The case of the missing cycling mojo and the look of disbelief. Maybe I am a bit odd?

Over the last few weeks I’ve felt like I’ve lost my cycling mojo. My legs have felt a bit heavy, I’m not flying up the hills and I’m stressing about the upcoming big ride. Then today whilst still wearing my cycling gear I grabbed a coffee before heading to the office for the afternoon. That’s when I had a conversation that I seem to frequently have, but today it had me reflecting. It went something like this: “How far you cycled today?” “oh, just from home, I live near Edgbaston cricket ground, so it’s about 7-8 miles” “wow, that’s quite some distance!” “Well I do it most days so I’m kind of used to it” “So you like cycling, do you do much?” “Ye, quite a bit” “How far do you normally ride?” “Well depends, anything from the 6-7 miles to work up to 50-60 miles with a local cycling club” “Wow!” Now they clearly get that last part, most people understand cycling 50-60 miles, even if they can’t do it themselves, then I go on to: “but I do a lot of long rides, over 100 miles” “That’s a long way, what’s the furthest you’ve ever gone?” This is the question I fear being asked! “well my furthest in one go was about 260 miles” “that’s over a few days?” “No, in one day” At this point I see a slightly vacant look in their eyes. The look of disbelief. Most people clearly cannot put ‘riding a bicycle’ and ‘250 miles’ together. I think, they think I’m lying! I don’t blame them. It was only a few years ago when I had the same response. I really don’t know what to say at this point and the conversation usually ends with me saying something about ‘getting used to it’, ‘each to their own’ and acknowledging that ‘yes, maybe I am a bit odd’. Well I may be odd, but it’s my reality. But today it occurred to me that I need to remind myself that this is my reality and it is a bit odd! Most normal, sane people, including most of the keen cyclists I know, don’t cycle 200+ miles a day for fun. The fact that I choose too knowing that I can, clearly means that I’m doing something right, well in my version of what is right and wrong. This weekend I’m embarking on a 275 mile epic, it will be my longest ever single day ride, and despite the usual pre-ride nerves, I know I can do it and I will enjoy most of it. So in reflection maybe my cycling mojo has not headed of down the A38 on a Tandem with someone else’s and is in fact still there but just playing up a little to reminding me not to take it for granted. Point taken. I need to be better at dealing with the up’s and downs of my cycling adventures. I might not be as quick as I would like this weekend, but I’m out there doing it, and that’s to be enjoyed, not stressed about!

Pictures from day 1 of the 2010 ‘Tour Divide’

I’ve been following the 2745 mile tour divide race now for nearly 3 weeks. Of the 48 people that lined up to start in Banff, Canada there are now only 25 left, 4 of which have already made it to the finish on the Mexican Boarder, including Aiden Harding, the only 1 of 4 Brits that started to still be in.

Some photos of the first day have been posted on the Adventure Cycling Association website along with some short stories. The photos and captions are quite inspirational and provides a small window in to the the world that is the Tour Divide.  Just click on the photo below to see more images.

The red dragon is calling and Cymru awaits…bugger!

Three hundred k’s where red kites soar, from Wrekin to the Sea
Four hundred k’s for Hibernia’s mail, overnight on Telford’s road
Six hundred k’s for Offa’s men, doomed to grimp along the dyke
One thousand for the audax lord, on their Brooks shod throne
In the land of Cymru, where the dragons hills lie…
One ride to rule them all, one ride to find them,
One ride to bring them all, and in the green hills bind them
In the land of Cymru, where the dragons lie…

Well this is it, the big one for this year, the Mille Cymru. Some numbers 1026km, 13,890m of ascent,  75 hours. That’s a 637 mile 3 1/2 day ride around Wales, starting on Friday 23rd July. It’s only just over 3 weeks away and I’m a bit intimated by it right now. I feel unprepared, I’ve not done a long ride now for nearly 4 weeks, or any speed training for 2 weeks. Instead I’ve been to Spain, attended a couple of weddings and in the process gathered up a few extra pounds to lug up those 13,890 metres of Welsh hills. To be honest I was best prepared for this about 2 weeks ago.

I’m sure all will be well in the end as I’ve put in a lot of miles this year in preparation for this ride, and any weight I’ve put on can be lost in the next 3 weeks, as long as I stay away from the beer at next weekend’s wedding and get a few miles in on the bike. Actually I had a thought, between now and the 30th July I will probably cycle 1200 miles, maybe more.

I will post a map of the route nearer the time along with some more pre-ride thoughts as I’ve a few rides planned between now and then, they should help with confidence.

A ride along the Worcestershire Way

There are lot’s of things to write about from the last two weeks. Rach and I went to Spain for my cousins wedding where we also had the pleasure of experiencing the San Juan festival (I will leave it to Rach to write about that one). And then we attended another wedding, this time an old friend, which was fantastic, we got to catch up with lot’s of good friends that we’ve not seen for a while.

But in the last 10 days I’ve ridden about 0 miles! So haven been inspired by much talk of mountain biking at the wedding and following the tour divide (the first person finished this morning) I used my last day of leave to ride a local favorite of mine, the Worcestershire Way.

Rach and I first walked this route about 3 years ago. It’s a nice two day walk from Great Malvern to Bewdley, some 31 miles that takes in hills, woodlands, high open grasslands, apple orchards and crop fields. Back then I figured it would make a nice ride, especially if linked with the North Worcestershire Path to create a 70 mile route from Malvern back to Brum. Now, I know it’s a footpath and it’s not exactly ‘legal’ to cycle on, but much of the route actually follows bridleways, there are only a few sections of footpath which of course I walk/run. It’s actually quite a hard ride, it’s never flat, has a couple of big climbs, and has numerous smaller climbs of well over 20%, and lot’s of gates and styles to clamber over with the bike, so it’s more than just your legs that get a beating, especially when riding the Cotic Roadrat.

It’s the third time I’ve done this route and given that I’ve not been on the bike for 10 days, all went well. The weather was great, my legs ticked along nicely and the views were fantastic. This was my lunch time view.

One day I will ride all the 70 miles back to Brum, but I never seem to allow enough time for that ride.

A weekend in Cornwall

Last weekend Rach had to fulfill her role as Chair of Peacebuilding UK, by attending a meeting of trustees in Cornwall and frankly it would have been rude of me not to go along. We left on Thursday evening and got off to a good start by having take-away pizza en route. I’ve not made the journey to Cornwall for a couple of years but have fond memories from the time when my parents lived there.

Friday was spent relaxing on the beach, it was a glorious day and memories of lazy summer days spend swimming in the sea or open pool at Summerleaze, Bude came rushing back. I’d forgotten my swimming gear so had to make do with the comforting thought that I’d be on the Spanish coast within a few days.

Rachel’s meeting took place on Saturday so I had to entertain myself, what to do? Well go for a ride. I picked a simple out and back route as I did not want to spend time reading maps or route instructions, and being in Cornwall I knew it would be hilly. So it was to be a hilly tempo ride designed to rip my legs, I would ride fixed.

The route went from Bude on the north coast to Looe on the south coast and back, it was roughly 80 miles. As I said earlier, I’ve not ridden much in Cornwall, but what little I have done usually involves a lot of very steep hills. Perfect, I would treat this ride as an out and back 80 mile blast and just hammer all the hills I find on the way.

As you can see, there were quite a few hills! I set off into nice weather, with great views over Cornwall, quiet roads and a gentle tailwind, then at about the 12 mile mark I went down and then back up the first real hill. That was the first of some 14 climbs of over 13% that I counted on the way to Looe and back, one reached 16% and remember I was riding fixed which means I have to pedal down as well as up.

I made it Looe, had a decent coffee, filled my water bottle up and headed back to Bude. By the time I made it to Launceston on the way back, all the hills and my strategy of hitting it hard was beginning to really hurt. The final 10 miles was into a headwind and on the last little steep climb about 4 miles from home a spoke broke in the real wheel. Not another one! That’s two in one month. Looks like I will have to have the wheel rebuilt with new spokes and nipples before I tackle the 1000km ride at the end of July. Oh yes, I’ve not mentioned that before on here, that’s why I’m doing all this riding, and why I’m loving hills. It’s in preparation for the Mille Cymru, a 1000km road ride around Wales with 13,890 meters of climbing, and all on a single speed.  But more on that when I get back from a trip to Spain.

When I arrived back in Bude, Rach was still in the meeting so I chilled in the garden with a pint of water, a malt loaf and finished reading an article ‘The worlds toughest bike race is not in France’.

The Invicta 600 and the lure of India

I’m a bit late with this blog, well about a week.

My non-working day was moved to Friday and the car packed but before we could head to Kent I helped Rach with some filming she’s doing at the moment. There was a time when Rach first stared film making when I would help out quite a lot but it must of been a couple of years now since I last lugged the camera and tripod round as she did her ‘director’ thing and I actually really miss it.

The reason for the visit to Kent was always going to be two fold, first to ride the Invicta 600km audax on the 5th June and to see my family, the star of which is my little niece India.

The ride started at 6am from Sevenoaks Weald Scout hut, a place I last went to at the age of 6-7 when I was a cub scout on a camping weekend, I have great memories of that trip. The route takes you out West on a 400km loop that nearly reaches Salisbury before heading back to Sevenoaks along the North side of the South Downs . The second loop is 200km and takes you east to North Kent before dropping south then back west along the flat areas of mid Kent to finish back at the scout hut. Being a 600km ride you have between 20 & 40 hours to finish, I was planning on being done in 24.

After my 400km ride to Kent a month or so ago I had hoped to get round the first loop by 11pm, maybe quicker as one website had calculated less climbing than the ride to Kent, but the warning bells should of rung when I looked at the route sheets, I’ve never seen so many instructions for 1 ride, there were hundreds and don’t think that any 1 instruction lasted more that 6km.

The ride started as most Audax rides do, with little fuss after a cup of tea, and then a straight up warm up, straight up Hubbards Hill, glad I’d decided to cycle there from my parents house as a warm up. I quickly settled in to the ride with a chap called Richard, a seasoned Auduxer and cycle tourist with years of cycling wisdom.  As I’d feared with so many instructions the ride was bound to be slower than I had hoped and a few of the instructions sent us the wrong way or had us stopped by the side of the road trying to decide where to go. It was a bit odd as many of the rides I’d done this year had been on my own, so to be riding and getting lost with another rider felt a bit strange, and as Richard had ridden the route last year I was looking to him for the lead, think I rather like to take my own lead.

Having looked at the route profile before the ride I’d realised it was going rarely going to be flat, but I was surprised by just how undulating it ended up being and I’m glad I’d decided to experiment with a single speed freewheel on the fixie, at least I could roll down the hills, and keep up with other riders.

As the day drew on so the temperatures went up and I realised how conditioned I’d become to cold weather riding over the winter. I was struggling a bit and developed saddle chaffing brought about by salt crystals from sweat but I’d not manged to catch it early enough ans struggle later as a result. By the time we reached the 200-250km point, south of Andover, I was drinking over a liter an hour as the road surface turned dire and the hills ground on. This was becoming a hard ride! By the time we reached Petersfield I was not enjoying my-self, I was sore and my hands had become numb from the constant vibration for bad roads. After a bit of coffee and a decent sandwich we headed of towards the South Downs and on to roads I’d ridden on my trip to Kent. After only about 5 miles my legs returned as the heat eased off and the surface improved, I flew along the road to Pyecombe, by this time Richard was suffering. The lights came on at Pyecombe for the last section back towards Sevenoaks. I truly like my light set up, an Exposure Endurance on medium setting and a joystick with a three cell picky back on full power, this gives me a good 10 hours of decent light on the road which allows me to maintain my daylight speeds.

Shortly after passing though Ditchling the air become still and the roads were rolling, it was a perfect night for cycling, then a gentle cool breeze picked up from the North. At 11.45pm, we stopped to check the route sheet, then we felt a few spots of rain and we barely had enough time to put our jackets on before rain of a biblical proportions hit us! Unbelievable, it came out of nowhere. We were still some 40 miles from Sevenoaks so we just had to plod on. We had become three by that point so we threw a lot of light on the road, but not as much as the electrical storm that was striking up ahead. I’ve never cycled in anything like it, but it was warm and actually quite enjoyable.

At around 2am we rolled back in to the scout hut to a warm cup of tea. My original plan was to just keep going, to ride the whole 600km, my legs were feeling strong but the storm was still raging outside and the route would take me in to the middle of it. I had to decide weather to sleep with no gear on a hard wooden floor or head to my parents and a warm comfy bed. No brainier really, so back out I went in to the rain knowing that a warm bed awaited me. The plan was to get up at 7am and finish the ride.

At 7am the alarm went off. I still had saddle sores, my hands were still a bit numb and the remaining route just did not inspire me and besides I was in Kent and my niece was to spend the day at my parents, if I went out and rode the rest of the route I’d miss her. I figured that given how strong my legs felt after riding 400km and that as I’d not been able to achieve my plan of a straight through 600 I would gain nothing from going out again, so less than 20 seconds after the alarm went of, I had turned back over to cuddle Rach and enjoy some more sleep.

I spent Sunday eating good food, cleaning the very dirty bike and playing with India. Sometimes there are things better than cycling.

The Tour Divide Video – A 2745 mile mtb race

This Friday, the 2010 Tour Divide races will set out from Banff, Canada to ride 2745 miles off-road across the American Rockies to Finish in Antelope Wells on the US/Mexican Border. It’s a self supported race, no entrance fee, no race support, no pre-arranged help allowed, you go alone!

I first came across this race two years ago during our honeymoon tour round Central Europe, and it captured my imagination. To be honest, my desire to one day have a crack at this race is what drives my ever increasing mileage and adventures, it’s all about ‘toughening myself up to the challenge’ to see if I have what it takes. Does anyone want to join me?

Here is a little clip from a movie made about the 2008 race.

A did not start, a broken spoke and a stiff front end

It’s been a little while since I last blogged and there are also some things that I just omitted to say, so this is a bit of a catch up.

First up is my realisation that doing 400 +km rides take a lot out of you. Back at the end of April I rode to Kent, and whilst it was enjoyable it was very hard at the end. Then two weeks later I blogged about the 600km Brian Chapman. I was feeling strong, rested and ready to face it. I was all packed and ready to go to Chepstow when I realised that I could not face the mental effort required to ride 600km. Sure, it’s a long way and it makes you physically tired, but it seems the memory of the pain at the end of the 400 two weeks earlier was still to fresh in my head. That’s when I realised that ultra distance events are more than just about your physical fitness, there’s a whole mental fatigue thing well. I figured that it was not critical for my training plan and the ‘big summer ride’ would not suffer. So I did-not-start, drank some wine with Rach and enjoyed a weekend celebrating my father-in-laws 60th birthday. So I still have unfinished business with that ride, but plans for next year mean it might have to wait until 2012.

Then last Thursday I was planning a long day ride on the fixie down to and round the Cotswolds. I follow the Beacon Roads CC  Cotswolds Expedition Audax route, revamped for this year. It’s a great 213km route that starts just south of Brum near Wythall. However, the night before on my way back from meetings in Worcester a spoke broke in the rear wheel, so looks like I would not be riding the fixie round the Cotswolds. That was OK but I knew that this coming weekend I really wanted to ride it on my next 600km as it’s just a more comfy bike to ride. Based an passed experiences I knew it might take a while to get it sorted, this was not looking good. Then I remembered Ben and Venture Cycles in Stirchley. So in I rolled, had a chat and Ben appeared at my house an hour later to collect the wheel. He thought he’d be able to get it done the next day and sure enough whilst out around the Cotswolds I received the call, all sorted. Fantastic, wheel fixed! I like his shop, it’s just repairs, I’ll be back Ben.

So the Cotswold ride happened on the roadrat which I really have decided is not suited for long rides on bumpy roads. The problem being two fold, first the forks are straight bladed and made of robust steel which means every little bump comes straight up through front of the bike and in to your hands which gets really wearing after a number of hours. And secondly, the wheels were built to be bomb prof, which they are, but they are heavy and again stiff. These combine to make the roadrat great for touring with wider tires and a lot of fun of-road but it makes long fast road rides more arduous than they already are. Despite that, I enjoyed the new Beacon Roads Audax route and went round the 150 miles in 9 hours, which means I’m getting quicker.

The plan this weekend is to head to Kent for a 600km ride. I will tell you about it if I do it as it seems to be a bad omen if I write about a ride before I do it.

A local 10 mile time trial

All over the country during the summer months local cycling clubs hold weekly 10 mile time trials. They are strange affairs, men and a few women dressed in tight Lycra and pointy hats, on bikes that look dam right uncomfortable trying to ride 10 miles as fast as possible.  The current UK record holder is Bradley Wiggins with a time of 17:58 (that’s him below, not me).

My local 10 mile time trail is run by Worcestershire Road Club on the K37/10P course (I don’t actually know what that means) on Tuesday nights. So last night I decided to go along for the first time in maybe 4 years too see how fast I could ride my totally inappropriate touring/cyclocross bike round the 10 miles. I was number 16 so set of at about 7.30 and proceeded to turn myself in-side out for 24 minutes. Yep, 24 minutes, that’s a whole 6 minutes and 2 seconds slower than Bradley Wiggins! In my defense he was probably riding a bike and wearing clothes at the cutting edge of aerodynamic technology where in stark contrast there is not a single thing about my bike or the clothes I wear that has been designed with going fast in mind. But despite that, I seemed to put in a decent time compared to some of the others riders there, so that made me happy.

Whilst I plan to do a few of these over the summer to help with my speed on the bike, what I really like about club time trials, as with Audax rides, is that it’s just not complete without a cup of tea and mars bar at the end. Fantastic!

Next Ride, the 600km Brian Chapman Memorial

Brian Chapman was by all accounts a slightly miserable cyclist who lived in Bristol and rode a bike made in or around Menai, North Wales. When ever he needed work doing on the bike he would cycle from Bristol across Wales to Meni to see the frame builder, and then cycle back again. He died a number of years ago of cancer and the Brian Chapman Memorial ride was born.

The ride starts just over the Seven River from Bristol in Chepstow and weaves it’s way through Wales up to the Menai Bridge before heading south again to arrive back in Chepstow some 600km (372 miles) later. As with all Audax rides there are time constants, for this ride no faster than 20 hours, no slower than 40.

I first heard of this ride some 4 or 5 years ago when attempting a 200km Audax with Simon. People on the ride were telling us about their friends riding across Wales that weekend, some 600km, I could not believe that it was possible. By the way it was also on that Audax that I was first inspired to ride a fixed gear bike (another story.) Roll forward a few years to 2009 and I found myself at the start in Chepstow at 6am on my fix gear looking North, and totally confidant that I’d finish in good time.

I did not finish, I bonked big style at the top of the Elan Valley reservoirs whist cycling into a headwind and torrential rain. It seems that riding fixed with a lot of luggage was just too much for me. I limped it to Mchynlleth and quite happy climbed on a train bound for Birmingham and home. I’d managed 240km of the 600km. Wales had beaten me good and proper!

So I’m going back again this year to have another go over the 15th -16th May. I’m a little bit wiser, better prepared (I hope) and stronger. I’m also taking gears, so I can enjoy the long downhill sections. So when your running from another shower this weekend, or flicking the heating back on, spare a thought for those poor silly soles crossing Wales twice on their bikes.

But then again if I’m digging for sympathy, this weekend a mountain biker, Richard Holes, will be attempting to cycling from Cardiff to Caernathon some 204 miles of-road in under 22 hours! Now that’s a tough ride! And if I ever get a suitable mountain bike, that’s where all these long rode rides will take me, back to where I really enjoy riding a bike.

The long way to Kent

Well, as I posted on Friday the plan for Saturday was to ride 250 miles from Birmingham to my parents house in Kent via some of the best roads in South England. I’ve been building up the miles slowly this year, having done 4 x 200km (124 miles) rides, a couple of 300km (186 miles) the next step was a 400km (248 miles).  I had planned to do this last weekend but decided that spending the night with Rachel and a couple of beers was actually what I wanted and needed to do.

So at 3.30 am my alarm went off, I heard the rain outside and I promptly fell back to sleep. When I woke up at 5.40 am the rain had stopped, I was up 2 hours behind my schedule but at least it was dry, no worries. I was out the door for 6am, well after a quick bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee. It’s cycling through town at 6 in the morning, weaving my way to Kings Heath, heading out towards the Peacock pub and crossing the M42. By 7am I could see the Cotswolds in the distance and the dry roads were telling me that it had only rained in Birmingham, and made me question if I should have left earlier as I had no real idea of how long it would take to finish.

I took a new route through the Cotswolds heading past Broadway Tower and towards Winchcombe and then on to Burford. With the first 100km done before 10am, I was going well helped on by the unexpected glorious blue sky’s and stunning views from the hills across the Vale of Evesham. The recent days rain had turned the new growth a vibrant green that is only seen in Spring!

My legs span and the miles continued to roll past without much effort and I soon climbed on to the North Wessex Downs and on past Hungerford. It was whilst following signs for Ham south of Hungerford that I hit the first hill that made me walk, no point trying to be a hero. Before I knew it, I was following the river Swift keeping a steady 20mph and heading towards Winchester. All was going well, but I could see the forecast heavy rain clouds gathering on the horizon. Well, the rain held off but following an old roman road for 9 miles from Wherwell to Winchester became a real grind as a head wind had picked up.

I arrived in Winchester at the 136 mile mark in just over 8 hours, it was then that I realized that getting to Kent before midnight was actually on the cards, but best be careful as there was still 114 miles to go. After some food I set of to follow the South Downs for the next 55 miles. Just after Petersfield the rain finally hit, but it was actually quite nice. I’d started to feel a bit tired and it helped to wake me up but I was quite happy when it stopped only 10 minutes later. The back lanes I’d picked hugged the north side of the South Downs, taking me through woodlands, downs little valleys and up my second 16% hill, and my second walk.

The 300km (186 mile) point came as I rolled in to a BP forecourt at Storrington. It was 6pm, which meant I’d managed to ride 300km in 12 hours on the fixie which was quite an achievement and equalled my fastest time for a 300km. At this point I only had another 100km (62 miles) to go and it was clear I should be able to get in well before midnight, actually 10pm was possible, but there was still a considerably hilly section still to ride for the last 30 miles.

I left Storrington at 6.20pm after a phone call, still wondering when the rain would really hit. After, Ditchling I was back on familiar roads and knew there was no more than 45 miles to go. Night time fell, on came the lights and I passed a few curries houses, ohh so tempting to stop as the final climbs started and I was felling the 350km in my legs, on I pushed dreaming of being able to sit down and stop pedaling.

The road weaved its way in to and on to the top of Ashdown Forest, a place I should come and explore one day with Rach. I passed a lot of deer on the road side and I promptly ride down a hill in the wrong direction, I was getting tired and my light was reflecting so badly of the plastic covering my maps that I could not see the route. Turn around, back up the hill and over the heath before descending down Black Hill towards Groombridge. My hands, legs and arse all complained about the prolonged downhill and I had to stop, going down was becoming a real effort, but not as much as climbing. Coming out of Groombridge it happened, the bonk! At the top of the climb I had to stop, eat the last part of a Sandwich, and rest. On I pushed in to Fordcombe, waves of dizziness came over me, the glare of the maps just too much to handle so I collapsed on a bench turned of my lights, and sat in the peaceful darkness for a few minutes. I found my emergency Sneakers bars, that went in a few seconds, half a little of water and half an energy bar. I removed my maps as I could navigate from here without them and set of again feeling slightly refreshed.

With the bonk dealt with, I span my way through the last 12 miles of hills, slowly counting them of. Finally I reached the last hill, up past Ightham mote, a 1:8 that used to strike fear into me as a kid, it got me of the bike for a third walk. From the top all that remained was a gentle downhill spin of 1.5 miles to my parents house.

I arrived at 10.30pm, knackered but not totally wiped out. But what a nice feeling to know that I had no further to go.

So I made it, still can’t quite get my head around it when I look at the map of the route I’d taken. I’d ridden all that way, in one go, on the fixie, on my own in 16 1/2 hours, I’d surprised even myself.  In reflection it was easier than I thought, and despite some low points near the end I’d not really suffered too much, no need for the mp3. What I did need to do was eat a little bit more in the final 100km, and drink a little more water. The bike, as always worked flawlessly and the rain never arrived.

Next big ride is the Brian Chapman Memorial, 600km (372 miles) from South Wales to North Wales and back again over the 15th – 16th May. Don’t really want to do it fixed, but might well do.

B12 - TN15 map

Birmingham to Ightham – 243 miles

Well the plan to cycle the South Downs Way this weekend has been put on hold for a bit, mainly due to dental work, so I’ve decided to cycle to my parents in Kent instead. So I’ve planned a nice route, taking in some of my favorite places to cycle on the road bike in Southern England. The Cotswolds, the North Wessex Downs, the South Downs, the Kent Wield and to finish on top of the the Greensand ridge in view of the North Downs. I’ve used Bikehike.co.uk to map the route for the first time which tells you distance, elevation and allows access to OS maps which you can print and allows export of the route to a GPS device. I’ve put some of the route details below. I plan to leave at 5am tomorrow (Saturday) and hope to arrive before midnight, 19 hours later. Looking at the weather forecast I might have to use the fixie as that’s the only bike I have with proper mudguards. It will be the longest ride I’ve ever done on my own and I’m sure I will have to fight a few demons along the way to keep going. Right, I’d better prep the bike, load up the mp3 and get ready for this afternoons dental work (2 bridges), what fun!

B12 - TN15 map

B12 - TN15 Elevation

B12 - TN15 distance

South Downs double – should I?

Well, this is a challenge that I have been aware of ever since a very good friend of mine asked me to join him in a childhood dream to ride the South Downs way during August 2008. The South Downs Way weaves it’s way for 100 miles from Winchester to Eastbourne and on that occasion we only made it to the 80 mile point before it got to dark and we had to pack it in. But we went back during May 2009, faffed less and finished in 12 hours.

What I became aware of when planning the ride in 2008, was that a small but growing number of people had ridden the South Downs Way double, which as the name suggests means ridding the 100 miles from Winchester to Eastbourne and then turning around and ridding the 100 miles back again all in under 24hours, and unsupported! The current record holder is Ian Leitch 18h 3m 12s. but everyone has their story which makes for inspiring reading.  South downs double articles – BIKEmagic

Now, it’s just an idea, as it’s been for two years, but I reckon I might just be able to do that in under 24 hours. My riding is going well this year, I know the route, I now have the experience to ride that distance unsupported and it looks like I may have the 1st bank holiday in May free with access to the car. The only real glitch in the plan is the bike, but I think the roadrat kitted out with 38c tires will be fine, if not ideal.

We shall see if I decide to do it, if not during May then maybe August?

The Balti Triangle – A Short Film

Living in Birmingham, and in particular Balsall Heath, we have a local tradition known as the ‘Balti’. Yes, the nationally and maybe international renowned Indian fast food meal has it’s roots round the corner. If you have ever wondered about how the dish was first created, and what makes a Balti then the Guardian has just posted a short film. For those of you that have visited the Ladypool Road, you will notice a few of our favorite shops.

The Dean – 186 miles

Last year I started doing seriously long bike rides, mainly because of my need to train for a stupidly long ride during July that I had been conned into riding by a work colleague (thanks Phil!).  Needless to say he did not ride it. Anyway, up until March last year the furthest I had ever ridden on a bike was 146 miles, and it near killed me, so when I rolled up to the start of the 300km (186 miles) Dean Audax event it was with real apprehension. That was my first ride with the big boys of long distance cycling. As it goes, the ride last year went very well, it was a great route and I completed the ride with a fellow fix gear rider in 13 hours. So I had no doubt that I would come back this year to ride it again.

The route takes you from a 6am start in Oxford heading North West into the Cotswold’s to Stow-on-the-Wold then West to Winchcombe and Newent before riding though the glorious Forest of Dean. The ride then takes you briefly into Wales at Chepstow before heading East back over the Severn Bridge to Malmesbury, before dropping South East over the Ridgeway to Marlborough and then back North to Oxford. I love this route as it takes in some of the best scenery in South England.

I’d traveled down to the Oxford by train the night before and used my new YHA membership. Last year I had ridden my fix gear bike, and that had been the plan again this time, but on the Wednesday before the ride my rear rim decided to explode (due to excessive winter wear) so I had to take the Roadrat, my touring and do everything and anything bike. So I had gears to play with this time, but that gave an idea. As I had managed to ride the 186 miles in 13 hours last year without any gears, could I do it this year with gears in 12? Now that is a tall order as it really is a long way, and if you get it wrong and tire too early, it’s a very, very long way to the finish! But hell, it was worth a try.

So off I went, cycling with other riders until about the 40 mile point where a hill split me from the guy (Paul) I had ridden a few events with last year.  It turns out that my winter cycling had paid of as I was able to happily float up the hills. What I did not realise was, apart from a short section later, that was the last time I would really cycle with another rider for the whole day, bugger! I was going well and pulled into Chepstow at about midday just as the heavens opened, yep welcome to Wales. Chepstow was half way, so I’d done 15okm in 6 hours, so I just had another 150km to do in 6 hours to make it back in 12. It could be done as the second part of the ride is flatter and there was a slight tailwind. As soon as the rain eased of I went with a rider from the VC 167 club in North Yorkshire to chase the rain cloud. The VC 167 rider and I soon parted company and I was on my own again, this time chasing a guy I knew to be ahead of me by some 10 mins. And I chased, and chased and chased all the way to Oxford but never caught him. Turns out that he was just the carrot on the stick that I needed, despite being totally knackered toward the end I pushed on to make Oxford and 300km by 6.05pm! Close as damn it to 12 hours, job done!

Hitting the 12 hour mark was a real achievement for me, but it was riding most of that distance alone that was a bigger achievement. Sure it’s tough when you get tired when riding with other people, but the camaraderie will pull you through, when you’re on your own, well.. you’re on your own, and it can really hurt.

I plan to come back next year and do it all again, who knows, maybe with the right weather and wheels I can make 11 hours?

Playing with Google Street View – and wishing I’d not!

I’m signed up to do this ride in April that takes me up the Devil’s Stair case in Wales from Abergwesyn to Tregaron. As Google maps have just released new street view files for most of the country I thought I’d have a look at the Devils Stair case. Anyway, this is what I saw:

Then it looks like this on the first hairpin bend:

View Larger Map

And then looking back at the first hairpin from the second:

View Larger Map

I decided not to look any further up the road! I will wait till I get there next month. What fun!

Somewhere in France

R0014608, originally uploaded by Rach and James.

This is just a little test to be honest. This short clip was taken using my pocket camera whilst heading south somewhere in France. If I remember correctly it was south of Condom heading toward the Pyrenees on my 4th day in France. It was a great day for cycling, the roads were flat and the heat had backed of just a little from the previous day. As you can see I was looking a little tired by this point.

James’s Porn

This is my idea of a porn video, bike porn…and attending this event would be like a visit to a brothel. Well maybe not, but you get the idea…

Mr Pickwick’s March Madness

I’m not a member of some modern Birmingham based Pickwick club, instead this is the name of my first organised bike ride of the year. Like the “Pickwickians” we shall be making a journey to remote places far from London, and maybe like the Pickwickians I shall be able to report on my studies in to the “quaint and curious phenomena of life”. The subject under study this weekend is the ‘British Randonneur‘ a creature that I have become increasingly familiar with over the last couple of years, but one that still remains strange to me! But something bothers me, I’m taking a completely normal cycling friend and exposing him to this strange creature for the first time. Hope this does put him on the slippery slope to become one, as may be happening to me?

Anyway, the route does take us to places remote from London such as the Malvern Hills, the Forest of Dean and even into Wales at Chepstow, before following the river Seven through Gloucester where, having looked at the weather forecast, I hope not to follow in the footsteps of Dr Foster.

Things come together

Today, the weather, my day off and new bike set up have all coincided. So as soon as I’ve finished my porridge I’m off to Cannock chase to go play with a new monster cross set up on the Roadrat. Just hope I don’t have a repeat of yesterdays puncture nightmare!