So, I started gradually working up for my big charity/promotional ride last week. I rode an 18 mile circuit twice last week, and a 25 mile loop twice this week, as well as a couple of gym sessions. At the gym, I do a stationery bike workout doing intervals which works me harder than I would dare if at the end I was to be 20 miles from home!

Biggest observation so far is that I'm slower on these rides with the DT than I would be on one of my road bikes. The riding position is pretty good, and whilst the wind resistance is, I think, a bit higher, I don't think that's the issue. I think it comes down to two things, firstly rolling resistance. I notice that I'm dropping a gear earlier than I would on a road bike, and riding the flats and mild hills in a slightly lower ratio than I would on a roadie. I suspect the biggest culprit is the tyres, so I'm all the more keen on getting a set of either Comets or Marathons. The second is gearing; on my training rides, I never get below 5th, and 9th spins out easily on descents, and sometimes I feel I could push a higher gear on the flats (this is with the current tyres, too!). This is something I'm going to have to live with, since I want to leave the bike as standard as possible (I'm adding things like a rack and a bar bag, but the only things I plan to replace are the tyres and the saddle). I'm not overly concerned, since I figure that I'm actually not sure what the hills will be like on this ride (I know there's nothing dramatic, but there could be much harder work than on my training loops), and I figure towards the end of a 135 mile ride, I might be glad of a nice low gear.

The 25 mile ride I do takes me to the beach, and I took the opportunity this morning to look at the sea and make some fit adjustments. My mini bar-ends were angled down a little, and since I was finding I used them more than I'd thought, I angled them up. That meant that the left hand brake lever hit the bar end, so I adjusted that down a little. I also did something I should've done weeks ago; my saddle appeared to be angled up a little, and was giving my perineum a battering. I tilted it down a little, and the relief was immediate. I found I then had to raise the seat a little, but it was much better. I've got a Brooks B17 Special on the way, which I hope will be better still, the stock saddle being too narrow from my sit bones.

I feel physically ready to up the distance to 40 miles (the all-winter commuting and utility cycling have paid off), but I think I'm going to do one more week of shorter distances first, rather than ride the new Brooks on a 40 miler right away. I think I'll fit that, and then do an 18 and a 25 miler next week, then go for 40's. I think 40 is about the most I can do, since I do my training rides in the morning before I start work. Closer to the time, I'll try a weekend 75 or so.