A deflating experience

Just 24 sleeps left to departure and things appear on track. This week I have managed to keep the mileage quite high and have ended up completing a relatively tough 66 mile ride today (Sunday).

I have spent time this week going through the packing list supplied by previous tourists and with the odd exception I seem to have everything I need. All I need to do now is practice packing the bike or more importantly putting it back together afterwards, and then I’m about ready.

Sunday’s ride was quite pleasant, just the three of us this week, setting off out towards Oundle, across to Ketton and onwards to Rutland Water. Whilst the weather was warm enough there was a strong wind and we seemed to heading into it all the way to our pit stop at the Café in the North side car park.

Having has the athletes chosen meal of a bacon roll and coffee we made off toward Oakham and found ourselves dead on into the wind. It was quite tough for the next 6 or 7 miles until we finally made the turn south again near Braunston.

It was at about this point that after just over 2100 miles total riding I suffered my first puncture.  I’m quite glad I did really, as it soon became clear that mending punctures has moved on since I last did any serious cycling; I was given a lesson on modern ways and was very glad for it.

After about a 10 minute puncture stop we continued back towards home with the wind mostly in our favour. There were a number of stiff climbs but the new gears are much better and although I was puffing a bit I was fairly comfortable. There were a number of rolling descents with the wind behind which meant we could whip along the valley floor at about 20mph with little or no effort,  and I managed to get up to 39mph on one downhill  section without really trying.

Having climbed out of the Welland Valley, and after a quick pit stop at my son Matt’s house in Wilbarston to top up our water bottles, the last 15 or so miles flashed past wind assisted and I finished feeling relatively fresh.

I feel my training is showing signs of success, a number of times today I was coasting along sections of the ride where on previous rides I had found them quite difficult. There is no doubt I am fitter and certainly stronger in the climbing area, my only concern is can I do it day after day after day. The TDC organisers tell me they plan the first 2/3 weeks with this in mind, so the early days are not as testing as later in the tour, let’s hope that’s not a wind up!   

Onwards and Upwards!

Back in the saddle

Since the Shires and Spires ride I have had a busy time. As planned I was able to get out and start to build up the mileage again, completing a number of 30 mile rides and doing some gym work to build up the thigh strength.

Zoe and I then jetted off to Turkey for a week in the sun. We had a really good week, the weather was perfect with sun every day and warm evenings that allowed us to eat outside as the sun set. The hotel complex was great; we made full use of the facilities, probably over indulging in the food and drink departments but also making good use of the gym and pools every day bar one. Despite a scare concerning the ash cloud and a delay due to a bird strike on the way home, all in all it was a terrific break.

Post holiday I have hit the road hard, covering over 150 miles since May 18^th.

Whilst away I had the bike serviced; I have changed to 25mm tyres to give me a slightly softer ride, changed the rear cassette to a 11-28 which gives me much more flexibility with the climbing and moved my handlebars up a little which allows me to sit is a slightly more comfortable position.

On Sunday I went on a longer ride with a group of work colleagues. We left Kettering at about 9.15am with the temperature at 25c and not a cloud in the sky (my first day with sunscreen) and headed off into the Welland Valley. Once out of Kettering we passed through Pipewell, Wilbarston, Ashley, Weston by Welland and on through the valley over a number of short but sharp climbs to Halliton. Here we sustained our first casualty as one of the guys lost a pedal and shank which couldn’t be mended at the road side, resulting in him pulling out and getting picked up.

Having left our colleague sitting in the sun, on what would turn out to be the hottest day of the year so far, we moved off through Horninghold and then up a tough climb into Uppingham. I had been  really looking forward to the climbs as I wanted to test out the new gearing ratios, I was happy as I got to the top of the climb into Uppingham as I had eased up without too much effort with quite a high cadence. Now I’m more confident I can handle anything the Tour throws at me.

After a quick pit stop at Uppingham to fill water bottles etc, we continued on through Lyddington, Great Easton, over Bringhurst hill and then into Cottingham, up Middleton Hill , again spinning quite comfortably, and back to Kettering through Pipewell.

When I got back to the car we were just short of 50 miles and it was 30 degrees C. I was really chuffed as not only was my new set up comfortable, but my gamble to change the cassette had proved a good one and I finished knowing I could have done more miles with relative ease.

The plan this week is to keep the mileage up, with about 30 miles each evening, then next weekend put in a couple of back to back longer rides with 50 or so on Saturday and a longer ride of about 70 miles on Sunday. The group is thinking of heading out towards Rutland Water which will be a good test as there are some longer climbs in the latter part of the ride.

It’s now only 31 sleeps until I depart for Canada, I have the last few spare parts on order and over the next few weeks will be spent double checking packing lists, practice setting up the tent, and  taking the bike apart to pack it for the flight. Weekends are getting busy with family commitments but as luck would have it I can build a few longer rides in by biking to and from some of them rather than driving.

I have now cycled over 2000miles since October last year and I have achieved all of my training objectives except a 100 mile ride.  I’m relatively happy that subject to disasters I will arrive in Vancouver ready to go.

Onwards and upwards!

Shires and Spires

On Sunday I took part in the third of my planned long distance Sportives, the Shires and Spires, which is a cycle around rural Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. The 80 mile course (reduced to 72 this year due to a clash with a VW rally) is much more challenging than the Quatro with the last 20 of the 80 including a series of short but sharp climbs.

Not only was the course tougher but the weather had turned cold and windy, and as luck would have it roughly the last half was into the wind which made it even tougher. I decided to travel light and took my rack/bag and mudguards off just carrying a puncture repair kit and tools.

Having missed 3 weeks of training I was a little concerned that I might struggle but I didn’t appreciate just how much of my fitness I had lost. After a good start, with the wind behind, I made some good progress and was finding it all quite pleasant. The country side was beautiful and there were some picture postcard villages we cycled though.

At one point I managed to join onto the back of a pace line of 8 or so other riders for a few miles,  but as soon as we got to a short but sharp hill at about 30 miles I wasn’t able to keep up and they disappeared over the horizon.  This was my first experience of a pace line and although they didn’t rotate it gave me an idea of how much energy you can save by hanging onto the tail of another rider; I was able to travel 3 or 4 mph faster without any real extra effort but as soon as I dropped a little too far back the wind just slammed into me as if I’d put the brakes on. I can see this will be an essential skill on those high mileage windy days across the central plains in Canada.

After about 40 miles I began to struggle; I was comfortable enough on the bike but my legs just lacked any real power and as we turned into the wind for the last 20 miles in particular I had to dig very deep in deed, spending most of the time in my lowest gears just to keep moving and climbing the hills very slowly and getting out of the saddle much more than I would normally.

I managed to grind out the last 20 miles, eating as much as I could at a second  feed station break and taking onboard a number of energy gels etc but despite all that carbohydrate my legs just wouldn’t come to life.  I had to just keep turning the pedals until finally I got to the finish.

Having said all the above there are some positives to be taken from the ride. Most importantly I didn’t fall off!  In addition I didn’t get any pain from my elbow, shoulders or ribs and I was much more comfortable on the bike so it would appear there is no lasting damage.  The new SPD pedals seem to have solved the mysterious clicking sound so that was a cheaper option than new bearings and I managed to test out the waterproofs which I hardly knew I had on.

Overall I’m happy as I know with some effort I can get my fitness levels up relatively quickly. Monday was a Bank Holiday in the UK so an extra day off work; I managed to get 45 minutes on the turbo, just to get the legs moving again, and did some strengthening exercises, although tired I actually felt a lot better than I thought I would.   

The plan now is to complete a 2 hr ride each evening this week with gym work to build the legs and shoulders up again; then it’s off for a week in the sun whilst the TREK goes in for its pre-trip service.  Hopefully I can continue the fitness work whilst on holiday and then get a few longer rides to Nuneaton etc in to help build resilience when I get back.

Not long now only 51 sleeps to take off, onwards and upwards!