Etape Du Dales

It's now almost two weeks (how did that happen) since I did the Etape Du Dales, 110 miles of hilly fun in the Yorkshire Dales...the last 65 of which were probably the most, wet, windy, cold and miserable I have ever been on a bike, well a road bike certainly.

The weather was awful, a permanent headwind (I knew this was a possibility in the Dales so it wan't too much of a surprise), there wasn't even a view to compensate for grovelling up the hills. I survived though and still think the Dales is a fab place to ride and will be back there on a bike soon (road or MTB) - though if you'd saw and heard me on the long slog to Tan Hill on Sunday 15th May you wouldn't believe me.

An early get up of 5:30 am and set off by some time after 6 am saw me being chauffered over to the Dales by Jez who had sorted my bike out the day before, checked the yres, gears, brakes etc made me eat and drink lots, generally had to put up with me being a major stress bunny as I was about to do the longest and hardest road ride I had ever attempted.

He dropped me off at the event HQ, helped me unpack stuff, attach number to bike, make sure I had my supplies, watched me set off at about 7:30 then headed off to Harrogate to amuse himself all day whilst I rode. I was expecting about 9 hours ish going by my speed on previous rides but would text him updates as I went round.

It was pretty much straight into the strong wind from the off, though at least the sun was out at this point. I had the course in the Garmin so set it to the course screen which gives distance to go and time remaining (based on current average speed). I didn't want to get hung up on actual moving speed numbers that early on, particularly into the wind, it was all about getting round. I sucked wheels where I could to keep effort level down.

It didn't seem long before Fleet Moss was looming, I was pleased as wanted the first climb out of the way. After the first ramp I decided my saddle was in fact too low, I've done some test rides since putting the roadie pedals on but nothing with serious climbs and the pedal/cleat combo feels very different. Put saddle up a smidge and things improve.

Over the top and back into the wind I have a slightly terrifying descent into Hawes as the bike squirmed around all over the place, horrible, the front of the bike was just a complete handful. Trying to stay away from the edge of the road but at the same time leaving enough space for the maniac descenders concentrated the mind somewhat.

Once the gradient eased off a bit I realised I had been desending MTB style hovering above the saddle, allowing the bike to move around. As there is nothing to disrupt the wobble on tarmac it just gets worse, there is no need to have the bike moving around. Park backside on saddle and things improve and knuckles get a bit less white....

...for about two minutes til approaching some sheep. Mummy sheep and one lamb on one side of the road, other lamb on the other who decides to spring across the road just as I was about to pass. I'd scrubbed quite a bit of speed off approaching them as I was rightly wary but the back wheel still fishtailed all over the place and I was glad it was still dry at that point.

Into Hawes and the first checkpoint. Get some Soreen banana loaf out to get some food in then realise whilst its tasty it is almost the same consistency as malt loaf and turns into a horrible sticky paste that takes me ages to eat. Only just choke it down before the next hill.

Onto Buttertubs, enjoy this climb too but still have a sneaking suspicion saddle is too low as the tops of my calves are starting to ache but decide to leave it in case its just the newness of the pedals, don't want to put the saddle too high as that brings its own problems. The clag was starting to move in a bit and I'm sure there were a few spots of rain but nothing much. Really enjoyed the descent off Buttertubs, probably because its not quite so straight as Fleet Moss and the wind wasn't quite so swirly. Hit 42 mph on the last section as I was feeling much happier with my descending.

There was some fairly easy riding for a bit that wasn't directly into the wind for a change, choked some more food down then left lower back started to stiffen up. Saddle too low then (my left knee splays out if its too low), saddle up a bit more and it stops aching instantly. I don't have any more saddle problems though calves were still aching ominously.

Soon heading off up towards Gunnerside...amuse myself thinking that one of the most miserable and wet rides I have ever had on an MTB was around here, quite a prophetic thought really. It was still great road riding, my favourite kind, quiet and exposed moorland roads. Through the ford, not sure what was dangerous about it, then up towards the long slog to Tan Hill.

It started off ok, very hard due to the wind but it wasn't raining yet. After waht seemed like ages the road swung round to a more westerly direction then it all got horrible. Think the rain came in, the wind got stronger, the view such as it was disappeared, it was just hell. I plugged away, as did everyone else. The odd group came past but they were going too fast for me to try and get some shelter on a wheel. Anyone I caught up with was going slower than I wanted so nothing for it but to grimace and grumble all the long, long, long, seemingly never ending slog to Tan Hill.

Still want to ride up there on a good day, like I say, empty exposed moorland road riding is my favourite, the downside its not great on a minging day.

Finally get to Tan Hill, lots of people in cars meeting riders. If Jez had come to meet me there I would have jacked it and got in a nice warm and dry car, no question I was so miserable. My legs ached, I was freezing, wet and I wasn't even half way FFS.

I refilled a bottle with energy drink, I had only drunk one in 50 odd miles, oops had one of the gels on offer and a couple of bits of flapjack which were easy to eat then got back on the bike and got down the hill to try to warm up a bit. Descent was a bit sketchy but I wanted to get down.

I really don't remember much of the next section all the way to Nateby, it had the potential to be good but I had lost the will to live by that point and it seemed I was barely turning the pedals. It seemed very up and down, more relentless wind and showery rain, I suppose at least it stopped occasionally and my legs hurt! I did manage to drink quite a bit though.

I was seriously thinking I couldn't go on, then I remember passing a sign saying "Welcome To Cumbria"! Reality dawned, Jez was in Harrogate having given up his whole day to let me ride my bike as well as checking over said bike and making it run perfectly and putting up with my stressing. The only way I could justify aksing him to drive all the way from Harrogate to Cumbria was a major mechanical (unlikely) or a stack (no thanks). The course changed direction at Nateby, the headwind remained, grr. I realised then that LittonDale was probably going to be the only place for a bit of tailwind..I know LittonDale from past MTB rides.

Somwhere after Outhgill, I came out of the other side, clicked the bike up a few gears and started riding again, getting some motivation from somewhere. I think I realised that my calves weren't getting any worse and my quads still felt pretty strong.

The weather completely deteriorated at this point but that just seemed to make me more determined. The section to Ribble Head was the worst of the whole day, strong head wind, horizontal stinging rain, standing water on the road filling my roadie shoes but I gritted my teeth and got on with it, thankful of my best decision of the day to leave the peak on my helmet. It really helped.

Third checkpoint arrived, I had one full bottle and one almost empty, hmm not drinking enough (or eating for that matter). Get another couple of flapjack fingers down my neck and one of my caffeinated gels for a boost and decide not to take two full bottles over the Coal Road but make sure I drink all of this one.

To the Coal Road, steep but not as hideous as I was expecting. I found sitting easier on the steepest sections to be honest, I'm not fast enough standing on that kind of gradient to justify the extra effort of standing. I was actually climbing a bit faster than most anyway. I nearly had to put a foot down as the back wheel spun badly at one point, I looked down and I had just ridden over a banana skin...there is a metaphor in there somewhere I'm sure.

Over the top and the clag was thickening, no view at all, was very disappointed by that. I was trying to smile for the Sport Sunday photog, it must have been minging stood up there but I only had slightly less of a grimace:



It actually got so foggy up there I couldn't see the guy riding 10 metres in front, it was very disorienting as all of a sudden the descent started and the road just dropped away. I had to take my glasses off completely here as they wer so badly rain splattered. Having the helmet peak on meant the rain missed my eyes. Once out of the fog the descent was fine, if a little steep.

Soon I was at the last checkpoint, still with one full bottle, oops no drinking at all then. No point filling up, had a quick gel then onto the last 20 odd miles and the last biggish climb. I was grateful for the chance to warm up, I was absolutely soaking wet and had gotten pretty cold on the way to the check point. It was a good climb, o view but I saw a small section of limestone pavemet which I like..it was right by the side of the road.

I have my Garmin set to lap at 10 miles on road rides, its normally a good reminder to eat/drink. I realised near the top of the climb that the next time it lapped that would be my first official 100 miler..the Trossachs Ton was 98.6. That cheered me up, over the top and onto the descent which was great fun even if I couldn't see anything.

Down into LittonDale and finally a tail wind, stick it in the big ring and get moving. See the 10 miles to go sign, yay. I reach the 100 mile mark around the pub, let out a bit of a woop and get some funny looks but don't care, keep pushing, head down and taking advantage of the wind. Notice Garmin seems to be stuck at 8 miles to go, bloody thing froze completely so no idea how long to go in either time or distance and can feel the beginnings of the bonk creeping on me and sit up a bit debating whether to fish some food out.

See the five miles to go sign and decide just to get a move on, I can make five miles even if starving. Bloody headwind makes a reappearance again and starts with the old horizontal rain but soon its one, seemingly very long, mile to go. Yay,
then its over, off bike, dib, get off, wobble over to rail and hang bike up.

Try to get a response out of Garmin, nada, locked, didn't think to reset it though, d'oh. Have no idea what time it is or how long its taken me, feels like about 10 hours though. Phone Jez to let him know I've finished, he's about 20 mins away so head into the HQ to try to get warm, get my time, find something to eat as I'm starving and more than a little light headed.

Hand my chip over and they print off my time 8 Hours 38 minutes, I had to ask her to repeat it as I thought there was a mistake. I was so pleased as I was hoping for 9 hours on a good day. I then got a cup of coffee and what was possibly the best tasting bacon butty in the world, hoovered it.

Even in the warm HQ I was beginning to shake uncontrollably as I was so wet, thankfully Jez arrived at that point and as quick as I could I got outside, bloody freezing out there then wheeled my bike over to the car. I think I lost about half my coffee as my hand was shaking so much it ended up all over my hand, I didn't mind as it was warm.

I quickly got changed into dry clothes and into the warm car, then home. I have a real sense of achievement over this ride.

Forgetting to take my wallet to work yesterday...

Means not being able to buy my usual toast for breakfast (usually then covered in penanut butter and a banana) and think a banana will suffice. Think I'll be fine as I've remembered sarnies and rest of food so don't bother borrowing money from colleagues to buy more.

Wonder how hungry I'll be after swimming though...then realise I don't have my swimming pass..or money to park (it's refunded but I need to pay it). So no swim, think I'll definitely be ok. Eat all food..getting peckish at 2:30 (canteen closed now), very hungry by 3:00 pm then full on starvation/light headed mode by 4pm. Leave work early, drive home in a daze, stomach rumbling all the way.

Get home, race (ish) into the house, nearly skid on some cat vomit (thanks Kat) then get some bread in the toaster. Head upstairs very shakily and inhale jam and peanut butter covered toast forgetting all about the cat sick. Stop shaking as the sugar gets in my system, remember cat sick but by this time Jez is back and cleans it up instead (win!). Decide I am in fact fine, get cycling kit on and head out with Jez for a 20 mile blast on the road bikes.

Set off at warp speed, dropping Jez for the first time in my life in a vain attempt to convince myself I have plenty of energy. Heart rate rockets up to seeing stars territory and refuses to come down, Jez resumes his normal position of being miles in front. Slowly but surely the roads turn to treacle and I deny I am heading for the bonk though start keeping an eye out for nice patches of verge to lie down in.

Nearly kill myself several times trying to clip into my new road pedals, had absolutely no problems on the last two rides, my inner Kevin the Teenager starts to appear...SO UNFAIR!!!!!!! Stupid shoes:



Jez makes decision to alter route to avoid the black cloud of doom heading towards Abbey Village and tells me I need to get back and get some food as I appear to have lost the power of decision making and have a totally glaikit expression on my face (and probably some drool). Head home the fastest way, though the roads seem especially treacly then get my front wheel lifted in the air by the wind.. SO UNFAIR, too stroppy to get scared.

Get to our favourite chippy...closed...all the way into town to get some chips, Jez repeats his order to me five times and I still forget some of it. Home, shakes, food, bloody hell.

Etape Du Dales in on Sunday, stressed, unfit, schoolgirl pacing errors. Bah!

Rest Week

I'm taking an easy week this week, it is actually planned for once which was good as it was obvious on Sunday's road ride I was clearly in need of one. I faffed all morning before getting out on the bike even though it was a nice sunny day, that in itself should have been a clue as I couldn't wait to get out the week before.

Plan was to up the difficulty of the climbing a bit and head over to do a circuit of Pendle Hill. My legs were fine but for some reason my head just didn't want to ride. I ignored myself because some of my best rides have started out with that kind of mental approach and come good.

Lots of ups and downs to warm my legs up on the way over to Whalley, taking things nice and easy. Sunny day, bit of cold breeze but very hazy. Pendle Hill was pretty obscured, though for a change it wasn't heavy clag:



Soon I was riding through Pendleton, ready to climb up to the Nick O Pendle. Took it really steady, bracing myself for the stupidly steep bit, which didn't really materialise. It was really hard but not as stupidly hard as I was expecting, which was probably just as well as this seems to be a road where drivers like to try and brush your elbow as they pass, really felt like every car refused to give room.

A fast drop down the other side and up the climb to Padiham Heights...which kicked my arse, that's more like it! I made it up the evil climb, legs were still fine, still CBA to be riding though even though the roads were great. Eventually dropped into Barley and stopped at the heaving cafe for some food, they didn't have much left so settled on some chocolate sponge and custard and a cappucino.

I had a bit of a wait...realised the time 3pm, on a Sunday afternoon means most things will be closing. Only 27 miles ridden, 3500ft of climbing, just over two hours of riding (was that all). A lot of time to look at the map and realise there really was only one way out of Barley..up. An enormous plate of sponge and custard and a huge cappucino was plonked in front of me. Top marks for value for money but I was stuffed when I was finished...just before heading up a big hill.

I hadn't quite fully given in by this point so climbed out of Barley (no sponge after effects) and headed to Downham as I'd heard it was really pretty. It was but here the last of my motivation deserted me and I decided to go home. So a map check and I decided to head through Chatburn, Waddington then out to Ribchester then home, rolling terrain. Within about a mile of making that decision almost everything started to hurt, it's amazing how admitting defeat just changes everything.

It wasn't the most fund ride home I have to say, a bit of a headwind and the sponge started making its presence felt about Waddington. The grind out of Ribchester was particularly nauseous. A fastish blat down the A59 then home, shattered. With hindsight, starting the rest week on Sunday with an easy spin was probably a better idea.

Monday's swim was a bit rubbish for swimming but was a great stretching session for my shoulders, hip flexors and lower back. I do like floating about in the water even if my swimming isn't up to much.

Tuesday I canned my commute as I felt really tired and groggy in the morning when I woke up, which did worry me a bit so I opted for another half an hour of sleep instead. Within about five minutes of being up and about I felt fine, I'm always a bit groggy on the dark mornings d'oh. A three mile run after work was all I managed to fit in.

Wednesday the boys were off to Gisburn with some work colleagues, I couldn't get out of work early enough so decided it was time to break out the singlespeed and head to Abbey Village when I did get out of work. Get the first ride on it in a while without the sight of the boys disappearing off up the hill. Riding on my own means I can set a sensible pace on the initial climb through the woods and take the time to get my breath back coo over the lambs:




(I blinked first!)


Legs were ok for riding but the biggest surprise was my arms, normally my arms give out first on the SS but they were fine, which is the swimming I presume. The only annoyance was a bit of a mechanical where the jockey wheel fell out of the chain doofer, causing the chain to fall off. Luckily I was rolling along downhill when it happened and not stood up grinding out a climb. A lot of faff with taking the wheel out, screwing the jockey wheel back in, watching it unscrew itself before my eyes as I pedalled along as I'd not done it right then going through the whole palaver again.

I was still up near the tower when this all happened and its a bit of a sobering realisation that whilst its a mainly downhill 3 or 4 miles and not much time at all back to Abbey Village with a working bike its an entirely different situation if the bike couldn't be fixed and a walk was on the cards, I got quite cold very quickly too. When it first happened I also seemed to be the only person up on the moor, fortunately I did bump into a very friendly MTBer who checked I was ok when putting the bike back together the second time.




My repair held but I avoided doing any steep climbs on the way back to the car just in case the chain decided to fall off again. Was still a great ride though.

Thursday was supposed to be a bit of a run but it was stupidly windy at work, would just be silly at the beach, one of my "rules" for rest weeks is to have fun with "training" as much as possible and running against that wind is usually not that much fun. Had a great swimming lesson in the evening, back stroke.

I postponed the run to today, it was still windy but nowhere near as bad as yesterday however it was still really crazy at the prom. Running with my eyes closed as the sand was being whipped into my face but it didn't last long before it was behind me. Quite pleased I didn't venture down yesterday, even the seagulls were sheltering behind cars.

Plan for the weekend is a 3 hour max road ride and I may break my trail shoes out and go for an offroad run. Wednesday's ride reminded me how much I like being up on the moors.

Road Riding.....Weeeee!

On the flip side to the swimming rant, road riding is coming along nicely. I'm starting to feel the benefits of a few long rides in the legs and I've got my climbing mojo back. That's not to say I'm flying up the climbs, I'll never do that but I'm seeing them as a good challenge again which I like.

The ride length has been building up...60 miles, 67 and then 83 miles in the glorious sunshine on Saturday taking in Waddington Fell, The Trough and a loop out to Quernmore to take in the grind up to Jubilee Tower before the long boring flat ride back south of Preston. I even managed not to need lights on that one as I got out riding before lunchtime. Having to cross the river to get home is a bit of a pest as there are only a few places that it's possible, either in Preston or out at Ribchester.

Not sure I'll up the distance much but will probably up the brutality of the climbing a little bit. I may even think about taking the car to somewhere like Garstang and ride from there as I have real hankering to ride over Lamb and Tatham Fells and its a bit of an epic from home with the the trog back to Preston. The new bike is fab, the gamble on the saddle has hopefully paid off (ordered another for the commuting roadie), the carbon frame stopped me from feeling shaken to bits at the end of the ride and the RS80 wheels are as fab as they ever were. Here it is (I've already changed the seat post to one that can actually have the saddle level):

Mmm shiny

Owned

Seem to be getting owned by everything at the minute...mountain bike trails, road riding and my sinuses being the main ones. At least the latter explains the motivation dip recently as I fight off about of sinusitis, deep joy.

Got owned by the Whinlatter red route on the last weekend of October, off camber slippy rocks I can do, roots not so much. I realise now during the duathlon I must have ran over most of the technical stuff due to the traffic on the route. Had a couple of quality spud moments and once getting stuck behind my saddle on a techy, slippy rocky chute whilst avoiding someone else and ending up on a stupid line.

I have swapped my road bike and Titus saddles round as I just couldn't get comfy on it on the roadie, its fine on the Titus as I'm more upright. Its narrower, which is great for getting off the back but its one of the modern Flite designs with the handy hook for racking your bike in transition....or getting hooked on your shorts and digging in (nice bruise) and preventing you getting up again when making a dogs dinner of a trail obstacle. How I managed not to clatter into that rapidly approaching tree whilst sitting on my crud catcher so much I could hear it rubbing on the back wheel and having absolutely no control over the bike I'll never know but I'm pleased I didn't.

My technical riding needs some serious work and it's all basics like not looking far enough ahead. We did the blue which was fun but I died a death after that and jsut wanted to lie at the side of the trail and shake, though realised I'd had quite silly amounts of coffee which is never a good idea for me. I'm very susceptible to caffeine (which is why I like it) but it does tend to cause me to go off at warp speed then have a blood sugar crash if I have too much. A bit like blowing up a balloon and letting it go...that's me on 4 large mugs of good coffee.

A night on the beer in Ambleside meant I was a touch fragile and wobbly when we set off on the Grizedale red (no way I or anyone else for that matter was up for doing any of the natural stuff). Having done the trail a few times I knew the most dangerous thing on it was likely to be me in my slightly befuddled state and it somehow wasn't me that got owned by the boards.

I've never had much of a problem on the Grizedale boards, I've never had anyone stop in front of me on them either. They were like ice and seemed to be causing carnage and stoppages. Once stopped it was almost impossible to get going again it was so slippy, I tried to jog off the end of one and could barely stand up on it, was safer riding. When I was unimpeded I was actually riding them fine.

There were a few offs in our group with no damage until:








Watched a lad come round that section of board when we were faffing with the disk and he landed on his chest on the boards, ouch. Some of the gouge marks on the sides are impressive. They couldn't straighten the disk out so he had to ride the last section without a front brake.

We were round quite quickly then into the cafe, I've not been there since it was rebuilt and the food was superb.

Motivation has not been up to much since then, a few turbo sessions but had a low grade headache for a while, took me a while to realise it was sinusitis as it normally comes on after a cold.

Headed out on a road ride with Jez on Sunday just past which was a bit of a disaster for me, totally owned. It was only 45 miles with about 1700ft of climbing, pretty much all in the first 10 miles and my legs were not having any of it. No power, eventually realised saddle was probably too low, saddle swap with Titus. I am totally and utterly "princess and the pea" with saddle stuff, I'm sure I've mentioned it before. I'd probably notice a mm adjustment and I knew the saddle change would open a can of worms...

After the climbing its quite flat and I just could not keep up with Jez and I was trying quite hard. There is nothing worse that flogging yourself to death to stay with someone when you know they aren't even bloody trying. He had it in the big ring the bugger - we have triples on our road bikes so he was right up at the top of the gear range and I just couldn't/can't muster that kind of power, certainly not for any length of time. Pest!

We had a brief stop whilst he chatted to his sad puppy rc model mates and I do some more saddle tinkering. A stop for some food then home. About two miles from home the inevitable happened, his legs started to go into meltdown and mine started to remember what to do. The answer to this of course is a long hilly ride to induce cramp in his quads then I can ride off leaving him upside down in a hedge...Waddington Fell and the Trough here we come...or offroad in West Yorkshire..hmm.

However on Tuesday I suddenly had motivation and energy in spades and have got a couple of runs in so fingers crossed. Hope this wind bogs off over the weekend but will be heading up for a run on Darwen moor tomorrow to see the damage to the tower and the state of the trails.

Trossachs Ton

Last Sunday (20th) I did the Trossachs Ton 100 miler (or 98.85 as it turned out on my Garmin annoyingly). As June hasn't been great cycling wise due to falling onto a big pile of rocks I wasn't sure if I was going to actually go for the full distance or do the shorter one.

It was a bit of a last minute decision to enter anyway, I entered mid week with an eye on the forecast which was pretty good and thought it would be good to tie it in with a visit to my folks on father's day weekend.

A quick 25 minutes on the M9 from my folks on the Sunday morning saw me parked up in Stirling and as I rolled to registration I decided to go for the full distance, sod it. Plan was to settle into a steady pace, eat and drink regularly, actually look at the scenery occasionally as the Trossachs is a lovely part of the world and basically just get to the end. The route had around 6000ft of climbing so it wasn't a brute. Two major long (but alpine style) climbs: the 3 mile long Duke's Pass at about 22 miles and the 5 mile long Crow Road at 75.

Set off just before 8 and the first 20 miles are pretty flat, I'd forgotten how much of a plain Stirling was on, there was a reason they built the castle where they did, can see for miles from it. I was kind of sitting in behind a group, not too close as there was some shonky riding going on but close enough that I was getting some benefit. It was a bit windy and there was a bit of cloud cover, however it was due to get quite warm later on.

Soon we were at the bottom of the Duke's Pass, quite a few 12 and 13% ramps at the bottom and my legs didn't seem happy but I think it was just the transition to climbing. It soon eased off and steadily climbed away and my legs found their rhythm, I even overtook a few people. The steady climb gave way to a steady descent, easy to keep a really good speed going and not too many tight corners to worry about, just the odd cavernous pothole and a corking view - theme for the ride really.

Soon into the first very, very well stocked feed station. Lots of flapjack, biscuits, jelly babies and other goodies on offer. I stocked up on some jelly babies and some chunks of flapjack, topped up the bottles and set off on the road around Loch Katrine. I'd taken my gilet and armwarmers off at the feed station as things felt like they were warming up, got about 10 metres out of the station onto the lochside and stopped to put the gilet back on, the wind was strong and cold blowing up the loch, brr.

The road was single lane but basically closed to traffic apart from water authority vehicles (Loch Katrine is the main reservoir for Glasgow..and it was pretty empty looking). It was typical lochside road, up and down and twisty. On the outward side it was generally heading uphill. There were a few other cyclists around but I quickly decided to ride in my own space after watching a few near misses as people didn't quite make bends or slithered around on gravel.

With it being single lane there were effectively two clear lines where the vehicle tyres travel but lots of gravel piled up in the middle. It was also forested so the edges of the road had pine needles strewn everywhere, add to that some fair old potholes and I took it steady and kept plenty of space around me. As the road twisted around the edge of the loch it seemed to move in and out of the wind. Once around the end of the loch the wind briefly became a tail wind and the track started heading down.

I had settled on eating solid food approximately every 10 miles or so and drinking regularly, anytime I saw someone else go for their bottles I took in some fluid too even if I thought I didn't need to. I had a bottle of energy drink and one of plain water and alternated each drink.

Once off the Loch Katrine road it was back onto a slightly wider but still twisty and pothole strewn open road. The potholes were just unbelievable, often seemingly covering the entire road and being unavoidable. A few cars were travelling in the opposite direction so had to ride on the left and the dappled light through the trees made spotting the holes difficult too. I manualled the road bike over several huge ones I couldn't avoid, somehow managing not to explode the rear tyre or get any sort of puncture.

The road surface was so broken and holed there was no way I would take my hand off the bars to warn anyone behind me, the riders in front of me were clinging on for grim death too. At least it was mainly downhill, got stuck behind a camper van for a bit on the twisty road but managed to draft it a bit through Aberfoyle so I forgave it!

I rolled into the second feed station at The Rob Roy hotel, Aberfoyle just after 50 miles. It was billed as a "lunch stop" and they had proper food. My plan was to have a proper break, use the loo (proper loos, fab), top up bottles etc. I queued up for some pasta with a savoury meat sauce which was great after all the sweet stuff. I ate that and some cheese salad then was itching to get going again. I still had the Crow Road to come at 75 miles so I was very mindful of saving some energy for it and took off at a steady pace.

I found this section the hardest by far, mainly because it was seemingly into the wind again and I was on my own and it was quite a busy road. A couple of groups sped past but I thought they were going too fast for the effort I wanted to put out at this stage. It was quite undulating which broke things up a bit. I could see Dumgoyne in the distance and I knew the course went somewhere near it but it just never seemed to get any closer.

Eventually whizzed past the Glengoyne Distillery where I could see the WHW and wondered how Kate had got on. Things were starting to warm up, the cloud cover had gone but the wind was still there in my face. Blew into the last feed stop at the bottom of the Crow Road still feeling pretty good. I could see the climb snaking up the hill in a very alpine style, I would be turning back on myself and realised I would be out of the cooling wind once heading up.

Stocked up on more jelly babies and had a caffienated gel for that last kick for the end then started up the climb. Like the Duke's Pass the Crow started with some 12 and 13% ramps but my legs were happier this time. It soon eased off and I kicked the cadence up a few notches and started overtaking people, lots of people. I really enjoyed the climb, seemed to suit me though it was a bit warm.

Only one person overtook me and it was a very fit looking roadie bloke stomping up in the big ring. A switchback with a 10% ramp had me out of the saddle briefly but then it was fairly easy gradient to the top. It took quite a while to get to the actual top but the five miles of up passed quite quickly, one of the motorbike marshall's gave me a thumbs up as he passed and said I had made it look easy.

Once over the top it was onto the long steady down where I had a near crash nearly missing a turn....because the view was just jaw dropping, it really was and I stopped looking where I was going. Took it slow for a while to stare then started heading down, fast and open descent apart from one dodgy sharp turn near the bottom then it was onto the last stretch along Carron Valley Reservoir to the finish.

I knew from the course profile that it was quite lumpy for a while but I was still climbing well, the road was very quiet but still had quite a few potholes. It wasn't too twisty which was great for pedalling hard downhill, not something I tend to do very often. I think most of the last 10 miles were downhill which was nice. Rode over the M9, out of the quiet roads and into Stirling and a bit of traffic, was quite a sudden change. I felt good all the way to the finish. Total time 6:35 and ride time of 6:05 with 16.2 average, pretty pleased with that as I did most of it on my own.

The event wasn't officially timed but as a first 100 miler it was a good one to pick, great scenery and good organisation.

Back on the bike!

Didn't get out for much of a ride on Saturday after all, spent a good part of the afternon trying to get the front mech on the Spesh to work. It was seized solid and given the amount of (probably road salt filled) gunk I pulled out of it even after a serious clean I'm not surprised and a little ashamed, even a regular spray of the mech with WD-40 would have gone a long way to preventing the build up. Lots of WD-40, penetrating oil and lube later it would move quite happily up the chainringa with cable pull but just wouldn't return back down without manual intervention so it's borked. It was the original mech that came with the bike in 2001 so it's not done too badly, new one on it's way. Lets see what a mess I can make of fitting it....

I stuck the mech in middle ring position to make the bike rideable and gave the Spesh a bit of a test ride, only five miles and my hip wasn't massively happy during or after really. Sunday was another day off (raining so not too bad) and last night I took the road bike out on some local hills, nothing brutal and all seemed fine. Took a while to get into the ride as it does after some time off but I was buzzing by the end.

My hip still seems a little stiff in the mornings at the minute but I've ridden into work today and felt great, rucksack didn't bother me either.

Running is still out though which is annoying, was hoping to dust off my trail shoes last week but falling over put paid to that and an experimental jog across the work car park yesterday showed I need to leave it a bit longer.

Etape Caledonia

Been doing a few road rides since my last post but haven't really posted about them....think I'm actually in denial about how much I'm enjoying the tarmac.

Anyway, official result: 4:41 for the 81 miles, an average speed of about 17.3 including stops which I am pretty chuffed about. I was hoping for around the five hour mark but thought we would both have to be having a really good days to make it.

Both of us really enjoyed it (yes, even Jez), the closed roads thing is just fantastic. The organisation was superb, marshalling was superb as was the local support. I'm not really a fan of bagpipes but the pipers dotted around the course really raised a smile. Pitlochry had a real buzz about the place, don't think I've ever seen so many cyclists in one place as I did at the start on Sunday morning.

Actual ride time on the Garmin was 4:34 with an average speed of 17.8, we didn't stop much! As can be gathered from the time it was a fast course and a fast day, bit of a wind on the outward section but pretty fast other than that.

We did take advantage of a group for a while on the outward leg into the wind, cruising along at about 20mph effortlessly, which was nice. I was a bit wary but was getting quite happy in the group until suddenly the guy next to me seemed to be resting his right hand shifter on the guy in front of him's arse! A bit of wobbling and they separate but not without them nearly taking me off, I was a bit more cautious after that!

The Schiehallion climb wasn't too bad at all though I messed up my KOTM stage timing due to me not stopping when Jez had a comfort break. I rolled on a bit, crossed the timing mat without thinking then stopped to wait, d'oh. No real matter, took it quite easy anyway as not sure exactly what to expect. The scenery up there was stunning and it was nice to get a good look at Schiehallion as it was the first Munro I ever walked up.

Even though we weren't really tagging on to groups the sheer number of cyclists around just spurred us on to keep pedalling hard and coming up behind people before overtaking them must have been giving us some slipstream benefit.

My legs were certainly feeling it on the last 5% climb to the finish, I thought that was uncalled for. Jez coped with that one better than me but waited til I caught him up before we crossed the finish line..aw.

Would I do it again...definitely!

Road Riding

Lots of it (for me anyway) is what I have been up to, 190 miles on the Ribble so far this month and have enjoyed pretty much every minute. Only 18 miles on the MTB so far but the road riding won't do my MTB fitness any harm. Have now taken in the local road hotspots of the Trough of Bowland from Dunsop Bridge (twice) and Waddington Fell from the easy side.

I've also had company for the last two road rides, I was surprised Jez, Ed and Rick wanted to come out again with me after killing them over the Trough and Waddington Fell. With four pairs of muddy mtb shoes, a peaked helmet and one large camelbak between us we look like what we were - a bunch of MTBers on a road ride - rather than a peloton.

Jez's riding was going to go one of two ways after the Cheshire Cat, either do even less and don't ride the EC or do more and thrash me round the EC to prove a point. It has gone the latter way (wasn't too surprised). His fitness and strength is coming back very quickly in that annoying way it does for him and already I can see road rides together won't really be feasible soon. On the plus side he can tow me round the EC and we may get a decent time.

Running is now down to two a week but Monday's easy beach run was great, I felt more comfortable and relaxed on that run than I did for most of my marathon training when I was running a lot and it was a similar speed for a lot less effort - go figure. They do say cycling fitness does translate to running well so come autumn I may not be back to square one running wise. I'm looking forward to a summer of evening runs on the moors.

I've got another 60/70 mile road ride planned this weekend though not sure where, did think of the steep side of Waddington Fell then over to Nick 'o Pendle or maybe over the Trough again and up to Quernmore. However, the EC is not actually as brutal a ride climbing wise as that so not sure whether to cut the climbing and go flatter for some of it...the MTBer in me says no!

Twang!

...went my quad on Sunday morning kicking the duvet off. How can you hurt yourself getting out of bed? As if I need any more persuasion to stay under the duvet.

On Saturday Jez and I did a bit of a road ride to get out as MTBing is out of the question for him at the moment. He managed ok as the road shifters don't need thumbs and its his left hand anyway so he left it in middle ring. We rode out at a nice leisurely pace onto the Fylde to where he does a lot of his model flying. I left him there and did a quick circuit of the Inskip masts before heading back.

It was also the first ride out on my new bars, I have fitted a set of Bontrager Fit Vr ones which shorten the reach on the top of the drop and generally lift it up a bit. They felt amazingly comfy on both the top and in the drops and I don't feel my neck is craning to see. I have probably lost a little in aerodynamicness (is that a word) as I felt a little slow but no stiff neck, I'll take that trade off. Just need to plan a longer ride on it.

I could have done with heading out a bit further afield as there was much faffing before we headed back home via a pub for lunch. His hand was a little sore once we got back but otherwise ok. I then took my road bike over to Ribble's warehouse to ask them about their winter frames, the geometry is quite different from my ickle 44cm sloping frame.

Anyway the helpful lad in the shop did some measuring and comparing of frames and due to the very long top tube on the winter frame a 46cm is probably best. I am doomed to dinky frames! Will order it online in the next day or so to get discounts on it, the bike won't get rebuilt until end of September anyway.

I had planned to get out for a good run on Sunday morning but twanging my leg put paid to that. It was better by the afternoon but then the weather closed in for a while. In the end I headed over to Witton Park with Jez for a bit of a walk (and to visit more model flyers!). He had been cooped up in the house all day so decided to forgo my run and keep him company. He's disappearing off to Oz again on Thursday so I'll get plenty of time to run then anyway.

We found some interesting tracks and trails around the park and due to it being in a bit of a bowl it was pretty sheltered from the strong wind. Just as we got to the flying field the heavens opened and it lashed. We got soaked getting back to the car but I was at least saved from being up on the moor when the heavens opened.

Gym Session and an impromptu ride

I got back into the gym on Thursday to do some more weights, I need to keep up the momentum with this as it will be too easy not to do it. I had a 10 minute warmup on the rower as that was as long as I could take staring at the lilac wall and had a good session on the weights. My left knee was feeling a lot more under control in the split squats this week too.

I had planned to do a gym session only but it was so hot on Thursday that the house was stifling when I got home, it was too hot to stay in. I headed out on my road bike and created my own breeze for a while. I ended up doing a nice ride out through Bretherton, Croston, Bispham, and Ecclestone before heading home. Lots of new roads I've not ridden (or driven for that matter) but basically flat, too hot to suffer hills.

Next time I will try to avoid riding through Croston as it was busy with motor traffic and horse drawn carriages. Not sure what was going on, a few poshed up people in carriages that slowed things right down. I did 27 miles in the end and legs felt ok.

Relocation, Relocation

We are being relocated to a new site next year, in Thornton near Fleetwood. Its not ideal but it could have been a lot worse (Warrington, Cheadle or somewhere else horrendous to get to with no chance of cycling there). I need to sort out a new commute route so I headed out there on the road bike today for a bit of a spin.

I had measured it at about 23 miles so it is another 5 miles on top of what I am doing to St Annes (think the Spesh is going to be too slow). I have a pretty good idea of the route all the way to Singleton and I have to say thought of riding across the quiet Fylde lanes of a sunny morning is something to look forward to.

I have no idea about anything beyond Singleton really. I took a drive out that way last week to get an idea of what the roads are like. I was warned that Amounderness Way would be a bit of a nightmare on a bike and I had to agree. Very fast, very narrow and very busy too. A very different route to the one I would drive was needed.

I printed out an O/S map of the area and a street map of the centre of Poulton which as it turned out was nowhere near detailed enough. D'oh. I had a pretty good ride out to Singleton, it was very warm if I stopped but there was a nice breeze when moving to cool things down a bit. The Fylde lanes were as lovely and quiet as they normally are but it will probably be quite exposed on a very windy day, particularly when the hedges die back over winter. When I arrived in Singleton I was averaging 17.5 which I was pretty pleased about as I wasn't pushing. I did think the section across the Fylde had the potential to be fast.

There are a choice of routes I could take, I went for the slightly shorter one on the larger roads. The roads were wide but had a few sets of traffic lights on which slow things down a bit then its through the centre of Poulton. There is a really faffy one way system in Poulton and I got lost in it totally. It has really narrow roads and if you don't know it its not always immediately obvious which roads go in which direction.

I kept cycling round and round trying to find the road I needed to be on, as I hadn't printed a detailed enough street map out this proved difficult. The O/S map reckoned there was a church right in the centre (and there is, I've heard people talk about it) and I kept looking for it as a landmark but could never see it! Eventually I got lucky and managed to find the road and get to the new site. 26 miles, I'd added three on by riding round the bliddy one way system! Still, I think I've got to know it better (probably not knowing me).

From there I decided to head to the beach, it was only about 2k away by the direct route, which I didn't take as I headed down to Bispham. I fancied an ice cream but by the time I got there I was hungry and couldn't resist some chips. I don't normally eat much on a ride so I hoped they wouldn't make me feel queasy. A bit of riding up and down the prom then I decided to head back to Singleton a different way. Apparently there is a route through Blackpool to Stanley Park then out to Staining. I found a leaflet on Lancashire councils website and printed the rather sketchy map out.

It started opposite North Pier so I headed down there, weaving in and out. My average speed had taken a hammering after all my getting lost and dodging people on the prom so I was just going with the flow. I found the start of the route then headed up Talbot Road aiming for the square. Missed the turn, faffed around Blackpools one way system (another one!). I got back on track, luckily traffic was reasonably light. Talbot square was completely dug up so I had to walk the bike round the narrow paths trying not to hit people with the bike.

Back on the road, still struggling to find my way. I had kind of expected some signage, possibly some ASL's or on road cycle lanes, anything to indicate this was a recommended route for cyclists. There was none of that, however there were a few right turns required at some large junctions which were less than entertaining. I finally saw my first cycle way sign at the entrance to Stanley Park. The Park was heaving but I expected that and it was also signposted.

Once I got out the other side I'd had enough of the "cycle route" and got on the main road back to Staining and Singleton. I rode along the other route I wanted to check out, it is slightly longer (0.3 of a mile) but has no traffic lights on it and will hopefully be quieter. Just got to hope its not a rat run in rush hour traffic.

Back into Singleton then across the busy road then on the lanes again. It was fast progress back towards Preston, I managed to pull my average speed up towards a more respectable 15 for a while. It had been steadily clouding up on the way back and it started raining as I left Roaseacre. It didn't last long, thankfully as I had forgotten to bring an extra layer. I was starting to get an attack of hot foot here, my shoes felt like they were too small, I'm sure all the running has made my feet bigger. As I crossed the M55 I was glad I wasn't driving it today, it was absolutely rammed. I got back home just in time for it to start lightly raining.

In the end it was 60 miles in 4:06, which may be a litte excessive during taper but I felt like I could have gone on all day. Apart from the hot foot, that was really annoying. It was also the longest ride I have done on the road bike, not surprising a few niggles would surface.

Sunday 14th September: Brick Session

No I'm not training for a tri or duathlon (well thinking about a duathlon) but I read something in this months Runners World about doing a brick session to get the endurance benefits of a long run without the impact of it, so I thought I would try one: Ride for an hour or so at a decent clip then run for 20 minutes.


I had bimbled over to watch the ToB whizz through already today which was a surprising 6 miles round trip (can't believe how much all this utility cycling is adding up already) but I wanted to do a bit more riding. I wanted to find a 1 to 1 1/2 hour quick whizz of a road ride from my house that didn't involve going through Preston onto the Fylde (about 25 mins to just get there) or out to the hills at Riv (again a good while just to get there).


I had a look at the map and decided I wanted to investigate a cycle path that heads over towards Penwortham then pick up the A59. I would head along the A59 for a bit until turning off towards Bretherton. I didn't want to head out as far as Croston so would turn back towards Dunkirk lane and the farm shop just after leaving the A59 then home.


Headed off along the tramway which was full of wobbly people on bikes. I especially worry about passing little kids on bikes as they are so unpredictable. I took it pretty easy and pickedup the cycle track off Leyland Road which was sign posted for Hutton. I have passed this for years but never checked it out. It was another shared path arrangement so not one for zooming along and will be slippy in some parts when the leaves start to come down but it was well surfaced and popped me out on Cop Lane on the Penwortham Side of the faffy traffic lights which was a bonus.


I headed into Penwortham then picked up the A59 and the cycle track. I don't know this road well so decided to stay on the track which was initially wide and very smooth. There weren't too many road junctions to slow down for as losing your right of way is one of the biggest drawbacks with these types of paths. It lost major marks when it ran out on the side I was on and I had to cross the road. I carried on at a decent pace for a while only slowing down to cross junctions.


I had a total 'mare getting around one of the roundabouts as I again had to change sides due to the cycle lane becoming "on road" and I would have been cycling against the traffic, not smart. I cruised along for a bit then turned off for Bretherton, so far so good.


I cruised along enjoying myself, the road surface was good and there weren't too many cars, I noted a road not long after leaving the A59 but it wasn't signposted for Leyland (and I thought it would be), so I carried on through Bretherton and out the other side. Eventually it dawned on me that I didn't actually know where I was, or where I was heading to and there was a complete lack of road signs. I came round a bend and could see civilization, when I past the town sign it said "Croston" - oh dear.


There was at least a signpost for Leyland so I headed back that way and eventually found myself very close to Dunkirk lane anyway and I got my bearings...and was passed by the muppet.


A bloke passed me in typical "must get past the girl even though the lights are about to change to red" fashion. He had a very, very shiny new bike and it became quite obvious to me he hadn't been riding long. We were approaching a large crossroads and the lights changed to red. We were riding in a lane at the side of the road which ended at the junction due to the pedestrian crossing jutting into the road, we would have to take the traffic lane to go through. I noticed this, he didn't and proceeded to filter up the left hand side of a large lorry which was first in the queue - which was another dumbass thing to do.


As he couldn't quite get to the front he put himself where the driver couldn't see him but even better he nearly spudded himself. The lights have just changed to red at a major crossroads, they are not going to change back to green in the next three seconds and if you want to remain clipped in bike you better be a track standing maestro, needless to say he wasn't. He pedalled until he realised he couldn't go any further, wobbled, couldn't get his feet out and had to rest his elbow on one of the wheel arches of the lorry while he argued with his pedal. If the lights had gone green and the lorry moved, he would have fallen straight under it.

I couldn't believe it and the passenger in the car next to me saw my disbelief too. I pedalled on a litle then noticed another cycle track I wanted to check out. From the start I knew I wouldn't be taking it on the Spesh. They had a chicane thing to stop you flying out onto the road that would be really difficult to get round on a bike but they had helpfully put a gap that a bike with panniers wouldn't get through. There was also a very narrow bridge that was ok on road handlebars but would be interesting on anything wider. I will stock to the main road around here I think but at least I know now.

A bimble through town and home and I got ready to run. I decided to change my shorts as well rather than run with a nappy on and off I went. I was giggling to myself for the first half mile because it felt so funny, my legs wanted to pedal not run, I felt so uncoordinated. My psoas felt the best its done for ages due to being very warmed up I think, it just felt like a tight muscle which was a good sign. I was also running too fast and had to slow myself down a lot, again I could get straight into the run as I was already warmed up.

I was feeling a little underfuelled though and had heavy legs for the last jog home. I think I will do it again as it was quite amusing, possibly this weekend as I am on call and can't go far from home.

I checked the map and the road I noted after coming off the A59 was the one I was supposed to take, but I will do some more experimenting on the roads in that area (with a map!).

So I cycled 21.6 miles and ran 2:25, in total it was over 1 hour and 40 minutes of quite intense exercise without too much pounding.

I've entered...The Pendle Pedal

The short course, 60 miles and around 7000ft of climbing...on a road bike! No way, yes way!

Sunday 3rd of August

I'm looking to get round in about 5 hours, I have never spent that amount of time on my road bike, never. Oh dear, will put together a training plan for the month to get some bike miles in.

Monday 23rd June: Road Ride

Distance: 33.66 Average Speed: 16.07 Average Hr: 144

Have been a little under the weather last week and did practically nothing. The original plan today was to go out on a morning road ride with Jez and head over to Blackburn to test out my new gear ratios on some hills. I have a triple 52, 42, 30 on the front and 11-23 on the rear and I occasionally find the gears too tall and I prefer spinning to grinding on climbs so I have decided to make it easier on myself and put a 12-27 on the rear! Unfortunately a plumbing emergency (downstairs loo blocked, urgh) put paid to that. By the time we had sorted a plumber out it was afternoon and Jez was due to be flying his models by then. I had been suffering the usual stomach cramps from start of TOTM so wasn't really feeling in the mood for anything, but as I'd done very little last week I got my kit on and took the road bike out for a little spin.

It was the usual Westerly and it was pretty strong so it would actually be a reasonable test of the new cassette as I often find I could do with an extra gear or so when heading into a strong wind. I wasn't feeling brilliant at all when I set off, my cramps were quite painful but I had decided just to do the loop that skirts below the masts and pop into see Jez at his flying field on the way back to the H & D, about 26 miles. I took it very easy through town and out past the Audi garage, I turned right towards Clifton and started to pick up the pace a little bit as I was now onto the quiet roads. I cruised past BNFL then turned left towards Treales at the H & D and straight into the wind, great. I got down on the drops and just pushed along, through Treales and out towards the M55, around here I started to feel much better and really got into it. My legs were feeling good after a very easy week so I wound it up a bit. I stopped on the M55 bridge for a gel then as I was feeling good headed out towards Elswick to ride round the top of the masts. I got myself into the drops generally and just pushed along enjoying myself.

Jez had mentioned he was going to be at the field until around 4pm, it was now after 15:30 as I was going through Roseacre so that spurred me on to pedal faster. I rode through Elswick and Inskip with the wind generally behind me but then turned into it again at the other Derby Arms outside Inskip. I pushed along on the drops ok then I was on H & D road again keeping an eye out for some model aircraft/helis scooting around. It wasn't long before I heard the distinctive whine and I turned down an unsurfaced farm track for a bit and headed for the parked cars. It was quite entertaining riding along the deep gritty stuff on skinny tyres. I stopped to have a chat to Jez and as I suspected he noticed my handiwork with the zip ties and the Garmin mount, hee hee. After a grumble about my bodging he tightened them up more and cut the ends off (and pressed the lap button too, hence the 0.69 lap reading). He said he was actually going to have to stay a bit longer than 16:00 now. I decided to head back home and slithered along the farm track and back onto tarmac. I kept pushing until I got to Lea Gate then just cruised the last 8 miles or so home through town. Avenham Park was busy so I was pretty slow going through there.

All in all an umpromising start to a great ride, really giving serious though to the Pendle Pedal now.....roadie! The new cassette does have some "gaps" in it which this predominantly flat ride did show up but they should help on the steeper climbs over towards Belmont way. Jez has put my old 11-23 block and the chain away together in case I decide I want to put those ratios back on.

Data from the Garmin, not sure how useful split data is from the bike but I'll keep it for now.

=======Summary=======
Distance: 33.66m
Time taken: 02:05:41
Average/Max Speed : 16.07mph / 25.18mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:03:44 / 00:02:22
Average/Max heart rate: 144/166
Calories used: 2108

======Splits======
14:24:17 1.00m 00:04:11 14.33mph 19.90mph 125bpm 146bpm
14:31:05 1.00m 00:03:20 17.99mph 21.25mph 139bpm 148bpm
14:34:26 1.00m 00:03:45 15.95mph 23.20mph 146bpm 161bpm
14:38:11 1.00m 00:03:38 16.49mph 19.75mph 151bpm 164bpm
14:41:49 1.00m 00:04:34 13.12mph 17.84mph 146bpm 163bpm
14:46:24 1.00m 00:03:37 16.54mph 18.73mph 155bpm 166bpm
14:50:02 1.00m 00:03:46 15.87mph 19.12mph 157bpm 166bpm
14:53:49 1.00m 00:04:24 13.59mph 18.90mph 134bpm 149bpm
14:58:24 1.00m 00:03:40 16.30mph 19.73mph 154bpm 160bpm
15:02:05 1.00m 00:03:40 16.36mph 20.57mph 148bpm 158bpm
15:06:13 1.00m 00:03:33 16.86mph 19.61mph 154bpm 159bpm
15:09:49 1.00m 00:03:28 17.26mph 22.38mph 156bpm 162bpm
15:13:17 1.00m 00:03:26 17.45mph 22.37mph 154bpm 159bpm
15:16:44 1.00m 00:03:37 16.52mph 21.49mph 127bpm 161bpm
15:24:42 1.00m 00:03:17 18.28mph 19.55mph 148bpm 159bpm
15:27:59 1.00m 00:03:26 17.40mph 20.15mph 158bpm 164bpm
15:31:26 1.00m 00:03:36 16.59mph 19.27mph 158bpm 163bpm
15:35:03 1.00m 00:03:10 18.93mph 22.30mph 148bpm 157bpm
15:38:13 1.00m 00:03:05 19.42mph 21.88mph 153bpm 159bpm
15:41:18 1.00m 00:03:15 18.42mph 22.08mph 144bpm 149bpm
15:44:34 1.00m 00:03:29 17.20mph 19.01mph 152bpm 157bpm
15:48:03 0.69m 00:03:44 11.07mph 18.23mph 123bpm 157bpm
15:53:56 1.00m 00:03:56 15.19mph 21.30mph 140bpm 159bpm
16:02:47 1.00m 00:03:31 17.05mph 22.12mph 147bpm 159bpm
16:06:21 1.00m 00:03:44 16.03mph 20.95mph 142bpm 157bpm
16:10:07 1.00m 00:03:05 19.36mph 25.18mph 140bpm 154bpm
16:13:34 1.00m 00:03:52 15.51mph 21.40mph 137bpm 158bpm
16:17:26 1.00m 00:03:01 19.80mph 23.16mph 142bpm 156bpm
16:20:28 1.00m 00:03:15 18.46mph 22.38mph 147bpm 156bpm
16:23:43 1.00m 00:04:53 12.25mph 20.81mph 124bpm 148bpm
16:28:54 1.00m 00:04:21 13.78mph 20.93mph 133bpm 150bpm
16:33:49 1.00m 00:03:47 15.83mph 21.73mph 142bpm 154bpm
16:37:40 1.00m 00:04:09 14.46mph 18.81mph 152bpm 163bpm
16:41:52 0.97m 00:04:08 13.97mph 18.57mph 138bpm 156bpm

Tuesday 10th June 2008: Cycle Commute

Commute In: Distance: 17.42 Time: 1:06:00 (No real data )

Commute Home: Distance: 17.42 Time: 1:00:01 Av Speed: 17.42 Max Speed: 33.06

Av HR: 137 Max HR: 160

Bike: Ribble Roadie

Had planned to cycle commute, to get some more bike miles in and offset some fuel costs! Woke up to grey skies and a stronger wind than I would've liked, looked like a normal Westerly type so would be a headwind all the way in to work. Had a debate for 10 minutes or so but in the end got up and got dressed. I find getting all my kit ready the night before helps and I would definitely forget something crucial (like underwear) if I had to run around in the morning and sort it all out. Had a gel, filled water bottle then got bike out of garage. Tyres felt ok so locked garage and wheeled bike round the front of the house.

I attached the Polar and the Garmin (still haven't fitted the new sensor to the Polar, oops) then set off, it took me until I was on Heyhouses Lane and half a mile from wotk to notice that I hadn't actually started the Garmin and distance travelled was 0 feet. Not a great start. The ride itself was ok, the headwind slowing things down quite a bit, my legs were also a bit tired from the speed session but not sore like they can be after intervals I have done on my own, I put that down to the fact I was on a grass track rather than tarmac. There is no real data from the ride in but I think it took 1:06 total elapsed and it was nice to be out on the bike in the morning.

For the ride home I had made a note to start the Garmin. I left my desk just after 5pm and got changed and walked over to E block where the bike sheds now are, got all the kit on the bike and me and was just about to set off when I put my hands on the bars and realised I had no gloves on. A rummage in the bag and I realise I'd left them in the Ladies in R block. So I walk back through E block and was halfway to R block mithering to myelf about walking over there then having to walk back again when it dawned on me I should ride the bike over there as I have to pass it on my way out anyway. I turned round and walked back and got the bike and cycled over to R block then zoomed upstairs (well as fast as I could in bike shoes) and my gloves were lying on the floor of the cubicle I'd got changed in.

I set off and hit start on the Garmin timer and the Polar to check my cadence. I had entertained thoughts earlier in the day of extending the ride home and heading out through Kirkham to the masts but it would mean not getting home until after 7pm and I had stuff to do. I will be out every evening for the rest of the week so decided not to extend it but to push hard on the way home instead. I had the benefit of the wind I had fought in on the way to work to help me along. I was averaging over 20mph on the stretch between Warton and Lytham and along the Marsh Road. I rode in the drops all the way along the Marsh Road as well to start getting myself used to it, there was a noticeable speed gain into the wind on the way in this morning whenver I was in the drops. Once I got onto Strand Road I dropped to an easy cruise through the slow traffic section then bimbled along the tramway which was busy with lots of people so no point trying to hurry.

I pulled up at home and stopped the Garmin and put the road bike away. Once I downloaded the data I saw the time for my home commute was 1:00:01, I can't believe it, if I hadn't bimbled quite so much along the tramway I could've gotten in in under an hour. I've never really been that close to getting under the hour on the way home because the sections through Warton and Preston are busy with traffic and it really slows things down. Will need to have a go on the next strong tail wind day! Even pushing pretty hard my HR never got above 160, it never used to stay that low.

Tuesday 3rd June: Road Ride

Actually got out for an easy spin. I did wonder whether it was sensible or not as it was quite windy but as I was supposed to be taking it easy then I thought I would just drop the gears and keep cadence high. I had originally entertained thoughts of going all the way out to Elswick and doing over 30 miles but by the time I got home and tracked down all my riding kit (new Sugoi shorts) , tools etc for the saddle bag it was getting on a bit. I inflated the tyres as they were soft as usual when it hadn't been used for a week or two and fitted the Garmin bike mount which was quite easy though I am not a fan of zip tie mounts really as I never seem to get them tight enough. I left a few centimetres of the tie on, which looks unsightly but should mean I can have another go at tightening it if the Garmin moves around.

I clipped the Garmin on and the Polar computer for the cadence (still need to put the sensor on for speed) and the handlebar area looked like a aircraft cockpit with all the displays and buttons. I had a couple of gels and armwarmers in my jersey pockets and I set off. After about 200 metres it was clear my legs were still tired so definitely a cadence rather than a speed session then. After a mile the Garmin gives out a weird chiming noise to let me know a mile had passed, it was much more annoying than the running one and I will switch it off for next time.

I cruised my way to Strand Road, straight into the wind and continued out of Preston past the Audi garage. I turned right towards Clifton after Lea Gate and was hoping for some shelter from teh wind but it didn't seem to be happening. I kept the cadence high and the gears and heart rate low and ignored the speed. I carried on to the Hand and Dagger where I dodged a flotilla of canoeists carrying their equipment to the canal, I've never seen so many canoes in one place. I turned left here and headed out to Treales, I was right into the wind at this point but spun along moving into the drops for a while. I turned right once through Treales heading towards the masts at Inskip, the wind was side on here so I picked up some speed and cruised nicely along until the bridge over the M55 where I stopped for a gel. I continued on until the junction I would normally take to head to Elswick instead I carried straight on and skirted round the bottom of the mast site. I arrived at the junction of Hand and Dagger road quite quickly and headed back towards the pub. I made good progress here again as it was a side wind really.

When I arrived at the H & D there were no canoeists, they were all paddling on the canal (yuck, rather them than me) but a couple of cyclists were sat outside having a pint or two, looked tempting. I carried on towards Clifton and the wind seemed to be in my face again for a while but then it seemed to be behind me again. Once I got back onto the cycle path into Preston I was flying as the wind was right behind me. The traffic section through town was quiet this time and I had an easy cruise back home. I did decide to ride along the path on the south side of the river bank thinking it would be quieter, it was but it was also bone shakingly rough so I won't do that again on this bike.

Distance: 26.64 Time: 1:41:06
Av Speed: 15.5 ok, considering how much of a plod it was at points
Av Hr: 132 (58%, nice and low)
Max Hr: 158 (Just pushing up the hill past Texaco)

This Week's Planned Training w/c Monday 2nd June

Should really be an easyish week after the exertions of the weekend, also have the second of the Harriers 4 mile series on Wednesday.

Monday: Recovery run, 4 miles probably on road


Tuesday: Road ride, flat spin out onto the Fylde for two hours or so


Wednesday: Chorley Harriers 4 mile night series race 2


Thursday: Club Run

Friday: Either rest or 6/7 mile trail run out of White Coppice or ride to work

Weekend: MTB ride