31st January 2010

I do sometimes wonder about my sanity...It does not seem quite 'normal' to put the bike in the back of the car for a long ride....and then scrape ice off the windscreen...

It was cold.....VERY cold.....no REALLY....it WAS VERY COLD!!!

0900		-1.6 °C	SSW	6 mph		20 km	1006 hPa, Rising
1000		-0.6 °C	SSW	7 mph		25 km	1006 hPa, Rising
1100		0.0 °C	SW	7 mph		25 km	1006 hPa, Rising
1200		0.7 °C	SSW	6 mph		25 km	1006 hPa, Rising
1300		1.3 °C	SSW	7 mph		30 km	1006 hPa, Rising
1400		2.0 °C	SW	7 mph		30 km	1006 hPa, Falling

I was up at 6:30 and was on the road at 7:30 (the thermometer had it as -2). It was plain sailing getting to Ashton Keynes...finding 'The Bradstone Pavilion' was an entirely different matter, after driving round in ever decreasing circles, I gave in and started Tom Tom on the phone :-)

I parked up dragged the bike out of the car and re-fitted the front wheel and front mudguard and ambled over to the check-in, and had a nice cuppa and a biscuit :-)

I was in two minds to cycle from home to Ashton Keynes, but I didn't fancy the idea of an early morning freeze, but I must have been a wimp...one guy had cycled from Bristol...(at least 30 miles!!), another Guy had cycled from Cirencester (10 miles)and looked like he had hypothermia! (The water had even frozen in his water bottle!)

At 9am we set off :-) The roads were surprisingly ice free....I of course turned it into a race again!!! (I must learn that I don't have to be in the front)

It was quite a nice SW wind blowing and the initial pace was very nice.....I ended up hooking onto the back wheel of a local guy who knew the route and was holding a very reasonable pace (18-19 mph)

I ended up taking the lead a little and opened up a gap, at about 25 miles I saw the guy in front of me go down heavily on some ice...I opted for the stopping and walking approach! I warned the guys following and they followed my approach.

After the ice we re-grouped and the local knowledge was back in the lead :-) The first sign in was at 30 miles...We opted to not hang around (The idea of stopping and getting cold was not appealing) - I should have picked up some food though...in my rush to set of in the morning I forgot to pack any bars or gel's :-(

From the control we headed NW through Witney to Crawley....then we turned into wind and followed the Windrush Valley...It was very interesting and a little alarming to be cycling through places that I see signposted on my way to and from work.

At 48 miles we stopped at the Fox Inn at Great Barrington for the last Control (I was starting to feel a little hungry) but stopping for a meal in a pub was not really an option I would have cooled down to much and would have been in real trouble. Besides it was only 20 miles to the end - and there was food and drink waiting for me :-)

I set off promptly from the Inn, I was passed by the Cornium CC guys who flew past me up the hill as if I was standing still! I held a reasonably good pace heading south into wind, catching up and overtaking one of the guys who was dropped by Cornium peleton..

As Ashton Keynes drew closer I was starting to feel stronger and my speed picked up, I almost went sailing past the Bradstone Pavilion entrance.

It was a really nice friendly ride and I really enjoyed it, it was excellent to be in completely unknown territory :-) I think I may adapt the route a little for a summer excursion from home...

The Garmin had today's ride as 66.87 miles in 4 hours 26 minutes with an average speed of 15.1 mph, route here...

I felt really happy with my performance today, I was holding my own on a heavy steel bike, some of these guys were on lightweight carbon frames, the Cornium CC guys only arrived back 10 minutes ahead of me :-)

Ohhh a number of compliments were made about the Peugeot on the ride as well, it was remarked on the good condition and how well it had been maintained :-)

As it is the end of the month it is time to publish the monthly stats...(Real road miles only!)

Count:	13 Activities
Distance:	576.48 mi
Max Distance:	87.92 mi
Time	37:34:53 h:m:s
Elevation Gain:	19,482 ft
Max Elevation Gain	4,319 ft
Avg Speed:	15.3 mph
Max Speed:	40.2 mph
Calories:	41,534 C

Not too shabby considering the weather, if you include the rollers (294.75 miles) the months mileage is up to 871.71 miles :-)

30th January 2010

As I am getting up early and travelling off for a cycle ride (Audax at Ashton Keynes) it was not particularly appropriate for me to rush out first thing on my bike this morning! So I didn't go out on the Chain Gang, wifey n me went out for a walk with Rosie (dog) instead...

The plan was to drive over to the Savernake Forest, go for a jolly long energetic march (My idea not wifey's) then stop in Marlborough on the way home for a nice warming brunch, and as soon as we hit home I could get changed and race out on the bike for an hour or three :-)

Rosie however was being a complete pain in the arse...so we stopped at West Woods instead.

Redbikes had me thinking about GPS software for phones, I have a paid up and valid licence for RunGPS. It was my original choice for cycle tracking and navigation (but I couldn't sort out the battery life/recharge cycle to suite the requirements for JOGLE) but I do a lot of walking as well as cycling so I thought I would put the software to use to track my walking distance...
We walked 2.5 miles and it was freezing cold! Although it was worth it as we saw two lots of deer :-) ...you can see the RunGPS trace here...

When we got back home I had a lovely bacon sarnie, and then set about making a traditional Bolognese for tea...(Interestingly it uses milk and white wine in the ingredients)- I kept the garlic but dropped the star anise and only used two sticks of celery (Celery is minging in my opinion!)

At 1 I finally managed to set of on my cycle ride :-)

I headed of on the Chain Gang route...with a few added hills and a little further distance :-) I did take the Action Cam, as I wanted to record the hills.....but as the camera is always level with the bike and both wheels are always on the ground...all hills look level....(I must build some sort of self levelling jig to mount the camera on)

I was really quite pleased with myself, I was holding a reasonable 15-16 mph into some reasonably strong winds.

1300		1.5 °C	NNW	11 mph		50 km	1002 hPa, Rising
1400		2.1 °C	WNW	11 mph		50 km	1003 hPa, Rising
1500		1.7 °C	NW	11 mph		40 km	1003 hPa, Rising
1600		1.8 °C	NW	8 mph		45 km	1003 hPa, Rising
1700		0.2 °C	NW	6 mph		40 km	1004 hPa, Rising

I was also quite pleased that I didn't venture out on the chain gang, even after a mornings worth of sun on the roads, there were still some 'interesting' patches of ice.

There was a nice tail wind up the Fosse-Way, the journey back to Corsham was nice and quick, the computer had the average speed at 16 mph for the 38 miles (Over the last couple of weeks the chain gang has been doing an average of just over 17 mph - So it was a good pace for a solo)

I decided that as things were going well I would continue on the extended route instead of returning back home directly :-)

The tailwind pushed me up Gastard Hill and I had a nice fast ride into Melksham, I was quite pleased to pull off the main road and start heading cross country at Seend, unfortunately I was now heading uphill into a headwind :-( I was still able to hold a reasonable pace, only scrubbing a few MPH off the average, by the time I got to the top of the hill at Sandy Lane I was only down to 15.8 mph Av and it was all down hill home :-)

The Garmin had today's ride as 56.43 miles in 3 hours 31 min with an average speed of 16 mph, route here...

I was feeling a little bit down about how poor my cycling had gotten, I was starting to find almost everything a struggle, but today I had a really good ride, I can start to see some of the summer performance :-)....I have to consider its colder, the bike is heavier, the tyres are grippier, its windier, I am wearing more kit, the road conditions are worse.....oh and I may not have been giving my body time to recover...(There may be a bit of truth in the recovery time is as important as the exercise time)

29th January 2010

Another night off :-)

I have been tinkering with http://ridewithgps.com (Thanks Chas) for planning and saving my routes (since bikehike has stopped saving)..

It is almost exactly what I am looking for, a very sleek interface and very quick, it is also allows uploading and analysis of Garmin data - The only down side so far is lack of Open Cycle Map support...But I guess I cant have everything!

I have sorted out a route for tomorrow


The Audax (Windrush Winter Warmer) route for Sunday looks interesting :-) - It takes a fair time to convert a route sheet into a Garmin map...Especially if you dont know the roads!


I am looking forwards to getting back out on the bike over the weekend :-)

-----Update----
The White Horse Challenge entry is now open :-) So I have entered :-)

28th January 2010

As I felt so good riding last night, the laying off the bike plan has obviously worked, so I am actually staying of the bike again!!!

Normal service will resume over the weekend and next week :-)

I am spending some quality time vegetating in front of the TV and sorting the route sheets out for the forthcoming Audax's.

27th January 2010

Worked from home today :-)

Took one look outside at lunch time and the inner wimp shivered at the cold, so I turned around and went back to work in front of the fire...

After tea I got changed into multiple layers and heade of for a quick 20 mile then headed on to the cycle club. It felt REALLY good to be back on the bike after a couple of days off :-)

I wonder if the performance improvement I felt was down to....The clean bike, the re-greased wheel bearings, the couple of days off, the weather? I suspect its a little bit of all of it...

I haven't been able to upload the route or have a look at the stats for tonight as Garmin connect is being pants again! (Garmin Edge a great bit of kit let down by a) - The over priced maps (I make my own from Open Street Map) , b) - unreliable web service, c) - crap routing software).. I will upload the stats as soon as I can but it was about 22 miles with an average speed of 17 mph and a time of 1 hour 20 ish

I still intend to stay off the bike for the next couple of days, and take it easy on Saturday.

---Update---
I have now uploaded the route and...
23.91 miles in 1 hour 24 min with an average speed of 16.9 mph, route here...

Ohhhhh the bike stayed reasonably clean as well :-)

26th January 2010

Night Off...Played Computer games :-)

L4D2 again :-)

I have been listening to Epica's new album "Design your Universe" for the past couple of weeks commuting...the songs seem to get better the more I listen....

25th January 2010

I felt knackered all day :-(

The stretching of the legs on the lunchtime walked helped a little, but I think I should take it easy this week...I have a 100k Audax on Sunday (Not to far) and I want to enjoy it...

So instead of going on the rollers/going out for a ride, I noticed yesterday that the rear wheel bearings had a little play in them so I thought I would have a look at them....(The peugeot has maintainable bearings)

And for your boredom I photographed the ordeal :-)

Start of with the wheel off the bike...

With a flat spanner holding the inner nut undo the outer nut....

Then unscrew the inner race...revealing one side of bearings....Ohh they look a little dry :-(
Remove the shaft...

Count out the bearings.....nine....and clean and inspect them.

Then take out the other side bearings..and clean and inspect them.

Clean and inspect both outer races...

Pack with grease (I use a lithium based grease - some people mix with teflon/silicon grease to help resist water washout)

Put the bearings back in, the grease holds them in place :-)

Put the shaft back through and re screw on the inner race and the lock nut...dont over-tighten...dont leave it to loose...It should be tight enough to have no play but loose enough so that there is no resistance to turn.

Because the rear bearings were a little dry, I went on and serviced the front wheel bearings as well :-)

And as I was tinkering I sorted out the front shifter (It's not a modern thing but a simple down-tube leaver)...it was a little stiff so I stripped it down and applied a little light oil on it :-) Now its well smooth :-)

The plan this week is to stay of the bike Mon/Tues and Thurs/Fri...I may go for a short ride on Wednesday to the cycle club meeting (Although if there's any sign of bad weather I'm not taking any bikes out! they are all to clean!), I am going to give the ChainGang a miss this Saturday and go for a short afternoon ride instead...Then Sunday is the Audax :-)

24th January 2010

I had planned a reasonably long ride today, long enough to get some miles in - but short enough to have an afternoon with the family....

After faffing around a bit I eventually got going at just gone 9 (Only about an hour later than I planned!)

The plan was to head cross country to the Bath - Bristol cycle way, then head of on route 10 down to Chew Magna lake, do a once round the lake then head back home cross country....simple!

Unfortunately I underestimated the slight head wind, the condition of the unclassified roads and the amount of climbing involved! (I was also a bit wary when I set off as it was only just above freezing - and there was a small amount of ice on the surface)

It was a gorgeous clear morning, with clear blue skies....Until I got near Bath...


And I started cycling in to some cold fog.....It did get very dense...
It was amazing when I broke through the top of the cloud, it made some nice photies...You can see all of the cloud in the valley...


When I got to Bath, instead of heading straight of in to the city centre I decided to follow the canal instead...


It was a mixed blessing, nice to be on the flat and level, but the surface is a little ruff, and I only have 700x 23c tyres....

Now the plan was to video the ride down the Bath-Bristol cycleway..it is superb...a really good quick surface and wide enough to allow cyclists both ways and walkers!...But the plan didn't work (I forgot to delete the old garbage from the memory card...and it was full)

I also started to realise that my plan for a quick morning ride was going very badly awry....I had been going for over an hour n half....and I hadn't even done 20 miles :-(

For all of the compliments I have for NCR4 (Well the Bristol-Bath bit anyway!) Route 10 is a completely different kettle of fish...the last time I went down it, it was bad.....this time it was dangerous! The pot holes were lethal! and there was so much loose gravel that it was interesting to stay up-right.

I did have to stop and take the obligatory photograph of the Pensford viaduct (Long since fallen out of use)

It was then more ups and downs to Chew Magna......

I was really starting to feel fatigued at Chew....I had a Torq energy gel and a Cereal Bar, just as I was leaving a group of fast cyclists went by.....So I gave chase...

Hmmmm they were very fast! I never actually caught them up....(my excuses are...I had already done nearly 40 tough miles, I was on my heavy winter bike, they were riding in a group....etc..etc..etc)

At least I turned from a head wind into a tail wind....I was also on some faster main roads....

That was until my planned route sent me cross country again (Generally as I am sure you already know..as the standard of road goes down the gradient goes up!) At least I now know I can make it up 25% hills on the Peugeot!

The 25% was just after the above photo....

Just after Monkton Coombe (and an awful lot more ups and downs) I headed back on to a canal path.

Things had been taking rather longer than planed, when I got to Bradford on Avon, I had a check on the saddle bag finances (I always carry £5 in change), unfortunately the last time I tucked into the bag, I didn't top it up afterwards, I was down to a pound... :-(

So the idea of stopping at the canal side pub in Bradford to eat (and possibly have a nice pint of cider!) disappeared.....I had no choice but to continue on home...

I dived off the canal path at the Cross Keys pub, and headed on to the B3109 and thankfully the last REAL climb of the day.

I headed back down the country roads to Great Chalfield and Atworth....

And then finally 5 and a half hours after setting off I made it back home....The Idea of spending an afternoon at home disappeared in the revolution of some pedals...

The Garmin had the ride as 72.29 miles in 5 hours 35 minutes with an appalling average speed of 12.9 mph (But there was over 4000 ft of climbing!), route here...

That was all very nice...apart from the grime from the country roads,cycle paths and canal tow paths had turned into grinding paste and was all over the bike.....so instead of sitting down and relaxing I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the bike :-(

And here is an explanation of why it takes me 2 hours plus to clean the bike....

The most important part to clean properly is the chain....never put fresh oil on a dirty chain..the oil will carry the grime into the chain and it will turn into a grinding paste....

I use a KMC missing link chain, it means I can take the chain off easily, and it's the ONLY way to clean the chain properly!

I put the chain into an old Gatorade bottle with some White Spirit and give it a shake, leaving it soaking whilst I clean the rest of the bike...

The frame gets a good clean with the wheels removed (I always use car shampoo, normally wash n wax - never use washing up liquid...it contains salt)

After the frame,brakes, dérailleurs have all been given a good clean, I spray some light oil on the dérailleurs, then a couple of drops of 3 in 1 on the brake pivots and the dérailleur parallel pins.

Then I start on the front wheel...

Cleaning the tyres, rims, spokes and hubs.

Then the Back wheel..

I start by removing the cassette

It gets cleaned in a tub using the white spirit that cleaned the chain.

The cassette and chain then get wiped dry with a cloth..in the summer they get left in the sun to dry, in the winter they get put in front of the fire to dry.

The jockey wheels in the rear dérailleur then get a good looking at, today they were very dirty and obviously lacked any grease in the bearings...so they were removed and cleaned in the white spirit....the bearings and caps got a good squeeze of silicon grease.

The rear cassette is the re-assembled and the rear wheel fitted.

Then the chain is re-fitted wiped down, dry lube applied, I keep the chain turning as the ethanol carrier evaporates, then the external lube gets wiped off.

I then apply a little 3 in 1 to the cable runs...

Then 2 hours later its all done.......ready to get dirty again!

23rd January 2010

Got up and changed straight in to cycle gear...

I was not sure about going out on the chain gang this morning after experiencing all of the flood water yesterday.....but after the mammoth blow-out meal last night I HAD to go out!

Considering it took nearly 2 hours to clean the bike last night it was a shame that it was dirty within 10 minutes :-(

I started off ok, but as the ride went on I started to find it really hard work....Indoor training is great for spinning but does NOT help with the real world load...

As the ride drifted on I ended up sitting on the back....In my justification it was a fast ride...and I was on a heavy steel bike!

The Garmin had the ride as 40.86 miles in 2 hours 15 minutes with an average speed of 18.1 mph and a maximum speed of 29.7 mph, route here...

I'm trying to plan my ride for tomorrow, I usually use bikehike...but the site no longer allows saving so I have been looking for some alternatives...The best so far seems to be bikeroutetoaster
but I am having issues with it timing out :-(

I suppose I will find something suitable soon.....shame as I did like bikehike...

22nd January 2010

Went out for evening meal, it was fantastic...Haddock in Cider Batter :-)

I'm stuffed now....


When I got back home I brought the VERY dirty Peugeot indoors and gave it a good clean and oil ready for the weekends use....

I think I take too long doing the bike cleaning chores....started at 9pm only just finished and its nearly 11pm...

21st January 2010

It's wifey's night out, so when I got in from work I had evening meal straight away...

I faffed around for half an hour or so to let the food settle, then I got changed and had a quick hour on the rollers :-)

It was another 'Fight Club' session but I finished of the last 10 minutes with a middle bit of 'Downward Spiral' :-)

The computer had the session as 1 hour with an average speed of 25.4 mph covering a total distance of 25.46 miles...

I have now done a totally mad 12.5 hours on the rollers this year....I may have to clean the bike(s) tomorrow evening because I refuse to do more miles on the trainer than I do outside!

20th January 2010

Worked from home today :-)

Didn't manage to get out on the bike at lunchtime, It was to wet and cold! (It had been snowing a bit)...

1200		0.3 °C	ENE	7 mph		2.5 km	1010 hPa, Rising
1300		0.4 °C	NE	7 mph		2.8 km	1010 hPa, Rising

I opted for an hour on the rollers instead....

I had another bash at 'The Fight Club', I thought I would record one of the sessions for your amusement....

I try and maintain a cadence of 100 rpm during the session, maxing at about 130 rpm on the attacks....

The computer had the session as 1 hour with an average speed of 25.6 mph covering 25.67 miles.

Question is shall I cycle over to the cycle club or not tonight? It looks a bit cold and damp out....

----Update---
Well I had charged the lights up so after tea I got changed and prepared to set off....

I started faffing around....I copied the new Garmin map I created to the Garmin Edge...unfortunately it took 15 minutes to copy....Just as I was about to go out of the door I realised I hadn't put my overshoes on...essentially I didn't get going until 20 to 7...

I headed of out, things were going so well I got a bit carried away....By the time I got back to Chippenham it was nearly 7:50...as the club meeting starts at 7:30 I gave it a miss and came on home..

The Garmin had the ride as 21.12 miles in 1 hour 15 minutes with an average speed of 16.7 mph, route here...

19th January 2010

Night off Played computer games...

Did fit the "Electron" lights back on the peugeot bike in preparation for cycling tomorrow evening :-)

18th January 2010

Actually managed to get out for my normal walk at lunchtime :-) (Got my normal salad box)

When I got home I got changed straight away and had a session on the rollers...(Had my second go at 'The Downward Spiral" - I think I prefer "The Fight Club")

It was a degree warmer in my office than it has been of late....When I got of the bike I was literally dripping wet.....It was minging!

The computer had the session as 1 hour with an average speed of 23.8 mph covering 23.82 miles.

17th January 2010

Got up early, changed straight into cycling gear....sorted out the ham joint (Cooking cider boiled - honey roast ham for tea) - It always tastes better when it has been soaking in cider all day :-)

At 9:23 I set of towards the Chippenham Rugby club for the start of the Sunday leisure ride, I had left it a little late as it takes at least 10 minutes to get there and the ride starts at 9:30....

As I got to the corner of Frogwell Lane I met the club coming the other way...so I turned around and joined them....at the front of course!

I was very surprised to find that some of the side roads had a layer of ice on them...

0900		4.9 °C	WSW	8 mph		15 km	1017 hPa, Rising
1000		6.3 °C	WSW	8 mph		15 km	1018 hPa, Rising
1100		7.7 °C	W	8 mph		14 km	1018 hPa, Rising
1200		8.6 °C	WSW	11 mph		17 km	1019 hPa, Rising

Amazing as by the time we had set of it was nearly 6 degrees..

Paul Winchcombe managed to find the ice and throw himself roughly to the ground again...(He or his bike must be fitted with an ice magnet!)

The rest of the ride to the tea stop at the Malmsbury Garden Centre was uneventful, I hade a nice cup of tea and a bacon sandwich then we were off on the homeward leg.

The return stretch joined up to the Fosse-Way and we followed the Chain Gang route back to Biddeston, then we turned left and headed straight back to the rugby club...

The ride was quoted as being "Leisure Ride will be heading out to Malmesbury, via Brinkworth. 35 miles. Meet at Chippenham Rugby Club at 9:30am." , very interesting that we followed the route sheet but the Garmin had the ride as 44.04 miles, not to upset as I had intended to do 45 miles today, I must keep my weekend mileage up :-)

The Garmin had today's ride as 44.04 miles in 2 hours 53 minutes with an average speed of 15.2 mph, route here...

I'm now having a relaxing afternoon in front of 'A few dollars more', before I start cooking tea...


You cant go wrong with a good old spaghetti western :-)

16th January 2010

Didn't go out on the ChainGang today, it was raining heavily and I haven't completely got over my cold...

I did the weekly shop with wifey and had brunch out...

By the time we got back home the rain had stopped so I got changed and went for a little cycle ride :-)

I headed out to Headington then Stockley...It almost felt like summer is back....having been cycling in minus temperatures for so long the positive almost double figures was nearly tropical.

As I headed up (The Steep Hill) past the North Wilts Golf Club I headed into very dense fog that I stayed in over the whole of the Marlborough Downs...


There's normally a fantastic view from the top of Hackpen Hill....but as you can see...there wasn't today :-(

When I dropped back of the Downs into Broadtown I also dropped out of the fog :-) I headed back towards Tockenham then Dauntsey...The light was starting to fade but I thought I could squeeze in a few more miles by following the 10 mile TT route back through the Somerfords and Sutton Benger..

I ended up doing 58.11 miles in 3 hours 48 minutes with an average speed of 15.2 mph, route here...

After all of the miles I have done on the rollers I was actually starting to think I was turning into a high powered sprinter...but real road miles are tougher!

15th January 2010

Actually managed to go out for lunch today:-)....Well it was a short walk across the canal to the pub for lunch and then back to work.

The Canal was completely frozen


The tow-path was only just passable by foot...

When I got back home I ate tea then had an hour on the rollers, it was another Sufferfest session...

The computer had the session as 1 hour with an average speed of 25.9 mph covering 25.93 miles.

It will be interesting to see how these sessions will affect my time trials this year?