Monday, 12 May 2014

Hightower does the Fred Whitton Sportive

C&DCYCLES rider Nathan 'Hightower' Gallon took on one of the toughest UK Organised rides in the 112 mile Fred Whitton Sportive. Taking place in the Lake District this ride goes up just about every high pass in the Cumbrian Fells. I've been up those roads too...in a car! I've also done a lot of fell walking and all I can say is chapeau Nathan chapeau!


Here's Nathan's account of the ride and some pictures:

I blame it all on my wife Kate!! She came home from work late last year and said that she had been chatting to one of her patients. Turns out he was a keen cyclist in his youth and said that if her husband fancied a real challenge he should enter the Fred Whitton. A little cycle through the hills of the Lake District. The ride is named after Fred Whitton, a cycling enthusiast and member of The Lakes Club who sadly lost his life to cancer. The event was set up by friends in his memory and has steadily grown in popularity over the years. As a now keen cyclist myself I went straight on-line and looked it up. I saw that it was a 112 mile ride with around 11000ft of ascent, was heard to say ‘don’t be daft’ and shut the laptop lid.

So don't ride up it numpties!

Kate however kept on nagging me to enter and so I looked at it again and again and eventually thought what the hell and entered. So I was in the ballot for a place, fairly confident that I wouldn’t get in as it is a very popular event, with around 2000 riders getting a place. Imagine my surprise when I got the email.... Congratulations on getting a place on the Fred Whitton. 11th May 2014.

No excuses now. A lot of winter training ahead of me and a bit of hill hunting too. A few sportives to boot in the spring and we are only a week away from the event. Disaster strikes when I bust a spoke and my other set of wheels is looking a bit poorly too. Andy and Chris at C&D Cycles really came through for me and put the bike back on the road, ready for the event. Thanks guys.


Rule 5!!!

A smooth journey up to Cumbria finds us at our B&B in Grasmere which is only a stones throw from the start line and after registering it was back to our digs for an early night. The alarm goes of at 4am and already the nerves kick in. Looking out of the window, although it’s not raining, I decide to go for winter clothing and full waterproof jacket. Turns out to be the best decision I made that morning. Out the front door to go to the start line at 6am and the heavens opened. Standing with my bike at the start line, drenched, I wonder what I have let myself in for. I fire up the Garmin, and were off.

OK it does look a bit challenging

The first 6 miles are flat and alongside a beautiful lake, as you would expect in the Lake District. Just ahead I see a marshall with a huge smile on his face and his arm pointing right. I smile cheerily back, make the turn and hit the first hill, Kirkstone Pass. My smile disappears! A 454m ascent over 3 miles. Incredibly steep in places and granny gear all the way. The decent is amazing. Long sweeping downhill, and I had a job to keep it under 40mph. This was followed by two more ascents of Matterdale End and Honister, both climbs of over 350m. 50 miles done and it’s the first feed station. A quick rear tube change which had a slow puncture and I was off again, straight in to Newlands Pass (455m) before reaching the first cut off point with time to spare. 3 miles later and it’s in to the 318m climb of Whinlatter. I was very happy to see my wife at the top of the climb, so stopped for a cheeky little rest before going down the other side. On to Cold Fell with a vicious 1:4 proceeded by a 290m climb. The view from Cold Fell was awesome, being able to see the Isle of Man and Scotland too. 


Cadence up...cadence up

At 83 miles I arrived at the second feed station and after the best cup off tea in the world and a couple of jam sandwiches I set off again. Not long after leaving the feed station there was a sign I had been dreading. Hardknott Pass, 10 miles. You arrive at the bottom of the slope to a lovely set of signs which warn of the approaching climb. I pass over a small bridge and begin peddling in earnest. After about 40 feet or so I stop, get off and start walking. It is so steep, 1:3 in places, I’m struggling to keep the front wheel on the floor and to be perfectly honest, I am about all out of beans. A bloke cycles past me on a fixie before I walk past a bloke who is cycling up!! Massive kudos to all those that cycled it. As I summit, the wind whips up and I see the decent. Scary would be an accurate description. Brakes on all the way down with arms aching from braking and holding on. I reach the bottom, chuffed that I made it, only to hear the Air Ambulance overhead for a cyclist who has fallen at the bottom. He was airlifted with serious hip and back injuries. A beautiful 2 or so mile ride later and it Wrynose Pass. Same as Hardknott, but not quite as steep. Yes, I walked up it. After another scary decent, only 12 miles to go and with renewed vigour I race off, only to find myself in the granny gear again at any kind of hill!! With only 3 miles to go it’s flat again and I see the finish at Grasmere approaching. I turn in to the finish and see Kate amongst all the supporters, dutifully pointing the camera my way to capture the pain and elation in my face. She then yells at me, “The bloody battery has died”. I stop only metres from the line and wait whilst the phone comes out for those all important pictures. I cross the line, exhausted but elated all at the same time.

The big buffoon clearly miles behind everyone else


I could describe the weather for you, but it was typical Lake District all the way round. Wet and windy, but not too much wind which was a relief. The views were stunning throughout. Met some great characters on the route, ranging from fellow officers of the law to managing directors and ground workers. Think he was your long lost twin Steve Major, judging purely by his language about the f###ing weather!!

Jesus he's nearly the size of a mountain!


All in all a fantastic ride, well organised, great camaraderie, great marshalls and all ended with a great feeling of achievement and satisfaction at completing a truly tough, brutal and beautiful ride in Cumbria. Would I do it again? You do it first, then ask me again........ 

Good weather for Eskimos?

Back to me: Well what can I say Nathan. That Kate really has got you by the nadgers if she talked you into this. Great bloggage mate, thanks again and yes you do qualify for one of Mrs Lindsley's very special cakes. Any requests?


Tuesday, 6 May 2014

SpiderSam and I take on Rockingham Motor Speedway

 
Tonight Sam and I had the rare opportunity to cycle around Europe's fastest motor racing circuit Rockingham UK.




This event was organised by the Scouts as a fundraiser and that's why Sam is in his Cubs uniform. He is however wearing his Spiderman buff to keep it real as far as cycling attire is concerned. It was a real privilege to ride on such a smooth surface and although banked it's not severe like a bike track, in fact it's fair to say the banks at Wickstead Park Go-Kart track (which is in reality a vintage velodrome,) are more of a worry. My fastest lap was 19.3mph which is way off the 24mph record for the circuit, I did however hit a top speed of 29mph so I'd love to be able to go back as a club and have a real smash at a fast lap as a train. I'm not sure if it was the tailwind or a slight downhill in the first section but it was much quicker starting than finishing.

Sam enjoyed a couple of leisurely laps whilst I thrashed round. I hope the Scouts do this again, I'd love to go back and have another crack at it.

Happy Peddaling




Sunday, 4 May 2014

First sportive of the year, first century of the year, Gran Fondo 5 completed and a load more stuff on Star Wars day



Due to a convenient family situation I had today all to myself. I'd signed up for the Squires and Spires a few weeks back as a Sportive I heard good things about but it was 'only' 75 miles, so why not ride there and back plus a little bit more for the 100.

The scene at the start in Naseby

From the start this Just Racing event felt well set up. Our only mistake after arriving early to register was to wait until everyone had used the toilet before joining the start queue. At the registration I caused chaos. They called out A to K this queue L to Z the other queue. So I moved into my queue and told Andy Brown 'A to K,' that queue. He thought I said 80k that queue and stood with me. As I explained his error 4 or 5 other blokes joined him agreeing 'I thought he said 80k too!' People continued to discuss this outside, that bloke said 80k when he meant A to K etc.

All tooled up with his gel utility belt

I took this pic of a classic Bianchi

As usual there were some serious machines on view. Bianchi, Pinnarello, Van Nichols etc. my favourite of the day was the classic steel Bianchi above.

Quick pic with Pete and Nic

Cycling is about friends. I have some friends who also cycle and some friends I've met through cycling. Nic and Pete fall into the first category. Andy Brown and Paul Kelf are friends I met through cycling and we 3 amigos were the C&DCYCLES representatives for the day. They were superb to ride with. We worked as a team on the flat bits, at one point leading a long train with no other riders assisting. On the hills where Paul is strong and Andy is immense they were kind enough to wait for me when required. However my downhill specialism caught me up often, especially in the first half of the ride.


Today's food sponsors was Ultimate Sports Nutrition, USN. I picked their blue drink which we dubbed 'smurf juice,' because it matched Clive. I'm sure Mrs Lindsley will approve. Their other stuff was good, the nuts and grain bars were delicious and I like the mocha caffeine gels. My only gripe in the whole day would be at the second food station they'd run out of everything. There was plenty of food but no sports stuff. My remark that Hi5 wouldn't run out was not well received! Smurfette did however replenish the blue drink and we got a recovery drink at the end.

The Squires and Spires is so named because of the number of stately homes and church spires that dominate the landscape. The most famous big house being Althorp, the family home and burial site of Princess Diana. There are too many others to name in one blog when there's so much else to say.

Althorp pronounced Altrop by no one except BBC Look East


To the ride. It had a fast start with a descent of the hill from Naesby towards Guilsborough. It continued this way as we seemed to go downhill all the way to the first feed station at 30 miles. Our average to there was over 17mph. It was lovely to go through places I rarely ride. I was planning to check out the outer limits of Northants to the South and West but this ride ticks that box. Downhill all the way to Woodford Halse it felt and then it became a lot more lumpy. From the last feed station at Althorp it changed to brutal. The hills into East Haddon, Ravensthorpe, Coton, Guilsborough and out of Holdenby were granny gear specials and the cramp warning signs started. Then with only a few miles to go we went up Haselbech Hill. Ouch! Paul Kelf got off and walked until he saw a photographer and manned up! Andy was out of site when I was only on the foot slopes. With all that done they chucked us up the second hardest hill into Naseby to finish. Naseby is on top of a hill thats why Fairfax viewed the battle from there. Anyway we'd done it. A nice greeting, a recovery drink and a t-shirt was a good way to finish the Sportive bit. Needless to say the average was no longer at 17mph. A really good Sportive and I feel a good showcase of our beautiful county and excellent cycling.

Haselbech Hill


Andy and I still needed to ride home and I need a few extra miles to top the ton. It was hard! The euphoria of hitting 100 got me home and then as I pulled into Rothwell I met a man on what looked like a racing folder bike.

Dahon

It was the bike above, a Dahon TT. He rides it in time trials and is amused that he's never the slowest entrant. The blokes name was Rob Draycott if anyone knows him. He told me he also used to ride another 16in wheeled bike in Time Trials, the Moulton Major.

Moulton

All very interesting and frankly, blog worthy overkill on a day with so much else to say!

I'll look out for the official photos from today and may add them as a separate blog. Right now I'm knackered and I believe I deserve a beer.

Happy Peddaling



Saturday, 3 May 2014

One year anniversary of my first C&DCYCLES shop ride


It was on the 4th of May 2013 that I went on my first C&DCYCLES shop ride. That day I didn't know anyone there but had a friend of a friend, Nathan 'Hightower' Gallon greet me and welcome me to the club. People I met that day and over the coming weeks have changed my life in terms of cycling. I love this club and especially what I love about this club are my brothers and sisters of the road. I hate missing a Saturday shopride and because of the support of my family I very rarely have to.

Due to the large numbers of riders and the mix of abilities in the club we now split the Saturday ride into two groups. Those who want the traditional beginners ride and a group for those who want to go faster. As I have the Squires and Shires Sportive tomorrow I wanted a gentle spin and volunteered to be the 'tailgunner,' or 'arse end Charlie,' for the traditional ride (I'm not going to call it the slow ride, because that's not accurate.) Arse end Charlie is the rider at the back that makes sure no one gets left behind and assists the ride leader with things like pace and communication. 

As the Major was smashing his big ring with the other testosterone laden quick lads and Andy was busy, today's ride was led by Corporal Jones. Jonesy the begetting baker, did a fine job today despite being once again plagued by insects. He really is the unlucky Eddie of the road with insect incidents. So far I have been with him when; a wasp has flown into his jersey and stung him, a fly has got in his eye and today another fly exploded all over his glasses (note to all that's why you need eye-wear when you ride.)

Owen got a puncture

Just 1.8 miles into the ride Owen hit a pothole and punctured. To be fair to him it's pretty impossible to miss all the potholes on Rockingham Road and would be quicker to point out the intact bits than all the craters. Unlike other clubs we don't just leave people and expect them to catch up. We did however stand around and laugh in the unhelpful way that is common among groups of men.

Tyreweld in hindsight wasn't a great plan

It was a big old hole in the tube but Owen wasn't that confident about his spare and opted to inflate with tyreweld. Oh dear it really wasn't a good idea and just got foam everywhere. Of more help I'm sure was the way that the mocking and sniggering turned to fits of laughter and hyperventilation. There's nothing like a bit of support and well that was nothing like a bit of support!

The offending product

Back to the ride and the first significant slope was my old nemesis Rushton Hill. At this point, as there's a picture of them coming up, I'd like to say how nice it was to see some more ladies in the group today. Wednesday in particular was a bit masculine or as Nathan described it: 'a biggest balls contest.' The smuttier among you will be thinking 'oh yeah Rich like a ride with the ladies do you?' Well calm yourselves down. You might also remember that as a Nurse (where I get to see more than enough ladies at work,)  I get on my high horse about health promotion and in particular the role of exercise in physical and emotional well being. All sports need more female participation and cycling needs to do as much as possible to encourage more people to ride.

Claire and Rachel conquer the hill

There were more good hills to come. I have a thing with climbs I do regularly. Every now and again I like to ride down them. I do this to teach them a lesson and to make gravity understand that when he's being my friend I appreciate him a lot more. Well today the opposite happened. I almost always ride from East Farndon down the hill to Market Harborough. Today we rode the opposite way and what a splendid hill that is! Good plan Jonesy, I'm definitely doing that again.

I might be taking this tail gunner role to seriously...wait for me

No no I wasn't getting dropped. Even I can cope with a 14mph average. I wanted a photo to reflect the scenery, the splendid weather and get a bit of a group shot. I still can't believe how nice it was out today. It started with a frost but by ride time the light winds and sunshine made it near perfect for cycling. 

Another selfie photobomb thing

The other group did catch us on Farndon Hill and again coming into Rothwell after taking a detour to go up Naesby Hill (masochists,) they were not there for the selfie though. I did inform the Major that I had made up for his absence (I said something to which one of the ladies remarked, I didn't think Steve was with us today.) All excited with myself I told the sweary man that I'd stolen his crown. The potty mouthed maelstrom that ensued left me in no doubt that, there is only one Prince of Profanity.

Maypole dancing advertised at Kelmarsh Hall - news of delays was premature

Missing friends from today's ride had warned us that there could be hold ups due to an event at Kelmarsh Hall. Around this time last year we had to go off road due to such an occasion. This time however there were no such problems and I can only conclude that Maypole Dancing advertised on the board outside the entrance isn't 'all that!'

A Better Group Shot

The ride from Kelmarsh back to Rothwell was one of the highlights of the day. The roads were so quiet that we didn't see a single car between Harrington and the A14. Very pleasant indeed!

OK so that's that done. Another great ride in Northamptonshire and briefly Leicestershire. Good leading, great bunch of people, good banter and the ideal preparation for tomorrow's big ride.

happy Peddaling

ps if you're wondering about my ride name, regular C&DCYCLES rider Ken Matcham lost the use of his rear shifter meaning he had just two gears available via his chainrings. This didn't seem to slow him up but I doubt he'll want too many rides like that.

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Vroom Wednesday...maximum wattage and some rule breakers



Tonight was a proper vroom Wednesday. I'm pooped. That's the fastest I've ever ridden and I'm really really pleased with an average of 17.5mph. I've not checked other peoples Strava yet but I'm guessing as I was near the back a lot most people whooped that. Not just the average though I got 27 PR's, that's massive.

 At times the train worked and we stayed together at others some of us got lost out of the back. This was a good route for vroom and if your wondering why it's not circular for me it's because I rode to work today which was another bonus. The weather was perfect. A warm pleasant evening with only light winds.

This route is actually a good route for any type of road ride. You don't need to go out and thrash this go out and look at the scenery, smell the flowers and take it all in.

So that's the formalities out of the way let us attend this evenings main business. What follows is a kangaroo court of cycling.

Ok so if you're not familiar with the Rules this is hopefully going to be a masterclass. By providing such information I myself conform to rule#2 lead by example: it is forbidden for someone familiar with the rules to knowingly allow another person to breach them. So onto this evenings heinous crimes. Rule #3 also states: guide the uninitiated, no matter how good you think the reason it is never ok to knowingly breach the rules.

Exhibit A: big Steve Major, the Prince of Profanity.
In breach of rule #17: Team kit is for members of the team

Exhibit B: rule #27 socks and shorts should be like goldilocks - not too long and not too short
Jonesy, too short, Andy (mention 1) way too long, Major spot on, Stuey Nichols a bit too long plus as a Tigers fan you instantly break all the rules it's in your DNA

C&DCYCLES selfie

This doesn't break the rules but probably should as we got carried away with current trends and did a selfie. Even worse I quite like this picture!


Hightower's perspective 

Another rule should be that Nathan is too tall to ride a bike, it can't be safe to see the world like this. No wonder he broke a spoke on his long suffering bike.


Recovery drink 1

The final rule that should be a rule is that just because a bloke tells you something who is also a cyclist it does not mean you have to listen. We're suckers for this. At a sportive a bloke told me that a pint of milk after a ride is a significant aid to recovery so without any research of my own I now down a pint of milk after every ride. This is either brilliant advice or a load of old tosh.

Recovery drink 2 (flake optional) 

Rule #47 drink Trippels don't ride triples:
"Cycling and beer are so intertwined we may never understand the full relationship. Beer is a recovery drink, an elixir for post-ride trash talking and a just plain excellent thing to pour down the neck. We train to drink so don’t fool around. Drink quality beer from real breweries. If it is brewed with rice instead of malted barley or requires a lime, you are off the path. Know your bittering units like you know your gear length. Life is short, don’t waste it on piss beer."

So you see that lovely pint of home brewed Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone is a real rule conformer. I'm lucky that my two main hobbies are brewing and cycling. I can't think of a better combination.

Happy Peddaling

Monday, 28 April 2014

Rule#58 Observed, New Product Tested

So tonight's blog is once again not a route but a clean up job. I popped into to C&DCYCLES to see Andy who last night bemoaned his lack of mentions in yesterday's blog. So I asked Andy, you know the manager at C&DCYCLES about cleaning products and then listened to Andrew Ferguson's advice and bought some Muc Off chain cleaner. 

Ooh ooh whats in the bag?

Good old GT85 and an aerosol of muc off chain cleaner

Then Andy asked me if I'd ridden yesterday. This draws me to one ponderance. You know Andy the man at C&DCYCLES who we trust when we once again need help with our bikes? Well, he apparently read my blog yesterday and he did mention there was a complete lack of Andy. Now my blog yesterday was about the ride I did yesterday so you'd think, Andy, who definitely read my blog would know that! My conclusion is that Andy from C&DCYCLES does not read my blog at all he merely scans it for his own name. Well Andy you're going to be busy with all the Andy spotting tonight.

So to tonight's quest. Having been distinctly underwhelmed by the pure pump spray degreaser I was looking forward to testing the less environmentally friendly, but apparently not tested on bunnies, Muc Off chain cleaner. For one thing it's definitely more expensive.


Dirty bits

Filth

So the before is above and the below is after. I have to say Andy's advice to lay the bike on it's side, spray on the product and walk away, then wash off with hot water, was spot on. That's right Andy from C&DCYCLES gave me some great advice. He also advised me to give the chain a good rub with a towel which I already knew and then Andy, you know Andy, said make sure you lube properly afterwards. He said that it's a common error to clean well and then under lube. It's GT85 on bits like the jockey wheels and then good quality oil on the chain and cogs. I listened Andy. I just hope that Pure oil is a better product than the degreaser.

I'd say that works


Shiny

Yep that's more like it

Wow! I hope the pictures show just how well the Muc Off works. Seems they're not just the big brand in bike cleaning, they make stuff that works. The first thing was the aerosol was loads better to use than the pump spray. With very little effort the grime just fell off. Sorry penguins I'm sold on this stuff! So cheers again Andy, great advice as usual.

Finally I can't believe I didn't know about this but I found a link to the radio 5live cycling programme, bespoke. A really good listen and they touch on a subject close to our heart. How to go faster. It's good to hear from some big names in the sport but also nice to hear the presenter going through tests that put him through hell. We all like to know that others suffer too don't we! Link below.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/5live/bespoke/bespoke_20140424-2153b.mp3

Happy Peddaling

Sunday, 27 April 2014

Legs feeling good again...

Cycling is a fickle mistress. There are days where you feel good but ride poorly and days when you don't feel up for it and then have a spectacular ride. Today I went out feeling strong and stayed that way. For me that's the nicest feeling of them all.

Before I talk more about today I need to go back to yesterday. I completely forgot to mention three things. The first was that after a couple of weeks in shorts I went back to full length bib tights and overshoes. That's our weather for you! The second is that it was Neil Hickford's birthday. Neil needs to slow down. He's 5 years my senior and his recent ride averages have put me to shame. Well Neil when I'm 65 and your 70, just you watch out! Lastly Steve Major who was once again doing a great a job of leading the ride, broke a spoke. We tried taping it up and fiddling with a spoke key to get the wheel rideable but Steve could only limp to his Dads house to get a lift home. Not sure how I forgot that lot. The truth is I gave so many thoughts of what to put in the blog and half of them are still banging around in the gap between my ears.




Feeling good I set out today to ride as fast as I could. Years of plodding around at 14mph did me no favours in the speed department. So my average of 16.5mph might be unimpressive for some but for me it's a step in the right direction. I also got a PR on Rushton Hill, a segment I regularly ride and have not been able to improve since May and now I'm 30th out of 367 riders and 3rd out of all the people I follow. I'm chuffed to bits. The weird one is I really really went for it on Desborough Road Drop. I was convinced I'd never been quicker and finally that KOM would be mine. Strava says no! 2 seconds slower than my previous best I'm still 2nd though.

It's not all about speed though. I did some familiar stuff for me going through our beautiful countryside and pretty villages. No time for photos so I've borrowed some from the internet.

Happy Peddaling

Pipewell

Arthingworth

Lamport

When we win the Lottery...Old

The Hare at Loddington, nice pub, good food!