So, the week of training is over. 330 miles in 7 days, I think I can safely say that's the most I've done in one week. The only problem is that will only amount to 2.5 days of Land's End to John O'Groats! It ended up being slightly shorter than planned mainly due to the weather not being particularly inviting. It also got to the point where I started wondering what benefit I was getting from just churning out the miles.
Saturday was actually quite a nice day weather wise and I got out in the morning for a spin round Rivington and back. My legs had taken a bit of a battering over the first three days and felt really heavy on Friday's club run so I just took it easy on Saturday and used the ride as a bit of a recovery.
It seemed to do the trick as on Sunday I felt the best I've felt for a while on the bike, it was one of those days when you feel like your legs have endless energy. I ended up setting new personal bests up a couple local climbs without ever feeling like I was absolutely hammering it. Maybe watching Tom Boonen solo to victory from 50km out in Paris-Roubaix that afternoon provided a bit of motivation or maybe the night out on Saturday actually helped!The only regret I have was not going out earlier on Sunday and getting some more miles in, especially given the weather we had on Monday.
Given the choice of spending the day in front of bank holiday telly eating Easter eggs or riding my bike for 80 miles in the rain I know which I'd usually choose. And it was apparently the former that the majority of people chose given that I didn't see one other road cyclist out on their bike on Monday. I had to get the miles in however so out into the rain I went and it wasn't too bad a day until I was cycling back through Manchester after 70-odd miles.
Spending the amount of time I do cycling on the roads you get used to drivers getting annoyed when you hold them up for a couple of seconds. Usually this only amounts to a honking of their horn or a hurling of abuse from an open window. Monday was my first experience of a driver who not only did both of these things but also seemed to think that attempting to run a cyclist off the road is an appropriate course of action. Once the adrenalin has died down these incidents don't normally affect me but it depresses me that he saw fit to do this whilst he had two small children in the car with him. I'm also left annoyed that I didn't get his numberplate so I could report him.
That just left Tuesday for another short recovery ride and the week was done. I still feel like I need to do more preparation before the ride and I'm conscious that I've got less than four weeks to go. The next two weekends I will be packing the miles in with long back to back rides before taking it a bit easier before the LEJoG itself. I also have lots of planning to do in terms of finalising the route, booking the last couple of night's accommodation and sorting out my equipment I need. I best get cracking!
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Friday, 6 April 2012
Winter is Back!
It seems that I was wrong about spring being here! A week after writing about getting sunburnt and temperatures being in the twenties today it was a question of fighting through the snow. I went on a clubrun today with the Wheelers up into the Peaks and most of the roads had only been cleared of snow yesterday. In fact on one minor road we ended up trekking through about a foot of snow, luckily it wasn't too far to the next main road. I suppose we should have expected it with the road being between the second highest pub in England and the highest village.
We managed to get a bit of spectating/supporting of our riders in the Buxton Mountain Time Trial up at Flash, although I spent most of it fixing a puncture I had somehow picked up whilst pushing my bike through the snow. It's never particularly fun having to fix a puncture at the side of the road but it was made more bearable by it being immediately before our cafe stop and having the knowledge that a bacon butty and a coffee were awaiting me.
Today was day 3 of my 7 day training block I'm doing in order to get used to riding back to back for a week and consisted of lots of hills over 79 miles. Days one and two were shorter affairs, the first being a few loops around a local circuit in Birch in order to avoid the snowy and windy hills. Yesterday I ventured into the hills north of Manchester only to find that one of the hills on my route was closed, not due to snow but because they are still resurfacing it. Given that it gets up to 25% at it's steepest maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
Tomorrow will be a shorter ride at an easier pace in order to help me recover from today's efforts. Sunday will again be a short ride fit in around watching probably the biggest one day race in cycling, the Paris-Roubaix, on tv before doing another longer ride in the Peaks on Monday. It is sobering to think that the mileage I have done over the last three days amounts to little more than one day's riding on the LEJoG, a reminder if any were needed how much of a challenge the ride will be.
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
We managed to get a bit of spectating/supporting of our riders in the Buxton Mountain Time Trial up at Flash, although I spent most of it fixing a puncture I had somehow picked up whilst pushing my bike through the snow. It's never particularly fun having to fix a puncture at the side of the road but it was made more bearable by it being immediately before our cafe stop and having the knowledge that a bacon butty and a coffee were awaiting me.
Today was day 3 of my 7 day training block I'm doing in order to get used to riding back to back for a week and consisted of lots of hills over 79 miles. Days one and two were shorter affairs, the first being a few loops around a local circuit in Birch in order to avoid the snowy and windy hills. Yesterday I ventured into the hills north of Manchester only to find that one of the hills on my route was closed, not due to snow but because they are still resurfacing it. Given that it gets up to 25% at it's steepest maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
Tomorrow will be a shorter ride at an easier pace in order to help me recover from today's efforts. Sunday will again be a short ride fit in around watching probably the biggest one day race in cycling, the Paris-Roubaix, on tv before doing another longer ride in the Peaks on Monday. It is sobering to think that the mileage I have done over the last three days amounts to little more than one day's riding on the LEJoG, a reminder if any were needed how much of a challenge the ride will be.
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
Friday, 30 March 2012
Sunburn and Fog
Well, I think last weekend was the earliest in the year I have ever been sunburnt in the UK. The weather was truly glorious and I managed to get in 100 miles on Saturday and Sunday followed by another 50 on Monday evening. I say the weather was glorious, at least it was until we rode into Holmfirth on Sunday morning. It was the second time I have ridden over Saddleworth Moor into Holmfirth and both times I have encountered thick fog. The first was back in November when a bright sunny day in Manchester gave way to thick fog on the moors; I assume it was as soon as we crossed the border into Yorkshire.
This time the fog appeared on the descent into Holmfirth when the temperature suddenly dropped about 10 degrees and visibility was reduced to about a hundred feet or so. I think Yorskhire needs to learn how to be more accommodating to it's visitors - you don't get that kind of reception when you cycle into Derbyshire, Cheshire or Lancashire! It did provide us with great views, however, once we climbed back into the sunshine and could view the fog lying in the valley below. If I'd had the forethought to take a camera with me I could show you the view but as I didn't all I can say is that it was something like this but with one or two fewer sky scrapers:
Obviously the sun was higher in the sky and there were more hills, but you get the idea.
Once we'd stopped off in a cafe for brews and bacon butties, it gave way to a bright, clear day. I'm glad it did because the cobbled climb we encountered on the way to Ripponden would have been a lot nastier if the ground had been wet - it was bad enough as it was. Still, at least the fog had stopped me being exposed to the sun for as long as I was on Saturday which had led to sunburnt wrists and nose.
This weekend is a weekend off for me as I will be helping my girlfriend Kerri celebrate a rather special birthday. However, starting sometime next week I am planning to do 7 days of back to back rides - not necessarily long distances each day but 30 miles on shorter day up to a hundred or more on longer days, the idea being to give me an idea of what it's like riding every day for a week. I'm suffering a bit with swollen lymph glands at the moment so the break comes at a good time, although that's assuming the weekend's celebrations will be less of a strain on my body than training!
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
This time the fog appeared on the descent into Holmfirth when the temperature suddenly dropped about 10 degrees and visibility was reduced to about a hundred feet or so. I think Yorskhire needs to learn how to be more accommodating to it's visitors - you don't get that kind of reception when you cycle into Derbyshire, Cheshire or Lancashire! It did provide us with great views, however, once we climbed back into the sunshine and could view the fog lying in the valley below. If I'd had the forethought to take a camera with me I could show you the view but as I didn't all I can say is that it was something like this but with one or two fewer sky scrapers:
Obviously the sun was higher in the sky and there were more hills, but you get the idea.
Once we'd stopped off in a cafe for brews and bacon butties, it gave way to a bright, clear day. I'm glad it did because the cobbled climb we encountered on the way to Ripponden would have been a lot nastier if the ground had been wet - it was bad enough as it was. Still, at least the fog had stopped me being exposed to the sun for as long as I was on Saturday which had led to sunburnt wrists and nose.
This weekend is a weekend off for me as I will be helping my girlfriend Kerri celebrate a rather special birthday. However, starting sometime next week I am planning to do 7 days of back to back rides - not necessarily long distances each day but 30 miles on shorter day up to a hundred or more on longer days, the idea being to give me an idea of what it's like riding every day for a week. I'm suffering a bit with swollen lymph glands at the moment so the break comes at a good time, although that's assuming the weekend's celebrations will be less of a strain on my body than training!
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
Friday, 23 March 2012
Spring is Here!
It's official: not only is the weather distinctly spring-like but the clocks go forward this weekend, meaning more opportunities to get out in the daylight after work. I suppose I could have just got up an hour earlier each day these past few weeks and have had the same benefit, but I find that if I wake up and the time on my phone starts with a 7 it’s still too early for me to get out of bed!
So far since in my LEJoG training I have been blessed with fairly good weather. Other than a bit of ice the first weekend back and one weekend of rain the weather has been unseasonably nice. This weekend is looking like the best of the lot: 17-19 degrees Celsius with wind speeds in single figures, although I'm sure it'll be a couple of degrees cooler in the hills.
Whilst it is obviously a huge bonus not to be spending my weekends out in cold and wet weather there is also a part of me that’s hoping the bad weather isn’t being saved up until the beginning of May. I’m not a superstitious man, nor am I a weather expert, but I’m pretty sure this weather is unlikely to last for the next month and a half. All I can hope is that the almost inevitable spell of bad weather comes and goes before May!
In the meantime I will be making the most of the weather with a couple of 100 milers this weekend - see you in the Peak District!
In the meantime I will be making the most of the weather with a couple of 100 milers this weekend - see you in the Peak District!
Saturday, 17 March 2012
Breaks & Bikes
This weekend I'm layed up with a cold so have decided to incorporate a bit of a break into my training schedule. Hopefully the rest will do my body good and allow it to recover from the increased workload it's seen recently, enabling me to come back stronger next weekend. What it also does is give me a chance to talk about my bike.
The two months between being knocked off my old bike and finally getting a cheque out of the insurance company gave me plenty of time to think about the kind of bike I wanted. This is what I decided on:
For those of you that aren't at all interested in bikes: isn't it nice and red and shiny?!
For the rest of you it is a steel framed Genesis Equilibrium built up with various parts old and new. I chose it as I wanted something that was fast, comfortable and practical, and so far I think it fits the bill well. I also like how it combines old fashioned styling with a hint of modernity; it doesn't make too many concessions to current trends but nor does it look too retro.
These days you can get bike frames built out of various materials with carbon fibre, aluminium and titanium seeming to be the most popular. Historically, however, the default material was steel and, whilst the aforementioned materials surpass it in terms of lightness and stiffness, steel still takes a lot of beating in terms of ride quality. The previous road bikes I have ridden have mainly been aluminium and you can notice an immediate difference in the way the steel framed Equilibrium rides.
You don't get armchair like comfort - you can still tell the quality of the roads around here are pretty poor - but instead of rattling along you get more of a hum. It feels a lot less harsh than the aluminium frames I've ridden and when you're covering hundreds of miles that's a quality that's well worth having.
Yes, there is a weight penalty, with the Genesis frame and fork weighing almost 1kg more than my aluminium race frame with full carbon fork, but for the kind of riding I'm doing on it I think it's a price worth paying. It also has the advantage of being more easily repairable if it does come into contact with a car whereas my previous aluminium frame was a write-off. Along with a lifetime frame warranty hopefully this will add up to a bike for life.
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
The two months between being knocked off my old bike and finally getting a cheque out of the insurance company gave me plenty of time to think about the kind of bike I wanted. This is what I decided on:
 |
| Genesis Equilibrium |
For the rest of you it is a steel framed Genesis Equilibrium built up with various parts old and new. I chose it as I wanted something that was fast, comfortable and practical, and so far I think it fits the bill well. I also like how it combines old fashioned styling with a hint of modernity; it doesn't make too many concessions to current trends but nor does it look too retro.
These days you can get bike frames built out of various materials with carbon fibre, aluminium and titanium seeming to be the most popular. Historically, however, the default material was steel and, whilst the aforementioned materials surpass it in terms of lightness and stiffness, steel still takes a lot of beating in terms of ride quality. The previous road bikes I have ridden have mainly been aluminium and you can notice an immediate difference in the way the steel framed Equilibrium rides.
You don't get armchair like comfort - you can still tell the quality of the roads around here are pretty poor - but instead of rattling along you get more of a hum. It feels a lot less harsh than the aluminium frames I've ridden and when you're covering hundreds of miles that's a quality that's well worth having.
Yes, there is a weight penalty, with the Genesis frame and fork weighing almost 1kg more than my aluminium race frame with full carbon fork, but for the kind of riding I'm doing on it I think it's a price worth paying. It also has the advantage of being more easily repairable if it does come into contact with a car whereas my previous aluminium frame was a write-off. Along with a lifetime frame warranty hopefully this will add up to a bike for life.
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
Monday, 12 March 2012
Centuries
In
some fifteen years playing cricket I never got near to scoring a
century, mainly because I was a bowler but also due to my inability to
hit the ball with my bat. I became a specialist number 11 and tended to
use my pads more than my bat in an effort to hang around long enough to
enable whoever was batting at the other end to score a few runs. My
finest moment with the bat was a rare occasion when I was batting at
number 10 and I achieved a 45-ball duck. It did help us win the game
however, as the batter at the other end managed to score the 30-odd runs
we needed before I departed with the scores level leaving our even more
inept number 11 to see out a couple of balls and us to win the game in
the next over.
Centuries
in cycling are another matter all together. Whilst you need a bit of
natural ability in order to score a century in cricket, all that's required to cycle 100 miles is a bit of time and effort. I
completed my first century of the year on Sunday and it’s always a
milestone you get a bit of satisfaction from reaching. Luckily the
80-odd mile club run I plotted along with the ride to the meeting point
and back (and a wrong turning or two along the way...) meant I reached
100 miles without having to add a few laps of the block on to the end of
the ride!
The
ride was a welcome reminder of the effort that putting in 130 miles a
day is going to be. I could have quite happily got off the bike after 70
miles and feel it had been a good days cycling but I still had another
30 to go and will be doing another 30 on top of that come Land’s End –
John O’Groat’s. It has confirmed the need to get some back to back
century rides in and to do at least one 130 miler before May. It’s also
been very useful chatting to other people who have done the end to end
and picking up some hints and tips along the way.
On
a separate note it was good to get back from the ride on Sunday and see
that Bradley Wiggins had won the prestigious week long stage race
Paris-Nice. Seeing the success that British riders are having
internationally always provides a bit of inspiration to get out there on
the bike and I don’t think there’s ever been such a good time to be a
fan of British road cycling. Watching the pro races, along with hearing
about club-mates experiences in the early season racing, is almost
enough to make me want to give it a go myself. However, I only need to
look at the times being posted on Strava to see I am still a long way
off racing pace; maybe that could be something to look at later in the
year!
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Leopards and the British Weather
One of the things you have to be prepared for when you're out on your bike is the vagaries of the British weather (I say British, to be honest I'm not an expert on weather elsewhere in the world but you do, apparently, get four seasons in one day here). To which end I purchased some new leg warmers and arm warmers this week.
To the non-cyclist I'm sure leg warmers conjure up some Fame like thick woollen items of clothing that couldn't look anything but hilarious on a man. Those people need to get this image out of their heads and think of them more as lycra extensions for cycling shorts. I'm sure this won't be any less hilarious for some but for cyclists they're useful pieces of kit that mean you can have your legs covered on chilly mornings and roll them down when, or indeed if, the weather warms up.
The warmers I purchased were Leopard Trek team replica's (not to be confused with leopard print), the professional cycling team who Andy Schleck rode for last year. I reasoned that if the gear would fit stick thin climber Schleck then they would be ok for my far from muscular physique. I found, however, that even the small arm warmers were loose on my mighty biceps - a job for Kerri and her sewing machine I think (the alternative being me putting on some upper body muscle which is unlikely to happen any time soon)!
I didn't have to worry too much about the weather warming up this weekend. I tried to time Saturday's ride to miss the worst of the weather but inevitably caught a couple of showers. Overall though I couldn't complain as it was quite mild and I even witnessed a incredibly vivid rainbow whilst riding through Ashworth Valley.
Sunday had the worse of the weather with the morning's constant rain meaning after half an hour the water had already seeped through my supposedly waterproof overshoes and soaked my feet through. By the time we got to our cafe stop the rain had also stopped, only to be replaced by strong winds, of both cross- and head- variety, on the return to Manchester. This made the second half of the ride a bit of a slog but it was good to get some significant mileage under my belt in difficult conditions.
If I didn't have something to train towards it would have been very easy to decide against doing any cycling this weekend. It is certainly less appealing to venture out on the bike when it's wet and windy, especially compared to the previous weekends calm and dry conditions. Once out there, however, it's very rare that you regret it and it's unlikely that I'll learn to control the weather between now and May so any experience is good experience.
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
To the non-cyclist I'm sure leg warmers conjure up some Fame like thick woollen items of clothing that couldn't look anything but hilarious on a man. Those people need to get this image out of their heads and think of them more as lycra extensions for cycling shorts. I'm sure this won't be any less hilarious for some but for cyclists they're useful pieces of kit that mean you can have your legs covered on chilly mornings and roll them down when, or indeed if, the weather warms up.
The warmers I purchased were Leopard Trek team replica's (not to be confused with leopard print), the professional cycling team who Andy Schleck rode for last year. I reasoned that if the gear would fit stick thin climber Schleck then they would be ok for my far from muscular physique. I found, however, that even the small arm warmers were loose on my mighty biceps - a job for Kerri and her sewing machine I think (the alternative being me putting on some upper body muscle which is unlikely to happen any time soon)!
I didn't have to worry too much about the weather warming up this weekend. I tried to time Saturday's ride to miss the worst of the weather but inevitably caught a couple of showers. Overall though I couldn't complain as it was quite mild and I even witnessed a incredibly vivid rainbow whilst riding through Ashworth Valley.
Sunday had the worse of the weather with the morning's constant rain meaning after half an hour the water had already seeped through my supposedly waterproof overshoes and soaked my feet through. By the time we got to our cafe stop the rain had also stopped, only to be replaced by strong winds, of both cross- and head- variety, on the return to Manchester. This made the second half of the ride a bit of a slog but it was good to get some significant mileage under my belt in difficult conditions.
If I didn't have something to train towards it would have been very easy to decide against doing any cycling this weekend. It is certainly less appealing to venture out on the bike when it's wet and windy, especially compared to the previous weekends calm and dry conditions. Once out there, however, it's very rare that you regret it and it's unlikely that I'll learn to control the weather between now and May so any experience is good experience.
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/alangibsonlejog
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