I have recently upped my efforts somewhat as i near my ride in September. I have become a little obsessed (as have most cyclists) with Sportives (which are challenge events usually offering 2 or 3 different length courses of varying difficulty).
I recently came to know a chap from Preston - friend of a friend - who is into cycling and he mentioned that he wanted to register for some Sportives as something to train for. And so our first event was Pain in the Pennines - as organised by Halifax Wheelers Cycling club. We opted to do the 63 mile ride rather than the full 107 mile course. The ride was to include 2000m(!!!) of climbing which, believe me, is a hell of a lot if you dont often do hilly rides.
Here is the profile of the course:
I came in 7th out of approx 55 riders who did the short course (see me at 4 hours 21):
http://www.halifax-imps.org.uk/PenninesResults.htm
A very tough course and i was very tired at the end but tea and flapjacks soon brought me round and i feel much stronger for having done that particular ride.
I have done more flat miles since then including a few 70 mile solo efforts.
The plan now is to get a few back to back days of long mileage in to replicate the London to Paris ride itself - certainly never done anything like 300 miles over 4 days but i am feeling confident enough on my current form.
Tuesday 8 July 2008
Thursday 29 May 2008
Cycling for Headway - the Brain Injury charity
I wanted to remind people of the reason why i am taking part in the London to Paris bike ride and what the ride actually involves.
From 10-13 September 2008 i will be cycling just shy of 300 miles from London to Paris for Headway - the brain injury association.
I am proud to be sponsoring Headway. Having assisted on brain injury cases in this firm in the past i am aware of the important role which the charity plays in helping brain injured individuals to try and live as fulfilling a life as possible. Their help goes beyond what hospitals and other healthcare institutions can offer. A friend of mine has also recently suffered a brain injury and i have seen the effect which it has had on not only him but also his family so help from Charities such as Headway is hugely important.
For more information about the work that Headway do, you can visit their website at:
www.headway.org.uk
I am also supporting a local charity which assists those in the community who have suffered brain injury by providing a day centre and the web site of Head Forward Centre can be viewed at
www.headforward.org
I will be cycling from London to Calais on day 1 and then the next 3 days will see me head South from Calais to Paris with stop overs at Abbeville and Beauvais. On the final day i will cycle into Paris finishing on the Champs Elysees and The route also passes through areas where the battles of Somme (First World War) and Agincourt (1415 between the English and French) were fought.
I will be posting more often as my training intensifies (and now that i have a glorious new bike) so please do keep an eye on my blog. I hope it is of some interest to people.
Nick
From 10-13 September 2008 i will be cycling just shy of 300 miles from London to Paris for Headway - the brain injury association.
I am proud to be sponsoring Headway. Having assisted on brain injury cases in this firm in the past i am aware of the important role which the charity plays in helping brain injured individuals to try and live as fulfilling a life as possible. Their help goes beyond what hospitals and other healthcare institutions can offer. A friend of mine has also recently suffered a brain injury and i have seen the effect which it has had on not only him but also his family so help from Charities such as Headway is hugely important.
For more information about the work that Headway do, you can visit their website at:
www.headway.org.uk
I am also supporting a local charity which assists those in the community who have suffered brain injury by providing a day centre and the web site of Head Forward Centre can be viewed at
www.headforward.org
I will be cycling from London to Calais on day 1 and then the next 3 days will see me head South from Calais to Paris with stop overs at Abbeville and Beauvais. On the final day i will cycle into Paris finishing on the Champs Elysees and The route also passes through areas where the battles of Somme (First World War) and Agincourt (1415 between the English and French) were fought.
I will be posting more often as my training intensifies (and now that i have a glorious new bike) so please do keep an eye on my blog. I hope it is of some interest to people.
Nick
Thursday 15 May 2008
From winter to summer
Ok
So i have not posted to my blog for a while. I have been getting a lot of miles in, however. And how the weather has changed for the better. The tights and overshoes have finally been resigned to the back of the chest of drawers. Going out in less layers is a joy! I only hope it lasts and that we dont get a wash-out of a summer like that of 2007.
I am riding into work at least 3 days a week. My daily commute into Manchester is 10 miles each way. I sometimes use my road bike, and sometimes my Pearson fixed wheel bike (aka a "fixie" - no freewheeling or in other words you have to pedal at all times!).
A fixie is a great bike. One big ring at the front, one smaller fixed gear at the back, no derailleur or gear shifters necessary etc. It is as simple as a bike can be and how they were back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Penny Farthings (see pic below) used a fixed wheel! Tour de France riders were even using fixed wheel bikes to scale mountains in the Alps and Pyrenees in the early 1900s which is quite a scary thought if you consider some of the climbs ascend to over 2000m (well over 4 times the height of the Eiffel Tower) for up to 15-20k at a time!! Those guys were awesome and i would reccommend reading any Tour De France historical literature.
Fixies have enjoyed something of a boom in recent months it would seem. They are hailed as a truly "at one with a bike" experience. The response from the pedals is instant and you can get a great kick so i use the fixie for sprints (which usually means me picking out a lamp post or road sign and srinting for it. There is no competition other than to get there without sitting up early.
Matt Seaton, cycling Journo for the Guardian (a cycling friendly rag) has written a nice piece on fixed wheel riding:
http://www.rouleur.cc/1_a-fixed-idea.html
Anyway, i digress..... back to the riding
I have recently done a couple of sessions on the hallowed boards of the Manchester Velodrome where only weeks beforehand, Britain took 9 golds in the Track World Champs. Britain really does have the world's best track cyclists and i wish our national newspapers would concentrate more on these successes more than the sports we seem to fail at. Track cycling is a different beast to riding on the road. The conditions are invariable and cycling on the track for an hour really can be a test of endurance and a great training opportunity.
I have also been getting some long weekend rides in. On Saturday 10th May, i went out for 60 miles from home in Walkden to Cheshire and back. My ride took me through the centre of Manchester, past Old Trafford Football Stadium, through Sale, Altrincham, Hale and into the Cheshire countryside via Ashley.
My favourite part of the ride took me through the Parish of Mobberley which is very pretty - i think i would like to live there! I saw a couple of cosy looking country pubs and found myself salivating for real ale rather than my SIS Carbohydrate drink. That was about to change however. My whole ride had been centred around going to find The Wizard. No, not a real Wizard, but a section of road in Alderley Edge. It is a climb with varying steepness and sections at a 10% gradient. The climb lasts approx 1km. Not a long climb but it is tough and by the time you reach the top the old ticker is ticking over quickly.
My plan was to get to the top, turn around, descend to the bottom and then do it all over again. And that is what i did. Second time round was tough but i am glad i stuck to my plan. I am trying to improve my climbing all the time because i am built for it - 5 ft 8in tall weighing only 9st 8lb. I often ride out with a group near my parents home in Fleetwood and out of a group of 20 or so riders i can usually get to the top of climbs at the front. I love climbing - it is what cycling is all about to me. The cols caught my attention when watching the TdF as a lad. Big Mig grinding out the climbs with an expressionless look on his face; French Housewives' favourite Richard Virenque flying over the top of the climbs and often winning mountain stages in a state of tears and single fingered point to the heavens! Climbing - i could dedicate a whole chapter to it - the glorious element of cycling where the men are seperated from the boys!
Pics of the Cheshire ride will follow shortly.
Next ride: Weekend of 17th May - i plan rides on Saturday and group ride on Sunday! Reports to follow.
So i have not posted to my blog for a while. I have been getting a lot of miles in, however. And how the weather has changed for the better. The tights and overshoes have finally been resigned to the back of the chest of drawers. Going out in less layers is a joy! I only hope it lasts and that we dont get a wash-out of a summer like that of 2007.
I am riding into work at least 3 days a week. My daily commute into Manchester is 10 miles each way. I sometimes use my road bike, and sometimes my Pearson fixed wheel bike (aka a "fixie" - no freewheeling or in other words you have to pedal at all times!).
A fixie is a great bike. One big ring at the front, one smaller fixed gear at the back, no derailleur or gear shifters necessary etc. It is as simple as a bike can be and how they were back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Penny Farthings (see pic below) used a fixed wheel! Tour de France riders were even using fixed wheel bikes to scale mountains in the Alps and Pyrenees in the early 1900s which is quite a scary thought if you consider some of the climbs ascend to over 2000m (well over 4 times the height of the Eiffel Tower) for up to 15-20k at a time!! Those guys were awesome and i would reccommend reading any Tour De France historical literature.
Fixies have enjoyed something of a boom in recent months it would seem. They are hailed as a truly "at one with a bike" experience. The response from the pedals is instant and you can get a great kick so i use the fixie for sprints (which usually means me picking out a lamp post or road sign and srinting for it. There is no competition other than to get there without sitting up early.
Matt Seaton, cycling Journo for the Guardian (a cycling friendly rag) has written a nice piece on fixed wheel riding:
http://www.rouleur.cc/1_a-fixed-idea.html
Anyway, i digress..... back to the riding
I have recently done a couple of sessions on the hallowed boards of the Manchester Velodrome where only weeks beforehand, Britain took 9 golds in the Track World Champs. Britain really does have the world's best track cyclists and i wish our national newspapers would concentrate more on these successes more than the sports we seem to fail at. Track cycling is a different beast to riding on the road. The conditions are invariable and cycling on the track for an hour really can be a test of endurance and a great training opportunity.
I have also been getting some long weekend rides in. On Saturday 10th May, i went out for 60 miles from home in Walkden to Cheshire and back. My ride took me through the centre of Manchester, past Old Trafford Football Stadium, through Sale, Altrincham, Hale and into the Cheshire countryside via Ashley.
My favourite part of the ride took me through the Parish of Mobberley which is very pretty - i think i would like to live there! I saw a couple of cosy looking country pubs and found myself salivating for real ale rather than my SIS Carbohydrate drink. That was about to change however. My whole ride had been centred around going to find The Wizard. No, not a real Wizard, but a section of road in Alderley Edge. It is a climb with varying steepness and sections at a 10% gradient. The climb lasts approx 1km. Not a long climb but it is tough and by the time you reach the top the old ticker is ticking over quickly.
My plan was to get to the top, turn around, descend to the bottom and then do it all over again. And that is what i did. Second time round was tough but i am glad i stuck to my plan. I am trying to improve my climbing all the time because i am built for it - 5 ft 8in tall weighing only 9st 8lb. I often ride out with a group near my parents home in Fleetwood and out of a group of 20 or so riders i can usually get to the top of climbs at the front. I love climbing - it is what cycling is all about to me. The cols caught my attention when watching the TdF as a lad. Big Mig grinding out the climbs with an expressionless look on his face; French Housewives' favourite Richard Virenque flying over the top of the climbs and often winning mountain stages in a state of tears and single fingered point to the heavens! Climbing - i could dedicate a whole chapter to it - the glorious element of cycling where the men are seperated from the boys!
Pics of the Cheshire ride will follow shortly.
Next ride: Weekend of 17th May - i plan rides on Saturday and group ride on Sunday! Reports to follow.
Wednesday 23 April 2008
Training ride on Saturday 19/4/08
After giving up hope that the blustery winds of Saturday would drop, I set off at 12.00 pm to do a loop from my house (Walkden) in search of lumpy ground in the Rivington Moors above Bolton and Horwich. The ride turned out to be 30 miles in total. I intend on using the same loop on future training rides so that i can test myself against the clock to see how my form improves (or dips!) over time.
I was drawn into a false sense of security by a tailwind on the outward leg of the loop (see map of route, below). The flat and 'false-flat' roads leading to Horwich did take me up gradually. The tailwind did allow me to spin the legs nicely at 20-24 mph however!
I then hit Rivington and whilst i was still heading in the same direction, it felt as though the wind was suddenly being thrown in my face. The road also ramped up significantly. I had a couple of k's of climbing and managed to stay in the big ring (50 teeth on compact chainset for any techies reading this) for some time before dropping it to the small ring. Still had plenty of gears left though!
As i reached Belmont near the Reservoir fly over i decided to turn around. The wind was blowing me all over the road and traffic on the road was quite heavy which was a little unsettling.
I therefore turned the bike around and headed eyeballs out downhill (40mph max) towards Horwich before finding the A6 and then grinding my way back home.
I managed 500 metres of climbing in total over the 30 mile route which i completed in 2hrs 10 minutes (including stopping to check in with my fiancee and take photos of my wind-swpet face and the scenerey) - not too bad considering the wind factor.
The ride was followed by Cappuccino (large), a cheese toastie (large) and Victoria Sponge (2 pieces) made by the fair hands of my good lady.
Photos of the ride will be posted once i have found my mobile phone USB cable.
Ciao.
I was drawn into a false sense of security by a tailwind on the outward leg of the loop (see map of route, below). The flat and 'false-flat' roads leading to Horwich did take me up gradually. The tailwind did allow me to spin the legs nicely at 20-24 mph however!
I then hit Rivington and whilst i was still heading in the same direction, it felt as though the wind was suddenly being thrown in my face. The road also ramped up significantly. I had a couple of k's of climbing and managed to stay in the big ring (50 teeth on compact chainset for any techies reading this) for some time before dropping it to the small ring. Still had plenty of gears left though!
As i reached Belmont near the Reservoir fly over i decided to turn around. The wind was blowing me all over the road and traffic on the road was quite heavy which was a little unsettling.
I therefore turned the bike around and headed eyeballs out downhill (40mph max) towards Horwich before finding the A6 and then grinding my way back home.
I managed 500 metres of climbing in total over the 30 mile route which i completed in 2hrs 10 minutes (including stopping to check in with my fiancee and take photos of my wind-swpet face and the scenerey) - not too bad considering the wind factor.
The ride was followed by Cappuccino (large), a cheese toastie (large) and Victoria Sponge (2 pieces) made by the fair hands of my good lady.
Photos of the ride will be posted once i have found my mobile phone USB cable.
Ciao.
Saturday 19 April 2008
Friday 4 April 2008
Welcome to London to Paris Bike Ride!
This blog is going to chart my charity bike ride from London to Paris. You'll be able to follow my progress using GPS, and see pictures of my cycle ride.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)