Absence Of Miles…

I have had exactly a week with no bike riding as of today.  I was going on the Team MK ride today but I did something to my ankle yesterday and it gave me a lot of pain in the night and I didn’t want to aggravate it more by cycling with it.  It still hurts a bit now but I will take a ride at my own pace tomorrow.

The reason for no biking was that we took the caravan down to Devon to visit family and also have a short break.  It was the first trip of the year with the caravan.  It was supposed to be a first run after winter before our annual month long visit to France which should have been on 3rd June.  This has now had to be postponed until later in the year but the inaugural trip of the year still took place.  I did originally think about taking my bike but we were away for such a short time and the schedule would only have allowed for one bike ride so I decided to leave it at home.

We had found a beautiful place to stay on the edge of Dartmoor.  It was a small farm/smallholding in a very secluded spot.  One of the Caravan Clubs certificated locations.  They are all small sites that are only allowed a maximum of five caravans.  There was only one other caravan there when we arrived and another one arrived the day before we left.  Not exactly busy, just how we like it.

Our ‘pitch’ right at the top of the field.

In between family visits we found time on a grey morning for a trip  along the coast from Dawlish to Teignmouth and then on up onto Dartmoor, by which time the sun had come out.  We had a very enjoyable visit to the small village of Widecombe In The Moor.  We had a walk around the village and explored the church  and churchyard.

Widecombe In The Moor, Church

Widecombe In The Moor, Village Green

The day before I had also made a solo trip to Dartmoor to check out Haytor which the Tour of Britain cycle race will be climbing later in the year.  I must say I don’t envy them.  Its pretty steep whichever direction you approach it from.

The top of Haytor, Dartmoor

View down from the road at the top of Haytor

View down in the other direction.

You can see these photos and lots more in greater detail on my photography blog site if you care to visit.  Click the link here or the link in the sidebar.

Team MK Ride To Waddesdon Manor

Well that was a tough ride for an old ‘un!!!

Just a shade under 50 miles at an average speed of a just over 18mph.  Given that the ‘C’ group pace is supposed to be about 15/16mph average I guess you could say it was a bit over the top.  I will forgive Dave for leading at such a pace today as there was a second, slower contingent of the C group.  Within the group it was like riding a road race, you had to sprint out of the corners each time just to keep in touch.  However I am not sure I can forgive him for adding the little diversion just before we got to Waddesdon which seemed to be solely for the purpose of including a stiff little climb!

The tea/coffee/cake stop was at the garden centre within the grounds of Waddesdon Manor, another National Trust property and formerly one of the homes of the Rothschild family.  Not a bad little country pad I guess.  I dined well on a substantial slab of muesli  cake and a cup of black coffee to set me up for the return trip.

Waddesdon manor facade. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been there by car quite a few times to visit the house but this was my first visit by bike.  We usually go around Christmas time to visit the house, the interior is then decorated out in very traditional style and it is very ‘Christmassy’.  It kind of gets you in the mood for Christmas

It was a thirty mile route to get there and twenty miles back.  When we started to get towards ‘home’ some of the original thirty or so riders dropped off to head towards the southern side of Milton Keynes whereas the main group continued on our way to the start point of the ride at Stony Stratford.  It did get quite hectic for the last seven or eight miles before the finish and the lead group had whittled down to about four of us.  I thought it would be easier for me to sit in with them than to ease off and pedal back on my own in between the surviving groups of riders.  Anyway, we were nearly done by then and I didn’t have to save anything for later!

 

 

Bluebells At Ashridge…

Yesterday we took our annual pilgrimage to the bluebell woods at Ashridge National Trust estate in Hertfordshire.

Rebels that we are don’t go to the official bluebell wood display near the cafe and visitor centre, like a lot of others we go to another wood on the edge of the estate that has a much better display.  Its on the road between Ashridge village and Ivinghoe Beacon.

I couldn’t decide if the bluebells were actually past their best or just suffering from a battering in the recent rains.  Its only for a very small window that they look their best anyway.  However the bluebells under the beech trees made for a quite impressive display yesterday despite that.  The occasional dappled sun through the trees helped as well.

Exciting Sunday At Watford

Or..  Sunday Afternoon At The Vicarage…

Some of you may or not know that when it comes to football the team I support is Watford FC.  they were the nearest team to where I was raised in Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire.  Once upon a time I would go to every home game at least and even some away games too.  These days due to the expense of getting there and the cost of admission I am reduced to watching on TV at home.

This Sunday Watford were involved in the second leg of the play off semi finals against Leicester FC at Vicarage Road..  Watford were trailing by 1 – 0 after the first leg at Leicester.

I was glued to my settee in front of the TV after my bike ride yesterday watching the ups and downs of the game live.

The game came to an exciting climax in stoppage time which is more than adequately described by this video of a TV sports reporter giving a match update to the studio.  I didn’t see this at the time as I was watching the game itself but when I found it afterwards I watched it over and over.  I hope you find it amusing too….

These are the events he was describing…  It kind of proves that cheats never prosper…

I now have to go through it all again on May 27th against whoever wins the other semi final tonight between Brighton and Crystal Palace.   The final game will decide who is promoted from the Championship to the lucrative Premier League of English football.

A Week On Wheels…

Mon 6th May Around Milton Keynes

I set off on a 50 mile ride around the perimeter of Milton Keynes on a route I have done before.  It is a very rural and hilly route.  It was a pleasant ride at a steady pace.  As Monday was a national holiday in celebration of ‘May Day’ there seemed to be plenty of other cyclists about celebrating the pleasant spring weather on their bikes.

I did encounter one of my fellow club members on a different mission at one stage and we rode together for about 10 miles before going our separate ways.

Tues 7th May Fast Ouse Valley

This was a fast ride around my ‘Ouse valley’ route as I was trying to ride my bike more than I have done recently so I had a quick 20 miles in the late morning.

Wed 8th May a.m Clophill Loop & A p.m. Ouse Valley Ride With Harry

I went for a ride with Steph from the cycle club around one of my favourite rides which Steph had seen on Strava so I introduced her to it.  She is a very strong rider who does many miles every week.

I should have seen the warning signs in that.  It was a very hard ride of just over 47 miles with no cafe stops but neither of us likes to stop anyway.  Just as well as there was actually nowhere to stop on the route.  I do it quite comfortably on my own with no stops but the increased speed would have made a cake and coffee interlude very welcome.  My legs ached from the start due to the increased riding I had been doing in the previous five days.  I managed to keep them turning to the end.. just.

This resulted in me revising my increased riding plan for a couple of days of recovery time before the Saturday ride.

Sat 11th May TMK Carlton

This turned into a very hard ride.  Firstly because I battled the 12 miles to the start of the ride solo  into a terrific head wind and secondly the ride itself was hard and fast pretty much from the start to the finish.  The final average speed on my Garmin was 16.9mph, and for the first 12 miles, on the way there, I only averaged around 14.5mph such was the strength of the wind.  All this despite the fact the published average speed for the ‘C’ Group should be 15/16mph.

The thing is that there are a few riders who should probably move up and be riding in the ‘B’ Group if they want to ride that fast.  They seem reluctant to that.  If they did it would help reduce the excessive numbers there are in the ‘C’ Group every week and the ride would be more comfortable for the regular riders in the group.

It wasn’t so bad because we were in a group and I made sure to keep away from the front, my legs were still aching from my exertions earlier in the week.   However some struggled because once again the group split in two.  Not because of some plan but due to natural selection because of the speed.

Sun 12th May, 27 Miles with Harry

This was  a pleasant ride for us around a local loop north of Olney.  A steady pace and we probably could have gone a bit faster but I don’t want to rush things.  He appears to be quite content so just sit behind me for now or maybe he just doesn’t like to come past?

The weather today, Monday,  is not good.  I had vaguely arranged a ride with Harry again tomorrow afternoon but I think it will be too wet according to the forecast.  I might get a longish ride in on Wednesday but the forecast for then isn’t good either.

Harry’s Progress..

I had my second ride with fifteen year old grandson Harry this morning.  The first was on Thursday after I had finished building the bike (see earlier post) and that was his first ever ride on a ‘proper’ road bike.

Todays ride was more like a proper bike ride and he seems to be taking to it well and appears to be enjoying it.  He sits on my wheel all the time and every time I look behind he is still there and this morning we did 29 miles at 15mph average which is very good.  Maybe we could have gone faster if I really pushed it.  If he sticks with it and keeps these sort of performances up it wont be long before I am sitting on his wheel all the time and he has to check up on me.

Click image for ride stats

We produced some pretty good figures all things considered.  Very good for a fifteen year olds first proper attempts.  So maybe this cycling thing is in his genes?   This to add to the rugby, football and cricket already in his repertoire.

TMK ‘C’ Ride To Turweston Airfield

This weeks ride was a bit different because it was an opportunity for any ‘D’ group riders who wanted to, to try out riding in the higher ‘C’ Group. The group was split into two from the start as the ‘try out’ section would obey a strict 15mph speed.  Although its the bottom end of the recommended 15/16mph average the ‘C’ group is supposed to maintain it seldom happens.

I went with the faster group but it was a comfortable steady ride only hampered and speed limited by the head wind for most of the way out.  It was also a pretty up and down profile all the way.  We also suffered two punctures on the outward ride.  When we finally reached the airfield the wind had really got up and the final road inside the airfield that runs parallel with the runway was not only its usual poorly surfaced self but also into a very strong 30mph headwind!

Click image for detailed ride stats..

Ooops.. Sorry forgot to put the link originally..

After a nice cup of coffee and a substantial piece of very fruity fruit cake we set off on the return leg.  Much better altogether as we now had a tailwind and it was also a shorter distance than the outward leg.  If you look at the ride stats you will see how the average speed crept up at nearly every five mile segment.  The final run in to Stony Stratford was a very fast but steady and controlled.

I Rode The Road To Roade

This afternoons bike ride made for a nifty title I thought.  I was actually going to do a different circuit that took me near to but not actually to Roade.  However as I was pedalling and thinking, as I do when I am cycling, I thought to go to Roade would make a nice title so I had to go there to qualify.  It made it a ride of just over 35 miles and fifth successive day of cycling.

Click Image For Ride Stats

It was a lovely afternoon for a ride.  I had spent the morning creating a road bike for my Grandson Harry to use on his first exploratory bike ride with me tomorrow.  I had offered him the chance to have a go just after his birthday as he has expressed some interest in the cycle racing on TV.  I was 15 when I first took up cycling properly and really got into it from then on.  Who knows it might be in Harry’s genes too?  To add to his Rugby, Football and Cricket CV.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Plan ‘A’ was for him to borrow my Specialized bike with maybe a few adjustments.  He was 15 last week and is pretty much the same size as me so not a lot of adjustments would need to be made.  However in a moment of genius yesterday I thought of using the frame from the ‘fixie’ bike I had made up but never used.  I was sure I had enough stock of spare parts hanging around in the garage that would enable me complete the job.  This would solve the problem of him not having a bike on hand to use as he wished.  I could make up this bike and leave it with him all set up and he could hang on to until he either decides against cycling or he gets into it and we can invest in something a bit better.

So this morning I set to to create a bike from what I had in stock and was  pretty much finished by lunchtime.  It just need a cassette block fitted and find a chain long enough.  I left these jobs to do until after my bike ride.  I didn’t want to waste the opportunity for a shorts and short sleeve shirted bike ride in the nice ‘warmish’ sunshine.

I completed the bike on my return and now we await the events of tomorrow!  It looks pretty good I think.  The frame is a Raleigh Dynatech Titanium, so its quite light and the complete job is just a little heavier than my the Specialized but he is young and fit and I have to retain some advantage!!  Maybe not quite the latest fashion in frames but as long as the seat, handlebars and pedals are in the right place for a good riding position thats all that matters for now.  Carbon Fibre can wait until later.