Good Hill Hunting

Having completed most of my training now with the Christmas challenge of endurance with 500kms over 7 days and the 3 recent rides all over 80 miles I am close to finishing my gruelling training for the L2P in 6 weeks’ time. The last element I need to improve and want to take on is hill training so the weekend was all about hunting out the most daunting hills I could find in 15 mile radius.

The weather was amazing this weekend and impeccable conditions for saddling up. Strangely the weather was almost too good and stretched your thinking towards embracing a beach, sunbed or bbq-ing in the back garden. This is a silly thing to say after battling the elements over those grim winter months but those dark days have definitely made me a stronger cyclist which I am now seeing the fruits of in my training.

I didn’t have any set route for my ride, which was oddly nice, as I am usually military about a cycle plan to achieve a certain distance. With the shackles off I headed towards previously unchartered land and south west towards Felden, Bovingdon and Chesham. Over 10 strong hills completed I realised that this is exactly the training I need to be doing now in order to keep up my cycle education and development.

A couple of hours in and nearly 30 miles clocked I still felt fresh and with a certain Strava segment approaching close to home I fancied at crack at becoming King of the Mountain (KOM) or at least entering the top 10. Head down, driving and peddling my nuts off I had my best crack at it. I wouldn’t find out the results though until uploading the data back at home. On upload I was absolutely chuffed to see that I had achieved first place and was the new KOM on a certain segment in the universe of Strava. I was very very happy with this as this is not the KOM segment I have been chasing for long time (early blog entry, which I am second on) but a recent one I discovered where there have been 1589 Attempts by 417 People. The icing on the cake was that I beat the top man by 5 clear seconds.....impressive, if I do say so myself.

A lovely end to the cycling week was capped by my first genuine KOM along with great hill work. I think I may have one last big hill ride over a long distance to complete for my training before the L2P and Wales looks like nice place to endure this from recent research.

100 up!

On Wednesday I booked a day’s annual leave from work to complete a milestone which had been on my mind for some time……could I cycle over 100 miles in one single ride?!

Coincidently Strava challenged all of its members in the month of March to cycle 100 miles in a single ride. So, weather impeccably monitored on Tuesday night I had seen the forecast for glorious conditions, for a challenge like this, which left me in no doubt that I would not be sitting at my desk the next day.

Waking early on Wednesday morning to clear Blue skies, no wind and a decent outside temperature justified booking a day off. I was pleased with this but now slightly fearful of the huge test I had set myself up for. All preparation done with packing lots of food, water, energy gear and so on I was ready to click the cleats in and start the first of many thousands of revolutions.

I had chosen to head towards Northampton which is about 55 miles from home so a round-trip should have seen me past the 100 mile target. I had also estimated that the trip would take 8-10 hours so setting off at 8.30am should see me back home by about 5pm and I thought I booked a day off. This seemed a full days work ahead……

The first 45 miles was really head-down and I took the same route to Bedford that I had previously completed (see another blog entry for that lowdown). The impressive thing with the first 45 miles was that my pace was far higher than I had expected and I was managing 17 mph. Once through Bedford it was on to Northampton. Now this segment was not quite as fast as 17 mph and I was starting to feel like Northampton was a mirage that kept moving further away from me even though I was trying my hardest to get to it, almost boarding on a dreamlike state. Lots of hard work on the pedals took my to 55 miles and a sign that looked like an oasis in a desert. 

At the point of seeing this sign a wave of relief swept over me as I knew I was at least half way now and I could do a 180 and head for home. However, a thought, after going through many towns, cities and villages I have regularly seen on all the "welcome" signs the words "Twinned with" and I am curious to understand this fully so I will be looking in to that #google

At 65 miles and over 4 hours in the saddle my body was crying out for fuel so I had to stop soon. Now whenever I go on a long ride I have this vision in my head that I will stop about half way in to the cycle at this quaint little coffee shop and have a nice hot drink, pastry or another freshly baked consumable. Now the reality is I always keep cycling trying to find this magical place and mile after mile I keep searching but end up getting more and more hungry and desperate to refuel as there is never this "perfect place"…….so this scenario was happening again to me and I gave it from 65 miles to 75 miles to actually find this ideal pit stop but alas nothing......so I had to settle for the slightly less glamorous layby on the A5 near Milton Keynes. A far cry from a croissant!!! So a quick 10 minutes break, sitting on a kerb in a lay by with the sun on my face and traffic whizzing past me,  I scoffed down half a jam sandwich, banana and a finger of timeout and I was back on the saddle heading for home squirting the last of my water and energy drinks in my mouth.

At just over 90 miles in I wanted to stop again in a small village with a nice park bench under the “welcome to” sign to enjoy the sunshine in a slightly more serene surrounding than my previous stop. I enjoyed the sun beaming down, gobbled a flapjack and spent enough time off the saddle to recovery energy levels for the last blast to Hemel. This was the time though that I ran out of all liquid. Not good considering there was still an hour to go…..

Once my computer flashed up 100 miles completed the sigh of relief that came over me was enormous. I had got this far importantly without Rex getting injured which was a constant worry for the whole journey in terms of being so far from home but also wasting a day off work if I wasn't unable to complete the 100 mile task due to bike failure!

So 107 miles and so close to home it was again down to the choice of which hill punishment to select, not exactly want you need after so many hours on a saddle but shakily I took on Nettleden Lane and on arrival at the top I knew I was on the last flat to take me in to home. After arriving home I felt a little emotional to complete another huge milestone in this cycle obsession that has taken me over since I started it 6 months ago.

After uploading my data to Strava, moments after getting home, I was very proud to see a number of achievements. I had just completed my longest ride ever at 108 miles, recorded my fastest 40k and highest elevation on a single trip. One of the things that made me extremely happy was the duration that this epic ride took. My journey took 7 hours and 12 minutes but my actual moving time was 6 hours and 48 minutes giving me and average speed for the entire cycle of 15.9 mph!

In addition to this I have now ridden over 2,000 km on Strava since I joined last September and earned the latest Strava digital badge. 

To put things in perspective of how far I rode on Wednesday it is actually 107 miles from my front door to the middle of Birmingham city centre. On this day I completed 108 miles!

The days of having a “barse like peach” seems to have gone as well and all in all there was some slight wear and tear from the trip but on Thursday but I still felt relatively good for the amount of exercise completed.

My training is now almost completed for the L2P however, I do need to step up my hill training which is next up for me this weekend.

PROUD

I am delighted, proud and slightly overwhelmed to say I have reached my revised charity target of £2,000. http://www.doitforcharity.com/christopherlee

In September 2013 when I hit submit on my mouse for my entry to the London to Paris challenge I started out with a target of £1450, which was set as a minimum amount to achieve by the charity. I was very scared of not achieving this target and was full prepared to fund any short fall myself. At the turn of the year I was so well supported that I achieved that original target and then focussed on a new milestone of attempting to reach £2,000 for the charity Mind, the mental health charity http://www.mind.org.uk

The support, generosity and passion from the people that have sponsored me have really driven a form of desire inside of me that I have never felt before. It is amazing for me to know that it is not the end of someone’s interest in the journey after they have committed to sponsoring by submitting the donation as so many of you have continuously shown interest, in my new found passion for cycling, by eagerly waiting for blog entries, sincerely asking about weekend rides and more importantly waiting to see if I make good on their investment with enough training to complete the imminent daunting test ahead of spinning the cogs all the way to Paris. All of this really keeps me going and whether it is 5am starts, cycling in the dark or riding for an exceptional duration of hours the truth is I am so committed to this task and delivering ultimately enough money, to a charity very close to my heart, that makes a difference to so many lives.

I cannot thank all of you enough for helping me achieve my target for Mind. The current total stands at just over £2,200 and everyone that donated to this cause is part of this journey with me and my sincerest gratitude goes out to all of you.

I cannot wait to tell you at the end of the challenge how I completed it with many more blog entries and importantly how the money that you supported with was used to make an serious impact.

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.