Cycling

[jman]

Yeah missus was unimpressed.. she went to Brighton to do some shopping and then pick us up.. ended up getting stuck in Brighton for 3 hours trying to park the car (we had already pre-paid for parking in a specific area).. by the time she had parked up - all the shops were closed and we weren't too far away.. so they just picked us up and we all went home.. the M25 could of given us a break, but long delays for 4 junctions added another 1.5 hours to our journey.  The set-up for the whole day was a bit shit.. the council and organizers could of done so much more to prevent it being this busy.

I didn't quite manage to cycle up Ditchling Beacon - the massive hill at the end - got about 8/10ths of the way up riding in the lowest gear possible but my back started really aching - as soon as I stopped - I couldn't face getting back on... was happy with how far I got.. loads of people walked the entire thing

[jman]

Spring is on its way which means back on the bike time!!  So the last time I got on the bike was 23rd July 2014 lol... but I'm due to start training for this year on 2nd March.. so gearing up for it (pardon the pun) with a few bike rides I've organised this year..

I've committed to the Oxfordshire Classic with some friends and a bunch of people from work - 60 miles around the Oxford countryside.. this is on the 3rd May.. was really looking forward to it until I realised it was the day after the Reading Beer Festival which is something I always go to.. so could be doing the ride in a pretty rough state lol... I believe the route is fairly flat though.

Also signed up for the CYCLE ON challenge on 12 July.. I'm raising money for the Royal British Legion who I personally think are an outstanding charity and I always donate a bit each year.  I will be riding from my house to the start line at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, then onwards to the RAF base in Odiham and finally down to the Naval Dockyards in Portsmouth, thus linking all her majesty's armed forces in one route!  Pretty cool route to be honest and I'm really looking forward to it.. with the extra distance from my house to the start line.. its approx. 75 miles so it will also be the biggest single ride attempted by me to date.  As I said, I am raising money on behalf of charity for this ride, so if you have a few quid spare and want to donate, that'd be great - Link


I'm hoping next year to perhaps break the 100 mile distance in one trip.. but I think for now, 75 miles is scary enough, so we'll see how it goes. 

[Late]

"...until I realised it was the day after the Reading Beer Festival..."

lol

[jman]

hehe..

I realised after I confirmed my place and put it in my diary that it was the reason I didn't do it last year...  I'm kinda dreading it now because I wont be able to wimp out on the Beer Festy.. its the lads annual tradition!  Last year was a 12 hour session 

thanks for donation btw buddy 

[jman]

1st day in training for the Oxfordshire Classic.. 2 months and 1 day to train for a 60 miler... its leaving it a bit late because I know I'm so unfit..  I did 5 miles this morning.. was out of breath after 30 seconds 

[jman]

75 miles done in past two weeks now.. that's the equivalent of what I'm going to do in one day in July.. lol.

Getting back my fitness slowly but surely.. finding it much easier to get back into the routine from last year.. I'm not even using a gel pad this year and no real saddle soreness!!  7 weeks to go until my 60 miler though.. aiming to get around 350-400 more miles done before then.  Fucking miserable today.. hoping the weather starts perking up soon, I've been enjoying most of the rides to work and back but not when its like this.

[jman]

Attempted my first longish ride at the weekend - 20 miles non-stop.. I've done the course with no problems quite a few times last year.. but I was fucking dead after 10 miles.. my legs just went to jelly.. I finished the course without stopping, but been aching like a muh'fugga all weekend.  Not good news considering I've got my 60 miler in less than 5 weeks now     

I can feel my fitness and muscles coming back in spades.. I've already clocked over 180 miles this month.. so perhaps it was a case of too much, too soon...

[Late]

Yeah, I'm no fitness expert but my (rather substantial) gut says it's got to be better to increase steadily rather than risking an injury.

[jman]

Yep I toned it back this week.. and felt rested enough to try it again this morning.. went out at 7:15am.. must be mad I know.. but its nice with not so much traffic on the roads.. I pretty much hit the same pace (13mph) but found it so much easier and apart from my legs feeling a little stiff I'm good.. so I'll probably attempt again on Monday (weather permitting). 

[jman]

2 weeks to go now... did a 38 mile ride at the weekend.. it was nice to begin with.. but I seriously underestimated it.. set off at 6:40am, the roads were nice and empty but it was a bit fresh.. so I wrapped up... completely forgot to take any food supplies with me though.. to be honest, I wasn't hungry when I got up and the thought of being on a bike for the next 3 hours didn't really strike me as "oh I better have something to eat before I go"

Did 20 miles no problems.. stopped for 10 minutes, refuelled with water and got back on the bike..  Got to about 34-35 miles in and my legs just went.. I came across a bit of a hill.. managed to get up it, but I was done in after that... I literally had nothing left in the tank.. This was at around 2hrs, 30 minutes.. the next 3 miles took me about 35 minutes to complete  

I was ravenous by the time I got home.. I couldn't think straight.. I scoffed my fucking face in and nearly made myself sick lol.  Must prepare better in future 

 

[jman]

Smacked into the back of a car the other day..      Wont go too much into details but basically a car made an unexpected movement, I wasn't paying enough attention and I hit his rear light as I couldn't swerve/stop in time... I went flying off the bike, few scratches and bruises on me.. very small crack inside his light.. one of my brake levers got bent out of shape and my rear derailleur seems to be bent out of position slightly as I can hear it hitting the spokes everytime I go down to bottom gear...

Cant bend the brake back into place as I know it will snap off if I try.. also cant just replace it either.. so a bit pissed off about that.  Will have to have a look at the derailleur next week.. at the moment I cant use bottom gear at all, too risky because if it gets caught in the spokes it could end up being very costly.

[jman]

So I completed the 60 mile Oxfordshire Classic yesterday.  It was tough, frustrating and painful. 

Got to the venue at 8:30, made my way to the start line and my new chain snapped, so had to wait half an hour for it to be fixed
  Finally started at around 8:55, absolutely pissing it down, did the first 20 miles quite comfortably,  was going round a corner,  and hit a  drain cover and my bike slipped out from under me.  Cut my knee quite deep and had to stop for 45 minutes to be seen by paramedics.

Got going again, it had stopped raining by this point, but 10 minutes later, I got a puncture which took a while to sort out.  Another mile later, I got another puncture,  which really tested my patience.   Finally got going again and stopped at the 43 mile point for a beer and to refuel.   Cue 1hr of torrential rain.. it got to a point where it wasn't raining so hard, we just had to get going again.  Got absolutely soaked to the skin for the next 5 miles but at about 50 miles in, someone else in our group got a puncture. Just to top things off, I got another puncture a few miles short of the finish line.

Finished at about 4:55, so 8 hrs it took,  wasted so much time with all the stops and my knee (which is still quite sore today).  But it's done at least!

[Late]

Congratulations on making it, mate, but that does NOT sound like a fun day at all!
Bad luck more than anything - hopefully it'll not totally discourage you from cycling. (It would me - I'd be throwing my bike off a cliff!)

[jman]

It wasn't fun.. at all.. lol.  I was ready to chuck my bike and give up after that 2nd puncture. 

This was just after I stopped..



doesn't look too bad in this picture.. it hurts more now as its trying to scab over and bending my knee keeps ripping it open again...

I had my thick insulated gloves on thankfully, they were completely ripped to shit where I had put my hands out.. also ripped my cycling trousers and got a bruise on my other leg.  It could of been much worse I guess... but I wont be cycling for a little while now.. time to take a break for a bit!

[jman]

Injury scabbing over nicely.. its pretty grim to be honest... and the one on my kneecap still keeps cracking open everytime I stand up...

Ordered a few new bits for the bike this week, brake pads, inner tubes (because quite clearly I've run out!) and two new tyres.  Usually I'd just go to the shop and get all that fitted.. but I'd rather start to learn how to do some basic maintenance and get better at the stuff I do know, so will fit all of that when it turns up and get back out on the bike next week.  Did have 38" tyres on my bike.. gone with a pair of 35s now.. obviously the thinner you go, the quicker you can go, it weighs less but you don't get as much tread/traction.

9 weeks until my 75 miler... dreading it a bit after that awful last experience lol.