Dartmoor at 25 Degrees

Dartmoor can be one of those places where the weather can be predictably very wet, windy and during the winter months, rather cool with sub zero temperatures the norm. This August bank holiday weekend we were treated to the exact opposite; it was a day to be spent by the beach rather than astride a bicycle!

The ride had been planned for some months as our annual 100mi/100km club ride, with the intent to follow the route of Mid Devon CC's Dartmoor Classic, so not one for the novice rider. Indeed, I for one would not have used it for my first 100, some 4 years ago!

Andy and I drove over in the Yeti and met up with a crowd of Pedallers at 8:00 am in Chudleigh. At the depart we had a great cross-section of pedallers, old and new, boys and girls and even a couple of Sid Valley cycle club guests. Despite the gruelling climbs ahead, it had that feeling of going to be a real social affair; quite different from the Classic Sportives I've ridden in the past.

Signing in

At the outset, Clive, the professional ride leader he is, got us to sign in with emergency contact details, little knowing then that sadly he'd not be seeing the ride out himself! More on that later.

The plan was going well'ish as we rode to Princetown to refuel at a popular cycling favourite, the Fox tor cafe http://www.foxtorcafe.com/cafe/. Here, we arrived in waves and sought shelter from the mid day sun, mingling with other lycra clad riders from Mid Devon and Plymouth cycle clubs. Mark also got us chatting to the director(s) of Primal, the Devon cycling apparel company, who adorned in smart looking kit jumped into a polished sales patter .. who'd be a kit master (all applications c/o TdF)! I mention the ride having gone well'ish as there had been two close shaves: a sudden stop to avoid cattle may have given my a rear tyre a flat spot (check out the video at 9:40 am) and a little later my chain bounced off the big ring and wrapped itself around every sprocket it could find! Luckily, I could continue but I've not yet done a full damage check nor ascertained what could have actually caused it.

The AVP Peloton passes near Haytor

It was at Princetown that Clive, who'd been poorly the previous day, had to call an end to his ride and get a cab back to Chudleigh. I had thought of posting an APB on our club's FB page but being at the furthest point from base camp, close to a 90 minute drive, it would have been a miracle to have found a Pedaller out and about near by. So, in the absence of a support car, and still another 2 hours cycling to be done, a local taxi was the only option. Clive later reported that it was the best value £50 taxi ride he'd had!

From Princetown, a handful of Pedallers continued on their extended 100 mile route while the larger peloton, myself included, chilled a little more in the cafe before taking the return loop back to Chudleigh, with the obligatory stop for ice cream refreshments at one of the many tempting vans strategically positioned along the route!

Ice cream stop on the return to Chudleigh

In addition to a number of stills, I pulled together a short video of the day's ride. This one has a Krafwerk'esk backing track which I recently commissioned from my musically talented brother-in-law, aka SunDog, which includes sampling from my Tarmac's SRAM eTap chainset and FFWD free hub .. I hope you like it.

100km (60 miles) over 1800m (6000ft) of climb, in temps exceeding 25 degrees, made for quite an epic ride and one which was definitely a great social ride, as billed. My new year's resolution is holding firm.

RideLondon-Surrey 100 2014 in 3 Minutes

By popular demand, a 3 minute version of my previously published RideLondon video



...and just to recap

On the 10th August 2014 I cycled the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 for Diabetes UK, raising over £1500. The ride was shortened to 86 miles removing Box and Leith Hills due to bad weather and was completed in 6h:10m (with a cake stop!)

The deadline for getting my sponsorship money in isn't until Friday 10th October, so there's still plenty of time to support me. https://www.justgiving.com/Jonathan-Read-Bone/ or text JJRB64 £amount to 70070. Thank you!

You can check out the official Team Diabetes UK photos here ..

First Cut of the RideLondon Surrey 2014 Video

First cut of the RideLondon video ... I'd like to rework some of the transitions and may look out for another backing track, I've used my favourite TdF medley for the time being (seems to be becoming my theme tune) plus an iconic London track 

Do shaved legs make you faster?

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!

Kelly's Heros

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!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VwO3BxiWTU

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 ;)

Les Maillots Jaunes

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 ;)

Day 356 - A Return to Lyme

It is Thursday and this means clear weather and another ride out with the AVP.  Tonight we decide on a cycle out to the Cobb at Lyme Regis, a route I've certainly not done since last September when we were still in shorts and t-shirts .. oh how I'm looking forward to summer!

8 of us rode out through Axmouth and up Combe Road and along the A3052 down into Lyme Regis. At the Cobb a few of us dipped our tyres in the sea before taking the promenade and making our way out of Lyme via the Lane End Farm to Red Lane Climb. You know that when you go out to Lyme, there will always be a serious bit of climbing.

As I rode with Ed along the promenade, we chatted about what film score we would add to the ride - as you do. I had been unsuccessfully trying to snap some shots of us on the move, with such a slow shutter speed on my phone camera these did not come out; I did, however, capture on video much of our chat and my near collision with a traffic barrier - such are the dangers of being the on-location camera man! Click the link below to check out this short and rather wobbly video.

Click here for video

After a short blast along the A35, we returned south along Trinity Road, down Green Lane to Combe Road and back through Axmouth to Seaton, with only the temporary traffic lights on Harbour Road slowing our progress. Another great ride out with the AVP, 21 miles and 2,054 of climbing completed.