Lumpy tyres and sprung forks

As my bike went into the workshop today for some fine tuning I had to go out on the trusty old mountain bike. Wow, what a difference now I am used to the road bike. Don't know how you do it Ion! It, and I, felt very sluggish mostly due to the bad nights sleep I had and the sore neck I woke up with. So it was just a token ride really. Just to say I got out on the bike. The Downs Link is looking gorgeously green since the last time I went in that direction.
That's me done with cycling for a week or so as I am off to Glastonbury tommoro. What a shame the weather seems to be turning. Never mind, it will still be a magical week, I'm sure. Think of me up a Tor at dawn on 1st welcoming in Beltane! Will miss our rides out and hopefully will come back full of vim and vigour ready to face the next stage of training.

Fabulous Forty (not my age, I wish).

FORTY MILES, FORTY MILES FORTY MILES....FORTY MILES, FORTY MILES, FORTY MIIIIIILLLLLES!!!
But before I write another word I must just say how absolutely spectacular Agent Alex's hair looked today. When we stopped for a coffee and he took his helmet off we all gasped in admiration. There Alex, is that sufficient?
So even though we had done the big quick ride on Sunday everyone thought it'd be good to go out and do even more miles today. The reason being, as I said, I need to get ahead of myself as I am on a week off next week. Beth is losing two weekends cycling and Alex just doesn't have the sense to say 'no'!
The weather was even hotter and sunnier than it has been and we headed off at 8am straight into the morning rush hour. Yes, sleepy Sussex does have one! I have to own up to struggling a fair bit as my legs felt very empty..despite early night last night. I did loosen up eventually and am certainly a lot nippier up the hills than I have been recently but the going was tough to start. Alex left home like a speeding bullet and there was no catching him for quite a while. We had to wait for the discomfort and pain to set in with him before he slowed down! We stopped at my favourite petrol station (yes, I have one) for a refuel of coffee and chocolate. This is not normal and I think was John's way of encouraging us during our longest ride yet. My chain came off because I forgot and did that silly gear thing again. Beth and I got ahead of Alex and John for a while. I'd like to say it was because they were much slower but it was because they were adjusting Alex's saddle. We finally made it home and had cycled for 3hrs4mins at an average of well over 13mph. As Alex's and Beth's computers read different stats it is hard to be precise. But we did cover 40.3 miles! A milestone indeed.
And I would like to clarify that Trusty Ironman is perfectly sound in mind and body! The broken big ring that was hampering him on the last ride belongs  to his bike! Just in case anyone was wondering!

Boys and Girl go out to play

Determined not to put an exclamation mark at the end of the title as it seems to be a habit!
So today was going to be a big ride with the 'boys'. Beth being away. Actually Trusty wants to nickname Beth....we discussed this on our ride. We thought of Deep Sea Beth (her diving). We thought of Electric Landlady (her amazing publican skills). My favourite was Busy B. Because she is. And she loves nature. Any other suggestions?
Anyways....John did the early ride with David and then left us to it. I felt very heavy legged and hoped it would be a lazy ride. What a learning curve! We set off to do the 33.something that John and I did in 2.47 during the week. Trusty was already warmed up with John and he had a broken big ring so was hampered. Alex was looking cool and up for anything (as usual). And off we went. Well, firstly, my chesty thing seems to have cleared considerably. May be helped by the hill ride I did on Friday. We seemed to be whizzing along and this was confirmed when 16miles in John joined us to offer chocolate. He found us way beyond where he had estimated we'd be by then. Chocolate is definitely the way to go halfway through a ride, that's my view. And the companionable ride continued. This route was all country lanes to start with then all busy main roads the rest of the way. So lots of variety. Trusty was very encouraging, even said he'd noticed the improvement since our last ride out together. Which is good to hear. He, in the meantime, had a great weeks cycling to build on his base fitness. He will be off with Paul and John on their longer rides soon I expect, leaving us novices to struggle on as best we can. So we carried on whizzing and arrived back in Maplehurst 2hours and 21 minutes after we left! That's a big 'WOW' as it took 2.47 last time! 33+ miles at an average (and all time record so far) of 14 miles an hour!! YYYYYAAAAAYYYY!
This spurred me on to get showered, contact lensed and ready to go in record time and we headed off for a fab lunch at the Green Man with David and Sal. What  a lovely Sunday.
PS the weather seems to have broken! Even got rained on a couple of times.

Short and to the point!

Coach said 'Go forth and cycle hills for thou needeth the practice'. So I dideth as I was told. 8.2miles over 41 minutes. Didn't actually feel much like a ride after the recent lengthier ones...but it all counts.
Oh and the weather is still great!

I like a challenge...or two!

At risk of sounding repetitive...it is yet another fantastic day here in West Sussex. I do hope this continues as I am off to Glasto for a week long course soon and the Somerset countryside is just perfect when it's sunny. I will have to miss a weeks  training then..although it being a meditation and chanting week my spiritual muscles will get a work out! So Coach John thought it'd be good if I got ahead of myself so the week in Glasto will be like a rest week (huh, tell my spiritual muscles that!). Which is how come we headed out for a long ride today which he blithley told me last night was almost flat. Only 200ft of ascent involved. I should have heard the alarm bells as you can't even get out of Maplehurst without almost needing sherpas. OK, OK, I jest. But it is pretty hilly round here.
So we headed off and took a lovely route all around Southwater, Broadbridge Heath, Billingshurst, Adversane, Coolham and eventually back home. Had yet another chain off but I think I finally get what I am doing wrong. Won't bore you with gearing details but hopefully I have now 'got it'. John stopped to help a man from New Jersey (now THAT'S a long ride). He is stranded here due to the ash and had borrowed a friend's bike. Only to find himself miles from friend's house with no spare tube, no phone. John gave him ours and helped him change the tyre. Whilst I cycled on! It didn't take John long to catch me up again. We did alot of riding on busy roads to day to get me used to it. It is pretty hairy at times but no more so than hurtling at breakneck speed down a quiet country hill with potholes and gravel at the bottom. Just a different kind of hairiness!
We got home after 2hr 47m (including stops) and had covered a whopping (to me) 34miles. Yippee! Average of 12m per hour which is not bad considering my quads are still aching a bit from the last ride. Then John told me that we had, in fact, ascended a total of 1,800ft! I will never trust (or indeed ask) him ever again regarding hills on our route!
The next challenge when I got home was far more frustrating but ultimately successful. I am having another go at wearing contact lenses. After a highly successful session yesterday with the lovely Ola The Contact Lens Lady I felt ready to go solo. It only took half an hour and  much cussing, to start with. Then I realised its one of those Zen opportunities. The more relaxed you can be the more likely you are to succeed. A bit like hurtling down gravelly hills really. So here I am looking out at the world without it being framed by glasses and its all becoming clear to me!

Girls and Boy Went Out to Play!

Yesterday saw another fab day of sunshine and I had arranged to go for a ride with Agent Alex in the afternoon. Beth wasn't sure if she would make it as the pub was busy at lunchtime and she thought she might be brewing a sore throat. Alex and I really impressed Trusty and Coach (sound like a comedy act, right?) who had just arrived back from LeMans. We were all geared up ready to go and I called next door to see if Beth was coming out to play. She hadn't really thought she would but didn't take a lot of persuading to go from this:

To this:

And unbeknownst (if there is such a word) to us Trusty and Coach drove ahead of us and sneakily took photos - I hope they weren't just checking up on us? So this is what we look like from behind! Well it would except I can't work out how to post it on here and rotate it. I don't want you to think we cycle vertically so I will add it another time when I have it sussed!
The ride was lovely though I am struggling more than my team mates with the hills. Still chesty after the cough thing but getting there. Luckily I have patient pals and I do speed up a bit on the flat! Alex nearly ran over a baby rabbit which was about the most dangerous part of the ride.
We covered 19miles in just over an hour and a half at a speed of 12.1miles per hour.

Another milestone!

I am writing this on a beautiful Saturday with not a sign of volcanic ash in the sky...nor any contrails from planes either. It's a bit surreal to have clear skies so close to Gatwick. Have just spent a couple of days in Essex with Sal and Doug and it's the same there. Looking out over the view from their place across the salt marshes last night it was amazing to see just the stars and no plane lights criss-crossing the sky.
So my last ride was on Wednesday with Beth and Coach. John got back from Portugal with...would you believe... a golfing injury! No, not a black eye from someones backswing. But a sprained ankle from looking for his ball in the rough and tripping on a gulley. For goodness sake. He is like the master of minor injuries at the moment. Anyway, he seemed to be able to cope with our cycle without mishap or problems.
He extended our ride to the point that I had no idea where we were until we happened upon the Steyning by-pass again. The weather was glorious and Sussex is in full Spring regalia. Primroses and leaping lambs abound. Beautiful.
We had a long ride and my legs were pretty tired starting out. I seem to warm up by about halfway round. Tho it might be the 'returning horse to stable' phenomena as I get faster nearer home. On the real trip by the time I get to Scotland there'll be no catching me!
So we clocked up a tad under 30 miles! Wonderful! And I think we averaged 12.2 miles per hour.
John is away (again) so I will go out tommoro and try a 2 hour ride. Hope the weather holds......

End to End Route

This is a google earth image of the route we will be taking starting September 4th. Seen this way it doesn't seem to daunting, does it? All we have to do it get from A to B!

SAS training!

That's Sunshine and Sussex, of course! Even though we had Captain Trusty with us today, Beth and I are not quite ready for special forces exercise. However, we were up with the lark and set off at 8am. I slightly regretted my decision to spend a few hours and a couple of glasses of wine on the phone to Trace last night but knew I'd soon feel better once the legs got spinning. And indeed, did. We covered the same route as last Saturday and the weather was spectacular. Had lots of advice, hints and tips from Trusty. Some very handy and welcome (like how to put my chain back on when it came off AGAIN at the bottom of a hill). Trusty is very attentive and made sure we came in that 5 minutes or so earlier than last week. So we were all happy. Tired legs post ride but we did average well over 12 miles per hour which the aim for the whole trip I believe. Great to be out with Beth of the supernatural energy levels who then had to go and prep for a long day at the Vortex. Still find it almost impossible to believe that we will be taking on over twice that distance every day once our trip starts. Best not to think about that far ahead and just focus on next weeks training which is due to ramp up a bit.
Agent Alex back from the Algarve tommoro where they have enjoyed much more spectacular weather we hear. Expect (knowing his rapid tanning ability) he will deserve to be called Agent Orange for a week or two!

Sunshine all the way.

Whilst the guys are away on their golfing jaunt to Portugal, Deirdre and I are swapping dog walking duties which is working fabulously for all four of us! She fetched Finn this morning and I donned my gear for a ride on my own. I packed spare tyre (as well as the one I carry with me all the time!) and bike levers. Very prepared but whether I'd be able to actually use them effectively if I had a puncture is a moo point (as Joey from Friends would say). Also packed phone, money and high energy sweeties. Forgot the water. Pah.
Had a bit of a contretemps with one Trusty Ironman via text last night about upping our speed on Saturday. Not keen on this (as I think he found out) but did take his comment about using the big ring more often on board and did just that today. Not that it made a jot of difference to my speed, in fact I was a darned sight slower than on Saturday. Think this may be due to the hilly route I picked for myself. Plus the strongish wind on various sections.
I tackled the vicious hill in Sedgewick after a minor panic that my chain had come off. I do tend to mash the gears when I know there is an impending climb. Must try and cure that habit. Hopped off the bike at bottom of hill to fix chain only to find it wasn't off. Very grateful for that, as like the tyre changing issue, not sure I'd be able to do it! Hit 48km per hour going down Bourne Hill in Kerves Lane. What a blast!
I stopped at the garage to pick up water and had a pretty enjoyable ride down and beyond Cowfold and then back up the A272 home.
Now I was pretty pleased with myself until I checked both the info from the monitor I was wearing and Beth's blog for today. I only covered 15 miles (listen to me...only!) in 90 minutes which, as I said earlier, is slower than Saturday. Beth covered 15 in one hour fifteen. Now I know we aren't meant to be comparing or competing but I can't understand how come so slow unless it is to do with the hills. I will have to get John to check the data when he gets home. Oh my how DOES Lance cope with the emotional ups and downs of it all?????
Plus its all time in the saddle and as today was supposed to be one hour forty five then I guess I was a bit nearer that than if I had gone faster! Like my logic?
When I got home I spent an hour or two in the garden trying to make some order out of the mudpatch that is the lawn. Such a wonderful day, almost like spring has arrived!

Out with the boys!

Happy Easter Bank Holiday Monday to all. It's been a spookily quiet Easter for us this year. No guests, nothing to organise. Makes a change, I must say. Today we planned a long ride (well for us beginners) and it was the whole team out for the first time...well for the photo shoot, anyway. Beth has one of the pubs busiest weekends of the year so it was hard for her to get away. But we did gather for said shoot and you can see the results here. What an enthusiastic bunch we are.
So it was just the boys and little ol' me today. Lovely to have Captain Trusty out with us at last. It's not a very demanding ride for himself and Coach so I am very grateful for their patience and company. Alex-across-the-road is now re-named Agent Alex and was looking cool and stylish, as one would expect (if slightly fragile due to a sociable Bank Holiday).
It was my longest ride so far. We covered 23.6 miles over 2hrs 3mins with 1500ft of ascent included. Bank Holiday traffic not too hectic though lots of motorcyclists out and we almost got tangled up in the bike part of the Steyning Duathlon! Nothing untoward to report, it was just a very enjoyable ride with good company and no rain. What more could one ask for? I have got slightly aching legs but that is to be expected.

Back in the saddle and loving it!

It's been over a week since my last ride in sunny Spain due to cough/cold/chest thing. So it was with some trepidation that I set off this morning to see how it feels in the cold and wet of a typical UK Easter Saturday. Luckily for me, PHD and John didn't go out for their huge ride today so John incorporated me into the last leg of his ride. And it was great to be out! Help, I am starting to sound like a cyclist.
We did 10 miles easy enough terrain. And I have to say that the hills we encountered held no terror for me after the Spanish upflats! I may even be ready to tackle Bourne Hill soon.
Trying to get the hang of cycling etiquette when in front and pointing out upcoming potholes. This involves taking my hands off the handlebars (always a hazardous manoeuvre in my case) and ...well...pointing to the pothole! Hah, written down it doesn't sound that difficult. But currently for me it's like when you first learn to drive. Not enough limbs to do everything that needs to be done. Always something to learn with this cycling marlarky.
So now I hope to join the gang on Monday and do our first ride out as a group. Looking forward to this.
Now, a couple of people have said they are having problems posting comments on this blog. Thank goodness for that! I was beginning to think I was alone out here in the blogosphere! What works for me is to click on the comments bit, write a comment in the box then select from the drop down box 'anonymous'. Then publish comment. That should do it. If it doesn't please email me on jackiepattison@hotmail.com and I'll see what else I can do. It would be good to hear from someone out there sometime!
Popped into the Vortex for a swift half last night (yeah, right) and it's amazing how the chat is all about cycling! It's like a Tour de France bar! Simon is very good at tolerating it but he may soon become known as Long Suffering Simon. Beth and I beginning to turn our attention to cycling wear. Well, can't let the eternally stylish Alex-across-the-road outshine us, can we?
Eldest son is home for the day and has just booked his flight to US in June. He has the intention of cycling across America over the summer. Obviously it's a family thing. Speaking of eldest son..I must mention soon my sponsor plans. They are directly related to him (no, I am not raising money to send him across America!). Rather they involve a long and sorry tale involving camping in Wales, Mount Snowdon, air rescue team and the like. Luckily it had a happy ending. But will save that for another post. Watch this space, as they say.

Home safe and sound

Got back from Spain/France this afternoon and finally got to post the entries below. Had a bit of a downturn in training after last entry. Was distracted in Nerja talking cycling tactics with Alex-across-the-road. Well, that's my story. To be brutally frank, think I was distracted by the vino blanco and good company (thanks Deirdre!). Then distracted back in Obeilar by the arrival of Trusty Ironman (having located his whereabouts!) and companion. I will post a photo of TIM (Trusty IronMan) discussing cycling tactics by the pool and up the hill. Then SERIOUSLY distracted by the arrival of a cough/cold virus which took me by storm for 5 days. Still, I managed to endure the passenger seat all the way home (luckily my coughing kept John awake whilst driving all the way back!). And managed to avoid the really steep hill Coach had planned for me on the last day!
Just been next door to the Vortex to catch up on Beth's training. She is doing a sterling job despite getting wet and lost in Surrey! Hoping to go out this weekend......

There are 20 more miles in them thar quads!

I cannot believe that me, a typically lazy Leo (we were born to sit in the sun and sleep!) went out again today!! Woke up with slightly tired quads but the knowledge that those hills are there to be killed. We rode up to Tocon again – it feels very familiar now. Which is a good thing in a way. I know when to expect the upflats but then I can really enjoy anticipating the down hill sections. Actually, in all honesty (and displaying the symptoms of addiction that PHD warned about), I kind of enjoyed the whole thing today! Ssh! Don’t tell Coach Pattison. It was very satisfying to get over my natural disinclination to go out at all on tired legs. And knowing I’d done all of the route before meant I knew I could do it again.
Had another chain-off event...almost at the same spot as before. I think I get in a bit of a tizz about the hill looming ahead and become a bit enthusiastic with the gear changes! John tells me next time I put the chain back on myself. Harsh, Coach, harsh!
So, another 20 miler! Yaaaay!
I am confidently expecting a day off tommoro but then experience tells me to expect nada!

Introducing Brad......

After 20 miles on Saturday, 15 miles on Monday, I had assumed that a day off was on the cards. Huh! Never assume anything with an Ironman, unless he has left the bikes firmly at home!! Still, I could see the sense in a ‘recovery’ ride (actually, I must get John to define exactly what he means by that! ). Also it would be mad to come out here in such ideal conditions and not make the absolute most of it. Plus, we are going to visit Alex-across-the-road and Deidre in their apartment down on the Spanish coast on Thurs so there will be a definite lack of cycling then. Or is John planning to take the bikes there too? Has he told Alex-across-the-road to pack his new bike to bring to Spain? Am I getting a tad paranoid???
Anyways, whatever, I found myself (with John) just moseying along the bottom of the valley/plain what have you. Nice, no hills or undulations. Just miles of road and a decent cadence. Again for the uninitiated I would like to explain the term ‘cadence’. Only I am not entirely sure what it is. The instructor used to go on about it in spin classes at the gym. I think it’s the rhythm and speed that your legs spin when cycling. I kind of know when it’s going well but couldn’t tell you how I got there!
We encountered some really rough road surface, big holes and lots of gravel. Whilst worrying that my bike would be damaged I thought ‘what a star’ it is because it came out pretty much unscathed. This got me to thinking that I should christen it – well, we all love to humanise things, don’t we? Ok, I love to humanise things! So I decided on Brad. Because my bike is VERY good-looking and an absolute star! Plus it’s probably (who am I kidding....definitely) the only time in my life that I will be able to tell people, truthfully, that I have been out and about with Brad.
Funny what you think about when you are cycling. Although I suspect I should be thinking about road conditions, looming terrain and cadence.
Update: apparently cadence is the pedals revolutions per minute. Now aren’t you glad you know that...? Ideally I should be averaging between 85-95 rpm. How would I know?

Big hills, no spills!

Monday dawned bright and beautiful – which is just why we wanted to come here to cycle! So we piled the bikes in the car and headed up to a spot somewhere a long way away! The first part of our ride took us back to near Tocon. It was even more hilly than I had done so far but I am getting better at selecting gears and engaging patience. As long as I just keep moving forward (and upward) and do not expect speed then the hills seem to get climbed. Haven’t got to employing one of John’s tactics yet – which is to mutter ‘I will kill you hill’ all the way up! Perhaps I will save that for steeper climbs.
It is so quiet on the roads around here. I guess it’s the time of year. And it’s amusing to note that we are out in minimum clothing. I don’t mean speedo’s and bikini , obviously. But only light layers and shorts for John rather than leggings. The Spanish cyclists we encounter are all wrapped up in long leggings and winter clothes! They must think we are very hardy! I did wonder – do you think they dream about going to UK to cycle in cooler weather? Mind you, they are very stylish with their peacock colours and designer styles. Makes me think I must look into smartening up a bit! Especially as I suspect Alex-across-the-road will cut quite the dash as far as clothing is concerned. Beth, I feel a shopping expedition coming on!
Apart from my chain coming off (panicking about the impending hill coming back into Illora!) this was a wonderfully uneventful ride. And I was aghast to find we had cycled 15+ miles! Who’d have thought it? Just a few weeks ago a 7 miler on the mountain bike was my upper limit.
We cycled back to our villa and John then headed off for his own cycle taking the long route round to get the car. He seems to be managing quite well with the splinted digit.

Two weeks in Granada

I am writing this offline as we have no internet access where we currently are in Spain. Will find an internet cafe and cut and paste it sometime this week.
Well we finally got down here after what felt like an endurance event in itself! Three days driving constantly was....long. We crossed on the Eurotunnel as it was Finn’s first trip and we didn’t want to leave him in the car on the ferry. First night we stopped at a great chateau in LeMans, lots of walking acreage for Finn, lots of nice wines for us! J’adore France! Next night we made it to Burgos in Spain. Unfortunately our hotel was in the centre of the city but it was next to the very beautiful cathedral. A bit of a trial to get to and not ideal for stopping over with a hound. Nevertheless we had a good time and finally made it down to Granada on Thursday afternoon.
This is a lovely area, all mountains and olive groves. Very Spanish too – not a great deal of tourism which is really refreshing. Though our Spanish leaves a lot to be desired, John’s Portuguese does help a bit. The weather was good enough on Friday for John to go for a 40mile ride. He came home raving enthusiastically about the inclines and fantastic road surfaces. I could hardly wait to get out there!
So Saturday, after dog walking and chores, we headed out together. John had identified a good route for me. It was great to be out on the bike again after a whole week off. The drivers here are very respectful of cyclists and give a wide berth. The road up to Illora is a long, slow incline which I was very pleased to have managed. Slowly but surely. Then great undulating road for 6.6 miles to Tocon. Lots of wheeeeeeee downflats and some nicely challenging (for me) upflats. John made me smile. It was not much of a challenge for the Ironman, obviously. But he made his own fun. First by selecting big gears when cycling uphill. Secondly by not pedalling at all between two villages – a distance of some good few km. He made even more fun for himself on the return leg. See next paragraph!
He was ahead of me as we entered uphill into a small village called Alomortes. He pulled over to look back to see where I was and leaned against a lamppost. Not thinking ‘safety first’ he didn’t bother to unclip his feet from his cleats. (To the uninitiated these are medieval type devices which keep ones feet clipped on to the pedal. One has to master untwisting oneself from them in an emergency). His front wheel slipped and he tumbled sideways. Not a massive fall for an Ironman but in a freak accident his hand hit the tri-bar on the front. I saw him fall and by the time I got up the hill he was asking a passerby where the nearest hospital was. I caught sight of his middle finger on his left hand and it was bent at a 45 deg angle ­and pretty gruesome looking. Just then a paramedic turned up (how lucky are we with our rescue angels – see last blog entry). He tried but failed to manipulate it back into place so there was nothing to do but cycle the 6-7 miles back to the villa to collect the car. The paramedic had told us to go to Granada hospital which was good to know!
Even with a dislocated finger (and the shock he must have felt) John still beat me to get home. Mind you, I guess he was well motivated! Though I did pedal like mad which was surprising as going up the hill before the accident I was very tired and thought we’d just amble back! Huh, it was full-tilt all the way.
Still we made it and spent a challenging afternoon negotiating Granada city to find the hospital. Then the challenge of being unable to speak Spanish in the hospital. Luckily John’s injury spoke for itself (and being the finger it was looked like he was giving some kind of displaced insult to all and sundry). He got pretty prompt treatment really. Three people tried twice to put said digit back to its original blueprint. Eventually a trauma specialist came and did the job. Lots of serious pulling and wrenching and a massive splint and bandage later, we were back at the villa. Phew. What an adventure.
So in the last month the man has had two injuries with pretty silly causes...the rugby Irish jig calf strain and the stationary fall dislocated finger.
Anyway the really good news is that the total distance of our ride was 31km! So I have cracked the 20 miles. Fantastic!
It’s Sunday today and wet. So we are resting up after a lovely drive out into the countryside. Beautiful around here, so it is. We have a wood burning fire lit (its still cold in these villas at the mo) and plan to spend the afternoon planning tommoro’s ride. And reading.