Vroom Wednesday - Best ride of the year so far for me

Another vroom Wednesday C&DCYCLES club ride where we go faster but remember club LAW 1 no man gets left behind. Tonight's route was planned and led by Chris Barratt and what a great route it was too. Also in the group was big Steve, Ken, Beans, Jonesy and I. A great group of blokes. No arse end Charlie was required as we mostly stayed together with some great group riding and a very healthy average.

I'd say the real feature of tonight's ride was the set of hills between Broughton and Rothwell, through Cransley and Loddington. There are four decent climbs in short succession and wow of wows I got a King of the Mountains on the first climb into Cransley...but then it's a really short segment and a few of us jointly hold that honour. However I don't get many KOM so I'm taking that! I also got a PR on every segment in that sequence. It was just one of those nights when I felt great and I was going to prove it. I wish every ride was like this.

As per usual the behaviour of others was amusing. We had no issues with drivers this evening but leaving Kettering on excited gentleman screamed his appreciation of men in Lycra out of his window. In another village people clapped as we went past. Very odd but quite funny.

Well after all that I'm going to reward myself with a beer.

There will be longer blogs but after such a great ride, sometimes less is more.

Happy Peddaling.

C&DCYCLES the return of super Sunday

Action shot of the brothers and sister of today's ride

After an already epic weekend, with Friday's massive Saints result, way too much ale, the Saints result, way too little sleep, Saints, a good ride yesterday, Saints and then an excellent Turkish meal at the Old Bank (highly recommended,) Saints plus suffering with a cold, then today's ride felt like a pedal too far. My energy levels felt drained and I didn't think I rode well. Certainly not as well as everyone else. Then you see the stats, another load of PRs so perhaps this was better than I thought.

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The ten miles to and from home took the 50 mile shop ride to a 60 mile 100km round trip for me. The route was devised a led by big Steve, Chris Barratt, Iain Tingle and Nathan Gallon took turns looking after me at the back. On a beautiful day, in near perfect riding conditions this trip through East Northants, Bedfordshire and a smidge of Cambridgeshire was picture postcard perfect. This was a quicker ride no time for snaps so I'll use my friend google to give you the idea.

Poddington

Wymington Church

Remains of Motte and Bailey castle at Yelden

Very posh Kimbolton School

Hargrave village church

Raunds as it still looks today

All in all a very nice ride. The standard for the return of  Sunday rides has been set very high, so well done Steve. Thanks to the special bunch of people who rode today and to George back at the shop for making the tea. Andy (calm down there's your mention,) who still can't shut up about the magnificent Saints victory remarked that I looked a tad jaded. Hmmm that's putting it mildly! What a weekend.

Apparently Saints director of Rugby, Jim Mallinder's face is stuck like this, I know mine is!

C&DCYCLES Saturday shop ride: the day after the night before.

This morning I may have mentioned something. I may have mentioned that Northampton Saints beat their fiercest rival Leicester Tigers for the first time in a long time and will now play in the Aviva Premiership final. You'll be pleased to know I was there, my voice is wrecked and my ears are still ringing. I think once or twice I said something. I may even have had a chat with Stuart Nicholls, Tigers fan. I am deliriously happy about this and couldn't wait to get out this morning in my Saints cycling jersey.

This morning we split into regular and fast groups. Slow is not accurate because we weren't. The fast group set off after us and caught us eventually. I'm not sure how I rode after about ten pints of ale and four hours sleep so 22 trophies is a surprise. The route today was classic Oundle loop led by Andy, who loves the rugby and talking about the rugby and is thrilled with last nights result. Arse end Charlie was big Steve who is also thrilled that Saints beat Tigers to become the 2014 East Midlands champions. I'm sure I've got that right.

I like this route a lot. For starters the Brigstock bumps are nice down rather than up. It was also beautiful weather, which means the cycling tan is underway. To be honest I'd have been happy in a Blizzard in Siberia I'm so happy today!

The quick lads catch us at Barratt's Corner, Aldwinkle

Quick pic on the roll, my hand wasn't that steady, did I mention why?

Oh how did that get there?

Pedal Norfolk 2014 by Paul Sturgess

Time for another guest blog. This time Paul Sturgess tells us about his two day Pedal Norfolk experience. Thanks for this Paul it's another great edition to the blog.

Pedal Norfolk is now in its second year. Conceived by a couple of lads that had managed to complete over 400km in a weekend around North Norfolk who realised that there was potential to create an event for the wider public.

Website: http://www.pedalnorfolk.co.uk/

It’s a cycling festival in the grounds of Holkham Hall with activities for all cycling enthusiast over the May Day bank holiday weekend. Basic campsite facilities are provided, including showers. There was lots of cycling based entertainment for all age groups, trade sales and food outlets. The main events are the sportives with options of 100/50/20 miles on the Saturday and Sunday, then hillier 50 or 20 miles on the Monday.

Deciding which events to do was tricky. My wife Tanya and I are both in our mid-50s. We’ve been road cycling proper now for 2 and a half years, regularly do sportives around 50 miles but we have never done much more than 60 miles in an event and we certainly were not up to doing the full 250 miles over the weekend. We did 340 miles in 7 days in Majorca in February so we know we can cope with moderate day-to-day intensity, but at what pace? In the end we decided to enter the 50 miler on each day, knowing that we could just do a 20 if we were not up to it.

We arrived just after 8:00pm on Friday night after enduring the usual bank holiday traffic on the A47 and were instructed to park the Motorhome where we wanted and proceed to registration asap as it was due to close at 9:00pm. We found a quiet spot on the edge of the campsite and walked over to the registration tent where we were given brief instructions and a timing chip to stick to our helmets. This was the one and only visit to registration as the timing chip covered all three days.

Saturday dawned cool, bright and breezy. One of those days when the temperature varies significantly with the dominance of either warm sunshine or a cool breeze. So the usual dilemma of what to wear, 2 or 3 layers, shorts or tights? As usual, we got it wrong. The sun did not last and we were a bit chilled at the end.

Things started off badly. I stepped out of the Motorhome in my cleats, slipped on the top step (plastic shoe on plastic step) fell against the doorway and ended up in a heap on the ground below just to hear the tannoy saying “calling all 50 milers to the start line”! Nothing to do but get up and get on with it.The bruises are now fading.

I set a mental target of 15 miles per hour average. We have done 50 miles in less than 3 hours (16.7mph) but given the conditions and the need to save something for the next two days, then that seemed about right. It soon became obvious that we were going to be playing catch-up for most of the day. There were already some 20 milers at the start consisting of protective parents with toddlers and old dears on shoppers complete with baskets effectively blocking the narrow estate roads for the first mile or so of the course. Live and let live, but we didn’t factor that in.

The course took us east along the coast road to Blakeney then inland before running back up to Holkham. Fairly easy course without any major climbs although the total climbing was nearly 600 meters. There was a decent feed station at 27 miles with all the usual refuelling requirements. What was odd was the 30s themed dress of the official in charge and the weird music from the same era. This is Norfolk though, so you know some things are going to be a bit off at a tangent.

Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/137797904

The ride was fairly uneventful. However, one thing erked me a little. We were slowly overtaken by a group of chatting friends that initially blocked me as I was trying to overtake a slow rider, and then 

when they got past they slowed down and held me up. Tanya had managed to get past the slow rider ahead and was now 100 metres up the road. I had no option but to go past them and re-join Tanya ahead. They were totally oblivious to the situation, deeply immersed in their inane banter. Something for group riders to consider.

Saturday afternoon consisted of a gentle wander around the trade stalls and displayed followed by the obligatory cream tea in one of the local cafes. I find eating little and often after a long ride is the best way to get my old body nutrition/hydration balanced again – that’s my excuse for the cream-tea anyway.

The next event was a 6 mile time trial around the estate, open to all. We watched. It was won by professional triathlete Rob Skipper at an average speed of about 27 mph!!! He had earlier cycled the 100 mile sportive.

Later in the evening we visited the bar tent where local girlEmma Pooley was holding a Q&A session after the prize giving. She was there for the weekend using the event to train for the upcoming Friends Life Womens Tour. Her insight and observations about cycling and women’s participation was very interesting.

On the Sunday, the course headed south west inland returning via Sandringham. Except that I spied a direction arrow that I was not supposed to and we ended up back at Holkham after only covering about 10 miles. The arrow was meant for the return route that crossed the outgoing course. Only 7 miles extra 

Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/137797874

The weather was a little warmer and less breezy, but taking no chances I wore an extra layer. Guess what? Wrong again, too warm!

The rest of the day followed the usual pattern: food, walk, food, walk, food, drink, sleep. The 8 mile walk to Wells-next-the-Sea and back along the beach was, in hindsight, a step too far for my tiring body.

Monday was supposed to be the hard day. Billed as hilly, so I should have been prepared. The two steep hills were early on. The first one, Bard Hill was away from the coast at Saltburn, topping out at 14% and then a second one, Summer Hill a little further on and not quite so steep. Only short hills, but needed the lowest gears on the bike, 34 front to 28 rear. (Note for Mt Ventoux – Need a 30 rear).

Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/137797868

The weather was warmer still, so I went back to 2 layers but with shorts, Guess what? Got it right this time. Third time lucky.

We got up the two hills OK, even had enough energy to outsprint Tanya to the top. I’m not sure what the other riders though of the verbal abuse rained in my direction from mywife’s lips. By the time we got to the feed station, I was absolutely pooped. Not sure why as I had fueled up well with a big breakfast, had an energy bar before the climbs. I took a gel and some flapjack at the feed station but it took a good few miles of drafting Tanya before I could take my turn on the front again. After that we got on well again, taking it steady, chatting with other riders and eating at every opportunity.

One of the best bits of the course was the run in back to the finish line at Holkham Hall on the estate roads. It’s a long straight road, over a mile long, mostly down-hill but with a short steep climb to the obelisk before the final bend down to the Hall. It was the same return route each day and we had developed a bit of competition. We would enter the estate together but after that it was each man to himself. The climb to the obelisk was a great place to launch an attack which you could hold off until the finish line. Not sure what the visiting public thought of two oldies sprinting arse in air through the
 estate though and that was it. We ate, packed the bikes away in the Motorhome garage and drove home.

Both bikes behaved impeccably. No issues whatsoever. In the end we managed over 15 mph average on all three days.

All in all, it was an excellent weekend away. It was hard work, but very enjoyable if you like cycling. Would we do it again next year? Most certainly 

Tingle's in Amsterdam

OK time for another guest blog and this time it comes from a genuine club man in C&DCYCLES Iain Tingle. Iain was often at the back helping less experienced riders long before the rest of us thought this was a good idea. He's also the man who put me onto the excellent 'Dancing up Hills,' biography of Charles Holland the first British rider in the Tour de France.

Here goes:

When I think of the Netherlands I think of 3 things, Tulips, Clogs and Bicycle’s. Now this isn’t trying to be stereotypical or narrow-minded they are just the three things that spring to mind. A word association if you like. Britain does the same Fish and Chips, The queen and Jeremy Kyle (Ashamedly I must say for the latter).

So on a recent business day trip to Amsterdam with a little free time on the side I decided NOT to do the normal stumble around trying NOT to look like a tourist taking photos and cranking my head upwards. This is one thing about try NOT always leads to…you always try to hard and end up being what you set out to avoid. This time I decided to go in feet first swallow my pride and be a total tourist.

Now in the past I must admit I have done a Segway tour of Bruges. To be honest I know I must have looked like a total tourist wally but in all fairness it was some great fun and highly recommended too if you get the chance. So visiting Amsterdam one tour sprang to mind, A city that loves it cycling there is only one way to see it by bike.

Searching online for options one company came up trumps http://www.yellowbike.nl/ great reviews, excellent response via email and the bonus of reserving via email and paying on the day. Situated in the heart of Amsterdam and roughly a 5 min easy walk form Amsterdam Central Station.

The staff were friendly and helpful. In a group of 8 we had a quick briefing and set about collecting our steed for the day. FYI YELLOW BIKE is exactly that. There is no missing these things.

All set up and ready to roll the tour guide ran off back to the office, returning with a handful of yellow ponchos just in case, as it turns out the best call.

We headed off taking some time to adjust to the European style of bike, front break on the left handlebar and rear break applied by peddling backwards. Even a keen cyclist like me it took a while to come to terms with this set up.

The route was set out and incorporated some of the main sights of what this Dutch capital had to offer. Every 10/20 minutes we would stop at a location, carefully selected to include severely talking points. And before setting off again we were told of areas to look out for on the next part of the ride.

This was a real time travels tour, we saw and heard about Amsterdam past and present. Amazing architecture, lovely views and all described by a tour guide that knew her history but at the same time knew not to over do it.

Now going back to the poncho, I was unlucky enough to pick a day that 1 hour into our tour the heavens opened and it poured, it came down like Amsterdam was going to be reclaimed by the water that once covered it.  The poncho was the saving grace, donning my bright yellow rain cape and looking more and more like a giant banana on wheels the tour continued. Rule number 5 and 9 http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/ adhered. This was the only this was the only slight downside to the tour, it is open to the elements but that is no worry some times you have to take the rough with the smooth.

Now I don’t want to go about what we saw and heard, just in case you get the chance to take it on. This is a tour that is perfect if you want an idea of what Amsterdam has to offer. It gave me a chance to see a little of everything from the house that Anne Frank graced to the many stunning bridges over the canal system, the galleries that house masterpieces and are themselves a work of art to look at to a famous coffee shops and everything in between. It is perfect start to a trip and with a few extra days there would have given me a list of places to go a visit with more time.

It showed me how the Dutch embrace cycling, biking in Holland is a way of life and an excellent way to get around. The cycle lanes dominate the cities landscape everywhere you look you see cycling and its culture and you start to understand why the Dutch love pedal power.

If you get the chance and you have day in this amazing city I highly recommend trying one of these tours. I leave you with this, no matter whatever the weather forecast take a tour poncho better safe than sorry.

Cheers Iain that's top blogging!

Happy Pedalling

There once was an ugly bracket...

With bearings all rusty and brown,
Clank clank, get out,
Clank clank, get out,
Clank clank, you make me frown!

You may have guessed that my bottom bracket was indeed wrecked to bobbins. Chris at C&DCYCLES kept the evidence for me to see and how that rusty smashed up article got me round the Squires and Spires is in fact a modern day miracle. Still it's all fixed in the space of the day and Clive was super smooth for a splendid vroom Wednesday.

What a ride! Perfect weather. Warm and sunny but not too warm and very light winds. We did have a planned route and right up to Boughton Crossing we stuck to it. Then Steve decided to tinker. His aim for the evening was hill collecting and collect them we did. At Ravensthoroe Steve wanted to head North even further I'm not sure how far he wanted to go but I suspect Scotland. At this point I pointed out I might be expected home at some point and we headed off up the minor lumps through Coton to Guilsborough and then on to that monster climb into Naesby. From there we remembered it's vroom Wednesday and not mountain goat midweek and things got quick. Really quick! I got two 9th places on Strava. That 11t cog does make a difference and I love it.

The scenery tonight was stunning as ever. We passed so many landmarks again with tonight's highlight perhaps being Holdenby_House. An interesting fact about Holdenby House is my daughter Niamh had a living history trip to Holdenby House where she was a kitchen maid for the day. Later that year she did a family tree for school and we discovered that my Nan's great Aunt was actually a kitchen maid at Holdenby House!

Ubiquitous selfie

There not just jelly babies they're M&S jelly babies

Stomachs in boys and check out Olly's Gran Fondo 3 jersey

New 105 Casette, quick spin, like the gears...bottom bracket noise sounds terminal!

So I deliberated and deliberated and did some research and in the end decided not to change my chain rings to 52/39 but instead change my cogs from 10 speed 28-12 to 28-11. I did this because I found a gear ratio chart showing I'd gain more top end speed with a 50-11 (4.6) than a 52-12 (4.3) and lose none of my Granniest of Granny gears which I definitely employed on my last epic ride.

I dropped my bike off the day after the brothers and sisters of C&DCYCLES had enjoyed a grand day out at the Women's Tour. I couldn't get the day off an to be honest I'm still sulking. To make matters worse the promised guest blog from that historic occasion and splendid ride has yet to materialize. That was a week ago and as you can imagine I was literally itching to get back on the bike.

The route I chose was deliberate as there were two segments I wanted to test the new ratio out on. The top gear certainly felt like it had more oomph but no PR's this evening. An average of 15.9mph remains pretty ok by my standards.

Shiny new cogs!

However there are bigger fish to fry here. Clive is making odd noises. It sounds like the bottom bracket. In fact it sounds awful but not all the time. It's very weird and I can't blame them in the shop for not noticing it because you can ride for ten minutes or so without a squeak. Then it's clank, clunk, scrape. I keep expecting something to fall off but the only effect it appears to have on the bikes performance is it knocks my confidence and I whittle about the noise rather than get my head down. Anyway Andy at C&DCYCLES (there's your mention Andy,) said get it in first thing and they'll try to have it ready for vroom Wednesday. I hope so as I'm riding to work tomorrow and if there's no bike I'll have to walk home!

On my return to Lindsley 'Home Sweet Home,' I was presented with a slice of the most glorious recovery cake. Lee was experimenting with a new recipe for Orange & Lemon loaf. Bloody handsome!

Happy Peddaling