I have been riding so much on my own recently that I was beginning to doubt my level of fitness as I had nothing to measure it against.  But it seems all is OK as I really enjoyed my ride today unlike my last club ride at the beginning  of the month when I really felt I was struggling.  I guess I have finally got over the after effects of the cold I developed over Christmas.  All in all an encouraging ride.

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The ride was to Carlton which is in my direction from Stony Stratford so I rode the 12 miles  over to the start.  We took a wide loop around via Olney, from whence I had left just over an hour before and round via Harrold to probably my favourite cafe stop, at Emmaus on the outskirts of the village of Carlton.  By the time we got there I had covered about 38 miles with the 12 miles I did to get to the start.  I had my usual fare of coffee and an enormous chunk of carrot cake covered in creamy icing.  more than enough fuel to get me back home and a total of 47 miles more or less.  I dropped off at Olney and left the rest of the club to do the 12 miles I had done at the start of the day to get to the ride.

On Monday I did a 53 mile ride on one a hilly ride in to Bedfordshire, a ride I have done before and enjoyed, in a sadistic kind of way that cyclists do.  The weather was good and a little warmer, so not so much clothing required, reduced by one layer from earlier rides.  My ride stats were slightly better than my previous ride on this route.

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On Wednesday I went into Northamptonshire for 40 miles around another of my favourite routes around by Towcester racecourse and Pury End.  It’s slightly less hilly, more like rolling countryside than hills.  It was a pleasant enough ride marred only by a puncture about 10 miles from home.  It was a very rural road, little used and very narrow but because of the rains a piece of flint had obviously got washed onto the road and found its way into my tyre.  At least the puncture was easily traced as the flint was very easy to see !! on checking the tyre before replacing it after installing a new inner tube I found another puncture source.  A thorn had also pierced the outer and was protruding through the casing.  Just as well I checked because otherwise as soon as I pumped the tyre up it would have gone down again and I had not brought the usual two spare tubes with me!  So thats another tyre in the bin.  Fortunately I managed to locate and order another Schwalbe Lugano tyre yesterday afternoon.  I cant fault the tyre for the problem I had, not if you saw what I took out of it.  Nothing would have kept that out.  I suppose in retrospect another blogger might have stopped to take a picture of it before getting on with the repair but I am afraid I was too focussed on repair than taking pictures.

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Just prior to getting my puncture I came upon this sign of the forthcoming spring, snowdrops in bloom, a harbinger of spring.   My joy that we were moving to a better time of year only lasted about half a mile though before I got that feeling of no air between my wheel rims and the road..

Snowdrops at Grafton Regis

More Snowdrops

A pleasant and positive note to finish on, knowing spring is hopefully not too far away,  Happy Days !!

I decided on this approach instead of just looking at what average speed I could achieve.   On the route I chose I had a tail wind for the outward bound leg along the river Ouse valley which meant a headwind on the way back and harder work, especially as that is the hillier section.

I was quite satisfied with my performance, it felt as though I had something back in my legs again.  The previous few rides had been a bit demoralising as my legs didn’t seem to have power.  I did raise my saddle by half  centimetre before the ride so maybe that made a difference as well.

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Tomorrow, Saturday, I plan on going out for a ride with Team MK but hopefully I will be brave enough to move up to a higher, therefore faster group tomorrow to improve my fitness some more.  Time to start preparing for the season ahead.

I had a couple of places in mind at Sywell.  One being at Sywell Country Park and the other at Sywell Airfield.   I knew both places had catering facilities but wasnt sure if they would welcome or could cope with around twenty cyclists showing up on a Saturday morning every once in a while.

Sywell Country Park was open but the cafe was closed.  I peered through the window and could see a good number of chairs stacked up inside and lots of tables as well so maybe they are a possibility.  I guess I will now have to phone them nd ask the question.  I know I could have done that in the first place but like I say, I needed a reason for the bike ride.

Sywell Airfield is a small ex wartime airfield, the outskirts of which are used by various businesses such as transport and storage companies, making use of the hangars initially but it seems to have expanded with extra buildings going up.  The airfield itself is mainly used by private pilots and is also the base for a stunt flying team and also a wing walking display team.  It is also the home to a small aviation museum.

Sywell Airfield from above

Sywell Airfield

Sywell Village and Sign

This visit also proved to be a wasted journey as the Hotel/Restaurant was closed also so another phone call required there as well.  One interesting observation though was in the outdoor area where some tables were a loudspeaker could be heard with the two way conversation between an approaching helicopter and the control tower.  I can see myself on a nice summers day sitting out in the sunshine enjoying some refreshment and listening in.

However that is greatly removed from todays experience as when I left there I saw from my Garmin the temperature was down to 1.0 degC, the coldest part of my ride today!

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It comprises the following items of apparel in order of application :-

Thermal compression tights
Padded cycling shorts
Thermal long sleeved top
Thermal socks
Full length bib tights
Winter thickness Team MK shirt
‘Buff’ multi purpose neck warmer
Team MK wind proof gilet
Sunglasses for low sun
Gloves
Helmet
Not in the picture :-
Shoes
Weatherproof overshoes
As you can see its quite a list, plus with all that gear on it restricts movement somewhat and therefore makes it harder. However once the effort is made and the first few warming up miles are done all is well and mostly worth the effort. However it’s best to keep on the move as one soon gets cold in temperatures hovering just above freezing point if you stop for more than a few minutes.

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Here are a couple of pictures of the winter landscape in the sunshine. How could you not go for a bike ride on just such a day? Apologies for blurs in the pictures, I didn’t notice them until I got home. I’m not sure what it was but it doesn’t detract from the main object of the picture too much I hope.

I moved on further round to about the highest point of the ride today and a typical Bedfordshire landscape view. Although not ‘mountainous’ its typically very windy with the winds whipping across these plains.

Bedfordshire landscape

At the same point I noticed my shadow and took a picture to try to indicate just how low the sun is at midday at this time of year. You should be able to tell by the length of my shadow. In summer you wouldn’t get this length of shadow until just before sunset.

The low sun is also a problem for motorists making it tough for them to see the road and oncoming traffic properly when driving into the sun. Especially when the roads are wet as they often are at this time of year, not necessarily from rain but from general dampness and thawing frosts. Another hazard of low winter sun is the stroboscobic effect you get when driving along beside a bare hedge, denuded of leaves with the sun shining through it.

The ride itself was very pleasant. I didn’t set out to break any records, just to ride myself in again. I chose a reasonable route for just such a ride and just rode at a steady pace. I am always amazed how I can generally ride a solo ride at a higher average speed than the Team MK steady group rides and yet feel less pain. I think it’s just the constant stop start, fast and slow nature and the changes of rhythm, of the group rides that add the fatigue. Whereas I just ride at a steady pace when on my own. You can see from my heart rates that I wasnt really pushing on too hard.

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By Friday all symptoms seemed to have disappeared without noticing the final stage.  I therefore prepared myself for the ride.  It was a local ride for me which means I can ride over to Stony Stratford for the start of the ride and drop off to home on the way back.  I noticed it was hard going on the way over to Stony Stratford but put that down to the headwind from the south-west.  I only arrived at the start just before they left as it had taken me longer than usual.  I adopted what seems to be my usual position in the group,  about second or third pair back from the front with an occasional turn on the front.  However as soon as we hit the hills I noticed I wasnt up to my usual form.  I was slipping back down the group and being passed by riders I don’t usually get passed by on the climbs.  It was hard work and my breathing and legs seemed very heavy.

However I survived the journey to Salcey Forest and the coffee stop but I definitely wasn’t feeling in anything like good shape, even for this time of year.  After a break and a large coffee and a flapjack we all set off again but after a few hundred yards I broke off to head the short way back to Olney and home.  It had been the hardest 52 miles for long time.

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I was absolutely done in for the rest of the day and it was only later in the day that my cold symptoms reappeared again and it seems I had moved into a belated stage two of my cold.  I was feeling really rough for a couple of days and still haven’t ventured out on the bike again as I am still showing symptoms of the cold.  I had thought about a ride today but I have postponed that, hopefully tomorrow will be OK.  I need to find out if  it was the cold or just me and my fitness fading.  I noticed I have put on about 6lbs in weight over the winter so far but I am sure that is mainly due to lack of miles and a similar pattern to last year.  So whatever happens it seems some hard miles are called for but not before I am ready, thats one lesson learned at the start of the new year.

Hopefully next Saturday’s ride will tell a different story ?

Talking of postponements I have had to postpone my May Alpine cycling and camping trip with my friend Cyril as he is going to have a shoulder operation in late February and has been told to stay off the bike for eight weeks after that.  This would only leave him two weeks to get into shape again and that’s not going to be anywhere near enough, it needs at least 2 months I think.  There is a possibility it will happen at the other end of the year or else put it off until next year.  All is not lost for me though as I will still be going to France for almost all of June anyway in search of mountains to climb.

Mark Cavendish became the UK’s sporting personality of the year just before Christmas I don’t know if that had any effect.  They were predicting an increase in bike sales as a result.  Maybe that coupled with a perfect blue sky, very cold but OK for cycling once the blood was circulating.  Some were obviously beginners on the cycling scene but everybody starts somewhere.  You can usually tell the novices by a combination of riding style, position and clothing.  Happy to see them out there though.  More bikes equals fewer cars and more understanding of cyclists.

My riding has been very infrequent over the Christmas/ New Year break because of weather and whether and also we sadly suffered a family bereavement over Christmas.  I went for a couple of short rides just to keep my legs turning but nothing too strenuous.

Referring back to an earlier comment about understanding of cyclists, I nearly got bowled over twice by the same motorist on one ride.  I was riding through Hanslope village and was passed very closely by a big flashy BMW sports car that then proceeded to pull over very sharply in front of me  causing me to ride right over to the road side.   There was much gesticulating towards his back window and rear view mirror but I doubt he was even looking !!  About a half mile later, after turning left I was passing a line of parked cars by the side of the road.  I passed them leaving an adequate passing space for door opening, as you do, when all of a sudden Mr BMW flung open his door and stepped out just as I was passing which startled me, but because my bike handling and safety sense was better than his nothing bad happened.  It was a big car and also a very wide door.  I was forced to voice some very loud comments about his dubious parentage, his eyesight and his safety knowledge.  I expect it had very little effect on him though, probably even made him smile, you know the type I am sure ?

So, its back to business now.  Todays ride was the first of 2012, below are my stats for 2011

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Not too bad a year for rides but there were plenty of missed opportunities in there so for 2012 I will again try to break the 6000 mile mark.

I have got myself an LVRC race licence for this year, whether its gets used or not is another matter.  I am guessing at least twice but after that I will see how things are going.  It will be a more serious effort than last year and with hopefully more and better preparation but I will be another year older as well, hitting the magic ’69′ in February.

Heres hoping you all have a great 2012 and I wish you all you wish for yourselves.  May all your wishes come true!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

Last night on our TV it was the annual BBC Sports Personality of The Year awards show.  It’s a review of the nations yearly sporting activity over the past year.  I was very happy that the cyclist Mark Cavendish won it on behalf of cycling.  It was an amazing result as he polled over 49% of the vote in the poll taken by viewers telephone votes on the night as the show progresses.

Mark Cavendish 169,152 (49.47%) Cycling

Darren Clarke 42,188 (12.34%)  Golf

Mo Farah 29,780 (8.71%) Athletics

Luke Donald 23,854 (6.98%) Golf

Andy Murray 18,754 (5.48%) Tennis

Andrew Strauss 17,994 (5.26%) Cricket

Alastair Cook 13,038 (3.81%) Cricket

Rory McIlroy 11,915 (3.48%) Golf

Dai Greene 9,022 (2.64%) Athletics

Amir Khan 6,262 (1.83%) Boxing

Admittedly the golfing vote was split between three golfers but even if you add their totals together it still comes nowhere near Marks total.  Likewise the multiple athletes and cricketers.  In fact he was only 0.5% off beating the lot if you added all the other results together!

A great result for cycling and an indication of its increasing popularity.  On top of that I think he is a genuinely nice guy and always his first words are to recognise and appreciate the efforts of his team mates in his victories.

• Mark Cavendish BBC  Sports Personality Of The Year

Next on my agenda, weather permitting, is the Team MK Christmas Eve club ride to Jenny Wrens cafe in the Buckinghamshire country town of  Winslow.  On this occasion all the groups go to the same venue.  It’s a more sociable ride than usual, shorter and more relaxed but I think it’s still a case of not wanting to be last there and making sure of getting a seat.  As it’s a shorter route, its my intention to ride the 12 miles to the ride start and then 12 back again to set me up for the next few lazy days over Christmas and have no feelings of guilt !

This could quite possibly be my last post of 2011 so I would like to wish all my readers a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful and successful 2012

To make matters worse as I went to the garage to get my bike out ready for departure I could feel some spots of rain.  On the drive across to Stony Stratford the rain got heavier and then by the time I arrived at the car park the rain had thankfully stopped.   As I drove in to park I could see Steve, my assistant for the ride getting his bike out of his car.  The task for the assistant is to ride at the back of the group to assist any stragglers in the group to get back onto the group should a split develop or to give a shout to the group if a puncture or some other mishap occurs.  With proper ride leadership though a split should not happen if a reasonable steady pace is maintained.

Once we were ready, bikes assembled and us with plenty of warm clothing on we rode down to the meeting place to find we were the only ones there, not only from our group but the other 3 groups as well.  There was still ten minutes to go until departure time though.  Some other riders slowly appeared but not very many and no more from my group.  Steve and I entered into discussions about what we should do in the event of nobody else showing up.  We decided as we were all dressed and ready to go we would go for the ride anyway  Steve said he needed the ride because he had just had two weeks away skiing and needed the miles but wasnt sure how he would cope with the distance.  By this time about twenty other riders had appeared for the other group rides, normally there would probably be about sixty plus altogether assembling for the various rides.  We were just about to set off on our duet when Nadine, one of the female riders arrived and was asking where the ‘C’ group was.  Steve and I said we were IT so we became a trio!

We three set off, probably vying for the record for the smallest turn out on a group ride,  although it barely qualifies as a group, more of a trio.  A bit heavy on admin too, two ‘management’ and one other.  A bit like most government departments are run I think, a little top heavy.  Normally, on a nice day there would probably be between twenty and thirty riders!

As the ride progressed so the weather got better, not warmer but the sun came out and everywhere looked better.  Because it was so cold we elected to not stop for a coffee and cake break.  It was felt it was better to keep moving rather than have to go through the warm up procedure again after restarting.  Nadine parted company with us at Newport Pagnell in the way back and Steve and I made our way back to the car park.  It had been a very nice ride as it turned out so I am glad Steve and I didn’t decide to abort before we started.  I will have to seek advice on whether we have the record for smallest group ride for Team MK.

Having said all that I cant really say that I blame those that didn’t come on the ride, I probably wouldn’t have made the effort if I didnt have to.   But like most rides you don’t feel like making the effort for, once you do are out its fine and enjoyable , mostly!

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