Old haunts

I once rode from my house out of town to Inistioge, up by Woodstock and back to the bridge in 'Ross and stopped the clock outside Swan's Chinese at 59 minutes and 59 seconds. I can therefore boast that I did the loop of truth in 'under an hour'. Thats great. Except I have never been able to beat it. That day five years ago everything was perfect; wind, fitness, bike. And every spin I do flat-out on that circuit hurts because....But it doesn't really matter. I do LOVE that circuit 'though. You see, if time is tighter than a duck's butt its the place to head. Take today...I'm trying to build power so I rode tempo on the climbs and did 4x1s in between. I didn't have a flat bit of road. Its always undulating or, on the hills [Clodiagh/Woodstock/Ballyneale/Tullogher]bloody steep. Build power, build glutes, do high cadence climbing, hone descending skills, and all in nearly an hour. Ish. Its not a route that bores either, it has more twists and turns than snakes and ladders, more colours than an LGBT flag and more history than Paris Hilton's bed sheets. I love it because its all or nothing. If you ain't committed it'll bite you badly. No point in trying to get yourself up Woodstock if you ain't feeling the love. At the moment I'm getting at the killer loop once a week, tears in my eyes, veins out, ploughing over the sleeping policemen in Rosbercon to get to Swan's restaurant in under...well...not quite...give or take...well I ain't getting any younger...!