Preparation

Dude, where’s my bike?

| Zapfly

Dude, where\'s my bike?

After my accident on Tuesday, I have been hanging out sans cycle, getting itchy feet (time for a bath perhaps) to get out there again. I had to cycle across London this morning to take it into Evans to be assessed. The sales bloke looked at my bike and said, “That looks a bit screwed!”. Thanks Sherlock, never would have worked that one out without your infinite wisdom.

Besides all the waiting, I have been maxing out my credit card sorting out all the rest of the gear I will need for this outing. For a three week period of using human power to travel, this journey is sure costing me a lot!

More essentials

| Peter

I’m actually going to try and make good use of most of my head for this ride. Here are pictures that I’ve uploaded from my computer of my head. Maybe we should call this blog Headbook.com

the other one











London mash up

| Zapfly

Trashed handlebars

The weather was just so good today, I decided to down tools a take a break from conquering the world of photography to go for a burn on the bike instead. As London is a mental place, I decided to do laps of Regents Park, which is just over 3 miles per circumnavigation.

After fighting the urge to power through 10 laps, I soon settled into a comfortable pack. After a few laps, I thought I might even push my self a little further and cycle 40 miles as the weather was so good and the cycling that pleasant.

I was joined by Doug, a Scot who happened to be out on his rounds in Regents Park. We chatted for a while about cycling, Le jog, this and that really. It was thoroughly enjoyable cycling with someone else rather than merely doing solo laps.

On my last lap, I told Doug that I wanted to put the hammer down and crack out one fast lap. I notched the pace up to 25mph and sped off. While passing the junction between York Bridge and the Outer Circle, a taxi turned in front of me, followed closely behind by a motorbike. Although I shouted a warning, it was already too late and I clipped the back of the bike as he turned across my path.

The next thing I remember is flying through the air upside down, staring at the traffic and Doug on his bike behind me. Then next moment, I was earthward bound and inverted, having left my bicycle behind me somewhere. With the grace of a one legged cat, I landed heavily on my back. Fortunately for me, I happened to have my bumbag on laden with a full water bottle, which most kindly adsorbed the brunt of the impact.

After various remonstrations, I struggled to my feet and limped to the side of the road where Doug was inspecting my bike. He was able to unlock the breaks and straighten my handlebars so I could pedal my compressed bicycle with bent front forks, buckled front wheel, trashed seat, broken computer, bent pedal crank and derailed chain.

Although the bike driver was most congenial and apologetic, my bicycle is now trashed. I will have to have it evaluated and fixed but suffice it to say, this will not be done quickly enough. So, until I receive my new bike towards the end of next week, I will not be able to train, which is a bummer this close to the start date.

That's gonna cost a bit to get foxed...

Anyway, if anyone has a bicycle I could borrow for the next week that would be real handy. In the meantime, I am going to convalesce and let all the bruising and swelling go down. I have the feeling that tomorrow, I am going to hurt like hell!

Quick outing in Devon

| Zapfly

After my longer cycle ride on Thursday, I managed to do something silly to my knee. I ended up having to forgo my cycle ride on Saturday and cut short my Sunday ride to just 30 miles. Ideally, I should have paced myself a lot better, rather than hooning around on my road bike like I was on fire. No matter, the virtues of having a partner who is an acupuncturist prevailed as my knee was duly needled up and restored to health.

Google map of today’s cycle route

I plan to reduce the overall length of the cycle rides, instead, increasing the frequency as I am more concerned about the day by day rigour then the duration of these cycle rides.

A longer outing equals more pain!

| Zapfly

More gorgeous scenery on Sussex

With such good weather here in Sussex, I thought it would be a real shame not to make the most of it by going for a longer cycle that on Tuesday.

I got a little lost en route and ended up cycling along the A3 dual carriageway at one point, with trucks and cars whistling past me at 70mph. That was certainly not the relaxed country ride I had planned! hat said, I did get to see some extraordinary scenery and beautiful villages in the Downs.

Google map of today’s cycle route

I think I will keep the cycle tomorrow short and save myself for a decent one down in Devon over the weekend.

First proper ride

| Zapfly

Mile 18 - A few miles after South Harting village

Bloody hell, I though I was a little more cycle fit. Perhaps that is because I am used to cycling in London which is generally pretty flat, as opposed to the South Downs. Suffice to say, the 2 hour ride I did this afternoon, which was about 40 miles, somewhat took the wind from my sails.

I cycled from my mother’s place, through Walderton and Compton, past Uppark House and through South Harting. From there I headed east to Midhurst and then back via Cocking, Siddlesham and Lavant to Funtington and back home. Take a look at the route on GoogleMaps below.

Google map of today’s cycle route

I forgot how knackered your arms get from the vibrations sent through the frame. It does not matter that the forks are carbon fibre, if the road surface is anything but silky smooth, the skinny, slick road tyres transfer every single bump through to my wrists.

Fortunately, the pace I keeping to was perhaps a little too fast for the Le Jog route as I think Pete and Mary would prefer me to slow down so we can actually enjoy the scenery rather than race through it at the rate of knots.

Anyhow, I’m glad I went for a ride today as the weather was so peachy. Hopefully, tomorrow, I will do a similar ride, although perhaps a little slower and another 10-15 miles on top of today’s outing. We shall see…

Back in the UK and time to train!

| Zapfly

My trusty steed - A Specialized Allez Elite road bike

So, after a fantastic week in Mallorca, learning how to sail a catamaran, I am back in the UK. I have headed down to Sussex for a few days to start my cycle training. The South Downs offers plenty of hills to the discerning cyclist and the weather is a balmy 20°C with an abundance of sunshine.

I think I will start with a modest ride today as I have not been on the bike for a couple of weeks, perhaps 20 miles or so. Tomorrow, I aim to knock out a longer 2-3 hour ride, so perhaps 40-50 miles. The one thing I will need to make sure of is that I do not get too used to cycling on my lightweight road bike as my touring bike is a darn sight more sturdy, being made of steel instead of aluminium.

On that point, I ordered my Thorn Raven last week via Pete. I cannot wait to receive it! I did a tally of all the various items I would like to take touring with me and I will have to trim down the list as otherwise I’ll never move under the oppressive weight of so much stuff!

I have also bought a mini-tripod set up for my handle bars, so I will be able to see how the camera will sit on my bike. Hopefully, I will have some test images from the next few days that I will upload to Flickr and to this blog.

Preparation for the long journey

| Zapfly

The date for the cycle ride from Lands End to John O’Groats has now been set. We aim to head off on Saturday, 19th July.

There will be three of us taking up this challenge:
– Peter Root
– Mary Thompson
– Julien Buckley

Pete and Mary have been preparing for the long ride in their native Guernsey, whilst I have been putting in the miles cycling around London, on my way to and from work. However, even though I am knocking out about 20-25 miles a day, I really need to crank things up a gear or two.

Next Friday, I am off to Bridgewater, to see Thorn. They make some greats bikes and I have decided to go for one after Pete and Mary advocated how good they were. I’ve never been keener to spend my money on a bike!