Big Red Ride

I realise that I’ve not been blogging on here recently but nothing of much interest has happened. I am still cycling and my bike has now done more than 2200 miles. This week I started cycling again after 3 weeks off because of a cold. My legs felt really strong when I got back on the bike and my average speeds on the way in were 13.9, 14.4 and 14.9 MPH which I’m really pleased with. I am for 15 but rarely get very close.

Anyway, on twitter the other day I saw a link to the Red Cross’ Big Red Ride… and I signed up – for the long one.

So I have agreed to cycle 80 miles from London to Eastbourne at the end of July! This is quite a scary prospect as the furthest I have ever ridden in on go in the past is about 14 miles.

I am not too concerned about my legs, I think they are pretty strong and I hope they will last ok. Riding in the country will be a lot easier than commuting where I have to stop for traffic lights so frequently.
What I am concerned about is getting saddle sore sitting on the saddle for that long and I am concerned about hills which I have never been too good at.

For training I am going to ride a different route to work that has some steeper hills. I am also going to try to loose a good bit of weight. I do this better when I have a target (I might even bore you with some graphs if I get round to doing them).

I have also booked a couple of cycle events organised by Evans Cycles. The first one is only 12 miles but is hilly. The second is less hilly and is 60 miles – close to the distance for the charity run.

How can you help? Well I’m doing this for charity so of course you can help by donating! If people sponsor me then I am going to be far less inclined to give up half way. Please give as much as you can using the widget below or by visiting my just giving page.

Back in the saddle

Today was the first cycle of the year. The last time I cycled was on the 11th of December so it’s been over a month.

Overall I a pretty pleased with how well I did – I did manage the full 24 miles all the way in and back but I was pretty tired at the end. On the way out my average speed was still 13.8 which isn’t too bad. My average heart rate is quite a bit higher than it was – compare with 1st September which was a really fast cycle (15.1 average) and my average heart rate was only 139.

On the way back my legs did feel a bit tired and I was definitely struggling more on hills. On the plus side it was much lighter than it was last time I cycled.

The bike feels like it needs a bit of TLC – the gear shifts are a bit sluggish and it feels a bit sticky. The brakes are also a bit loose so I’ve booked it into Evans tomorrow for a service.

O: HRav:146 kCal:773 D:12.1 Av:13.8 Max:21.3 T:52:51.8
R: HRav:140 kCal:809 D:11.9 Av:11.8 Max:22.1 T:1:00:45

Blustery Day!

No cycling again today as it was waaaay too windy :( Not been out all week and the forecast looks pretty rubbish for the rest of the week.

Avoiding the wet in the winter

Today I woke up at 5:50 when the alarm went off and after coming round a bit was actually quite looking forward to the cycle in. I looked out of the window and saw that it was dry and completely windless - great!

However, after I had been to the bathroom and was about to start climbing into my cycling gear I heard a noise outside the windows - it was chucking it down!

It's not too bad cycling in the wet but given a choice I would rather not. Especially early in the morning when it's cold anyway. It's also much easier cycling home in the wet rather than to work in the wet. It's easier to deal with the wet gear at home and you don't have to put the same wet gear on at the end of the day. As a result I didn't cycle this morning.

I think I'll buy another travel card to cover the winter. If I buy a travel card on a daily basis it's £10 a day - if I buy a month or a week card it's about £6 a day so even if I am not using it every day it'll maybe save me a bit of money or break even. It also means I won't have to queue to use the ticket machine every morning.

5 Month Update

After a couple of weeks off because of a cold and a few days away from work I am back to cycling pretty much every day. Doing a whole week of 125 miles is nothing special anymore and I find it pretty easy.

I have had a few days when I have not cycled in just because I've felt tired when waking up but not many at all. I've also had a few days when I have got very wet but again not very many and they're not too bad.

I have now cycled nearly 1500 miles and the bike is in for it's stage 1 service. My rear brakes have worn out and are not working well and I apparently need a new rear cassette and chain. The rear wheel also needs re-trueing. I'm hoping the bike will feel much better again when I get it back as it usually does.

The important thing is that I am still enjoying cycling and don't see any reason why I would stop over the winter. I am considering finding a nicer, longer route now that I can cope with the 25 miles a day.

Monday 19th October

Despite not blogging for ages I have been carrying on the cycling. The week ending the 2nd October was my first week cycling the whole way in both directions - 25 miles a day, 125 miles in one week.

Today was the first day I cycled since about the 7th. I was away for a long weekend and have been ill with a cough and cold since then. It's still lingering but is basically better.

The cycle this morning was pretty good. It took me 53 mins which I was pretty pleased with. I wasn't especially pushing - partly because it was too dark to see my computer! It was still dark enough for the street lights to be on when I got to canary wharf. It was really properly dark when I left.

I had my gore tek jacket and my cycling gloves on this morning. I did feel a little bit hot but not too bad. I think I would have been VERY cold without them.
I did still have shorts on and my legs felt fine. That is until I had a shower! My legs got really itchy when they started to warm up so I am probably going to have to do something about that before it gets much colder.

O: HRav:143 kCal:766 D:12.4 Av:13.8 Max:21.4 T:53:51.3

2 Flat Tyres in One Day!

This morning was not a good cycling morning. I went down to the bike and climbed on looking forward to a good ride into work on what looked looked like a nice morning.

I discovered that I had a flat back tyre - it must have been a slow one as it was fine last night. It's my first puncture since I got the Armadillos but it's still a bit dissapointing.

Anyway, I went back up to the flat and got my spare inner tube out of my bed side table (don't ask). I managed to change the tube fairly quickly but just as I had pumped it up to the right pressure there was a little 'pop' and the tyre came away from the rim. A balloon of inner tube then appeared and kept getting bigger before it exploded!

With no more spare inner tubes I had no choice to go back upstairs, have a shower and get on the train.

I really need to get better at changing tubes. It seems to be as easy as it should be.