Mad Goose / Menace Mechanical / Oxduro 18 (in 2019)

Cycling the Oxduro18 (in 2019)

 Crazy, mad and nuts cycling over the past week. Lots to shout and blog about. Oh the joys!

First crazy event was the 2nd 2019 Stage of the Mad Goose Chase courtesy of purity brewery. SJ (can you believe it?) and I cycled from our home along country lanes to reach the brewery on a perfect summer like evening. This was SJ's first ride in ages on her 'new' bike. I think she was a little cautious  initially. Once at the tap house we had a celebratory pint. Session IPA was my drink of choice. We chatted amongst ourselves and then with other cycling folk and had a nice evening. My burger was amazing. As if things couldn't getter better they did - the chap serving the burgers gave me an extra burger free and said I could have 2 pints 'on him, free'. I love Purity brewery. SJ's cycling improved big time on the way home and she raced me up the hills. How nuts!

Second adventure was with Roger and his tandem. This was largely a day of mis-hap. First bit of menace struck as I cycled my own bike on route to Rogers. Yup, the pixie pest visited and flattened my tyre. Once tube was replaced, I started off again heading for Roger's and then the heaves opened and a deer ran out in front of me (luckily for us both, he wasn't hit).

Things didn't improve much once Roger and I were cycling his tandem. About 5 minutes into our ride we had cycled down a bridleway when I started to hear a concerning noise. Looking behind me I saw what initially looked like a rear mech being dragged behind. On closer inspection it was a disc brake calliper. We decided to get this fixed, so aborted our initial plans and headed for Northfield Cycles. Bike shop soon replaced the missing bolts and secured same with some wax solution to keep in place.

Misfortune appeared once more as Roger and I took a right (which should have been a left) and we ended up 'off the beaten track'. It rained a little more too. No worries, we eventually ended up at Priory Cafe and had the largest breakfast imaginable. All is well that ends well. Sure enough, the remainder of this adventure was all good and I cycled back to Rogers and then home with no further mis-hap mechanical menace.

'Eleven' outside the Radcliffe Camera

Third adventure was mighty fine. This saw me complete the OxDURO event (see The Racing Collective) which is described as a self-supported no frills road-gravel ride considered to be a gentle gateway into the national XDURO trials. I cycled this 'Doo style' (un-officially) as am attending 2 birthday parties on the 8th June 2019 when the official event is being held. I also cycled the 2018 route as opposed to the 2019 route as this had not as yet been published. My bike of choice was 'Eleven', my x-trail bike which I had fitted with 37mm tyres. I cycled from Pear Tree services in Oxford to the Radcliffe Camera which was the official start.

OxDURO 18 (in 2019) 'Doo style'

The whole route (with my added distance to and from the services) was just short of 150k. In total there was 9 off-road sections, totalling about 50k. It felt like half my time was off-road. (The 'real' event is a race ran in XDURO format - that is 5 timed segments of gravel and road. The idea is that the non-timed segments provide time for socialising. The cyclist with the lowest aggregate time over the segments wins. Oh, and wins 'nothing' for those that are interested).

Despite being advertised as a 'no frills' ride it had frills and spills aplenty! So much different terrain and spectacular views was the frills. My spill came not long after cycling up Uffington Hill (and past the Uffington White Horse). I was cycling a chalk track (pictured above) and moved 'lanes' to let a passing mtb'er past when suddenly I went head over heels. How embarrassing, I had just passed a group of like 15 school kids and wham, bang, had gone down. Everyone was asking if I was OK and some said they had first aid kits. Even the mtb'er retrieved my water bottles and placed them back in the cage. When I stood up, I looked like a ghost - I was covered in chalk all over and my bike was too. My bike suffered a nasty scratch on the top tube and the brake lever was bent in. I had road rash (covered in chalk) but was otherwise OK. I sped off ASAP and tried to hide my embarrassment.

Chalky menace

So many ups and downs. Frills and spills. My average speed was 19.3km/h but I reached a maximum speed of 71.6 km/h. 

A scenic stop point

So many different surfaces - chalk, mud, gravel and road. I would tend to have a quick break every 30k just to have a stretch and a bite to eat.

A folly

At often points in the ride there was something nice to see. Nice views (though a bit misty today). Passed lots of lovely looking churches and many folly's like the one above.

Most tracks were great and relatively easy to follow. Am pleased to report that the whole route was cycleable with no hike-a-bike sections. I rate this ride a lot and prefer it to the CotsDURO. 

The odd track was not so great and proved harder to follow. The track pictured above was a menace - it was overgrown and littered with stingers. Thankfully this track was not too long and towards the end of the ride. 

The end of the official route finished at Isis Farmhouse. Not a farmhouse at all but a pub. Rewarded myself with a nice pint of cider for completing the ride. Aces. A further 8k or so took me back to my car.

Some say bad luck comes in 3's. I'm not superstitious and think this blog post demonstrates misfortune can come in clusters greater than 3. Also, 3 can be rather wonderful just like my adventures recounted here!

May PAM and a new BMX, wham!

No major adventuring of late. No cycling, wild camping or major happenings to shout about. Hoping to adventure soon.

However, managed to complete my May PAM (ParkRun-a-Month) which pleased me a little. Not having run or cycled much of late and being rather taken with food and fluids, I did not expect a great time. Surprisingly and pleasingly, I completed my 24th ParkRun with a time of 22:49 which was just 10 seconds slower than my fastest time this year. I finished 56th out of 468 runners. I'm sure I saw my cousin-in-law (Jas) on the start line too. My PB remains 21:39 and I would love to beat this time.

My dear wife SJ was given new wheels for her rather funky bike. Better yet, she was given a Kask Mojito helmet too. Let's hope the future see's us cycling a few rides together.

SJ's horse and lid

I had recently purchased a new helmet - a Specialized Align, after my Giro Skyline had died. The Specialized lid was super comfy (and cheap at £30) but folk would laugh at me and say I looked like a Star Wars character. Lin and SJ took pity on me and helped 'fund raise' so I was able to get a new, really funky cycling helmet. My new lid is a Kask Mojito X. The Kask is super light and looks way better.

Specialized Align

Kask Mojito X

Not only did I get a new lid, I acquired a new bike! Oh yes indeed! My neighbours had slung out some old bicycles for trash, one of which was a Raleigh Super Burner BMX. My neighbours trash was my treasure! Only my treasure was stolen by Lin... Lin plans to refurbish my new/old BMX into a working machine which I hope my daughters will enjoy. Aces.

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

A Raleigh Super Burner BMX

Holidaze; April PAM and BAM

Mighty Adventurers (Charlotte, Melody, Doo, Lunar and Jessica)

What an awesome week I've had. A week away from work! Lot's of cycling, running and adventure - just felt compelled to blog about it.

The very first day of the week began with both a run and a cycle. It's been a while since I ever did that sort of 'brick' nonsense. I guess I'm not really a triathlete anymore. Our friends (Dave and Joanna) visited today too and it was nice spending a day with family and friends.

Tuesday was a family day spent at Hanbury Hall. This was a really nice National Trust site where we enjoyed a walk, lunch and visit to the nearby church. Our friend Anna and her rug-rats spent the day with us too. Have cycled past this church so many times but this was the first venture actually inside it. Lunar, Jessica and I also found a secret tomb which was pretty ace. Not long after the below pics were taken, I stretched my legs a little too far and my trouser fly split. What a day!

Out of our Tree (Lunar, Charlotte, Jessica and Melody)

My Family (Lunar, Doo, SJ and Melody)

Wednesday was a lovely sunny day. Took my kids for a nice walk over the Studley fields and we visited the church at the bottom. Bonus - the church was actually open (is usually closed) so my kids were able to wander inside for the first time. My wife joined us shortly after and how great to spend the day as a family again.

You can lead a sheep to water..

Glad they look happier at Sunday School

Forward...

...and back.

Later in the day we cooked outdoors using our new camp cooker and I have to say it's awesome. Sausage and steak for me! After a lovely lunch, tea followed not long after and that was a tasty pizza. Evening came and that meant a cycle and a stop at Purity brewery (and The Lark).

The naked chef (am naked under my clothes)

Ron and Doo at Purity. Cheers!

Felt a tad rough when I awoke Thursday morning. Only one thing for it - a cycle and a run. Cycled to Hanbury Church again and re-remembered Monday's adventure. Saw a 'nest' of ladybugs which completely blew my mind - had never seen anything like that before. I actually saw a 'loveliness' of ladybugs, as that is what a group of the bugs are called. How lovely. My run was over the fields near my home and oh man, the pollen could be smelt in the air. Hay fever menace!

A loveliness of ladybugs

Caught up with my blind buddy Roger on Friday. We cycled to Hanbury (my 3rd visit this week) on his tandem and back. As usual we stopped for a tasty breakfast. So sunny today, spent the afternoon in the garden with my family. They made mud cakes and enjoyed a splash in the paddling pool. I cleaned my bike and enjoyed a beer with my wife (I had not forgotten SJ on my Purity trip and purchased these bottles for her whilst there). My dad rocked up too and informed me he had cleaned my car - bless him.

The Beast and Roger

Daddy's little helper

Saturday saw me complete my PAM (ParkRun-a-Month) for April. I was disappointed with my time of 23:12 as I was slowly improving month by month this year, with last months run being 22:39. I guess the excess of food and beer did not help. This was my 23rd ParkRun to date and I finished 73/460. My fastest ParkRun time remains 21:39.

Following the ParkRun, I went on an Easter walk with my Ecclesia. We must have walked about 5k on this beautifully sunny day. My daughter Lunar walked with me and we both found a hidden tunnel - bonus!

Lunar the tunnel dweller!

After our walk, we met up with other folk from my Ecclesia and had a great lunch at the Bennett's. Nice to fraternise (and have a few winks in the garden) before SJ took me for a hot pod yoga session. Don't think I could have fitted much more into this day.

April BAM

Finished the week by running a further 5k and completing April's BAM (bivvy-a-month) challenge. Ron randomly asked if I fancied a wild camp. Of course I did! We cycled to a secret destination which we previously dubbed 'The Cart Woods'. (Secret destination coordinates were flexibly.victor.gracing).

After pitching camp (bivvy for me, tent for Ron) we got down to some cooking. Sausage and beans - delicious. I renamed the woods the 'A La Carte Woods'. Ha! This delicious meal was washed down with some miniature whiskeys - one was 16 years old (I think) and very nice, it was a Tomintoul delight. The other was a Glenfiddich and not quite so nice.

The whiskey helped us settle down for the night. The sky was beautiful and starry, however, the moon could not be seen. Not until 3 a.m. anyway, then a bright (nearly full) moon shone. This was the Pink Moon and how great to camp out beneath it.

My feet were pointing South

Got a tad cold in the night but was on the whole ok. I thought the  night was going to be warmer than it was (guess it's not quite summer yet). Real nice to see the sun rise in the morning (and indicate which direction we were facing). Chuckled when morning light came that we managed to pitch camp in the dark (and reflected on the many stinging nettles that stung my fingers). A quick porridge and a cup of tea before dismantling camp and returning home to my family.

What an awesome week. Had some much fun and wham, completed a PAM and a BAM! Work definitely gets in the way of adventure!

#transengland19 - a (mis)adventure Macadoo style

The Racing Collective is a rather funky website that contains a whole bunch of cycling events in the spirit of adventure. An event entitled #transengland19 was one such event that caught my eye. The only problem was that I was working whilst this event was being held...

Discussed #transengland19 with my buddy Jamie and a plan was born. We would cycle this event 'Macadoo' style. Basically, we would ride the event, pinching another's route and cycle it when we were able (which turned out to be just 6 days after the 'official start).

Ready to start (only 6 days late)

Our planned adventure was basically a coast to coast (CTC) adventure that started in Morecambe and finished in Scarborough. A 299k jaunt with about 4,500m of climbing and taking in the delights of the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. (Thanks, well kinda, to Big Al from RidewithGPS). What could possibly go wrong? Instructions were simple - get to the start, follow 5 checkpoints and finish - tweeting a time-stamped photo at each point. Simple, hmmm...

Prologue, Studley - B'ham New St (29k)

Jamie, at platform 6 3/4

Getting to the start was simple enough. Cycled from home to Birmingham New St. Met with my buddy Jamie and caught the train to Morecambe. After a quick stop at Aldi (for water, emergency pasty and Titan choice bar) headed to the Morecambe Pier and tweeted obligatory start photo.

Morecambe Station - Morecambe Pier (1k)

Obligatory start photo

De-Ja Vu feeling at the start, as Jamie and I had been here before. Memories of our Way of the Roses (coast to coast to coast) trip with Toll came flooding back into my head as well as my Trans-Pennine Trail (coast to coast) solo adventure too. Oh, what would this adventure hold?

Well, the first 30k to checkpoint 1 went smoothly. Sure it was dark, and hilly, and cold and windy too - all that we were expecting. Everything was feeling kinda ok and as it should. We were both feeling the climbs and slowly losing feeling in our cold toes and fingers. It was nice to reach the checkpoint (St Huberts RC Church). We stopped and ate our emergency pasty's. It was so cold, we both max layered up - Jamie was given my spare silk socks as he hadn't brought shoe covers with him. This was maybe the start of mis-hap?! Further menace was the fact that my helmet had died. The strap mechanism 'thing' had snapped on both sides and it wouldn't fit snugly round my head. Fixed the helmet (well, Jamie did) by using zip-ties to attach it securely to my head.

Checkpoint 1

Leaving this checkpoint we shivered, but not for too long as the ascents soon warmed us up. The welcome descents would re-freeze us and this pattern continued for a while. After a spell Jamie informed that we had gone off-route. I didn't believe him as my Garmin was following a breadcrumb trail just fine indicating all was well. Jamie's lights were playing up and perhaps his Garmin was too. Not too far into the ride and we were both feeling sleepy. As fortune would have it, we spotted a McDonalds just off route. Perfect place for a fuel!

A secret checkpoint

Perfect place for a warm too. And a sleep. Jamie was soon counting sheep! What wasn't so great was the fact that we realised it was my Garmin that had played up and we had gotten a good 25k off route. Not sure what happened to my Garmin - this Edge 1000 had not played up before. Why was my Garmin sending us toward Sheffield?! We figured if we double backed to where we had started going wrong that would add like 50k to our route. Hmmm, heading for Checkpoints 2 and 3 now would add serious time and mileage. We decided we would head for checkpoint 4 which was St Nicholas Church in Barnsdale. A Google search wasn't too fruitful, however, we thought we found the postcode to said church which was roughly in the York direction. We slept on our decision making and when awake again we had breakfast! Ooh, we dove love a Maccy D's!

On track for the first 30k!

Our plan seemed quite ace initially - we were cycling some great hills and roads. So beautiful, it reminded us both of Ireland. After a while though, the hills disappeared and A roads made an appearance. Much of our cycling was relatively flat which was ok on the nice greenways but not so fine on the busy roads. A real mixed bag of cycling. Oh well, we thought, soon be back on track. When we eventually reached St Nicholas Church, we were well aware that it was not checkpoint 4. Oh no, we had cycled to a bogus checkpoint.

Not checkpoint 4!

Plans would have to change again. We were miles off route and getting back on track to head to checkpoint 5 was not going to be an option. Damn, blast, no Robin's Hood Bay beach for us. Despite all may coast to coast trips, I have never been to Robins Hood Bay. Another adventure perhaps. With so much chaos in my headspace, only one thing for it - a few more winks (not the first time I have slept in a church).

After wakening, our decided mater plan was to reach the finish in Scarborough. 60k of mostly A road (but inter-mingled country roads and cycleway) took us right into Scarborough. At times we stopped for feeding. The most notable feed was my Indonesian (I think) pizza and Jamie's partisan (?) chicken thing. Jamie seemed to pick up speed on this final leg and it felt like a zoomy race to the finish. When in Scarborough, it proved difficult to spot the pier. I asked a lady for directions who replied 'I'm not listening to you' - how rude! The loud sounds from the many amusements and the beach gave it away. Aces, we had found the finish and took an obligatory finish photo of the 'Divng Belle' to prove we had completed the #transengland19 race! Aces. Yeah, so we finished late (and last) and only ticked off one checkpoint but finish we did (a number of other racers scratched) and completed another CTC adventure.

Doo completes the #transengland19 race!

Jamie (Mac) also complete the #transengland19 race!

Tweeted my finish photo and lo and behold, The Racing Collective 'liked' my Tweet. Proof in the pudding and all that. Ha! What a (mis)adventure!

#transengland19 (251k, 3,135m of climbing)

Part of our plan was to wild camp at the finish. It was cold (freezing, I think) and Jamie decided we could make further changes to our plan and booked us into a Travelodge! I guess we had finished the race and were at liberty to do what we liked!

Finish to Travelodge and then to train station (3k)

Oh man, we slept well at the Travelodge. Jamie would have shared the big bed, but I chose to sleep on the floor as I wanted to test out my new (kindly replaced) Alpkit air mat. We both slept well and how great it was to have a decent sleep.

Farewell Scarborough

In the morning, we had a further McDonald's and then boarded a train back to Birmingham. From New St we both cycled to our prospective homes. What an adventure!

29k and back in my home village

Felt much warmer being back in the South. Was nice being reunited with the family. Awesome to eat like an animal and have a great nights sleep. And, fun to plan my next adventure...

Change

It's been a wee while since I last posted a blog update. So much so, I was a year younger when I posted last. Oh man, I'm sure the ageing process slows us all down.

Interesting that 2 of my birthday cards had chameleons on the front. Were folk telling me that I needed to change? Well, on reflection, there's a whole bunch of stuff I need to change. Maybe I should change my job as it's a menace and quite a stress at times. Guess I should have changed the rotation of the picture above. Still quite a porker, diet needs to change. My mojo comes and goes - that definitely needs to change too. Then again, perhaps the only thing that really needs to change is my mindset?!

Should I be the very best at anything, why would I want to change? Ha! I'm not that narcissistic and don't really believe that I'm the best at anything. Except, what I do know for sure though is that I am best at being me.

Since I posted last, I have done little in the way of exercise or adventure. Sure I ran a little and cycled the odd commute or jolly but nothing super adventurous. My new shoes (Nike Downshifer 8) appear just fine - they are light, relatively comfy and as mentioned before cheap. I also got a new running belt too - a Rokman running belt. This belt is aces and has a super slim and sleek design, 2 super expandable pockets (which easily fit my big bulky bunch of keys and iPhone and it's water resistant too). 

Hope I don't get the runs!

If I'm to make any real change at all, it will be that I will look for more adventure. I don't have to look too far ahead either - I have a CTC ride planned next week! Oh the joys!