My blog has moved!

You should be automatically redirected in 6 seconds. If not, visit
http://johns-cycling-diary.co.uk
and update your bookmarks.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Day 350

Night Off....Played Computer games :-)

Monday, March 30, 2009

Day 349

Wahay its summer :-)

Got in at 6:15 ish, Got changed then straight out for my 'normal 25', managed to get back before it was dark :-)

The RunGPS track can be found here...

The Cycle computer had the ride as 21.31 miles in 1 hour 12 minutes with an average speed of 17.6 mph.

When I got back had a quick shower and changed then when out to pub for evening meal :-)

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Day 348 (Sunday)

Got up at some time or other.....Body clock doesn't like the clock change.

Did normal Sunday house tidy chores, was going to go for my 'normal 25' ride but the weather was so nice I went for a 30 mile ride instead :-)

I plotted a route form Chippenham to Calne (A4) then country roads to Compton Bassett, Highway, Bushton, Tockenham, Dauntsey, Foxham, Avon, Tytherton Lucas, Stanley then back to Chippenham. It was really nice to get of the main roads and you almost feel safer!

Saying that some of the stretches of road were very straight and very fast on the bike :-)

The cycle computer had today's ride as... 30.92 miles in 1 hour 52 minutes with an average speed of 16.4 mph.

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

Had lunch when I got back, then spent the afternoon in the garden tidying up and do various spring time garden chores.

When all the chores were done I spent some quality time cleaning and oiling the Merida, the Race Blade mudguards had been causing a little damage to the paintwork on the rear stays, so I have decided that I will leave them of the bike for now, and only fit them when needed. (i.e the forecast says the weather may be pooo, and I dont want to take the Dawes out)

I have decided that my future training plan will be as follows...

Monday's 21 mile Chippenham-> Calne -> Lyneham -> Sutton Benger -> Chippenham loop.
Tuesday's Night Off.
Wednesday's 2 Rides...
Morning 25 Mile Chippenham -> Stanley Lane -> Bencroft Hill -> East Tytherton -> Sutton Benger -> Dauntesy -> Lyneham -> Calne -> Chippenham
Evening 25 mile Chippenham -> Calne -> Lyneham -> Sutton Benger -> East Tytherton -> Wick Hill -> Stanley Lane -> Chippenham
Thursday's 21 mile Chippenham-> Calne -> Lyneham -> Sutton Benger -> Chippenham loop.
Friday's Swimming
Either Saturday or Sunday Long 75 miles plus ride
Either Saturday or Sunday dependant on above 25 mile Chippenham -> Calne -> Lyneham -> Sutton Benger -> East Tytherton -> Wick Hill -> Stanley Lane -> Chippenham.

Of course that's just my plan...If the weather is Pooo then I will opt for the Dawes and do a shorter ride!

If I find the 2 hill bound rides on Wednesday to much then I will drop back to one or both doing 20 mile loops.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Day 347 (Saturday)

Got up reasonably early 'ish, Got wifey's bike out of the shed and gave it a check over :-)

Wifey n Me then set of for a short ride, with Rosie (Dog) running along. We did 2.5 miles then let Rosie have a rest and drink then headed back home, so a nice easy spin 5 miles for me, a re-introduction to the bicycle for wifey and a nice exercise for Rosie :-)

After lunch I set of on a nice planed 75 mile ride - Chippenham -> Castle Coombe -> Old Sodbury -> Westonbirt -> Tetbury -> Nailsworth -> Minchinhampton -> Kemble -> South Cerney -> Brinkworth -> The Somerfords -> Sutton Benger -> East Tytherton -> Wick Hill -> Chippenham

I was cycling into a headwind ALL the way to Nailsworth!!! IT was VERY hard work.

At Nailsworth I was supposed to turn right onto the "National Cycle Route 45", I did turn right and was climbing up a VERY steep hill and the GPS kept complaining that I was cycling away from the route....I turned around went down the hill and quite close to the end of the road there was another little turning that looked like a private road.....That was the cycle way! (I have now discovered without a GPS and a planed track on the cycle routes you would NEVER be able to find or follow them!

The cycle way was really quiet and very nice :-)



Today I cycled through many interestingly named places such as 'Tiddley Wink' (Just before Yatton Keynell),'Petty France' and 'Dunkirk' (on the A46), 'Knockdown' on the Westonbirt road but my favourite named place has to be....

(Just outside Nailsworth on the 45 Cycle Route)

The Ride from South Cerney to B4042 was incredibly Fast and Fun! I had a 14mph+ wind behind me and I was averaging 24mph+. Turning on to the B4042 towards Brinkworth all that changed when I was fighting against a cross wind again.....

The Somerfords and Sutton Benger passed at high speed again :-) The 1:6 of Wick Hill was an interesting experience as I had already covered 70 miles at that point and my energy levels were obviously a little depleted!! I did cycle up it without stopping :-) But I did have to climb out of the saddle as I started to feel my legs turning to jelly :-(

I had to stop at the top of the Hill to change the battery on the phone... It lasted for an amazing 72 miles and nearly 5 hours with just the wind charger for assistance :-)

(Note the photo was taken earlier in the day at about 37 miles)

Today's ride was great fun the ride into the wind and across the wind 50 miles or so was definitely worth it for the 20 miles of high speed tail wind :-)

The cycle computer had the ride as 77.26 miles in 5 hours with an average speed of 15.4 mph...The Merida has now done 1063.1 miles!!!!!

The RunGPS plot of today's ride can be found here...

Friday, March 27, 2009

Day 346

Yipeeeeee I'm back :-)

Drove home today for the first time in daylight! no need for lights at all :-)

Got changed and went straight out on the Dawes to Lacock (Along the cycle way), then through the village, up Bowden Hill down Nash Hill then back home.

Cycle computer had the ride as 12.73 miles in 1 hour.

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

Looking back through last years blogs I found Bowden Hill and Nash Hill were some sort of nemesis, what I have found now is that they are just hills, steeper than some, shorter than most and definitely NOT something that causes me any difficulty or doubt any more :-)

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Day 345

I feel much better today :-)

Gonna rest up this evening, hopefully I will get out for a ride tomorrow evening.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Day 344

No riding again today :-(

Still got a cold.....I have however planned a nice ride for Saturday

I WILL be better then!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Day 343

Still got a cold :-(

Played computer games anyway :-)

Monday, March 23, 2009

Day 342

Ohhhhhh NOOOOOOOOOOO I have got a cold :-(

No training for me tonight, My nose is running like a leaking tap! and my head has a dull ache:-(

On the bright side my Beta Key has turned up for Battlefield Heroes and the game looks really good :-)

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Day 341 (Sunday)

Got up and did normal Sunday house tidy chores :-(

I decided that I would fold up and put away the turbo trainer, I am happy enough cycling the cycle paths in the evenings now, if the weather makes a sudden turn for the Arctic again I can always get it all out again.

At 10:30 I headed out on the Merida towards Wootton Bassett, The long way round - But not quite as long as last week (!8 miles). Once at the mother in law's I got fed :-) Then set about finishing off painting the garden fence (The inside this time)

At about 3pm I set of back home indirectly (18 miles again)

The cycle computer had today's ride as 37.17 miles in 2hrs 8 mins with an average speed of 16.8 mph.

The RunGPS plot of the ride can be found here...

Ohhh today was the first ride of the year with shorts and short sleeve cycle shirt and no gloves,woolie hat, over shoes or any other warming thingumny :-)

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Day 340 (Saturday)

Got up, had breakfast then went for a haircut! I had promised myself NOT to cut my hair again, but the warmer weather and the fact my hair was taking hours to dry after my frequent showers meant a haircut was a sensible option.

After the haircut, we took Rosie (Dog) for a quick walk then I set of on a planned 85 mile ride.
I decided it would be a jolly good idea to cycle to Longleat House then on to Wells and back home.

The first leg to Longleat was a little cooler than I had hoped, but the sun was out and the sky was cloudless :-)

The road in to Longleat house was fantastic, very fast downhill and the house looked amazing!



It turned out that there was a film crew at the house filming a new TV film (Interesting that they picked possibly the nicest day of the year so far to film a snow scene!)


From Longleat, it was a straight forward ride to Wells, but one I have been planning to do since I started this cycling madness, when I was an early teenager, I cycled from my parents to Wells and back, with my sister (About a 70 mile round trip direct) and I have been eager to reproduce that ride :-) (I am still trying to get the photographs from my sister!)


I cycled around Wells city centre, without actually going into it or stopping! Then headed for home. Half way up a never ending hell I stopped and removed the cycling jacket and re-organised the depleting drink supply.

The solution to the phone power issues appears to work well, I carried: 1) The wind turbine charger; 2) The solar charger; 3) A spare fully charged phone battery; 4) The home made charger and some 9 volt batteries.

The Wind Charger and the 1600 mAh Battery lasted for about 3 hours before the critical low power warning appeared, I then swapped out the phone battery with a fully charged 1350 mAh and plugged in the home made charger and a fresh 9 volt battery - that then kept everything running nicely for the rest of the ride. I have also now found that I can load a training session back on the phone and continue from where I left off :-)

The RunGPS navigation worked perfectly (Well at least after I rebooted the phone just before Longleat anyway)-It appeared to completely loose the satellites twice - It the clearly states that you are x thousand feet away from the track.

This does mean that the RunGPS track of the ride has a few random plots within it! RunGPS plot here... (I did manually plot a clean version of the route here...)

The cycle computer had todays session as 84.69 miles in 5 hours 25 minutes with an average speed of 15.6 mph

Friday, March 20, 2009

Day 339

Picked up wifey and daughter on the way home from work and went swimming :-)

I actually feel a lot more confident swimming now:-) I still lack any real style but I am getting better I think!

Wifey and I have spent the week re-planning the JOGLE route and have now finalised the plan, we have even booked the camp-sites! (The replanning has shortened the trip by 1 day :-)

Some of the days we have planned look very tough! but they are balanced with some nicer easier ones!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Day 338

Ahh well ummm, I said I wasn't going to go for an evening ride again until the clocks change for BST, but I thought what if I fit the bright halogen light I have to the Dawes, then I could cycle the cycleways in relative safety :-)

So when I got home I got changed and spent 10 minutes or so fitting the light to the bike :-) When I got to the foot of Nash Hill I hadnt even broken into a sweat (What was my problem last year???) I descided to give Nash Hill a bash....Ok its steep but again not really a problem, I didnt even get out of the saddle.

When I got to the top of the Hill it was dark, so I risked life and limb cycling on to the turning point and coming back down Bowden Hill, wich was very excilerating in the dark. I then went through Lacock village and back to the cycleway.

Even with the bright light the cycleway was quite difficult to navigate as the loose chippings blended well with the grass verge.

It was however much more interesting than sitting on the Turbo Trainer!!!

The RunGPS plot of the ride can be found here...

The cycle computer had the ride as 12.79 miles in 57 minutes with an average speed of 13.1 mph

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Day 337

Part 1....
Due to the longer daylight time again (Yipeeeee) I have decided to start doing 2 rides again on a Wednesday.. an early morning ride (6:30 start) and a late afternoon ride (4:30 start)

I got up at 6am ish, got changed and faffed around a bit, then set of on the bike at 630ish, I opted for cycling a reverse of my normal 25 route, the roads were very empty and the country lanes very pleasant :-) There was a fantastic sunrise and a thin low mist hanging over the countryside...(Shame I didn't think to take the camera!!!!)

When I got to Lyneham the traffic started building, and I felt a little uncomfortable, As I was pulling back into Chippenham there was so much traffic it was stationary and I could cycle down the outside of them.

The cycle computer had this mornings ride as 25.8 miles in 1 hour 33 minutes with an average speed of 16.5 mph and a top speed of 41 mph

The RunGPS track of the ride can be found here...

Part 2...
Stopped work at just gone 4 and set out on my normal 25 ride, when I got to Hilmarton disaster struck...the phone jumped off the bike! luckily it was not damaged (Other than a scratch or two), I will have to concoct some sort of locking device for the phone carrier to stop it happening again.
This does mean that the rides GPS plot is split in 2, 1 before the incident and 1 after.

Here are the plots...First Part...Second Part

The cycle computer had the ride as 25.71 miles in 1 hour 32 min with an average speed of 16.7 mph

It was a really nice day, I managed to get out on 2 good rides and fit in a complete days work as well!

If I can do over 50 miles AND 8 hours work the JOGLE schedule should not be to much of a problem

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Day 336

Night off...Played computer games :-)

Monday, March 16, 2009

Day 335

What a fantastic sunny day:-) I got home reasonably early and in day light! In a fit of madness I thought it would be a good idea to go out for a cycle ride!

I got changed and got the Merida out and set of on the old 20 mile Lyneham ride at about 20 past 6.

By the time I got to Lyneham it was starting to get dark, at Dauntsey it was full on dark, now this isn't really a problem apart from my bike lights are for me to be seen not for me to see by! and cars appear NOT to dip there lights for an on coming bicycle so you keep getting "blinded by the lights" as that crap old song says.

Saying that I recorded amongst the fastest time for the ride (18 mph) and felt really good for my efforts, needless to say I wont be venturing out for an evening ride until the clock's change to BST.

The cycle computer had the ride as..21.32 miles in 1 hour 10 minutes with an average speed of 18 mph

Tonight's ride can be seen here...

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Day 334 (Sunday)

Got up early and did normal Sunday house tidy chores.

At about 10 I set of towards mother in laws (Wootton Bassett) in an indirect direction via Chippenham, Stanley, Foxham, Christian Malford, Sutton Benger, Seagry, Malmsbury, Kemble, Ewen, Cirencester, Ashton Keynes, Wootton Basset. (About 45 miles)

Aircraft at the end of the runway at Kemble, awaiting dismantling for scrap.

Lovely empty road :-)

I had intended to follow the National Cycle Route 45 from Kemble through the Cotswold Water Park, but the route turned off the country roads and onto an off road gravel path at South Cerney, so I used the RunGPS software to plot a new route to Wootton Bassett and it worked absolutely perfectly :-)

When I arrived at the mother in laws (1230 ish), I parked the bike up (In doors of course!), put some working clothes over the cycle gear, had lunch then set about painting the fence that I repaired a couple of weeks ago.

At about 3pm I set off on the long way home, via Broad Town, Marlborough, Avebury, Calne and Chippenham.

Total round trip was tracked via RunGPS here...

The cycle computer had the ride as..74.05 miles in 4 hours 23 minutes with an average speed of 17mph.

It was a really nice ride, the Wind generator worked perfectly, supplying positive power for nearly 3 hours, then charging intermittently as its own internal battery became depleted.

Today was the longest ride yet on the Merida and I experienced NO problems, NO hand aches and it was a very fast and enjoyable ride :-) I am now really looking forward to the nice weather...

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Day 333 (Saturday)

Got up early and went for an early morning 'normal 25' Route here...

When I got back I showered, changed then Wifey, Rosie (Dog) and me went for an afternoon at the seaside :-) Daughter was stuck at home doing school course work and son was at work...

The cliffs at West Bay (Dorset)

The Sea...

Rosie appeared to really enjoy herself :-)

When we got back home I cooked tea (Gammon, mash potatoes, peas and a home made cheese sauce)

Today was proof that I can cycle and have a day out!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Day 332

Got home at 6ish and picked up wifey and daughter then went for a swim.

Was very tired tonight, having a stressful time at the moment :-(

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Day 331

Had tea when I got in, then had some things to do, I finally got on the Turbo Trainer at 8:30!

I did a 30 minute/10 mile session

1 mile easy spin,8 miles high cadence,1 mile easy spin

The cycle computer had the session as....10 miles in 30 minutes

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Day 330

Worked from home today.

Managed to tear myself away from work at about 11:30 and went for my normal 25 ride, with the addition that I stopped of at the cycle shop to have the gears looked at.

The cycle computer had today's ride as....25.99 miles in 1 hour 36 minutes with an average speed of 16.1 mph.

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Day 329

Night Off....Played computer games :-)

Monday, March 9, 2009

Day 328

Went for my normal lunch time walk, today I decided to gps track it to see what sort of stats the RunGPS would come back with :-) The walk can be seen here...

Got in from work at normal time (6:30 pm ish), changed then went straight on the Turbo Trainer - I dont think I have been on the Turbo for nearly a week (I have been spoiled by having proper rides all week)

I started of with a 5 minute warm up, 20 minutes high gear high cadence then finished of with a 5 minute easy spin cool down.

Cycle computer had the session as 10.8 miles in 30 minutes with an average speed of 21.3 mph

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Day 327 (Sunday)

Woke up reasonably early and did normal Sunday morning house chores.

At 10 am the sky was blue and it looked really nice out, although unbelievably the BBC and the met office had heavy rain, sleet and hail forecast, I decided to set straight off on a planned 60 mile ride that way I would be back at 2-3 pm and could cook tea :-)

I had decided I wanted to go back on the Bath - Bristol Cycleway but this time I wanted to turn off it and explore the Chew Magna leg of Cycle Route 10 (The Avon Cycleway). All went very much according to plan, unfortunately when I got to Bath the first Hail Storm arrived, being a martyr to the cause I soldiered on, the hail stopped and the sun came out :-)

When I got to the turn from cycle route 4 to 10 the heavens opened and I started to get wet, I pulled over and pulled on the rain jacked and water proof trousers and continued...The skys darkened and the rain fell heavier. I started to wonder if soldiering on was such a good idea? There was a massive head wind (Met office had it at 21 mph gusting to 33) I decided I would continue until I had done at least 25 miles then If things didn't brighten up I would turn around and head home.

I then went down a huge hill and the thought of re-scaling it later was not appealing so I continued and the sun came out :-)

I do not think I would have taken the Merida today if I had realised how rural the cycle way was. It wasn't of road but equally the roads were NOT well used and had a fair amount of field debris over them. (However I did survive today without a puncture :-)

I arrived at Chew Magna wet and hungry! I ate the Ham Roll and the Banana wifey had packed for me, squeezed all of the water out of my gloves (Attempting to dry them under the hand drier in the toilets at the side of the lake) , then I set straight back of home the direct route - with the wind behind me :-)

When I got to Batheaston I diverted of over Kingsdown and came home via Atworth and Gastard. At which point I think the wind really picked up (According to the met office it was 29 mph gusting to 45!)

I unfortunately did NOT take any pictures today, the camera was tucked away in my back pocket and I did not want to get it wet!

The cycle computer had today's ride as 61.3 miles in 4 hours 18 minutes with an average speed of 14.2 mph.

The RunGPS plot can be found here... I will be re-visiting this ride on the Dawes when the sun is out :-) There was enough nice scenery to make it very interesting and the lack of traffic was fantastic :-)

The unfortunate thing was after I got home and tidied myself up...I had to spend an hour tidying the Merida up!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Day 326 (Saturday)

Had to get up and out on my ride early this morning as I am busy this afternoon.

The Wind Turbine arrived yesterday and I fitted it this morning :-)
(Picture taken after ride so its already a bit dirty :-)

Due to the lack of handlebar space and the number of gadgets I have to use, I resurrected the Space Grip and fitted the front light and cycle computer to it.

All of the extra weight???? and drag??? did not appear to affect my riding, I had a faster run around the 25 miles this morning than I have ever done!

The cycle computer had the ride as 25.71 miles in 1 hour 28 minutes with an average speed of 17.4 mph.

The GPS actually had my average speed up to Wick Hill as 18.5 mph (Unfortunately the 1:6 of the Hill dragged the average down to just over 17 mph)

The wind turbine appeared to work, although I do not think it will power the phone for as long as I had hoped :-(

The RunGPS plot of today's ride can be found here...

Friday, March 6, 2009

Day 325

Had to take the morning of work today, I did work at home this afternoon.

When I got back home at 12 I set of on my 'Normal 25' on the Merida.

I had a stonking trip round with an average speed of over 17mph :-)

The cycle computer had the ride as 25.7 miles in 1 hour 29 minutes with an average speed of 17 mph

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Day 324

Worked form home again today.
I managed to stop work at 11:30 ish and went out for my normal 25 ride.

The cycle computer had the ride as 25.66 miles at 15.2 mph.

The GPS actually plotted the whole ride properly :-)
The RunGPS track can be found here...

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Day 323

Worked from home today.

Managed to get out at 12 ish for my normal 25 ride.

The RunGPS software didn't pick up any satellites until almost 5 miles into the ride :-(

The cycle computer had the ride as 25.64 miles with an average speed of 15 mph. It was noticeably colder and windier today than it has been of late.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Day 322

Night Off, Played computer games :-)

Monday, March 2, 2009

Day 321

Got in from work, changed then onto the Turbo Trainer for half an hour.

Rather than do my usual grinding away in as high a gear as possible, I thought I would keep the gears down and spin away at a high cadence for the whole session. I did glance at the low speed a couple of times, and almost cranked the gears up - But I resisted the urge!

The computer had the session as 8.8 miles in 33 minutes wit an average speed of 15.9 mph. I will try and spend some time from now on working on trying to use easier gears! I think it will be my best bet at tackling hills instead of my current brute force method.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Day 320 (Sunday)

Woke up far to early! tried going back to sleep and failed, Set of for the freezing cold of the North at 7:30 am. Finally arrived at Dave Carr's house at 10:15 ish.....

Dave, Andy Wiggins and myself went for a really nice ride, trouble is because I dont know the area I cant really explain where we went to!

Dave did find some nice hilly bits, some incredibly rutted and dirty country road bits (Where the Merida got absolutely filthy), some off road bits (where the Merida may have picked up its Puncture), some historic WWII USAF bases (well that was the short off road bit)....

At 12:30 ish we stopped at a really nice tea room where I stuffed my face with an egg, sausage and bacon sandwich and a latte, then we changed the inner tube on my rear wheel by committee :-) Dave was suitably unimpressed with my lack of knowledge on how my wonderful travelling track pump worked (or at least how it was supposed to clamp to the valve)

Once the tube was replaced, tyre pumped up and wheel re-fitted we continued our whirlwind tour of the north.......Finally arriving back at Dave's at about 2:30 I had a nice spot of tea, showered, changed then set of back home at about 3pm.

I did find that I was powering along on the straights and down hills and was finding myself being overtaken on the uphill stretched by Andy. I think they may all be 100% right that I grind along in to high a gear which is fine for the flats and the descents but when It comes to the inclines I loose out as the workload gets to high. I must concentrate on trying to maintain a higher cadence in a lower gear(I actually think my turbo trainer session may be counter productive as I find myself cranking up the load to feel any affect at all, and no matter how high the load I overcome it with ease)

Today's ride was great fun, thank you Dave, Karen and Andy. I still have a lot to learn!

According to the Cycle computer today's ride was 51.21 miles in 3 hours 14 minutes with an average speed of 15.8 mph

The phone mount worked perfectly and the battery and diy charger fitted well in the frame mounted food box (Still leaving room for my food stash). The phone battery life is about 2 hours unassisted, it goes up to about 4 hours with a single 9 volt battery but this is not really cost effective at about £2 a battery (I will need 2-3 a day). So I have now ordered a handlebar mounted wind turbine :-) (The solar panel really didn't work out to well)

When I got home I was very tired, but set about eating (chilli that was a tadge to hot for my taste) then cleaned the grime from the Merida and re-oiled it (I re-adjusted the Handlebars down a little - Dave's Suggestion) I also tweaked the fitment of the saddle bag and re-stocked it with another new inner tube). Finally did at least some of my house hold chores.....

The RunGPS track of todays route should be available below....