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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Day 380

Nightmare drive home :-(

Took over an hour to do 20 miles (I can definitely do better than that on the bike!)

Took a major detour off the Fosse Way and ended up driving down a load of roads that I cycled down last year :-) (It was definately faster in the car - but I preferred the cycling!)

I think I have cycled enough this month anyway so I am taking a rest!

A big thank you to all of the people that sponsored us today :-) With a month to go I think I should put some effort into raising some cash for MacMillan.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Day 379 - Over 1000 miles in April

Part 1...
WFH day today. Got up early and loaded the Merida onto the roof of the car, dropped the car off at the garage to get the brakes done, then cycled home the long way :-)

It was quite cold and foggy first thing as I cycled up from Melksham to Devizes I emerged from the clouds into beautiful warm sunshine :-)

I wonder why people drive such short distances through towns, I am certain that I was through Devizes before most of the people in their cars had moved a few feet!

The cycle computer had this mornings ride as 22.78 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes with an average speed of 16.5 mph.

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

I have now cycled 1012.09 miles so far in April.....

Part 2...
I worked through lunch, then set off to pick the car up at 2:30 pm.

The A350 can be a bit of a mad road so I opted to cycle through Lacock and up Nash Hill, then down through Bromham and finally through Melksham to Bowerhill.

The Cycle Computer had the ride as 15.41 miles in 59 minutes.

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

Part 3...
It was such a nice sunny evening and wifey had gone out so I thought it would be nice to go for a cycle ride :-)

Some sort of madness in me thought it would be interesting to cycle up all of the local steep hills in one session (Except Nash Hill because I did that one today already)

So I set off and pedaled up Bencroft Hill, cycled around the countryside a bit then swept back round and up Wick Hill. Then it was down and up into Studley and I joined the A342 towards the top of Derry Hill, I cycled down Nash Hill went down and around Lacock then cycled up Bowden Hill and then headed back home down Old Derry Hill.

The ride elevation profile looks very interesting :-)


The Cycle Computer had the ride as 28.51 miles in 1 hour 58 minutes with an average speed of 14.4 mph.

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

I have now cycled 1056.21 miles this month!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Day 378

I would normally take a Tuesday night off, but tonight my son showed an interest in going for a cycle ride :-)

I took the SPD pedals off the Dawes and lowered the saddle to his height and we cycled to Lacock (No cycleway this time as I was on the Merida)

We cycled out of Chippenham on the A4 then turned towards Patterdown and Showell then cut through Lackham College to Lacock

We cycled through Lacock village then up Bowden Hill (We stopped at the Rising Sun (Pub) for a quick drink). At Sandy Lane I turned back to Chippenham and home, Sonny Jim continued to his friends at Bromham.

The Cycle computer had my ride as 13.13 miles in 51 minutes with an average speed of 15.3 mph

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

I now only need to do 10.79 miles to have done 1000 miles in April!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Day 377

Got home from work, it was very wet and looked like it may rain again so I opted for a ride on the Dawes.

It felt very strange! very heavy! very slow! (The Merida is a lot more comfortable!)

I missed the mountains! so I thought I would climb up the steepest hills :-)

I cycled along the Wilts & Berks Canal cycleway from Chippenham to Lacock.

Then I turned right and cycled up Nash Hill, I stopped and took a photy at the bottom, It does get steeper!

At the top I turned right onto the A342 at Sandy Lane then it was downhill to Bromham then a right turn toward Melksham I stopped at the top of another descent and took some pictures of the Wiltshire countryside :-)

In the distance the Hills at Westbury could clearly be seen...(I think I shall be heading of and climbing them again soon!)

At Melksham it was a right turn and the start of a climb towards Lacock.
The Melksham road ends at a T junction at the foot of Bowden Hill....and my next challenge :-)

I stopped at the top of Bowden Hill to take some arty farty sunset photos


At this point my feet started to get cold!

I continued up the hill to Sandy Lane then it was a right turn and down Old Derry Hill and back to Chippenham :-)

At the idiotic traffic calming feature a complete numpty driver thought he would do 40mph in the 30 and try and overtake me at the same time as I was going through the narrow suicide lane!

The cycle computer had the ride as 21.16 miles in 1 hour 29 minutes with an average speed of 14.1 mph.

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

I think the Dawes (Hybrid) is very incompatible with the Merida (Road Race) and I am really unsure as to the viability of taking it on JOGLE as a spare.

I think it may well get left behind for the summer and get used as a winter trainer.

Ohhhh I only need to do 24.5 miles to have done 1000 miles this month :-)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Day 376 (Sunday)

Woke up bright and early and went for a nice walk around Penmachno, the sun was up and it was already warm :-)

Along the way we came across a slate fence, slabs of slate were slotted end on into the ground, the whole idea of it intrigues me :-)

When we got back to the hostel I got my bike from the secure lockup and got ready to go to meet Dave...I was attempting to look as cool as possible :-)

I eventually met up with Dave at about 9:15 and we set of on a nice 20 mile very rural ride :-)


The first stop was at the end of a really long climb to a lake at Llyn Crafnant

Dave insisted on taking a picture of me to obscure the scenery...

On the climb to the lake we passed a Billy Goat in its home, we stopped on the descent to take a photy....

Dave Awarded me the Billy Goatie of the Mountain award....I think he may have been impressed with my ability to climb the mountains yesterday...and again today....(We don't talk about 1:4 and greater....)


After the descent it was a right turn then up another hill, then the road started to get green with moss and there was a 1:7 sign, the hill went up and it was easy enough, then it went round a corner and went up steeper (Definitely NOT 1:7) I managed to keep going for a few more feet then I was not overcoming the pedals anymore and I gave in and walked!....

The real shocker here is.........so did Dave! (And he wasn't just being nice to me....the Hill defeated him to!.....)

At the top the roads started to get VERY rural....But still in better condition than many of the Wiltshire 'A' roads!

We then started the descent to the second lake stop at Llyn Geirionydd

The roads were fantastic and the scenery was wonderful.

We then came back to the Hill that defeated me yesterday, but this time it was a descent, I did stop to take a photo of it, but the gradient just does NOT show on a photograph.....So have this picture of Dave instead....

The descent back to Betws-Y-Coed was much faster for Dave than it was for me....I remembered the gravel and slippery surface of yesterday and hence was braking for most of the downhill (Good job I have a stock pile of Shimano 105 brake blocks now!)

The Cycle computer had the ride as 21.01 miles in 1 hour and 40 minutes with an average speed of 12.5 mph.

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

RunGPS had the ride as 1606 ft climb with min altitude at 199 ft and a maximum altitude at 988 ft.

We left Wales at 11am :-( and had a roast lunch in a pub on the way home :-)

I had no knee problems at all over the weekend :-) unfortunately when I got to Chepstow the driving was giving me some knee agro! (Not sure if it was the clutch action or the lack of movement after the morning cycle?)

When I got home I realised the best course of action to free it all up was to go for a cycle ride :-)

So I donned the cycle gear and went for a nice easy 'normal 20' ride. The hills seemed like nothing now! Ohhh how my perceptions have changed!

The cycle computer had the ride as 21.51 miles in 1 hour 14 min with an average speed of 17.3 mph

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

When I got back home all knee aches had stopped :-) and I set about cooking the evening meal...

This weekend was a fantastic experience, I am looking forward to my next mountain ride :-)

Thank you Dave for your time and effort this weekend. It was greatly appreciated.

And if there wasn't enough interesting glossy things to see in this weekends bloggage....have a look at this video, the guy is mad!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Day 375 (Saturday)

Wohhhoooooo I'm in Wales.

I didn't sleep to well, but did eat Spag Bol for tea, woke up far to early and set of from the hostel to meet Dave far to early!

I was supposed to set of at 9:30 and meet Dave at 10, I ended up setting of at 9 and we set of from his guest house at 9:30.

We headed out of Betws-Y-Coed on the A5 and the turned of onto country roads, the roads got steeper and steeper untill we reached at least a 1:4 gradient, I got a little way up it and ended up on the grass bank, so I stopped turned around then tried again, I ended up wheel spinning on the gravel in the middle of the road and again ended up cycling towards the grass bank, I gave it up as a bad idea and walked the 100 feet or so to the top of the gradient, feeling a little disappointed with myself :-(

That was the low point in the day and the steepest gradient! I battled and won on all of the other climbs :-)

Dave was pointing out all of the key mountains in the area, I was listening and taking it in (Honestly...But I have forgoten them all!)

The first stop of the day was after a 1170ft climb to Ogwen

At Ogwen we turned off of the A5 and did a massive drop on some single track lanes :-)

If you look into the distance you can still see the road way of into the distance :-)

At the bottom of the descent there was another photo opportunity :-)
There was more hill climbing,descending and wrong turns :-) At one point I saw a group of cyclists ahead and put on a turn of speed to catch up with them, only to end up disappointed at how slowly they were going!

The descent from Dinorwic was very interesting! on one steep down hill there was a sharp right hand turn, which I almost didn't!

We cycled up the Llanberis pass and stopped at the Pen-Y-Pas for lunch, I did get to the top first :-)

The downhill from Pen-Y-Pas was slowed due to a killing headwind!

At the bottom of the descent Dave was seen to be taking his jacket off again...I just kept mine on all of the time.

The views and scenery all day were stunning, the climbs were long and hard but very achievable. It must be noted that today I only achieved around 75 miles in 6 hours! I would normally be hoping to be doing around 100 miles in that time, 10 mile hills take a toll on the speed and energy!


The final climb of the day was up through Blaenau Ffestiniog and it was long, steep and bloody hard work! But again the view from the top was worth it and this time the down hill was with a tail wind :-) (Unfortunately still didn't hit my target 5o mph....only got to 47 mph)

The day was long, hard and tough but most definitely worth it!

Lessons learnt, cycling downhill on unknown roads can be very scary, the first major downhill stretch was on damp rural roads with moss growing in the middle I almost didn't make it to the bottom of the hill. The next rural downhill stretch had a very steep right hand corner, I almost ended up going straight on!!!! I can cycle almost all day uphill but if the gradient gets too steep I am defeated. Cycling downhill into a headwind can be as hard as cycling uphill. Unfortunately no matter how beautiful the scenery when cycling you miss most of it!

Thank you for your time and effort Dave... It was very much appreciated.

I may have still looked raring to go...but believe me I was knackered!

The cycle computer had today's ride as 75.34 miles in 5 hours 36 mins with an average speed of 13.4 mph and a new top speed of 47 mph

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

RunGPS had the total climb as 5114 feet with the minimum altitude at 183ft and the maximum altitude at 1405 feet.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Day 374

No cycling today...

Loaded the Merida onto the car at 6am then drove carefully to
work!

Wifey drove up and met me in Warwick at 4pm, we then drove on to Betws y Coed in North Wales.

We have an interesting hilly ride planned for tomorrow

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Day 373

Got home, got changed then went for a nice 20 mile ride :-)
When I got back home I fitted the roof bars and cycle carrier on the car in preparation for tomorrows drive to Wales via work :-)

I did a trial fit of the Merida to the bars and everything seamed very tall but very sturdy :-)

I then fed myself....

Then I set about cleaning and oiling the bike in preparation for the weekend. (I am hoping that it would stay clean after the Tuesday clean but yesterdays fog got it damp and dirty again - Besides Dave was already having a go about the chain...now it blings again!)

After all of that I set about packing the bike bits I need for the weekend....

Tonights ride was 21.30 miles in 1 hour 9 minutes with an average speed of 18.4 mph.

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

I am 163.79 miles off of doing 1000 miles this month!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Day 372

Part 1...

Got up at 5:45 am, out on the bike at just gone 6am

There was no wind but it was a little foggy and cold. It felt like I was cycling through treacle! very hard work!

The cycle computer had the ride as 25.79 miles in 1 hour 36 with an average speed of 16 mph

The RunGPS plot can be found here...

Part 2...

Stopped work at 5pm and prepared a BBQ for 6pm, made some home made burgers and some pork kebabs :-)

After eating I got changed then set of on my 'normal 25' at 6:45pm, The ride was definately a lot easier tonight than it was this morning...even with a tummy full of food!!!!

The cycle computer had the ride as 25.68 miles in 1 hour 28 minutes with an average speed of 17.4 mph, I actually did a massive 44 mph down Bencroft Hill :-)

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

When I got home I had to do the washing and tidying up from tea :-(

I stumbled across some really interesting old (1955) cycling video's today :-)

They are worth a watch even if you dont like cycling....I am starting to wonder what improvements modern life brings???? 1955 looks a lot nicer than 2009! (Although I would still want Computers,MP3's and the Internet!)



Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Day 371

Got in from work, put shorts and t-shirt on and wheeled the Merida outside and gave it a bit of a clean.

Had intentions of changing the chain but measuring it showed that there was no stretch yet :-) (I measured from the 1 inch marker to the 13 inch marker)

Although a close look at the rear brake blocks showed that I needed to replace them.....again.....

I also lubed the cables a little and made sure everything was set up correctly :-)

Spent the rest of the evening playing computer games.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Day 370

Got in from work, got changed and went straight out on the bike :-)

There was very little wind and the sun was still out and it was lovely and warm :-) - Acording to Lyneham Met office it was 17.2 degrees C with a 3 mph Northerly wind.

I was a bit unsure about going out for a ride today as my legs were still aching a bit from the weekends exercise, but after a mile or so everything freed up and I was going along great guns :-)

As I cycled through Sutton Benger I glanced at the RunGPS screen and it showed an average speed of 19.4 mph! After the long grind from Draycot Cerne to Kington Langley I had scrubbed a few points off of that :-(
I still made it home with an average speed of 19.1 mph :-)

I usually use my Monday and Thursday 20 mile training rides to push the speed a little - its not a flat ride by any means but it is a constant that I can judge myself against, the Wednesday is to climb some hills and Saturday and Sunday is for endurance.

The fastest I have done my 20 to-date is 18.5 mph so to get a .6mph increase is staggering!

The cycle computer had today's ride as 21.36 miles in 1 hour 6 minutes with an average speed of 19.1 mph :-)

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

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day 369 (Sunday)

Woke up early and had porridge for breakfast, I dressed up with cycle shorts and cycle t-shirt under a long sleeved wind proof jacket and cycle trousers, although it was forecast to be a nice day, it was a bit overcast and chilly first thing in the morning!

I packed a couple of rolls for lunch, 1 peanut butter and honey and 1 ham, mixed up 3 bottles of Torq 1 750 ml bottle and 2 500 ml bottles, I also packed two 350ml bottles of Lucozade in the back pack, I also packed a packet of Jaffa Cakes in the Fuel Tank for the in ride nourishment.

I eventualy set off from home at 8:40 am (Not sure why so late? I got up early and everything!) It really was quite cold! and hard work fighting into a head wind all of the time.

I did actualy get around to stopping and taking a photo of one of my favourite village names :-)

It's on the road from Chippenham to Yatton Keynell and if you blink let alone wink you miss it!

From TiddleyWink it was on to Yate then the Severn Bridge thankfully when I reached the Severn the sun was well and trully out, although it was still a tadge cold.

The first glimpses of the bridge...

The cycle path to the bridge is very 'interesting' to find!

I have a very healthy fear of heights so just focused ahead!!

Eventually I popped out the other side at Chepstow and in Wales :-)

A quick ride through Chepstow....Hmmm well not that quick as I was still fighting a headwind!

And I popped out at Chepstow Castle :-)

Then I was heading back into England.

And little did I know the start of a massively long climb that appeared to continue for 10 miles!
On the plus side I was passed at the bridge where I was taking photos by 2 chaps on bikes, I had overtaken them by the top of the hill :-)

When I got to the top it was time to remove the windproof jacket and cycle trousers, I was in the process of melting!

It wasn't long before I got my first glimpses of the Forest of Dean and thankfully some payback for all of the climbing - some massively down hill bits :-)

The forest was a fantastic place to cycle through :-) I stopped for lunch at 55 miles, halfway up another steep hill!

The view down the hill was awesome!

The gradient got a lot steeper further up the road:-(

I found a nice log to park the bike up against and park my arse on! I consumed the 2 rolls and 1 of the lucozade's

From the Forest it was more hard climbing to Cinderford then downhillish to Gloucester.

Things started of well in Gloucester this time - I did have to stop at a small raising bridge to let a boat go through.

Then things went awry, I got lost! I was heading south, but to Bristol not Stroud :-(
After heading south for a mile or two, I came across a right turn to Stroud, this did result in another long drawn out hill but eventually I was back on track.

Then It was more hill climbing to Stroud, I stopped half way up a long drawn out hill to consume the second lucozade and cool down a bit!

From Stroud it was straight forward to Nailsworth, then I was back on familiar roads to Tetbury and Malmesbury, I deviated from the planned route and came home via the backroads to Sutton Benger and Tytherton Lucas - Mainly because the Gloucester deviation added 5 miles or so to the route all ready and I wanted to get home before 5pm!

The cycle computer had today's ride as 107.87 miles in 7 hours 23 minutes with an average speed of 14.5 mph (The Headwind all the way to Gloucester was a killer!)

The RunGPS plot can be found here...