Soggy Saturday Shock to the System

Well that was a bit damp! I'd say it was the first day of Autumn after we've been spoilt by this extended Summer and what a shock to the system it was. We all struggled a bit in the cold and wet but I remember laughing at much worse weather last year, especially my New Years Day ride with a long lost brother of C&DCYCLES CC.

The route was a variation on our classic Oundle loop. Most of the places we visited have all been mentioned in previous blogs. The county is a bit different in that direction. It's less hilly and the cottages in the villages tend to be made of a light grey stone rather than the vivid deep orange of Old Red Sandstone. It's all still a bit picture postcard though. Andy led the quick lads, Steve led the social ride and I was as usual arse end Charlie. I was really pleased to see so many riders despite the weather and I must comment on some excellent group riding. After a couple of weeks of needing to remind people how we do things, today went without a hitch. Communication, role modelling, consideration for others and sensible riding was observed by all. So thanks to all C&D Cycles CC riders, you are a credit to your club.

Struggling the most today was Claire. She suffered the quadruple whammy of the sudden change of weather, riding her heavier less responsive winter bike, having a bug in the week and the desire to ride being stronger than common sense. I've been there myself. Last year I tried to ride the Silverstone Circuit Breaker after a week of flu (flu, not man flu, don't start with me ladies.) I knew I wasn't 100% but I didn't want to let people down. It was stupid and is a lesson learnt. So my advice is: if you've been unwell, recover properly before you ride. Easy advice to give, as demonstrated its not as easy to follow!

On the roll out

Action shot on Warkton Hill

Ginger Tom

Up the hill from Pilton

Going round the bend

It's the dark one's birthday

Storm trooper Cake 

Guinness cake gets demolished 

Rich is relieved to get the last slice of apparently the greatest cake ever!

Back at the shop the general air of dampness descended into the usual comments of "moist," and usual banter. Rich had requested Guinness cake from my wife, the Queen of cakes. Because he kindly made sure Claire got home ok he very nearly missed out on a cake demolished in seconds. He was relieved about this though as he claims he'd happily eat his own weight in Guinness cake! Andy also provided cake as it was his birthday. As Darth Vader was unavailable he settled for a storm trooper cake. I'm faithful to my wife so didn't try it, however it did look good! Never underestimate the relationship between cycling and cake.

I love it when people who haven't been for a while join us for a ride and on that I was thrilled today to see Tom. He's been racing this year and is well above our standard, he also works a lot on Saturdays. I will never forget how much Tom has helped me in the past. In particular Tom was part of a group of riders who "carried" me round the 3 counties sportive, my first 100 mile ride. So don't be a stranger mate!

Well that's that. I'm now waiting for my sporting heroes to get under way and for a break in the rain to walk the dogs. Great ride and I'm looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

Happy Pedalling

Super Sam and an elongated commute

This morning Sam decided to bring his bike along for the dog walk which was good because since he moved to a bigger bike he's lost a bit of confidence. Anyway he seemed to enjoy it so I guess we're getting back on track.

Talking of tracks I decided to take the long way home. I wanted a bit of an extra spin and to be honest I also wanted to stay away from the so called bike paths. I didn't go particularly quickly so the stack of PRs is a bit of a surprise. I also saw someone in a C&DCYCLES CC winter shirt but I wasn't sure who it was. I did use the 'joke' cycle route along gypsy lane but rather than head for the grot of the A14 I went up to Loddington, round to Foxhall and back hone using Orton Green Lane.Very pleasant!

That's the commuting over for another week so now I'm free to concentrate on my favourite ride, the Saturday Shop ride or perhaps it should now be called the club run. No idea where we're going yet or what my role will be. All I know is that it will be a good ride if potentially a tad moist!

Oh it's all a bit blurry

And again

Apologies to blog readers and a cycle lane review!

Ok so I'm really sorry but I broke the rules of my year of blogging every ride! I've actually done two commutes before today without a single word of Bloggage. So I'm very sorry and in future I'll be less of a useless blogger.

Today's ride to work was typical for me in that I wasn't really up for it and then two minutes down the road I was loving it. I was going to blog all about that but then I saw Claire's post about Kettering Borough Council having a Q&A session on bicycle routes and well that was the theme for today
sorted.

Now some of Kettering's cycle paths are ok, but most of them are just crap. I've discussed my normal route to work using the Rockingham Road and how I don't bother with the path once I get into Kettering. So tonight I took an alternative route home starting on Northampton Road, onto Gypsy Lane and then past Telford Way down the A14. Thankfully I was back on country roads quite soon using Violet Lane through to the Glendon Road and home. A picture tells a thousand words so here goes.

This KBC is a joke, it's not anything apart from a bike painted on a road not wide enough for cars to allow cyclists the space of the painted on bike so it's actually pretty pointless!

Cycle path? Barely a pig track!

See the lady in the background she stepped into the road to let me pass, what is the point of a bus stop on a bike path?

Oh...well those specks are bits of glass which all bike paths seem to be full of

The perilous crossing on junction 7, no crossing lights you just have to chance it in between the light changes

Can you tell I'm not impressed? The bike paths and routes of Kettering are too narrow, have too many obstacles and are very poorly maintained. I'm guessing the glass comes from smashed headlights which are sweeped off the road onto the path. Brambles also stretch across the path in many places. The only place they've really got it right is round by Glendon Road industrial estate and even then cross with care because the cars get very confused by the traffic lights and pelican crossings.

I'm going to end on a positive note. Last week fellow cyclist David White dropped me off some pallets to build a wood store. This week C&DCYCLES CC stalwart Big Steve Major brought me a load of wood to start filling the store. So thanks to you both it's looking good for toasty toes this winter!

Wood!

Happy pedalling 

Little bit of solo action

Well this was one of those funny rides when I had a short amount of time and didn't really plan a route. I just wanted a bit of a spin in the Northants sunshine and to visit some of my favourite villages.

On route I pondered what makes a good village. For me they have to have the following. Thatched cottages made of sandstone, a pub, a church with a spire or tower and a red phone box. On that thinking only Harrington on route today ticks the boxes. Draughton comes a close second because I'm sure the village clubroom is a drinking (autocorrect changed thatto dribbling which is probably true too) establishment on the quiet.

Led the shop ride, bit of a rant, cake overload, all good in the end!

Fellow Evertonian, Big Steve, was freed for quick stuff today

So today I was lucky enough to plan the route and lead the social ride. I just recycled one of my routes from another time but that was ok because we did some stuff we don't normally do. Iain Tingle  led the faster lads. Rich McNab was my tail gunner, although he didn't have the best day at the back. More on that later.

I don't remember when I made this route or why but what I did was include tonnes of my favourite quiet roads. The road from Rushton to Pipewell, Church Lane Harrington, Mill Lane and Hannington to Orlingbury being my highlights. The best hill of the day was indeed the women's tour QoM into Harrington...except I didn't ride it. Unfortunately half the group went the wrong way and I went off to find them. Then people went looking for me and it all got confused. We were strung out because of a fast descent and for me this is the time I want some gaps in the group for safety. Because we'd gone the other way recently half the group turned off. When I caught up with them Rich was upset about people not listening to him and I was upset that people had turned where I would not pass a junction without a full group. So there was a rant. Sorry about that everyone but once rules were re-established the rest of the ride was a dream. We had some newbies and I really hope they weren't put off. 

Back at the shop my amazing wife had provided three cakes. Two types of beetroot cake, one of which was demolished by the quicks before we got there. The chocolate and beetroot was in my opinion a bit special. Because Andy doesn't like beetroot Lee also made him a vanilla sponge. However it was Justin Smith's 40th birthday and he provided cake too! Happy birthday mate, I really enjoyed my 40th I hope you do too. You're a lucky man to get a ride in on the big day. I'm guessing there will be so e cake left for the Sunday riders.

Nice to see Dave

Still boiling 

Mr McNab

Lord Vader

Andy had to man the shop today and I know he was disappointed about that but those are the breaks sometimes. If he wasn't at the helm in the Death Star we would never have got this great club. I did feel sorry for him though.

Cake ahoy

Finally I'm a jammy git so not only did I get a great ride with my club mates I also got to go to Franklins Gardens, home of the English Champions, Northampton Saints. It's been an emotional week with the death of Saints mascot Luis Ghaut. There was a fitting tribute with a minutes applause. The lads did not let Luis down, with a bonus point win over league leaders (not now though,) Bath. With Everton salvaging a point and Europe going well in the Ryder cup, this has pretty much been the perfect day.

The minutes applause at Saints

Happy Peddaling 

Vroom vroom shake shake the room!

Damn you phone it was way darker and the lights were twinkling

It's been a really mixed day for me. It started with my commute, which was ok.

During the day I learned that 13 year old Luis Ghaut had lost his battle with cancer. For those of you who don't know Luis who started a successful charity campaign called LU15 when diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. He was taken to heart by the Saints, he led them out on that glorious day last May and a few weeks ago was on Rugby Tonight. In short Luis was a beacon of light to the Saints Nation and he's gone. Life can be ridiculously cruel at times and I moved through sadness to anger.

The day didn't really improve and there are things I'm not at liberty to divulge about the state of the NHS and the fact we're being run down in mental health at a time when mental health problems are rising!

You may wonder why I'm including this in my cycling blog? Well flip me I'm angry. I'm angry about kids who die of cancer, I'm angry about the state of services being stripped in the name of austerity and I'm angry about the less fortunate being pissed on from high by the privileged few. So what did I need? Vroom Wednesday. I needed to ride as fast as I could and get it all out. It's like the opposite of last week when I needed to dawdle. I has to get it out?

So off we went. It felt quick so my 16mph average is a bit of a disappointment. Then I look at the stack of PR's I got, mostly in the first half of the ride and realise that's ok for me. You see I'm not a quick rider. I probably don't really qualify for vroom and towards the end I'd taken up my familiar position of arse end Charlie.

I'd like to say we took in the delights of Northants and in parts that's true but also the twin terrors of Wellingborough and Irthlingborough were heavily featured in this ride. To be fair I'd rather go to Raunds! Ok sorry that's my dark mood coming out. There were some great bits to this ride. Bits of the Northamptonshire  countryside looked spectacular in the setting sun. I also think as the sun went down the plethora of flashing lights in the group was quite impressive. The highlight of the ride, and the most apt for vroom, was the fast section from Mears Ashby to Harrowden. We were flying on that section and it felt great!

I have to also say that big Steve cheered me up with the usual blend of straight talking wisdom and fast show quotes. Getting home to learn that Brad Wiggins was the world time trial champion also brightened things up.

That's it.

Happy Pedalling

Not cycle4cynthia

 What a busy day I've had since 5am! I woke up really excited about all the things I wanted to do. By 8am when I set off on the bike I'd emptied and refilled the dishwasher, hung a load of washing out, put more washing on, walked the dogs and hung the next lot of washing out too. I may be just a little ADHD!

So off I set to pick up the cycle4cynthia route at Harrington and then complete it with the intention of making it home in time for dinner at the Thai garden at half past 12.

Now riding a sportive for free is not something I approve of. Especially not a charity sportive. I had said I would put my twenty notes in a charity tin but I thought about it on the way round and instead I found a just giving page and donated to a stranger. I hope Martin French appreciates his surprise donation! As I said before this is an important ride. I don't know anyone whose family hasn't been affected by cancer and I know these hospices ease the passing for those who are sadly terminal. Just last week my good friend and fellow rider Jamie Stockham lost his father in law to this hideous disease. My thoughts were with everyone I know whose suffered as I rode.
Well it was one of those days when my legs felt great and I made it easy despite cycle4cynthia once again picking out as many hills as possible in its 50 miles.  I had also expected to be passed at some point by a local club superstar smasing along at 25mph average. I wasn't though.  In fact from the official ride I only saw two riders doing the 25 mile route and a little girl and her dad doing the 5 miler.

Some bits of the route I loved. To my surprise they were uphill.  My favourite Hill of the day was going up my land speed record hill for the first time ever.  On the way up I passed another roadie who'd stopped. He told me to show him how it was done so I stayed out of the saddle dancing on the pedals all the way up.  At the top I was shot but feeling a bit pleased with myself. Icing on the cake as far as climbs go was the women's tour QOM into Brixworth and the last climb into Lamport from Scaldwell.

That was a beautiful morning to be on a bike and I was very mindful how good it makes me feel. So different to yesterday and the fog I just felt great to be alive in the autumnal sunshine.

I haven't checked how my club colleagues got on yet so I hope they did ok too. Next year I'm determined that this will be a father son ride with me and super Sam doing the 25 miler together.

Dinner was as usual fantastic at the Thai Garden and thanks to Dad in Law who paid despite it being his birthday meal! Since then the Saints  have had a bonus point win and Lewis Hamilton won the Grand Prix. If Everton sort their lives out this could be the perfect weekend!

Happy pedalling!

That's how beautiful it was today!