Friday 30 December 2011

I Met Jesus

Or at least I expected to out on Tarleton Moss yesterday. The weather was Biblical. I half expected to see our Bearded Saviour himself cruising along some of the puddles they were that big. Or at the very least somebody laying the first timbers of an ark. 

You see, yesterday was the long awaited 'Biketreks RT+Me+Simon' reunion ride and nosh up. We'd first mooted the idea a few months ago when we realised how much we'd enjoyed the 'social' aspect of the racing season-as in sitting around in the HQ before the races and just chatting about how much it was going to hurt, what lap 'x' was going to attack and solo to victory or what lap 'y' was going to be dropped. You know, usual banter :)


I was to get to Simon's for sometime before 10am, and I nearly succeeded. A combination of getting slightly lost and the stop-start nature of being dumped on by massive rain clouds resulted in a slightly inaccurate journey time estimation. They were the sort of rain showers that were that heavy I had to stop and put my jacket on to avoid getting completely soaked-and then stop and take it off again about 5 minutes later once the rain stopped and I started to get slightly hot (read: boil in the bag symptoms). I arrived to find Nic and John of Biketreks RT fame already enjoying Simon's hospitality. I plonked my slightly damp, not so lost self down on a couch and thought: 'how bizarre. They've not got cycling kit on'. A slightly irrational thought given the circumstances-they had driven down and can't be expected to live in lycra! It's funny really, I get to know people on the bike and it's almost like my brain says 'I decree that these people are not allowed to be 'normal'. They must always be holding a bicycle and be wearing lycra and a helmet' Ignore me, I've just done a ramp test. Lactic acid does funny things to one's brain.


Anyway, so we went for a ride. It was wet. It was windy. Seems to be a recurring theme, I should probably rename this blog 'I ride in wet and windy conditions and then tell everyone about how wet and windy it was whilst pretending I enjoyed it'. Or not. No, it was seriously windy yesterday. And we decided to go out on Tarleton Moss for a few miles. That was fun. Not so much echelons, more each person's bike at an angle sufficient so that if we had wanted to we could have 'stacked' up whilst riding along. If that doesn't make sense, just trust me when I say it was windy :D
It was still an enjoyable outing though, we introduced the Biketreks Duo to Ashurst Beacon, Moss winds, Wigan drivers and all that good stuff. Well I enjoyed it anyway! Even if my jacket weighed about double what it normally does by the end of it thanks to the rain. The best bit was when we got back we not only had the intense satisfaction of returning to a warm house-but we had food! Simon had done a homemade Quorn (yours truly appreciated that!) Chilli. It was, as I am sure Nic and John will attest, awesome. Not sure a critic would describe food as 'awesome'-but this was. So food, some more breeze shooting, putting the world to rights, discussing how the 1988 Giro stage over the Gavia Pass had nothing on today (yesterday)'s weather:
Ok, maybe that is a slight exaggeration.


So to summarise, great to see Nic and John again and sorry it wasn't much of a way to experience the roads round here!








I had my camera with me yesterday and filmed the first few miles of the ride...until it started to rain properly. Then I managed to get it out of it's bracket and into my pocket without stopping or, more importantly, dropping it! Considering the diminutive size of the thing, and the fact that I was wearing gloves, I'd say that was an achievement personally:


In other news, did a ramp test today. While I won't disclose the actual value achieved (that's secret ;D) it was about 10% higher than the last one I did in May last year. And the Watts/Kg value was more than a little surprising! In a good way. 
Oh and I stumbled across this earlier, some rather useful (if old UI wise) programs: http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/index.html worth a look!


Follow the cast of today's post:


And with that I bid you a good rest of 2011!

Monday 26 December 2011

Ho Ho Ho Cough Cough Cough

Boxing Day's great isn't it? Lie in...fiddle with presents, eat a big lunch of leftover Christmas Dinner, maybe watch a film, eat some more and generally just chill out. Sadly, cyclists seem to not understand this version of Boxing Day. We seem to inhabit an alternate Universe were non-white Christmasses are the dream and Christmas Dinner is seen as the ultimate Carbo-loading opportunity. To make it even more bizarre, we often go out on Christmas day itself. Or Boxing Day. Or if we're really keen, both. Judging by the looks I got off some pedestrians today, they must have thought I was 'keen'. Boxing Day Time Trials/Comedy Races/Group Rides are a bit of a tradition, with many long running events being found up and down the country. Whether or not this is true for Southport CC I am unsure, but one thing I do know is that this is my 3rd Christmas with the club, and I've done two Boxing Day TTs in that time. First one I came Nth. Which translates roughly as I can't remember. Last year it was called off due to 'weather'. Not just any weather, proper Northern Winter weather. Just as well really, I wouldn't have been able to get down my road let alone get myself to Southport and do a TT. 


This morning I got up, bummed around killing time for a bit 'I've got loads of time' I said to myself. Error. It was windy. Very windy. Exceptionally windy. 25mph gusts or something. And I had to get myself out over the Moss to Southport. To those of you who don't know the Moss, trust me, you do not want to have a strict time frame in which to drag yourself across on a day like today. Well, I got a good warm up anyway that's for sure!


The Bike was looking particularly festive today, in addition to the Tinsel that has been hanging around for a couple of weeks now it was today sporting a rather fetching set of Tesco Battery powered Fairy Lights. Sadly (or not?) it was too sunny to see them. Sadface. I calculated that these modifications would probably cost me at least 5 Watts over the distance, so decided to offset that loss by wearing my skinsuit. Tongue ever so slightly in cheek there. But I actually did wear the skinsuit; largely because I've only worn it twice and wanted to wear it again, and it does feel fast. What can I say? Marginal gains central here. 


So to the competition (I don't like calling TTs races, but that's just me). It was windy. Oh boy was it windy. Boyohboyohboyohboy was it windy. You get the picture. That translated roughly into PAIN on the way out and PAIN on the way back. Basic TT equation really. Human Engine+Bike+TT=PAIN. I must admit though, the return leg was completed rather faster than the outward. A steady 33mph compared to a steady 18-20. So yeah, posted the fastest time, tasted blood, coughed a bit, admired some Christmas Bike Porn, was happy. Tested out my new Christmas Pressie as well! I got a mini bike camera-y thingy. Prepare yourselves for some ride video bombardment :D Good morning's work! A win is a win as they say...




Yuletide Thoughts:

  • Felt good to do my first proper effort on the bike for a few months, pleased to say there was more than a little there to be used!
  • If you want to go faster, just add Tinsel.
  • Thorntons Chocolate Reindeer do not put up much of a fight, mine was destroyed in less than 2 minutes yesterday.
  • Black Country Communion on Vinyl (Pressie from me to my Dad...that I will directly benefit from as well :D) sounds even better than on CD (predictably).

Oh I almost forgot, I got a Bonsai tree for Christmas! How cool is that? Love it :D

Hope everyone has had/is having a good holiday/Christmas/Booze-up/Film overload/Lego Construction marathon etc.

It's nearly 2012. Let's make the most of what's left of 2011!

Saturday 24 December 2011

It's Chriiisssttmmaaaaasssss

First off, I apologise for the lack of pictures or anything other than text-I wasn't best prepared for this one. Soz if it's a bit boring.


Christmas. It's true. It's that time of year again. Sellotape, tinsel, Santa hats, mince pies, Yule Logs (of the chocolate and other kind), dodgy jumpers, socks and family time. The only time of the year when it's considered acceptable for old men with big bushy beards to sit small children on their laps and say 'So Billy, have you been a good boy this year?'. I mean that would just be weird at any other time. I must admit it works though, I asked one of those Santas in Formby Garden Centre for a Scalextric set one Christmas many years ago and lo and behold there it was under the tree come the 25th! No coincidence that my Dad had just as much fun with it as I did for the next month :D


I've been home now for nearly a week. Not achieved much, slept a bit, done a few rides with my good friend Simon. Ate some cake, got drunk on the Squadra night out. Got a trophy for 'Mechanical Genius/Best Excuse of the year 2011'. I would elucidate and enlighten you, but it would make you laugh at my expense.




Oh all right then. Horwich Festival of Racing some time in June (the week  before my first win as it happens), Cat 2,3,4 Crit. Not a bad course, one 90degree bend that had one guy fail to even attempt to deviate from going straight on. Not recommended. Especially at the front of a big bunch. But yeah, loads of potholes (it is Lancashire after all) about halfway through I felt (or at least thought I felt) the bike fishtail a bit coming out of a bend after a big bang. Felt exactly, and you'll know what I mean, like a rather dramatic quick loss of air from the rear tyre. So I stopped. Checked it, nothing...and I was now off the back. And then I remembered you could take a lap out for mechanicals in the pits. FACEPALM. That did not go down well with The Boss let me tell you. I knew it would come back to haunt me.


So what do I have to say about training/riding at the moment? Not much really, winding down a bit in anticipation of January. Where it all gets serious. I have noticed though that the hills round here are a lot smaller than I remember. They're not necessarily easier (ok, they are), but I'm just at a different level to before I went to Aber. I've only been riding there properly since the start of November...which leaves me rather looking forward to what will happen over the next few months when I start doing more than just going out and riding for 3 or 4 hours a few times a week.


Got the Southport CC Boxing Day '10' coming up on...Boxing day. Last time it was on (cancelled 'cos of ice last year) it was a 10km one. But apparently it could be a full 10mile 10 this year. Savage with the wind that'll undoubtedly be coming off the sea. I've still got my tinsel on my bike, might put some battery powered fairy lights on as well just to brighten it up a bit :D Rather tempted to wear my skinsuit under my thermal stuff. Partly just to wear it again, (only used it for 3 events this year) but also for the comedy factor: rider in skinsuit, winter bike with tinsel and fairy lights. Would hopefully show how I'm not taking it tooo seriously...having said that, competition is competition.


So for my weekly 'Things I've learned this week' sum up:

  • Cedar Farm coffee shop does seriously good coffee.
  • A full 3 course Pizza Express meal seems DECADENT after a month of student living. Was rather nice mind.
  • Southport Moss winds have not decreased in strength/intensity while I've been away.
  • If you get a bunch of cyclists together, and then get them drunk, they will constantly refer to Gianni Bugno's 1991 season. I'm not sure why, but then again the only thing I was doing around that time was being born.
  • Mr.Nickson a.k.a The Boss/The Don will remember all the embarassing gaffs his riders make and remind everyone else about them in a scathing, inventive but ultimately good natured way.
  • I really need to wrap my Christmas presents earlier next year.



I hope you have a good Christmas, wherever you are, whatever you do. Eat lots, drink lots, be happy, appreciate what you have all year round not just what you get as presents, get out somehow on Christmas day/Boxing day and soak up the lack of traffic (ignoring the Boxing Day sales traffic-but those people don't really count in my eyes ;D). And don't forget to watch the Queen and The Great Escape.


Joyeux Noel and a Ho Ho Ho to you all.

Saturday 17 December 2011

On Looking My Flandrian Best.

Apparently I failed in my attempt to 'Look my Flandrian Best' today as per the Velominati: http://www.velominati.com/blog/look-pro/look-pro-flandrian-best/ I wore my lobster gloves and thermal tights with stirrups. But do you know what? I don't care. I had toasty warm fingers for the whole ride for the first time in months, and I'd like to say warm legs as well-but sadly that would be a lie. It must be said however that had I been wearing the shorts/knee warmers combo as it is suggested-I would probably still be up on the top of some cold snowy Welsh hill right now with legs resembling blue blocks of ice.


If I had to summarise today's 2 and a half hours I would use the following words: snow, slush, hail, sun, wind, atmospheric, cold, isolation, thought provoking, cake. You can see the route here: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/31418801 It took in part of the local Tour of the Mining Valleys Road Race circuit, including the (in)famous '49er' finishing climb. Can't wait to race up it let me tell you. Below is a selection of shots taken on the main valley road:




Above is a short video taken on the same road. It was quite windy. The road was quite noisy due to all the slushy haily snowy stuff, so feel free to turn the volume down if you so wish ;)


Once properly up on the tops, there was that much slushy stuff on the road my speed ended up close to the 10mph region than the usual 20mph region...as it turned out, if there was any ice there I didn't come across it-but better safe than crumpled in a heap against a Welsh fence somewhere! It was properly wintery up there though, nice and festive :)
This is approaching the top of the '49er'. 


Rather wish I'd had a proper camera with me :(

Luckily the Nant-yr-Arian cafe was open upon my arrival today, so I treated myself to coffee and a flapjack.
Got to have a shot of the food now haven't we?
Tomorrow is the planned Ystwyth CC 'Xmas Run' up to Dinas Mawdwy, Bwlch y Groes and then back via Dolgellau. Should be interesting providing the roads are clear; as from what I hear, it's a bit of a monster. Interestingly, Bill Nickson Snr (side note: I race for the Bill Nickson Cycles RT) won the 1976 Milk Race that went over the Bwlch.
That's Bill in yellow. Back in the days when men were men. And shorts were 'chafy' (or so my Dad says)
 Legend has it that Bill climbed it in 53-15. Or something. Wouldn't surprise me. 


No matter what happens I'll be out at some point tomorrow for my last ride round here before going back home for a few weeks of Xmas R&R, eating and essay writing.


Watch out for a video of some clips I took whilst out the other day...should be up when Windows Movie Maker decides to stop being an arse. So maybe make yourself a cup of tea.


Thanks for reading! 

Sunday 11 December 2011

Weather.

I have experienced lots of weather this weekend. You name it, and any associated sensations, and I've put up with it, enjoyed it, struggled through it, cursed it or just ignored it. Yesterday was a properly wintery day with all that entailed and today was distinctly damp. In fact, after experiencing what I did today I am moved to say it was perhaps (at times) one of the most acutely unpleasant rides in recent memory. 

Let me make one thing clear, I like rain. In fact, within reason, I can think of nothing nicer than a nice leisurely pedal on a damp day for accentuating all the things that I love about cycling. Today however was not so much damp; more, what fell from the sky felt like the overflow from the good Lord himself having an energetic scrub in an over filled bath. Slightly dodgy metaphor, but we'll stick with it. 

I awoke with the intention of doing the Ystwyth CC Sunday club run. I looked out of my window at 8am and quite quickly realised there would probably not be anyone foolish enough to venture out, at least not for 9am. It was bathing it down (to continue the metaphor). Not 'chucking', not 'bucketing', not 'throwing'. No, it was 'bathing' it down. 'No problem', I thought, I'll just wait an hour or so and go and do a few hours on my own when it dies down. Sadly it didn't look like it was easing, so I decided to waterproof myself as much as possible and brave the conditions; after all, as I said to myself-'it's only water!' What I hadn't reckoned on was that this was Welsh water. Renowned for being just that bit colder and wetting than normal English water (or at least, that's what I'm led to believe). I was kitted out in my good old Lusso 'Max Repel' tights (they used to be water repellent. Not any more. As I later found out), my newly acquired Craft waterproof jacket, Endura Merino Wool vest and PRO Neoprene overshoes. Can't beat a bit of product placement eh? A pretty solid setup, or so I thought. To be fair though, I think only a full body Dry Suit would have done the job today. Basically, I got about 2 mins away from home and my legs were soaked and cold. Everywhere else fine, but legs cold. Never a good way to start a ride. It's (largely) unavoidable though as anyone who has cycled in the wet will understand; as soon as anything skintight gets wet it soaks straight through and then obviously makes whatever area of skin underneath rather wet and cold. Luckily, the affected areas went quite numb within about 10 mins, so I wasn't quite so aware. Although that did mean that for the rest of the ride, whenever I reached anything more than a slight gradient (which was most of it) I had that wonderfully horrible feeling of very cold muscles labouring to work and slowly and painfully warming up; only to chill again as soon as the road pointed down. As for my feet, well they lasted a bit longer; it was at least 15 mins until water began to soak downwards through the tights and pool in the shoes. I then had that lovely sensation of water sloshing around my feet whenever I changed pedalling angle. To be fair though, my jacket did put up a spirited defence, and I only noticed slight water ingress on the arms once I got back. Which is quite impressive given how wet it got. I'm not even going to mention my gloves. Even with squeezing them out multiple times mid ride, they still felt like they weighed about a Kilogram when I got back.

None of this will be new to anyone who rides in the rain, and it isn't knew to me either. To be completely honest, the first half of the ride was actually not too bad. I got rather wet rather quickly, but knew I couldn't really get any more wet-so figured I might as well make the most of it! I took a wrong turning however that sent me up a previously unknown but fiendishly steep side road that had me rather wet inside the jacket as well by the top. Nice. Unfortunately, the top was a farmer's gate. So I had to turn around. That's when things got really uncomfortable. Up to that point, my speed hadn't really gone that high-maybe maximum 22-24mph. Howling down this descent at 30-35mph and trying to keep on top of the speed (it really is amazing just how long it takes to slow down in the wet) I became rather aware of just how fecking cold the wind was. By the time I reached the bottom, I had altered my previous plan of climbing up to the Nant-Y-Moch reservoir and going to the Nant-Yr-Arian cafe (I was certain I'd find a table today!) and instead set my mental GPS for home. It was grim. My legs were so cold every rise was a bottom gear affair, and I was on the small ring (bearing in mind I'm on a compact as well) at times on the flat. Not good. I can deal with cold fingers, I'm used to that normally (I'm convinced I'm actually cold blooded). I can deal with cold feet. I can deal with cold ears. None of those directly hamper your efforts to keep moving. Properly deeply chilled legs however are a different story. 

And now for something completely different to break this up a bit:

What a dude. 

So anyway, I got back, managed an hour and a half in total and then had one of those showers that feels like it's burning you. You know what I mean, it's hot-but you're cold, and it feels too hot but somehow cold at the same time. Since then, I have eaten lunch, snacked, slept, snacked again, had a cup of tea (that's a first for me) generally done sod all. I reckon it's yesterday catching up with me, a deep rooted desire to graze and sleep that I'm quite happy to satisfy! I'm not complaining, it's all part of the fun! Pushing yourself and your limits and then enjoying the after effects! 

I've also realised I eat a lot of money. To illustrate, as my flatmates will testify, I eat a lot. My dinner tonight consisted of 200g of pasta, a veg stir fry, pitta bread, a bag of salad, 2 cookies, 2 welsh cakes and a bowl of yoghurt. I bought most of that stuff today. Not very economical. But very satisfying it must be said! 

So for my blog-postial sum up:
  • Welsh roads are still awesome.
  • If you go out in the rain expecting to get wet, you will get wet. No amount of fancy clothing will prevent that.
  • I need a bigger room. I've got that much kit strewn around, hanging up, drying out etc it would take me at least 5 mins to navigate my way to the door in the event of a fire.
  • Tinsel doesn't rust.
  • Mudguards are a winter cyclist's best friend.
  • This has been a rather dour, serious post. So here are some Yorkshireman jokes to make up for it:

  1. Yorkshire man takes his cat to the vet.

    Yorkshireman: "Ayup, lad, I need to talk to thee about me cat."

    Vet: "Is it a tom?"

    Yorkshireman: "Nay, I've browt it wi us."
  2. A Yorkshireman's wife dies and the widower decides that her headstone should have the words "She were thine" engraved on it.
    He calls the stone mason, who assures him that the headstone will be ready a few days after the funeral.
    True to his word the stone mason calls the widower to say that the headstone is ready and would he like to come and have a look.

    When the widower gets there he takes one look at the stone to see that it's been engraved "She were thin".

    He explodes: "'ells bells man, you've left the bloody "e" out, you've left the bloody "e" out!"

    The stone mason apologises profusely and assures the poor widower that it will be rectified the following morning.

    Next day comes and the widower returns to the stone mason: "There you go sir, I've put the "e" on the stone for you".

    The widower looks at the stone and then reads out aloud:

    "E, she were thin".
I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. And next time you're out driving and you see a soggy cyclist going the other way, spare a thought :)

Saturday 10 December 2011

Cwmystwyth Adventure

Well. Quite a ride today. Or perhaps I should call it an 'adventure', as this was not your ordinary 'bike ride'. No, this had it all. 30 minute climbs, short sharp gradients, wind, snow, ice, sleet, rain, sun, moors, woodland, wildlife, desolation, isolation, suicidal sheep, lakes, chocolate spread sandwiches, cafe stops that didn't quite work out, mars bars, numb fingers and many of those moments where you suddenly realise the insignificance of humans in certain areas of the world. Yep, this was a Ride among rides. I am sat here munching on some cheese and biscuits in my ongoing attempt to refuel. So if I suddenly stop writing (not that you'll know), I'm having a nibble. Do excuse the interruption.


I suppose I'd better start from the beginning (always helps eh?). My Dad has been saying for AGES that I need to ride through the Mystic Cwmystwyth 'It'll be the best thing you've ever done' 'It'll beat the pants off the so called roads back home' (Ok, those may not be his exact words-in any shape or form, but you get the idea). So I decided to do it today. I did myself an extra round of toast this morning (you read correctly! Pushing the boat out there!) and rather made a chocolate spread sandwich to take with me that Mother would have been proud of. I would have done the old Audaxers favourite Jam butty but didn't have any jam :( life of a student eh? I knew I'd be traversing some pretty remote proper Upland roads, so I put my waterproof in a plastic bag (no shortage of initiative here) and strapped it onto my pannier rack and managed to avoid taking too much tinsel off. Did I mention my bike now sports some rather fetching silver tinsel? Yup. Mr Festive or what? Anyway. So yeah, I took the main road out of Aber and headed deep into the heart of Wales...or at least I did after getting up to Nant-Yr-Arian. 20 minutes of climbing from cold, wrapped up in full winter gear. Yeah, you get the picture :/ bit 'damp' to say the least.


So I eventually climbed into the snow line, or above the snow line. Or through it? Whatever. This was a bit unexpected and a bit unnerving as I knew I was going to be going a lot higher later on! With this there came a new level of chilliness and I soon couldn't feel my fingers. Luckily, I'd also brought a nice pair of liner gloves with me just in case! Quick stop sorted that problem, and before I knew it it was onto the main road heading in the direction of Rhayader. I don't remember much about the 10 miles before Rhayader as I was feeling a little grim. My back was a bit sore/cold/stiff, my fingers were numb again, I couldn't feel my face (it was only after my shower after getting back that I became convinced it was still there and hadn't dropped off somewhere) and my legs hurt. All in all a little worse for wear! I blame Pilates on Wednesday, soothing and comfortable my arse! Those weird movements and stretches left me feeling a little battered this week. Good workout though, I recommend giving it a go, especially as it really works the areas cycling neglects.


Finished my cheese and biscuits :( was perhaps a little optimistic expecting them to last the whole of this session. 


So yeah, Rhayader. I stopped in a bus shelter for 10 mins to give my back a rest, eat my butties and avoid a little rain shower. It was at this point that I realised I'd already done over 2 hours and hadn't even got onto the meaty filling of the ride yet. Rhayader is a lovely place, well worth a visit if you're around here. Holidayed there many a time in my yoof-and throughly enjoyed it! So then I joined the road signposted 'Aberystwyth Mountain Road'. This was more like it. I'd ridden parts of it before when I was about 10, on a mountain bike, in about 30 degree heat. It couldn't have been more different today. The actual climb out of the town is really quite severe, climbing about 1000ft in maybe a mile? Anyway, I had to weave quite a bit unfortunately-although not as a result of being tired, more in an effort to avoid the various icy patches! That was slightly ominous. 
The view back from the top of the initial climb. 
Then it was along the top of the mountain road and then down towards the Elan valley (kinda)-again, really nice place and well worth a visit if you're ever around.
The view from the top of the mountain road, snow capped peak in the distance. I think. Camera is a bit sh*t. Could be a smudge for all I know!

I was stood there snapping away, turned, saw that and thought: hey that's coming this way. It was Snleety hain. Yep, snow, sleet, hail and rain all mixed up. Very strange.
What can I say about the next bit; it was a bit 'grippy' at times. Big patches of stuff that looked like ice, and sometimes turned out to be such, but more often than not were just water. Bit hairy. There are some truly phenomenal roads though around there though:

Let's hear it for Google Street view!
And again! Weather wasn't that good today...
Ideally, I'd copy and paste all the Google street view images, but that would probably be a fairly major copyright infringement in some form or another. Anyway, I highly suggest you have a look at this in street view, and travel along the B4518 a bit to just get an impression of how amazingly remote it is up there. Rhayader in google.
Here's another pilfered shot, just descending into Cwmystwyth properly:

Ride safe indeed.
Unfortunately I found the headwind once I got into the valley, soooo it was quite a chore to get down. Saw some frighteningly low numbers on the speedo, but then again-it was a stupendously strong wind. Honest. 
Pic Overload. Some of the old mine workings in Cwmystwth.


Looking back the way I came.

Sun! 


I was acutely aware of suddenly being among trees and 'proper' grass again at some point. Interestingly, the wind dropped, the temperature picked up-and so did my spirits! I had survived the legendary Cwmystwyth! Ok, so I'm probably making a much bigger deal of it than is absolutely necessary, but it really has to be experienced to be appreciated. After that it was  a simple matter of getting back to Devil's Bridge and then potentially the biggest decision of the day:


Go left, and be back home in about 30-40 mins. Or go right, and get to a cafe in about 30-40 mins.


 Bearing in mind at this point I was on about 50 miles, and a good 3 1/2 hours. I went for the cafe option :D as, I said to myself as I made the turn, I would subsequently be able to do more, maybe another hour or so after the stop-thus nullifying any adverse training effects of cake. (as if there are any I hear you cry!). Long story short, I got back to the Nant-Yr-Arian cafe...only to find there were no tables free inside :( and to make matters worse, they had no chocolate cake! :O I hung aroud in the queue for about 10 mins looking forlorn and cold (which wasn't that hard to be frank) hoping some nice old couple would offer me their table and maybe buy me some lunch-but alas, to no avail. Instead I bought a take out coffee and a Mars bar. Rock and roll. I downed the coffee in about 5 minutes outisde, nearly making myself choke in the process; why is the stuff in the bottom of the cup always so much hotter than the rest? And set off again. I decided to add another loop that's quickly becoming a favourite of mine, going up onto the hill tops again out of Ponterwyd to Penrhyn Goch via the Pendam reservoir. None of that will make any sense to 90% of you I'm sure, but just so you know :) I got to Penrhyn Goch and decided I may as well chuck another loop in. This one goes through Bontgoch. A truly gorgeous valley, literally 5 miles out of Aber. I've done it every time I've been out this week it's that good. Interestingly, the timer ticked over 5 hours at this point-and in all honesty I felt waaaay better at this point than I had in the first two hours! My slow and steady build up of training load over the past few weeks seems to have worked-as this was without a doubt the hardest 84 miles I've done route/terrain wise-but paradoxically probably the easiest in terms of actually riding them. Bodes well eh. Shame there aren't many 5 hour 3rd Cat races.

Just about to descend into Bontgoch.

The reverse view of above: back down towards the sea, Aber off to the left out of view.




So then I went home. Chucked in a sprint or two-I am training after all. Felt good. Lay on my bed for about half an hour afterwards feeling rather empty. Funny how you can feel fine up to the point where you stop riding. Suppose the easy answer is just not to stop! Or not.


So 84 miles in 5 and a half hours. Some of the most remote and quite frankly epic roads I've ever done. This wasn't just a training ride, this was an adventure. 


Vital Statistics and other stuff:

  • Food consumed; 1 chocolate spread sandwich, 1 'Honey Stinger' Strawberry Waffle thing-Gorgeous, give them a try, 1 Mars Bar, 1 cup of coffee (that counts right?).
  • Kit shortcomings noted: cold ears, numb face, cold wrists, chilly chest in full on wind at times, cold ankles (bizarrely, even though I had shoe covers on).
  • Stops: 15 mins in Rhayader bus shelter. 20 mins at Nant-Yr-Arian cafe (10 of those spent in queue ¬_¬), many hours fiddling with my phone to get it to take pictures with numb fingers.
  • Suicidal sheep count: 2.
  • Insignificance in the Bigger Picture realisation count: 1.
  • Lights taken with me:3.
  • Lights used:3.
  • Time spent writing this piece that could have been better utilised sleeping or eating or something: 1 hour.
And I leave you with this thought: 'It truly is by bicycle that one really understands, experiences and bears witness to a landscape. You cannot intimately know or appreciate the true nature of an area until you have cycled through it'. 

I came up with that believe or not, right then. And with that I'm off to find some more food and sleep.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Wind.

It's windy at the moment here in Aber. It's also rather windy elsewhere in the UK according to reports; although as anyone who has lived here will tell you-it is sometimes easy to forget there is a world outside of Aberystwyth. Nice place, worth a visit. Good roads. However, it is definitely not as windy as below:




Speaking of good roads...actually, I don't have enough time to go into detail on that subject! Safe to say, for someone used to the population density and topography of the North West the roads down here are truly wonderful to witness on two wheels. I'm beginning to find my way (so to speak) now, and have enough routes in my mental GPS for me to do some decent hours on my own now. Last week I did almost as many hours as I was doing mid season, which was a bit of a  surprise when I totted them up. It seems the key at this time of year is to not rush it, to build up gradually and not push too hard too soon. Looking back over the weekly totals, that's exactly what I've been doing over the past 3/4 weeks. Interestingly, I've hit my summer race weight again. Which is yet another surprise, as I'm not doing anything other than eating fairly well (and enjoying it I might add :D) and riding my bike! Lost a good 1.5-2kg since late November, so I'm not complaining there. If only the power was there eh ;)


I spent £5 on decorations in Poundland yesterday, I've got a mini tree, some tinsel (put some on my bike as well) and a sneaky set of fairy lights. I say sneaky, as they're technically not allowed in Uni accommodation. Scrooges. I've got 3 language assessments next week, then the parents are coming down for a few days and then it's back home for Crimbo! Really quite looking forward to:

  1. Showing the 'rents some of the roads down here
  2. Going home
  3. Christmas
  4. Mother-made food
  5. Seeing everyone back home again
It is interesting just how much being away from places/people etc makes you appreciate them! Awwwww. 


Oh and I seem to be developing a mild toast addiction. Can't seem to get enough of the stuff. Need some more cake stops. That'll sort it.




Things I've learnt since I last posted:

  • Average speed means nothing round here. Scenery and hills are much more important.
  • Porridge+granola+sultanas+omega mix+honey followed by toast=Best Breakfast Ever.
  • Flatmates can (supposedly) come in rather drunk at some godforsaken hour and shout 'let's see if John's awake...JOOOHHHNNNN' without causing me to break my slumber. Awesome.
  • A 1 hour German lesson can (and sometimes will) turn into 40 minutes of Maths while the lecturer bravely attempts to explain the marking and grading system to 20 languages students. 'Well you see, we mark out of 85% when it's actually 100%. So your mark is out of 100%, but we change it to out of 85% for your grade. What do you mean that doesn't make any sense?'
  • Buying Xmas presents for the family will make your eyes water when you see the total, but is is definitely worth it. Much prefer spending on others...guilt free! 
  • Listening to Heavy Metal just before going to bed is perhaps not the best way to mentally prepare, but it works surprisingly well.
  • Pilates can hurt. In strange places you thought couldn't hurt. 
  • I need to plan these posts beforehand, as I always seem to end up rambling.
So I'll leave you with these guys I came across earlier in the week. They're Danish, they play guitars and sing and I really rather like their style. You may not, but why not have a listen and see?
A bientôt.

Sunday 27 November 2011

Winter Version 1.0

Well it's started. My winter campaign is underway and I am now into the second week of what I have dubbed Winter 1.0. It was nice to have a few weeks off after the Nationals, and by off I mean have three or four caramel slice runs in my week back home (one of them was a double as well, slightly gluttonous) and then do a 7 hour epic with the Southport CC. Hmm. I hadn't expected it to be quite as long as it was, but it was great fun-new roads, big group, real sense of actually travelling somewhere as opposed to just doing endless loops. Have a look at the report here: http://southportcc.co.uk/ClubRuns.html

Those 3 weeks of beer, curries and chocolate passed rather quickly and I had originally intended to only start Winter 1.0 in December; but a Saturday club run with the Ystwyth club, a few spritely fellow students and resident Team UK Youth Pro Gruff Lewis gave my body an unexpected but not unwelcome kick start last week...so I figured why not start now! I'd been getting a bit bored forcing myself to not ride too much and was really rather looking forward to getting back in the routine and eating properly again. Sunday was a bit dodgy though, a combination of having shredded legs after around 3,000 ft of fast climbing on the Saturday (and the distance, a modest 68 miles-but these are Welsh miles. I.E. nothing flat) meant I was swinging a bit after about 20 miles. It wasn't helped by having the resident Aberystwyth GearMonster being the only other one out on the post club dinner ride...(think Bert Grabsch cadence and gear choice and you've got a good comparison). 
I knew I'd seen him somewhere before...
Normally I would have relished such a motor-pacing opportunity, (22-23mph into a headwind on a rolling road anyone?) but not last Sunday. Long story short, still did nearly 60 miles, very nearly got the fringale, cursed my Uni accomodation being at the top of a f**k off big hill, napped, felt like sh*t for the rest of the day, slept like a log, felt great come Tuesday's night ride! 


These two weekends have largely followed the same template: Saturday, feel good then not so good. Sunday, feel ok then definitely not good. Luckily this week both days were more 'good' than 'not so good'. I could definitely feel the benefits of last weeks unpleasantness. It is interesting how quickly I feel the fatigue now though, I can go from feeling comfortable to struggling in less than 15 mins. Very strange. But then again, I wasn't expecting to start winter with anything approaching race fitness! So yeah, looking forward to seeing what two months of this does!


Things I've learned recently:

  • A cup of Big Maggy's coffee is perfect for getting a tired and weary John back home over a couple of nasty 25% gradients at the end of a ride.
  • Welsh roads=FANTASTIC
  • Flat roads and 'recovery rides' are a relatively alien concept to Aberystwyth cyclists ;)
  • I am very glad I specced my winter bike with a compact chainset! Need it round here...
  • If you put me in the position where I can buy cake in a cafe, even though I am now 'training' I will buy said cake. 
  • Merino wool base layers can take a lot before they begin to smell or feel nasty-student's best friend!
  • I am already sick of washing all my cycling kit in my sink and then having it drip dry for days on my airer in the middle of my room :/
  • I now need a lot more sleep than your average student.
  • And more food.
  • I really should go to the Uni library more often.

Speaking of winter miles, interesting riding companions and cake have a look at this, I expect you'll find it rather amusing: http://traumradfahren.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/base-miles-in-winter-base-on-base-off/

That is the end of tonight's stream of consciousness. 

Fin.

Friday 25 November 2011

Season Review Part 2.




Then I started at the University of Aberystwyth. And the second weekend I was there, did the Fibrax-Wrexham RC Open Hill Climb up the Horseshoe Pass in Llangollen. I went into this just as the dreaded ‘Fresher’s Flu’ kicked in, and awoke the morning of the competition with a horrendously thick and catarrhy head. Still after a decent warm up I didn’t feel too bad. I had been seeded 87th out of 90. I did what I still believe to be a ‘perfect’ ride. Got the pacing spot on, gearing just high enough and emptied myself sprinting for the line. I was pleased my pacing was accurate, as we’d only driven up it the day before and I hadn’t had time to ride it. I placed 3rd, 17 seconds behind Richard Handley (Team Raleigh-lovely guy) and 6 (I think) seconds behind Dan Evans (Rhos On Sea CC). I was rather surprised at this result if I’m honest, I hadn’t really been able to do any training in the run up what with the craziness of Fresher’s Week and all. However it now seems like I was properly rested coming into it and that my road form was still very much present! Either way, seeing my name 3rdout of 90 was rather special, as was the medallion and £20 prize money! 
Told you I could gurn.
Trust me when I say this, there was a dog on the roof. Seriously. 
Yeeeahhh.

Things then quietened down for a few weeks. Tried to get into a training routine and failed, largely due to dodgy weather and not lectures getting in the way (or is it the other way round...) Either way, the weekend of my birthday came around and with it a manic few days travelling back home, doing two hill climbs and then getting back to Aber. On Saturday it was the Nelson Wheelers HC up out of Barley near Pendle Hill. I wondered whether this climb really suited me, yes it had a steady gradient but it was rather short as the course record from the previous year was around 4 minutes. I set a time of 3:53.6. And held the new course record for approximately 57 seconds! I ended up 5th behind Mike Cuming (Twenty 3C Orbea) who set a new course record (he held the previous) of 3:30.2. That was a lot of time to be beaten by over such a short distance. The next day (my birthday incidentally-20 years young!) was the North Lancs RC HC up the Infamous Nick O’Pendle. Interestingly, this event attracted the likes of Tejvan Pettinger (Sri-Chinmoy Cycling Team and a bit of a Legend this year) and Paul Jones (Bristol South CC and fellow competitor at all my Open HCs this year. Also a bit of a Legend...) which tells you something about the nature of this hill. Again, I didn’t pre-ride it due to time constraints more than anything else (seems to be a recurring theme this...) and paid the price subsequently. I posted a time of 4:23.3 which was good enough for 8th, 50 seconds down on Tejvan (who was if memory serves me correctly 7 seconds off Chris Boardman’s record). On reflection I think forcing myself to ride a higher gear by using a fixed gear would, providing I kept the cadence, yield a significantly quicker time.
Barley HC. Cheers to Paul Jones for these two!


Nick O'Pendle HC. B*tch of a climb. Think my bar tape needed changing no?

So that just left me with another double weekend of competition left, but this was the big one. The BUCS Uni champs on Saturday 29th and then the Nationals on the Sunday. I remember talking to Jim Henderson at last year’s Southport CC club dinner and asking him if it was a realistic goal to try and ride the Nationals this year. He said it was, but it seemed like such a big step (at that stage I had probably done fewer than 10 competitive events on a bike-not forgetting two hill climb wins of course :D...). I think the weight of what I was undertaking had been lost somewhere in the intervening 11 months (perhaps the fatigue of a long season catching up on me?) but I struggled to really motivate myself for these two last, and admittedly rather large, hurdles. As a result, I kind of got the week in-between my birthday weekend and the Nationals weekend wrong. Where I should have tapered and rested, I did a couple of hard rides and only had one day completely off the bike before the weekend. Not perfect preparation, but with a good long warm up  (which for a change included a ride up the hill) I felt ok for the Uni champs. I was seeded 145th out of 150 riders and came joint 13th with two other guys at 6:11.00 with the winner coming in at 5:37.00. This was a bit of a disappointment if I’m honest, as despite not knowing the hill at all, or having any idea of the level of competition, I’d quietly been hoping for at least top 10 and possibly better. Unfortunately in terms of accurate results, times were only recorded to 00.01, whereas normally timed events such as these are done to 00.00.01 which resulted in a huge number of joint placings. Next year I plan to target this event properly, come back and recce it a number of times beforehand and used a fixed gear-as again, I can see big time improvements being made with a carefully selected fixed gear. 
Warming up for the BUCS Uni Champs. Thanks to Colin from the club for the plain skinsuit loan!




So, onto the 2011 National Hill Climb Championships. At 4.44 miles long and an average gradient of 3.2%, this wasn’t exactly a hill, more a ‘slope’, but as people have rightly pointed out this just gave some of the more powerfully built riders a shot at the title. I set a time of 14:44.4 (which works out at an average speed of 18.5mph). I apparently had the fastest halfway split time for much of the race, but as people rightly point out that’s only worth noting if you actually maintain it all the way. Unfortunately I didn’t, but I attribute this more to my lack of aero kit than shoddy pacing!
This is my scary face. Gurn #3?


As you can see, my kit and bike set up was same as before: skinsuit, cotton cap, lightweight handbuilt wheels, lightest tyres and tubes possible, bottle cages and bolts removed, haircut (ok, maybe for next year) which has worked admirably. However, comparing this to the standard of at the very least tri-bars, and often extending to full TT bikes and even disc wheels I began to get a bit suspicious. You know it’s not your average ‘hill’ when deep section wheels and TT helmets massively outnumber lightweight wheels and cotton caps. Not that I’m bitching or making excuses. I got my training wrong, routine was wrong in the weeks leading up and to be honest, I was a bit fed up of all the hassle by the end of it! So that was my first National Championship. Next year I will be back and better prepared, onwards and upwards!


I honestly don’t think there’s any more I could write if I wanted to. Fin.