Month 1 Report Card - March 2013

So, having been at this cycling lark for 1 month now, how does my report card look?

Attendance

21/28 days, with 4 days holiday, 2 days of inclement weather and 2 days for recovery seems to me to be a pretty good 'attendance' record. I certainly avoided any real truancy!

Distance

Having covered close to 84 miles this month is probably the biggest surprise of all theses statistics to me. I commented in an earlier blog that the sales guy in the cycle shop said "come back for your first service after a 100 miles". I thought, comparing this to my car, that this would be in 3-6 months, not 3-6 weeks! Admittedly, it's in this latter week that I've really started to ramp up the distance, with over 30 of these miles having been covered in the last 5 days. It will be interesting to see how this continues.

Duration

Time in the saddle has amounted to a few minutes short of 9 hours. This seems acceptable, in that I had always intended my rides to coincide with the 30 minutes or so that I would normally be arguing with myself as to whether still I had time for another chapter of my book before getting up for work. It was not my intention to be spending whole days out riding, far from it, my short attention span would not cope with that!

Fat Burn

The whole purpose of this cycling endeavour has been to get fit, and one measure of this has to be whether I've burned off any of that winter fat that I've been piling on, knowing full well that it was going to be a cold one! Looking at the calories, and I realise this is not an exact science as I've not been wired up to an ECG machine in some hi-tec medical facility, but according to my new electronic buddy, Endomondo, I've burned 6,094 kcals, apparently equivalent to 11 burgers! Disappointingly however, according to the bathroom scales, this has only translated into a 2lb weight loss. I am putting this miserable performance down to the build up of muscle in my legs, I hear it may be heavier than fat, so this must be the reason. As such, I am holding off reporting "must do better" until I've had another month under my belt - something, by the way, I'm also expecting to get looser!

Summary

So in summary, this first month has been a positive one, particularly as some 20+ years ago, the last time I bought a bike, I rode it to and from work on the first day, to work again on the next and then collected it from work in the car some 6 weeks later, never to ride it again! This month, I've increased my stamina from a wheeze around a 2 mile circuit into town and back, to a 3-4 village tour of 7+ miles with plenty of gas still left in the tank. I'm now looking forward the next few months, as the days get longer and the weather becomes warmer - I know, wishful thinking!

Day 30 - Colyton

Following The Hill on Friday, my thigh muscles were in need of a little down time yesterday. Also, there was a Tiger Tank spectacular occurring at Bovington camp which meant that a rest day was certainly on the cards. So this Easter Sunday morning, the first day of British Summer Time, I stepped out into the early sun to conclude my first month of cycling. I was keen to mark this day with a route that would highlight the improvement in my fitness, which meant securing another village trophy, Colyton. I'm thinking I should be adding stars or something to my bike frame for each village I 'conquer', like a fighter pilot marks his kills on the side of his plane!

Colyton Station

So, the route to Colyton took me out along Harepath Road and up Gully Shoot, a long climb past the prestigious Colyton Grammar School. Pausing for a moment at the summit and the beautiful viewpoint overlooking the Axe valley, I then descended into Colyford's narrow picturesque lanes, where a few weeks back, the high walls had redesigned one of my car's wing mirrors! Colyton has a number of interesting attractions which I had to visit: golden stone buildings, grand gates, bridges, quirky roundabout and of course the terminus to the Seaton Tramway.

"Vehicles left at owners' risk"

After the detour to view the station, all closed up on this Easter Sunday, I returned to the main road and Colyford down Crownhayne Lane, a road not for the fainthearted as there are few passing places for even a bike should one meet a car coming the other way. It is also a road which this winter has spent most of its time submerged as it crosses the Axe River flood plain.

Colyton Roundabout!

Cycling back up hill into Colyford, past the old garage museum, I turned in down Seaton Road for the country ride back to the sea. Entering Seaton, the sun was so warm that I felt had to visit the beach. This put me on the road to Castle Hill, which is so steep, that I have yet to climb in one go. Today, however, it was taken with relative ease; what a difference a month makes! This was the perfect circuit and weather to conclude my first full month on two wheels, a summary of which I'll add later.

Stats: 7.32 mi, 48m 25s, Avg 9.1 mph, max 23 mph, 546 kcal

Day 28 - The Hill

The Hill has been conquered. Another day of firsts with both the assent of Seaton Down Hill and a new speed record of 28.7 mph ... that's a big hill!  It took 14 minutes to climb and 3 minutes to descend and having misplaced my woolly hat, the -3c air temperature with wind chill left my head feeling somewhat numb!

View from the top of the Hill, the mist obscuring the sea and town below

The remainder of the route was very much as yesterday, on through Colyford and returning via Axmouth along that miserable excuse of a road surface - another note to self to start campaign for more cycle routes. The sky was supposed to be clear this morning, so I took along my camera hoping to catch some great sunrise pictures, but I must have been out too early as the sky was milky and the low hanging early morning mist gave poor visibility and insufficient light. Not as good as yesterday.

Stats: 6.52 mi, 45m 9s, Avg 8.6 mph, max 28.7 mph, 515 kcal

Day 27 - Axmouth Circuit

What a beautifully sunny morning to be out on a bike. Endomondo says it is -5c out there, so it's still not quite what I would expect from an early spring morning and while I'm itching to remove the Michelin-man layers, I'm not complaining now that at least the sun has come out.

After breaking out of Seaton's parish boundaries yesterday, I felt the need to explore further territories today. Heading out in the same direction up Seaton Down Hill, across to Harepath to join the A3052, I dropped down into Colyford. Avoiding the draw of Seaton Road, which yesterday took me back to the beach, I pressed on, over the tram lines and the Axe River bridges. Turning then south, back along the B3172 Axmouth Road, just before the excruciatingly long climb towards Lyme Regis, which will have to wait for another day, I cycled on through Axmouth. This is a lovely looking village of old thatched houses, pubs and a golden stone church over looking the Axe estuary.

Seaton's 19th Century Bridge

The final mile of road back into Seaton is a little like a drag strip to motorists but at this time of day, not too many were on the road. The road surface itself, however, is appalling at close quarters. The front shocks and padded undergarments were certainly earning their keep! I entered Seaton over the now unused 19th Century concrete bridge, the oldest in Britain. This was a bit of a detour but it had to be done. As too was the route along the promenade and the final loop around the wetlands, it was as if I had to revisit all the interesting features covered in this first month of cycling.

I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring, we will have to see how inspired I feel in the morning .. after all, I still have Seaton Down Hill the conquer!

Stats: 6.68 mi, 39m 17s, Avg 10.2 mph, max 24.8 mph, 443 kcal

Day 26 - First Breakout

Still waiting for spring to arrive, I set out this morning into freezing flurries of snow but with an air of expectation, following yesterday's mammoth ride, that today I would finally break out of Seaton.

It is a great feeling, venturing into unchartered territory. As I turned onto the main A3052 into Colyford, I felt the metaphorical umbilical cord, attaching me to Seaton, break and like an early space walker, I could have drifted anywhere! It was not long, however, indeed it was all too short a time, before the gravitational pull of Seaton dragged me back towards the sea.

Another milestone, the first breakout of Seaton, has been completed and Axmouth is now in my sights.

Stats: 3.8 mi, 23m 15s, Avg 9.8 mph, max 22.2 mph, 262 kcal

Day 25 - Worth Cycling For

Back in the saddle again after a 5 day interlude, the result of wintery weather and a long weekend away up in the north.

I thought I'd ease myself back in gently with a few circuits of the Esplanade to give me sufficient time to finish off my latest Jack Reacher audio book, "Worth Dying For", which I'd not quite completed on my weekend road trip. Lost in the closing chapters, my circuits mounted. I could not, however, hear over the melodic tones of the New England narrator, Jeff Harding, that Endomondo had already called out the 1-2-3-4-5 mile markers before I turned off to conclude my ride. Not realising how far I'd travelled, I took in a wide circuit of the hospital for good measure, Jeff still chatting to me through my headphones.

So, it was to my complete surprise, when checking the stats after securing bike and helmet away, that I had actually completed 7 miles and had been out 45 minutes ... oh my! A new distance record and a bit of a rush to get ready for work. Audio books are certainly 'worth cycling for'!

Stats: 6.98 mi, 44m 54s, Avg 9.3 mph, max 21.0 mph, 507 kcal

Week 3 - Rain Shortens Play

Things were going so well, then the start of spring brought about a return to winter, with driving rain, gale force winds and drifting snow, and no cycling for 5 days. My Endomondo stats are, however, an interesting read - then again, I've always been interested in stats. When I picked up my bike 3 weeks ago, the guy said, "come back after a 100 miles for your free first service". I thought, that would be months away, but I see I've already done over 50 miles in 3 weeks. It is surprising how the miles clock up!

Total workouts:18

Total duration:5h:37m:51s

Total distance:52.53 mi

• Trips around the world:0.002
• Trips to the Moon:0

Average speed:9.33 mph

Average pace:6m:26s

Calories burned:3821 kcal

• Burgers burned:7

Looking at the distance travelled these last 3 weeks, this enforced down time is clear to see.  I am looking forward, next week, to getting back in the saddle.

Meanwhile, I see in the local paper, an advert for a bike club event: "The Axemen Bike Club has organised events for Easter Saturday, (March 30). The fist is an Easter egg ride out to four homes for young adults. The route will be about 70 miles and will take, roughly, three hours". 70 miles, I thought that would bring my service date dramatically forward but at an average speed of 23.3 mph, they couldn't be serious! Indeed, further investigation confirmed that the Axemen Bike Club, is actually a motorbike club! Phew! I was more than a little concerned that I'd never be able to keep up with these cyclists ;) It has, however, made me think of may be looking up the 'real' local cycling club, the Axe Valley Pedallers ... watch this space.