Wednesday 19 February 2014

Not an option!

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Hello again

Something niggled after my last ride.  No doubt about it, it was the toughest ride to date and I enjoyed it, but I let a problem with the Garmin satnav get in the way of me finishing, so although I achieved a lot, it felt hollow.

I'm taking on Land's End to John O'Groats in just 5 months time, so this sort of attitude is just not acceptable, so today I went out and took on the route again, determined to ride harder and complete it. Giving up is not an option!!

And that I did, I finished nearly 20 minutes ahead of were I was on track to finish last time out and my overall pace was 1 mph faster.  Excellent stuff, really chuffed with the ride, see it below:




Monday 17 February 2014

A wander in Wales

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Hello

This week I'm spending a short break in the rolling countryside of Wales, in a small converted mill a few miles out from the hamlet of Tregaron, inland from Aberystwyth.  If you've never visited Wales, then I can highly recommend then beautiful countryside, but be warned!

If England has a few lumps and bumps, Wales has mammoth hills that will test you, whether you go out for a walk, a cycle ride or both as I did yesterday.  I set myself up for a 50 mile circular route out to the coast and back, it looked nice from the Garmin Connect site which I used to plot my route, all I had to do was upload it to my Garmin 800 Edge and it would show me the way.  Here's the ride:

I set off at 0730 on a bright morning as the rest of the cottage inhabitants were sleeping, clean fresh air filled my lungs as I slowly paced my way up the farm track to the main road as four (yes four) buzzards silently watched me from the neighbouring field, probably wondering what a lycra clad fluorescent orange person was doing cycling at that time of the morning!

There was a bit of downhill to begin with, all lined by fields full of sheep, and as the cool morning air rushed past me I began to feel fully awake.  And then the hills started.  I've never experienced cycling like it, a constant up and down steep gradients, on two occasions I had to get off and push, my bike simply ran out of gears that would allow me to carry on!

With every uphill there was a beautiful vista for miles of rolling hills, flooded valleys and a backdrop of a bright blue sky that made it worthwhile.  That and the down hill sections too!  Often these were steep, and not knowing the roads I couldn't go as fast as I would have liked, although my Garmin tells me I hit 33mph, so not bad.

I had told the gang back at the cottage that I would be 3.5hours or so, but after 1 hour I had only managed just over 10 miles, this was looking to be a cycling odyssey as the huge hill was still to come!  I pushed on to the little seaside town of Aberaeron ( a delightful little place, worth a visit if you come up this way).  The town is pretty much at sea level, but everywhere surrounding it is at about 1,000ft.  If you have ever cycled up a 1,000ft hill I can promise you, you will remember it very well, your thighs will burn, your lungs will be sore as you take deep lungfuls of not enough oxygen and your head will swim with the effort.  Wow!  It was tough, but tremendously rewarding when getting to the top.

The ride went on from there and consisted of more hills, thankfully a good deal of long downhill sections which were great.  As I rode past the fields, sheep jumped and fled from the orange monstrosity, and I began to think that the regularity of it may make an RSPCA officer suspicious, so I was thankful none were about.  Tractors and farm workers whizzed by, buzzards peered at me from hedges and soared over fast fields ahead.

As the Garmin clocked up 30 miles I began to count down how far I needed to go, 20, 19, 18, 17.  It was enjoyable ride, but incredibly strenuous and I was looking forward to finishing.  I hit 40 miles (10 to go) and then things got a little confusing, which ever way I went my Garmin told me I was going the wrong way, I guess now that I had botched the route at that point, the sensible thing would have been to check it on my phone and ride on.  Instead, I got a little frustrated and guessed that the route was to my right, so off I headed for miles in utterly the wrong direction as I discovered when I eventually stopped and did what I should have done before.  At this point time was beginning to tick away, a ride that should have been done at 11am was now dragging on past 12 and I still has a quarter of it to go!  I decided to get a lift back at this stage (although now wish I hadn't) and called it a day.  None the less, a very satisfying ride and I was pleased with how hard I had pushed myself - in 42 miles I had climbed 3,500 feet, just shy of the total climbing I had done in the 100mile New Forest sportive in October last year.

Here are a few shots from the afternoon walk (a 3 hour romp - I was tired by the end of the day).




Onwards & upwards

Mike





Sunday 2 February 2014

Can you do it, can you?

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Can you do it, can you?

There are so many occasions in life when you may doubt your ability to overcome a challenge of some sort, whether it be at work, in your personal life or when you take on a daft feat that might push you to your physical limits.

Today I upped the ante a little and went for a 50 mile training ride, a step up from the 36 miles or so I've been doing up to now and with 2,700ft of climbs, a real stretch for me, but something I felt I needed to do as I gear up for the first organised ride of the year, the 80 mile Wiltshire Wildcat on 16 March.  

I've copied the route below, a fantastic forest track along some quiet roads, I even saw a herd of deer as I went towards Nomansland.  The beauty of the route could lull you into a false sense of security and I must admit, it did me, as I headed up from Lockerley towards Salisbury the hills began to get bigger and longer, the wind pushed me back as I struggled up hills and my legs and lungs burned with the effort.  The hills did not stop at Alderbury either, every corner I turned another climb ominously greeted me.  And that's when I started to question myself.

All sorts of things go through your mind when you are up against it and struggling, you doubt your abilities and your confidence gets tested.  I began to think about getting off and stopping, the small of my back was aching, my shoulders and neck were very uncomfortable, my legs felt heavy as all of the energy drained away.  I began to think about the challenge I had taken on in the Land's End to John O'Groats, I will be cycling twice this distance in a day, day after day and no doubt up bigger hills.

I began to think about the route I was on, I was starting and finishing in the same place, so all of the big hills I climbed would soon be descended, the wind in my face would at some point be behind me, all the hard work I was putting in would benefit me later, I just had to keep going.  And so I did, 3 hours and 40 minutes later, I finished.

I'm sure there will be more ups and downs, as we train and complete this challenge, there will be times when I doubt I can do it, cycling 7 hours a day, day after day.  But the hard work I am doing now will put me in good stead, the team around me will cheer me on (as I will them), the memory of those I'm raising money for will inspire me and the support of those who've sponsored me will keep me pushing up those hills even when the wind tries to push me back down, I know a lot of requests come round nowadays, so I hope you can spare a few quid to support me too.

Thanks for reading (and happy cycling)

Mike