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Well, I got off to the best start possible considering my circumstances:
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Johnnyhotdog, youve just made my day with your effort, top job and good luck!
Cheers dsan!
I was in the same position last year and kind of wished I'd done something so I guess this is it!
Everyone elses blogs and photographs will hopefully provide motivation as will the prospect of a real ride next Saturday.
Good luck with it everyone!
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after a short mtb skills session i have now done 26%, and still have a few more miles to do today.
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It's the season for Garmins to go mad- mine stopped halfway round my first lap of Richmond Park yesterday, I only noticed and switched to the Strava app on my phone when I'd finished another lap pretty much.
Then today all the maps information vanished 1/3rd of the way out, leaving me following a fuzzy pink worm as best I could.
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[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136204384[/ame]
Day 2 was a recovery day. Early start to go out to Swinley Forest with the 29er. Am sure the reformed mountain biker Mottram will not approve of this, even more my sullying his lovely togs with mud. Thankfully the green and red cross kit from 3 years ago made me look like one of Santa’s little helpers upon the bike with over sized wheels.
Rendez vous was 9.30 at the Lookout at Swinley forrest, this has become my muddy playground, a convenient train from home and quick ride gets me to the heart of the woods. Another character from lfgss.com called Howard came with me and we met Brent, Jules, Andrew, Patsy and Pete in the carpark. Things were a little chilly and after a brief wait for the last two to arrive we set off.
I know Brent from road cycling with Hounslow and District Wheelers, on a ride he let slip that like me he enjoys getting mucky off tarmac, and then I kept bumping into him on singletrack in the forests. He is currently encouraging members of the road club to join him in the winter off season on bikes and taking advantage of the cover of trees. Time on the road can be grim with the wind against you, the forest is generally a few degrees warmer without the wind-chill factor. Part of the incentive for people to join Brent is that he is offering skills training sessions, and my MTB exploits so far involve too much exuberant energy and a pitiful lack of technical ability.
Given the past few wet days the plan was for a session of mud plugging - learning to navigate wet mud, roots and generally treacherous terrain, including steep descents. I really enjoy off road jaunts but am fully aware that if I had greater control this could be hugely enhanced. My experience of muddy puddles at the bottom of hills is that whatever vector I approach them I have no idea of my exit.
After a few sections of technical muddy roots we came to our first descent, true to form there was a grotty pool at the bottom before a swift rise and a lip to overcome. First time I cheated and swerved around the puddle and then had to pedal over the lip. This was not really the exercise, I was meant to be releasing the brakes, trusting the bike to get through the mud and roll up and over the lip. This was outside my comfort zone but with some great guidance the section was repeated. Hammered down the hill, hit the puddle and promptly found the bike veering off towards a tree to one side of the lip. Thankfully once out of the puddle the bike actually responded to my steering, and the heart in mouth moment melted into a smile. Trusting the bike had paid off. Brent then demonstrated the section to the other novices, and also found that the mud was sending him on a swerving exit.
Most of my mountain biking has been a case of meet up with friends and then go for a ride, so this training malarkey is relatively new to me. Repeating sections until they can be nailed, and learning from other peoples experience rather than the pain of my own mistakes is so much more sensible. There is a section of the forest called the Corkscrew, very technical twisty, muddy and slippery singletrack. It took me a few weeks to be able to nail it without putting a foot down. Howard and Andrew have even less MTB experience than me, but with the knowledge gained in this one morning they both completed the section perfectly on first attempt.
Patsy’s son Pete was feeling a little under the weather, we were not sure if this was a few too many sherbets the night before or from too large a breakfast but he and his mum peeled off after he became unwell. The rest of us continued and were clearly learning quickly. Rooty sections were being navigated with greater ease and speed - it’s counter intuitive that to go faster over technical sections makes them easier, but it allows the bikes momentum to carry you forwards, and of course it means one is on the difficult bits for less time.
After yesterdays fixed hilly ride, my legs were feeling fairly brutalized today. It was one of those days when the heart does not want to pump and the legs are reluctant to turn a pedal. As such was a relief to not be doing miles of singletrack at speed, though there were a few brief moments where we were encourage to give it some beans. Brent is a veteran MTB racer and it was really useful having him show the fastest lines through some of the heavily bermed sections of singlegrack such as the Stickler trails. There is the fantastic moment when it feels like you are on a speeder in Endor, weaving through trees and being spat out of bowls and berms at velocity. This is the excitement of grown men on toys made of space age materials returning to their childhood state.
Our final part of the training for the day was similar in profile to a ski jump, steep long descent followed by a short climb with a lip. My firm belief is that bikes are for riding, not flying, though the demonstration showed that if the brakes were released on the descent air would be achieved. Heart in mouth I tried to recreate this, first time was not successful, brakes were applied on the descent and the lip was rolled over. Others were even more cautious, but to complete the ascent a decent velocity was required and it looked like pedaling was not the way to nail the section. After a few more bashes people were either rolling over the top or even getting some air, an unnerving but exhilarating experience.
It’s good to remember that not all riding needs to be an epic suffer fest, and that there are skills to be learned and developed. It’s all too easy just to always go out and ride trails, but this morning’s education clearly showed benefits in our riding over the few hours. We were content but covered in mud, our bikes were even more filthy. The Lookout was shut today, possibly a thing to be grateful for as the coffee they serve may as well be stagnant ditchwater - its almost as vile a brew as the one found on top of Box Hill.
Howard and I were both traveling back to London by train, and he decided to make use of my garden and hose to clean his bike and have a coffee. He is also attempting the festive 500 so on the train home we decided to add an extra couple of miles to the journey from Richmond to Kew by going along the Thames.
I knew I had a ton of things to do upon my return home. While Howard was looking in my bike shed he noticed there was a pheasant hanging there, and reminded me of another task to be completed. So after the bikes were cleaned, coffee drunk Howard left me in a cloud of pheasant down as I effectively became mudded and feathered.
[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136204378[/ame]
Various tasks completed and I had to nip into town to meet my long suffering girlfriend. Thankfully she is also a cyclist so understands my 2 wheeled affliction/addiction, sadly she is not very well at the moment so can’t join me on many of my cycling exploits. This afternoon we were just meeting on the Kings Road for final Xmas shopping and coffee before cycling to her mother’s for supper. The lights on the roads were not full of festive cheer, lots of red and very few green made for a highly unsatisfying trip across town, though supper was more than adequate compensation. The other half is a fantastic cook and had been slaving in her mother’s kitchen for most of the day, so I had a hearty refueling this evening.
2 days into the Ride of Redemption and there is the warm tired glow of over exercise grumbling through my body, it aches but satisfyingly so. 30% complete and looking forwards to using this as a perfect excuse to get more time out on the bike in the next 7 days. Life feels good.
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Nice work dancing james - there's surely a prize for that blog.
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A very pleasant 35 miles around Winchester today with Xander:
http://app.strava.com/rides/2875951
204km completed so far
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As I’ve said previously I don’t ride in kilometres, but that may not stop me aiming to do 310 miles over Christmas.
I’ve had a reasonable start with 110 miles on the 23rd and 24th. This was a trip to Oxford to visit my sister on her birthday – an annual event for me. Just to make things slightly more challenging this year I chose to use the ex Marcel Planes 1913 BSA Roadster as described in the 1911 Century Competition thread. I’ve really got to like this machine, and with it set up to suit me the ancient bike has proved to be a surprisingly efficient mile eater. In view of the amount of luggage I was carrying (at least 20 lbs.) it was probably easier to climb over the Chilterns at Stokenchurch with the BSA’s 49” bottom gear than it would have been on my normal winter hack (66”). The difficulty for me in doing this ride is that I don’t like riding in the dark, but for various reasons I can never manage to arrive before about 4 pm. This means that by the time I’ve come down Dashwood hill I’m always in a rush to beat the failing daylight. This year was no exception, and at Tetsworth the moderately light rain turned into a downpour which forced me to seek shelter in a pub and caused me to lose a little more precious daylight. During this brief stop the wind changed from South West to a blustery North West headwind, slowing my progress and forcing the rain through all the weak spots in my ‘waterproof’ top. I did have an old tent style yellow cape with me – appropriate for the bike but impossible to wear in that wind. By the time I stopped at Headington to buy wine for dinner my hands were so cold I had difficulty in undoing the flap of the pannier and I was profoundly glad I’d only got another 3 miles to do, rather than another 55 as proposed elsewhere on this forum. The return journey was relatively easy with a favourable wind but even so I wasn’t sorry to arrive home. My next longish ride should be Tuesday and I intend to stick to the BSA as it’s a Veteran-Cycle Club do. A photo should follow when I can find the camera again. -
- Christmas Commuting
[ame]http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136374724[/ame]
This morning I woke in a strange bed, it was the first time I have ever stayed at my girlfriend’s mother’s house. Before any bizarre accusations are made I was in the girlfriend’s bed! Last night I had dozed off early, and was woken by Alex at ten minutes past midnight. Like many cyclists I am just a little child trapped in an adult body, so I promptly gave her one of her Xmas gifts with the not so cunning intent of getting one back from her. It took much badgering, faux sulking and petulance from me to elicit a return gift, but the exchange was fair. She got some Rapha women’s winter tights in an XS, so clearly fnck all use to me. I however got an item of desire, the Imperial Works knitted hat, so had gone to sleep knowing all was well in the world, though it had taken effort to overcome the childish impulse to go to sleep in the new hat.
Breakfast was light and continental, coffee and croissants, before getting on our bikes to ride the deserted streets of London. A bunch of friends from lfgss.com organise the Waifs and Strays ride.
http://www.lfgss.com/thread75313.html
I had previously participated in this a couple of years ago when I was in town tending for a dying friend and part of our cycling community. That time we had diverted the ride to see 50/14, as he was known, at Chelsea and Westminster hospital. It was slightly bittersweet to remember the last time I had ridden in this event, but many of the protagonists from 2 years ago were there, and it was wonderful and joyous to catch up with so many chums.
Lfgss is known as the friendliest/unfriendliest forum on the interwebz, a bizarre treasure chest of banter, knowledge, factual inaccuracies and sometimes caustic wit. We are like a drunken dysfunctional family, but today it was all about a gentle paced social around London.
To give a flavour of the participants, here was the list of intended riders for the day:
- Object.
- Lady Doom
- Jonny
- mojo
- Hoke
- JD
- JAH Tim
- ms.chris
- dublinkevin
- Hillbilly
- Mrs_socks
- cliveo
- Hilly Ben
- bothwell
- ChainBreaker
- lazysuperhero
- Cafewanda
- scherrit
- stiff link
- svnlto
- conker (ian)
- lardboy
- LittleHeather
- laner
- Brave
- Mrs Brave
- cf
- mrs cf
- Big Dave
- Itsbruce
- Kojack(Hicks)
- non-Drop needles.
- middleofnowhere
- alien (better than 50:50)
- Aroogah
- L&W
- Jacqui
- Deluka
- Quad
- JAMIE
- KEN
- eyebrows (73% chance)
- Digger
- jenny j
- Samuelson
- dogpants - first timer
- gios78
- Dashing Prancing Jingle Bells James
- Merry (well we can hope) Miss Mouse
- Bluefleet
- Rod Munch
- WillRiseley
- 790
- Aleksi
- Zebra Cyclist
- GetOutOfNJ
- emab
- Satan Santa™
- DemonBarber
- Bernie Turtle head
Not all made it, but not all who attended had actually signed up in advance. Most of our events are chaotic and ramshackle and this was no different.
Internet forums frequently end up with people adopting bizarre monikers and we follow suit. Object (we are never sure if this is a verb or a noun) organised the event – though this may be too strong a term, he suggested it, people turned up and we then set off on a not entirely pre determined route.
It was great to catch up with so many 2 wheeled friends. Jah Tim ever stylish and resplendent on the Rasta bike, Digger who must have sold his soul to the devil or be doing gods work as he has the gift of eternal youth, Hillbilly and MrsSocks, who met on the first Tweed Run and are now happily married, Cliveo – a long suffering riding partner (I am never sure if he suffers more from the rides or enduring me for hours on end), Mr and Mrs BikeWhisperer (Scherrit and Stiff Link), Bernie and Laner (these poor men had been cursed with my company on the Christmas Cracker), middleofnowhere who accompanied me for much of the Dunwich Dynamo this year, Alien on far too much bike for a simple ride, Aroogah (who had supplied the pheasant that was plucked yesterday), Julia, his partner aka LongandWinding, Dr Eyebrows, Malcolm Brave and his much faster other half Mrs Brave, Dapper Jonny and my 2nd favourite fat loudmouthed bald man with attitude (after myself) JD, Chainbreaker with his beach muscle arms and legs of spaghetti, flickwig and Trackend (as Paul used to call him), to name a few.
I am sorry to anyone I failed to highlight, there were so many I briefly chatted with over the course of the morning. In true forum style the ride started and stopped after a spectacular blow-out after a staggering 25m (metres, not miles) had been covered. It turned out that this was not the first of the punctures, Aroogah and L&W had 3 on the way in to town -the people of Ealing clearly had a smashing time last night. The blow-out went with a proper bang, and a 5 inch strip of inner tube was spat out from the wheel - methinks possible installation error had occurred. After the puncture was repaired we carried on our way, hip flasks were being shared and the law of the road was being flouted, but this was not just by the fixie skidder contingent. Car drivers this morning also seemed to be of the opinion that red lights were an optional instruction, not something that needed to be obeyed.
We meandered around town, to be honest I don’t recall much of the route just because it was such a social event. I spent too much time nattering, shouting abuse at friends and catching up with people to be focusing on where our motley peloton twisted and turned, we did see Hyde Park, Betty’s gaff, Parliament square and some of the West End. Today was not about the ride, more about the people and was delightful for it.
Missmouse is heavily involved in Southwark Cyclists who also had a ride taking place today, so when the fixwits went through Parliament Square we peeled off in order to head down South of the Thames. Those from this land of scant civilisation suggested coffee would be obtainable, but a scout around was unsuccessful. We did meet up with the valiant campaigners and pass on season’s greetings.
At this point the need for further caffeine and sustenance took over, so rather than follow another ride that was too gentle to keep us warm we headed towards Edgeware Road for lunch. It’s great not all of London follows Christian orthodoxy, and that we could have fantastic Lebanese food for our mid day repast –before lunch Alex had spied someone with Costa cup walking down Oxford St so we had stopped off for our caffeine top up.
After lunch we bloatedly rolled down Holland Park Avenue, by this point the winds had picked up and we found ourselves pushing against this far too soon after eating. Alex’s mum was waiting at our home, she had come over with Christmas gifts, and supplies to keep us stocked up. The rest of the day was taken up with a brief ride to Putney for a Christmas dinner with my sister. I will need to do a few more 500km weeks to burn off the after effects of my own bodyweight in turkey ‘n trimmings followed by the lunatic Blumenthal Popping Candy Chocolate Tart she had made. Am now sitting at home, feeling bloated and content.
- Christmas Commuting
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I've been riding around Winchester, an area that I grew up in, and started cycling in- albeit MTB'ing, so the roads are foreign territory.
This means that I've been trawling through Garmin Connect for routes that other cyclists have done, editing them slightly and then following in their wheeltracks.
So far this has been a great success, and today the Garmin finally stopped throwing up little issues (such as losing all mapping info).
I'd either forgotten, or possibly never known how beautiful it is round here, and how hilly!
A quick 28 mile this morning to give my legs a rest, and an inadvertant round number for the total mileage:
hippy
spenceey
dr_nosh
johnnyhotdog
somebody
dsan
dancing james
Amygdala
Dammit
tika
clubman-
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About
The Rapha Festive 500
Posted by
@almac68
Great, thanks for that.
Will download and give it a try.
Greetings of The Season