Surrey Rumble

My first sportive of the year went really well.  A huge improvement in the weather and a good course helped make the day go well.

Positives
Sunny Day - It was a lovely day.  Deceptivly nice (see chill below).  It was nice to ride in the sun for a change.
Feeling Good - I was worried that I was going to be tired from last Sunday but my legs were quite fresh to start with.  It was only on the hills that I felt a little sluggish but that might be that I haven't trained on hills for a long while.
Completed the long course - It was great to get my first long ride out of the way.  Its been ages since I rode that far (76 miles) and it will give me a lot of confidence that I will be ok (ish) on the Fred Whitton.
Heart Rate - I managed to keep my heart rate at an average of 2.6

Negatives
Chill - It looked really sunny out but it was cold.  Really cold.  It wasn't until about 11am that I started to properly warm up even though I had my overshoes and warm gloves on.
Icy - There was a surprisingly large amount of ice on the road and some of it was very difficult to see.  There were large patches that caused all riders to dismount but there were other bits that looked like water but were not.  I saw two riders fall and I imagine there were more.
Accident - I saw the result of a terrible accident.  A poor girl had gone into the back of a car.  It made me go very cold.  I really hope she was ok.
Punctures - I got my bike out of the shed on Saturday and the front was flat.  I changed it.  I got my bike out of the car today and the front was flat.  I had three inners with me, one was the wrong size, one had a bent valve and the only one that worked had been previously fixed.  So I was about to start with no spares.  I managed to buy 2 at the start which was lucky as I had more punctures at mile 40 and 74 (yes, 2 miles from the finish).  Four flats in 2 days.
Nutrition - I gave no thought to what I was going to eat.  I shoved two nut bars in my pocket before the ride and filled one bottle with water and the other with Torq.  I drank the Torq quite quickly and ate one bar.  I intended to get something else from the feed stops but forgot.  So all I had was what I had taken with me.  It was just enough but I guess I wasn't far from bonking.

So a good day all-in-all.  I don't have any other sportives booked until the Fred but I'll be doing other long rides including my training camp at my Dad's in Devon during the Easter break.