Is It That Time Of Year Already ?

Its been a while since I last posted here, time seems to have just flown by.  Its not that I have been remiss on reporting on my rides its just that I haven’t been on many in the last few months.  The bad weather, winter ailments and social and family events have intervened recently.  I have been out on the few occasions that the opportunity coincided with a bit of decent weather.

To be honest though I think its the same every year around this time.  Now we are past the shortest day, as of yesterday, the days will be getting longer as we head towards spring and I will hopefully feel a lot more positive with renewed enthusiasm.  When I have ridden I have felt good and pleased that I made the effort, but its making the effort thats been the problem.

So thats my excuses done with and hopefully next year I can look forward to go some good riding.  I am hoping to have another go at racing again in 2013.  I will be 70 in February and will move on to the ‘G’ category in the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists groupings.  I will therefore be among the youngest in that group.  The problem remains though, that as they race three and sometimes four categories in the same event I could to all intents and purposes be racing against riders up to twenty years younger than me.  Although the categories are separated within the group for results purposes its very hard to stay within the main peloton for racing purposes.  Its only good if mini pelotons can be formed of the age groupings or else what started a mass start race pretty soon becomes a time trial for the more senior members.

So thats my final post of 2012 done.  I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas and a happy new year and I look forward to being frequently in touch with you in it.

 

Wyre Forest Road Race..

The weather forecast for the race wasn’t very good, and so it turned out to be.. on the drive to the race I passed though a couple of showers.  On arrival at the race HQ I had barely parked the car and opened to tailgate to unload my bike before it started raining again.

By the time the race was ready to start it was raining pretty heavily and looked set for race.  However, everybody set off behind the motorbike for the neutralised section of the race to where we joined the circuit.  This was a ride of about 3 miles, fast enough to get wet through and not fast enough to keep warm.  Also getting a liberal spray of water and road dirt from the riders in front.

On reaching the circuit proper  at Lower Broadheath we turned right and the motor bike moved off and we were under way on our five, seven and half mile laps.  The pace was quite steady at first and I was riding comfortably in the bunch.  As always a couple of guys decided to make a break for it so it was heads down and pedalling like fury to catch them up, which we did.  Just as we regrouped a near disaster situation occurred.  A car tried to pass the whole bunch as were going down a slight incline, we were going 30mph plus at the time.  When the car got about halfway past us all a car came in the opposite direction so he just pulled over right into the side of the group, about 2 riders in front of me.. we all slammed on brakes but due the the wet they were not so effective as they might have been and avoiding action needed to be taken bringing bike handling skills to the fore.  We all survived but this effectively split the bunch into two.  The half dozen or so that had avoided all this broke away, leaving the rest of us to try to chase them down which eventually we did.  There was then a series of break away attempts and the ensuing chase.  This eventually wore me down and I could see I wasnt going to keep this pace up, which was being set by guys around 50 – 55 years old, 10 – 15 years younger than me so I dropped back and settled into time trial mode again.  I knew I was ahead of a group that we had dropped before the car incident and I assumed eventually they would catch me up and I would tag onto them but it didn’t happen.  I rode the rest of the laps on my own to the finish, just passing two riders that had also dropped off the pace from the leading group.

I have no idea exactly where I finished position wise as the race finish was at the top of a little rise about one mile before Bell Lane.  It was a two mile ride back to Lower Broadheath from there plus the three miles we had ridden out to the circuit.  I was soaking wet, although it did stop raining on the last lap of five.  I didn’t want to hang around there and get cold thinking I would get the results when they all got back to the HQ.   That two miles plus the three or so from where we joined the circuit meant a five mile ride back to the HQ.  I grabbed my bag from the car and got into the hall and changed into some dry clothes and got a bite to eat, still the officials were not back from the finish line so I headed home in my nice warm and dry car..  I decided I would wait for the results to be posted online.  Up until now Though, no results are to be seen, just a race report, results to follow it says.  Wouldnt you just know it too, on my way home the sun was shining !!

MK Bowl LVRC Circuit Race

After last weekends race my next race was to be the LVRC (League of Veteran Racing Cyclists) event at Milton Keynes Bowl.  Its part of a season long series of races every Tuesday evening through until the end of August.  It is a points series and you accumulate points for placings through the season.

Tuesdays event was a new venture for me.  I havent done any short circuit racing before.  The main race was split into two.  The A’s and B’s (40 -50 yrs old) rode in the first start and the rest of us, the C’s D’s E’s F’s and a G ( 50 – 75 yrs old) rode in the second start about 30 seconds after the first group left.  My plan was to stay with the group as long as I comfortably could and then go at my own pace and hope to wind in stragglers from the bunch as they dropped off.  I stayed with the group for about 5 or 6 laps and then one of the ‘youngsters’ (5o’ish) attacked on the climb and split the race up.  From then on I was pretty much riding around on my own.  Hopefully as the series progresses my fitness will improve and I will get that extra couple of mph to hang on in there.  I also need to cope better with the rapid changes of pace in these shorter races.

After 25 minutes they opened up the perimeter gates and added an extended loop onto the circuit, hence the peculiar shape on the map.  While I am on the subject of peculiar shapes, you will see a trail leaving the circuit and heading out on the road for about a mile.  That was my fault, I left the Garmin switched on after the race and tracked part of my journey home until I remembered and stopped and turned it off.  It didn’t affect the timings too much as not much speed was possible up until that point.  After 40 minutes of racing the sign went up for 5 laps to go and it was soon all over.

So far as the race result goes I am unsure of my finish position but I was either 2nd or 3rd in the ‘F’ group, overall I have no clue as to where I finished.  Its quite a complicated affair with two races and several categories within those to assemble and work out.  As yet the official race results havent been posted, maybe I will get some idea at next weeks event if not before.

LVRC Road Race April 10th 2011 – Pictures

Some pictures from last weekends road race…

Chipping Away…

Been another busy day at Goldsmith Mansions.. preparing for the swap to Sky Broadband.  I spent the morning preparing new e-mail addresses and trying to find a name that nobody else had, I didnt realise that permutations of my name would be so popular !

That done I took a little bike ride this afternoon as Sky had said not to try and connect until late in the day so I seized the opportunity for a little winter afternoon sunshine.  I repeated my ride of the other day, this time chipping off another five tenths of a mile per hour.  There was no assistance from the wind in either direction.

Click Image for More Detail

I downloaded the LVRC (League of Veteran Racing Cyclists) 2011 race calendar this morning as well so race planning can commence forthwith.  Fortified with confidence of improving times I will look forward to starting racing towards the end of April I think.  Many a mile and calorie to be burned before then though.

Upon my return from the ride I grasped the bull by the horns and disconnected the BT Broadband and connected the Sky router.  Dont know what I was concerned about really, all went very well and was over in a matter of minutes. Set up and two laptops and two BlackBerry’s connected within minutes.

2010 Cycling Round Up…

The present weather means that I don’t have too much to write about so far as cycling is concerned so I thought maybe I should try to summarise and analyse my cycling year 2010 -2011.  I guess it seems a bit early but the weather forecast for the next few days isn’t very promising so I don’t think the figures will change too much.

In the almost 12 months to date this year I have ridden 5311.79 miles in 341.95 hours which works out at an average speed of 15.465 mph.

For the first half of the year I kept my ride records on a spread sheet and after I got my Garmin 605 I have been able to keep far more accurate and detailed records of every ride I take with the Garmin Edge 605 and 500 GPS computers and Garmin Connect records.

These are the figures from my Garmin Connect records since July 27th 20101 :-

 

Figures from Garmin Connect starting 27th July 2010

 

At the start of the year my initial aim was to get fit for riding Alpe d’Huez in May.  I set myself a gradually increasing monthly target starting with 300 miles in January as I thought the weather was not going to be very helpful and leading up to 500 miles a month by April.   Just as well because the weather was pretty grim.  Very similar to how it is now actually but it seems to be starting earlier this year.

I managed to keep to my target and was in good enough shape to make the Alpe d’Huez climb.  Such good shape that I completed the climb in 1hr 25 minutes, much faster than I had dare to hope for ahead of the ride. I had been imagining around 2 hours.  Not bad for a 67 year old I guess.  I was more than happy I can tell you.  Especially given the weather conditions at the time.  There had been 2 or 3 days rain before the day and it did not look very promising on the morning of the climb either.  But it had to be done as it was the last available day before we had to head for home and I wasnt going to come all that way and not complete my mission.  It was cloudy and over cast and you couldn’t see more than 100 metres up the mountain before the cloud started.   I eventually broke through the cloud and into brighter weather but very cold.  The ride was completed though and a great feeling of smugness and self satisfaction was to follow.

So that was in May and in June I headed to France again, this time on vacation for 5 weeks.  I took my bike with a view to possibly riding Mont Ventoux on our tour around France with the caravan.  However the weather interfered again as we had a lot of rain for the first 2 weeks so I didnt get out too much on the bike.  Especially not enough to keep in shape to ride Mont Ventoux so I aborted that idea.  Maybe a target for 2011 on our French odyssey in June.  I did manage a few rides up some mountains after that  but nothing famous but I have to say they seemed equally as steep and long to me.  They were on very quiet roads and nice and warm and sunshine and spectacular views.  We completed the trip by taking in a stage of the Tour De France on our way back up to northern France so that was another mission accomplished.  I had seen a stage of ‘Le Tour’ once before on the first occasion it came to the UK but it wasnt the same as the real thing, in France.

After that I settled back down to just regular riding and riding around 600 miles a month until towards the end of the summer when I rode my first 100k Sportive.  I managed that OK and subsequently rode 2 more. You will find accounts of all of those, and both of my French trips in the archives of this blog if you look in May and June so I have kept the details brief here.  The mileage has decreased a lot since the end of November and I just ride either on the Turbo Trainer down in the garage but its even too cold to go down there at the moment so make use of the exercise bike indoors just to keep my legs turning.

I joined Team MK cycling club in October and have been enjoying some rides with them.  They are hard rides which just suits me and its good to be riding in a group again, just like the old days.  I have also joined the the League of Veteran racing Cyclists as my target for 2011 is to try my hand at road racing again and possibly some time trialling.  They do seem to have quite a comprehensive programme of races all over the country.  I will be racing within my age group though so I should get a good measure of my form comparing it with riders of a similar age.    However most of the older guys I have met in the cycling club seem to have been cycling continuously since their teenage  years unlike me who has had a long break for various reasons and am now coming back to it.  But I am looking forward to the competition as I seem to be a naturally competitive rider. I seem to enjoy the feeling of pushing myself as much as I can.  I look too closely at the average speed all the time and keep trying to push it up that little bit more.

So I will wish all my readers a very Happy Christmas and a good 2011 and I look forward to posting my progress, or lack of it on here.

Whats Ahead?

After this weekends ride things will probably be quietening down a bit on the cycling blogging front over the winter.  I’ll have to find other stuff to write about.  Probably some fishing and fly tying again and more general stuff so look out for changes ahead.

I will still be riding but I doubt it will be very scenic or notable.  My Felt bike will be hung up in the garage for the duration and be checked and prepared for 2011.  I will keep a good level of fitness over the winter riding the Specialized bike and maybe a bit of off road work on the MTB?.  If the roads are bad then I will be on the turbo trainer and start a bit more serious riding again around February time I think.  I will still be aiming for 1000km a month target but they will be more leisurely and probably longer rides.

I have just got my racing licence from the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists and I intend to give road racing a go next year so that will be in my mind through winter as well.  I have also joined a local cycling club, Team MK and will hope to be joining them on some winter club runs on Saturdays.

Calm before the Storm…

Went for a nice easy ride this morning on my ‘winter’ bike as my best bike is all clean and ready for tomorrow.  I went nearly twice as far as I had originally intended though.  It was such a nice morning, warm sunshine and hardly any clouds or wind.  I extended my loop from about a 30km one to almost 50km.  It was so nice just to pedal along at a steady rate.

Its started to cloud over now as the weather front moves in bringing the forecast heavy rain.  I just wish this weather could have held off and pushed back the deluge that is forecast for tomorrow for my 100km Phil Cooke Challenge Ride.  However, ‘What cant be cured, must be endured’ as I think someone once said.  Of course, Monday is forecast to be cloudless again.

I must stop going on about the weather.  All I can do is to get on with it, whatever the weather.  I dont really mind getting a soaking as long as I can keep warm but its just so much more pleasant on a day like today.

There is just next Sundays ride to complete and then I can switch to my winter schedule which is no schedule really.  A matter of just getting the distances in my legs and keeping in shape as and when I feel like it and weather is not too bad.

I have just joined the ‘League of Veteran Racing Cyclists’ (LVRC) with a view to doing some racing next year and so I need to keep a base level of fitness until I start proper training for the season.  It will be a bit of a challenge but also will be nice to be in competition with my peers and see what kind of shape I am in and what kind of shape I can get in.  I also joined a local cycle club, Team MK, with a view to taking part in some club rides, local time trials and circuit races and participating more generally in cycle club life.  It does get a bit boring riding around the same routes all the time.  I do find though my mind is working all the time I do a lot of my best thinking when I am cycling along on my own.