Batman's day out

This week's blog is kinda funny because it really began at the end of the previous week. The story is picked up after my adventures with Aid in and around the forest of Dean. What I didn't inform in the last blog was the fact that my rear brake had failed. I didn't let this mis-hap prevent me from having a great day but it sure is a pain all the same. Scotty is equipped with Avid Elixir R disc brakes and I guess they need a service - dread to think how much this may cost! It was only since my brake failed that I realised I am able to adjust reach of the levers. Think they call this 'the good with the bad' phenomena.

Following Scotty's day out, SJ and I went away for the weekend. We went to Burnham-on-Sea. No cycling was planned, however, cycling activities were performed (hence this blog entry). I pinched my mothers bike on the Friday and cycled from the caravan site to the beach front. I wouldn't take my own bike(s) on the beach, but enjoyed cycling my ma's up and down the sea front. On return to campsite I cycled to nearby shop and purchased some bread. A short but sweet 4 miles on a bike I wouldn't be seen on in my home village. On Saturday I cycled the same route again, only this time SJ was with me. SJ was cycling my pa's bike, which was way too small for me. We had fun. Maybe we should invest in a tandem?!

On Tuesday, Ron and I hooked up and went for our usual weekly spin. We cycled a different route tonight, making it up as we went along. We cycled some distance along previous routes and around Arrow Vale lake too. Nice pleasant ride on a nice pleasant evening.


Thursday saw me complete my first ever DIY permanent audax. I created a 150k route that started and finished in Studley. The route was named 'Batman's day out' as the mapped route forms the shape of a bat. Below is a summary of Batman's day out.

In the guise of Batman, I left the bat cave (in Studley) on my bat cycle at 8.22 a.m. A local ATM provided the first control proof. The bat cycle's navigational system had gone wonky and Google maps were consulted to follow required destinations. Google map directions proved difficult to follow and soon we were off track after just a few K's. A busier than planned road, more chaotic that Gotham City, was followed which led to the first control in Wythall.


Left Wythall and within minutes was lost again. A quick GPS check on the bat phone (battery low) put me back on course. Navigated relatively safely all the way to next control stop. By-passed Kenilworth Castle, the abode of the evil Joker to reach Kenilworth itself.


Didn't take long for the Joker to rear his ugly head. After safely passing much motorised machinery I followed quieter tracks. At just 70K, pssst, the Joker appeared and burst my rear tyre of the bat cycle. Tyre soon fixed and headed out once more. After about 10 K the Joker re-appeared and 2 more battles were fought - resulting in a further 2 flats for the bat cycle. Grr. 3 tubes and 3 CO2 canisters later and the bat cycle was ready to go again. Felt quite nervous at this point, was 20k off route and had no spare tubes or gas. Just before reaching control in Rugby, I ate a home made sarnie to help lift my spirits.


Reached Rugby and gave the bat cycle a check over. The rear tyre was damaged. Michelin pro race 3's were fitted but the casing on the rear tyre has split and will need replacing. Headed towards and reached Southam with no major incident, save going off course a further 10k.


Did not have a gay time in Gaydon. The evil Penguin had changed road signs which caused me to cycle out of Southam in one direction and re-enter it in another. Google maps didn't help much either. I passed a sign showing an older version bat cycle and figured I must be back on track. Took out my camera to take a picture of this sign, but the battery was flat. However, the bat phone had just enough juice to take a photo of same. Finally reached Gaydon, now about 40k off target.

No real menace reaching Leamington. The Penguin scattered some acid rain but this was no hardship for my bat cape to deal with. A buss conducter provided me with further instructions to reach next control and save me from having to rely on Google map directions.


Next control was Stratford. Left Leamingon and hit Warwick within minutes. Passed Warwick Castle and marvelled at it's wonder. Maybe we should move the bat cave to Warwick Castle?! Cycled along much of Route 41 which was nice and kept me away from motorised machinery. Nice to reach control and be in familiar surroundings.


The Penguin scattered more acid rain as I made my way to next control. The rain did little to dampen my spirits or prevent progress. Felt more 'Hank Marvin' than Batman when I reached Bidford. For this reason I stopped and purchased a sausage from the chip shop (using receipt as proof of control).


Defeated all my necessary adversaries to reach next control in Alcester. Was feeling a little achey and sore it parts but knew it was only a few further K to reach the bat cave and mission would be over. Downed a few energy sweets and headed for home.


Last few K back to the Bat cave were no real bother. Safely reached home with a smile on my face. Batman won the day! The original mission brief stated I would cycle 150k - a total of 199k were ridden! Just 1 further K and this would have been considered a long distance affair. Oh well, maybe another mission looms...


Maybe I really should invest in a tandem?!

Weekly totals: Cycled 156 miles.

The Forest

"Rhymes happen when cycling all day

Road poems, hmmm, what can I say?

No rhyme dictionary 

Has words fictionary

And the pages might just blow away."

Started the week with a cycle in the pouring rain. Strangely enough, I really enjoyed this because it allowed me to test my new mud-guards. Last week I fitted Florence with a pair of SKS race blades and they look great and work just fine. The rain wasn't so bad to be honest, it was stop-start style throughout. Despite the rain it was a warm evening. Ron and I cycled an oval shaped route starting and finishing in Studley. We cycled via Oldhill, Bidford and Knighton on some lovely country lanes offering splendid views. Towards the end we still had power in our legs so we raced up Node Hill and St Judes Avenue. Awesome.


Raced around the TTT 20 route on Tuesday. I was hoping to beat my fastest time and really pushed myself. Despite all my efforts, I finished with an average time - about 5 minutes slower than my personal best.

Took Scotty to the Forest of Dean on Thursday and met up with Aid and Scarlet - his new mountain bike. Scarlet was a nice bit of kit - a Scott Scale 29er. This 29er was much like my bike, only it had bigger wheels, much bigger wheels. The 2 Scott bikes looked good together and really are awesome steeds.

Aid and I cycled both the blue and red routes around the forest. Nice cycling in lovely sunshine. Some parts of the trail were closed for whatever reasons. We also rode the training area in the forest. Before leaving the Forest we tried beans, egg and toast from the cafe - delicious! Aid also got himself some funky new cycling shoes (was I supposed to mention this?!)

After our nosh up we headed to Symonds Yat for more cycling action. The weather had turned sour and we took on some rather hard core routes. This was great fun and included a bit of everything (single track, fire roads, hills, rocks, roots, etc). We managed to navigate to the river and crossed over the groovy swing bridge. Cycled back to the car park climbing a nice 1:5 hill in the process and rewarded ourselves with tea and cake. Still feeling fresh, we headed out in the rain once more and did much of the same. We took a short cut to the river, down a steep rocky wet descent which was flooded in parts and passed through a fast flowing stream towards the end. Finished the day looking like drowned rats. Awesome!


Weekly totals: Cycled 75 miles.

Mud-guards

Tuesday was the first day I ventured out this week. It was a wet miserable day. However, is rare that 'weather stops play' with Ron and I. With that mantra in mind we set out. We cycled to Bidford via Alcester in a loose figure of eight style. Over 25 miles were cycled and 2 big hills were encountered. The first hill was just past Haselor and proved no real menace. The second hill was too tough for Florence - but will be beaten on a brighter day! Watch this space.


Cycled again on Wednesday. This day turned out to be very wet and miserable too. Completed the TTT 20 route without any major issues other than the weather.

On the 2 occasions detailed above, I managed to stay dry throughout. I was wearing my lovely Rohan cycling jacket and had equipped Florence with a rear mud-guard taken off my mountain bike. My mountain bike mudguard was a Raleigh rear fender - super light, cheap (about £12) and has an adjustable strap (to fit to fat seat tubes like mine). This summer has been pants on the weather front!

Didn't cycle any further during the week. However, I have now equipped Florence with some mud-guards of her very own! These mudguards are SKS race blades - just need another wet day to test them out! Have also received 3 brevet cards for my planned DIY perms. A DIY perm is exactly as the name suggests - a do-it-yourself audax. I haven't actually 'planned' any routes yet, but my mission is to create and ride a 50, 100 and 150k DIY perm, just for something to do. As stated before, I'm a psycholist!


Weekly totals: Cycled 48 miles.

Cotswold Corker (June 2012)

Went out with Ron on Tuesday for my first cycle this week. We started to Cycle the TTT 20 route but took a detour by-passing Great Alne, headed towards Bealey before taking first right, then re-joining the route in Alcester. A beautiful night for cycling and we even saw some deer. Once home though and the major menace of hay fever kicked in!


This weeks mid-week menace was hay fever! Cycled the same route as yesterday (only without going to Ron's address and without Ron). I think I prefer my original TTT 20 route, as this variation misses out 'John's Hill' (can't remember why it's called that right know, but I know it has reference to John V). This route is a nice alternative though and follows the Bearley road and goes past the 'impassable ford'. This ford has a sign next to it stating 'impassable at all times - this is not true however. Last year, both Ron and I successfully passed this ford on our mountain bikes, others weren't as fortunate. Anyways, completed this particular route on a fine hot night. Returned home and the hay fever kicked in. Grr!


Friday saw me complete another Cotswold Corker audax! This is a 100k, hilly audax scoring 1.75 AAA points around the Cotswolds (as the name suggests). I have completed this event many times now, but this time was perhaps the most special.


Started the Corker in Winchcombe (as opposed to the suggested start in Bishops Cleeve). It had been raining before I reached the start but the sun came out for me. By starting in Winchcombe, Cleeve Hill is the first hill to be conquered. This hill is only slight menace really and is easy to conquer (have climbed this hill successfully on my single speed) and makes a good climb for warm up purposes. After this climb a lovely descent (Gambles Lane 25%) took me to Bishops Cleeve.

Left Bishops Cleeve and headed for the infamous Bushcombe Lane. This hill is the Cotswold Corker! Indeed, the book 'Another 100 greatest cycling climbs' awards this hill 10/10! The website climbbybike.com stated 'Several steep, narrow lanes ascend Cleeve Hill ... these are some of the steepest in the Cotswolds. Bushcombe is the steepest... [The] lanes are signposted as 25% - Bushcombe is probably closer to 30% in places ... ascent is 1.95 km long. Over this distance, you climb 157 height meters'. How awesome! More awesome still, is the fact that I conquered this hill without stopping, without walking and without out putting a foot down on the ground. Woo hoo, I conquered this hill for the first time proper! Following this great climb, I was awarded with a super fast descent back into Winchcombe.

From Winchcombe another tough hill was climbed before reaching an info control in Guiting Power. Perhaps the most scenic part of the audax passed from Guiting to the Northleach control. Stopped in Northleach just briefly to purchase water and award myself with a Wispa Gold (using receipt as proof of passage).


Pretty passage took me from Nothleach to the information control in Daglingworth. Prior to reaching the control was nice to see a whole bunch of free range pigs on a farm. After the control was nice to see  a fox just casually strolling across the fields. Perhaps it was Fantastic Mr Fox himself?! These creatures sure beat the road killed deer and badgers I kept whizzing past. Just before I reached the control in Bisley, I thought 'my wife was right'. SJ told me to take my awesome orange rain jacket, I didn't - I took my naff fluorescent one. And it rained, and I got wet. My wife was right!  Dried off in the pub and feasted on a big fat rump steak!


From Bisley more hills took me to Andoversford. Again my wife was right. She predicted there would be floods in places and this section proved her words to be true.


The final section was great. A fast run took me back to the start in Winchcombe generally down hill for the most part. I completed this audax in good time and beat Bushcombe Lane! Oh, the joys of cycling!


Cycled a distance of 100.88k (63 miles) during this Cotswold Corker audax, at an average speed of 11 mph and a maximum speed of 39 mph! Total time spent on the saddle was 5 hours and 34 mins. 


Weekly totals: Cycled a distance of 108 miles.

Ride your bike

Started the week with a sneaky lap of the TTT 20 route. Say 'sneaky' because this was un-planned, just happened to finish work a little early and took advantage. Great day for cycling with warm sun shine. On the down side, came home and sneezed lots - major hay fever menace!


Cycled the TTT 20 route again on Wednesday. Such a beautiful day and just happened to be the Summer Solstice - the longest day. Not only that, it was also my dear wife's birthday. Happy Birthday SJ!


Planned to cycle the TTT 20 route again on Thursday, but bad weather put pay to that. As stated before, Florence is a fair weather bike (or at least she will be until I can afford to buy some mud-guards for her). Thursday turned out to be the longest day - the Summer Solstice, not yesterday! An error in my Micky Mouse diary - but being Micky Mouse, what do you expect? Anyways, I still cycled. I took Scotty out instead. After donning myself in rain gear and equipping Scotty with slicks, I set about completing the Deer route. It had been a while since I last rode this route and despite the rain it was a good lap. I rode the version where I cycled past the Mother Huff Cap and then headed directly for Coughton Ford.

Squeezed in another sneaky ride on Friday. This was a well timed ride too - had been raining heavy all day, but for the short time I was out the rain held off. Should have taken Florence out! I didn't though - I took out Scotty for a lap of the Reed route, i.e. yesterdays route in reverse.


Weekly totals: Cycled 72 miles.

Back in the UK

Found it quite hard to push myself and start exercising again after my honeymoon in China. Bad weather, poor motivation, jet lag and paralysis of will were amongst my chief excuses. However, Tuesday saw me complete a lap of the TTT 20 route on Florence, my single speed bike. This is by far my most cycled route now and even though I've completed it many times, it can still hurt. My lungs felt the pain most this time, followed by my stomach muscles which usually don't experience anything too heavy. On the good side, the bad weather held off, I completed the route and have now cycled 300 miles on Florence! (My wife says a mile per £ spent on buying her, she actually cost me £350).


Midweek turned out to be a hot sunny day, despite weather men informing otherwise. I think the sun had help lift my mood and spirits and I though I would resume running after such a long pause. I took Cody, my rather reluctant running buddy dog, out with me on this occasion. We ran the Handlebar route. Both of us were quite whacked after this short run, but I certainly felt better for completing it. Later that day, I hooked up with Ron and we went out for a swift cycle. We cycled my TTT 20 route - Ron used his Specialized Roubaix and I used Florence my single speed. This was the first time I have ridden Florence in the company of another. It was a nice evening and was good to pedal with Ron as he had a good pace. We completed the route 1 minute slower than yesterday, but we added an additional mile as we started and finished at Ron's address as opposed to mine!


Thursday was another 'duathlon day'. I started the day with a jog around the Handlebar route with Cody. Cody was a bit menace today and showed more interest in other dogs than running the route. After lunch, I completed another lap of the TTT 20 route. This time I took out Scotty, my mountain bike. I rode the route the reverse way around and added a good 13 minutes onto yesterdays time. Scotty is a Scale 20 model (2010) and I mention this because my cousin (Adrian) has just gotten himself a Scott Scale 29er Expert!


Did no further exercise for remainder of week. Felt good that I had started exercising again though, and pleased that I had both ran and cycled. Also, I received my Bear Bones shirt in the post which helped increase the excitement about my planned Bear Bones 200 adventure in October.

Weekly totals: Cycled 62 miles; Ran 6.2 miles.

Nine million bicycles

Hi! Sorry for my short absence and lack of blogs for the past couple of weeks. The wife and I were away for part 2 of our honeymoon. The picture above might have led you to guess that we were away in China and Hong Kong!


On route to London, my wife SJ said I mustn't think bike whilst on honeymoon. Other motorists were telling me different....

To be fair, SJ was areal sport and we had a few opportunities to cycle whilst away. Our first cycle adventure was in Beijing. We didn't actually cycle ourselves on our first trip. We took a Hutong Rickshaw tour along Beijing's old quarter 'Hutongs' as passive cyclists (i.e. passengers).


Our next adventure was truly awesome and took place in Xi'an. We cycled tandem style along the Ancient City Walls. This was the first time either of us had been on a tandem and it was great fun. Cycling a tandem was initially quite difficult ... until SJ started to pedal! We both cycled the complete City Wall square - a distance of 9 miles! I think SJ would have liked to have run around it 3 times - complete marathon distance.

We had a further cycling trip in Yangshuo, Guilin. This time we were both on mountain bikes and took a trek along flat back roads passing through farmland. We saw barefoot farmers with their water buffalo and bamboo rafts on the river. Amazing.

Spent a little time in Shanghai. SJ let me go off with a couple of my buddies and we practiced bike balancing tricks on the skyscrapers there. I'm the guy in the middle on the picture below...

SJ and I both had a great time in China. The little exercise we did was all good fun (cycled about 15 miles in past 2 weeks). Now we are back in the UK, we both hope to start training soon. We will need to do something as we have both increased in size and have a 1/2 marathon to run next month.

A bloggers break

After a whole week of not cycling, I took Florence out on Monday for a lap of the TTT 20 route. It was nice to stretch the old legs again despite not having a very fast pace. I went out in the morning, when it was cold. By mid afternoon it was warm and sunny.

Tuesday was hot. Very hot! About 25-28 C, which in the UK is awesome. This is like real summer weather. In weather like this, many folk waltz around scantily dressed and drink too much beer. Not me, oh no! I took the opportunity to cycle the TTT 20 route again. This lap was awesome. Not only was the weather much improved, but I completed this lap in my quickest time yet - 1 hour and 7 minutes! Woo hoo! SJ meanwhile attended some pilates class.

This will be my last blog for a few weeks now as SJ and I are having a break. That's not to say I've given up on the exercise front, just sharing a different kind of adventure with the wife for a while. Still have many plans for this year ahead, including a half marathon, a 300 and 600k audax, a bike packing adventure, maybe a duathlon and maybe a mud run. Lots to blog about - watch this space. :)


Weekly totals: Cycled 40 miles.

Dinosaurs

Think my body was some-what tired from recent activities (Brevet Cyrmu and Cheltenham The Vale audax's). This coupled with some running activities this week with SJ led to some seriously wonky headspace. Why do I become delusional when exhausted? And why do dinosaurs keep following me?

First activity this week saw me return to running. SJ and I ran the extended Studley triangle. Running really is not my thing and boy I was whacked at the end of it. I needed the following day to recover whilst SJ went to some pilates class.


Midweek was such a lovely day and both SJ and I were off work. Bonus! We took advantage of this weather and went for another run. Cody came with us this time too and we ran the Handlebar Route. Our first road run was hard (having not run in ages) and this off-road run was ridiculously hard too. In the short time I had stopped running, the grass had decided to grow. We all had to really pick our feet up to run over this over grown grass, never mind dodging the sheep poo (Cody trying to eat it just to clear a path for us)! Nice bath when we returned home.

The rest of the week just got worse. Didn't run any more and didn't sit on a bike saddle at all! No cycling took place at all this week. Finished the week with a game of badminton with the wife. The voices in my head told me to let her win and so I did. Final score Doo 2 - SJ 4. Grr!


Weekly totals: Ran 7.1 miles.

Cheltenham The Vale 100 (Permanent audax)

On Friday I completed another permanent audax. This was 'Cheltenham The Vale 100' audax and was a 100k (108k to be precise) ride, as the name suggests. Although this audax scored no AUK points and no AAA points, it was still a great ride that felt a longer distance than it was and sure enough contained a few  climbs. I completed this audax using Florence - my single speed bike. This was the first time I had ever cycled Florence on a route over 20 miles and the first audax completed without using a geared bike.


I did not start the route in Cheltenham, as suggested. Instead I started from the Alcester control. This control was chosen as it was only 4 miles from my house and prevented me having to leave any carbon foot print as I cycled to the start. It felt strange doing such a planned distance on a bike without a speedometer, gears and saddle bag. The 4 miles to the start were no real bother except it was raining just a little. I used a garage in Alcester as my first control and brought a fudge (using receipt) as proof of start.


The route followed beautiful country lanes almost from the start and skirted through Haselor where I often venture. Once out of Haselor I encountered the first hill, Croft Lane, heading towards Temple Grafton. This climb was only short but it was real steep, especially when using a single geared bike. I gritted my teeth and made the climb! Could feel my heart beating and pounding in my chest cavity. Lovely country lanes continued to take me down some super descents and eventually I hit Bidford, the second control. This was an information control (where I had to answer a question as proof of my passage). For those interested, the Bulls Head is the name of the pub next to the Post Office.  I was not tempted with a beer, so on I rolled. I went past the 'pikey caravan' that SJ, Cody and I found last week, so my thoughts were with them for a while. A nice long road took me through Honeybourne and into Broadway. I passed Saintbury and Fish Hill and managed to resist the temptation of climbing both these hills! I did not want to stop in Broadway and used the (optional) information control instead. Am sure the Horse & Hound pub on the High Street offer a very nice beer, but on I pushed.


From Broadway I set off off for Stanton and Stanway. These were 2 places I had not visited before. Very posh area, full of huge sand stone mansions, large grounds and the likes. These villages were quite nicely hidden away (off the main road to Winchcombe) and were stunning. A short steep climb was raced up to reach a war memorial where I hoped to answer the information control question. Unfortunately, the inscriptions on the memorial were too faded to read and I could not name the 3 countries. However, the information control gave a choice of questions to answer! I had to re-trace back down the hill (grr!) to the Church and take a look at the memorial seat. The memorial seat was remembering Frank Hughes, the Hon. Secretary, Stanway Flower Show! Amazing what one can learn on an audax trip. Re-climbed short steep hill and headed for Didbrook. A farmer stopped me here and said I shouldn't carry on as the road was blocked by a big flood about 2 feet deep and I would certainly get wet feet. I continued and found the farmer was right (see pic below). The farmer kindly told me an alternative way to rejoin the B4632 so I could continue my journey into Winchcombe, which was the next information control. The George pub opposite North Street was not yet open for food.

Left Winchcombe and headed for Cheltenham. This audax was advertised as 'fairly flat'. There was nothing fairly flat about Cleeve Hill at all. I think I have climbed this hill using all my other bikes and stopped to take a photo against the Winchcombe sign. Although not necessary, I took a photo of Florence against said sign too. This sign was towards the base of the hill. Gritting my teeth I started this climb and continued gritting until I made it to the top! Woo hoo, I conquered Cleeve Hill on a single speed bike! Okay, so I climbed the easier slope up Cleeve Hill (alternate anti-clockwise achieves the steeper approach) but so what?! I was then treated to a ring twitching descent all the way into Cheltenham, the next control. I purchased a bottle of water from a newsagents for my control proof. SJ and I visited the area I was now in just before PBP and purchased my Carradice bag.

Left Cheltenham and followed roads to Bredon. Before reaching Bredon my phone died (hence was no longer able to track my route by GPS) but not before I was able to send SJ a text. I passed an MOD building and could see loads of military vehicles cramming ware house like premises through open cracks in the doors. For a moment I questioned my security. Reached Pershore and purchased some peanut M&M's as control proof. I remembered how these M&M's had been a saving grace for Paul D on the Brevet Cymru audax last week!


Got lost leaving Pershore. I blame the event organiser (sorry Steve Poulton), as the route sheet stated 'leave Pershore SP Worcester'. It should have read 'leave Pershore SP Evesham'! I think I added an additional 10k making this error and the whole time I was in opposing direction had this feeling of 'this ain't right'. A fruit and vegetable store confirmed the error and put me back on track. Cycled new paths to Inkberrow passing through Pinvin, Naunton Beauchamp and Abberton. Stinkberrow (as I like to call it, because I'm silly) was the last information control. The Inkberrow sign clearly stated that it was twinned with Bray Sur Somme. Now back on familiar roads, I raced to Alcester - the arrivee. I used the same garage as control point and brought a chocolate bar for my proof receipt. I felt pleased to have completed this audax but was feeling a little whacked as I made my way home cycling a further 4 miles.


Once home, SJ noticed that I had sunburnt my legs. Oh the fun and dangers of audax cycling...


Official distance of audax was 107.4k but with my additional start and finish point (plus getting lost), I cycled more like 130k (80 miles).

Half marathon madness / Brevet Cymru 2012

My dear wife SJ is still buzzing after completing her London 2012 marathon. So much so, that she wants to run more. In a moment of madness I found her a hilly, off-road half marathon to run in July. Crazier still, I have decided to join her! I'm not sure I'm up for a full marathon, but surely 2 of us running a half equals a whole?! We will both have to train hard (at least I will) if we hope to complete our half marathon madness. Please help encourage us both both sponsoring us £1. We are raising money for a worth while charity that we gathered information about following a meeting we attended. To sponsor us please visit our page: www.myWJR.org.uk/halfmarathonmenace or simply text TTSJ55 £1 to 70070 from your mobile phone. Now what could be simpler than that?!


Took Scotty out for a spin on Tuesday in incredibly wet weather. It was raining hard for most of the day and had been raining hard for days. I went up to Astwood Bank and followed part of the TROAD route (in reverse) till I reached some off-road trail which was essentially a track full of big puddles. Following this, I made my way to Astwood Bank again by cycling up Dog Butt Lane and then across naughty fields. These fields were where Ron and I cycled last week and 'played' around this big bomb crater type dip in the side of a hill. I had the fear a little last week and wanted to play here some more. The bad weather prevented this though as wind had brought down big chunks of tree filling much of the crater. I continued off-road all the way to Alcester passing a single wild deer on route. This deer was awesome and I saw it jump a barb wired fence in style! Continued to cycle until I reached the start/end of that path that leads to/from Coughton Ford and headed to Mutton Lodge instead taking on more off road tracks. These tracks turned into rivers (due to the heavy rain) which made cycling difficult but fun. Came out not far from the Alcester Road and cycled home a wet dripping psycholist!


Took Scotty out again on Wednesday with Ron. Ron took me to some new paths (route of absolute horror) which were composed of hard to climb muddy hills and stinger menace but also nice lengthy cross country tracks. These tracks came out close to where I cycled the day before, so we repeated some of yesterdays route only in reverse. Still very wet and muddy and fun!


Saturday saw me complete my second 400k audax event - the Brevet Cymru. I completed the same event last year as a qualifying event for the PBP. I got lost last year and wanted to cycle this event correctly, believing that it passed through that place in Wales with the longest place name.


Alarm was set for 3.30 a.m. When the clock struck this silly hour, I hastily got ready, kissed my wife goodbye and drove down to Chepstow to meet up with another 40 odd cyclists ready to start this challenge. With only 15 minutes to 'kick off', I did well to set my bike up and get ready to go.


The first stage went from Chepstow to Hay-on-Wye. Was a relatively nice stage really, the weather was ok and a lot better than previous days where it had rained so heavy. For a while I was at the rear end of group of cyclists just happy to draft along. Not sure if folk had started off too strong/fast but even drafting was an effort. It took me about 40k to find my legs and start cycling more comfortably. My thoughts went to thinking about my buddy 'Clive the Doc' as I whizzed down a lovely descent past Tintern Abbey. The first time I ever sped down this ring twitching descent was with Clive during LEJOG 2009. Clive had hooked up with some 2012 LEJOG folk and cycled this same descent yesterday if my facts are right. Nice one Clive and good luck LEJOG folk! Clive missed out on a better descent a bit further along on the audax I was cycling. Felt fine by the time I reached the control. The control didn't feel like a real control, as Mark Rigby (event organiser) would stamp our brevet cards outside in a car park. (I am more used to eating beans on toast inside a cafe and using the receipt as proof of passage). Last year, being a 400k virgin, I remember copying the tactics of others and essentially 'bounced' this control, that is 'did not stop' here, but pressed on (instead of finding a cafe, having a rest and a bite to eat). This year I did the same (well, I did sit on a wall for a couple of minutes and tucked into some malt loaf and ate an apple from my back pocket). Funny thing was, the guy whose tactics I copied last year, rocked up at this control just seconds after me. I said 'Hi, I remember you from last year' (or words to that effect) and later in this adventure found out that this guy was called Paul.


Stage 2 led all the way to Llandovery. Post audax and my head space always goes a bit wonky, so errors and omissions are likely to occur in this, my story. Anyways, during this stage I was chased for a while by a guy called 'Veloman'. Velo was a nice guy and he informed me that this was his second 400k and that he had completed the PBP last year too. We spoke a whole bunch of cycle related stuff and this helped the miles pass without me noticing aches and pains. For stretches Velo would pull and I would draft then we would swap over. If truth be known, I struggled a little with my turns to pull but felt it only fair. So great it is when someone is blocking a head wind for you. Lost Velo not far from the control, he had stopped to buy some energy drink (maybe he felt his pulling stretches hard too?!). The control was nice and it was here that I ate my proper audax food - beans on toast! I added an egg for good measure and washed this down with a cup of tea.


Stage 3 was kinda new to me. I had gotten lost here last year and missed much of it out and added about 30k to my distance! This year I paid more attention. This section was hilly in parts and am not sure if my 2011 version was a better alternative after all! Ha! Felt like I was playing 'whacky racers' or 'cat and mouse' during this stage as a couple of cyclists would catch me and overtake. Then they would stop further ahead (to eat or pee) and I would overtake them. And then they would catch and overtake me. Repeat. I don't re-call their names (sorry chaps) but the one guy had a bike much like mine (a 2009 Cayo Focus) and the other had a pink jacket (haha, is funny what you remember). For sake of this write up I will refer to them as Mr Cayo and Mr Pink. This pair were stronger than me, but I reached the next control before them. The control was in Tregaron. Last year I was served to the best butternut squash soup in the world, this year it was leek. The leek soup was okay, but no where near as nice as the butternut. Gutted! I was hanging out for this soup. Oh, (just remembered) I thought this stage passed through that place in Wales with the longest place name but it doesn't! Why on earth did I have that belief. That was why I was so upset last year for getting lost. I still want a picture of my bike against the back drop of the longest place name in wales! I'm a psycholist you see!

Just started out on stage 4 to Newquay and realised I did a usual 'Doo trick' - I forgot my glasses! Grr! Even though I was only about 1k out I didn't want to turn back. I was chasing Mr Cayo and Mr Pink (not known to them). I don't think I caught them, they were too strong for me. I remember the gap getting ever bigger between us when we hit this one particular climb and then they were really out of sight. Is nice having 'something' to chase, until it disappears! Must have suffered a bit here as my memory goes a bit fuzzy but remember reaching control in the company of a few other cyclists. I guess I must have been caught by a bunch. The final few k to the control were awesome as the sea could be soon and it's just such a pretty sight. Have always liked the coast, and the promenade to Newquay was no exception. I remember feeling a bit sick at this point last year and out of sorts. I was feeling okay this time around and remembering the big hill immediately after the control! With big hills in mind I only ate a small portion. this portion was cheesecake and man, it was delicious! Velo rocked up at this control just before I left and he had my glasses with him! How cool was that?! Velo means love, and it was lovely to be re-united with my glasses.

Stage 5 took us back to Llandovery, but a different way back to the way I had just cycled. Not sure how, but I cycled most of this stage as a double act with Paul, the guy I referred to earlier. Paul was such a nice guy and offered great company. We spoke about all sorts of bike related stuff and he seemed to know this audax inside out (had cycled it many times). I felt I was slowing Paul down but he was happy to cycle alongside all the same. He spoke about how great the West End Cafe was (the control), and how awesome it is that they stay open just for us audax cyclists on the return leg. (Despite stopping there on 2 occasions last year, I didn't realise it was the same cafe!) The thought of food, I'm sure, kept us both happily cycling to said control. If my memory serves me right, we climbed a big hill where Paul suggested we stop at the top. We stopped at the top as Paul knew that a big long descent followed to the control and suggested we put on jackets to keep warm. Perfect advice! It was here that I witnessed a guy climb this ascent on a fixed gear bike! (He was to complete the whole event on a fixed!) This control really was great too. Not only was I able to eat (baked potato on this occasion) but I was able to change into some warmer cycling gear. It was getting dark now and frost had been forecast. I put on some silk socks with my merino wool socks on top, and shoes with shoe-covers on top of that! I also added my silk vest and had an additional buff around my neck.


Stage 6 led to Bwlch. I thought this was pronounced 'belch', but it isn't, it's pronounced 'bulk'. This section was cycled in the dark. Paul was my companion again and kept me amused for the duration. It was cold now and I was glad of my extra layers. Last year I cycled through the town, this time we cycled around the by-pass. Less drunks were encountered by cycling this way around. However, we did appear to be stalked by a random ambulance. Last year my lights failed. This year I took precautions - I took my Ay-Up mountain bike lights. These lights were great for lighting my path but would blind Paul every time he looked my way. My rear light failed and i didn't have batteries (will I ever learn). Luckily Paul was carrying a spare and urged me to borrow it - stating that seeing me squished would not make this the best audax he had ridden (paraphrased). Before long we were at Bwlch. The Bwlch control was great too. One could sleep here (and so I did last year). Free food was offered here - soup or pie and custard (or both). I opted for soup because I don't like custard. Paul opted for custard because he was convinced it contained EPO (even though he is not a fan of custard either). After fuelling up, we both left for the final 50 or so kilometres.


This final stage, obviously, led back to Chepstow. Paul initially wasn't feeling so great and we stopped a few times for a chemical fix (pro plus or caffeine energy gels). These stops did little for Paul and he would keep shaking his head to stay awake. I tried to keep talking (mostly nonsense) in attempts to keep him awake. Paul spent a good while describing suitable benches and buss shelters suitable for audax cyclists to have a quick sleep on or in during this audax (he should write a book). One such bench was located with less than 20k to go. Paul felt he must stop for 15 minutes and close his eyes so we said goodbye and I continued into the dark by myself. Wasn't long at all until chased and caught red lights ahead. These lights were going up the final hill of the event. This hill went on and on but I felt okay climbing it and would pass the odd cyclist who had stopped for a breather. Just as I had neared the summit, whoosh, Paul came and overtook me! He said the sounds of someone puking near 'his bench' had put him off staying there any longer and (more importantly) he had found his bag of peanut M&M's that gave him the fix he needed! We both reached the summit and flew over the other side speeding down a nice lengthy descent pretty much all the way to the arrivee! Woo hoo! Nailed this audax for a 2nd time!


Weekly totals: Cycled 287 miles.