I started the revolution! And I finished it!

What a great weekend that was! The London Revolution 192 miles, slightly further than advertised, circumnavigating London on a bike. I had been looking forward to this for a long time, it was the event that I first signed up to do as a taster for doing LEJOG in 2014.

The week started badly though, apart from the weather forecast which looked absolutely appalling, I had developed a condition that I won't go into, but lets just say that sitting was painful.....not good if you are expecting to spend 12 hours on a bike over the course of the weekend.

Staying off the bike for a few days didn't seem to make any difference, but a short ride on Friday told me that sitting on the bike saddle didn't hurt so it looked like I would be riding after all. Phew!

I packed my kit, double checked that I had everything. Sorted out my nutrition, I always like to have my own on top of what is on offer during the ride. It was going to be an early start so early to bed.......what a pointless exercise that was as I lay there thinking about the rides ahead.

5:00am and up for breakfast of porridge, toast and honey and a banana, one last check that I had everything before jumping in the car and setting off for Peruvian Wharf for the start. I arrived just before 7am parked up and went to register. Registration was very slick, numbers for the bike and overnight bag together with a wristband all colour co-ordinated in purple. After handing over my bag which I would hopefully be reunited with at Windsor it was back to the car to get ready to ride.

I had arranged to meet Grigor an ex-work colleague who "retired" on the same day as me back in October. We were at least going to start together. On the start line a couple of batches of riders had already been released and then all of a sudden we were off heading East out of London at the start of a 102 mile ride. Continuous stops at traffic lights and junctions thinned the riders out and ensured that the excitement and adrenaline didn't set us off too quickly.

 

Through the rolling hills around Epping and Hertfordshire past huge mansions in Brookmans Park and into the Cotswold's. The route from Chalfont St Peter is one I know quite well through Burnham Beeches down towards Maidenhead and Bray and then  last flat stretch to Windsor Racecourse. My cycling time for the 102.63 miles was 6hrs 2 mins 56 secs an average of just over 17mph which I was delighted with and bodes well for a fast time on the closed roads of the Ride London event.

Overnight was camping at the Racecourse. Checking in with the Tent Concierge I was allocated tent number 8 and set off to collect my bag, grab a shower, a massage, a beer and some food. One of the advantages of getting in early was not having to wait for anything!

I wouldn't say I got a great nights sleep but I didn't feel too bad. A nice cooked breakfast then packing my bag, vacating my tent and then reunited with my bike and I was good to go again. Day 2 was always going to be the tougher day, not only did I have over 100 miles in my legs but there were also some fairly challenging hills. The first 34 miles were similar to day 1 and then we hit Box Hill. I had been up Box Hill before so I knew it wasn't a hard climb but it is long, hitting a rhythm is the key I think.

After Box Hill there were some much tougher hills to climb over the North Downs until we started to get into more suburban areas re-entering London. South London is surprisingly hilly especially going up to Crystal Palace. I guess that's why they put the TV masts there!

The final miles were stop/start with numerous traffic lights until finally turning into Peruvian Wharf and the end and a great sense of satisfaction.

Bring on the Ride London 100!


To sponsor me for the Ride London 100 in aid of Prostate Cancer UK and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.   

The London Revolution - I'm ready!

Only 3 days to go until the London Revolution. 186 miles circumnavigating our great capital city. This was the first event that I signed up for when I decided to get back into cycling last August to provide a target and motivation to get out riding.

Thinking back to my first ride that target might just as well have been a million miles, burning thighs bursting lungs and that was after only 8.95miles at a speed of 12mph on a flat course. Had I over estimated my ability to get fit enough to complete this challenge?

Roll forward 8 months and last Sunday I completed the Hatfield 90 mile sportive in 5hrs 12 minutes an average speed of just over 17mph. It felt comfortable. My resting heart rate is now a low 48, my weight is down 3.5 stones from this time last year and I'm fitter than I have been since being forced to quit running over 20 years ago. 186 miles in 2 days is still going to be tough but I am confident that the training I have done has been sufficient.

London Revolution? I'm ready!

Focus after the weekend will be solely on the Ride London 100 which is now only 87 days away, I will be working more on improving my speed endurance and hill climbing. I think a time of around 5hrs 45mins is possible as long as I'm not held up by too much cycle traffic on the day.

To sponsor me for the Ride London 100 in aid of Prostate Cancer UK and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.   

New bike is brilliant! and more pictures. Be warned there are some slightly naughty ones!

A new toy is always exciting and I was indeed excited about getting the new bike but I wasn't expecting to be much faster on it. However the first few rides have yielded 3 of my fastest rides to date and by a significant margin. I would say that I am 1-1.5 mph faster on the new bike compared to the old one.

That's about a 10% improvement and I have now averaged over 18mph on a ride for the first time, my previous fastest ride was 17mph which was a real all out effort. Its also a really smooth ride because of the frame technology, the effect of this is that the road bumps are absorbed and so you have much better contact with the saddle. I think this allows better transmission of power to the pedals...........Well that's my theory anyway!

I have been completely revising my Strava segment PR's :-)

This weeks training has been pretty good, a slightly lower mileage with a bit more emphasis on speed. I am now having a couple of days off the bike before doing the Hatfield 90 mile sportive on Sunday. Looking to average over 16mph for this one.

I said in my previous blog entry that there would be more pictures of the bike, they are on my website at http://i4apicture.com/trekdomane45 be warned that there are a few with Lulu, a professional  model who for some reason forgot to wear her clothes.......

Look what the bike fairy bought me......

So excited that my new bike arrived. After much deliberation in producing a shortlist I ended up buying one that originally wasn't on the list! Its a Trek Domane 4.5 if you are at all interested! Having picked it up did I go straight out on it? No. I took it to the studio to take pictures of it before it got dirty. With some help from my friend Mikko, we rigged the bike with a net curtain bendy thing and some fishing line so that it stood up on its own - well just about!

Mikko was photographing a delightful model called Lulu who he kindly "loaned out" complete with attached fairy wings. I bet it made more people read this than if it were just a picture of the bike!! Click on the picture for a large version.

More pictures soon (of the bike not Lulu).









To sponsor me for the Ride London 100 in aid of Prostate Cancer UK and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.   

Campaign for the abolishment of hills.

A cold Sunday in Watlington (Oxfordshire) was the scene of my latest long ride at the Evans Ride-It event. It was a very cold but sunny start to the day. Scraping the ice of the car windows wasn't the ideal start to the day but at least it wasn't looking like raining during the ride. I arrived in Watlington and registered, got my packs of freebies for signing up early (worth the cost of the event alone!)

Lining up with the second wave of riders I set off. I'm going to have to re-assess my tactics for these events as the pack of riders set off at a pace much quicker than mine and I was soon left in a sort of nomansland riding on my own. The course was advertised as being reasonably tough with a lot of climbs some of which I had ridden before but never on such a long ride.

The first drinks station was a welcome sight after a long gradual climb that seemed to go on for ever. I catch a lot of riders on hills only for them to race off into the distance on the descents or flat. The week leading into this event had been my biggest week mileage wise and I could feel it in my legs that's for sure.

Nevertheless I decided to stick to the original plan and went for the long route of 87 miles. The long route consisted of an additional 28 miles mostly flat but into a headwind coming back which made it hard work. The sting in the tail though was Kingston Hill which was not what you wanted to see at the 80 mile mark. It was tough! 18% in places (that's 1 in 6) some people were walking at this point and I swear one guy was crying. I managed to get up it ok but at one point I did wonder if my heart was trying to make a bid for freedom. Everyone was talking about it afterwards.

All in all a good event I have another in 2 weeks time in Hatfield, we'll see how that goes, its a much flatter course.

Now impatiently awaiting news of my new bike......photos when it arrives

To sponsor me for the Ride London 100 in aid of Prostate Cancer UK and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.