Monthly Archives: June 2011

We are so darned proud of you

Wednesday’s child is full of woe. Or at least he was threatening to be if I didn’t take him for a ride. So I did the only thing to be done in such circumstances – I took him for a ride. Well, I would have, if he was better at sitting on my ar*e and getting a tow…

As it was I mostly sat behind him or in front of him, wherever was most useful to make us visible to the inattentive car drivers. It’s clearly very important that they get home as quickly as possible, and they’re doing it on auto pilot. This is the downside of cycling after school – it may be light, but it clashes with rush hour. In fact we were very nearly run off the road by a flat bed truck with van on the back on the single track back road into Banwell. I don’t know what he was doing, but I don’t think he saw us at all…and he certainly didn’t move. Luckily he missed us. This however implies that he did something in order to avoid us. All it actually means is that the gap that we were forced into between him and the hedge happened to just fit us. And it was bl**dy close! We had to pull over and take stock for couple of minutes afterwards. Which is one of the reasons letting MiniMe cycle on the road is so scary :(.

Other than that it was a perfectly pleasant ride, though MiniMe was on a bit of a go-slow, and his gears means he was struggling going up hill, though he did his best. There was a bit more wind that we’d have liked, but lots of low evening sun – which has it’s pros and cons. Yes it’s pretty, and the views are long, clear and lovely, but the light tends to blind the aforementioned drivers.

As we came back up the hill past the Webbington, MiniMe informed me that he wants to be as good as me. Which is sweet. I pointed out that a) I wasn’t really very good as these things go and b) it won’t take him long since young boys get better faster than old women do. He said I wasn’t old. Aw bless *grin*. I wonder if he’s after something? ;).

Cycling time: 1:35:11 hrs
Distance: 20.01 miles
Avs: 12.5 mph
ODO: 9268 miles

I know I should probably be taking it easy, so this was a good ride for that, but I was champing at the bit slightly. My legs were feeling the need… It would appear that my DOMS isn’t Delayed, it’s just not coming, not that I’m complaining you understand! Anyway, I never have been renowned for my patience, but I, like MiniMe, did my best :).

I’m not the easiest person you ever got to know

I’d just like you to know that my body rocks. And I don’t mean that in an immodest, hey, look at me way. I mean it in a biological mechanical sense. It’s just amazing what it can do.

It got up at 5:00am and cycled the hilliest sportive it has ever done on Sunday – 106 miles, 3407 metres of climbing – on the hottest day of the year so far. All I fed it was a a bar and a half and the best part of a couple of bananas, washed down with a lot of water/Torq. I drank my recovery, and wasn’t even in the mood for a good meal when I got in, and I’ve not been all that hungry ever since. Thirsty yes, hungry no. And oddest of all, I didn’t even sleep well Sunday night.

Yesterday morning I will admit that my get up and go hadn’t bothered getting up at all. And I had a tendency to lose my train of thought halfway through… But my legs were feeling ok, and by the end of the day I was feeling a lot better mentally too. So I was dreading today. Day 2 can be the worst, as it was post Somerset 100. Especially as, yet again, I didn’t sleep well last night. So this morning I was expecting DOMS and a very good zombie impression.

But no. Nothing of the sort. To put this to the test I went for the ride I had planned with Mim. Nothing fancy. A few “hills” to start with – round the Webbington and the back of Loxton way – and then mostly flat with wind, round Brent Knoll, Burnham, the Levels and home. Now I’m not saying I’d have liked to be doing a long sportive today. Or that I went up the hills with any great panache. But it was pretty much like any other training ride – as my stats demonstrate.

Cycling time: 2:10:13 hrs
Distance: 34.28 miles
Avs: 15.7 mph
ODO: 9248 miles

Isn’t that just amazing? Considering the pretty constant talking going on, it was even fairly fast. I’m still feeling pretty good – no sudden come down or anything. I told you – my body rocks! :).

Maybe Day 3 will be the charm this time ’round…. 😉

As for the Dartmoor Classic – my overall position was 509th, out of about 760 finishers. Average. I was 12th out of the 33 women though – which is better. I sent them an email, including a link to the blog entry, to say how great I thought it had been, and they’ve put it on their home page – which totally made my day, and means that I’ve had lots of lovely visitors popping by and agreeing with me :).

Dartmoor Classic

Today was, if nothing else, a lesson in how a sportive should be organised. Since we have established a baseline disastrous standard against which to compare all other events, (yes, still moaning about the Dragon), we know what we’re talking about! This was the opposite end of the scale – everything was superlative.

Since kick-off was from 7:00am onwards, we, being GB and I as ever, stayed over at a b&b in Torquay last night, which meant we could sign in yesterday too, and do all the start villagey stuff. We thus established that there was plenty of parking, loads of toilets – both in the car parks and at the start village – and a timing chip to fix to your helmet that was scanned there and then to check it was working. (Mr Lusardi take note…).

We rocked up at 6:30am ish this morning, were marshalled to park in one of the outer carparks, rode in, used the facilities, and were near the front of the (minimal) queue. They penned the riders up into groups which were set off at intervals, and we were underway by 7:10am. See, it is possible…

It was initially so foggy that sunglasses were a waste of space as they got covered in water, and I was grateful of my arms. At some point, after a hill (there were a lot of hills) we popped out above the cloud cover into the sunshine, so I adjusted my glasses, bashed my left eye wrong…and my contact lens fell out! I stopped asap, no doubt giving the riders around me a moment, and was massively relieved to discover it was sitting on my cheek where I think the sunglasses had trapped it. *Phew*! Well when you’re as short sighted as I am, riding without a lens is not an option. And let’s face it, binocular vision is quite important when you’re riding a bike… To be fair it’s quite important a lot of the time!

GB was off ahead of me, which is pretty much where he stayed all day. The only difference being that after a while he stopped waiting for me! He says that G is for Git… ;). We do not climb hills at the same speed, and he descends faster than me. Given that today’s route was all about going up, or going down so that you could go up again, this was never going to be a ride where G being for Group worked.

The first 4 hours were hard work. This is not to say that the 2nd 4 hours were easy. Bear with me, all will be explained. There were LOTS of big long hills. According to the website, 3407 m of climbing in all. And the sun was out, the fog burnt off, and the temperatures were rising. The wind was a blessing and curse in that it got in the way, but it cooled you down so…rock and a hard place. The BBC forecast had said white cloud, 19C and 7mph wind. Really, beats me why they bother. Sunshine, 28+C, and a bit windier than that – all day! I know, I have the tan lines to prove it. I had left my Torq refill in the car and it’s just as well as it meant I just diluted that which I had, and I think today it was more important to get water in than energy drink. Funny how these things work out isn’t it? :).

I was suffering for various reasons which I am indeed going to bore you with. I started off the day dehydrated, which tends to give me cystitis like symptoms – not comfortable on a bike. My painkillers are a necessary evil – they keep the knee in check, and the shoulder (although less s0) yet they upset a tummy that is already not that happy with energy bars and drinks. So I tend to have tummy ache too. Plus GB had spent so long telling me I’d be fine doing this ride that my constant inability to keep up with him yet seeing him in the distance was getting me down… That’ll teach me to fall for the hype! G was for a little bit Glum and Grumpy :(.

At the 4 hour mark it was time to take more pills, so I stopped after yet another hill, under a shady tree, dosed myself up, ate and drank, and had a word with myself *grin*. After that it got a little easier. Well, there’s caffeine in some of the pills, the painkilling element stopped the twingeing knee, I was drinking more than enough, which helped with that, and since 8 hours was my goal time, I knew I was over half way done – which is quite motivating.

So I perked up a bit. So much so that I even overtook GB at one point and made it up the very very long climb back up to the foodstop at Princeton (just as well stocked and friendly 2nd time around) and had to wait for him! :P. Ok, that was it really as far as competition goes. After that he drew away…not to be seen again until after I’d crossed the finish line, looking slightly sheepish and rather apologetic. Maybe I shouldn’t have beaten him up the hill… ;).

It was a stunning route – way nicer than the Dragon was even in years gone past. Amazing views, Dartmoor, ponies and very cute foals, Highland cattle and calves, suicidal sheep. In fact a great deal of free ranging not quite wildlife! We even had to slow down and let a black cat nonchalantly cross the road…which I believe is good luck. Well, running it over would certainly have been bad luck, for the cat if no-one else…

After the final killer hill at Moretonhampton and some lovely descending, it was more rolling terrain, and then the last 10 miles were mostly flat. I do love a “10 miles to go” sign. And I got a “5 miles to go” one too – bonus! I found a wheel to suck for the last couple of miles, since by this time I was feeling lazy and I knew I was going to make it in in under 8 hours. Indeed, as I rolled across the finish line, I made it 7:49. I joined the queue for the formalities, where they scanned the tag and told me my official time was 8:14 and easily qualified me for a Bronze! ‘Rah! Go me! Turns out the goodie bag is cool too – bottle, medal, trophy, inner tube, recovery, nice t-shirt… Yet again, proof of how it should be done 🙂

Cycling time: 7:49:00 hrs
Distance: 106.14 miles
Avs: 13.5 mph
ODO: 9213 miles

GB was pretty euphoric about what a good ride he’d had. He got in 10 minutes before I did, but, probably because he’d hung back for me early on, he missed out on Silver. I didn’t, to be honest, have the same kind of post-event buzz that I usually get. I guess it was a bit lonely, and unlike recent events I didn’t get to join any groups, or team up much with anyone – it’s not a course that lends itself to that kind of thing. My shoulder thing was also agony by the end, and I was kinda tired, so it was just good to not be riding any more! I think I’d describe myself now as just quietly content to have achieved what I set out to do. I’m also very very pleased with myself for getting up all the hills, from the longest to the steepest (although steep wasn’t really the issue today). I didn’t walk, or even stop for a breather, I just dug in and plodded up. Did I mention I’m stubborn? 😉

Dartmoor Classic – done! 🙂

All together now

Variety is the spice of life, or so they say, which this week meant that MiniMe and I gave our Wednesday ride a miss, and went out today instead. Which gained us a couple of degrees and dropped us a couple of knots, so it was clearly a pretty good call.

Now it’s all very well cycling in circles around the Levels, but after a while it does get a tad boring, and whilst it puts miles on the wheels, it does not put hills in your legs. The time had come, the walrus said… Unfortunately that makes me a walrus and I’m not sure I’m very happy with that! Having said that I have heard that walruses are grumpy creatures, so perhaps there’s a grain of truth to be found there… And according to wikipedia, it’s a long lived and social animal, so there’s something to aspire to. So maybe I am the walrus? Goo goo g’joob! *grin*.

Now, where were we? Ah yes. About to take eldest up hills. It had to happen some time and I did warn him in advance so as to give him plenty of time to throw a teenage tantrum and refuse to go. He didn’t, we did.

Out of Axbridge we went, up the hill to the bypass, and then up the A38 to go up Winscombe hill. Round the back through Barton to the Webbington and then up the hill past there to go back to Cross. Through Cross, over the A38 and up Notting Hillway. We did consider going the longer less steep way but, ignorance being bliss and knowing no better, he chose the short (ish!) sharp shock way. I think he ground to a halt half way up and had to get started again, but he did a fine job of getting to the top without complaining half as much as I would have done in his place!

From there it was past the windmill, down Rughill, and back home the usual way. Apparently it wasn’t his back that was hurting as we went up the Cheddar Road this time, it was his legs! So there’s progress for you ;).

My cycling PC has new bunny batteries – both halves of it – so hopefully my figures will be a little more accurate. Having said that, they didn’t seem to add up, but maybe I set it up wrong, so I’ll give it one more chance…

Cycling time: 1:21:13 hrs
Distance: 17.43 miles
Avs: 12.9 mph
ODO: 9107 miles

It was good for me because I’m supposed to be tapering, and just spinning my legs. It was also good for me to go up hills at someone else’s speed, sort of a reminder that it’s ok to go up them really slowly, and that actually, if you do, they’re easier! I guess I tend to try and go up them the best I can, which is all well and good, but sometimes it’s just not necessary :).

So, roll on Sunday. The forecast is currently ok, but I have little faith in forecasts…so we’ll see :). It’s a very hilly ride *gulp*.

When we dance

Yesterday was a rest day which I finally felt, having had a successful event, that I had earned. Not that I really felt like I needed it. Which’ll larn me. I really should remember that these days it’s day 2 post-event that makes me feel like I’ve been hit over the head with a blunt instrument. However yesterday I felt fine, although I did discover that if I prodded my thighs my muscles were pretty painful. Simple – don’t prod your thighs ;).

So, as I was feeling ok, it was time to go ride the bike again, a ride that I’d arranged last week with Mim. Details were finalised by txt as usual, and I picked her up at her place at 9:10ish. The plan was to spin our legs for a couple of hours, nowt more, since we both have events on later in the week. It was warmish and dry, but as windy as ever, and as we headed out into it, it was definitely making life harder, which was a tad concerning considering our goal to take it easy…

First off – out to Wedmore. I must have ridden that stretch of road literally hundreds of times now. Every time I ride down, or up, it, I find myself trying to work out precisely how many times, as such mental meanderings get you at least half way to where you were going. I can point out all the potholes & obstacles, have my “racing” line down pat *yawn*. However this is probably a good thing when you’re really just out for a spin and a chat and not to concentrate too much. There are worse roads to ride down. Like the A38 for example.

By the time we got to Wedmore, my knee, neither strapped up nor drugged, was quite keen to remind me that at least one of those things would have been a good idea considering that it had not really been rested since Sunday. As usual though I was travelling equipped, and popped a pink pill as we headed out of Wedmore towards Blackford and Mark, which did the trick soon enough. I hit Somerset 100 deja-vu as we turned left to go through Bason Bridge and up the climb through Woolavington which I didn’t even try to do well up. I just engaged pootle mode and got to the top.

We wiggled along the pretty roads to Shapwick, and then straight back through Wedmore on that same road and out to home. Which did involve going up Mudgelely Hill. Another hill I have no doubt done better in my time, by which I guess I mean faster. However I started at the bottom, and I got to the top, and that’s the point right? Yes it was harder work than sometimes, but it wasn’t too bad… Besides which detouring around it would have made our ride take even longer, so it was just the easiest thing to do.

We may have been re-tracing our pedal strokes from thereonin, but with the wind behind us my favourite road was even more blissful than usual, even without racing down it :).

Cycling time: 2:19:33 hrs
Distance: 35.96 miles
Avs: 15.4 mph
ODO: 9090

Considering that I really wasn’t trying hard, quite deliberately, even going so far as to ease off the (metaphorical) gas if I felt like I was pushing it at all, it turns out that we were going fairly fast. Interesting…

However pretty much ever since I walked back through my front door I’ve been a complete waste of space. I’m knackered! Practically asleep on my feet, and that’s even after a little while spent being asleep on my sofa! *grin*. On the upside my cat likes me more since she can clearly sense that whenever I sit down I’m liable to be there for a while, so she can sit on me :).

I’m thinking I need to make a conscious effort to take it a little easy between now and Sunday, which as some of you know, is not something that’s going to be easy…

Somerset 100

Finally! An event that went according to plan! About bl**dy time too, I hear you say. Thus probably proper jinxing the next event but hey, one event at a time ;).

There is something inexplicably yet smugly satisfying about cycling to an event, taking part, and cycling home. I can’t explain it, but there it is. So I met GB in the Square at a positively civilised 7:45am to ride over to the start of the Somerset 100 at Sweets Tea Rooms. Unlike the forecast, which had unrealistically stated that it would be sunny and a bit windy all day, it was cloudy, quite windy, with showers to be dodged all day. Having been a bit under the weather for the last few days, due to a reaction to antibiotics, I was feeling a tad fragile and even started out with more layers on than GB, which is virtually unheard of! Clearly he’s more badass than me…

There was this plan that the whole ride would be cycled in pelotons, which had me a little nervous, and distinctly under-convinced about my ability to keep up. However this did not happen – ‘rah! We headed off at 8:30am ish, and by the time we got to Weare everyone had spread out a bit. GB was with a group a bit ahead – he always goes off faster than me and I’m used to it by now – and I was happily on my lonesome between his group and the one behind. We were, courtesy of his courtesy, reunited around Brent Knoll, which is also when my layers came off, and stayed together as a peloton of two for the rest of the ride.

It was kinda weird doing an event on roads that I train on all the time, so much so that it was almost hard to take it seriously. Which probably explains the speed we spent the first half of the ride at. By the time the roads had become less familiar and we pulled over at Castle Cary station for a break, around 60 miles in, we’d averaged 17.8mph! Silly speeds! Having said that up until then it had really been fairly flat, and the wind had been in our favour for quite a while. Still…

Neither of these two things were to last. And just as hills should not get steeper at the ends, the last chunk of a sportive should not contain the hills and the wind! OK, so the wind is an unpredictable variable, the hills tend not to be ;). Long slow sloggy hills at that, for the most part. Inevitably we slowed down a bit. I’m really pleased of how well I plodded up those hills though, and I’m pretty sure I’m getting better at descending too – and there were some corking descents. Best of all was the last down from the top of the Mendips, through the Horringtons, to Wells. Proper enjoyable :).

By this point both my knee, even painkiller fortified and strapped up, and my shoulder were proper hurting and concentrating on speed was, bizarrely, helping distract me from it. The mind is a funny thing. And mine possibly more so than most ;). Besides which by now my legs could sense “home” and the last 10 miles or so were familiar, flat, and fast! We even towed someone home with us – very good cycling karma *grin*. Mind you I was only allowed to go on front if I “wasn’t stupid” by racing for home. Spoilsport :P. Of course now I get to look as if I was holding back. Bonus!

We got back to Sweets in the burgeoning sunshine, and hubby and the mob were waiting for me, ready to fortify me with coffee and possibly the best cupcake ever. Well ok, that probably depends on how much you need a cupcake, but I really needed a cupcake! How else was I supposed to summon the energy to cycle home again? *grin*.

It was a lovely small well-run friendly event. Friendly riders, friendly “staff”. The broom wagon was the photographer was the food stop was the outrider, and did all jobs well. Sweets is always nice, and the fact that they were having a family day too meant that there was a bustle and atmosphere independent of us cyclists which was lovely. Usually when I arrive at the end, well down the ranking, there’s nothing left to enjoy! And let’s not forget, it was all for charidee. Win win :).

9.19 miles there. 12.07 miles back. This I know from bikeroutetoaster, because I’ve just worked it out. However my stats and GB’s vary considerably, and as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not 100% happy with how my bike PC is working (new batteries will be going in asap). The route itself was supposed to be 91.85 miles. Since GB’s gadgets are, inevitably, more expensive and accurate than mine, then I guess the truth is more likely his, or at the very least somewhere in-between…and when you add it all together, it makes for a total of around 113 miles cycled by me today.

Mine are as follows:
Cycling time: 5:41:29 hrs
Distance: 95.69 miles
Avs: 16.8 mph

GB’s are:
Cycling time: 5:33:26 hrs
Distance: 90.89 miles
Avs: 16.4 mph

ODO is therefore: 9055

The ride home was a little slower, but we didn’t do a very good job of pootling even though we both avowed that we were going to. We did however, thanks to my knee, bail on coming straight home over Mudgeley Hill, and instead wiggled home via Blackford. I wasn’t allowed to race down the Wedmore road either, which is just as well, as I wasn’t planning on it. Honest…

So now I’m home. I cycled 113 miles on a bar, some Lucozade jelly beans, and a banana, though I did drink more than usual. Hubby made me drink my recovery when I got in, which was a darned fine idea, especially as I was feeling more than a little bit spacey. I even managed to eat dinner which I wasn’t sure I was up for – my appetite is always off post-event. However I am now officially zoned and zen-ed out. Quiet, tired, but happy 🙂

Am I gettin’ thru or do you please yourself?

The last couple of days I’ve been tired, and a bit under par, so since hubby had the day off, I decided that the weekend had clearly arrived early so therefore I was allowed coffee. And, since he was home and cooking, I also got to start the day with a poached egg on toast for breakfast. Result!

Now that my body is a temple (!), I’m far more aware of the effects when I put “bad” things in it. Like coffee for example. A couple of cups later and I could feel it – that antsy, fidgety, I should be on the bike and going NOW feeling. Don’t get me wrong, this is not necessarily a bad thing *grin*. Well, unless you want a recovery nap afterwards that is…

So when Mim arrived as planned this morning, it would be a minor understatement to say that I was raring to go. I know I should be probably be tapering before Sunday’s Somerset 100, but I never have been very good at that. And it just feels so good to be on the bike at the moment.

I think for me cycling often has a lot in common with meditation, which it’s fair to say I’m crap at as I always end up falling asleep. However the focusing on the breathing, breathing deeply bit, is more what I had in mind. The exertion of cycling forces you to breath more deeply, which is, when you’re going along at a reasonable speed and not pushing it too hard, almost relaxing. I think I may have tendency to breathe quite shallowly normally. And when I focus on what my breathing is doing when going up hill, every inhalation and exhalation, it’s easier to ignore what my legs are telling me and to just get on with it. There you go, zen and the art of cycle meditation. Or something ;).

Back to the ride. This was a route designed to include a coffee stop at GW’s, which meant doing the majority of the miles and work beforehand, and then just heading straight for home afterwards. It was essentially flat, with a few little hills to start off with just because that way life is a little more interesting, and because you can’t do the same routes all the time. Still even some of those little lumps can sometime feel like hard work, but I wasn’t feeling that too much today – all good for the PMA :).

Weather-wise it did try and rain on us as we got into Banwell so the yellow waterproof got yet another outing. It didn’t stay on too long because there was far too much “boil in the bag” going on for my liking. And although it tried once again as we neared our coffee stop, I ignored it and luckily it ignored us too. It wasn’t like it was cold, or very wet, mainly just gusty wind to catch you out from time to time. Which reminds me of the fable of the wind and the sun – the sun definitely wins, as I do not cycle well when overheating!

A coffee stop clearly means more coffee. Well, what’s a little more caffeine? Time for another fix! (It may well be a very good thing I never really got into drugs at uni… ;)) I guess it made the ride home even more fun as, since it was a tad chilly and windy as we set off, pushing harder and faster was a good way to warm up! Some days the wind is more annoying than others. Today Mim was feeling it, but it wasn’t really bothering me. I recommend she drinks more coffee…*grin*.

Cycling time: 2:04:43 hrs
Distance: 33.59 miles
Avs: 16.1 mph
ODO: 8942 miles

I’m not sure about my stats of late, I think my computer may be playing up from time to time. Certainly when I look down it’s not always saying what I think it should be. Still, it’s probably not far off. So when you consider that it was a sociable chatty ride, we were going pretty fast. Suits me sir :).

Mind you I’m back to feeling tired now. And a bit woozy around the edges – I left lunch a little late, especially when you consider all that lovely caffeine buzzing around my system. It’s a little like being drunk without having been drinking – strange indeed. I’m thinking sleep may be a tad elusive later but I think I’ll try for an early night and see what happens :).

Don’t worry, be happy

It’s Wednesday. Wednesday would appear to be the day I ride with MiniMe. Wednesday is also, one week out of four, the day I deliver Avon. The chances of it raining on a Wednesday are thus greatly increased and today was no exception. Yep. More rain. Really. Maybe people will stop talking about drought now?

But MiniMe was raring to go, and there wasn’t any wind, and it was distinctly humid, so all it was ever going to be was wet. And last I checked skin is essentially waterproof. But just in case it isn’t, I dragged out the waterproof for the second time in a week. Which at least means it wasn’t hidden away. And it proved unexpectedly useful in that being fluorescent yellow, I was far more visible than usual, a fact for which I was very grateful as I escorted him down the A38.

Well he wanted to do a flat loop. Longer than the Nyland loop, but not as long as the last ride, so as not to make his back hurt. He’s also not quite ready for hills yet. Given all of that, options around here are a little limited. The easiest way to do flat is straight down the A38, and left after Tarnock to go straight across to Mark, so that’s what we did.

To give him proper credit he did a really good job of leading all the way to the turning. See, if I ride just behind and slightly further out from the curb than him, then the traffic sees us, has to go round us both, and also has to make a definite effort to do so rather than just squeezing past. And, hey, if the worst comes to worst, they hit me first! So I sat back there scaring the traffic, and in the meantime he kept a straight line, didn’t wobble, or waver, and was less worried about the traffic than me, though he did exclaim at what he thought was their proximity from time to time. Sadly what he thinks was close is nothing like as close as they can get! Ignorance is bliss, right?

Once off the A38 the rain eased, the roads dried a bit, and we had an uneventful and actually fairly enjoyable ride. We were damp but not downhearted. MiniMe even invented a new verb – to crest. This is when you go down a hill fast enough to have enough momentum to get over the next hill – thus “cresting” it. I like that. So did he 🙂 Today’s other big achievement was learning how to drink whilst riding along. First off without pedalling simultaneously, and then whilst pedalling too. Who says men can’t multi-task? 😉 … I’m sorry, you’re reading, and I asked you a question…are you back yet? *grin*. Time for the stats then:

Cycling time: 1:11:53 hrs
Distance: 17.23 miles
Avs: 14.3 mph
ODO: 8908 miles

This teaching cycling lark is tricky. I want him to enjoy it, which he is doing. I don’t want him to have an accident, so I have to warn/educate him about the risks and dangers, but I don’t want him to be unreasonably scared. I’d rather he learnt by my mistakes than his own! Fine line… But he had a good ride, he was faster, less tired at the end, less achey, and more amenable to helping me deliver my Avon afterwards. Result all ’round! 🙂

(PS: hello to my new readers! Feel free to comment even though we don’t (yet?) know each other. Hope to meet you all on the road one day… 🙂 )

What if I say that I’ll never surrender?

“Mary Mary, quite contrary”… That’s my middle name you know. And that’s probably the only characteristic associated with the name that applies in any way at all to me. Come on, me, a Mary? I think not. (and stop sniggering at the back there…!). Anyway, there are those that would probably say that stubbornness is not an admirable character trait, and there’s always a chance they might be right. But I think when it comes to cycling it’s practically essential. I think it’s what keeps me going. What gets me through the sportive hours. And up the hills. And stops me giving up when I’m outclassed, as is frequently the case.

I went for a longish ride today with Mim and Brian. Mim is fast, Brian is faster, and three is never my favourite number. However actually in cases like this it can work in my favour. Brian led the way, and Mim went back and forth between the two of us to chat. I would have taken more of a turn at the front, honest…but there’s no way I could go fast enough for him. When I did try, he just took the lead again. I’m thinking that’s just his thing. It’s not like it was exactly stressing him out. And hey, I’m not averse to enforced wheel sucking *grin*.

Our route was mine, created as we went along so that I could do some hills, but not the usual familiar ones. Which essentially meant out to High Ham Hill, up it, and back. There were other hills too. And they all went ok, by my standards. Pretty well you might say. Dogged determination and all that. Brian dropped back and picked me up on the way up High Ham, which people who know me better know better than to do, but he meant well. And I expect I went faster as a result. Maybe. To be fair I was finding it easier than usual anyway so it was hard to tell :P.

We had a very civilised refreshment stop in Somerton, sat outside a café, in weather that was so far removed from that on Sunday that it seems hardly possible that the two days were in the same season let alone the same week! Sunshine makes such a difference. Although my tan lines are fairly ridiculous already, and my Frankenstein’s monster hands are a constant source of amusement to the mob *grin*. The lack of any real wind was a bonus. Sun, warmth, light winds – practically ideal cycling conditions – which is just as well given that the weather is due to go downhill again round about now…

Cycling time: 2:54:26 hrs
Distance: 49.03 miles
Avs: 16.8 mph
ODO: 8891 miles

I did my ride my way. OK, I got dropped on the hills, but that’s because I wasn’t trying to keep up. I was persevering in doing my own thing, and refusing to be depressed by my performance compared to theirs. I did well, and that’s all my PMA needs to know.

So I had a great ride. In fact I’m still smiling. Of late, with plans gone astray, and weather gone to pot, a little of the love had been missing. Today it was back. My bike and I were flying :).

(PS: did I mention I love my wheels? ;)).

Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride

Also known as the ride that wasn’t. This is not an event review, this is a non-event review.

It started with an unusually accurate weather forecast. Heavy rain all day. And wind. Both of which were fully installed by the time the alarm went off this morning. Nice. Not deterred, or at the very least resigned to it and determined to make the best of it, GB and I headed in to Bristol. Dad rang on the way in to confirm that he was going to stay home in the warm and dry, something which sounded like a very sensible decision. How right he was…

After the usual degree of faffing at GB’s office we headed off, in the constant rain, to the start at Millenium Square. I was not a happy bunny. Not due to the wet per se, but it just all felt off. I mean, I knew my bike has brakes, theoretically…but through that kind of rain, on soaked roads, with unfamiliar roads and surfaces, my stopping ability was seriously impaired, and my confidence headed for the hills. Which was the only thing that got to the hills today ;).

After a little while standing under shelter outside, commiserating with fellow brave nutters, we headed for the start line with about 10 minutes to spare. Just as we got there, they cancelled the ride. Accident on the Portway combined with bad weather and poor visibility stops play. However since we were already wet and we know the route, we decided to head off and do it anyway. We were far from the only ones to make that decision too.

However this was not a good decision. At the end of the Portway GB’s back tyre went explosively. I was a little way behind and still heard it. Caution was getting the better of me you see… So we spent a little while in an off road cubby hole changing the tube. 13 minutes apparently. Getting wetter and colder. Off we went again, up and over a seriously scarey Avonmouth Bridge. The gusty side wind combined with the slippery wet road surface was verging on lethal and gave me the heeby jeebies. As I approached the end I saw what I thought was GB waiting for me, not surprisingly considering my panic related sloth. However it transpired that his back wheel had gone again… Once off the bridge and safely to one side, he tried to change the tube again…only to eventually discover the side wall of his tyre was split. Game over. #Fail, as eldest would say.

What do girls do when they get into trouble? They call Daddy *grin*. Oh yes. One damp phone call later and help was on its way in from Portishead. We walked into Pill, and awaited our own personal broom wagon. Although obviously I’m always pleased to see Dad, I have to admit to having been particularly pleased on this occasion *grin*. Luckily, and unexpectedly, it turned out that we could get both bikes in the back, and both riders on seats, something which had been a little in doubt. I had been going to have to cycle into Bristol to meet up with them there – something I was happy to do, but it’s just as well I didn’t since I hadn’t realised quite how cold I had become. I’m talking mid-winter frozen to the bone, teeth chattering, no toes cold… I’m thinking riding like that might have been a bad idea. Mind you, the exertion almost seemed attractive as I thought it might warm me up!

Safely ensconced in a dry car and slowly misting it up for him, Dad drove us back to GB’s office, where we reverse-faffed, got into dry clothes, and came home via scaldingly hot drive-thru Macdonald’s coffee. Not particularly good coffee, but it was hot and wet and that’s what was required.

So that was the ride that wasn’t. 4th in a row not to go to plan for an understandably grumpy GB. Which meant I got to return the favour he did by listening to me vent post Dragon last weekend, by listening to him do likewise *grin*. He was not a happy bunny…

We were clearly not meant to ride today. My instincts were telling me this. The weather, the organisers, etc… all telling us this. Maybe we should have listened and stayed home and drunk good coffee… But actually having said that, it was still, oddly, good to be out there. Stuck at home on a wet Sunday afternoon, after a Lush enhanced defrosting bath, watching Avatar (again) I was, and am, bored. Ho hum… There’s no pleasing some people ;). Here’s hoping next week’s Somerset 100 goes a little better. I probably shouldn’t have said that…