.. amazingly, my first pre breakfast cycle of the year .. I must be feeling better!
Saturday, 12 April 2014
Zapped & Back
This was the week my kidney stone got zapped. I squeezed in a pre op circuit on Tuesday, was not fit for the AVP evening ride on Thursday but by Saturday I was fit to take to the saddle again
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Freewheeling
On the day the Froomie has to settle for 6th on the Volta a Catalunya, the BikeShed return my freewheel duly repaired and I have one of my best rides of the season.
The BikeShed should have really fixed my wheel last month when they had it in for a service .. a stitch in time and all that, but they recovered well with a rapid fix enabling me to get in a weekend ride on my Roubaix.
With the majority of the Pedallers, including my buddy, Andy, having had a ride out yesterday, I was left to do a solo cycle this afternoon. I had a plan to do a re-run of Thursday's quick loop out to Farway Common and this I did with a slight detour into Farway having turned off a little early. This resulted in one of the steepest climbs of my 'cycling career' up Ball Lane .. one to miss in future. I even passed an old guy getting out of his car and was showered with admiration from him, little then did I know what was in store.
In spite of the detour, the climbs and solo ride (I normally do better with company), it was a quick ride. I got a new PB of 16.13 miles for 1 hr and a 43.54s for 20 km last set back in September 2013! I also achieved 5 Strava segment PBs, even beating Andy on the Golf Club to A35 segment :)
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| What views! |
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| Old petrol pumps in Farway on the turn to Seaton |
In spite of the detour, the climbs and solo ride (I normally do better with company), it was a quick ride. I got a new PB of 16.13 miles for 1 hr and a 43.54s for 20 km last set back in September 2013! I also achieved 5 Strava segment PBs, even beating Andy on the Golf Club to A35 segment :)
Feeling a lot better this week!
Friday, 28 March 2014
AVP Thursday Night Dampening
The British weather is a source of constant interest to us on this isle and over the last few weeks has been equally so to our Pedallers. We've had beautiful near summer days, thick fog, torrential rain and now close to zero temperatures. Knowing what to wear when out for a long ride is a challenge at the best of times and tonight was no different!
Thursday night's foray into the Devon hills started out in daylight. I'm loving the way the days are drawing out now and with the clocks going forward an hour over the weekend, I am looking forward to seeing even more of the countryside in daylight on our next ride.
Eight riders cycled out of Seaton up Stovar Long Lane and over to Farway Common. The smooth tarmac of this route a welcome change to the pothole dodging rides of previous weeks. I had wished I'd been on my Roubaix but even knowing the route ahead of time would not have made much difference, as the Roubaix's freewheel is no longer free running - a sore point which I won't go into!
It was a quick ride by our standards, benefiting from gentle climbs and smooth roads. That was, however, until we reached Offwell, when one of our number punctured on the long descent into Colyton. We only spotted this when only six riders arrived at the bridge over the River Coly, our agreed point to regroup.
With the puncture repaired we rode into heavy rain for the final 2 miles back to Seaton and arrived at the pub for après cycling beer and chips slightly dampened. The rain was even heavier after refuelling such that I was glad my ride home was a short one!
Eight riders cycled out of Seaton up Stovar Long Lane and over to Farway Common. The smooth tarmac of this route a welcome change to the pothole dodging rides of previous weeks. I had wished I'd been on my Roubaix but even knowing the route ahead of time would not have made much difference, as the Roubaix's freewheel is no longer free running - a sore point which I won't go into!
With the puncture repaired we rode into heavy rain for the final 2 miles back to Seaton and arrived at the pub for après cycling beer and chips slightly dampened. The rain was even heavier after refuelling such that I was glad my ride home was a short one!
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Bike Shed Deja Vu
Do you remember April 2013, when after a BikeShed service my Crosstrail had to be returned for a warranty fix on the front shocks? Can lightening strike twice? I didn't think so, when I took my Specialised Roubaix in for its first service.
Along with a request for them to replace the white handle bar tape which was by now very grubby, I asked them to check out a noise in the hub or gear environment - I'm no expert - which had developed and had got increasingly worse over the last few months. When I collected it on 26-Feb, they confirmed it was a "Noisy Freehub" which should be OK.
A couple of rides later .. check back on my blog entries you'll see just 3 on the Roubaix ... the fee hub expired today and I had to walk home! Deja vu and poor show BikeShed! and Specialized really, as these are not cheap rides.
Determined to get a cycle in while the weather remained clear, I switched to the Crosstrail and who should I bump into while heading out of Colyton but Andy returning from his King of the Brother's ride! It's been a couple of weeks since Andy and I have been out on a ride, so it was fortuitous and a real coincidence that we should meet up in such a way. If I'd been able to get out on the Roubaix, chances are our paths would not have crossed.
I, thus, joined Andy on his return ride and completed what was a reasonable 10 mile circuit, shorter than planned but just what I needed - although I could have done without the Roubaix problem. So, it's back to the BikeShed next Saturday and another weekend without a long ride.
Determined to get a cycle in while the weather remained clear, I switched to the Crosstrail and who should I bump into while heading out of Colyton but Andy returning from his King of the Brother's ride! It's been a couple of weeks since Andy and I have been out on a ride, so it was fortuitous and a real coincidence that we should meet up in such a way. If I'd been able to get out on the Roubaix, chances are our paths would not have crossed.
I, thus, joined Andy on his return ride and completed what was a reasonable 10 mile circuit, shorter than planned but just what I needed - although I could have done without the Roubaix problem. So, it's back to the BikeShed next Saturday and another weekend without a long ride.
Sunday, 16 March 2014
AVP Sunday Morning Ride
This morning 14 Pedallers rode out under clear blue sky in glorious warm weather on our monthly AVP Sunday ride.
Ketchup, our ride leader, did a great job chasing us up the hills on this pleasingly uneventful ride to the Colour Wheel where plentiful quantities of coffee, tea and cake were consumed!
It was not the fastest ride, but amazingly all our Strava users seem to have taken top 10 overall positions on the East Bound and Down segment!
http://www.strava.com/activities/121135725/segments/2701721308
and PRs on the Golf Club to A35 segment, so may be we were moving faster than we thought!
http://www.strava.com/activities/121135725/segments/2701721284
I took a bumper set of pictures, although the planned shot of the peloton winding its way up Northleigh Hill did not quite turn out as proposed as no one seemed to get the memo to stick together!
Ketchup, our ride leader, did a great job chasing us up the hills on this pleasingly uneventful ride to the Colour Wheel where plentiful quantities of coffee, tea and cake were consumed!
It was not the fastest ride, but amazingly all our Strava users seem to have taken top 10 overall positions on the East Bound and Down segment!
http://www.strava.com/activities/121135725/segments/2701721308
and PRs on the Golf Club to A35 segment, so may be we were moving faster than we thought!
http://www.strava.com/activities/121135725/segments/2701721284
I took a bumper set of pictures, although the planned shot of the peloton winding its way up Northleigh Hill did not quite turn out as proposed as no one seemed to get the memo to stick together!
Friday, 14 March 2014
AVP Ride Over Hills and a Broken Chain
I would guess at around 8 of us headed out from the Kings Arms this evening with, for the first time this year, a little light still in the sky. It won't be many weeks now before we'll be able to see where we're going without the need for bright lights! In spite of Bobble's appearance, the evenings are still a little too chilly for most to pull on the shorts but it will not be long before this changes too!
The route tonight took us out to Boshill and a quick dogleg onto the narrow Bruckland Lane to Musbury. From here we climbed Pudleylake Road and Mounthill Lane, 600 ft to Trinity Hill before descending into Yawl and Uplyme. At this point, someone had the 'great idea' of dropping down into Lyme Regis for a ride along the front. We entered via Silver Street and regrouped at the clock by the chippy, which was unfortunately closed. This was a circuit into Lyme that I feel many of us had not done before, as the route out was to take us up the near vertical Cobb Road to the 3052. A climb to test all our legs!
The ride along Marine Parade was taken briskly but on this occasion, without Ed's sound track, he being a busy chippy tonight - the wood kind rather than the potato one! It was as we exited the Parade that the call was sounded that one of our Pedaller's chain had come adrift. We halted under the lights of the Cobb Arms to discover that it had not just come adrift but had snapped! We've had many a puncture, double punctures and even broken spokes, but I hear a broken chain is a first for an AVP evening ride.
As is the norm with the AVP, there is always someone who has an idea of a solution and with no one knowingly left behind, Jolly and Andy, illuminated by the rest of our lights, set about the field operation of making a temporary repair. It was a clinical procedure involving Jolly's chain tool and Andy's steady hand in completing the final pin insertion - although how he was the only one involved not to get caked in oil I'll never know! Something else to remember to carry - a chain tool and a spare link - or ride with someone who has ;)
Once we were all finally back on the main road, we split into our usual groups for the short ride through the now thickening fog back to Colyford. The road bikes took the lead with Barry and I following up on our hybrids. We were even delayed a little more after Barry hit a pothole spilling his backup headlight into the path of an oncoming car. On this occasion, however, there was too little of it remaining for us to attempt a repair.
The route tonight took us out to Boshill and a quick dogleg onto the narrow Bruckland Lane to Musbury. From here we climbed Pudleylake Road and Mounthill Lane, 600 ft to Trinity Hill before descending into Yawl and Uplyme. At this point, someone had the 'great idea' of dropping down into Lyme Regis for a ride along the front. We entered via Silver Street and regrouped at the clock by the chippy, which was unfortunately closed. This was a circuit into Lyme that I feel many of us had not done before, as the route out was to take us up the near vertical Cobb Road to the 3052. A climb to test all our legs!
The ride along Marine Parade was taken briskly but on this occasion, without Ed's sound track, he being a busy chippy tonight - the wood kind rather than the potato one! It was as we exited the Parade that the call was sounded that one of our Pedaller's chain had come adrift. We halted under the lights of the Cobb Arms to discover that it had not just come adrift but had snapped! We've had many a puncture, double punctures and even broken spokes, but I hear a broken chain is a first for an AVP evening ride.
As is the norm with the AVP, there is always someone who has an idea of a solution and with no one knowingly left behind, Jolly and Andy, illuminated by the rest of our lights, set about the field operation of making a temporary repair. It was a clinical procedure involving Jolly's chain tool and Andy's steady hand in completing the final pin insertion - although how he was the only one involved not to get caked in oil I'll never know! Something else to remember to carry - a chain tool and a spare link - or ride with someone who has ;)
Once we were all finally back on the main road, we split into our usual groups for the short ride through the now thickening fog back to Colyford. The road bikes took the lead with Barry and I following up on our hybrids. We were even delayed a little more after Barry hit a pothole spilling his backup headlight into the path of an oncoming car. On this occasion, however, there was too little of it remaining for us to attempt a repair.
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Sunday Morning Pootle
Today is the day of the annual Grizzly cross country run. This is the one that brings competitors from around the country to traverse beaches, bogs, woods and some very serious hills from Seaton to Branscombe and back.
Unlike my previous 4 years of living in Seaton, today was not, however, a day in which I headed out first thing to see the runners start. Instead, I needed to take the cycle out and decided on a random pootle of a ride with Andy, my second day in shorts and the weather did not disappoint!
We headed out past the gathering runners to Axmouth and then climbed out to Uplyme and under the impressive Cannington Viaduct. We did talk about may be visiting a coffee shop in Lyme but the thought of the climb back out made us think it was too early for a stop; we thus headed north to Axminster. The return route took us over some of the well travelled roads we've taken many an evening with the AVP, via Kilmington, Shute and Colyton.
Not a long ride, these kidney stones which I've just been diagnosed with are causing me quite some discomfort, but it was just what I needed after missing the Thursday evening AVP ride. Can't wait to get back to full strength.
Unlike my previous 4 years of living in Seaton, today was not, however, a day in which I headed out first thing to see the runners start. Instead, I needed to take the cycle out and decided on a random pootle of a ride with Andy, my second day in shorts and the weather did not disappoint!
We headed out past the gathering runners to Axmouth and then climbed out to Uplyme and under the impressive Cannington Viaduct. We did talk about may be visiting a coffee shop in Lyme but the thought of the climb back out made us think it was too early for a stop; we thus headed north to Axminster. The return route took us over some of the well travelled roads we've taken many an evening with the AVP, via Kilmington, Shute and Colyton.
Not a long ride, these kidney stones which I've just been diagnosed with are causing me quite some discomfort, but it was just what I needed after missing the Thursday evening AVP ride. Can't wait to get back to full strength.
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