Its all over now

Well its all done. And a great adventure it was too. It’s difficult to express the enjoyment of riding a bike for four days through unknown lanes to those who don’t do it. I lost count of the number of times someone would ride up to me and comment on how much fun they were having. Just riding a bike.
Day 1, through Kent was the hardest, lots of relatively short, sharp hills. Each day was structured by an early start (7:00am mostly), drinks stop a couple of hours in, (a long) lunch, afternoon water stop and a sprint finish (for me). Day 1 I took relatively easy. Rode with Peaches and Mad Mackem out of London, then rode on with Mackem to the drinks stop (whilst Peaches proceeded to get lost, but picked up a new friend – big up Rich).
I started to notice a looseness in my headset (the bit that holds the handlebars on) and after the lunch stop (we seemed to arrive for lunch an hour early every day, making for a long break) it got noticeably worse. The support guys had a look and managed to stiffen it, but advised finding a bike shop in Calais to have it replaced.
So after an uneventful, ferry crossing, getting to know new friends and a good night’s sleep, I sprinted off the front of the bunch on day 2 to find the bike shop in Andres 20km south of Calais. My own personal time trial (20km 38 minutes) brought me to the shop 20 minutes before it opened. By the time it did the bunch had caught me and Peaches, Mackerel (thanks to predictive text), Rich and Brian kindly waited with me whilst the bearings were replaced (for €10!). The bike shop was a dream with a chance to savour lots of stuff made from carbon, French jerseys and general bike porn.
It was a happy rouleur that pedalled away from there. Nothing much else on day 2 except a sprint to the finish in Arras, which is a lovely town.

Day 3 brought another early start, more fabulous roads and jaw dropping countryside and very high pace enjoyed by our new gruppetto enhanced by the Macmillan twins (Andy and Mark) and the Shropshire lads, Ben and Nick. At one point 6 of us in line hit 56kph (~35mph) on the flat! Followed by a race downhill to a town (who’s name escapes me). By the time we stopped at traffic lights we were all grinning, chattering excitedly and generally pumped on adrenaline. Definitely the highlight of the tour. On day 3 we passed many war graves, stopping at a coupe for quiet contemplation. These men died for us to be able to do things like this. I have no words to describe their sacrifice.
Day 4 was bitty. We only covered 105km, but an early start meant there was no need to rush so we had leisurely breaks and even a café stop en route to Paris. A huge downpour engulfed us on the Parisien outskirts but couldn’t damped spirits despite Rich puncturing (and me ignoring him, having misunderstood his hand gestures). We gathered in Parc Monceau with a couple of miles to go. Sure enough our group was first in and 90 minutes waiting for the rest to catch up only resulted in me finding I had a puncture. So I held up the whole group whilst it was fixed,
Arrival at the Eiffel tower was emotional. Beth was there to meet me and we both shed a quiet tear in deference to Tom and the reason we were there.
Peaches, Beth, Leanne and myself took 24 hours to celebrate in Paris.
Nearly £2500 raised.

Lots of pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11586362@N04/sets/72157620481336478/

Job done. Thanks to everyone who helped.

gabba gabba hey!

last minute hitches. It seems Peaches' tyre problem is systemic and the Schwalbe ultremo is prone to catastrophic failure. Schwalbe customer service suggested we both remove our tyres and replace them at their expense, which is indicative of how serious they think it is. Now, I've hit 76kph plus on those tyres, I dread to think what might have happened if, as they said, they split like a banana along the seam, at that speed. Shudder. Anyway, we're both now newly shod in Michelin Pro3 tyres, French tyres for a French odyssey I guess. Thanks to Peaches for doing the running around and getting the replacements.

A final thought from thewashingmachine post, show a little friendship..http://www.thewashingmachinepost.net//



Don't forget to follow me on Twitter (assuming my phone can get roaming internet access)- chakkchimp

endgame

Glorious weather today, so I took a final 20km spin (38 minutes!) to check the bike was OK before the off (and to check I hadn't ruined 4 weeks of abstinence with a relatively boozy weekend). Got back to find the mad Mackem had been out on a long fast ride with the Kenilworth boys and Peaches had ridden over to Rugby but on his return his back tyre was fit to pop. So he's off to get new tyres ahead of le depart. I checked mine, because we bought them together, but mine seem OK. Mechanicals I can do without thanks.

I've packed today so I'm pretty much set. I won't be blogging while I'm away but I will be Twittering, you can follow me as @chakkchimp on Twitter http://www.twitter.com. I recommend Tweetdeck for managing tweets http://www.tweetdeck.com, the native Twitter site I find a little cumbersome. I suspect most of my tweets will say "just climbed another hill,, shattered" or somesuch. Tune in to find out.

I also got another £50 sponsorship (word up Mark Dunn), but paid in underlay, which I need to translate to cash. I also finally got the check from Waitrose for £400, a big thanks to Ganny for organising that.

nearly there

despite taking a week off to rest ahead of le depart I couldn't resist a session in the gym yesterday. Mainly weights but also some rowing but consciously avoided straining my legs, I'm in London today and took time out to drool over the hardware in Condor Cycles, oh for a lottery win to fund a spending spree in there.

Last night I took my bike down from its perch on the wall and gave it a good clean and oil ready for the off. If i can find time I'll do a short spin to check its all in working order at the weekend. Then its focus on the met weather forecasts and pack my bags. I'm really looking forward to it now.

T'is done

Last training session today, spin with Tony. I've just been reviewing my training profile which doesn't have the nice 45 degree line to a peak that I'd hoped for, largely due to the constraints imposed on training by Beth's Uni work (she's currently doing three 12 hour days per week, plus an hour travelling at each end, ouch! Cycling to Paris is a breeze by comparison) and also the DGB (Dreaded Gastro Bug) which wiped out my Bank holiday weekend.

Here's the summary and a profile of distance (with avg HR overlaid)for the last 12 weeks (click on the image to enlarge)

and calories burned per session:

You can clearly see the gap from the DGB and a disappointingly incoherent pattern which reflects the lifestyle of someone fitting training around life rather than vice versa (which I suspect is what Mark Cavendish and Lance Armstrong do). I'm pretty confident I've done enough but I think these graphs illustrate the challenge really of taking on this kind of 4 day ride. Its not that it can't be done, I'm sure anyone with enough time and enthusiasm could get there, its more about having the focus and desire to make it happen with the time and tools available. I know I'm not alone in struggling to train as often as I would like. I feel fitter than when I started LEJOG which gives me comfort. I am really looking forward to le depart now. Peaches, Mad Mackem and I got together with partners on Saturday to talk plans. I think we're all set. Talking of focus there's nearly £2500 in the sponsorship pot now which is all the motivation I need. That's £5 per kilometre. Thank you to everyone who has supported me (and Beth). Its not too late however http://www.justgiving.com/craigmorrisfsid

Boys keep swinging

A funny few days. Gym Wednesday, Thursday nothing, but cycled to work, Friday 50km in the rain (& got soaked despite the new Rain Face jacket), Saturday declined another wet ride and did a big session in the gym instead.

Friday's stats:
Duration 01:44:29
Calories 1251 kcal
Distance49.8 km
Average HR 139 bpm
Maximum HR 164 bpm

Friday evening was quite bright when I set off. I didn't really have a plan but avoided Warwick town centre traffic thinking it would be busy at 6pm, so I went up Rouncil lane, then turned towards Pinley Green, not a road I follow much. This took me all the way out to Lowsonford where the rain started (22hours later as I type, it's still falling). I got a bit lost around Preston Bagot and started heading back on myself. By the time I'd realised my mistake I'd done 30km so thought I'd just head back the way I came as my feet were already soaked and cold and the Race Face shower proof was soaked through (looks great though!). So back into Lowsonford but returned through Shrewley to add some variety. 50km by the time I got home in 1:44, which given the weather and the fact that it's Warwick Council resurface the roads with loose grit season which is a) lethal to cyclists because it piles up into loose banks b) dangerous because cars kick it up and c) horrid to ride on because of its rolling resistance, I was pretty pleased with.

Saturday was forecast heavy rain all day, so having tested myself Friday evening, the planned 100km with Peaches and Ed was ditched in favour of a heavy gym session (3000m row, 12 minutes; 30 minutes bike reps; weights and stretches):
Duration 00:57:53
Calories 682 kcal
Average HR 138 bpm
Maximum HR 163 bpm

I can feel the aches as I type. 10 days to go and no real plans for much more training now. I'll try and get to spin on Monday and that's pretty much it until the off. Excitement rises.

Hold on to your friends

A quick bloglette to say thank you to everyone at the The Vale pub in Coventry who took part in the pub quizzes organised by Rich King, to raise £150 for FSID. Many thanks to you all, if anyone reading this is around Nod Rise please pop in and have a pint with the regulars and say hello from me. If anyone else wants to follow their lead you can do so here: http://www.justgiving.com/craigmorrisfsid




This time in two weeks, I should be well in to Kent on the way to Dover, wish me luck!

king of pain

The indigenous English wildlife was out in force on Sunday. Ed and I passed a field full of Llamas (Alpacas? is there a difference?) in rural Warwickshire. Another glorious day, perfect for cycling, even the strong breeze (which taunted us whichever way we went) couldn't dampen my spirits. Another 40km logged over a reasonably hilly route.

Monday I went to spin for the first time in a month, but 4 days back on the bike after 11 days off took its toll and there wasn't much left in my legs. My efforts seem paltry after reading Mick Rogers' tweet: "This years Giro has been the fastest in it's 100 year history. So far we have 3439 km @ at average of 40.1 km/h. First time ever over 40km/h"
and that was before the final day's time trial!

Race face

25km Thursday, 25km over same route Friday (5 minutes slower with Half Mile) and 40km Saturday have got me well and truly back in the saddle. Hopefully I'll get another 40km in today in the sunshine. Yesterday i was due to ride with Peaches and Half Mile, but some confusion meant we got separated about 200m into the ride. I ended up going solo, but that worked out OK because I was able to go at my own pace. I was pleased with 82 minutes in stunning sunshine.

I also finally got a refund from Winstanley's, after a call to trading standards and a threatening letter. They were very ungracious, but you live and learn. I won't buy from them again and if you're reading this I would advise you to avoid them. I got lucky and bought a Race Face jacket from reliable old Chainreactioncycles handily reduced to £31 (). The zip's better and I already have a Race Face jacket that I've been very pleased with, which I use every day for commuting. Should've stuck with what I know.

@last

At last I felt up to moving. It felt great to be out on the bike again. I'm not 100% still, but managed a respectable hour. Now to pick up where I left off before le depart on 17th June.

Duration 00:56:15
Calories 660 kcal
Distance 25.2 km
Average HR 138 bpm
Maximum HR 159 bpm

Gastric enteritis

It seems I have Gastric enteritis. There's a lot about apparently. 10 days now without training. With less than 3 weeks to go, that's quite worrying. Every day I think, tomorrow, I'll get out. But I'm not eating so I have no energy and would probably set myself back if I tried.

Winstanley's Bikes - shockingly bad service - avoid

I sent the jacket back to Winstanley's and received an email from them asking me to call (why didn't they ring me on either of the two contact numbers they have?) When I did ring they told me the jacket would have to go back to the manufacturer to be checked that the fault was their's and not mine.

Now, legal positions aside most shops and particularly on-line retailers offer no quibble returns these days. I wasn't after a refund only a replacement (partly because I felt guilty that I'd got it dirty). Winstanley's would rather take an assumption of guilt on my part, even though they agreed the product was faulty they seemed to think I had broken it. Now, how do you break a zip and even if I did, if it breaks on first wearing can that really be my fault?

Anyway they told me ten days before I'd hear anything, but they still have my money. terrible customer service. Avoid Winstanley's at all costs.

To further darken my mood, this stomach bug shows no signs of shifting so I'm still laid up off the bike and the weather is tortuously glorious. I have ridden vicariously though by catching up on old episodes of the Bike show on Resonance FM via their podcast. Check it out, it's cool . http://thebikeshow.net/

Still ill

Thursday I was struck down by an evil D&V bug which has knocked me off my feet completely and pretty much trashed my plans for training over the bank holiday. The way I feel at the moment I can't see me getting on a bike for a while, yet this was supposed to be my peak training weeekend before a slow tail to the off in 3 weeks.

Bugger

Sunday's Banbury ride in the Tempest:

Duration 02:45:05
Calories 1972 kcal
Distance 72.3 km
Average HR 139 bpm
Maximum HR 169 bpm
Duration 02:45:05
Calories 1972 kcal
Distance 72.3 km
Average HR
139 bpm
Maximum HR
169 bpm

Monday - missed spin, I seem to be so busy at work I'll be glad to take 4 days off to cycle 100 miles a day! did a session on the static bike anyway:

Duration 00:32:30
Calories 334 kcal
Average HR 128 bpm
Maximum HR 152 bpm

Burn rubber on me

No training this week due to work and other commitments so I have made an effort to cycle to work. Thursday I had to leave early to pick Imogen up from school and get her to the doctors for an appointment. Needless to say I got held up, charged out of work and jumped on the fixie to get me there. Now, of course, the fixie will only go as fast as your legs will turn the pedals and hence wheels. I steamed along Myton road, wearing my crisp new Castelli stowaway rain jacket against the light drizzle, only to hit a pot hole, stop pedalling (never a good idea on a fixed wheel bike), jump the chain off, wrap it round the crank which locked the pedals and thus the back wheel and hauled me to a spectacular stop outside Myton School, in a cloud of burning rubber. Much to the amusement of a waiting teenager. To make matters worse, in my haste to re-mount the chain and get to school on time, as I leant over my bag fell off my shoulder, I instinctively reached up to put it back on only to leave a big oily handprint on the shoulder. I reckon I’d worn it for 5 minutes before ruining it.

Friday I got a soaking on the way home which made for another high speed sprint. Saturday I managed an hour in the gym thanks to Beth finishing work early and Sunday I looked forward to a reasonably big ride.
The forecast was for a strong southerly wind, with heavy rain at 10:00 (I know but the Met really are that precise: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/wm/warwick_forecast_weather.html). Sure enough at 9:48 (I was travelling south towards it) the heavens opened. Imagine my smug face as I whipped out my castelli from my back pocket and snuck it on over the Rapha winter top. See how my face turned to despair as the showerproof nature of said top proved woefully inadequate for the raging tempest which followed. At one point I was desperate for shelter, the rain and wind hammering me, but just outside Banbury I was on open moorland with nothing in sight to hide behind, so onward I sped. Actually I thoroughly enjoyed the man against nature manner of the battle and although cold and soaked I didn’t mind although the warmth of the sun was welcome as I rode towards Stratford upon Avon. It was only as I stopped to take a bite to eat and put my feet down that I realised how cold. I’d not thought to put overshoes on and my feet were numb. To make matters worse the zip on the Castelli was stuck fast, to the extent that I pulled the tab off the zipper and had to struggle to get it over my head when I got home. So that’ll be going back to Winstanley’s. I hope they accept it with an oil stain and mud spatterings all over the back.

The deer didn't seem to mind

Got my mojo working

No plans to ride Saturday because we were painting the front door (well Beth was whilst I watched Cav sweep up the pink jersey in the Giro’s opening team time trial), so I did a big session in the gym on Friday followed by a plan to do a big ride Sunday.
Sadly by the time I got out on Sunday (~10:00) I felt lethargic and couldn't get my mojo. I did wear my pink rapha top in deference to Cav being the first Briton (ever!) to wear the maglia rosa. Maybe it was a late night Saturday or the few beers that I sank but I didn’t feel like I had any energy. I haven’t been drinking much lately, pretty much only Saturday nights and then a couple of glasses of wine, so I’m guessing it was the beer dragging me down. Over Loxley hill and I didn’t fancy the long climb out of Ilmington to Chipping Campden, my destination, so I contemplated another route, but once I realised it would take me into the slight breeze that there was I carried on with my original plan.
My concession was to vary the route of my ascent over Campden hill, normally I take the gated road which has a steep and barely manageable climb but today I took the “main” road if it can be called that, reasoning that it would be more gentle. It was only after a kilometre of steep climbing that I realised that this road took me over a different, bigger hill. After the initial cliff face the gradient did tail off before a big kick at the end rewarded by a great descent.

One reason I came this way was to challenge myself on the descent from Dover’s hill. It’s very steep and fast with a couple of sharp bends and always scares me silly (see pic). I recall the first time I climbed to the top thinking that the climb was a disappointment. I have no idea why because ever since I have struggled up to the viewpoint, across the vale of Evesham, at its summit. Anyway the descent beat me again, proving that a) I’m not as brave as I like to think I am b) I need new brake blocks.
No real issues on the way back although I was shattered when I got home, but an hour and an ice cream in the park with Mo and Beth kept the smile on my face.
My HR monitor threw a benny and recorded a max HR of 220, which, as my theoretical max HR is 175, would probably kill me, other stats:
Duration
03:16:28
Calories
2365 kcal
Distance
86.1 km

Sunday night I slept badly due to aching legs. When I exercise hard its like my muscles can’t relax and they fit through the night keeping me (and Beth) awake. I’ve tried all sorts to calm them but with no joy and it seems a bit random, I don’t always get it. Massage, hot bath, cold bath, alcohol, no alcohol, no caffeine etc Any suggestions welcome!
Monday, despite my aching legs I did a quick Beausale loop hoping to beat my recent 53:46 but a strong wind and some fatigue kept me at 53:45, not bad given the weather.
Duration
00:53:45
Calories
621 kcal
Distance
25.1 km

Average HR
136 bpm
Maximum HR
156 bpm

Tuesday a day of rest and back on my bike to work on Wednesday. 5 weeks to go, I’m not as confident as I have been but bring it on.

money money money

the great news is that thanks to Beth's mom's influence, Waitrose Kenilworth have donated £400 taking me through the £2k barrier! Also, as if I didn't owe my parents enough they have, with enormous generosity, offered to cover my expenses whilst travelling, instead of sponsoring me directly, which is a huge weight off my shoulders. That's in addition to the jar of coins they've been saving since I rode LEJoG.

Thanks to everyone again for support. you can sponsor me here: http://www.justgiving.com/craigmorrisfsid

So much things to say right now

I took advantage of the long bank holiday weekend to get some serious training in. Friday evening 25km with Edward, Saturday 50km time trial (01:42:44 whoo hoo!), Sunday 75km with Edward and Monday I had planned 100km, but after riding to my parents in Birmingham and planning a long route back, I was tired, wet and cold so I bailed at 70km. (and also because I'd spent all weekend on the bike and wanted to see the kids. 10 pin Bowling was more fun than a wet bike ride anyway)

So 220km in 4 days and by the time I finished it hurt. As I write, on Tuesday, my legs are sore, so heaven knows what they'll be like after consecutive 125km/150km/95km/115km days to Paris.

The really good news is that I put some new tyres on my bike on Friday and can honestly say (subjectively) that they've added 5% - 10% to my speed. Incredible. 45g each lighter than my previous Continental GP400S, Schwalbe Ultremo R (http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/tyres/product/ultremo-tyres-23173) is the way forward. Peaches also bought a pair so hopefully he'll see the difference too. Let's hope the ceramic puncture protection lives up to its billing.

Despite the slight setback I'm feeling fit and strong and confident at the moment. 6 weeks to go, I just need to stay focused and find time to keep training. Remember you can sponsor me here:http://www.justgiving.com/craigmorrisfsid

Road trippin'

Saw Mad Mackem today at the school gate, made the mistake of boasting I did 110km on Sunday, the conversation went something like:

Mark "110km? I did 147 with Brummie Dave"
Craig "147km, that's a good shout"
Mark "no, miles"
Craig "220km! F*** me!"
Mark "in 8 hours"

Exit Craig left

As Peaches said. Humbled.

Here comes the rain

Friday evening, Beth and I completed the Beausale loop, her first experience of clipped in road riding. And she did remarkably well. I paced her on the fixie and she was understandably nervous of the traffic, it does take some getting used to, but she made the 20km without issue and it looks like many rides will follow.
On Saturday I rose early and stepped out of the house for a quick blast at 07:30. We were due to spend the day at an FSID (http://www.fsid.org.uk) family day at Stratford Butterfly Farm and then I wanted to get back to watch the football, so it was an early start or nothing at all. The sky was clear, but there were dark clouds on the horizon. Keen to get going I resisted going back for any wet weather gear. Five minutes in, through Warwick, the first rain drops landed cold and hard on my top lip and within another 5 minutes I was pretty well soaked. It didn’t seem worth turning round, although the thought of all that wet weather specific gear, overshoes, waterproofs, tights sitting at home in the wardrobe did grate.
I’d planned a 40km loop out through Stratford upon Avon which of course took me through the storm and then returned me back in to it, only clearing as I pulled into the car park at home. I returned thoroughly drenched, but happy, to a house framed by clear blue sky. Which is the way it stayed for the rest of the day. Don’t you just love English weather?

Duration 01:30:47
Calories 1079 kcal
Distance42 km
Average HR 139 bpm
Maximum HR166 bpm

Sunday I hadn’t planned a long ride, but I left the house under a cloud (metaphorical this time) and hoped the space would help to clear my head. I headed out over Burton Dassett and across to Canon’s Ashby (see pic) where I re-filled my water bottles in the café. I then headed on across Helidon, Flecknoe, Grandborough and home. 4 hours and 110km later. The ride did indeed cheer me up with the exception of one other dark cloud. At one point, just past Cropredy, I had to traverse a busy road, my route took me along it for 100m or so, before I turned right onto a lane. As the traffic was heavy I waited at the kerbside for a break before crossing (as I was taught at school). Whilst waiting out of the way of the traffic at the roadside the occupants of a passing car took the opportunity to slow down and call me a “cycling c*nt”. What kind of society makes people think they can be so abusive to innocent strangers?
Two minutes later whilst still mulling this over, a white van (what else?) pulled out of a side road in front of me. Not particularly dangerous but he should have given way. As should the bloke in the Subaru who followed, causing me to brake hard to avoid ploughing into the side of his car. I was too shocked and despondent to react.
In contrast however the weather was perfect for cycling, cool, sunny, a gentle breeze and generally great to be out.

Duration 04:04:04
Calories 2752 kcal
Distance108.6 km
Average HR 134 bpm
Maximum HR 167 bpm

Monday spin class, with Beth, and now a couple of days rest (if only because our washing machine broke so I can’t wash any lycra).
7 weeks to go and I feel fitter (and more experienced) than when I started LEJoG so I’m confident at the moment that I’m well on target. In the next couple of weeks I should clock up my 10 000th km on my trusty Scott S20 which will be something to celebrate.

Spin spin sugar

Being the cool and centred dude that I am I thought I would impress Beth at the spin class with my poise, fitness, strength and tenacity. What I actually did was pour the contents of my water bottle over myself as I went to take a swig and the top popped off, drenching me and the bike. Hmm, not quite the image of unbridled macho manhood I was trying to convey.

Tuesday I took no exercise but today I got up early and time trialled 25km before work. I repeated the route Peaches, Half Mile and I did on Sunday (but without upsetting anyone), a rolling route with some mild climbs but no great descents. I set myself a target of 50 minutes to cover the 25km. I actually managed 53:14minutes, so slightly above target, but I included the warm up in the route and probably didn't push myself as hard as I could, so I'm not too disappointed.

It was however a glorious morning. No cloud, pale blue sky, the sun just rising behind me as I hit the road at 06:10. A hazy mist clung to the ground, yet to be burnt off by the impending heat, which I dipped in and out of as the road rose and fell. A great way to start the day (shame I had to spend the rest of it stuck in an office). Next time...



Duration 00:53:46
Calories 675 kcal
Distance 25.1 km

I didn't mean to be so late its just that I got riding

Saturday

Duration 03:12:16
Calories 1825 kcal
Distance 76.7 km

Average HR 122 bpm
Maximum HR 169 bpm

Saturday morning I told Beth I was going out for a short ride, 90 minutes, 2 hours maximum. The figures above tell the lie to what actually happened. Glorious sunshine, a small peloton (Mad Mackem, Peaches, Brummie Dave and Ed) and the fact that we got lost somewhere near Helidon Lakes meant I was much longer than planned. This also worked against Ed who joined us on an empty stomach straight from his paper round and struggled to get back. Peaches peeled off to his in laws at 60km, Ed and I soon peeled off home once we'd got our bearings, leaving Mad Mackem and Dave to toil alone.
We headed straight along the main road into Southam and then picked up the Welsh Road to Leamington, Cubbington and home. I love the Welsh Road. I love the way it meanders with the contours of the land. I love its gentle rise and fall. And I love its history. I imagine Welsh drovers taking their livestock to market in London, walking for days along this ancient route. It crosses the Fosse, a more ancient road (or is it?) and my mind wanders at this junction to the millions of feet and wheels which must have passed this way over thousands of years. A Roman road crossed by an ancient drovers trail. What scenes must have been seen here?

Sunday, Peaches, Half Mile and myself did a quick 25km spin before settling down to an afternoon of beer and barbecue with friends and families in attendance. Much fun was had by all.

On the way back down Rouncil lane we spied a group of three riders ahead. Paul and I, being of a similarly childish mindset couldn't resist the catch. We sped past the group with a casual greeting as if our speed signified no more than a superior fitness and ability (the fact that two of the riders were 20 years or more older than us and they had, as a group, clearly completed a long and arduous ride took none of the shine from our achievement). Sadly our arrogance clearly piqued the younger of the riders, who, as we slowed further up the road steamed past us, with a shove in the back for Peaches. I gave chase and caught him but couldn't stay with him (full carbon Cervelo was my excuse). I let him go, but saw that he had himself slowed upon catching a friend up ahead. So despite the climb I gave chase again and caught and passed a clearly startled rider before peeling off on another route home. Oh what fun.

Sadly, whilst I was playing Tour Professionals, Half Mile had narrowly averted catastrophe. A tooth came off his rear cassette causing the pressure to do the same to his crank and forcing the chain off its run to wrap itself around the pedal. One more stroke and he'd have pinged over the bars. So, a new drivetrain, (shiny Italian Campagnolo) but thankful for small mercies.

Anyway, at least I was back on time!
Duration 00:57:09
Calories 641 kcal
Distance 25.2 km

Average HR 134 bpm
Maximum HR 168 bpm

Monday saw Beth and I at spin. Her first real exercise for 12 months. Good for her. She's keen to come out and join the gruppetto. I'm sure she won't be as immature.

You can't always get what you want

But if you try sometime, you get what you need. After Monday’s epic Tuesday was a day of rest slumbering quietly at my desk at work. Wednesday I cycled in which gave me a gentle 10km workout on the fixie and Thursday a big session in the gym.
Interestingly (well, to me anyway) I normally warm up with a 2000m row, with the intention of completing it in under 8:30. Which I normally manage pretty easily. Today my legs were stiff so I thought I’d manage my HR rather than effort. By keeping my HR “in the zone” (129 - 149) I managed 2500m in 10:40, and wasn’t too tired at the end. Which just goes to show that exercising at a more consistent rate for longer gives a better result. I know this isn’t news, but its good to see it in action.
Now, what I don’t know how to do is to translate this to riding the bike.

For example on Monday my HR shot up to 170 which is 95% max, I assume on one of the steeper climbs (I wasn’t watching it) and averaged 134 (74%) which is fine. The question is when presented with a massive climb how do you stay out of the red, or is it more important to maintain a good average and not worry about the peaks and troughs. Conversely I have noticed I can punt along at 40kph on flat terrain with a HR of 120 (with the wind!). I’m sure I’ll work it out.

erratum

Not sure if the photo link below works, it must've cached on my laptop, if you're really bothered search for rider 168 in the Cotswold Classic sportive

every day is a winding road

I’ve decided that entering a challenging sportive on the last day of a long weekend is a daft thing to do. Whilst it was enormously enjoyable and very hard work it did dominate the weekend, meaning I had to watch what I ate and drank (no bad thing I guess) and meaning there was no time to r&r afterwards, just straight back to work.

Good Friday began with Peaches and I taking in 50km around my favourite Aston Cantlow loop. 2 hours nicely paced and we managed to find the only 2 hour window all day when it didn’t rain.

I then intended, having failed to get on my bike Wednesday or Thursday, to take a short spin on Saturday to stretch my legs ahead of the big ride on Monday. This didn’t happen because I was decorating and of course now Beth is back on her feet I need to allow time for her to get down the gym too. She’s determined to get a bike and come training with me and to be honest I’m looking forward to it, but I’m not sure my mentality of set an impossible cycle challenge and complete it, meets with her more whimsical sunny summer pootle in the countryside. We’ll see. She’s pretty competitive so I suspect she’ll step up to the plate. I can’t wait to see her climb Edge Hill.

Anyway, Beth, Imogen and I were booked into a nice B&B ahead of the Monday ride, in the Cotswold Water Park Hotel. Lovely hotel, great location and great facilities but a little impersonal, but for £70 all in, a bargain. I bumped into Scott from Mike’s Bikes in Kenilworth who was also there for the ride (interestingly he’d targeted 6 hours, I targeted 8! I don’t know how he got on).

Monday was the day. A misty start but promising sunshine later. Peaches, the Mad Mackem & Brummie Dave were travelling down to meet me on the day, necessitating an early start for them (registration was 7am thru 8am, start between 8am and 9am – for those that don’t know a Sportive is not a race but it is timed via transponder attached to the bike and the results are published. It’s more of a personal challenge).

Mad Mackem overslept and then proceeded to leave his helmet amongst other things behind. A mistake he was to regret. We set off about 8:20. Dave had a friend with him, Malc (I think) who pretty much left us all behind.

The route was spectacular. Very difficult (lots of short steep climbs interspersed with a few very long climbs) and certainly the most challenging I have ever ridden. It certainly wasn’t a route I would have planned for myself, but then that’s the fun of these things, to put yourself outside of your comfort zone and overcome it.

Dave and Malc headed off and I stayed with Peaches and Mad Mackem to the foot of Birdlip hill, about 50km in. At this point I lost them, this thread will explain why: http://forum.220magazine.com/tm.asp?m=16949 . The route actually took us down the hill into Cheltenham along the valley and up again. On the way down I set off a speed camera, the speed limit was 30mph, I’m not sure how fast I was going at the time, but my computer clocked my max speed for the ride at 72kph (45mph).

I rode on alone, picking up and losing various groups although I was grateful to take a tow behind two women for 15km after the last big climb of the day, who sheltered me from the wind. The rest gave me enough energy to push on for the last 30km, where another helpful rider towed me along for 10km or so, before it became obvious I was slowing him down, so I told him to go on ahead.

I rode 168.5 km and finished in 7:59:13, bang on target. 4966 KCals burnt. My actual ride time was 7:20 with 40 minutes rest. Brummie Dave came in on 7:40 and Malc an incredible 7hrs. Now, Peaches and Mad Mackem were a long way behind but an outstanding achievement for them both. Mad Mackem (who I know is capable of matching me pedal for pedal), for sacrificing his own ride to stay with Peaches and coax him home and Peaches for a) having mad hair (see photo) and b) finishing at all.

The route was much tougher than we’d anticipated and for Peaches, who only threw his leg over a bike in November, a great achievement to finish. Nothing L2P throws up will compare I’m sure, although I hope the weather is as good. Apart from a breeze that kicked up after lunch it was pretty perfect, sunny, still and not too hot.
As I said, Mad Mackem forgot his helmet. Some of the roads were really broken up, steep back lanes with lots of loose tarmac and big potholes, after a severe winter. It was on a particularly steep and sketchy descent that Mackem’s handlebars dropped off, causing a few brown trouser moments and a degree of circumspection for the rest of the ride. Always wear a helmet reader!
For me, Monday has vindicated my training. Whilst I don’t feel that I’ve trained as much as I would have liked I have tried to focus what I do and augment bike work with gym and spin classes. Now I have proved to myself I can ride the distance (again) I need to focus on maintaining fitness for the 9 weeks until we go although I’m planning a very quiet week immediately prior to departure.
nb. For those who like a fright, there are official “action” photos (of me!) from the sportive here: http://sportivephoto.thirdlight.com/search.tlx?gsearchid=1239720615&pictureid=9026499

Bring it on!

The winning tickets for the 2009 FSID Raffle were drawn by Sharon Potter (Global CEO Kantar Operations) today. The winners were:
3rd Prize Framed Photographic print from eyevine.com: Siobhan Jones of York
2nd Prize £200 Currys/Dixons/PCWorld vouchers: Santo Rizzo of Heathcote
1st Prize Panasonic Lumix FX-33 Camera: Sera & Mick Peretta of Oxley


Thank you to everyone who took part and congratulations to the winners. The raffle has raised £1247 for FSID the UK's leading baby charity working to prevent sudden deaths and promote health.

The funds are in support of my bike ride from London to Paris in June to mark 10 years since the death of Tom Barker aged 20 months.

If you want to offer further support to FSID please sponsor me (tax free) here: http://www.justgiving.com/craigmorrisfsid

Every penny is gratefully received.

Dance yourself dizzy

Just to prove it wasn't my parental bias, Amelia won the award for best upcoming dancer in the show. A star in the making.

On the back of yesterday's ride I made it to spin today, stats to follow.

Now I plan a couple of days rest (maybe ride to work but nothing more) then a short ride Thursday, a longer one Friday and then two days off before the big one on Easter Monday, 105 mile sportive through the Cotswolds http://www.cotswoldspringclassic.co.uk/ If I get through that, I know I'm well on target, but I suspect the weather will be the deciding factor. The three L2Ps will be out for it, Peaches, Mackem Mark and myself.

Duration 00:49:56
Calories 527 kcal
Average HR 130 bpm
Maximum HR 160 bpm

Smile a 60 mile smile

Its amazing the difference the sunshine makes. Today was a perfect Spring day. Today was everything that makes living in England (or anywhere in the British Isles) so enjoyable. The contrasting weather makes for every day to be different and today was one of the best.

Peaches, Mackem Mark and myself set off at 8:00am on a route of Peaches' choosing. Although it was bright and clear there were signs of a light frost on the ground, but I chose to show off my new shorts again although the others went down the Robin Hood men in tights route. I made the right choice; it soon warmed up to a glorious day. Fresh, clear air, sunshine, lambs frolicking in fields, pheasants squawking in hedges and badgers dead in the gutter. Oh well, not so perfect for Brock I guess.

Our route took us along Harbury lane to Burton Dassett hills. Mackem Mark passed me on Harbury hill so I attacked in a fit of foolishness, which damn near killed me. My heart rate shot up to 168. I hate that hill. Over Burton Dassett, I took the King of the Mountains jersey, Peaches took the big girl's blouse. Mackem Mark left us at this point and Peaches and I pressed on to Wormleighton, Priors Hardwick and Marston up another great climb to Hellidon. At the top I admired the view and waved to a young girl also admiring it from her bedroom window. She (rightly) looked at me aghast, a mad old man in pink merino and lycra Form your own mental image.

Anyway, the ride was magnificent, Peaches headed on to the future in-laws at Barby and I headed home through Leamington Hastings, Offchurch and Cubbington at an average just over 30kph, which given the distance I was pretty pleased with.

The afternoon was spent watching Amelia in her dance show. Unashamedly biased, she was clearly the best, most naturally gifted dancer in the show and it was a very proud Dad (and family) who shed a small tear watching (one of) his angel(s) on stage. I love my family and its this love which drives me on to complete the task I set out to do. I've raised over £5 per kilometre so far and hope to raise more. Thank you all. Tomorrow is our fifth wedding anniversary and Thursday Tom's birthday. A mixed emotional week.

Duration 03:05:11
Calories 2076 kcal
Distance 93.8 km
Average HR 134 bpm
Maximum HR 168 bpm (showing off up bloody Harbury hill!

So much things to say right now

Lots to say for a change since Saturday. Sunday Half Mile, Ed and I went over to Solihull for a cup of tea with my mom and dad. Just over 30km each way and because we went out into the wind it really brings it home what a difference it makes. I think we did 75 minutes there and 65 back or somesuch with a nice cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit in the middle. Thanks mom.

63.5km 1619 KCals Avg HR 133.

Monday I went to spin and really went for it 421 KCals and 133 avg HR

Tuesday more pain at the gym, 2km on the rower (8 minutes) 30minute spin on the bike and some weights. 496 Kcals 130bpm.

Wednesday. rest. ahh.

Today (Thursday) snuck out at lunchtime and rode over to Mike's Bikes in Kenilworth to have them adjust the cleats on my new shoes ;-). From there I couldn't resist testing my new Rapha bib shorts (see pic) and was chuffed to post 30km in 58:49 747 KCals 144bpm.

who hoo a busy week at last. Hopefully cycle to work tomorrow, but not sure what the weekend holds as we're busy with a party for Mo on Saturday and then the whole family is off to watch Amelia's dance show on Sunday. Looking forward to that. Bless.

Only downside this week was that Wednesday, my day of rest, was a glorious warm spring day. Which i missed.

All hail

Cycled over to see good friends John and Sarah today in every kind of weather possible. It was very windy, rained, sunshine, hail. Lots of hail. Nasty stinging, cold wet hail. I don't like hail. I did however fly up Harbury hill which surprised me (regular readers - is there one at least?- will know I hate that hill) but then I realised I had a 20mph gale on my back pushing me along. Funnily enough the thought struck me as the wind did when I turned into it past Chesterton windmill towards Wellesbourne. The weather aside, an unremarkable 40km although the ride back into the wind was hard work. Glad I had a cup of tea inside me, thanks to J&S but wished I'd taken them up on the offer of a sausage sandwich. Lots of hail. I don't like hail.

Yay!

Yay! I made my target. Thanks to everyone that has supported me and good luck to those that bought raffle tickets (although obviously you can't all win that would be daft).

If you haven't donated and want to then please do, it all counts to help prevent sudden infant deaths.

http://www.justgiving.com/craigmorrisfsid
THANK YOU

The world is full of crashing bores

Took a day off Friday before my head exploded from all the pressure of the last few weeks. No particular plans other than to make the most of the glorious spring weather. Having checked the forecast I planned to ride out to Banbury. Forecast was for a SE breeze kicking up mid morning, so as Banbury is SE of Warwick I thought if I get out early enough I can get there in calm air and take advantage of the tailwind on the way back. To make it more interesting I planned to head out over Burton Dasset hills and Edge Hill then along the Stratford road to Banbury and straight back to Warwick.

Turns out though that Imogen had a prize giving assembly. Now, occassionally the newspapers print ridiculous articles about how much it costs to bring up a child. As if it were a financial decision. I don't care how many hundreds of thousands of pounds it is currently estimated at but the sight of the proud smile on Imogen's face as she was presented with her award was worth every penny. And more. And I'd do it again.

However, that didn't stop me cursing the assembly by the time I did get out, because the wind had indeed picked up and I was headed, once again, straight into it. It wasn't as strong as recent trips, but never the less, every time I hunkered down against it, or stood up into it, I cursed Coten End school!

A pretty uneventful ride in all, 72km, 2 hours 34 minutes 1831 calories. One reason I picked this route was to take advantage of the 10% hill at Warmington, which i've ridden up a few times but never down. It didn't disappoint at 67.5kph.

Its payday next Friday and I'm treating myself to some new cycling shoes. My current ones have covered well over 5000 miles. I feel I'm due a new pair. Look at these sexy little beasts.

So Imogen and I tripped over to the LBS to try some on and to play in the park afterwards. Everybody was happy.

Saturday, Ed and I took a short 24km ride round Beausale. Now, I must be some kind of hideous human because not one, not two, but three motorists, all unprovoked as far as I could see, took the time to wind down their windows and tell me exactly what they thought of me and my bike. One I'd put down to experience, but three, it must be me. I'm off for therapy.

486 calories 1 hour 3 abusive motorists (none of whom, interestingly, took up my offer to discuss their opinions.)

Oops

Beth was saving it for a special occasion. I'm off to buy a bar of Green & Black's white chocolate...

(made it to spin, but when I got to the gym my water bottle had emptied itself in my gym bag. Wet cycling shorts are not nice to train in)

The pheasants have it. The hedgehogs fail to show.

I’m sure it happens in other sports but the slow descent to exhaustion seems to be a peculiarly cycle related phenomenon. There are times on the bike when you feel that you can ride forever. The cranks turn, the wheels spin, its effortless and a joy to experience perfect harmony of man and machine.

There are other times, when your feet and hands are numb, your legs ache, your back hurts, your shoulders are tense, your head itches from dried sweat inside your helmet, your eyes burn and the pit of your stomach feels like it’s digesting itself. This is the bonk. And it was in this state that I found myself sat on a bench on the village green of Halford about 25km from home, unable to eat or drink and lacking the energy to worry about what this might mean, but knowing that a large hill separated me from home and I couldn’t ride it.

I had set off alone into a fierce wind and had a vague idea to retrace the route we took last week, simply because I wanted to enjoy the climb out of Broadway (regularly voted prettiest village in Britain) to Snowshill (home to a glorious national trust manor house) without the wind rain and sleet that had accompanied it the week before. In hindsight I seriously underestimated the toll a hard gym session on the bike on Thursday followed by a broken night’s sleep due to Imogen having a sickness bug and a wearing day in the office (yes, I do have them occasionally) had taken. This combined with the effort of cycling 40km or so into the wind tired me before I even got to Broadway and it was a laboured climb that I didn’t enjoy at all. Tougher than the week before and I was miles from home. To add to my discomfort I hadn’t prepared properly, being just keen to get out and had only a banana, one energy gel and a couple of wholly inadequate supermarket energy bars with me. The route I’d chosen was essentially triangular, Warwick to Evesham, to Stow on the Wold and back, so I never seemed to get the wind behind me. It was either in my face or over one shoulder or the other, blowing me across the road.

I had wisely stopped at a pub (the delightful, Fox at Evenlode) to replenish my water bottles (I drank three litres in total) but was still exhausted as I clicked over 90km into Halford, a quaint but largely uninteresting village. I imagine it owes its existence to the presence of an old packbridge across the local river and its proximity to the rich woollen towns of the Cotwolds (they’re not made of wool, they owe their existence to the wool trade).

So, I sat on the bench and after 5 minutes gathering my thoughts, forced myself, despite the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach (caused by dehydration or fatigue I know not which) to eat a frankly disgusting Gillian McKeith peanut based “energy” bar and drain another water bottle. I gathered myself for a final push and dragged myself the remaining 20km or so at an increasingly slow pace (is this a tautology? Can something increasingly diminish or should it be a decreasingly slow pace? That doesn’t sound as dramatic, so increasingly slow it is). I didn’t enjoy a single moment of it, just wishing for it to end.

To further frustrate me I had turned back into the headwind and my route home was dictated by purely pragmatic decision making, flat and direct, although I did benefit from having the wind at my back for the final slog into Warwick and up that bloody hill that the castle sits on.

It was with some pleasure that I staggered home and flopped through the back door, 5 hours, 118.8km and 3300Kcalories worse off. To be greeted by the words “you’re in the doghouse”. Beth had sat waiting for me listening to the air ambulance overhead, as I’d said I’d be about 3 and half or 4 hours, understandably worried.

To follow, I had planned a gentle jaunt with Edward around the quite lanes of south Warwickshire on Sunday and the weather was by contrast, still, sunny, warm and just about perfect for cycling. But another sleepless night as Beth caught Imogen’s sickness bug to add to all her other post operative ailments put paid to that. Which is probably just as well because my legs are sore and my back still aches.

So it is with some satisfaction that I sit here, freshly showered, glass of red wine, chill out music on the iPod and a bar of Green and Black’s chocolate to fortify me (I don’t know who’s it is, I found it in the cupboard, I hope Beth or the kids weren’t saving it for a special occasion, but they’re all in bed so I can’t ask them) ready for spin tomorrow. Training to ride 500km in 4 days for charity is actually quite hard work whilst having a life too. So please sponsor me!

Roadkill: Pheasants 6 (remarkable!); foxes 1; rabbits 1; squirrels 1; hares 1; flies 2 (swallowed alive); Hedgehogs nil.

Crazy English Spring

Sunday was the day we planned for the Stratford Cycle club reliability ride. 54 miles through the Cotswolds. Sounds easy enough. Peaches and I took my car over the night before for the journey home. We planned to ride over to round things up to 100km (slightly more) and drive back.

We set off at 9:00am Sunday morning in glorious sunshine, Peaches, Ed and me. Approaching Warwick castle we met up with the Kenilworth Wheelers club run and mingled with them for a while. They were singularly unfriendly. Not one enquired who we were or where we were headed (which it turns out was the same place). You’d think having a 15 year old with us, they’d have been keen to recruit some new blood. Anyway we let them go and it was with some schadenfraude we came across one of their number stopped in a hedge fixing a puncture (none of the group had stopped to help him). We sailed past with a wave. I don’t know which way they went but we caught up with them again just outside Stratford and rode to the start in the grupetto.

The sunshine had fooled me into riding in spring gear. Summer gloves, no overshoes, no waterproofs. Which I was to regret. We set off in a group timed at 4 hours for the 87km, which I reckon is a pace of around 25kph. We started, and continued, at 32kph. Peaches got dropped at a junction and couldn’t get back on, so Ed and I dropped back with him and we made out own way round. The sunshine quickly turned to cloud. Which quickly turned to rain. It was already windy, but by the time we topped Broadway Hill it was sleeting, hailing, snowing. Everything the weather could throw at us it did. The temperature dropped rapidly. I quickly lost feeling in my hands and feet and regretted not dressing more appropriately. I stopped to help a guy with a flat and whilst hanging around got more and more cold. Once fixed he’d had enough and abandoned. Going back the way we’d come.

We pressed on across an open moor to Ford. It was bitterly cold and I was getting more miserable with each turn of the crank. Ed seemed fine but I could see Peaches was struggling. We decided to quit, but a look at the map revealed we were at the apex of the ride, as far as we could be from the start. We cut a few corners on the way back and rolled in to the finish bang on 100km, which ultimately was our goal, although we hadn’t followed the second half of the course. The weather had brightened up again, but as we sipped out tea to regain some warmth and shovelled down cakes and energy bars the heavens opened with a strong and persistent hailstorm. We were glad not be out on the road still.

Taking the car over the night before now seemed like the best idea ever. So it was with no little pleasure we loaded up, climbed in and drove off for well earned showers and the glorious roast chicken dinner that Beth cooked (for me and Ed at least).

2608kcal consumed, average HR 126 (72% max), max HR 162 (93%!), average speed 22.6km/h. 100km covered in 4h 19mins.

160bpm

Did a quick spin round Beausale this morning. 20km in 42 minutes. I had planned to go as fast as I could but I tried to keep my HR within "the Zone" (139 - 149) instead. I maxed out at 160 and dropped off to 120 downhill. My average was 147 though which is spot on as the max HR for my age is 175.

100k tomorrow, watch this space...

Heartbeat

Whilst out with Half Mile at the weekend we cycled past the army barracks at Kineton. There was a squaddie out on his own, full fatigues, full pack, jogging up the road. Kind of puts my efforts in the shade.

Out of interest I wore my HR monitor on my commute to work today. I came in via Leamington because I stopped at the bank so it was a longer than normal ride. Whilst my HR was a pretty normal and undemanding 120 - 130 most of the way (my zone being 139 - 149). I did notice it shot up to 150 at tricky traffic intersections. I'm not sure how to interpret that, but it can't be good!

Back on track

Life’s been running away with me a bit lately. Beth came out of hospital last Monday but was (and still is) pretty poorly. I had planned to work from home all week to be around her, although I did pop into the office for a couple of meetings. This meant I was able to get out at lunch times which I wouldn’t normally be able to do (the sight of a sweaty man in lycra sitting in front of his laptop being acceptable in the privacy of your own home, but not in the office. Sadly. )
So despite my misgivings, I’ve had a good week, which makes up for last week’s bad week.

On Monday I made it to spin and gave it pretty much everything to make up for the lack of weekend riding.

On Tuesday I went round the Beausale loop with Half Mile and Rachel on the fixie. They were both riding new fangled derailleurs. Show offs. Now, although I have ridden this route before, this is the first time I’ve ridden the fixie (anywhere) with someone else. It does present a challenge as you hear the clunk of gears dropping down in anticipation of a forthcoming hill, mentally your brain clicks too. But, its not a hilly route and I held my own. Actually, the hardest part is keeping up on the down hills. With no freewheel, you can only go as fast as your legs will pedal.

Friday I did some weights at the gym and then came the weekend. Half mile joined me for a planned 75km loop to Banbury, Stratford and back. I’ve completed this route in 150 minutes previously, but Paul set off at a pace I struggled to maintain. I did catch him up after 15km or so to complement him on the strength of his riding. But of course it wasn’t to last. At 25km or so, his legs were shot, so he suffered all the way back whilst i got stronger. I think we managed just short of 180 minutes which isn’t too bad.

I followed that up with 50km on Sunday and absolutely flew round the Aston Cantlow loop. So much so I added on a 10km detour through Beausale. And still made spin on Monday.
I also bought a new toy. I now have a Heart Rate monitor to obsess over. When I’ve made sense of the raft of statistics its spits out I might share them.

Finally I signed up for the Cotswold Spring Classic on Easter Monday (http://www.cotswoldspringclassic.co.uk/).

Hmm, perhaps I should’ve looked at the route profile first:

More important things

No training for a week or so (I seem to write this a lot...). I did go to spin last Monday which was really tough after 115km over the weekend. But i'm glad I made the effort. Beth went into hospital on Tuesday for her back operation. This dominated the week and I didn't even think about training. It was a big op and its going to take a while for her to get over it. She's home now and up and about and eating, so the signs are good. Bless her.

I trained vicariously through the Tour of California. I sat up each night to watch the live coverage on Eurosport, although I missed two stage finishes by falling asleep. Overall I enjoyed the race, it was good to see Cav win a couple of stages (except I didn't because I was asleep!) and there was some good racing. It always makes me a little sick watching the professionals though because they ride at speeds I find difficult to maintain in the car let alone on the bike.

Plans are coming together for the Paris trip. Although we need to work out how to get to the start in Greenwich for 6:30am and how to get home from Paris with our bikes (I'm not cycling back too). The route has been published and here it is. Anyone fancy coming along for the ride?

Day 1 through Kent to Dover:

Day 2: Calais - Arras:

Day 3: Arras - Compiegne:

Day 4: Compiegne - Paris:

Too early to wish for Spring?

I made the most of this weekend. The weather was benign and we had no plans to speak of. Saturday, Edward and I made a very pleasant circuit of Warwick, along Rouncil lane to Beausale, Honily, Temple Balsall (land owned by the Knights Templar as reward for their support of the King in the Crusades. The Knights Templar allegedly found the Holy Grail in Jerusalem and returned it to Britain for safe keeping. I wonder if it could be around here somewhere?), Lapworth, Lowsonford (original home of Fleur de Lys pies!) and finally Shrewley and home. 50km in all in 2 hours dead (which is how we both felt afterwards!). Edward actually finished very brightly which is a credit to him as he hasn’t been out for a while. There was a lot of ice on the roads, in the gutters, so we had to be careful but the cold didn’t make the ride any less enjoyable. We chatted about football, cricket, bikes and other fascinating stuff like that. I have to get these things out of my system so as not to bore Beth to death.

The rest of the day was spent resting and watching football and rugby on TV, oh and the prologue to the Tour of California (well some rest, but then it was Valentine’s day!). Blues won and Wales beat England (I’m strangely drawn to support Wales more fervently the older I get, a trait I’ve seen in my father as he gotten more Welsh the older he is. Must be some genetic Welsh defence mechanism, the call of the valleys, or the sheep). I believe there’s an area of Patagonia where they speak Welsh as their first tongue, I wonder if they feel the same? Beth cooked up a delicious steak and mash dinner for us with champagne. Heaven.

Sunday was warmer but as I set off a soft rain started to fall. I had planned to ride over to my parents in Birmingham, have a cup of tea and return, but the rain made me think twice. I didn’t have any waterproofs, just my trusty Rapha top Beth bought me, but it wasn’t unpleasant. In fact I quite enjoyed the feeling of the water on my face. It was a soft gentle rain that wrapped itself around me, not like the harsh showers we normally get, which make you run for shelter. The shower passed quickly enough and I soon dried out heading into a slight headwind. It’s just over 30km to my parents, nearly all flat, certainly no climbs to speak of and I made it in just over 1 hour.

I absently mindedly took a wrong turn near my parent’s house which meant I ended up taking a short cut through the local park. It was very nostalgic cycling along the park paths. Took me back 30 years or more to long summer days eating fresh cherries by the tennis courts, climbing trees and playing football all day long. I didn’t stay too long because I didn’t want to get too cold. Fortified by tea and chocolate biscuits (do all parents have a supply of chocolate biscuits? It seems to go with the job description) I set off back to Warwick. In contrast to the journey over the weather was warm and the sun was starting to push through the clouds. As I got out of Birmingham into the countryside the sky opened up before me. A startling bleached winter sky of greys and shades of white. High thin cloud (alto stratus?) in every shade of pale, just tinged with the bright blue of the cold heavens beyond. A real pleasure to share with the world (but not for the pheasant corpse I rode over). The journey back was pretty uneventful, although I was tired. The first 20km on the way out I had re-traced our steps (tyres?) from the day before and it was noticeably more difficult on my legs. I spun through it, but returning the same way I felt the dreaded bonk coming on (not a further reference to Valentine ’s Day but a rapid decrease in energy leaving you stricken). I stopped and ate an energy bar just outside Barston and was soon on my way again. This time 65km in 2hrs 20 minutes, a pretty much exact 10% increase in my speed of the day before although I was shattered when I got home. Fortunately Beth’s family came round for tea and cakes (how civilised) to keep me focused, which gave us an opportunity to say thank you for their recent support.
So, Monday I pushed myself to go to spin and to be honest struggled to keep up. I felt I needed to go because Beth goes into hospital tomorrow (Tuesday) to have 2 discs replaced in her back. A big operation and she’ll be off her feet for a while, so who knows how that’ll affect my training because supporting her will obviously be my priority.

All in all though a very satisfying 115km plus spin but I did feel it in my legs. There’s still a way to go to get fit enough for 4 long days in the saddle, especially as I’ve now seen the route profile, but more of that next time.

More encouragingly I’m over half way to my target of £1250 of fundraising. Many thanks to all those people who have supported me to date and if you haven’t I’m sure you will….thanks.

Snow joke

No training this weekend as expected. Initially I thought the snow would prevent any riding anyway making me feel a bit better about another blank weekend but driving around on Saturday I saw plenty of roadies out making the most of the dry but cold day. Never the less, I probably had as much fun if not more at Amelia’s pool party. We hired Kenilworth baths, they put a giant inflatable in the middle of the pool and a few floatation mats and away you go. Its no more sophisticated than everyone climbs on and tries to push everyone else off. Needless to say all the kids ganged up on me and after an hour I was exhausted but happy.
Afterwards we retired to the café for hot chocolate and chips all round followed by chocolate birthday cake. What could be better?

I did manage an hour of reps on the static bike in the gym on Saturday and a hard spin session today. Tony has a new technique if focusing on watts rather than gears which seems to work really well. I burned nearly 600 Kcalories. That’s two and a bit Mars bars! So, on top of commuting on my MTB in the snow (which was sketchy!) and a gym session on Wednesday I’ve not done too badly.

I see its light by 7:30am now. I might have to start some early morning rides when the weather picks up. Beth goes into hospital next week and will be in for a week and then on a six week recovery. I’m not sure how that’s going to affect my ability to train, but then there are more important things in life. I’ll let you know how she gets on.

Fundraising has started in earnest and I’m about a third of the way to my target of £1250, but I am a bit nervous that Comic relief will bleed everyone dry next month so I want to hit my total as soon as I can.

So, if you’re reading this and thinking of sponsoring me then please do so now here: http://www.justgiving.com/craigmorrisfsid every little helps. If you’re reading this and not thinking of sponsoring me then please do so now here: http://www.justgiving.com/craigmorrisfsid you tightwad !

Thanks for your support.

Careful what you wish for

I got out for a ride today (Sunday). But after my moan yesterday, with surprisingly little enthusiasm. But then it was bitterly cold and I had just eaten a massive slice of chocolate cake to celebrate Amelia’s 12th birthday. I have a picture of her here, on my desk, at 3 months old. How do they grow so quickly (and cutely)?

I didn’t really have a plan, just thought I’d head out into the wind and have the advantage of the wind behind me on the way back, which took me out to Harbury and along to Bishops Itchington. Sadly, either the wind changed or I’m not very good at directions because by the time I got to Harbury the wind was coming over my left shoulder, which meant when I eventually turned and headed back, at Fenny Compton, it swapped to my right shoulder, making for an unpleasant ride in both directions. I had thoughts of heading into the teeth of a bitingly cold wind, but winds don’t have teeth and they don’t bite. So that can’t be true.
I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike. Still struggling up hills. I put it down to the weather. The wind. My fitness. I overdid it at the gym again. And then a thought struck me. When I had my bike serviced the mechanic said he’d taken it for a test ride. Obviously he adjusted the saddle height and forgot to put it back. I’m not getting full extension on my leg. Now, there’s no evidence at all that this is true, but once the thought entered my head I couldn’t shake it. Surely this explained all my recent lack of power. So eventually I stopped and took out my trail tool to shift the saddle up, but the post was stuck fast and being carbon I didn’t want to force it and snap it off miles from anywhere in the cold. So I gave up and carried on until finally it dawned on me that the mechanic is about 4 inches taller than me and doubtless would have shifted the saddle up rather than down…
Thankfully, my saddle obsession was broken by a kind man in a Rover at the mini roundabout in Bishops Itchington, who, although I was already on the junction, accelerated towards me at speed. Now, the only message I can conceive that he was trying to convey, is that to a cyclist, 3 tons of speeding metal can be quite scary. And it worked, he scared me and reminded me how terrifying cars can be. Sadly he didn’t stick around to let me thank him for his kindness. Later in the ride, at another roundabout, on the Roman Fosse Way, another Rover (is there a pattern here?) accelerated past me, so he could turn left across my path, causing me to brake hard. I waved cheerily at the three children in the back of his car, grateful for a further reminder of my vulnerability.
That aside the ride was uneventful. Unusually for me, I eschewed (bless you) the climb over Burton Dassett hills and kept to the flat roads, just enough to stretch my legs. The bright sunshine that accompanied my departure was replaced by heavy cloud and as I stepped through the door at home it started to snow. 40.44km in 89 minutes. I was quite pleased with that all in all.

It was good to get out and blow away the negativity of the day before, but I am still riddled with self doubt. Approximately 16 weeks to go (I said 12 yesterday, no wonder I was freaked!) so still time to hit form and fitness, but I don’t want to become like Alex McCleish and keep saying it will come, as Blues slide into relegation and beyond.

I’m selling raffle tickets this week to raise funds. Please buy one if you see me. Or sponsor me here: http://www.justgiving.com/craigmorrisfsid

Thanks for reading

Frustration

Frustrating day today. Beth's been at work 7:30am through 8pm (ouch) and it's been a glorious day, no wind not to cold, dry, perfect for training. Weather is forecast to deteriorate so I don't know if I'll get out tomorrow and next weekend it's Amelia's Birthday party and then Beth's working again so no chance of a ride. To make it worse Half Mile had us lined up for a Sunday Sportive round Stratford. Bummer. 12 weeks to go and I'm no where near fit enough. Where can I find some time?

Chippy in pain

Sunday 26th I planned a big ride. Peaches, Ed, Half Mile and Mark were all up for tagging along for the hard route to Chipping Campden and the easy route back



Before we set off Ed cried off with a sore back, from falling on the ice at the local rink whilst trying to impress the girls and Mark cried off with a chest cold, leaving the three of us. Half Mile led the way, but at the top of Loxley hill (about 15km in) he declared himself wiped out and headed home (to be fair he only got back from NYC on Thursday) leaving two of us.

Peaches and I headed on to Ilmington and the big climb over to Chipping Campden. Although I led the way up the climb at its steepest point I did glance down at the speedo which was reading a remarkable 1.3kph. Remarkable only in that I stayed vertical! We stopped in Chippy and had a snack and recovered some strength before heading on out over Dover’s Hill, another climb much more difficult than I remembered it. The descent down the other side is the scariest I have ridden. 14% and about a mile long, I hit 63kph with the brakes full on (and I mean full on), having watched Lance Armstrong in the middle of the peloton, descending at 103kph puts it all in perspective. Those guys have balls of steel. Incidentally, 63kph is the same speed that Jack Bobridge sprinted off the front of the peloton at on day 4 of the Tour Down Under. How do they do that? I mean even accounting for the lighter/better bike, fitness and technique, that’s a remarkable speed from a standing start. And to keep it up for 148km is jaw dropping.

In total I managed just over 90km on Sunday, in just over 4 hours (actually 3:17 cycling plus breaks). These guys did the same distance in 1 hr 42 minutes, although admittedly on a flat course http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/2009/?q=node/266. Anyway, about 70km in Peaches was getting increasingly weary and told me to carry on. So I left on my own. Stupidly, I thought I’d time trial my way home, burnt all my energy in the next 10k and was grateful to tag on the wheel of some bloke on a top of the range Trek just outside Warwick. But he was fresh and having made the effort to catch him I couldn’t keep up, so I was glad to see him turn off ahead of me. He wasn’t very friendly and generally I find that with roadies, they don’t care for other riders. By contrast mountain bikers are the opposite (I’m sure there are exceptions) and always seem willing to stop and chat and compare scrapes and crashes.
By the time I got home I was wiped out, so I skipped spin today and drove to work. Guilty but my legs ache. Peaches dropped in for coffee when he got home and I did reflect that in terms of his training for L2P he is way ahead of where I was at the same stage 2 years ago when I started training for the end to end. It took me 4 months to ride my first 100km. But I do need to find my legs by June. There’s no way I could ride 500km in 4 days the way I feel at the moment. I’m hoping its just because I overdid it at the gym last week, but I have had a wake up call.

Brief but painful

Friday 23rd January 2009 Gym 2km row, 20* 1 minute sprints on static bike, some upper body weights, ouch. Office party tonight. Boy do I need a drink!

No Train

No train. The cycling cognoscenti reading this will see my header for what it is. A witty pun on my ability to actually leave the house on a bike and train for the London to Paris ride against the “train” that the pro teams get going on the run in to the end of a race, to lead their sprint man to the line. Or not.

For a blog about training, I seem to spend a lot of time writing about why I didn’t actually get out and ride, which if nothing else, as I mentioned before, at least serves to keep my lethargy fixated in my mind. And make me feel bad. Actually, its not for want of trying and I had expected to write about my lack of action again this weekend.

Beth worked Saturday and Sunday so I hadn’t planned to get out. So it was with mixed emotions that I watched, Ed, Peaches and Half Mile set off across the car park on Saturday morning for a 50km spin in glorious sunshine without me.

In anticipation I had done two big gym session Thursday and Friday. Thursday core work, Friday I did some punishing reps on the static bike, 30 minutes hill climb reps followed by 15 minutes sprint reps, for which my quads didn’t thank me on Saturday, as they screamed every time I tried to climb the stairs. I also made a point of cycling to work as often as I could last week, 3 days, which amounts to about 30km in total. And, as it happens Beth finished work early on Sunday, giving me the opportunity of an hour’s sunshine before dark. I whipped out the fixie, got changed and shot off towards Beausale with a spring in my step (pedal?) and with the Kings of Leon coming in my ears (©ChorleyFM) to push me on, thankful for the opportunity of a bonus ride. A spring which was soon lost as I hit the first hill and realised that bikes have gears for the same reason cars have power steering. You can ride without them but it’s a helluva lot easier with.

Joining the Coventry Road to head out towards Kenilworth I hadn’t yet got into my stride when a teenage boy in a duffle coat astride a mountain bike with big knobbly tyres passed me with some speed and, I thought, too much glee in his face. Of course this was a complete affront to my lycra clad roadie sensibilities, so I put the hammer down, caught him up and couldn’t resist shouting “look, no gears” as I sailed past. What a flapjack. Could I be any more childish or immature? I then had to ride as fast as I could to get away from him, so I didn’t look like a complete tool, if he caught me. Although he probably thought as much anyway. Why do I do these things? At least it gave me something to think about as I struggled up the hill to Leek Wootton. Behaviour like this makes me grateful to work for a large multinational. If I worked for myself, I think I’d have left by now, citing personal differences. I can imagine ringing myself up and telling me that I can no longer work alongside me, because I’m such a tool and being told not to come back to collect my things. I can see me gossiping about myself by the coffee machine, discussing all the stupid things I say. And giving myself a bad appraisal.

Anyway, despite my stupidity I managed 26km before dark through Beausale and Norton Lindsey on a lovely bright, but cold winter’s day. I reckon each click on the fixie is worth two on a derailleur enhanced bike, so I was well pleased with myself and came home full of adrenaline and pumped on endorphins (which is probably what made me get the vacuum out). I’m booked in to spin on Monday too. So all in all I’ve done quite a lot to keep my base fitness up but its not the same as road miles under the belt.

Of course the big news of the weekend wasn't about me (or the fact our boiler packed up) but Beth’s article in the Guardian about her experience of losing Tom http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/17/experience-sudden-infant-death-syndrome.

This is of course ultimately what this blog is about. She wrote the piece herself and it has been well received. I have nothing but admiration for her honesty and bravery. And to cap that, she brought a bloke back from the dead at work on Sunday. His heart had stopped and she administered CPR to restart it. Blimey. And here’s me moaning about not getting an opportunity to ride my bike. She is some bird. Keep it in perspective eh?

So, as The Bees said: Chicken! Pay the monkey back! You can sponsor me here: http://www.justgiving.com/craigmorrisfsid


Thanks for reading.