Sunday 30 January 2011

Legs still a bit sore this morning despite rest but they managed a shade over 50 miles on the Richmond Park Cycle to Cannes training ride – even got up early and put in a few extra laps, as last week.  I’ve also got a new toy - a bike computer that measures and monitors all sorts of stuff.  The upshot is that I’m worrying about things I previously didn’t know existed.  Today it's cadence and I’m concentrating on speeding it up.  Apparently turning the pedals faster will keep my legs working aerobically and reduce fatigue.  That sounds very appealing, but is more difficult than it sounds and my legs seemed to hurt more.  Thing is, it works for Lance Armstrong so who am I to argue.  So I’ll probably keep working at the cadence rate, but fear it might be too late. 

Also am I in danger of  getting completely sucked in to this roadie stuff – I couldn’t have given a monkey’s what my cadence was on a mountain bike as long as I got to the top of that slippery slope. 

And to make matters worse I'm becoming a nerd - see my training stats here via Garmin Connect.

Should I just turn off the new computer now?

Saturday 29 January 2011

Rest…………

Friday 28 January 2011

Ouch, apparently pain is just weakness leaving your body – my slightly sensitive legs are letting me know they need a rest.  The pain is not helped by a bitterly cold head wind (and my rear tyre rubbing against the frame).  Lots of effort for very little return, well at least until I adjusted the rear wheel off the frame.  I can’t tell you how much I hope we don’t get any headwinds on the ride, they rob me of strength and resolve.  I also trust my new ‘weekend’ bike won’t let me down with wheels coming out of alignment.  This new bike is beautiful, but boy, an enormous investment considering it’s a road bike - that is to say I don’t quite understand why it’s so expensive when it’s so simple - no suspension and hardly any gears - maybe it’s because it's mind bogglingly light?

Thursday 27 January 2011

Yep the wind is blowing from the north – I always enjoy a head wind, particularly a cold one, the cloud to yesterday’s silver lining.

Also after a long break I have finally managed to get to do circuits with British Military Fitness – brutal but effective.  I’m off to collapse into bed.  Looking forward to the prospect of sore legs tomorrow.

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Very rare thing occurred today, I had the wind behind me on the way in to work and by the time I came home it had turned and was on my tail – wonderful – and just as well as I peddled my son to and from nursery so was on my wife’s mountain bike – I have to admit that it has been a little neglected since its last outing in the snow, ice (and road salts) just before Christmas – almost everything has seized up.  My list of bike repairs is increasing; I still haven’t fixed the bottom bracket on my beater yet, it now makes an awful noise and the cranks wobble from side to side; must do this soon.

Tuesday 25 January 2011

An enormous crane was parked on the Fulham Road this evening with a chap in little cage dangling from it knocking loose bricks and stuff from the edges of the hole left in the terrace by the building collapse – smart way not to get buried – looked liked someone has done this before!  Hopefully the road will re-open soon – traffic chaos at the moment.  

Monday 24 January 2011

Disaster my routine has been disrupted – they have shut the Fulham Road where I join it on my travel across Southwest London.  The reason - part of a Victorian terrace undergoing renovation has collapsed.  Some poor structural engineer is having a very bad Monday morning.  By the way, it’s not one of ours, of course.   

Sunday 23 January 2011

Fifty miles under my belt before 10:30!  Got up a bit earlier and did a few extra laps of Richmond Park before the Cycle to Cannes training ride started.  A decision I regretted to be honest as the pace was a shade quicker than it has been in the past.  But I felt pretty strong after my rest day so spent most of my time trying to find opportunities to ride past Gary Elliott (my boss) whilst appearing, as best I could, to be making no effort at all - particularly on the hills.  He’s not at all competitive and nor am I!

Saturday 22 January 2011

No pedals turned today, although I did have a go at the bottom bracket on my beater – it was not pretty, I just put it back together as best I could and I will have to go to the shop to size up for a new one as cheaply as possible.

Friday 21 January 2011

My beater, a slightly shabby 1981 Raleigh Carlton, that does the commute come rain or shine (and probably won’t get nicked when I leave it locked to a lamp post) is beginning to make some odd noises, a sort of knocking, and its gradually getting worse.  I think the bottom bracket is in some trouble.  It just doesn’t make sense to put in the bike shop  - spending money on it will sort of give it value and then I’ll start wanting to look after it – which is not really what a beater is about.  So I’ll have to find my tools and strip the bracket myself – hopefully the ball bearings are still round and a bit of grease will sort it out.

Thursday 20 January 2011

Blindingly quick ride in this morning, the ride back was slow as normal so I can only imagine that by setting off at seven, an hour earlier than normal, I avoided the worst of the rush hour traffic.  The biggest difference I noticed was how clear the cycle lanes were.  So may be it’s not the cars that get in the way but other bikes?

Wednesday 19 January 2011

I have been commuting (furiously) to the new office in Oxford Street since late December and calling it training.  I have to say the gods have not made it easy, my first day marked the start of Britain’s arctic spell and when it finally gave that up it started raining.  So at last it has stopped that nonsense and my first proper blog is made in sunshine – and glorious it is too riding through Hyde Park with the early morning sun casting long shadows through the early morning mist and hoar frost.  Far better than the dismal grind on the tube.

Tuesday 18 January 2011

How did I find myself signed up for this? Well I signed up because in part I didn’t really understand what I was signing up to, but mostly because I am cycling for the charity BEAT.  BEAT is a charity that is dedicated to helping both those who suffer from eating disorders and their families and carers.

Elliott Wood the company I work for and who are sponsoring me on this escapade are raising funds for BEAT by supporting a number of charity events this year after founding partner Paul Wood sadly lost his daughter, Anna, on 26th March 2010 as a result of her anorexia.  She was 15 years old. 

So I find myself joining Gary Elliott, another founding partner of Elliott Wood, on this crazy trip. Hopefully we can raise some loot on the way.

So only one thing for it now, get on a bike and get the miles in – no particular training plan – It’s too late and besides I have a job, a wife and a two year old son – I don’t have two hours a day to go ‘hill training’.  I’m just going to ride furiously, everywhere, and hope for the best.

Monday 17 January 2011

Welcome to my blog for the Cycle to Cannes 2011 charity bike ride.  Over the coming six weeks I shall try and describe my journey from a keen mountain biker who enjoys nothing better than a sweeping single track to a fully integrated road warrior capable of devouring miles of tarmac each day.    

A journey that I thought would be as simple as swapping bikes.  How naive.  In the few weeks that I have started to take this seriously I have worked out that a mountain bike is fun and a road bike is about pain, more specifically how much pain you can take.  I have only flirted with road bikes in the near thirty five years since the stabilisers were taken off aged five.  On the rare occasion I have come by one it has ended with it being either nicked or breaking and I never felt moved to replace them in a hurry.  Thinking about it I have probably lost and bent more mountain bikes, but I can’t imagine life without one of those, so I guess those small tentative flirtations with dropped handlebars have never really led to anything meaningful.

But now I have signed up to something truly insane.  The Cycle to Cannes involves, rather unsurprisingly, cycling from London to Cannes.  Lovely, but as with most things there’s a catch: it’s all done on the road in six days.  What with London and Cannes being a trifling 1000 miles apart, that’s a whole load of tarmac.  Only word comes to mind - ATTRITION - written in my blood, sweat and tears.

To be fair, the organisers have recognised this insanity and to make the whole thing possible they have divided the ride into stages and split the riders into three teams.  Each team is expected to complete a share of stages, normally two a day, to ensure a relay baton reaches Cannes.  With each stage approximately 35 miles long an individual rider will complete over 70 miles a day as a minimum. 

A relay I here you scoff, but 70 miles a day is a London to Brighton ride each day for almost a week!

That worries me.  But to make matters worse there is an 'opportunity' to do more with the ultimate prize to go the 'whole distance' and ride every stage.  The whole distance requires herculean distances to be covered – up to 200 miles a day.  People have done it!  That worries me a lot.

Oh and I now own two road bikes - How long will it last?