Marcus Birds' virtual peaks ride, sporteering, quizing and the odd run!

Another great week to blog about. The highlight has to be Marcus Bird's superb virtual peaks ride but lots if other good stuff too!

As ever my cycling blog starts with a run! Not much to see here, just another standard 5k to add to my May Covid marathon challenge.

Not wanting to risk my escape artist wahoo from getting lost I stayed home and did rollers on Wednesday. As I got off I discovered the postie had been and my new bracket and tether had arrived. Thanks to Mark for the advice on getting a tether, things should be a lot less risky from now on.

safe as houses

On Friday I went for my usual run again. I was planning to do 10k but the queen of cakes questioned the wisdom of this. She stated that 10k followed by riding all weekend would not be  wise! So I listened!!!

This is the main event of today's blog. C&D Cycles CC had planned to have a day out in the peaks this weekend. Because we couldn't (I think we can now,) do that Marcus Bird prepared this monster of a route to get a similar amount of climbing into a local ride. The whole ride is actually more than I did but I started out from home and just hoped to complete the 100km needed for a fondo.

Comparatively two rides from my past come to mind. The first is peaks ride I have done with C&D and the second is last year's Dartmoor classic.

There's the peaks ride. 6217ft in just over 52 miles!




Dartmoor classic, very very hilly ride. 6338ft in 71 miles!

With those two reference points in mind I think Marcus absolutely nailed his quest to find a comparatively hilly route starting and finishing in Kettering!

Some people are not coping with Covid...too much time on their hands in Braybrooke!

Who is that in the distance...it's Mike Corbett!

Hello mate...social distancing observed

Straight out of the blocks it was obvious how Marcus had created this ride. We went up and down every hill possible. I'm really not much of a climber but thanks to Newton, what goes up must come down. The downhills were glorious! Heading from Braybrooke to Dingley I spotted a blue C&D jersey in the distance. So I caught up with and greeted Mike Corbett. After a quick chat I went on and Mike followed from a safe distance.

Church at Sutton Bassett

I'm a bit obsessed with churches at the moment. Not in a religious way I'm just intrigued. We have all these magnificent buildings that were constructed centuries ago...sometimes they've been added to over the centuries. How did they get there without power tools or cranes? Who built them? Who decided on the designs. I know things like the floor layout is a cross. Why have some got a spire and others a tower? Was there like a top church designer that everyone wanted? More research required I think! Anyway whilst I took a picture of this Mike came back past me. I then overtook Mike again in Weston on Welland.

At a cross roads my Wahoo clearly indicated I was to go straight on. The road was called field road! Wahoo indeed! It was great to do a bit of Paris-Roubaix/Rutland Cicle/CX style riding, I was just grateful to be running tubeless on strong wheels!

I made it into Medbourne in one piece following the off road fun. The church obsession continues and I just love the bridge to get there! Again, who thought...we need a lovely bridge? Then it was up the monster that is Neville Holt for the first time! As usual I had an earworm and this reflects how much fun I was having. Stereophonics - I wouldn't believe your radio!

Covid conditions on a beautiful day for riding!

Stunning view across the Welland Valley

The duck pond at Hallaton

Steve Minney

After Hallaton I bumped into Steve Minney. He'd decided to do the route in reverse so he would see more club mates! I heard that Andy pendred was out on the route and I told Steve that Mike was behind me. "Oh no he isn't," said Steve, he's about a mile in front of you! This was most confusing. Steve warned me it was proper hilly ahead...he did not lie. At Launde Abbey I caught up with Mike again! He revealed that he had opted out of field road so had got to Medbourne by a more direct route! I don't blame him at all and no shame in that he would do more miles than me from Kettering anyway. It was glorious down the hill towards the Abbey and then there was indeed a lot more uphill. We did a loop around and back past the Abbey and of course back up the hill. On the following descent I saw Pete Rowbotham and then I though Hans van Nierop but it turns out it wasn't him and most likely it was Rob Moore (They look similar in Welland CC kit!) Descent of the day for me was down to Eyebrook reservoir. The place was packed. Lockdown easing has led to countryside recreation en masse! I knew what Marcus had planned though...we were heading back round to Drayton and another climb up Neville Holt. I was ruined by this point and the urge to walk was massive...but I did resist and pedalled all the way up it. 

I've mentioned before that drag from Ashley to Desborough is top quality hill training...it wasn't what I needed after 50 ish miles of a lot of hills! In Stoke Albany I got cramp for the first time so after that I was a bit tentative! On the route went and I made it round to Harrington...cue another church picture. At the Tollemarche Arms the official route took a right. However as I was on target for 100km I turned left and headed home to Rothwell. 

Harrington Church

I have to thank Marcus for this wonderous creation of a route. I very much doubt I shall make it a 'regular,' as one C&D regular, John Mackay, declared. Even more impressive was that Andy Pendred turned this into a 100 miler! It was a day for big rides as another good cycling mate, Chris Perry from Brixworth MTB did a 9 hour epic off road 100 miler. Kudos to all!!!

Recovery food by the Queen of Cakes! 

On Saturday evening we had another Corby Capers cycling quiz. This time our host was Dean Barnett. After the usual technical issues we had a great time. Despite some inhibiting Ribena the Wilsons' father and son team spanked all our butts with their superior knowledge. Dean very kindly chucked in a Sven Nys question (well Thibau but anyway his Dad was in the picture.) Then the last question was: "can you name this popular rider?" Dean had obscured the face. I looked at it and thought...no idea...so I answered Sven Nys! Then I saw the hint of Kettering CC down the side of the jersey and a glimpse of lime green Kasc helmet. It was me!!! Only one person got it right because no one can spell Lindsley. A lovely touch...thank you Dean. Sean is doing the quiz next week. I can't wait. This is becoming a highlight of lockdown. I will take my turn as quizmaster but not next week due to work stuff.

On Sunday I decided that my stiff legs from the day before needed to do some more sporteering. This one starts and finishes on the Market Square in Rothwell so is ideal for me. I'd done some planning this time and tried to programme a route into my Wahoo. The route I planned was ridiculous and I realised it wasn't possible for me to cover the distance off road and do the stop and start control point hunting. Here's the ridiculous route below...it would be a great off road group ride...especially now I know where I went wrong!

Once again, sporteering was good fun. I did learn some good new bridleways and single track. The bridleway between Ashley and Wilbarston is particularly good. On that...I missed control point 11 because I was having too much fun on a lovely downhill section! I'd already had to double back twice for similar mistakes. I also had to use the road around Corby because I completely lost the bridleway from Pipewell to Middleton. Not many pictures because I was focused on the challenge. However here's one where I clearly went wrong in Rushton!

I was right that I had no chance of getting all 24 control points in three hours. I can only see an absolute legend of cycling fitness and navigation getting this done in the time limit. I made it back to the start ten minutes over. It really isn't worth going over time because you lose a point a minute and a control point is worth 10-40 points. The bottom of my score sheet is below. You get this by email. 

Okay that's it for another week. I probably won't blog next week because I know I can't ride much over the bank holiday weekend. Unlike the song stuck in my head; you can't actually have it all!!!

Happy Pedalling!

Wahoo, Lezyne, Winter, Sven, Pauline and Sporteering!

What a week it's been! Lockdown weirdness persists and we're all making the best of it. This week I got out for a couple of runs, 3 rides, did Parkrun quiz and the excellent Corby Capers cycling quiz! So this blog is all about that, some technical issues and some hero worship.




Tuesday was my standard 5k run. It's more miles for the May Covid Marathon challenge. As per usual I saw a Red Kite and this is my best attempt at a picture. I recorded on my Wahoo Element Bolt because I don't trust the Lezyne watch and it appears a cycling specific computer also isn't that great at recording runs!!!

On Wednesday morning I was being a bit of a wettty and very nearly did rollers on a beautiful but cold morning. In the end I had a word with myself put all my winter kit on and got out for my usual 17 mile loop. I'm really glad I did because nothing beats the great oudoors!

In Arthingworth there was a clattering noise and I looked down to see my Wahoo was gone! Ever since I snapped this by falling off my MTB it's been held together by superglue and a zip tie. I always planned to buy a new mount but it was doing so well I'd not got round to it!!! Luckily I found the Wahoo in one piece and a new mount has been ordered!

On Thursday I decided it was time to get my 10k run for May done. I've worked out if I fiddle with the GPS settings that pesky Lezyne watch, it actually works!!! So on a beautiful morning it was a pleasure go for a run!

Always need a bird picture

Friday was Bank Holiday Monday or something like that! Thanks to Dean Barnet's post on facebook I've discovered sporteering. It's a bit like orienteering using an app link to sporteering app There are two routes to try  near me so I headed to the Harrington airfield war memorial to have a go at 'carpetbaggers.'

On the way I bumped into Ashley

War Memorial

Cows in fields...

Lovely tree

Bear that sign in mind for later!

I had a good ride but messed up the start for sporteering and if you get the start wrong nothing works! So I doubled back and did a quick test run. Once I knew what to do, I headed home with plans to try another day.

On the ride I noticed that my bike felt wrong at the front. So on Saturday I stripped down the headset and removed the forks. The problem was very simple to diagnose. The bottom fork bearing was corroded and very crunchy! Normally I'd take this sort of job to Andy at C&D but in these troubled times I'm trying to be more self sufficient. New part ordered and lets see how I get on!

On Saturday evening we had yet another Corby Capers quiz. Having scored a pathetic 8/15 in the parkrun quiz earlier in the day I was confident that I'd do better in this quiz. I was additionally reassured by Hans, this weeks quizmaster, as he promised lots of Sven Nys questions! Once again I memorised the great man's wikipedia page. I knew all about his 2005 and 2013 world cx championship victories. I knew about the world cup, superprestige, controversies etc I even knew he was born on 17th June 1976! This was all in vain though because there was two questions...two Hans (or should I say Josh who put the questions together.) I managed to get 50% of them wrong due to a team name trick question. Then we had a question which had a picture which I got right before I saw the picture. The answer was Pauline Ferrand-Prevot! Possibly the most beautiful cyclist on the planet. I follow her on instagram because she's an awesome cyclist and not just because she's very easy on the eye. All social media savvy cyclists should follow Pauline, she is the ultimate all rounder being the only person in history to hold the World title for road, mountain bike and cyclocross at the same time. She is also an amazing role model having overcome serious injuries and always recovering to compete at the top level. More here Back to the quiz...we used a great quiz app this week. You got bonus points for fast answers and I came 5th out of 9 mostly due to some lucky quick guesses!!! Next week Dean is going to be the quiz master, as someone who REALLY knows his cycling I'm looking forward to a low scoring but educational evening.

This morning I decided to have another crack at the sporteering thing. The organiser had actually contacted me to ask if I was goign to try again after Friday's test run. He also let on that someone on an e-bike had achieved a perfect score of registering all 30 contact points within the four hour time limit. With my MTB out of action I decided to tackle this on my Forme Calver CX bike. The change in weather to windy, colder and drizzly led me to put on a winter jersey - it was the right choice!

I didn't get all 30 contact points. Mostly because I kept going the wrong way. There must be a better way to do this than my method of just follow the phone app. I think this course is achievable with proper planning and good awareness. However if you enjoy a downhill in the wrong direction or forget to stop to scan GPS...then there's a lot of going back up the hill! However I have been down some new tracks today which was very enjoyable and I have found myself on bridleways I've ridden past and wondered about. So it was definitely worth it.

The bridge/ford on the Lamport to Haselbech bridleway

Remember the beware of the bull sign from earlier...well today the bull and his lady cows were gathered around the gate I needed to get through. However I outwitted them. Feeling smug I then completely missed a contact point...This is the field that a few years ago I was riding through with Fireman Pat and the herd at the time actually chased us out of the field. It was a scary experience and I have been wary of moo beasts ever since.

Lumpy field lovely old tree

Hang on where's my Wahoo!!!

Heading from Loddington to Great Cransley I was having a lovely time. I rediscovered some tracks I'd used before and then looked down to see my Wahoo wasn't there! You could not make this up. I specifically purchased a nukeproof stem cap mount so that I wouldn't snap an aero mount on an offroad ride again. It's really secure so how on earth had this fallen off? I was not a happy bunny.

I retraced my route and found the expensive bit of kit just sitting in the grass. I was mightily relieved. I put it back on and tried really hard to knock it off by accident. It's not possible. Who knows what happened here!!!

Time was running out so I felt I could get one more contact point in before heading back to the finish point at the war memorial. The picture above is a lovely downhill. It's less pleasant when you get to the bottom and discover you went the wrong way again and need to go back up! I made it to point 30 with seconds to spare and then back to the finish 14 minutes over time which I now know just incurs a time penalty. So if you're not going to make it in time your choices are; miss points (which was my plan,) or do it all and be late. Either way you lose points. 

Sporteering is definitely a lot of fun. I wouldn't want to ride this way every day as it's a bit stop/start. Looking at my elapsed time and riding time and factoring that I didn't take any breaks...I pretty much lost an hour to stopping and working out which way to go next.

That's it for another week. Tune in next time for more tales of GPS units trying to escape...

Happy Pedalling

Just this week...I promise!

Last week I published a blog that was longer than war and peace covered way too much etc. So this week is just this week. I promise!




As is now traditional in Richard's cycling blog the first activity is a run! I recorded this on my wahoo because I don't trust my lezyne watch or my phone. Well now I don't trust my wahoo! Something odd is going on with gps signals around here. It's something to do with covid, Elon Musk's satellite trains or 5G...

jacket on...it was raining!

I really really reallly couldn't be bothered but dragged myself onto my rollers. Oh well it all counts! More on the malaise later!

This is a bad idea

So I went for another run. For a very good reason! The April covid marathon has raised over £1k for KGH and is doing it all again in May! I decided as I wasn't happy with my wahoo (I'm not saying that in polite company!) So I decided to give the Lezyne another chance...

Well the utter piece of crap below outdid itself...I managed to run an entire 5k without it finding a signal once! Luckily my phone decided to behave itself and I got some data!

Having realised I managed to do the NC14 TT challenge and mess up the strava segment in April I decided I needed at least to register a time in May. So I headed out to the Welland valley.

It truly was a beautiful day but...I was not feeling in the mood at all. I headed out via Desborough and by the time I was heading down the hill into Stoke Albany I was having a lovely time! The surprise here is that this was a SURPRISE! At least 50% of the time that I get on my bike wondering why I'm bothering and then hey presto it feels great!

Once I was on the circuit I put a bit of effort in. There was a head wind from Bringhurst to Medbourne but this became a tailwind on the quickest part of the route from Ashley back to Middleton. I'm really not sure how to pace myself on this yet but I am sure I can make some improvements. No records are under threat!!! I went back up Bringhurst hill for a second time and noted that the defib in the phone box is well placed.

mid ride refuel...thanks to NHS donations I have a box of these!

The view at Wilbarston over the Welland Valley

When I got back from the ride I was greeted by this incredible recovery food. The Queen of cakes had baked Millionaire's shortbread and Millionaire's brownies! Just splendid!

On Saturday evening we had another Corby Capers cycling quiz. No such techno issues this week.  Which is amazing because we used a combination of whatsapp, zoom and slido. Just a shame my cycling knowledge is limited. David Wilson was the quiz master this week and he promised me lots of Sven Nys questions. He lied! The only tenuous Sven link was what bikes do Telenet-Fidea use? Sven Nys owns that team...there's a clue in the picture below and despite competing as both myself and Marco Panini in a multi-guess quiz (so doubling my chances of a correct guess!) I got that question wrong! I wouldn't mind but I'd actually done some revising to make sure I knew some Sven Nys stuff...HOWEVER this was superb fun! Many thanks to David. I look forward to this week's winner Hans hosting next week's event!

Oh yeah...TREK!

As part of the quiz we had a question relating to Beryl Burton. Way before Boardman, Wiggins,  Cav, Pendelton, the Kenny's, the Yates brothers, Dave Brailsford, Team Sky, lottery funding and all that jazz we had an amazing cyclist in Britain and she does not get the credit she deserves. Check out the facts and figures here Beryl Burton

I decided to do something different today and take my MTB out instead. I headed out to the trails at Desborough Greenspace which are usually good fun. However when I got there I didn't stay too long. It was quite busy with kids already riding it. The trails are not in a good state! There's a lot of trees down and repair is underway. There was a kid with a spade making new jumps. He was putting the gaps back in which I'm a bit wary of. I prefer tabletops with the option to jump or roll. However it is good to see that someone cares about the trails. I rode the bits that are still ride-able and then headed off for something else.

The old Harrington Road was fun a usual, it's great when you can get a clear run at that bit of downhill and then I headed back home. Just a quick off road spin to round off the weekend!

Can I have 'U' for this please?

That's it. Just a short and sweet blog as promised this week!

Happy Pedalling