Monday, February 26, 2007
Three Hundred Miles Is A Long Way
I've just achieved another milestone in my training schedule. A lull in the wet, cold, windy British weather allowed me to go out for a quick ride at lunchtime. Work is especially busy at the moment (when isn't it?) so I could only afford 45 minutes maximum. The quiet country roads I usually train on are part of a big traffic diversion of the main Saxmundham-Leiston road, so are quite busy and have been cut up by the big lorries now using them. Instead I headed South for a change and did a 11 mile circle taking in Snape (where the famous Maltings are) and Friston (where nothing really famous is, although my Suffolk Cycle Map says they have an unusual hexagon shape church).
Nearly lost the back end in a muddy puddle. It just slid and I thought I was a gonner for a split second, but the front tyre hit some dry ashphalt just in time and there was enough grip to allow me to get steady again. When I got home I was covered head to toe in muck from spray off the wheels, but it was good to get out again.
The milestone? According to the odometer I've now passed 300 miles on the new bike. Before you think, "hey that's impressive" that's actually the same distance that I'll be riding in the space of four days when I go to Paris. So it's taken me just over five months to finish the equivalent of my challenge... Luckily there's plenty of time to keep training.
Nearly lost the back end in a muddy puddle. It just slid and I thought I was a gonner for a split second, but the front tyre hit some dry ashphalt just in time and there was enough grip to allow me to get steady again. When I got home I was covered head to toe in muck from spray off the wheels, but it was good to get out again.
The milestone? According to the odometer I've now passed 300 miles on the new bike. Before you think, "hey that's impressive" that's actually the same distance that I'll be riding in the space of four days when I go to Paris. So it's taken me just over five months to finish the equivalent of my challenge... Luckily there's plenty of time to keep training.
Labels: bike, challenge, cycle, cycling, london, mud, paris, riding, suffolk
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Sneezy Turkeys, Pigs Eyes & Camel Backs
A quick thank you to my latest sponsors Damo and Lizzie in Felixstowe...
Things are starting to hot up again in terms of fund raising. I only wish the weather would do the same and then I could get out on the bike more. It seems to be constantly wet at the moment.
I managed to achieve my January training target of a 20 mile ride (well just about as I did it on 2nd February in reality) but so far my February target looks like going out the window. Two 20 milers and a 30 miler were the target. There's 7 days to go and I've done none of these yet. Having to snatch the odd 10 mile sprint here and there due to the constant wet roads and a hectic schedule at work. I can't wait for the mornings to get a little bit lighter so I can start going out before work again.
The 20 mile ride I mentioned was fun. It was a gorgeously sunny day so I set off to Dunwich which is just up the coast from me and exactly 20 miles there and back. For the twitchers amongst you it's right on the edge of the Minsmeere nature reserve and has some great scenery. For those of you that aren't into birds (the feathered one's - calm down) then it's right on the edge of where the recent Avian Flu outbreak was. Luckily not dead birds came falling out of the sky to knock me off the racer and although, as I write, I'm a bit sniffly, so far I'm still relatively healthy. At least the bird flu achieved something. Although I feel sorry for the turkey farmers that may lose their jobs, it's about time something happened to stop people buying the unhealthy crap that the likes of Bernard Matthews chucks out. Jamie Oliver will be leaping for joy. Now the schools will have to serve chicken and turkey joints with real meat in them instead of pigs eyeballs and gallons water...
The roads are perfect, metalled but very little traffic. It was so hot I wish I'd not kitted out in the winter gear (yes, those infamous tights again). Unfortunately that was the last time we had any sun on a day when I actually had time to get out. For the record, my average speed was 16 mph, which I think is quite reasonable, especially as I had a couple of short breaks to refit the chain (must remember to work out why it came off and fix it!). If I do that sort of speed on the first day of the challenge which is 95 miles, then allowing for 30 minutes for lunch, and two 15 minute leg stretching breaks, than means I should be able to get from Greenwich to Dover in 7 hours giving me a 2 hour contingency before the ferry leaves. Mind you, 16 mph over 20 miles is a darn sight easier than over 95 miles... Still, there's loads of time left to keep training.
I used the Camelback for the first time. It's basically a little rucksack type thing that has a plastic reservoir in it. You fill it with water and there's a tube that goes from the reservoir to your mouth with a bite valve on the end. The water tasted disgusting as the chemicals from the last time it was cleaned were still detectable, but it worked a treat in terms of keeping me hydrated.
Things are starting to hot up again in terms of fund raising. I only wish the weather would do the same and then I could get out on the bike more. It seems to be constantly wet at the moment.
I managed to achieve my January training target of a 20 mile ride (well just about as I did it on 2nd February in reality) but so far my February target looks like going out the window. Two 20 milers and a 30 miler were the target. There's 7 days to go and I've done none of these yet. Having to snatch the odd 10 mile sprint here and there due to the constant wet roads and a hectic schedule at work. I can't wait for the mornings to get a little bit lighter so I can start going out before work again.
The 20 mile ride I mentioned was fun. It was a gorgeously sunny day so I set off to Dunwich which is just up the coast from me and exactly 20 miles there and back. For the twitchers amongst you it's right on the edge of the Minsmeere nature reserve and has some great scenery. For those of you that aren't into birds (the feathered one's - calm down) then it's right on the edge of where the recent Avian Flu outbreak was. Luckily not dead birds came falling out of the sky to knock me off the racer and although, as I write, I'm a bit sniffly, so far I'm still relatively healthy. At least the bird flu achieved something. Although I feel sorry for the turkey farmers that may lose their jobs, it's about time something happened to stop people buying the unhealthy crap that the likes of Bernard Matthews chucks out. Jamie Oliver will be leaping for joy. Now the schools will have to serve chicken and turkey joints with real meat in them instead of pigs eyeballs and gallons water...
The roads are perfect, metalled but very little traffic. It was so hot I wish I'd not kitted out in the winter gear (yes, those infamous tights again). Unfortunately that was the last time we had any sun on a day when I actually had time to get out. For the record, my average speed was 16 mph, which I think is quite reasonable, especially as I had a couple of short breaks to refit the chain (must remember to work out why it came off and fix it!). If I do that sort of speed on the first day of the challenge which is 95 miles, then allowing for 30 minutes for lunch, and two 15 minute leg stretching breaks, than means I should be able to get from Greenwich to Dover in 7 hours giving me a 2 hour contingency before the ferry leaves. Mind you, 16 mph over 20 miles is a darn sight easier than over 95 miles... Still, there's loads of time left to keep training.
I used the Camelback for the first time. It's basically a little rucksack type thing that has a plastic reservoir in it. You fill it with water and there's a tube that goes from the reservoir to your mouth with a bite valve on the end. The water tasted disgusting as the chemicals from the last time it was cleaned were still detectable, but it worked a treat in terms of keeping me hydrated.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Do the Tour de France Cyclists Have This Problem?
The fantastic weather we've been having in Suffolk over the last week or so has meant I've been able to get out on the bike every other day. I hit my January goal of doing a 20 miler in less than 1hour 20minutes by cycling to Dunwich beach and back, with only a couple of stops when the chain came off. It was so warm I could have been on the Giro d'Italia, circling around the Appenines in mid May...
Anyway, my revitalised training regime may have come to a sudden stop... Thanks to H5N1 - or Bird Flu...
Mr Bernard Mathews is not intent with simply acosting our palates with his god-awful turkeys and other pre-prepared, mircowaveable heart-attacks in tin foil trays... No, he now wants to kill us all by becoming the first large scale commercial farm to be affected the frst major bird flu incident in Britain (of course - Mr lawyer sir, I understand it's not Mr Mathews fault that his birds caught bird flu, but you'd have to be a fool to contest the fact his food is disgusting!). Luckily Saxmundham, where I live, is about 4 miles outside the "observation zone" that DEFRA have imposed, although large areas of my training grounds are within the zone. My route for my first 30 miler (which is my February goal) are even within the exclusion zone immediately around the farm where the birds are affected...
Looks like I'll have to revisit the maps and find some alternative routes for training.. Not that this is a problem though, as being a typical male, I can pore over maps for weeks on end without food or water, looking up only to check if Top Gear is on TV or to check Teletext for the latest footy scores...
The more observant of you will have noticed a significant increase in the amount I've raised for RIPPLE Africa so far. This is thanks to ActivIdentity who have agreed to sponsor me £250. Well done guys and thanks, your faith in my cycling abilities is much appreciated. ActivIdentity are a French owned company, so maybe I can call in at their offices whilst I'm over there in June...
Speak to you next time.
Anyway, my revitalised training regime may have come to a sudden stop... Thanks to H5N1 - or Bird Flu...
Mr Bernard Mathews is not intent with simply acosting our palates with his god-awful turkeys and other pre-prepared, mircowaveable heart-attacks in tin foil trays... No, he now wants to kill us all by becoming the first large scale commercial farm to be affected the frst major bird flu incident in Britain (of course - Mr lawyer sir, I understand it's not Mr Mathews fault that his birds caught bird flu, but you'd have to be a fool to contest the fact his food is disgusting!). Luckily Saxmundham, where I live, is about 4 miles outside the "observation zone" that DEFRA have imposed, although large areas of my training grounds are within the zone. My route for my first 30 miler (which is my February goal) are even within the exclusion zone immediately around the farm where the birds are affected...
Looks like I'll have to revisit the maps and find some alternative routes for training.. Not that this is a problem though, as being a typical male, I can pore over maps for weeks on end without food or water, looking up only to check if Top Gear is on TV or to check Teletext for the latest footy scores...
The more observant of you will have noticed a significant increase in the amount I've raised for RIPPLE Africa so far. This is thanks to ActivIdentity who have agreed to sponsor me £250. Well done guys and thanks, your faith in my cycling abilities is much appreciated. ActivIdentity are a French owned company, so maybe I can call in at their offices whilst I'm over there in June...
Speak to you next time.
