Hot Cold and Wet

Isn't spring in the UK wonderful?  272 miles completed this week in 5 days out of 7.  Despite a number of social events, which included 6 pints and a Southern Curried Chicken on Saturday, my weight continues to reduce and I have lost 17lbs since we bought a new set of scales some weeks ago.  In fact I am getting in to several pairs of trousers (my own!) which have been hanging in the spare wardrobe waiting for them to expand or me to shrink.  Once again, the Met Office let me down by forecasting a dreadful day on Wednesday which led to me fitting Ikea wardrobes (all day!) and there was not a drop of rain.  I suspect I burned off as many calories as a cycle ride by the time I was finished with them however.  My biggest day was on Monday when I cycled to Tynemouth and accompanied my (fit) nephew underneath the Tyne, up Nursery Lane at Felling and down Hadrians Way as far as Prudhoe before returning, a total of 77 miles.  If his cycle computer is totally accurate, I have underestimated my speed and distance by 1-2%.

This morning is a bit damp with more to come so hopefully I will get back out this afternoon 
I thought I had better practice with uploading photos so here is a picture of my bike on the Forth Road bridge last year when I cycled to St Andrews.

 And me after my 77 miles.

Bloody Met Office

240 miles completed this week over 5 days cycling. I wasn't up to it last Friday due to my cold and tomorrow the bike goes in for it's pre-trip checkover. I made a monumental error on Saturday when I misjudged the direction of the wind and my 75 mile journey was directly into a very strong breeze for 45 miles. Note to self, ignore the Met Office and throw some grass in the air!!
The following day, the forecast in Northumberland was sunny so I drove to Beadnell, took advantage of some free parking, (thanks John) and set off to cycle to Coldstream via Fenwick. The heavens opened and It poured and poured. Note to self, remember the previous note to self.
On Monday I did the Cyclone B route again and it definitely felt easier with the new chain ring. Conditions were similar to last time and my average speed of 9.6 mph was identical to the previous attempt but I did manage to cycle up the two inclines I walked up last time.
This morning I did an easy 35 miler and felt remarkably strong. Of course, just when confidence is on the increase, something comes up to cause demoralisation. I was heading up the sea front at Whitley Bay doing what I thought was a decent rate of knots when a touring cyclist with 2 big loaded panniers went sailing past me. Cheers mate. In his defence, he did look like a professional and he and his panniers were probably lighter than me. My average speed today was 12.6mph so I was quite pleased with that. I have a days training at Harrogate on Friday and an antiques fair to attend on Saturday and Sunday so there will be some rest for the wicked this weekend.

My New Ring

What a difference a new ring makes. No, I haven't had haemorrhoids treated, I am referring to my new 42 tooth chainring. I tested it along (or should I say up), a regular route, climbing up to Westerhope then Ponteland, Ogle, Whalton, Morpeth, Ulgham and back round by Blyth and Seaton Delaval. What a remarkable difference it made. I reckon it has given me maybe 4 lower gears and I have found pedalling so much easier, indeed, my speed up hill seems to have increased as I have been able to just keep pedalling without putting much strain on myself. I didn't notice much difference in the higher gears which surprised me a little. Anyway, it is a vast improvement. I now have a stinking cold and chesty cough but the forecast is good tomorrow so I plan to test myself in Cyclone territory again and see if I can pedal up the inclines that I was unable to before.
http://www.justgiving.com/Ian-Peden

Head For The Hills

Just 163 miles this week but that is because the bike is currently in dry dock having a new chain fitted because I made an arse of it and I hurt my left knee, so I have ended up having 3 days off when I had just planned 1. The best day was Monday when I decided to have a crack at Northern Rock's Cyclone 'B' route. This is 65 miles and almost 4000' of climbing so I wasn't sure if I could manage it. I drove to Ponteland to avoid the boring flat bit and set out to Ogle, Whalton and up to Netherwitton and Forestburn Gate. There was a very strong NorthEasterly which slowed me down and caused the temperature to be a bit low as well. I was surprised to get to Forestburn Gate and find I had actually averaged over 8mph (it was that windy, not to say hilly). I had to get off at one particularly steep bit which I reckon was a good 20% gradient. I had the wind at my back for a bit and successfully made it up a 12% gradient, albeit at 3mph. The hills continued and every nice downhiller had a long climb back up again. As I turned for Ryal I knew there were 2 stinkers of hills to negotiate. I had to get off for 50 yards up the first but managed the second which I was pleased with. The sheep in the fields gave me some very odd looks as I was shouting encouragement at myself not to give up. Fortunately, it was mostly downhill and flat after that and I was overjoyed to find a coffee shop in Matfen for a well deserved cuppa. My overall average was 9.6 mph in the end and I was actually pretty pleased with that. I checked my rider kit for the trip and there are only 7 days out of 45 where the climbing is greater than I did on that day. The pushing up the hills slowly caused the pulled muscle in my left thigh so I have replaced the front 48 tooth chainring with a 42 which should make pedalling uphill a bit easier and help me maintain some sort of rythym. I get the bike back tomorrow so am looking forward to getting back in the saddle. I am doing a few days work from Sunday to Thursday and will probably be working late so it will be mainly gym work. Boring!!!

A Decent Week

My last update was slightly late so this one is back on schedule. 207 miles cycled since last Thursday including a gardening day on Saturday and golf yesterday (back 9, 2 over par which is definitely classified as 'No Bad'. This included a monster drive on the 18th of close to 290 yards which is substantially better than 'No Bad' and could possibly be classified as 'Jings, Crivvens, Help m'Boab, My Goodness Me'). I have also lost 8-9 lbs in weight which seems to be coming off my stomach. There has been quite a bit of wind about (The weather mainly!) so my average speed has dropped a bit. I did 59 miles on Monday in very windy conditions so was pleased to average 11mph. Today I set off along the Hadrian Cycleway which runs along the Tyne River. By the time I got to Ovington it had begun to rain. This was coming from the West and looked like getting worse so I exited North and climbed from Wylam to Harlow Hill without going lower than 3rd gear which pleased me a lot. Just the 37 miles which now feels just like a morning stroll. How times have changed! As the weight comes off the hill climbing should get easier. I really regret not getting an exercise cycle for the winter as there are 7 weeks to go. I received the final 'Joining Instructions' from America By Bicycle this week and began to feel some fear and trepidation. Anyway, loins have been suitably girded and I need to be doing 250-350 miles per week from now on in. Fortunately, it is light till gone 8pm now so no excuses, I must cycle 6 days a week or 8 out of every 9 days.

Continued Improvement

196 miles this week so very much on schedule. I was particularly pleased with last Sunday's 50 mile run as I averaged 12mph for the first time. In fairness, it was a calm day which seems to make all the difference as no matter how much psychological benefit I get from the wind being with me, when it is against me, it slows me down much more than I gain the other way. I had a bit of a scare on Wednesday as I pulled my lower back whilst playing golf. (Yes, a day off cycling means playing golf, can't be bad!!!). I came in after 9 holes, took a couple of Ibuprofen tabs and read a book. I had a couple of twinges the next day (62 mile run) but found if I stopped and had a couple of minutes rest, the feeling went away and all seems well now. Long may it continue.

Three Week's Worth

The first week following my last post was a non-event. I was at a Royal Doulton fair in Stafford over the weekend which included the obligatory Sunday morning dehydration!!!, then the rest of the week's weather was hellish so I did a grand total of 0 miles. The following week involved 4 days work at Harrogate so I managed 85 mostly very hilly miles. Last week was much better with a total of 162. This would have been much more as I set off to cycle to Beadnell and back on Thursday morning which would have been a round trip of 112 miles all by itself. It was so cold, mainly due to a North wind, that I did 16 miles and couldn't stand it any longer. by that time my knees were purple and I couldn't feel my feet which kind of took the fun out of it a little. This morning I got up intending to use up quite a bit of tread and found I had a puncture in my back tyre. This surprised me a little as my Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres (as used by that chap from my home town who cycled round the world then North to South America) are fairly indestructible. I found the pin prick, repaired it and checked the inside of the tyre, finding nothing sharp. I replaced the tube and promptly had another puncture. This time I found the offending sharp bit, a tiny nail which had gone right through the thick protection underneath the tread. Anyway, I am hoping the weather keeps up so I can breach the 200 barrier again this week. It's Friday night so time for a beer!