Cyclo-Cross comeback

When I won a place in Ride London 100 earlier this year I was lucky enough to have a chance to take part in a filming session that involved Helen Wyman.

During 1 of the car journeys between filming locations the conversation in the car was around what we had written in our submission to the competition.

My submission included details of when I used to race cyclo-cross as a schoolboy. Sitting in a car chatting with a multiple British Champion and the European Champion made me think about all the enjoyment I had from riding cross.

I have scoured ebay and my dads garage to get together enough bits to build a cross bike so that I could start again.

This all came together last weekend when I rode the cross organised by my old club Didcot Phoenix. On the Saturday I checked out the bike, snapping the chain and having to fix that, better than it happening during the race!

Sunday arrived and I set off for Didcot arriving at the course nice and early which meant that I could help Mum sort out numbers ready for the signing on process.

Then I was running back and forward between the HQ and finish line for the junior races so that I could take the judges cards back for Dad to sort out results. Not much had changed since the last time I raced!

Then after the Youth race I thought it best to ride a lap of the course to see what was in store for me. It was a long lap with some quite tricky sections so I was glad to have some time to check it out.

Then we were called to the line in sections; Juniors at the front followed by the women and then the Vets. The vets were split into 2 further sections 40-49 and 50+. I was at the back of the first section and noticed that one of the guys in the front row of the section behind had some rather fetching stripes across his jersey!

It wasn't going to be long before I was overtaken when the National Champion was starting only about 30 seconds behind me.

At the end of the first lap I thought my lungs were going to burst and my legs fall off, this was much harder than I remember. Mind you last time I raced I was a junior and this race was a Vet, I totally skipped the senior ranks!

I was the last person to only be lapped once so hence the last lap was a bit lonely and I was the last person to cross the finish line, but not before taking a tumble on one of the tight corners! 

Fortunately there was very little damage to me or the bike, unlike one of the juniors who came off breaking his collar bone, best wishes Issac hope you recover soon.

So my race was done and I had made my comeback. I thought I was quite fit having completed several marathons and an Iron distance triathlon but this was a whole different level! 

Thanks must go to the following:

Helen Wyman for inspiring me to ride cross again

Dad for helping me build and set the bike up

My brother Dave as although he doesn't know I nicked some bits off his old bike to build mine!

Mum for coming out on the course to cheer me on, just like the old days!

All of the organisers and marshals from Didcot Phoenix for putting on a great race.

I will ride some more races, I need to really get fit!

Safety!!

When I started my last post I said that I had not been up to much and writing about my ride to work wasn't very exciting.

I have felt the need to follow my last post up quickly by writing this one. Most of my posts have been about my fitness exploits from running marathons to riding long distance events to competing in triathlons. All of this fades into insignificance when matched against my ride to work when I really think about it.

My ride to work takes me across London along roads that have seen a number of my fellow cyclists not make it to their destination, there has been a large amount written about London's roads and safety of cyclists recently.  Unfortunately this is due to the number of cyclists who have lost their lives on the roads.

Boris Johnson has been criticised for making comments that have been portrayed as blaming the victims for how they have been riding, other writers have seemed to suggest that it is ok for cyclists to jump red lights. It seems to have descended into a lets blame the other party for the problem.

My views are that it is ok to suggest that cyclists should obey the rules of the road and ride responsibly, this is not any affront of any of the cyclists that have lost their lives.  I do not have any knowledge of the exact circumstances of their accidents to be able to make any comment either way on how they or the drivers were  acting.  I also think that it should be noted that there are motorists that should have their attitudes and behaviours questioned, advance stop lines are there to protect cyclists but many motorists believe that they should be allowed to stop within that box too. Indeed I have sat at one such line and had a metropolitan police van casually come to a halt at the advanced line, so there are a lot of people who need their attitude to our roads adjusting.

Until everyone accepts that there is no such thing as a perfectly behaved Cyclist, Driver or Pedestrian nothing is going to change. Some are obviously better than others and whilst I like to think that I am fairly well behaved when riding my bike I am sure that there are people who would point to some of my actions as not meeting their expectations. I know that I sometimes see some cyclists and drivers and think that they are not very considerate of the laws or each other, but only by working together, rather than blaming each other are things going to get better.

I have seen it written that cyclists jump red lights because they think it is safer, well in my experience there are plenty of cyclists who jump red lights through impatience and a thought that they will get to their destination that much quicker by not having the inconvenience of waiting at a red light. There are of course far more who do stop and wait for the lights as the law requires. To balance this out there are also plenty of drivers who also jump red lights for the same reason as the cyclists but again plenty who wait for the light to turn green.

I have also seen it written that cyclists who jump red lights are only putting themselves in danger, well no actually they are putting themselves in harms way but they are not the only people who they are endangering by their actions. Pedestrians who quite reasonably could expect the road to be clear for them to cross may find themselves being run into by the cyclist who has jumped the red light. I have also sat at a red light to see another cyclist ride straight through. Other cyclists, who like me were sat patiently, commented that they felt sorry for any driver that may hit them.

I have always found it quite strange when arguments occur between cyclists and drivers and the driver comes out with that immortal line "I pay my car tax unlike you" or words to that effect. Leaving aside the discussion about what constitutes car tax, it assumes that no cyclist drives a car. My trip to work consists of 2 sections, first I drive my car for about 45 mins then park up take my bike out of the back and cycle for about an hour, so actually I do pay my "car tax" like any other motorist. Of course I know that there are cyclists who don't drive just as there are drivers who don't cycle and I am not suggesting either has more or less rights to use the roads.

I read in the paper and on twitter this week that Police were stopping cyclists who were not wearing helmets or high vis gear to give them advice and also stopping drivers of HGV's to check on their situation.

Now until recently I could have been one of the cyclists stopped for not wearing a helmet and given advice, I say until recently as I now wear a helmet on my ride to work as I feel that my reasoning for not wearing one was flawed, I always used to say a helmet is not going to help much if I get crushed by a lorry, although this is still true obviously there are other kinds of accidents that can occur where a helmet is going to help save me from injury.

Despite having given a couple of paragraphs to the subject of helmets I do disagree with them being discussed as part of cycle safety, this may be controversial and an idea that people do not agree with but let me explain. I never used to wear a helmet when riding a bike other than when I had to because of rules of racing stating that I had to, this was despite the amount of advertising / education around the subject. I always felt uncomfortable wearing one, I really dislike wearing head gear of any sort. My point is that wearing a helmet is a personal choice and one that has been discussed and promoted widely, if people choose not to wear one that is up to them.

Discussing helmets can be seen as a distraction from the wider debate about cycle safety, if someone says the number 1 aspect of cycle safety is getting all cyclists to wear helmets this can detract from discussions around segregating cycle ways and making improvements to road junctions. If helmets is the number 1 aspect then everything else by default is a lower priority?

Recently I saw a video on youtube promoting cycle safety, the video showed the view from the drivers seat of a lorry looking in the mirror showing nothing beside it. The camera was then taken out of the cab and around the front to show a queue of cyclists between the lorry and the pavement.  The idea behind the video I'm sure is to show cyclists that they should not ride up the inside of a lorry but my initial thought on seeing the video is why do we allow such vehicles on the road if they have such a massive blind spot. On many occasions I have found myself between a lorry and kerb due to the lorry pulling up beside me rather than me riding up alongside the lorry. I believe that the big message to take from this video is simply that cyclists and lorries with such a blind spot will always be a danger to each other when sharing the roads. Yes a danger to each other, the danger to the cyclist is obvious, flesh and bone is going to come off far worse in a coming together as has so tragically been apparent this month, but in the nature of this post I am not looking to blame one or other party.

Something needs to be done to solve this, that could be segregated cycle ways or banning lorries with such blind spots from the roads at peak times, there must be a way to make the roads safer for all.

I am sure that there will be plenty of people who ride bikes and who drive that will have an argument against some if not all of my points. I welcome the opportunity to discuss them with anyone who disagrees, I am not adverse to changing my opinion if I can be persuaded properly but please be open to listening to my view as well as criticising it. We can not change opinions if we are not able to discuss and understand all views!

Please all road users consider each other and look at ways that we can all be safe on the roads whatever our method of transport.

Duathlon

So I have not had much to post about recently, only riding to work and that has not been very exciting.

So a little while ago when I saw a tweet from @dashing_divasuk asking for a cyclist to take part in Dinton Duathlon whilst she did the running it seemed like a plan.

Dinton Pastures is not far from me and I ride a bike a bit, so I duly answered the tweet to offer my services. Then the details came through, what time did I have to get up on a Sunday morning?!!

An email arrived from Sian to check that I was ok stil for the event and a text and a tweet, she had just checked the timings too!

Anyway I duly dragged myself out of bed at 5.30 put on my kit and drove off to Dinton Pastures, a lovely site and well worth a visit even if not competing at silly o' clock in the morning.

Sian arrived and we registered, collected our numbers and timing chip, the baton for the relay. I collected my bike from the car, numbered it up and racked it in transition, we were ready to go.

There was a mandatory race briefing, including the reason behind the early start, which was short and to the point followed by a quick explanation of how the transition for teams would work, I have never done a triathlon or duathlon as part of a team so this was all a bit alien to me.

At 8.40 Sian set off on her first 5k run and I went to get myself ready in transition to await her return. Her arrival was announced by the commentator picking up her number and giving a shout out to team Dashing Diva & Dude! fairly soon we were transferring the baton  and I was off on the bike.

I had guessed that it would take me about 40 mins for the ride but I had a bit of a stormer and surprised Sian by turning up back in transition about 6 mins before she was expecting me.

When Sian returned from her 2nd 5k run we had finished as the 4th placed mixed team, both quite chuffed!

The event was great, organisation was excellent and a good course, well worth getting up early for. Big thanks and congratulations to Ellie and the team for organising and marshalling a very successful event. Maybe next year I should return to complete the whole thing as an individual!

After leaving Dinton Pastures I headed over to Mum and Dads to say hi, blag some lunch and raid Dad's garage for bike bits to complete my cross bike. With the bits I had already and some spares from the garage along with nicking some bits of my brothers old cross bike I now have a complete bike! Just need to enter a race now!

Marathon Entry Process

Well with my enforced rest continuing I have no fitness details to write about so I thought I would put my thoughts about marathon entry processes down in type! Yes I have had a "Sorry" magazine from London Marathon along with so many other people.

There have been many comments on social networks about the process for the entry to the London Marathon including various questions about the fairness of the ballot. I think many people think that the ballot is a totally random pull names out of a hat type ballot but I do not believe this. I think that ages and times entered on the entry play a part. I don't know if I have read that this is fact or that it was something that has been suggested, either way it is a possibility.

The only way that people would believe that the ballot is truly fair is for the organisers to be totally open about the process. The drawback to this is that if there are factors around age and estimated times people would try to give themselves a better chance by fiddling these factors on their entry.

So it is a bit of a dilemma for the organisers if they give out too much information then they risk people trying to rig the process and if they keep it too secret they are accused of a lack of fairness.

I can't complain about the entry process personally, I have been lucky enough to get a place in the ballot twice and also ran the marathon twice more on a charity place.  The first ballot place I was successful with was just after they had scrapped the 5 rejections and your in rule, this is a rule that is widely being complained about not being in existence anymore. I guess the problem is that there were too many people who qualified for a place under this rule so it became impossible to honour and I can understand it being
removed.

The other rule that has changed this year that has come in for criticism is the Good For Age time changes, something that was never going to affect me.  My thoughts on this are that the times needed to be revised due to too many people achieving the standard, people are getting quicker! the issue I have is how the change was implemented mid year, surely the change should have been effective the following year when people had not trained and planned for the previous standard?

I do understand that there is huge frustration out there due to some people getting a place multiple times through the ballot whilst others enter the ballot every year for years and always get a rejection, something is clearly wrong with the entry system but I can not come up with an alternative that would suit all!
 
One thing that I do not understand is the delay between entry in April and finding out if you have been successful in October, this has not changed since the old paper system that I completed back in 2000 for my first attempt. Now the entry is fully computerised and it still takes the same length of time and we still have to wait for a magazine to drop through the letter box, surely this could be changed to be more efficient?

Other marathons have a first come first served entry process which people are suggesting for London, the issue I can see with this is that there are only so many places for the public, I am not sure the exact figure is ever published, but it has got to be less than 30,000! The ballot allows 100,000 people to enter and that sells out in a matter of hours, I remember the first year that Virgin sponsored the event the website could not cope with the numbers entering the ballot so how feasible a first come first served entry system would be I don't know. I'm sure some people would claim that is not fair either.

As many people have pointed out there are plenty of other marathons around the UK to enter, personally I have run the Brighton marathon every year since it started in 2010 and I have entered for next year too, how long I can keep running it every year I don't know, I guess it depends how long it is that it remains a first come first served entry marathon!!  I have run 9 marathons all together and along with the 4 in London and 4 in Brighton the only other one is at the end of The Outlaw Triathlon, I really must widen my marathon tastes!

So in summary, the London marathon entry system is not perfect but I don't have a solution for it but there are many other marathons out there that people can run if they want.

Now hopefully tomorrow I can get back on my bike and start training again ready for Brighton in April and Ironman UK in July!!

Rest & Recovery

Well I have nothing fitness wise to report since my last post!

I have taken a few days to recover post Henley and then ended up having another ambulance trip on Friday, apparently I had vertigo which completely knocked me sideways.  I think it may have been a smaller attack that took me out of Henley.

I awoke on Friday morning, yes Friday 13th, with a storming headache and no control over my arms or legs.  Getting upright to go to the bathroom brought on nausea and a definite wish to be horizontal rather than vertical!

So I ended up laying flat out on the floor of my bedroom whilst Amanda called for an ambulance, fortunately my eldest was up as he was due to be going to work.  He managed to contact them and they covered his shift so that he could stay and help.

The paramedics arrived and I still had an overwhelming desire to be horizontal despite their best intentions to get me sitting up! I felt sorry for them as they struggled to get all 6ft 2 and 14st 10 of me in a chair down my stairs into the waiting ambulance!  I must loose some weight!

Anyway after a short while we were off to the local A&E with me sweating profusely and unable to open my eyes due to the fact that when I did I was so dis-orientated that I felt that they had put me in a stretcher and raised it up to the roof of the ambulance!

After what felt like an age, but was really quite quick, I was pushed into a cubicle in the A&E department of the Princess Royal Hospital. A few tests later it must have been like a scene from Casualty as I was rushed through to the resus room and the doors slammed shut in Amanda's face.  I could hear lots of people crowding around and being asked constantly if I had pains in my chest, I didn't.

Eventually a Dr managed to convince me to open my eyes and ask me to follow his finger, immediately he was relieved to pronounce that it was vertigo and that the waiting anesthetist would not be required but that I would need to go for the CT scan anyway.

Obviously Amanda had given them some history about my fitness endeavors as they noted that my oxygen levels were showing as 86, the Dr made a comment that I should be in high 90's if I only had 1 lung working so the machine must be wrong! I could hear alarms going whenever I had that little clip thing on my finger, I would later find out that this was due to my pulse going below 50 which triggered the alarm! 1 nurse later that evening would resort to taking my pulse manually due to not believing the machine!

So I have had a pretty good checkup nothing wrong with my Head, Heart or Lungs just a dodgy inner ear!

Anyway this means that I need to take longer off before starting my training for Iron Man UK in Bolton in July which means that Andy King will probably beat me in that race now, I would have beaten him if I had managed to start my training straight after Henley, Honest!!

Challenge Henley

I think this is going to be the hardest write up I have ever done.

Ever since I started challenging myself to get fit I have always said no matter what I will finish the event. Well last weekend I didn't manage to finish Challenge Henley!

Things didn't start too well when on Friday trying to get my car ready to take my youngest son to his Nanny's where he was staying for the weekend, I tripped going out the front door and fell flat on my face jarring my shoulder.  By Saturday it didn't feel too bad and I thought I had got away with it.

So Saturday arrived and we travelled to Henley to register for the event,  rack the bikes and sort our different coloured bags out with the relevant kit.

All sorted, dinner eaten and checked into the hotel it was time to get some sleep!

Sunday arrived all too early! Porridge for breakfast and a cup of tea drunk it was time to head off to the start to meet up with Dave.

As we arrived at the start the Thames was covered in mist all looked very strange. A last minute check of red bag kit and the bikes complete it was time to don the wetsuits and await the start.

Due to the mist the start was delayed by 10 mins but then it was time to jump into the Thames and we were off.

The curse of The Outlaw returned and my breathing was all to pot again in the swim, I started following Dave but soon lost touch. It seemed like an age before the turn buoy arrived, at one point I thought I was getting close as I saw another swimmer going the other way but then realised they had a yellow hat on so was one of the pros! My shoulder started to hurt about 2 thirds of the way out to the turn giving twangs of pain every few strokes.

As soon as I rounded the buoy I was swamped by swimmers in green hats, the age groupers that had started 10 mins behind us!

With the mist over the water I could not see that much so had no idea how long it was to get back to the finish, eventually though I could hear the PA system so knew I was close. Arriving at the finish I was dragged onto the pontoon and on into transition.

A not so quick change and I was off on my bike. Amanda and Jennie cheered us on our way apparently I was only just behind Dave, according to the time sheets after I was only 45 seconds behind Dave at the end of the swim. He did take some more time out of me in the transition so I was just over a minute behind him starting the bike section.

I felt so much better starting the bike than I had at The Outlaw and was soon into my riding. After about 5 miles I had caught up with Dave and had a brief word as I went past, things were looking good.

Then the wheels started to come off, about 10 miles in and my shoulder flared up and was painful enough that I couldn't rest my weight on it as I rode. This pain lasted for a short while before easing off so I thought I would be ok.

Then about 20 miles the pain came back with a vengeance just as I saw Dave coming the other way, he asked if I was ok as I was riding with my arm down by my side, my response was "No"

I carried on resting my hand on my Tri-bars pad hoping the pain would relent like it had 10 miles earlier. As I reached the top of the road there was a right turn at which point I felt very dizzy. It was obvious that I would not be able to carry on and at the next junction I had to stop and lay down. 

The Marshall at the turn reported in that I was in need of medical assistance. Unfortunately the first car that arrived was on his way to a collision between 3 other riders. He stopped to give me a quick check over and ensure an ambulance was on its way to collect me.

The ambulance arrived and I was soon being checked over and transported back to the medical tent at the finish where I was checked again.

I have to say I could not have been looked after better the marshals and medical team were fantastic.

I kept a check on how Dave was doing on the website, it was great to see that he finished in a PB. I felt bad that I hadn't been able to stay to support him to the finish but I was under orders to rest as I looked a strange beige colour!

So now my attention turns to Ironman UK at Bolton next year, I am determined to sort out the problem I have with open water swimming!!

Cyclist Safety

Hi I have not posted anything recently mainly as my training has been a bit boring, I did fit in a swim last night to test out my new goggls for Challenge Henley at the weekend, hence my trip to work this morning was by train!

Travelling in by train gave me time to read an open letter to Laura Trott by Justin Shevlin.

Now I didn't see the article that he refers to so am not really qualified to comment on most of it. I do however have some issues with his response.

Laura is quoted as saying

“Cyclists wonder why they get a bad name. I see cyclists jumping in and out of the buses and people wonder why they get hit…..Cyclists need to help themselves and should not jump red lights. I would ride in London but I certainly wouldn’t ride like that, you just have to be careful. I can understand going down the outside of traffic but you should obey the rules of the road because we’re all road users”

Justin has an issue with this, thinking that it gives car drivers an excuse to think badly of all cyclists. Personally I agree with Laura on this quote, cyclists should obey the rules of the road and not jump red lights etc. Justin goes on to explain that he rode many miles around London including going through red lights. At this point he lost some credibility in my eyes. He goes on to ask is it just weaving if you are on a bike but overtaking if you are in a car, well no, you can overtake busses on a bike but I would suggest it becomes weaving when you go from overtaking one side to undertaking the other and back again without due care for other road users around you.

A quote from Justin is

"I know this wasn’t your intention, but today, as a direct result of what you said, cyclists on their morning commute would have felt more vulnerable and more at risk than they did on Friday morning."

We'll actually no I will not feel any more vulnerable on my cycle home tonight as a result of knowing of Laura's comments but I will as a result of Justin's and I will explain why.

Reading Laura's comments I find myself agreeing with the comments she makes, cyclists do need to help themselves, be aware of other road users around them and obey the rules of the road especially red lights.

Yes I agree with Justin that there is a minority of cyclists that do behave badly on the road but they will affect a drivers perception of all cyclists.  I like to think that I am not one of them, I obey red lights and am careful about how my riding affects other road users.

Justin's comments on the other hand seem to be aimed at excusing cyclists bad behaviour and suggest that as a cyclist there is no need for him to obey the rules. This attitude I feel will play into the hands of the frustrated drivers that he mentions. Now this may be me taking his comments the wrong way and not what he intended.

One comment of Justin's that I do agree with is with regards to the lack of comments about irresponsible drivers. In order to make London's roads safer ALL road users need to play nicely together and take some responsibility for each others safety.

This I believe can only happen if we all obey the rules of the road and don't have certain factions trying to make excuses or reasons for their own side to break the rules. I have heard comments along the lines of

"It is safer for me as a cyclist to jump a red light than wait with all the other traffic"

Now while they may believe this to be true the fact remains that cyclists jumping red lights is illegal, puts the cyclist in a position on the road that other road users don't expect them to be and gives drivers a reason to moan about all cyclists. 

However if, for example, there are junctions where it would be safer for cyclists to turn left on a red light, and I'm sure there probably are, then this needs proper planning including education of all road users to avoid the problems I mention above.

I read an article on the way home last night about lorries being fitted with safety equipment. Whilst I applaud any improvement to cyclist safety I did worry about the stats quoted. They suggested that the devices they were talking about would have saved 5 of 14 cyclist lives lost on the streets. Now I fully agree that these safety improvements are a great idea and if they even save 1 live they will be worth it but I feel it shows that there is still a lot more that needs doing to improve safety on our roads.

There will always be people of all modes of transport that complain about each other but I believe that the irresponsible road users of all manner are in a minority, I have met many polite car drivers on my rides.

I'm sure that just as Justin disagrees with Laura and I disagree with some of Justin's comments people will disagree with my point of view but hey wouldn't life be boring if we all had the same view!  One point of view that I hope we can all agree on though is that there is plenty that can and should be done to improve cyclist safety on our roads.

Throughout Laura's, Justin's and my own comments we have all views on what can be done to aid safety. There are many people and agencies who can assist with improving the saftey of cyclists on our roads and as I highlight above with regards to the lorries there is much to be done. There are also others who can throw obsticles in our way but ultimately there is only 1 person responsible for my saftey, given the current rules and limitations, as I ride to and from my London office!

Ride London 100

All the preparation had been done all that was left was to get to London with our bikes and check into the hotel to be ready for the big day.

My mate Dave picked me up in his van the bikes stowed in the back and we were off. We arrived at the hotel and it was immediately apparent that there was an issue. The guy behind the desk looked through some paperwork and then passed us onto his colleague. This guy was very apologetic when announcing that they had no twin rooms! He was quick to say that they would sort it and move is to a hotel just down the road. This new hotel was a higher price and parking had to be paid for but he went to great lengths to explain that they would pay any extra. He then gave us directions and a handful of cash to pay for the room at the new hotel and we were on our way!

So after some food and an early night the alarm went off stupidly early. Porridge and a banana was breakfast at 5am and then we were off to find our way to the Olympic park. It was quite obvious which way we should be going there was so many cyclists all going the same way.

When we got closer to the park we had to go our separate ways, Dave was at the Blue start and I was at the Black start.

Being part of team Skoda meant that I was lucky enough to have access to the hospitality tent at the start. I arrived and grabbed a coffee whilst overlooking the start line just as the first wave were being sent on their way.  Back to the tent for a bacon roll, I didn't think it was the best breakfast but who can resist a bacon roll at 6 in the morning? So as I was sat at my table with my roll a certain Laura Trott turned up and sat at the table next to me with a roll of her own so if it was good enough for her I shouldn't feel bad!

Skoda were heavily involved with the event and had lots of riders taking part in addition to our own team Skoda. This meant that there were lots of cameras around and interviews being done. I duly did mine worrying that I would say the wrong thing, still they can edit any bits out that they want to! One of the main things I was feeling at this point was a mixture of nerves and excitement, would my legs get up all the hills and would they last for 100 miles? Only one way to find out!

Our wave was called to the start pens but the film crew were still attaching a camera to one of the bikes and we had also not yet seen one of the team. As they finished attaching the camera our final team member arrived and we moved off to the start.

The start process all went very smoothly and we were away at our allocated time I was very impressed.

Having been a bit late to the start line we were at the back of the queue so we were going a bit quick on the 2 mile roll out to the official start. Unfortunately this meant team Skoda became fragmented. I had managed to stay with Chris and Seamus and we were rolling along quite nicely averaging about 20mph according to Chris' iPhone. A number of people were latching onto our wheels as we rotated round as a Skoda train!

All felt comfortable until just before we arrived at Newlands Corner. The other guys needed to stop to make use of one of the portaloos on the side of the road. As we started off again my saddle suddenly felt a lot harder than it had before but after a little while I was used to it again.

Then we hit Newlands Corner and it was obvious that I had left my climbing legs at home as the other two scampered off into the distance.  As I arrived at the top of the hill there they were waiting at the side of the road.  It was a similar story as we reached Leith Hill which is where we passed Boris. As we trundled on towards Box Hill I told the guys that my legs probably wouldn't keep up with them much longer.

I had the same issue on Box Hill although I did manage to keep pace with one on the team freespeed triathletes in her nice Virgin Active sponsored kit.  Once again as I hit the summit the guys were there waiting for me.  We started off again together but once again I lost touch a bit, I was hoping that they would just do their thing and not worry about where I was, they did.

A little while after I caught up with Dave, his start time was a bit in front of me. We had a quick chat and then I carried on, a little further on near Leatherhead another cyclist pulled up alongside and said hello, it was one of the people I had met at the Skoda training day at Milton Keynes we had a quick catch up and then he was on his way.

At Leatherhead I stopped at the hub which provided food, drinks and toilet facilities, having made use of all facilities I was on my way again. This brief stop gave me a bit of a second wind and I managed to catch a couple of wheels and took turns for a few miles. As we went through Kingston the barriers and the crowds gave the road a real atmosphere like being in a race it was fantastic.

The last 10 miles through London were amazing again I had managed to grab a wheel but this time it was all  I could do to hang on rather than take my turn on the front.

Then we turned the corner and rode under admiralty arch and on the Mall, what an experience, the crowds by the side of the road were amazing. Riding up those last few hundred metres was a fantastic experience, over the finish line and I had completed the 100 miles in 5hours 29minutes about half an hour quicker than I had hoped!

Having collected my medal, which is very impressive, my bag back from the lorry and my goodie bag I made my way back down into Green Park to find the Skoda tent. Having a few glasses of ice cold water I was just about ready to talk to the cameras again. I caught up with Chris and Seamus who had finished in a very impressive 5 hrs 7mins well done guys.

Just as I had finished my final interview with the camera crew Dave turned up so after a short rest it was time to find our way back to the hotel and onto home. Thames Clippers were putting on special boats, so we headed down to the pier and quite quickly were on board and away all very slick.

Ride London 100 has been an amazing experience but without so many people would not have been possible. Thanks must go to the following:

• Cycling Plus and Skoda without whom I would not have had the chance to take part.
• Skoda cycling for putting on the training rides before the event which taught me so much about riding in a group. Also for the hospitality at the start and finish areas we were very well looked after.
• Emma for the photo at the start.
• Stefan Wyman and his Matrix Fitness Racing Academy Team who were there on the training days for advice and support.
• Helen Wyman for lots of advice and also making me think about taking up cyclo cross again.
• Dave Hughes for getting me to and from the event, the logistics of this were no mean feat!
• Chris, Seamus, Hayley, Emma and Ben my team Skoda teammates for their support and encouragement over twitter leading up to the event.
• Special mention to Chris and Seamus  for waiting for me at the top of each hill!
• Jonathan Durling for his immense amount of work not just with us as team Skoda but for the event in general!
• And in general all the supporters, organisers and marshals who made the whole day possible!

Now I just need to get the training in for Challenge Henley next month!

www.virginmoneygiving.com/andrewfountain1

#backtothestadium

Well this week has mainly been about running rather than cycling, don't get me wrong I have still been out on the bike getting the miles in ready for Ride London but Sunday was all about going back to the stadium.

A year ago the Olympics came to London and to mark this anniversary the National Lottery Anniversary Run was organised. About 12,000 lucky runners got to complete 5 miles around the Olympic Park with the final 300 metres on the track that saw so many top class Olympians compete last year.

So at 9.15 this morning I duly lined up on the start line waiting for the official off. What could be better than the starter to be one of our greatest Olympians ever, Sir Chris Hoy. As mainly a cyclist rather than a runner this was fantastic to see and enjoy being sent on our way by this amazing sportsman.

The course took us around the park including going around the velodrome, I was having a great time! As we came back into the stadium we then were tantalisingly close to the track but had to double back under the stands to join the track further round.

As I ran around the track the atmosphere was amazing, crowds cheering and other runners all lapping it up, the phones were out, photos were being taken! Everything looked different from this angle and I was struggling to pick out my wife and son, eventually I spotted them and managed to wave enthusiastically as I went past.

Then all I had to do was complete the final 100m then I was there I had crossed the famous finish line in the Olympic Stadium! As I crossed the line I managed to grab a quick handshake with Iwan Thomas and then had to dash off to get my goody bag and get back to the stand to meet up with my wife and son so that I could change number and get over to the start again for the family run!

Yes if it was not enough to run into the stadium once I was about to do it again with my youngest son.  The family run was to be started by another cycling star, Victoria Pendleton! What a day I was having.

As Victoria sounded the horn to start our wave William ran off through a gap at a seriously fast pace, having eventually caught him and convinced him to slow down we settled into a nice pace around the park, his little legs did slow to a walk for some of it,

As we entered the stadium he announced that as soon as we hit the track we had to run the rest of the way! After 200 metres on the track we found my wife in the stands and posed for some photos. Once we were sure the photos were down we were off for the last 100 metres, William at a speed that I thought would give Usain Bolt a run for his money, I certainly struggled to keep up!!

We crossed the line, him still in front obviously! As we milled around the fishing line taking in the experience we spotted a certain Paula Radcliffe who was congratulating people and also very generously posing for photos, after a bit of patience waiting our turn I did manage to get a photo of her with William.

So eventually we did need to leave the stadium and wind our way back collecting our medals to the stand and on back to the station, a fantastic day out at the Olympic Park with an amazing opportunity to run on the Olympic track was over.  I will be back there again in a couple of weeks time but this time with my bike as I take part in Ride London100 as part of Team Skoda, I can't wait!!

Lazy Week

Ok so last week was a bit quiet on the training front, the only exercise I managed to get in was my daily cycle commute to work at 16 miles each way!

I’m beginning to think that my blog should be Andy’s Lack of Fitness!

So in the absence of any real news now may be the time to direct you to a proper blog about exercise. If you would like to see this please hop on over to my cousin’s page at lazygirlrunning.com, much more informative and better written than mine!

Alternatively if you are interested in art my Sister in Law has a fantastic blog at  sketch-mad.com where she shows off her amazing talent. She has a whole series of bear paintings which are absolutely stunning!

Meanwhile I need to get my trainers on and get out on the roads to do some running, I have the National Lottery Run coming up this weekend. After running the 5 miles in the morning I then have to keep up with my youngest son as we complete the 1.5 mile family run! Any thoughts on who is going to cross the finish line first?!

Interestingly they seem to have made their shirts on the large size, most race shirts I get are a bit small even in the XL size but for this run the shirt they have sent me actually fits. Although most of the people commenting on twitter are complaining that they are too big, one person’s small apparently fits like a nighty!!

Hopefully next week will have more news, I really need to get more miles in on the bike, running and swimming!!

Busy Week.

Well OK it has been a bit busier than usual for training.

Sunday my wife dragged me to the pool to get some swim training done, having watched my stroke she told me that my arms cross in front of my body rather than going straight forward.

Monday morning my shoulders ached from not having swum for ages, more swimming time must be booked in!

So on Wednesday I decided to forgo my ride to and from work to be fit for a swim session that night. My son on duty and duly gave me a swimfit card for 64 lengths, tis worked quite well and was certainly more interesting than just ploughing up and down for 64 straight lengths.

So then Thursday morning arrived and I duly pulled on my team Skoda kit and headed off to Milton Keynes for a training ride.

I was put in the first group to set off, this was supposed to be the fastest group of the day. Had I put down the right speed on my application?

Anyway as we rolled out behind the pros from Rapha Condor I felt good the pace was about right. It was good to be back riding in a group again trying to remember the etiquette that I learned on the last ride.

We were riding along quite nicely when a siren could be heard coming from behind. We duly strung out in a single line keeping close to the edge to let the Ambulance past. Unfortunately I hit a large stone on the road and a few metres later my back tyre had deflated.

Having stopped to change a tube it was obvious that my fellow riders follow the Top Gear etiquette in these situations and carried on riding.

Having replaced my tube and just starting to pump it up, the second group came past. Thankfully the Team Matrix car that was following them stopped and Stefan came running over with his track pump. Whilst Stefan pumped up my tyre and put the wheel back in my bike I cleared up my tools and punctured tube ready to give chase to the group that had just passed.

After a quick chase I managed to catch up and then sat on the back for a rest, my legs and lungs bursting. My rest was short lived as I somehow soon found myself on the front. Not knowing how fast this group wanted to ride I paced myself to the guy inside me. Then one of the pros from the matrix team came up to ask us to slow down, oops!

Having let someone else take a turn on the front, somehow I found myself back there again shortly after, unfortunately another call came from the back to take it easy I'm not very good at pacing!

Well I need to get back in the pool again, definitely won't be told to slow down there!!

p.s to be fair to my fellow riders who left me behind, I did just slip off the back quietly to change my tube!!
p.p.s Good luck to anyone taking on The Outlaw this weekend, below was me finishing last year!!

Tri Fitness

OK so another sport that I used to take part in during my youth that I am getting back into is Triathlon.

Last year a friend of mine convinced me to take part in a Long Distance triathlon, his wife had just completed the UK Ironman and during a twitter exchange I agreed to enter the following year if he did, his response “your on”

Following on from this we agreed that we would enter The Outlaw rather than the Ironman, they are the same distance but it’s all to do with branding and copyright etc. So I duly entered, this would be my first triathlon in about 20 years, what was I thinking?!

Fortunately another friend of mine, who had also been convinced to enter The Outlaw, suggested the Mid Sussex Triathlon was a good short distance event to do, so I duly entered this one too so that I could at least remind myself of what it was like to go from swimming to cycling to running and the techniques involved in a transition!

Having completed the Mid Sussex Tri I was feeling a little better about the big one but my Swimming was definitely a weak area! By the way anyone thinking of trying a triathlon I can fully recommend the Mid Sussex, it is a very friendly event and very well run for the enthusiast to the beginner all are made to feel very welcome!

So roll on to July and the Weekend of The Outlaw, all my kit was distributed to the various bags and stored in the relevant area, my bike was racked and ready to go all I needed to do was turn up the following morning!

The swim started badly I didn’t get my breath right and swam the entire 2.4 miles with my head out of the water, not a good look. I was so glad to go into transition and get my wetsuit off and then on to my bike! As I left transition my mate who had convinced me to enter was standing there cheering me on.  Did I forget to mention the fact that he didn’t enter? Although he did compete as the cyclist for a team!

The bike and the run course were very windy but I managed to get round ok and crossed the finish line in 14 hours 51 minutes and 32 seconds, I had done it I had completed a long distance triathlon! I decreed never again!!

So when my mate, the one who did complete The Outlaw, asked if I would be up for Challenge Henley you would think that I said no chance, well no actually I was keen to take part and fortunately my parents bought me an entry as my Christmas / Birthday present! So 8^th September this year I will be taking the plunge again! Not sure my son is too happy it is his 16^th birthday that day.

As per last year my preparation included the Mid Sussex triathlon which I completed a couple of weeks ago and managed to achieve a PB, despite suffering the same problem in the swim that I had at The Outlaw, fortunately I managed to recover my breathing after the 2^nd length!

Oh and I have Ride London to prepare my legs a month before the big event too! Go team Skoda!

Team Skoda

OK so this is my second post in 2 days, I promise they won't be as frequent now!

As I mentioned in my last post I have been lucky enough to secure a place on Team Skoda for the Prudential Ride London 100 event.  In preparation for this I have been on a training ride starting at Crawley Down and taking in the delights of Leith Hill, it was definitely a change riding in a group rather than on my own!

There was a lot to remember about riding in a group that I have forgotten over the years so I deliberately stayed near the back to avoid getting in my fellow riders way. This also allowed me to observe the proper etiquette for riding in a group from people who were more used to it. 

Most of this is common sense, lots of signalling and not only which way you are turning at junctions! Slowing down, moving out to pass park cars and other obstructions on the side of the road, pointing out potholes in the road!

As we were approaching the bottom of Leith Hill the Pro’s from Rapha Condor,

who were guiding us, passed along the group advising us to top up on our nutrition before we hit the hill. 

Then we were on to the climb, something I was not looking forward to, my legs are not used to hills!  I was pleasantly surprised as I started to climb, my legs were being tested but them and my lungs were a match for the hill and I managed to get to the top in good time.

After a rest at the top waiting for all the riders to re-group we were off on the descent, as we set off I realised how much I didn’t like going downhill! My dad once took me down a hill at a cyclocross event on the back of a tandem to show me how quick I should go down it!! Going downhill in a group is definitely something that I lacked experience in, lots of space between riders on the descent was important to ensure that all riders could get down safely!

So safely back at base and a few more miles in my legs but a big benefit of this ride was the experience of riding in a group and the protocol required!

Another day that I spent with Team Skoda involved riding along the same bit of road several times, then getting in a team car and being transported to another location to ride along another bit of road several times, 4 locations in all. There was a purpose for this there were a number of other people around all carrying cameras!

I felt very privileged to be on this day and in the presence of some fantastic people, sitting in a team car with 2 of my Team Skoda colleagues, a top team boss and the women’s European and National Cyclocross Champion, who also happens to be ranked 2 in the world is not something that happens every day!

Talking cyclocross on this day has pricked at something in me, taking me back to my youth and memories of the fun times I had getting covered in mud! I’m now wondering if taking on The 3 Peaks is an option for next years challenge, anyone got a cross bike they can lend me for a season (or 2)???

Challenge to Train

My cycling history has been varied, aged about 8 I started to ride in competitions, mainly cyclo-cross but never really had the motivation to train.

Then my brother won the under 15 National Schools Cyclo-cross championship and I thought I needed to try harder, I never reached that height, the  best I could manage was 4^th in the Nationals.  Thanks to big brother winning the Over 15 champs that year we did win a nice team trophy though!

Fast forward to my adult life and I still lacked the motivation to train so thought I would set myself a challenge that would force me to get fit, I talked a good friend into riding with me from Lands End to John O Groats.  This we managed to complete in just over 7 days (7 Days 5 hours and 10 minutes, it’s indelibly engraved in my memory!)

A few years later I convinced my Sister-in-Law to accompany on a ride from John O Groats to Lands End, I needed it to be different from the previous End to End to avoid me saying to myself “I’ve already done this once” and giving up if the going got too tough!

Other challenges have involved Marathons and Triathlons and through my running I helped to raise money for the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund and subsequently discovered that Ron was instrumental in the creation of the Eastway Circuit that I used to race on as a Junior.

Having realised that the old Eastway circuit was now the Olympic Park and the start of Ride London I was gutted to have missed out in the ballot to gain a place to ride.  All was not lost though as I was lucky enough to win a place to ride with Team Skoda, now I had another challenge to encourage me back onto the bike again this year.

The other challenge around training is finding the time to fit it in! Riding to work seemed to fit the bill, 16 miles each way is a good start and means that I should be able to fit in at least 160 miles each week.

When I first started to ride to work I thought I was doing ok but then someone would come past me as if I was standing still, now I have been doing it for a few months I am passing more people than I get passed by! It must be working I am getting fitter and faster.

The only problem with my ride to work is the lack of hills, so when I went out with team Skoda and the Rapha Condor riders to tackle a training ride recently I was concerned about the prospect of Leith Hill, happily I managed to get up it quite quickly although my legs were complaining at the top!

Roll on 4^th August and Ride London, oh and then there is a little matter of an iron distance triathlon in Henley the following month!

What challenge can I think up for next year to keep my motivation to train going??