Bit unwell so my Xmas riding plan is out the window and shall mostly be spending the festive break sitting about stuffing my face 😄
Felt good enough to ride today so went out on an easy flat mini tour in a vain attempt to offset the Xmas excess, wasn't too bad afterward.. still tired me out though.
17 miles covered.
Today's Fuel:
Chocs before ride
Water during ride
Chocs after ride
Tuesday, 26 December 2017
Thursday, 21 December 2017
Closedcups
It is the Winter Solstice today yippee the days will start getting longer... eventually!
First proper ride in 3 weeks as I woke up to Winter Wonderland last weekend... and it was lovely! The aftermath was unrideable roads for a week and a half due to ice, I also wasn't feeling 100% either... aw well.
Decided to embark on a ride out to Buttercups Cafe in Great Alne with Bob & Paul. Unfortunately Bob had a wheel issue at around 7 miles in and had to about turn so I ended up riding alone.
Upon arrival at Buttercups I was greeted with a note on the door saying closed due to flooded kitchen, the owner then appeared and apologised for inconvenience, I hope the damage wasn't too severe.
Decided to carry on without stopping anywhere else, t'was nice to get out on the road again.
Distance: 41 miles
Today's Fuel:
Haribo's
4 Fig Rolls
1ltr water
First proper ride in 3 weeks as I woke up to Winter Wonderland last weekend... and it was lovely! The aftermath was unrideable roads for a week and a half due to ice, I also wasn't feeling 100% either... aw well.
Decided to embark on a ride out to Buttercups Cafe in Great Alne with Bob & Paul. Unfortunately Bob had a wheel issue at around 7 miles in and had to about turn so I ended up riding alone.
Upon arrival at Buttercups I was greeted with a note on the door saying closed due to flooded kitchen, the owner then appeared and apologised for inconvenience, I hope the damage wasn't too severe.
Decided to carry on without stopping anywhere else, t'was nice to get out on the road again.
Distance: 41 miles
Today's Fuel:
Haribo's
4 Fig Rolls
1ltr water
Saturday, 2 December 2017
Mini solo Wattbike sesh!
After my local Fitness First gym closed down at the end of May (damn you Lidl!!!) I spent the summer just doing cycling for fitness, as winter is drawing in it was time to join a new gym... enter Cocksmoor Woods Leisure Centre with it's brand new SERCO gym and facilities!
Rather than go to Body Combat I decided to download the Wattbike App and have a mini sesh, luckily I had mostly remembered what I learned at the intro Wattbike sesh at the Cycle Centre back in August. Once I found my way around the app I spent about 25 mins on the bike altogether - legs were a bit heavy when I got off! Think I will ease off the pressure a bit next time. 😳
Rather impressed the app synced directly with Strava.
After a warmup I tried the 3 minute fitness test - did it a bit wrong - turns out I'm supposed to hold 3 minutes at same intensity not go flat out and blow up! In my defence my phone did say target heart rate 230bpm!! 😮
Averaging 21mph over 3 minutes isn't to be sniffed at though! 😄
Averaging 21mph over 3 minutes isn't to be sniffed at though! 😄
Thursday, 9 November 2017
Nanny Marj's Tearoom
Had a couple of job interviews down at Bidford over the past week and whilst driving down through Wixford I spotted large signs saying tearoom, upon closer inspection the place looked pretty decent - so upon my return I investigated... found it on facebook.. Nanny Marj's Tearooms!
Today myself and Bob decided to pay an inaugural visit.
The place is situated within a couple of miles of Hillers so a quick readjustment of one road on my Hillers route and all was sorted!
'Twas an ok sort of day when we set out, not bright and not dull either, was we got closer to Nanny Marj's the sun started shining.
The tearoom itself is a rather quaint affair, nicely decorated with paintings of dogs in uniform, a bicycle is also hoisted up above the main entrance sign, nice touch!
We eyed up what was on offer at the counter, on display was just an individual slice of each cake on offer inside a glass cabinet. I noted the scones were quite large.
Personally, I think they would really benefit by having entire cakes on display to draw the customer in - much more tantalizing!
We sat ourselves in the rear seating area, was rather quiet as we were the only ones in there, there was also table service which is a nice touch - we swiftly ordered cream teas from the very polite staff.
Our pot of tea arrived first and the server said she would return to refill with hot water a little later, however we discovered there was no milk supplied d'oh!
The scones arrived nicely presented warm with jam and cream. We asked for milk to which the server apologised for the oversight.
Then we found we had no spoons... we just used our knives as couldn't be bothered asking again.
The cream scones were delicious and could really tell it was home baked. A full 10/10.
The server didn't return to refill our teapot... more training required perhaps...
The scone made up for the staff oversights, hopefully the service will be spot on next time.
The sun shone on and off a bit on the way back, there was also rain which turned out to be a short shower phew!
Another grand day out with 52 miles covered.
Todays Fuel:
Special K (pre ride brekkie)
4 x figrolls
1 x hobnobs flapjack
1 x jam and cream scone
1 litre weak Sis Electrolite Mix
Today myself and Bob decided to pay an inaugural visit.
The place is situated within a couple of miles of Hillers so a quick readjustment of one road on my Hillers route and all was sorted!
'Twas an ok sort of day when we set out, not bright and not dull either, was we got closer to Nanny Marj's the sun started shining.
The tearoom itself is a rather quaint affair, nicely decorated with paintings of dogs in uniform, a bicycle is also hoisted up above the main entrance sign, nice touch!
We eyed up what was on offer at the counter, on display was just an individual slice of each cake on offer inside a glass cabinet. I noted the scones were quite large.
Personally, I think they would really benefit by having entire cakes on display to draw the customer in - much more tantalizing!
We sat ourselves in the rear seating area, was rather quiet as we were the only ones in there, there was also table service which is a nice touch - we swiftly ordered cream teas from the very polite staff.
Our pot of tea arrived first and the server said she would return to refill with hot water a little later, however we discovered there was no milk supplied d'oh!
The scones arrived nicely presented warm with jam and cream. We asked for milk to which the server apologised for the oversight.
Then we found we had no spoons... we just used our knives as couldn't be bothered asking again.
The cream scones were delicious and could really tell it was home baked. A full 10/10.
The server didn't return to refill our teapot... more training required perhaps...
The scone made up for the staff oversights, hopefully the service will be spot on next time.
The sun shone on and off a bit on the way back, there was also rain which turned out to be a short shower phew!
Another grand day out with 52 miles covered.
Todays Fuel:
Special K (pre ride brekkie)
4 x figrolls
1 x hobnobs flapjack
1 x jam and cream scone
1 litre weak Sis Electrolite Mix
Thursday, 26 October 2017
Return to the Boat Shack
Solo ride out today... haven't been out to the Boat Shack for like... aaaaages!
No blue sky at all and had misty rain for about 10 minutes at around half hour after I had started out, the sky in general was dull but got better as the day progressed and ended up having a rather enjoyable ride out.
At the Boat Shack I plumped for the largest cake on display which was a rather nice Lemon Cake, I give it a 7/10 😳
44 miles covered.
Today's fuel:
Oats, Special K and Honey (Pre ride brekkie)
4 x fig rolls
1 x slice lemon cake
1 x litre SIS Electrolite mix
No blue sky at all and had misty rain for about 10 minutes at around half hour after I had started out, the sky in general was dull but got better as the day progressed and ended up having a rather enjoyable ride out.
At the Boat Shack I plumped for the largest cake on display which was a rather nice Lemon Cake, I give it a 7/10 😳
44 miles covered.
Today's fuel:
Oats, Special K and Honey (Pre ride brekkie)
4 x fig rolls
1 x slice lemon cake
1 x litre SIS Electrolite mix
Sunday, 22 October 2017
Return to Wedges
Forcast wasn't too great this weekend so decided on an easy ride to Wedges Bakery with Bob & Paul, haven't stopped for tea and cake there since spring time.
We all chose chocolate cake which I usually can't finish due to the humongous slice size and loads of frosting... this time though they had used much less frosting and found I could eat all of it much to my relief as it was delish!
We all chose chocolate cake which I usually can't finish due to the humongous slice size and loads of frosting... this time though they had used much less frosting and found I could eat all of it much to my relief as it was delish!
Sunday, 15 October 2017
Cobhouse & Churchfields
Weirdly there is reportedly a heatwave this weekend with today topping out at 18 degrees... might as well do a final 70+ mile long ride of the year to the Cobhouse Fisheries with a cheeky ice cream stop as Churchfields on the way back then!
At 8am I put my shorts on and looked out of the window... it was dull and misty with a chill in the air... off with the shorts and on with the tights!
At 10 am it was still dull.
It got warmer as the day progressed but not the brilliant sunshine as was promised.
The cake at the Cobhouse was excellent 10/10 - a slice of orange and chocolate cake.
Ice cream at Churchfields is also most excellent, I chose cherry and marshmallow flavour.... it didn't half provide a boost of energy on the way back!
An excellent tour out with Bob & Paul.
At 8am I put my shorts on and looked out of the window... it was dull and misty with a chill in the air... off with the shorts and on with the tights!
At 10 am it was still dull.
It got warmer as the day progressed but not the brilliant sunshine as was promised.
The cake at the Cobhouse was excellent 10/10 - a slice of orange and chocolate cake.
Ice cream at Churchfields is also most excellent, I chose cherry and marshmallow flavour.... it didn't half provide a boost of energy on the way back!
An excellent tour out with Bob & Paul.
Thursday, 5 October 2017
Hillers Passion Fruit Lemon Curd
Solo ride out today to Hillers, the day was dry and rather sunshiney in places and a bit windy also.
Didn't aim for the cafe my target was the farm shop as I had spied orange curd in there upon my last mooch around, sadly I found there was no orange curd but instead there was passion fruit curd so have bought a jar of that to try in the not too distant future... will it be a lemon curd beater?
I also bought a humongous slice of bread pudding for the pricey sum of 99p... it was rather nice and would mark it 7/10
I had plenty of uphills on the way back, the bread pudding kicked in nicely and found I didn't have to fuel up on anything else for the second half of the ride! 😁😋
A rather nice solo ride out with 51 miles covered.
Today's Fuel:
Special K, Oats and golden syrup (pre ride brekkie)
2 x fig rolls
1 x humongous bread pudding slice
1 ltr SIS blackcurrant Electrolite mix
Didn't aim for the cafe my target was the farm shop as I had spied orange curd in there upon my last mooch around, sadly I found there was no orange curd but instead there was passion fruit curd so have bought a jar of that to try in the not too distant future... will it be a lemon curd beater?
I also bought a humongous slice of bread pudding for the pricey sum of 99p... it was rather nice and would mark it 7/10
I had plenty of uphills on the way back, the bread pudding kicked in nicely and found I didn't have to fuel up on anything else for the second half of the ride! 😁😋
A rather nice solo ride out with 51 miles covered.
Today's Fuel:
Special K, Oats and golden syrup (pre ride brekkie)
2 x fig rolls
1 x humongous bread pudding slice
1 ltr SIS blackcurrant Electrolite mix
Sunday, 24 September 2017
Velo Birmingham
Retired to bed 10pm and had the same night of none sleep as I did the night before Ride London... managed 2 hours continuous sleep with the rest being fleeting drifting in and out of consciousness, ah well if I can get around London I'll get around my own stomping ground OK!
It's the inaugural Velo Birmingham today... 15,000 cyclists riding 100 miles on completely closed roads... not expecting it to be a Ride London beater but after what appears to be a few cock-ups on the organisers part (including a large portion of the route completely changed a month prior to the event!) we shall see what occurs...
Got up at 6 and rode 5.8 miles to Broad Street just after 7, arrived Broad Street at 7.45ish to find... no signs pointing to wave C1... not a great start and good job I know my home town...
Found Wave C1 and waited at the front of the wave where the C1 banner sign was... except it wasn't the front of the wave it was the rear of it hmmm... corrected my position and moved more towards the front...
We wait... tick follows tock follows tick follows tock... our 8.30 start time arrives... nothing happens... we wait more... tick follows tock follows tick follows tock... someone shouts out 20 minute delay... we wait more.... tick follows tock follows tick follows tock... at 8.50 I hear a faint "3, 2, 1, go!"... people start clicking into their pedals and off we go... I am so far unimpressed but at least we are moving... we roll down Broad Street, cross over the official start line and away we go...
So far all is has been quiet and atmosphere-less... around half hour into the ride we encounter the first real batch of supporters egging us all on, one guy is dancing in a bear suit - that's better! 😉
Summary
The route is very up and down most of the time with not many flat sections... at least the down sections are long, not as scenic as Ride London either but I didn't expect it to be. As the ride went on the support through the towns and villages was fantastic with people shouting encouragement plus I have never seen so many kids holding their hand out to be high fived - this is what put a smile on my face and made the ride enjoyable. I got fed up of the amount of hills in places plus the time constraint meant I wouldn't have any time to stop and chill for 15 mins, it's pretty much grab and go. At one point a fellow rider commented to me that the hills were relentless and she wasn't going to do it again, I agreed and mentioned Ride London is much better... she revealed she had done London too and wholeheartedly agreed.
I always take my own food just incase... THANK GOD I DID!!!
Severely disappointed in the feed stations...
Feedstation no.1 was on a bottleneck with riders blocking the entire road... the feed area itself was too small for the amount of riders going in and out plus the only fuel available was packets of wine gums and gels. The only thing they got right was the amount of portaloos about, at least there was no queue for toilet!
Feedstsation no.2 at mile 55, an important stop for anyone solely relying to be fed by the organisers. As I entered a geezer was shouting out 'No food!' it took an age to walk in and out, they were completely out of bottled water, I had to join a long queue to get water from a large water tank - there were two or three guys taking your bottle, dipping it into a water basin and handing your bottle back, not exactly hygienic, on top of that how was I supposed to refill the hydration bladder on my back??? Luckily as I exited the feedstation a guy was giving out small bottles of water so I grabbed two and refilled the bladder. Just after that feedstation I rode past a petrol station which was swamped with riders buying food...
Suprisingly the 3rd feedstation (85 miles) I stopped at had food, chocolate cake, bananas and wine gums - the cake was good (missed my cuppa though 😃). Once more it was way too small an area for the amount of riders. Whilst there a geezer shouted out that we would all have to get a move on if we wanted to be back before the roads reopened at 6.
Shortly after the last feedstation there was what the organisers had billed the biggest climb of the ride... St Kennelms Pass - I knew had rode up it before but it had been at least 5 years so couldn't remember which hill it was... turned out it was very tame compared to other hills we had all rode up earlier - infact the undulations that immediately came after St Kennelms was far worse!
At 5.10 I rode over the last hill of the ride and descended towards Birmingham City Centre once more, the finish on Broad Street was rather good and I was rather chuffed (and relieved) I had completed a hilly 100 with legs still intact especially as I still had another 6 miles to ride home, my finish time was 6pm on the dot.
The real stars of the show was the locals supporting and cheering us us all on through the villages and towns, on top of that they were offering food and water to any riders that required it, heard of one guy was even offering free burgers! 😀 I'm sure they saved a lot of riders necks...
Bewdley in particular had bunting out and had decorated the area with bike ornaments etc.
Verdict
For the first event of this type in Birmingham the organisers have loads to learn - they have publicly admitted they got it wrong too which is something, a fair few megaphones wouldn't have gone amiss so at least more people can hear what is happening. It would have been nice if each wave had a proper start too. A few speakers mounted throughout all of the waves with the DJ counting down each wave start would have been ace - as far as I can tell only the front wave got that...
For the first event of this type in Birmingham the organisers have loads to learn - they have publicly admitted they got it wrong too which is something, a fair few megaphones wouldn't have gone amiss so at least more people can hear what is happening. It would have been nice if each wave had a proper start too. A few speakers mounted throughout all of the waves with the DJ counting down each wave start would have been ace - as far as I can tell only the front wave got that...
Not a patch on Ride London however... I shall likely be back next year and expect at least 90% of the negatives to be ironed out, if it wasn't for support of the locals through the towns and villages I wouldn't be back at all.
Highlights of the ride:
My name was displayed on my rider number on the front of my bike so had a lot of 'Come on Kay, you can do it!' shouted out at me, especially the 4 or 5 ladies egging me on at the begining of St Kennelms Pass. A lady on a pub balcony who shouted 'You go girl! You're awesome!' also put a big smile on my face. 😆
Todays' Fuel:
Special K, Oats and Golden Syrup (pre ride brekkie)
2 x Soreen mini toffee maltloaf
2 x Soreen mini toffee maltloaf
2 x SIS mini go bars
1 x Lemon curd sarnie on white bread (my rocket fuel - really wish I had made two rounds)
1 whole bag Sainsbury's Jelly Babies
6 approx Fig Rolls
2 x High 5 gels
2 slices chocolate cake
2 Litres SIS Go Electrolite mix
2.5 approx litres plain water (hydration pack)
Recovery food:
A big f'off pizza! 😆
Sunday, 17 September 2017
Charlecote... and New Cafe Discovered!
The morning dawned decent, a chill in the air early morning but apart from that it was white cloud and bright, Met Bob & Paul at McDonalds at 10am and off we went...
Today's Fuel:
As it's the 100 mile Velo Birmingham event next Sunday we decided to go down to Charlecote Garden Centre Cafe as it's a decent distance and fairly flat, on the way down I noticed a fair amount of cyclists zooming past - last bit of distance training for everyone no doubt, even a lady on horseback asked if there was an event going on as loads of cyclists had overtaken her..
Unfortunately we had very poor service at Charlecote Cafe, half of our order arrived and then we appeared to be forgotten about... after ten minutes Paul had to ask for the rest of it! My Cheese scone with jam and cream was good though.
On the way back, as we entered Stratford-upon-Avon we ended up riding in the middle of the annual Pashley Picnic ride, loads of riders dressed up in tweed, flat caps etc on old style bikes, was a lovely sight to see and having cars stopped while we all rode through the town centre was marvellous!
As we got to the end of wotsit road we noticed a new sign pointing to 'Buttercup Cafe' and decided it would be rude not to follow it, discovered it was only half a mile off our route and turned out to be a brilliant new cafe serving top notch cakes. Definately added to the ride list and loads better than the Cow Shed just up the road at Wooten Warwen.
As we got to Earlswood the heavens opened - it absolutely poured down on us, the rain was flowing into my eyes so I stopped to put my cap on to find... shock! horror! I hadn't packed it! Sheltered for 5 minutes for the rain to die down and then carried on, 2 minutes later I had to stop and seek shelter again, put my foot ankle deep into a puddle - however, it made no difference as I couldn't had gotten any wetter! 😃
The rain stopped as we arrived back at McDonalds, we agreed we had an enjoyable and eventful day in the saddle.
63 miles covered
Today's Fuel:
Oats & Special K with golden syrup (pre ride brekkie)
Banana maltloaf (approx 1/2 of a loaf)
Cheese scone with strawberry jam & cream
Carrot, Ginger & Lemon cake (taste test = 10/10)
1 litre blackcurrant SIS Go Electrolite mix
Banana maltloaf (approx 1/2 of a loaf)
Cheese scone with strawberry jam & cream
Carrot, Ginger & Lemon cake (taste test = 10/10)
1 litre blackcurrant SIS Go Electrolite mix
Thursday, 14 September 2017
Return to Rita's
Weather has been turbulent for the past week, appeared to abruptly turn from Summer to October weather all in the space of a week... a couple of days ago there was a storm overnight... rather disheartening. Hopefully one last gasp of some sunny t-shirt and shorts weather will return during next week or two before descending the slow downward spiral towards Winter.
It's not all bad though as I'm looking forward to the Autumn colours that lie ahead... just a shame it's not warm enough for t-shirt and shorts at the same time... damn you Mother Nature! 😒
Today was my first ride in tights in about 4 months!
A Chill in the air and had been raining overnight so also put on my lightweight windproof.
Had a nice ride down to Auntea Rita's, a little bit of drizzly rain at the beginning with the rest being quite bright with white cloud and blue sky.
Upon my arrival it was nice to see they had added an extra table with chairs outside, an improvement compared to my inaugural visit, still a little sparse though. As the sun was shining I decided to sit outside, had a very warm reception from the tea lady upon my entrance and there was a few more cakes to choose from compared to the last time. Decided upon a cherry scone with strawberry jam and butter. Sat outside and 5 minutes later my order arrived, this time the tea was hot however, they got my jam order wrong, they supplied blackcurrant instead of strawberry - wasn't that fussed anyway so let it go. All very nice and home baked 9/10.
About 5 miles in on the return leg it rained /chucked it down for about 15 minutes so I sped up to keep warm... and then it returned to being bright and ok again... aaand relaaax...
An enjoyable ride out with 49 miles covered, discovered maltloaf is an annoying fuel choice whilst cycling along at the same time, it's just too damn chewy! Will stick to fig rolls and Haribo in future 😊
Today's Fuel:
Oats & Special K with golden syrup (pre ride brekkie)
Banana maltloaf (approx 1/4 of a loaf)
Jam & butter scone
1 litre blackcurrant SIS Go Electrolite mix
Recovery Fuel
Banana SIS Rego & water mix
Egg and brown sauce toasty
It's not all bad though as I'm looking forward to the Autumn colours that lie ahead... just a shame it's not warm enough for t-shirt and shorts at the same time... damn you Mother Nature! 😒
Today was my first ride in tights in about 4 months!
A Chill in the air and had been raining overnight so also put on my lightweight windproof.
Had a nice ride down to Auntea Rita's, a little bit of drizzly rain at the beginning with the rest being quite bright with white cloud and blue sky.
Upon my arrival it was nice to see they had added an extra table with chairs outside, an improvement compared to my inaugural visit, still a little sparse though. As the sun was shining I decided to sit outside, had a very warm reception from the tea lady upon my entrance and there was a few more cakes to choose from compared to the last time. Decided upon a cherry scone with strawberry jam and butter. Sat outside and 5 minutes later my order arrived, this time the tea was hot however, they got my jam order wrong, they supplied blackcurrant instead of strawberry - wasn't that fussed anyway so let it go. All very nice and home baked 9/10.
About 5 miles in on the return leg it rained /chucked it down for about 15 minutes so I sped up to keep warm... and then it returned to being bright and ok again... aaand relaaax...
An enjoyable ride out with 49 miles covered, discovered maltloaf is an annoying fuel choice whilst cycling along at the same time, it's just too damn chewy! Will stick to fig rolls and Haribo in future 😊
Today's Fuel:
Oats & Special K with golden syrup (pre ride brekkie)
Banana maltloaf (approx 1/4 of a loaf)
Jam & butter scone
1 litre blackcurrant SIS Go Electrolite mix
Recovery Fuel
Banana SIS Rego & water mix
Egg and brown sauce toasty
Sunday, 10 September 2017
Cycles to Wedges!
Today dawns a dull and rather miserable looking day... summer has definately buggered off for another year.
Forcast showed rain and showers so stayed close to home and did a local 51 mile route.
The route included a few local hills including Rose Hill - Strava showed this would only be my 3rd ride up it in over 6 years. There is a long climb up to it from Barnt Green before turning left at the roundabout and onto the aforementioned hill... slow and steady all the way.
There was a bit of drzzly rain on and off in places but nothing overly bad.
My route also included Wedges Bakery so decided to pop in and bring some goodies home.
Inside Wedges I surveyed the cake selection carefully... 😋
51 miles later I return home to a recovery ham sarnie and a Wedges iced finger roll... which tasted delish!
Today's Fuel:
Special K, Oats & Golden Syrup (Pre ride brekie)
1 x banana
1 x SIS Go Bar
1 ltr SIS Go Electrolite mix
Recovery nosh:
1 x Ham Sarnie
1 x Wedges finger roll
(No photo's today as I discovered I had left my phone in my car when I dropped my niece to work this morning d'oh!)
Forcast showed rain and showers so stayed close to home and did a local 51 mile route.
The route included a few local hills including Rose Hill - Strava showed this would only be my 3rd ride up it in over 6 years. There is a long climb up to it from Barnt Green before turning left at the roundabout and onto the aforementioned hill... slow and steady all the way.
There was a bit of drzzly rain on and off in places but nothing overly bad.
My route also included Wedges Bakery so decided to pop in and bring some goodies home.
Inside Wedges I surveyed the cake selection carefully... 😋
51 miles later I return home to a recovery ham sarnie and a Wedges iced finger roll... which tasted delish!
Today's Fuel:
Special K, Oats & Golden Syrup (Pre ride brekie)
1 x banana
1 x SIS Go Bar
1 ltr SIS Go Electrolite mix
Recovery nosh:
1 x Ham Sarnie
1 x Wedges finger roll
(No photo's today as I discovered I had left my phone in my car when I dropped my niece to work this morning d'oh!)
Sunday, 27 August 2017
Broadway Tower
Bank Holiday weekend and it's summer weather... 26 degrees yippee!!
Embarked on an 80 mile journey to Broadway Tower and back with Bob and Paul.
The route is fairly flat apart from the big lump in the middle up to the tower, Snowshill to be exact. In previous years I have climbed it in a 26 cassette however, as I've been replacing parts on bit by bit on Klanker the 3rd this year I now have a 30 cassette on the back. Verdict still hard work but less huffing and puffing.
The cafe at the tower itself is expensive, just as well we only visit once or twice a year. The cake was really nice though and couldn't fault the hot drinks supplied.
Have always loved the descent down to Mickleton afterward... all downhill for a fair few miles coupled with smashing views of the countryside around.
We also treated ourselves to an ice cream stop at Wellford upon Avon, Magnums all round.
Another grand tour out, 82 miles covered!
Todays' Fuel:
Special K, Oats & Honey (Pre ride brekkie)
1.5 rounds of Lemon Curd Sarnies
1 x Banana on Tour
1 x Slice of Orange Drizzle Cake
5 x Fig Rolls
2 x SIS Go Bars
1 Litre SIS Go Electrolite Blackcurrant mix
Embarked on an 80 mile journey to Broadway Tower and back with Bob and Paul.
The route is fairly flat apart from the big lump in the middle up to the tower, Snowshill to be exact. In previous years I have climbed it in a 26 cassette however, as I've been replacing parts on bit by bit on Klanker the 3rd this year I now have a 30 cassette on the back. Verdict still hard work but less huffing and puffing.
The cafe at the tower itself is expensive, just as well we only visit once or twice a year. The cake was really nice though and couldn't fault the hot drinks supplied.
Have always loved the descent down to Mickleton afterward... all downhill for a fair few miles coupled with smashing views of the countryside around.
We also treated ourselves to an ice cream stop at Wellford upon Avon, Magnums all round.
Another grand tour out, 82 miles covered!
Todays' Fuel:
Special K, Oats & Honey (Pre ride brekkie)
1.5 rounds of Lemon Curd Sarnies
1 x Banana on Tour
1 x Slice of Orange Drizzle Cake
5 x Fig Rolls
2 x SIS Go Bars
1 Litre SIS Go Electrolite Blackcurrant mix
Thursday, 24 August 2017
Arley Tea Rooms... with hills!
Lovely 60 mile ride out today with Bob & Paul to Arley Tea Rooms.
I didn't visit last year so made sure it was on my to do list for this year.
Particularly like this place as their outside dining area sits overlooking the River Seven, a lovely spot to sit in the summer.
As we got closer to Arley the hills started appearing... long and steady but nothing too steep...
As we got closer to Arley the hills started appearing... long and steady but nothing too steep...
I had a slice of Orange and Poppy seed cake which was a full 10/10 yum!
The local canoe hire (Canoe UK) appeared whilst we were there.. reminded me to look into their River Seven day trip - Paddling from Bridgnorth to Arley with a pub stop at half way and a return via steam train, sounds bloomin' marvelous!
Returned via Kinver Edge, more hills please!
Lost Bob & Paul half way back, they ended up ahead of me 😃
A bit of rush hour traffic for the last half hour but it wan't too bad.
Tired legs at the end - 60 miles with 4500+ ft elevation.
Todays Fuel:
Special K, Oats 7 Honey (pre ride brekkie)
1 x Sis bar
1 x SIS gel
1 x Lemon curd sarnie on white bread
1 x slice of orange & poppy seed cake (yum!)
1 litre Sis Go Electrolite blackcurrant mix
4 x fig rolls
The local canoe hire (Canoe UK) appeared whilst we were there.. reminded me to look into their River Seven day trip - Paddling from Bridgnorth to Arley with a pub stop at half way and a return via steam train, sounds bloomin' marvelous!
Returned via Kinver Edge, more hills please!
Lost Bob & Paul half way back, they ended up ahead of me 😃
A bit of rush hour traffic for the last half hour but it wan't too bad.
Tired legs at the end - 60 miles with 4500+ ft elevation.
Todays Fuel:
Special K, Oats 7 Honey (pre ride brekkie)
1 x Sis bar
1 x SIS gel
1 x Lemon curd sarnie on white bread
1 x slice of orange & poppy seed cake (yum!)
1 litre Sis Go Electrolite blackcurrant mix
4 x fig rolls
Friday, 18 August 2017
Wattbike Taster Session
This evening myself and Lorraine attended a free Wattbike taster session 😀
Was kinda expecting 40 minutes of talking and 20 minutes of biking.
It wasn't the case at all and was rather fun.
Us ladies in the session outnumbered the gents 4 - 3.
The instructor asked which of the ladies was fittest, Lorraine volunteered me so I was put onto a Pro Wattbike, the difference between pro and normal is the gearing, I have no idea how much difference there is though.
Once all the bells and whistles of displays on the bikes were explained the instructor got us to keep a cadence of between 80 and 90 rpm and every minute he told us to dial up the resistance until we were working in the next zone up, we went up to zone 5 and then back down again. Zone 5 was quite hard work, after a bit of recovery we did the same again but for 2 minutes in each zone, this time we went up to zone 6 and back down again, zone 6 got me sweating quite a bit!
I also found out my left leg is doing approx 55% of the work compared to my right leg most of the time.. ah well!
My legs were a bit wobbly when the session was over, must have worked harder than I thought.
A fun, interesting and informative session, they run 6 week courses for £66 and would be helpful over winter however £11 per sesh is kind of off-putting especially as they have Wattbikes at the local gym I tested out a few days ago, a gym membership works out more value for money as I would have access to Wattbikes at all times as well as other gym equipment and unlimited classes (including spin).
Part of me is tempted as their courses would be very useful for structured training.
Was kinda expecting 40 minutes of talking and 20 minutes of biking.
It wasn't the case at all and was rather fun.
Us ladies in the session outnumbered the gents 4 - 3.
The instructor asked which of the ladies was fittest, Lorraine volunteered me so I was put onto a Pro Wattbike, the difference between pro and normal is the gearing, I have no idea how much difference there is though.
Once all the bells and whistles of displays on the bikes were explained the instructor got us to keep a cadence of between 80 and 90 rpm and every minute he told us to dial up the resistance until we were working in the next zone up, we went up to zone 5 and then back down again. Zone 5 was quite hard work, after a bit of recovery we did the same again but for 2 minutes in each zone, this time we went up to zone 6 and back down again, zone 6 got me sweating quite a bit!
I also found out my left leg is doing approx 55% of the work compared to my right leg most of the time.. ah well!
My legs were a bit wobbly when the session was over, must have worked harder than I thought.
A fun, interesting and informative session, they run 6 week courses for £66 and would be helpful over winter however £11 per sesh is kind of off-putting especially as they have Wattbikes at the local gym I tested out a few days ago, a gym membership works out more value for money as I would have access to Wattbikes at all times as well as other gym equipment and unlimited classes (including spin).
Part of me is tempted as their courses would be very useful for structured training.
Sunday, 13 August 2017
Hillers Seedy Flapjack Slab
Lovely Sunny day today so embarked on a solo ride out to Hillers Cafe and back.
The lady on the London 100 riding and bopping along to Rick Astley on her phone speaker a few weeks ago reminded me that I have a mini sports speaker that I haven't used for aaaages!
Found it at the bottom of the drawer amongst my many many sportive medals and charged it for 8 hours yesterday.
Didn't have it on too loud and the wind and approaching cars drowned the music out quite a bit but when it was quiet it was like having my very own outside spin class, awesome!
At Hillers I decided to bypass the cafe and head for the farm shop, it's impressively huuuge inside!!
Ended up buying a seedy flapjack slab for the pricely sun of £3.15 sat on a bench and scoffed a portion of it along the my lemon curd sarnie, tasted delish. Took the rest home with a plan to take a small portion to work every day... of course that never happened and had finished the whole lot off within 24 hrs!!!
In future I may just buy the one slice for 99p, the temptation is all too much when taking goodies home.
Sports speaker may feature on solo rides a bit more from now on.
Todays' Fuel:
Special K, Oats and Golden Syrup (pre ride)
1 x SIS Go bar
1 x Clif bar
1 x Lemon Curd sarnie on white bread
50 miles covered!
The lady on the London 100 riding and bopping along to Rick Astley on her phone speaker a few weeks ago reminded me that I have a mini sports speaker that I haven't used for aaaages!
Found it at the bottom of the drawer amongst my many many sportive medals and charged it for 8 hours yesterday.
Didn't have it on too loud and the wind and approaching cars drowned the music out quite a bit but when it was quiet it was like having my very own outside spin class, awesome!
At Hillers I decided to bypass the cafe and head for the farm shop, it's impressively huuuge inside!!
Ended up buying a seedy flapjack slab for the pricely sun of £3.15 sat on a bench and scoffed a portion of it along the my lemon curd sarnie, tasted delish. Took the rest home with a plan to take a small portion to work every day... of course that never happened and had finished the whole lot off within 24 hrs!!!
In future I may just buy the one slice for 99p, the temptation is all too much when taking goodies home.
Sports speaker may feature on solo rides a bit more from now on.
Todays' Fuel:
Special K, Oats and Golden Syrup (pre ride)
1 x SIS Go bar
1 x Clif bar
1 x Lemon Curd sarnie on white bread
50 miles covered!
Monday, 31 July 2017
Ride London 100 Weekend
Weekend forcast looking very good.
My first time driving to London ran like clockwork, set off at 8.30 and arrived at Travelodge at 11.30ish, no delays on the motorways and luckily there were a couple of spare parking spaces upon my arrival phew!
Signing on at the Excel was quick and easy, I then I had a look around the cycle show, it was usual cycle show gubbins - nothing spectacular but a nice way to waste time as I couldn't check-in to my room until 3, decided to have a burger and chips while at the Excel - tasted like cardboard! At least I got plenty of chips though (carbs!). Afterward, I ventured along the waters edge to Tesco to pick up an egg sarnie and a chicken and bacon pasta pot for my tea.
Checked in at Travelodge at 3 - tried to book a second night there but they were fully booked ouch. I had stopped at Potters Bar service station on the drive down so decided to book my second night at the Ramada there.
Bed plus sleeping mask at 9pm, a few times I started drifitng into a dream and then suddenly was aware and wide awake again, tried a sleeping tablet at 12, last I looked at the clock it was 1.30am - woke up at 4am - figured I had managed around 2 hours of continuous sleep. Dozed until 5 before getting up and ready to go. Checked out of Travelodge at 6 and was on the road to my starting pen at 6.15.
I arrived at 7 just as my starting pen opened, had over a hour to stand around waiting until it started to move towards the starting line at 7.40 - The Start time was 8.20 and impressively my pen actually rolled out on time.
Riding around London on closed roads is a surreal experience, especially as there were people at the side of the road cheering us all on. I kept my distance to the other riders, the majority of which still kept to the left side of the road including myself, I figured I'd leave the right hand side to the boy racers (FKW's!) however, annoyingly I still had the odd dickhead undertaking at speed.
As I had so little sleep (plus concerned about driving afterward) I decided to see how I felt at the first hub at mile 26 as to which distance i would do.
At the first hub I discovered the route so far had been very flat and fast, as I felt fine and wide awake I decided to carry on along the 100 mile route but miss out Leith and Box Hill, thus reducing total distance to 86 miles.
There was a a long steady climb up to hub no.2 out in the Surrey countryside, when I got to the top I was feeling a little tired, I spent half hour eating and drinking as much as I could before carrying on. There was a very welcome long descent just afterward.
There were plenty of people on the side of the road cheering us all on as the route passed through little towns on the return leg.
My 3rd stop was a drinks station about 20 miles before finishing, I didn't feel like eating at this point so a quick loo break and a few shot bloks and fig rolls to keep me going.
Last major-ish climb was Wimbledon Hill, it was steady and not too bad, shortly afterward I was riding in the familiarity of Central London counting down the final miles.
A final corner, through the arch, and down the Mall to the finish line... the best finish to a ride I've ever experienced - kinda felt like I was finishing a race and had achieved something.
I had a steady 10 mile ride back to my car afterward, luckily it was on the segregated Cycle Superhighway which was flat and dead easy to trundle along for a hour.
The 32 mile drive to the Ramada at Potters Bar was fine, wide awake and no delays.
Verdict:
A top notch experience and well worth the logistics, originally thought I'd do this as a one off but shall likely find myself throwing my name into the ballot hat when entry opens up for next year.
Stats:
4.5 miles to the start
86 miles on route
10 miles back to car
My first century ride so far this year
Fuel:
1 x Porridge pot (pre ride)
Banana (pre ride)
2 x Banana and Peanut Butter Wraps
3 x Cliffbars
8 x Fig Rolls
Haribo Jelly Babies
Shotbloks
Celeb Spotting:
My mate Chris Hoy stood next to me at hub No.1 - was too busy scoffing food to bother him though. Food is more importanter! 😀
Special Mention:
The lady standing on the side of the road shouting out we were all inspirational and should be proud of ourselves after all the horrible news that had happened recently.
Rider of the day:
The lady who rode past me bopping along to Rick Astley's Never gonna Give You Up on her phone speaker with a huge smile on her face, had her own personal spin class going on! 😃
My first time driving to London ran like clockwork, set off at 8.30 and arrived at Travelodge at 11.30ish, no delays on the motorways and luckily there were a couple of spare parking spaces upon my arrival phew!
Signing on at the Excel was quick and easy, I then I had a look around the cycle show, it was usual cycle show gubbins - nothing spectacular but a nice way to waste time as I couldn't check-in to my room until 3, decided to have a burger and chips while at the Excel - tasted like cardboard! At least I got plenty of chips though (carbs!). Afterward, I ventured along the waters edge to Tesco to pick up an egg sarnie and a chicken and bacon pasta pot for my tea.
Checked in at Travelodge at 3 - tried to book a second night there but they were fully booked ouch. I had stopped at Potters Bar service station on the drive down so decided to book my second night at the Ramada there.
Bed plus sleeping mask at 9pm, a few times I started drifitng into a dream and then suddenly was aware and wide awake again, tried a sleeping tablet at 12, last I looked at the clock it was 1.30am - woke up at 4am - figured I had managed around 2 hours of continuous sleep. Dozed until 5 before getting up and ready to go. Checked out of Travelodge at 6 and was on the road to my starting pen at 6.15.
I arrived at 7 just as my starting pen opened, had over a hour to stand around waiting until it started to move towards the starting line at 7.40 - The Start time was 8.20 and impressively my pen actually rolled out on time.
Riding around London on closed roads is a surreal experience, especially as there were people at the side of the road cheering us all on. I kept my distance to the other riders, the majority of which still kept to the left side of the road including myself, I figured I'd leave the right hand side to the boy racers (FKW's!) however, annoyingly I still had the odd dickhead undertaking at speed.
As I had so little sleep (plus concerned about driving afterward) I decided to see how I felt at the first hub at mile 26 as to which distance i would do.
At the first hub I discovered the route so far had been very flat and fast, as I felt fine and wide awake I decided to carry on along the 100 mile route but miss out Leith and Box Hill, thus reducing total distance to 86 miles.
There was a a long steady climb up to hub no.2 out in the Surrey countryside, when I got to the top I was feeling a little tired, I spent half hour eating and drinking as much as I could before carrying on. There was a very welcome long descent just afterward.
There were plenty of people on the side of the road cheering us all on as the route passed through little towns on the return leg.
My 3rd stop was a drinks station about 20 miles before finishing, I didn't feel like eating at this point so a quick loo break and a few shot bloks and fig rolls to keep me going.
Last major-ish climb was Wimbledon Hill, it was steady and not too bad, shortly afterward I was riding in the familiarity of Central London counting down the final miles.
A final corner, through the arch, and down the Mall to the finish line... the best finish to a ride I've ever experienced - kinda felt like I was finishing a race and had achieved something.
I had a steady 10 mile ride back to my car afterward, luckily it was on the segregated Cycle Superhighway which was flat and dead easy to trundle along for a hour.
The 32 mile drive to the Ramada at Potters Bar was fine, wide awake and no delays.
Verdict:
A top notch experience and well worth the logistics, originally thought I'd do this as a one off but shall likely find myself throwing my name into the ballot hat when entry opens up for next year.
Stats:
4.5 miles to the start
86 miles on route
10 miles back to car
My first century ride so far this year
Fuel:
1 x Porridge pot (pre ride)
Banana (pre ride)
2 x Banana and Peanut Butter Wraps
3 x Cliffbars
8 x Fig Rolls
Haribo Jelly Babies
Shotbloks
Celeb Spotting:
My mate Chris Hoy stood next to me at hub No.1 - was too busy scoffing food to bother him though. Food is more importanter! 😀
Special Mention:
The lady standing on the side of the road shouting out we were all inspirational and should be proud of ourselves after all the horrible news that had happened recently.
Rider of the day:
The lady who rode past me bopping along to Rick Astley's Never gonna Give You Up on her phone speaker with a huge smile on her face, had her own personal spin class going on! 😃
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