C&D Cycles CC 2018 Remembrance Ride

Every year at this time C&DCCC holds a Remembrance ride so that we, as cyclists, can honour the fallen. It's always one of the best and highest attended rides of the year and this one was no different.

My road riding has been limited of late because I'm loving the cyclocross season. I haven't been on a bike for longer than an hour many times in the last few months and even last weeks club ride was less than 30 miles for me. So...doing 100km to commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War was probably a lot to ask of my legs. No matter, I'd seen from the clubpage that this would be a mixed ability ride and if I took it easy I'd be okay...So I turned up at. the shop with seconds to spare (no change there,) and found myself in the 'faster,' group. I had no idea what was going on, I whistled past Andy Ferguson who was clearly trying to organise things to an annoyed look and a statement of: "that's 11 now!" My apologies to Andy and yes you're right it would be nice if I attempted to arrive in good time once in a while. Anyway that group tore off at 20mph+ and didn't drop that pace really until my legs were blown at 40 miles and I became an anchor for them to drag!

Our first stop was at the memorial in Deenethorpe. For anyone who isn't local, Northamptonshire was full of airbases during the Second World War and as a consequence there are now a lot of memorials next to very flat fields that look ideal for a runway! Here's more info about the Group based here: http://www.americanairmuseum.com/unit/349

For 3/4 of this ride it really was the most beautiful Autumn day with bright sunshine. The Red Kites were out on mass and as usual I have no pictorial evidence to prove this. Gawping at those magnificent birds lead to me playing catch up with the group as we headed to stop two at Spanhoe. As is typical on these rides the banter was notched up to maximum. None of it is repeatable in civilised company, let's just say I couldn't breathe from laughing so hard!

You can find out more about Spanhoe airfield here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Spanhoe

As we headed to Bulwick, disaster struck...Pete announced to the group that his bike was broken and his ride was done. With much apologising he declared he would get home somehow. His rear mech looked all wrong and he couldn't change gear. Much speculation ensued including the proposal to botch fix the rear mech with a cable tie to allow gear shifting. Then I pointed out that he only had a tiny bit of cable sticking out, unlike everyone else's bike. Andy P helpfully added that changing from high to low under maximum wattage can cause the cable to slip. So Pete flipped his bike over to work on the troublesome derailleur. As one we all groaned NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! 

1. Rule #49//
   

   Keep the rubber side down.
   It is completely unacceptable to intentionally turn one’s steed upside down for any reason under any circumstances. Besides the risk of scratching the saddle, levers and stem, it is unprofessional and a disgrace to your loyal steed. The risk of the bike falling over is increased, wheel removal/replacement is made more difficult and your bidons will leak. The only reason a bicycle should ever be in an upside down position is during mid-rotation while crashing. This Rule also applies to upside down saddle-mount roof bars.23

   

Like many of those rules, it is utterly ridiculous. However Pete dutifully turned his bike back over and worked on it in a back breaking crouch. A couple of people helped in practical ways. The rest of us worked on team morale with an array of unhelpful and yet hilarious (for us, less so for Pete,) mickey taking comments. There is a video but it's just in jokes really so I'm not including it here.

Much to nobody's surprise, Pessimistic Pete was in fact 100% wrong, his day was not done and we continued with our ride.

The next stop was the memorial to Kings Cliffe Airfield. It's amazing how many of these bases were packed close together. Kings Cliffe amongst all it's military history also has notoriety as Glen Miller's last airfield concert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Kings_Cliffe At this point the second group caught up with us and so we lied and said we'd been there ages. They saw through that so we blamed Pete. Also at that point our good cycling friend Steve Major appeared. I had hoped Steve was riding in the banter bunch but sadly no. He doesn't ride with us anymore and as the Remembrance rides were his creation that just feels very wrong. I didn't have time for any sort of catch up before we were off again.

Just round the corner from Kings Cliffe is Polebrook where Clark Gable was stationed! I know I've linked the wiki page for this place a few times so here's a more interesting link showing  what's left of a massive airbase. https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/military-sites/11093-raf-usaaf-polebrook-northamptonshire.html#.W-fxBziTLIU

However we were intrigued by the big letter J on the memorial and the answer to that question is in fact on the wiki page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Polebrook

After Polebrook it suddenly became clear that our early speed wasn't just about our physical prowess as we turned into a biting wind. My legs pretty much gave up at that point and I had to work really hard just to keep up. We did make our way to the designated coffee stop at Denford Church. A superb spread of cakes was laid on inside the church and it was nice to meet Andy P's Mum and his wife. With Sam P already with us on the ride we were abundant with Pendreds! Andy's Mum asked me if I wanted to know "anything about Andy?" I replied that I could also tell her a few things too and we decided it probably was best just to leave it!

The poppy display was exceptional at Denford Church which even without such an event is a stunning example of the Churches typical of Northamptonshire. Here's a better picture to do the place justice.

As I said we were treated to a magnificent spread. The cakes were superb. There was no charge for this but we were asked to make a donation to this very worthy cause. The Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre

It was also at this point that I realised that my Strava may be playing up...anyone else spot an issue above? No worries though, it would probably sort itself out and anyway there's always the chance I'd turned on the GPS on my Garmin Virb...

The stop rejuvenated me briefly but then it was back to Mr Dawdle...I felt like the road was mocking me too.

The last memorial stop for me was at Grafton Underwood which housed an another massive airbase. Here's some links wiki which is good for info but boring compared to this Aviation Trails

Did you notice the ominous dark clouds? Yep well the nice day abruptly stopped and we got soaked! Thankfully for me it was just a short ride through Geddington, Newton and Rushton for me to get home. Normally I do that bit alone but I was joined by a few brave souls who were doing  a few more miles! Most notably Andy and Sam had decided 100k wasn't enough and they carried on for 100 miles. 73 miles was more than enough for me but I know they headed to the memorial to Harrington airfield which I drive past on a daily basis. About a mile from the memorial there's a nice little museum for anyone whose interested https://harringtonmuseum.org.uk/history-of-harrington-airfield/

As I dripped in through the house there was a series of lovely surprises for me. Our friend Lucy was visiting. She brought her dogs with her. I've met Ivy the Jack Russell before but the main event was meeting Rosie, who is a sibling of Bruce from his Mum's second litter. 

The news relating to my Strava data was not good! The silly phone was showing only 35 miles which I'd apparently done in just 5 minutes...I checked the Virb and guess what no data there too! As I sulked about my lost data the Queen of Cakes handed me an early birthday present and asked if this would have helped? Yes darling it would! What a lovely surprise!!!

All that's left to say is to thank Andy P for a superb route and to thank everyone else for a great ride with great mates...oh hang on...one last thing. There was a ride prank a while ago of putting things in each others pockets. Neil has been biding his time but yesterday he successfully returned a lego man I'd put in his pocket a long time ago! In short we managed to hold a respectful ride for Remembrance whilst still getting up to all of our usual nonsense!

If you've liked this blog, here's the links to our previous remembrance rides. There's some good stuff in there, including some of the other memorials.

2014/11/steve-super-sunday-smashing-remembrance
2015/11/remembrance-sunday-ride
2016/11/remembrance-ride-2016

Happy Pedalling!!!

Live to Ride...Ride to Live!!!

It's 5am on Monday morning and I'm wide awake! My mind is racing. Some of it is about work, some of it is about family, some of it is about making beer and a LOT of it is about cycling. Ironically some of my racing mind is racing about racing!!! I'm not the sort of person who dreads Monday morning. I'm lucky to have an interesting and challenging job. I also have enough stuff to keep me busy so that I can cope with the NHS stress. One of the things that defines me though, is that I'm a thinker! Last night I couldn't write this blog, I was too tired, lacking inspiration and frankly didn't know where to start. This morning a few hours sleep has tidied my brain up and I'm raring to go. So THIS is a cycling blog let's get going on that!!!

I haven't blogged since the 1st of October. When I started doing this, that would be unheard of. However when I started doing this my cycling world revolved around C&D Cycles CC and specifically club rides on the road. C&D are still a massive part of my life but things also change and it's got a lot bigger than that. So much so, that my time to blog is reduced. Since the last blog I've: started my cycling coaching journey, done an off road club ride, a road club ride, raced cyclocross, discovered some excellent cyclocross training, got a parkrun PB (I'm sorry okay the lure of running keeps tugging at me,) broken some bikes and somehow not broken myself.

I've been going to a cyclocross training session on Wednesday nights (the last four Wednesdays so it's now part of my routine,) known as "Dean's Muddy Marvels." It's flipping brilliant! Dean Barnett of Welland Valley CC runs these free sessions for WVCC and he let's us, as their good neighbours join in! We provide the KCC cyclones floodlights to assist the session but that's the least we can do! As one of the riders commented to me: "You'd happily pay for this wouldn't you?" Yes. Yes I would. It's a really good work out and a chance to improve those technical skills. It's an all age session which is also nice because we get to ride alongside the kids that we coach on Monday nights. They also very much like showing us how much better they are than the old codgers! During the session, Dean often refers to his Dad for advice. Now I really don't know local racing or who anyone is really due to the fact I've come into all of this in my 40s so I need to do a bit more research, all I know at this stage is that this is one awesome result for Dean's Dad!!!

Forgive me Eddy Merckx for I have sinned! Yeah I did another parkrun. I've been doing a bit of running again just lately. Sam asked me to help him get fit and we've been doing some morning runs to supplement our cycling. I've also put a punch bag up for him to whack hell out of and predictably when the plastic rawplugs failed I paid a trip to Wickes for some heavy duty wall bolts. Anyway that bit of training made me determined to see if I could beat my first parkrun time. Yes apparently!




My time was really okay for me and a lot of runners there would be happy with my 25.24 and 81st in a field of 338 runners, 16th in my category. It's a lot better than my Cyclocross results! However I'm never happy and plans to break 24 minutes are now being hatched. It's time for the Bridget Jones's Diary bit again...yes I still need to get my weight down!!!

At the run I bumped into my good friend Matthew. He "sauntered," around for his usual sub 20 run and then ran home to Desborough as his cool down, the warm up had been to run there from Desborough at a speed us mere mortals can only dream of! Matthew has been all over the world this year and has done at least a 5k run every single day. I'm hoping he writes some sort of book at the end of it because it's quite the adventure!

The next day I joined Andy Pendred, his uncle Bob and one other for an off road ride in very soggy conditions. I took my CX bike and that was a silly mistake because I'm fairly sure that's where I got a lot of muck in my brake cables and wrecked them. It was horrible weather and that put a lot of people off. For us hardy fools it was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. By the end I was shattered but also basking in that warm glow of satisfaction you get after a tough ride. Cheers to Andy for the pictures!

Lievden New Bield

Soggy as...

Look what you did to our lovely clean bikes!!!

On the weekend of 20/21st October I started my Level 2 British Cycling Coaching Course. It was an excellent weekend and I learned a great deal both from the coaches and my course mates.

On the course there were people who make a living from cycling, some seriously good riders and a lot of experience. Everyone approached the days with a positive and co-operative attitude. On day one I managed to gash my schwalbe MTB tyre. I'd been warned that these were not the most durable. With no spare to save the day (schoolboy error,) I ended up borrowing the bike of whoever was having a coaching practice at the time. 

At the end of the day I paid a flying visit to Evans (it was an emergency purchase, I prefer to support C&D cycles as my LBS,) at the MK snowdome and got a Maxxis replacement. It fitted really easy, looks way more durable and 3 weeks later is holding the same pressure I put in it when it was fitted. I like my schwalbe durano road clincher tyres... as for their tubeless range...no more!!! I have maxxis on my cx and hutchinson on my road bike. They work really well and I remain convinced that tubeless is the future!!!

On the second day we had our first assessed coaching session. As a group we really worked well together and six sessions later we all knew a lot more about coaching than we did at the start of the morning. The trainers, Louise and Ruth were also very good. I now have to plan and deliver six sessions with the cyclones along with written plans, evaluations and risk assessments. There's also online training to complete. It's a lot of work on top of the day job but well worth it.

On Sunday the 28th of October, Sam and I turned up at Misterton Hall, Lutterworth for another round of the Leicestershire Cyclocross League. We joined our team mates from KCC Cyclones and also friends from the Wednesday night muddy marvels. On a stunning autumnal day, in a beautiful stately setting, the course was once again laid out by Dean Barnett. Some great racing took place but Sam and I had a collective mare!

Sam started well and was very determined but as they came round for the first lap he was nowhere in sight. His chain had fallen off  again and he'd also fallen off the bike. I was proud of him for battling through it all.

A couple of hours later it was my turn. As I ended a warm up lap disaster struck. My freehub broke, or at least I thought it did. Not a terminal issue though as Sam's bike is the same size so I swiftly raised the seat and was ready to go on his bike instead. It took me half a lap to realise that something was also wrong with Sam's bike. The gears were all over the place and I couldn't put any power through the pedals...so I abandoned and we trudged off home in a sulk!

When I got home I realised the freehub wasn't broken it had just come loose. However when I tried to fit the wheel it wouldn't tighten properly in the rear forks. Then I spotted it....one tiny bolt was missing and this had caused the whole issue.

So then I decided to tackle Sam's gears. No matter what I did I couldn't get them to stop jumping and then I spotted that too! One of his chain links was broken. How the whole chain hadn't snapped is a mystery to me and as Sam had been losing his chain for weeks...it had probably been like that for a while! I didn't know whether to feel like a bad Dad, Coach or Cyclist. It was an uncomfortable guilty feeling!!!

So on Monday morning both bikes headed to C&D to see Andy! With the usual fantastic service everything got sorted out that day and Sam was back on his bike with a new chain and shiny new rear cogs at Cyclones that evening. From now on I will check the bikes very thoroughly before we race.

This Saturday I made it out for a road ride with C&DCyclesCC for the first time in a few weeks. The route suited my needs as I didn't want a long ride. Rather than go into K town I joined the ride in Rushton and left it there again as we looped back round.

I haven't really ridden much road lately and certainly not much in the way of hills. So Neville Holt (chosen by KCC for their Hill Climb championship,) possibly wasn't the gentle reintroduction I needed. Even worse was Ashley Hill with a strong wind in our faces. Never the less, it was great to be out with good cycling mates and the Welland Valley looked stunning in it's Autumn colours! It would have been the ideal day to have the virb on the bike for good pictures...of course I left it at home!!!

Yesterday it was back to cyclocross action and round 8 of the central league at Whispnade Zoo! Okay we only parked at the zoo, the race itself was over the road on Whispnade common. Thanks to Icknield for setting up a nice course. Thankfully, given that this area has some very steep slopes it wasn't too hilly. However the big news of the day was that the grassy surface was like riding on energy sapping sponge!

Sam, on a bike with gears that worked gave his absolute all and I've never seen him so tired before. There was a very good turnout of Cyclones at the event which is a credit both to the youngsters and parents because it's a three hour round trip from Kettering.

Sam assists the youngsters with strength training...thanks to Molli for the picture, she captures a unique perspective. It's well worth checking the whole gallery out.

Of course it's not all abut them is it? Well okay, yes it is but...as ever the Dad's race in the vet 40s was a huge field. It was quickly apparent why the youngsters had suffered so much. This surface had very little roll, it was like 40 minutes on a turbo trainer with added twists and turns. I kept up with the fellow KCC Dad's until the first set of hurdles but then dropped back. I just don't have the pace. I'm also still a total wetty on downhill corners and have been ever since I broke my wrist. From the sidlelines the very experienced Stuart Walters advised me to trust my tyres. I do Stuart...it's the fat lad on the saddle I need to grow some confidence in. However I knew I wouldn't be a contender, my aim was that no KCC Dad's lapped me and I achieved that one. I did however get lapped by the ultrafit race leaders just 20 minutes into the race. I'm sure it's cheating to be that skinny.

All around the track there was maximum encouragement from spectators. I loved the Velobants crew on the finish straight with their cowbells and their reaction to my shameless high five ride by. If you want an entertaining blog to read try them here: https://velobants.club/round-6-7-hempers-the-buzz/

Sam and I had to rush off after my race to get to my parents for the best Sunday lunch in Northamptonshire, possibly the world. Dad's home brew craft recovery cider was very welcome too! Big thanks to Molly Ann Carter for chasing our car across the car park with my abandoned hoodie!

The conclusion to all that is that I still love cycling and as ever I want to be fitter and faster! However just being on a bike is really all the buzz I need!

The last word of the day is going to KCC Cyclone Josh Brown. We're all very proud of this young man for becoming the Juvenille winner of the 2018 National Hill Climb Championship.

I think that's enough...happy pedalling.

Ever wondered how much work goes into staging a Cyclocross race? This blog has the answer!

This weeks blog is mostly about the Central CX League round 3 hosted by Kettering's Youth Cycling Club, KCC Cyclones. It was a hell of a lot of work but worth every ounce of effort. 

My very own SuperSam

I was introduced to Cyclocross when Sam started at the Cyclones and it was very much love at first sight. The sport is ridiculous. On machines that are like road bikes but with knobbly tyres, incredibly fit super skinny cyclists ride round in circles as many times as possible in an allotted time period. Trailing behind these high speed cyborgs are blokes like me. It's hell! It hurts. Your legs burn, your lungs ache and your heart feels like it will burst through your chest. Then it finishes. You stand round talking tall tales with other Lycra clad loonies. Then you all agree how brilliant it was and start getting excited about the next race.

Giant wooden Red Kite...much easier to get a picture of!

For me though, this was not about taking part. It was about taking our turn to provide others with their CX fix. The venue was Prologis Park and that's where the thanks need to start. Prologis have been very accommodating, not only it allowing us to use the venue but also in cutting the track for us. 

This was our first year organising the event without Mark Evans. After some sterling efforts he's taken a break from coaching and organising. However Mark's influence was clear in Roland's course design. Which leads me nicely to the next lot of thanks. Roland Bell worked harder than anyone for this year's event.

Don't worry...Bruce can't read

After weeks of planning we were suddenly on the day before the race. Earlier in the week we had a team of parents raking mown grass. There was more raking to do. We were worried that there were a lot of thorns and the course would be a puncture fest. Then we had staking out to do, followed by taping. Taping...all I can say is thank goodness for Dom Bell. That young man sorted out the mess that Olly and I had made of the half pipe. We were literally flummoxed by the whole thing. Dom on the other hand knew what he was doing. 

We started at 9.30 on Saturday morning and didn't get the course done until nearly 17.00. I did 32 000 steps on Saturday. Bruce my dog was a big help, you know, finding logs, keeping us entertained and all that but I think he was a bit relieved when I took him home. Look at him flaked out on his table...he didn't move for quite some time!

I may have taken Bruce home but I was soon back at Prologis with my bike. I wanted to do a test lap, especially as I wasn't riding in the race the next day. Olly, Andy Brown and I had a mess around in the halfpipe and then I did a full lap with Olly. The plan was to ride together but I couldn't keep up, that long day had wrecked me. Olly must be made of sterner stuff! The test lap confirmed something else...the ground was rock hard! It was lovely to set up on a sunny day where we all caught the sun a little. However this was not CX weather! 2018 at Kettering would be totally lacking mud!!!

Test lap...

Halfpipe shenanigans

All that course building might sound a bit much but it's not even half of it. Liz did a great job organising a marshals rota, there was the risk assessment (which I think Roland did, I have a dim awareness of looking at it at a meeting,) catering needed arranging. Victoria was amazing at getting the OUP car park and liaising with everyone. Then of course the Central team turned up with all their gear such as the timing chips. Our Cyclones parents were on registration and the cake stall. It's mind boggling how much went on and if I've forgotten anything then well...sorry just let me know and I'll edit it in!!! Oh yeah...The commisaires!!! You can't have a race without them.

On Sunday I arrived at Prologis at 7.30. Loads of people were already there and gazebos were being set up. I dropped load of cupcakes off to a cake stand that was bulging with kind donations and then headed off to look for jobs to do. I was soon banging stakes in for the sponsors banners. Then I had time to enjoy a superb chilli sausage roll and check in on Sam before heading off to my first Marshall point at 9.00.

The racing was superb. I was very proud of our kids in orange as they raced against some very talented youngsters. They're tough too, surviving crashes and suffering for their sport.

Jake Bird is a regular to the podium. It was great to see Jackson, Lukas and Thomas also get in on the act.

Charlie Stockham takes on the tricky camber 

Yes that is another picture of Sam...it's my blog and I'm a proud Dad!!!

After being on dog walker watch I swapped over to the crossing points. I was getting bored up a corner on my own, until Lisa came to take over with Ian's coffee (which ended up as my coffee because we couldn't find Ian,) the move to a crossing point couldn't have been more different. It was hectic actually! The upside was that I saw a lot of the racing. The adult races had big fields and some serious quality cyclists. 

In my age group race the winner was just phenomenal. He just obliterated the course with consistent  laps of around seven and half minutes. It was also good to see a lot of the Cyclones dads in this race. What I really like is the broad spectrum of cyclists who take part and the spirit in which the races are conducted. It's incredibly hard but also incredibly nice!

As the day continued people kept bringing me drinks and Mike Deely brought me a bacon and sausage roll. The atmosphere was wonderful and I enjoyed all of the races. We had nearly 400 riders in the end which is just brilliant as this is a good fundraiser for the Cyclones.

The day flew by and before we knew it the last race of the was finishing. Marshal duties then shifted to course take down. For official race results see here: http://centralcxl.org.uk/2018-results/

Mike had the genius idea of driving his Hilux around the course as we piled stakes and tape in the back. With space inside at a premium Dom hitched a ride on the back. This isn't as dangerous a it looks as Mike kept the speed right down.With everyone pitching in we cleared the place in less than two hours.

I'm not going to lie...I was shattered by the time I got home on Sunday. Learning that my father in law had made me a chilli was very welcome. I had a few beers and just vegged out! Others did more work than me, I can only imagine how tired they felt! My overwhelming feeling is one of pride. KCC Cyclones is a great club and the way everyone go involved just proves that. I'm looking forward to doing this all again next year.

Before then, the good news is that I've been accepted onto the British Cycling Level 2 coaching course and will start this in a few weeks. So I guess I best get some rest.

In the meantime if you want to know what's been happening at the elite end of the sport, I'd recommend having a look here:

and if you want a Cyclocross masterclass:

Happy pedalling