Quick fifty

The plan yesterday had been to leave around the same time as we will be leaving on the ride itself, and to do approx half-distance by lunchtime. Hence we were very pleased to do 111 miles and still be back in time for lunch.

After the bad start yesterday, I was determined to get out on the bike again. Having spoken to Ciaran and Paul, I had a 6am start option with Ciaran for a "quick fifty" (as he described it) or an 11am start with Paul for a similar distance.

I opted for the early start so Jules & I could have the rest of the day enjoying the fastastic weather we're having.

Ciarans route is very similar to the 50 we did last Sunday afternoon except it goes slightly north of Bentley and on up to Crondall, then back through Farnham to the A31 and along the Hogs back home.

Again we set out at a good pace. I was feeling so much better today (thank goodness!). I was zipping up the hills on the long slog from Milford to Haslemere through Grayswood, and my heart rate stayed nice in the 160s.

Between Liphook & Bentley we were cycling into a headwind which slowed us down a bit, and we made our first stop just north of Bentley. The scenery around there is just wonderful, and today I was in more of a mood to enjoy it!

We got home after 2:55 in the saddle, and only then did I realise why Ciaran's "quick fifty" is so quick: it's only 47 miles long!!!

Still; a good time for a hilly route & into the wind for a good portion. I think I deserve the rest of the day off!!

No more alcohol

On Thursday night we had a work function, and I decided it would be nice to have a few beers. BIG MISTAKE! I didn't have loads of beer; probably 4 pints of Guinness. I got home in relatively good time, slept well, and didn't feel too bad the next day. Little did I know I was going to regret drinking that much on my next ride.

During the day on Friday I emailed Ciaran, Simon & Paul to see what they had planned for this weekend. Turned out Simon was planning to cycle to the Cotswolds, so the rest of us decided to join him for the first 50 miles or so, then turn back.

We set off at 6am, but the forecast was good, so I only had a single layer on. It was quite cold to start with, and I was pleased that we began the route with a climb up the Farnham road out of Guildford onto the Hogs back. Once on the Hogs back, we set off at a cracking pace and before long we were in Farnham. I'd noticed it being a bit hard work along the Hogs back, but put it down to the speed we were going which was much faster than normal. However, as we climbed up the past Hale and towards Odiham, I noticed my heart was pounding away much faster than normal. I was taking it fairly easy on the hills (because of the heart rate), but still my heart was going at 185. Then, even worse, at the top, where my heart rate usually quickly recovers to 130-140 or so, it stayed at 160.

This was fine for a little while, but after a few more hills I was exhausted. We were still managing a fairly good pace, and north of Odiham we went through Basingstoke, Newbury and on up to Wantage. By this point we'd been going pretty much non-stop for 3.5 hours and had just under 60 miles under our belt.

For the last 10-15 miles of this, I had not been enjoying it at all. The scenery was fantastic, the weather was good, the roads were quiet, but I felt rubbish.

When we stopped, I said I needed a bit of a rest. I was even thinking of just getting on the train home.

After 15 minutes or so, a short snack, a good drink and a little lie down, I made myself set off again. Ciaran, Paul & I setting of in one direction and Simon the other.

From where we stopped the road was a little undulating, but generally down hill for a few miles. I found myself at the front, and decided to try and set a good pace. Suddenly Fraser came into my mind (as he has done on a couple of times when I've felt low during training), and I had a little cry.

Next time we came to an uphill, I felt much better. My heart was more normal (160-170), and recovered quickly afterwards. So I much more enjoyed the route back through Reading, Wokingham & Bracknell. By the time we got home, we'd done 111 miles in 6.5 hours cycling which we were quite pleased with. The whole ride took a little longer than we planned due to the longish stop at Wantage, but I was so glad I pushed myself to do the rest of the ride.

I can only think my body was still processing the alcohol or something, but lesson learnt! No more til after the ride.

Final team training ride - day 1

Up until this weekend, there has always seemed to be a long way to go and a lot of training to do efore the main event. Suddenly this no longer seems the case. John & Tim both stayed the weekend for this ride, and when we said goodbye on Sunday having cycled 250 miles we realised the next time we'd see each other would be on the race itself.

Indeed there are only 3 weekends left before the ride after this team training ride, and one of those is supposed to be a rest weekend. So I guess we are about as ready as we are going to be!!

John & Tim arrived late on Friday night. All of us had had a busy week, and all were ready to get a good nights sleep in time for the ride on Saturday morning.

7 of of the 8 riders had made it this weekend (Rich is on holiday). At 7am we all set off on the Guildford-Brighton-Portsmouth-Guildford route we've done in the past.

In Brighton we cycled along the sea-front on the brilliant cycle-lane. Tim somehow managed to hit a glass beer bottle despite many calls of "bottle" from riders in front of him. Luckily he did not get a puncture & we all complimented him on his steering abilities.

After 90 miles and 5 hours in the saddle, we arrived at The George pub in Cosham, just outside Portsmouth. We were met there by Jules and spent an hour eating a hearty meal and taking team photos. We were all feeling pretty good, although the drunk guy in the pub managed to upset Jules by giving her a hard time about how much money was going to charity and how much was going to us. Having put him straight (by the way, we are essentially funding it out of our own pockets, so all proceeds go directly to CHASE; indeed everything on the JustGiving website has already gone to them). We left him a card with the website address on it, so hopefully by now he has read the site and decided to sponsor us!!

After lunch, Jules joined us for some of the route again taking photos of us, but this time on the road. It kind of worked well as a practice for the support vehicles on the ride itself. We met up with her a few times up until Wickham, then the route got a bit complicated, so we next saw her just outside Arlesford. Here she produced cakes & nuts & bananas which were a much welcomed change to the energy bars!!

Just after this stop, we noticed Simons rear tyre had a strange kink in it causing vibration to his back wheel. We all agreed it didn't look healthy, but having no spare tyres with us we pressed on. After 130 miles, Simon's tyre finally gave up with a pop that sounded like a gunshot. Unfortunately this meant he missed the last 20 miles or so which he would regret the following day.

After our fall a couple of weeks ago, Paul & I were keen to avoid the Hogs back, so we got off the A31 at Runfold & rode parallel to it through quaint little villages.

We finally arrived back after 8.5 hours in the saddle and with 145 miles under our belt. We all felt great. Henry had beaten his longest ride by 50 miles, and John's knee was fine.

In the evening, Simon had invited us all round for dinner. This was a great opportunity to discuss the logistics of the event itself & raise any concerns people have. Richard (and his wife Debbie who must have been bored silly) and Jules joined the riders for many bowl-fuls of pasta & sauce.

Should sleep well tonight!

Training ride 4 (Day 2) - dropping like flies

Having rested his knee as much as he could overnight, John was still in pain this morning. He took the bike out for a quick ride, but decided it would not be a good idea to accompany us today.

Rich, Paul & Simon all showed up for the 7am start, but Simon had some problems of his own related to some friction between part of his body and his saddle. Hopefully this is sufficient detail for you to imagine why Simon was not comfortable joining us today.

So then there were three.

Paul, Rich and I set off on the same 145 mile route that Paul and I had done a couple of weeks ago; Guildford-Brighton-Portsmouth-Arlesford-Guildford.

We set off at a cracking pace. Taking it in turns to go up front for 5 miles each, we were soon zipping along the coast from Brighton to Worthing. It took us 2 hours 50 minutes to do the first 50 miles, where we happened to cycle past Rich's grandad, so we popped in to say "hi" and have an energy bar.

Next stop was at just under 90 miles just outside Portsmouth where we stopped at a pub for some lunch. This had taken us 5 hours exactly, and we were ready for a break and some proper food.

I dont really want to dwell on the length of our lunch stop (see previous posting), but we stopped for about 1 hour. There was a great atmosphere in the pub, as everyone was ramping up for the FA cup final in which Portsmouth were playing.

Feeling refreshed (and somewhat full) we got back on the bikes for the home run.

From Portsmouth the route heads North-North-West up to Arlesford and then turns North-East up the A31. For the first section of this part of the ride, we realised that the "easterly" wind was actually a "north-easterly", and the going got considerably tougher with the last 30 mile stretch to look forward to entirely into the wind.

We still made pretty good time considering the hills, and we joined the A31 after 110 miles and 6.5 hours of cycling (ignoring the 1 hour break).

Pretty much as soon as we join the A31, there is a big climb from Arlesford to Four Marks. This was hard work and directly into the wind; it took us 30 minutes to go that 5 miles.

However, we knew that at the top of that climb it was a fairly easy and largely downhill run for the rest of the way home. Unfortunately at the top of the hill it started to rain, and suddenly got quite cold. Hence the next few miles were a real drag, and we just put our heads down and watched the back wheel of the guy in front (we were still taking it in turns to do 5 mile stints up front).

At Farnham there is a large junction called the "Shepherd and Flock" roundabout, and just after that the road starts to climb up the "Hogs Back". At this point Paul was up front, with Rich and I drafting close behind him. Suddenly Paul was on the floor, and Rich and I had both crashed into him; all of us lying on the inside carriageway of the A31 - not a nice place to be. Just at that point there is metal expansion bar where the A31 crosses a bridge, and it is at a horrible angle for cyclists. Paul's front wheel had caught in the gap & just slipped away from him because of the rain.

We got off the road as quickly as you can imagine we would, and shook ourselves down. Thankfully no-one was hurt too badly, but Paul and I both damaged our bikes. I could not get any of my bottom three gears, and hence hills were a struggle, also my gearshift had bent round at a strange angle. Looks like I wont by cycling tomorrow.

The last 8 miles or so were done at a very sedate pace while we allowed the adrenalin to work its way out of our system. We finally did the 145 miles in exactly the same time as Paul and I had done a few weeks previously; 8 hours and 45 minutes.

Lovely Jules had cooked me a roast chicken which I eagerly devoured after a good soak in the bath!!

Apologies to the weathermen

I got up at six and looked out of the window. The weathermen had said there would be snow overnight and lots of it, but when I looked there was none. Indeed it was quite mild, and dry outside.

Hence I decided to set off down the A31 to get some more miles in.

At the bottom of the Farnham road on my way up to the Hogs Back, it started to drizzle, and by the top of the hill, it was kind of sleet. I still didn't worry too much, as it seemed way too mild to settle. On the open road, I started pushing a bit harder on the big cog, and the sleet started to hurt my face. 6 miles out of Guildford, I was suddenly surrounded by snow, and it was an inch thick on the ground. Quite bizarre. If I hadn't seen it I would not have believed the sudden change in weather. I figured I'd better head home.

Having walked across the Hogs Back, my cleats had all frozen up with packed snow, and I was busy trying to sort that out when some kind guy stopped and offered me a lift. He was a time-trialler who had also decided today was not the day for cycling. I thanked him for the offer, but decided I was only 6 miles from home, so I'd push on. If you're that guy and you happen to be reading this, THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE OFFER! (I wish I'd taken it).

I pushed pretty hard to get home, and figured that as long as I made it to the top of the Farnham road, I could coast down into Guildford and I'd be fine. I finally made it to the top of the hill and started my free-wheel down. After not very far, and having skidded on a yellow line hidden by snow, I decided I was going too quickly. That was when I realised my brakes had frozen up with packed up snow, so I stopped the bike my skidding my feet on the ground. For a few seconds, I really thought I was not going to stop without falling off.

Anyhow, long story short - here is a picture of me as I returned home....

A trip to the New Forest

We had been invited to visit our friends Richard and Kirsten in Milford On Sea for the weekend. I did the Google maps search, and found it is just over 70 miles from Guildford to Milford. I decided it would be a good challenge to cycle down on the Saturday and cycle back on the sunday.

I set off around 8am on Saturday, and had just joined the Hogs Back just outside Guildford when I cycled over some broken glass & slashed my front tyre and tube. Although I had a spare tube with me I hadn't really planned for losing a tyre. I called Jules, and she quickly came to my rescue with a spare tyre, tube & race pump. It was around 9am by the time I'd called Jules, she'd found the stuff, come out to meet me and I'd fitted the new tyre.

Based on my previous 70 mile rides, I'd planned on 4.5 - 5 hours, and we were aiming to be there for lunch around 1pm; I was going to be late!

Next I learnt why we are cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats (and not the other direction). People had told me it is because the wind generally blows from the south west, but I'd always thought this cant be that significant. How wrong I was! The wind was in my face all the way down and it was really hard work. I managed to keep a fair speed up, but it was a real struggle; my heart rate seemed my higher that normal, but my speed was slower. I eventually got there at 1:45 after over 5 hours of cycling. Tired and hungry and not looking forward to the return trip.

On arrival I told Richard I had now done around 850 miles on my bike since buying it at the end of December. I was quite pleased with this til he pointed out that I need to be able to do that distance in a week in June. :-(

We had a lovely afternoon with our hosts and the kids, and delicious food. I managed to stay awake and chat as long as the others did, but eventually had to suggest bed (most unlike me to be the first to suggest this).

I was up first this morning. Joseph (Richard and Kirsten's oldest) had serenaded us with his trumpet skills over breakfast, and then dragged me out for a warm-up ride on his bike which was fun. Then JP, a work colleague and friend who lives down the road from Richard and Kirsten, and who had offered to accompany me to Winchester, arrived at 8 on the dot as arranged. After 'Goodbyes' and 'Thankyous', off we set on the return trip.

JP is quicker than I am on the hills. Actually to be precise, he is quicker than me on the flat too, but he is substantially quicker on hills. I tried to blame this on my previous days exertions until I found out that he had gone for a 21 mile run on Saturday which puts my 70 mile ride to shame!! We made Winchester in pretty good time compared to the trip down, and arrived in just under 2 hours. I phoned Jules to let her know my progress, and had a quick snack and a rest with JP.

Having left JP in Winchester I started off on the worst section of the trip down (Alton to Winchester had been really hard work yesterday). It felt like I was flying today. I was much quicker and my heart rate was lower; not having the wind in your face makes so much difference. I managed to make it home in 4.5 hours even though I'd travelled 2 miles further with JP's 'short-cuts' around Brokenhurst & Lyndhurst.

It felt so good to get home having cycled all that way. For a few seconds it felt like a big achievement, then I realised I need to do even more next week....

Lost cadence sensor

I set out for another ride this morning. Only 27 miles (when did the words "only" and "27 miles" get permission to sit next to each other in my vocabulary?!). My bum was a bit sore to start with after the ride on Saturday, but soon warmed up.

As we set off, I noticed my cadence sensor had fallen off - have to order a new one I guess. The ride was good; except my knee was aching a bit on the up-hills. We adjusted the saddle a bit & that seemed to help. We finished the ride in under 2 hours.

On arriving home, I realised I could figure out where I lost my cadence sensor by looking at the route from the Garmin - there would be a point from the ride yesterday where the cadence would go from "something" to "nothing". I found the point on the ride & went to have a look, but it just happened to be near the junction between the Hogs Back and the Farnham road into Guildford - not an ideal place to find a small piece of plastic with a magnet in it.

40 miler!

Ciarán, Simon and I set out for a longer ride this morning. The weather was better than it was supposed to be according to the weathermen, but nonetheless quite blustery which made the going a bit tough at times.

We set out in a similar direction to my 35 mile route, but continued on into Bramley, then Chiddingfold, Haslemere, Hindhead then up to the Hogs Back back to Guildford. It was a good ride, with a particularly horrible hill out of Hindhead right on through Haslemere. According to my Garmin, we went from 200 ft to 850 ft. I need to work on my ascents - but I'm definitely getting better the more I do. The best thing was coming down the hill the other side - we hit 35 mph at one point.

I'm still not quite used to the distance you can achieve on a road-bike. I can't believe I cycled to Haslemere today....