With just 11 days until my RideLondon event, I met up this evening with 7 other Pedallers for our 4th AVP 100 miler training ride. Tonight Buster led us on a 40 mile circuit, which had it been a wheel, Honiton would have been the hub. OK, so the wheel would have to have been the shape of Africa, but hopefully you get the point.
No video tonight as after feedback from earlier postings, I was trying a different camera angle and approach with the GoPro attached to my seat post. While I hope you enjoy the results, I will not be repeating the exercise any time soon as my jersey pockets had to carry the contents of my saddle bag and the camera bracket chafed my thighs - the things I do for my art!
Kelly at speed on my wheel
The training is nearing an end!
You can still sponsor me at justgiving.com/Jonathan-Read-Bone/ or by texting “JJRB64 £(amount) to 70070.
Well us Axe Valley Pedallers can't be said to be coordinated in our ride planning or may be we just have such numbers that we can enjoy the variety of rides. A couple of weeks back Curtis and Clive did a parallel Tuesday ride to that Buster was running and today, Andy, Kelly, my RideLondon buddy Jason and I rode out at 08:00 am at the same time as Rex, Curtis, Tim, Hovis and Nelly, our pelotons passing as we travelled in opposite directions .. I just wish I had my camera on as it would have been quite a shot.
When I started training for the 2013 AVP 100 miler, Andy picked out this great 40 mile route to Honiton through Sidmouth to Ottery returning via Stockland hill and it's become quite a favourite of mine since. Today, to mix things up a little, we cycled this route in reverse.
The highlight of this ride for me is always the cake stop at the Boston Tea Party, so this had to be included in the itinerary, as was my first ever cycle through the Sid ford, a bee in the helmet for both Andy and I, and a must for any ride concluding in Seaton during daylight .. a final coffee at the Broom Wagon! All of this has been captured, as you'd expect in stills and my latest video http://youtu.be/SIKunMB8XOw
Thursday night is cycling night in Seaton ... well there are other things going on in and around, such as the Red Arrows flying over Lyme Regis, but for me even the draw of an air display could not keep me away from from my training.
After Tuesday's epic ride, I was looking forward to a more gentle spin ahead of a longer weekend ride. Arriving in at the Kings Head rallying point, I could see in addition to the usual suspects that Quiff had joined us. Quiff runs a quick paced Sunday ride which I had the privilege of joining on a couple of occasions last year, before I accepted after being dropped on a ride back in November, that I needed more training to do them justice. This was the ride which actually started the more regular social Sunday rides which Andy and I still try to get out on.
We have, more recently, been known on Thursday nights to split into two groups, for a brisk and gentle paced ride. Ordinarily, I would not have entertained following Quiff out on the brisk ride but with Andy away with the Arrows, and an unexplained desire to test myself, following all this training I've been doing for the RideLondon, I thought, why not:
- double the distance,
- double the pain .. and hopefully
- double the gain!
Out with the speedy group!
The speedy group, in the end, actually only consisted of Quiff, myself and the Near Naked Man (Glenn, the proprietor of the Broom Wagon coffee shop and member of the MCAC), the remaining 8 or 9 riders chose the gentle paced route. If I ever thought someone knew something I didn't, this was one of those times.
We headed out briskly towards Colyton where some how I earned a Strava segment KOM and a flurry of PRs climbing Watchcombe Hill to Offwell .. this ride was really pushing me to my limit. In all we covered 41 miles to Uppotery, across the A303 to Churchinford and back through Membury and Axminster. I think it was out of Membury that we started a chain gang, rapidly rotating positions on the road to maximise our speed. I remember the last time I tried this I could not keep up, on this occasion I stayed on the wheel as we maintained a 20 mph plus average over the undulating couple of miles.
As expected this was a quick ride, but I survived. I also achieved a 20 km PB. Feeling good for London! If you've not yet sponsored me, surely I'm earning it now :) www.justgiving.com/Jonathan-Read-Bone/ or Text JJRB64 £x to 70070
Regular readers will have noticed that Tuesday evenings have become serious training rides ahead of the AVP 100 miler planned fro the end of August. Fortuitously this has enabled me to join these new club rides to up my mileage ahead of my earlier 100 miler .. yes the RideLondon just over 2 weeks away now!
Around 9 Pedallers met up at Seaton Health Centre bus stop for our third Tuesday ride lead by our master route planner, Buster. For this ride, Buster had a long and challenging circuit worked out with what seemed to be a tour of a Dorset .. we headed over to Lyme Regis, through Charmouth, Salway Ash, Broardwindsor and back via Marshwood to Axmister and home.
Phew, Tuesday nights are certainly becoming rides with an attitude. Around 45 miles covered, 3-4000 ft of climb, depending on whose Garmin you believe, and a need for lights as it was after 10:30 pm by the time we were cycling back into Seaton. Those last 10 miles were the fastest I ever ridden over that distance, as I achieved a personal best of 28m:09s which is a 1m:22s improvement on my previous record set in June while riding the Dartmoor Classic .. amazing what a difference it makes cycling over level ground, roll on London!
A big big thank you to all my sponsors for your kind support towards my RideLondon 100 mile ride in aid of Diabetes research. I am so pleased to report in this update that we’ve reached 90% of our target!
As the Tour de France enters its final week, I am myself just over two weeks away from my Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 event to pick up the cycling baton :).
My training has been progressing well. I’ve continued my Thursday night ride out with the club on the 20-30 mile rides and for the past two week we've been doing a Tuesday evening ride of 40 miles to help members train for a club 100 miler at the end of August, how fortuitous! With the exception of last weekend, which I had off to attend a Christening and am thus recording as a ‘rest day’, I have also been getting in a 50-70 mile weekend ride to build my longer distance stamina.
The video recording using the new camera I’ve acquired for the event and which you may have learned of in my previous update or via my blogging, has now been put through its paces such that I’m reasonably comfortable with its position on the bike and think I now know how to use it - so a good start. I’ve purchased additional batteries to ensure it lasts the distance and the next challenge is working out how to attach my entry number to the handle bars without then obscuring the lens .. now that would be a bit of a disaster! If you’re interested in seeing some of the test ride footage then click one of the links below:
Les Maillots Jaunes - possibly my favourite clip in which I’ve added a musical backing track (Kraftwerk’s ’Tour de France’ .. how apt I thought). Critical reviews have been mixed - as you’ll see from my write up - but see what you think http://tourdefitness.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/maillots-jaunes.html
Kelly’s Heros - here I was trying out a new mounting and left the background sound in. We also had Kelly, a fellow rider, join us with a helmet mounted camera. There is one down hill section where I’ve been able to have her and my video’s running together showing me descending both from my and her viewpoint. Apologies in advance for my language at the bottom of the hill, where I almost come to grief - I meant to edit this out but during the final edit this was somehow overlooked! http://tourdefitness.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/kellys-heros.html
I have now received my official Registration Form and confirmed rider number 25368. I will be starting from Area Blue, Wave Q at 07:55 on Sunday 10th August - the logistics surrounding this ride are incredible. Jason, my RideLondon buddie starts 10 minutes ahead of me from a different area so we’re now working out at which point along the route we can meet up. With 24,000 cyclists this, I feel, will be some challenge! If you are interested in seeing the the 100 route we are to take, you can check this out here. http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/The_Events/Prudential_RideLondon-Surrey_100/Route.htm
I will drop you another update before we leave, and as ever, you can continue to follow the preparations and my general ramblings via my blog updates here http://tourdefitness.blogspot.co.uk .. and if you have any questions, please ‘ping’ me :)
Thursday night's ride was a ride with a difference. We didn't necessarily split into two or more rides, but rather formed - I like to think, in honour of the TdF - a number of break away groups. And rather than race on to the end, this front break away group stopped at the Harbour in Lyme for a mid session beer and why we may have balked at the non Seaton prices, the views and coolness of the beer were spectacular!
So back to the ride .. this, unlike more recent expeditions, followed one of our regular routes in and out of Lyme with a crazy piece of off roading that I'm sure resulted in me squaring my wheels off last time .. although I did avoid the horse jumps on this occasion, so think I got away with it. After a mere 20 miles we returned to Seaton at around 9 pm, just as the promised storm clouds started to rumble and spark with lightening. I don't know how many made it to the Kings Arms, but having already had our apres cycling refreshments, I for one headed on and avoided the drowning that those clouds were soon to deliver. Another fun ride out with the AVP
The Tuesday Evening .. "Preparation aid for the AVP 100" .. Ride numbered at least 10 Pedallers last night, as Buster led us over a 40 mile circuit out towards Honiton, up and over the hills through Upottery, Yarcombe and back through Membury and Axminster.
Meeting up for the ride
Last week we had half this number, so it's great to see the word getting out. Having two AVP rides in a week, I am getting to meet new club members whom would normally go out on the Thursday mountain bike ride or who are just not able to make the earlier Thursday slot. This week, as well as Buster and myself, we were again joined by Kelly and Shaun from last week, Bobble, Nelly and Ed from the Thursday ride, and Jeff .. my new bike mechanic who straightened my wheels the other day and who last night showed me how to get a chain back on without getting my hands dirty! What a treat!
During our rides, I like to share the latest piece of biking trivia, much to other's amusement or disbelief. Last week it was how Froome has cycled under the Channel .. see the evidence in the video below.
This week, the subject was that body hair conundrum .. do shared legs make you faster? I shared how the guys at Specialized have taken to the wind tunnel to answer this question once and for all. They ran a test 10 time on the bike with hairy legs and 10 times with shaved legs over a 40 km distance. The aerodynamic boffins found a maximum time advantage of 82 seconds on one ride, with an average saving of 70 seconds, when riding without hairy legs. As the actual gains will depend on the amount of hair - measured by the 'Chewbacca scale' - this time advantage might not be universally applicable to all, but when 'marginal gains' are at stake, I ask "should I now reach for the razor?" .. I guess the next question would be "where am I on the Chewbacca scale?". I think we'll leave it there!
So back to the ride. As we crossed the A35 at Kilmington, on our return, the sun had already dropped below the horizon and it brought back memories of the spring and autumn rides that we do under an ever darkening sky. Although unlike on those occasions when I've gone out expecting darkness, I was riding last night without my 2000 lumin lights and so needed to keep up with Ed and Bobble on the home run in order to see my way back to Seaton.
We ended the ride at around 10:30 pm, no apres beer and chips and it was all quiet and powered down at home. It was a good ride, but I'm kind of looking forward to getting my 100 milers done and dusted. Just 24 days to go!
Today saw me return to the saddle for the third epic ride of the week, when I met up with Andy, Kelly and Jason (My RideLondon buddy - still not too late to sponsor me at https://www.justgiving.com/Jonathan-Read-Bone/) for a 50+ mile ride out to Culmstock, following a route we took on last years AVP 100 miler.
Kelly's Heros
The weather, route and company was wonderful and the ride event free, no bonking, punctures or mechanicals to speak of .. who could ask for more.
As I hinted on Thursday, I took delivery of a new camera bracket yesterday and so took the opportunity on this ride to test out a new raised and forward position for the camera and real sound in place of a backing track - hoping moving the camera away from cables and the forks would reduce previous interference. In creating the final video, I also tested out an interesting piece of software from Garmin, their VIRB Edit code, which enable one to add interesting telemetry to the video, similar to that you see shown on TV during Formula 1 races. The final results were mixed .. the video quality still seems to be good, the sound a little improved but the telemetry is challenging and time consuming to add, such that you'll only see it, in this edit, in two scenes. Let me know what you think.
I may have started something with this video lark, as Kelly turned up today with a helmet mounted GoPro, more usually found attached to her kayak. So we benefit today in having two complimentary videos of the ride, with Kelly's including a few and rare shots or yours truly!
Oh yes.. and what's the relevance of today's blog title? Well, the AVP like to give out nicknames and on Tuesday, Buster struck on 'Hero' for Kelly, after the classic 1970's film starting Clint Eastwood. You can make up the rest. I'm now looking forward for Kelly's next video to be accompanied by the film's soundtrack ;)
It is Thursday and time for another sultry early summer evening's ride out with the Pedallers. While Chris Froome crashed out on Stage 5 of the TdF yesterday without getting an opportunity to don the yellow jersey, upwards of 10 Maillots Jaunes took to the Marshwood lanes for a 30 mile incident free spin. Following on from Tuesday's inaugural 40 mile AVP ride, the legs are certainly getting a good work out this week, and it is far from over!
You'll have previously read in my latest blogs that I've acquired a GoPro camera for the bike, with the aim of capturing some of the RideLondon highlights; a ride you'll also have heard me mention taking part in on Sunday 10th August in aid of Diabetics UK, fundraising for which I'm pleased to confirm has now reached 75% of my target. Many thanks to all who have given so generously to this cause, it is so very much appreciated!
Anyway, back to the GoPro. The camera joined me on the 2 hour ride, it's battery just about lasting the course. I can see me having to carry a number of spares for the RideLondon 100 miler as I can't afford not to capture the finish along the Mall! We did talk on the ride about whether I could wire in a reserve battery but I'm not sure of the practicalities of this and am not sure I want to start compromising the waterproof casing by adding holes to accommodate the required wiring loom. No, spare batteries will probably be the way to go. I am also not that settled yet with the mounting. While I like in some ways to see my hands flipping the gear changers, I'm less enamoured with the sound of clicking from, I'm assuming, the brake and gear cables rubbing against the casing. This is fine when wanting no audio or if one was to overlay a musical backing track - more on this later - but I'd like to be able to catch some of the ambient sounds from the ride. I have, therefore, another bracket on order which may resolve this, we'll see on the next ride.
Once back in the 'film studio', it was time to view the rushes from the ride and start the editing. For this video, I decided to add a backing track and thought it most apt to have selected Kraftwerk's "Tour de France" which I feel really fit the mood and pace of the final cut. I hope you agree ...
Feedback has so far been positive, but everyone likes to be a critic and I see now why most directors would probably not want to hear half of what these have to say! Funnily, the main criticism has not been about the filming, direction or production but rather the Pedallers themselves.
Anon1 dropped me a note to say .. "Can’t say I’m impressed – their road behaviour leaves a lot to be desired – straggling all over the place! In my club cycling days (bla bla Wheelers) we kept in a tight bunch, two abreast and together in one group. If there were cars overtaking then we went into single file. The run leader was always up front and the rear guard would shout ‘oil up’ to signify traffic about to overtake. All very disciplined!". As creator of this movie, I take full responsibility for this perception, as I left all the dull disciplined shots on the cutting room floor, finding much more interesting to show the seven minuets or less of the Pedallers regrouping or freely manoeuvring on the traffic free roads .. and not having a motorcycle film crew to shoot the peleton pass and race to the next vantage point, this way I get to include most of the cyclist at some point in the film. Thup .. the sound of a ball of printed email hitting the bottom of the bin.
Anon2 suggested we made a lot of stops ... um, well yes, the AVP's doctrine, unlike many cycling clubs, is that we 'never leave a man behind' and in an 8 minute film of a 2 hour ride, I did find these more social interactions the most interesting pieces to show, believing that the back of a head or the rising and lowing of a lycra clad behind may not make the best viewing! Sigh .. the sound of me exhaling a deep breath. Time to get back to the cycling!
We had a great ride out covering, as on Tuesday's ride, new and previously unchartered roads. Coincidentally, we did take a similar direction to that of Tuesday's circuit, including another pass over the road undergoing resurfacing which was more akin to riding the Paris Roubaix cobbled sections which poor Froomie never made it to yesterday .. I wonder if his Pinarello would have performed as well as my Specialized Roubaix .. we'll never know ;)
As a preparation aid for this year's AVP 100 at the end of August, a couple of weeks after my RideLondon 100, it has been suggested that the club re-establish the regular Tuesday evening rides.
Five keen Pedallers, Buster, the famed mountain biker, Curtis, our North American member, Kelly, Shaun and myself were to be the first to take up this challenge. Our rendezvous was at the Round Orchard for 19:00. Our route was to be a 42 mile circuit out to Crewkerne and back, through 3 counties and along roads I'd never covered before on the bike, with or without the club. Quite a rarity these days.
Not only did this give me some enjoyable additional miles of training, it also gave me the opportunity to test out my new GoPro in a group ride situation. I've since been told, by my non-cycling friends, that this makes for much more interesting viewing, and I tend to agree. While I'm happy with the general camera position, now that I've cleared the brake and gear cables from view, the vibration noise is still too excessive for me to include sound in the playback. I have another mounting bracket on order but the solution may be to come up with my own soundtrack ... perhaps, Queen's 'Bicycle Race'? Other ideas gratefully received!
While out on the ride, my Roubaix's wobbly wheels - which I first noticed had been pummelled out of alignment by our disgraceful potholed roads, whilst out with Jason on the Taunton Circuit last weekend - became so out of alignment that I had to loosen the brakes off to almost their maximum; something which is usual to do only when removing them from the frame. This was not a good situation. They will have to be fixed before my next ride, I can put this off no longer. The dilemma is, how long will I be off the road and will my Crosstrail, sadly sitting in the garage with a puncture, have to be my steed for Thursday night's ride? I need another road bike!
Epilogue: As I am a little tardy with this posting, I can add this epilogue to inform all that no new bike was required .. not just yet anyway. On Wednesday morning, I phoned the local bike shop, Soanes, in Colyton and Jeff the mechanic was able to realign both front and rear wheels in quick time, such that I had them back on the bike later that afternoon! The poor Crosstrail will have to sit out another AVP evening ride, but I did buy it the gift of a new inner tube and I'll give it a bit of TLC over the weekend.
What to do on a Sunday morning, when you're just 10 miles short of your 100 mile weekly target, and your legs are aching madly following an epic ride the previous day? Ride your bike to the local cyclist friendly coffee shop for a caffein and sugar boost, of course!
This also gave me the opportunity to further test out my GoPro camera which I've invested in ahead of my RideLondon event in just 5 weeks time!
For those of you who have yet to visit me in Seaton, you can also get a feel for where I am fortunate to live and the see the beach on which I have enjoyed many a lunch hour!
It is just 35 days now until my Prudential charity ride and so was out for another training session with Jason, my RideLondon buddie. Today, it was back to Taunton, Jason's cycling ground, and he'd planned out a terrific circuit taking in a couple a good hills and some wonderful scenery. I had originally thought we were in for a relatively flat ride having viewed the profile and seen 1200 units of climb. On my system I use feet, so thought I was in for a gentle ride, but Jason uses metres!
This weekend also marks the start of the Tour de France and while we were out on our ride, the pros were departing Leeds on Stage 1 of their 3 week tour, for a 190.5 km race to Harrogate. We had 100 training ride planned but I was at least wearing my 2013 TdF commemorative Sky jersey and routing for a third victory. I would have loved for Cav to have secured the yellow jersey in Harrogate; such bad fortune to have crashed out with just 100m to go, but unexpectedly Froome crossed the line in 6th, so the jersey seemed to work for him!
Routing for a third Sky victory
Also in the news today is the call for the government to use more of our road tax to fix our potholed roads. Listening to the radio this morning en route to Taunton, I was amazed at how the presenter was so dismissive of the AA representative saying that riding on e.g. French roads was one of the joys of a European holiday .. he'd obviously only ever flown. And then when catching up on the TdF later in the evening, I saw one of the cyclists letting air out of his tyres to further dampen the impact of the uneven road surface. To top it all, my new Mavic wheels of just 6 weeks, have been pummelled out of alignment by, yes you've guessed it, our appalling roads! Now to find a bike workshop that I can a) trust to do the work and b) who can do it in quick time so I'm not kept off the road ... I need a second bike!
Back to today's ride. Having been uncomfortable battling with traffic on dual carriageways on my last Taunton outing, Jason had taken heed and picked out some very typical AVP styled lanes which really made for a highly enjoyable ride today. The weather did not look too promising at first as I drove through heavy rain crossing the Blackdown Hills but having to repeat the 45 minute journey, because I'd forgotten my cycling shoes, allowed for the rain to clear and sun to shine .. as they say, 'every cloud has a silver lining'.
We started out heading north and up our first climb from Monkton's junction to Pines Cafe. Jason has the KOM for this segment, but I think he told me too late for me to have a go at taking it from him .. next time, but then again, with my memory, he know's I'll forget!
Coffee stop at Pines Cafe
Although only 10 miles into the ride, the Cafe was too much of an attraction for me to pass by and we had what I hoped was to be our first coffee and cake stop.
From Pines Cafe we turned south climbing and then rapidly descending Cothlestone Hill into Bishop's Lydeard, Milverton and past Wellington, with a slight off road detour to visit his monument. It was here that we started our second and final big climb before the long and undulating descent through the Somerset Levels, which earlier this year had been under water. The evidence of such extensive and devastating flooding was still very clear, as every house through one village was gutted and undergoing renovation and large water pumps and river drainage excavations visible.
It was at this 40 mile point that I hit the wall .. or bonked as cyclists say. It was past lunch time, I'd eaten little and breakfast was a distant memory. I felt good to go on but my muscles had exhausted their fuel, they were going nowhere fast. After Jason shared his spare banana and a stop for a cereal bar at the next garage I was back to near normal. A good lesson was learned there .. keep eating! I now see why Froome needed that gel in the last few km on the TdF last year, even though it cost them a fine and time penalties. We finally returned to Taunton along a rather overgrown but picturesque canal towpath completing a very enjoyable and scenic ride.
During the ride, I took the opportunity to test out my new Gopro camera. This clip is a small one covering a short climb and long descent of Cothlestone Hill. Look out for the wide vehicle and a bit of a wobble on one of the corners. http://youtu.be/s_V6TCbq2jc
What difference a week makes .. the sun brought the Pedallers out tonight in sufficient numbers that we were able to split into two groups. OK, so that was not the only reason, some were after a quick pedal and the remaining 8 of us a social 21 mile amble out to Lyme Regis and back. We were also joined by, Kate, a new member to our team.
The route took us out through Axmouth and up to Dowlands, Andy and I taking Stepps Lane because it had been a while since we'd ridden it .. now I remember why! I did, however, achieve a new PB, even taking Andy's record on one of the segments, my short climbing speed is improving!
The Pedallers
Lyme Regis was the busiest I'd seen it on a Thursday evening ride, such that we felt the need to walk some of the promenade so as not to cause an incident.
We headed out of Lyme over some less than standard road bike surfaces, but it was dry and we stayed inflated. Our return route took us along Trinity Hill Road and back to the Kings Arms for much needed liquid refreshment, (but no food .. I'm thinking we need to petition for a new venue, standards are slipping!)
