Never Say Never Again!

Never Say Never Again is the title of the rather poor Sean Connery remake of his earlier James Bond film, Thunderball. I've been a Bond fan for as long as I can remember, my Tour de 007 DB5 collection being just the tip of the iceberg of the memorabilia I have collected over the years. I even have a rose in my garden called 'For Your Eyes Only'!

Following my recent trip north to Cumbria, "never say never .." took on another meaning, one concerning my other love; that of cycling. Contrary to my talk of 'never again' in my Tour de Fitness blog 'Why Bother With Sportives', I somehow found myself signing up for the inaugural Cross Boarder Sportive - The Raid, on the Sunday following the Tour of Britain, ahead of my return home to Devon. The Raid was a 50 mile route starting and finishing at Lanercost Priory, north of Brampton and crossing briefly into Scotland. The longer 80 mile route, called The Invasion, completed an additional 30 mile circuit further into Scotland following the first food stop.

I had tentatively signed up for the 50 miler so that, should I still be up north, I could be back in time for lunch. Also, as I have said many a time, having such a short attention span, I find much more than 60 miles a bit dull!

A short video of the first 30 miles

What made this ride far from dull, was the company I had for the first 30 miles. I was fortunate to join up with two local cyclists who earlier this year had ridden the London to Paris and had planned their arrival to coincide with the conclusion of the Tour de France .. what an experience! One of the guys was having a hard time with the Cumbrian hills, so it was far from a quick ride, but what pleased me most was how we each stuck and pulled together. At the 30 mile point, the first food stop, my road went south and theirs, they doing the 80 miler, headed back into Scotland. I was impressed with how the struggling guy pushing on although feeling I had at least the additional distance left in my legs, lunch back in Brampton beckoned, so I bid farewell and started out alone on the final leg of my ride.

For the next 20 miles, as per my more my usual sportive experience, I saw not one other rider until I was in sight of the finish line!  While it was not a fast ride, I did complete in position 20/130 overall and 5/38 in my age category. This was a very informal well organised event. The roads were very quiet and for much of the route it even felt like a closed road event. Would I do it again? "Never say never .."!

Tour of Britain 2015

I was up in the north, near Carlisle, last week visiting my folks where, coincidentally, the Tour of Britain made an appearance not once but twice!

My first experience of Tour was in 2009 when I saw from my office window, the riders stream past on their way from Hatherleigh to Yeovil. In this year, a now very familiar Team Sky rider, Ben Swift riding for Team Katusha, won the stage, the British Champion Kristian House riding for Rapha-Condor, now a regular pundit on ITV4, led the breakaway through Seaton and Edvald Boasson Hagen, riding for Barloworld, was the overall winner. It is hard to believe now, being 4 years before catching the cycling bug, that this event meant so little to me, it was only the mass of colour passing before my peripheral vision that made me take note!

Tour of Britain 2009 Stage 7 - Seaton
www.alexmoorehead.com

Kristian House - 2009 Stage 7 - Seaton
www.alexmoorehead.com

I was thrilled to be able to catch the Tour of Britain again in 2013 when it came through Sidmouth, something my long term readers will remember from my post on Day 200. Last year, I took a late holiday in Scotland and went Cycling on Mull during the Tour, so missed it coming through Exeter and across Dartmoor. This year, Devon have the Rugby World Cup and so declined to bid for the Tour again which meant the closest it was going to come to the South West would be Stoke! It was therefore the perfect combination of having time on my hands, due to my sabbatical and already having plans to visit my parents in Cumbria that gave me the opportunity last week to be a real ToB groupie!

It all kicked off on the Tuesday with Stage 3, Cockermouth to Floors Castle, and a 30 mile cycle over to see the sprint finish through Carlisle. I was one of the first to roll up so had a great view. I also attracted interest from the local press and received a full column write-up in the following day's newspaper!

2015 Stage 3 - Carlisle Sprint Finish

Stage 5, on Thursday, Prudhoe to Hartside Fell, came though Brampton along Hardian's Wall and concluded with a final climb of eight kilometres to the summit finish on Hartside Fell above Penrith in the Eden District. My plan was to catch the riders at both these locations, with Brampton being a short distance from my folks and by taking a more direct route up Hartside, riding with my old Rock 2 Roll CC mates, I would be able to beat the pro riders to the finish, they having to do a spin out to Ullswater first!

Tour of Britain Winner Edvald Boasson Hagen - Stage 5 - Brampton

Kristian House - Stage 5 - Hartside Fell

In the above picture of Kristian House, you'll have to believe me that Bradley Wiggins is in this group, behind and to the left. He must have seen me coming as in every one of my shots he is obscured by other riders or I just manage to get the back of his head!

It was an amazing day, great views, great weather and some great cycling. I've recently got back into my GoPro, so here too is a little video of the ride from Brampton up to Hartside Fell ..

... and this was the route.



Finally a couple more coincidences. The 2015 Tour celebrated the first double winner since it was relaunched in 2004, this was Edvald Boasson Hagen, the cyclist who last won it in 2009 when the event was first to appear in my 'peripheral vision'. The second co-incidence is that Kristian House was also riding on this Tour, just as he did back in 2009 .. as evidenced by my shot on Hartside and Alex Moorhead's photo from Seaton.


Postscript:
If interested, you can check out a few more photos from the Tour of Britain in my Flickr album.

Tour de Fitness Joins The World Of Twitter

Twitter (/ˈtwɪtər/) is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets" .. or so Wikipedia says. In the last week or so, I can't now be sure when as I'm losing track of time on this sabbatical, I created a Twitter account for my 'Tour de Fitness' persona. Why you may ask? Well, I've had a Twitter account for some years in my own name, but have never had a reason or mission to use it. I say mission as from what I've learned in my limited time of observing Twitter users is that one basically uses it to sell something .. either a product or service, raise awareness of a charity, or ones own eminence.

I initially decided to create my account to shamelessly promote this blog, increase the number of readers and share my 'Tour de Fitness' journey. Since receiving Twitter guidance from my cycling buddy, the Near Naked Man at the Broom Wagon, I've found it actually to be far more than just a platform from which to promote oneself. The companies, publications and people I am now following, have interesting facts and events to share themselves. I have also found it to be more than just a one way communication, I've been able to enquire on companies products, raise issues, exchange ideas and re-share interesting information with my own followers.  The responses I have received from companies has also been far quicker and immediate than email or letter!

Having had such a positive initial experience with my Tour de Fitness venture, I've now also set up an account for the Pedallers to complement our Facebook page, we will see how long I keep this up and whether it has the results I'm hoping .. generating interest in the AVP and encouraging local cyclists to join us. It has been great, for example, to see the Seaton Tourist Information Centre re-tweeting our ride details, and it will be interesting to see how this develops.

One downside to the immediate availability of information from my Twitter feed, however, has been in finding out the results of the Vuelta, the Tour of Spain pro cycling event, prior to seeing the evening's catchup programme on TV! I have another 2 weeks of having to turn a blind eye to the day's updates or just access it early morning and late evenings!

Finally, returning to this blog, you will see that on the right hand side of this page, there is a section where you can view a summary of my random 'Twitterings', so that you too can share in the immediacy of these communications without having to open an account yourself .. naturally, if you have taken this step into the world of twitter, please feel free to follow, that is after all, what it is all about :)

Ending The Week With The Near Naked Man

It was not a promising start to the week when the Met Office, still providing the BBC with their weather, reported that "the weather out there today is wet and shitty with continued wet and shitty in the afternoon. Tomorrow a chance of continued crappy with a pissy weather front coming down from the north. Basically, it's [going to be] wetter than a snake's ass in a wagon rut." .. don't you just love Robin Williams!

I, therefore, thought I'd be locked up inside for the duration working on an ark, for the day of judgement seemed soon to be upon us. A break in the weather surprisingly appeared on Tuesday morning in time for me, filled with guilt and jitters for having only ridden once since the 100 miler 2 weeks ago, to venture out on an early morning spin. The window was, however, a short one as having only pedalled 5 of my intended 20 miles, god's sprinklers got turned up to max and I had to make a slight detour to the Colour Wheel coffee shop to steam off a little dampness and take on warm coffee and a very welcomed toasted tea cake. The staff were very surprised to see me tap my way, dripping, into their shop and questioned my ability to read the weather forecast! I completed my 20 mile soaking back at the Broom Wagon where I was offered a towel to sit on, such was by then the state of my attire!

Soggy view from the Broom Wagon

Wednesday saw a dove arrive with an olive branch .. or at least a promise of clear sky for the afternoon. I had been hoping to catch up with an old colleague from Yorkshire holidaying in the area and agreeing that this forecast looked the most promising for a while, we agreed a late afternoon rendezvous in Lyme Regis. I took the Tarmac on a circular route, as you know, I do not like having to retrace my steps if at all possible. The roads were dry and clear in all but the shaded sections where I received a slightly pleasurable dampening, the afternoon August heat now building. 

Thursday was another mixed day with a promise of clear and rain free evening for the regular AVP ride. I had earlier fitted a set of new hefty Schwalbe Marathon tyres to an old set of Mavic wheels which I had thought to set aside for the winter / wet weather. This is akin to the F1 teams having sets of slick 'super soft tyres' which I normally run on and a set of wet weather tyres. The Marathon's will be the wet weather tyres I can shoe my steeds with when venturing out during the winter. I had, however, not assumed to have to consider them so soon, although for this Thursday evening ride, they were a godsend and perfect for the not so well maintained Devon roads frequented only by farm vehicles and those lost following their satnavs. Well this night's road ride(s) were a bit different. Around 11 riders met up at the Kings Arms. Grinch led the 6 club riders out to Lyme while Quiff took the sprint ride towards Crewkerne. Somehow, I managed to get swept along with the sprint group until Raymonds Hill when Curtis and I peeled off to take in Tatworth, Chardstock and Membury. http://ridewithgps.com/trips/6261940. This was when my Schwalbe Marathons came into their own as we traversed some very slimy and gritty sections over which my normal slicks would have been severely punished. After a good 35 miles covered, I was feeling decidedly pooped (Clive's term) and it was even too late for any recovery beer & chips! Still .. it was great to have got out for another spin.

I had planned to leave my cycling for the week there. That was until I received a text from The Near Naken Man on Sunday morning. The message was that he was going out for a ride in 30 minutes and did I want to join him. Before my legs had a chance to counter the decision, I was lycra'd up and spinning the Tarmac down to the Broom Wagon. The Near Naked Man does not do wet weather cycling, so assumed I'd not need a rain cape, nor the Roubaix still shod with Thursday night's wet weather tyres. Big mistake! By the time we reached Sidford, I was again wet to the skin! I couldn't grumble though, it was a great ride and the biblical weather reminded me so much of last year's Ride London and that feeling that you can only get so wet after which it some how becomes comical. I do wish however that drivers would heed the weather conditions and show more consideration to their fellow road users, who do not have the luxury of a windscreen, roof and cozy air-conditioning .. I have too few digits to count the number who sprayed us with dirty puddle juice as they passed dangerously close in both directions .. may be the parliamentary petition to add cycle awareness and safety to the current Driving theory test will do some good for new drivers, for the old .. well, answers on a post card ;)

Cycling with the Near Naked Man

South Coast Nemesis 2015

This halfway point in my 3 month sabbatical from full time project management has been odd one, mainly because of the unusual weather we've experienced this week. Being British, we naturally have a constant interest in the changing weather so why should this week be so different? For me, the reason this week is simple, in that it has frustrated and pleased in equal measure.

At the start of the week I was itching to get out on the bike, but my destiny lay with a paint brush and my front door, which meant that leaving the house was not an option until the door was dry. These first two days of painting went well as the sun shined brightly. With the bike prepared for its first outing since the 100 miler, for at least a Wednesday wibble, what did our British weather deliver .. yes, continuous rain. It was not content to just upset Wednesday's plan, but both Thursday evening's APV ride and the Friday Flyer's morning spin were both certified washouts! The next planned outing was a Friday evening ride over to Sidmouth to see the celebrated return of the Red Arrows after a 10 year absence. All through the day, I had been following Red10 on Twitter to see whether, as with the Lyme Regis and other displays, they would again be grounded. Red10 spoke of the South Coast Nemesis 2015 as being the rain and low cloud which this year had prevented so many coastal displays from taking place.

Arrows over Sidmouth 

Having had no negative confirmation from Red10 and not to be put off by the worsening conditions, I saddled up the Roubaix and joined up with 3 other Pedallers overlooking a misty Sidmouth, our heads touching the clouds. Unbelievably almost dead on 6:30 pm we heard the distinctive roar of the 9 Rolls Royce Adour engines coming in from sea.  They had to, however, be right on top of us before we got sight of them as conditions required them to fly low over the sea which was obscured from our vantage point by trees! On a clear day, they would have risen high above the tree line and fly down the valley which was now also unfortunately hidden under a layer of mist and cloud! While the ride home was a damp one, it was great to be out on the bike again with my fellow Axe Valley Pedallers (AVP).

Test riding the Fat Bike!

The next key event of the week was Sunday's Great Outdoors Festival to be held on Seaton seafront. The AVP were to have the gazebo and flags out and the attractions of 2 spinning bikes donated by the local Axminster gym and an American Fat Bike loaned by Soanes Cycles. The weather during Saturday night through to Sunday morning was that of torrential rain, but the Met Office reported a break in the clouds from around 2pm through till late evening. It took great courage of the organisers to press ahead as we set up our displays under grey clouds and falling rain. Amazingly, just as forecast, the rain ceased and clouds cleared bathing us in a summer sun we had almost given up hope on seeing for another year! The festival was a absolute success, with much interest shown from from all ages in both the spinning and fat bikes and the cycle club in general.

AVP at the Great Outdoors Festival 2015

Although I did not get another ride out, meaning that this week was my worst for miles covered since the winter, the South Coast Nemesis 2015 did not get the better of us in the end, the Red Arrows visit was strangely entertaining and the weekend saw one of the club's most successful events. I'm now looking forward to seeing what next week brings, and if it means that I have to stay in out of the rain all week, at least I have the Vuelta to watch!

My 2nd Carbon Anniversary

While March 2013 marks the month and year in which I returned to the saddle, August was the month in which I moved to the next level and purchased my first carbon road bike, the Specialized Roubaix Sport Compact. The drive behind this was that on September 15th, I was going to complete my first ever 100 mile bike ride and needed something a little more suitable for this challenge than my trusted but heavy hybrid.

I was reminded of this anniversary by Facebook which has this new feature of presenting members with posts that they made on that day one or two years ago. Most I dismiss as banal chit chat but I saw this purchase as a real milestone that made me sit back and think " ... has it really been 2 years since I made that leap into that world and lifestyle of the MAMIL!"

Facebook memory from 18 August 2013

In the past 2 years, my carbon bike cycling stats look something like this:

• Rides: 228
• Duration: 17d:22h:12m
• Distance: 5,746.05 mi
• Calories burned: 306,342 kcal
• Burgers burned: 567

Within this time I have ridden 3x major (may be over closed roads or I got a medal) and numerous minor sportives, I've completed 6x 100 milers and have cycled up Mont Ventoux twice, and I have a dedicated lycra wardrobe to cover every occasion the British weather dictates!

I just had to share this with you as a warning, in that this cycling lark can take pounds off you .. and not just around the middle :)

AVP 100 Miler - Portland 2015

The last 2 and only AVP 100 milers that I've ridden have been very gentle. The first, my first ever 100 mile ride in September 2013, took 8hr 30mi, the second, a year later, was 8hr 10mi, excluding stops. Both, however, saw us returning in the dark, the stops being frequent and an extended break taken for lunch! This year, the club has controversially introduced a shorter 100km ride to run simultaneously. Controversial as I have always viewed the club's 100 miler as that unique opportunity for all members to be able to achieve this key cycling milestone with the safety net of riding with experienced club riders. Splitting the ride could create a two tiered annual ride, preventing many the opportunity to do their first 100 miler as I did, because they see it as something for the experience riders only. There is a risk that the gap between experienced and junior riders may even widen. On the flip side, not everyone wants to do 100 miles, indeed I personally prefer the 100 km distance, and not all 100 mile riders want to take all day, indeed I am one of these too!

So, on Sunday at 07:30 30 riders met to do their chosen distances, against by better judgement, I had signed up for the 100 miler. The 100 mile route changed last week, Quiff having completed a rece and found the climbing a little ambitious .. oddly I found that route challenging, yes, but surprisingly quick. It was actually my quickest 100 miles to date at 6hr 59mi. The route, therefore, chosen for the AVP 2015 100 miler was to be the Portland Century. A similar route to the one I completed with a few friends back on a wet and windy March weekend earlier this year. That one was a bit of an epic, one friend bonked and it took us a painful 7hr 55mi to complete.

The weather for our ride was perfect. Warm but not hot, bright but not too sunny and just light winds. I decided against bringing lights, I was feeling confident that the 11 riders who lined up for the 100 miler were not going to hang around. One thing I have also learned over these past few years is that you can not carry too much food, as running out or not taking on enough fuel is not a place you want to be with only your legs to get you home. With hindsight, my food stocks would probably have got me to Portland and back twice!

My food stocks would probably have got me to Portland & back twice!

We started well, but as we climbed out of Lyme Regis we lost our first rider who had to retire with a broken rear derailleur. There are some things which just can not be repaired in the field and this was one. 10 cyclists rode on until we hit the 15 mile marker just after Shave Cross when we were hit with our 2nd mechanical. One of new members had suffered a rear puncture, the fixing of which was met with much hilarity as the chain had been so well oiled that it had coated the entire wheel and rear of the bike, and subsequently Quiff who had drawn the short straw to roll his sleeves up, in a film of crude akin to that which followed the Exxon Valdez disaster of the late 1980s!

We made it to Portland in time for lunch at the small cycling cafe, Cyclocceno, which, as was my last experience, was rather overwhelmed by our arrival - I think on reflection, it pays to forewarn such establishments, particularly when 11 hungry cyclists are planning on descending and wanting a quick turnaround. The benefit of using Cyclocceno, however, is that it is also a cycle shop and this enabled our 3rd mechanical, a faulty rear tyre, to be replaced. Scanning the shelves of cycling goodies, as one has to do, it is surprising just how well stocked Cyclocceno are with the vital essentials of tubes, tyres, tools and energy bars and of course whole bikes. I could see this being my local if it were not 50 miles from home.

Time for lunch at the small cycling cafe, Cyclocceno

After an extended lunch break, the Cyclocceno had run out of bread for our sandwiches and so had to send out for more supplies, we headed on to achieve the objective of our ride, to reach the Portland Bill Lighthouse. What a difference calmer weather makes to this exposed headland. When I was last here, it was an achievement just to keep the bike on the ground. Today, the cycling was a pure delight, as too were the views and the silent light house .. no need for the fog horn today!

9 of the 10 .. Curtis is behind the camera

As in every 100 miler I've done, the adulation of reaching your outward destination is soon crushed by the thought that there's now another 50 miles to do to return home. I think this is why the original route rece was so much easier as we had no specific outward destination to reach, it was just a circuit. This just shows how in cycling, or any sport I suppose, psychology has as much as an affect on performance as the need for good fitness. It's all down to that inner chip again.

The return journey is one you just have to grit your teeth and grind out the miles. There's little of the chat that punctuated the outward ride, the peloton becomes stretched as tired legs scream "She Cannae Take Much More, Captain!" [Trekkie fan comment] .. and the stops and regroups become less common as the leaders of the pack want to - understandably - press on. I seem to have my nurturing head on and stick with our lantern rouge member, or at least this is what I'm telling myself. It seems a harder ride than the last century I did, just a few weeks before. Our final stop is to be in the town of Bridport, just 20 miles from home. The contingent from the Sid Valley CC who it's been great to have in our numbers, make the call that they will push on. The way I'm feeling I'm thinking the same. If I stop, I'm not sure I'll get going again. In the end, the draw of the cafe stop wins the day we make a final stop at Costa Coffee .. well, as they say, "any port in a storm".

We make a final stop at Costa Coffee

I had thought, leaving Bridport, that all our climbing was done for the day. Alas, no, the sting in this ride's tail was the infamous Mutton Street Climb. An 8% average, killer of a hill after 90 miles and one which requires the inner chimp to be restrained and beaten into submission to complete (no animals were really harmed in competing this climb), which I did quicker than before but slower than most. My excuse is that Tarmac is not designed to climb and it let me know by groaning all the way back to Seaton. Quiff talked on this homeward stretch about may be doing a few laps of a local airfield later the following week, I agreed that this was much more to the liking of the race tuned Tarmac, so watch this space.

We finished the ride in 7hr 40mi, slower than I'd hoped, but 15 minutes quicker than my last attempt at Portland and an hour faster than the original 100 milers ... I think I'm, controversially, liking the new format!