat all day long, always changing through the gears, never settling into a rhythm... I was pretty demolished after 80km and was glad to see the rest of the ride was a little less bumpy. On a brighter note the sun was out, what a lovely lovely day after all the horrible winter weather we've had.

Bumped into an Audax veteran on the ride and chatted to him for a few minutes {before he cruised on ahead going up a hill...}. Got chatting about the Paris-Brest-Paris ride, oft consider as the ultimate Audax - a 1,200km ride from Paris to Brest (the very western tip of Brittany) and back again - non stop with a max time of 90 hours (the quickest do it in circa 45 hours, just astonishing - get on a bike, go pretty much flat out for 45 hours?????). So here was I suffering after 80km and this guy was 64 years old and he tells me that when he does the Paris-Brest-Paris he cycles there, and then once he's finished he cycles back home again "to make a good trip of it". Yours truly humbled....

Snow fun with a bust rib

So as the initial swelling from my mountain bike / skydive accident reduced the underlying problem became clear - a bust rib. 4 weeks on it no longer hurts to laugh but coughing or sneezing still brings a tear to my eye. Finally got back on a spin bike, then a normal bike towards the end of the month - only now to have the country under 6 foot of snow.

Finally managed my first proper training ride of the season last weekend, a 150km audax over the Chilterns. This was the first "proper" ride I've done since the Etape last year and it sure gave the legs a bit of a wake up call. It didn't help that I arrived for the 9am start only to see that it was alas an 8am start, so I spent almost the entire ride on my own, chasing down shadows, finally catching up with a couple of people who had had mechanical issues. Bit lonely out on the roads on a bike in January when all your fellow riders are 45 minutes ahead of you...

Scores on the doors for the month - 275km on my race bike, a few hours mountain bike (including 3 seconds airborn) and half a dozen spin classes.

Bring on the spring!