the Elusive Half Hour

I've been thinking about that elusive half hour over the last couple of weeks. One of the routes I've been taking goes up Donegore hill, home to the world's best garden centre (with the world's most expensive cafe), an ancient motte, and Santa's Western Europe reindeer relay station

I usually crest the hilltop after about fifteen minutes of riding, and after that I do believe I could tackle anything, so I'm forming an opinion that it's not the first half hour that's the struggle, it's the first big challenge. This is both good and bad. It means that when there's a difficult bit early on, that means I get into my stride early. It's bad though, because Day1 of our coast to coast ride looks like it's going to be one long challenge from start to finish. So I'll never loosen up the whole day!