Author Archives: Jay Trotman

Speed machine

As the Merlin Ride looms large on Sunday, I’m supposed to be taking it easy this week – tapering down in preparation.  So I deliberately planned out my shortest training route – very nearly the original loop I started on all that time ago when a bike was a new thing…

I headed out in the already warm weather this morning, grateful of the fact that I would at least be generating my own head wind, and thus gaining some cooling effect from it.  It was warm and humid, but not that sunny, which wasn’t too bad.

Apparently, knowing that I was only planning on being out for two hours, and that it was a flat route, my brain subconsciously decided to make up for this by swapping distance for speed and going faster instead!  I was trying not to push it, but there wasn’t much wind, and it was mostly flat, and…ah well, best intentions and all that…  I blame being down on the drops – that’s gotta be it, right?

Cycling time: 1:55:52
Distance: 31.77 miles
Avs: 16.4 mph
ODO: 928 miles

By the time I got in I was dripping, and I actually had to cool down for 15 minutes or so before there was any point having a shower, as the sweat continued to pour off me.  I’m also getting bored of scooping out small dead black insects from my cleavage…  It’s even worse when you get a biter on board – you try fishing one of those out from inside a sports bra as you’re riding along!

I saw the cutest family of stoats/weasels out crossing the road with me on the levels near Mark – that’s my third such sighting this week.  This summer seems to have less birds than usual, but more mammals, and butterflies.  Oh, and suicidal insects.  And sometimes you got past a garden or corner and get the most amazing scent of roses.  Odd how things change from year to year isn’t it?

Windmills of my mind

There was a point this week when I thought that, come 9am this morning, I would be standing in the Square on my own…   As it turns out, this was not to be and (including myself) 5 members of the ACG gathered in the sunshine, ready to ride.

After a surprisingly short debate, we decided to head out to Brean Down, and duly set off.  Half way up the road I realised that I’d left my bottle at home and with the heat and sun, this seemed like a bad idea.  I nipped off home to get it, which left me tailing behind and with some work to do to catch up with the group.  I put my foot down, so to speak, and managed to catch up just as they arrived in Loxton – which was one hell of a way to warm up!

The ride to Brean Down was not as peaceful as we might have hoped as there was an unexpected amount of traffic on the roads, including a string of 7 cars that hooned past us at nutty speeds far too close for comfort on the long straight road by the railway.  Once onto the more wiggly and (usually) quieter bit we did a fine job of holding up the traffic desperate to get to the joys of Burnham-on-sea, though we did charitably stop and let them by from time to time.  Ah well…  On to a nice tea stop sitting outside the café in the sun watching the tide reclaim the mud – sorry – sand.

We decided to try and avoid the traffic and come back via Burnham, Highbridge, and Mark which, in retrospect, was not a good idea.  The school holidays may not have started yet – remind me to avoid the area strenuously when they have – but the road was heaving with people trying to get to the beach/funfair/caravan park* (*delete as applicable).  This made riding hard work and inevitably we got a bit strung out, only to pull ourselves together for the lovely stretch along the river path to Highbridge.  The tide was so high there were actually people sailing off Burnham which I’ve never seen before.

From there it was back to Mark, past the restored Ashton windmill at Chapel Allerton, down “John’s Hill” to the main road from Wedmore.  At this point we split up to allow everyone to go at their own pace.  There being no wind, and my legs being on fairly fine form, I let loose (in so far as I can!) and hammered it straight down the road…at some point realising that D had caught and hooked on behind me.  Now that was fun – flying down there…  As was what is fast becoming my favourite little stretch of road from the petrol station back down the bypass to Axbridge – I can get some proper speed up there on a good day.  And today was a good day 🙂

Cycling time: 2:27:33
Distance: 37.76 miles
Avs: 15.3 mph
ODO: 896 miles

Average was 15.7 at the break, but cycling with traffic slowed us down considerably…  Still, pretty good really, and definitely enjoyable.  I’m glad it wasn’t just me 🙂

I’ll do my cycling in the rain

Today’s ride was less of a training one, and more of a functional one.  I had to go over to Portishead to feed the cats, and figured that I could combine a training ride with that, thus also saving myself petrol money.  Last night I planned myself a route there and back with the odd wiggle and hill to make it more enjoyable.

Well, when I got up this morning it was raining, had clearly been doing so for ages, and equally clearly wasn’t going to stop any time soon.  Hrmph.  That’s what happens when you combine Glastonbury Festival with Wimbledon…talk about tempting fate!

However, hungry cats were still waiting, and I still needed to get some exercise in so…out in the rain it was.  Due to the continued downpour I seriously tweaked the route.  Ain’t no point going up Shipham Hill in weather like that – it metamorphoses into a river bed.  There was also no point including the Clapton-in-Gordano loop, as that’s dirty and muddy at the best of times.  So it was fairly directly there, and even more directly back.

Cycling time: 2:33:10
Distance: 40.83 miles
Avs: 15.9 mph
ODO: 858 miles

On the way back I really put my head down and pushed it, and as it dried up and brightened up, I even got to stash the waterproof in the bag and stop boiling in it.  I was fair flying for a while there…which dragged the average speed up nicely.  I was however wetter than a very wet thing when I got home – the kind of wet that means all your clothes weigh twice as much, as you sling ’em straight in the washing machine.  And instead of tan lines you have dirt lines 🙂

Fly away with me

Time for another training ride.  G was off for a long one so I started off by riding on her coat tails for a while.  Sadly this meant starting by going up Cheddar Gorge…which I half expected.   I guess it doesn’t hold too much fear for me these days, which says something.   It’s still a slog though – and an interesting way to warm up…

Once up the top, it was across the Mendips and down again using the steep hill that comes out near Ubley, and then a really nice fast stretch out via the lakes towards Bristol.  At this point we parted company, as I foresaw more hills in G’s future…and not in mine!

Instead I swung a left towards Winford and Dundry, and made my way to the airport.  I had intended on going down Brockley Coombe, but changed my mind and took a left before that happened and went around the airfield.  I went down one side and watched an Easyjet take flight and then took a breather the other side to watch a bigger Continental head for the skies.  Great vantage point, and kinda impressive to watch.  I’m still quite amazed by flight 🙂  Hey – at least I wasn’t standing on a ladder taking photos and noting all their details, unlike the other strange folk up there!

After that it was a lovely long down hill down to Wrington, across to Langford, before coming back from Churchill by the back roads to come up through Sandford and Winscombe and then home.

Cycling time: 2:17:46
Distance: 33.84 miles
Avs: 14.6 mph
ODO: 818 miles

The weather was lovely, and considering the heat now I’m glad I went out then.  The wind wasn’t so nice, but that’s only to be expected.  There were a lot of up and downs en route which I think explains the speed, and my legs, though ok, weren’t feeling speedy.  It was nice to do something a little bit different too 🙂

Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride

Another weekend, another event, albeit a more low-key one.  Dad did Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride last year, and recommended it.  It was also Father’s Day, so it seemed only logical to go cycling with my Dad for it.  On top of that it was almost an ACG Sunday outing, as he’s a member too, and we were joined by G who’s also from the group.

We arrived in Bristol a tad too early – which is what happens when you add contingency time to your plans and then don’t need it!  Dad and I cycled through very quiet early morning streets from the car park to the Harbourside where various brightly coloured lycra clad people were gathering.  The skeletal G found us amongst them without any problem, which was good.  Having pre-registered, there was little to do other than mill around, admire other people’s bikes, marvel at some of the wackier bikes (choppers, unicycles, vintage etc), and some of the wackier people – there was a great Pirate doing it!

We all massed at the start at 9:30am, and were set off shortly afterwards.  The first bit through Bristol was a little scarey as too many cyclists tried to get down the narrow roped-off route, but once on the closed Portway people started to spread out, find their pace, and get going.

It was a nice route.  Along to the Avonmouth bridge and over it into Pill, where Dad had a minor collision with someone who thought undertaking was a good idea…which just proves it isn’t.  Picked up, dusted off, remarkably unharmed, and off we went again.  Along the Gordano Valley, past the group that had stopped for a fag break, to Clevedon,  across the levels and up Brockley Coombe.  This is the only real main climb of the route, and I’d only ever been down it before, so wasn’t sure what to expect and…actually I really enjoyed it!  Who’d a thought it?  It’s steeper at the bottom, but after that you can actually change down again.  I even picked up a tail for a while, as I got into my rythm and pushed up to the top.  Took a brief break to wait for Dad to catch up and then…

A little wiggle around the reservoirs to avoid the main road to cross and go through Barrow Gurney where there’s a short but very steep hill which caught many unawares, and left them grabbing for gears and failing miserably…carnage!  I managed to squeeze through two such unfortunates and stand my way to the top, which was cool.  Then it was back through Long Ashton, Ashton Court (killer speed bumps!) into Bristol proper where we joined up with the traffic from various other routes.  We cautiously threaded our way back through the hordes to return to the Harbourside.

The weather was just about perfect – warm, not too sunny, and just a touch of drizzle as we came into Bristol which cleared as we sat and enjoyed a little rehydration therapy afterwards.  Well, as you do…

Cycling time: 2:22
Distance: 37.15 miles
Avs: 15.0 mph
ODO: 781 miles

With a little less traffic – both of the 4 and 2 wheeled variety – and pushing all the way, I reckon I could maybe even do it in under 2 hours…but we’ll never know *grin*.  I think we all had a good ride – and I can think of much worse ways to spend Fathers’ Day! 🙂

The long and winding road…

…that leads up from Dinder to the top of the Mendips.  Which is the route that G took us on this morning.  We wiggled over to Wells, and out the other side.  Up and up and up, across to Priddy, back across the top of the Mendips into a stonking head wind, and down the wind tunnel that was Cheddar Gorge.  Nice – not!

Cycling time: 2:17:27
Distance: 34.6 miles
Avs: 15.1 mph
ODO: 743 miles

G was on form, as ever, which put me back in my place good and proper.  So much for getting faster – it’s still never as fast as the competition *grin*.  Oddly there was probably less in my legs today than there was on Tuesday.  I also realised, on the way out of town, that I’d forgotten to put my gloves on and couldn’t be bothered to go back and get them, which made riding a little different.  Not as bad as I’d thought it would be though actually, which is good.

This Sunday is Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride which I’m doing with my Dad and G, from the ACG.  If you’re not doing anything else, why not come along and join us?

On the road again

After an (almost) unprecedented rest day yesterday, this morning rolled around.  Waking up for the second day running feeling like an OAP as my joints creaked and ached and in some cases, hurt.  Oddly enough – not my legs…my arms and fingers!  Anyway, the plan had been to go and cycle gently at the gym for a couple of hours to ease my legs back in but, looking out of the window, the sun was shining and there was no wind.  Now, it would nigh on criminal to waste a day like that, especially when they’re so few and far between so…that was it.  Cycling kit on, decision made.

I planned myself as flat a route as possible and set off at a leisurely pace, fully expecting pain and strife with it but…apparently not.

Cycling time: 2:06:53
Distance: 34.35 miles
Avs: 16.1 mph
ODO: 708 miles

After 1:20 my average was 16.6mph, after which the route got marginally hillier, and clearly I slowed down a bit.  Still – the overall average was faster than usual!  Not your usual recovery ride then.  At that point the “taking it easy” went by the by, as I got sucked into trying to keep that average up, so I pushed it for the last chunk home.  I know, I know – very juvenile.  But fun.   I also practiced the “look ma no hands” bit on the long straight stretch near Burtle – it’s amazing how much easier that is on this bike than the old one.  Other than that, I spent a lot of time on the drops because it was more comfortable that way, and my left shoulder blade thing cut in with a vengeance early on and stayed there – which probably shows that I’ve not recovered completely yet.   However, for a ride only two days after that one, it went pretty well I think 🙂

The Dragon Ride

“Some people think I’m crazy…” went the refrain, as I got up at 5:15am on Sunday morning.  Getting up that early to catch a lift to Bridgend, to cycle all day and then come home again.  They may have a point…

Nonetheless, I was up bright and early, all packed up, bottles in bags, and my check list ticked off.  R collected me a bit after 6am and we headed off to Wales in the sunshine.  Over the bridge and along the M4 where, the nearer we got, the clearer it became that the majority of the traffic was going the same place we were, as bikes adorned roof racks, wheels were seen lurking in boots.  It became clearer still when we got to jct 35 where there was an almighty queue to get off the motorway.  We tried to cheat and nip up to the next jct and then back through town, but…no joy…we still had to queue for ages to get in.  When you’re getting 3000 riders into one location, I guess there’s no getting around a degree of chaos.

After all that, finding a car parking space was bizarrely easy.  We got sorted, in the already warm sunshine, and cycled down to the start line, via the facilities.  Not much there really, but that wasn’t important.  So, nerves bubbling (mine not R’s!) we joined the feeder pen…and around 8:45ish we were off.  R headed for the hills almost instantly, as expected, leaving me in my usual element – me, the mp3, and the road.

The first part is relatively flat – they’ve added this section with a few little hills to get you going, but I didn’t really notice them, but I did like the Llantrisant forest section.  All the big hills were marked with a yellow poster telling you which hill, how long, gradient etc. which was very handy.  About 20 miles in is the Bwlch – for the 1st time.  I really didn’t know what to expect from the hills and actually – they’re ok, mostly.  Really really really long though…  An average gradient of 6% might not sound like much…but over 3.1 miles…it adds up!  I plodded my way up, pleased to find myself actually overtaking people as I got into my rythm.   And at the top, my goodness, the views…  I mean, just stunning.  Bit like the descent! *grin*

And that was very much the way the day went.  Up very long hills, down very long descents – the sort where you’re still going down after 10 minutes.  Which, to be fair, you’ve earnt!   They use some of these hills in the Tour of Britain and the Milk Race dontcha know 😉  The morning was warm sunny intervals, with only one chilly patch as I headed into the Brecon Beacons in the early afternoon – perfect cycling weather.  Then it just kept brightening up.  Blue skies and blazing sun may make the scenery pretty, but it ain’t so good for the riding…

I don’t think I’ll ever forget getting to Bwlch for the second time, being at the bottom somewhere, and looking up.  There in the distance, winding along the side of the mountain, was a long colourful ribbon of slow moving cyclists.  And that’s were I was headed.  Gulp!  Blimey that was hard.   4.3miles of 5% in unrelenting sunshine, with no breeze to relieve the heat, cyclists wiping out all over the place…  Every time you went around a bend you discovered more to come, and it wasn’t until near the top that you were far enough out of the shelter of the valley to catch the breeze which, though lovely, was on the too little too late side!  I was due to eat/drink at my 7 hour mark so made the sensible decision to stop, take my helmet off, have a drink and brief cool down before tackling the rest of the hill.   I can’t tell you how nice the down on the other side was 🙂

I do wish I’d remembered that that wasn’t the last hill…as coming across Llangenor was definitely a mental low point…by that time all I wanted to do was get done, not go up again!  Anyway, that done, the last 10k or so were flat enough to get me back, and I even did them at some speed, as my legs sensed the end.

I crossed the line at around 8:08 by my reckoning – not including stops – which about what I’d reckoned on doing.  My average speed was 14.5mph which, if you consider how long and slow the ups were, tells you how great the downs must have been to balance it out! *grin*.  It’s also a pretty good avs I reckon – I’m pleased with that.  R was waiting at the line (I dread to think how long he’d been there), and it was nice to see a friendly face.  I checked my chip in, and that was it, off home again.  The goody bag at the end was unexpected, but the free chilled recovery drink was manna from heaven 🙂

The route is stunning.  Just awesome scenery.  So many cyclists that you never feel like you’re lost.  There was a good atmosphere too – a few folk chatted to me, there was banter in passing, concern if anyone was stopped.  The Welsh folk were very friendly, quite a few clapping spectators, which is motivational.  The motorcycle outriders were lovely, as were the ambulance guys who I had to trouble for some Anthisan when, as I stopped to change the battery on the mp3, I got bitten by a horse fly!  It would definitely have been better/easier if the sun had stayed that bit further away in the afternoon, as various bits of me are now pinkly demonstrating.  It was just TOO hot on that darned hill…  Does the Dragon deserve its fearsome reputation?  Well kinda.  Certainly for length, and slogging…but (thank goodness) the hills weren’t as bad as some other events I’ve done.  Just sit, plod, and you get there.

On the organisation front, the food stops didn’t work for me – as usual – but they did have the water, and portable loos, that I needed.   The ability to go to the loo properly and not have to find some private corner somewhere is surprisingly important!  I ate and drank every 20 minutes as per – with extra drinking as required – which seemed to do the trick on the fueling front.  I also made a point of having my lunch – my (by then) well travelled and squished ham roll – at the half way mark.  It’s all part of breaking the ride up into manageable chunks.  See – cycling really is mental 😉

One Dragon – slain.  Which, according to S, would make me St. Jennifer.  *grin*  I wonder if St. George was so achey the next day? 😀

UPDATE : Official time: 8:29:48, which means poor R (7:10, 447th) had been waiting around quite some time before I got in!  Fastest was 5:47 (by Dan Lloyd), Slowest was 10:36.  Quite a few DNF, or DQs, even though they made the split.  I was 1301/1546 at the split 2:41:59 in, and 1224/1546 at the end, which is a bit depressing but about where I expected to be.  I’m just not a speed machine 🙁

I was going to comment on where the other 1500 had gone…but the timings are provisional at the mo so I’ll reserve judgement in case they suddenly appear.  Weird though…

One of our cyclists is missing…

It occurs to me that I ought to do yesterday’s ACG ride, before I do tomorrow’s Dragon Ride, otherwise it’ll never get done, so…

The ACG gathered in the Square at 5:30pm as planned, but with a larger turnout than expected.  We had two groups – 4 “slower” and 6 “faster” – which worked out really well and means that hopefully everyone had a good ride.

G had volunteered to do the route, so I and the latter group headed out following him towards Cheddar, round the back and across to Nyland and then Wedmore.  We were doing grand until we got on the main road out of Wedmore towards Wells where we all got a bit spread out due to the traffic and hills etc. and started losing people.

Three of us at the front took the planned right turn near Bleadney…and lost the three behind us.  One of us went back looking…  In the meantime the other three had taken an earlier right turn at Panborough and were doing, so to speak, the other two sides of the square.  Fairly shortly we could see them coming across the levels, so we went up and met them at a crossroads.  If you’re keeping count, you know that this means one of our cyclists was still missing…  After a reasonable while, I and G from the original front party decided to redo the square, one each side) to see if we could find him…and just as we met at the apex, the missing bod appeared on the main road there too…all very formation cycling, Red Arrows type of stuff 🙂  We hurtled back to join the other three where we’d left them.

Only now there were two (this is getting very Agatha Christie), as one had gone ahead, reckoning that we’d catch him up soon enough…  Oh dear.  Well…we tried…but we got to one of those crossroad things, and he and we could have gone either way, and instead it all went a bit pear-shaped…  To got a long story short, we never found him…again, one of our cyclists was missing.  (Sorry J!).

The remaining five of us went round Godney way, to Westhay, where we went past the “slow” four, who’d seen our missing bod but didn’t know where he was…  Onwards to Mark and back via Chapel Allerton and Notting Hill before coming back up via Cross to the Square all over again.

I have a “new” computer, but I’m not sure I wrote the stats down right before I went fiddling with batteries today – so here’s my best guess…

Cycling time: 2:02:55
Distance: 33.6 miles
Avs: 15.8mph
ODO: 556 miles

It was a good ride – though with a few too many evening bugs for dinner.  My legs were feeling pretty good, which gave me hope for tomorrow.  The weather and light held out – it was warmer than it looked when we set out, and I’d taken my lights with me just in case, but only put the back one on as a precautionary measure as we drew near home.   I’ll tell you something, an evening ride is much more pleasant than an evening gym session 🙂

Right, back to eating pasta, and more pasta, and more carbs and packing, and generally panicking in preparation for tomorrow…

To misquote: “May the road rise up (not literally!) to meet me, may the wind be always at my back, and may the sun shine (not too) warm upon my face”…

PS: in other news – there’s a good reason my tyre developed that bulge – see here.  Once tomorrow is behind me, I shall be taking the relevant photos, sending the email, and hopefully getting myself a new tyre.  Or two, since I’m not sure I’d trust the front one now!

The wheels on the bike go ’round and ’round.

Training is getting a little predictable around here.  I did the same seaside loop today as the other day, albeit with G this time.  Stats this time, using the phone stopwatch and bikely again, are :

Cycling time: 2:11:42
Distance: 34.4 miles
Avs: 15.7mph
ODO: 523 miles

The aim this week is just to keep the legs going ’round – not to challenge ’em at all – which this ride achieved admirably.  We got rained on briefly but for the most part the weather was ok – not too warm, not too windy – even if not actually pleasant.  Which sounds wrong since it was actually a very pleasant ride – we had a good natter and a good time.  My legs worked – though I’m going to treat my left knee to a bath later as it still has a tendency to twinge and I’d like to discourage that.  My bottom bracket is creaking again (oo err missus) but that’s not a big issue, and I’ll ask A to have a look at it sometime.  Overall though, a good ride.

I’ve started taking the L2P sponsorship forms on the school run and have managed to raise a bit more, which I intend to keep doing over the next few weeks until I’ve collared everyone!  It does look like I’m going to reach my £1200 minimum target very shortly, which is great news.  Let’s see how much I can top it by!