Cd

I took a wee trip up the A86 (on S's bike again).

Heading out (east) there is a net height gain of about 170 metres and I was unwittingly being favoured by a nice tail wind. Approching Laggan Dam I was surprised to hear a woman's voice saying hello from behind me. She was a proper cyclist, with a Cd of .01, and obviously an extremely fit athlete. She looked like she was putting no effort in at all and glided silently past me on a very high tech looking racing cycle and was out of sight in a few minutes. To my detriment, I think the brief encounter subconsciously made me kick on beyond my comfort pace.

I turned at the concrete bridge and the free gravity assisted ride home I had anticipated turned in to a battle with a strong head wind. The pace was really slow and I was dreading that the lady may pass me again, maybe on her return from Kingussie.

The legs were shaky whenI got home.

I need to work on fitness, pump up the tyres a bit and do something about my Cd; drag coefficient. I don't look very stream lined in the picture