I am on holiday for the next two weeks but I had to take the Van into work and I agreed to do some urgent deliveries to some of my customers. I do this often and I ride back home from work. 30 miles and a few slopes so I do expect an easy saturday morning. Easy enough to give me a good start to my holiday.

So out on the road and going across Ashdown Forest. Plenty of Wildlife and the real problem is Deer. Youv'e guessed it- One deer collected on the front of the car and it makes a right mess of lamps and hoods. So deliveries cut short but The deer was OK. Got up after a couple of minutes and it was gone.

So back to work and explain that it was a deer- luckily a big chunk of Hair in the damaged panelwork so they believed that I had not run into a Brick wall or fence post.

Out with the bike and off home. First 6 miles along the seafront and it is Flat. Not long before a rider came along and overtook me. Old TCR and Telekom race kit and he was not much faster than me so I sat behind him. First set of lights and I apoligised for sitting behind him and he was out on his daily 10 mile ride. When he found Out the route I was going he looked at my bike for the first time and realised it was a TCR-C with a triple. He wished me luck on the hills so it was obvious he was a flatlander.

15 miles up the road and there was a Farmers Market in Cliffe- the picturesqe part of Lewes. Had to walk through it but as I got back on the bike- I heard the hiss. I had picked up a Pin while walking and as soon as I started riding- It went into the tyre and Tube. No problem- have the repair kit and pump. Had a job getting the tube out of the tyre--No talc so it had stuck. Bit of air in the tube and found the puncture- Got the patch ready and opened the glue- -----No glue- it had dried up--So in with the spare tube.

Rest of ride unevenfull but tried a Training system I used years ago. Today I had the I Pod and rode to the cadence of the music- may have been 65 or up to 100 but I kept to it and kept power into the legs- or lungs. It is surprising but lots of 3% slopes on this route so bottom of the slope and keep to music cadence but at a sensible gear and speed. Then as you go up the slope go onto a higher gear and keep the same cadence. Not long before I had to change up again to stop overrunning the cadence. So from what gear I started the slope in- by the top I was up a couple of gears and higher speed. Low cadence and it was the legs getting a workout and higher it was the lungs. I never pushed them to the limit and a rest was had on the few downslopes or flat bits.

So back indoors and 29 miles in 2hrs 14 minutes including the puncture. Couple of lessons learnt- I do not push myself hard enough so that cadence to music training is going to be benificial. Check the glue in the repair kits and if it has been used before- get a replacement. And 3rdly- If you are going to hit a deer with a car- hit it harder next time so it can't get up and run away. At least I would get the benefit of a full freezer for the damage it has caused.