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Sunday, February 28, 2010

28th February 2010

I woke up with no ill affects from yesterday's little jaunt-et :-) so I asked wifey for permission to go out on the cycle club leisure ride..she said yes..so I got up and headed of to the start at the Wavin entrance for the 9:30 start...

As seems to be my habit of late I got there far to early...

The weather forecast for today was not kind and only 6 other guys turned up. I was a little taken aback the route sheet had us climbing some of the BIG local hills, I was hoping to have a nice leisurely flat ride - and I was on the Peugeot as I hadn't yet sorted the gears out on the Merida.

At 9:30 we set off, I was in front of course! I seemed to be making light work of the hills :-)

The weather was miserable, cold, wet and windy so when we got to Winterbourne Bassett we all decided to cut the ride shorter and head straight to Avebury, over Cherhill and stop at the Divine cafe for a warm cuppa and a bacon sandwich.

After the cuppa I was absolutely frozen and needed to get going to warm up...We decided to head back to Chippenham via Stockley and Headington, through Sandy Lane and down the main road back into Chippenham...

The Garmin had the ride as 41.05 miles in 2 hours 48 minutes with an average speed of 14.6 mph, route here...

It was nice to get out on the bike but it couldn't exactly be called a recovery ride! The head wind over Cherhill was very tough going...

When I got back home I showered, warmed-up, had lunch then started cleaning and sorting the gears out on the Merida.


The whole groupset was very dry and dirty...the rear and front de-railer were so gunked up they weren't indexing properly.

The whole lot was stripped down, meticulously cleaned, light oil applied to moving assemblies and everything was worked to ensure it moved properly.

The chain was cleaned, front de-railer was bent back into shape, rear jockeys removed, cleaned, re-lubed and re-assembled, the cassette was stripped down, cleaned, oiled and re-assembled.

All the brake blocks were changed....

Then finally the bike was put on the turbo

The rear gear indexing was re-set-up

Then the front de-railer limit stops adjusted for correct action.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

27th February 2010

Got up at my normal time...normal for a work day that is :-(

I had porridge for breaky and set of for Chepstow at 6 o'clock for the 8 o'clock start...I had intended to get there for 7 ish, but I had massively overestimated the time it would take to get there.

I arrived at the car park at Chepstow castle at 6:50...It was empty!

Although the Castle did look nice and it was very quiet :-)

I didn't have long to wait before people started turning up, I set about unloading the bike and sorting myself out.

As soon as the event organiser turned up I signed in, and stood back and waited for the 8am start...It was a very well subscribed event.

At 8 am I set off for the first climb of the day...I seemed to overtake everybody and found myself at the front, the climb was a nice warm-up.

The first Information control answer was noted, then it was full steam ahead to the first signed control at the Dog Inn at Ewyas Harold, thankfully I was with a group of other riders as I had mis-plotted the route on the Garmin, saying that my route would probably have been quicker ;-)

The next stop was The Granary cafe in Hay on Wye, nearly everybody else stopped for lunch, it was on 11:30 and the cafe was completely full, I preferred to press on and get the Gospel Pass climb done, so I stopped only to get the card signed and pressed on...

The climb started almost immediately after Hay on Wye, I changed gear (dropping off the big chain ring) and it whipped up and bent the front de-railer :-(

I stopped and made a road side manipulation, but I will need to set it up properly when I clean the bike...It was working but only just!

As the climb kicked up, I almost came off the bike, the back wheel skidded on some gravel :-(

I gathered my composure and got into a good rhythm, before I knew it I was almost at the top

...I had been bigging up the idea of the climb 5 miles and 1800 feet...but it seemed the thought was worse than the event!

The clouds looked awesome as they were being blown up the mountain slopes

I actually cycled into the snow line :-)

Once at the top the descent began, it was a 5 mile climb but a 25 mile descent :-)

Quite near the top of the descent is a cattle grid, I slowed and went over it, then the hill drops rapidly away (Roughly 25%), I suddenly had the bouncing, wobbly flat feeling from the back wheel :-(

I had punctured....

I did the normal, remove tube leaving tyre in place, pump up the tube, find the hole..then find the sharp object or hole left by object in the tyre...

The leak was very small in the tube, when comparing the hole position with the tyre there was nothing...no sign of any hole sharp object or anything????

I replaced the tube pumped it up and set off - I guess the cattle grid had done it??? although it wouldn't be a pinch puncture, the thing was at 110 psi!

I set of - down hill towards Abergavenny and the 3rd control, my intention was to eat something at the control....When we eventually found it, it was packed and the bike was left unsecured on a very busy pedestrian high street - So I opted to get the card signed and head straight on.

The expected climb out of Abergavenny was considerably worse than I had imagined, it was worse than the climb up Gospel Pass, it seemed to go on and on for ever.

By the time I had got to the top I was completely fecked....But at least there was only 7 miles of downhill to go!

I plodded on to the Chepstow Athletic Centre and the official end, stopping to buy a pint of full fat coke and a packet of cheese and onion crisps....The first packet of crisps I have bought in 2 years....and the last.

The Garmin had the ride as 101 miles in 6 hours 48 minutes with an average speed of 14.8 mph and 5,633 ft of climb, route here...

Bike is now completely minging and needs a bit of TLC on the gears...

Friday, February 26, 2010

26th February 2010

Had a another really tough day at work...didn't even have a chance to break away at lunchtime :-(

I had my lunch brought to me!

When I eventually got home my legs were aching due to not moving! I am really looking forward to tomorrow's ride now!!!

I did intend to have a slow weeks riding but I never intended to substitute it with work...

I had a healthy portion of pasta and bolognese for tea then set about giving the Merida a going over for tomorrow, the cassette was replaced, the front mudguard removed (so I can get the bike in the car), the gears were adjusted to perfection and finally the tyres pumped up to the max :-)

After the bike was sorted I OCR'd the route sheet, increased the font size (I have reached the age where my eyes only work at arms length), laminated the output and resurrected the giant bulldog clips :-)

The only issue may be the rattling of the bulldog clips may get in the way of my tranquillity...

And just to remind you, here's tomorrows wee jolly :-)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

25th February 2010

I actually left work at a reasonable time and got home at a reasonable time :-)

Unfortunately I didn't make it out for my lunchtime walk :-( I have been far to busy...

I have decided to stay of the bike tonight and tomorrow, to save myself for Saturday....

Thankfully the forecast for Saturday isn't looking to bad...
Sat
27
Feb
Day Sunny intervals 7 °C S 8 mph Very Good
Night Light Snow 0 °C E 14 mph 29 mph Very Good
I will fit the new cassette tomorrow and give the bike a final going over in preparation for the mountain :-)

I ordered the chain wear tool as recommended by Rafe....so no more forgetting to measure the chain....I have also ordered a second chain, I will get the third next month.....I am determined to make the cassette last the year!!!!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

24th February 2010

Worked from home today...It was a really tough day and I didn't get everything done that I needed to:-(

My new cassette for the Merida turned up today :-)

I was in two minds whether to go to the cycle club or not, it was very wet and windy out.
1800 Medium-level Cloud 7.5 °C ENE 7 mph

10 km 987 hPa, Falling
1900 Light Rain Showers 7.0 °C NE 7 mph

10 km 987 hPa, Falling
But I had to go and pick some paperwork up...there was no way I was going to drive there and if I was going to cycle I may as well go for the normal 20....

At 6:10 I set off for my 'Normal 20' ending up at the cycle club for the 7:30 meet.

I picked up the paperwork I needed and had a cuppa and a slice of cake :-)

I also got some advice about how to increase the life of the cassette, simple really, just use multiple chains and cycle them! So I am going to buy two more chains and cycle each chain every 1000 miles :-)

At 8 set of for the short ride back home.....

The Garmin had the ride as 23.87 miles in 1 hour 26 minutes with an average speed of 16.6 mph, route here...

Tonight was another one of those examples where the thought of going out was far far worse than the event, I ended up really enjoying it!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

23rd February 2010

Well the plan was to have a quiet week cycling so I could build some energy for the weekend..I never intended to spend my time working instead :-(

I did manage to make it out for my normal lunchtime walk...2.5 miles, route here...

Then I left work late...got home late....couldn't even be bothered to play computer games :-(

At least I will be working at home tomorrow, come rain or shine I WILL be going out for a ride tomorrow evening...

Monday, February 22, 2010

22nd February 2010

Had a dreadful journey to work, got just over half way in (35 miles or so) and it started snowing, there was a light dusting sticking to the road...

As I progressed the snow got heavier, then as I descended the hill into Bourton on the Water the car in front did a rather graceful 240 degree spin on the sheet ice and fresh snow.

I managed to slow and stop without sliding to much, no vehicles could make it up the hill.

I was in two minds whether to continue or attempt to head home....I need not have worried as I climbed the hill to Stow on the Would the snow and ice disappeared...

I made it out for a bitterly cold lunchtime walk (2.73 miles), route here...

My intention was to set off early, just in case the roads were still 'interesting' but I ended up in a meeting and didn't leave work until 5:45.

So I didn't get home until 7:30 and needless to say I didn't contemplate going anywhere near a bike!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

21st February 2010

The plan for today WAS going to be slow leisurely get up, take dog for a nice slow walk, tidy the house up have lunch then if I felt like it go for a short cycle ride....

The plan fell to pieces....I woke up early and was feeling full of beans, wifey was not...I thought it might be a nice idea for me to go out on the club leisure ride...I passed the idea past her whilst she was still dazed and half asleep....she said yes :-)

I jumped out of bed, put multiple layers on, threw some breakfast cereal down my neck and headed of to the Chippenham Rugby club for the start of the leisure ride...The Peugeot hasn't got dirty this week yet, so I thought I would take the Merida....It needed a clean after yesterday anyway...

I arrived at the Rugby Club with about 5 minutes to spare, I paid the 10p for the route sheet, then promptly dropped my gloves in a puddle :-(

At 9:30 we headed of towards Chipping Sodbury via Badminton along some rather dirty and wet country lanes....both me and the bike were minging :-(

When we got to the tea room Simon and myself decided against stopping and headed on back towards Chippenham.....I had chores to do when I got home :-(

We followed the route sheet most of the way home until we hit the B4039 then we sat on the main roads back home.....with an absolutely amazing tail wind :-)

At one point I left Simon as if he was standing still..I dropped down onto the Aero Bars and shot of at 30+ mph....He did mutter an expletive as I shot past him :-)

It was nice to get out and I had NO ill effects at all from yesterday...if anything I felt even stronger and more energetic today...

The Garmin had the ride as 41.35 miles in 2 hours 36 minutes with an average speed of 15.9 mph, route here...

When I got back home I warmed up in the shower, had cheese on toast for lunch, tidied the house up then set about cleaning the bike up....




I even cleaned the rear cassette up, even though I have now ordered a new one...hopefully it will arrive before the weekend...


One day I may even get my bike cleaning down to under 2 hours....

So my first 150 mile weekend of the year has now come and gone...And I currently feel no ill effects at all......now I deserve some cake and cider :-)

Saturday, February 20, 2010

20th February 2010

Got up early'ish....Got changed into multiple layers of cycling gear, cooked some porridge for breaky....then set of at 8:30 towards Grove (near Wantage) to meet Matt and go for a nice ride around Didcot with him :-)

I am never quite sure how sane it is to set of on a 100+ mile ride when the starting temperature is -2 deg C, there was an unhealthy amount of ice on the cars and any water on the ground was in it's solid state.

Getting back on the Merida after being on the heavier steel framed Peugeot was like cheating, the hills were so easy and the bike so light.

The only minor issue is that the new chain jumps under load on the 12 tooth gear...guess I left it to long before changing the chain :-( On the plus side as I have been riding at a higher cadence I don't appear to use that gear very often any-more :-)

I needed to get to Matt's for about 11 or earlier to fit in the leisurely 25 and for me to get back home before dark, I was also a bit worried about ice on the roads, so I opted for a high speed main road jaunt down the A4, then onto the A4361 at Avebury to Wroughton.


The ride took me past Sibury Hill and through the Avebury stone circle

The air temp was still below freezing and the ground had a healthy covering of frost, but I had warmed up nicely, if anything I was too warm!

It was quite nice at Wroughton to get off the main roads and start heading across country, although ice in the shade was a bit of a concern...

I was starting to get a bit concerned that I wasn't going to make it to Matt's on time, then I reached Ashbury and my mind was eased a little as I only had 11 miles to Wantage and I still had about 30 minutes in hand:-)

I had to stop to take the obligatory photo of the Uffington white horse:-)

Unfortunately the sun was low on the horizon and the horse isn't clear on the picture...

Whilst I was stopped I took a pointless picture of the road :-) - There is a funny story about me and a Fiat Miafiori I owned and brake pads on these very corners :-)

The car decided to eject its brake pads whilst I was going down the hill, it also blew a massive hole in the exhaust in the same journey...I scrapped the car the same weekend.

From Uffington I was head down and powered to Wantage, through the town centre, then headed towards Grove...

I have never had an issue getting to places...towns etc...its always getting to the actual address that gets me...This was no different!

I passed right past Matt's front door and turned right...then cycled up the wrong road for a bit, before turning around and realising that Matt's front door was across the road in front of me :-)

I was invited in for a lovely cuppa, and we had a nice chat.....well I waffled on about bikes.....and me.....

Once the tea was drank we set off.....

I didn't really know what to expect, I had visions of a 10 mph slow bimble around Oxfordshire...
I was happily surprised to find Matt flying along in-front of me at 17-18 mph.

Matt is a big chap, tall and big framed, even when he has slimmed he will still be somebody you won't want to upset. I was quite happy sitting on his back wheel but I couldn't see the pot holes and detritus in front of him, so I did the decent thing and went in front :-)

The sun was out, it was warm, we were cracking along and it was great :-) We flew past a fellow cyclist as if she was stationary. A little before Didcot the pace got the little better of Matt and we pulled over for a chat and a breather..

After Didcot we pulled onto the A417 into a headwind and up some hills..

The pace obviously slowed a little, I was on a light weight road bike with 700 x23 tyres pumped up to 110 psi, I have also cycled a fair few miles, Matt was on a heavy upright bike, with wide heavily treaded touring tyres....

I cycled up the hills at my pace and was quite happy to wait at the crest, Matt did much better than I did when I started!



It also gave me the chance to take another obligatory photo of Didcot power station...

It was a nice steady ride back to Grove and Matt's house. I was fed some much needed energy (in the form of Beans on Toast) and another nice cuppa.....then I set of back the way I came...

As flat a Oxfordshire and Didcot was...the ride from and to Wiltshire goes over the Ridgeway....

It is steep and annoying.....and I had NO choice :-( The skies also darkened and the threatened wintery showers also fell....thankfully as I descended to Wroughton the skies cleared and the sun came out again :-)

I was in two minds when I got to Wroughton whether to follow my planned route over the steep climb of the A4361 or to wimp out and go via Wootton Bassett at the cost of a few more miles but NO steep climb....

I was still feeling surprisingly fresh and well so I did the righteous thing and followed the plan......Now that was a real hill!

And thankfully it was the last significant climb of the day as well!

I plodded on through Broad Hinton, Broad Town, Bushton and cross country to home...by the time I got to Stanley the sun was low on the horizon and the shadows were getting long...

The Garmin had today's ride as 109.38 miles in 7 hours 7 minutes with an average speed of 15.4 mph, route here...

It was a really nice day out, splitting the day into 3 parts certainly helped cope with the year's first 100.

Thank you Matt for a nice day out, the baked beans on toast was much needed and got me home :-)

Ohhhh I have now done over 1000 miles this year.....

Friday, February 19, 2010

19th February 2010

Was very busy at work today so didn't even have a chance for pub lunch :-(

When I got home we went out for tea :-)

On return home I sorted the Merida out for tomorrows ride...The Chain had done far to many miles and the jockey sleeve bearings where very sloppy, so I changed the jockeys and the chain, gave everything a once over and lube....

I will be interested to see how I get on with the summer bike tomorrow....(Unfortunately the roads have been salted...so it will need a darn good clean when I get back!!!!)

Thursday, February 18, 2010

18th February 2010

Didn't go out for a lunch time walk today, it was snowing...

I stayed at work and had roast pork for lunch :-)

The snow started falling really heavily and was settling so I left work and headed home at 2:30...

As I crossed the Cotswolds the snow thankfully stopped...

When I got home I finished of some work, then had an hour on the Turbo...

I loaded up 'The Sufferfest - Downward Spiral' and gave it my all....by the end of it I was completely knackered!

The computer had the session as 1 hour covering 23.65 miles with an average speed of 23.6 miles and a maximum speed of 48.8 mph.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

17th February 2010

Worked from home today :-)

Spent ALL day on my arse in front of the fire, working on the laptop...

At 5:30 I stopped and cooked some Beef with Oyster sauce and Pak Choi with wifey..

After tea I hopped onto the Peugeot and headed out on my 'Normal 20' route, instead of heading up Sutton Lane - I carried on the B4069 straight to Chippenham (I didn't want to get the bike dirty!)

I headed to the cycle club - I had to hand some of the Brevet cards in from Sunday's Audax, I also needed to sort out some paperwork for the open 25 TT I am running in July.

The Garmin had today's ride as 23.67 miles in 1 hour 23 minutes with an average speed of 17 mph, route here...

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

16th February 2010

Went out for the normal lunchtime walk...2.62 miles in 50 minutes, route here....

Night off, played computer games :-)

More or less finalised plans with Matt for Saturdays ride...It should be good....I will get to burn myself out on the 80 miles there and back....and have a nice leisurely 25 in between :-)

That will be the first 100 of the year, and should make the Gospel Pass mentally a little easier....I hope!

Monday, February 15, 2010

15th February 2010

I ventured out for my normal lunchtime walk, 2.71 miles...route here, I dont think I am going to be able to push it to 3 miles :-(

I did stop and have a good chat with a narrow boat owner as I ambled down the tow path, I really do like the idea of living on a narrow boat.

I felt quite tired on my way home, but I still managed to get change and have a quick 50 minute session.

I gave 'The Sufferfest - Fight Club' another go......Although it woke me up, I did feel quite knackered at the end of it.

The computer had the session as 50 minutes covering 19.96 miles at an average speed of 23.9 mph.

I am hoping to ride out to Wantage to meet up with Matt on Saturday, I am hoping to get some bigger miles in before the Gospel Pass ride at the end of the month, so a quick blat to Wantage and back and a nice slow bimble around Oxfordshire should suit the bill nicely :-)

Sunday, February 14, 2010

14th February 2010

Got up early, had some breakfast cereal then headed down to the Bath Road car park for the cycle club closed 75k Audax, I wasn't to sure on how it would go - my legs were still aching a bit from yesterday's excursion.

At least the forecast snow hadn't arrived and it wasn't freezing.
0800 Mist 1.1 °C NNW 6 mph
4.8 km 1019 hPa, Falling
0900 Mist 1.7 °C NNW 6 mph
6 km 1019 hPa, Falling
1000 Medium-level Cloud 2.5 °C N 8 mph
8 km 1018 hPa, Falling
1100 Medium-level Cloud 3.6 °C N 10 mph
12 km 1018 hPa, Falling
1200 Medium-level Cloud 4.4 °C NNW 10 mph
20 km 1018 hPa, Falling
Never wanting to be late for anything I set of from home at 8:30 for the 8:45 start, but it only takes about 2 minutes for me to get there!!!

I arrived, signed in then stood around for half an hour getting cold :-(

When we all kicked off at 9 am I was very restrained, I didn't shoot of like a bat out of hell, but sat sensibly behind Graham and Eric :-)

Unfortunately Eric didn't want to be at the front so he waved me by, I was then at the front :-(

To my great surprise I remained at the front going up Studley Hill, in fact I stayed in front going up Devizes Road into Sandy Lane, I had now warmed up and was flying along!

I broke the speed limit going through Sandy Lane , 31 mph in the 30 :-)

As we were heading towards Stockley the Garmin track had us turning left earlier than I had expected, I ended up going straight on, with everybody following. It was quite comical as I slowly slowed down (Warning everybody else of course) and turned around :-)

As we passed through Stockley I really started to get into a good rhythm, I thought everybody was with me....Unfortunately I appeared to have dropped them ALL!

I took the opportunity to pull over and take a photo or two :-)

It also meant I didn't look like a complete twat by racing of into the distance :-)

I managed to catch them all up quite quickly and overtook them again going up another hill, David held everybody up a little so I could take another picture or two :-)


Again I managed to catch up and slot myself in the front of the group, a lot of them didn't have mudguards on and I didn't fancy getting covered in road garbage, I was also in a good rhythm :-)

It was a quick dash through Devizes to Potterne, then cross country to Coulston before joining the B3098 to the Control at 'The Stables Tea Room' at Bratton.

A group photy was taken outside the Tea Room, it was suggested that we looked like the Village People, so I attempted to look like a village idiot....

We moved to the bikes for a more cyclist group photy...

Most of the guys opted to stop for tea, it was a tadge cold out for me to want to stop, David and a couple of others also wanted to press on, so we set off :-)

It was a bit more hard work as it was a head wind but only 10mph, so not as bad as yesterday.

The route from Bratton was one that I have done a fair few times, Bratton -> Steeple Ashton -> Hilperton -> Holt -> Atworth
Then up one of the most annoying little hills through Neston.

We stopped at the top as one of the guys was having gear issues, and I took another photy

It was then downhill to Corsham and Chippenham to the finish as Sainsburys

I then plodded on home at the same highish speed that I had done everything else at :-)

It was a stonking ride and I felt really good for ALL of it :-)

The Garmin had the ride as 49.1 miles in 3 hours 3 minutes with an average speed of 16mph, route here...

When I got back home I showered and warmed up a bit then had left over Bolognese that I cooked for tea last night, and some freshly cooked pasta :-)

Then I set about cleaning the rather dirty bike!


The sun came out as I was cleaning it and it was lovely and warm, I also managed to clean it in a rather quick time (for me)