Monthly Archives: May 2009

Oh my gosh

As planned, S and I were out today.  We set off from the Square at 9:00am, with the sun shining and temperatures already rising.  My “arms” stayed on as far as the bottom of the Gorge (yes that Gorge) before being stowed away – that’s how warm it was.  And off we went, up the Gorge.  S had promised me, in motivational fashion, that we could count the goats.  Shame they didn’t appear until we were well up there…but hey, he did promise, and there they were.   Having done the Gorge before, I do at least know I can make it up, even if I may not exactly enjoy it.  It was no worse than usual really, and we emerged into the sunshine at the top unscathed…and met the wind, of course.  Well, S called it a breeze, but I’m writing this, so there…

After that it was down to Chew Stoke, across the lakes to Chew Magna, through Norton Hawkfield, Queen Charlton (we have some great place names around here), Chewton, Keynsham, Saltford and on to the Bath-Bristol cycle path for a bit.  My computer flooped around Bitton station for some reason (I blame the chatty Sustrans fundraiser), leaving me to rely on S for stats again.  (Not amused!).  On to Bridge Yate, Wick, Doynton, and then the Most Killer Hill up to the Toll Road Café on the A46 at Dyrham.  A BIG hill.  Not that was the only hill mind – not by any means – it was merely the worst among equals *grin*.  I surely was glad to get to that café…hot, bothered, soaked to the skin and in need of restorative sustenance.

1/2 way stats:
Cycling time: 2:53
Distance: 36.88 miles
Avs: 13.72 mph

Tea and very lovely New Zealand carrot cake were seriously welcome, as was the coolth (and I maintain that that’s a word) inside the café.  And the cold water I splashed all over my face in the Ladies.  (And no, I don’t know what the carrot cake had to do with New Zealand…).

All too soon it was time to head back, and it had proper heated up by now.  At one point my computer was claiming 30C…which is not the most comfortable for riding.  By any means.  However, the only way to get home was to push those pedals so….down (wheeeeee…..) Tog Hill on the A420, back through Wick, out to Warmley, round some wiggle cycle way bits to Brislington, Stockwood, and out towards Dundry.

Whereupon we met a very Big Hill.  Too big for me by half and then some.  Even the cars that went past us were struggling!  It was time for some hamstring stretching…  I did get back on briefly, but got round the corner…and up it went…and then it got steeper.  No sirree jim bob…  S managed to stay back on but, to be fair, he wasn’t cycling any faster than I was walking! *grin*.

Once up it was down to Winford (where we met a section of the ACG also out enjoying the sun), some lovely lovely downs ’round Butcombe, and across the lake at Blagdon (please lads, just cos the sun is out, doesn’t mean I want to see all that skin).  We considered Blagdon Hill, but with the decision being left up to me, that was hardly likely now was it?! *grin*.  We grabbed some extra fluid (lovely and cold) at the shop there and, feeling restored, went zooming down to Rickford, across to Churchill, Sandford, Winscombe…and wound up with a sprint finish down the bypass (29mph+ I’ll have you know – eat your heart out Lance) to get home just before my 3pm deadline.

Oddly we then discovered a large bulge in my rear tyre.  Looks like the tyre pressure was too high, then there’s the heat to push it up more…and the inner tube has gone mental.  S assures me the tyre will be ok, and that I just need to replace the tube.  Good thing it lasted long enough to get me home!

2nd half stats (according to me):
Cycling time: 2:17:34
Distance: 34.3miles
Avs: 15.0 mph

It really was too hot to be out today.  As you can see, we came back quite a bit faster – which has to have been the wind, since I was wiped when it came to any kind of up.  I don’t cycle at my best when I’m overheating.  It’s a darned good thing I put suntan cream on before I went out, and even then I’ve missed the odd bit – my mitt marks are even worse now, I look like Herman Munster – someone cut my hands off and stuck white ones on!  Oh – until you get to the last knuckle where I get my own fingers back again that is *grin*.

S is, as ever, a star for sorting the route, and sticking with me.  I wouldn’t do half the miles/hills without him, and I probably need to, even if I’m moaning about it all the while!

Total stats:
Cycling time: 5:10ish
Distance: 71.18 miles
Avs: 14.3 mph
ODO: 383 miles

Excuse the long blog – it was a long ride!

PS – to the idiot who threw a half full milkshake out of the car window at me near Shute Shelve…well, words escape me…ok, they don’t, but I’d best not put them down here!

2 legged groove machine

Just a normal training loop today…and I have clearly moved on from being a rain goddess to being a wind goddess instead.  No, really, I have.  Just the very hint of my setting out on two wheels is enough to start the air currents a-swirling, and blowing from no useful direction at all.

It was supposed to be a southerly today, so it really would have made no odds which way ’round I did my loop.  However…it was an easterly, and boy did I ever get that wrong!  Clockwise would have SO much better.  More slogging into the wind…deep joy.  It was also hot and sunny which is lovely in theory, but does mean you need to drink a lot more, and a cool breeze, rather than a warm wind, would have been nice.  Ah well, I’m sure my cyclist’s stripes are coming along nicely.  Mobile tanning unit…that’s me.

Cycling time: 2:09:49
Distance: 33.41 miles
Avs: 15.4 mph
ODO: 312 miles

My computer turned itself off at one point, after having flooped whilst out the other day too.  I don’t know if it met some interference or there’s some other problem – I will have to read the (badly translated from German) handbook for guidance.  My average was 16mph+ for ages, so I don’t know quite what happened there.  Maybe I’m just hoping that I’m faster than I actually am *grin*.

The next ride is due to be a long one with S on Sunday, in the Sun, with Hills…  Bet the wind blows then too! ;).  Methinks some positive mental attitude is required…

No wind beneath my wings

Having taken advantage of a special offer for a day at the half-term KOW playscheme, I was child-free today.  This being the case I planned myself a nice long route, as I probably won’t get many miles in for the rest of the week.  I won’t bore you with the details, as you can see where I went for yourself here.

I set off a bit after 9 into the wind, down the main road, and then with the wind behind me, up Sparrow Hill, across to Wedmore, over the levels to Wells.  That took a bit over an hour, which was mostly fine – a tad chilly with the gusty wind, but ok.  My main challenge today was to go up Bristol Hill – the big hill out of Wells on the Bristol Road, which I’d never done before.  Well – I have now…and boy does it ever go on.  And on.  And on….  Still, I made it, and was kinda pleased with myself.

However after that it all went downhill, and not in a good way.  Up at the top I found the wind.  22mph+ WNW wind.  With gusts and squalls.  The rest of the ride was just a slog into it.  It was particularly bad getting to the airport hill, and I even had to pedal down Brockley Coombe – where’s the justice in that?  Or the fun for that matter!

Because it was a constant push, bits of me started giving up one by one.  As I hunkered down for hours, that bit in between the shoulder blades went numb and ouchy.  My lower back twinged.  My left knee kicked off again, which it’s not done in a while.  By the time I got home every downwards stroke with the left leg was excruciating.  (Oddly enough, the pain completely disappears the minute I get off the bike).  I started dreaming of a hot bath somewhere around Chew Valley Lake…and still had a long way to go!  It was very tempting to shortcut home from Puxton, but I stuck to my route – i’m stubborn like that.  Mind you, to add insult to injury it also rained on me in Banwell…

Rarely have I been so happy to see the Webbington, this time from across the valley in Christon…and by the time I got there, the wind was behind me again, which is probably the only reason I managed to get up the hill and home again! 😉

Cycling time: 4:06:32
Distance: 60.77 miles
Avs: 14.8 mph
ODO: 278 miles

Total climb 2744ft/836 metres.

The bath was as fantastic as I’d been hoping for and, having taken my Recovery and eaten some pasta, I’m feeling many shades better than I was…but still distinctly achey, and definitely quite tired.   Even my left little finger hurts!  That was bl**dy hard work and, whilst probably very good training, not what I would call a good ride! 🙂

One more thing – since I started cycling properly, on the “old” bike, if you count miles on that and miles on the new one…as of today, my legs have now done over 10,000 miles!!! (10,023 to be precise).  That’s very very cool 🙂

The ACG divides and conquers

The ACG were out as planned on Saturday. Mind you, that’s about all that did go to plan! We started off as 7, and rapidly decreased in number. Due to our varying abilities, and the fact that we started off down the main road, we got spread out a bit. Two of the faster lads hurtled off…never to be seen again! Two of the newer and less used to it members chose variously to head home early, leaving just three of us. Ah well…best laid plans and all that.

We headed out into the wind, in the sunshine, and wiggled our way to Glastonbury, where we had coffee in the Rainbow café – a favourite stop of mine. And then we wiggled back again, somewhat faster with less sunshine, but with the wind behind us 🙂

Cycling time: 2:43:18
Distance: 36.69 miles
Avs: 13.4 mph
ODO: 218 miles

A very nice ride in the sun all in all. Apparently the splinter group had a good ride too – somewhat hillier and longer than ours, so more power to ’em! *grin*. It’s hard trying to please everyone, and it’s all very dependent on who turns out and what their abilities are.

The wind may blow…

When hubby went for a run yesterday morning, there was no wind.  When I got up and looked out of the window there was no wind.  By the time I headed out with G…there was wind.  No fair!

It being an average morning, we stuck to the usual kind of loop around the area – nothing too troubling.  Which is always good if you’re trying to keep up with G.  I did feel like I was pushing a bit harder than I would have been doing if it was just me, but in a good way, and I think I was keeping up better than I have done before.

Anyway, I now have a computer for this bike…which I’ve not quite got the hang of, but near enough…so here are the stats:

Cycling time: 2:02:33
Distance: 31.58 miles
Avs: 15.4 mph
ODO: 181 miles

Not bad, especially when you consider the wind.  Faster than it used to be.  Again – probably down to the bike but hey, I’ll take that 🙂  It’s been hard, due to the weather, to get out enough recently, but I need to buckle down and get some decent miles in over the next two weeks in time to tail off just before the Dragon Ride.  No excuses!

The training of the shrew.

S made the supreme sacrifice, ditched the Burnham run and took me out for a ride this morning.  We set off at 8.00am, in a southerly direction, on the basis that it’s better to go out into the wind and to come back with it behind you!  And it sure was windy… And frequently damp.

The route is a little hazy in my mind, and S didn’t tell me where we were going either.  Lots of wiggly country roads, the odd hill, some windswept levels…I just follow him.  Usually literally, since apparently as team leader, it’s ok for him to do all the leading…  Before the title goes to his head, I reckon that makes him more of a domestique *grin*.

I can tell you we ended up at the Canal Centre at North Newton (near North Petherton), shortly after yet another downpour, where the nice folk opened up for us and provided coffee.   Thus fortified, we took a slightly more direct route back as we were running just a little late.  However, with a much appreciated tail wind, and a sense of urgency in the legs, we actually got back into the Square about 10 minutes early, which was pretty impressive.

Cycling time: 3:19:00
Distance: 54.5 miles
Avs: 16.4 mph
ODO: 149.6 miles

I was surprised when S said how far we’d been, though I suppose I should have figured considering how long we’d been out.  I’d like to say I was much faster because I’m improving dramatically…but it’s got more to do with the new bike, and keeping up with S.  Though I have made myself a new rule – don’t catch up with S.  If you do – he just gets faster! *grin*.  It was a good ride, it’s always nice to do new routes, and new stops.  Even S seemed surprised by our average speed, which was quite nice.  I get to feel a bit less of a handicap, which is good for the ego.

The downside of no computer of my own (as yet) is that I don’t/can’t keep track.  If I’d known how far we were going to go, or had been, etc., then I’d have been more careful to eat and drink properly.  As it was, I only drank a bit, plus the coffee, and didn’t eat at all.  I didn’t have time to take my Recovery and only grabbed a bar thing for lunch…which probably explains why I came over all faint in Bristol this afternoon…  Proper hot/cold sweaty shakey need to sit down before I fall down faint…  A lesson to be learnt methinks.

Now that I’m back home after this afternoon,  I really should be cleaning the bike..but I think I’ll plead fatigure and do it tomorrow instead.  I will.  Honest 😉

Raindrops keep falling…

I woke up, looked out the window, saw the wind and the drizzle, and REALLY didn’t want to go out in it.  I texted G, but she didn’t reply.  I kitted up, and did the school run, and still didn’t see her, so there was no getting out of it, that was that…and shortly afterwards she arrived on the doorstep, all ready to go out.  Sometimes  you just have to give in to the inevitable I guess!

My main concession to the elements?  To take the old bike.  Well, it’s used to not being cleaned.  Such treatment could come as a nasty shock to my new one *grin*.  Besides which I’ve not yet got the hang of going downhill on my new baby in the dry, let alone the wet!

G’s standard solution to lousy weather, as I believe I’ve mentioned before, is to do hills.  Something to do with going slower so getting less water in your face…  Or avoiding the wind…  Or something.  I’m not convinced.  Hills are not nice.  How can wet hills be better?

Ah well.  We went from Winscombe to Shipham, through Rowberrow down to Churchill, around Wrington and up Goblin Coombe (there’s that Coombe word again), and then up Burrington Coombe (what have I told you about Coombes?), past Charterhouse and down Shipham Hill to home.  All of this in the constant rain, with coldish wind, and up on the top, a total lack of visiblity of any sort.  That’s what happens when what you’re actually cycling through is a cloud…

Cycling time: 2:16:00
Distance: 29.893 miles
Avs: 13.2 mph
ODO: 9745.5 miles

I should have used the proper yellow waterproof rather than my new one, which isn’t quiet designed for that.  I got proper wet, and I hadn’t realised how cold I was until I got home – it took ever such a long time to warm up and my feet have only just come back on-line.  I’m glad I went out though – it was better in reality than in anticipation, and I do have to get the miles in.  I also felt the hills went ok – I even managed to pretty much maintain a conversation with G up Burrington Coombe, which would, not so long ago, have been out of the question!  So, not the world’s best ride, but by no means the worst either 🙂

Speed machine

The ACG were out again this morning.  There were four of us today – a pretty evenly matched group – my Dad and I, K and G.  Four is a good number to manage – you can cycle 2 * 2 abreast in the quiet bits and chat, and as a line of four, you don’t p*ss the other road users off too much.

K had suggested we head out to Brean Down, and I knocked up a route on bikely for that.   We set off at 9:30am and took a pretty direct route there – through Cross, up the Bleadon Hill, across the A38 over the flats to the café there, where we had a nice cup of coffee sitting outside in the sun overlooking the beach.

We came back in slightly more circuitous fashion – through Berrow, to Brent Knoll, Mark, Chapel Allerton, Wedmore and home again.  I’m still devoid of cycling computer so am relying on my Dad’s computer for the following:

Cycling time: 2:10:00 approx
Distance: 34.1 miles
Avs: 15.9 mph
ODO: 95.1 miles

The weather was glorious.  Very little wind, plenty of sunshine.  My new bike felt really good – very smooth.  I’ve pretty much got the hang of the new gears, though I still make daft errors from time to time.  As we were, for the most part, avoiding hills, I didn’t get to practice downhill braking, but I did get to stand up a couple of times.  Having narrower handlebars means you have less leverage to pull with your arms and push down with your legs – it’s a much smaller tighter maneuvre somehow.  Whether it works as well remains to be seen!  Has to be said, I’m loving the new bike more and more though 🙂

We made really good time – as you can see – and it was a lovely ride.  The roads were full of other brightly coloured lyrcra clad folk who were making the most of it just like us.  Shame there had to be quite so many folk enjoying the roads on four wheels! 😉

Fame

I forgot to link to it, but I made it into last week’s Cheddar Valley Gazette, with a really nice little piece written by someone who’s clearly been all over this website to get the details 🙂  Apparently I’m a “seasoned cyclist”.  I like that *grin*.  And they very kindly listed all my sponsors too – ‘rah!  Read it here.

I’m supposed to be riding today, but the extreme wind and the rain are currently proving somewhat of a deterrent – I’m going to review the situation this afternoon.  I’ve only been out once this week, and am going out on Sunday with the ACG, but I guess the week after an event I shouldn’t feel too bad about taking it a little bit easier.  Well, not that much easier, as I’ve been going to the gym instead! 😉