Tag Archives: audax

Vegan

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I ‘went’ vegan, already having been vegetarian for most of my life, in November 2008. November is Vegan Month and as my second full year approaches, and I can start to look back on the first few months of transition as the past, I thought I’d go on about it.

So why vegan? Animal welfare is the core answer and only the blindest or thickest of people could pretend that farming in the industrial way we do is kind to, or good for, animals. Obviously just me not eating eggs and dairy doesn’t actually make any animals better off in a society which over produces and throws away many thousands of times more animal produce than I’m not consuming. But we supposedly have a market driven economy where suppliers respond to demand – and I demand soya milk and egg free meat substitutes and leather free clothing and vegan biscuits and the like. There are other important reasons of course, such as sustainability, limiting damage to the environment and eating well.

Does being a fussy customer work? Well it certainly did for the ovo-lacto vegetarian movement, almost every pub, restaurant and cafe in the UK now offers veggie choices, it would be economic suicide not to! There may not be so many vegans yet but the easy options are fast growing: a choice of tasty vegan frozen goods at Holland and Barrett; vegan curries at Wetherspoons – even some (but not many) bottled beers and wines are marked as suitable for us nowadays and many more prove to be ok after a bit of research. The emergence of tough, waterproof, synthetics increasingly makes leather look like a sidelined, fetishist, choice. Vegans are customers and the more we buy the more commerce will offer and this will divert resources from producing and promoting animal based products, in percentage terms at least.

But why me in particular? Well as a long term veggie, and an animal lover of the sort who can clearly see that a sheep can feel pain and distress as surely as my cat can, it was maybe only a mater of time. I am not one of those who pretends that becoming vegan puts me at the the top of the kind to animals status pyramid, I’m well aware that thousands of creatures die to allow our industrialised agriculture grow the grain to make the bread that I throw away when it gets stale, but I do see veganism as another step upwards and I do think these changes are best made in steps rather than too gradually.

Chickens kept by kind owners in non-commercial situations may well have a happy life. Once profit becomes the motive though welfare tends to go out the window!

For many years I’ve been an audax rider, a long distance cyclist, eating many, many more calories than I need so I can squander them in pursuit of another 100 kilometres – I was painfully aware that it is one thing to ride and eat without causing any harm but another to obtain my fuel at the expense of animal welfare. A further incentive came from the fact that in Autumn 2008 I had some concern about animal abuse becoming more prominent in areas of my life I have no influence over and I felt the need to balance this out with action elsewhere.

Also, importantly, becoming vegan was a challenge I set myself, a bit of a mountain to climb with views and satisfaction waiting at the summit for me. Making the change was more about achievement than deprivation.

So come November 1st 2008 I’d been practising by having vegan days and I’d done a deal with Jane, my veggie partner, that I’d cook 3 days a week but if she cooked for me it’d have to be vegan. It was only going to be for November at first. Making the change was quite easy and fun in many ways, experimenting with new recipes, pigging out on vegan meat substitutes and ice cream. Since she retired Jane spends a great deal of time eating pub meals with her friends so she could eat veggie then and seemed to enjoy the vegan adventure at home. I on the other hand dislike just about any social activity that involves sitting and talking in groups so nothing for me to miss out on and even a convenient excuse if I need one. Jane seems quite amiable to stuffing her face and nodding while I drink too much and waffle so we have a vegan (for me) meal out at Wetherspoons, or occasionally the excellent Garden in Jericho, at least once a week.

I wasn’t too sure about the no honey thing at first, it just didn’t fit into my definition of animal produce. After all bees are just insects, ‘good’ insects I’m sure, same as ladybirds, but still insects, same as the greenfly and blackfly I continue to be mean to when they attempt to eat the vegetables I’m growing. But about that time the media started highlighting how colonies of bees were shrinking alarmingly and the potentially devastating effects for agriculture and plant life in general that could occur as a result of their loss. The truth started coming out about how greedy commercial bee-keepers had been treating them, ferrying them round hundreds of miles to sell their pollination services, making them grow artificially large and weak by constructing oversize cells, taking not just excess honey but honey they needed to survive and replacing it with sugar solution of little nutritional value. Yet again the money men trash nature in their ignorant greed. So now I get the honey thing, it’s just another facet of unsustainable factory farming treating animals as product, and I don’t eat honey.

The beer thing took a while. I’d always enjoyed drinking cask ales as a vegetarian, ignoring or excusing the fact that they are mostly fined with fish swim bladders. I love real ale, it was difficult, but there are plenty of tasty, animal free, bottled options. Eventually I drunk my last fishy pint – we all have to sacrifice something 🙁

It would be great to be able to say that from the moment I went vegan I felt healthier in mind and body. It wouldn’t be quite true though. My digestive system really didn’t like being deprived of all those dairy fats to slow it down. For several months I was not really happy to be too far from a toilet for too long. I slept badly most nights partly due to irritable bowel syndrome type symptoms but also because of the endless circular internal monologues of stress and depression. I felt weak riding a flattish 200k and took longer than usual to recover. I took pre-biotics and B12 supplements and never seriously considered going back to dairy, but for a while I was not the best advert for the vegan diet!

Looking back now though it was just change and change isn’t always easy and quite often has mental as well as physical side effects. I was getting genuinely stressed because of changes at work and a badly timed attempt to impose a somewhat incompetent manager on me – that wasn’t just diet! Of course I was knackered after long rides – I’d just taken up running again and expecting to start running 20 miles a week while changing my diet and continue to ride long distance was a bit much. And yes the digestive process does quicken when you eat less fat, this means less time for food to hang about in the gut causing polyps which are associated with colon and bowel cancer.

Eighteen months vegan and feeling fine!

Almost 2 years on and I think I can now honestly say that I do feel better than before I went vegan. I sleep pretty well, better than I can remember for a long while. My stomach is mostly fine and predictable and is even quite open to pints of adventurous smoothies that Jane will only pretend to sip. I think I’ve become better at shrugging off dark moods when I don’t feel like indulging them and at ignoring the fact that I hate my job. (I wouldn’t want to be one of these always look on the bright side types anyway.) I take B12 supplements and flax oil for Omega 3 and sometimes protein recovery drinks, usually hemp in soya milk. I make sure I get at least my 5 a day and usually also manage my 21 units a week without much effort.

I can certainly run better than ever before, mostly due to training of course but you can’t train without a good mindset and diet. I really enjoy running. I made a point of completing a Randonneur Round the Year (200k brevet a month for 12 successive months), as a vegan, while still running, I’m no slower and recover well. I’m currently focussed on doing my best at the Abingdon Marathon in tens days time but after that I’ll be looking forward to shorter runs and getting back on the bike and trying some of the longer distances with animal free fuel.

Being a vegan is good – I recommend it 🙂

Ever Picked The Wrong Day?

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Being as I’d got a week off work, and despite good intention to save my
efforts for marathon training rather than riding round the country, I’d
pencilled in a 200k Audax Perm for Tuesday. After all surely 200k on
the bike outbids 4 mile easy running in the cross training stakes!

Looking at the forecast Monday evening it looked damp in the morning but
pleasant, not too hot, in the afternoon. After listening to the
overnight deluge I hastily refitted my mudguards at 7:15am Tuesday.
Set off towards Hungerford in light drizzle, not enough to warrant
donning the rain jacket. The air was good and clean to breathe after
it’s wash and I enjoyed the lanes south towards the Berkshire Downs.
Any rain had stopped and the birds were loving the puddles in the lanes,
a couple of hares in a gateway looked at me then loped of leisurely.

A quite deep bit of flooding blocked the road at the foot of Hackpen
Hill, I opted to push along the raised grass verge and spare my feet a
wetting. Up the hill, down to Lambourn (just did all this on the
Anthony Maynard). Up the hill out of Eastbury and through the lanes to
descend to Hungerford, the first control, just gone 10am now and light
rain was falling. By the time I reached Marlborough the rain was no
longer light, I was warm enough though and didn’t want to put my jacket
on at the start of a long climb. Marlborough Downs were beautifully
grim, the now heavy rain meant all views tapered to murky shadows, the
top stayed hidden to exaggerate the climb, the descents at the end was
scary.

A very quick stop at Wootton Bassett but I did put the jacket on here.
Onwards to Cirencester where I took 5 minutes in St John’s Hospital, one
of those old market place type historic buildings, to down a couple of
ibuprofen and a Lyme Regis bar, then over to Bibury where the ducks were
having a fine time but the coach loads of tourists looked a bit miffed.
My bike had never looked so clean, even the wet road muck has washed
off, my socks felt like soggy lumps of cloth balled up in my shoes.

It was getting bit stressful at times finding my line between the
puddles which could easily conceal dangerous potholes. Being
‘philosophical’ about my choice of day was also taking it’s toll. The
time limit for this ride is 14hrs but I’d vaguely hoped for 10, I
decided to sacrifice this and control at Lechlade Garden Centre where I
could sit down with coffee and crisps. The coffee was boring but they
had vegan apple cake which was a definite bonus, customers looked
suspiciously at me as I puddled on the floor but the staff just smiled.

Back out in the deluge, couldn’t get any wetter and only 60k to go. Up
through Charlbury and on to Woodstock. The ride is called The
Marlborough Connection because it links Woodstock and Marlborough.
Cycle track then hairy main road at rush hour into Oxford. As I got my
final cash point receipt on the Cowley Road I noticed the rain
lessening, I saw my first glimpse of the sun on the 3k back home and,
crawling out the bath 30 mins later, the sun was shining. 209k in 10hr
18m overall time.

Eight hours of non-stop rain, the wettest ride I’ve had since PBP 2007!

Avon Cycleway

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The Avon Cycleway 130k Audax is run in conjunction with the Castle Combe
Caper 50k so Jane and I decided we would drive down to Bristol and I
could ride the 130 while she rode the 50. I’d traced the route through
on mapping software and found it formed a rough circle right round
Bristol – mostly, but not always, following the National Cycle Network
Route 10.

I didn’t expect to know anyone riding as the regulars who ride 200k and
longer Audax tend to shun the shorter rides as they don’t earn points.
It was a pleasant surprise then to find Matt, a previous riding
companion, champion faffer, and fellow holder of the rare PBP 2007 Hors
Delai award, swigging tea and stuffing his face at the start venue.
Turned out he had set off at 3am and ridden 100k to the start, I used to
do that sort of thing but I’ve grown out of it now!

Off we went at 8:30, I followed my GPS and immediately missed the join
pavement cycleway instruction and found a kerb between me and the route.
I caught the bunch back up and we made fast progress north, then over
Inglestone Common, a familiar route from other rides but in the opposite
direction, to the first control at the White Hart pub at Littleton on
Severn. At the start Matt had said he planned to ride without stopping
which I reminded him as he took a seat in the pub, we settled for a
quick soft drink and a munch.

On our way again heading South West making good progress through quiet,
rolling, lanes. Never far from the M5 but you wouldn’t know it. Small
groups formed and fragmented. We laughed to see bold orange arrows and
warning signs apparently marking our route for several miles, actually
put up for some big event due the next day. At the cafe by the beach at
Clevedon I declined to queue and eat, swallowed a Trek bar while Matt
purchased and scoffed his cake, and we were back on the bikes before his
crumbs had hit the floor. We were joined by a cheerful young chap on
his first Audax who was a strong rider but hadn’t got a route sheet
holder so appreciated our navigation.

The profile had showed the route to be a series of small up and downs
with a 200 metre lump around the 100k mark. This proved to be a long
but steady climb, it’s deserved a proper name but was too far West for a
Mendip and too far North for a Quantock. Our companion stopped at the
bottom but said he was fine. Matt started pulling away from me and I
didn’t try to catch him, after all he is in training for the inaugural
1000k Mille Cymru in July so if he can’t drop me on an English pimple
he’s going to be in trouble after a few 100k in the land of the dragons.

I surrendered at the Chew valley Lake Cafe and ordered chips and beans
with coffee. We sat outside in the sun enjoying the view over the lake
and chatted with other riders. Our earlier companion came and went.
Matt went to the loo while I went to get my bike ready but it was gone!
The rack where I’d left it was now occupied by other bikes, I checked
the other rack, not there. Matt’s bike was also nowhere to be seen. We
hadn’t locked them, very occasionally Audax bikes do get nicked mid ride
but I couldn’t believe this had happened to me. I went back to our
table and there they were on the ground where Matt had moved them
earlier for security. Didn’t you see them he said, you’ve been looking
right at them for the last 20 minutes!

I’d experienced some of the climbs in the last leg riding the Cheddar
Gorge 300 that also traverses them, mostly just short stings but enough
to slow the pace. The worse one I remembered from having to push the
fixed gear bike up it some years before. We knew the hills were finally
done when we joined a tarmacked cycleway along a disused railway for the
last 10k. I’d not been able to make sense of this on the map but it was
obvious on the ground. I wanted to get back for 4pm and Matt obliged by
putting a spurt on for the last but one kilometre then fading while I
belted down the road to the finish and stopped my GPS at 3:59.

I’m not usually geeky enough to delve into the GPS data and find how
long I’ve stopped for but I thought I’d have a look. 13 minutes at the
1st stop, 15 mins at the 2nd and 45 mins at Chew Valley – funny how time
flies!

New Forest Excursion 200k

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It had been Jane’s idea that we spend a weekend in the New Forest. She
had seen sunny photos of a 50k road and path ride in the CTC magazine
and the plan was she could ride this while I rode the New Forest
Excursion. I’d ridden the organiser’s other 200 a few times and knew to
expect an interesting route. It was also a fine excuse to stay in
Ashurst at a favourite vegan B&B, The Barn, where we could carbo load on
a 3 course meal the night before.

I got up early and rode the 18k to the 8am Lymington start with the wind
on my back, the forecast was cold with a Northerly so I opted for winter
gear. There was also the possibility of wet feet from the numerous
fords on the route. 24 cattle grids mentioned on the route sheet
suggested we were not spending too much time on main roads. The first
25k to an Info control near Winkton rolled by nicely. The open land was
yellow with flowering gauze and the young animals wandering around
everywhere, including in the road, were very cute. The forest bits were
full of birds, Goldfinches seemed to be doing particularly well this
year. We turned due North to Fordingbridge but the headwind I braced
myself for didn’t seem bad at all. I joined a small group of riders who
were vaguely familiar and we took turns to lead the group at 25kph over
gently rolling countryside. A few miles before Cranborne I eased off
and let them go as my knee had a minor grumble to remind me of last
weeks long walk over Salisbury Plain.

A lemonade and packet of crisps at the 60k Cranbourne control and I was
off again. This stretch was hard work, I realised the wind had swung
Easterly and I was now feeling it’s full force. There seemed to be a
lot of short ups and downs and my resolution not to use the little cog
soon dissolved. No one seemed to be passing me though, despite my
feeble progress, so I found comfort in the knowledge that others too
were suffering, a nasty trait that that I suspect we are the only
species to indulge in. There was an Info control due at 90k opposite
the Cuckoo Inn so I dug in and resolved to get there without stopping
then have a rest and stuff my face. I was joined there by several other
knackered riders and we enjoyed an impromptu picnic before we headed off
South for a much easier leg to Bolderwood at 116k.

I was getting rather alarmed by my pathetic average speed – 17kph moving
average according to my GPS. Even I couldn’t be that slow! Jane was to
meet me at the finish about 7.00 pm, at this rate it would be nearer
9.00! Anyway I was going well, rolling along nicely in the big cog.
The penny dropped. I had recently updated the GPS software and I’d not
changed the auto-pause settings. It was calculating my speed including
all the time I’d spent stopped. I’d actually covered over 100k in less
than 5hr 30m including stops and was bang on schedule with the toughest
bit behind me.

We were gently descending over open moorland, wind on our backs. I had
no larger gears and was happy at nearly 40kph. A lady I recognised as
Ann-Marie flew past me and then we were both passed by a yellow tandem
with a Rolhoff hub gear piloted by a chap who may well have been Andy
Blance, SJS Cycles Rolhoff guru. I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear
a sonic boom the rate they were going. My earlier companions were next
to pass. Well I couldn’t spin any faster so I let them all go. A bit
of a rise and I passed Ann-Marie, we yo-yoed for a while and I mentioned
Jane was out riding the 50k but may well of finished by now. A few
minutes later, descending the Ornamental Drive, I made out a familiar
figure up front and caught up with Jane who was having fun turning the
50k into a tour of New Forest pubs and teashops.

A Lyme Regis bar at the bike shop control in Bolderwood then I was off
to the seaside at Lepe, into the wind again but I’d got it’s measure
now. The smell of chips at Lepe beach cafe was good so I settled for
coffee, chips and beans and left feeling good. The tandem crew had
overshot a turn earlier and were still at the cafe with Ann-Marie. The
New Forest is actually a bit small for a 200k so the next leg was back
up north to Ashurst then onto Acres Farm Cafe near Lyndhurst. Acres
Farm was in a great setting, down a grotty lane through a ford, but only
had cake and cream teas to offer. Anyway I was still going well on my
Lepe feast. A can of coke and a nibble from my rack-pack and I was on
my way for the last 30k leaving my companions from the first stage to
work on their cholesterol levels.

A small herd of deer eyed me just feet from the side of the road but
declined to either run off or run in front of me and went back to their
grazing. The route took me back to Beaulieu then onto an Info, then
swung round for a 10k tailwind to the finish which gave the day a real
feel-good factor. 10h 35m so Jane wasn’t kept waiting again, a bowl of
tinned fruit then bikes on the car roof and off home with my Randonneur
Round the Year completed with a fine ride.

Chiltern Cotswold Brevet

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I’d not ridden this 200 for a few years but remembered it to be quite
lumpy as the name suggests. I arrived at the Great Kingshill start in
plenty of time to park and swig a cup of tea and found several familiar
faces, the various versions of ‘long time on see’ reminded me that it
had been November since I last showed up at an Audax calender event. I
guess there were about 40 of us there for the 200 (there was also a 100k
version that starts an hour later).

I’d had traced out the route and noticed it had changed a little bit.
It looked better to me, with even less main road than I remembered.
The start though was still down, and the finish still up, the steep
Hatches Lane and I deliberately gave the crowd a minute head start so I
could negotiate the potholes and debris and inevitable car coming the
over way with out the additional worry of a mass bike pileup. We were
s0on climbing Spring Coppice Lane and I was happy to use my granny cog.
A beautiful Chiltern morning with sunny views and snowdrops and Red
Kites everywhere. I rode with Gary, who had completed the PBP on a
recumbent he’d welded together out of scrap in his garage and was now
dreaming of building one from carbon fibre, for a while. I caught up
with a couple of the Willesden boys and we formed a loose group. There
was a checkpoint at the top of the Blelow Ridge climb and I was happy to
queue for a minute to get my card stamped.

A whizz down the other side and we were soon leaving the Chilterns and
heading north west to Lugershall then onto Chipping Norton.
Unfortunately the wind was blowing a strong and direct headwind and I
knew there was to be no real respite for the next 50 miles. We climbed
over to Ashendon then descended and immediately climbed to Dorton. A
quick stop for tea at Ludgershall and I set off alone only to catch the
Willesden again which meant we could take it in turns into the wind. A
boring but flat bit before and round Bicester then a delightful Cotswold
route through various Tews and Heythrop, a couple of Info controls kept
us in the quiet lanes.

We were well stuffed by Chippy, particularly Peter who had ridden a 200
the previous day as well. The Old Mill Cafe was full so we got our
cards stamped and headed for the shop where we found Rich Forrest who
wasn’t actually on our ride. He was riding a solo Perm 200 on his part
faired recumbent trike and we were all heading the same way after
Chippy. We left with the wind behind us and were soon zooming down
towards Chadlington. Rich’s ‘bent just sort of vanished down the hill
into the distance, not to be seen again.

After the Minster Lovell Info we turned north for a bit and had that
headwind back. I was enjoying myself but was struggling to keep up with
our group whose ranks had been swollen by a mixed bunch, a couple of
whom were raring to go. I let them go, they looked like they were
working much too hard for a fine day like this, and felt smug in the
knowledge that I knew exactly where we were going to turn and get our
tailwind back. In the distance a chap in distinctive white striped
shorts on a lightweight bike with no luggage was trying to hang on to
the peleton but the thread broke and I gradually caught him up.

We got chatting and he turned out to also be Nick and was relatively new
to Audax, this being his 3rd. His mate was a regular and was one of the
faster guys up ahead. Nick had no routesheet and was feeling the
strain so we stuck together for the rest of the ride and turned out to
be well matched. Another quick stop at Luggershall then off for the
last 40k. Nick seemed worried that we were the back markers, that we
were being terribly slow. I reassured him that there were at least 5
people behind us I knew of and probably loads more, anyway we were on
course to finish with two and half hours spare.

Followed the disused back road into Thame and then we joined the Phoenix
Trail off-road cycle path for a bit. I happened to know that the last
little bit gets muddy so got us back on to tarmac at Monks Risborough
and then we rejoined the route a bit before Loosley Hill where we were
to climb back up into the Chilterns. Nick didn’t seem to like the hill
so I took it as easy as possible and waited for him at the top, I doubt
he was even a minute behind. He had forgotten his front light and it
was going dark, I knew we had some rough roads to do yet and we were
soon into a hairy, pot-holed, descent followed by an extremely rough
ride along Bryants Bottom. We managed fine though and soon reached the
bottom of Hatches Lane. I reminded Nick that the Arrivee was less than
100m from the top and if I should drop him just to go right at the
T-junction and he couldn’t miss it. We managed to twiddle up there
together though and were both pleased to Finish. A bowl of tasty
home-made vegetable soup with pasta awaited us, the organising South
Bucks CTC know how to look after their riders. 206 hilly, windy,
kilometers in just under 11 hours – all in all a great day out on the
bike!