Last Monday I had a lovely day off work going for a bike ride with my daughter and then a pub lunch with my wife.
Just missing a few rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
The bike ride was along the Hayling Billy which is an old railway line down the side of Hayling Island.
It's pretty flat but not suitable for road tyres so I had to go on my brother in law's bike.
Most of the way you get lovely views of Langstone Harbour. It is possible to cycle all the way around the harbour, you need to get the ferry across to Eastney, and back up a cycle path along the Eastern Road. I think it is about 15 miles.
We've done it before where we've cycled all the way to the bottom of the Island, had lunch at a pub on the beach and cycled back, about 10 miles in total.
Unfortunately Mrs B's knee was playing up so she waited on the beach for us with our dog. So Lilly and I only went as far as the bmx track, where I had to have a go over a few of the jumps.
Heavy bloke on a heavy bike doesn't equal much air.
We then cycled back, found the wife and drove to The Royal Oak for fish and chips in the garden.
On the bike ride I said to Lilly "I love spending time with you and I love cycling, so I'm having a great day".
She replied "I love spending time with you and I don't mind cycling".
We're getting there!
Saturday, 7 September 2013
Saturday, 24 August 2013
Blissford Hill Smashed!
I completed the The New Forest Rattler last weekend, which includes the 25% Blissford Hill aka The Wall!
Apparently registration starts at 7:00 with the first groups of riders setting off at 8:30. So when Haribo Joe and myself arrived just just after 8 we were surprised to be "stuck" behind a load of cyclist. So we're not sure when they set riders off.
Anyway we went through the simple registration process, deciding to miss out on the free porridge, instead opting for the festival experience of the dreaded portaloo. It wasn't to bad, but I should have just waited and used a bush.
So we lined up, hoping the slight drizzle was going to pass, planning on beating our time of 3:38 for the 47 miles.
I suddenly realised that my Strava wasn't working and stupidly crossed the start line, therefore starting my official time. I should have held back and gone with the next bunch, rather than setting off and wasting valuable minutes at the side of the road getting it sorted.
Eventually we got going.
The course is described as being fairly flat, which it is, once you get up to the flat bit. To start with there are a few little hills to wake up your legs.
It is a nice route, mostly on pretty quiet roads. But you need to watch out for the wildlife, horses, donkeys, cows and this year pigs.
Once again there was a well stocked feed station, where I tried to get my monies worth of jelly beans and flapjack.
We were setting a good pace, taking it in turns to lead, even passing other cyclists, which is always nice. You can see on my strava that it was PR's all the way for the first half.
Then things turned sour for Joe.
The major surgery earlier in the year and resulting lack of time in the saddle caught up with him and he started to struggle.
The course didn't help. It had been fairly sheltered, but then goes across the top of the New Forest, which is open, and there was an eternal head wind.
No cyclist likes a head wind, especially larger framed gentleman like Joe and myself. We're not the most aerodynamic shape on a bike.
A road, with a slight downwards gradient, that we should have cruised along, suddenly became soul destroying. And it just kept on going.
To make matters even worse, Joe's chain came off.
Eventually we made it out of the New Forest and got some shelter from the wind and started going down hill.
But what goes down must go up.
Blissford Hell!
It's only a very short hill, but at 25% and after 42 miles it is nasty.
But I made it up in one go this year.
After that it is quite an easy couple of miles to the finish, just dodging more wildlife.
We snuck in just under 4 hours.
At the end you get a certificate and a food voucher for the bbq, but there was a massive queue so we just grabbed a couple of bananas and drove home.
It is a great sportive, really well organised, just as good as the Wiggle events, but on a smaller more relaxed scale.
Apparently registration starts at 7:00 with the first groups of riders setting off at 8:30. So when Haribo Joe and myself arrived just just after 8 we were surprised to be "stuck" behind a load of cyclist. So we're not sure when they set riders off.
Anyway we went through the simple registration process, deciding to miss out on the free porridge, instead opting for the festival experience of the dreaded portaloo. It wasn't to bad, but I should have just waited and used a bush.
So we lined up, hoping the slight drizzle was going to pass, planning on beating our time of 3:38 for the 47 miles.
I suddenly realised that my Strava wasn't working and stupidly crossed the start line, therefore starting my official time. I should have held back and gone with the next bunch, rather than setting off and wasting valuable minutes at the side of the road getting it sorted.
Eventually we got going.
The course is described as being fairly flat, which it is, once you get up to the flat bit. To start with there are a few little hills to wake up your legs.
It is a nice route, mostly on pretty quiet roads. But you need to watch out for the wildlife, horses, donkeys, cows and this year pigs.
Once again there was a well stocked feed station, where I tried to get my monies worth of jelly beans and flapjack.
We were setting a good pace, taking it in turns to lead, even passing other cyclists, which is always nice. You can see on my strava that it was PR's all the way for the first half.
Then things turned sour for Joe.
The major surgery earlier in the year and resulting lack of time in the saddle caught up with him and he started to struggle.
The course didn't help. It had been fairly sheltered, but then goes across the top of the New Forest, which is open, and there was an eternal head wind.
No cyclist likes a head wind, especially larger framed gentleman like Joe and myself. We're not the most aerodynamic shape on a bike.
A road, with a slight downwards gradient, that we should have cruised along, suddenly became soul destroying. And it just kept on going.
To make matters even worse, Joe's chain came off.
Eventually we made it out of the New Forest and got some shelter from the wind and started going down hill.
But what goes down must go up.
Blissford Hell!It's only a very short hill, but at 25% and after 42 miles it is nasty.
But I made it up in one go this year.
After that it is quite an easy couple of miles to the finish, just dodging more wildlife.
We snuck in just under 4 hours.
At the end you get a certificate and a food voucher for the bbq, but there was a massive queue so we just grabbed a couple of bananas and drove home.
It is a great sportive, really well organised, just as good as the Wiggle events, but on a smaller more relaxed scale.
Monday, 12 August 2013
Hills and Head Winds.....
This basically how it felt all the way around the Mega Meon Sportive
Haribo Joe, my brother Pete and I arrived at South Downs College just before 8. It was very well organised, quick check in etc. We even got a High5 energy pack worth £12, not bad when the entry fee was £18.
We then set off in a group of about 20 riders for 55 miles up and over the South Downs.
Almost straight away we were onto nice quiet roads which was pretty much how it stayed for most of the route.
It started off fairly flat to start with, but once past Hambledon you've got the long, steady climb up to the Bat and Ball pub. This is the start of the South Downs, so no more flat roads.
The feed stop was at East Meon at a church hall. Well stocked as you would expect, I was asked to move away from the jelly beans.
But the views made it worthwhile.
We were all working well as a team, every now and then letting Pete have a rest at the back.
We were also calling out if junctions were clear or not, apart from one junction where I was sure I heard Joe call out "Clear........sort of"
Luckily I checked for myself and saw the massive Land Rover bearing down on me. It was the first time I've had to unclip in an emergency.
Just after we saw the 10km to go marker I heard a strange noise but everything felt ok. A few minutes later I heard a tapping noise so stopped to check and realised I had broken a spoke.
This can be game over.
Luckily Pete managed to do enough for me to get me going. So I shot off more concerned about getting to the finish line than my team mates.
As I was steaming up to the top of Portsdown Hill my brother just glided along side me, had a quick chat and then reminded me that he is my older brother by powering away from me up the hill.
About a mile from the finish we turned left and for the first time got a tail wind.
We finished in 5 hours 18, a bit slow but we finished and enjoyed it.
Haribo Joe, my brother Pete and I arrived at South Downs College just before 8. It was very well organised, quick check in etc. We even got a High5 energy pack worth £12, not bad when the entry fee was £18.
We then set off in a group of about 20 riders for 55 miles up and over the South Downs.
Almost straight away we were onto nice quiet roads which was pretty much how it stayed for most of the route.
It started off fairly flat to start with, but once past Hambledon you've got the long, steady climb up to the Bat and Ball pub. This is the start of the South Downs, so no more flat roads.
The feed stop was at East Meon at a church hall. Well stocked as you would expect, I was asked to move away from the jelly beans.
But the views made it worthwhile.
We were all working well as a team, every now and then letting Pete have a rest at the back.
We were also calling out if junctions were clear or not, apart from one junction where I was sure I heard Joe call out "Clear........sort of"
Luckily I checked for myself and saw the massive Land Rover bearing down on me. It was the first time I've had to unclip in an emergency.
Just after we saw the 10km to go marker I heard a strange noise but everything felt ok. A few minutes later I heard a tapping noise so stopped to check and realised I had broken a spoke.
This can be game over.
Luckily Pete managed to do enough for me to get me going. So I shot off more concerned about getting to the finish line than my team mates.
As I was steaming up to the top of Portsdown Hill my brother just glided along side me, had a quick chat and then reminded me that he is my older brother by powering away from me up the hill.
About a mile from the finish we turned left and for the first time got a tail wind.
We finished in 5 hours 18, a bit slow but we finished and enjoyed it.
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Mega Meon Sportive
It's been a busy month, cycling to my new job and then getting over gout in both feet and one hand. But it's all good now.
The Mega Meon Sportive is my next challenge, this Sunday.
I'm doing the "short" course, which at 55 miles will be my longest ride to date. But it is lumpy with 3000 feet of climbing.
I'm doing it with Haribo Joe and my brother Pete, so will be fun.
With my many excuses, dodgy knee and gout I haven't done as much training as I would have liked, but I'm going to take my time and enjoy it.
Complete rather than compete!
I'll do a full write up after the event.
The Mega Meon Sportive is my next challenge, this Sunday.
I'm doing the "short" course, which at 55 miles will be my longest ride to date. But it is lumpy with 3000 feet of climbing.
I'm doing it with Haribo Joe and my brother Pete, so will be fun.
With my many excuses, dodgy knee and gout I haven't done as much training as I would have liked, but I'm going to take my time and enjoy it.
Complete rather than compete!
I'll do a full write up after the event.
Sunday, 30 June 2013
Back on Track!
Yes, I'm back on track, I did 137 miles in June, my target is 130. It should have been more as I was due to go out for a ride with Haribo Joe today but my gout as flared up again, so I've had to sit and watch the Tour de France.
This time last year I had only done 420 miles, so nearly double that so far this year.
A lot of the miles this month are due to the new job which I can cycle to. It's only 4.5 miles, but they all count.
I take the shortest route in the morning, but I will do different routes home taking in a hill or two, or do some sprintervals training.
Sprintervals or HIIT training involves cycling hard out for a short set time period and then easing off for a rest period. I keep it simple by doing a minute on and a minute off, but you can vary it.
The main reasons I do them is to get me used to cycling faster, and also it burns more calories than steady cycling.
This month I need to get in some more hills, because at the end of the month I'm doing The Wiggle Mega Meon Sportive with Haribo Joe and my brother Pete. We're doing the "short" course which is only 55 miles, which will be my longest ride, but there will be 3000 feet of climbing, such fun.
Monday, 24 June 2013
May X!
May is the first month that I haven't hit my monthly of 130 miles. (hence not updating this blog earlier in the month)
The main reason was my swollen knee which meant I couldn't really cycle for three weekends.
On a plus note my average monthly distance is still over the 130 mile mark.
June has started off slowly, camping trips and other excuses, but I have started a new job which I can cycle to.
It is 6 miles each way, so far I have cycled in twice this week, a great way to start and finish the day.
DIY
I've had a strange knocking noise from somewhere on the bike, so I decided to do a bit of maintenance.
I started with the obvious and cleaned and greased my bottom bracket and pedals, which didn't sort it out.
So after a bit of research I tightened every bolt I could find, which worked. I think the noise was from either the seat post or the headset.
Whatever it was I'm glad I did the basic maintenance, it saved me a few quid and made a difference to the feel of the bike.
I do feel sorry for bike shops because I have little or no experience, but after a few hours on YouTube I managed to do a pretty good job.
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Bloody Typical!
Amazing weather for a Bank Holiday weekend and I was laid up with a sore knee.
Read about my sore knee here.
To make matters worse, I wake up Tuesday morning to the sound of rain, but hardly any pain in my knee.
The stretches and foam roller have worked.
Gutted that I missed out on a few rides, and also I couldn't do much with my family because of the pain.
But pleased that the pain is over.
What have I learnt?
I want to do more and more cycling, and to do this I need to look after my body, especially as I've got previous rugby injuries to deal with.
Therefore I will be starting a stretching and strengthening program to try to prevent the injuries, rather than fixing them when they happen.
The main focus will be building up my core strength and my stabilizing muscles in my ankles, knees and hips, I've got a wobble board somewhere in my shed.
Any tips, advice or good websites to check out will always be welcome.
Read about my sore knee here.
To make matters worse, I wake up Tuesday morning to the sound of rain, but hardly any pain in my knee.
The stretches and foam roller have worked.
Gutted that I missed out on a few rides, and also I couldn't do much with my family because of the pain.
But pleased that the pain is over.
What have I learnt?
I want to do more and more cycling, and to do this I need to look after my body, especially as I've got previous rugby injuries to deal with.
Therefore I will be starting a stretching and strengthening program to try to prevent the injuries, rather than fixing them when they happen.
The main focus will be building up my core strength and my stabilizing muscles in my ankles, knees and hips, I've got a wobble board somewhere in my shed.
Any tips, advice or good websites to check out will always be welcome.
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