The Cycling Mayor

The Festive season doesn’t stop me cycling, it just stops me having enough time to write about it!

Dad and I went out on Christmas Eve, starting from their place, which made a lovely change from seeing the same roads over and over.  We went down into Portishead, over the motorway, and up the long long climb up Failand Hill.  I’m sure it was much worse last time I went up it – maybe it was only easier because I was doing it at my Dad’s pace not mine?  Either way it went well, which is always nice.  Up the hill, down the nastiness that is Belmont Hill (very steep, very bendy, with lousy road surface), then along the main road through Wraxall and Nailsea to Clevedon, and back up up up and along past the golf course back.  21 slowish miles in dead calm fairly pleasant weather.   A very nice way to get out of the house and away from the Christmas craziness, and it also meant that Dad could try out his new bike properly (me, jealous?!).  My turn will come one day…*grin*.

Today I went out with M and M.   The morning had started grey and gloomy but as we headed out, the sun came out.  We went out via Bleadon to Brean and round to a coffee stop at Burnham on Sea, before heading back through Highbridge and Mark.

Cycling time: 2:29:43
Distance: 37.806 miles
Avs: 15.2mph
ODO: 7985.8 miles

Blimey was it ever cold though!  Although the roads were clear – lack of moisture lately – it was definitely freezing.  However good the socks and overshoes are, there’s only so much they can do…and by the time I got home, I had no toes.  They’re back now though, after a long hot bath that is!  I’m glad to have got out, and we made pretty good time all things considered.  Not bad .

In other news I’m also now signed up to all the sportive events I currently plan on doing before the L2P.  There’s a gap in April that I guess I could fill, but we’ll have to see.  So that’s the Mad March Hare in March (no, really?), the Forest of Dean Spring Classic in May, the Dragon Ride in June, and the Merlin Ride in July, as well as probably Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride in June.  I need my head examining!  Still, it’s good to have it all booked in and paid for…now I can worry about the training and raising the sponsorship money!

As I’ve said, it’s been harder to get out in the past week or so – mostly due to the weather, and sometimes due to laziness.  Although I like cycling on my own, if you’ve arranged to go cycling with someone else, it’s easier to get yourself out of the house and on the road because you don’t want to let anyone else down.  If it’s just you, and it doesn’t look that appealing out there, it’s a lot easier to wimp out and go to the gym instead.

Still, even though I couldn’t find anyone to ride with today, after having taken the gym option yesterday, I really couldn’t let myself do that again, so I headed out this afternoon on my lonesome.  The weather is mild, a tad windy, and fairly gloomy, but nothing serious in any respect.  I decided if it was going to be just me, then I would actually do some hills!  S would be proud of me *grin*.  I planned myself a hilly route on bikely.com and made myself stick to it.  Up Shipham Hill (plod plod), down into Sandford, back into Winscombe and along the main road up to Banwell Castle.  Left through the back roads, up the hill over the motorway, up and down into Loxton.  Flat for a while into Mark, then whizzed along the Levels for a few miles doing 20mph (clearly with the wind behind me).  One last up – up Mudgeley Hill, then back through Wedmore, Cheddar and home.

Cycling time: 2:06:24
Distance: 31.400 miles
Avs: 14.9 mph
ODO: 7926.6 miles

Considering all the hilliness, my average speed is pretty darned good (in my clearly very humble opinion).  I’m quite pleased with myself.  I do feel a bit tireder than I would usually after a ride, but then I’ve been feeling a bit achey again lately anyway.  Christmas is going to force me to have the odd day off, and that’s probably not a bad thing.  I think I’ve earned myself a beer, so it’s off to the pub now!

I didn’t manage to get out on Tuesday – the weather at this time of year likes to conspire against me it would appear. Tuesday was chilly fog, which I guess makes a change from ice…
So, today was the first time I’ve been out this week. I went out with one of the girls who I’m less familiar with, but at least the commitment ensured that I did go! I was a bit anxious about it, as she races, and never seems to have any problems with hills, speed, etc… However she may have found my pace, she seemed happy enough to keep me company on the seaside loop for a couple of hours and we had a nice uneventful ride – in milder than expected conditions.

Hubby has managed to fix the broken wire on my computer, so here are today’s stats:

Cycling time: 2:14:09
Distance: 32.774 miles
Avs: 14.7 mph
ODO: 7895.2 miles

In other cycling news, yesterday I got a new sponsor.

Buff are my fourth sponsor – and I’m really chuffed about it .  It’s giving me hope that eventually I may actually raise the money I need!

Also, due to ferry problems, Route 4 of the London to Paris has changed a bit.  The Portsmouth-Caen crossing has become Portsmouth-St Malo, so the route now looks like this:

Day 1 – London to Portsmouth 80 miles (unchanged)
Catching an overnight ferry to St Malo, (Brittany Ferries) arriving around 08.30 Thursday morning.
Day 2 – St Malo – Mayenne/Laval 82 miles
Day 3 – Mayenne – Chartres 108 miles
Day 4 – Chartres – Paris 73 miles (unchanged)

Total distance has gone from 319 miles to 343 and Day 3 looks like a killer now…*gulp*

The Axbridge Cycling Group went out for a Sunday morning ride yesterday.  Although the morning started a little frosty, causing a couple of people to pull out, the sunshine meant that the roads were actually fairly clear by the time we headed out, and there was still a pretty good turnout.

There were two groups of us – a slower group of 4 headed direct for the coffee stop whereas a faster group of 6 took a more circuitous route.  Due to puncture issues, the long route took considerably longer than it ought to have done, and after plenty of stopping and starting it seemed to take forever to get to coffee!  Although the levels were looking rather beautiful – all flooded and wintry – by then I really just wanted to get to where I was going, rather than sit back and enjoy the view.  My legs were feeling great, but it just wasn’t one of those days where I could properly enjoy that.

The coffee stop at Sweets Peat Museum was jam packed with cyclists – and the slower group had been there for some time.  We were lucky to get a table as a few folk left just as we were queuing for coffee.  Sadly, good though the coffee was, by the time it arrived I had chilled right down, which wasn’t pleasant.  So, once finished, all that was left to do was head straight for home.  Straight up Mudgeley Hill and back down the main road from Wedmore to Cheddar, to home.  Not the world’s most satisfactory ride, but a nicely sociable one nonetheless.

As it turned out, the wire for my cycling computer had snapped, so there’ll be no ride stats today.  Hubby has since repaired it, so normal service should be resumed shortly.  If not, I’ll be buying a new one asap!

Well, in the interests of being safe not sorry, I cycled two hours statically at the gym today instead of hitting the road. Which could have been the case quite literally with the ice that’s around at the moment. I’d have preferred to be out but sometimes it’s just not possible.

In the meantime I worked some more on this website and also on my “Cycling Mayor” document which I’m hoping to use to help persuade local businesses to sponsor me. I’m putting a flier in all my Christmas cards to try and get friends and family to sponsor me too.

I’ve been wracking my brains for people to approach for sponsorship, and one occurred to me at some point yesteday. I sent them an email this morning, and I have a new sponsor! TORQ, who I buy all my bars and gels from, are going to sponsor me. The more the merrier…I’ve got a long way to go, but I’m definitely making progress

Winter sun makes for lovely rides, but winter weather makes for lethal roads.  There was black ice aplenty this morning, then broken ice all over the country lanes where cars have driven through frozen puddles.  However it wasn’t half as treacherous as I thought it was going to be.  I met up with M, who managed to fall off pulling in to meet me, luckily without doing any serious damage.  We did the seaside loop – Winscombe, Sandford, Puxton, Ebdon/Worle, Kewstoke, the seafront at Weston-super-Mare, Uphill, Bleadon, past the Webbington, through Cross and home.  I’ve done it many times which means it doesn’t involve much thought – allowing us to gossip away without interruption!

Cycling time: 2:11:14
Distance: 31.961 miles
Avs: 14.6 mph
ODO: 7862.5 miles

Other than that minor blip, we both managed to stay on the bikes, and I enjoyed the ride.  The seaside is lovely when you’re not sharing it with the summer crowds.  I managed my way up the few hills on the route without much grief, and my legs felt fine once they’d warmed up.  My feet stayed with me – like I said before, the new kit helps but doesn’t solve completely – and it really wasn’t too cold.  Sunshine makes it all a lot easier too, and a lot nicer

After a late and mildly raucous night out last night, this morning I should have felt terrible, but I didn’t.  Outside the window the morning sun was shining, so after giving myself time enough to have breakfast and check that yes, I really did feel ok, I headed out on the bike.  I was dying to test out my new woolie socks and overshoes that arrived yesterday (check out the kit page for details), so me and my mp3 headed out on one of my normal loops.  Since it’s been ages since I’ve cycled on my own, I’ve actually not done it for a while, and it was even nicer than usual.

In fact, it was glorious.  Just fantastic.  One of those “in the zone” rides.  Cycling across the levels, road all to yourself, legs going happily and smoothly ’round, doing 18mph without really trying.  No wind.  Gorgeous winter light, the sun low but still just above the visor.  Blue skies, green fields, stretching for miles.  Perfectly still water turning all the rhynes into ribbons of mirror.  Swans, herons, buzzards, clouds of starlings.  A fox going about his business.  Makes you feel glad to be alive – and you discover you’re smiling all the time

Unsurprisingly it’s far more enjoyable when you can feel your feet – and the new kit really seemed to do the trick.  I wouldn’t say my feet were toasty, but I could still feel them – and in a good way, not a painful way!

Cycling time: 1:57:54
Distance: 28.596 miles
Avs: 14.6 mph
ODO: 7830.5 miles

I’d forgotten how nice cycling on your own can be.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to cycle in company, but there’s a particular kind of head space when you’re out there on your own.  It’s almost meditative.  A truly awesome ride

Another Thursday morning, another dubious weather forecast.  Set off as 3 girls, to meet 3 lads on the Wedmore to Wells road as usual – except we pretty much made it to Wells before we found ‘em.

I’ve got a cold brewing, and am at that stage where although you’re not all that blocked up (yet!) you still find yourself breathing through your mouth, which kinda puts pay to conversation, supposing I was in the mood for idle chit chat anyway.  Cycling as a group wasn’t proving to be all that enjoyable, so I was kinda plodding along at the back.  Or at the front at a distance, as I have no mudguards.  Neither do they, which makes riding in close proximity a tad messy when the roads are soaking wet.

Having met the testosterone element, we headed off from Wells towards Glastonbury, and I got dropped off the back.   M dropped back to keep me company, but then I hate feeling like the slow coach bringing up the rear, and I wasn’t feeling chatty anyway, as I said.  I spied a right turn to Godney, and decided to carpe diem, said ‘bye, and took it, leaving M to catch up with the group instead.   I was instantly much happier – (I expect she was too! *grin*), plugged my music into my ears, and settled down to please myself for another hour and half or so on the levels.

Cycling time: 2:18:09
Distance: 34.120 miles
Avs: 14.8 mph
ODO: 7801.9 miles

It wasn’t essentially as cold as it has been, but this is not to say that it was warm, as the strong blustery wind and occasional driving rain added a lovely chill factor.   The wind was really pretty nasty from time to time, ’specially head on, which definitely slowed me down.  And I think some of the rain almost qualified as hail.  Nice.  I decided that since I was on my own, and therefore not trying to keep up with anyone, that I would go up Mudgeley Hill, which I tend to avoid, and which went pretty well.  Not the most enjoyable ride in the world, but it’s been a while since I cycled on my own, and I enjoyed that part of it – it makes for good head space .

I was getting ready to head out this morning when the rain arrived. Luckily it passed, as the forecast said it would…leaving the roads wet, but a bit less muddy. I headed out across the levels with M, on one of our fairly usual routes. Though the roads were a bit less muddy than on Sunday, that wasn’t saying much, and our average speed can be put down to having to be mega careful on the back lanes to avoid falling off! It rained about half way through, so much so that I actually resorted to my waterproof. However I’m not complaining, since an extra layer was a good thing – and I kept it on for the rest of the ride.

Cycling time: 2:17:41
Distance: 31.543 miles
Avs: 13.8 mph
ODO: 7767.8 miles

It was a fairly pleasant ride for all that – mostly because my legs were feeling pretty good – but boy, were my feet ever cold! And, as it turned out when I got home, they were also soaked through, which probably explains it.

I’ve ordered some new things to try and get my feet through the winter – DeFeet Woolie Boolie socks that were highly recommended by S on Sunday and Endura overshoes that Cycling Plus liked. I’ve also ordered a black Specialized Wedgie saddle bag as mine is falling apart. It’s to be an Xmas present to me from hubby. Here’s hoping the footwear elements all fit ok, because that’s the thing that gets to me worst at this time of year – cold feet!