Back On The Road..

At last, I should be back out on the road after tomorrow.  All being well I will have the stitches removed from the operation on my back tomorrow afternoon and get the all clear for ‘bending over the bars’ again.

I had thought at the outset of this, a further enforced break in my cycling that I might actually be tempted to get out on the bike before the prescribed time.  However circumstances dictated that this wasn’t an option.  I seem to have been continually busy with something or another taking place most days.  On the days that were ‘free’ cycling wasn’t usually an option because of the glorious summer weather we are NOT having this year.

The ‘new’ Colnago has been loitering in the garage all poised and ready to go for about a week now.  The final task on that was completed the other day after I had managed to source some RED ‘Colnago’ branded handlebar tape.  For some reason the Colnago tape in red was very hard to come by.

It really has not been a good year for consistent cycling for me so far.  I have never seemed to get more than two weeks into a regular riding pattern before something crops to disrupt things yet again.

I had big plans of being fit early in the year and then having a good season of regular racing but it just hasn’t worked out that way yet again unfortunately.

Its Going To Be Bit Quiet…

Things will be a bit quiet here in the ‘Biking’ segment of the blog for a while as my cycling is temporarily on hold as the result of a small operation on my back on Friday which resulted in some stitches being inserted.  They say 10 – 14 days before the stitches come out and it does feel a bit sore at the moment I have to say.  I wouldn’t want to risk bending over too far just yet.  Maybe as time goes on and it feels less sore and tight I might be able to break the deadline. (Not sure how well that will go down indoors though !!)

Just prior to Friday I had volunteered my services to come out of retirement as ride leader for the Team MK ‘C’ group ride on June 15th as the ride organiser was short of a leader for that week. Unfortunately I have now had to let him down.  Maybe I will be riding again by then and indeed hope to be, but I couldn’t rely on it.

I will still be able keep my legs turning on the indoor trainer though as I can sit upright to do that but the blog posts about that would probably be even more boring than usual!  I suppose I could review TV programmes or movies that I watch as I pedal?

It seems this year has been fraught with all kinds of delays and interruptions to my cycling schedule.  No sooner do I seem get going on a regular riding pattern than it is disrupted for some reason or another.  At my age you need to keep going as even a short break can set you right back in terms of fitness.

In the mean time there are always my ‘Babbling’ posts to keep you entertained should anything of public interest happen there just so that you know I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth.

Bike Project Complete, For Now !!!….

Today I finished work on the recently obtained Colnago bike.. when I say finished I guess I mean finished for now.. you know how it is with bikes.. always something to add, upgrade or replace..

I immediately went for a ride this afternoon after fitting the new tyres that arrived this morning and were the last item that needed doing.  I went off on a fairly tough sort of ride, a good workout for me and the bike and if anyone was found wanting it was only me.

Click Image For Detailed Ride Stats

It was on the rolling roads of Bedfordshire, mainly with a headwind again it seemed, I don’t know how that works but at least I had a tailwind for the home stretch.

The modifications I made to the bike after getting it where pretty comprehensive.  I moved stuff around from my ‘stock’ and swapped things around from other bikes also bearing in mind the mods I want to do Harry’s bike when he recovers from his broken femur but I think I have a bit of time yet before he is pedalling again.  Poor Harry..

• I swapped the crankset from a triple chainring type to a compact double, 34 – 50 tooth
• I changed the handlebars and stem, the bars for a shallower drop and slightly wider spread and the 90mm stem for a 110mm.
• This entailed fitting longer brake and gear cables.
• I changed the Sti Gear/Brake levers.  The ones with the bike were Ultegra but quite an old version and worn, when I went on first exploratory ride the right hand one rattled like crazy and I definitely don’t like rattles.
• The Sti levers I fitted were 10 speed against the 9 speed ones I inherited and the left hand one was for a double changer not a treble.
• The long cage Ultegra rear derailleur was changed for a short cage version.
• I put on some different wheels, one reason for that being that they had some red on them and red spoke nipples and red is the colour for accessories on this bike.
• To these wheels I fitted a 10 speed cassette.
• I fitted two new tyres as the existing ones where different makes and one was starting to perish and the other was getting a bit thin.
• I re-taped the handlebars and I managed to recover the existing Colnago red tape for now.  I did try to get some new Colnago tape but red was out of stock for now so thats on the to-do list.
• I got a new saddle  as I didn’t get one with the bike, even that has a little bit of red stitching on it.

I didn’t have to buy much, just the crankset, saddle and tyres and a lot of what I took off is reusable and will probably appear again on another bike at some stage.  Its a good job I don’t throw much stuff away.. !!

As was…

As is…

So thats it for now.  I have set it up with exactly the same riding position as that of my ‘best’ Felt bike.  The Colnago has a smaller frame therefore there is a bit more seat post showing as is fashionable these days but I was still able to achieve exactly the same geometry.  It is a very good ride and although the aluminium frame makes for a slightly heavier bike than the carbon fibre Felt it still feels very ‘nippy’.

Never Trust A Weather Forecast..

It was time for another bike ride today and after studying the weather forecast I opted for an afternoon ride.  Some showers were forecast for the morning but some sunny intervals were promised for the afternoon.  Decision made, although I generally prefer to do my riding in the morning as it seems kind of right somehow.

Click Image For Ride Stats

I selected my often used route that takes me out to Blisworth After that the road between there and Stoke Bruerne pretty much follows the line of the canal tunnel which runs underneath.  It is about 2 miles in length and was dug by hand and completed in 1805.

Blisworth Tunnel, south entrance (Photo credit: kenkilfedder)

This is a breather tube next to the road I ride along that goes down to the tunnel below.

Blisworth Tunnel Vent (Photo credit: kenkilfedder)

and then on past Towcester racecourse

Towcester The Main stand at Towcester Racecourse. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After that I cross the A5 and head for the tiny village of Pury End where I swing round into a more homeward direction.

The sun never arrived, it was a very grey afternoon.  The wind did show up though, in force, maybe thats what blew the clouds over the sun.  It was hard to determine exactly which way it was blowing as when I set off it was into my face, which isn’t good as I go straight into a hilly start having had no warm up time.  There seemed to be various places on the route that I would be expecting a tailwind that didn’t seem to materialise.  Anyway, I should just look on it as more exercise for my money I guess and just get on with it without complaining.

Todays ride left me just 77 miles short of my 600 mile target for the month.  Which amounts to one a bit rides under normal circumstances.  Had it not been for a missed a week of cycling while I was away I could probably have made the target.  That and some very uninviting weather didn’t help.  But its not written in stone that I have to reach my targets, its just something to aim for.  It would be nice though.

Ups And Downs In Beds….

Or..  A Bumpy Ride In Bedfordshire..

Some would say thats a contradiction in terms, but on the side of Bedfordshire nearest to me, which is only about 2 miles away, it isn’t at all.  The other side of the county around Sandy and Biggleswade and on to Cambridgeshire it is very flat and open with plains full of vegetable growing farms.

I live in the north east corner of Buckinghamshire, and very close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.  Just a couple of miles away is ‘Three Shires Wood’ which envelops little bits of all three counties (shires), the clue is in the title.

Click Map For Ride Stats

However, I digress.  Yesterdays ride was one of those that kind of developed as I went along.  It was going to be around thirty miles when I started to get my legs going again after a week off the bike.  However I kept adding little bits on and slowly moved up to 35 miles and the final 37+ miles.  These additions happened mid ride as I kept pushing the turn around point a little further away.  Despite the lay off I was feeling pretty good, the weather was nice and I was enjoying myself so I just kept pressing on.  Feeling good halfway is all well and good but you still have to get home in reasonable shape.

It was a nice sunny day for the ride and not much wind.  A shorts and long sleeve top kind of ride.  I rode out via Harrold and Odell to Sharnbrook,

Sharnbrook High Street. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Up the hill into Souldrop then across the A6 and up another hill to Knotting (Notting Hill ?)

St. Margaret’s Church, Knotting, Bedfordshire, England. (Photo credit: Wikipedia

Then it was through to Melchbourne.  After that I swung round and accepted the offered tailwind and rode back through Riseley and Bletsoe which is a nice little village I haven’t been through before and back on the A6 south to Milton Ernest.

Bletsoe. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After that it was back home via Radwell, Felmersham and Carlton,

Felmersham Bridge. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Through Turvey, Newton Blossomville and I skipped past Clifton Reynes, turning left and declining the invitation to the pub at this sign I rode back to Olney.

Clifton Reynes turning – 359 paces to pub Turning off the Newton Blossomville to Emberton road. Below the Robin Hood pub sign is a distance of ’359 paces’. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Despite my opening comments it wasn’t exactly hilly in the strict sense of the word having just spent a few days in Devon.  However lots of ups and downs, not a lot of ‘flat’ and making good use of most of the gear combinations available.  Also I guess that adding bits on to the ride is better than knocking them off a planned route.

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!

 

 

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.