Marmite Days?!

Love 'em or Hate 'em, Wintry days are part and parcel of a cyclist's life.

I am a firm believer in the rule of three, the three being cold, wind and rain.
Any one of these elements in isolation is fine, in fact for me a cold, bright, cloudless day, all wrapped up in the countryside is almost as good as a 20 degree plus day in the summer, in short sleeves and shorts!
Two of the above together, in any permutation is do-able, but the adjectives surrounding the ride will be synonyms of grim and miserable.
All three together is definately character building territory, it is more a case of survival and sheer bloody mindedness than it is enjoyment sometimes - but then I am sure my definition of enjoyment in relation to cycling is skewed compared to the world's at large?!

Fact is that temperatures will rise and fall, winds will come and go,and rain and other precipitation will fall at will throughout the British Winter, so being prepared as Baden Powell said is the key to success:-
Dress well in layers, but dress for the 2nd/3rd mile temperature (allowing or your body temp to rise) not the feel of the air as you step out of your door.
Fit Mudguards - elementary my dear Watson
Make sure your lights work - you can never have too many lights

The other unspoken element is the dark - it looms in late October and remains until February/March - personally I love it to start with, but about this time of year, start to get bored with it - particularly travelling into work.

On balance, I think I would err on the side of loving it, but not as much as dry, warm summer cycling!!!

To be honest this winter has been incredibly mild and that is reflected in my 821 miles year to date (already 300 up on 2011).

My mate - Marmite!

Situation Report Numero Uno 2012

Been very lax for a while, but need to get back in the groove of sharing idle thoughts with the occasional pearl of wisdom thrown in for good measure.

It's just over a year since I was sideswiped by a lorry, and to be quite honest I don't dwell on the past or have nightmares, but I do send up a quick prayer as I leave the house each day, to stay upright and safe (and at the moment - warm too!)
I have now reached 20,000miles since Jan 2010, and for this year so far, mileage is 577, that's already more than I achieved in the whole month of January last year - bodes well for 2012!
Not enjoying the murky, wet and cold of winter, but the more you bleed in preparation the less you bleed in battle as they say!

Cycling season has kicked off with the TDU and Road.cc have started their fantasy cycling league again so thats good, a necessary distraction?!

Have ordered Comedian Mastermind by Elden (The Fat Cyclist) Nelson, so looking forward to reading that being excerpts from his blog 2005-2007.

More next time (and maybe more regular too?)

Glancing back, moving forward

Happy New Year!!!

First of all tale of the tape for 2011:
Total Distance: 10,481 miles
Ave Speed: 17.09 mph
Total Calories: 620219kcal
Total Duration: 613hrs 19mins
Total no of rides: 408
Best cycling experience: Tracking the ToB on the East Anglian stage (135 miles) and seeing Cav lead the bunch home or alternatively the Tour of the Peak.

As is traditional it's time to set a few targets, mileage wise I am not going to aim for anything in particular although based on what I know I have no reason to expect any less than 8-9000miles covered again this year.
Fred Whitton All Seasons Challenge
Norwich 100 (usual suspects!)
Norwich to Cambridge
Cycle around Norfolk in a day
plus anythng else that crosses my path

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!!!