Tag Archives: fixed

Hundred Thousandth Mile

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I rode my 100,000th mile last Thursday, or at least the 100,000th mile since I started recording them in 1998. Everyone of them on a vegetarian diet of course. Working on an overall average of 12.5mph (I’m not very fast) I think this is about 330 days non-stop or about 30 million pedal revolutions.

What with training for the Oxford Half I’d known in advance that I would be pushing it to get an audax perm in during September so I’d booked a couple of days off work to increase my chance of choosing a nice day. As the end of the month drew near it looked like warm, dry and sunny was to be the only option available and I wasn’t going to complain. So I decided on Thursday and, despite the unwelcome appearance of toothache the evening before, at 7:30am I was on my fixie heading out towards Hungerford on the 1st leg of the Marlborough Connection.

I knew I would get some traffic at this time on a weekday but most of the lanes were ok, in fact turning off the congested crawl of the A338 onto nearly empty lanes through Garford and Lyford was quite surreal. There was a road closed sign across the bottom of Hackpen Hill but I risked ignoring it and the work crew at the top kindly let me through though I suspect that I’d have had to retrace and climb up Blowingstone instead if I’d been a bit later and they’d started spreading tarmac. Close call!

The hilly lanes after Eastbury were lovely in the already warm sunshine, just me and a few pheasants who were hopefully unaware what was in store for them. At the top of a hill a black and white cat stepped into the road and requested attention. I stopped and patted his head, looked around for his house but couldn’t see it, there was a thick bit of woodland though which could well hide a cottage or two. He had no collar but his belly and laid back manner suggested he wasn’t starving. I worried for a moment whether I ought do ‘something’ but he wandered off out of our bit of shade and sat in a ploughed field in the sunshine looking totally content so I got back on the bike and carried on to Hungerford.

I bought doughnuts at Hungerford and they maliciously summoned my temporarily forgotten toothache. Oh well, a couple of ibuprofen, lots of water in me and my bottles and I set off for Wootton Bassett. Passing through Ramsbury it became clear that the local scarecrows had been out on the tiles. A couple of them relaxed near someone’s front door, one seated in a large planter. One sat on a porch roof with a bottle in one hand and a tankard in another. A scarecrow penguin stood in the pub garden.

The long climb up the Marlborough Downs was pleasant though I was very glad I’d plastered myself in suncream. A brief stop at Wootton Bassett then a bit of a tailwind through Cirencester and up part of the Whiteway before I turned east towards Calmsden for the first Info and then onto Lechlade for another short stop. I could have made better time but had already decided to take it easy being only a few days after my half marathon, I’d even brought lights just in case I loitered too long. It was good to ride with no target time for a change.

The Cotswolds, and particularly the woods after Charlbury, were very pretty in the late afternoon light and it was a bit of a shock to find myself on the busy A44 to Woodstock as the commuters streamed home. Fortunately there is a lot of usable cycleway between Woodstock and Oxford so the last leg was slow but not too hairy. I did get back on the main road for the last mile round Peartree and Woodstock Road roundabouts though as the cycleway takes you over 2 fast A34 slip roads then dumps you on the wrong side of a busy roundabout with no easy way to get back into the traffic flow.

I got back home before dark having taken about 11hrs 30m. That was the 11th monthly ride of my current fixed wheel Randonneur Round the Year so I plan to ride one more 200 in October then give it a rest for the winter so I can concentrate on my running.

(The toothache came back with a vengeance that evening and left me in pain for most of the weekend – I can feel myself developing an unwarranted aversion to COOP doughnuts which is a shame as they are vegan.)

A shorter PBP

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Whilst I hadn’t found myself regretting my decision not to ride the prestigious PBP this year I thought it would offer a good excuse to design a different route for the August audax ride I needed to continue with my current Randonneur Round the Year. So at 8am Sunday 21st, a few hours before several thousand riders would gather in the Paris heat to embark on the 1200km to Brest and back, I headed out west from Oxford on the first leg of my Poulton – Burbage – Piddington 200k DIY-GPS Perm.

Usually I try and get a bit of rest before a long ride but the previous week had been quite active for me, with the Oxford Half coming up soon I need to build up my running again. I’d raced the Bearbrook 10k with fellow VCACs the previous Sunday, managing to avoid throwing up this time and finishing only 4 secs slower than last year. Then an 8 mile run on Thursday, the longest I’ve run for a good while, followed by an easy 3 miler on Friday. Saturday morning I tried my best at the Abingdon parkrun running hard enough to chuck my breakfast but not for a PB.

Bearbrook 10k 2011

So what with well-used legs, and the planned route being well over nominal distance at around 225k, I reckoned a 12 hour target time was reasonable and was planning on taking it easy and stopping when I felt like a break. Perhaps I should have geared back down before starting as my 72 inch made me work a bit into a slight headwind for a lot of the first stage, I had no intention of stopping mid-ride and flipping the wheel though.

I got through Oxford and along the B road over the Swinford Toll bridge early enough to avoid too much traffic then enjoyed the lanes through Clanfield and on through the pretty villages around the River Coln. The morning was cool but pleasant and I didn’t feel the need to stop until my planned few minutes rest and an eat at Poulton. The wonder of GPS-DIY Perms is that you don’t have to search round for proof of the visit, a till receipt or rubber stamp often being hard to find at quieter places. The GPS track file itself is used as proof.

Heading south now and a little disappointed to find I’d still got a nagging headwind though at least this bade well for the next and longest stage after Burbage. I suffered a bad patch through the flatlands around the Cotswold Water Park with the miles passing too slowly and a touch of ‘why am I doing this?’. I stopped mid-stage at Wootton Bassett for water and Jelly Tots then set off towards the double climb up onto the Marlborough Downs looking forward to the change of terrain and hoping not to end up walking as I did last time I took this road on fixed.

I winched myself up the first lump with a bit of groaning but not too much pain. Then whizzed down to cross the A road and was pleased to make it up the second climb, confusingly one of 2 Hackpen Hills hereabouts both of which have the Ridgeway at the top. A group of cyclists including a tandem were resting at the top and soon caught me as I tried to keep my speed down on the following descent. The tandem stoker made a point of explaining that they were on a 4 day tour for the over 60s as they passed. A bit later as they stopped to regroup above Marlborough recognition clicked in – the tandem team were John and Shelia Ward, John being AUK’s Permanent Secretary.

I’d opted to avoid the main road and add a couple of kilometres by taking the permissive road through the Savernake Forest after Marlborough. While being very pleasant this straight bit of road is also full of huge potholes and undulates somewhat. I passed a couple of bunches of leisure cyclists and stopped in the shade for a snack and a photo.

Changing direction but not stopping at my Burbage control I now had the wind behind me and enjoyed a fast ride in the sunshine next to the Kennett and Avon Canal through the Bedwyns to Hungerford where I stopped to buy water as the day was warming up well.

The climbs over the Downs through Boxford, Catmore, West Ilsey were great with the wind behind me and the sun now constant. I saw deer, a big brown rat, a sparrowhawk keeping low by the hedgerows. Both buzzards and red kites were in abundance and twice I spotted the two species circling together over recently cut fields, not a good day to be a mouse. Then came the long descent towards Chilton where 500 unavoidable metres along the A34 dual carriageway with it’s exhaust stink and roadside mess offered an unwelcome contrast.

Tiring a bit now I ate a gel riding through Didcot and noticed just how low my water was getting. Back in the lanes I looked out for shops in the Wittenhams, I didn’t want to stop for my next planned eat till I’d got some liquid to wash it down with. I diverted into Notcutts Garden Centre only to find it closed with no obvious outside tap. The Severn Stars pub in Marsh Baldon was also closed as is to be expected at 5:30 Sunday afternoon. I drunk my last sip and climbed the hill to Garsington, not far from home now but still a long time till arrivee as I had to overshoot Oxford to get to my next control. I spotted an outside tap on a house and knocked the door to ask for a fill-up, the lady who answered was only too glad to help out. Half a bottle went straight down to accompany a porkless pie then it was back up to speed and onwards to Piddington.

If it hadn’t begun with a P then Piddington would be my last choice for a turn-about control as it’s at the bottom of a hill. But down I went, stopped and swallowed an energy gel, then about turn and straight back up again. Only about 10 miles to go but I was now straight into the wind and it was taking it’s payment for earlier assistance. I passed a bunch of young riders fixing a flat but they soon made short work of me on the climb up to Beckley. Through Barton, under the subway, down the ring road cycle track and I was home for 7:40 pm – 11 hours 37 overall for 142 miles.

A thoroughly enjoyable ride on a lovely day but my body made me pay for it later. Having been mostly comfy on the bike for the duration as soon as I tried to sit in a normal chair I found I’d been rubbed raw and was happier standing up. After heading for bed early I was kept awake by what felt like every bone and joint in my legs hurting, I’m used to achy, crampy muscles but this felt like the very foundations were having a go. I was very, very glad not to have another 1000k to ride over the next few days – quite enough PBP for me!

Anthony Maynard Sportive 2011

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Another poor nights sleep and I really didn’t feel like driving to Theale and winching the fixie round a hilly 110k in the rain. Still I dragged myself away from my computer game and into the car and shoved Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in the CD player to try and get in the mood.

Parked and got me bike out then went to collect my frame number and timing tag and say hello to fellow Vegetarian Cycling and Athletics Club rider Steve. Being an audax rider who just does this particular sportive I still find being surrounded by several hundred other riders a bit novel. A good look at all the carbon fibre and narrow tyres about revealed a couple of other riders had mudguards of sorts but I couldn’t see anyone else with just the one cog.

The riders doing the Anthony Maynard Sportive 190k option were mostly on their way and it was the turn of us on the 110k to have our chips dibbed then be sent off in groups. I’d have done well to have noted the time so I knew whether I was on target for the bronze standard 5hr 30m I was after but ended up having to work on the assumption that we were dibbed at 8:40. Steve hung back for the first few kilometres then passed a good few of us as he disappeared impressively up a hill.

Was it raining already? I can’t remember but suffice to say that the few dry bits were the exception rather than the rule. The first climb up onto the downs surprised me by it’s apparent absence, we somehow ended up on top by the Four Points Pub without me even having to get out of the saddle. We rolled along into the wind through the ups and downs of the road through Compton and the Ilsley’s. Some stitching broke on my saddle pack so I had to stop a couple of times to make sure all was secure and to do something about the infuriating knock of buckle against mudguard. I held my own till the long descent down Chain Hill into Wantage but then had the inevitable experience of many riders whizzing past as I feathered the brakes to keep my cadence at a bearable level.

I’m familiar with the steady climb up Hackpen to the first checkpoint and local knowledge assured me that we’d be downhill and out of the wind immediately after so I enjoyed the climb up in the rain past the photographer. In fact I seemed to be going pretty well and the disillusioned morning mood had swung out the other way into the dizzy ‘isn’t this rain great’ glad to be alive that can come with riding a favourite bike on a fine route.

I ate a banana and refilled my water then grabbed a packet of organic mashed lentil baby food for later after being reassured it wouldn’t do strange things to my stomach. Less than 5 minutes stopped and I was heading downhill for Lambourn. The rain was giving us a brief break and I thought I’d entertain myself by counting the discarded gel sachets that sportives are reputed to leave in their wake. In fact I saw only one during the next five miles – just wish the motorists were so conscientious with their empty cans and bottles.

The turn eastwards at the Lambourn ‘bifurcation’ was rewarded with a noticeable tailwind but also with a particularly wet period which left me wondering just why I was lugging a jacket round if I wasn’t going to put it on. I was quite warm enough with a base layer under my shirt though so couldn’t see the point. This stage was the easiest of the three but the combination of Newbury Downs flint and the wet had caused an epidemic of punctures and I must have passed dozens of riders changing tubes by the roadside, amongst them club mate Steve. I waited for the gentle bump of rim against deflated rubber but it never came.

I was making good progress and reckoned I could easily meet my target time even if I did have to fix a flat. Without problems finishing in 5 hours seemed a possibility though I knew not to under estimate the lumps in the last section. I tried to open the baby food with my teeth then realised I was on track for a messy experience and stopped for 30 secs to open and consume the cold lentil curry. Hmmm – odd but nicely savoury!

Less than 5 mins stopped at the next checkpoint then onwards over the series of bumps known locally as the Boxford Alps. I doubt any of the climbs exceeded 50m but there are at least 4, I felt near enough the finish to put my all in as I honked up them passing twiddling geared riders then watched the same riders pass as I had to use the brakes on a couple of the descents. The rain stopped and a sign saying ’10k to go’ inspired a couple of small groups to wind it up and pass me. I hung on to a group but they were doing 35kph and while I maybe had the energy my tired legs really didn’t like the cadence so I let them go.

One last hill, Red Shute, where I passed a couple then we popped out the end of a little lane and the finish was in sight. I dibbed my chip and went inside to hand it in where I was given a little printout slip saying 4:48:55 Bronze. I reckon I was about halfway down the field which is good enough for me particularly on fixed. Bike in the car and I headed home feeling as cheerful as I had miserable on the journey down.

Lincs Leadout 600

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The plan for a good 6 hours sleep the night before my first 600km audax in over 3 years didn’t quite work out. Alarm set for 4:15 but an intermittent toothache I really ought to get sorted decided to nag and didn’t let me go to sleep for a while. I was then woken early by Lala howling and, after I dozed off again while Jane dragged herself downstairs to feed the demanding creature, woken again by Lala’s encore as she announced she’d done something very smelly in her litter tray. So somewhat tired I fed myself breakfast and coffee and Jane stirred herself again to give me a lift to the start at Goring.

A cup of tea at Trailblazers bike shop, which had kindly opened up at this early hour to accommodate the start, then 6:00 am and we were off – well a few of us were the others still seemed to be faffing about like there was no hurry. Chatted away the first short leg to Long Crendon where Phil was waiting to stamp our cards. I stopped there a few mins and ate a Veg-Out sausage roll, the secret of these long rides is eat early, eat often.

The next stage to Ross’s place in Earls Barton was the longest and I was expecting to feel the hills around Chearsley and Winchendon even though they are not exactly mountains. A chap called Peter joined me for a bit, a strong rider doing his first 600 as part of his PBP qualification (in fact I think I might have been the only rider who definitely wasn’t going for PBP). He was inquisitive about veganism and I tried to explain why some of us felt consuming milk and honey was bad as it often financed the abuse of the animals producing the stuff and because it meant depriving the creature the food was meant for of nutrition. Like many he didn’t seem to have considered that the honey and milk might not just be going spare. It was pleasant to talk to someone who didn’t seem at all defensive or critical but I don’t think I made a convert. I didn’t really notice the hills.

I stopped for a nibble somewhere after Winslow then stopped again to take a layer off in Salcey Forest as it was getting warm and sunny – unfortunately this precipitated a downpour so effectively that it was raining well before I even got back on the bike! A short shower though and I was soon enjoying beans on toast in Earls Barton at 110k.

We followed pretty lanes along the Neme valley and I made the Oundle control a short stop continuing on towards the next control at Bourne. Another brief shower came and went, then a longer, torrential, deluge which lasted 40 minutes and left me unimpressed by Wet West Deeping and the 7 mile long dead straight King Street (presumably Roman).

A regroup and chat with some other Oxfordshire AUKs outside the shop in Bourne, Jeremy on his first 600 and Pat, the only other fixed rider, on his umpteenth. 185k done and I was ahead of schedule and feeling great. I had a room booked in Scunthorpe to get a couple of hours sleep and thinking of this was a good psychological buffer to dispel any ‘not even a third of the way yet’ type gremlins.

So onwards alone to get another short leg out the way, next stop Grantham. After a brief stretch of A road we followed the East Glen River valley for most of the way and I was increasingly aware that better than expected progress was mostly down to a steady tailwind that had been with us all day, the forecast cross wind was just not there. This was a pretty direct south to north route but then tomorrow we were to retrace 315k back the way we’d come. I decided not to think about this too long.

A quick garage stop in Grantham then good progress to Lincoln, actually about 5k outside Lincoln as the route didn’t go into the city itself, where I stopped at a garage I assumed to be the recommended control. The young guy manning the till spotted my Vegetarian Cycling and Athletics Club shirt and for the second time this ride I had a chance to rattle on about vegetarianism. He was torn between an urge to go veggie and some idea he’d got that beef was ‘strong’ meat and he needed it for muscle. I told him about Rob Bigwood, vegan arm wrestler, and he seemed intrigued enough for me to think he’d do a Google when he got home (alright so the bit about Rob’s biceps being thicker than my waist might have been a little bit of an exaggeration).

Outside the garage stuffing my face I watched 2 AUKs cycle straight past, I whistled but they carried on, I was surprised they hadn’t returned by the time I set off again a few minutes later. Around the corner I spotted their bikes outside MacDonalds which was where I was supposed to have stopped – oh well, near enough!

Flat and fast to Scunthorpe, bag of chips at McDs, and I was in the hotel room (a first for me, I usually just crash wherever on long rides) showered and in bed for 11:00. The ride up had taken 16hr 30m for 315k which was fast for me an an hour up on schedule. Much needed sleep was disturbed first by the toothache crawling back out of it’s lair then later by my blooming phone going off to tell me I needed to spend some money if I wanted more free wotsits. Still a good 2 hour 30 mins actual sleep then stuff my face and I’m back on the bike for 3am.

The start of the road back was dark, quiet, and flat. My iPod decided to play up, I couldn’t actually remember recharging it, and I gave up on it. Soon enough the sleepies were upon me and the time and money spent on the hotel seemed wasted. I crawled along through dawn and Hough on the Hill, seemingly towering up more like a mountain than the molehill it actually is, looked daunting. In fact the climb turned out to be just what I needed and by the top I felt awake and strong and that was the end of the dozies for the rest of the ride.

With day came the wind though, a gentle but constant againsterly, it slowed me and the prospect of over 10 hours into it brought on a dose of misery that lasted a long, long time. Coffee and hash browns at McDs cheered me up for all of 10 minutes. I took the main road route out of Grantham which saved me the 5k retrace but led me to a rather lumpy road to Bourne which I could have done without.

Oundle CarnivalTime was oozing away by the time I reached Oundle where notices told of a carnival. The motor vehicles were all diverted off but I was waved through and soon found myself riding alone down streets lined with people watching and waiting. A lot of noise from round the corner and I reckoned it was time to get out the road sharpish! So 15 mins spent in Oundle with no chance of a cafe stop, I ate a gel and enjoyed the show which was pretty good with kids being green men and majorettes and a weird bike and floats and stuff. I chucked some change in a bucket and forgot about having to ride the bike for a bit.

Oundle CarnivalThe entertainment thinned out and I got back on the bike passing a ocean going yacht being towed on a trailer complete with crew pretending to be a sea which looked huge and laughably out of place. I stopped for a proper eat somewhere on this leg, pulling into a shop forecourt for water before noticing it was closed which didn’t exactly enhance my mood. Pat and Jeremy appeared, I expressed surprised they were behind me and they pointed out there were at least 2 more behind them. I’d forgotten that most had slept at Lincoln, even Grantham, so I’d probably passed as they slumbered. I think my plan made more sense, sleep while it’s dark.

A quick hello to Ross and a water fill up at Earls Barton and I was on my way. I’d been too slow for too long and had little hope of finishing in BRM time, 10pm dead. At the start Matt had made a point of letting me know that a BR brevet would be awarded for a finish within AUKs more generous limits. No excuse to stop then as I’d manage midnight surely!

Somewhere on the long leg to Long Crendon my mood changed drastically upwards, maybe I’d let the blood sugar get low and it was now replenished, maybe the wind shifted or dropped, maybe remembering that my phone played music so I had Muse and the Stranglers for company. Whatever it was I found myself going well through Winslow, honking up Winchendon ok despite an increasingly painful right knee. Alright then – no harm in going for 10pm even if I might not make it!

A chat with Chris at Crendon, he needed BRM and was determined. I phoned Jane to beg a lift back from Goring saying I hoped to be there 10ish. I set off on the last short leg 5 minutes after Chris and found I was going pretty well considering I’d over 350 miles in the legs. The evening sun was good and the scenery was splendid as I span along through Stoke Talmage and Brightwell Baldwin (well it was when I wasn’t hooking greenfly out of my tired eyes). Outside the pub at Ewelme, over 615k into the ride, Chris had his wheel out and was fixing a flat, I stopped and said if ever I’d seen a good reason for an appeal for extra time this was it.

Onwards over a lump after Benson I didn’t remember being there. My knee hurt and I was aware that the last few miles were flatter on the other side of the Thames but wasn’t sure enough of the way to gamble with a diversion. I was going to make it though and sure enough I rolled into Cleeve road, Goring at 9:55 with 626k on the clock. So that was my fixed wheel Super Randonneur* series for 2011 in the bag.

9:58 Chris appeared and as we put our completed cards through the letterbox as requested he said ‘listen’ – we stood there and listened to Goring clock strike ten!

I was knackered Monday despite a good nights sleep so did little. Tuesday I decided to skip my run, Thursday I just ran 3 miles and took it easy. Friday I ran my favourite local 5 mile multi-terrain training route fastest time ever. The wonders of cross training eh 🙂

*The spell check doesn’t recognise ‘randonneur’ and wants to substitute ‘abandoner’ – bit unfortunate.