Author Archives: Jay Trotman

Chill in my heart

My legs are suffering this week – from yoga, cycling, and some re-introduced hamstring exercises at the gym.  The backs of my thighs are killing me.  I’m sure it’ll be a good thing in the long run, but after all that, and the Gorge yesterday well, I wasn’t feeling up for much today.

I checked in with G last night to confirm today.  Nothing hilly, says I, as I did the Gorge today.  Fine, says she.  So I meet her this morning.  We’re meeting W she says.  Where does W live?  Shipham.  ‘Nuff said really!  Even once up there – which was never going to be fun with my legs feeling as they do – she tried to plan a hilly route and pass it off by saying we’d do it really slowly.  Like I ever do hills any other way!  I put my foot down – very bravely – and we ended up doing a much flatter route round Yatton and Claverham and Kingston Seymour.  Quite a convoluted route too, since we got lost at least once, and had to stop and look at the map several times.  Good thing I suggested we take it with us really 😉

Cycling time: 2:33:19
Distance: 35.43 miles
Avs: 13.8 mph
ODO: 2331 miles

I think the sell by date for wearing shorts was yesterday.  Shame I didn’t figure that out before we went out.  All the stopping and starting didn’t help either.  I got cold.  For the first time this winter, I lost my toes.  And bits of the rest of me weren’t feeling that great.  So, it was a slow run, for all of the above reasons.  Also I’ve been doing a lot lately and a tiny bit of me suspects I may be over-doing it…

I came home and had a long hot muscle-soaking bath.  Which is not only good for my knee, but also means I can feel my feet again 🙂  Now I’m going to go sit in a warm pub somewhere and have lunch – I do believe I’ve earnt it *grin*

Beautiful Day

Sunshine was forecast with very little wind.  It could be the last chance of the season to get out (I know, I keep saying that) and I’m trying to make the most of each such opportunity.  However, sometimes you can’t make it on your own, so I dragged Dad over here to ride with me.  For some reason, I decided it was time that he went up the Gorge.  Not something I would normally do out of choice as you know, but what can I say?  She moves in mysterious ways…

We headed off in glorious but chilly sunshine at around 9:30ish.  It being out of season the Gorge was blissfully free of tourists and, for the most part, traffic.  It was the usual slog, aided and abetted by goats (you don’t get to yell “goat” very often on a bike), but we made it to the top and back out into the sunshine.  I don’t think Dad enjoyed it precisely, but I don’t think he found it as had as he’d feared either.

It was glorious on top of the Mendips.  At an elevation of over 850 feet with stunning crystal clear views, it would be easy to get vertigo.  There’s some very nice cycling up there.  High up in the middle of nowhere, on top of the world, with no-one around, where the streets have no name…  Very lovely 🙂  it’s just a shame there’s no other way to get up there than to go UP there! *grin*.

After going on along the top it was time for the lovely long dowwwwwnnnn on the A39 into Wells.  I nearly managed not to touch the brakes at all…which was pretty good for me.  Then it was into Wells proper, where the Cathedral was glowing in the sunshine, the sound of someone playing the trombone in the Music School could be heard over the Green, and it all felt very idyllic.  We came back to Wedmore via the scenic and mostly flat back roads of Burcott and the Levels.  Not a cloud in the very blue sky, no wind, just blissful cycling weather.

Cycling time: 2:22:39
Distance: 33.9 miles
Avs: 14.2 mph
ODO: 2295 miles

Our exact route is here, should you care.  It was a beautiful day and a pretty good ride to match 🙂

Pieces of me

I don’t usually go out on Mondays.  In fact it’s often my day off.  But since I had a day off yesterday, two in a row seemed a tad excessive.  Besides which after all the eating at the weekend, and general lack of decent nutrition over the last few weeks, I think I have some compensating to do.  On top of all that the weather forecast was reasonable (they lied!) and I felt like it would be a good ride.

And in some respect it was.  My legs were well in, it was feeling pretty easy, the roads were quiet, and up until nearly the end there wasn’t much wind.  However there was grey blanket cloud.  Which got lower and lower until it became cycling through cloud – aka drizzle.  When it lifted, it moved on to proper rain instead!  I nearly wimped out and cut my route short, but I stuck to the plan – I’m stubborn like that.

I only did the usual kind of loop.  Even taking the basic loop and adding extras like Burtle and Nyland I was hard pushed to get much over 2 hours though, which is a continual problem.  If you get faster, your normal routes get quicker!

Cycling time: 2:14:26
Distance: 35.06 miles
Avs: 15.6 mph
ODO: 2261 miles

I was fairly fast, so that’s good.  I was a bit twitched by the wet roads – I’m working on the skittish thing, but my bike is definitely less sticky in wet weather which really doesn’t help.  Still, I stayed on, and as I’ve said before, any ride where I stay on the bike is a good one! 😀

In other news I saw a physio today – conveniently my local surgery seems to have one now.  Turns out he cycles – how handy is that?!  He’s given me some exercises for the knee and the shoulder.  Broken bones, or bits thereof, take longer to heal than you’d think apparently.  And knees take ages too as that particular bit of muscle has a crappy blood supply so even with the cleat changes having helped it won’t heal overnight.  I think I’m just getting old and starting to fall apart *grin*.

Day Tripper

I am forever cycling around in circles.  And with the weather worsening, presumably they will be ever decreasing circles.

So it came as a nice change when the opportunity to do something different arose this weekend.  Hubby and I had a weekend away planned  – delayed anniversary celebration – at a restaurant with rooms called Little Barwick House, in Barwick, which is the other side of Yeovil.  After a quick peek with google maps, I realised that that’s not actually all that far from here.  Rather than spend two hours in the gym waiting for youngest to finish bouncing, I decided I would cycle to our destination.

I spent ages on Bike Route Toaster sorting my route out.  There are more direct routes, but I wanted to stick to the quieter back roads so as to enjoy my ride more.  I printed out my route, the cue sheet, and the directions from the hotel.  BRT had it down as around 3 1/2 hours riding which, for 36 odd miles, seemed a bit much but I went with it and left at 11:00am with 2:30pm as my goal arrival time.

The first hour or so was pretty standard stuff – basically heading fairly straight south for High Ham Hill.  It’s still a very long hill!  Having done it a couple of weeks ago it did hold less fear for me than before tho’.  It’s just a shame there was no nice friendly feed stop at the top this time around!

From there it was a nice long down into Langport before turning left and into unknown territory, which is where it started to get more fun.  Even in the light drizzle, it was definitely more interesting than the familiar.  It felt a bit like being on holiday, and quite L2P – cycling through unknown but pretty villages and towns.  Muchelney Abbey was as pretty as ever, Kingsbury Episcopi, Coat, Ash, Martock and Montacute were all lovely with their yellow stone buildings and olde worlde charm.

The roads were pretty quiet, which presumably explains why there is no need for road signs..  I did get lost a couple of times, which is why I ended up in Ash.  A nice fellow cyclist helped me out in Martock as well, when the direction to Montacute was none too obvious.  Still, no serious diversions taken, and I knew roughly where I was, so there was no panicking going on and I muddled my way back to join up with where I was meant to be.

The country charm wore off a bit on the main relief road around Yeovil but by that time I knew I was nearly there.  After an unexpected up hill slog, it was basically all down hill to the little village of Barwick.

Cycling time: 2:39:33
Distance: 40.6 miles
Avs: 15.2 mph
ODO: 2226 miles

The weather was pretty windy and not all that warm.  One reason why an mp3 is handy is that it blocks out the wind noise so you notice it less.  It wasn’t a constant wind either, so was more annoying for the occasions where it caught me through a gap in the hedge and I’d suddenly find myself a foot further to left than I’d mean to be!  As I’ve already mentioned, there was some drizzle for a while in the middle there too, which was less than attractive but luckily it cleared up after a while.

I’ve tweaked my route to show the accidental detour I took – and apparently I did 1350ft of climbing.  Not a lot I guess but enough for me.  I still can’t figure out why it’s supposed to take 3 1/2 hours + though – as you can see, it took me nowhere near that!

I enjoyed my little adventure a lot – and felt very proud of myself for some reason 🙂

The winds of change

I went cycling with a guy I know this morning, which made a change.  As did the whole two days in a row thing, but I’m trying not to waste the last remaining days of tolerable weather.  If I head out tomorrow as planned, I may even make it three days in a row!

It may have still been dry, but it was noticeably colder than yesterday.  Long sleeves and the windproof gilet today which, unlike yesterday, stayed on.  The seasons are changing…  As we came back from our coffee stop in Glastonbury an unwelcome chilly head/side wind had appeared too, which we both agreed hadn’t been there on the way out.  If it had been, I’d have been going much faster!

Cycling time: 2:04:49
Distance: 32.9 miles
Avs: 15.8 mph
ODO: 2186 miles

We followed the KISS principle (that’s Keep It Simple, Stupid) and stuck to the usual kinda route – out to Glastonbury for coffee and back again.  For various reasons, not least of which was me being lazy, we kept it mostly flat.  My knee was twinging a bit by Wedmore so that was just as well.  Nowt wrong with flat!  I think the speed was pretty good, he thinks we were pootling…ah well.  My standards are clearly lower *grin*.  Still, all in all, it was a pretty good couple of hours in the saddle.

In other mental meanderings, I’m trying to find a way of making money out of my cycling obsession.  Which may mean applying for a job (shock, horror)… or “thinking outside of the box” and trying to find another way of doing it.  So if you’ve got any ideas for me…fire away!

Life in the Slow Lane

It’s definitely harder to train when there’s no goal in sight.  I’m only getting out twice a week at the moment, if that, and seem to end up at the gym more often as it fits around life slightly more easily.  As the weather worsens and the days shorten, I don’t expect things are going to improve any time soon.  So it was good to get out with G today, even if it wasn’t for very long.  She had errands to run in Burnham so we looped to there and back.

Cycling time: 1:51:57
Distance: 29.18 miles
Avs: 15.6 mph
ODO: 2153 miles

Weather was nice, though with the chill that’s now in the air, so definitely long sleeves today.  Not yet had to resort to long tights tho’…I’ll be putting that off as long as possible.

Like it or not, I feel slower with G – probably because she makes it all look so effortless that you become more aware of the effort you’re making by comparison.  Or something like that.  I wasn’t quite on form either, so on balance, I guess it went ok.

Look Ma, No Hands

This September is proving to be truly fabulous on the weather front.  Yet another sunny dry day dawned, and after the busyness of the Carnival yesterday, I was really looking forward to this morning’s ride.  A small group of the ACG met in the Square at 9:30am as planned, already aware that we weren’t going to need all the layers we were wearing.  There was a bit of a nip in the air, so I was glad to have gone with the long-sleeved jersey, but the windproof gilet came off before we even left – which proved to be a good decision.

After the last trip out on our jolly, when hills were the order of the day, today was a day for flatness.  We did a nice loop from Axbridge, via Winscombe, Loxton, Mark, Burtle to a coffee stop at Sweets Peat Museum.  I practiced riding no-handed for a bit when no-one was looking, which went well.  It was virtually impossible on the old bike!  We sat outside on the terrace drinking tea for a bit before heading back via Westhay, Panborough and Wedmore.  The sun shone, there was virtually no wind, the temperature was nigh on perfect – in fact, it was perfect cycling weather.  You couldn’t have asked for better.  Being mostly flat, it turned out to be quite a fast ride too, and I got to hurtle down my favourite stretch home too which, when it’s good, is really good 🙂

Cycling time: 1:55:14
Distance: 31.74 miles
Avs: 16.5 mph
ODO: 2124 miles

See?  I said we were fast!  My legs were feeling great, and I enjoyed pushing it a bit.  I’ve still got corner issues, but it’s definitely getting better.  And I can’t tell you much about downhill, because that would have meant going uphill and we were avoiding doing that *grin*.  Talk about a fantastic way to start a Sunday 🙂

River deep, Mountain high

Having done a very strenuous yoga class on Tuesday, yesterday I was having problems walking let alone cycling, and it wasn’t just my legs killing me, it was my arms and shoulder too!  But I had the time, and the weather was with me, and G was free so I decided to go out anyway.  I duly warned G that I hurt and needed to stick to the flat…but I’m fairly sure she either wasn’t listening or didn’t believe me.

We started off by heading out through Winscombe to Sandford.  A tad hilly, but not too much.  Out across the levels (good) to Yatton and then on to the main road towards Bristol…from which we turned right to go up Goblin Coombe.  Yes – Coombe.  Remember how I feel about those?  Well yesterday was no exception.  I slogged my way up, in not-a-happy-bunny mode.  Apparently that wasn’t good enough however.  We joined the road that goes up past the Walled Garden and heads towards the A38…which is a long up.  And as if that wasn’t bad enough, we turned left before the A38 and headed up and up and up…to go ’round the Airport.  The down of  Brockley Coombe didn’t really make up for all that climbing…  From there it was flatish for a bit round Chelvey and back through Congresbury.  Up Sandford Hill, into Winscombe for a brief shop stop…and then UP Winscombe Hill!   I mean, really!  Is that any way to end a ride?!  Having said that, the zoom down the hill and then the bypass was kinda fun – I felt almost fast *grin*.

Cycling time: 2:21:02
Distance: 33.6 miles
Avs: 14.3 mph
ODO: 2092 miles

This was NOT a flat route.  See for yourselves!  It was a lovely day, the weather was great – though the chill is starting to creep in now – and it was good to be out.  My legs are not thanking me now though…

PS: my “new” bike has now done over 2000 miles.  How cool is that?  I started riding it in May, so that’s nearly 5 months.  Well – I’m impressed anyway 🙂

Cheddar Cyclosportive

Having been very organised, not to mention living just down the road, I signed my Dad and I up for today’s Cheddar Cyclosportive last night.  This meant that we could attach our numbers and timing chips before getting there, which made life a lot easier.  It was also really nice to be able to cycle to and from the sportive – local has a lot going for it.

That wasn’t the only advantage.  We turned up this morning around 8:40am and the queue for signing up was already backing up…  In fact it backed up so far that the start was delayed by 20 minutes or so.  We stood in the sun, with various friends and acquaintances, getting a little chilly, but right by the front so when the time came, we were amongst the first away.  I like that – sooner started sooner finished!

The route was mostly on familiar roads, which was a bit bizarre.  Paying to use roads I use all the time?  The first chunk was on fairly main roads which were luckily not too busy as it was quite early.  Out from Cheddar to Wedmore, up and down Mudgeley Hill, and out on the main road to Glastonbury.  Various groups who had started after us hurtled past us from time to time, and sometimes we were part of a peleton for a while, which was nice.  From there it was out to Street and beyond..and it wasn’t until the left turn near Ashcott that we left the main roads and traffic behind.  We did the first hour at over 19mph which just goes to show that what little wind there was was in our favour, the roads were flat, and the sun was shining! 🙂

Of course that mean we were nearly at High Ham hill…but I guess flat all the time would be boring, right?  I knew exactly what to expect, told Dad about which gear to be , and then got my own in  a complete tiz by ended up in top of bottom not bottom of bottom and had to stand up and push the pedals for a bit until I could sit down, take the strain off the pedals, and change into a sensible gear!  Still, both of us got up the hill to the first food stop where smiley happy people gave us flapjacks and welsh cakes – very yummy.

From there it was down and out to Langport – the least familiar section of the route for me – where we got stuck with a slower group.  Not that slower is necessarily a problem, but they kept slowing down and then speeding up which was harder to cope with than doing our own pace, so eventually we put our heads down and went past ’em!  2nd hour brought us down to an average of 17.something.  There was a nasty hill near Woolavington which I hadn’t even registered beforehand – so it came as a bit of a nasty shock!

We joined up with familiar roads near Basonbridge, and then there was the 2nd feedstop.  On from there to go over Brent Knoll, which was harder than when we recced it, something to do with there being less left in the legs I think,  After that it was almost like a normal training ride.  Back to Loxton, up the not flat road past Christon, up at Banwell Hill – still not much fun – and then I had much fun going very fast down the hill into Winscombe.  I overtook some bloke on a Cervelo who was less than impressed and had to catch my back wheel!  He may not have liked being overtaken by a girl, but he certainly didn’t mind being taken for a ride by on! *grin*.

Luckily the roadworks in Winscombe were passable so that we didn’t have to go up Winscombe Hill as feared, and from there it was a quick stretch to Shute Shelve and more hurtling down the bypass to get to the start, where we duly de-chipped, grabbed some food, and chilled on the grass in the sun for a bit.

Cycling time: 3:50:16 (officially with stops 3:58:49 – 98/134)
Distance: 65.02 miles
Avs: 16.9 mph
ODO: 2057 miles

The best bit for me was doing the corners and downhills much better than I have been, so I’m really happy with that.  It was a blast all ’round really.  We’re both really happy to have gotten in under 4 hours.  The average speed was fab – way more than Dad was expecting, or me to be honest.  You couldn’t have had better riding conditions.  Sunny, not too hot, not too much wind – great cycling weather all ’round.

Last event of this year’s season – and a good way to round it off 🙂

PS: I went out with S and P for a bit yesterday if you’re wondering about the apparent discrepancy in ODO increase.  Which you weren’t.  *grin*

Get off of my cloud

The “new” bike has done 1973 miles as of today.  Which, coincidentally, is the year I was born in  Anyway…

I probably shouldn’t have been riding today, with Sunday looming, but the weather forecast was good, and it seems a shame not to make the most of what may be the last few days of “summer”.  I convinced myself that it was a good idea by deciding to use it to do a couple of errands, thus combining trips and saving efforts.  I called Dad last night and he agreed to come over and join me.

Things never go quite according to plan, as it turns out G was joining us.  So we cycled into Cheddar, did my errands, came back, and picked her up in the Square.  We did the flattest route possible, for a couple of hours, in weather that was colder and greyer than it should have been, but not as windy as it had seemed.

Cycling time: 2:03:56
Distance: 31.32 miles
Avs: 15.1 mph
ODO: 1973 miles

More level Levels work, which is my kind of thing at the moment – I’m still feeling more tired than I would like.  I’m feeling better about corners and the like though, thanks to the advice from T at Cheddar Cycle Store which mostly involves having your weight distributed better – and it seems to be working.  *fingers crossed*.