Past glories

Here's a write up of my SDW ride from 2 years ago...


The day started at 3:30am with the alarm going off and me feeling like I’d only just put my head on the pillow. With Sarah’s dad, Duncan, doing the support for the day after a quick bowl of porridge and a cup of tea we loaded the bike up and set off for Winchester at 4am. We got to Winchester at 5am and got lost briefly but managed to follow some other cars to the start point.

At the start the gravity of the ride hit me as lines of race-bred whippet-types in full lycra lined up next to full carbon bikes. A quick briefing and liberal application of chamois cream and by 5:45 we were on the trail.

The first climb flew by out of Chilcomb and up to Cheesefoot Head; it was really raining at this point and it was very wet - I was glad of my jacket as I looked around at the saturated people travelling light.

Next it was up Beacon hill and I was averaging well over 10mph (my target for the whole ride was 7.5mph). Once again the climb was easy and my training was paying off. I was sticking with the groups that looked much faster than me and enjoying knowing the route. A quick munch on a power bar and drink from the Camelbak. Powerbars were in a small bag behind the stem on the bike meaning I could munch and cycle. The first push of the bike was up past the vineyards - and then back on at the top.

The route continued with the climb up to the top of HMS Mercury, where on a sunny day you can see the Spinnaker at Portsmouth; however with the rain and mist seeing more that 50 yards would have been good, so views were at the top were disappointing. After Mercury it’s fast downhill on the road where I got my max speed of the day - 41.7mph.

On the road up to Butser Hill and down the long grass downhill - why oh why is there a gate in the middle?. Rolled into Queen Elizabeth Park with 20 miles under my belt to the checkpoint, put a couple of litres into the Camelbak and carried on without dawdling as I was aware this would kill my time. For the next stretch I was on my own for quite a few miles and was going well, still keeping the average above 10mph and eating and drinking little and often.

As I was now on my own and with nobody to mither me it was time to fire up the iPod and power up Hartling and Cocking Down to the sounds of Muse and the Foo Fighters. At the second checkpoint, I had a quick stop to eat some bara brith that Sarah had made me especially for the ride and restock my Gels and Powerbar supply from the rucksack to the small bag on the bike. At this checkpoint I was in the first 20 to go through. Another refill of the Camelbak at the farm across the road and on up to the top. Still feeling pretty good although my average speed had just nudged down into the 9mph bracket.

The top of Heyshot Down to Littleton Down is a nice run and you stay above 200m for 2-3 miles, from the top of the field you can see the masts in the distance. A few riders had caught me by now and I was slowing but it’s fast downhill to the road. My plan from the start was to roll on the bits where gravity would take me and spin my way up the hills, keeping a close eye on my heart rate monitor.

The next bit at Littleton Farm is a hill I really don’t like. It’s a rutted chalky farm track that was wet and messy. On the way up I past some of the faster chaps who had succumbed to punctures and then another small group with the same problem. Riding on your own means you don’t wait for others and time after time people would shoot past only for me to slowly grind past them later as they all waited for one of their group to fix a puncture. Very hare and tortoise. At the top of top of Burton Down was a guy with a Carbon Scott punctured. Stopped for a quick chat and then I went on my way. He was to point out at Devils Dyke as he passed me that he had done so 3 times already today only to puncture and for me to grind past. After Devils Dyke I never saw him again though, so maybe he had better luck.

Nice roll down to the A29, nearly slipping on the chalk and on the way down my rear brakes started to squeak. This squeak would annoy me for the next 60 miles but changing the pads would have taken too long and at least on the downhills walkers could hear me coming as my bike screamed like a banshee. Another checkpoint at the bottom, 40 and a bit miles in and feeling quite tired. Not many had gone through before me though.

A chap in an ambulance gave me the thumbs up to cross the road (I thought he was checking to make sure I wasn’t about to die).

Down to Amberley and across the river, knowing that when you cross a river you are back at the bottom of the hill and the only way is back up - and so it was. A few people had some support at the top and said only fifteen riders had been through before me, although my average speed was dropping through the 9mphs.
At the top of the road was it was another short push and I saw 2 guys (one with a green Genesis and the other with a Boardman) that I would keep bumping into all the way to the last hill. (thanks for the gates). Another case of they were quicker but had 3 or 4 punctures.

Up over Amberley Mount and along a stretch I quite like, going through what looks like a hole in the trees from a distance marks 50miles and I’m technically half way!

Over the tops and a nice long roll down. Due to the rear brake making so much noise I favoured the front one, however on the slippy, greasy wet tarmac my front wheel locked up and nearly went from under me. I narrowly avoided hitting a cyclist coming back up. At the tap at Washington, I stopped for 10mins to eat some more bara brith and a few jelly babies and fill my water bottle. I called Duncan to update on my progress - it was just before midday with 53miles done in just over 6hrs - the pace was good. However, getting back on the bike after the stop I suddenly didn’t feel as good as before and I can’t really recall much from here but it was starting to get hard.

After this it was over the road and up towards Truleigh Hill, which I was slowly working my way up in my lowest gear until somebody in front of me got off and pushed - my brain then figured it was okay to push a bit. At the top I was rescued as I set off on the wrong bridleway until some heroic Scottish chap who doing a support stint shouted at me to come back. I then stayed with them for a while to the YHA where they stopped for water and I pushed on.

On and over to Devils Dyke and a checkpoint, at this point I was knackered and had a sit down, a bottle of water and a banana - even though I knew I was meeting Duncan at Ditchling Beacon for some lunch in only 5 miles.

I hauled myself off the grass and back onto the bike feeling a bit sore and stiff and got to Ditchling Beacon at about 2:45pm. I was slowing down quite a lot by now and I stopped here for about 15-20 mins and had some jam sarnies, a few jelly babies and more bara brith! Seeing as it was Ditchling, I ditched some of the extra weight. The bladder from my Camelbak had to go and the bottle on my bike would suffice, I ditched my waterproof jacket and few extra food bits. I also got rid of my baggy shorts and put on an extra pair of Lycra cycling shorts in the hope two pairs would somehow ease the soreness.

The next 10 miles flew by and I cracked 80 miles by 4pm and was having a second wind, iPod on and cranks turning well. Met the guys with the Genesis and the Boardman again at the temporary bridge and then stopped at the level crossing for a couple of mins for a train, a breather and water at the checkpoint - 16 miles to go we’re told.

So only a couple more hills and 16 miles, which is a normal Sunday night ride. My second wind, however, was running out and my legs were getting heavy. I made it up the hill at Alfriston okay but on the last hill at Jevington at 94 miles I hit the wall. About half way up I saw a stile at seat-level and sat down for 5 mins, took on my last Gel with caffeine boost and a mixed handful of Jelly Babies, Tangfastic and chocolate coated peanuts. While I was there two racing whippets in matching lycra and one other chap passed me. Thinking that I couldn’t be doing that badly if I was in front of them I jumped on the bike to give chase - 50 yards round the corner the racing whippets were fixing a puncture!

I could see the other chap and gave chase - with a combination of Gel, jelly babies and seeing Eastbourne suddenly my legs were new and I was powering through. I caught the chap up and passed him on the downhill into Eastbourne, arriving a couple of minutes ahead of him.

Tired, knackered, Job Done!

Bike
Ride was done on my Boardman Team Full Suss
Saddlebag with multitool, 2 spare tubes, leatherman, zip ties, patches etc.
Fuel tank for gels & ipod

Clothes
Endura Singletrack shorts with 6 panel liner, binned at 70 miles for extra pair of Lycra
Paramo Wind stopper
Endura Humvee Top

Camelbak HAWG
3 litre bladder (never had more than 2 litres in it)
Mini first aid kit
More gels, powerbars
Jelly babies
Chocolate Peanuts
Tangfastics
Map
Phone
Money

Statistics. (going from Cateye and Polar HRM)
Miles 97.82
Max speed 41.7mph
Average Speed 8.3mph
Time spent cycling 11h:44m
Calories 13,353
Wake up time 3:30am
Start time 5:45am
Total time 13hours
Gels 4
Bara brith 6 slices (with butter)
Powerbars 3
Water 10 litres approx
Punctures 0
Mechanical Failures 1 (saddlebag fell off and had to be zip tied back on)
Wees 5 or 6 (Good sign of hydration)
Falls 1 (into Nettles)

One day on and my body is still stiff but I'm really glad I did it. Raised over £850 for a good cause.

How could I forget? Just the tonic.....

I've been a bit rubbish recently, well not a bit rubbish but completely crap. I've been feeling pretty bad, the house is hard work with no running water downstairs and we've been sleeping on an airbed in the front room. Work is mega busy and weekends are always full.

On Saturday we were due to go to Oxford and meet up with some of Sarah's uni friends all very well and good but they don't like dogs and as it was going to be a hot day so my original plan of having him in the car and walking him every so often wasn't going to work. Fortunately Mark agreed to look after him for the day and also suggested a Sunday morning bike ride, short on excuses I agreed.

I woke early discovered my bike wasn't a pile of rusting parts and got ready, I felt ill and wanted to cancel and go back to bed (well air bed). I didn't cancel I went.

Swinley was dry and fast the day was beautiful. We rode up onto Watson's wander, down through Mordor, Seagul (the right way ending at 5 star post), and onto Stickler with a new bit I've not ridden before, Tank Traps, Jump Gulley and lovely meander round the pond, up the wall (didn't make it) and down the Labyrinth.

14 miles all in and a couple of hours and guess what, I loved it, I can't really work out why I haven't ridden that much this year because after 2 hours out I had a huge smile and felt much better.

Boris Bikes saved the day

I'm busy at work, not just a little busy but mega busy. I'm so busy that I haven't even looked at Singletrack for about 2 weeks. (Not even Fresh Goods Friday)

Yesterday to combat this whirlwind of 'stuff'¹ to do I thought I'd get into the office early. Just after 8am was my aim; This has a number of advantages:

1. Free Breakfast if you get there before 9am (it's not the greatest but it's free)
2. It's a marketing company so nobody is there before 9:30 and it's nice and quiet (hence the free breakfast)
3. My brain is 25675538355 times quicker in the morning
4. I had loads of 'stuff' to do before a 9:30 meeting

So caught the 7:12, got to Vauxhall station, jumped on the Victoria line for a daily dose of being squashed up against other soulless commuters who don't move the down the carriage².

And then the train decides it's going to break down. Oh the joy, but the worst thing about a tube train breaking down is not the train itself it's pointlessly whining people tutting and moaning to themselves like it's the end of the world. It's not the end of the world it's just a faulty train that might make us all a bit late.

So about a billion sheep like commuters are exited onto the platform at Victoria station to await the next train, it took about 5 mins but the next train duly arrived. A quick glance through the windows showed that this train was very full and the only way you were going to get on it was if you were an anorexic circus dwarf related to Houdini.

Being that I'm pretty rotund at the moment and tall enough to ride the corkscrew at Alton Towers I gave up all hope and stood back to watch everybody else. As predictable as people standing up on aeroplanes as soon as they stop moving everybody quickly jostled to the train doors hoping the people inside were all about to apperate only to 'tut' some more when it finally dawns on them that even with the best will in the world and no matter how much they peer round the doors they ain't gonna fit.

So It's now 8:30 and my hopes of getting to work early are gone. All I've got to do now is make sure I get to my 9:30 meeting.

Plan B - Walk, a mini adventure walking through bits of London I didn't know. Plan B was going well until I walked up to a row of blue bikes standing there like King Dicky 3's horse. I'd been fancying ago on the Boris bikes for a while and this seemed like the perfect excuse. A bit of touch screen frustration³ and £1 later I'd got myself possibly the coolest and most uncool bike ever.

I didn't really know the way but knew if I headed NE I'd be okay and could always aim for the BT tower. My morning had gone from horrid tube to massive smiles⁴ as I mingled through the London traffic, down the back of Buck Palace, up to and through Hyde park with a quick attempt at a Danger Panda.

9:15 and I'm in the office⁵ with 15 mins to prep for my 9:30 meeting and the day is saved.

From now on I'm with Boris all the way and will be changing my commute from tube to bike.

¹ stuff are thing that are really important and need to be done now! yesterday! but in reality it's just 'stuff' - Quotes / Presentations / emails /Budget forecasts

² Sometimes I really want to tell people to move down but people who do shout "can you move down please" are of course correct but always end up looking like knobs, I just live in hope people will see squished people realise they are blocking the way and do it of their own accord.

³ I'm pretty IT savvy but the lack of instructions had me baffled for a while.

⁴ I look grumpy in the photo but that's my natural disposition I am in fact having the best commute ever!

⁵ A bit sweatier than normal.

Tarp tastic..but as Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman

Slippery little buggers.......

Just been into the big smoke for a meeting and only to be greeted by a brown package upon returning to my desk

Last week I ordered a new tarp. My old DD 3x3 tarp is good but it's massive and for my week of cycling from London to Wales I wanted something a touch more bijou.

After ripping open the packet like a six year old on Christmas morning I was greeted by a tiny packed stuff sack, much smaller than I had thought. It also has more scope for squishing. The bag it comes in is far too big for it. A bit of squishing and it will be a decent orange sort of size.

So here it is, my new integral SilTarp 1 (£45 from George Fisher Outdoors*)

But my word it's slippery..

I'll add my Alpkit Ti Pin as pegs, some guy lines and have a test and report back.

*It got here quick so thumbs up George Fisher and a great (relatively for a piece of cloth) price

EDC = WTF!!!!

I was searching for a new Leatherman as I've lost mine. Any way I'm going to order a Squirt PS4. They are nice and small and light and will do everything I need to do when out on the bike.

So I searched Youtube for a review and a slow Friday and few click led me to this video.


This guy for his trip to Disneyland takes ...

2 knives Rambo would be proud to own
a hidden knife,
a police baton,
a punching you in the face thing,
a 'tactical' pen
and 2 torches

to go to DisneyLand.......

He must be very scared of Dwarves!!

For more of the same search Youtube for EDC (Every day carry) and prepared to be scared....

Rome wasn't built in a day

and neither will my extension which started today.

Colin the enigmatic builder turned up and said nothing, just turned up and started. So 5 months of dirt and mess to go from 3 to 4 bedrooms and massive kitchen which will be perfect for bike servicing. It will even have a plumbed in parts washer (as long as I remember to take the dishes out first)

Food of the gods

I like Wales, it's hilly, I got married there, my wedding ring is made from Welsh gold (like Royalty don't you know) and I spend a lot of time there. It's also the place where I ride my bike the most. I like it because it reminds me of the Yorkshire and where I grew up at the foot of the Dales.

Now I've heard it argued that Flapjack is the ultimate riding food but I'm afraid the people who band this opinion around tend to be misguided at best or just plain wrong. Flapjack, it's just too dry, too heavy to be a great cycling food.

Jelly Babies are brilliant but I like home made stuff that doesn't contain ingredients banned in New Zealand.

There is one food out there that will power you past the bonk. Cover it in butter (as you're meant to) and I reckon you've got all you main food groups in one slice. It's got everything in it. Complex Carbs, Simple Sugars, Fruit, Dairy, Saturated Fats and best of all it includes an in built Cup of Tea.

It's also dead easy to make, even men can do it it's all based around cups. (Use a Alpkit 450ml Titanium cup for extra style)

So prised from the mother in law* and updated a touch here's the recipe for Bara Brith (with added Yorkshire).

*It should be noted this is not the dry bread 'real' Bara Brith type stuff peddled by shops, it's secret familly recipe that is much better.

Here's the recipe – Welsh (Yorkshire) Bara Brith.

Ingredients
• 1 cup sultanas ('real' bara brith uses mixed fruit)
• 1 cup boiling water
• Butter 1/5 to 1/4 of a normal block
• 1 teabag (Use Yorkshire tea - 1 bag makes 2 cups so makes the taste stronger or if your a heathen just use 2 PG Tips or other crap teabags and ruin it)
• 2 cups of self raising flour
• 1 cup soft brown sugar (real bara brith uses dark brown sugar)
• 1 egg

Method
• Put the sultanas, butter and teabag in a bowl and pour on the boiling water. Leave till cool (or at least luke-warm)
• Put the flour in a separate bowl, add the sugar and egg and stir well. It will be very floury. Add the liquid from the fruit mix bit by bit, mixing in until it is a wet mixture.
• Add the fruit (remove the teabag). Mix round and put into a lined loaf tin.
• Bake for 45 mins at gas mark 4 (or slightly under) then 45 mins at gas mark 3 (or slightly under). I like mine just about cooked but still very soft so it makes a gooey loaf rather than a dry one so I tend to undercook slightly. Stick a skewer in and if there is still wet cake mixture on it cook for a bit longer - if it's just about coming up dry then it's fine.
• Leave to stand, cut and spread with lots of butter.