Just a quick update. Last weekend I did a mere 30 miles on Saturday, 40 on Sunday and 70 on Monday, so that is a just140 for the weekend. Monday was very hard in the wind and after going up White Horse bank on the Monday my legs were shot - it is 25% in places. Decided I was tired and went for a slightly flatter (but not flat) route home. The decent of Sutton bank was FAST. Very nice. New dual compound brake blocks slow my considerable mass where necessary, not that I used them (much). A slight wrong turn meant the 55 ish mile ride turned into a 70miler. Was very tired and not quite right for rest of the week. Indeed, not felt right since the Etape du Dales.
This weekend resulted in just a brisk ride today around my Kirby Overblow circuit. 40 miles at 19mph on my hilly circuit which I was quite pleased with considering I'm a fat sprinter. Day off the bike tomorrow as Amy is archerying and I'm looking after Lukas. She has more carbon on her bow now than I have on my bike.
Plans for this week are to ride into work and back a couple of days, probably Tuesday and Friday. Although weather forecast not great for Tuesday. We'll see. Need to rest and recover though as it is another big one next weekend. 120 miles in the White Rose Classic. Want to be healthy and feeling good for that one.
Congratulations on Hull going up to the Premiership and also to Donny Rovers for stuffing Leeds and going up. Wayhey!! Amy says congratulations to Aldershot for getting promotion too.
Nathan Evington
28/02/77 - 03/11/07
Saturday, 31 May 2008
6hrs!!
Did my first 6 hour ride in a very, very, very long time today. Even when i was racing I probably didn't do that far in a day. Anyway, kept to a similar route to last weeks ton but climbed another 3 climbs I think so ended up riding 109m at 18.1mph - longer and a bit quicker than last week so that's good progress. Broke through the 2000m of climbing barrier but that's still less than half of what we need to do in August. I did a rough calculation and I thought it was about 4500m in the Alps that we have to do!!
Felt pretty good today, a few of the regular climbs were dispatched on a harder gear than before, even had the energy to catch a motorbike 2 miles from home - granted he was only doing 23mph but he was a bit surprised to see me in his mirror! Tomorrow I'll do something shorter obviously but I'll see how I feel when I wake up as to what that will be - guess anything between 5 miles and 40!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/137297
Felt pretty good today, a few of the regular climbs were dispatched on a harder gear than before, even had the energy to catch a motorbike 2 miles from home - granted he was only doing 23mph but he was a bit surprised to see me in his mirror! Tomorrow I'll do something shorter obviously but I'll see how I feel when I wake up as to what that will be - guess anything between 5 miles and 40!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/137297
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Fast spin and more climbing than the Alps!
2 rides this weekend. First was the fast spin round the park, 47 miles in less than 2 hours! Faster than last time and I included the amble there too (16.7 ave for the first 4 miles). I saw the fast group go past as I arrived but by the time I got on the route they were 100m away. You can see from the pulse that I tried to catch them for 3 miles at 180 bpm but then they got past some stragglers before the narrow section whereas I caught them in it. Had to wait for them to come round again. When they did, boy was it fast ;-) I've done slower races. After about an hour I got myself near the front just as 2 nutters decided to crank it up. I was 3rd wheel and as we got halfway up the false flat I thought, I best take it out the 53x14 otherwise I'll die - that only lasted 10 seconds as I realised I couldn't keep up on the 15!! Suffice to say, it was a group of 15 at the bottom and a group of 3 at the top, they kept looking at me to help out but I was still waiting for my pulse to get below 175 so there was no chance of that. They took it 'easy' for a while but it still took the group 2 laps to catch us. Very very fast, think I did over 35mph at one point and it's flat!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111975
Today, spurred on by all you madmen riding 100+ miles I thought I best get a long one in as so far I've done a few 80's. Last Saturday in the Alps has helped as it hurt. I like to stretch myself every now and again as I feel it helps me move to the next level. So, high on the prospect of Premiership football next year and 3 pints (so I was very drunk for me!) I set off. I adjusted my cleats as my left leg and right knee hurt yesterday and it did the trick. I averaged 17.8mph - a similar average to what I normally manage around here for 60/70 miles but today I did over 1800m climbing and 102 miles in 5hr 40. I deliberately went up every climb I knew and they all felt that bit easier after last weekend. On one, I'd actually just cycled down it and saw lots of cyclists come up it on their bottom gear on some sort of organised ride so when I got to the bottom I turned round and saw how many I could catch. I caned it up on 39x16/17, breathing out of my ears and most of them that I caught were on expensive bikes and shaved legs so they weren't messing about. Stopped and had popcorn for lunch and 1.5 lt of water to top up the bottles. Did a climb immediately after lunch that was 15%!! that hurt the legs. Felt strong all the way round today, no flagging and but for all the traffic lights and stopping near the end, I might've averaged 18mph. I'm very pleased with this one especially as I had debated avoiding the hills after lunch but I kept to the route and still did some tough climbs in the latter half. More rest this week......
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117061
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111975
Today, spurred on by all you madmen riding 100+ miles I thought I best get a long one in as so far I've done a few 80's. Last Saturday in the Alps has helped as it hurt. I like to stretch myself every now and again as I feel it helps me move to the next level. So, high on the prospect of Premiership football next year and 3 pints (so I was very drunk for me!) I set off. I adjusted my cleats as my left leg and right knee hurt yesterday and it did the trick. I averaged 17.8mph - a similar average to what I normally manage around here for 60/70 miles but today I did over 1800m climbing and 102 miles in 5hr 40. I deliberately went up every climb I knew and they all felt that bit easier after last weekend. On one, I'd actually just cycled down it and saw lots of cyclists come up it on their bottom gear on some sort of organised ride so when I got to the bottom I turned round and saw how many I could catch. I caned it up on 39x16/17, breathing out of my ears and most of them that I caught were on expensive bikes and shaved legs so they weren't messing about. Stopped and had popcorn for lunch and 1.5 lt of water to top up the bottles. Did a climb immediately after lunch that was 15%!! that hurt the legs. Felt strong all the way round today, no flagging and but for all the traffic lights and stopping near the end, I might've averaged 18mph. I'm very pleased with this one especially as I had debated avoiding the hills after lunch but I kept to the route and still did some tough climbs in the latter half. More rest this week......
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117061
A few Alps pictures
Here are a few pictures from the Alps. They are a bit blurred, as Sarah points out the camera is rubbish but anyway - proof I was there (not that you can always tell it's me ;-)
Alps Update
Well, the lack of laptop lasted less than a week - Sarah was getting the shakes every morning when she couldn't switch it on! Fortunately Mum was arriving on Thursday and had to pass the Apple store on Regent Street ;-)
Uploaded the Alps rides. As I said last week, Saturday was 81 miles, 5 hours of rain. Felt like a bit of a pro - pouring rain, little cap under the cycle helmet, following car to spur me on and take pictures (Thanks Holly! x) and my first 5 hour ride. Didn't do as much climbing as I might've but didn't fancy coming down too many mountains in the rain on slick 20mm Michelins! Holly was very nervous as it was seeing me ride no hands over the top of the cols putting my Gillet on, going round corners in the wet. Very hard, like I said - still debating upgrading the gears to give me a better lower gear but that's expensive and I am northern after all. Only 1300 m climbing, something I can do near Paris but it makes a difference if you do most of it in 2 chunks!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107551
Sunday was always going to be a shorter day as we had to get home so I picked a route that ended up back near the motorway. 51m in 3 hours. No rain today but not warm either, again followed by Stalker. Felt surprisingly good today given that yesterday my legs were absolutely killing me. Nearly 1500m climbing today, more than yesterday in a little over half the distance. Really got to give it some beans on the descents in the dry, especially when Holly wasn't behind me and I could leave the braking a bit later ;-)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107548
Uploaded the Alps rides. As I said last week, Saturday was 81 miles, 5 hours of rain. Felt like a bit of a pro - pouring rain, little cap under the cycle helmet, following car to spur me on and take pictures (Thanks Holly! x) and my first 5 hour ride. Didn't do as much climbing as I might've but didn't fancy coming down too many mountains in the rain on slick 20mm Michelins! Holly was very nervous as it was seeing me ride no hands over the top of the cols putting my Gillet on, going round corners in the wet. Very hard, like I said - still debating upgrading the gears to give me a better lower gear but that's expensive and I am northern after all. Only 1300 m climbing, something I can do near Paris but it makes a difference if you do most of it in 2 chunks!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107551
Sunday was always going to be a shorter day as we had to get home so I picked a route that ended up back near the motorway. 51m in 3 hours. No rain today but not warm either, again followed by Stalker. Felt surprisingly good today given that yesterday my legs were absolutely killing me. Nearly 1500m climbing today, more than yesterday in a little over half the distance. Really got to give it some beans on the descents in the dry, especially when Holly wasn't behind me and I could leave the braking a bit later ;-)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107548
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Etape Du Dales - 395th out of 806 starters. Being FAT is not good!!!!!
What day is it? I think it is now Thursday and the European cup is ont' telly. 1-1 at the moment and time for multitasking and getting this finished which I started Monday!!
That was painful. Waking up at 5.45 on a Sunday morning is painful and particularly unpleasant. Bag and kit packed the night before and my lift turned up at 6.10am. Had a double espresso - Illy of course, and gave a double to Simon, which gave him all the go he needed, and then packed the car and went to Grassington. Eee lad!!! Drive took a little longer than anticipated, but arrived by 7.25.
The car park was already filling. Parked up, put bike together and signed on and had another double espresso. Put number on bike and data tag on wrist. Made sure wheels went round and then wheeled to the start where there were a number of other Yorkies.
Managed to set off about 07:45 and dibbed the data tag. Set off, out the HQ, turned right and onto the road. Up a little hill and then just about 20 miles to the first Hill, sorry - HILL. The ride out was fairly fast, but not as fast as last year where I was at 170-180bpm for the first hour = not what you want on a 110 mile ride. This year I kept it under 160 (ish). Anyway a few groups came screaming past and I resited the urge to tag along.
First hill came - Fleet Moss and 585m. That hurt, but not too bad, just seemed to go on for ever, but bottom gear of 34x27 duly selected. Turf Moor next and more pain too, then a screaming descent where I hit 48mph before the long drag to Tan Hill. Tan Hill just drags on and on and with nearly 40 miles of hard hills in my legs already, it dragged even more. Also getting short on energy drink and food so starting to feel the bonk was coming to bonk me. Just made it before it said hello and filled my face at the Tan Hill pub. The supplies supplied were good and munched on bananas, Powerbar and SIS Go before filling my bottle with Viper and off again.
Beautiful descent (watching out for sheep) before the climb to Lams Moss. That was not too bad but the descent was very steep, winding, fast and technical. One guy I passed was walking as his pads had gone through and at the bottom I saw a Yorkie who had not done such a good job of gluing his tub on and with the heat of constant braking it had melted the glue and the tub had shifted and de-laminated. NOT what you want at nearly 50mph.
Things started going all blury after then and melted into a sea of pain. I do remember Ribblehead though. 420m of PAIN after about 70 miles. I was so tired from climbing out of the saddle and my triceps hurt from holding my bulk up, I just sat down and ground it out at about 40rpm. It really really hurt. HR was not responding at this point and wouldn't go above 150bpm, but finally ground to the top.
One last feed and the last climb of Silverdale which was steep to begin with and then seemed to go on for ever. At the top I had a Powerbar energy gel and settled down for the long run to home which was rolling but with a tail wind. I had my second wind too and upped the pace to try and make up some time from going so slow up the hills.
I now started passing people and was certainly going better than most at this point. 27mph and flying along picking up stragglers and spitting them out the back. Finally, 10 miles to go and whilst tired, I had home in my sights and upped the pace some more. I'm sure the blast back couldn't have done me any good but I was feeling as though I could pedal the bike at last amd not just grind. Surprisingly I caned it the last 10 miles catching more people and spitting them out. Last 5 miles passed a club group of about a dozen riders - but they didn't tag along. £ miles now and almost feeling euphoric and digging deeper as I wanted to do the ride in under 8 hours. Completely caned the last couple of miles, but didn't sprint to the last check point as I was so spent.
In the end my certificate stated I'd done the ride in 8 hours 19 mins. Gutted - what a long way off getting under 8 hours. And the fastest guy did it in under 6 hours. 6 HOURS - incredible.
I downloaded my polar on Monday and my actual ride time was 7 hours 50 mins so I wasted 30 mins at feed stations. 395th out of over 800 starters, just half way. Still can't believe half a dozen riders cracked 6 hours. Skinny climber geeks. Give me a sprint any day. One for a fat sprinter.
Results published below so there is no hiding of sins and embellishing one's (lack of) achievements.
Finally got home and felt so tired - really tired. Throat sore to add to the aches. Throat a bit funny all week so far. Perhaps I can console myself with the fact that Amy and Lukas had a cold for the week or so before and perhaps I wasn't on top form (I was ill - Mr TG excuse ;). Feeling coughy but hope to ride in Friday as not yet ridden my bike yet this week. Anyway, a lot of positives to take out of the ride. Even though I wasn't 100% still managed 110 miles in BIG HILLS and the alpine climbs aren't quite as steep. they just go on for ever. As long as I can pedal a gear I'll be alright, it's the really short steep ones that get me. Still a bit more training to be done before the White Rose Classic on 8th June. That's 120 miles of HILLS. Only 10 more miles to go. Will also keep trying to become slightly less of a FAT Sprinter.
Results:
http://www.sportident.co.uk/results/2008/Etape_du_Dales_2008_checkpoint_ti mes_LONG.html
That was painful. Waking up at 5.45 on a Sunday morning is painful and particularly unpleasant. Bag and kit packed the night before and my lift turned up at 6.10am. Had a double espresso - Illy of course, and gave a double to Simon, which gave him all the go he needed, and then packed the car and went to Grassington. Eee lad!!! Drive took a little longer than anticipated, but arrived by 7.25.
The car park was already filling. Parked up, put bike together and signed on and had another double espresso. Put number on bike and data tag on wrist. Made sure wheels went round and then wheeled to the start where there were a number of other Yorkies.
Managed to set off about 07:45 and dibbed the data tag. Set off, out the HQ, turned right and onto the road. Up a little hill and then just about 20 miles to the first Hill, sorry - HILL. The ride out was fairly fast, but not as fast as last year where I was at 170-180bpm for the first hour = not what you want on a 110 mile ride. This year I kept it under 160 (ish). Anyway a few groups came screaming past and I resited the urge to tag along.
First hill came - Fleet Moss and 585m. That hurt, but not too bad, just seemed to go on for ever, but bottom gear of 34x27 duly selected. Turf Moor next and more pain too, then a screaming descent where I hit 48mph before the long drag to Tan Hill. Tan Hill just drags on and on and with nearly 40 miles of hard hills in my legs already, it dragged even more. Also getting short on energy drink and food so starting to feel the bonk was coming to bonk me. Just made it before it said hello and filled my face at the Tan Hill pub. The supplies supplied were good and munched on bananas, Powerbar and SIS Go before filling my bottle with Viper and off again.
Beautiful descent (watching out for sheep) before the climb to Lams Moss. That was not too bad but the descent was very steep, winding, fast and technical. One guy I passed was walking as his pads had gone through and at the bottom I saw a Yorkie who had not done such a good job of gluing his tub on and with the heat of constant braking it had melted the glue and the tub had shifted and de-laminated. NOT what you want at nearly 50mph.
Things started going all blury after then and melted into a sea of pain. I do remember Ribblehead though. 420m of PAIN after about 70 miles. I was so tired from climbing out of the saddle and my triceps hurt from holding my bulk up, I just sat down and ground it out at about 40rpm. It really really hurt. HR was not responding at this point and wouldn't go above 150bpm, but finally ground to the top.
One last feed and the last climb of Silverdale which was steep to begin with and then seemed to go on for ever. At the top I had a Powerbar energy gel and settled down for the long run to home which was rolling but with a tail wind. I had my second wind too and upped the pace to try and make up some time from going so slow up the hills.
I now started passing people and was certainly going better than most at this point. 27mph and flying along picking up stragglers and spitting them out the back. Finally, 10 miles to go and whilst tired, I had home in my sights and upped the pace some more. I'm sure the blast back couldn't have done me any good but I was feeling as though I could pedal the bike at last amd not just grind. Surprisingly I caned it the last 10 miles catching more people and spitting them out. Last 5 miles passed a club group of about a dozen riders - but they didn't tag along. £ miles now and almost feeling euphoric and digging deeper as I wanted to do the ride in under 8 hours. Completely caned the last couple of miles, but didn't sprint to the last check point as I was so spent.
In the end my certificate stated I'd done the ride in 8 hours 19 mins. Gutted - what a long way off getting under 8 hours. And the fastest guy did it in under 6 hours. 6 HOURS - incredible.
I downloaded my polar on Monday and my actual ride time was 7 hours 50 mins so I wasted 30 mins at feed stations. 395th out of over 800 starters, just half way. Still can't believe half a dozen riders cracked 6 hours. Skinny climber geeks. Give me a sprint any day. One for a fat sprinter.
Results published below so there is no hiding of sins and embellishing one's (lack of) achievements.
Finally got home and felt so tired - really tired. Throat sore to add to the aches. Throat a bit funny all week so far. Perhaps I can console myself with the fact that Amy and Lukas had a cold for the week or so before and perhaps I wasn't on top form (I was ill - Mr TG excuse ;). Feeling coughy but hope to ride in Friday as not yet ridden my bike yet this week. Anyway, a lot of positives to take out of the ride. Even though I wasn't 100% still managed 110 miles in BIG HILLS and the alpine climbs aren't quite as steep. they just go on for ever. As long as I can pedal a gear I'll be alright, it's the really short steep ones that get me. Still a bit more training to be done before the White Rose Classic on 8th June. That's 120 miles of HILLS. Only 10 more miles to go. Will also keep trying to become slightly less of a FAT Sprinter.
Results:
http://www.sportident.co.uk/results/2008/Etape_du_Dales_2008_checkpoint_ti mes_LONG.html
Monday, 19 May 2008
Etape Du Dales
Blah blah blah gibber gibber drool. Urgh arh eek urgh ow, ow aaarrh AAARRGHH. Big hills, big hurt, hurt, pain, much pain, ow ow OW!!!!! ............. N e e d m o r e r... e. .e e. co... vvvvv ery b e f o r e I c a n re - l i v e t h e p a i n ....... t h e p a i n T H E P A I N......
Sunday, 18 May 2008
Aberdeenshire's bad enough...
Two rides for me this week - didn't get to commute to work 'cos I was out at various sites this week.
So, I sneaked out on Friday morning for the first ride. Only had a couple of hours so I thought for a test I'd do an unofficial 25 mile time trial on the relatively flat South Deeside Road. I checked out the course profile - it's similar to that of the Driffield 25, with just one kick about half way down the out leg. Weather conditions were good - time was 1:11:54, ave 20.8. Was pretty pleased with this considering this was with no time-trial-esque prep; no tri-bars etc... Spent an 1:05:00 with my pulse above 165. It should have been the whole distance but I got a touch of cramp in the left buttock about 18 miles in...
Today I tried to find a hillier version of last week's ride. Managed to find another 500' of climbs which made it tougher going. Nothing quite Alpine standards though! Route profile below:
7 main climbs today - 5800' total (1770m). The steepest of them was climb 3, which averages 7.5% for 1 mile - same length as Nunburnholme but slightly less steep. The highest climb (the sixth of the day) was about 600' of climbing over 3 miles, which is a decent length for having to get into a proper climbing rythmn, but I think only works out at ~3.5% gradient, so is nowhere near as steep as even the shallowest climb we'll face in August.
Season firsts for the week include:
* doing a time trial (albeit an unofficial one with only me competing...),
* Being an English numpty and forgetting that the Aberdeen Summer started and finished last week - so having gone out in shorts and without a water-proof I got rained and hailstoned on from the start of climb 2 to the end of the third descent...
The temperature barely broke double figures all day here today, and a stiff northerly wind helped keep the average down; this and the fact that I didn't take enough calories on and ran out of steam after the last big climb, so when I should have been flying along I was instead crawling and waiting for the GO gels to kick in... Despite this... 72 miles were covered at an average of 17.4mph. Not a bad day's "work!"
Probably a slack weekend next week 'cos I'll either have a champange hang-over or a whiskey depending on how the Tiger's fair on Saturaday...
More from beyond 'up North' next week. Cheers. Col.
So, I sneaked out on Friday morning for the first ride. Only had a couple of hours so I thought for a test I'd do an unofficial 25 mile time trial on the relatively flat South Deeside Road. I checked out the course profile - it's similar to that of the Driffield 25, with just one kick about half way down the out leg. Weather conditions were good - time was 1:11:54, ave 20.8. Was pretty pleased with this considering this was with no time-trial-esque prep; no tri-bars etc... Spent an 1:05:00 with my pulse above 165. It should have been the whole distance but I got a touch of cramp in the left buttock about 18 miles in...
Today I tried to find a hillier version of last week's ride. Managed to find another 500' of climbs which made it tougher going. Nothing quite Alpine standards though! Route profile below:
7 main climbs today - 5800' total (1770m). The steepest of them was climb 3, which averages 7.5% for 1 mile - same length as Nunburnholme but slightly less steep. The highest climb (the sixth of the day) was about 600' of climbing over 3 miles, which is a decent length for having to get into a proper climbing rythmn, but I think only works out at ~3.5% gradient, so is nowhere near as steep as even the shallowest climb we'll face in August.
Season firsts for the week include:
* doing a time trial (albeit an unofficial one with only me competing...),
* Being an English numpty and forgetting that the Aberdeen Summer started and finished last week - so having gone out in shorts and without a water-proof I got rained and hailstoned on from the start of climb 2 to the end of the third descent...
The temperature barely broke double figures all day here today, and a stiff northerly wind helped keep the average down; this and the fact that I didn't take enough calories on and ran out of steam after the last big climb, so when I should have been flying along I was instead crawling and waiting for the GO gels to kick in... Despite this... 72 miles were covered at an average of 17.4mph. Not a bad day's "work!"
Probably a slack weekend next week 'cos I'll either have a champange hang-over or a whiskey depending on how the Tiger's fair on Saturaday...
More from beyond 'up North' next week. Cheers. Col.
alpine agony
I've just spent the weekend in the northern alps and I can tell you that august 3rd is going to be twice as hard as you think it is. yesterday I did 5 hours in the non stop rain, 82 miles at just over 16 mph average. I only did 1 steep mountain and an "easy one". after the first steep one I'd ridden an hour and a half and my legs were shot. it was a super hard day, even when you weren't going up hill it felt like you had glue on your tyres - Wayne randle once told me that was called "grippy".
today I did one hard and one medium mountains and 51 miles in 3 hours. it wasn't raining but I still had wet feet from my shoes :-( I did the ride on 39/25 but there were times when I needed another gear. even the hardest mountain I did can't be more than a third the length/altitude of those we will tackle in august- I'm beginning to think fat sprinter has the right idea with the 34/27 ;-) no garmin data as Ginge has broken the computer (doing this on my iPod) but will do it when it is fixed. it's going to be painful boys.
today I did one hard and one medium mountains and 51 miles in 3 hours. it wasn't raining but I still had wet feet from my shoes :-( I did the ride on 39/25 but there were times when I needed another gear. even the hardest mountain I did can't be more than a third the length/altitude of those we will tackle in august- I'm beginning to think fat sprinter has the right idea with the 34/27 ;-) no garmin data as Ginge has broken the computer (doing this on my iPod) but will do it when it is fixed. it's going to be painful boys.
Friday, 16 May 2008
Nothing at all :(
Well, this week I have done nothing at all on the bike (sorry folks). And didn't finish work last night until 22.30. Bearly seen my wife or boy this week, let alone my bike!
At least the week before I did two rides to work (100 miles) and did 3.5 hours on the mountain bike on Saturday. Did 30 minutes tonight to test my new pro3 race tyres - which are excellent, role very smoothly and feel comfy even at 8 bar. Also put new chain and brake blocks (but don't really need those for the Big Ride as braking downhill is only for wusses!) Going for a little spin on Sunday, 110 miles of hills, the profile is like dinosaur teeth: http://www.etapedudales.co.uk/profile.htm
Warming up for it tomorrow with a gentle spin of an hour. Must go to bed now as I need to sleep lots, as Sunday is an early start (6am on a weekend!) That'll hurt more than the hills!
Keep pushing the pedals ;)
At least the week before I did two rides to work (100 miles) and did 3.5 hours on the mountain bike on Saturday. Did 30 minutes tonight to test my new pro3 race tyres - which are excellent, role very smoothly and feel comfy even at 8 bar. Also put new chain and brake blocks (but don't really need those for the Big Ride as braking downhill is only for wusses!) Going for a little spin on Sunday, 110 miles of hills, the profile is like dinosaur teeth: http://www.etapedudales.co.uk/profile.htm
Warming up for it tomorrow with a gentle spin of an hour. Must go to bed now as I need to sleep lots, as Sunday is an early start (6am on a weekend!) That'll hurt more than the hills!
Keep pushing the pedals ;)
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Route Profiles
Just for completeness, here are the route profiles from the 77 miles I did last weekend, and the 106 I did the weekend before. There's 1625m of climbing on the 77 mile route and 2179m on the 106 miler... So, that must be getting on a third of what we have to do in the Alps???
Monday, 12 May 2008
3-up weekend
Another bank holiday in france :-) so 3 rides over the weekend, 4 rides in 5 days! I'm very tired today though. Quick breakdown of the rides;
Sat, 73 miles 17mph, tried to go nice and steady in the sunshine. Tried some different roads but did alot of turning round in the road and killed the average speed. Went down a great descent but the road at the bottom was no entry so that's going to be difficult to find from the bottom..... maybe another day.
Sun 48 miles in the park. 23.9mph I worked out how to get the automatic laps on so you can see each lap separately. I did the first 4 by myself but then realised it was going to take a while to get caught and only wanted to do 2 hours so slowed down. Once caught you can see the speed went up. About 5 laps from the end some guy on a TT bike arrived and he caned us. I rode right on his wheel for about 4 laps, head down praying - he was on his Tri bars. It reminded me of motorpacing with Terry on his Vespa and I kept thinking, TG would be touching this guys tyre.......
Mon 62miles 18.7mph. Went pretty much as hard as I could today but I could tell I had ridden a lot recently! Suffered in the last 45 mins, ran out of water (I normally stop and buy water after 2.5hrs) and my legs were tying up. It was hot again today and I was probably dehydrated when I started so goodness knows what I was like when I got in. Still, not a bad speed given the circumstances. Resting now.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5629485
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5642400
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5650144
258 miles for the week but squashed into 5 days. Too tired to type anymore.........
Sat, 73 miles 17mph, tried to go nice and steady in the sunshine. Tried some different roads but did alot of turning round in the road and killed the average speed. Went down a great descent but the road at the bottom was no entry so that's going to be difficult to find from the bottom..... maybe another day.
Sun 48 miles in the park. 23.9mph I worked out how to get the automatic laps on so you can see each lap separately. I did the first 4 by myself but then realised it was going to take a while to get caught and only wanted to do 2 hours so slowed down. Once caught you can see the speed went up. About 5 laps from the end some guy on a TT bike arrived and he caned us. I rode right on his wheel for about 4 laps, head down praying - he was on his Tri bars. It reminded me of motorpacing with Terry on his Vespa and I kept thinking, TG would be touching this guys tyre.......
Mon 62miles 18.7mph. Went pretty much as hard as I could today but I could tell I had ridden a lot recently! Suffered in the last 45 mins, ran out of water (I normally stop and buy water after 2.5hrs) and my legs were tying up. It was hot again today and I was probably dehydrated when I started so goodness knows what I was like when I got in. Still, not a bad speed given the circumstances. Resting now.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5629485
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5642400
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5650144
258 miles for the week but squashed into 5 days. Too tired to type anymore.........
Sunday, 11 May 2008
Breaking news: Thin forgiven!
You're right - the mountain bike was proper relegated today! Skinny tyres were back out and were a joy!
I didn't have the time for another epic this weekend so I set out for a shorter, hillier ride. I thought I'd hit the accelerator a bit too hard at the beginning having gone the hard way out of Aberdeen and still hit 17mph for the opening 10. I was expecting something a bit steeper after this, 'cos the road I followed peaks at 294m, which is about twice South Cave I think, but actually the gradient was fairly gentle. Oddly it seemed steeper when I came down it a few weeks ago. Fast descent from the top to Aboyne, sprint for the sign (where I recorded my max speed for the day of 36mph - it is a downhill sprint...) before crossing the Dee and heading to the slightly steeper hills on the route back. There's two decent climbs coming back, both with about 150m of climbing. The rest of the route home is undulating in the way the road to South Cave is undulating.
Unlike you lucky buggers in sunny England/France I rode in low cloud all the way round today, with thick fog at the top of the hills taking visibility down to ~100m. This played weird tricks on my mind 'cos you can't see the horizon. It looked like I was going up hill on descents and downhill on climbs! Very strange...
Final score: 77 miles, 18.1 mph. Didn't think I had that in me! Low tech route map below...
Season firsts for today:
1. First 60mile plus ride without a stop and without (solid) food,
2. First time I've set off with a mild hangover (first time since I did a road race around Skidby about 8 years ago...),
3. First airing of the still-hairy legs (it topped 12°C today so I thought I'd ditch the leggings!),
4. I'm guessing this, but I reckon I was at least 50, if not nearer to 60 miles in the big ring today, which is definitely a first for the season if not ever!
Of course, all of the above pails into insignificance compared to the mighty Tigers knocking two goals in away to Watford and getting their skipper sent of in the process! Sweet! The Premiership beckons...
Must go. Hope you've all got some good miles in - am still expecting a tow to the bottom of the hill!
Cheers,
Col.
I didn't have the time for another epic this weekend so I set out for a shorter, hillier ride. I thought I'd hit the accelerator a bit too hard at the beginning having gone the hard way out of Aberdeen and still hit 17mph for the opening 10. I was expecting something a bit steeper after this, 'cos the road I followed peaks at 294m, which is about twice South Cave I think, but actually the gradient was fairly gentle. Oddly it seemed steeper when I came down it a few weeks ago. Fast descent from the top to Aboyne, sprint for the sign (where I recorded my max speed for the day of 36mph - it is a downhill sprint...) before crossing the Dee and heading to the slightly steeper hills on the route back. There's two decent climbs coming back, both with about 150m of climbing. The rest of the route home is undulating in the way the road to South Cave is undulating.
Unlike you lucky buggers in sunny England/France I rode in low cloud all the way round today, with thick fog at the top of the hills taking visibility down to ~100m. This played weird tricks on my mind 'cos you can't see the horizon. It looked like I was going up hill on descents and downhill on climbs! Very strange...
Final score: 77 miles, 18.1 mph. Didn't think I had that in me! Low tech route map below...
Season firsts for today:
1. First 60mile plus ride without a stop and without (solid) food,
2. First time I've set off with a mild hangover (first time since I did a road race around Skidby about 8 years ago...),
3. First airing of the still-hairy legs (it topped 12°C today so I thought I'd ditch the leggings!),
4. I'm guessing this, but I reckon I was at least 50, if not nearer to 60 miles in the big ring today, which is definitely a first for the season if not ever!
Of course, all of the above pails into insignificance compared to the mighty Tigers knocking two goals in away to Watford and getting their skipper sent of in the process! Sweet! The Premiership beckons...
Must go. Hope you've all got some good miles in - am still expecting a tow to the bottom of the hill!
Cheers,
Col.
Saturday, 10 May 2008
Fat the new thin!
Well, broke a spoke on the commuting bike so had to dig the fat tyred mtb out for work this week. Normally my commute is a 12 mile round trip, which means 2x6 mile time trials a day, but I took in a loop of a forest on the way home on Friday which got me a cheeky extra hour of off-road in. It's pretty rare for me to get time mid-week to get the miles in so am trying to make the most of these type of rides to push the big ring hard and try to build some strength. I'll be out for around 75-80 tomorrow, so we'll see if it's paying off. I'm planning to take the hilly route home for the first time in a while so should be a decent test. If I can still breathe I'll give you an update tomorrow on how it goes... No Cairn O'Mount tomorrow though, will be making do with the smaller climbs, max circa 300m. Weather forecast is a bit pants, though it looks like the wind might stay down which will be a bonus.
Cheers for now.
Col.
Cheers for now.
Col.
I've been poorly !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On three everyone say AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
No I was really ill with the flu ! No not man flu ! proper flu ! you can even check with Mrs Moss who was the poor unfortunate who had to look after me ! That's who you all should really feel sorry for ! Ten days off the bike has really taken its toll ! what little good feeling I had started to get back in my legs has well and truly gone !
I've been easing myself back into things slowly with a few easy rides and I've been keen to see what the guys have been up to on the bike ? I have been shocked ! by the underhanded tactics that the rest of Nathans Flyer's have been using ! You guys have actually been doing some training !!! There was me thinking that I would turn up in France and help nurse maid these guys up five mountains over 130 miles ! How wrong could I have been ! I'm in serious danger of having my butt handed to me on a plate !
Training , Training , Training
I've managed to wangle four days off work this weekend as well as having the bank holiday off on Monday and I've been training !
Monday 50 miles 2hr 50min 17.7 Av
Thursday 51 miles 3hr 16.9 Av
Friday 42 miles 2hr 10min 19.2 Av
Saturday 38 miles 2hr 8min 17.7 Av
Will be out Sunday as well so should easy break the 200 miles for the week ! my legs are hurting just sat here thinking about it !
You guys best get peddling ! I'm coming !
No I was really ill with the flu ! No not man flu ! proper flu ! you can even check with Mrs Moss who was the poor unfortunate who had to look after me ! That's who you all should really feel sorry for ! Ten days off the bike has really taken its toll ! what little good feeling I had started to get back in my legs has well and truly gone !
I've been easing myself back into things slowly with a few easy rides and I've been keen to see what the guys have been up to on the bike ? I have been shocked ! by the underhanded tactics that the rest of Nathans Flyer's have been using ! You guys have actually been doing some training !!! There was me thinking that I would turn up in France and help nurse maid these guys up five mountains over 130 miles ! How wrong could I have been ! I'm in serious danger of having my butt handed to me on a plate !
Training , Training , Training
I've managed to wangle four days off work this weekend as well as having the bank holiday off on Monday and I've been training !
Monday 50 miles 2hr 50min 17.7 Av
Thursday 51 miles 3hr 16.9 Av
Friday 42 miles 2hr 10min 19.2 Av
Saturday 38 miles 2hr 8min 17.7 Av
Will be out Sunday as well so should easy break the 200 miles for the week ! my legs are hurting just sat here thinking about it !
You guys best get peddling ! I'm coming !
Thursday, 8 May 2008
Midweek loosener
Hi y'all
We've got a bank holiday in France today so what best than to sneak in a cheeky little 75 miler in the sunshine. It really has been cracking weather since I got back from Joburg, I think I brought the sun with me! I'm not getting a tan due to the excessive suntan lotion I'm applying but I've had a few nasty experiences so best to be safe than sorry. You'll notice the route is fairly similar to previous rides, once you get rid of the first and last 45mins out of the way normally the traffic is light and there isn't much built up areas so it's a nice place to ride my bike. Lots more cyclists about today, maybe cos I got up at a reasonable hour, and had a bit of a duel with 2 guys. First one joined the road ahead of me as we were starting the climb out of Paris. I went the easy way today but it's still quite a grind. Anyway he stayed exactly the same distance ahead of me for about 20 mins on the drags and undulations before he made it through a set of lights and I didn't. Saw him later and he wasn't going so hard anymore;-). then on the way home caught someone else and he followed me for about 6 miles but then at last he drifted off as I forgot to change gear for the hardest false flat and that was a bit much for him ;-)
We've got another bank holiday Monday so 3 rides back to back is going to be a challenge. The mighty Tigers are playing Sunday so that will be a short one but the other 2 will be similar to today I think if I can manage it.
Oopps, here's the ride for those who look at such things...
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5612948
TTFN
We've got a bank holiday in France today so what best than to sneak in a cheeky little 75 miler in the sunshine. It really has been cracking weather since I got back from Joburg, I think I brought the sun with me! I'm not getting a tan due to the excessive suntan lotion I'm applying but I've had a few nasty experiences so best to be safe than sorry. You'll notice the route is fairly similar to previous rides, once you get rid of the first and last 45mins out of the way normally the traffic is light and there isn't much built up areas so it's a nice place to ride my bike. Lots more cyclists about today, maybe cos I got up at a reasonable hour, and had a bit of a duel with 2 guys. First one joined the road ahead of me as we were starting the climb out of Paris. I went the easy way today but it's still quite a grind. Anyway he stayed exactly the same distance ahead of me for about 20 mins on the drags and undulations before he made it through a set of lights and I didn't. Saw him later and he wasn't going so hard anymore;-). then on the way home caught someone else and he followed me for about 6 miles but then at last he drifted off as I forgot to change gear for the hardest false flat and that was a bit much for him ;-)
We've got another bank holiday Monday so 3 rides back to back is going to be a challenge. The mighty Tigers are playing Sunday so that will be a short one but the other 2 will be similar to today I think if I can manage it.
Oopps, here's the ride for those who look at such things...
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5612948
TTFN
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
2000 miles in a long weekend and Sponsorship
Crikey, everyone is getting the miles in. Well,beat this, 2000 miles in a long weekend. Went to Austria and back. Oh, did I forget to mention it was in a car. But towing a caravan on the way out. It is lovely. Also has bling lights.
Unfortunatley I missed a weekend of training and as I got back at 3.54am, I didn't manage to cycle into work on Tuesday. The good news is I did today with a long ride home. That's 50 miles today. And, all being well, it will be 50 Thursday and 50 Friday. (Iat least - may chuck une loupe in if I get time). Ha har me maties. Will try a longish one on Sat or Sun but not too far as I'm doing the Etape Du Dales (didn't know they parlez Francais in Youerkshire) weekend after. This will be a monumental 110 miles int' biggest 'ills int' yeweksha'. I'm looking forward to it, but also dreading it. Well, I am fat you know and not built for climbing. I'm built for speeeeeeed.
Sponsorhip......... Well. At a meeting last week, there was talk of whether the school and particularly year 7, was interested in supporting charities that had approached the school. I piped up that I would like to support a particular charity close to my heart due to Nathan and my brother also having died of cardiomyopathy in 1995. (5th of March actually - I came 4th tht day at Sunk Island after having my sorry @rse towed up to the front by Damian on the last lap?)
Anyway, the head of year 7 is very interested and thought it would be a good idea to sponsor a more personal cause, so I'll keep you posted. Oh, and try to keep the language fairly clean, as there may be interest in the website about Nathan if it all comes together. It would be nice if I could get the help and sponsorship from school.
Right, happy training and thanks to Nathans mum for the photos. Yeeehar pardners.
Le Grande Sprinter
Unfortunatley I missed a weekend of training and as I got back at 3.54am, I didn't manage to cycle into work on Tuesday. The good news is I did today with a long ride home. That's 50 miles today. And, all being well, it will be 50 Thursday and 50 Friday. (Iat least - may chuck une loupe in if I get time). Ha har me maties. Will try a longish one on Sat or Sun but not too far as I'm doing the Etape Du Dales (didn't know they parlez Francais in Youerkshire) weekend after. This will be a monumental 110 miles int' biggest 'ills int' yeweksha'. I'm looking forward to it, but also dreading it. Well, I am fat you know and not built for climbing. I'm built for speeeeeeed.
Sponsorhip......... Well. At a meeting last week, there was talk of whether the school and particularly year 7, was interested in supporting charities that had approached the school. I piped up that I would like to support a particular charity close to my heart due to Nathan and my brother also having died of cardiomyopathy in 1995. (5th of March actually - I came 4th tht day at Sunk Island after having my sorry @rse towed up to the front by Damian on the last lap?)
Anyway, the head of year 7 is very interested and thought it would be a good idea to sponsor a more personal cause, so I'll keep you posted. Oh, and try to keep the language fairly clean, as there may be interest in the website about Nathan if it all comes together. It would be nice if I could get the help and sponsorship from school.
Right, happy training and thanks to Nathans mum for the photos. Yeeehar pardners.
Le Grande Sprinter
Sunday, 4 May 2008
May Tun Fun Run...
Well - made a few of firsts for the season today. First number 1, as suggest above, was cracking the imperial century with a leg busting 106miles through Aberdeenshires finest. First number 2 was twice breaking 50mph on the descent from Cairn O'Mount - sweet!!! :-) First number 3 was a cracking skid coming into a wet corner... Luckily I stayed up... Average speed 16.8mph, which considering the distance I was well chuffed with. Leg muscles felt okay - kept them well topped up with various drinks and gels and such. Other bits are well sore though especially knees and @rse... Took a few hills in the the first 50 including the Cairn O'Mount monster, which seemed somewhat less of a beast today - I measured it at 2.1miles long, starting with 45secs of 1:6 and finishing with about 3mins of 1:7. Average speed up it a mere 6.9mph. Takes 18mins to climb! 25 sprocket essential...
Last 40 miles were flat back to Aberdeen - couldn't face more climbing (The route I had planned had another 150m ascent upto 300m). Managed to keep the big ring going all the way back though- 53x21 or 19 nearly all the way with the very odd 23 or 17 bits. 85 to 90rpm / 18 to 20 mph.
Had a bit of bike trouble as well today - bike started making this clicking after ~40miles which I sounded like dodgy bearings. When I stopped for food at 63miles and noticed that the quick release of the rear wheel was loose! Wheel was all over the shot - hopefully no lasting damage but will probably need to get it looked over as there seems to be a fair bit of play in the hub.
Other highlight of the day was the bird life, which included the usual stuff plus buzzards, a heron, a swan and a pair of Ostriches! How bizarre...
Will be an easy week this week as I suspect my knee will seize tonight and I'll be hobbling badly tomorrow. Just pleased there are lifts in the office...
Total mileage for the week 130 - probably my highest total since I was last in France 8 years ago...
Cheerio,
Col.
Last 40 miles were flat back to Aberdeen - couldn't face more climbing (The route I had planned had another 150m ascent upto 300m). Managed to keep the big ring going all the way back though- 53x21 or 19 nearly all the way with the very odd 23 or 17 bits. 85 to 90rpm / 18 to 20 mph.
Had a bit of bike trouble as well today - bike started making this clicking after ~40miles which I sounded like dodgy bearings. When I stopped for food at 63miles and noticed that the quick release of the rear wheel was loose! Wheel was all over the shot - hopefully no lasting damage but will probably need to get it looked over as there seems to be a fair bit of play in the hub.
Other highlight of the day was the bird life, which included the usual stuff plus buzzards, a heron, a swan and a pair of Ostriches! How bizarre...
Will be an easy week this week as I suspect my knee will seize tonight and I'll be hobbling badly tomorrow. Just pleased there are lifts in the office...
Total mileage for the week 130 - probably my highest total since I was last in France 8 years ago...
Cheerio,
Col.
I'm spinning around....
Look at todays course - I was singing that Kylie song all morning!!!
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5569036
When i finished in the park I'd done 60 miles at 22.9 mph!! but by the time I'd crept home in the body bag it had come down a bit ;-(. Felt pretty good today, 3rd ride in 4 days and over 200 miles. Nice bright sunshine again here in Paris, I'll be getting a tanline on the thighs before long!!!! I've gone from a 15mph ave (1 hour) in Nov, to 18mph (2 hours) in Jan, 21mph (2 hours) in March and now nearly 23 for an almost 3 hour ride. Granted it's flat and you get towed round a bit but it's great fun and makes you feel a bit fitter. Can tell I've got a way to go yet though, there were several times when I just didn't have the power after towing everyone up the drag. Caught myself once shouting at my legs 'push you buggers!!' but they ignored me and it took me a mile to catch the guy again (with 6 of them sat behind me!). Still haven't used the 12 or 13 yet though....when I do I know I'm fit but managed 33mph today somewhere (no I wasn't at the front then). Pulse was a little lower on the drag than normal. Often I hit well over 170 and I've seen 177 there but most times today I was between 160 and 170 even though I was going quicker. I don't think it was because I wasn't trying, more likely I was lacking a bit of zipp after yesterday and just couldn't push the pedals any harder. Still averaged 149 bpm! so you can see it was a pretty consistent effort. Strangely I feel better tonight than I did yesterday, well the legs do anyway - suppose it's because I just try and pedal quick round the park rather than forcing it. I find that's the only way I can get those gears round.
All this going round a park is nice and looks fast but is it really going to help me ride 5 mountains???!! I think I need to convince Sarah that we need a few weekends away, we'll pick a hotel with a nice spa or something and I can get out on the velo. Also need to get round to buying that 13-25 cassette I suppose. Maybe some climbing wheels......
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5569036
When i finished in the park I'd done 60 miles at 22.9 mph!! but by the time I'd crept home in the body bag it had come down a bit ;-(. Felt pretty good today, 3rd ride in 4 days and over 200 miles. Nice bright sunshine again here in Paris, I'll be getting a tanline on the thighs before long!!!! I've gone from a 15mph ave (1 hour) in Nov, to 18mph (2 hours) in Jan, 21mph (2 hours) in March and now nearly 23 for an almost 3 hour ride. Granted it's flat and you get towed round a bit but it's great fun and makes you feel a bit fitter. Can tell I've got a way to go yet though, there were several times when I just didn't have the power after towing everyone up the drag. Caught myself once shouting at my legs 'push you buggers!!' but they ignored me and it took me a mile to catch the guy again (with 6 of them sat behind me!). Still haven't used the 12 or 13 yet though....when I do I know I'm fit but managed 33mph today somewhere (no I wasn't at the front then). Pulse was a little lower on the drag than normal. Often I hit well over 170 and I've seen 177 there but most times today I was between 160 and 170 even though I was going quicker. I don't think it was because I wasn't trying, more likely I was lacking a bit of zipp after yesterday and just couldn't push the pedals any harder. Still averaged 149 bpm! so you can see it was a pretty consistent effort. Strangely I feel better tonight than I did yesterday, well the legs do anyway - suppose it's because I just try and pedal quick round the park rather than forcing it. I find that's the only way I can get those gears round.
All this going round a park is nice and looks fast but is it really going to help me ride 5 mountains???!! I think I need to convince Sarah that we need a few weekends away, we'll pick a hotel with a nice spa or something and I can get out on the velo. Also need to get round to buying that 13-25 cassette I suppose. Maybe some climbing wheels......
Saturday, 3 May 2008
That's more like it!
Biggest ride in a long time today, 81 miles ave 17.5. Felt pretty good which makes a change, especially with Thursdays ride in the rain still in the legs a bit. Did get very munchy about halfway round so I ate quite a bit, stopped for some water to fill my bottle and then felt better from then on. So much better I decided to 'chuck a loop in' which means doing a bit extra. This was fine until I realised the 16% climb I come down would have to be tackled with 70 miles done. It looks horrible because it's pretty straight and you get a good sight of it beforehand. I just about made it up but probably 39x21 isn't quite enough eh guys? ;-) Have a look.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5556414
Tomorrow there's no way I'm doing that again so I'll go round the park for a couple of hours. Nice and flat.
Ps, what am i doing wrong with these links?!?!?!?! when I 'add a link' it's completely invisible, when I cut and paste the address you can see it but it's not a real link. I suspect it's this Mac somehow....
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5556414
Tomorrow there's no way I'm doing that again so I'll go round the park for a couple of hours. Nice and flat.
Ps, what am i doing wrong with these links?!?!?!?! when I 'add a link' it's completely invisible, when I cut and paste the address you can see it but it's not a real link. I suspect it's this Mac somehow....
Friday, 2 May 2008
Hello, I am Nathans mum
I am very fortunate, i have been lucky enough to have been Nathans mum for 30 years. My husband also had cardiomyopathy and died in 2001. So this ride and the money raised means a great deal to me. To know that we are helping someone elses husband, son and brother live longer.
TG, Crasher Clark and Seatpin have all known Nathan from school. Fat Sprinter then met him a little later on. There are many, many funny stories i could share with you, some printable and some not! As mentioned previously Nathans favourite film was "American Flyers" one that all of his friends have also watched at some time.
Damian shattered both his knee caps in a cycling accident in 2002. I know that he and everyone joining him on the ride are training hard. I know that they have the commitment, the stamina and the heart to make this ride truly memorable, for the love of Nathan.
UP, UP, UP NATHANS FLYERS
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Boring ride! ;-(
We've got a Bank Holiday here in France so I was able to get out today, Thursday. Had to take Sarah to the airport this morning so didn't get out until after 2.....late enough for the promised rain to start - booo!! Well here it is for viewing, 72miles at 16.3mph
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5541646
I wanted to go somewhere I hadn't been before to see if I could find any more exciting terrain (mainly up bits!) but ended up riding through lots of towns with traffic lights. I hate traffic lights, you don't get fitter stood at lights and it takes longer to get home. Plus it disrupts the rhythm. I tried to use the GPS functions a bit today. I realise when you're out in the middle of nowhere looking for climbs to go up, there isn't much point using it as you just look at the horizon and aim for the high bits. After about 40 miles I selected the 'Go home' function and this laptop is in the lounge so it must've worked pretty well. Overall the device gives excellent directions, telling you the name of the road you should take (not that there are many street signs in France it seems!!) It also flashes up in advance which way you are going to go with a countdown to when you will have to turn, it seems to estimate based on your current speed and I must say the times I bothered to check it, it was very accurate. A few times I missed a turn (given the option between looking at the GPS and looking out for cars I always looked for cars) and the GPS does take a while to replot the directions if you keep moving. Overall first impressions are good though.
Right, I must surf the internet - Sarah left and told me I must 'fend for myself until Monday'. I have no idea what that means so need to check, I guess it's some French thing....
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=216611&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=5541646
I wanted to go somewhere I hadn't been before to see if I could find any more exciting terrain (mainly up bits!) but ended up riding through lots of towns with traffic lights. I hate traffic lights, you don't get fitter stood at lights and it takes longer to get home. Plus it disrupts the rhythm. I tried to use the GPS functions a bit today. I realise when you're out in the middle of nowhere looking for climbs to go up, there isn't much point using it as you just look at the horizon and aim for the high bits. After about 40 miles I selected the 'Go home' function and this laptop is in the lounge so it must've worked pretty well. Overall the device gives excellent directions, telling you the name of the road you should take (not that there are many street signs in France it seems!!) It also flashes up in advance which way you are going to go with a countdown to when you will have to turn, it seems to estimate based on your current speed and I must say the times I bothered to check it, it was very accurate. A few times I missed a turn (given the option between looking at the GPS and looking out for cars I always looked for cars) and the GPS does take a while to replot the directions if you keep moving. Overall first impressions are good though.
Right, I must surf the internet - Sarah left and told me I must 'fend for myself until Monday'. I have no idea what that means so need to check, I guess it's some French thing....
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