Grinning all the way to Shoreham

By on 30 May, 2016   /   Blog posts  

The ride to Shoreham Airport is one of my favourites, some lovely lanes, I know I am going to do over 100 miles and I can’t remember too many hills of note. So the Saturday preparation routine should be simple enough. It’s going to be the Grin Machine, but I will swap out the Powertap hub for my lightest wheelset and just for fun I will put on my slickest tires. Makes it very easy to ride off the front of the group but the down hills are just amazing, climbing is pretty easy too.

With my usual Sunday morning faffing I manage to leave the house late but with the Grin Machine in speed mode I still get to Godalming early but not first. Today we are going to be joined by the technical expert – aka Chris J. But it’s the fine carbon rod alongside the waterbottle cage that catches my eye. “What’s that?” I enquire. “A bike stand.” And I am shown how it works. Seriously, it the nattiest bike stand I have ever seen. (See: http://upstandingbicycle.com/shop/the-commuter-upstand/)

Six of us start the ride and none too soon as the sun was not out to warm us up. Fascinating to hear of the Vinsons’ bike fit experience. Hours of moving parts and tweaking and glad to hear that Heidi is convinced; looks a much more relaxed position. Coffee at Horsham – you know, we are going to have to rename it and call it tea as most of us now drink tea – always two cups in the pot and some places will give you more hot water if you ask. Hunger pangs got the better of me and additional cake was required. All this cycling is having a noticeable effect on my metabolism. Bring on the cake!

Horsham, WarningLid (wonder how it got its name), then due south to Woodmancote and on to Fulking – gorgeous lanes save for the two cars coming the other way. The sun came out and the riding was just, well, gorgeous. Quick stop for a photo of the spring (hopefully Chris J will upload) and then the road alongside Edburton Hill and Truleigh Hill. The gravel path by the River Adur has been upgraded, so no worries there for the tires. 62 miles to the airport and it wasn’t busy at all. The wind was noticeable and as the waiter brought out our food we lost half the crisps, blown off our plates (and my tea called down rather quicker than I would have liked).

Just before Steyning, on the return, we temporarily lost Clive as he went to purchase some rhubarb.IMG_20160529_153320

And then that lovely run up to Billingshurst and Wisborough Green. Am I allowed to wax lyrical about the Grin Machine? It is just so…..alright I won’t, but it is aptly named. We took a major risk at the Old Mill Café – we asked how he was going to vote in the EU referendum. He is very passionate about everything he thinks is wrong with Europe. His almond treats are expensive but at 98% almond – really lovely.

And the final leg to home with Clive and the two Chris’ peeling off at appropriate turnings. Time to put the Grin Machine through its paces once more. Home at 7:15, 109 miles at just over 14mph. Brilliant ride and I no longer collapse exhausted when I get home. That’s the life!

A few notes from Chris Juden:

As we approached the Downs on a lovely little lane I stopped for a leak and relieved of… the pressure to keep up, temporarily went into actual touring mode. Instead of the wheel in front I properly observed my surroundings. With hands now on the tops (it won’t hurt them to wait a few seconds longer) I took my time and even a photograph! For at Fulking I spotted a village pump-house, complete with apt biblical text, where water still gushes directly from the ancient spring. Apparently this source has never run dry and it was none other than the geologist and social reformer John Ruskin, who arranged for a hydraulic ram, powered by that incessant flow and sheltered by such a neat little house, to force a due proportion of life-giving water up to the adjacent village, thereby saving the villagers a good deal of labour with buckets and bowsers.
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It was not far after lunch, which one might reasonably assume to be the halfway point, that I noticed with a mixture of pride and alarm, a somewhat bigger number on my kilometer-ometer than I’d seen it display at any point of any day’s ride for the past six months! The northerly wind also made itself felt much more keenly, now we were pointed that way, so I resolved to be a lot more careful not to expend unnecessary energy and went into unashamed wheel-sucker mode. As the label of Chris B’s jacket implies, he makes an excellent ‘windstopper’!
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Clive wasn’t such a good windbreak however. The wind has a way of sneaking under his saddle and hitting a regular fellow full in the chest and this particular afternoon, those juicy sticks of rhubarb dancing just out of reach were quite a distraction – so red I thought they looked a bit like he was jet-propelled with an after-burner! Not so vivid in the photo however. Must have been the endorphins and the fact I was ever so slightly cream-crackered.
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But I made it, safe home with 141km along and 1620m of up on the clock. Nothing special for the sporty Julian, but quite something for a hedonistic cyclist like me!
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TBD

By on 23 May, 2016   /   Blog posts, Photos  

With a scheduled start of Godalming we feel that we have an early contender for the wooden crank award for our fellow rider who went to Guildford. We finally started from the roundabout where the A3100 meets Chalk Road. We doubled back on ourselves and set off for Selbourne via Elstead, Churt Arford, Bourdon and Blackwater. A distance of 34.5m, a reasonable speed of 12 mph and an average temperature of 14°C made for a lovely ride though the average temperature belied a large variation depending on the cloud and tree cover which made me alternate between being pleasantly warm and a little cold.

Selbourne is a lovely coffee stop, friendly, great cakes and you can get the teapot filled up with hot water. But where is lunch going to be? Well we can go the flat route to Kings Worthy or the hilly route to Bishops Waltham. We were informed that we were going to Kings Worthy for the simple reason, as we found out, that the Captain has moved on from bluebells and now it is wild garlic that we must admire. If my limited map reading skills work, Mill Lane just south of Empshott is the place to go for a visual and olfactory treat. The nature watching part of our rides is definitely growing in importance. Have you head a cuckoo yet? No. Have you seen a few Highland Cattle on the ride? Yes.

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But flat this route was not. A few “bunnyhops” of severe gradients tested us. Heaven only knows what the lumpy route to Bishops Waltham would have been like. I recorded a total climb of 6,200 ft over the whole day. Last year we were doing 5,000 ft of climb a ride. I fear that the expedition to Corsica has led the Captain to refine his perspective on hills.

The churches we passed en route are noteworthy for their architecture, one appearing to be in the Norman style with its round arch windows and dog tooth stone work and another showing some distinctive Early English simple four-centred arch windows and buttresses. A beautiful rose window caught the eye but I couldn’t tell you which church they were. Some lovely houses observed as well.

After 24 miles, the garden centre in Kings Worthy provided excellent food. The sandwiches were of doorstopper dimensions and the cakes were good. Rain set in before we set out so jackets were donned and wishful glances made to see if it was going to be long lasting or a passing shower. Luckily it was not too heavy nor lasted too long. The ride home was 49 miles with a maximum of 40 mph just by freewheeling. The total ride was 107 miles.  The joys of long days.

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Brief report on the Cycling UK AGM

By on 17 May, 2016   /   Blog posts  

Thank you, those 13 of you who asked me to be their proxy at the recent CTC/CUK AGM.  There were about 50 people present in the meeting, and from the voting figures announced in the meeting it would appear that they were able to cast roughly 100 proxy votes between them in addition to their own.  The chairman on the other hand held about 2900 proxy votes, including 900-odd discretionary ones which were all cast in favour of the Council line as set out in the April ‘Cycle’.  Thus all resolutions were decided in advance of the meeting by the proxy votes, and the only two that did not go the Council’s way, via directed proxy votes vested in the chairman, were:
Resolution 6 – passed:  that candidates for election to Council must have been fully paid-up members for at least a year;
Resolution 8 – passed:  that CTC follow the recommendations of NCVO – Report of the Inquiry into Charity Senior Executive Pay.

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Today I decided to be indecisive

By on 15 May, 2016   /   Blog posts  

Yesterday I made all the decisions, what to wear, which bike and when I would bail out. I had studied the map most carefully and much though I wanted to cycle to East Meon, as I had once visited a school chum who used to live there and I have never been back, I thought that the ride back to W Horsley would get me home long after my elder daughter had departed following her flying visit. And as teenagers like lying in bed I would have been long gone before she surfaced.

Today, I put one top on but a few minutes later changed my mind having felt the chill when I let the chickens out of their house. I was aiming to leave by 7.50 but my indecision meant it was 7.55. It is 16.8 miles to Elstead so I was going to have to get the wings on. I had chosen the grin machine, currently sporting the power tap hub so I have all the stats to see how the legs were shaping up. One hour and 5 minutes at an average speed of 15.37 mph and an average (normalised – see one of my earlier blogs which defines normalised power or look here http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/normalized-power,-intensity-factor-training-stress) power output of 198 watts including the climb up the Farnham Road to the Hogs Back from central Guildford and into Elstead via Shackleford.

To my great delight John W joined us for the ride making excellent progress in his recovery. Lead by Nick and with a host of regulars, seven of us set out for Lasham. Nick definitely finds interesting routes around Farnham – via Rowledge – and enjoys taking the wrong turn somewhere north of the A31 on the way to Well. In deference to John the 21.9mile to Lasham took 2 hours 8 minutes, an average speed of 10.2 mile and an average (normalised) power output of 123 watts. Don J was just leaving as we arrived and Dane was finishing his drink. Do I have the lemon meringue pie or cake? There are times when even a choice of two things is too much choice. Cake wins.

Bailing out, as the was the original intention, means about a 70 mile run, I get to see my daughter but I would like to see East Meon again. I phone home and say that I have changed my mind. I am going to East Meon.   We climb on the bikes, the sun goes in and I get those nagging doubts. 2 hours to East Meon, an hour for lunch, almost 50 miles home, easily going to be well over 100 miles and a very late time home. As we set off from Lasham airfield I change my mind again – I am going to bail out; even the suggestion of a train ride from Petersfield back to Guildford doesn’t sound like the right option. Catch up with Nick and share the news.

33.2 miles to home, average speed 15.6 mph and average (normalised) power 154 watts (no big hills). Home by 2:30. Yes it was the right decision.

The power tap hub always draws comments so for the record the actual power stats were:

Instantaneous peak: 708 watts

5 seconds sustained: 625 watts

30 seconds sustained: 430 watts

1 min sustained: 356 watts

2 min sustained: 291 watts

3 min sustained: 273 watts

4 min sustained: 266 watts

5 min sustained: 263 watts

10 min sustained: 244 watts

15 min sustained: 232 watts

20 min sustained: 214 watts

30 min sustained: 205 watts

40 min sustained: 205 watts

60 min sustained: 202 watts

Not my personal best; maybe Paul is right – you slow down with age and I won’t catch up with the 25 year olds.

Suspect I would have to get a therapeutic use exemption for my asthma drug to enable me to claim I was drug free but Chris Froome won’t be loosing any sleep over my stats

 

 

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