This is not one of the many photo's that one of the party, Gav, took on the ride down Bowderdale, however it does give some flavour as to the kind of terrain. I can safely say that this was one of the most enjoyable and technical rides I have ever done and one which I enjoyed immensely despite being considerably slower going down than everything else.

Regrettably this did not surprise me too much; however I was pleased that once the ascent got off the mega steep and onto the long grind I was climbing very strongly, also not much of a surprise given the amount of training I have been doing for this!! I was also quite pleased that I seemed ok at the end - obviously the distances will be much greater in Morocco, however I am hoping that the climbs are of the long grind variety reminscent of the Alps rather than the shorter steeper climbs we often get in the UK...as the former enable you to get into a groove and just grind away.

Glorious weather helped too; a little windy on top but no rain, which was just as well given there was a fair amount of mud but not too much. All in all a great training ride and a circuit I'd recommend.

Yesterday was spent doing some tidying of Gill's and just chilling out. Will definetly go out on the road later - I should really head up to Whinlatter for a couple of circuits as well if time allows.