Feeling the Pressure

I am beginning to feel the pressure.

The countdown clock has just ticked under the 100 days to go and 100 miles ( 162 km ) still feels to be an awfully long way.

The raw statistics show that I am putting in the base rides and the average pace is beginning to creep up.

So far this year

Total distance cycled = 2409 km

Total ascent climbed = 18099 m

and used 55584 C in accomplishing that.

The longest distance has been increased to 126 km which is 78% of the target distance.

My cross training, in the form of swimming, has covered 36.5 Km

On the positive side I am now regularly doing 70 km rides without stopping and my plan for London100 is to aim for 2 * 10 minute rest breaks after 50km and 100 km. All the statistics from my Garmin and Strava files show that my average cadence has increased to 80+ rpm ( from 69 rpm last year ) whilst my heart rate is staying well in control in Zone 2 with just the occasional burst into Zone 3 when climbing.

My aim in this Challenge is just to survive, I am not looking for fast times, and to get round in a total elapsed time of 8 hours will count as a huge success for me. 

So why am I worried? Probably a fear of the unknown and the need to push an aging body to extremes of effort that it has never before experienced, and in taking up cycling at the age of 60 I do not possess a reservoir of endurance to call upon.

But then I look at others.

Earlier this week I went to watch a TT held by Derby Mercury, one of our local cycling clubs.

Some people just crumple in the face of adversity when illness strikes. Others fight back, conquor it and go on to inspire others. 

This lady is an inspiration to us all. Having suffered liver failure she was fortunate to get a transplant and has since done great work in promoting the cause of Organ Donation. She has also become a key member of the GB Transplant Cycling Team representing our country around the world.

I need to show some of the guts and tenacity that she has demonstrated and just get on with it.

I am doing this ride on behalf of Mind, and whilst I need your moral support to drive me on, they need your support to continue the work they do in helping those who suffer from mental health issues

If you feel able to sponsor me then I would be very grateful and for every donation, as a small thank you, I will send you a copy of a recipe booklet entitled Cycling Food on the Go - Recipes for Success.

The recipes in this booklet have been provided by cyclists from around the world and each one comes with its own personal story. 

http://thediaryofmybike.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/cycling-food-on-go_15.html

Review of the Year

I love numbers

As such I tend to set myself targets, create spreadsheets to monitor progress and scour articles about gear ratios, rotational mass, power to weight ratios and other arcane things.  Needless to say, none of this affects my personal performance and I potter along as before.As a result of all this my favourite essential cycling accessory is probably my Garmin 800 which provides loads of data to keep me out of mischief for hours.
Having taken up cycling only recently, about 5 years ago now, and being an old age pensioner, I do have to accept that my ability on a bike is only going to go one way...downwards.
The act of retiring, and the receipt of a pension,  gives one a crystal clear perception of one's own mortality. The annuity bean counters make an estimate of one's life expectancy and payout accordingly, in my case they placed their bets on my lasting until I was 73 years old, anything beyond that then I am winning! My son tells me to be more optimistic and so for the purpose of target setting I assumed I would live until I was 80 years old. So, being a cycling novice I decided, at 60,  upon a distance target of 2000 miles ( 3200 km ) a year with the aim of reducing this by 100 miles per year to allow for growing infirmity. This then acts as the main yearly goal and for this year that translates into a minimum distance of  2400 km or  1500 miles .
Having so far ridden 7030 km and climbed over 50000m  then this first target has been achieved.

My second aim was to explore more of our countryside on my bike. Here I count this as a partial success. I have been invited to join in with other cycling groups in Cheshire, Shifnall, Leicester and a lung busting ride in Derbyshire. At all the places I have made new friends and been  made exceedingly welcome despite them all having to travel at a much slower pace than they are used to in order to accommodate me. Thanks go to Mark, Andrew, David and Scott for letting me tag along on  their rides. I was hoping to do a short cycle tour but in this I failed, not wanting to cycle alone and being unable to find others who had the same desire.

One of the main reasons for being wary of cycle touring was my lack of ability as a bike mechanic and a fear of  breaking down in the middle of nowhere. During the year I have tried to address this deficiency and regular readers will have seen my efforts as a Novice Bike Mechanic.

Not having been a lifelong cyclist, I do not possess the fund of stories of the trials and tribulations of times past when all the hills were steeper, the wind was windier, the rain was  wetter and carbon was a thing confined to pencils. Indeed climatic and geographical change seems to have happened in the 40 years prior to my getting on a bike!  One of the things I did learn from these tales of yore was that "Steel is Forever "and that Mercians were the Prince of Cycles. And so the highlight of my year was in obtaining my own handmade, personally fitted Mercian Vincitore Special on my 65th birthday in March. This is an example of engineering beauty and excellence and draws spectators wherever I go.

As my interest in cycling has grown I have become aware of the competitive side to this sport. Whilst I am now too old to take part,  I have enjoyed watching the sleek riders on their aerodynamic machines as they compete in local Time Trials, probably the purest form of cycle racing. At the other end of the spectrum I have revelled in the mud spattered and bedraggled riders as they attempt the Cyclo Cross challenges that our  autumn and winter can throw at them. Muffled up against the driving wind and rain I am glad that I AM now too old to participate in this peculiar form of personal pain.

Perhaps my greatest achievement this year was to undertake Wiggy's Challenge. Wiggy was an excellent and enthusiastic cyclist who for a variety of reasons had fallen into the state of becoming a " Lapsed Cyclist ". His challenge was to resolve this problem by undertaking to ride every single day for a week and he asked others to join him on this venture and share their experiences. I wrote an article about this and as a result of the Challenge I have encouraged many others to get on their abandoned bikes and ride again. It mattered not how far, how fast or how often; the important thing was to cycle again and experience the joy and companionship such an activity can bring. So far I know of about two dozen people who have returned to cycling from me telling them this story.

Finally, this year I learnt something about the importance of nutrition to a cyclist. Whilst there are many tomes written about this and experts a plenty; at my level I have discovered it is all about CAKE. Being the generous sort of guy that I am, I wanted to share this knowledge with others and so have produced a little pdf booklet  entitled " Cycling Food on the Go  - Recipes for Success ". If you would like a copy you can get it from :-

http://thediaryofmybike.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/cycling-food-on-go_15.html

Murder in the Derbyshire Lanes

I think I am dead.:-()

Tries the Jense test; “ Shut up legs!!! “

No response

I am dead :-(

As part of my training for the LondonRide 100 I need to increase my average speed by about 10% from 19kph to 21kph and sustain it over a very long distance.  
Talking about this requirement to a friend he offered to let me join one of his training rides and tow me along at a speed around about my target level. I should mention here that my    “ friend “ ( ??**!!!?? ) races for Derby Mercury Road Club, is at least 25 years younger than me, is a sub 60 min/25 mile TT rider and is approaching sub 21mins for 10 miles. He also possesses a stable of 7 bikes, made up of a mixture of carbon and titanium frames all equipped with top end kit, i was particularly taken with the power tap he had on his titanium winter bike that  he was using for our ride.

( As an aside, when I got home I described to my wife my awe and admiration for this set of kit. Her comment “ I bet he is not married ! “  He’s not )

Now with the crew I normally cycle with, my heart rate averages around Zone 2 as I zoom along in the middle ring, occasionally it might rise to zone 3 if we encounter one of the derbyshire peaks but it very soon drops back down to more acceptable levels.  It became rapidly apparent on this ride that Zone 2 and middle ring would not suffice! Thankfully the course was flat as over the first few kilometres my garmin 800 indicated a continuous speed of 30kph+, the inner ring was abandoned for the big ring and the little sprockets on the cassette were engaged for the first time in their life.

The external temperature was just hovering above zero and the wind chill lowered the effective temperature further, but despite this I soon began to work up a sweat.  Glancing at my heart rate I noticed it was 150bpm!  This is zone 5 and we were on the flat, and it was not dropping back!  Some serious effort was being extended here, at least by me.
The head wind did not help as the trees were shedding leaves like a snow storm. I tried the wheel sucking trick but to no avail as everytime I got within a couple of metres Scott thought I wanted to speed up and did so! Even the traffic lights were not on my side, conveniently changing to green as we rapidly approached them. The only respite came when we came across a train crossing and the barrier made us stop for a few seconds allowing my heart rate to drop for a minute. But then we were off again, blasting through the villages, overtaking other cyclists, slow moving cars and the occasional bus.
And then it was over. The entire ride had been done cycling continuously in Zone 5 and at a highest ever average speed for me.  The details can be seen at http://app.strava.com/rides/26138970

The cycle home seemed tame by comparison as I dawdled along reflecting on what had been a great experience. Thanks to Scott for taking me along with him. For him it had been nothing but a saunter and probably a waste of good training time. I do appreciate our time together. Once home it was straight to the cake tin for a slice of Bara Brith , great cycling recovery food !

And the murderer, well , have you seen this man?

Cycling for the Purist

I suppose that I am somewhat typical of the average cyclist.  Start out doing a little cycling, meet some friends who light my enthusiasm, become a bit more proficient and start to desire better kit,. With some people, and this includes me,  this then leads on to a growing appreciation of the history of the sport and the classic engineering which distinguishes the celebrated marques from the mass produced items.  An even smaller subset of these people are keen enough that they enter the realm of the competitive cyclist, and it is at this point that our ways part as I arrived too late and too unfit to ever contemplate racing.
The purest form of cycle racing is the Time Trial. From watching on TV and following threads on the web I was aware of both the Individual Time Trial and the Team Time Trial. The distances chosen for these events vary between short, medium and long, but even within these categories there is much variation as the nature of the local topography and road structure makes each course unique and so times for even the same distance cannot really be safely compared.

Talking to some local cyclists I discovered that Derby Mercury is a local club which holds Time Trials close to where I live and so I determined to go along and watch. When I retired I bought both a bike and a camera, never having been involved in either cycling or photography before, so this presented an opportunity to combine both my newly acquired interests.

Last Tuesday’s event was billed as a 2UP TT over 12.5miles with an elevation gain of 711ft. Whilst not a formal Open Event, there were a number of guest riders and in total over 50 cyclists took part.

The pairs of riders were set on their way at 2 minute intervals and I gathered that the aim was to keep swapping the lead in order to share the pain of the headwind and enable the rear rider of the pair to be towed along in the slp stream for an easier ride.

Having witnessed the initial gathering and start of the first few pairs, I moved position to place myself at the top of Long lane Hill where I hoped to capture a few pained faces as the riders climbed the first hill

As I understood it, the tactics were to remain in close formation to maximize the benefit of the wind shield but despite the hill being fairly close to the start it was severe enough to break up some formations and leave the leader looking behind desperately for his partner.

The race itself was open to both men and women, young and old, using a wide range of kit though the majority of the frames were carbon and I did not spot a Mercian all evening. The most noticeable difference amongst the bikes was in the choice of wheels ranging from “ordinary “ wheels to deep rims to full blown disc wheels. The noise coming from these machines as they sped past was like a music symphony.

As the light faded I hurried back to the finishing area to see some of the competitors arrive back. Many of the pairs were by now in ragged formations but to my eyes all still seemed to be going strong.  The finishing times ranged from 27 minutes to 43 minutes and to put this into comparison it would take me about 60 minutes; the difference between a racer and a pedal pusher!

I really enjoyed my evening out and thank yo to both Derby Mercury and all the riders for letting me stand around, ask stupid questions and capture both their pain and glory.

( If you click on any image then you will see it in a larger version and can easily navigate between the various pictures )