C2C4U2C now incorporating SDW100 4U2C2

thought the blog needed a new look.

2012-01-28T10:18:00.000Z

So the title gives a hint at what the next caper will be, still waiting for final confirmation of who will be on the roster and when it will happen, but as jimdub says time for procrastination is over, time to start getting the miles in. Currently I'm confined to roadbike/turbo duties only, while I try to get a niggling shoulder injury sorted out. Each time i ride the mtb it takes the recovery back a few weeks. Doing the 55k ride with jimdub 4 days after the crash probably wasnt the best start to the recovery! ah well we live and occassionally we learn.

hope you like the look, and I'll be back with more news soon...

Blob

2012-01-27T15:15:00.003Z

So what sits on its chair all day, and weighs about a stone heavier than it should......me of course.

Pre mid October, ride to work & back was a nice round 10 miles.

Post house move, doubles the distance. Apart from getting me more fit & more fresh air, it had the opposite effect of now I drive, save for when the car was in the garage being fixed again. Using the excuse of dropping daughter off at School, rotten cycling roads, dark, weather and all else I can find not to ride.

I have been promising, that once the mornings are a bit lighter, eldest can use the bus occasionally, enabling me to get moving, assuming that its a mere couple 'o' weeks away.

That all changed yesterday, when an email from PNik arrived, reminding me of this years' plan. Now I am not going to spill the beans yet, as for various reasons, its not my shout. BUT, its made me realise, that I have not got very long to sort myself out. So, this weekend, I am reserving some time to hosing down the Killer Bee of whatever mud is still coating it & get on the thing & get some miles done. Tempting to get the slicks on for a bit & discover the local area.

Whadyathink?

J

Edit: 19 road miles round the lanes. Did me in, hopeless 1 hour 45 minutes. Hmph

Where havent I been?

2011-08-17T22:23:00.003+01:00

Well its been a fun couple of months not much biking though. Chest infection managed to reduce my bikiness for a while, started riding the road bike a bit at lunchtime from the office.

At the start of August OB and myself went up to see the Jedi at http://www.ukbikeskills.co.uk/ and do the Jumps and Drops course.

This was great fun, Jedi started us by rearranging our bike controls and suspension settings for the session ahead. The we started by rolling over a stick on the ground to establish the 'push' technique which is the foundation skill for all jumps and drops. We then moved onto the hill, where we did drops that got progressively higher, then onto a bit of cornering and then the jumping began, wow, I didnt beleive it at the start of the day but by the end I was confidently clearing a 6 foot double, awesome. Unfortunately I was so surprised I managed to crash on the run off, as I went down my kneepad slid aside to reveal my knee to the ground, to which I generously donated some flesh, but hey; chicks dig scars huh?

This is Jedi's blog of the day h ttp://ukbikeskills.blogspot.com/2011/08/augusts-public-jumps-and-drops-course.html

Since then the family holiday beckoned so no riding but we did manage our first mountain, with a stroll up Snowdon (and back down again).

Hoping to hit up my first sportive this weekend will start with something gentle, theres a Burgess Hill based one with some options below 50miles, which seems like a good way to start.

What have I learned...

2011-05-02T17:30:00.000+01:00

Forgive me reader it is over a month since my last post.

Well I probably should have learned something recently.

First I went out for a ride on the downs with raa82, now he's been getting serious of late, riding road bikes almost exclusively. and as it turns out is much fitter than me, but patient, so we had a lovely ride on the south downs and I went home feeling pleasantly exhausted, with slightly achy thighs, put down to a slipping seatpost.

Then went out in Bristol for a quick mid-week hack around Leigh Woods with a colleague, nothing too strenous fitness coped, feeling good again. Except for a rational fear of steep, slimy, rooty slopes, that go on too long.

Then I lead the friday afternoon social ride; easy climbs, fun descents, introduction to off-roading, nothing to scare anyone. That was on Leith Hill on the North Downs. By which point I'm feeling much better about my riding than I have in months, I've been getting out more, and not seriously letting myself down.

So when the email came about the Tuesday Night Mile Munchers from http://brightonmtb.org/ i though what the hell, how hard can it be, I'll take it easy they're probably a bit fitter/faster but it will do me good. Cycling over Mark caught me up, and so suddenly I'm riding uphill at his pace, chatting and we havent started yet. So over the top and into the woods, OK, this is quick too, very quick, and we've not started yet. Still chatting to MArk he says "Oh there's only usually 3 or 4 of us on a Tuesday, dont worry it'll be fine"

He has a rigid 29er with only one chainring at the front, hmm. We arrive at the start and the 3 or 4 grows to 8. 7 thin blokes with hardtails, some rigid forks, many with less than a full complement of gears, i think the pinnacle was retrobike man on a mid-90s Pace hardtail with rigid aluminium forks and singlespeed and me, over weight, over sprung and over geared, it seemed. Still how hard could it be, only a couple of hours. After the usual faffing the torment began, as the kids would say "OMG!". So cut a long story short, smoked me up,down and sideways, I felt like a total beginner. To be fair they waited for me, then set off when I caught up, meaning I had very little recovery time.

I could barely walk upstairs when I got home. not been so wiped out since, I cant remember probably the C2C i suppose but possibly not even then.

Just for fun I had some time on easter weekend, and went out on the downs for a ride on my own and I thought I;d take the hardtail, the one that cost a fraction of the full suss'er, that normally has road tyres, but has knobblies at the moment. Wow, so quick, couldnt beleive it I did the training loop ive been using just to see if it made a difference, now this is not super scientific, it was dry, and stuff, but I averaged 10 mph, compared with about 7.5 mph on the previous outings. what a difference.

Anyway where does that get us. Well it seems logical at this point to buy a road bike and start using my hardtail more, especially when out with the beginners group, it occurs to me when oout with the mile munchers, i need to make sure I'm considering all abilities. I also now have a clearer view of the spectrum of abilities and fitness levels, and my place on it, I'm definitely nearer the left than the right.

I think I need to book some events for the summer/autumn to give my training some focus, maybe even a sportive to try out the new road bike. whats the worst that could happen, I might start to enjoy the pain. probably not.

...Mornin.....

2011-04-04T08:50:00.007+01:00

So, I have managed to cycle to work through most of the winter, save for the odd minus 10 episode, when catching busses seemed more appropriate. Through this time, the meeting of another commuting cyclist, along my route, wasn't a regular occurance. This is usually accompanied by the occasional grunt, nod, or at the very least, a look of recognition. A greeting, not too friendly, but not small enough to ignore the other cyclist.
An occasional stop to rescue/chat to a puncture victim, was still not a problem.

Then we had lighter/sunnier/warmer mornings together with >£6 a gallon. The sound of shed doors and the wresting of pieces of metalwork from the clutches of the lawnmower could be heard across the land.

I now encounter 30+ cycle commuters on my 5 mile journey. Nods and grunts now seem to have been abandoned, as far too many to be friendly, and likely to be thought of as a bit odd. So what is the critical mass of friendlyness -> unfriendlyness? Not sure, didn't really notice it happen.
Interestingly enough though, I sometimes divert my route through the local county park. To get my fix of trees, tree roots & muddy tracks. I have noticed that pre 8:00am dog walkers, in this area are still civil enough for a healthy 'Mornin'. I guess there aren't enough of them.
Post 17:00 walkers are outnumbering the early visitors, and thus, fall into the unfriendly category.

So that experiment wrapped up, I feel better already. Just one addendum, how should you greet those who you see all year round ? The old man with dog on the riverbank, still gets his 'mornin', and he still looks as surprised as he always did.... I like to be a bit unpedictable

Ha Ha

2011-04-01T11:11:00.000+01:00

http://www.thepnikshop.com/

Out again

2011-03-20T16:40:00.003Z

Managed to squeeze in a training ride again, same loop as last week, a bit quicker but I think that was because its drier rather than a miraculous improvement, oh and I didnt stop for a chat at the stanmer tea rooms. As you can see the visibility was much better this week.

Struggling to get any mid-week riding in at the moment, going to be difficult again this week too, i'm over in Bristol 3 days out of 5, and Mrs Pnik's birthday too.

I went out to the garage this morning to find my bike still caked in last week's mud, not good, got the gears moving though and washed it properly afterwards today.

Mama its gone all misty.

2011-03-13T15:05:00.001Z

Took a couple of hours out from the family to get some miles on the clock. Boy its misty today. Saw very little more than the 20 feet in front of me most of the time. Did a nice loop which I intend to use as my baseline training route. If I can do it once every couple of weeks I should be able to measure progress.
I'm now planning to do the Lemming Trail (South Downs Way) in September with one or two bigger rides over the summer. Possibly the London to Brighton which I've never done. There's a few other more MTB events too that could be interesting.

That's all for now.

Sent by Android.

Finally out again...

2011-03-11T23:05:00.002Z

Out with some newbies from the office this afternoon, took them round some of the best bits on Holmbury Hill, Barry Knows Better, Parklife and Telegraph Road. Good times.

My time on the bike as been severely constrained the last few weeks having put my neck out in halfterm week, 1 trip to the osteopath improved but not right, 2nd visit next week hopefully will resolve.

Bike fun has been confined to the garage, fitting some brakes to friend's anti-diluvian marin and putting some bling on the Orange. new bars, seatpost and stem. Looks good first shakedown today seemed OK.

The Marin was a pain apparently there was an old post mount, slightly different to current post mount, so fitted an adaptor imported from Canada (!?) post mount to IS mount then a IS adaptor to current Hayes. then messed around with spacers until it kinda lined up. Not my finest hour in the workshop, but we got it working. bodgit and scarper, havent heard if he's ridden it yet!

Its late and i need my beauty sleep. bye for now

Mud Fest

2011-02-21T10:46:00.002Z

....so the supposedly warmer days, and a couple of 'free' hours pencilled in for the Sunday, along with some renewed vigour of getting on the bike......

Anyhow, found this brill site, which may not be new for anyone else, but I think its K9's 'nads.

Side by side maps, the OS on one side and google sat view on the other. Plot your course & download as a GPX. I then convert to a route(TCX) for the Garmin.

So a 25 miler, encompasing the West Leake hills, which sounds quite grand, but since hills aren't really our thing round this way, and bridleways are only linked with tarmac, its a bit of an XC challenge.
Found some nice new pieces of wood to ride through, but with the whole of Saturday raining, the ground in places was a bit swampy. Let just say, and Pnik will get this, one steep downhill, I had to get off & push. The bike would not move. There was so much mud clay stuff between tyre & forks, that the front wheel siezed. Deft work with piece of stick get it moving again. Front mech was destined to be stuck wherever it felt.

So, although not aching on way in Monday, lets just say, it took a little longer.

...and as if by magic.,..

2011-02-17T09:26:00.002Z

...the other one appears...

Well, whadya know. I just happen to glance over to the blog, and I find some recent posts.

My biking has been limited, generally, to the daily commute. A flat tarmac 10 miles a day keeps the legs and cogs moving. Quite extraordinary how the bike gets so filthy without mud. mental note to buy a chain cleaner/scrubber thing.
Running the gauntlet with Notts rush hour traffic is fun. I now have two bright flashy lights on the front, mainly to light up the canal towpath, highlighting the logs & flotsam that seems to go with narrowboats.
Ahh, there was a customary new year ride with Pnik up at Sherwood pines. We did the kitchener trail, which, I suspect, was a tad longer that Pnik originally assumed. Got to pace yourself a bit. I know we dont really have hills, but we have mud. Lots of it.

offski, backson.
J

Not so gorgeous Sunday.

2011-02-06T11:30:00.001Z

Got my kicks on the turbo this morning. I have to be gentle though as the donor bike has a dodgy rear axle. So long since I've been on it had to move the collected conservatory detritus out of the way first, bags of logs, buckets and more bellies and crocs than we have feet!
Warmed up with Babyshambles and moved on to the Clash. Great tunes although I had to be old school wired for sound as the Bluetooth was as flat as Holland.

Now to parental duty. Take the kids swimming, they don't fancy the sea so to the pool. More cash number 1 has lost goggles.

Laters

Reentering the blogosphere

2011-01-30T13:41:00.001Z

I've decided to start sharing again. Don't know if anyone will notice, but here goes. Jimbo and myself started this when we were doing the c2c a couple of years ago. We have been talking about a followup escapade but so far its not got past talking, fancy the west highland way, unfortunately its not looking likely for May now, as work and illness have been conspiring to keep me off the bike.
Managed to get myself out this morning on a beautiful crisp winters day. Rode over past jack and Jill to the beacon and down through some of BrightonMTB.org's twiddly bits over Stanmer way and home.
Lovely ride, ground firm undertyre only small patches of ice on the road. I didn't even mind my chain exploding, easily fixed and on my way again, got to love a speedlink. Brighton and Hove deaf and dumb ramblers were out in force though, at least that's my assumption as to why they don't return a friendly 'hello, beautiful day' greeting. It's not like I was hurtling past at light speed crashing them out of the way. Actually come to think they probably would say something then! It's not like I'm asking personal questions or looking for lifelong companionship. Perhaps I expect too much.
The first few miles on the road should be the easy bit, right? Just to get warmed up, but I'm sure I go faster when I get off the black stuff. Tarmac sucks I'm sure of it. Maybe I need a road bike to understand. Maybe ignorance is bliss.
Better stop ignoring the kids mi suppose. TTFN.

unbelievable

2009-06-23T21:57:00.000+01:00

We manage all that coast to coast business and then after a lovely post-work blast over holmbury hill in Surrey I manage to successfully lock my keys in the car. I managed to pack everything in the car first. Except my phone and wallet fortunately. I can see the key and my fleece. So here I am sat on a log, wrapped in Ollie's blanket waiting for the recovery company to turn up and save me. They said 60 minutes 55 minutes ago. Stil its not actually dark yet and its too remote for street lights.
I don't hear banjos yet.

Routes and Pictures

2009-06-07T20:39:00.002+01:00

This will show you each days route with photo's attached where they were taken (hopefully).

Day 1 - St Bees to Ambleside
Day 2 - Ambleside to Kirkby Stephen
Day 3 - Kirkby Stephen to Grinton
Day 4 - Grinton to Osmotherley
Day 5 - Osmotherley to Glaisdale
Day 6 - Glaisdale to Robin Hoods Bay

This is the photo album, which is also geotagged.
http://picasaweb.google.com/pnik69/C2C02#

Jumbled Memories

2009-05-26T23:21:00.001+01:00

Click to make it biggerer

Epi-blog

2009-05-26T22:25:00.004+01:00

Some numbers

202 miles
24,461 vertical feet of climbing
32 hours and 6 minutes out with the bikes
Maximum speed 38.6mph
Average speed 6.7mph

But it's not about the numbers it was always about taking a week out of life to 'just do it' instead of wondering what it would be like. Being 40 was an excuse to take on a challenge, it was one hell of a challenge too. Whilst we were out cycling Sir Ranulph Fiennes conquered Everest on his 3rd attempt, I know its not the same but I felt close to my limit at times, and I felt alive too. The varied beauty of the English countryside not to mention the hilliness of it!

I got blisters from walking in cycling shoes, cold feet from wading through rivers carrying our bikes, wet everything from going over the handlebars and landing face down in a bog. But I was mainly smiling even at the time, the sheer daftness of it.

Another aspect I wasn't expecting was the people we met out on the trails and in the Hostels, the 2 guys that ran Wainwright's route in 6 days! The 2 couples from from Surrey who did a version on road bikes. The tirelessly chatty lady who walked it in 3 weeks with a husband who appeared not to speak, ever!

What next? hmmm still thinking about that.

What a trip!

2009-05-25T10:05:00.003+01:00

Over the last week, we traveled across an amazing range of countryside, scrambled up some astonishing hills, looked over miles of land from what felt like the top of the world. We waded knee deep across streams with bikes overhead, literally dragged ourselves out of peat bogs. Mad descents down what were effectively riverbeds. There were some picture postcard vistas rolling along the dales, millions of sheep and some interesting people met along the way.

With Nik's intricate planning and his 'thing' for maps, it all worked. Yes it did! The extra layer of mapping software and our GPS units, meant that we were able to move along, knowing that, yes, there really should be a bridleway across this this sodden moor. The helpful beep from the handlebars when we shot past our turning again. Thankyou Nik.

Our packhorse for the week was Nik's wife, Karen. The car, I am sure will never smell the same. Planned lunch stops in the middle of nowhere, water refills, cheese rolls & Soreen. Thankyou Karen

There will be an accumulation of C2C photos from the various cameras and phones. Nik is considering working his technology magic & doing something with actual route & photos. Watch this space.

James. Sitting on a comfy chair, with nowhere to ride to, bike in bits.

PS., oh yes, NO PUNCTURES!

We made it! 202 miles later.

2009-05-23T14:11:00.001+01:00

We rolled into Robin Hoods Bay at 2pm, James mashed his gears 4 miles from the end and finished with one gear. More later.

LAST DAY !!!

2009-05-23T10:20:00.001+01:00

Leaving glaisdale slightly tinted lenses. 1 big hill, 1 in 3 for about 2 miles!

Day 5 ends in Glaisdale

2009-05-23T09:24:00.001+01:00

Last 10 miles shot by through country lanes, short ups and fast downs. Through the wonderfully named Fryup and with views of Great Fryup Dale, but it was too late for breakfast. Rolled in to glaisdale with another 30 miles racked up. 180 down should hit 200 going into Robin Hoods Bay tomorrow.

The top of todays main trudge.

2009-05-22T20:40:00.001+01:00

Looking east where we came from. Another bridleway on the map not so clear on the ground, we decided that the line that went straight up was probably the way to go, it has been every other day and so it was today.
The yorkshire moors were beautiful and we had a fantastic cruise over the top with a great run down to lunch by the ford at hob hole. Legs felt better today maybe the know the end is near.

Day 5 Begins

2009-05-22T10:19:00.001+01:00

30 miles to Glaisdale. O't'moors mixture of surfaces predicted. Oh good.

Almost no off-road

2009-05-21T21:28:00.000+01:00

However the 250 yards across this field were the filthiest ever. The pnik
divining skills were in operation, only 1 mile offroad and James' tyre grew
to almost 3 times its normal size and he was endanger from the farmer for
stealing his mud.

Apart from the comedy mud, today was the easiest so far, we were only riding
for 4 hours in total (including lunch stop). We were at the overnight stop
just after 2pm. So we've had a relaxing afternoon in Osmotherley preparing
for the moors tomorrow. In response to the experiences of the last few days,
tomorrow will deviate slightly from the original plan, in that once we get
off the moors we are going to stay down. We have proven several times this
week, that the ground is saturated and even with the forecast better weather
it will still be mushy underfoot.

It was nice to watch the thunderstorm from the pub this afternoon.

Sorry yesterday got jumbled up, but I'm sure you worked it out.

Day 4 - Started under heavy clouds

2009-05-21T11:13:00.001+01:00

32mile today. Almost all on road, probably. Highest point the start, net downhill. Brilliant.

Day 3 - Leaving Kirkby Stephen in the rain.

2009-05-21T11:10:00.001+01:00

We left in the rain, with one big climb (1762ft) ahead fortunately almost all on road. Short day today only 26 miles what could go wrong?

Day 3 completed.

2009-05-21T11:09:00.003+01:00

After a good lunch, and a strategic choice of the road down to swaledale, things improved significantly. A steady run trhough the afternoon with no major dramas and we were at Grinton Lodge shortly after 4pm. Minor dramas included one broken chain and a stupid bird flying between my wheels.
As for the "Youth Hostel 0.5m" sign at the bottom of the hill, well definitely a country mile UPHILL!
Anyway we got here and finished the day in a place with great reception, for orange users. Shame we're not. Hoping a flurry off updates will shoot out when we hit civilisation tomorrow.

Almost all on road, huh?

2009-05-21T11:09:00.001+01:00

11 miles to the pub, 2 miles off-road. Crossing raging torrents, goretex boots don't help when you're up to your knees. Argh That 2 miles took over an hour. Boggy ground, camo'd men with guns. Kids shepherding on quad bikes madness.
Highest inn in england on the top.

Day 2 Completed to plan.

2009-05-20T07:55:00.001+01:00

Well we left ambleside at 10.20am and arrived at shap after 4pm. 6 hours 20 miles. The hardest 20 miles I have ever done. Within a mile of ambleside we were walking with our bikes up tracks that had rivers running down them.

Water was definitely a theme for today, however it barely rained. It was running of the hills at every opportunity. Paul asked at one point if there was fish in this track!
Mosedale was the boggiest, marshiest, most inclement place ever. It looked nice on google earth! Actually it looked nice today. We all went over at some point, I've got a masive bruise on my shin from the pedal when I went over, face first into a peaty puddle. The last 16 miles by contrast only took a little over 2 hours, definitely a game of 2 halves.
Tommorow is less miles and less climbing, hopefully on the bike. Welcome relief. Just the 2 of us again tomorrow.
It was good to see Paul and Jacky today, they've had to go back home now though.

Mosedale in sight of M6

2009-05-19T15:20:00.001+01:00

Never thought id be pleased to se the m6. Just managed 15 miles average speed 3.1mph ! Still nearly half way today. Bogs and big hills in summary.

Day 2 begins

2009-05-19T10:16:00.000+01:00

Picked up an extra rider today. Sticking to the route today. Probably. Bit of rain worst weather predicted for the afternoon Youth hostel had about a million children in it, which was nice.

later

That was the first day then

2009-05-18T22:40:00.000+01:00

This was generally my view for most of day one. Exceptions being when we had some mad downhill, when there was no one, or when the map was being consulted again. With the very real prospect of a very wet day, a couple of the very high passes were circumvented, with a slight lean towards the sustrans road route. There you go. We eventually rolled into Ambleside after 51 miles. Phew The Keswick triangle eventually let us out and the A66 is not nice to ride along.
Speak ltr James

That was the first day then

2009-05-18T22:11:00.000+01:00

Crummock water

2009-05-18T13:00:00.001+01:00

Looks pretty, we are heading for whinlatter pass. Not wet yet.

This is where it starts

2009-05-18T10:54:00.001+01:00

The wind is strong but behind us. The rain has stopped, but not for long i'm sure.
Wet weather route has been invoked. Using the sustrans route to keswick. More later.
Here we go...

Loaded and ready.

2009-05-17T18:12:00.000+01:00

The wagon is loaded we're on the M6 heading north The dubs gone home with jimdubs family. Call came through this morning we've lost another rider and supporter unfortunately. Lots of love to P and J Heaven knows when we'll get to ennerdale. We're still 3 hours away at least.
The good news is the forecast for the week is mostly better than tuesday. The bads news is that won't be difficult! Too late to order kayaks.

Looking forward to picking up a pebble in the morning (not a euphamism)

Can I start now?

2009-05-14T21:14:00.001+01:00

Cant stand waiting. Its like exams. There (should) be so much preparation, that it comes to a point that no more can be had. I just saw Julia Bradbury finish her c2c walk on Beeb 4. Chucking that stone into the North sea was really quite moving. In a little over a week, we'll be there. Yes, us . WOW.

J

The route for those who missed it last time

2009-05-13T23:19:00.000+01:00

View C2C4U2C Route in a larger map

Beware of Cyclists

2009-05-12T18:33:00.003+01:00

Thanks to James and Paul for the picture, it seems good advice. I recommend anyone near our route to heed it next week.

I got this quote from Paul by email:

"Got more mud on the red orange yesterday at Ae. Very rainy. A good experiment to understand the impact of vertical precipitation and muddy terrain on morale and general physical wellbeing. A strong negative impact as it turns out. Seeing as the mud didn't seem to respond to my swearing I directed it at my brother. Who didn't either. F@!$*r. I'll try and take it in turns to swear at the two of you. Although Nik I'm sure it will mainly be your fault"

Which is nice. He should have been 'beware of cyclists' when he agreed last year is all I can say!

I have cycled/trained very little since the south downs way a couple of weeks ago, I could find excuses like work, family commitments etc. but basically I couldn't be bothered.

Panic buying has begun in earnest now, I should get 4 sets of brake pads, a new tyre and some leg warmers (Leroy?!) delivered tomorrow. Ollie is kindly going to lend me his pimpy light tubeless wheels, if he remembers to bring them in tomorrow.

As is always the case with these things, I think now I should have/could have trained more, but completing the SDW gave me a boost of confidence. So I'm quietly confident, ignorance is bliss they say, having never ridden in the lakes before I really don't know what to expect, but hey, we've got all day, every day. I may swear too on occassions A.Wainwright may be the primary target of the abuse though.

When we set off on monday morning we'll think of Roger as he goes into surgery for his knee op. Hopefully he'll be riding again by the end of the summer, but he'll have to take it easy for a while.

I seem to have got to the point in my preparation that I have so many lists I need to have a list of lists. I've also started looking at the long range forecasts on metcheck.com, that was a mistake definitely, wet is a word...i feel more panic buying coming on.

A note to Mum, look after yourself and I hope the new laptop is still working. xxx

Scotland (for) The Brave

2009-04-29T10:18:00.003+01:00

It seems Scots go to Mexico for their holiday. This year, some have been bringing back Swine Flu in their suitcases. As luck would have it, The family and I are off to Edinburgh tomorrow to visit Jacky and Paul before their impending move to Sheffield. Paul is due to take delivery of his new bike this weekend, and is keen to get it dirty as soon as possible. He has arranged for us to go to someplace called Glentress, a name that gets proper mountain bikers all sweaty with excitement. I hope to get a bunch of real riding under the training belt. Apparently Nik is jealous. Have finally got the family YHA membership sorted, and now need to concentrate on clothing/kit. (Mental note, get keyboard replaced. dodgy C key getting annoying.)
Shall report back next week.
James

Well I made it to Beachy Head

2009-04-26T16:11:00.001+01:00

Sun is shining and 100 miles behind me. Looking forward to bath and bed tonight. I'll sort the blog out tomorrow, probably.

Sandwich stop

2009-04-26T13:03:00.001+01:00

Loking south-west to the lovely newhaven. Climbed up from south-ease station nearly at firle beacon. Saw Karen and the girls near ditchling beacon, that cheered me up no end. Only 20 miles left.

1st checkpoint reached

2009-04-26T09:56:00.001+01:00

Devils Dyke 12 miles down. 40 to go. Felling stronger today. Even waking at 4am freezing cold in the tent. I may need a new sleeping bag or more clothes if I do tis again! Beautiful day. Overheating ad sunburn could be a problem. I think I've swaeted off the sun cream now.

GPSed Track "sdw day 1 again"

2009-04-25T13:21:00.001+01:00

View my new track "sdw day 1 again" started in United Kingdom, England, Portsmouth.

GPSed Track "SDW-day 1"

2009-04-25T09:39:00.001+01:00

View my new track "SDW-day 1" started in United Kingdom, England, Southampton.

2 Days until the SDW for me...

2009-04-23T22:48:00.002+01:00

So the idea for this week was gentle excercise, eat well, early nights to prepare for the weekend.

OK, it's 10 to 11 and I'm blogging the fact I haven't gone to bed, I've done no exercise except Pilates this week, and the chips and curry sauce last night were lovely. I need to be in Winchester for 8am on Saturday. So tomorrow night I have to put a new cassette and chain on the bike, find my sleeping bag and rollmat, pack my gear for 2 days riding and one night camping. Charge the batteries, go to be and get up at 6 on Saturday and drive to Tesco's on the edge of Winchester.

To be honest apart from the forecast for rain after it's been beautiful all week, I'm starting to fret about it. I want to be confident that I've done it before and I've been doing loads of riding over the last few months, probably more training than I've ever done for anything since I left school.

Still it'll be all over on Sunday night, when I get dumped back in that Tesco's car park to drive back to Brighton. Sunday will be hard, riding within 3 miles of home and carrying on to eastbourme, not looking forward to that bit at all.

Anyway night all.

Sunday Training Ride Experiment

2009-04-19T17:32:00.004+01:00

This should show my tracked ride, it also showed a live track earlier but the GPS got confused and thought I'd gone to Royal Tunbridge Wells at 175 mph! It was going so well too.What I actually did was 41miles, just over 4000ft of climbing and 4 quorn scotch eggs.

clicky linky thing

Quick update on t'weekend

2009-04-14T23:03:00.002+01:00

Well, I managed to get the bike together and went out with the brightonmtb crowd and as you can read managed to fall off a log (pretty easy) and bumped into a tree, worst damage to ego though. It did however mean that riding my bike hurt my wrist particularly when braking (hence bumping into a tree). So I spent the weekend off the bike, until Monday morning when the turbo got another outing (inning?). Back to work today and another session tonight. I think I'm going to have to get a fan or start riding in the real world though as the conservatory is starting to get warmer with the season.

The Route in Pictorial Form

2009-04-14T22:36:00.001+01:00

View C2C4U2C Route in a larger map

Better up the pace a tad

2009-04-12T19:44:00.003+01:00

Realising its getting a bit close, I need to get out for some longer rides. Somewhat limited by time & stuff on Sundays, I opted for usual route & hopefully putting in some laps. Getting a little creative again with the return leg, managed to avoid repeat of course & even got a nasty ascent into the equation. 32 miles & just over 2000 ft of climing. Bizarrely more decent was logged.

Our five year old has just got going on two wheels, and now there is no stopping him, other than the occasional inconvenient wall & hedge. A visit to local skate area was arranged, Saturday morning, so all the sk8r kds were still in bed. An area of around 30m x 30m with a half pipe, some ramps & obstacles to practice steering around. (Note to self, ramps lethal when wet). I followed him around on my bike, a sort of follow-the-leader incentive etc etc. Forgot GPS was still tracking. Kind of pretty, dont you think?

Crikey not long now...

2009-04-08T23:04:00.003+01:00

So I've been trying to keep my average up, although March seems to have been overrun with all sorts of reasons not to. I managed nearly 30 miles and 3000+ft on Sunday along the downs to Alfriston and rounded off with a nice lunch in the Singing Kettle, sounds like something out of Enid Blyton. Anyway, Tuesday night saw a turbo training session, see right me looking at my best, and tonight my more gentle Pilates class.

Tomorrow should see me out with BrightonMTB assuming I put my bike together again in time, my old forks are back on while the new(er) ones are off to tftuned for a service and my seatpost donated its clamp to a guy in Alfriston to allow him to sit down to Eastbourne, a luxury he'd not enjoyed since passing Brighton several hours earlier.

I've been tinkering with the route for months now, but I'm bored now so here are the figures:

Day 1 St Bees - Ambleside 38.5miles 6174ft

Day 2 Ambleside - Kirkby Stephen 36.1miles 5648ft

Day 3 Kirkby Stephen - Grinton 26.5miles 3572ft

Day 4 Grinton - Osmotherly 32.2miles 820ft

Day 5 Osmotherly - Glaisdale 33.2miles 4539ft

Day 6 Glaisdale - Robin Hoods Bay 24.9miles 2391ft

That's 191 miles and 23144ft of climbing (and presumably the same down). Now what the vital statistics work out as at the end who knows, the bad weather route for day 1 for example is over 40 miles, but a lot less climbing and all on tarmac. I plan to show the route on Google Maps just as soon as I can make sense of how to embed it in the html.

Oh and tubeless, should I or shouldn't I, I can't decide?

Give us yer money

2009-04-07T09:02:00.002+01:00

A fairly unremarkable riding week, lighter evenings hopefully giving more riding opportunity with some more creative routes home.
I have, however, got my finger out, and sorted out the sponsorship page here
I am collecting for MacMillan Cancer Support, a worthy cause, particularly in supporting the families of those with cancer.
You are welcome to add a few pennies if you like.
If you want to gift aid, then please remember to put your full home address on the form too. This gives an extra 25p for each pound donated from the taxman!
This means, then, its 'No backout' time. Much to Nik's relief.
Sundays big ride didn't happen, for a number of reasons, but mainly due to it being really sunny, so pub lunch called.
I did, however manage 45 minutes out, with three laps of my local hill up & down. 931 feet, about 9 miles. I will attempt to go the other way round next time, as the fun steep decent ought really be used as a training ascent.
Backson. J

Watched

2009-03-30T10:21:00.005+01:00

Well, after the wild winds & winter of Saturday 28th, I wasn't really looking forward to riding on Sunday 29th!
The gritters out Saturday evening didn't help.
It seems, however, that the bad weather fairy got messed about with the change to British Summer Time, and my awakening was greeted with blue skies and sunshine. At 9:45. my new riding parter, a former Olympic paddler, turned up. Faced with the prospect of being left behind by the superfit, we set off on my usual circular route. Living in generally a flat area, with hills being a drive or a ride across the city away, laziness gives in to planning.
Thankfully, the 300 foot climb was joined by quiet from behind me. Its good to get the lungs working early. The rain of last week had softened the terrain, but not to un ridable extent.
On approach to some anonymous farm/industrial units came across the above. Not something you fall across regularly. After taking the pic, it took off, avoiding the bird table & electric wires neatly. For the next few miles we kept having the feeling of being watched from afar, with the 'bird' sometimes visible circling about. If this is my last post. Then nice knowing you. 25 miles 1300 feet. One unscheduled off, not by me.

How are we doing?

2009-03-26T22:08:00.003Z

Roger is off his knee for at least 2 weeks, until the doctor can work out how much damage there is, as this would leave only 6 weeks preparation. That's right only 8 weeks left. James is getting as much riding in as his hectic life will allow. Paul is still talking about buying a new bike for the trip, whilst planning to move back south of the border to Sheffield to take up a new job, and decorate the flat for sale, and train! Me I'm squeezing in some riding in-between ballet competitions and dance festivals (the children not me), I bought a heart rate monitor last week and my family has taken great delight in discovering what tickling me does to my heart rate and I’ve worked out that pressing the start button at the beginning of the ride might actually give you some information to work with.

Anybody reading this blog might start to think the gadgets; gps, hrm, disc brakes, turbo trainers and so on were more important than the ride, of course that would be all wrong. The truth is much more spiritual, its about triumph over adversity, bonding through a shared experience, the pure joy you feel on a perfect descent, the satisfaction of summiting after so many false horizons. Spending a week away from the stresses and strains of ordinary life and to enjoy the beauty of some of the country's most inspiring scenery. All of these things are what it's about, spending an hour staring at the wall sat on the turbo trainer on a cold, wet March evening, is only worth doing for the pay off. Crossing the country from coast to coast, sea to sea, that's going to be pretty special for anyone left by May!

Even if they are in their 40s.

Rider injured - will he make it to the first 'C' ?

2009-03-21T20:45:00.002Z

Rog messed his knee up playing 5-aside this week, I really wish he would avoid these extreme sports. He's damaged some ligaments but unclear how badly at the moment. It's strapped up and he's on sofa duty at the moment, can't bend it. not good. Real risk that we have another drop-out on the horizon. Think positive thoughts and maybe it'll be alright.

I rode into work on Tuesday

2009-03-19T22:56:00.002Z

33 miles, 2100 ft and 2 and a half hours later got to work, my desk shortly after that. That was hard, glad I got a lift home. 2 days later I can still feel it in my legs. Although I did a 27 miler on sunday again on the road. Hard work this road riding, I always had it down as the 'soft option'. Had a short spin on the turbo before the curry came, couldn;t face going out with the BrightonMTB boys tonight.

I need to learn a thing or two about recovery I think, I was planning to ride in every Tuesday from now on, still it's better than circuit training.

Get Lost - Officially

2009-03-16T09:02:00.006Z

I got a fantastic birthday present. I got a Garmin Edge 205 bike GPS. This supposedly means that I plan my routes on the computer, transfer to unit & off I go. The thing records all where I go, & how fast etc, plus telling me what turns to take a-la-TomTom.
So I go and download a route, and the things says there are too many waypoints & truncates the route. The expert pnik, says I have to translate it to a course & get that onto the unit. Jobdone, off I go. The course I downloaded is an offshoot of one of my regular rides. I get to the required path & press start. 'You've won, congratulations' what? silly thing thinks I'm there already. A bit of faffing with buttons & it starts timing me. Good. A short fracas with a pair of ratty Jack Russells intent on getting me off the bike, they nearly did. I think I have just found the origins of Polo.
Anyhow, get to unknown farm track, and the unit is pointing its little arrow forwards, in fact, wherever I go, Its pointing forwards. A quick switch back & forth proves the fact. It seems to drawing my route, not directing me. Hmph. few miles of make-it-up, gets me to the desired incline. Yes, a funny thing has happened, with maps on the screen, I am now actively looking for hills to go UP. Even if it means a very round the houses(trees) to get to the right end.
Get home & plug it in & I seem to be getting bits of course with gaps. 25 miles 1200feet ascent. Not many hills round here.Little more work to do.
On the way to work, Monday morning, I get it to the virtual partner setting, to race myself from last week. Piece of cake. hmmmm, cake...

Another weekend flew by, it was that windy.

2009-03-09T20:58:00.003Z

So another week down, 10 to go, training enthusiasm seems to have dipped for me at least. Managed 25miles and about 3000ft of climbing yesterday, it felt like more though the wind was blowing me sideways up on the south downs, and hacking up to Kingston ridge into the wind was the least fun I've had in ages.

I've almost decided to do the South Downs Way in April with Votwo looks like it's well organised and will be a good test a month before the big event. Although if it goes badly I'm not sure if I could handle the failure.

I'm pleased to have the accomodation booked, and my membership to the YHA came through today too. Starting to think about the kit list, whether or not to go tubeless and so on. I'm also planning to use the rigid bike for going to work on, although not all 30miles to start with. I've just put the skinniest tyres on it, and now it doesn't fit on the turbo trainer! not sure what to do about that.

right I'd better load the dishwasher before I get into trouble. Life goes on.

One man down, but the itinery is sorted.

2009-03-06T22:04:00.003Z

Well i managed to get on the trainer a couple of times this week, and spent a lot of today on the phone, talking to people about accommodation. Unfortunately Ollie dropped out of our little adventure earlier this week, for various reasons including a dodgy knee!

I've now got all of our overnight stops booked, Youth Hostels all but 1, so we get a bit of luxury in a pub in Osmotherly on the 4th night out. I've got half way through altering the bookings already made now we are fewer. It looks like the refund paperwork is going to be fun. Apparently everything can be done online and on the phone, except refunds they have to be done by post. Is this the dark ages or just a cynical discouragement technique?

I've spoken to the rest of the team this week, they are all still keen, although James and Paul are slightly concerned about the training levels they are managing to do. Paul was in Italy for work earlier this week, poor thing. He's still trying to decide whether or not to take the plunge on a new bike for the trip. Roger is training like its going out of fashion, actually I'm beginning to think he thinks we're going from San Francisco to New York, not St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay!

As jimdub pointed out it was my 40th earlier this week, and amongst other things I got a great new comfy chair, this may make training more difficult, I may have to ration it until we finish. I also got another piece of the jigsaw in the form of OL4, the second OS map of the route covering most of day 1, and a massive memory card for my phone to store music for keeping me going on the turbo trainer.

Something jimdub didn't mention however is the HE IS 40 TOMORROW TOO!!!! So I hope he has a great day and that the family give him a break from all the hard work he normally gets up to at the weekend when he should be training. I suppose he could have a beer or 2 tomorrow night, as long as he's out again on Sunday.

A week off?

2009-03-06T13:13:00.002Z

Terrible week for riding. Not been in the saddle since Sunday, really, and its Friday today. You see, having a vehicle that is working, doesn't really help. With this week back to the frosts, its just been so easy to chose relative comfort over cold feet. I am regularly scheduling a ride out at weekends, but with my riding partner now back on his oil rig somewhere off the coast of Azerbaijan, its gonna need some more self control & discipline.

Forty Years Young

2009-03-03T08:29:00.002Z

Happy Birthday to you....
Happy Birthday to you....
Happy Birthday dear Niiiiikkkkkkk
Happy Birthday to youuuuu...

Lazy Weekend?

2009-03-01T20:51:00.002Z

Well, no training anyway, feel a bit guilty now. Got my bike set up for the riding to work and to go on the turbo trainer,, although didn't actually use it. I'll do a long session tomorrow night.

Started booking accomodation, really helpful lady at the YHA booked up most nights, but Osmotherly and Ambleside were full, need to rejig the route and look for possibilities nearby.

The Sunday Training Ride

2009-02-25T09:14:00.004Z

An unofficial ride was also planned for Sunday, to remind us about what getting up the next day & back in the saddle. Ouch. The battle pants obviously help a great deal, but still.......

With just the two of us, we set off just after breakfast(ish) with the aim of being at Nik's MIL over a Rottingdean in a couple of hours. Although not as knowledgeable with the trails, I seemed to have recognised some of the ups from the South Downs Way ride last September. Oh yes, how familiar they were. Thankfully, with the first stage of the ride ending at the coast, alot of down soon followed. 13 Miles & a piece of cake followed with chips on the beach with the family. Luverley.
A straight forward flat ride back along the undercliff, plus running the gauntlet with Brighton's standstill Sunday traffic, a long steady incline north plus the obligatory steep ending. All done. 50.02 miles over the two days. Need to do more...

The Saturday Training Ride...

2009-02-23T20:15:00.003Z

Circuit training after effects ruined most of the rest of last week for me, I was OK, except for stairs and getting up, so Pilate's was fun, after 4 flights of stairs.

Thursday night I bailed out of the planned ride as my legs were still smarting, and I was saving myself for the weekend.

So the training ride, how did that go? Well James and family arrived shortly before midnight on Friday, so obviously a couple of glasses of wine and a catchup, and it was far too late all too quickly. Still the children woke us up at 6am so that was fine.

Ollie and Roger arrived at the allotted time after Ollie had used a can of GT85 getting his front mech moving the night before. Off we set only a few scant minutes behind schedule, blue skies sunshine and more GPS navigation equipment than a military operation.

The plan was 37miles 4500ft climbing, taking in Devils Dyke, Lewes, Rottingdean, Stanmer Park and back to Brighton.

So we did Devils Dyke, then down my 'cheeky descent' off the downs near new timber, well last time it was fun, it would appear the winter has been unkind to that trail, still only the navigator went over the bars so everyone was happy.

and on along SDW to black cap, nice cruise down to Offham and into Lewes, however not at all on schedule, 1 puncture, 1 seized front mech, 1 dodgy knee all factors I guess.

At this point Roger disappears to meet his SO for lunch and the 4 become 3. I offer to cut the route short and am persuaded to keep cutting until we go pretty much straight home, although we still have to get over the Ditchling Road, from there however it is downhill all the way to the pub. not all bad. 27 miles, 3150ft climbing, not a bad ride, but still light compared to St Bees to Ambleside at 37 miles and nearly 6000ft of climbing.

That'll do for now or I'll never make it to work tomorrow..

Right that's circuit training off the list.

2009-02-17T23:01:00.003Z

Well I said I'd give it a go. No one told me there was running involved, bikes made running obsolete surely. All that lunging and sweating, not pleasant. It took me back to school and not in a good way either, in a big echoey hall, with someone shouting instructions. It made me realise one of the reasons I like mountain biking so much is the lack of structure, discipline etc. you just do it, and if you do it more you get better, to a point. But mainly because it makes me smile more than it makes me grimace, and there's shiney kit to drool over. Rather than just drooling because you;ve done too many squat thrusts and push ups.

I pick up my bike tomorrow with shiney new SLX brakes fitted, now thats exciting. Oh yeah and I've started a Pilates class on wednesdays, much more 'brighton'.

I must start booking accomodation for May too, looks like youth hostels all the way, apparently youth isn't a requirement, which is lucky. Nearest one to the start is Ennerdale, which is 10 miles into the route, not sure what to do about that. hey-ho as Joey, Deedee, Johny and Tommy used to say, let's go.

James' thoughts

2009-02-16T20:42:00.000Z

Since Nik has kindly set this whole shebang up, I really should consider adding some comments.

As the least experienced rider among the pack, I head towards this adventure with a weird mixture of enthusiasm,apprehension & concern.
Reading about others' circuit training, club rides & the like, sort of pales my 4.5 mile each way flat road commute into some sort of insignificance. Whilst it might help with reducing my 'Christmas Tyre' (not that sort), it certainly doesn't improve my ability of being able to breath at the top of some unpleasant incline.

Hardware wise, I have taken steps to decrease the likelihood of wheels vanishing beneath me, the puncture fairy & the lack of braking in the wet. A pair of chunky tyres, tubes made from shoe leather, & a cheap set of disc brakes have come my way & are now installed.
A trial ride out yesterday presented me with road, deep sticky mud, puddles, and still some frozen snow. Bike seemed to behave well, although brakes needed adjusting as the travel at the brake lever increased over the ride. I put this down to a mixture of maybe not tightening the cable clamp sufficiently, new cable stretching and/or pads bedding in. Either way, its such a luxury of not having to worry about whether I will hit the tree trunk or not on my way down a track.

I have this feeling that Nik's training ride this weekend, is going to be more of a shock treatment, beneficial only to get us out there more frequently & to up the intensity of the terrain we experience. I am sure he wont be disappointed.

James

The story so far...

2009-02-13T20:00:00.000Z

Last year, myself and James cooked up a plan for 2009, we were going to do a challenge in what would be our 40th year, James being only 4 days my junior. It was to be slightly different to the way we spent our 21st back in our student house. This time there would be wheels involved and probably less alcohol.

So what to do, there's a world of opportuinity out there, organised events you can opay the money and sign up for. none of them seemed quite right. I've wondered about doing the coast to coast (C2C) many times, and an article in What Mountain Bike last year reawakened that interest. I discussed it with James and he agreed it sounded interesting.

We then roped Paul, Roger and Ollie in to our not very sacred quest. Now at this point the details were a bit sketchy, about a week, about 200 miles, St Bees to Robin Hoods bay. Great, smashing super.

So I started doing some research, and poring over the maps, re-reading articles, buying Tim Woodcocks C2C booklet and realising there isn't a definative C2C mountain bike route. There are as many routes as there are people that have done it. So with the restriction of 1 week for ride and getting to and from the end points. I made one up, a hybrid (mongrel?) of the various inputs, then changed it, then changed it back again.

Now by this time Jacky and Karen had volunteered (?!) to be the support team, driving around the north of englands finest tea rooms occassionally fetching the odd inner tube, was their interpretation, more of this later no doubt.

So to set a date, near the end of May seemed like a good chance of reasonable weather (or is that a reasonable chance of good weather?), the week before Spring Bank Holiday and half term, so the touristy bits should be relatively quiet.

So the date is set, the route is set, everyone is signed up. As 2009 dawned, so did the realisation that the lake district, the pennines, the yorkshire moors all had a certain degree of altitude in places, that would have to be gained and lost repeatedly, although the net result of C2C is zero, I'm guessing it may feel different.

I started going out with the brightonmtb group on Thursday nights, Pilates on a Wednesday, and spending quality time on the downs or the turbo trainer in between as time and weather allows.

Roger and Ollie are doing circuit training every Tuesday, James is ramping up his commuting miles, and I know Paul is already as fit as a butchers dog, and with Glentress on his doorstep he should be getting the miles in too, although I've not heard anything from North of the border for a few weeks.

Next week 21st will see the first group training ride, with James down for the weekend, myself, Roger and Ollie all getting together for a hack over the downs, unfortunately it;s a bit far for Paul to make it. I've a fun route planned with lots of climbing to emulate a day in the lakes, although our hills are littler we'll have to go up and down a lot.

The Longest Journey begins with a single blog

2009-02-12T23:57:00.000Z

Well this is where the blog begins. 3 months and 5 days from the appointed start of our 5 man crusade to cycle completely supported offroad (except when we don't fancy it) from St Bees to Robin Hoods Bay.