Mad month of March

March is my birthday month. Much madness happens in March. Maybe that explains why I'm so mad. This mad month of March was also the month that I was gifted with my medal and running shirt for completing my 2nd 'Retro Run' for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. This was specifically the '00's Retro Run' where I ran a whopping 10k.

Anyways, among the mad adventures I had in March were numerous Zwift cycles, a couple of work commutes, a tandem jolly, the 'Faux Drop', the 'Mad March Hare', a Newsletter dash, the 'Mad Summer Hare' and a few runs and walks with family members and Ernie dawg. Hard to believe Covid and the lockdown still exist with all this fun.

A bridge without a troll on my commute

Felt kinda weird commuting to work just because I hadn't done so for so long. I took quite leisurely routes to work and cycled some new ground (sometimes ending at a dead end). Small sections of my route were off road too. Was nice to 'read' once more again too - I was listening to audio books whilst I cycled.

Was super nice to cycle with Roger on a tandem jolly. The Phantom joined us too and was great cycling as a trio. I'm guessing this wasn't against the current Covid rules - as only 2 bikes were out together?! 

The Alpkit bag did not like being mounted on the seat tube

The Phantom and I decided we would cycle a rendition of the classic 'Snow Drop' audax route, that Jamie dubbed the 'Faux Drop'. The Snow Drop is a lovely audax that I like to cycle each year - it wasn't running this year due to Covid. Cycling our own version of the event allowed us to start from home which was great and cycle 'Pig Hill' earlier into the ride. Our first stop was the awesome Whitlenge Tea Rooms but damn blast - all closed due to Covid.

The Phantom

One of the wonders of this Faux Drop was that we saw a herd of deer all lying down. I wondered if they were sleeping? I've never seen such a sight before and am sure I read somewhere that deer only sleep for 7 minutes a day?! Sounding so mad, I decided to Google it, and this is what I read: Deers never sleep. They have evolved a simple coping mechanism which means that they can stay awake 24 hours a day if needs be. However in times of high stress and long periods of alertness they occasionally sleep. This sleep pattern is so fast and efficient that 1 minute of deer sleep is the equivalent to 2 human sleep hours.

Upton provided a nice place to stop. We fuelled here on tasty pastries and sat on a bench enjoying the sun shine. Last time we cycled here we were cycling on major flooded roads. Crazy.

Following the awesome Faux Drop, I cycled another lovely route next day. This was the Mad March Hare, or at least my rendition of it. I didn't really know what to expect, not having cycled this one before. I had Garmin issues this day and hence my route didn't match the official - maybe have to cycle this another time. For whatever reason, once about 3/4 way around the course, my Garmin was just re-routing me and sending me home.

As predicted, much madness happened on this route. First off, there was the navigation issues. Then, I was looking for somewhere nice to purchase food stuffs in Welford, but only found a general stores. I purchases a lousy sandwich and crisps and sat down munching same wishing I had found a pasty shop or similar. Whilst munching, I spotted a couple of folk opposite drinking tea and eating pastries. D'oh, I had missed the butchers that sold said pastries. The most madness had to be the fact that I had put on my bib shorts inside out! How ridiculous. I wasn't expecting this route to go up Saintbury Hill, but it did, and so I decided to stop at St Nicholas Church and make sure my shorts were no longer outside in! 

A pretty roof in Welford

My return route took me back through Welford. This was ace because I was able to at last buy a cup of tea and a tasty pasty from the butcher's shop. All is well that ends well and this ride ended just swell.

One of my cycling jollies saw me post our newsletters for my ecclesia. I felt like a proper messenger, what with my fixie bike and messenger bag. Ha!

Amongst the many walks I undertook with Ernie was one that went to a secret wild camp spot from yester-year. This camp spot was now more of a quagmire. Ernie loved it!

Too add a wee bit more madness to the month, I also cycled the Mad Summer Hare (in this Spring season). This was a really hilly affair and Snows Hill, Saintbury Hill and Dovers Hill were all climbed plus another whose name I didn't catch. I had never cycled this event before but may well cycle again. My first stop came at around the 70k mark. I could smell a wonderful smell - the smell of cooked pasties and it belonged to Fladbury Pies and Sausages. I was most disappointed when I entered the shop - only a small selection of pies were on sale and all cold in a refrigerated counter. The steak and red wine pie would have gone down much better if hot.

My next stop was at the base of Dovers Hill. There is something nice about stopping at Church locations. Especially when they provide seating!

Heading for home, I stopped at a local store to top up on Vimto. Whilst in the store, I heard a voice calling my name. It was Lee - a fellow audaxer that I cycled the Giants Tooth 500 with. A small world indeed. The last thing that made me a little mad was that I stopped at the lovely butchers shop in Welford, just like I did on the Mad March Hare - only this time it was closed. Oh well, a great route none the less.

Ambitious or mad?!

This mad month also saw Jamie and I sign up for the Rapha Ambitious 220 event. Essentially, we are ambitiously cycling (at least) 220 miles over the weekend of 26-27 June 2021. We decided to enter this event as our plans to complete the TransAlba race have been shelved for a second year running (due to the Covid menace) and we wanted to do 'something else' relatively awesome. As part of the package we are hoping to raise £220 for the Ambitious about Autism, Autism West Midlands and Dogs for Autism charities. Please help us to reach this target by clicking this link here - imagine how awesome it would be if we reached our target. That really would be the dogs bark.

Ended the month with a cycle. In actual fact, a doubly whammy. Yup, cycled a short distance fixed and indoors. Farewell oh mad month of April!

The good, the bad and the what the Dickens

The good news I have to report is the fact that I've managed to complete another official run and an official cycle event too. The run was only a 10k affair. The cycle event, can you believe, saw me cycle outside!

The run I completed was the 00's Retro Run supporting the Roy Castle Lung Foundation. I didn't challenge myself too much and just entered for a 10k distance. I'm yet to receive my bling - a rather fancy medal and running top. Was great a few folk sponsored me and helped raise an additional £30 or so for this charity.

My cycle event was entitled 'THE (SOCIALLY) DISTANCE(D)'. This was a quirky event and suitably named during these Covid times. The organisers of this event basically sent out a task card (as pictured above) with a whole bunch of buzz words. Each rider would have to plan their own ride (no matter how short or far) using the Komoot cycling app and cycle same taking photo's of buzz words on the task card. The task card worked in a 'Blockbuster' style and boxes had to be connected by joining the blocks together in diagonal lines. Simples.

I cycled this event with Ron the Phantom and we used this ride to not only take snaps of the buzz words but to also post newsletters to members of our fellowship. What a great idea eh?! Ron made a such a wonderful photographer. To add a bit of further quirkiness to the ride, I decided to ride my super funky fixed bike.

Collecting the necessary photo's was a lot of fun. Cycling outdoors with Ron was also super fun. Other friends of ours were cycling this event too but we never saw them because we were socially distanced. We did however, bump randomly into people we knew. People of note were Brenda - she was just walking to her home after we had posted a newsletter and John C who had a surprise newsletter posted through his window. Ron's niece, (I forget her name), was the most random meet though. Ron was just talking about how super a cyclist his niece was and then, wham, bam, our wheels were facing hers! Bizarre!

Following the event, all the photo's were uploaded to Instagram with the @thedistance tagged and #thesociallydistanced in the post. Didn't include the photo of the 3 of us obviously and the 'Dogbut Lane' pic was omitted too. That would have made a great strange place name photo. The route we cycled was also uploaded to Komoot. Wonder if I'll win any prizes?

The bad news received this month was the very disturbing confirmation that the TransAlba race I was hoping to cycle this year (and last) had been postponed again - now scheduled to take place in 2022. Slightly frustrating! 

As February ended and March began, the Audax website advertised that entries for planned cycle rides were opening again. I've entered the 'Goats Head Soup', 'Brum 200' and 'The Kidderminster Killer'. What the Dickens?!👽

Jolly Jan into Fantastic Feb

Oh man, it's the end of January and will soon be February. England, like many other parts of the world is still suffering with a crazy Covid pandemic. Currently in a lockdown and trying my best to be jolly and optimistic...

On the training/challenge/exercise front, not much took place in January. Actually, that's not true. A lot of activity took place but it was all indoors. Yup, have turned into a bit of a recluse (just like the rest of the nation due to these 'lockdown' rules), however, have cycled lots indoors. I've really become quite an indoor cyclist and am very much enjoying Zwift. Despite all the indoor miles, I have not cycled outside once this year and have not ran at all - indoors or out. The rules don't prevent me from going outside, however, we're not allowed to exercise in groups and all exercise has to be local. The weather has been unkind too - lots of rain and snow. Thankfully, it does not rain indoors!

On my last indoor Zwift cycle in January, some kinda weird things happened. I was cycling with my mates Jonny, Steve, 'other' Steve, and Ron the Phantom. After so many K's, Steve complained that his 'turbo trainer felt lumpy'. He carried on cycling for a spell and then realized that his tube had deflated. Not so weird one might say, however, on same ride my chain snapped. Grr, I had 'won' a couple of sprints and put the power down in an attempt to win a third and snap, crash, game over - snapped chain. Hmm, I figured I must be becoming mighty (I wish). Just before I could start cursing, my daughter came running up to me and handed a parcel that had just been delivered. I opened the parcel and wow, it was a beautiful medal I had won for completing the Roy Castle 60's Retro Run (1/2 marathon) last year. Aces! Better yet, the parcel contained a really funky running shirt and buff. Maybe it's a sign that I should move my butt outdoors and start running and brave the conditions on my other bikes?

I have a feeling in my waters that February will be fantastic!

Happy New Year 2021! (So long, farewell 2020...)

Happy New Year! It's 2021! I wonder what's in store for all this year?! Whatever, I hope you all have a year that blows your socks off! (I know last year and the beginning of this have been described as 'naff' by the masses, however, I will attempt to add hope, humour and optimism).

2020 ended on a pretty good high for me, mostly because it ended - ha! I managed to complete the Rapha 500 challenge, exceeded my cycling distance goal for the year and completed a half-marathon during the Winter Solstice.

Every Winter since 2010, Rapha has held their 'Festive 500' challenge. This is a challenge to cycle 500k between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. I've completed this challenge a few times to date - 2013, 2014, 2015 and now 2020 too. Prior to 2020, Rapha awarded a rather fancy roundel for those who completed the challenge. The 2020 edition of this challenge was a bit naff to be fair - Rapha no longer award those finishing with a fancy roundel and 'virtual' rides were accepted. I was pleased I was able to complete this whole challenge virtually, however, it was hardly a challenge because of this. 500K outside in winter is challenging, indoors it's a whole lot easier, quicker and warmer. So sad not to get a roundel. On a brighter note though, I completed the challenge and my avatar on Zwift is now able to wear a Rapha Festive 500 jersey.

The 1/2 marathon I finished was a bit of a menace. It felt fine for the first 10k and felt painful for the remainder. It was a 'hard day's run' - ha! At least I raised a few quid for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. I'll be awarded with a rather fancy retro 6o's medal for completing this run which features a nice shiny yellow submarine.

I always like to reflect on my annual cycling and running distances at the end of a year and the beginning of another. Below is a list of my distances since I started recording same back in 2009. The distances are in km (followed by mile equivalents in brackets). Some of my 'big events' are high-lighted in red and may take you to an account of the event should you click (as it's a link).

2009 - 5,086 (3,160) LEJOG 2009

2010 - 8,509 (5,287) Paris to Geneva Cycle 2010/LEJOG 2010

2011 - 8,378 (5,207)   PBP 2011

2012 - 6,935 (4,309)

2013 - 12,498 (7,766) LEL 2013

2014 - 9,253 (5,750)

2015 - 5,531 (3,436) and Ran 1,170 (727)

2016 - 6,515 (4,048) and Ran 1,204 (748) Iron Man (Bolton) 2016/TNR 2016

2017 - 8,940 (5,555) and Ran 514 (319)

2018 - 10,958 (6,809) and Ran 417 (259) TransAtlantic Way Race 2018

2019 - 8,034 (4,992) and Ran 484 (301) Bivy-A-Month 2019

2020 - 10,082 (6,265) and Ran 466 (289)

So, all in all 2020 wasn't so bad. I managed to complete one goal and cycled over 10,000k, wahoo! Sadly, none of my over goals were completed and Covid 19 was the major reason why! Ok, I could have ran a further 24k and completed my running distance goal. I didn't bivvy-a-month, hmm, maybe I could have but the rules were 'stay at home'. No chance of completing a ParkRun each month as there was no Park Runs after March I think. My major planned event, the TransAlba Race was cancelled. So many Audax events were cancelled and hence there was no way of completing a Randonneur Round the Year. Oh man, 2020 really was a year of non-happenings.

Goals for this year? Is it worth making any with this Covid 19 still hanging about? Hmm. Let me make a few and see what happens. My goals for 2021 are as follows:

• Complete the TransAlba race. This is an event that was cancelled last year. Do I really want to cycle a 1,000 miles self-supported around Scotland and climb 50,000+ metres of climbing? You bet I do! Am hoping Mr McLeod joins me on this adventure too.
• Cycle 10,000k and run 500k by end of year.
• Enter a cyclo-cross event.
• Cycle around a velodrome.
• Cycle a Tron bike on Zwift. 

Perhaps I should challenge myself to be a better person? I'm sure if I try and produce 'fruit of the spirit', that would be beneficial. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Covid calamity continues into Dec 2020

Covid concerns continue. Much menace. Tier 3 restrictions currently in place where I live.

Hmm. Figured we could all do with a bit of cheering up and what better way than a reflection on past events. Yes, the past contains many adventures and I'd like to quickly share 3 past events. These are Zwift FTP, a Tour of the Black Country and a Wild Camp in December.

Ok, first off, FTP - Functional Threshold Power. I blogged about Zwift previously and reported that following a certain test I had a FTP score of 245 which I understood to be pretty average. I was pleased that it had increased from 220 though. Better yet, I recently entered a race on Zwift and my FTP had increased to 260. Not quite so pleased after realising I was disqualified from the race for cycling in the wrong category (had entered as category D and power suggests I should be C and had finished third until DQ).

The Tour of the Black Country is a great ride and to date have cycled this 3 times. My latest adventure was with Chris and Ron. This particular version was 20k longer than the previous times I had cycled. The things I remember most about this ride were the lovely chips we ate in or near Wolverhampton - they were orange and probably cooked in a different type of fat - most delicious they were (cheers Ron). The tough hill didn't prove to be as tough as I remembered, however, there were certainly more hills than I remembered. We cycled past a bridge which Ron's company had built. We all managed to cycle a lap of the Velodrome which was pretty cool too. Great day with great friends.

The last thing I'd like to bring back into mind is a lovely Wild Camp that happened one December. All my camps have been really rather wonderful and this one was no exception. On this occasion, Ron, Chris, Jamie, Rob and my good self all cycled to a new secret location (chosen by Ron). We quickly set about setting up camp. Ron, Jamie and I had hooped bivvy's, Chris a hammock and Rob just a regular bivvy.

As well as having different sleep set up's, we all had different bikes too. Ron and Rob were on mountain bikes, Jamie and I were on cross bikes and Chris was on a Brompton! Our collection of food was also varied too - we had sausages, eggs, bacon and burgers.

Apparently, it was only Ron who had award winning sausages! Ha! All the food tasted delicious to me. I think food always tastes better when someone else cooks it! 

The camp spot was home to many creatures and we heard the hoots of owls. We awoke to the scream of deers. The morning light allowed us to watch squirrels hopping from the tree branches above us. All rather magical.

On leaving the the camp spot, we only bumped into Tony. Y'know the 'window cleaner' and guy who helped teach Rob to drive all them years ago! It's a small world.

Hoping Covid does one and real soon. If not, just guess I'll have to reflect on past events some more...

Winnings, spinnings and trimmings...

Despite the major menace of Covid in recent times, life has been pretty good. It's always good to win, it's always good to spin and it's always good to have doses of adventure. I'm a happy boy.

SIKA have been very good to me. They sent me a lovely bottle of champers for being the Lantern Rouge in the SIKA virtual race 2020. Furthermore, they sent me a lovely gym towel just for taking part. Winner!

Have cycled quite a bit of late, mostly indoors and it's all been fun. Cycled to the top of Mt Ventoux only yesterday (virtually, on Zwift). Unlikely to cycle 10,000k by the end of the year which was my initial target. It's the end of November at time of writing and I've cycled 8,643k thus far. I would have to cycle 41k each and every day until end of year to reach my target. Tempted to complete the Rapha 500 again this year (500k in 8 days over the festive period), however, feel this event has lost much of the 'novelty' factor. Rapha have stopped awarding folk a woven patch for completion of the event and this year will accept virtual rides (which makes this challenge less challenging). Have started training for my TransAlba race next year and I just hope the event happens. Have also signed up for the Cotswold Cross 2021 event - a cyclocross event, just because I've never entered such an event before and want to tick it off my bucket list.

A much sooner event I've entered is a 60's Retro Run for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. This is a half-marathon affair scheduled to take place on the Winter Solstice. To be fair, it was the yellow submarine advertising that sucked me right in. Should you want to sponsor me and donate to a great cause, you can - just follow this link: DooRunGood. I best start running again, this event is in like 3 weeks time and I haven't ran at all the last couple of weeks.

Have been out for a walk or two with Ernie pupster though. He's been a lot of fun and now an established member of our household. Being so young, he can't walk for much over 1/2 hour at a time. His time will come and I'm sure adventure awaits!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner

Last month was pretty great and lots adventure was had that included running, camping and cycling. I had lost weight and was feeling generally uplifted despite all the Covid chaos. A particular high-light was the SIKA race that I had entered.

This month has started pretty great too. I have won 2 prizes for cycling related events - how cool is that? The first prize won was a pretty naff water bottle courtesy of Cycling Heroes. I started using this cycling app a while back as it helped with motivation. I think I had to cycle 50k, or an hour, or something like that to be entered into the draw.

The second prize was better yet, as it was completely unexpected. I've won a prize for being the Lantern Rouge in the afore-mentioned SIKA race. Y'know, the race where my mates dropped me on the climb of Alpe Du Zwift! Ha! Never have I been so proud and pleased as punch to finish last. Zero the hero! (Have no idea exactly what I have won, will reveal all when I know).

Took nearly 3 hours to climb this beast

I've been really quite pleased with my new smart turbo trainer. I've not had it long and already it's told me I have a FTP (Functional Threshold Power) of 245. An FTP of 245 is only kinda average but, hey, it enabled me to take a virtual place on the SIKA podium and we all know it takes a special kind of person to be a winner!