SpiderSam and I take on Rockingham Motor Speedway

 
Tonight Sam and I had the rare opportunity to cycle around Europe's fastest motor racing circuit Rockingham UK.

This event was organised by the Scouts as a fundraiser and that's why Sam is in his Cubs uniform. He is however wearing his Spiderman buff to keep it real as far as cycling attire is concerned. It was a real privilege to ride on such a smooth surface and although banked it's not severe like a bike track, in fact it's fair to say the banks at Wickstead Park Go-Kart track (which is in reality a vintage velodrome,) are more of a worry. My fastest lap was 19.3mph which is way off the 24mph record for the circuit, I did however hit a top speed of 29mph so I'd love to be able to go back as a club and have a real smash at a fast lap as a train. I'm not sure if it was the tailwind or a slight downhill in the first section but it was much quicker starting than finishing.

Sam enjoyed a couple of leisurely laps whilst I thrashed round. I hope the Scouts do this again, I'd love to go back and have another crack at it.

Happy Peddaling

First sportive of the year, first century of the year, Gran Fondo 5 completed and a load more stuff on Star Wars day

Due to a convenient family situation I had today all to myself. I'd signed up for the Squires and Spires a few weeks back as a Sportive I heard good things about but it was 'only' 75 miles, so why not ride there and back plus a little bit more for the 100.

The scene at the start in Naseby

From the start this Just Racing event felt well set up. Our only mistake after arriving early to register was to wait until everyone had used the toilet before joining the start queue. At the registration I caused chaos. They called out A to K this queue L to Z the other queue. So I moved into my queue and told Andy Brown 'A to K,' that queue. He thought I said 80k that queue and stood with me. As I explained his error 4 or 5 other blokes joined him agreeing 'I thought he said 80k too!' People continued to discuss this outside, that bloke said 80k when he meant A to K etc.

All tooled up with his gel utility belt

I took this pic of a classic Bianchi

As usual there were some serious machines on view. Bianchi, Pinnarello, Van Nichols etc. my favourite of the day was the classic steel Bianchi above.

Quick pic with Pete and Nic

Cycling is about friends. I have some friends who also cycle and some friends I've met through cycling. Nic and Pete fall into the first category. Andy Brown and Paul Kelf are friends I met through cycling and we 3 amigos were the C&DCYCLES representatives for the day. They were superb to ride with. We worked as a team on the flat bits, at one point leading a long train with no other riders assisting. On the hills where Paul is strong and Andy is immense they were kind enough to wait for me when required. However my downhill specialism caught me up often, especially in the first half of the ride.

Today's food sponsors was Ultimate Sports Nutrition, USN. I picked their blue drink which we dubbed 'smurf juice,' because it matched Clive. I'm sure Mrs Lindsley will approve. Their other stuff was good, the nuts and grain bars were delicious and I like the mocha caffeine gels. My only gripe in the whole day would be at the second food station they'd run out of everything. There was plenty of food but no sports stuff. My remark that Hi5 wouldn't run out was not well received! Smurfette did however replenish the blue drink and we got a recovery drink at the end.

The Squires and Spires is so named because of the number of stately homes and church spires that dominate the landscape. The most famous big house being Althorp, the family home and burial site of Princess Diana. There are too many others to name in one blog when there's so much else to say.

Althorp pronounced Altrop by no one except BBC Look East

To the ride. It had a fast start with a descent of the hill from Naesby towards Guilsborough. It continued this way as we seemed to go downhill all the way to the first feed station at 30 miles. Our average to there was over 17mph. It was lovely to go through places I rarely ride. I was planning to check out the outer limits of Northants to the South and West but this ride ticks that box. Downhill all the way to Woodford Halse it felt and then it became a lot more lumpy. From the last feed station at Althorp it changed to brutal. The hills into East Haddon, Ravensthorpe, Coton, Guilsborough and out of Holdenby were granny gear specials and the cramp warning signs started. Then with only a few miles to go we went up Haselbech Hill. Ouch! Paul Kelf got off and walked until he saw a photographer and manned up! Andy was out of site when I was only on the foot slopes. With all that done they chucked us up the second hardest hill into Naseby to finish. Naseby is on top of a hill thats why Fairfax viewed the battle from there. Anyway we'd done it. A nice greeting, a recovery drink and a t-shirt was a good way to finish the Sportive bit. Needless to say the average was no longer at 17mph. A really good Sportive and I feel a good showcase of our beautiful county and excellent cycling.

Haselbech Hill

Andy and I still needed to ride home and I need a few extra miles to top the ton. It was hard! The euphoria of hitting 100 got me home and then as I pulled into Rothwell I met a man on what looked like a racing folder bike.

Dahon

It was the bike above, a Dahon TT. He rides it in time trials and is amused that he's never the slowest entrant. The blokes name was Rob Draycott if anyone knows him. He told me he also used to ride another 16in wheeled bike in Time Trials, the Moulton Major.

Moulton

All very interesting and frankly, blog worthy overkill on a day with so much else to say!

I'll look out for the official photos from today and may add them as a separate blog. Right now I'm knackered and I believe I deserve a beer.

Happy Peddaling

One year anniversary of my first C&DCYCLES shop ride

It was on the 4th of May 2013 that I went on my first C&DCYCLES shop ride. That day I didn't know anyone there but had a friend of a friend, Nathan 'Hightower' Gallon greet me and welcome me to the club. People I met that day and over the coming weeks have changed my life in terms of cycling. I love this club and especially what I love about this club are my brothers and sisters of the road. I hate missing a Saturday shopride and because of the support of my family I very rarely have to.

Due to the large numbers of riders and the mix of abilities in the club we now split the Saturday ride into two groups. Those who want the traditional beginners ride and a group for those who want to go faster. As I have the Squires and Shires Sportive tomorrow I wanted a gentle spin and volunteered to be the 'tailgunner,' or 'arse end Charlie,' for the traditional ride (I'm not going to call it the slow ride, because that's not accurate.) Arse end Charlie is the rider at the back that makes sure no one gets left behind and assists the ride leader with things like pace and communication. 

As the Major was smashing his big ring with the other testosterone laden quick lads and Andy was busy, today's ride was led by Corporal Jones. Jonesy the begetting baker, did a fine job today despite being once again plagued by insects. He really is the unlucky Eddie of the road with insect incidents. So far I have been with him when; a wasp has flown into his jersey and stung him, a fly has got in his eye and today another fly exploded all over his glasses (note to all that's why you need eye-wear when you ride.)

Owen got a puncture

Just 1.8 miles into the ride Owen hit a pothole and punctured. To be fair to him it's pretty impossible to miss all the potholes on Rockingham Road and would be quicker to point out the intact bits than all the craters. Unlike other clubs we don't just leave people and expect them to catch up. We did however stand around and laugh in the unhelpful way that is common among groups of men.

Tyreweld in hindsight wasn't a great plan

It was a big old hole in the tube but Owen wasn't that confident about his spare and opted to inflate with tyreweld. Oh dear it really wasn't a good idea and just got foam everywhere. Of more help I'm sure was the way that the mocking and sniggering turned to fits of laughter and hyperventilation. There's nothing like a bit of support and well that was nothing like a bit of support!

The offending product

Back to the ride and the first significant slope was my old nemesis Rushton Hill. At this point, as there's a picture of them coming up, I'd like to say how nice it was to see some more ladies in the group today. Wednesday in particular was a bit masculine or as Nathan described it: 'a biggest balls contest.' The smuttier among you will be thinking 'oh yeah Rich like a ride with the ladies do you?' Well calm yourselves down. You might also remember that as a Nurse (where I get to see more than enough ladies at work,)  I get on my high horse about health promotion and in particular the role of exercise in physical and emotional well being. All sports need more female participation and cycling needs to do as much as possible to encourage more people to ride.

Claire and Rachel conquer the hill

There were more good hills to come. I have a thing with climbs I do regularly. Every now and again I like to ride down them. I do this to teach them a lesson and to make gravity understand that when he's being my friend I appreciate him a lot more. Well today the opposite happened. I almost always ride from East Farndon down the hill to Market Harborough. Today we rode the opposite way and what a splendid hill that is! Good plan Jonesy, I'm definitely doing that again.

I might be taking this tail gunner role to seriously...wait for me

No no I wasn't getting dropped. Even I can cope with a 14mph average. I wanted a photo to reflect the scenery, the splendid weather and get a bit of a group shot. I still can't believe how nice it was out today. It started with a frost but by ride time the light winds and sunshine made it near perfect for cycling. 

Another selfie photobomb thing

The other group did catch us on Farndon Hill and again coming into Rothwell after taking a detour to go up Naesby Hill (masochists,) they were not there for the selfie though. I did inform the Major that I had made up for his absence (I said something to which one of the ladies remarked, I didn't think Steve was with us today.) All excited with myself I told the sweary man that I'd stolen his crown. The potty mouthed maelstrom that ensued left me in no doubt that, there is only one Prince of Profanity.

Maypole dancing advertised at Kelmarsh Hall - news of delays was premature

Missing friends from today's ride had warned us that there could be hold ups due to an event at Kelmarsh Hall. Around this time last year we had to go off road due to such an occasion. This time however there were no such problems and I can only conclude that Maypole Dancing advertised on the board outside the entrance isn't 'all that!'

A Better Group Shot

The ride from Kelmarsh back to Rothwell was one of the highlights of the day. The roads were so quiet that we didn't see a single car between Harrington and the A14. Very pleasant indeed!

OK so that's that done. Another great ride in Northamptonshire and briefly Leicestershire. Good leading, great bunch of people, good banter and the ideal preparation for tomorrow's big ride.

happy Peddaling

ps if you're wondering about my ride name, regular C&DCYCLES rider Ken Matcham lost the use of his rear shifter meaning he had just two gears available via his chainrings. This didn't seem to slow him up but I doubt he'll want too many rides like that.

Vroom Wednesday...maximum wattage and some rule breakers

Tonight was a proper vroom Wednesday. I'm pooped. That's the fastest I've ever ridden and I'm really really pleased with an average of 17.5mph. I've not checked other peoples Strava yet but I'm guessing as I was near the back a lot most people whooped that. Not just the average though I got 27 PR's, that's massive.

 At times the train worked and we stayed together at others some of us got lost out of the back. This was a good route for vroom and if your wondering why it's not circular for me it's because I rode to work today which was another bonus. The weather was perfect. A warm pleasant evening with only light winds.

This route is actually a good route for any type of road ride. You don't need to go out and thrash this go out and look at the scenery, smell the flowers and take it all in.

So that's the formalities out of the way let us attend this evenings main business. What follows is a kangaroo court of cycling.

Ok so if you're not familiar with the Rules this is hopefully going to be a masterclass. By providing such information I myself conform to rule#2 lead by example: it is forbidden for someone familiar with the rules to knowingly allow another person to breach them. So onto this evenings heinous crimes. Rule #3 also states: guide the uninitiated, no matter how good you think the reason it is never ok to knowingly breach the rules.

Exhibit A: big Steve Major, the Prince of Profanity.

In breach of rule #17: Team kit is for members of the team

Exhibit B: rule #27 socks and shorts should be like goldilocks - not too long and not too short

Jonesy, too short, Andy (mention 1) way too long, Major spot on, Stuey Nichols a bit too long plus as a Tigers fan you instantly break all the rules it's in your DNA

C&DCYCLES selfie

This doesn't break the rules but probably should as we got carried away with current trends and did a selfie. Even worse I quite like this picture!

Hightower's perspective 

Another rule should be that Nathan is too tall to ride a bike, it can't be safe to see the world like this. No wonder he broke a spoke on his long suffering bike.

Recovery drink 1

The final rule that should be a rule is that just because a bloke tells you something who is also a cyclist it does not mean you have to listen. We're suckers for this. At a sportive a bloke told me that a pint of milk after a ride is a significant aid to recovery so without any research of my own I now down a pint of milk after every ride. This is either brilliant advice or a load of old tosh.

Recovery drink 2 (flake optional) 

Rule #47 drink Trippels don't ride triples:

"Cycling and beer are so intertwined we may never understand the full relationship. Beer is a recovery drink, an elixir for post-ride trash talking and a just plain excellent thing to pour down the neck. We train to drink so don’t fool around. Drink quality beer from real breweries. If it is brewed with rice instead of malted barley or requires a lime, you are off the path. Know your bittering units like you know your gear length. Life is short, don’t waste it on piss beer."

So you see that lovely pint of home brewed Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone is a real rule conformer. I'm lucky that my two main hobbies are brewing and cycling. I can't think of a better combination.

Happy Peddaling

Rule#58 Observed, New Product Tested

So tonight's blog is once again not a route but a clean up job. I popped into to C&DCYCLES to see Andy who last night bemoaned his lack of mentions in yesterday's blog. So I asked Andy, you know the manager at C&DCYCLES about cleaning products and then listened to Andrew Ferguson's advice and bought some Muc Off chain cleaner. 

Ooh ooh whats in the bag?

Good old GT85 and an aerosol of muc off chain cleaner

Then Andy asked me if I'd ridden yesterday. This draws me to one ponderance. You know Andy the man at C&DCYCLES who we trust when we once again need help with our bikes? Well, he apparently read my blog yesterday and he did mention there was a complete lack of Andy. Now my blog yesterday was about the ride I did yesterday so you'd think, Andy, who definitely read my blog would know that! My conclusion is that Andy from C&DCYCLES does not read my blog at all he merely scans it for his own name. Well Andy you're going to be busy with all the Andy spotting tonight.

So to tonight's quest. Having been distinctly underwhelmed by the pure pump spray degreaser I was looking forward to testing the less environmentally friendly, but apparently not tested on bunnies, Muc Off chain cleaner. For one thing it's definitely more expensive.

Dirty bits

Filth

So the before is above and the below is after. I have to say Andy's advice to lay the bike on it's side, spray on the product and walk away, then wash off with hot water, was spot on. That's right Andy from C&DCYCLES gave me some great advice. He also advised me to give the chain a good rub with a towel which I already knew and then Andy, you know Andy, said make sure you lube properly afterwards. He said that it's a common error to clean well and then under lube. It's GT85 on bits like the jockey wheels and then good quality oil on the chain and cogs. I listened Andy. I just hope that Pure oil is a better product than the degreaser.

I'd say that works

Shiny

Yep that's more like it

Wow! I hope the pictures show just how well the Muc Off works. Seems they're not just the big brand in bike cleaning, they make stuff that works. The first thing was the aerosol was loads better to use than the pump spray. With very little effort the grime just fell off. Sorry penguins I'm sold on this stuff! So cheers again Andy, great advice as usual.

Finally I can't believe I didn't know about this but I found a link to the radio 5live cycling programme, bespoke. A really good listen and they touch on a subject close to our heart. How to go faster. It's good to hear from some big names in the sport but also nice to hear the presenter going through tests that put him through hell. We all like to know that others suffer too don't we! Link below.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/5live/bespoke/bespoke_20140424-2153b.mp3

Happy Peddaling

Legs feeling good again...

Cycling is a fickle mistress. There are days where you feel good but ride poorly and days when you don't feel up for it and then have a spectacular ride. Today I went out feeling strong and stayed that way. For me that's the nicest feeling of them all.

Before I talk more about today I need to go back to yesterday. I completely forgot to mention three things. The first was that after a couple of weeks in shorts I went back to full length bib tights and overshoes. That's our weather for you! The second is that it was Neil Hickford's birthday. Neil needs to slow down. He's 5 years my senior and his recent ride averages have put me to shame. Well Neil when I'm 65 and your 70, just you watch out! Lastly Steve Major who was once again doing a great a job of leading the ride, broke a spoke. We tried taping it up and fiddling with a spoke key to get the wheel rideable but Steve could only limp to his Dads house to get a lift home. Not sure how I forgot that lot. The truth is I gave so many thoughts of what to put in the blog and half of them are still banging around in the gap between my ears.




Feeling good I set out today to ride as fast as I could. Years of plodding around at 14mph did me no favours in the speed department. So my average of 16.5mph might be unimpressive for some but for me it's a step in the right direction. I also got a PR on Rushton Hill, a segment I regularly ride and have not been able to improve since May and now I'm 30th out of 367 riders and 3rd out of all the people I follow. I'm chuffed to bits. The weird one is I really really went for it on Desborough Road Drop. I was convinced I'd never been quicker and finally that KOM would be mine. Strava says no! 2 seconds slower than my previous best I'm still 2nd though.

It's not all about speed though. I did some familiar stuff for me going through our beautiful countryside and pretty villages. No time for photos so I've borrowed some from the internet.

Happy Peddaling

Pipewell

Arthingworth

Lamport

When we win the Lottery...Old

The Hare at Loddington, nice pub, good food!

Dancing Uphill

I've just finished reading this magnificent book. It's about the first British rider in the Tour de France. The man was a phenomenon. Whilst many of us struggle to creep over a 16mph on our carbon frames with 20 gears with all the other technical advances of our age, Charles on a steel bike in toe clips with sturmey archer 3 speed hub gears (remember those?) regularly hit 20mph plus on rides of 100 miles. The war wrecked his professional cycling career. He was finally allowed to race again when amateur rules were relaxed in the 1960's. He then set about kicking everyone's butts again. A great read recommended to me by fellow C&DCYCLES rider Iain Tingle.

My Granddad was also into cycle racing pre war. I've tried using the internet to discover if he ever raced with Charles Holland. I haven't got anything yet but I'll see if Dad has anything. I need to know!

Front cover

Back cover

They really raced on these gears!

The book is full of stuff like this