First 'School Day' Morning Rides Of The Year

This was the week in which I found my cycling mojo and got myself back into a routine of pre breakfast morning rides.

The plan was to get out early on Monday, but in spite to the inviting blue sky, my motivation was lacking. Tuesday my excuse for not heading out was an early business call which, by the end of the day, I felt I had to make amends and nipped out for a quick gentle circuit .. just under 8 miles.



Wednesday, I had another early call but was not going to let this put me off. The great weather was holding and after the previous evening's enjoyable circuit I just had to get out. I felt sluggish but it was a start and I felt great to have completed my first 'school day' morning ride of the year!

Not a soul out at 06:30 am for my first morning ride

To complete the day, I even headed out late afternoon, after work for 10 mile spin .. as if I'd cycled to and from work. I was feeling much better on this ride .. getting KOM of my Seaton 3 Hills Climb, finally breaking my September 2013 record and achieving an average speed over the 10 miles of 15 mph .. feeling good!

Thursday, the day of our weekly AVP ride, with family arriving for the long Easter weekend, I had both chores to do in the morning and socialising in plan for the evening, so no cycling today! I made up for it. however, on Good Friday morning, with another 06:30 start and a good 20 plus mile ride out to Honiton golf club and back via Offwell. I even met up with a Sid Valley rider along the Axmouth estuary which gave me a boost .. I do prefer riding with company.

Day 350 - SVCC Morning Ride

Next Sunday a group of us from the AVP are doing the Primrose Path Audax, a 100 km non competitive ride across Dorset with 6,400 ft (1,955m) of climbing, but do I feel prepared? .. No, that's a lot of climbing!

I've been working on my hill craft for a good few months and it's not got any easier. This weekend, Andy, Ed and I were hoping to get together for a practice run, but fixing a time was proving difficult for all. Finally, Ed and I thought we'd hook up with the Sid Valley CC for a morning ride out to Exeter .. I last rode with the club back in August in training for the AVP 100 miler, so I found this quite fitting, considering what we've got lined up.

Waiting in the warmth of the unseasonal sunshine

The SVCC had a 40 mile route planned out to Exeter Quays, leaving from the Sidmouth football club at 09:00, returning 13:00. Wanting to add a few extra miles, I thought I'd cycle over from Seaton, just under 10 miles each way and starting with serious climbs at each end. It was a frosty start and I made good time, arriving at the depart 20 minutes ahead of time. The sun, however, was so warm that it was no hardship to wait for Ed and the rest of the riders to arrive.

Ed at our first stop at Tipton Bridge

We made two stops at Tipton Bridge and Tipton Cross to pick up additional riders and then headed north through Rockbeare to Silverton at which point we turned south through Rewe, Stoke Canon, to follow the River Exe into Exeter.

Regrouping at Silverton before turning south to Exeter

The level of the Exe was running so high that the extensive cycle way through Exeter was under water resulting in us having to use the busy city road network, the hairiest bit of this being the multi lane roundabouts!

Ironbridge Runners were hosting their Exeter half marathon

On finally reaching the Quay, we could not believe that we'd picked the day when the Ironbridge Runners were hosting their Exeter half marathon and the whole area was buzzing. There was no way we were going to get a table let alone a piece of cake, so we saddled up and headed on to Topsham and Darts Farm where cake is always in good supply.

Caked up, the return route to Sidmouth was through Woodbury and Otterton and across the common and some really wonderful countryside, and two more tough climbs, Peak and Trow Hill.

This was quite an epic ride of 62 miles and 4,300 feet of climbing .. so, I am now going to have to say  that after this week's rides, I'm now feeling a little more prepared for next week's Primrose Path event .. 85 training miles completed and a whopping 6,600 feet of climbed! Today also saw me achieve  new records for the time to complete 50 miles and distance travelled in1 hour:  3hrs 55mins and 16.07 miles respectively.

Day 227 - Tractors and Punctures

Thursdays come around quick these days, I don't know whether it is just the shortening of the days or the frantic working hours I'm putting in. That aside, I was not totally prepared for my evening ride with the AVP tonight. Having shut the lid of my laptop at six, I had thirty minutes in which to kit up, grab some food and ride to our meeting point.

The weather had been surprisingly mild all day, so I decided on shorts and t-shirt (of the lycra variety of course) with a wind proof jacket to cut down on the down hill wind chills. I was obviously feeling controversial as I picked up my summer Sid Valley CC shirt to wear. After six months with the AVP, I'm still awaiting my club jersey - but I'm not bitter. So, after quickly consuming a banana and dressed from head to toe in Ferrari red, I arrived in surprisingly good time only to find, after chatting with Recumbent for a few minutes, that I had neglected to bring any water! Back on the bike, I beat a hasty retreat home, returning a few minutes later, Zero hydration tablet still fizzing in the bottle, as though nothing had happened. Oh well, with Andy heading up this week's distance leaderboard, I thought I needed all the mileage I could get anyway!

Andy & Chris junior

I did not count our numbers tonight, probably because I found myself leading the peloton out of Seaton from the off and so it was not until our first stop that I had opportunity to properly view our line up. I would say that we had around 15 riders, although luckily for all, it was not my job to keep track of such things. My lights, purchased last month at the NEC Cycle Show, continue to outshine my expectations. On full beam they are easily as bright as those on my car and when cycling across unlit paths and lanes in deepest darkest Devon they are outstanding. I think tonight, however, I over used this full beam setting, as by the time we had reached Axminster, the blue full charge neon had changed to red, warning me that I was now on reserve power. I must remember to recharge the battery pack before my next ride.

I would say we had around 15 riders in our line up

Just outside the village of Wadbrook, so Google maps informs me as I had no idea of our location on the ride, we stopped to regroup outside a large farm. While we could see very little outside of the beams of our lights, the farm yard aroma and the mooing of the beasts in their overnight accommodation gave away the purpose of the surrounding buildings. Then,  as if from the scene of an old Scoobydoo cartoon, the archetypal country farmer appeared from out of the shadows.  After an exchange of friendly greetings he opened the door of a brightly lit barn. Once our eyes had adjusted to the assault of light the poured from within, we were presented with the most spectacular collection of vintage tractors and farm machinery seats all brightly painted and hung from floor to ceiling like pictures in a stately home. What an incongruous sight.

Spectacular collection of vintage tractors and farm machinery seats 

Heading on towards Axminster we crossed the river bridge at Weycroft and took the Cycle path across rolling fields and cattle grids.  From Axminster, we crossed the now very familiar Kilmington cycle path to Whitford and Colyford. This path was, however, to be my undoing as riding over the hedge cutting strewn path, my front tyre was pierced by the largest hawthorn ever seen (by me anyway). At first I thought I'd picked up a sticky patch of leaves as they slapped the ground and grated on the bike's mud guards with every wheel rotation but as it finally broke free the hiss of escaping air and a soggy tyre meant only one thing. Once off the unlit cycle path, and under the watchful eye and support of Chris and Andy and the combined spot lights of my fellow riders, I stopped to replace the offending tube. As I commented on last week, a puncture is a very social affair.

 Replacing my inner tube under the watchful eye and support of
Chris & Andy and the combined spot lights my fellow riders

Puncture repaired, Chris then also spotted that he too was suffering from a deflating tyre. Rather than replacing the inner tube, time pressing on and near to home, he selected to force more air into the tube, his puncture being a slower one than that caused by my giant thorn! On our arrival into Colyton, Chris junior similarly reported a slow puncture, bringing the Kilmington tyre kill to 3, shocking! Sustrains .. once again, take note.

Another great AVP evening ride

In spite of the puncture(s), this was another great AVP evening ride with me registering 3 new PRs on Strava. Unfortunately, Andy lost at least 6-8 miles when he stopped Strava to help me with my tyre meaning that I am now just 3 miles behind him on the leaderboard. Dare I sneak these in during the rainy weekend? Only time will tell!

Stats: 26.63 mi, 2hr 05m, Avg 12.8 mph, Max 33.1 mph, 1,438 kcal

Day 187 - Morning Ride with Andy

With just 8 days before the AVP 100 miler, I had a number of options this weekend to get in a few extra miles training before the big day. The AVP were planning a gentle 30 miler out from Ottery St Mary to Exmouth, the Sid Valley CC would have their Sunday am fast paced 40+ mile ride and my new good friend and Specialized sparing partner from AVP extended me the offer of joining him on a Saturday morning training circuit. In the end the decision was easy.

Andy and I met on Seaton Down Hill for the steep climb out of town. This is the hill I set my fitness by as I've only recently been able to make it to the top without stopping. Today, I could still feel Thursday's ride in my legs, so I did somewhat fear for how the rest of the morning would go.

First stop Sidmouth, Andy in AVP and me (unseen) in my SVCC colours

I was really pleased that we planned to head out via Sidmouth, as on the 20th September, I'm cycling over there to see the start of stage 6 of the Tour of Britain. I'm not sure, however, that I'll use the same route out, as we then made our way, 7 miles inland, to Ottery St Mary before then taking the old single carriage A30 into Honiton where, after 25 miles in the saddle, we stopped for a much needed coffee and cake!

Having taken on fuel, we had a double climb up Stockland Hill out of Honiton, over which I adopted the snaking mountain pass manoeuvre to level out the assent and maintain some level of forward momentum. I'm not sure whether it was this unconventional climbing motion or the technical hitch I'll comment on later, but something totally confused Strava, because for some reason it awarded me the King of the Mountain (KOM) for the Stockland Hill Climb, which unbelievably no one has climbed before! Oh well a KOM is a KOM and I think this is one which will never be taken from me, as I can't see that it is a route that actually exists!  Once at the top of the 'mountain', the remaining 15 miles were more or less down hill back through Shute and Colyton to Seaton.

JRB wins KOM for the Stockland Hill Climb

The technical hitch I commented earlier on, was on leaving Honiton, when my Garmin decided during our coffee stop that it should include itself, such that it powered down for a rest. This unexpected feature in its design was not, however, spotted until a further 3 or so miles had been covered. Luckily, Strava accounted for the missed miles in its final report, but this being unknown to us at the time and having only registered 39 miles on entering Seaton, we madly decided to do an additional circuit of Axmouth to bring the total above 40 miles! Unbelievably, although in reality I'd already completed some 41 miles, I then went on to achieve my best ever times on both the Seaton to Axmouth and Axmouth Gate to Boshill sprints! What a finish to a great morning's ride.

Stats: 44.4 mi, 2hr 56m, Avg 14.1 mph, Max 44.7 mph, 2,323 kcal

Day 174 - SVCC Morning Ride

Two weeks ago, I spoke of a couple of changes I needed to make in preparation for the Axe Valley Pedaller's 100 mile event in September. The first was to consider moving to a road bike, this I achieved last week, with the purchase of my amazing Specialized Roubaix Sport. The next was to work on getting in a few more miles to test I could get close to the distance, this I made a start on today by joining the Sid Valley Cycle Club (SVCC) on their morning 40 mile ride out to Dunkeswell. My previous best had been a long 25 mile evening ride with the AVP; long, in that we normally complete around 20 miles so as to get back to the pub before closing time!

So it was an early Sunday morning start for me with a short drive out to Sidmouth to meet at the football ground for 9:00 am. I was probably the only one who drove, as a steady procession of cyclists in their colourful lycra and road racing bikes entered the ground. We headed off pretty much bang on 9:00 am as we needed to meet up with others at Tipton Bridge at 9:15. In all, I would say we had at least 20 riders, however, once off Tipton Bridge, I only ever saw a few of our number as the peloton split a number of times to either take high speed or good climbing routes, something I have not been used to with the AVP who stay together from start to finish. As it was, I saw more sheep than cyclists on this ride as on one occasion, riding through Kentisbeare, we had to stop to let a flock pass us by!

The 29 mile ride out to Dunkeswell, the site of a small airfield first created for the US Navy in WW2, had only a few long but gentle climbing hills so I found breaking my 25 mile milestone a relatively easy  achievement. After enjoying a much needed coffee and large slice of carrot cake at the airfield's cafe, I joined the remaining 6 cyclists on the homeward journey, the remainder having long since moved on, their route to the airfield actually being 9 miles shorter. I was not bitter, it was miles I was interested in clocking up, I've had loads of practice climbing my local hills!

Talking of hills, I had thought that the 15 mile return ride would again be light on climbs, indeed the expectation was that as we headed towards the sea, the road would be predominately down hill, I had forgotten, however, about the painful climb out of Honiton to Sidford which after 35 miles in the saddle was a real test of my stamina! 

Overall, this was a great ride with 43 miles covered. I have a mountain bike ride planned for next weekend, but all being well, I can see me joining the SVCC on another morning ride very soon, if not that following weekend. Thankfully, my wife is being very supportive of me and my new found cycling interest as I can see that my time away, spent out on the road is starting to lengthen .. I am very grateful for this!

Stats: 43.47 mi, 3h:16m, Avg 13.2 mph, Max 40.0, 2,341 kcal

Day 162 - Rest Day

I'm taking a much needed rest day today. My leg muscles need some time to repair and a day or two out of the saddle will let other sensitive areas recover from the pounding I've given them these past few weeks; it does all start to mount up and there is no fun cycling when you know you can go faster and take steeper hills but the body just says no. Coincidentally, browsing through this week's Cyling Weekly, my eye caught a quote from Beth Crumpton in the Pro Rider fitness tip of the week .. "Rest is as good as training and afternoon naps can do you the world of good!". So there you go. If you're asking whois Beth? .. you can check out her blog here http://bethcrumpton.blogspot.co.uk/.

I did manage to get out for a ride yesterday morning, but it was a tough one. Avoiding the severe hills, there being no way to avoid them all together here in Devon, I completed a 10 mile loop of Colyton and the seafront. Amazingly, Strava, which has recently usurped Endomono as my favoured training 'buddy', logged me achieving PRs for two sectors: Cowhayne Lane to Boshill Cross (01:56) and the Seaton seafront stretch (57 sec) ... I think this is more because it only has a month's worth of data and not all160 days that I've been riding this route! It is still nice, however, to get these reports, it is like getting a virtual pat on the back and don't tell Andy, but he's only lying in 4th against my 2nd placing in the AVP club rankings - that's something at least to be pleased about!

I've been looking at what should be my challenge for 2014, now that, in spite of how I may be feeling today, I've started to reach an elementary level of cycling fitness. I've spoken of the club's 100 mile ride later in September which would really be a great achievement for my first year. While I've not done this yet, the question is then how to top this. Well, yesterday the ballot for the 2014 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 opened and yes, I submitted my entry! There is no guarantee that I'll get a place, but it is this intent that is starting to shape my 2014 challenge and that is to ride in an organised distance event.

Vauxhall Corsa's ingenious built in bike rack

I have also been looking at the local cycling clubs and in addition to the Axe Valley Pedallers, who I am already riding with, I have been checking out the Sid Valley Cycle Club. Seaton lies between the river Sid and Axe, with the Axe flowing into the sea at Seaton and the Sid, some 10 miles west along the coast, at Sidmouth. The Sid Valley Club is affiliated with British Cycling and as such is more involved in organised events. They, for instance, are marshalling on the Tour of Britain in September and complete longer group rides at the weekend, something I'm thinking I'm going to need practice of before taking on my 100 mile challenge. What I also really need is a more suitable vehicle to transport my steed to these more distant venues. Believe it or not, this petrol head has even been eying up the Vauxhall Corsa's interesting built-in bike rack. Could my next car be a Corsa!