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.

*Insert superlative here*

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

Those guys on the bikes aren’t going very fast but even so. The cornering is fantastic.

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.

An incredible set of images from Michael Salisbury on Flickr. Everyone loves a foggy photo right?

All images © Michael Salisbury

Worth seeing the whole set.

As before, you think skating videos have been done to death and then someone adds something else and brings an amazing new take to it all.

Via mva_1000

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