My First Outing As Ride Leader With Team MK

Saturday saw my debut as ride leader with the C group ride of Team MK.  The day dawned with better weather than had been forecast which was a bit of a bonus to start with.  I was a little apprehensive about how things would go.  Although I have no problem maintaining the required average speed of around 15/16mph for the group when I am out alone,  I wasnt sure of my ability to control the excesses of others who from past experience tend to like to sprint off the front from time to time and then have to slow down to wait for the slower riders to catch up.  It was my intention to pace the group so that the constant speed changes where unnecessary.  These can be very tiring.

I arrived at the rendezvous point in Stony Stratford good and early.  It looked like the turnout was going to be quite low for all the groups for several reasons.  First the weather forecast hadn’t been very good, secondly England were playing in a quarter-final game against France in the Rugby World Cup ( which we subsequently lost?) and finally the Brickhills Challenge Sportive was taking  place locally the following day.  Nevertheless there were 13 riders in the C Group, not too many for me to be able control alone so there was no need to appoint another rider to cover the tail of the group to keep any stragglers in touch.  This is usually another experienced rider who just rides at the back of the group and will yell out a ‘slow down’ or ‘rider off the back’ if necessary.

Click Image For Ride Data

We set off at 9:30 and we were headed for the cafe at Carlton where we had been with the Wednesday group in the week.  As it happens the ‘B’ group were also going there, but by the traditional route, looping round close to Northampton and back around to Carlton and also adding on a few extra miles as they usually ride further than the 45-50 miles of ‘C’ group.  It was my intention to take my group on a new route approaching Carlton from the south.  A variation on a ride I regularly do from home.

I set a steady pace and kept taking a look back from my position at the front to make sure we were all together still.  After about 10 miles I dropped to the back of the group to check that the pace was OK for everybody and it seemed to be so.  I resumed my position at the front and I was able to control the group quite easily because, as it was a new route to most of them they didn’t know where we were going so overtaking me wasnt a good idea.  Part of my cunning plan..   My Garmin was showing a steady average of around 16mph and I kept it there pretty much.

We arrived at Carlton at exactly the same time as the ‘B’ group but we had done 31 miles and they had done nearer to 40.   Fortunately there is plenty of room at the cafe there other wise it would have been a bit congested.   There was quite a bit of banter between the riders of the two groups as usual but that’s all part of the fun.

I was expecting the group to split up once we set off back after our refreshment but they seemed quite content to stay behind me still.  probably something to do with headwind we were now riding into!!  Nobody left on the way back except where they broke off to make their various ways home as we got nearer to Stony Stratford.  There were only four of us who actually rode all the way back to the start.

Overall I was quite happy with the way things went and I did receive a few ‘thanks for a nice ride’ from several riders as they disappeared to go their own ways which was nice to hear and reassuring.  We averaged the required 16mph for the ride (16.1 actually) which was good as in the forums on the club website there are often complaints because the group rides have been too fast with riders dropped and left to find their own way home.

On Target For My Target..

I had already decided I would go out for a ride today before the day dawned and a longish one at that as I had to reach my 600 mile target for August.

I rode on my ‘second’ bike today, the Specialized.   It is now wearing the new Brooks Team Pro saddle and I needed to get the saddle ‘worn in’.  It already had 40 miles in it from the other day and hopefully another 60+ today.

I decided to base my route today on the Team MK 100 km sportive route around the outside of Milton Keynes. It definitely wasnt a summer morning this morning.  I wore arm warmers intending to take them off later but I never did.  It was cloudy, cold and also windy.  In fact I could have done with wearing some leg warmers too.

Click Image For Ride Data

I rode out pretty much into a westerly wind for about the first 20 miles then swung round in a more south easterly direction for a while and things got easier.  I had headed out via Stony Stratford along the back roads until just short of Buckingham at Thornborough were I swung south east and down to Stewkley, allegedly the longest village in the UK.  It is contested by Combe Martin in Devon but that is not a continuously populated street  unlike Stewkley’s 1.7 miles.

At Stewkley I turned north east and benefitted from the west wind all the way through The Brickhills and on through Woburn.  The road from Woburn took me through the deer park at Woburn Abbey so I stopped for a couple of photographs.  Woburn Abbey is the home of the Duke and Duchess of the Bedford.   The camera is level by the way, it’s the road that slopes.. !!

A 'Family' group

A larger herd about 100 yds away on 'my' side of the road

The deer are quite used to traffic I think but maybe not so used to being photographed as the road has posts either side to stop cars parking on the verge but it doesn’t stop bikes..

I pressed on north eastwards for a few more miles until I started to head north west and then found the west wind had become a north west wind as I was into the wind again!!

It was pretty hard going all the rest way as I was heading north until swinging to the west for the last few miles as i headed for home.

I was feeling a bit saddle sore by the time I got home as the saddle is pretty hard and still needs some more softening up and shaping to my butt.  I will apply cream to both !!

I finished with a total mileage of a shade under 62 miles in just under 4 hours including a break for some food.   I am now just 34 miles short of my August mileage target of 600 miles.  I have until Wednesday night to get those miles in and hopefully they will come with the club ride on Wednesday with some to spare.

Racing versus Sportives

I have been having a think about training and race preparation.  My original plan was to race up to a level of fitness and then enter two or three 100km Sportives but the economics of that forced me to reconsider that option.

To enter a decently organised Sportive is going to cost around £20 to £25+ whereas race entry fees are only around £8 – £12.  There is a far greater selection of reasonably local races than there are Sportives.  So I might as well enter some races and race myself fit once I have reached a decent level of  fitness.

Also from my limited experience of Sportives in the UK and from what I read, they are semi competitive anyway.  They seem to comprise of riders who like to pretend they are racing without the hassle or extra competitiveness of proper race.  They are virtually unofficial road races but are disguised not to be so by the fact that they dont release  a list of finish times in order of the actual times.  This technicality avoids having to get permission for a road race on public roads from the authorities.

Having said all that please dont think that I disapprove of Sportives in any way.  My decision is based purely on logic and economics.  If I am going to ride myself into state of near exhaustion I might as well do it for half the price!

Brickhill Challenge Results

The results for yesterdays event have now been posted online.  If you are interested you can click on the snapshot below for a link to the complete list.

 

Click for full results list

 

I was quite happy with my placing.  There were 193 riders and so far as I can see I calculate I was around 92nd.   The results arent tabulated in finish time order, just alphabetically so I just did a rough count of those that finished in a quicker time than me.  When I compare the age groups and times I am more than happy with what I did bearing in mind that the 100 or so that I beat were younger than me.

There were only 2 of us within my, 60 – 69 age group and I was fastest of us two by quite a bit.

Phil Cooke Challenge Ride 3/10/2010

It was a challenge by name and challenge by nature!  I had known the weather forecast for Sunday for about a week ahead, but knowing how forecasts can change from day to day I lived in hope that it would change, but it didn’t!

I woke Sunday morning and it was dry outside, gloomy but dry.. I allowed myself to hope for a while.  However as soon as I stepped outside around 7:45am it started to rain.  I had prepared my clothes the night before to cater for most eventualities so I loaded the bike and my kit in the car and set off about 8:20am for the drive to the venue at Dunchurch near to Coventry.

On arrival it was still raining and looked set for the day.  I sat in the car for a while and had a drink. It was around 9:15 am and walked up to check in and duly signed in and collected my ‘goodie bag’.  It consisted of an oatmeal bar, a tee-shirt, a nd one or two other little goodies.  It was a cheap event really so not much in the way of support or back up. I did take the banana that was offered and wandered back to the car to prepare myself and my bike.

I got the bike out and assembled it, just needed to slip the front wheel in, it fits in the car just right as long as I remove that. Then I prepared myself.  bib type cycling shorts, thermal tee-shirt, Full length bib tights, Long sleeve cycling jersey, a pair of socks, cycling shoes and overshoes.  On top of this a lightweight ‘waterproof’ ‘ish cycling jacket.  In one back pocket I placed my phone, wallet, car key, map of the route and a ten ound note, all enclosed in a zip loc polythene bag.  In the other pocket I put two energy bars and an energy gel.  I knew there were no feed stations so had to be self sufficient.  I wore a cycling cap under my helmet (a) for warmth and (b) so that peak would deflect the rain off my glasses.

En Route

At the appointed time of 10:00 am everybody set off. It was a fairly ad-hoc kind of start, no mass set off, just groups and individuals.  The start time period was between 10:00 and 10:30 so I guess it eased congestion on the roads.

It took a while to get warmed through once I was underway, but soon got into a rhythm.  I was riding on my own and I did a have a group of about 4 guys ahead of me, all from the Kenilworth club and riding in a  train.  I guess I could have made the effort and joined on the back but I decided to conserve my energy and go at a comfortable speed for me. They slowly drew out of sight but did catch up with another guy for a while and sat on his wheel for a bit, which was useful as we were going into headwind and I don’t think he knew I was there so I didn’t take my turn.  Soon the first hill came along and I rode past him on the ascent and left him behind and I was on my own on the road.  My next encounter was with a group of women who I had seen creep off from the start about 10 minutes before start time.  They were all stopped by the road in a gateway to a field. I saw 4 bikes and 3 women so I guessed a call of nature was being answered ?

Route Profile

As you can see the profile of the route  is pretty much all up and down.  When the first steep climb came along after about 15 miles (The categorised steeper climbs are marked by the vertical grey bars) I was doing fine until I tried to change onto the largest sprocket at the rear and I don’t know what happened first but the chain came off the chain ring at the front and at the same time jumped down between the large sprocket and spokes and locked solid.  I stopped and managed to wrench the chain out and got it back in place and started off from a standing start on a 20% climb!  However, every revolution of the chain was producing a clunk and jump from the chain.  I got to the top of the hill like this but had to stop to take some remedial action.  I found two links were locked solid together and would not flex.  Fortunately I had a mini toolkit with me and had a chain splitter in it.  I managed to push the offending rivet from both directions and open a little gap, enough to loosen it off again and it was just right.  I was had been passed by a few riders while all this was going on over about 10 – 15 minutes I guess. I really don’t know as I was just intent on getting going again. It was still pouring with rain and the wind was blowing across the top of the hill.  Not a good place to hang around.  The three ladies re-appeared just as I was getting going again and we had a bit of a chat and off I went again.

About this time I lost functionality on my Garmin as the route I downloaded from the rides web site was not too accurate and the course didn’t follow the road too well so it kept clearing itself down.  Therefore I no longer had a forecast of my estimated finish time nor could I see the route.  I kept resetting it and starting over but ech time we came to divergence between route and actuality it cleared itself down again.  Fortunately the route was waymarked so I could get myself around. It all just added more to misery of the ride with the weather and everything.  But it also made me more determined to get on with the job in hand.

The next steep climb came along after a while and I had latched onto a group of another 3  riders just before that, or rather they latched on to me and were sitting on my wheel.  At the start of the climb one of them came past me pushing a big gear but I adopted my usual hill climbing posture of a lower gear and just twiddling away at a steady rhythm and fairly soon passed him and a few others during the climb. I assume the big gear guy waited at the top for his buddies because I never saw them again.

The next point of note was the divergence between the 60k route and the 100k route.  I have to say I was tempted to take the 60k route as it was such a foul day and I had batted into a headwind as well for all of the outward trip so far but I stayed fast and took the 100k turn.  I did wonder if I had gone off course after a while as I never saw another soul for ages.  But I stopped at the top of another climb to extract an energy bar from my back pocket and a rider came past and called out to ask if I was OK.  I told him I was just refuelling.  Moving off again and at the bottom of a downhill stretch I saw the Kenilworth club guys stopped and repairing a puncture. I rode on and to the half way point at a cafe. I just called in to make sure there wasn’t a check point there and got on again so as not to get cold.  After unwrapping another energy bar to eat as I went, I was on my way.

This is when things turned slightly in my favour as my by now wearying legs were given the assistance of a tail wind from the south west most of the time.  It wasnt much help going up hills but meant that I could get up a bit of speed on the flats.  The climbs just kept coming. It was on one of the earlier ones after the cafe stop that I was caught and passed by the Kenilworth boys again, but I kept them pretty much in sight and I caught and passed a couple of them who were obviously not feeling so good by now.  Their buddies waited at the top for them and then they latched on the back of them on the downhill side and were off again but still in my sight most of the time.  The same routine was repeated another couple of times until I then caught and passed one of them who was stationary and forcing an energy gel down.  His buddies this time came back to him and I left them behind and never saw them again until after I had finished.  I passed another couple of riders in the last 10 – 15 miles but those miles just dragged on and on and some kind route planner had included a couple of long drags toward the end just to round things off.  Eventually I got to the finish and checked in and collected my certificate for completing the ride.

I was offered a hot drink of tea or coffee but said I would go and change from my wet clothes and come back later.  On my way out and back to the car I saw the Kenilworth boys rolling in.  Once back at my car I went through the precarious business of getting changed from wet clothes, drying and getting into nice dry clothes in public car park!

My clothes were absolutely soaked through and when I chucked them all into a plastic bag I was surprised just how much they weighed wet.   When I took my shoes and socks off the water just poured out.  It seems they were waterproof from the wrong direction!  It was nice to get into the car and just drive to the HQ and get my cuppa.  As I was going in I saw the ‘big gear guy’ from earlier rolling in the gate alone, I don’t know what had happened to his buddies.  I have to say that I wouldnt recognise a lot of the people I passed because I didn’t usually look back once I passed them, just a passing word of encouragement as I went by and eyes on the road, keeping my head down to keep the rain from my eyes, sheltered under the peak of my cap.

It had been a tough day, a very wet and windy one but a very rewarding one for me to have completed.  I am sure it would have been a very nice ride on a nice summers day, maybe will bear that in mind next year!  My legs are still aching a bit today (Monday).  Guess what, next week I am doing another ride.  This time around the Brickhills not too far away from me. The course is only about 52 miles but has plenty of climbs in it.  The race blurb says around 4000ft of climbing altogether. That will be it for this year then.  Will just do some easy rides until after Christmas and then start thinking about next years rides and challenges.

Rest of Septembers Cycling

After the Devon trip it was back to routine so far as cycling is concerned.  Getting rides in when I could, at least 3 times a week and making the most of the last of the good weather for this year.  There has been a definite falling off in the last couple of weeks.

I was concentrating on getting plenty of miles in my legs in preparation for Phil Cooke Challenge Ride on October 3rd and the Brickhills Challenge on October 10th.  I have done three 100km rides in the last couple of weeks to prepare for the distance and some local hilly routes to prepare for the climbing aspects.  I now have to combine the two.

The Phil Cooke ride is a 100km circuit starting from Dunchurch in Warwickshire and then a loop down to Towcester, (almost back home again for me!!) and back up to Dunchurch again.  As I write this the ride is only 2 days away and the weather forecast is really grim.  A heavy band of rain is due to pass over the area all day.  I have to go through with the ride though, no pulling out, as I have some sponsors who have donated in aid of the Marie Curie Cancer Care Charity.  Phil was a top local racing cyclist who died at a very early age of cancer and this event is run every year in his memory and to raise money for the charity.  I have attempted to do my bit by seeking sponsorship via my ‘Just Giving’ page.  Not over succesful but every little bit helps.

The Brickhills Challenge ride is a bit more local. Comprising of a 52 mile route around and about the Brickhills hills near to Milton Keynes. The route circulates around and doubles back to take in all the climbs in that area and a total climbing height of over 4000 feet !  Starting at the Open University and based around Aspley Guise, Little Brickhill, Great Brickhill, Drayton Parslow, Woburn Golf Course, Stoke Hammond, Woburn and Woburn Sands.  So plenty of places to see riders coming past and suffering a few times.  This ride is in aid of Willen Hospice and should have been held in February this year but had to be called off because of heavy snow.

My September riding target of 1000km was just missed by about 100km.  The reason for that being the eights days spent in Devon and the lack of miles ridden.  However I exceeded my August target by more than the shortfall in September so I am still in credit. I am aiming for 1000km again in October but this time of year the weather is a problem to consistent riding but I will see how realistic a target it is.

I have just joined the ‘League of Veteran Racing Cyclists’ as I hope to be trying my hand at racing again next year and so will be preparing with that in mind through the winter.  Apart from around 10 years cross country mountain bike racing all over the country in my 50′s its been about 45 years since I did any racing so it should be an interesting experience.  I like the idea of road racing again.  I will be racing against riders of a similar age to me as races are graded by age groups within a race.

I am also in the process of joining Team MK cycle club to expand my riding experience as it gets a bit boring riding alone all the time so I will be able to join in club runs and local time trials and the evening circuit races at the Milton Keynes Bowl if they are still running next year, hopefully so?

Well that’s me pretty much up to date I think.  I just need to keep abreast of events now and blog them here as and when they happen.

Weekend Roundup

So, now its September!  Is this year going quickly or does it just seem that way?

My August cycling total was 635 miles, 135  miles more than my 500 mile target.  This month I have set a target of 1000 km (625 miles).  I am going to switch to doing my measurements in kilometres from now on as it’s the accepted cycling measurement now it seems.  All the races and other cycling events are measured in the metric system and it makes it easier for direct comparisons of speed and distance with what everyone else is doing in the cycling world.  My Garmin is easily switched from one system to the other.

Didnt do much more cycling in August after Tuesdays ride except a quick 12 mile ride just to check out my new saddle.  The previous one was causing me considerable pain on the left ‘cheek’ on a long ride and on Tuesdays ride I found out what it was.  The ‘gel’ padding between the frame and leather was flat on one side of the saddle.  I only noticed it when Cyril stopped to make a phone call and the light caught it just right for it to show and that was the side that was causing the pain.

On Friday I took myself on an exploratory trip to survey the hills in the ‘Brickhill Challenge’.  A sportive ride I am doing on October 10th.  It is designed to take in all the hills around the Brickhills area to the south of Milton Keynes.  Including the climb up from Bow Brickhill.  I wanted to check out how I would get up that on my road bike.  I have climbed it numerous times on a mountain bike but that has much lower gears than a road bike.  I got up it OK, not easily, but OK!  Much to my pleasant surprise.  It’s an average of 12% (one in eight) but parts are steeper than that and I am guessing it’s about half a mile of climbing.  There are three or four other quite big hills on the circuit and a lot of little ones.  I think there are about 18 climbs altogether. Its an 82km (51 miles) circuit and it is designed in such way as to encompass all these hills so there are four big loops out and back to near Little Brickhill passing there about 4 times in various directions.  It’s never more than 10 miles from ride HQ near the Open University.  It’s a good event for anybody locally that wants to watch grown men(and women) suffer!

So, back to my ride.  It was a proper autumn morning, starting with a mist and a dew on the grass.  All the cobwebs in the garden were visible as they were also covered in dew.  I rode the 12 miles out to Woburn Sands and then picked up the route from there.  As I rode across country I got odd whiff of a bonfire, another sign of autumn I think.

Heading first to Bow Brickhill and the climb up from there and over the top to Woburn Golf Club.  Then it was towards Little Brickhill and off left down to Woburn and round to Potsgrove and back to Woburn and back to Little Brickhill.  The route then took me towards Great Brickhill but veered off left down a steep, wooded and narrow lane and round to Drayton Parslow and back up to Great Brickhill.  After that I lost my way a bit and so I headed for home having missed out two or three bigger climbs but I already know of one of those and the rest I will take in on another ride.  I felt I had done enough for this trip.  I did 80km in total which coincidentally is the same distance as the actual event and a lot of climbing.  I enclose a map of the circuit as they say’ a picture is worth a thousand words’  Not sure who says it but I heard it somewhere…   As you can see, some careful planning went on to make sure no hill was left out !

Click for Larger View

Glutton For Punishment..

Having recovered from my recent experience of Sportive riding and finding it both satisfying and ‘enjoyable’ I have now entered two more such rides !  Who says you get wiser as you get older?

The first is on October 3rd, The Phil Cooke Challenge ride starting at Dunchurch and over 100km (62 miles) and the undulations of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire.  It is in aid of the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity.  A contribution goes to it from my entry fee but I am also trying to raise some money for it on my own behalf via the ‘Just Giving’ website.

The second ride is on October 10th and is the ‘Brickhills Challenge Sportive, taking place around the ‘Brickhills’ near to Milton Keynes.  This one is ‘only’ about 50 miles long.

I quote the course details from the organisers :-

The Course is on the Southern Flank of Milton Keynes and is based around the Brickhills. We have tried to include every climb in the Brickhills. The Course is very compact and you are never more than 10 miles from HQ. Ideal for spectators, it is possible to see the riders 6 times.The route passes the famous Woburn International Golf Course and the Beautifull villages of Aspley Guise, Woburn Sands, Woburn, Bow Brickhill,Little and Great Brickhill,Drayton Parslow and Stoke Hammond. The Route is Signed and Timed by Race Timing Systems.

Sounds fun doesn’t it !!  I think it includes about four or five really steep climbs among a total of 18 climbs altogether

This ride is organised in aid of Willen Hospice, a local Milton Keynes hospice.   I will shortly be starting a Just Giving page for that event as well.