Those that have been following me on here know that this weekend I'm off to Cheshunt this weekend to take part in the London - Edinburgh - London 1400km (870mile) bike ride.
The ride is organised by Audax uk and is their flagship event only held every 4yrs.
I started doing audax rides 2.5yrs ago starting off with a 100km one and gradually building the distance up, the longest I've done so far is 600km so this ride will definitely be a challenge.
I leave here (MK) on Saturday morning for the ride down to Cheshunt, and will then spend Saturday afternoon relaxing and worrying about the next day.
There are 600 people entered for this event so it should be a good ride. I hope to do the ride in 5 sections, 4 of approx 300km and 1 200km. I may find I go well on the first couple of days and get further than expected. It will mainly be ride until I'm tired and see how it goes.
If you are interested in following me I'll be updating my Facebook page by using Twitter as and when I can get a mobile signal. It will mainly be at the controls along the way and some of these don't have reception.
A few of the other riders will be updating Twitter as well by using #lel these tweets can be found on the Twitter search page.
Hopefully I'll be back on here next weekend with a good report.
Friday, 24 July 2009
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Ride to Ely
Another weekend closer to LEL but this weekend I did manage to get out on a ride.
I was up at 07.00 on Sunday morning hoping to be away for 08.00, as usual I had too many ciders the night before. I eventually got out at 08.45 after breakfast and sitting in front of the computer for a bit too long.
As the Bacchetta was still off the road at the weekend I took the trike and headed for Biggleswade. I got to the garage for a receipt and then had to go back home again as I had forgot my waterbottles.
Away again and five minutes later I had to stop to reduce layers, half way up the steady climb along the A5 heading towards Woburn . Must have been the alcohol coming out!
Biggleswade came quite quickly and the next KM's to halfway point at Ely (100km) seemed to fly by getting there in just over 4hrs.
The route is relatively flat once you get past Cambridge and I found myself in top gear most of the time, and wanting another as I couldn't spin the pedals any quicker.
After the usual pie, cold sandwich and drinks from the garage I turned back the way I came and headed towards Huntingdon. It's no wonder the ride out was fast, I was now pedalling into a headwind, which was to stay with me for the whole way home.
Once past Huntingdon the route starts to get rolling again as I headed past Graftham water and onto Olney. (must organise a local ride to here sometime)
I got back home at 20.20. 11.5hrs out with about 2hrs off the bike.
No computer on the trike so I've no idea what the average speed was.
The forks for the Bacchetta arrived on Monday morning so I spent the day getting parts and refitting them.
Now just need to await the arrival of a fitting kit for the hardshell seat and I'll be ready for the long ride.
Well, as ready as I'll ever be!
I was up at 07.00 on Sunday morning hoping to be away for 08.00, as usual I had too many ciders the night before. I eventually got out at 08.45 after breakfast and sitting in front of the computer for a bit too long.
As the Bacchetta was still off the road at the weekend I took the trike and headed for Biggleswade. I got to the garage for a receipt and then had to go back home again as I had forgot my waterbottles.
Away again and five minutes later I had to stop to reduce layers, half way up the steady climb along the A5 heading towards Woburn . Must have been the alcohol coming out!
Biggleswade came quite quickly and the next KM's to halfway point at Ely (100km) seemed to fly by getting there in just over 4hrs.
The route is relatively flat once you get past Cambridge and I found myself in top gear most of the time, and wanting another as I couldn't spin the pedals any quicker.
After the usual pie, cold sandwich and drinks from the garage I turned back the way I came and headed towards Huntingdon. It's no wonder the ride out was fast, I was now pedalling into a headwind, which was to stay with me for the whole way home.
Once past Huntingdon the route starts to get rolling again as I headed past Graftham water and onto Olney. (must organise a local ride to here sometime)
I got back home at 20.20. 11.5hrs out with about 2hrs off the bike.
No computer on the trike so I've no idea what the average speed was.
The forks for the Bacchetta arrived on Monday morning so I spent the day getting parts and refitting them.
Now just need to await the arrival of a fitting kit for the hardshell seat and I'll be ready for the long ride.
Well, as ready as I'll ever be!
Monday, 6 July 2009
FSoTM ride
This year seems to be flying by, must be getting old!!
This weekend saw another of my local MK FSoTM rides, this one was a 20 mile ride around the back of Linford Lakes to Newport Pagnel and back again.
10 others turned up on Sunday morning and a good ride was had with a stop for a pint at MK village.
Only 1 puncture this time at about the halfway point.
No photo's this time as I forgot to take my camera.
The next ride is on the 2nd of August, it starts from Furzton lake at 10.00 and takes the Sustrans path to Winslow.
Hope to see more people along.
This weekend saw another of my local MK FSoTM rides, this one was a 20 mile ride around the back of Linford Lakes to Newport Pagnel and back again.
10 others turned up on Sunday morning and a good ride was had with a stop for a pint at MK village.
Only 1 puncture this time at about the halfway point.
No photo's this time as I forgot to take my camera.
The next ride is on the 2nd of August, it starts from Furzton lake at 10.00 and takes the Sustrans path to Winslow.
Hope to see more people along.
More ramblings
Not updated for a while, and not done much in the way of long rides the last couple of weeks.
I did start on a planned 300km ride to Newbury and Marlborough the other weekend, I was up at 6 and ready to go out at 7.
On the way to the garage I noticed the new dérailleur I'd fitted the day before was making funny noises, turn around and back home to take a look at it to find I needed to take some links out and shorten the chain.
Put bike back in shed, put pedals on to the trike and off I went again.
As I got to Aylesbury the day was starting to get hotter and I decided I really couldn't be bothered with cycling 180miles over the ridgeway 4 times in 28c heat.
I put on the suncream and turned left instead of right and headed for the Ivinghoe beacon instead.
The trike being heavier than the Bacchetta was a bit harder to drag up the hills but not too bad but it's worth it for the eye watering drops down the other side. Stopped for a couple of pints and some chips in a pub in Stanbridge and made my way back home for early afternoon.
Total was only 50 miles, but I had a good ride and really enjoyed it.
This week saw me exchanging emails with the team at Bacchetta with concerns about the forks on my Giro 26. There seemed to be a line on the paint where the fork blades are bonded to the crown and the paint had started to bubble underneath. They have decided to change the fork without any problems, just to be on the safe side.
A trip over to D-Tek near Ely on Sat' morning with the bike to have the fork taken off and now have to wait for the new one to be sent over.
Back on the trike again for work this week, I suppose the extra weight helps the non existent training I've done for the long ride (L-E-L) at the end of the month. As I write this there are only 18 days to go!! Still a bit worried about it as it's the longest ride I've ever done and this year I've not done a ride over 400km yet.
On a sadder note I was surprised to read this from the Dept' of Transport the other day.
In 2008
28,567 people were seriously injured on the roads last year out of these 2538 people were killed.
1257 deaths were in a car.
2807 children were injured, 1784 of these were pedestrians and 124 died.
572 pedestrian deaths.
493 motorcycle deaths.
115 cycling deaths.
This is really astonishing reading, what other place would allow that many injuries or deaths go by with just an "Oh well, it was just an accident" attitude.
There's also been a lot of accidents in London recently with people undertaking left turning lorries and buses. 7 deaths in 5 months, 6 of which were woman.
For some reason these deaths don't make it onto the news, all road users including cyclists need to know the dangers of going up the inside of large vehicles.
Always go up the right-hand side when wanting to pass, NEVER on the left.
I did start on a planned 300km ride to Newbury and Marlborough the other weekend, I was up at 6 and ready to go out at 7.
On the way to the garage I noticed the new dérailleur I'd fitted the day before was making funny noises, turn around and back home to take a look at it to find I needed to take some links out and shorten the chain.
Put bike back in shed, put pedals on to the trike and off I went again.
As I got to Aylesbury the day was starting to get hotter and I decided I really couldn't be bothered with cycling 180miles over the ridgeway 4 times in 28c heat.
I put on the suncream and turned left instead of right and headed for the Ivinghoe beacon instead.
The trike being heavier than the Bacchetta was a bit harder to drag up the hills but not too bad but it's worth it for the eye watering drops down the other side. Stopped for a couple of pints and some chips in a pub in Stanbridge and made my way back home for early afternoon.
Total was only 50 miles, but I had a good ride and really enjoyed it.
This week saw me exchanging emails with the team at Bacchetta with concerns about the forks on my Giro 26. There seemed to be a line on the paint where the fork blades are bonded to the crown and the paint had started to bubble underneath. They have decided to change the fork without any problems, just to be on the safe side.
A trip over to D-Tek near Ely on Sat' morning with the bike to have the fork taken off and now have to wait for the new one to be sent over.
Back on the trike again for work this week, I suppose the extra weight helps the non existent training I've done for the long ride (L-E-L) at the end of the month. As I write this there are only 18 days to go!! Still a bit worried about it as it's the longest ride I've ever done and this year I've not done a ride over 400km yet.
On a sadder note I was surprised to read this from the Dept' of Transport the other day.
In 2008
28,567 people were seriously injured on the roads last year out of these 2538 people were killed.
1257 deaths were in a car.
2807 children were injured, 1784 of these were pedestrians and 124 died.
572 pedestrian deaths.
493 motorcycle deaths.
115 cycling deaths.
This is really astonishing reading, what other place would allow that many injuries or deaths go by with just an "Oh well, it was just an accident" attitude.
There's also been a lot of accidents in London recently with people undertaking left turning lorries and buses. 7 deaths in 5 months, 6 of which were woman.
For some reason these deaths don't make it onto the news, all road users including cyclists need to know the dangers of going up the inside of large vehicles.
Always go up the right-hand side when wanting to pass, NEVER on the left.
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