Target achieved!

10,000 reasons to be cheerful - I've done it  and a whole 5 weeks ahead of the year end!

So there I was cycling home this evening, knowing that my aim of cycling 10,000 miles this calendar year was going to be reached and surpassed, as i arrived home - Where were the crowds of well wishers, the trumpet fanfare, the across street banner to herald my arrival? - Sadly they were absent, but actually the important thing was that I knew, and my legs were pretty aware of it too!

I even succumbed to a celebratory beer!

So a few facts:

• 10,000 miles equates to roughly 16,093 kilometres for all you Europeans.
• 10,000 miles in 330 days works out at an average of cycling just over 30miles for every calendar day this year!
• Actual cycling time has been just under 584 1/2 hours or 24.3ish days!
• Average Speed just over 17mph.
• Total number of individual rides - 383, ranging from a couple of miles to the longest day at 135miles
• Over 574,210 Calories (kcal) burned 

Now what challenge to do next...? (other than having a tilt at 11,000 miles before new year?)

Derbyshire again...

Winnats Pass from the top!

ToTP was not enough, i needed another hill fix before the year was out so coincidentally combined with a mid week break to the Peaks, i smuggled my bike onto the back of the car when no one was looking and hey presto another crack at Winnats Pass and Mam Tor was on the cards.

The plan
get up early two mornings running, and get out do a circuit of 20miles or so involving some hills.
The execution
Got up early - check
managed 20ish miles each day - check,
Hills? - well I did do a circuit involving Winnats and Rushup Edge before descending Mam Tor the first day but had to pause for breath going up Winnats, my lungs were cooked!
Day 2 was a flat spin around the valley floor befor finishing with a blast up and then back down Mam Tor - fared slightly better here other than losing my back light on the descent!

Posh bike has now been effectively mothballed until Spring, no more daylight commuting for me so out comes the Scott, and a subtle reminder I need to get that singlespeed conversion done on the trek too...?!

PS Circa 9200 miles completed ytd!!!!

PPS Simon has suggested a crack at the Fred Whitton next year - ouch, I can feel my legs already - 9 or 10 lake district passes, all of them in the 100 greatest climbs in the UK book by Simon Warren - its gonna hurt!

We are the Champions...of the WORLD!

Q:- Copenhagen, September 25th 2011, circa 3pm - where were you?

A:- Watching Cav and Team GB absolutely boss the Worlds Road Race from End to End, and end up with Cav as World Champ - Bring it On!

Tour of Britain - by bike!

OK, almost an oxymoron i guess as what else would you travel on for the Tour of Britain but what i mean is I set myself the challenge of cycling from home to the start to mingle with the bikes and riders in Bury St Edmunds and watching the peleton depart, before cycling onto Sandringham to soak up the atmosphere and see the finish and then cycle home again! 135 miles in under 8 hours = a great day out!!!!

See Route / Details HERE

Below is "Toby" busting some moves in the finish strait.

The Future's Bright, the Future is...British?

Yep that's right British Cycling is on the up - quite literally!

Wiggo & Froome finishing 3rd and 2nd respectively in the Vuelta is no mean feat, and both of their individual consistent performances across the three weeks bode well for the future.

Team Sky after maybe a slow start have a pretty decent palmares for 2011 now, and who knows when the ToB restarts tomorrow after todays stage cancellation due to extreme winds, can Geraint Thomas or Swifty get the overall there too?

Personally my mileage continues to climb and will break through the 8000 mile barrier this week - especially as I shall be tracking Stage 7 of the ToB by bike - cycling Norwich to Bury St Edmunds, Bury St Edmunds to Sandringham, and then Sandringham back to Norwich - 130 miles in a day - Come on!

TOTP2011 - The Report

(NB:-That's Tour of the Peak, not Top of the Pops!) All in all a brutal day out on the bike!

Overcast, but warm was how the day started as we left the campsite in Ashbourne at around 6am for the drive north to the start at Chapel en le Frith Leisure Centre

First in line at the start (didn't last), the first 2 miles were qucikly despatched, but then the road went up (and up) and we hadn't even reached the first of the three main climbs! This set the scene - lumpy was to be the terrain - every uphill, would have its own often terrifying downhill attached, but what goes down, must go up (again!)

20 miles in and we reached the outskirts of Macclesfield and with it the start of the Cat and Fiddle climb (see pic above) a gradual climb up to the Cat and Fiddle pub, initially climbing through trees and then out onto bleak moorland. The reward was a circa 40mph descent towards Buxton, before more lumpyness ensued.

33 miles in we reached Tideswell, and with it the first feed station - quick toilet break, and then energy drinks re-stocked and cake eaten and off we went with one thought in mind - "next stop" Winnats Pass...

A crazy often blind cornered descent into Castleton was enjoyed (?), before the inevitable was reached - greeted by the cheery sign below - it was time to go upwards as never before!

 Engaging a relatively low gear, it wa time to focus on the tarmac 3 feet in front of my front wheel and grind it out for the next 10-15mins (never has just over a mile seemed to last so long!). Halfway up, you can see the determination in my face, and a small bonus of having passed and dropped a few riders in my wake

Almost as the hill was crested and the final cattle grid reached, a familiar car came over the horizon with its occupants madly waving - I would like to believe that i waved forcefully back at my family and smiled, but i think it was more of a quick hand up and a grimace!

Up and over Mam Tor, and then another crazy downhill into the Hope valley and past Edale, popping out of the valley road in Hope (almost back where we had come from when entering Castleton). Onwards pst Ladybower Reservoir and some amazing views from the viaduct before turning North again and onto Feed Station 2 at 67miles-ish - Another Pub, the Waggon and Horses @ Langsett - alas the landlady was not a cycling fan it would appear as somewhere in translation she had not realised that 300 of us would descend upon her establishment - all desperate to use the facilities - ho hum, more drinks/food and off for the 3rd and final (yeah right) climb - Holme Moss.

Holmfirth famed for its Last of the Summer Wine connections was passed through fairly quickly and for a few hundred metres or so, a small shower threatened to rain on my particular parade, but it soon passed and as the road kicked on ever upwards the vast radio mast atop "The Moss" came into view, and there it would stay for a good few minutes more as the climb steadily continued - painted on the road was a countdown from 1.25miles to go downwards, which initially i thought would be good, but I soon settled for an alternative opinion that it was just depressing seeing how long I had taken to go each 1/4 mile!

Another great 40mph descent and then it was on around Woodhead Reservoir and onto Glossop and beyond Hayfield - somewhere along this stretch the family again had parked up and cheered us through complete with our names chalked on the road - quite a moment!

A few more lumps and then a descent into Chapel en le Frith (see below)

Finally the Start/Finish was reached and I exchanged my bike number (5854) for my goody bag - more High5 nutrition products plus a Kilo to Go buff, the leisure centre was also serving chilli and rice for £3 - genius! (so I indulged myself)

So the tale of the tape was 7hrs 11mins cycling time, not awesome, but under the 8 hours i had secretly wanted to be under (slightly miffed that on reflection 7 hrs wasn't breached but there's always another year...

Actually Simon's words were classic atop Holme Moss - "well that's another one (climb) off the list and it's no going back on either!"

Next challenge...?

TDF in review

In a word - CAV!

So as far as my predictions went, I had both Schlecks and Evans in my podium possibles, so close but no cigar there. Green Jersey I did get right, White was an abysmal guess - who is Robert Gesink or rather where was he? Polka Dot again i failed big time. The Shack imploded too

All in all a great tour the highlights for me:
Gilbert was a breath of fresh air - attacking all over the place.
Cav with 5 stages and green was in great form - off to Sky next year or not?
Sad to see Wiggo crash but there's aways next year, Geraint Thomas was immense.
Schleck attacking before the Galibier - brilliant.
Voeckler - quite simply amazing.
Hoogerland and Flecha - Heroes.
Evans - slow and sure wins the race (not including blitzing all but one in the final TT!)

Well done Mr Prudhomme - encore encore!

As for me 6654miles completed ytd and under 3 weeks till TOTP - more soon!!!

Book Plug + TDF Predictions

Still cycling lots of miles have tipped over the 5500 mark but more about that in another posting sometime...

So Father's Day came and went, and with it I acquired 2 new books, Ned Boulting's "How I Won the Yellow Jumper" and David Millar's "Racing Through the Dark: The Fall and Rise of..."

Have read them both in just over a week, and enjoyed them both immensely. HIWTYJ is a mix of anecdotes from the tour featuring the players from the past 8 years written in a humerous style, The Fall and Rise is a biography of DM, charting his early success his descent into drugs, his ban and then his resurrection into a staunch anti doper and his career since with Saunier Duval and now Garmin. Slaying the Badger, Sky's the Limit and Robbie McEwen's Autobiography are all next on my shopping list!

So onto this years Grande Boucle, Le Tour, the TDF, the French lap, all the way round the hexagon and other pseudonyms.

The Jersey's
Yellow - Andy Schleck
Green - Mark Cavendish
White - Robert Gesink / Roman Kreuziger
Polka Dot - No idea really with the rule changes but will go for David Moncoutie

As for the rest of the podium, Bertie will be there or thereabouts as will Schleck senior and as an outside maybe Evans?

Obviously I would love to see Brad Wiggins top 5 if not on the podium, and would also like to see The Shack represented in the Top 10, with Levi, Horner, Brajkovic and Kloden they must be in with a shout surely?

Looking forward to the ITV4 coverage with Phil & Paul on commentary and then Chris, Ned, Gary and Matt on analysis. It all kicks off Saturday 2nd July 12.00pm - I will be there!

Halfway & TOTP

Currently halfway on 2011 target (5000 miles done!), which is around 4 weeks ahead of mileage achieved last year.

Next target looming is Tour of the Peak - under 9 weeks to go, and already those hills (Cat and Fiddle, Winnats Pass and Holme Moss), combined with the distance (97 miles) appear daunting!

Pretty challenging, living in Norfolk to find decent and sufficient hills to practise on, suffice to say that every day I ride, I will be including a hill, where I can, nd i am also aiming to do repeated hill work, 1 ride per week - ave speed will drop, but strength will rise?!

Weather continues to be generally warm and dry - problem is, i get really jarred off every time it does rain now as it is so unexpected!

In other news, Wiggo wins the Dauphine - Get in! Tour de Suisse is underway, and the Tour de France loms, with Bertie confirming his attendance - UCI & others are rubbish at making decisions, creating more embarrassment for a great sport. TDF predictions to follow, in a week or two...

Norwich 100 - the report

First century ride of the year - the C2C team re-united, plus others seconded in, or were we seconded to them - hmm - anyway there was a posse of 6 that started the event at circa 7.15 yesterday morning.

The lads from London, had confessed their desire to do a sub-5hr, and although a reasonable start, they soon got itchy feet and took off, a couple of miles before Reepham, but we were progressing well, and despite forecasts of a 25km/h NE wind, were hitting some decent speeds and consistently overtaking riders without being overtaken ourselves, a brief stop at around 30 miles gone, at Hindringham before pushing on to Sheringham High School for the compulsory lunch stop at around 45miles gone - who eats lunch at 10am in the morning? 18 mph average to this point, so all good (the sub-5hr boys were ahead, but still around 10mins off schedule)

'Lunch' consumed it was on round the coast for what was to be the fastest stint of the ride - easy to say looking back through the old rose tinted specs, but we were flying, it wa like an express train powering round the coast road, pickig up ridersand leaving tehm in our wake - in fact we were only overtaken once on the road by a group of club cyclists just prior to Sea Palling. Arriving at Horsey Mill, and a welcome cup of coffee and comfort break, before hopping back onboard for the final push for home (25 to go) - at this point a sub 5.30 was more than do-able.

With wind favourable now, yet strangely had not felt it truly behind all day we clicked off the miles before it was evident that my rear tyre was getting breathless around Coltishall. Admitting defeat at Spixworth, a quick inspection confirmed a slow puncture but with 4 to go a quick blast of air and back on. now intermingling with the 50 riders too we were again able to pass people at will, and arrived safely back at the cathedral in 5hrs10 for the start to finish of the route (98ish miles), with around 5hrs 17 being recorded for an actual 100miles.

The Bromley boys done good with 4.57, but being only 13 minutes back felt pretty good.
It remained for us to pick up our certificates / medals and soak up the atmosphere in the cathedral grounds. All in all, 2011 - a good year!

Same again?!

You are a winner! - Well I am anyway.

Yep I won a competition, not strictly speaking a cycling competition per se but cycling helped!

Endomondo, a great site for recording workouts for almost any sport via direct mobile app or uploading your GPS results, run a series of virtual challenges each month, with various prizes on offer. I have been recoding data on the site for a year or so and "participate" in many of the challenges - "winning" some but always "competing".

Anyhow I was one of three winners for the April comp and will have some new kit heading my way as pictured above!

Elsewhere I have crashed through 4000miles for the year and with the Norwich 100 2 weeks away am looking forward to putting the miles in the legs to some serious effort! An ever growing potential posse of riders, there could be 7 or 8 of us forming a peleton on the day.

Great weather continues, and although chilly starts are the norm, the wet stuf is still absent, just a bit gusty at times - but as this is Britain, what would there be to remark upon if we did not have variable weather?

In other news Horner wins Amgen Tour of California, a great week for Team Radioshack, with Levi in 2nd and Bertie looks to be on for the Giro (hoping that he is not retrospectively dumped for that steak incident). Sad but it almost looks like no one else has "turned up" for the race.

The death of Wouter Weylandts, during the 1st week of the Giro was devastating for the sport, and illustrates how ragile life is - there but for the grace of God. RIP WW108.

Elsewhere Tyler Hamilton has fingered Lance for EPO / doping and other shenanigans. Truth is I don't know, but i still find it hard to believe - Innocent until proven guilty is and should remain as the stand that is taken. The internet is alive with the Lance haters, but no-one is brave enough to stick their head up above the parapet in support - the story will run and run, but I for one hope that the legend continues.

Normal Service is Resumed...

Aaah back to work, well for a day and then a long weekend, and then a 3 day week and then a long weekend and then a 4 day week and then a....

Bank holidays don't you love em? - just an additional excuse to get out and ride - huh?

Rounded off April with a celebratory Royal Wedding ride of 60miles, making it a (colossal?) 1144miles for the month - #30DaysOfBiking - well missed a few days but got out on seperate rides 33 times, and it hasn't rained once! - YTD figures up to 3500miles!

Looking forward to the Giro, but disappointed that Ballan has been exposed as a doper, slowly slowly catchy monkey(s) i guess? #FantasyCyclign is a lot of fun too - currently residing 488th out of 2000-odd teams.

Wind has dropped again today, with sunshine still remaining so hopefully a few more miles will be churned out this week too

Sabbatical - the last days

Sorry, got a bit lax with my updates, but here goes for days 25 - 31:
More cycling needless to say - sun is out and its been hot so what else would you do huh?
Thurs   42.45 miles
Fri        22.07 miles
Sat       22.08 miles
Sun      Day off!
Mon     43.35 miles
Tues     Day off!
Weds   58.47 miles

As you can see, plenty of miles and all on the posh bike too!

Day 26 & 27 was back on LT Foundations with John Groves on Pastoral Theology - a good couple of days, on Sunday, (Day 28) I went to Kings @ Mile Cross and spent the morning helping with their children's work - great fun!

The final few days of the sabbatical in amongst the cyclign aforementioned have been spent decirating the dining room and associetd jobs / tasks - back to work for a rest soon...!

Sabbatical Days 17-24 Riding pretty much plus some other stuff!

Title says it all I think?!

So rides in numbers were:
Weds - 56.79 miles
Thurs - 52.48 miles
Fri -  56 miles (with Simon)
Sat 29.81 miles
Sun - NO RIDE (boo!)
Mon - 43.56 miles & 17.44 miles
Tues 29.76 miles
Weds 24.32 miles & 25.73 miles

Posh bike getting a serious workout, as you can see plus did 1 ride on the Scott, but need to get the freewheel checked as it isn't (freewheeling that is). - Cutting a groove of getting up before the lark and doing a couple of hours thus keeping the day free - oh sabbatical I love thee..!

Met with Wouter @ Kings last Thursday - a good chat and catch up, before he moves on to a New Frontiers Church in Peterborough. Visited St Catherine's on Sunday, fairly traditional service, but know some of the people there so not too painful, also visited Andy Jones' holiday Club in Wymondham on Tuesday - great effort in preparation - a Chocolate factory with very cool cyclone machine (think grab a grand cubicle or crystal dome) loads of helpers too - hmm perhaps I could get some tips on team attraction / retention...

A week left, with nothing formal planned except LT foundations and a visit to Kings Mile Cross on Sunday (oh and maybe a ride or two as well...?!)

Sabbatical Day 16 - Riding in the wind & selling stuff

Another day, another ride!

Despatched wife and daughter off to work and college course placement, then it was just the boys remaining. Precipitation overnight made it look iffy, but i went with the BBC's forecast and went out with the aim of completing 50miles on the posh bike.

18mph maintained or first hour and a half to the mid-way point (27miles), then I turned into the wind and almost stopped! - 1 hour 52mins for the other half of the ride.

After devouring a hearty lunch, someone rang about the table and chairs on Gumtree, and popped round later and paid for them to pick up on Weds, an also expressed an interest in our dresser unit, so may even sell that tomorrow too?

The wanderers returned, and following a quick tea, I went out for an hour or so for a coffee with a mate, then arrived back to a conundrum of a cake that had been baked but no box big enough - so off to Asda to buy one - as ever go for one thing buy 5 things - ho hum...

Sabbatical Day 15, School hols begin for some, Cycling and Coffee

Easter holidays have commenced (well Ryan is now off school anyway - think the rest of the world don't break up till Friday?).

Strange day weather wise, had most of the options at one point or another, although managed to sneak out for a 2hr stint whilst it was dry but still windy - just shy of 39 miles clocked up.

Then off out for coffee with my extremely beautiful wife, to the newly re-opened "The Tea House", just off Elm Hill, a friend has just taken it over with his brother-in-law.

After our bargain dining room table purchase at Next at the weekend (£83 for a £335 table - they were selling off all shop stock due to a re-fit) we managed to sell our sdeboard on Gumtree, and are hoping to sell some other furniture too, including our existing dining room table and chairs.

Lazy evening, bit of ironing, concluding part of Waking the Dead, folowed by Twenty Twelve, BBC4's very funny poke at the olympics, and off to bed...

Sabbatical Days 11-14 Long Ride, 2 Short Rides, Gardening, Quiz, First Taste and zzzzz

Thursday dawned and with it wet roads and drizzle - yuck! Wind was also blowy from the South West. So being a fickle so and so, thought i'd wait till it dried before departing, so mid morning off i went, very quick first hour, but then paid the price for the blustery conditions - 70miles in around 4 hours.

Friday and Saturday saw the start of both 30 days of biking and the peoples grand tour (2 online "events" to get people to ride every day in April) so 2 identical rides, albeit Saturday faster than Friday - both 37miles, just over 2 hours for both, and then plenty of pottering about in the garden thereafter. Singlespeed project gathers pace as bar tape now fitted, freewheel off and single speed cog on, single chain ring bolts arrived so chainring secured and new skewers bought and fitted, slightly miffed as chain i had was about 2 inches short - grrr! Found another chain though so just need to shorten it (next week's job) and brakes need overhaul me thinks.

Saturday night was quiz night - we were "Pinky and the Brains" and attained 2nd place overall, a good night other than the dubious noise imposed on us by the band during the interval.

Sunday, was Mother's Day and being the 1st sunday of the month meant it was also First Taste so for one morning only I relaxed my sabbatical and attended church - a good morning, really buzzing - well done all!

What's that song? - Lazy Sunday Afternoon - precisely! No ride, so have already failed in riding every day in April, but thought that the pressure is now off, but on the upside I am confident that i can achieve a minimum of 30 rides before the end of April -not quite in the spirit of things but I am sure the pro's have rest days - don't they?

Sunday also saw the Tour of Flanders - what a race! Spartacus appeared beaten, then made a late surge, but was eventually pipped on the line by Nuyens and Chavanel - Roll on Roubaix (next weekend)

Sabbatical Days 8-10 Riding, Gardening, Woodbridge, Wymondham and Haverhill

Monday (week 2) and amidst the dawn chorus, I went out for a swift 42 miles, darkened morning and fog, plus a tad chilly again so skull cap and sleeves re-instated - grrr! The remainder of the day was an outdoor workout in the garden, emptying rotted compost bin, refilling rotted compost bin from part rotted compost bin, digging over back corner of garden, planting raspberries / strawberries - potting up runners from both to sell plus general tidy up all round.

Tuesday, getting into the habit now - walk to station, head off to destination (Woodbridge) then return to Norwich and walk home. Had a good meeting with Tracey Fearn of St John's in Woodbridge learning about their gap year programme - Form. Once home it was out on the bike for a quick round the block spin (18 miles) in contrast to yesterday, the legs,arms and fingers were all exposed for the first time this year! Then another quick change before out to Wymondham to see an after school club in action - Awesome!

Wednesday - earlier start but same routine walk/train/walk this time destination was Cambridge, before being onwardly transported to Haverhill. Cambridge station is like a bike graveyard - approx 500 bikes "abandoned" by their owners in the cycle racks outside. Spent day looking at Reach a community outreach project headed up by River of Life Church (Henry Wilson) - Foodbank, Furniture Bank, CAP, Drop in Cafe and more... - so inspiring, a great day even though the weather was miserable. Home for tea then First Taste small group - phew!

Sabbatical Days 5-7 Christology, Hermeneutics and an evening in Diss!

Twas LT Foundations for a couple of days, so head down, ears back and brain engaged for study.

Almost a full house in terms of attendees this time, we had Mick Taylor for both days - very engaging to listen to, and he probably presented the most interactive sessions yet. It was Goff's birthday too

Friday night it was off to Diss to deliver the kids for the youth weekend and then back to Norwich to collect two others whose car had broken down, before returning as far as Long Stratton to hand them on.

Out Saturday night for take away at Simon and Sian's - nice relaxing evening, in great company.

Simon and I now have our rider packs for Norwich 100, and we are...wait for it...numbers 1 & 2 or as our respective partners have taken to caling us Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Clocks forward overnight, which meant lie-in on Sunday (obviously!) lazy day with my beautiful wife, before the kids returned around 5ish.

1st week already over - eeek!

Sabbatical Day 4 - Of Trains and Brains

Trains, Brains, training, brain training - busy day today!

So it was off to Bury St Edmunds (BSE!) on the train. Seemedd simple, Norwich to Stowmarket CHANGE then Stowmarket to BSE. Only snag was at Stowmarket, the sheer volume of comuters getting on, prevented my leaving so it wa on to Ipswich and then back - nice and scenic but obviously killed the time schedule.

Arrived at BSE and got to venue for Re-thinking Evangelism seminar/forum thing - quite varied and informative, and also presented in a relaxed way. Speakers included Andrew Buttress (Spectrum), Krish Kandiah (The EA), Dave Gardner (Vicar of Woodbridge) and others.

Returned by train (no mishaps this time) , and managed to finish reading my first book - "Brothers we are not professionals" by John Piper (only 4 more to go!).

Evening in, on my own so cracked on with my LT foundations assignment (and completed it) due in tomorrow whilst watching the World Track Cycling on the Red Button - British Girls got Team Pursuit Gold and Sprint Silver, Hoy and Kenny through to Semi's (unfortunately against each other) in men's sprint.

LT Foundations for the next two days, and that will be the first week over - phew! Out Saturday night with friends. Might squeeze in a ride on Sunday...

Sabbatical Day 3 - Fast speed & single speed

A new day, and more sun, so the proposed ride with Mark was on...
In all 56 miles at an 18.2mph average - good ride! Funniest things was that we went out to the coast - Sheringham and Cromer, but other than a few miles, it ws all back roads and most of the time although generally aware of location, specifically had no idea where we were! - No punctures today - hoorah!

Practical project no.1 kicked of - The Singlespeed conversion of my Trek, both derailleur's, chain, large (outer) chainring and cables removed. Next job is to beg,borrow or otherwise obtain a chain whip, to remove the cassette from the rear wheel, then it is the fun job of putting it all back together again!

KK meeting last night (slight hiccup in sabbatical plans) - good meeting though, lots sorted, and some great ideas.

Off to Bury St Edmunds tomorrow...

Sabbatical Day 2 - Sun, Cycling, Shorts

What a beautiful day - sun and plenty of it, barely a breath of wind, and the temperature was good and high too. Just gotta ride don't cha?

So inevitably the posh bike was wheeled out and I set out with the goal of acheiving my first metric century for 2011. [Mid route, another achievement with my 2nd puncture of the year - changed tube and continued, later discovered that my previous fix (yep same tube/tyre combo) had failed!] Glorious cycle, shorts for all (?) and target achieved with an eventual mileage of 67miles, breaking my "records" for 20miles and 50 miles in the process - update on all of these figures at end of week.

Thinking of subtitling this sabbatical as a Sub-Fat-ical as a motivator - Whlst I don't necessarily need to lose weight I wouldn't mind re-distributing it! So Wii fit was dusted off and the scary moment of a weigh-in - a pleasing BMI of 24.39, and corresponding weight of 11 stone 11. No logic to this but I like the sound of 11.5 stone and/or a BMI of 23.80 - something to work at then... 50 minutes of exercise ensued - more to come...

Invited out on a ride tomorrow with a guy training for London to Paris in the summer, looking like it will be another great day - got to be done then innit?

Mowed lawn, and cleaned kitchen plus washing / ironing - domesticity rocks!

Lazy evening but well deserved - well i think so anyway.

Sabbatical Day 1 - Lazy days

Hello, good morning and welcome to my sabbatical.

A what you say? A sabbatical - According to Wikipedia Sabbatical stems from Latin sabbaticus, from Greek sabbatikos, from Hebrew shabbat, i.e., Sabbath, literally a "ceasing" - it is a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year.

In my case it is a month now up to and including 20th April and then a couple of months in the summer. Being an erstwhile blogger anyway I thought why not share my thoughts and musings eac day from my sabbatical and see what happens.

Ok, I have 3 focuses (or is that foci) for my sabbatical - Rest, See, Think - pretty straightforward huh?

Rest, I reckon stands for Ride, Eat, Sleep, repeaT, so there will be some cycling going on, but it is essentially a break from the norm, so rather than lie still for a month I will be keeping myself busy in other ways, doing chores & oddjobs, might even cook a meal or three! Generally spoiling my wife as much as possible and trying to be a decent husband and dad.

See, is all about looking at what is going on in other churches/organisations, and as such i have a few visits planned, so will report on those as and when

Think, is having time to read, study and ponder about stuff, about my role, about the wider work that OG is involved in, or could be...

So intro over, day 1 report:

As the title suggests a lazy day - i did put in a 42miler on the posh bike, which was all very good and to keep the totals updated - did 235 miles last week all in too. Other than that, we did a dump run with bottles and hedge trimmings, went to Aylsham sales then had lunch at Greens, before coming home and watching a pre-recorded police drama on TV, then received a Tesco grocery delivery, had tea and watched TV some more during the evening, with a little bit of ironing thrown into the mix - A lazy day.

30 days of biking - yes please!

Why are you riding?

Twitter - a kind of website for stalking friends and others, but also for finding out news and miscellaneous facts and new stuff too. - Like #30daysofbiking.

Quite simple - just ride your bike every day for 30 days (During April) and blog / tweet etc as you go - I'm in!

Give Cyclists Space!

Following on from my unfortunate and unplanned lorry v cycle experience i have come across this campaign. #SAVEACYCLIST there's a website, they're on Facebook and Twitter - So join up, follow, subscribe whatever - do it!

Got the T-shirt yet? - No - get one - they do car stickers too!!!

Spread the word

re-Found my Focus!

Great week on the bike despite the chilly weather, although even that warmed up towards the weekend. But best news of all is that the Posh Bike aka my focus Cayo, came out after a winter of skulking largely neglected in my garage. but more of that in a mo.

The stats - 234 miles covered, making 1694 miles ytd - all moving in an upward direction so all good. back to the focus then...

Saturday morning dawned, and a dry bright morning beckoned, so it had to be - lubrication done, just had to pump tyres and go. Removed dust caps and on both tyres managed to unscrew valve too - result two pancake flat tyres - never mind that's just 25 pumps of the track pump rather than the 10-12 that I would have needed anyway. So pressure resumed and off I went, just over 3 miles up the road felt the air leave my front tyre - puncture - first for 6 months or so, ho hum I thought. Removed wheel, tyre and old tube and grabbed spare tube from saddle bag and fitted. Pumped tyre then removed oump and for the 3rd time in about 20 minutes managed to remove the valve - however this time the item was nowhere to be seen - frustration was now rising. Ok fix the puncture old skool then - patch, glue, chalk and re-fit (again) the tyre and wheel. - Success!!! On I went, brain calculating time lost and therefore revised distance target for ride as I had somewhere to be by 9am. - In all 27.84 miles covered, in just over an hour and a half at an average of 18.2mph - happy? Oh yes. It's good to be back, as someone once said... Workout is here if you are interested?!

Sabbatical looms (21st March - 20th April) so space for a few longer distance rides over the next month or so - would like to be up to pace for 10k miles yearly target by end of April i.e. in the region of 3333 miles covered by then or  240ish per week between now and then - eeek!

In other news Cav remains quiet at Terrano-Adriatico, but Tony Martin wins Paris Nice and Wiggo an admirable 3rd too. As a bit of fun i have also "entered" Road.cc's Fantasy Cycling with my team Phat Cyclists - effectively fantasy football but for Pro cycling. First race Milan San Remo...watch this space!

Sunny day again today and i have clocked up a 30 miler - here's hoping the sun continues, as does the mileage and that the Focus remains...!

Can the weather please make it's mind up?!

Ffffff-freezing cold for most of last week, yet despite the climate's best efforts I still produced a 247 mile week out of the proverbial hat! - That makes it 1460 for the year to date, which feels better (well it does to me)

Today dawns and although a cool start, the sun shone and by the end of my 42 mile jaunt it was beautiful - perfect riding weather cool, bright, and little wind - loving it - only downside should have prepped the posh bike, but atill managed to do a shade under 18mph average for the ride so all bodes well.

In other news, Bertie wins in Murcia (subject to UCI making their minds up on the whole clenbuterol thing).
Cav has stated his intent to ride all 3 grand tours this year, but first up will be Milan San Remo in a coupleo f weeks. Paris-Nice kicked off yesterday, and Tirreno-Adriatico starts Weds. Giro d'Italia has announced 23 teams are to take part this year.

Finally I looked at Olympic Track cycling schedule with prices today - cheapest tickets £20, rising to £325 dependant upon session and chosen seating, sessions are also only 1.5 - 3 hours max. - Think i may stay home and enjoy daily highlights in the comfort of my lounge - come back Manchester Velodrome all is forgiven!!!

2 Months in - on target...?

Silence for a fortnight - but an action packed one to report on.

February is over, cycling-wise, and the year's total stands at just shy of 1243miles, which at 1/6th of the year gone would make an extrapolated total for the year of 7500. (10,000 seems distant?) However the spring/summer are coming and mileage WILL increase so am pretty happy with that at present - particularly as at this point last year I was only on 845 miles and still managed 9000!

Last week (18th Feb) paid a trip to Manchester, for the track cycling world cup - in a word - excellent! Putting side accomodation and food, at £11 for almost 8 hours constant cycling action it was a bargain! Chris Hoy, Brad Wiggins, Geraint Thomas, Vicky Pendleton and many more and the Brits done alright too. The reciprocal event will be at the Olympic velodrome in London next year - I want to go!
Most memorable moment of the whole weekend, and  i saw it on tv, not live was the final corner crash of the Men's Keirin. Hoy wins, as the carnage unfolds behind - Awang hits the deck and gets a 20-25cm splinter right through his leg for the trouble - yet still finishes 3rd to take the jersey for overall world cup winner in that event. the kiwi looks like he might hold it but after weaving both ways crashes, bu still has the presence of mind to pick up his bike and cross the line for valuable points! - Proper men do cycling!!!

In other news, Cav gets his first win in Oman, and Team Sky gets their Classics season off to a great start with 2nd for Flecha in Omloop Het Nieuswsblad and 1st for Sutton in Kuurne-Brusels-Kuurne. Bertie has been deemed to be innocent, but Ricco has been binned. Time may be the judge for all as yet...?

Wind initially, then calm before the storm!

A windy start to the week, but with reward as i clocked up my best 20, 10, 3 and 1 mile rides of the year so far with 1hr 4.21, 27.33, 7.37 and 2.03 respectively!

Couple of days of mild weather, and then some very soggy weather. Still managed 216 miles this week, so approaching the 1st 1000 for the year and up on this point last year so all good.

Mark Renshaw wins in Qatar, Bertie saga alegedly to be resolved this week too, and as for Ricardo Ricco, definately a leopard who would appear not to be able to change his spots - Vacancesoleil have sent him on a long holiday!

Gone with the Wind!

Another 200 this week - well 205 actually, making 671 for the year to date.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiindy or what! 25/30mph winds, gusting to 50mph+ - still gotta ride though! pushed records for year so far for fastest 1, 3 & 10 miles - the latter breaking 30 mins for the first time for a while.

Bike due to be cleaned today, as well as aiming to get a couple of hours in later on.

Had a cracking birthday yesterday - lots of well wishers and time spent wth family and friends - some money / vouchers to spend too now!

Tour of Qatar kicked off - reminiscent of the classics, with cobbles and high winds, Lars Boom, won the prologue (so maybe Spartacus is human after all?) . Cav hit the deck again, after a collapsed wheel, brought about a swift date with the tarmac.

ToQ continues all week, with Oman up next - feels like F1 all of a sudden?

January - a glance back.

I have just completed my first 200miles in a week this year, also today did a 50 in 2hrs 53, so pretty chuffed with that at this stage of the year. 522 for the month, which bearing in mind i missed around 10 days is not bad - eclipses last years total at this point so still happy!
New bike is going well, cleaned it again today - touch of OCD? Maybe / almost certain / definately (Delete as applicable!)

Pretty much recovered from all injuries from 3 weeks ago - slight back twinge every now and again. - Police have contacted to say no trace of driver - shame but i must concentrate on counting blessings not cursing blithering idiots - I have lived to fight another day - Thank God, so onwards I fight!

Recorded "Death on a Mountain" last night - story of Tom Simpson's demise on Mont Ventoux in '67 - will report back once watched.

Pro Cycle racing season has started but still slow. Thought i saw David Millar playing Tennis sunday Morning, but realised it was Andy Murray! - not that he was actually playing?!

First week back

When i say week, i actually mean 3 days of cycling - an excuse in advance of divulging the mileage total! 120ish miles this week, not including the sneaky whip around the block (20 miles of today) which i will add to next weeks score.

But after being off the bike for 10 days, it felt good - still have a bit of niggly ache in the back / ribs area, but otherwise all is good. Getting used to the Scotty, cleaned it and finally fitted mudguards today - and not too soon based on the weather forecast to come.

Hoping to achieve a more reasonable mileage this week, and all in all should finish the month approaching 500, which is in line with last year's total - not bad for an enforced layoff?

TDU has been and gone. Congrats to Cameron Meyer on the overall, Cav was conspicuous by his absence, but then so were many others. Lance completed his last race pending any further comebacks, Matt White got sacked by Garmin and Robbie proved there is still life in those legs and Ben Swift proves that Brit sprinters do not begin and end with Cav either. Roll on Qatar...

Loving my Scotty a Lotty!

Says it all - I like my new bike!

3 days of cycling - 120miles, only downside is lack of mudguards - to be rectified over weekend!

Singlespeed conversion is next project, once i have saved my pennies....

Insurance matters!

Continuing on from post below, I rang my Insurance Co this morning to work out how much of my losses would be covered, they took brief details and then informed me that they would be passing the claim onto anoher company to deal with. I had a call within 30 minutes to inform me that I would be receiving a new bike - A Scott Speedster S30 Triple 2011 as pictured below.

Most impressed by quick and efficient work by all concerned - so thanks to all invoved for that. I have accepted the offer - new bike should arrive within 7-14 days.

My leg is much better, still a bit sore but am walking a lot better today, back is very painful still, so may need to get that checked out again if it does not improve.

Just need to track down the mutant in the lorry now...?

Open Letter to that Large White Lorry Driver

NB - That's a Large White Lorry, not a Large as in weighty driver of said Lorry (but both could be true i guess?!)

Dear Sir or indeed Madam,

I hope the impact that you managed to cause with myself at approximately 7.20 this morning whilst I was proceeding northwards on the A140 on my cycle dwells upon your mind and that ultimately you do the decent thing and inform the Police.

It may be of interest to you, that despite your best attempts I am still alive and walking albeit painfully,and would appear to have suffered a nice set of cuts and bruises - one particularly nasty one on my right thigh (for your reference the point of impact with the front of your vehicle).

At this point I would just like to express my gratitude to a number of people, firstly the car driver and his passenger who initially stopped and inquired about my well being and offered assistance (something which perhaps innocently in my mind would be usual practice in such circumstances) and also to Graham, a fine gentleman who i have only had the pleasure of meeting this morning but who scraped me up of the side of the road and transported me and my bike home, and then in conversation realised that we share a passion for bikes and all things cycling.

It may be of further interest to you that your actions or perhaps the lack of, have been reported by myself to the Police, which upon doing so i was pleased that the officer at the end of the phone know as much about the incident as i did as it has already been reported by an eye-witness, placing the blame firmly at your door - a fact that i was already sure of but was pleasing to have that confirmed too.

If it helps your recollection, I was the one wearing that yellow hi-viz jacket, with TWO rear lights on my bike, who fortunately bounced off your vehicle just prior to the turn to Hainford (Waterloo Road). Not that you have enquired, (on the basis that you did not stop) but i think my bike is ok, but I will perhaps reserve judgement on that one - perhaps I could get back to you?

I sincerely hope that you drive more observantly and safely in the future as i feel that in this instance i have been very fortunate, the next cyclist may not be?

Yours faithfully,

Darren