Jan
15
2012
It was just the other day, I realised that I had not ridden with Rafe since Norfolk (to the best of my memory) so this basically needed to change. I had suggested a 30ish mile road ride for this morning, but the forecast was for a heavy frost, so it was then suggested we head off-road on the mountain bikes. I thought this maybe rather jolly so agreed and suggested the Ridgeway, so it was set!
This morning was cold, there had been a heavy overnight frost and to be honest, I rather fancied staying in bed. Rafe text to say see you in a bit, then I knew there was no getting out of this. I got up and found my winter cycling stuff out, then spent about 30 minutes hunting for my long-fingered gloves, I had almost given up hope when they turned up. A couple of minutes later rafe was at the door and we were off.
We got to the Ridgeway about 5 minutes later! and it was cold. We decided to head East towards the A34 and see how far we got, the first bit was gently down hill and my head went numb, I was all for turning back there and then! we pushed on however, past Wantage Memorial
The ground conditions were pretty good, basically it was frozen solid, although there were a lot of ruts which made things a bit more interesting. We cracked on pretty well, stopping briefly for a quick drink to for me to shake the pins and needles out of my fingers. We got to the 5 mile mark and that is what we had decided we were going to do, but there was a car park just a bit further on, so we said we would ride there and then turn back. We got to the car park and spent a bit of time discussing the power station and energy in general before turning round and heading back.
It was instantly noticeable, there had been a bit of a breeze and this was now behind us, it actually felt a lot warmer, quite pleasant in fact as the sun was out! On the down side, the frost had started to melt, leaving sticky, slippy mud in its place, I had my first MTB off at this point, my front wheel just went but quite amazingly I managed to step off the bike as it was going down! I was rather impressed with myself. I spent the next couple of miles swearing and generally finding things quite hard with the slippyness of the ground, and I fell off again, properly though this time you will be glad to hear.
Before long we were back at the car and ready for tea and cake.
Might need a bit of a clean
Drop of WD40 and it will be grand
So we loaded the bikes onto the car and drove round the corner to the tea shop / barn, which was rather handy, although the name of it has slipped me. it’s an old barn, and has a lovely wood burning stove and fantastic cake, which was more than welcome after the cold ride we had just done.
Ohhh cake!
Stats:
Trip Miles: 11.61 miles
Average Speed: 7.8 mph
Total Time: 1hrs 30 min 49 sec
Average pace: 7.41 mins/mile
Details can be found HERE
Jan
5
2012
With the weather being what it is at the moment and the promise of a new shed being delivered, I had to hang about the house today. The shed arrived at 11am and I took the guy to where he was to build it on my alltoment as he started to unload it, he said I wasnt leaving much room for the door… this puzzled me slightly as it was a 6×4 shed butted up against the existing shed with a gap of about 20ft for the door… it then clicked trhey had build the shed “the wrong way round” so off it went. Should be back tomorrow though in the correct format!
The afternoon was spent in Tesco, which is never a good thing.
Bored yet?
I hit the rollers this evening, I downloaded the Sufferfest video the other night and thought I would give it a try. I surprised myself, not in a good way either. the few months off the bike really show, I managed 10 minutes at a good pace before feeling dizzy and deciding it was time to stop. Not sure if this is the rollers, lack of breeze or just me being a lard arse, possibly a combo I think.
Hoping the wind will die down next week as Im off for most of it, I hope to get some proper miles in.
For what they are worth HERE is some stats
Dec
30
2011
Ok, so I did have a nice end of year post for you all to read, but then I thought Id be a smart arse and tried something. Still, upshot of it all is Im back, less a couple of posts and minus all the pictures! I will try and sort that at some point.
Anyway.
The year in review.
Been a fantastic year in total I have managed 1740 miles, a record for me. There were many highlights including #30daysofbiking, The Oxfordshire Classic, The Pasty Ride, The Norfolk Ride and of course joining the 100 club. Not 100% sure on what 2012 will bring, but I think a few people will have some ideas for me! I know Im going to do the following though:
Ride on the South Coast with Toby
The Oxfordshire Classic
The Pasty Ride
Something crazy JB will ring up and ask me to do… dont know what exactly, just got a feeling something will happen
Another silly ride with Rafe, who knows where we might end up!
So there we have it, thanks for looking at the blog, it does mean a lot.
Ill see you next year 
Have a great one folks
Oct
20
2011
Yesterday I had taken the kids to school and done all of my usual housekeeping duties (washing up, hoovering, washing on, dusting etc) so I decided as it was still quite early, I would get out and have another go on this mountain bike.
And what bloody good fun it was too!
I called in the allotment to check things and then it was off and UP! I had decided to do a bit on the Ridgeway, so I took the track from town, I had never been this way before and to start with it was tarmac but it soon changed into gravel then grass, but it was fun, that is what I can get over really, the fun element!
After a fair climb I arrived near the main Ridgeway path.
About 3/4 of the way up
I decided to go and have a quick look at a monument which was just to the East, as I had seen it often from a distance, but never close up, it was quite impressive, as were the views!
Monument to lord Wantage
The Vale from the monument
So after a quick look round it was time to head West and the way I was ment to be going. Not a lot to report, just a great trail and lots of fun, I soon arrived at the road which would take me home, but I decided to go a bit further before dropping off the Ridgeway, and that is exactly what I did! I carried onto Letcombe Regis before dropping down and cycling the couple of miles home on tarmac. It was at this point I couldn’t remember locking my allotment shed, so as I was passing I popped back up to check, I got back on the bike and the rear tire was flat. I couldn’t be bothered changing it 10 minutes from home, so did the walk of shame home!
A great mornings ride though none the less
Trip Miles: 13.63 miles
Average Speed: 8.1 mph
Total Time: 1hrs 40 min 24 sec
Average pace: 7.07 mins/mile
Details can be found HERE
Oct
13
2011
I’ve turned to the dark side. Yep, I have bought a mountain bike, granted there are not that many mountains here in Oxfordshire, but I fancied doing a bit of cycling away from the roads for a change. My good friend Matt had decided to upgrade to a very sexy new Cube MTB and he had his Specialized Hardrock Sport ‘spare’ so for the right price it became mine!
I picked it up yesterday, and due to other commitments never had the chance to get out on it, plus it needed a bloody good clean and de-grease. This I did this morning and it looks great for a good clean, polish and lube up. The weather is yet again not very Octoberish so I decided to head out and try this off-road lark out a bit.
Im feeling a bit rough to be honest – all self-inflicted after our shift christmas dinner last night, so I didn’t want to go too far, so I headed out the back of the village and round by the old canal, heading for Wantage. i then turned off over some fields before hitting the Wantage – Didcot cycle path where I headed back to the allotment for a while, it was then a simple ride home.
Nothing really ‘off road’ so to speak but was nice on some rough paths, can’t believe what great fun it was! The road bits were damn hard as the bike has got some massive tires on it, and boy do they make a noise when you are going along.
Hope to get out and do some more interesting rides next week. All in all though, I’m very happy with things and looking forward to trying some new routes!
Trip Miles: 5.65 miles
Average Speed: 9.6 mph
Total Time: 0hrs 38 min 10 sec
Average pace: 6.16 mins/mile
Details can be found HERE
Oct
3
2011
After the set back of not finishing #30daysofbiking this time round, I wasnt looking forward to doing my first 100 miles in a day. Let me explain, soon after Norfolk, JB gave me a ring and suggested a ride to the coast from his place, I guess I was caught up in the emotion of just riding to Norfolk and I agreed! I was initially looking forward to it, it is always fun riding with John, but as the time got closer I was to be honest dreading it, it had crossed my mind to go sick, but in all honest would be out of order.
So, I got up at 0515 and loaded the car up and set off to Johns, arriving a little earlier than the agreed time of 0645, not a problem though as it gave me chance to unpack the bike. It was just starting to get light and you could see it was going to be a cracking day, the mist was clearing and there was a beautiful chill in the air, though this equated to “bloody freezing” when we set off.
John came down and met me, and shortly after one of Johns friend Paul arrived, with hellos out of the way we waited for our other riding partner for the day, Simon, and we waited. A cup of tea was suggested, so I couldn’t argue! and we went back up to the house. Simon arrived, and we finished our tea and headed off.
Things started off well, a little chilli in places but, that was to be just tempory. We seemed to be going at a fair pace, I knew in my mind that I wouldn’t be able to keep it up all the way, thankfully though the pace settled out and everything was good.
Got 15 miles in and I had a bit of a sinking feeling on the back wheel… yep this was puncture number 1, the boys from Kwick-fit seemed to have the wheel off, tube out and replaced before I knew what was happening, which was good. Went to put the wheel back in and found the clip on my rear mudguard had broken, so removed it totally, also noticed the back wheel was buckled again, but decided to push on for a bit as it was not too bad.
This happened about halfway up a fairly steep hill, it was a struggle to get going again, but I pushed on with some encouragement from Simon. A bit further down the road we joined the route of the BHF Bath – Bournemouth ride, so it was brilliant nipping past a lot of the riders! Paul and Simon played a good game of overtake them, stop, let them pass and over take them again, the other riders didn’t seem to see the humour in this though!
So we got to 21 miles and tea was in order, so we stopped at Brokerswood which was very pleasant.
Tea and cake
Tea and cake demolished it was time to push on and join back with the BHF riders. Not a lot to report, a few more hills, nothing too steep but always a challenge for me. Next up was a ride through the Longleat estate.
Longleat gateway
I found it quite funny to be cycling along the lovely, almost traffic free roads, looking at giraffes and Wallaby! We stopped outside the main house for a breather, and John kindly straignend by back wheel up, then it was off again through the estate, with the most beautiful view of the main house.
Longleat house
As we left the estate, the road started to kick up at quite an alarming rate, this turned into a slog of a hill, but again I was encouraged all the way up it, which was great.
At around 40 miles we came across “Alfreds Tower” which was rather impressive to say the least, we stopped and had 5 minutes here before carrying on, initially down a VERY steep section but we didn’t go too fast as it was a rough road, covered in gravel with some tight bends too, as it opened up a bit the speed crept up and made all the climbing worthwhile.
Alfreds Tower
Next stop was Sherborne for lunch, but before we got there we had some more climbing to do. Again this was rewarded by a beautiful down into the town. Just as we arrived in the town, it was Simons turn for a puncture, again the Kwick-fit team got going and we were on our way for lunch. We managed to get a seat outside, which was lovely in the sun, watching the world go by and we all agreed, what a lovely world it was in Sherborne. Should any ladies of Sherborne read this, you really do yourselves proud!
So, lunch of beans of toast, tea and a glass of coke was demolished, along with a water bottle top from the lovely people at “the Pear tree deli” we set off again, with a bit of a climb out of the town.
Next stop was to view the long man of Cerne Abbas, after much school boy humour and sniggering we pushed on.
haha, willy
He we went up hill again, this was getting into serious hill climbs now and I was struggling. I was doing ok, then the road kicked up and turned a slight bend, unfortunately at this point a tractor over took me and pulled in a bit sharpish, leaving nothing else to do but get off. I had no chance of re starting, due to the incline, so for the first time I had to walk up a bit untill things leveled out a bit. Got to the top and was met by the others, as I looked back, the sign facing down said 17% – no wonder I had trouble!
Yet again we were rewarded with the most beautiful of views from the top of this hill, unfortunately, I was enjoying the riding again, so didn’t get the camera out.
It was a nice steady down hill for quite a way, through the Piddles and Puddles – such beautiful names! By this point we were gasping for another tea, and as if by magic we stumbled on a tea shop that was just closing, but thankfully they served us and we went through to the most beautiful courtyard gardens and enjoyed “Rocky Road” cake and tea. Again here they were kind enough to top the water bottles up and we were off again, not far though as my wheel needed straightening up again, which John did beautifully. We got a bit further down the road and get again I had that sinking feeling from my back wheel, yep another puncture, still it was a joy to watch the now slick kwick-fit team slide straight into action!
Another few miles of gentle down hill was welcome, but before long the road started to kick up again, this was starting to hurt me now, we were 90 miles in! The first on was an alpine pass, which was beautiful, but as I was struggling up the lower section, I really didnt need JB saying how lovely it was from the upper section! I laughed about it after though. just before the hairpin bend, the tops of my legs cramped up and yet again I had no option but to get off and walk for a bit. This want far though and I was soon back on. the road stayed undulating for a while and we were treated to the most beautiful view of Corfe Castle.
From here the end was close, just a few more miles. Which was handy as it was getting dark. unfortunately the last few miles from Corfe were a bloody hard slog, again a number of hills and my legs had nothing left. Looking back the sunset was beautiful though,
Sunset over Dorset
Swanage seemed to just appear out of the darkness and before I knew what had happened we were there! It was a quick blast down to the sea front and we met up with Johns wife. We got changed (well most of us did) and loaded the cars up and took a walk to find some food. Fish and chips were what we found and sat on the front eating beautiful fish and chips was a brilliant end to a brilliant day. Not to mention Simon getting the most beautiful top as he had forgotten a change of clothes!
Basically, I don’t think it has fully sunk in yet, I’ve managed 100 miles. I’m quite impressed with myself. It was a beautiful day, a beautiful route and great company. Thanks John for sorting it, staying with me on the hard bits and generally being an ace riding compainion and thanks Sasha for driving down to meet us. I’m also quite humbled by Paul and Simon, as I had never met them I was worried, as they are very keen cyclists, but after the first few miles I knew I had nothing to worry about, they were fantastic, helping me along, chatting and the witty banter helped make the day! Cheers guys, hope you can make the pasty ride V3 next year.
Swanage seafront
Trip Miles: 102.11 miles
Average Speed: 11.8 mph
Total Time: 8 hrs 38 min 13 sec
Average pace: 5.04 mins/mile
Total Elevation: 6741 feet
Sep
24
2011
Ill put my hands up to a fail on the #30daysofbiking.
Things got on top of me – working an 84 hour week followed by a 72 hour week, with 48 of them on the second week being days before a couple of nights, a family member being taken ill, and finally into hospital, kids to look after before and after work and a raft of other things I have to do, something had to give.
Yep, I pissed off I didn’t manage it, I really am, but will bounce back in April for the next one!
Will be getting out on the bike again from Monday, hopefully feeling a little less stressed and looking forward to my trip to the seaside with JB next weekend
Sep
20
2011
Today didn’t pan out quite as expected, the upshot of it was no time for cycling. But, rather than not cycle at all, I popped the bike in the car before coming to work and did a couple of laps of the car park on my break…. Guess it counts!
Sep
19
2011
Feet still not touching the ground at the moment. Still managed a quick once round the block to keep the 30 day thing going.
Sep
18
2011
Round the block again tonight, details tomorrow, still got rakes to do. Why oh why do I take so much on?