My best day on a bike.....

You're maybe thinking "did he win a race at last?". Well the answer's no. Was he riding in the Alps, on some of the Tour's famous climbs? No again. Mmmm.... Must be a whopping PB on the TT bike? All wrong.

It was the the first day me & my son went out on a long ride together. 40 miles to be exact. And only his second time ever on a road bike & in cleats. On Friday evening our club secretary delivered his new club kit. He looked great!

We had discussed riding over to Flora's, a local cafe popular with cyclists about an hour away. Only today we had a block headwind, so that hour became 1:25. Do you want to turn back I asked? No, he was determined to get there and a bacon roll was to be his reward!

As we struggled into the wind, at an average pace of about 14mph we consoled ourselves with the thought that after our cafe stop we'd have a tailwind all the way home. And how good it was!

Straight away we were flying, doing 20 mph without having to push the pedals! On the way into Echt Andy wanted a sprint for the 30 sign. Okay I said, thinking that I'd show him how it's done. Somehow on the last corner he manouvered me onto the front and then with 50m to go he unleashed a sprint that I had absolutely no chance of catching. He won by a handful of bike lengths!

Mmmmm, beginners luck. Not to worry, I'll get him when we get to Kemnay. After a couple of fast 40mph descents, we turned onto the main road into Kemnay. It was quiet, so we'd get our sprint. He was on the front this time, and it was a straight run in, so there was no way I was getting outsmarted! With about 150m to go he put the hammer down and accelerated away from me. I was ready for this, but not the sheer power that he unleashed and once again I found myself trailing as we approached the 30 sign. I nearly caught him on the line as he started to tire, but sprint number 2 went to Andy again. This was getting serious. At the line I'd checked my speed - 36.6mph, on a straight road with a tailwind, but he's only bloody 14 . Crap. But also I was so proud!

So now it looks like me & Andy will get out training together at the weekends as well as the turbo work we've already been doing. I have a feeling that this is going to get very interesting.....