Fifty and lovin' it!

Hey, hey, hey y'all. I think I owe this blog some words as I have been a bit lax this past fortnight. Been a bit lax with the cycling too actually! After the last entry following the ride with Beth things just got a bit more manic than they already had been. Bit of a birthday bbq down at the Vortex which meant a house full of guests (the Essex massive with a couple of Suffolk interlopers for good measure, not to mention Big Don). Trying to move boxes around to create enough room for folk to get in the house was a challenge! Mix in with that helping Chris, Rox, and Alex make some funky bunting, creating a very fruity trifle, charging to Chi to get my hair cut and a gazillion other things, then MAN, come Saturday, I needed to relax! As my patient family will testify to, I dare say! And what better place than down at the Vortex (officially the White Horse in Maplehurst)? Where Simon created a fab bbq, Beth almost ran her (already aching, no doubt) legs off, Vic did his magic thing with some groovy tunes, Agent Alex and Saucy Sal (from West Chilt) came up trumps with some amazing salads and puds and Chris, Rox and Alex did a stunning job with the funky bunting and the magical lanterns! I have some serious competition on the dance floor from the mini Hobbits - great moves abounded from Cordy Hobbit and Leo Hobbit, not to mention their old folk! The family and friends who were there did a very good impression of enjoying my 50th birthday celebration. And the ones who weren't or couldn't be were muchly missed. And to top it all Coach Pattison became Best Husband by announcing that I wouldn't have to cycle 50 miles on Monday because I'd be too busy heading off with him to France for four days of complete birthday indulgence! Not great for my training programme but very, very good for my recovery!
So we just ignored all the moving chaos and took off via the tunnel to our favourite hotel in Epernay. Originally we were going to be there for a couple of days to watch the tour de France. This got cancelled due to pressure of moving. So no Lance to sing Happy Birthday to me (as if) but we had a fab time. Then we spent a couple of days down in an area we hadn't been to before - Foret d'Orient - beautiful area, big lake, very lovely. We met up with Annie and Mudger for lunch (as you do) as they happened to be over there and drove to meet us. Altogether so relaxing, and boy did we sleep! But of course, you didn't come here to read a holiday blog did you. I expect you want to know how the training is going now we've been back 24hrs, don't you?
Well, in my absence the rest of the team have been hard at it. Well, not sure about Trusty as he is a bit quiet but Beth and Alex have been racking up the miles and the hills which included Duncton Hill AND Devils Dyke this week! Wow, that was me under pressure to catch up a bit. So today we attempted to do just that. After faffing around most of the day John and I headed out at 2pm for a trip up the Dyke ourselves. It's a pleasant enough 18 or so miles to get there. Then a big slog up some pretty big hills to get up the top...as you would expect! I found one hill particularly tough but poley poley won the day. And won me an icecream at the top (with a flake in!). Yay, another milestone. We moseyed on home and cycled for 2hr50m altogether. Covered about 35/36m (can't remember exactly, will check computer shortly). Our average speed was 12.1mph which isn't bad considering the terrain.
The next challenge is to go out again at 7am to meet Alex and Beth for a 40 plus miler! Eeeek!