The Portland Century

With my wife away for the weekend, I had a day to myself today so persuaded 3 fellow cyclists, Rex, Andy and Wes (Andy's cousin) to join me on a 100 mile ride to Portland and back. As many will know, I am not a natural 100 miler, normally drawing the line at 100 km or less (the one exception being our annual 'gentle' AVP 100 miler) but this has been a challenge, I've been keen to undertake for some time. I had hoped for clear blue sky and no wind, nature however had other plans.

We headed out at 07:00 from Seaton, to Lyme Regis, on to Charmouth, Wootton Fitzpaine and Chideock arriving at 09:00 in West Bay for breakfast of poached eggs, toast and black coffee. So far so good. 

Then taking the coast road we continued west through Abbotsbury, Portesham and across the causeway into Portland. From above Abbotsbury we should have had excellent views of Chesil Beach, but the theme of whole ride was that from the top of any hill all we saw was mist .. the cloud cover was exceptionally low. 

Above Chesil Beach

Then crossing the causeway, we were hit with extreme cross winds requiring an aggressive lean into the wind to prevent being blown over. Then when climbing up to Portland Bill, needle like rain was driven into our faces and the temperature plummeted. Having come this far, we agreed to push on to the lighthouse and am so glad we did, it is such an iconic structure.

Team Portland 100

Lunch was had at a Cycleccino's Coffee Shop, a friendly relaxed establishment in the centre of Portland ver pro cycling. They even topped up our bottles and supplied SIS energy drinks and gels .. one to remember if ever repeating this ride.

Lunch stop at Cycleccino's Coffee Shop

Our route back took us first north, through Weymouth and up to Nottington and Goulds Hill .. one long stretch reminded us of the Dartmoor Classic route from Princetown .. very lumpy. Again once we'd climbed, visibility was close to non existent, we could have been riding at night for all we could see. Once back on familiar AVP territory, around Marshwood, the fog had cleared, but Rex and I had lost Andy and Wes way out front .. I don't think this was just the fog, our legs had started to give up in those last 20 miles and we were happy to roll home. It was, however, a shame that the quicker guys did not work as a team to get us all home together. There is an art to group cycling which not all appreciate .. enough said.

Completing the ride in just under 8 hours, considering over 8k ft of climb, was pleasing. Rex and I were certainly tiring towards the end, but at 60-70 miles, the 100 km mark, I was still moving OK. This was also key reason for pushing ahead with the ride, in spite of the weather forecast, as I needed miles in my legs ahead of the Loch Ness Etape an the end of April; a ride of 60% of today's distance and well over less than 50% of the climbing.

No Mechanicals, Crashes or Other Incidents

We had probably the best turnout of the year for our weekly Thursday ride, numbering into the high teens. Tonight it was the turn of Lyme Regis to be blessed with our cycling prowess and a traditional ride along the front was not to be missed. There was a faint glow from the sun, now way below the horizon, reflecting off of the sea and in no more than 2 weeks, we thought, it would still be high enough to illuminate the roads too.

Tigger navigated us out into Uplyme where a shimmy into Pound Lane took us off the main drag and back onto Harcombe Road for the usual climb upto the A35. It was then a chain gang blast along Trinity Hill, Bobble, Christopher and me in the breakaway group with Rex, making a later break, closing in fast behind. Bobble was, as usual, hard to catch on the hills as so took the polka dot jersey. Rex caught me in the closing few metres of Trinity Hill, but a last minute 'Cav sprint to the line' from yours truly secured me the green points jersey ... naturally, we all ended the evening in the yellow.

Another great ride out with the pedallers, no mechanicals, crashes or other incidents .. and chips and beer a plenty back at the Kings Arms.

360° around Loch Ness

At the end of last year I received a Facebook message from my good friends in Scotland, suggesting I may like to participate in a closed road sportive around Loch Ness, called the Etape Loch Ness.  Having had such a good year on the bike and knowing that April, the scheduled month for the event, would not clash this time with any family holiday, I blindly jumped at the opportunity. Within 30 minutes we had signed up as a team of 3 - the 3Bs (we met at the BBBs) - and I was elated to think of this being the first event on which to test out my new Specialized Tarmac, which by then, had just been mothballed for the winter. It then dawned on me just how far away Loch Ness is from Devon, 11 hours by car!

Etape Loch Ness Route

On Friday, I was reminded of this event with an email from the organisers. It started "Yes, you read that correctly – time has done its ‘whizzing by’ trick again and here we are with only six weeks until the second Etape Loch Ness! ... With 3300 riders taking part this year, the event is now FULL and official charity, Macmillan Cancer Support, are delighted with the fantastic take-up of their places." This makes it all so real and I know that 6 weeks will just fly by. Time to get down to some serious training!

I've just checked my entry on the web site .. to make sure I've not been dreaming and yes, I'm there, representing the Axe Valley Pedallers. I don't think many will be travelling as far, indeed looking down the list of cycling clubs, not surprisingly, they have a very northern sound to them. The route is an anti clockwise circuit of the Loch, departing and finishing in Inverness, with one steep climb at the half way point.

Luckily, hill climbing experience is something I'm not short of, but I do need to get in some good distance rides on the Tarmac. I've plateaued these past few months at around 30 miles, just half the distance required, and the Tarmac has so far not been properly put through its paces. Here's hoping for a few dry weekends ... who would choose to do a sportive in Scotland during April?!

Precipitation & Pasties

4 Early 'Grande', 5 Late 'Medio' and 5 MTB Pedallers, completed yesterday's series of Thursday AVP evening rides. With numbers possibly down due to the forecasted precipitation that was scheduled to fall later in the evening, these 14 hardy souls were not to be put off their weekly fix .. or was it just the lure of the apres ride pasties, chips and beer at the White Hart, Colyford!

I rode out in the early 6:30 slot with Rex, The Near Naked Man, Relay, Handbag and Airfix, to Beer and up Quarry Lane. It was here that Relay and Handbag left us to join up with the 3 later 'Medio' riders, while the remaining 4 amigos chainganged down the A3052 to Sidford. The plan had been to turn north up Harcombe lane at the bottom of Trow Hill, but as 3 slowed, preparing to turn, screams of 'coming through! coming through!!' from Airfix closing in on us at plus 40 mph, put pay to that! I thought his brakes had just given up, but alas no, he'd just not got the memo!

So, it was a right turn at the lights to then start the long 4 mile climb up through Sidbury to the Hare & Hounds. Turning then back towards Seaton, the feeling was that as we had an hour before turning in, we'd time to add a bit more to the route. We doubled back, up to the Honiton Golf Club across Farway Common and then took the drop down into Colyton via Northleigh Hill. It was only seconds after making this decision that the 'precipitation' arrived to dampen our spirits. Visibility and speed dropped as we descended the greasy twisting lanes. The Near Naked Man left at Colyton, for the 3 remaining to proceed on to dry out by the fire, over a much deserved beer!

The Mark Cavendish Commission

At the end of February, my local coffee shop proprietor and fellow AVP member, Glenn, had local artist, Rich Webster in residence creating a painting of one of my favourite cycling's personalities.

I met up with Rich shortly after he started putting paint to canvas, on one of my many trips to the Broom Wagon for a good coffee and a chat. It took just a few seconds, after discussing how the painting of Mark Cavendish was to be created, for me to realise that I had to have it.

Glen saw quite a bit more of me over the following week, as I dropped in to see how the masterpiece was progressing.

It was finished on the Thursday, in the week of the Grizfest and was hung alongside Lizzie Armitstead and Lucy Garner in Broom Wagon until I called to take it home on the Sunday. It now adorns one of my walls and looks spectacular. I've told Glen that during the TdF, Cav may make another guest appearance alongside the girls again!

Red Nose Day Ride Leader

As I mentioned last week, this Sunday was my turn to lead out the Pedallers on the monthly Sunday ride. I had been agonising over a route, as the objective of these rides is to be inclusive of all abilities and Mother Nature has not taken this into account when laying out Devon's landscape! Having published the route, I did hear of a few murmurings that the three climbs I had planned, the last one out of Stockland in particular, may be a little ambitious. It was with no surprise therefore, that when I arrived at our meeting point, 10 minutes before the off, I was the only rider.

Following a solitary five minute wait, a few Pedallers from further afield rolled up to join me and over the next 10 minutes a steady stream or arrivals brought our number to a far from expected total of 19! After the depart, I had heard that we'd reached the princely total of 22 riders, so must have picked up some late arrivals along the way.

The first climb up to Kilmington was a pleasing warm up, both in temperature, because the weather was looking decidedly bleak and in getting the legs spinning, being that the next two climbs would be  increasingly challenging.

Once out of Kilmington, we had the first of our A35 crossings to negotiate. This, on a Thursday night with 5-10 riders is no big deal, but on a Sunday with 22 riders was a different prospect all together. It reminded me of those natural history films where you see turtles or frogs perilously crossing a road on their return to the sea or a pond! Fortunately we all survived the crossing to enjoy a gentle and picturesque cycle along the River Yarty, stopping for a breather and a photo at the old Beckford Bridge. This is a regular spot for the Pedallers to take a group picture and is thus known more to us as The AVP Bridge.

The next destination was Stockland, a small village at the base of our 2nd big climb, the one which would test even the fittest. We paused here for a quick energy snack and to bit farewell to two riders who decided against making the ascent, but would meet us back at the finish.

Once at the top it was a smooth run to the Colour Wheel cafe above Honiton where we enjoyed coffee and cake out of the rain which had started to fall during our ascent. Once back on the road, the rain had lifted and it was a clear run down into Colyton for the Comic Relief: Red Nose event at the local garden centre where the ride was concluded over a glass of cider and hog roast accompanied by a Dolly Parton tribute act!

February Gone in a Flash

I can not believe February is over already .. gone in a flash!

A business trip and wet weather has curtailed my Thursday night rides to just two of the four that I would normally have completed, but I have tried to make up for lost cycling time by getting out at the weekend and even procuring a turbo trainer for some off road spinning.

The first of the weekend rides was the February AVP Sunday outing from Axminster to Broadwindsor  on which Buster lead out 20 riders under glorious blue sky.

The AVP Sunday Riders

The next was a quick paced ride following this route http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7003472. We had a good turnout for the 8:00 am start, Shaun, Richard, Kelly, Bobble, Curtis, Kevin and Quiff. Apart from the initial huff and puff out of Seaton, Quiff reported that it really only had two climbs (both out of Upottery), the first being up to Aller Moor and the second up Sandy lane to the A30, the rest he said was very flat for this part of the country, enough said! Initially the weather was a bit cold and gloomy but the sun came out around 11ish and we finished the ride off with a more gentle saunter along the River Yarty.

The Traditional Roadside Puncture Repair

These two rides bagged me 90 miles which, together with 60 miles clocked up during a couple of week day rides, brought me nicely above my winter cycling 100 mile a month target.

To close the month, there was one more ride I just had to get in. Next week, I am down to lead out the March Sunday ride and have been struggling to find a suitable route. On paper I had a few ideas but to satisfy my mind, I needed to do a reconnoitre .. just to make sure it would be doable for the majority. The route I've settled on will be a 28 mile anticlockwise circuit to Kilmington, across the A5 and along the River Yarty .. I really enjoyed that stretch of road after the ride with Quiff a couple of Sunday's ago. After the idilic ride along the river, over relatively level ground, we have a bit of a climb out of Stockland before dropping down Northcote Hill. From here, the next 10 miles back to Seaton will be all down hill, so my fellow riders should be able to sit back and let gravity do most of the work!

I still need to share with you my first turbo trainer experiences, a little cycling art purchase and what should be an interesting ride that I have planned for April, but these will have to wait until next time.