AVP Sunday Ride to Broadwindsor

Richard, Shaun, Kelly, Gwyn, Jason, Handbag and I met at the TIC this morning for the 'impromptu' AVP Sunday Morning ride out to Broadwindsor; a route we had done with Buster on a steamy Tuesday evening back in July.

The ride did not get off to a good start as one of Kelly's SPD pedals self destructed. Fortunately, me having a spare set hanging around at home meant we were able to effect a quick swap, delaying us no more than 30 minutes.

Climbing out of Lyme brought us our second mechanical as Jason punctured and sticking to these things coming in threes, Richard completed the pitstops with a puncture climbing towards Marshwood.

The lanes which we'd made such good time over back in the summer were coated today in thick mud, such that bikes and unprotected backs .. for those with no guards .. would be needing a deep clean on our return.

The coffee and cake stop at Broadwindsor Craft Centre, 25 miles in, couldn't have come soon enough and I think all would recommend it .. having loads of space, a friendly and efficient greeting and a very extensive cake selection!

The weather stayed clear for most of the 45 mile circuit and it was great to see most of us wearing the new AVP winter jerseys

Evening Dorset Tour

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!

Day 216 - No Legs

What a way to end a week, up at dawn for a 45 mile tour of Dorset. This has been a week when, with the awful weather,  I was thinking that I'd be lucky to get in just a few short rides, but as it was, it has been one of my longest weeks in the saddle and my aching legs are witness to that. This fact is further born out by a set of stats Andy mailed me showing myself at the top of the AVP distance leaderboard!

So, why 'up at the crack of dawn for a 45 mile tour of Dorset'? Clive, our 100 mile ride organiser, let it be know the other week that he does a regular 40+ mile ride every Sunday morning and with the nights drawing in, I'd thought it would be a good idea to move my weekly ride from a Thursday evening to the Sunday morning and step up the mileage at the same time. So, when the weather was forecast to be wall to wall sun, despite having already had my Thursday night ride, it was an opportunity not to be missed. The question is, will the two rides now be the new routine and will my legs keep up?

Pausing for a moment at the carpark below Pilsdon Pen.

Five joined up for the morning ride, Clive, Andy, Chequers, Kevin and myself. This is a far quicker team to ride with than our Thursday group and I found that while I could just about keep up on level ground, after the first 20 miles, my legs were 'running on empty' when it came to the hills, such that it was all that I could do to keep them turning on the smallest cog - my Roubaix is great at that. This was one of the most frustrating group rides that I've ridden, as the realisation that there was no way I could keep up sank in. I have so much more training to do! Luckily, my pace was good enough for Chequers, so at least I was not left out on my own. All credit to the other guys, they waited for us at the summits as in true AVP style, no one is left behind!

Hot on the heels of Chequers, you can't really appreciate the gradient from this pic.

We started out towards Axmouth and our first 10% 3 mile climb up Boshill Hill, I'd forgotten how painful this one is! We turned off the main Lyme Regis road north though Rousden, Uplyme and up another 10+% climb to Marshwood. At Broardwindsor we turned south through Pen Coppice where we had wonderful views over the Dorset countryside, the sun by then was warming us through nicely. There followed a blissful 7 mile drop down through Salwayash and Dottery where at the 25 mile mark we turned west towards home. We returned through Marshwood, Rousden and Axmouth. I've never been so happy to see the welcome to Devon signs and the familiar sights of the Axe estuary which a few days before I'd seen atmospherically illuminated by the lights of Seaton.

A brief stop near Dottery

Looking back, it was a great ride and by next weekend, I'll be equally keen to join Clive and the team on another. For now, I'm strangely enjoying the aching legs .. endorphins I think they call it!

Stats: 44.68 mi, 3hr 03m, Avg 14.6 mph, Max 38.8 mph, 2,517 kcal