31st March 2010

Worked from home today...It was a very miserable and cold day :-(

I headed of to Queen's Field in Sutton Benger at 5:49 for the 6:16 sign on...I thought I would get there early and start quickly, as it turned out I got there quite late...It was a very strong head wind :-(

I paid my £1:50 and signed in .....13 th......I am not superstitious but was 13 :-( I pinned my number on my jacket and slowly pedalled to the start.

I patiently waited for the first 12 people to set off then I lined up at the start line...I set of with a fantastic tail wind :-) And a fantastic speed :-)

1800		3.5	°C	W	19	mph	33	mph	35	km	998 hPa, Rising
1900		3.3	°C	W	17	mph	29	mph	45	km	999 hPa, Rising

Unfortunately the fantastic tailwind turned into a killer side wind then a killer headwind :-(

At least nobody caught up with me :-)

It was quite funny to see everybody else wearing the bare minimum (It was bloody freezing) and all ancillary kit removed from their bikes, I was there with flappy cycling trousers and a flappy jacket, crud catcher mudguards still fitted and a full drink bottle :-)

I guess I have a quick and easy way of improving my speed, just lose the flappy clothes and carry less :-)

Even in the poor conditions and the flappy clothes etc I still turned in a reasonable time for the course...Officially my time was 27 min 59 sec for the 10 miles, the Garmin had the ride as 28 min 49 covering 10 miles with an average speed of 20.8 and a maximum speed of 27.1 mph.

I think under calmer and warmer conditions I will easily be back up to the 22-23 mph average for the course...so I am quite happy :-)

And here is the course...

For statistical completeness, including the ride to and from the TT I cycled 23.3 miles today...

30th March 2010

I felt really tired and worn out today at lunch time, I did go out for my lunch time walk but only did the short 2.5 mile walk.

My new wheels turned up today :-). When I got home I had tea then spent some quality time swapping the tubes, tyres and cassette from the old to the new :-)

I put the bike on the stand and adjusted the brake blocks to match the rim location.

When I gave the wheel a quick spin it was noticeably smoother than the old one :-)

I did find the wear warning rather humorous...

Be warned falling bikes may cause an accident!

When I had finished tinkering I replaced the rather worn out and smelly bar tape with some nice squidgy new stuff :-)

I was going to sort the Dawes out for Friday, but I spent so long pampering the Merida that I ran out of time...So Thursday will be the final check, lube and adjust for the Dawes...

29th March 2010

I found it surprisingly easy to get up for work today, it may have been partly due to me being so tired last night!

It was a tadge upsetting getting up in the dark again, but at least it would be a light evening :-)

I managed to avoid the lunchtime rain and made it out for a 3 mile lunch time walk, the RunGPS had a couple of duff plots and reckoned I had walked 3.5 miles in 55 minutes, route here...

The actual walk was 2.96 miles in 55 minutes, route here...

I left work at normal time and made good time home :-) I was back at 6:15...I seemed to faff about for a while before I got going!

I eventually got changed and out on the bike at 6:50, I set of on my first 'Normal 20' of the summer :-) ....OK in my little world BST means its now summer in Britain, wifey keeps on telling me its only Spring..

Luckily I didn't get to carried away with this light evening thing and put a high viz jacket and lights on the bike, it was starting to get very dark on my return leg.

I don't care what Lyneham Met office said about the weather either...

1900		9.2	°C	SSE	8	mph			15	km	992 hPa, Falling
2000		9.2	°C	SSE	9	mph			8	km	992 hPa, Falling

It was a 360 degree 20 mph head wind! By the time I got back home I was completely fecked!

The Garmin had the ride as 21.27 miles in 1 hour 15 minutes with an average speed of 16.8 mph, route here...

It has been an interesting couple of days riding on my different bikes, going back to the Peugeot today did seem an awful lot slower than the Merida, but I can't bring myself to take the Merida out in the crappy weather yet!

I ordered the new wheels yesterday.....a brand new pair of Shimano RS20s - A direct replacement for the replacement rear and an upgrade for the front.

Looking at the bearing it looked like either a lack of grease from manufacturer or the grease had washed out :-( I will have to keep an eye on the bearings on the new wheels.

28th March 2010

Wayhay the clocks have changed....it is now officially summer :-)

I woke up at a sensible time (OK I woke up early but as the clocks have changed it turned out to be an hour later ...so I had a lie in :-)

I got changed into cycle gear and headed over to the Rugby club on the Dawes for the club leisure ride :-) I set of with the fast group at 9:30 by 11 we had done 22 miles and arrived at the tea stop, there were a few comments about the high speed....but I couldn't have been to blame I was on the Hybrid :-)

Just as we were leaving (I had a pot of tea and a bacon sarnie :-) the next group turned up...
for a complete change I thought I would follow the route in its entirety - I normally take a short-cut straight home.

The Route headed East...with quite a nice tail wind :-)

1100		9.4	°C	WSW	13	mph			30	km	1009 hPa, Falling
1200		9.9	°C	W	13	mph			30	km	1008 hPa, Falling

Then unfortunately we turned South West....straight into a rather strong head wind :-(

We kept on dropping a couple of guys of the back of the group, so we slowed up a bit, about 10 miles from home I suggested that the faster guys go on and I would go with the guys that were struggling, I made a very nice wind break on the Hybrid :-)

As the guy was going back to Grittleton we parted company and I rode the last 5 miles to the Rugby club by myself :-)

The Garmin had the ride as 52.22 miles in 3 hours 14 minutes with an average speed of 16.1 mph, route here...

When I got back home I had second lunch (A couple of Frankfurter Hot Dogs :-)

I had planned to go for a shortish ride with my son in the afternoon, with a potential pub stop to sample the last pint of Cider before the 10% tax increase....but he had made other plans :-(

As I had been granted authority by wifey for an afternoon ride and the sun was out and it's SUMMER and I wanted to get used to the Aero Bars again for Wednesday nights TT I thought I would take the Merida out for a blast :-)

Whilst doing my pre ride checks I noticed that the rear wheel bearing was very loose :-( I did a quick bodge job adjust (nipped it up a bit) then headed of out on the same route I did on Tuesday and Thursday...

What a stonking ride it was, at the 10 mile point my average speed was over 21 mph :-) The bike just felt so light and responsive after a morning on the Dawes...

At the turning point at Little Somerford I turned into a strong head wind, but I was still averaging over 20mph.

1400		11.0	°C	W	14	mph			35	km	1008 hPa, Falling
1500		11.6	°C	WSW	15	mph			40	km	1007 hPa, Falling

I couldn't hold onto the pace on the slight climbs and the average started dropping, at 20 miles the average was down to 19.9 (Bit of a shame it would have been nice to have my first 20 at 20 so early in the year!)

By the time I got back home the average was down to 19.2...Still I am quite happy, the bike was nice and I made full use of the Aero Bars...I think I may actually turn in a decent time on Wednesday.

The Garmin had the ride as 25.77 miles in 1 hour 20 with an average speed of 19.2 mph, route here...

It is quite amazing what a change of bike can make to a set course, on Tuesday with Dave the same ride in the rain with a strong SW took 1 hour 50, the same ride on the Peugeot by myself in the same conditions but working hard at it, I was down to 1 hour 30, today on the Merdia with summer tyres and riding in an Aero position it was down to 1 hour 20!

When I got back home I showered and changed the stripped down the Merida rear wheel bearings, the rear right is shot, the outer race is scored :-( - on the plus side all I have to do is replace the freehub as the bearing is part of it, but as the rim is already heavily worn I think I shall just replace the wheel set.

I cleaned up the races as best as I could, replaced the dull bearings with new ones, re-packed the bearings with fresh grease and re-assembled it, the bearing is now running free with no slack, but it will NOT last :-( So I will now be ordering a new set of wheels :-(

These things are just NOT designed to last :-(

27th March 2010

Had a very late night last night....but still woke up far to early this morning :-(

I got up and changed straight into cycling gear...it is tough these days to know what to wear! I opted for long sleeve top, jacket, windbreaker, cycling trousers and sealskinz socks...unfortunately it was to much and I melted :-(

I headed of for the Chippenham Cemetery for the start of the chain gang, the Peugeot was noticeably faster with the summer tyres on :-)

The ride was a real pleasure, the pace was perfect and the Peugeot was rolling along with ease :-)

The Garmin had the ride as 40.72 miles in 2 hours 13 minutes with an average speed of 18.3 mph, route here...

When I got home I spent an hour on the phone (Skype) with my sister in Australia fixing her computer, then I showered, changed and went out for Morissons brunch and the weekly shop :-)

Mid afternoon I tidied up the hallway and fitted the Lidl bike hangers, now all of the good bikes have a permanent indoor home :-)

And still plenty of room to walk by :-)

All I have to do for it to be perfect is tidy the front porch and free up the door (We don't use the front door except to retrieve post)

I cooked tea for daughter n me (wifey n son went out), I also started preparing the beef in red wine pot roast for tomorrow's tea .

After all that I fitted the shiny new Red Krylion Carbons to the Merida...

They are a bloomin tight fit! I loath using levers to fit tyres but I had NO choice....if they are still up in the morning then at least I didn't pinch the tubes :-)

I am looking forward to the first club TT on Wednesday....it will be interesting to see how far off last years pace I will be :-)

26th March 2010

I was in two minds whether to go out for a cycle ride when I got home from work, it was raining but that doesn't bother me....one look at the dry chain and the very dirty bike made my mind up..

I would have tea then clean the bike :-)

I also wanted to change the winter tyres for the summer tyres and change the freehub for the new one I bought from ebay...

Cleaning the frame didn't take to long...

Stripping the old freehub off was a breeze as I had only re-assembled it a week ago...

The new one arrived with a new hex bolt and bearings :-)

Unfortunately I got a bit carried away and stripped the jockeys down as they were a bit gunked up, the grease had almost completely washed out of them...As you can see the old freehub was very rusty and was worn out :-(

The wheel almost looked new with the new freehub assembled on it...

Over 2 hours later (10pm) the bike was back together...

With the summer tyres on :-)

I was hoping to fit the new (red) Krylion's to the Merida tonight as well, but I just spent so long fiddling with the Peugeot that I have run out of time :-(

I dont know why I bothered cleaning the Peugeot so thoroughly as it will be dirty within 100yds of tomorrows chain gang :-( But at least it is clean for now!

25th March 2010

Got to work very early, I managed to crack the problem I have been working on all week :-)

I managed to get out for my lunchtime walk, 2.89 miles in 44 minutes with an average speed of 3.9 mph, route here...

When I got home I got changed into cycle gear, had tea, then went out for a cycle ride :-)

It was quite a strong southerly wind again...

1900		8.7	°C	S	16	mph	29	mph	30	km	994 hPa, Rising
2000		7.7	°C	S	15	mph			35	km	995 hPa, Rising

I thought I would repeat the ride I did with Dave yesterday...

The Garmin had the ride as 25.77 miles in 1 hour 33 with an average speed of 16.5 mph, route here...

It was bloody hard work and dark but I managed a reasonable 16.5 mph :-) Lets hope the southerly stays with us over Easter.

24th March 2010

I had to go to work today :-(

I was hoping to get away at a reasonable time and get out for a cycle ride...but it didn't happen :-(
I didn't even get out for a lunchtime walk :-(

On the plus side I did upgrade the firmware on my phone and it is now working properly again...I even managed to get Orange Maps working!

When I got home I had tea then sorted my laptop out in preparation for NCR5 over Easter, mobile phone installed and set up as a modem, Garmin drivers installed and checked that upload/download working.

I managed to call Red bikes and make first contact :-)

23rd March 2010

Worked from home today, I had a very busy day...nothing quite went to plan :-(

I did make some Bolognaise at lunch time and left it simmering all day :-)

Dave pitched up and we went for a very wet ride...

1700		9.1	°C	S	13	mph			1.6	km	1011 hPa, Falling
1800		9.2	°C	S	13	mph			2	km	1010 hPa, Falling

As it was 5pm I didn't fancy fighting with rush hour traffic on the main roads so I dragged him out around the chain gang/evening 10 TT route, it gave us a good chance to chat without getting run off the road by intolerant drivers.

When we got to Little Somerford we turned south straight into the headwind, it was quite tough going...

My problem was that I got stuck into the fight, head down and started powering along, I checked every so often that Dave was on my back wheel....and he was..........then he wasn't....

I slowed the pace a little to ensure that he could stick with me....I must realise that not everybody has been cycling all year...

The Garmin had the ride as 25.73 miles in 1 hour 40 minutes with an average speed of 15.4 mph, route here...

When we got back home, after a shower and change we tucked into a well cooked spag bol and garlic bread :-)

I REALLY enjoyed tonight's ride, it was great to get out and chat with Dave, it was also good to see how far I have come since the last time I cycled with him :-)

I am starting to think that I may be a real cyclist now......

22nd March 2010

Managed to get out for a 3 mile lunchtime walk the phone and RunGPS had a hissy fit so it failed to track the walk properly...I plotted the route in Gmaps Pedometer to see how far I went.

I am seriously thinking about changing the firmware on the phone, it takes 15 minutes to boot up properly....

I finished work late and hence got home late, but I really wanted to take the Peugeot out and test the freehub...

I got changed as soon as I got in, faffed about sorting the lights, cycle computer and me out then set of for an 8 mile ride....I was surprised how much I enjoyed such a short ride!!!

Problem was it took longer to change before and after the ride than the ride actually took :-)

The Garmin had the ride as 8.36 miles in 31 minutes with an average speed of 15.7 mph, route here...

The freehub worked flawlessly, but if it does play up I have found a supplier on ebay that does them for £10 :-)

I will be working at home tomorrow and I have a good friend pitching up for a ride in the evening.....

21st March 2010

Woke up far to early again this morning...but spring has finally sprung :-)

0900		7.3	°C	SW	6	mph			12	km	1017 hPa, Rising
1000		8.4	°C	WSW	8	mph			25	km	1018 hPa, Rising
1100		10.1	°C	W	9	mph			25	km	1018 hPa, Rising
1200		10.1	°C	W	10	mph			30	km	1018 hPa, Rising
1300		11.9	°C	W	8	mph			30	km	1018 hPa, Rising

I got changed into cycling gear...long sleeves but NO thermals for the first time this year :-)

I had breakfast then milled around the house tinkering until 9 then I set off for the rugby club for the start of the club leisure ride..

I decided to continue my NCN5 training by taking the Hybrid out...It looked nice and gleaming in the morning sun.

There was quite a few people out on the ride today...I guess it was the sun effect :-) A few people had a little dig at me being on the hybrid...but I set off with the fast group and stayed with them...doing my bit upfront where necessary :-)

I must admit it wasn't really a leisure ride...more of a high speed chain gang :-)..I don't think I helped as I was baiting Richard and Paul a little :-)

I did take a few photies along the way....I also had one taken of me....

I thought I was looking cool....a bit of an upsetting shock that I looked like a Lycra wearing gimp :-(

We got to the tea stop pretty damn quickly...I had a pot of tea and a bacon sarnie and we were leaving as the mid speed group turned up....there was no sign at all of the slow group.

As we got near the end of the ride Dylan suggested extending it a little to bump the mileage up to 50...as it was such a nice day and I had chores to do when I got home we turned left on Easton Lane instead of right...

I noticed that Richards back tyre was almost flat so we pulled over for him to pump it up...where he then promptly broke the valve :-(

We had a nice 10 minutes in the sun as he changed the tube....then we were off again...

We followed the reverse chain gang route to Yatton Keynell where Dylan and myself headed back down the B4039 then rejoined the country lane that we had headed down earlier in the day...

The Garmin had the ride as 54.45 miles in 3 hours 12 minutes with an average speed of 17 mph.

When I got in I showered and changed, had a round of baked beans on toast then helped the family tidy up the house, I have tidied up the fire place and put the log basket, coal bucket and fire guard away... the hearth has been cleaned and re-oiled, lets hope the warm weather is here to stay!

After my chores were complete I set about washing the Dawes.....one ride and it was minging :-(

After a record cleaning time (for me) the bike was back as good as new :-)

As I finished cleaning the bike it was time to start cooking tea....no rest for the wicked :-(

20th March 2010

Woke up far to early this morning, showered and got changed straight into cycle gear....the seasonal dilemma hit straight away.......thermals or no thermals???

I opted for half n half...thermals under the cycling trousers but no thermals under the long sleeve top :-)

I watched the million pound cycle ride on BBC iplayer...I had very mixed emotions...It was nice to see the scenery that I had experienced myself less than a year ago, and I was impressed with the dedication and commitment of 'The Stars' and the sum they raised for charity...But it was a relay...

At 9:20 I set of for the Chippenham Cemetery on the Peugeot, it was very overcast and windy but thankfully warm and dry.

0900		10.7	°C	SSW	13	mph			10	km	1002 hPa, Falling
1000		10.9	°C	SSW	16	mph			20	km	1002 hPa, Falling
1100		10.9	°C	SSW	14	mph			15	km	1002 hPa, Falling

There wasn't that many people brave...or is it stupid? enough that turned up for the 9:30 start..

We started of with a fair old pace nothing scary but not a dawdle either, I was enjoying the smooth ride of the road bike after last weeks Hybrid chain gang.

It was an interesting chain gang for a number of reasons...

1) The guy in front of me at one point went over a rather bad pot hole that wasn't pointed out by the guy in front of him and his back tyre did an explosive decompression...It was a very load bang!

2) The first time since I have done the chain gang that we had to change route..the road was closed between Seagry and the A429, we were undecided whether to continue down the closed road or not..but a police car/ambulance could be seen further up the road so it looked like it was closed due to an accident rather than repair so we rerouted.

3) We had a long stop as Tim's front de-railer fell to pieces as he was chaining down a gear on a steepish hill on the re-route

At least the unusual stop gave me the chance to go and water the horses as I was busting for a pee....on the way back to rejoin the group I was almost knocked of my bike by an eejut that looked and didn't see me as he/she was pulling out of their drive way.....Amazing as I was dressed up looking like a bright yellow creature from a different planet!

Also on the way back to join the group I noticed that the free-wheel hub was starting to free-wheel when it shouldn't be, i.e. when I was pedalling :-( It then caused a bit of a problem for the rest of the ride...every time I stopped pedalling when I started it would slip then suddenly catch...

Eventually we all set off again and the pace was good, I was concious of the slipping free-wheel that appeared to be getting worse :-(

When we turned south and onto the fosse-way we were hit by the straight on head wind...interestingly the guys in the front didn't start doing a rapid change over on the lead, although I wasn't complaining, it was good to be towed up the hill into the wind :-)

The rest of the ride was reasonably uneventful, but I did find it very tiring today...interesting really as I felt far more tired than I did after doing the chain gang on the hybrid last week?

The Garmin had the ride as 42.72 miles in 2 hours 27 minutes with an average speed of 17.4 mph, route here...

When I got home I showered and changed then went out for the weekly shop with wifey, we had brunch at Morrissons first :-)

When we got back home I started cleaning the Peugeot...once it was clean I had a look at the free-wheel hub.

I never realised they came off quite so easily, once you remove the axle its a simple allen bolt and the hub comes of the wheel...

The Park Tool website is a fantastic resource for stripping the bits down that you wouldn't normally touch...

(I forgot to take a photo of the hub removed....so here's the one from Park Tools :-)

I washed it through with white spirit then covered it liberally with 3 in 1...then reassembled it all..

The free-wheel appears to be working again...if it starts playing up I shall just replace it...But I won't know until next week, tomorrows ride will be back on the Hybrid :-)

After an afternoon of tinkering I tidied up then cooked tea with wifey......then spent the rest of the evening listening to Epica and writing this blog.....

Finally.....listen to this.....it is from Epica's Classical Conspiracy album....I think it is better than the original rendition...

19th March 2010

Worked right through lunch so I could get away earlyish...

Ended up being in a meeting and didn't get away that early :-(

When I got home it was absolutely precipitating down, but as I had planned to go out for a ride I didn't want to let myself down!

1800		9.7	°C	SSE	13	mph			6	km	1006 hPa, Falling
1900		9.8	°C	SSE	13	mph			6	km	1005 hPa, Falling

I went out on the Peugeot and the tailwind was awesome :-) I didn't fancy climbing any hills so I picked a reasonably flat route and just pounded along...

I was a bit dubious that when I reached the furthest extremity of the route and started heading home that the awesome tailwind would turn into a fearsome headwind but it just didn't seem to happen, granted I slowed down but the expected slog just didn't materialise :-)

I got back home at about 7:30 which was very lucky for me as we had booked a table for 8 at a foody pub :-)

The Garmin had the soggy ride as 23.32 miles in 1 hour 22 minutes with an average speed of 17 mph, route here...

The ride felt REALLY good, I still don't understand how I can do a 20 mile plus ride in the rain and not feel soaking wet through?

18th March 2010

Got home late :-(

Ate tea, went for a walk with wifey and Rosie (Dog), far to late to go for a cycle now :-(

17th March 2010

Worked from home today :-)

Picked up the Peugeot at lunchtime, it has a shiny new BB (Bottom Bracket) - A little narrower than the original and now the gears change smoothly :-)

After yesterdays glorious sunshine we decided to have BBQ for tea today :-) - I do like a nice BBQ...

It took a bit longer to cook than I had expected, so I was a little late setting of on my bike ride :-(

As I was late I didn't have time to do my Normal 20 route, so I headed out on my 16 mile route on the Peugeot, extending the route to stop at the cycle club meeting...

It was REALLY easy going compared to the weight and drag of the Dawes, I am starting to think the hand issues and the drag of the bike may actually make the NCN 5 trip tougher than JOGLE!

The Garmin had today's ride as 19.7 miles in 1 hour 16 minutes with an average speed of 15.5 mph, route here...

16th March 2010

Worked very late and got home very late :-(

Ate evening meal then played computer games for a couple of hours.....now I am feeling completely fecked :-(

15th March 2010

I had my first cycling nightmare last night :-( I woke myself up in a real tizzy I felt I was falling of my bike and unclipped from my imaginary pedal and banged my hand on the bedside table, I was really confused!!!

Well today was my legs taking payback for the agro I gave them over the weekend dragging the Hybrid around the Wiltshire countryside :-(

They have been aching ALL day...I managed to get out for a lunchtime walk, I thought the light exercise would ease them a little.

I wanted to find the elusive 0.05 of a mile to make the walk a nice round 3 miles, I headed of in the normal way and when I got to Warwick police station I carried on down the main road...It all seemed sensible on paper head down the road take the first right and head up the main street, some how I missed the right and ended up in a new area...I was lost!

I have spent 4 days a week in Warwick for nearly 8 years and I don't know the place at all!!!

I ended up heading towards the castle, then I found familiar territory, I bought a ham salad baguette and a couple of bacon wraps from Gregg's bakers (I have been famished all day to), I ate lunch on my way back to work....I ended up doing 3.66 miles in 55 minutes, route here...

I wonder if I could do 4 miles in the hour?

When I got back home I ate tea, not so famished now.....The intention was to give the Merida a once over (The last time I used it it was dry but the road was salted), I had a quick look at it and its clean and no sign of corrosion on the chain/sprockets (I will give it a clean at the weekend)

During the day I have had a nice email conversation with Joby, he has suggested a slight alternative route in Wales avoiding some A55 action....I have amended the route to suit NCR5 Day4, he has also agreed to meet up with us along the way :-)

I just hope I remember to make all the phone calls I need to along the way!

I have bought in to another challenge ride.......This time I'm dragging my son into it as well ;-)
Hyde Park Corner to Yatton Keynell a mere 97 miles on 13th June 2010. We are planning to get out on the bikes together one evening a week to get him up to speed. I am quite looking forwards to it :-)

Looks like I may have a busy summer ahead!

14th March 2010

Today was the club 100k Audax, It was also the Afghan Heroes bike tribute in Wootton Bassett, and our Audax route went down the same bit of road as the bikers at Brinkworth....

I set off from home far to early as per usual and was one of the first at the Bath Road car park..

I was togged up in multiple layers, the weather forecast was for it to warm up, but when I left home it was still only 5 degrees..

0900		5.7	°C	WNW	10	mph			30	km	1031 hPa, Rising
1000		7.4	°C	NW	10	mph			35	km	1031 hPa, Rising
1100		8.9	°C	WNW	13	mph			40	km	1030 hPa, Rising
1200		10.4	°C	NW	17	mph			40	km	1030 hPa, Falling
1300		10.4	°C	NW	15	mph			45	km	1029 hPa, Falling

So there was me in long sleeves and thermals...Paul W decided it was warm enough for shorts!

At 9 we set off....I was on the Hybrid and determined NOT to head off like a bat out of hell, I opted to ride along with Simon (Also pictured above) he sets a much more sensible pace...

We headed out of Chippenham towards Easton then across towards Lacock, we had a choice up the very steep but direct Naish Hill or take the shallower gradient but slightly indirect Bowden Hill, I was happy to do either :-) Simon initially opted for Naish, until he realised it was the kin steep one... As Paul was currently taking the lead the decision was in his hands.... he wimped out and took the shallow option :-)

He then motored on ahead like a man possessed passing everybody in front, I slotted the Hybrid into granny gear and wound up the hill using my new found high cadence technique :-)

When we got to the top we pulled over to wait for Simon, disappointingly being overtaken by everybody that we had overtaken :-(...eventually Simon appeared..It would have been VERY unsporting to give him a chance to rest so we set of again.....Simon, Paul, Dylan and me.

I was feeling surprising fresh and strong so took the lead....I must have made a fantastic wheel to sit on!

We made good speed through Sandy Lane, picking up two more club riders who didn't know the way...

Just after Headington a horse box pulled out in front of us, it was going at a perfect speed Paul and myself slotted into the slipstream and was dragged along at a nice healthy pace, I assumed the rest of the guys were sat with us....unfortunately I looked behind and realised we had dropped them :-( We had to slow down for them to catch up......so sad the horse box was going at a perfect speed...

We headed to Stockley, Blacklands then through Compton Basset, I spied some of our fellow cyclists ahead...and felt the need to catch and of course overtake...This caused a dilemma, I was trying hard not to race! but I must catch and overtake!!!

As we caught them we rode together for a while....we got the info for the first information control and one of them joined our little group as we headed on to Brinkworth.

We got to the main road at Brinkworth at about 10:50...10 minutes before the bikers were due to leave Hullavington, we stopped had a cuppa and a slice of cake....Paul was sensible and had the Beans on Toast - I thought I would grab some on the return visit - but there wasn't any :-(


I did tell Simon he was only supposed to have a slice of cake NOT the whole plate :-)

We set of at 11, and thankfully got to the right turn before they appeared :-) The road was wonderfully devoid of any traffic.

The next part of the ride took us on a north bound loop up to Long Newnton (For another Info Control), and around to Little Larkhill and Ashley. There was quite a strong head wind and I found the going of the Hybrid VERY tough.

When we turned back south and a nice strong tail wind I started flying along again :-)

We headed back towards Brinkworth, this time east of the village so when we crossed the road we would be heading against the motor bikes NOT with them...

When we got to the junction, there were lots of motorbikes.....I mean LOTS, there was a very party atmosphere with everybody out lining the road and waving and all the bikers waving back.

(I borrowed the photo from the beeb...but it gives you an idea of how many motor bikes were out)

We didn't have to long a wait at the junction and we were off back towards the control...I was waving at the bikes and they were waving and tooting back...It was really nice to have such a friendly party atmosphere...

We stopped at the control and had another cuppa and slice of cake (But no beans on toast ) Then we set off back to Chippenham.....I was now starting to feel very fatigued, the 28mm treaded tyres and the weight was starting to tell...The guys started to leave me.......but from somewhere I summoned some more energy and managed to catch them and hold on to them.

From Dauntsey we took the scenic route through the Great Somerford then joined the 10 mile TT route through to Upper Seagry, then it was the home leg through Sutton Benger and back to the Bath Road Car park..

We all signed each others Brevett Cards (Finishing at 13:30) and I collected them all to take to the club night on Wednesday.

The Garmin had the ride (including to and from the Start) as 66.83 miles in 4 hours 7 minutes with an average speed of 16.2 mph, route here...

When I got back home I put the hot water on, the family had drained it :-( Cooked myself some Ravioli on Toast (with some melted cheese :-) and had a nice cold pint of cider...

I had my shower then washed, inspected, degreased and re-lubed the Dawes....It now looks very shiny again :-)

I did find today's ride VERY hard work, I also have the age old tingling of the hands coming back again, something I haven't experienced since moving on to the road bikes. I was consciously changing hand positions but unfortunately there isn't enough!