By Way Of A Change…

Spring is definitely in the air.. I had a meeting this afternoon that didn’t take as long as I expected and as I was walking home in the sunshine I decided another bike ride might be appropriate..

No sooner said than done.  Within minutes of getting home I was out on my bike.. I headed off on a circuit in the opposite direction to that of yesterday, so a map of the two rides combined would make a figure eight with a bit of a tilt on it.  Yesterdays was was kind of south-east and today was north-west.

I rattled up and even faster average than yesterday, breaking well into the 17 mph average over almost 24 miles.  By way of a change I have linked to the ride data from my Strava page which I have recently started loading rides onto as well as Garmin.

Click anywhere on image for ride data

If you would prefer the Garmin data layout click on THIS

Strava is inclined to make one a much more competitive rider I think as it analyses various segments of a ride and compares your performance with that of other Strava members over the same stretch.  You may feel inclined to try and move yourself up the overall ratings or just be satisfied with personal bests on various segments.

Overall I don’t compare very favourably, as you would expect when the performance of a 70 year old is compared with that of a 20 year old!  I would usually be at best about halfway down ( Or up, depends if you are a cup half full or half empty person! ) the list that may consist of a 100′s or 1000′s of other riders on the same segment.  However, there is a facility to make age group comparisons if you have subscribed to the service.  The oldest age group is 65 plus ( Still young I think !!  :) ) and in that I appear at or near the top, albeit there are probably only about half a dozen people on the list at most usually.  My Mont Ventoux ride in 2011 rated me at 12th in my age group.  I’m not sure that I am tempted to go and try to improve on it though.. !

Being a competitive type of rider it suits me well although it may not be for everybody.  It gives me a target to aim for outside of actually racing.  More like individual time trials I guess aiming for personal bests.

Team MK Ride ?

I woke this morning with two of my favourite Randy Newman songs in my head, “I Think Its Going To Rain Today” and “Rider In The Rain”.

I pretty much knew it was going to rain today anyway because it was forecast.  Not only was there was an over 90% chance of rain until this afternoon but also 23mph winds.  However as I was the nominated ride leader for today I had to make the effort.   Today also marked the occasion of my last appearance as ride leader for Team MK as I had mentioned in a post here a few weeks ago after my 70th birthday.  It was just after another Team MK ride lead weather based debacle as it happens.

I duly set off at 8:30 for the ride to the rendezvous point at Stony Stratford.  It was twelve miles of headwind pretty much all the way.  It was like riding a twelve mile climb. The rain was quite light at the time I left but increased steadily all the way.  The song “Rider In The Rain” was running through my head a lot of the time as I recall when I wasn’t calling myself all the names under the sun.  Coincidentally the first few words of the YouTube clip above I found strangely appropriate.  Another coincidence was that we watched a film last night and at one point Randy Newman was to be heard in the background singing “I think Its Going To Rain Today”.

Randy Newman

On arrival at Cofferidge Close, Stony Stratford at about 9:20am there were only a couple of other riders there in total for all four ride groups (ABC&D).  Only one of which was from ‘my ‘C’ group which on a ‘normal’ Saturday could be around thirty riders .  Another arrived at 8:25 and it looked like just us three and we decided to call it a day.  We would just make do with the ride there and back, which in my case was 24 miles anyway.  By 8:30 another four appeared but our mind was made up and so was theirs, by us !  We then split up into two groups of four to go our various ways home.  Those that were heading east being us and those who were heading south and west.

Click On The Image For Ride Stats

Out of interest, If you click on the Garmin link above you will actually see on the graph the noticeable difference in my heart  rate between going out and coming back.  By the time I got home my hands were frozen and I could hardly undo my jacket to get at the door key.  Wouldn’t you know too that as I sit here typing now the sun is shining outside, I’m sure its still cold though.

I am going to kick back and relax a bit now, before the stress of watching England v Wales in the climax of the Rugby Six Nations Tournament and also waiting for Watford Football Clubs result to come in..

It Depends How You Look At It…

Having missed out on my scheduled Tuesday ride this week I was back on schedule with a ride today.  The old favourite Ouse Valley ride but this time the other way around.  It wasn’t the ideal way round so far as the wind was concerned but it was good to get a different perspective on the ride.  I think its a bit tougher this way around as most of the climbs, such as they are, are in the first half.

Click on map for detailed ride info..

The ‘other riders on the road’ count today was three which is a slight increase over recent rides.  After missing last Saturdays ride and also Tuesdays, not to mention quite a few more during the month there was no way I was going to achieve my 400 mile target for the month.  March starts tomorrow and hopefully after the signs today Spring just might be on its way and I can make the target this time..

Today also marked a slight reduction in winter clothing worn.  I didn’t wear my full winter overshoes today.  Instead I just wore some toe covers.  These just cover the ventilation part at the front of the shoes.  They were very effective but then it was a lot warmer today.. a ‘scorching’ 7c average.

One thing I did notice whilst pedalling was that I had them on the wrong feet (see photo) to how they were probably designed to be worn.  Not from any effectiveness point of view but probably from the view of Mr Castelli.

I expect ‘He’ and his directors and shareholders would have preferred the writing to have been on the outside of my feet and on display more.  To be more easily visible to spectators along the route !!!

Should they complain my answer to them would be that I paid for them, they were not a gift from them and by wearing them I was actually advertising their product at my expense.  However this is the case with a lot products, not only cycling.  We the buyers become advertising boards for the makers.  Its long been my theory that if you buy something with a makers name on it you should actually get it cheaper.  Not as seems to be the case that you actually pay more for something with a brand name prominently displayed on it.

OK…. ride, report and rant over..

Turweston Aerodrome, Team MK Ride

Only my second team MK ride of the year today, such has been the weather so far in 2013.

I was fairly soon regretting my ride yesterday afternoon that was going to be a gentle affair just to ‘get some miles in’ but turned out to be far from it.  I blame the Garmin, I could see I was doing better than Wednesday and wanted to see how much better.. wrong !!!

There were about thirty of us at the outset so the group was split in two.  Given my recent history I opted for the slower half.  However I don’t know how wise that was as our half went a different route to the usual one which is quite flat and slightly undulating at most.  This was much hillier but I survived so I guess its done me some good.

Todays ride was to Turweston Aerodrome, an old World War 2 Airfield.  Its one of my least favourite places to go, mainly because of the access road to the cafe area.  Its about a mile long and consists of slabs of concrete, probably laid to create a road of sorts in the second world war and has received little or no attention since.  Every join between slabs is degraded and parts are broken off, there are numerous cracks that have developed into major hazards.  Patching work has only made it worse, more cracks.  If you are riding a bike with lightweight wheels its a case of having to try and pick the smoothest route, but there is no smooth route.

Once you reach the cafe and plane parking area its OK again.. and in summer its nice to sit outside and watch activities with the light planes coming and going.  Today though it was a case of getting inside the cafe in the warm.

Whilst sitting there I spotted a biplane taxiing toward the take off area so I hurriedly grabbed my phone and made for the door to take a photo.  I omitted to also grab my glasses so I was fortunate to get the picture that I did.  I am not sure if it is a really old plane or a reproduction one but it looked good.  Obviously of German origin by the markings or maybe just part of an air display team maybe?

The return was more direct and much shorter.  We suffered one puncture in the group so we had a pause while it was repaired and we were soon back on our way again.

As usual things speeded up towards the end and group was split up into several parts.  Next week its my turn to lead the group to Carlton.

Tough Decisions…

I just had to make the decision to go out on the bike today.  It had been almost a week again since my last ride and its not good to leave such a long gap.  I need two or three rides a week to keep in shape.

It wasn’t easy to persuade myself I needed to go out on such a cold day but it needed to be done.  I decided on my Clophill, Bedfordshire route as I needed some extra miles after a long run of short rides.  This would give me a ride of about 48 miles and on a route that I quite like, in the summer !!

Click on Map for detailed ride info.

I set off in the cold expecting to warm up after a while as usual but it never seemed to happen.  Once the Garmin settled down to a steady temperature after coming out from indoors it stayed around the 2c (35f) mark.  I was finding it hard to get going properly.  My legs never warmed up properly despite wearing two pairs of tights.  I was feeling quite disappointed with my performance and fitness as I was finding it hard to even maintain an average speed of around 13.5mph.  I soon realised this was due not only to the cold but also I was riding into the wind which is unusual for this part of the ride.  Its usually a tailwind.  Once I realised this I didn’t feel so bad.

There was one anomaly that someone might be able to shed some light on.  After I had been riding for an hour the average speed on my Garmin was showing around 13.8 mph and yet the distance covered was 14.5 miles?  I could have understood it maybe if the figures had been reversed as a stop would have accounted for the difference.  But I thought if I had ridden 14.5 miles in one hour then that was the average speed ?  Is there a mathematical explanation for this?

The ride itself was OK,  its quite a varied route and quite undulating.  No ‘mountains’ but plenty of ‘ups and downs’.  It all took on a different look with the remnants of snow still around.  I’m not surprised the snow is still there given the temperatures, its not warm enough to thaw properly.

I am actually quite high up here, high for Bedfordshire anyway!  Looking back towards home, about 6 miles away on the right side and Milton Keynes is away on the left.

This is just before Steppingley and typical of the sort of roads I try to ride wherever possible.  Small, quiet and away from traffic.  Main roads are unavoidable some times but I pick these whenever I can.

Apart from the cold things went quite well really.  Plenty of ‘thinking;’ time to distract my thoughts from the cold and if you look at the Garmin stats my speed picked up after the half way mark.  I just failed to make a 15mph average though  not so discouraging after all then.

I only saw two other ‘proper’ cyclists on my ride, which, despite being a weekday is quite low.  On a ride of this length I would usually see around four at least.  Obviously some people didn’t make the tough choice when decisions had to be made…

Annecy Bike Rides..

A brief description follows of my bike rides during my weeks stay at lake Annecy in the French Alps.  I have put them all together in one posting rather than several individual posts.  Some of the ride locations can be identified from this photo map of the lake.  I have also shown the ride profile rather than a map by way of a change given the nature of the terrain, I thought it might be a bit more interesting.  You can access the main ride detail including a route map by clicking the profile image though

1) Lake Annecy

Ride Profile, click image for map and full ride data

A visit to area usually starts with a circuit of the lake as a loosener ride after a couple of travel and probably and extra day or two without a bike ride.  Its about 24 miles all the way round with a nasty little lump in middle at Talloires.  My details show a slightly longer distance in the Garmin stats because we started the ride then Cyril couldn’t remember if he shut his tent so we had to make a return to base.  Apart from that there is very little of note on the ride.

We started from the site on the cycle path then turned off onto the road at the bottom of the lake and its all road up that side of the lake when you can return to the cycle path as you enter Annecy town at the lakeside park.

2) Montain of Semnoz and Cret de Chatillion

Ride Profile, click image for map and full ride data

This was the first long climb. It entailed a ride of about 9 miles up to Annecy town on the cycle path and then turn off to to the footslopes of ride up to Semnoz.  A climb of about 11 miles mostly a gradient of round 7 or 8% but quite a few stretches between of 8 & 10%.  A nicely wooded climb for the most part but towards the top as you emerge from the tree line it is quite exposed.  A double espresso was called for at bar at the top and well earned I think.

A very tiring ride but after the coffee stop there follows a magnificent descent of about 16 miles with a little climb or two about half way down around the village of Leschaux, then on down again to St Jorioz by the lake and onto the cycle track back ‘home’.

3) Col de Forclaz

Ride Profile, click image for map and full ride data

I did this ride alone as by now Cyril had decided climbing wasn’t his thing after the experience of Semnoz.and opted for a ride to the bottom of the cycle track from our campsite a return trip of about 28 miles.

I did this ride from a different direction to my previous ride to the top from.  Approaching it this time from the north and starting climb at the top of the climb from Talloires by the lake.  Its a longer climb than the other direction but I thought maybe it would not be so steep.. WRONG !!!!

It was a relentless climb of about 6 miles with an average gradient of about 8-9% and a few bits of 14-15%.  I just got my head down and rode onward and upward for what seemed ages but finally the last hairpin was acheived and I could see the cafe at the top of the long straight incline ahead.

A brief stop and then the descent of about 5 miles to Vesonne and short hop onto the cycle path and the 5 flat miles back to the campsite.

4) Col de Tamie & Circuit of Lake

Ride Profile, click image for map and full ride data

This was a gentle climb I discovered back in June with a gentle gradient of about 3 or 4% mostly after a start at about 6% out of Faverges.  I managed to persuade Cyril to join me again on this ride.  A gentle quiet ride through mainly open country, little or no traffic and no serious inclines.

Again, first a gentle ride down the Cycle track for a six miles to the town of Faverges. A sharp climb up out of the town and though a couple of outlying villages for about 2 miles then it settled into a more gentle climb up to the Abbaye de Tamie close to the top and on the another mile to the summit, albeit a low summit after an altitude gain of about 1500 feet.

The climb is followed by a swooping descent back down to Faverges and gentle enough that the brakes are not needed until the last drop into town and hairpins.

5) Col de Tamie & Albertville

Ride Profile, click image for map and full ride data

The next day I did the same climb agasin, but solo, Cyril hadn’t been persuaded that climbing was his thing.  This time however I carried on over the toil, exploring new ground.  What a thrilling descent that was.  About 7 miles of hairpins over sparsely trafficked roads enabling a bit of licence taking a wider line around the hairpins.

I dropped down into the back of Albertville and made my way through town and then onto the bottom end of the cycle path the 20 miles or so back to camp.

This was the day of murders referred to in my previous posting and my route took me within a couple of hundred yards of the murder spot but fortunately just early enough to miss all the excitement!

6) Col de Leschaux

Ride Profile, click image for map and full ride data

My final ride of the trip was to the summit of the Col de Leschaux.  Again solo and it entailed a few miles north up the cycle path to Sevrier, just over halfway to Annecy.  This was a gentle climb of around 3 & 4% with a maximum of 5% and 8 miles long.

A brief pause at the top and I was on my way down again.  I was enjoying the ‘no brakes’ descent again the same as the other day but after a few miles I caught up with 2 cars following a truck down at around 30mph so I had to rein myself in and use my brakes.  I had several pictures taken of me by the girls in the back of the Swiss registered car in front of me during the course of the descent.  I would sometimes get ‘dropped’ on the straight bits but catch up with them on the bends and come swooping up to the back of the car again and this happened all the way down to the bottom.

I remember thinking as I looked at my Garmin showing speeds of 30+mph that the likes of Mark Cavendish and other sprinters achieve these kinds of speeds and more, up to about 40mph plus ON THE FLAT! in their sprint finishes.  It was quite a reality check for me I can tell you.

So thats a brief summary of my rides over the week.  I went out every day for a ride and enjoyed every minute of them.  It is a real pleasure to ride on French roads.  Very lightly populated roads and very smooth and such drivers as there are, are very cyclist friendly and understanding.  What with that and the scenery and the weather I can think of few places I would like to cycle more.  In fact on my cycling experiences so far I cant think of any, I am just assuming there would be somewhere better.  If you know of it let me know and I’ll be there !

Here is a summary of the weeks riding stats :-

Click image for larger view…

Just to say the Max HR must be inaccurate, maybe a blip of some kind because my rate seldom if ever exceeds 154 bpm.

Where Was I ?…

OK, so carrying on from my previous blog, which more or less became devoted to the Olympics I should now try and remember some of the other cycling stuff that has been going on for me.    It appears after checking my Garmin records that since I returned from France at the beginning of July I have done 19 rides amounting to a total of 790.09 miles.  This kind of surprised me, pleasantly I might add because I would have guessed considerably less.  Following is a report generated from my Garmin records:-

Ride Summary, July 9th – August 22nd (Click image for larger view)

There have been three Team MK Saturday rides and one Team MK Wednesday ride in there somewhere, the rest have been solo rides.  I wont bore you with all the details of the solo rides as I might have done had I been keeping more up to date with my postings here.  The rides are pretty much all repeats of routes I have reported on before anyway.

This coming Saturday I am leading the Club ‘C’ group ride to Carlton again.  However the weather forecast is not good apparently, a 99% chance of rain with possibly a thunderstorm thrown in for good measure !  Weather forecasts have been wrong before but in my experience only when they have forecast sunshine.  If they forecast rain its generally what you get.  I will have to show up anyway and I expect one or two other foolhardy riders might join me.  I will be sure to let you know.

After the weekend I will be full on into final preparations for my road trip (car) to Annecy, France with my ride buddy Cyril for a fun packed camping and cycling 8 days around the mountains in the area.  Most of the climbs in the area are not too famous so far as classic climbs are concerned but there are some toughies I can tell you.   There is one classic climb in the area that I hope to add my classic climb list of Alpe d’Huez and Mont Ventoux and that is the Col de Colombier.  Earlier this evening I was mapping out a route ready for loading into my Garmin from the campsite and it involves a total ride of 65 miles with the Colombier right in the middle.  It is an 8 mile climb to 5136 feet but that also means an 8 mile descent afterwards, which is nice !

I think that will then be the last of my mega climbs and I will sit back on my laurels as I reach my 70th year next year and I will stick to more ‘normal’ cycling befitting my years but don’t hold your breath !!

OK folks, This will probably be my last post before I disappear into the tunnel under the channel apart from maybe an account of Saturdays TMK ride if I have time.  When I reappear I hope to regale you all with detailed accounts of adventures, misadventures and mishaps that occur on my trip.  Until then Au Revoir for now as Del boy might say..

Back To Business

I know its been an age since I last posted here but I have been away for a month on an annual pilgrimage to France. There is an account of one of the more memorable rides in the previous post to this.

Rather than bore you with all the details of my ride which were not too memorable I will just put links to the Garmin details of the rides and a few photos where appropriate.

The first ride of the holiday was my usual first ride of a trip down the Annecy Cycle Path. I have written often enough about this feature and still can’t praise it highly enough so I won’t repeat all that either. It is a good ride for getting your legs working again after a few days travelling.

Heading south down the Annecy cycle path

Click Image For Detailed Stats

The next ride was circuit of the lake another solo ‘warm up’ ride that I usually do on arrival before tackling the bigger climbs to get my legs turning again.

Annecy cycle path , near to the town

Click Image For Detailed Stats

After the ‘warm up’ rides the next ride was with a couple of new friends I made soon after I arrived. I discovered they were cyclists as well so a conversation was started. Dave and Dennis had travelled down together with respective wives in convoy with their caravans. They had got into the habit of taking early morning rides around the lake at Annecy before the rest of the world woke up and had a good ride around the lake missing a lot of the congestion around Annecy town and home in time for breakfast.

They invited me to join them on their next ride and graciously delayed their departure on this day to accommodate me as I am not such an early riser when on holiday and I joined them for the 23 mile circuit of the lake. So it was before lunch and not before breakfast ! We managed an average of 17mph on this occasion riding as a threesome.

The following ride was also with Dave and Dennis and was up to Semnoz, along the ridge and on to Cret du Chatillon. This was a ride I did last year and this years ride is documented in the previous post to this. It was definitely a memorable ride for so many reasons, weather and misadventures not being the least. At the same time, for all that there was a real sense of achievement afterwards given the circumstances and also the usual feeling of well being after a bike ride. Anyway, here are the ride details in all their glory.

Setting out in sunshine..

Dave , Me and Dennis returning after a thorough soaking.. but still smiling.. !

Click Image For Detailed Stats

Next was another solo ride around Lake Annecy, I haven’t posted the ride data for this for fear of boring my reader too much! However I foolishly decide to do it late on a Sunday afternoon and the section of path around Annecy was very busy, not only with cyclists but roller bladers, pedestrians and dog walkers. Not a wise move on my behalf and having got through that I was then confronted with negotiating traffic jams through a couple of small towns on the way round caused by the day trippers leaving Annecy in their cars in droves after their day by the lake. Getting past where I could and also at one point after clearing the towns, there was another hold up caused by a an accident between two cars who had obviously met face to face in an overtaking accident, no doubt caused by impatience after the aforesaid hold ups.

Heading into Annecy on the cycle path, not a busy part!

The next ride was just Dave and I as Dennis had left for home by then. It was a new ride for both of us, along the cycle path towards Annecy to Sevrier where we turned off the path and up the steady climb to the Col de Leschaux. We decided to do this as a late afternoon ride. The Col de Leschaux is about halfway down the the the descent we did a few days earlier coming down from the Cret de Chatillon but this time the sun was shining and it was considerably warmer and drier and we were able to enjoy the descent from Leschaux to Saint Jorioz much more.

Dave at the summit

Click Image For Detailed Stats

Dave and I next repeated a ride I did a couple of years ago taking in the the Col des Aravis with its summit at 1487 metres. Its a Tour de France mountain and has been included in ‘The Tour’ quite a few times, the last time being last year. Its quite a long ride but not too difficult as mountains go in this area. Its a 58 mile ride in total from Annecy in a big loop through Thonesw and up to the ski resort at Clusaz and then up the Aravis. Its all good riding and wonderful scenery.  It was a hot day for our ride but we were refreshed by a couple of strong black coffees at the top in preparation for the thrilling descent of about 16 miles, a long way without pedalling apart from a couple of hundred yards to climb off the plateau about half way down. After that we had only about 15 miles to ride back up the cycle path to ‘home’. This was the last ride for Dave and I together as the next day Dave departed for home. The last ride together for this year anyway.. !!

Summit achieved

Dave did it too !!

Click Image for Detailed Stats

My next expedition was again a solo circuit of Lake Annecy. It wasn’t my initial intention to try and beat the ‘record’ average speed of 17.3mph Dave and Dennis had achieved on one of their early morning rides. However, as things progressed and I was feeling good I decided about half way round to press on and see what I could do. I eventually managed to do it at an average speed of 17.5mph and set a target for them to beat when they return next year! And I should add that it wasn’t an early morning ride for me either, I like to do my rides after breakfast.  (I am just posting the details here for Dave’s benefit as proof..  )

Click Image For Detailed Stats

My final ride at Annecy was great to finish off with. Being bored by now with the ride up and down the cycle path, nice as it is I decided on a variation and explored the ride possibilities of a drive we had done in the car the day before to see the L’Abbaye de Tamie.  I set opff south along the cycle path and turned off the path at Faverges. I had thought it looked like a nice ride and wanted to see how it was for future reference.  The first part out of town was the toughest but not too severe and the rest was just a great ride, although uphill. There was very little traffic, a smooth road rising up through rolling countryside, in and out of the shade and towards the top a river tumbling down beside the road making its way steadily towards Lake Annecy no doubt.  I soon decided to press on to the top as when we came up the day before in the car I wasn’t sure we had actually reached the top before turning round and dropping down a little to the Abbey.

I made it easily to the top and found that we had reached the summit the day before more or less as I just rode on a few metres more and came across the Col de Tamie sign and duly photographed it..

The drop down was brilliant, all the way back to Faverges and the cycle path. The ride had been no further than going down to the end of the cycle path and back and I avoided the long trudge back up the path from Ugine. Although not much of an incline coming back, maybe 2% at most in places I also avoided the seemingly permanent headwind that blows down the valley from Annecy

Late afternoon sunshine at the top of Col de Tamie

Click Image For Detailed Stats

The next day we left Annecy and headed for Vermenton in the Burgundy area to site recommend by Dave and his wife Jan. It was a lovely quiet site with lots of sightseeing to do in the area. Hence as we were only there for 3 or 4 days cycling opportunities were limited but I did manage a ride across to the town of Chablis in the middle of the Chablis grape growing countryside.  It was a simple enough ride all along one road. A steady climb up onto a kind of plateau with a few ups and downs on it before it finally opened up into a spectacular view of the Chablis area and the hillsides as far as the eye could see covered in vineyards. I then dropped down into the town of Chablis and had a brief look around before returning back up the hillside I had just ridden down and back to Vermenton on the same route.

Click For Detailed Stats

Well thats it for now my friends, I hope you managed to find something of interest and not too boring a list of stats.

I return to Annecy at the end of August with my almost lifelong friend and cycling buddy Cyril for a more concentrated cycling visit to the Alps but this time travelling light and camping for 9 days altogether, and about 6 days  the Alps around Annecy