bikes and things

I missed my 1250k target for last month due to someone stepping out in front of me whilst I was cycling home. I ended up with a pretty painful neck injury which ruined my last 5 days of riding. It meant I didn’t get my stupid little cup, which however meaningless was something I had hoped to achieve.

I’ve also got caught up in doing the Strava Gran Fondo challenge thing each month. I like the idea of doing something different to push yourself a bit each month. I first did it on my Brompton in June and then the Dunwich Dynamo was July. I also have September already planned.

While there is a concrete goal associated with completion, a truly successful fondo means doing more than just covering the distance requirement. It means deviating from the normal routine. It means going on an adventure.

So for August I thought I’d try and do something I hadn’t done before. I came up with a few options and ended up getting given a route from Leo to Brighton. It took in a load of nice hills as well as a being almost entirely on quiet country roads which went from village to village through the Kent and West Sussex countryside. It also included a previously un-tested route back from Brighton which he had included on the off chance. In total it meant a 220k ish round trip which I thought was achievable although clearly a bit of a challenge – perfect for what we wanted though. I like the idea of doing something different or planning a ride to see a different part of the countryside as I’m generally quite lazy and will repeat routes to death.

We met at my place in Camberwell for coffee before heading out to Peckham Rye and up over the railway bridge to Brockley. Following Leo’s route was great as it avoided a load of roads I hate using when getting out towards Kent. His took us through Catford but via back roads and then through Langley Park and Golf Course. This was such a complete contrast to my previous route. After that it was past lots of posh villas in West Wickham with a mixture of Tudor windows and Doric Columns as well as other crimes against Architecture. Soon enough were were over the A232 and onto the quiet roads I recognised heading out towards Downe. After Downe we were off out over the M25 which always seems to be a milestone for me, like some kind of breaking of a boundary and setting free. Past this we rode from village to village occasionally stopping to eat / chat / take pictures. The pace of life seemed to be so relaxed round here as dog walkers came past off to collect the papers.

More countryside followed as well as plenty more hills and wildlife and a few incredible views. The countryside changed from woodland to more open scrub land and then back again. We even had a few little off road sections to take in which I thought were great. Darren on his new Wilier carbon thing and fancy wheels looked like he was having less fun though.

We knew that it was about 90-100k to Brighton on our route but didn’t really know where we were on the map but just kept on plodding on. The kms passed fairly easily although it’s had to know how to pace yourself when you haven’t ridden the route before. Having said that we all knew that Ditchling Beacon was still on the agenda before getting to our lunch stop in Brighton.

And then the South Downs came into view and there she was. By this point we’d already done around 2000m of climbing so Ditching wasn’t the ideal pre-lunch hill but it had to be done. We all made it up to the smiles of a little crowd who had gathered to cheer their friends on. The ice cream van looked tempting but it was pretty exposed up there and we didn’t hang around for long except for the few obligatory photos to prove we had made it.

James looked particularly pleased with himself at the top. Well he did, a little while after this was taken.

After that it was simply a matter of rolling down the hill to a slap up lunch right. Well the incredible cross wind on the road over the downs made things pretty sketchy at times. All three of us were tucked in together trying to make ourselves as small as possible but the side wind was brutal. It felt like I was riding at 45 degrees into it to stay upright. Not the kind of place you’d want to be riding with aero wheels! So after wobbling around in the wind we dropped down into Brighton and found our way to my favourite fish restaurant, The Regency. Whilst packed inside we found room on an outside table out of the wind. Three pints of coke and three espressos were ordered. I would have loved to have tucked into a full fish and chips but knew that it was probably less than ideal for the ride back to London. The thought of all that fish in my belly on the climb out wasn’t pleasing. So I ordered the grilled fish medley which was amazing.

After lunch Darren (wisely?) departed for the train and James joined me for the ride back to London. Warming the legs up after what seemed like a short stop was harder than I’d imagined. The hill out of Brighton towards Devil’s Dyke was far more gentle than Ditchling but lasted longer. I’m not sure I could have managed the short sharp shock. We span out to warm up and admired the scenery to the left and the last views of the sea before cresting the downs.

We pushed on and again went from village to village along country roads. Hills seemed harder this time and we ended up stopping a few times at garages to get more food and water. We ended up with a few more off road sections through the backs of farms which looked like they shouldn’t go anywhere but offered lovely quiet short cuts off the roads. At one point we could hear the drone of a motorway, it was too soon to be the M25 and was the M23 which we we skirting along the side of. Soon enough we were back over the M25 which seemed like a decent milestone to be getting back over it after seeing it earlier in the day.

After this the temperature started to drop with the sun going down. Gilets and arm warmers back on we pushed onwards. Unfortunately James’ energy levels had also dropped with the sun and we still had a few hills to go to get back into London. James found some energy from somewhere and kept going. The occasional push from me and plenty more food meant we were able to keep a reasonable pace. By the time we crossed over the A232 again my Garmin died at 202k. Panic set in that I was a bit lost even though I was in familiar territory. Having been kind of leading the day I was slightly embarrassed that I’d let this happen and not been more careful of battery use. Whilst I knew roughly where I was, a few incorrect turns ended up in very un-familiar territory. Fortunately James took over and led the way as well a finding his legs and was storming along. Soon enough we were coming back over the Brockley railway bridge and heading back down into Peckham.

I’d been promising James a pint since 180k and felt that even though it was 9pm we should still honour that promise. A pint of Sierra Nevada and a falafel wrap were duly inhaled and then I limped up the hill home.

The grand totals for the day were 225k of riding and 3,330m of climbing! Quite a day out and it counts as the longest bike ride I’ve ever done. Gran Fondo August done. Needless to say I slept pretty well that night.

The idea of everesting is a bit mad really. I’ve only just found such a thing even exists via this article on the Strava blog.

The concept of Everesting is oh-so-diabolically simple: pick your hill and ride it repeatedly until you’ve ascended the equivalent height – 8,848m – of Everest from sea level. The only real rules are that it must be an up-and-back along the same road and that it must be achieved in a single ride: no sleeping! Given that an ‘average’ tough and hilly ride might have 2,500m of climbing, Everesting in a day is no mean feat.

I was originally in two minds about everesting when I read about it. Part of me thinks why would you not just go for a nice bike ride with a few friends in the countryside? But then I’m also drawn to the strange sense of challenge, and slight madness, involved. Clearly it’s not an easy thing to achieve and many apparently fail attempting it. The other issue is trying to get the perfect length and grade of hill to make your attempt. Too long and you’ll be doing a very long ride indeed and get too tired, too short and steep and your knees will probably want to explode.

The two cyclists in the Strava blog did 68 reps of Firle Beacon which is 128m of climbing. Read the article for the full sense of the struggle they went through and sense of achievement. Then go and look at their respective activities on Strava and give them some kudos! Maybe in a couple of years from now I’ll give it a go. Chapeau as they say.

Images © Andy Waterman

A friend texted me at the weekend to ask me this. I was in Suffolk doing a shoot of a private house but hadn’t though about doing it. I followed the progress of some of it during the day as the ride got cut short due to the weather. But all along I was thinking, why didn’t I want to do that ‘event’? I kind of poo-pooed it a bit on Twitter and re-tweeted a few things which were generally negative about the whole thing. But then I felt quite guilty about it all when I saw how many people posted their Strava uploads of the ride, especially having waxed lyrical about the Dunwich Dynamo. To be fair I did also post that it wasn’t my thing and I hoped everyone riding had a great time.

#RideLondon shortened to 86 miles missing out Leith & Box Hill, safety is paramount http://t.co/vnTRfZ0fKl YOU ARE SHITTING ME.

— Simon Warren (@100Climbs) August 10, 2014

FOR FUCKS SAKE! It's a bit of rain! They aren't crossing the freaking Tourmalet! It's Box hill!

— Simon Warren (@100Climbs) August 10, 2014

The idea of riding on closed roads sounds amazing, especially through London. However one of the things that doesn’t appeal to me is riding with that many people and all of very different abilities – I don’t mean that in a snotty way either. Dunwich was around 2000-3000 people but got spread out pretty quickly and also was pretty informal. Ride London was in the region of 30,000 I believe and over a far shorter route so there’s far more chance of getting caught up in a crash or some idiot racing you who doesn’t have the experience of riding at speed.

I’ve also never had a good ride with massive groups of people. We used to go mountainbiking with groups of up to 20 people and progress was inevitably slow. Rides, both on and off road, got better when the groups got smaller. 2 – 6 people is about right for me, and especially when riding on the road I prefer to know that they’re safe to ride with.

The other thing that I didn’t find appealing was that it was billed as a sportive of sorts which seemed odd considering they had a podium at the end? A leisure ride is great but if every MAMIL is racing through it it becomes unsafe pretty quickly in my mind. Those who know how to race probably weren’t riding – I don’t know how to race either.

I guess the main reason for not doing it was that I could go and ride those climbs or route on my own, or with someone else, and have more fun doing so. One of the best aspects for me starting road riding is that you can get to some pretty incredible places on your own or with a friend and see scenery and ride roads that enable a quiet almost contemplative state. That overwhelming sense of calm would be lost with 29,999 other riders in my mind.

Chapeau to those who took part but it’s not my thing. The ride on the Sat for families looked far more fun although don’t get me started on high vis!

I put a few thoughts down recently about riding the Dunwich Dynamo. At the time I felt like there was so much I hadn’t remembered, which I blurted out excitedly when I got in, but couldn’t really recall when it came to writing some words a day or two later. What was nice was reading Andy’s blog post on Strava a few days ago which reminded me of a few of the things I’d forgotten. The tea lights and the crowds standing by as well as the occasional guy with a track pump offering to help. I also had a little quote in the article.

I’m still buzzing from the whole thing”, he told us. “The trail of red lights blinking for miles through the misty, winding lanes is a sight I’ll never forget – eery and hypnotic. Everyone seemed so happy to be caught up in this strange, beautiful madness – it had the most incredible atmosphere of any ride I’ve ever been on, organised or otherwise.

It’s a really nice piece and well worth a read. There was also a small section on the Cycle Show recently on it and I get a 0.5 second screen appearance although I wish my helmet wasn’t so far tilted back!

Can’t wait to do it all again next year. This quote from the article seems to really sum it all up for me though.

The Dunwich Dynamo is one of the best and most surreal experiences you can have on a bicycle, and even a few days later, having caught up on sleep, it’s an experience I’m struggling to put into words – and that’s a very good thing.

On board camera footage from Marianna Vos winning the La Course event yesterday. What a legend.

A few months back I popped out for 30 mins from site to get my lunch, sat in my usual spot on the stone wall, and had the pleasure of watching around 70% of drivers driving along St Giles in Oxford be pulled over for speeding.

So, it’s a 20 mph zone down there and is usually a bit of a race to accelerate out to the faster roads to the motorway. It’s a perfectly straight road with an amazing line of sight to where this man is sometimes standing with a speed gun.

It’s quite difficult to see him with his camouflage jacket on which blends perfectly with the local limestone surroundings.

In an hour-and-a-half operation, 159 offences were recorded by officers, the fastest being 45mph.

If you can’t see the guy in the high vis then you really shouldn’t be speeding. I mean you shouldn’t be speeding anyway but it’s more worrisome that you can’t react quickly enough at whatever speed you’re doing to the blindingly obvious man at the end of the road.

But yeah, bloody cyclists eh!

Via @AsEasyAsRiding

On my ride home on Friday a woman stepped out in front of a bus and I ploughed straight into her. Fortunately I didn’t injure her at all. This was on a road which consisted of a bus lane and two lanes of traffic in Holborn. I’ve come so close to knocking pedestrians down through them just stepping out into the road a number of times – either not looking or being engrossed in their phones. I’ve always slowed down or managed to flick the bike to the side to escape damage to either of us previously.

Clearly it’s easy to do and pedestrians have right of way, but stepping out in front of the bus you have just got off and walking into a further two lanes of traffic is madness. Especially when there’s a signal controlled crossing a few metres away.

The woman was clearly shocked and started to have a go at me. The driver of the bus also had a pop and then the mini cav driver adjacent also put his bit in. I still believe it’s not my fault as you should look when stepping out. If it had been a motorbike or even car then things would have been a lot worse. She walked off and I went home after straightening my bars out.

I woke up yesterday with a bit of a stiff neck but didn’t think anything of it. By the end of the day I was in a considerable amount of pain and couldn’t turn my head or swallow properly. I woke up this morning with even worse symptoms which meant I couldn’t do the ride I had planned after a photo shoot. What’s worse is that I’ve seen so many other people out there riding their bikes, having fun. Roadies, families, couples and just people who’ve dusted their bikes off for the day. It makes me so angry to not be one of them enjoying the freedom of two wheels whilst also being in so much pain. Today feels like a completely wasted day. Just lying down and eating pain killers.

What’s further frustrated me is that my ‘stupid little cup’ target of 1250k this month on Strava is now probably completely out of the fucking window. I’ve done 1050k and short of a miracle tomorrow morning won’t be getting 200k done in the next 4 days.

More pain killers then.

I recently got handed a rather nice looking flyer in the Rapha store about a hilly route in North London. I thought I’d give it a go but unfortunately the URL rapha.cc/hillride is dead / kaput / 404’d etc. Google didn’t turn up anything so I ended up contacting Rapha.

After contacting them it took a while to work out what it was actually referring to but it turns out it was for the Pantani Commemorative Ride on the 11th May. So some more searching got me to this Eventbrite page which has a link to a GPX file. So I’ve taken that and re-made it in Strava routes* and will have a go on Thursday. Rapha have a load of other rides on their Ride With GPS page.

So why write this post? Well hopefully the next person searching for it will find this page first without having to go through all those steps. Or maybe they’ve run out of these flyers now.

*it’s very annoying not being able to import files into their route builder yet.

Graham kindly organised a weekend in Wales which has been in the diary for ages now due to needing to get a booking at the hugely popular Old Skool Mountainbiking lodge.

We left on the Friday morning which was great to avoid the after work dash. We met Graham at the services on the M1 and headed up to Cannock to get a loop in there.

Arriving at Cannock we met Graham’s mates Matt and Mark and did the usual faff in the car park and got on it. Within five minutes I was completely soaked in sweat. It was so warm in the forest and a merino t-shirt was clearly the wrong idea. As is usual with Cannock it takes a while to get used to the terrain, which in some ways is similar to Swinley. Those rounded polished pebbles always seem to worry me but after a while we got used to it. We stopped regularly and at one point chatted to a guy who had fallen off the little north shore section into some stinky mud. It’s hard not to smile but he had seen the funny side fortunately which was good as most of the left hand side of his body was covered in mud.

At one point you have to make a choice between a longer and shorter trail. I looked at it with Matt T and we agreed on the longer one but somehow took the shorter turn. We were back at the car park pretty quickly and soon realised the mistake. This then begged the question of what to do next as a 10k loop round Cannock wasn’t really enough to satisfy. Graham and his mate Mark did the 10k again and Matt, Matt T and myself went out to do the full 25k loop which involved more sweat and airless riding in the forest. Although entirely worth it for some of the descents even though the braking bumps had become steps. At what point do braking bumps become drop offs?

After some food we headed off to the lodge via the most beautiful road I have ever been on. Matt spent most of it hanging out of the window taking pictures. Whilst the drive was enjoyable it was pretty hard to not look at the view so we pulled in and had a good look at the glory of the landscape beneath us.

After that it wasn’t long to get to Sian and Daffyd’s place (The Old School House). As usual we were greeted to a very friendly arrival and tea/coffee/beer etc. We had planned to have a bit of a ride that evening on the road bikes but instead settled down to relax for a bit and then headed to the pub for dinner. Our extra 25k loop at Cannock had put the schedule back a bit. We didn’t manage more than three pints before heading back to get an early night.

I got up at 7.30 with Matt who wanted to go running up to a little wild swimming area further up the mountain. I rode up there with Mark but by the time we’d pumped our tyres up and got out we’d missed the two Matts and completely cocked up the directions. As it was raining we came back and got on with breakfast. Reviewing the GPS log when we got in we realised we had been within a few hundred metres of them which was a real shame. However it was a bit damp and it was good to get back and get warm and drink coffee whilst waiting for breakfast.

Breakfast was superb as usual and reluctantly we headed out to Coed-Y in the rain expecting the usual damp ride. I bought a cheap jacket in the shop and Matt T grabbed some overshoes. They had apparently been having a good day selling wet weather gear! Matt went for a 13 mile run instead of riding but we headed out on The Beast. The rain soon subsided and jackets were too warm as it was still hot and muggy. The damp formed up this incredible mist over the valleys we were riding around.

The trails were riding really well and The Beast has now become one of my favourite trails overall. The rocky drops and technical sections really great as was Fester and the Adams Family. It was great to fly down them and we hardly saw a soul round the trail. I even cleared the rooty technical uphill section that had become my nemesis on recent trips. We stopped at the little cottage for a bite to eat but bizarrely were one of only two groups there, the other being a couple. Normally it’s rammed so maybe the wet weather had scared everyone off.

One highlight was seeing an Owl fly a few feet in front of us and then sit in a tree and watch us. Amazing to see one during the day and also that close.

We skipped the final climb as the Beginning of the End was shut and it just meant a boring climb on fire road for nothing. We got back to the school house and had a shower and got changed before heading out on a route I’d previously prepared for the road bikes. I’d run it past Sian and Dafyyd first to check it wasn’t terrible and that I hadn’t made some obvious mistakes. I managed to convince both Matt’s to join me.

For the first part it mainly consisted on non-stop climbing on a single track road. I soon got to that point of no more gears. That dreaded place where you know you can’t just click through to one more like you usually can on a mountainbike. So nothing for it but to get out of the saddle and get grinding away at it. Matt didn’t seem overly convinced as per below.

Soon enough though we crested the top of the hill (mountain?) and were treated to some incredible scenery as we freewheeled down. We had also seen a few massive birds of prey as well as the usual many sheep. Having done lots of pretty technical riding at Coed-Y this seemed far more scary riding down a tiny little road with a gravel bit in the middle and stones and sheep shit all over it. Gently did it.

This continued for a while longer and involved opening and closing lots of gates as well as being barked at by a dog at each and every farm we passed. It really was the most incredible scenery and it felt like hardly anyone ever came up here. It felt like what you imagine road riding should actually be about, not a loop out to Kent or a few laps or Regents or Richmond park. It felt properly isolated and a proper challenge.

After a while we ended up on the main road briefly before turning off to do more climbing. This just seemed even more painful and the descents that followed were even scarier due to green slime on the road in places. We ended up in a bit of a chain gang to get past the next main road section and then back off through a few picturesque little villages and into the back of Coed-Y-Brenin. We ended up on the same gravel fire roads we’d ridden earlier and then up and over slightly to get back to the School House. Whilst it was ‘only 50k‘ it felt fairly epic due to the amount of climbing – 1100m or so. I’d imagine you’d get so fit living round there and riding that sort of terrain all the time on or off road.

Anyway, back for another shower and then off for more beer and as much food as possible before bed.

Next morning I had wanted to get that wild swim in. Having got up 30mins too late I ended up driving the van up there with Matt (and his mug of coffee) instead of cycling. It really is a beautiful location and Matt T was already in doing a few lengths. The water was brown and peaty but still clear. As I put my toes in I could see little fish around the bottom in the rocks.

It was painfully cold at first and I was gasping for air but once I’d got through the initial pain and shock it felt incredible.

After a few lengths I got out to head back for breakfast. The feeling you get on your skin after a swim in that water is amazing. It’s so refreshing and I was fully awake by that point. Both Matt’s ran back whilst I drove.

After that it was packing up and off to Llandegla which didn’t disappoint as usual. The first climb was fairly arduous following the mega cycling day before and it was still hot and clammy. The trails were in superb condition and riding really nice and fast. After that we tucked into the BBQ at the cafe, oogled the bikes in the shop and headed back to London.

You always forget what a hell of a long way it is back. It’s generally a 550 mile round trip which is a hell of a lot of driving even split over a weekend. One of the nicest things about the weekend though was the mixture of activities rather than just a few hours at a trail centre and then beers. Taking the road bikes and having a swim all seemed like a good idea and will definitely be happening again. I’ve already started looking out for more wild swimming opportunities and hope to have a dip in a spot I’ve found in Hay on Wye in a few weekends with Emma. I wonder if she’ll let me take the road bike?

Having done the Dunwich I’m thinking of the next challenge to push myself a bit. Strava have the Monthly Training Series they do and I think I’m going to have a go at getting to 1250km in July. So far I’ve got to 608km and have been busy multiplying out how much riding I need to do to get to that final milestone. We’re off to Wales this weekend and I’ve even totalled up the three trails and how much that will contribute. Cannock = 24km, The Beast at Coed-Y 38km and 21km at Llandegla. I’ve even considered taking the road bike to Wales to do a bit more in the mornings to top it up a bit.

I might need to start getting up a bit earlier to get the 40k average per day I need! I think the bike will need a service at the end and I’ll have a couple of days off riding after that though (maybe).

I guess I’m going to be seeing a lot more of this thing.