Bryan Chapman Memorial (Classic) 619k Audax

Presented below is a summary of my collective thoughts and feelings following my completion of the Bryan Chapman Memorial (Classic) 619k audax on the weekend. A lot of what I have written may be jumbled and/or incomplete as this was a particularly gruelling event that took it's toll on both my body and head space. Errors and omissions accepted!

I started this event from Chepstow at 6 a.m along with another 100 or so cyclists. Just prior to the start there was a 'bag drop' facility. This bag drop was an awesome idea, that I never expected. Basically, I was able to drop off a bag that would be taken to a control further on in the event. This meant I could empty my new saddle bag of a number of items (shorts, socks, base layer, mits and food) and hence save some weight. These items could be picked up later in the event and further items (dirty shorts etc) dropped off and taken back to the finish. This was good news and made a great start. The beginning of this ride was essentially the end of the Brevet Cyrmu audax I completed a couple of weeks back and the route took me through Usk and then continued to Abergavenny along the A40. Once off the A40 it was a bit of a drag to the first control. The first control was called the 'Honey Cafe'. I ate no honey, but glady consumed some beans on toast and a mug of tea (along with some shortbread biscuits from my pocket). There was a sign outside this control which read 'may peace prevail on earth' in a number of different languages, which was nice.

I can't quite remember when it rained and when it didn't, nor can I remember when or what exactly I ate. As a general rule however, it seemed to rain a lot during the first few stages and to make matters worse there was a head wind. On the return leg it rained less and I had a tail wind for the most part. I ate lots and lots and spent about £30 on snacks during the event. I took rolls (jam and beef), energy gels (x8), vitamins, chocolates and malt loaf with me.

Stage 2 was the longest stage and passed through Rhayader before reaching the control at Nant Yr Arian Visitor Centre. For a stage that had no serious hills this was tough one - major head wind and I was wet. Remember cycling 'wacky racers' style with a couple on a tandem - they would pass me going down hill and I would pass them up hill. Very pretty control and again I ate well. I had chocolate cake and some ready salted crisps (alongside my beef roll).

Stage 3 was real hilly, lots of climbing. Not exactly sure where the route went but I definately passed through Machcynlleth before reaching control. Major menace was encountered along this stage too. First off my cycle computer died making navigation an issue and worse still, my front deraillier cable snapped which meant I could only use my lower gears for duration of the rest of the event. I cycled this section mostly as a double act with the guy whose name I never got. He was a nice guy and obviously Welsh (so for sake of this write up, shall refer to him as Mr Welsh). If I had issues, they did not compare to that of Mr Welsh - one of his spokes snapped. Mr Welsh tightened a number of his other spokes and just continued in the hope that his wheel would hold out. Remember climbing a big hill as a small group somewhere during this stage. A sharp and steep cutback finally led to the control at Kings YHA. This YHA was great and my bag was dropped here. I took off my wet clothes and hung them in the dry room, cremed my bum (with a chamois butter) and changed into new cycling gear. I ate some chicken soup (delicious) and pasta bolognese (awfull). I was missing SJ's cooking skills here as I thought back to the pasta sauce she had cooked up.

Left the King YHA with Mr Welsh and passed through Arthog. We cycled onto a train platform which led to a long wooden bridge. This really was quite weird, as this bridge went over sea and sand and led to a troll booth. The troll charged us £1.50 to cross this railway bridge. The bridge led to the A496 which took us to Barmouth and on to Harlech. This was an interesting ride, as I had been here before, but not on a bike! A major hill was climbed which led to Llanberis Pass. This hill seemed to go on forever and was a real climber. I lost Mr Welsh here and caught up a guy named Mark and cycled most of the hill with him. The top of the hill was the car park I have used before when walking Snowdon! And once at the top, weeee, a super long and fast descent! It was dark by the time I crossed Menai Bridge. Menai Bridge incidentally reminded me of my brother Dave. Dave would often say 'Itchi menai beardi' in times past. Ha ha. Was real pleased to reach the control at Canolfan Thos Telford. Again I was soaked to the skin. Soup, cheese sarnies and peaches were served here and it felt good that I was about half way through my adventure.

At often times I thought about my buddy Chris O (aka Chris Hodge). Chris was cycling a 24 hour mtb marathon. I would have joined Chris if it were not for this audax. He and a few of his mates completed the marathon event and raised some monies for CLIC. Well done Chris!

Stage 5 seemed much like stage 4 in reverse and led back to the Kings YHA. I don't recall too much but sure enought there was a tough hill past Trawsfynedd and that menace approach to the YHA. I was cycling with a small group of 4 who I cycled again with later in the event. There was Julian, Mark, Gary and Richard (providing I've remembered names correctly). They were a nice group and provided good company. Richard always tended to be towards the back of the group which didn't seem right as he had objectively the largest calf muscles. Mark was the guy I climbed Llanberis pass with. My memory goes a little blurred here but how awesome it felt to reach the YHA. I think I ate pasta sauce on potato before crashing out. I was looking forward to a bed, but none was availabe for about a further hour. I changed from my wet clothes into my clothes that I put in the dry room earlier on and crashed out on a 2 seater settee. I dozed off for a couple of hours of broken sleep before feeling too cold and quite miserable. I goofed around for about an hour and then decided to set off again (the breakfast I ordered never appeared).

Started stage 6 by myself and so glad I did so. A few km's into the stage and I needed an emergency poo! I had to pull over on the side of the road and let nature take it's course. Note to self (and others) - toilet paper is a must! Was joined later by Mark, Julian, Richard and Gary which was nice and they provided me with a little needed encouragement. Again my memory goes a little blurred but remember reaching Aberhafesp Community Centre. Ate bacon on toast and corn flakes at this control. Brushed my teeth here too!

Stage 7 was cycled with the small group again. Gary would pass the time by talking in a light hearted manner and Julian would share a wealth of information pertaining to this ride. This stage contained the longest single climb. I remeber the descent as it went super fast over a number of cattle grids. Generalised aches and pains almost everywhere. The control was at a One Stop Shop. I missed the sit down and eat controls to be honest. No matter really, I sat down outside and ate!

Stage 8 was the final stage and again I cycled with the small group. Not sure of Mr Welsh's fate and the tandem couple packed at the last control. Julian was sick during this stage, he said it was the way his body coped with stress. My body coped by aching and hurting all over. So many hills here. It really was like a roller coaster all the way to Monmouth. As a general rule, Mark and I would reach the summits first then bomb down the descents and wait for the rest of the group. After this roller coaster ride I began to suffer and Ibuprofen did little to lessen pain. I got dropped by the group just before Tintern (traffic lights sealing my doom and preventing any chance of catching them up). I was happy here as I knew the end was in sight and felt strong that I would finish. I stopped at Tintern Abbey ruins and took a picture before embarking on the final climb. This final climb was menace! I have on a few occasions flew past Tintern Abbey on cycle events and often wondered what it would be like going the other way. Now I know! It's hard and tiring but very pretty all the same. Once the summit was reached I raced to the control, the end point and reached there just before 6.30 pm. Yay, job done. It was great to get my brevet card stamped for the last time and nice to meet up with the guys from the small group. We shook hands and wished each other well and all said 'see you in Paris' ....

Am real pleased I completed this event, my first ever 600k event (was awarded with 6 AUK points and 8.25 AAA points). I am now officially a Super Randonneur (and an AAA Super Randonneur at that) and I have been awarded enough AAA points to claim by AAA medal. Over and above that I have completed all the qualifying events to enter the Paris-Brest-Paris (BPB) 1200k audax event in August and beat this, I have a place! SJ pre-registered me. I'll keep you posted!

Cycled 619k (384.6 miles) in under 36 and a half hours.

The 'B' word

This week saw me panic. I had a 600k event to prepare for. This 600k event was the Bryan Chapman 619k audax which goes around North Wales and includes many a hill. Family and friends were getting annoyed with any mention of the word 'bike'.
So much was my worry that I didn't do any training on Monday. Instead I worried. I checked the weather for the weekend and worried some more - heavy rain was forecast for Wales.

Tuesday was a better day. Today I went cycling with Ron. We cycled new tracks and trails which was nice. We spent a bit of time cycling around Studley Castle. I lost my glasses coming down a steep off road descent. At one time, both Ron and I nearly rode over a kamikaze monk Jack deer that swept out in front of us. As usual we saw plenty of deer during our outing.

Wednesday was a great day. Chris O had sent me some tubes (for cycling purposes) through the post and Chris PT had contacted me. Chris PT was happy to provide SJ and I with a training session which we gladly accepted. Last time we had been with Chris PT he had worked our legs so hard that we could hardly walk for 2 days. We mentioned this to Chris and informed him of my plans for the weekend, so he concentrated on not working our legs too hard. We still ran. We ran in a box like figure which was mingled with periods of walking and periods of exercise that would include lifting weights, sit-ups, press ups, the dreaded bench etc. As one of us was performing exercises the other would run and vice versa. Following this we did more sit-ups with a medicine ball and then played net ball with this medicine ball. SJ had a forfeit of doing a sprint run for dropping ball and I had to perform extra sit-ups for pulling my tongue at SJ. On top of this we had some boxing to do. This boxing was great fun, even though tiring. SJ might get some boxing gloves for her birthday...

Thursday went back to worrying. I had ordered a Carradice saddle bag to carry extra stuff on the impending audax but it hadn't arrived. SJ, bless her, advised I look on the internet and locate a shop that sold them and go pick one up. I did just that and am now the proud owner of a Carradice barley saddlebag. Again, no exercise today but SJ prepared me a lovely pasta based meal (noodles and salmon) to start my carbo-loading.

Friday was spent organising all my kit ready for tomorrows audax. The Carradice barley bag was packed full of stuff and I mad some changes to my bike. The biggest change I made was to add 3 lights to the front of the bike. I now have 2 Cateye light sets and my awesome Ay-Ups are in place too. This will definitely make me feel safer and brighter. For this new audax I am taking loads of food with me which I don't normally do. SJ gets the giggles when I talk about bonk rations. Finished the carbo-loading with another meal cooked by SJ, this time it was bolognese sauce over ravioli. Delicious. Hopefully am all prepared. Car is packed. Just need to write off here, have a bath and go sleep.

IF! If I complete the audax event tomorrow then that will be my first completed 600k event, I will have completed an SR (Super Randonneur) series, an AAA SR series and earned enough points (20 over any period of time) for my first AAA medal. In addition to all of that, I would have completed the necessary qualifying events for the PBP (ha!).

The Lumpy Scrumpy 100 (110k audax)

After the hard work of last weekend, that was the Brevet Cyrmu, Monday was spent resting. Following said event, most of Sunday was spent resting too. I should do these events more often, I say this because SJ pampered me big time following that audax. These audax events certainly play havoc with one's head space though. In my previous blog entry I reported that I went to two different controls, both called 'The West End Cafe' - it turns out it was the very same cafe both times. Hahaha. This was pointed out to me via a cycling forum.

Took Cayo (the road bike) to get a service on Tuesday. To my amazement only the chain and rear brake pads needed replacing - still cost a total of about £75 though...  Despite aching legs and sore bum, took Scotty out with Ron for an 'easy pedal'. This easy pedal was the usual Deer route with the addition of a hill (the one that leads to the cart that is no longer there?!).

Wednesday and Thursday was spent training with SJ. On the one day we continued with our sit-ups - I maxed out on 23 and I think SJ completed 60 plus or something! The other day was spent running. We did a shorter than normal run and felt more pooped than normal too. SJ was playing with her new heart rate monitor that I got for her but it was playing up a wee bit.

Friday was spent resting and Saturday saw me complete The Lumpy Scrumpy 100 audax. The start of this event was awful as the heavens had opened and it was wet big time. On the plus side I was able to test my new Gore Oxygene IV jacket. I also chose to kit myself out with my over-shoes. Despite the miserable conditions, a good number turned out to this event including 'the hag' and her husband. I shall no longer refer to Mary as 'the hag' as she is quite lovely really and I often meet her at events and she is nice to chat with. From now on I will refer to her as Mary H. As usual, Mary H was wearing sandals.

The audax event started in Parkend, Forest of Dean and was considered a 'challenging ride'. In all honesty, I expected the event to be hard and hilly (it did score 1.75 AAA points) but found it relatively easy. The first stage (of which there were only 2) only proved difficult on the narrow lanes. The hills were not too strenuous but triffids tried to take me off my bike as I cycled the said lanes. These plants were seriously over grown and sticking out the hedges. My Gore jacket was excellent and my over-shoes were not! Top half dry, feet wet (but warm). Caught up and cycled with Graham from Cirencester to the control. Graham was a nice fella that I cycled a Pickwick 200 event with earlier in the year. Ordered beans on toast at control and a mug of tea. Tea was in a jug that had to be divided between 3 folk (we were not all together) and the beans on toast was only a single piece of bread with a few beans.

The whole of stage 2 was cycled as a double act with Graham. The sun had come out for this stage and it was very hot. My feet were baking and I guess I should have removed the over-shoes. Again, not a difficult stage and this whole event was easily completed on a compact chainset. Felt cheated really, had cycled to Malvern Hills and Forest of Dean and did not experience any major tough climbs. Maybe this event just felt easy compared to last weeks 400 ?! With this event completed I have now made the AAA roll of honour for this season.

During audax I cycled a total distance of 69.23 miles at an average speed of 16.2 mph and a max speed of 35.6 mph.

Sunday saw me complete another exhaustion test for my sit-ups. I completed these sit-ups at work with Zalika. I maxed out on 45 and Zalika on 20. SJ was contacted, she only beat me by 15 and maxed out on 60.

Weekly totals: Cycled 86 miles; Ran for 24 mins.

Brevet Cymru (401k audax)

In view of the fact that no running took place last week (save during the PT session), I started this week with a run. SJ and I ran the Studley Triangle. We both felt quite pooped and it was a hot day. To be fair though, our time was pretty good.


Tuesday was a little disappointing as SJ and I had geared ourselves up ready for a Killer Chris PT session which didn't happen. Chris had got our dates mixed up and we were so busy with one thing and another that we weren't able to fit in another session this week. Like good folk though, SJ and I continued with our sit-up homework. I maxed out on 29 sit-ups today and SJ on 42. We also ran today. Our run took us, plus Cody Menace around Oversley Wood for a couple of laps. This run was hard going but I guess it made up for no running last week.


Wednesday and Thursday were spent indoors on the rollers. The first session was at the usual high intensity (Z3) and the second at a lower intensity (Z2) and only half the distance. The second session was deliberately easy as I just wanted to spin and 'save my legs' for the 400k audax over the weekend.


Received good and bad news during the week. The good news was that I was awarded 4 AAA points for completing the Dean 300k audax, which I cycled with Ron earlier this year. The bad news was that Ron informed me he had a bad fall. Ron was out cycling the TROAD route with John and just past the slaughter house he nearly got slaughtered! Ron's front tyre came completely off the wheel and Ron's bib shorts, gloves and skin came off him. Poor Ron - well wishes big time.


The weekend saw me complete my first ever 400k audax. This event was the Brevet Cyrmu audax that started and finished in Chepstow. I was awarded 4 AUK points and 2.75 AAA points for this event. My AAA points (this season) so far are 11.75, just need 0.25 points to be added to this years roll of honour!


I rested well the day before the Brevet Cyrmu and SJ cooked me up a nice dish of spaghetti bolognese - the perfect carbo load. Packed my car the day before too and checked I had all the equipment I required. This was the most stuff I have ever carried on a bike and the extra weight was noticeable.


Got to the start of the audax in good time. Had left my house at about 3.30 a.m and reached the community centre in Chepstow a good half hour before start. About 100 cyclists were taking part in this event - a few were using fixed speed cycles. I had a hot cross bun (plus 2 banana's on way up) then readied myself preparing to begin. At 6 a.m we were off. It was a nice fast start and the initial chill passed quickly. I was wearing my new Pearl Izumi gilet and I completely rate it - it kept me toasty warm. Big descents were encountered early in this stage. The most memorable descents being the long stretch past Tintern Abbey (cycled before during LEJOG events) and another steeper descent not long after. This second descent was real scary - I saw a poor cyclist feather his rear brake and subsequently see his rear wheel bounce a few times before he went straight over the bars and into the side of the hedge. These big descents and subsequent climbs soon broke the pack of cyclists up. I was towards the front cycling in a group of 5. We cycled steady till we neared Hay-On-Wye and then 2 cyclists in our group of 5 raced to reach said destination first. Just a few miles later we had reached the first control. The picture below shows the complete route.

I did not stop at the first control, save to get my brevet card stamped. I had wanted to stop for something to eat but the others I was cycling with had just continued so I followed suit.The gels and shortbread biscuits in my pockets made a great snack. I was cycling this section mostly as part of a double act for a long stretch - taking turns to pull and follow until we reached a group with a few more cyclists in. My thoughts went a bit cloudy for a while after joining group and it was starting to get very hot. The guy I had been cycling with to reach the new group was suffering already and was soon dropped - I never saw him again. Reached the control in Llandovery in good time and stopped for a suitable breakfast of beans and egg on toast and a mug of tea. Met Zigzag from a cycling forum here, which was nice. This cafe was called the 'West End Cafe', and was the first of 2 controls with the self same name.


Stage 3 was menace! Near disaster! Sadly my navigational skills were badger like. After 198k I was not at the control in Tregaron. Instead, I was outside an antique shop. I popped in and asked how far away from Tregaron I was, the shop keeper informed I was about 25 miles away! Grr! I felt quite peeved at this juncture and wasn't sure what to do. Should I pack and give in was my first thought - this was a silly idea as I was half way through, ie it was about 200k back to start and also about 200k to finish. My second though was to back track and find Tregaron, but I wondered if I'd reach the control in time. A quick check of the brevet card indicated I had hours to reach control so off I cycled. The cycle here was horrid, I had big hills to climb and was cycling into a headwind. After what seemed like an age, with only my shadow for company, I picked up signs for Tregaron. With renewed hope I sped along till I reached control. I was so happy at this control because lots of cyclists were here. I had added 32k to my trip by making this wrong move and missed the sign for Llanddewibrefi.... that I so wanted to photograph. Grr! I ate the most delicious butternut squash soup ever at this control and washed it down with a pint of coke just before I set off again. As I set off from control, other cyclists were still reaching control which made me feel good and the voices in my head were bigging me up and telling me I was fitter than I thought.


Stage 4 was awesome. This stage led to the beach in Newquay which was a real pretty sight. Although I was already over half way, this felt like a 'true halfway' as this was the furthest point I was to reach before heading back. I felt a bit sick and out of sorts at this control and had a light lunch consisting of just a tuna mayo sarnie and banana milk shake.

So pleased was I that I had only a light lunch at control because as soon as leaving Newquay a major hill was encountered that just went on and on and on. I saw some folk pushing their bikes up the hill here. My dry, dark sense of humour got me up this hill as I chuckled at the thought of those cyclists eating a large fish and chips before tackling this hill. When I finally reached the control at Llandovery it was dark. The control was the second 'West End' cafe on this audax. Folk must have known the moment I reached this control, as when I did, lots and lots of fireworks were set off! Again, I felt rough at this control so I ate lots as a recovery means. I had egg on toast and washed it down with a cup of tea. Is strange what you do when you feel drained, when off your head and in pain. I ate a custard slice, which normally I do not like, but right then, I loved it! I decided to lose a bit of weight here too and went for a number 2!


Started stage 6 in complete darkness. My front light that I have previously rated was naff and it was hard to follow the road. As a result of this I cycled quite slowly and got scared when suddenly flying down a descent. To be fair the road was mostly flat and navigating was minimal. It was lucky that navigation was minimal as I could not see my route sheet and would have benefited greatly by using my head torch (which I didn't bring with me). The sky at night was awesome. So beautiful was God's creation - all the sky was splashed with glitter - the many stars looked fantastic and there was no light pollution. After so long a cyclist caught me up and I benefited big time from his powerful lights. Up until now, I had cycled slowly until a car passed, where I would suddenly speed up being able to clearly see the road and it's markings. I stuck with this 'bright' cyclist all the way to control. Call me an opportunist but these lights were too good to miss out on. At one point I took a few minutes off the saddle, just to stretch, which was nice. How great it was to reach the control at Bwlch. Not sure how you pronounce 'Bwlch', but the voices in my head pronounced it 'Belch'.


The control at Bwlch was the first sleep control that I had ever encountered. After getting brevet card stamped I was treated to soup. I could have had pie and custard too but decided to give it a miss. Then, I had the option of sleeping. Lots of sleeping bags and roll mats were placed in rows and sure enough a whole bunch of cyclists were resting/sleeping/groaning. Have no idea where all these sleeping bags came from but was happy to use one all the same. I asked the brevet card stamper dude to wake me up at 2 a.m - he woke me up after 2 hours (3a.m). I didn't want to get up now but there was demand for my bed! Left this control knowing that I was now on the last leg.


Again it was still real dark when I left control and initially I was alone. I had only cycled a few miles and then I hit real trouble again - my front light packed up completely and I had no spare batteries. I decided to do my previous trick and wait for a passing cyclist and 'pinch' from their light source. This worked ok but meant I had to cycle slower than I wanted. As other cyclists caught up I would jump ship and use their light. I followed this process until it was light enough for me to read my route sheet. This last stage seemed to go on forever. There was a hill  near (or leading to) Usk that just didn't seem to have an end. It wasn't particularly steep but it went on and on and hard it was on tired and fatigued legs. A real sting in the tail. Or a pain in the butt (quite literally). Ah, once the summit was reached though, it was a long descent pretty much all the way back to the Arrivee in Chepstow! Woo hoo!


This was the furthest audax event I had ever cycled and I clocked a distance of 437.36 k or 271.76 miles. My average speed was 14.29 mph and according to my speedo I reached a max speed of 65.8 mph (hmm?!). Great sights were seen. Nice cyclists were met and stories shared. Thanks to those who shone a light, provided a pull or helped in any other way.  An adventure shared with a few and now I share with you too!


Weekly totals: Ran for 1 hour and 14 mins; Cycled 311 miles.

Killer Chris and the PT session(s)

Training this week began with a MTB ride. Ron and I took our bikes around trails and fields in Astwood Bank. We hadn't been here for so, so long and it proved fun cycling tracks we had cycled in the past. Dog Butt Lane always brings a smile to my face. We didn't cycle long or far (I punctured) but it was nice to get the legs spinning all the same.


On Wednesday, SJ and I rocked up to meet Chris - the PT guy, at Morton Stanley Park. Within minutes, this dude nearly killed us both! Chris had us doing 'shuttles' after we had loosened up by jogging around a football pitch and stretching muscles I never knew existed. These shuttles involved running and sprinting back and forth with bonus exercises to do at certain points. These exercises included lifting weights (not heavy, but heavy enough), lunges, sit ups, squats etc. After these shuttles we had to do more and for longer. SJ and I were both seriously drained and sweating some! Later in our session we were to concentrate on core muscles and had more sit-ups and this thing called a plank to do. SJ beat me on both counts - she could hold a plank way longer than me and scored 19 sit-ups in her exhaustion test compared to my 14. To finish we ran around the football pitch again and loosened up again by doing more stretches. This was a good session but hard, hard work. We both liked Chris and look forward to seeing him again next week. In the meantime, we have sit-up exercises to do as homework. Groan!

Thursday was spent indoors on the rollers. This was also the last I cycled this week - think I had started to lose focus a wee bit. Or maybe it was the fact the the PT session had caused discomfort to my legs!

For the remainder of the week, I did little in the way of exercise. Shame on me, I didn't run even once and cycling was seriously limited. Chris sent me a photo of last weeks MTB adventure and someone (I think Chris Rimmel) had posted me some cycling books - were they trying to covertly motivate me? I require motivation as I have that whopping 400k audax coming up (next weekend). My only real saving grace was the fact that I adhered to my sit-ups schedule. This sit-ups schedule involved doing repetitions of these menace exercises and 'maxing out' on the last set. My max out results were 24, 22 and 16 respectively. SJ maxed out on 31, 51 and 40 clearly kicking my butt and was, can you believe it, disappointed at her results! She might have a 6 pack, but I have a fuel tank!

Weekly totals: Cycled 34 miles.

New Forest Spring MTB Ride

No long distance event at the end of this week. No chance of getting a new bike. And no girlfriend (SJ has gone 'sunning it' in Sri Lanka). However, the week ended with an epic off road mtb adventure.


Training began on Tuesday. I decided to use my off day for cycling some hills. I stuck to local hills and followed the 'Hunting for Hills' ride which Ron created last year. Less than 10 miles into my cycle I stopped to answer my phone - it was SJ calling from abroad, which was nice. A few miles on and I had to stop again because I had punctured - this wasn't so nice. My puncture occurred at the bottom of Cobley hill. After fixing puncture I cycled to the top of hill, then realised I had left my glasses at the foot, so back I turned and climbed that dreaded hill twice! I completed this trek in good time and so decided to add a few more miles towards the end. The additional miles took me from the Green Dragon pub to 'that undulating road' between Alcester and Astwood Bank, which I cycled in both directions (ie to Alcester and back to Astwood Bank). This was a nice trek and I covered just over 50 miles. Later in the day, I teamed up with Ron and Mick (a guy Ron bumped into a couple of weeks back) and we took our mountain bikes out. The basic plan was for Ron and I to show Mick local trails we often cycle. Ron was having trouble with his crank set, indeed his pedal arm fell off on 2 occasions. Luckily, Ron is mechanically minded and ingeniously fixed problem with a scrap of metal he found. We cycled new paths new to me too, which took me through a ford near Alcester and then round the back of Oversley Wood. A great days cycling all round.


Wednesday was spent indoors on my rollers. As part of the plan, I have decided to cycle 1 indoor session each week. Rollers are boring but I figure they help with balance (and I have fallen off my bike so many times). Rollers require a continuous pedal and I try and keep my heart rate above 132 bpm the whole session (Zone 3).


Thursday was a rest day and Friday was a little strange. I had 'won' a free personal trainer session (PT) (courtesy of 'for goodness shakes') and decided to give the chap a ring. I spoke to a guy called Chris and told him I wasn't overly keen on the idea of having PT sessions as cost, motivation and time would be an issue. Chris came over and gave me a consultation and we essentially agreed to 1 PT session per week, lasting for aprox. one and a half hours (girlfriend can come along too if she wishes), all for the cost of £15. I can quit whenever I like, and should I have 10 sessions, then the next 2 will be free. Seemed reasonable to me and decided to give it a go. The PT sessions will concentrate mainly on my core strength (as this is particularly weak) and look at my running too. I was been given a 6 week plan of sit-ups to do (homework) and I was able to perform 51 in my initial test. The plan has developed and now looks like this: 1 x PT session, 1 x run, 1 x rollers session and 1 x night cycle with Ron, Jon, etc each week. Plus as many audax and off road events I can muster within each month. There is no maximum amount of cycling I can do. Following the consultation (the 6 week plan will commence next week), I went out for a run. I ran the Studley stinky route. This run felt strange as neither SJ or Cody were with me.

Saturday was the day of the New Forest Spring MTB Ride - a cycle event organised by Wiggle. The day was beautiful weather wise and the event was well organised. I was a little disappointed with the ride itself, as (compared to more recent events) the hills were few, the miles not many, no single track, no super fast descents and little in the way of technical stuff. I felt I could have got round this course on my old Grifter. However, meeting up with friends was great. 3 of the Lejog 2010 boys were here, - Guy, Chris and Ben Adams plus Ben's brother Matt, who I had not met before.

The event was not dull. Lots of wild creatures were spotted en route. These creatures included wild horses and wild cows! The were seriously 100's of horses strolling around as if they owned Hampshire and would walk across the roads and pavements care free style. As I passed one horse, I couldn't help but slap it's behind - not sure who was more startled, the horse or Guy (following behind me) who was lucky to miss a buckaroo! The cows were care free too, there was just less of them. Cow tipping was not considered an option as these cows had major long horns!

 
It was nice to meet Matt, he was much like his brother Ben. Awesome hooking up with Ben - had wanted to go out MTBing with him since Lejog 2010 and finally got the chance. Ben was clearly the master at bike tricks, trail hopping and the likes. Had not seen Guy since an audax event in Bristol last year (the last time he had been out on a bike). Guy was still fit and all the gym work he does seems to have paid off nicely. A swim challenge is Guys next major pursuit. Chris was riding his Scott bike today (not his Orange), so we became the Scott boys for the day and kinda rode as a double act. Chris's Scott differed to mine in a major way - his was a cyclo cross bike and was only 1 of 8 such bikes to ride this course. Chris, like myself, was not impressed with this course and feels he needs to do another cyclo cross event that is more challenging before he can say he has really completed such an event. We both got our heart rates going as we had several sprints/races along the way which was fun. Chris and I were pretty much evenly matched. At the end, I sprinted to the finish to cross the line first. I thought Chris was far behind, but he truly sprinted to the finish and got every one's heart rate going as he was nearly squished by 2 cars coming at him in opposing directions! Chris felt he had beat me on the line, I thought not. The official results were ... we both had the exact same time!

All 5 of us successfully completed the event. We were awarded with goody bags upon finishing along with a medal. I think all our times were quite naff and we were awarded with 'bronze' status. A good day was had by all and we all finished with a smile!

During MTB event, I cycled a distance of 37.86 miles, at an average speed of 10.3 mph and a max speed of 27.8 mph.

Weekly totals: Cycled 134 miles; Ran for 30 mins.

The Plan

No major event this week, however training continued. The next big goal of mine is a 400k event at the end of the month. I have never cycled such a distance and just hope I can complete this goal. That is my plan!


Ran a couple of times this week. My first run was with SJ and Cody and we ran around Oversley Wood. This was a nice run and we completed 2 laps (aprox 5 miles) in under 45 mins. We were all pleased we had managed 2 laps. Doing this distance was a first for SJ. My next run didn't include Cody, but SJ came along. We ran a hilly off road track in Henley. This was a good run too, it was very sunny and an awesome day. Poor SJ was suffering with a cold though.


Was a good week on the weather front all round really. So good was the weather that Ron and I went out in shorts (as opposed to longs) on my first bike venture of the week. We started cycling the 'Ron's 1 hour loop' route but extended it at the end. The end was 'that undulating road' to Astwood Bank that I cycled during last weeks audax, the one with the short sharp climb at the end. After this climb it was an easy pedal back to Studley with a quick race up St Judes Avenue (hard to judge who reached the summit first). My second cycle was indoors on the rollers. I think I must be getting a little fitter as I am having to push harder gears to reach the desired heart range (Zone 3).

No long distance cycles this week. However, Audax UK reminded me of long distance events that I have done and posted me out several medals and cloth badges to add to my collection. Such awards included the Brevet 500 (for cycling 5 x 100k events last season), the Brevet 1,000 (for cycling 5 x 200k events this season), the Randonneur 500 (for riding Populaire events of 50k, 100k and 150k then going on to a 200k at Randonneur speed, all in one season) and the Randonneur 1,000 (for riding Populaire events of 100k, 200k and 300k all at Randonneur speed, topped up by more events totalling another 400k, this season).  I would like to add a Super Randonneur and Randonneur Road The Year award to this list by the end of the season - that is my plan.

Weekly Totals: Ran for 1 hour and 14 mins; Cycled 42 miles.

Droitwich - Towcester (218k audax) a flat, up and down menace!

This weeks activities on the training front included walking, running and cycling. As usual, a whole bunch of creature spotting occured. And, a dose of menace was encountered too!

I don't normally record my walking activities. This is because, unlike my sister Jane, I don't really regard walking as exercise. Cody and I are walking all the while and we'd have enermous amounts of space to fill up. I am recording the fact that I walked around Ladywood reservoir on 2 occasions with folk from work this week, during work time. If I'm getting paid to walk - it's a different story! Over and above that, the folk from work who regularly walk the reservoir (namely Zalika, Max, Eddy, Adrian and Cecelia) are using this as a means of exercise (or maybe that's their excuse).

Only ran once this week. This running took place at Oversley Wood and I had SJ and Cody with me for company. We ran further than our usual norm (1 lap) and added an extra half lap which we will start to increase until we can comfortably run 2 laps. On our return to the start I took us up and over the mound and we spotted about 4 deer which was nice.

Cycled twice during the week. The first excursion was with Ron and we took out our mountain bikes. We cycled to the 'Woods of Doom' and got lost. The regualr trail was blocked with tree's and the likes (some felling etc taking place in the woods). Getting lost was great, we cycled 'free style' following new paths and trails and went up and down some sweet ascents and descents. In the woods I kept spotting deer but Ron always seemed to miss them. However, once we reached a clearing, Ron spotted a whole bunch of deer (about 7 or 8) running together. How awesome. Once we found this clearing, we also found the descent trek from our usual woods visit and followed it. We then essentially followed the 'Reed route' back home. I don't know about Ron, but my legs were still tired from the 300k event the week before.

Saturday saw me complete another audax event. This was the Droitwich - Towcester 218k audax. With this event completed, I think I am halfway in getting my RRtY award ( a 200k+ event each month for a year).

Only 12 cyclists (including myself and the event organiser) met at Droitwich for the start of this event. Just prior to meeting up, I had a touch of deli belly and the heavens were open. However, just as we set sail, the rain had stopped. I thought I'd be sensible and stick with the group at the start and maybe benefit from a tow. I stuck with the group for about a mile and then left them as they were cycling way too slow. I sped off alone on flat fast lanes and reached the first control in Shipston-on-Stour ahead of everybody else. I got to the control 2 mins before it had opened - that was a first for me. Even though this control was a bakery, I wasn't tempted to purchase any food (I had a banana and bowl of porridge before I set out this morning) and just opted for a cup of tea (which I ate with 2 cup cakes I bought from home, made by ex-student nurse Becky).

Left the first control and cycled with 2 others. The one chap remembered me from the 300k event I did last year and the other chap has done a few audax's with me before. Like the last stage, this section was fast too and maybe just a little hillier (nothing major). Reached the control at Towcester (pronounced 'Toaster') in good time. This control was 'Jacks Hill Transport Cafe' and the staff here were most interesting. I swear I was served beans and egg on toast by that fat, tattood, ugly woman from the 'Goonies'.

Left Towcester and sped along as a group of 3 (2 different cyclists to last formed group). This group contained the organiser Gavin. As before, this was a relatively flat and fast stage. We reached Wellesbourne and that's when menace struck. I had lost my wallet and it's contents (debit card, driving licence etc). This should teach me to put items in zipped pockets. Grr! At least Gavin was able to see I was at the control - I couldn't get a receipt as I had no money with which to purchase food. Cancelled my debit card and sped off again for the last stage.

The last stage was like all the others - fast and relatively flat, except there was one short steep climb to navigate (a hill leading up to Astwood Bank that I have climbed several times before). I cycled this section as a group of 4, which became 3 after so many miles. I raced to the end, not only to be the first to finish but because I knew SJ was waiting for me at the finish. Sure enough, I was proud to finish first (a first for me) and SJ did me proud too, she looked absolutely stunning and took my mind off any lost wallet menace!

This was a great audax event that I would be happy to ride again. All the roads were well surfaced, quiet and it was possible to cycle at a decent speed. This event was considered to contain a 'moderate amount of climbing' but there were no major hills or climbs really (none when compared to 'The Dean' 300k audax). Oh, my wallet was found by a cyclist futher back and returned to the Gavin. All is well that ends well! SJ plans to save the day and re-claim my wallet!

During audax cycled 132.28 miles, at an average speed of 15.3 mph and a max speed of 37.7 mph.

Weekly totals: Cycled 147 miles; Ran for 31 mins.

The Dean (307k audax)

Started this week with full on anxiety. I knew that I had plans to cycle a 300k audax on the weekend. This would be the second time I had ever attempted to cycle such a distance. 'Why' is a question one might ask. I am not sure I know the answer.


Training began on the Monday. First off was an indoor cycle on the rollers followed immediately by a run. SJ and I ran the Studley Traingle (door to door) and were only 5 seconds off our fastest time (not that we race). My legs really ached following this activity, I wondered how on earth I would fare Saturday. SJ distracted my thoughts and gave me a belated birthday present which was awesome - it was a T-shirt with a print of DMR pedals on the front. Nice!

Tuesday was spent cycling with Ron. We took our mountain bikes out and cycled an extended version of the 'Deer Route'. This was a pleasant evening and we had a good time creature spotting. Strangely no deer were to be seen, but we did see a rabbit, frogs, ducks, a badger, sheep and cats.

I repeated the route above again on Wednesday, but this time as a solo effort and during the day. No interesting creatures were spotted this time around and worse still a splatted frog lay where the frogs were seen the night before. Is not often that I cycle before an on-call shift but the sun was shining so bright that I felt really motivated to go out.

The weekend saw me complete 'The Dean', a 307k audax in Oxford. My buddy Ron joined me for this event. I wrote the comments below following the event where my mind and body are not in their usual state. This event should be re-titled as 'The mean Dean'.

Ron picked me up at a most horrid hour - 4 a.m! Luckily I had gotten my bike and kit ready the night before. With bikes loaded in car we reached Oxford in time for me to collect my brevet card and started the event on time at 6 a.m. We were 2 of about 100 riders (Ron had entered un-offically). The start was cold and misty but we were suitably clothed - I was wearing 4 layers. It didn't take long to warm up further as this start was super zoomy for an audax event. Ron and I stayed with the group of cyclists leading the pack but tucked in behind a few others to benefit from a 'tow'. This first section was mostly quiet lanes but there was a few hills and a relatively mean one before control. We had until 9 a.m to reach the first control in Stow, but we were so speedy we had reached it by 7.40 a.m (it had opened only 10 mins earlier). Our stop here was short. I just purchased a bottle of water (for sake of receipt) and ate some malt loaf I had prepared earlier.

Leaving Stow we cycled along familiar paths in Bishops Cleeve, Winchcombe and Tewkesbury. There was lots of hills during this stage and I am suprised the event organiser did not award us with AAA points (I felt he should). Some fast descents put a smile on my face and it was breakfast once we reached Newent! We both had a beans on toast with egg and a big mug of tea for me and coffee for Ron. We both looked quite pooped after cycling only a 100k, a third of the way through our epic advneture.

 
From Newent to Chepstow we encountered more hills. Hilly menace! To make things worse I had gotten something in my eye. Ron plucked the offending object from my eye - still not sure what it was but looked very much like worm poo. Maybe the gunk was evidence of infection - my poor eye had been watering and itchy for miles.  Ron said I should put salt in my eye, stating I should trust him as he is 'a first aider' - now where have I heard that before?! Passing through the Forest of Dean was lovely and we saw a wild pig. This wild pig (boar according to Ron) was dead and appeared to be the victim of road kill - Ron said the locals had killed it and would put it between some slabs of bread if we were not passing by. Reached the control and ate junk for our efforts. This junk was chicken pieces, a pasty slice and more of my malt loaf. (Frequently throughout trip we would munch on biscuits or gels etc).

From leaving control we were faced with another hill almost straight away. This hill was worth climbing as it led to the Severn Bridge which was just awesome. Have now crossed this bridge 3 times on a bike. Again another big hill (at Hawkesbury Upton) had to be climbed  before we reached the control in Malmesbury. This control was great as we stopped and ate in style. We both had soup, bread, roll, tea and a slice of chocolate cake. I swear Ron winked at the waitress and was given an extra large slice of cake for so doing.

 
From Malmesbury we cycled over the Marlborough Downs and 'over' was the fact of it. We had to climb big fat hills. 2 particularly big fat hills. These hills were hard work but the sighs were rewarding. We spotted 2 of Wiltshire's white horses. The second horse was half way up the final ascent and I could hear the horse saying 'reach me and I'll gallop you to the top' or was that Ron? Or even the voices in my head? Whatever it was I reached the top and then was rewarded with a super descent passing sighs to Avebury. It was dark by the time we reached the control in Membury. Both Ron and I were using our Ay-Up lights which are just awesome and in addition I was using cheap lights brought in end of year sales with which I am happy with too. All my kit was carried in my carradice zipped roll bag which I found great too but would maybe benefit with a slightly larger bag. We ate lots here at the control (being the last control before finish) and included was pasty, chocolate and more beverage.

The final slog took us from Membury back to Oxford. It was, of course, pitch black now but we sped along relatively flat lanes and B roads. So awesome to reach the finish. This was the first 300k event Ron had completed and I wonder if he will cycle this distance again? For me, this event has enabled me to reach Randonneur 1,000 status and I could use this event as a qualifier for PBP (ha!). In terms of PBP, I am halfway through the qualifying events, just a matter of a 400k and 600k event to go... Hmm, the mind is willing but the backside says no!

During audax cycled a distance of 190.42 miles at an average speed of 14.5 mph and a max speed of 45.3 mph.

Weekly totals: Cycled 249 miles; Ran for 33 mins.

Primal Level headed Wonder

This week started off well. SJ, Cody and I ran across the fields of Studley in a cross country style. Cody and I have ran this before, but this was a first for SJ. I like this route as it is quite varied but pretty all the way. The run starts by passing through 'secret' fields leading to a kind of pond with a 'secret' swing and then continues down hill past the sewage works. The sewage works stunk a lot on this particular occasion and SJ said we should name this route ''the stinky route'', so here we have 'Studley stinky route'. After the sewage works we had to jump a ditch and then put Cody on her lead as we trekked across some tarmac and over a bridge. We took a left turn after bridge, passed a cattle grid and then running continued. The run led past a farm house and a semi-vicious collie that Cody likes to fight. After the dog fight, a couple of horses had to be navigated through and then running continued over fields. At about the half way point there was a stream where we stopped to catch breath and watered Cody. The next stage goes up-hill a little and leads past Studley Castle and a Church. Another bridge was crossed and the run finished with an up-hill dart to the finish.


The following day, I repeated the Studley stinky route again, but this time just had Cody for company. As usual, Cody picked a dog fight but didn't fare too well this time. Can you teach an old dog new tricks?! Before the run, I took Scotty out and cycled the Yard route for the first time on said mountain bike. This was a great on-road route for an off-road mountain bike. I experimented using my Carradice zipped roll bag with bagman support. This bag and support worked well and saved me from having to carry my Camelback as all my tools and food etc were in bag. It was great having no weight to carry on my person. Chris Hodge and I are planning (maybe) to cycle coast to coast (C2C) on our mountain bikes in an un-supported manner. I think Carradice bags with support bracket may prove the way ahead. I might invest in a Carradice Barley, as it will offer about 5 more litres of space over my current bag which should be way enough for addition of clothes, food and a few other essentials.

 
This particular days training finished in style - the day finished with a mosh at a 'Primal Scream' gig. Primal Scream played their 'Screamadelica' album and it was an awesome night. A Scottish band called 'Kassidy' were the support act and they were awesome too.

Mid-week was a rest day. The following day (St Patrick's Day) was another day full on with exercise. Training started with the Studley Stinky route run (in reverse) with Cody. Cody was a bit sluggish today and the collie she usually scraps with was not there today. This run is a little easier going the reverse way around. Following the run, much motivation was required to spend a time cycling indoors on my rollers. Again this days training finished with style as SJ and I went to a 'Levellers' gig which was excellent and had a fantastic support from the 'Wonderstuff'.

 

No more exercise took place for the rest of the week. Well, it was my birthday! Plenty of time was spent having fun and eating and drinking. Which leads to my concluding remarks. My ever-so-competitive sister Jane likes to walk (pah) and blogs about this activity and believes she is some sort of sports star personality. Her blog is all about her and her walks and she really does believe that her walking is superior to my cycling. She stated that my blog is more like a menu as I tend to write down all the desserts that I consume and take my fancy. Well, (this is for Jane) assuming heart rate is kept in the cardio range (aprox 120-150): Walking = around 400 Cal per hour. Cycling = around 500-700 Cal per hour! Cycling burns more calories and 'allows' one to eat more! Yes, I can have my birthday cake and eat it!

Weekly totals: Cycled 53 miles; Ran for 1 hour and 30 mins.

Milton Keynes Malarkey

This weeks 'big' planned event was an off road affair in Milton Keynes, organiswd by Evans Cycles, with my buddy Chris 'Orange' Hodge. Last time we cycled such an event, we got lost and only cycled a medium length route, as opposed to the epic hard core route we convinced ourselves we were able to conquer. Before the Milton Keynes event was completed however, a little training took place first.


The first training session took place at 'Doo Little', my little abode. As most would have probably figured, this was an indoor session using my rollers. My legs were tired after last weeks 200k audax but spin they did.


SJ and Cody accompanied me on my next session. We ran around Oversley Woods. Am beginning to think this run is too short. Although this course is quite undulating, we finish in around 20 mins and I would prefer to run for at least 30 mins - maybe we should run around twice?!

My last training session was a double-whamy! I started by cycling on the rollers. This roller session was short and I only cycled half the distance of my usual sessions (ie I cycled 10 miles). This was long enough to warm up ready for when SJ rocked up though. When SJ eventually did rock up, we ran the Studley triangle. SJ doesn't know that this was the fastest we have ran the triangle as a couple. We ran it in 33 mins and 8 secs. We actually ran further than the triangle too, as we ran from and to my front door from the start/finish on the A435. Go us! :)

All the traing outlined above was my prepearation for the Evans Ride It! event in Milton Keynes I completed on the weekend. This was a great event. A collection of memories will be re-told.

I met Chris at the start, of what was to be a really warm sunny day. Chris had gotten new fox forks and I had gotten a new Fizik Gobi saddle which we proudly showed to each other. We both had relatively clean and shiny bikes.

After we had been fitted with timing chips we set off. We opted for the epic route -  a supposedly 34 mile off road trek (the short route was 15 miles and the medium 25). Last time we did an Evans event we got lost and ended up doing a medium route. We were going to make sure today we were hard core! Almost as soon as we started, I hit trouble. The track was incredibly muddy and gloopy. This certain gloopy puddle threw me over the handlebars on my bike. If that wasn't bad enough, I bashed both knee's and worse still, I lost a shoe! This shoe took a while to find as I had to fish it out of gloopy puddle. Nice...

Back on track and we cycled a variety of terrain and conditions. Lots of mud, gloop, hard pack, sand, field and a bit of tarmac. Up hills, down hills, across fields, over bridges, over railway lines, past a quarry and through a golf course. Chris was on good form today and powered up the hills and flew down the descents. That is, until he punctured...

We both punctured in fact. Well kind of anyway. Chris had gotten a rather large thorn stuck in his front tyre which we decided not to pull out (and it made it to the end with adequate pressure). Chris's back tyre did not fare so well and required many stops to pump up deflating tube. My rear tyre also deflated. I stopped and removed the tube. A thorn was found in tyre and quickly removed. The tube pumped up ok and so was put back on, rather than replaced. This tube required stops to pump it up too as it was deflating, but slowly. I think the valve was at fault and no 'real' puncture present.

The stops were the usual standard and provided diluted drink and mega tasty cakes. Well, the first official stop had no cake, so I made up for it during second stop and ate 2!  We were also equipped with a bar and had some gels too.

We cycled way over 34 miles. Chris said this was to ''make up for the miles we didn't do last time''. The truth was, we got lost again. Am not sure why, but we decided to follow white arrows instead of the yellow ones we were told to follow. Oh well, we made it to the finish and completed the epic route. Hard core we are!

During the Evans event, I cycled 40.46 miles, at an average speed of 8.4 mph and a max sped of 30.5 mph. (4 hours, 46 mins and 27 seconds were spent on my new saddle! No major back ache or bum ache. Am rating this saddle).

Finished the week by cycling another mini session indoors on the rollers.

Weekly totals: Cycled 80 miles; Ran for 53 mins.