Beacon blowout learning curve

I think I need to take better care of Rex or at least be more understanding of how far I can stretch him. Having cycled more than 1000 miles in the last 4 months I need to understand that something has to give on poor little Rex and he needs serious TLC under that sort of usage. To put thing in perspective I usually only drive a poultry 2000 thousand miles a year so in 4 months I have cycled half of my average yearly drive projection. CRAZY!

Today’s adventure was not meant to be long but more for exploring roads in my area I haven’t seen and actually only ever circumnavigated and the second part of today's brief was to search out serious hill climbing as that is my current training remit as opposed to the previous distance challenges.

The beast of the beacon challenge beat home hard today but I loved the different challenge of hills. After completing the beacon as a glutton for punishment I took on the Hudnall hill to really test the calves and thighs. After coming through this test I was thinking about more hills, more distance and more cycling in this glorious weather as my spirits and energy were high but the gutter for me is that my tyre “went”.

As I said at the opening to this entry I should have paid more attention to my tools or treat Rex with more TLC as if I would have spotted the wear on the tyre that was about to implode before I even started today I could have been well ahead of the game. Lesson learned indeed as the last 3 miles of todays ride was basically hobbling back to base. The slime in the back tyre allowed me the grace of not trotting home clinking in cleats and at least staying in the saddle to cross the line albeit at a deflated wobbly return.

Having been hindered by the last 3 miles I still maintained a solid rate of 15.2mph for the 33km travelled and importantly over that short distance the elevation was a very decent at 313m for the entire ride.

Immediately looking at Rex on my return I needed to sort him out and make him shine again. A trip down to cycle surgery and this was the outcome with new treads!

LIKE A NEW BOY, ahhhhhh my third child! guuuussshhhh

Bedford and the Gran Fondo 2

My ride on Sunday was the polar opposite of Saturday as the weather forecasted sunshine in Blue cloudless skies and with no shackles I only had me holding myself back. Sunday was also challenge day too. Strava’s February mission was the Gran Fondo 2 and pushed you to go on a 130km adventure. If I had to partake in a big challenge I wanted to go to a new destination with Rex. After spinning the wheel of fortune the arrow landed firmly on Bedford meaning my turn around point was decided. Preparation included attaching a second bottle holder to my bike for more hydration on long trips, filling the Cambelbak to capacity and for the first time making a packed lunch along with stocking up on all the usual energy ingestibles.

Cleats locked in and I was off. The weather was absolutely scintillating and a much needed break from the never ending torrential storms. Sunshine = Happy. My mood was high and I was ready for the challenge with my iPod fully loaded with some new albums for company.

I had a smooth ride up to Dunstable and swung a right in the town centre and headed towards Luton. Sweeping down Hatters Way I cycled past the Luton Town FC stadium and headed on towards the airport. I had always had a fairly negative view of Luton as a town but spinning around it actually opened my eyes to some very nice areas. As I cycled past Wardown Park there were lots of people enjoying the weather playing games, feeding ducks, exercising and generally enjoying life. The park was very pretty and a definitely a place I would consider going in the future.

Around 20 miles in and I hit the A6 for the first time on a road bike. This long road would take me all the way to Bedford and beyond if I wanted. Head down and spinning the pedals for another hour or so got me in to Bedford for my first ever visit. Bedford seemed liked a nice little place from small amount of time I had to analyse it. With the sun beaming down on me I crossed the bridge to enter Bedford town and whilst on the bridge I looked out over the river to see the rowing club out in full force. A spin around the town took me past museums, galleries, churches, parks, open air markets and the stretch of road that is “Paula Radcliffe Way” Bedford’s favourite daughter!

After I felt satisfied with my sightseeing I decided to park up and have a mini lunch break for 10 minutes and get some carbs on board. I sat in a lovely little square just outside St Pauls Church on an old bench and watched the world go by whilst basking in the sun. There was a bustling market happening on one side of me, a group of noisy motor bikers gathered on another and also an appealing looking café with people enjoying the weather directly ahead of me. I wolfed down half a jam sandwich, a banana, energy gels and some liquid before setting off for the return leg.

The journey back was fairly tiresome actually and there were some long and hard inclines that I didn’t really notice when I was coming the other way and the light wind was slightly against me too, which didn’t help. Away with my thoughts having spent at least 4 hours on my bike I was still really appreciating the weather and this still kept my spirits high. Lots of hard work got me back to Luton where after about 60 miles in I had my first fall with my new pedals. It was such a petty fall as well and probably one of the most embarrassing kinds. Feeling tired on the approach to set of traffic lights I pulled up before the big bright circular Red light and just left it too late to release my feet from the pedal cleat and “hey timber” from a standstill position I fell pathetically to the side on the grass verge and laid there for a few seconds before ungracefully bouncing up and back in to the saddle. On a side note I was cycling through Leagrave when I noticed another enormous poster near the railway station for “the Big Mac” and this made me think that on this ride I had seen at least 10 of these sized posters around the county. Big advertising campaign for the golden arches at the moment in the middle of England or the shires.

At 65 miles I was starting to feel weaker than usual and was thinking about the second half of that jam sandwich in the backpack to pick me up but I rode on for a bit. It is amazing what music can do to a mood, even for a temporary amount of time as at the time of feeling that weak a song dropped from my Ministry 2014 Annual which took me back to a time when I was 17 and lets say really enjoying life to the full. So the song that came on was Friend Within by The Renegade but it samples the Renegade Master from 1997. From being a weak soul I was now cycling along at top speed, visualising the past, screaming the repetitive lyrics loud and proud to anyone in vicinity whilst feeling invincible and if I was a part of team sky. I am not sure how this looked or sounded to the outside world but I was certainly enjoying myself to the beat of those infamous lyrics……….. Back once again for the renegade master, D4 damager, power to the people. Back once again for the renegade master, D4 damager, with the ill behaviour………and repeat and repeat and……

About 70 miles in I past the London Gliding Club www.londonglidingclub.co.uk and I must say the skies painted a lovely picture with lots of gliders and hand gliders filling my entire panoramic sight with constant activity and movement.

One last stop off 10 miles before home to finish the other half of that sarnie gave me the energy that got me home. Another huge ride complete and on uploading my efforts to Strava i was elated to see that my February challenge was completed and I was awarded another digital badge for my efforts.

Driving miss daisy or help the aged

I had two very contrasting days of cycling this weekend in terms of weather and challenges. The weather on Saturday was pretty miserable with poor conditions but this didn’t deter me to strap on the helmet and go for a spin. Wanting to unite the Landrovers cycle group I sent out the bat signal and had a response from the member with the most life experience.

Early morning at Hollyhock and Mr Hatt arrived on his shiny new purchase. This is what I envisaged before he turned up…..

I couldn’t have been more wrong though as he was sporting a very fancy, top of the range new road bike - work cycle schemes pay well these days! Not knowing what to expect from our first outing together I thought I would at least try and drive the old fella around a pre-determined route I had marked out on Strava. However, it was obvious after the first few hundred yards I needed to play nice and be gentle as forcing this matter wasn’t going to help any of us. Respect your elders and all that. The route I had mapped out covers 15 miles and should usually take an hour to complete so we had a good barometer to aim for. The scenery on the ride is fantastic as it covers a lot of woodland, old historic buildings and nature is always ever present.

Three stops on the circuit for cramp, banana break and some weird finger action suggest a little more time in the saddle is needed for the soon to be 56 year old. Riding position and set up of his new toy could do with a look at as well. It took nearly an hour and a half to complete whilst I “drove miss daisy” around the loop. It could have been a care in the community or a help the aged charity ride for any onlookers. Having said all that I have a lot admiration for a good friend and I know that more training will build up his stamina and experience. I respect him a lot for saddling up when others would rather be indoors slouching on the sofa. I tip my hat sir.

More to follow on the my second ride of the weekend shortly…….

Finding a window or catching a wave

As we all know in life “timing is everything” and in recent months I have really been paying attention to……………………..the weather.

This is in order to make my cycle life the best and easiest it can possibly be. Cycling, weather watching – what’s next? Train spotting, bird watching maybe a stamp collection?

Unlike the long Oxford run, on last month’s Strava challenge, when I just had to brave it due to no let-up in the storms I have found myself having to find and seek out my windows of opportunity to avoid being punished by the wicked weather. The good news is that these rare opportunities do exist but it is just catching the right time or the right wave.

Unfortunately the storms have returned again to the UK with a vengeance recently bringing more flooding, winds, hail, rain making it very hard to find the motivation to get out in it and train. However, now that I am almost a qualified BBC or Met Office weather man I knew there was a possibility of surviving. You would not believe it but I now have a set of websites, screens and alerts all in place (like CTU in its prime) that would make Jack Bauer proud if he was ever concerned about catching terrorists in the weather.

So after my full extensive analysis and believing or relying in the cyber world things would be alright I took my opportunity. I was out in it where others wouldn’t dare and I kinda like that. I was also one of the only cyclists in my cycle club to be out at the weekend after others were saying how much they used there indoor turbo trainers. There is no substitute for the real thing……..as we all know……

So the ride was glorious and I enjoy my 50k unscathed by any form of weather and even enjoyed some Vitamin D from the big round yellow thing rarely seen in England. The wind was a bit of an issue but you can’t have it all. Ultimately and to sum up I felt very smug actually because as soon as I got back after nearly 2 hours in the great outdoors it started pissing down. Lee 1 vs Weather 0. I have be beaten many times before by the weather but this was my starting point as now "I am competing" with all my weather aids and devices.

With only 72 days to go until the big event I really need to start mid-week training and this will involve training in the dark. I am not looking forward to that but it is a must.

Oxford! and a new badge from the scout leader

Having not trained much in January after a very busy December I really needed to get myself in gear and push a little harder than I had been doing. I thought that signing up for a challenge in January would help motivate this but time as always has slipped through my hands and the last few grains of sands remained for me to complete this task. I only had 6 days left to complete my first cycle challenge for the year and today, of all days, had to be the day that I tried. The challenge is called Gran Fondo 1 and consists of exactly this - In the first Challenge of the Gran Fondo series, Strava is challenging you to ride 130 kilometers in one ride between January 1st and January 31st.

The weather forecast made for very bad reading last night and today lived up to all expectations and predictions. Wind, rain, hail, storms, floods were not my friend on todays mission. Today was the last opportunity of the month for much needed training and my desire to complete this challenge set by Strava meant I had to get out in it whatever happened. It was always going to be this way. Life is never easy and in all honesty I would rather have it this way. No PAIN no GAIN blah blah blah…

Needing to clock up 130kms I needed to choose a route and town far away from my start point as I cannot stand going around the same loop 2 or 3 times. Destination Oxford. From all calculations and route planners it seemed to be about 70kms to reach so this would be ideal and the route seemed pretty straight forward as well.

After the lengthy process of getting ready I opened the front door and almost got blown right back in. It looked very grim indeed.

Within 2 minutes of leaving the house I was saturated. This was going to be a very long and testing day. It got a lot worse. 45 minutes on the clock and it was my first power shower of the day heading towards Aylesbury. A medium sized white van took great pleasure hitting a puddle or what looked like a small reservoir at the tasty speed of 50mph. I think all you can do is laugh in these situations so I took it like a man and let the driver of the van enjoy their “points” for covering a cyclist.

A41 safely navigated it was on towards the A418 for a long stint and then eventually the scary, busy and fast A40. Lots of water from the Camelbak, energy drink and pouches of energy gels got me over 2 hours and the road signs for Oxford had single figures on them when related to how far I needed to go to the reach the City. The A40 is a road I will not be taking again and on reflection should never have taken it in the first place. Lots of big coaches delivering hoards of people from the big smoke at very regular intervals led for a somewhat nervous arrival into Oxford.

On arrival to Oxford I wanted to head directly in to the city centre and have a nosey about having not visited before. I immediately seized my opportunity to explore by latching on to the back of a “Big Bus Tour” opened topped bus that wasn’t exactly doing a roaring trade today but it would help me scan the area for the key sights. I liked the look of Oxford and I don’t know why but I was completely surprised by how many academic buildings there are for so many different facets to become a brain box. It seems a good looking city overall and I liked the look of a lot of restaurants, delis, public houses, cafes and so on. It was also at this point I was starting to get a few hunger pangs.

Another pouch of an energy gel was a quick fix and after freewheeling around the city centre I had clocked my 70kms so I spun the pedals around a few more times and looked for the exit. The exit came through the Oxford ring road and out of pure luck than anything else whilst heading to the famous town of Woodstock I found signs that would eventually lead me back to the A418 and towards Thame.

The weather was still relentless on the way back. After battling through to 100Kms in 4 hours my body was telling me a number of things. A quick 90 second pit stop at a bus shelter in the middle of the countryside helped boost my energy by noshing a gel pouch, nourishing myself with a small banana, sheltering from the rain for a short period and lastly a nip around the back for a comfort break.

Re-energised and nothing blocking my mind I blasted back to Aylesbury with the positive feeling of knowing I was only 20kms from home….and then for the biggest scare of the day. Having stopped at a busy roundabout for a while to allow traffic to pass I saw my opportunity to circumnavigate to the direction that I needed. However, I did not plan for an approaching motorist to jump the roundabout at 50pmh and almost take my life. Surely 10mph on a roundabout is fast!!!!????!!!! Time stood still for a moment and the worst thing was being locked in to cleat pedals. Your brain needs to react to too many situations in a ridiculously short time frame of milliseconds. A scramble to the side of the road whilst clicking out of cleats was achieved and the continuous apology from boy racer by holding his hands up in the air to me repeatedly didn’t really cut it. It is at times like that (once you know you have survived) you really want more than a bell on your bike. A ting ting of a cycle bell doesn’t really help you vent.

The last stretch and I was really starting to feel hungry. Having only had two Weetabix for breakfast and a small banana on this gigantic 5 ½ hour cycle I was starting to get apparitions of huge food shaped objects on the side of the road as I cycled past. I was also seriously fantasising about what I would stuff my face with as soon as I got in…….

A dog of a hill was the final obstacle in Berkhamsted and then I rolled back to lock Rex away in the garage for another day. He didn’t let me down again and with each ride my fondness grows and after a hazy, gloomy and unpleasant cycle I had hit 135kms. I had achieved my target and beaten the challenge set by my dictator. Strava who is now becoming very much like my scout leader commended me with this badge of honour for completing the challenge.

As my cycle journey goes on my experience and fitness grows with increased sustainability in endurance, distance and time in the saddle. This has been my longest ride to date and there will only be one day of my ride to Paris that will be longer than this. Slowly slowly catchy monkey as they say….

Here are the full details of the ride:- http://www.strava.com/activities/109112740

Rex the RACER

Soooooo, having spent an enormous amount of time together with my beautiful, loving, reliable and sturdy machine over the festive period, which allowed me to complete my challenge and cover over a whopping 501kms in 7 days, I came to the decision that I wanted to give my bike a name. All this time together and “it” did not have a personality or identity. This had to change. After lots of deliberation and back and forth I came to my conclusion but I had to remember a “name is forever” and not just for Christmas.

Whilst riding for many hours I found over my festive challenge that your mind tends to wonder and it questions everything in your personal set up and even things you know to be true. Now I already do this on a day to day when activity is at an all-time high every second so imagine how active my run away brain was at the time when I was alone together with my bicycle……………it brought epic results (however, that again is another story worthy of an entry and for another time) and ultimately the name of my trusty carrier to Paris and beyond was formed.

To help you understand I may have been slipping in to the slightly deranged element towards the end of my challenge over Christmas attempting to occupy myself en route to completing the 500km challenge. Not exactly a “Wilson” moment but ploughing on towards that when in the saddle for the fourth hour out of five in a Suburban county I think you can imagine something may have to give?!

The attachment to a bike grows day by day and this is becoming a beautiful relationship and the little fella is now treated as an extension to my immediate family…..very scary but oh so real. Midlife crisis or just evolution? Who knows……

I had an idea in mind of whether it should be a boy or girl and most males would go for a girl I think so immediately it should be a boy. Colourings and character of the bike suggest it should be boy, a boys boy, so first phase complete. The name Rebecca was ditched and out of the picture. Now on to the business end. I had two serious names left in the mix and just couldn’t decide between either of them. I really really liked both. So the only way to finalise this was to put the two names in front of a superior judging panel...................which were obviously my two beautiful children ages 6 and 2. There would be no messing about with them critiquing this and head judge Jack would get the strictly casting vote (SEVEN!)…………

So as in the title of the post "REX" was named and crowned and my new baby was born…….

In lighter bike news I had a serious accident recently that taught me a lesson but I guess this guy had a different outcome - www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2539022/Cyclist-22-erection-five-weeks-injuring-crossbar-bike.html

Challenge Over - The Result!

With 407 KMs on the challenge clock I needed 93 KMs to get me to the magical 500 in this festive challenge. I always had in my mind if I could complete the 500 before the end of play on the 30th that would then give me back my life and I could really kick back and enjoy New Years Eve on the 31st.

............So Ride 7, here we go.......... This was never going to be easy but does anyone really want anything handed to them on a plate?

After the last 6 consecutive rides I had acquired lots of pains in areas of my body that I didn’t know you could feel pain. Does this mean I have muscles there? hmmmm. Anyway my bingo wings and thighs were the most battered and the thighs in particular felt as if I had been continuously punched in them until they got to the full dead-leg scenario. That aside I still had the motivation to get on the bike but the next decision was to play the weather waiting game. All through the night and the early morning saw heavy rain, gales and saturated roads. Not exactly a cyclists dream situation. A quick look at the weather report and it suggested by 12 noon that things would start to turn and at least the rain would stop even if the gales would not subside. Frequently twitching the curtains and looking out the window hoping the downpours would stop I started to get the little demon on the left shoulder telling me not to worry and leave the "ride" until tomorrow as you have plenty of time and the weather will be better tomorrow.....blah, blah, blah. One last check on the weather app and it stills says things should clear up so I placed my faith in the BBC weather website and off I go to get ready depositing that demon on the left shoulder on the way out of the door in the nearest recycling bin.

I had an idea of a route in mind that I hadn’t been on before and really wanted to reach the town of Thame in Oxfordshire. As I set the wheels rolling pretty much on the button the rain eased up but the wind did not. I think that was a fair trade off for the final day of the challenge. Heading up through Berkhamsted and Tring the wind was really pushing me back with gusts of over 25mph. About 10 miles in I kind of wondered why I was doing all this again as it was not enjoyable in the slightest but then the focus on the bigger picture, fund raising and accomplishment brings you right back to the task in hand. Having reached Aylesbury in one of my slowest times ever I took the A418 left and headed towards Thame. It was about 18 miles in to the ride when the sun finally broke through the haze and although still very windy it made for things being more enjoyable. I am definitely a sun flower. My mood was up, energy in my legs picked up and I was starting to enjoy the landscape. The A418 introduced me to some interesting town names on route to Thame. Starting with a place called Stone. Then on to Dinton, Ford and there was even a sign for Gibraltar. The one very noticeable thing that connected all of these towns and villages was the expanse of farmers fields that had been saturated with the awful amount of rain received in the last week and it had created lots of large lakes from flooding in the fields that would usually provide many crops for the country.

On arrival to Thame I realised that I only needed to get home and the challenge would be completed. I turned my wheels around, had the wind at my back, the sun on my face and pedalled towards the finish line and the end of the challenge. On a side note being outside for all these hours on the bike has added a decent amount of colour to my face. Every cloud......

Now whizzing back past the towns and villages I had admired on the way to Thame I was enjoying the wind giving me an extra nudge on the way home. However, after 3 hours riding, for the first time since I have been cycling, I felt a "call of nature" coming on. I wondered if I could hold it until I got back but the problem was I still needed to take on lots of liquids during the ride. Also, another consideration was where could I find a private space.

I also had another issue. Due to my earlier curtain twitching and waiting for the weather to turn I left the house late meaning I didn’t have too many hours of daylight to cycle in - so I would need to also attach my lights at some stage which were stored in my rucksack. Reaching Tring enough was enough and something was going to give unless I reacted. So I dismounted, found a dark corner and completed a number 1, attached the lights ready to go and took the opportunity to eat / drink one these energy gels (they are bloody fiddly to try and open whilst cycling). After maximising my pit stop as much as I could it was on to slog out the last 15 miles. They say that people hit the wall at certain stages of continuous exercise and I knew that with 10 miles to go I felt a pain that I hadn't felt before. Not sure this was the wall but felt more like a big hole in the ground that I couldn’t get out of. Sheer determination and a very slow pace got me back to Hemel and then one final climb up the last hill (not what you need at the end of a long ride) got me to the last straight. Looking down at my computer it told me 58 and approaching 59 miles. Now Strava completes the challenge in KMs so when I arrived home there was an anxious wait on upload to see if I had done. I really couldn’t go back out again that day.

On upload I received the message the challenge was 100% COMPLETE! and I had ridden 501 KMs. The relief, joy, emotion, achievement that swept over me was immense. 

Here is the final ride of the challenge - http://www.strava.com/activities/102827308

I packed the bike away for a well-earned rest and looked forward to celebrating the end of the year without a ride! I can not thank my bike enough. It hasnt let me down and I have grown very attached to him (I will also post later in January more about this connection as it deserves a separate entry).

I have learnt a lot over the last 7 days about me, the bike and the future challenges that lay ahead. The experience of this challenge will set me in good stead for the future and I am delighted to have completed this challenge within 7 days of the allotted 8. Having only taken up cycling 4 months ago I am very proud of where I have got to this quickly and looking forward to improving and developing further. The basic principles applied have been ensuring I had the right tools for the job, train well, addressing nutrition and taking relevant supplements before, during and after along with an enormous amount of determination which have served me well.

Most importantly this has been an incredible fast track training programme for my cycle to Paris in April this year. I have been tested to my physical limits and started this challenge on 24th December in the dark at 5am with excitement, intrigue and anxiousness and it aptly finished in the dark on the 30th December, 7 days later, with exhaustion, relief and a huge sense of achievement.

I have already signed up to another challenge for January which I will update you all on shortly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!