Author: Paul

Categories
Short Rides

Week two

I reached the middle of the week having spent three days suffering from the snotty head cold that brought my ride on Sunday to a halt. Despite forecasts of poor weather, Wednesday was a beautiful morning with bright sunshine highlighting the darkness of the storm clouds sitting out to sea.

Ride 1 – Aeron Valley and Cardigan Bay loop

Good weather and I needed some more cold medicines, so even though I didn’t feel like it, I decided I’d get out and cycle the 5 miles to Aberaeron. That was the right decision. Three miles in and I felt better than I had done in a week.

20160113_100446 20160113_100707 20160113_100725 20160113_100931

I stopped for some photos at Aberaeron’s harbour and after visiting the pharmacy, decided to head back on a loop over the hills. First up the coast road to Aberarth with stunning views of Cardigan bay sitting on my left shoulder. For a mile or so I’d been able to see the steepness of the road I would follow. I considered turning back and heading up the valley road again – that would give me about 15 miles, not bad for someone with Man Flu – but I gave it a go, settling into granny gear and spinning the pedals. I reached Cross Inn after what felt like ten miles climbing, to find I’d added only four miles to my ride.

20160113_103402  I carried on toward Tregarron turning toward Llangeitho at Peneuch. The descent was scary – running water and slippery leaves made braking impossible on the steep slope. When I reached the valley floor, I was knackered. A headwind and undulating road didn’t help and I churned out the last few miles.

Ride stats: 26.7 miles, 2,049ft, 02h 09m 36s

Ride 2 – Aeron Valley miles

20160115_144416On Friday I took the chance of a break in the weather to put a few more miles in. it had been snowing and frozen overnight, so I decided to stay away from the smaller lanes on higher ground. The result was a spider’s scrawl around Felinfach and Talsarn. Damp lanes and impatient drivers made it less than pleasant in parts, I got the miles in to reach this week’s target.

Rie stats: 16.5 miles; 1483ft; 01h 22m 08s

Week two total: 43.2 miles, 3,532ft, 3h 31m 44s

 

 

Categories
2016 Target

Week One

Three rides this week. All short, because it’s been wet and although the weather is considerably warmer than it should be in January, it still gets cold out there on a bike.

MTB on the bridge over Bedburn Beck at Howlea
Crossing Bedburn Beck at Howlea
Stormy waters. Bedburn Beck filled to bursting
Stormy waters. Bedburn Beck filled to bursting

Ride 1 - MTB run in the Dale. 

I climbed 1775ft in 17.2 miles going back and to across Bedburn valley at Hamsterley. 1:52:08 in the saddle. It didn’t rain much during the ride, but  water flooding off the fields and over-flowing the ditches turned the roads into rivers.

 

Ride 2 – Road bike with new mudguards

My road bike has no fittings for mudguards, so I bought Crud mudguards for it. When I got them out of the box, I was far from convinced they were going to do the job, but I carried on and with a bit of fiddling and fettling, they were fitted. Out on the road in the rain and spray they were brilliant. Ride Stats: 20.1 miles and 1,137ft climbed in 01:31:55.

 

Ride 3 – A bit of Welsh countryside

Upper Severn ValleySunny morning in the upper Severn Valley, my plan was to cycle 47 miles from one friend’s house to another, but I’d developed a stinking head cold overnight and there’s little doubt that if I’d already met the week’s target I’d have decided to stay off the bike. But I needed 3 miles, and I wasn’t going to miss the target in week 1. 6 Miles from Llandinam to Llanidloes were OK and I started to feel as if I could ride through my cold.

TheRiver Severn boiling through Llanidloes
The River Severn boiling Through Llanidloes

 

I struggled with the next four miles to Llangurig in the upper Wye valley, barley making it up one of the hills, as the road climbed 650ft. The next section would have taken me over to Cwmystwyth. Another four-mile climb, this time 830ft that merited warning sign.

 

It wasn’t going to be any fun, so I bailed into the Blue Bell in for a coffee and waited to be picked up. Ride Stats: 11.1 miles, 1,343ft, 1:18:12

20160110_131442
The National Cycle Network sign at Llangurig, Powys

Week one total: 48.6 miles, 4,254ft, 4:42:15

 

Categories
Blog

Ten top tips for cycling in the wet

Weather in the North Pennines is such that I normally don’t have much choice but to take the mountain bike out when I fancy a spin at this time of year. One advantage of this year’s warmer weather is we’re yet to have any significant snow and getting out on the road bike is still an option; the major disadvantage is all that water that normally falls as snow has fallen as rain and is flooding the place, so even when it’s not raining the roads are wet. These are my top ten things to think about when riding a road bike in the wet.

1 – Use mudguards

When its not raining down, spray from the road will mean it’s effectively raining up soaking your shoes, legs, and backside. Even if you can tolerate that, you’re not going to be popular with other riders and pedestrians you pass.

2 – Wear appropriate clothes

Overshoes – Wet feet are cold feet. If it’s raining the temperature shouldn’t be too low and your overshoes will keep your feet dry and your toes toasty. While we’re here, those insightful Swedes say there’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. So to keep as dry as possible, wear a good jacket designed for cycling, wicking base layers (it won’t matter how breathable your jacket is, you’re going to sweat, so get it away from your skin as quickly as possible), and water-resistant tights or leg-warmers.

3 - Be seen

Rain and spray mean even in daylight you’ll be harder to see than normal. Fit lights and make sure they’re on. In fact, do everything you can to be seen. Wear as much reflective or HiViz gear as you can, jacket, overshoes, etc.

5 – Beware of hidden potholes

Road surfaces deteriorate in the winter and standing water can mean that what looks the same as the shallow puddles you’ve been cycling through the whole ride is actually a wheel-buckling pot hole. Watch out for gravel and other road debris around puddles as an indicator of which ones you should avoid.

6 – Be aware of slip hazards

Manhole covers, tram rails, and any other metal in the road. Road markings, particularly new ones. Lines of bitumen around road repairs. Patches where the road surface has been worn shiny. Leaves and gravel. All of these have the potential to turn your tyres into skates and send you sliding across the road. Watch out for them. Oh, and horse poo. Not so much of a problem for you urbanites out there, but out here in the wilds, it’s a common occurrence on the road and is very slippery when wet. And smelly too. Probably.

7 – Don’t lean hard into the corners

Cornering hard relies on tyre grip and tyre grip depends on friction. Rubber on dry roads is a good creator of friction. Rubber in the wet, isn’t. And you’ll only need a tiny bit of slip from one of the things in #7 to see you clattering across the road.

8 – Check your brakes

Disc brakes are suited to wet conditions – though don’t get cocky; lower friction on wet surfaces means it’s easier to lock up – rim brakes aren’t as effective, so be wary when you’re approaching junctions and take notice of the increase in distance you need to stop.

9 – Don’t get close to the edge

Riding close to the edge of the road more in wet conditions is more perilous than on dry days. Persistent or heavy rain washes grit, gravel, and all sorts of road debris onto the road surface. Spiky metally things, sharp glassy bits, and even pointy stones collect in the area near the gutters and ditches. In the wet they’re more likely to stick to your tyre and cause a puncture. And you don’t want to be fixing a flat in the wet, if you can help it.

10 – Clean your bike

Road salt, water, grit and muck all cling to your bike in the wet. You’ll be cold and tired when you finish, but make sure you wash your bike down and lubricate the drive chain. If you don’t you’ll be looking at a rusty mess tomorrow.

Categories
News

Thinking about compulsory cycle lanes

A publicity hungry lawyer has taken another cheap shot at cyclists and cycling policy and as on other occasions, the Twittersphere (me included) is obligingly condemning him or blessing him for having the guts to say ‘what everyone’s thinking.’ (No, not everyone. Just a few of you)

After affording Mr Freeman the courtesy of reading the piece on his website this morning, I joined in:

Out on a ride this afternoon with cars, trucks and buses squeezing past and cutting me up on a 2.5 mile stretch of designated trunk road that is accompanied by a dedicated cycle path just metres away, I got to thinking if I hadn’t been too hasty in my condemnation and promised myself another, more considered look at the piece to see if there was merit in it.

The article on Mr Freeman’s website says:

Cyclists should be forced to use designated cycle lanes, leading traffic lawyer Nick Freeman has said.

Whilst cyclists are encouraged to use specially marked sections of highways and footpaths, many ignore them, choosing instead to ride their bicycles on the main carriageway.

Here he uses the terms ‘cycle lane’ and ‘cycle path’ in a seemingly interchangeable manner. To me they’re different. Cycle lanes are marked sections of the roadway that are dedicated to cyclists. In general these offer cyclists the same flow and progress as motorists and motorcyclists enjoy. They also allow cyclists to get ahead at junctions to a safe space in front of cars, rather than being stuck between the kerb and vehicles. A cycle path (more commonly a’multi-user path’) is away from the road and users suffer the impeded progress of crossing side streets, poorly placed street furniture and parked cars that pedestrians experience.

I’m sure that ‘many’ cyclists, as I did this afternoon, choose to use the roadway. I’m also sure those acts are not cases of ‘ignoring’ the designated cycleway, rather an active and considered decision based on any number of factors. I’ve used the dedicated path there many times, but today I was out on my road bike (a clue there for the sleuths amongst you) and the designated route is a mostly a cinder path not suitable for that bike.

The article goes on:

[Mr Freeman] is calling on Transport Minister Patrick McLoughlin to make it mandatory for cyclists to use these facilities, which have been paid for from the public purse.

Mr Freeman cited London’s new super cycle highway as a classic example where £160m of public money is being spent to create this amenity, but cyclists’ will not be not forced to use it.

Once completed, this will lead to lengthy tailbacks for commuters each and every day, as roads have been narrowed to accommodate the new cycle path.

Mr Freeman’s call on the Government to legislate for the compulsory use of cycle lanes would be a real waste of the public money he seems so conveniently concerned with protecting. 160m is cheap as a means to make cycling safer and more attractive, enabling and encouraging more people to get to work more quickly and healthily (a drop in the ocean compared to £14.8bn spent on CrossRail)  And public money is cyclists’ money too. I’m a driver and a cyclist and a tax payer. I want the money I contribute to be spent on better, safer amenities for when I have to use a car and when I’m on a bike (as well as hospitals and fire officers and all the other important stuff).

The law as it stands recognises that not all cycle lanes or paths are suitable for all cyclists or bikes – for a start, they don’t go everywhere you’d want to – but perhaps we cyclists should get behind Mr Freeman’s call, as a precedent for compulsory use of other tax-funded amenities provided for the public good. Tracking and cautioning drivers for passing that expensive park and ride facility we’ve all paid for on their way into an urban area? Issuing fines for taking a car on a journey that could have been completed by public transport? Of course not, there’s as little logic in either of those as there is in his article.

 

It seems this is more like a pub rant than a serious contribution to any debate; the kind that would get you noticed and into an argument. And in that manner, I’m sure it’s doing the job Mr Freeman intends. If you’re like me, you’d expect more from a legal professional.

Was I too hasty in commenting on the piece? Not at all.

Categories
2016 Target

Breaking it down

On 02 January, inspired by Kajsa Tylen, I made my #SweatPledge for 2016: 3,000 miles, climbing 150,000ft, and 200 hours in the saddle. That’s what I did in 2015 doubled and rounded a bit. Simple.

My firsts two rides made only the slightest of dents in the target, so I’ve broken it down into weekly chunks to give me something achievable to aim for and a way of knowing that I’m on track.

I’ve given myself two weeks off to keep the sums simple. That would make the linear weekly target four hours on the bike each week, covering 60 miles and climbing 3,000ft. But that doesn’t take into account the limitations of poor weather and limited daylight at this time of year, so I’ve adjusted it to allow for that.

Weekly Target Jan-March & Oct-Dec 40miles/2,000ft

Weekly Target April-Sept 60miles/3,000ft

That will leave me with 720 miles and 36,000ft to find,which going on last year’s numbers would be about ten day rides.

Five days into the year and I’ve done 45 miles already. Only 98.5% of the target to go!

 

Categories
2016 Target

Week zero

I’ve called this Week zero, because it’s the bit before the first full week of 2016. It’s been a wet few days and when it has’t been raining the roads have still been flooded and the trails a soggy mess.

I took New Year’s Day as a cheeky rest day and rode Saturday and Sunday covering 44.9km, climbing 571m, and in the saddle for 2hr 31m 35s

It’s my first progress post, but start as we mean to go on:

2016 Wk 00 Table

There’s still a lot to do. Really pleased I’ve made a start.

Categories
2016 Target

First ride of 2016

After last night’s post making my #sweatpledge, I thought I’d better get 20160102_114252out on a bike today and at least get started. The roads around here are still flooded, so the I dusted off the old MTB to give it a run out. The MTB is a weighty old Halfords special, which has served me well for years. It must be more than twice as heavy as my road bike and on the climb out of the village I started to wonder if I hadn’t chosen the wrong bike.

Five miles in I was soaked up to the knees after cycling through flood, after flood. I stopped for a photo and noticed I wasn’t wearing my helmet on top of my skull cap – idiot.

11 miles with some cycle trails thrown in on the way back, just because I was on the MTB. It’s not much, but it’s a start – just 2,989 miles to go; I’ve got a whole year!

Categories
Blog

New Year Revolutions

We’re at that point in the calendar when we’re collectively encouraged to set goals and challenges that most of us kind of expect to forget about before the last of the turkey leftovers are finally consumed. Until last year I skillfully avoided creating grandiose plans from the comfort of my winter armchair. But by the time Big Ben sounded the first seconds of 2015 I already had the bones of a plan that led to me spending a week of my hard-earned holiday lugging my bike and 17+ stones of me 500 miles from the Dales to and through the Scottish Highlands – a feat few (including me for most of that week) thought was possible.

Two things today have combined and contrived to remind me that I haven’t any such plans for 2016 and given me urge to generate some. First Strava emailed me inviting me to view a film of my 2015 achievements. Anyone with a Strava account has access to their year to date stats at any point, but the animated presentation made me smile.

Second I picked up the story of Kajsa Tylen who is taking on Billie Fleming’s 78 year-old record for number of miles (29,603) cycled by a woman in a calendar year. Guinness World Records have set the mark for the ride to count as a new world record at 50,000 km in the year – getting on for twice the distance (29,000 km) Guinness requires for cycling round the world – supported only by her mum. On her website – ayearinthesaddle.com Kajsa asks adults to “pledge sweat“, so that’s what I’m doing.

I’m not giving myself specific events to complete, places to visit, or routes to follow. I’m simply stating that in 2016 I will do everything I can to double the distance I covered, the height I climbed and the hours I spent in the saddle in 2015. I’ll log my rides here and keep a running total going. If I can work out how to put a counter on the homepage, I will.

So the targets are:

1 – 150,000ft climing

2 - 200 hrs cycling

3 – 3,000 miles covered

Give Kajsa a follow @yearinthesaddle and make your own #SweatPledge

Categories
Short Rides

Cycling with Sis

Getting back on your bike after a crash isn’t the easiest thing to do. I didn’t ride for three months after a crash on my mountain bike in 2012, then when I did get out there were riders with tassels and stabilizers who had more confidence than me. It took months of riding and eventually a new bike (any excuse!) to get my confidence and roadcraft back to useful levels.

It’s generally no more than a loss of confidence that takes time to rebuild. And sometime a push helps.

My sister got into cycling earlier this year and has been making really good progress, regularly getting out for 30 miles and more. A few weeks ago she hit the deck hard after a saddle bolt sheared and she lost her balance. She spent a few days in hospital with head and facial injuries and and assortment of scrapes bruises and other fractures – I thought some big-brother encouragement would help, even in middle agePicture of Paul and his sister, so I slung the bike on my new Saris Bones car rack and headed down to Wiltshire.

We started out in the pretty little village of Whiteparish on the edge of the New Forest National Park. A short stint on a very wet A27 through the village’s attractive mismatch of ivy-covered cottages and down a lane to cross the A36 into the Forest. Narrow, twisting lanes with high hedgerows, high banks and tall trees – the kind where a deer is likely to pop out at any point – took us to up to Redlynch. Wet lanes covered in grit and gravel washed out by the rain didn’t make ideal conditions for someone on their first ride after a crash, but she looked confident and I was probably more worried for her than she was.

Long, mostly level road out across the forest and the rain was really coming down. My sister complaining that her lack of bike time made her unfit. We joined the Fordingbridge to Cadnam road for a mile, it’s designated a B road, but is busy and treated like a trunk road by the traffic using it, so we cycled single file for the mile or so up to a crossroads where we turned back  to Nomansland down the hill Pipers Wait – steep and twisty, be warned – and on to Landford.

An unpleasant mile and a half on the A36 (the route suggested here is amended to avoid that) took us back to Common Road and into Whiteparish. A thoroughly enjoyable wet ride in lovely countryside.

The Book

Distance – 18 Miles

Profile – Easy: 550ft

Starting at All Saints Church in Whiteparish, take the 27 west through the village for 1/3 mile. Turn South on Newton Lane, cross A36 to Moor Lane and continue to the end. At The junction, turn right signposted Downton/Redlynch and follow the road to the top of Bowers Hill at Woodfalls; turn left. Follow the B3080 through Woodfalls and onto Forest Road towards Cadnam. Three miles to the junction with B3078 and go straight on for another mile to the crossroads at the top of the hill signposted Landford/Nomansland, turn left. Steep incline warning for the hill at Pipers Wait, through Nomansland past the Lamb Inn and to the crossroads signposted Salisbury/Lyndhurst. Turn Left (North) towards Landford. After a mile you’ll reach a junction signposted Hamptworth Golf and Country Club, turn left (West) and follow the road for three miles back to the junction signposted Whiteparish. Turn right (North) and retrace your path along MoorLane, across the A36 and Newton Lane to join the A27 back into Whiteparish.

Where to Park

We started in Whiteparish, because it was easy to get to from the A36. There’s plenty of on street parking and All Saints Church in the centre of the village has a large car park.

Places to eat

Whiteparish has the King’s Head and Parish Lantern pubs. Both serve food every day

Woodfalls Inn at Woodfalls near Redlynch on the route has a great menu and good coffee

The Lamb Inn at Nomansland serves a great menu and fabulous beer. Ample parking here makes it a good alternative start/finish point.

We started out with a flapjack and a coffee from the friendly people in Whiteparish Post Office across the road from the church.

Categories
Blog

Fall back

The realities of winter cycling hit home this week after the clocks went back at the weekend. No more nipping off work a bit early to squeeze in an hour before it gets dark. It’s dark already.

The heating is on. Hearty home-cooked meals are on the menu. It’s easy to go into hibernation mode and let the bike sit indoors until the weekend, when it’ll probably be too wet to go out anyway.

In an effort to avoid blossoming into a couch potato over the coming months, I was dusting off my turbo trainer and tyre on Monday evening when the logic of doing that struck me as odd. The weather was good, the roads dry and it was really mild outside. Last week I wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot out for a quick spin, so why should the darkness make a difference? It wasn’t turbo weather.

20 minutes later I climbed the hill out of my village with leg warmers, flouro jacket and overshoes, long-fingered gloves, and hastily-charged lights. I hadn’t ridden in the dark since before Easter and my familiar route gave an unfamiliar experience.

Less than a quarter of the route has street lights and much of it is narrow lanes between high hedgerows with steep climbs and descents crossing the valleys cut by streams and burns that feed the Wear and power it on through Durham to Sunderland. In the darkness I felt more isolated on these lanes than I do on lighter evenings. The lack of daylight hid features I unconsciously tick off as milestones, so I reached bends and junctions slightly before or after I was expecting to. And in a welcome turn, I reached the top of two of the biggest climbs sooner than I was expecting.

15 miles with 980ft of climbing took about ten minutes longer than in daylight. My speed on the climbs was unchanged, descents much slower – an effect of being able to see only 25ft ahead. I enjoyed the quietness, broken only by the scrabble of a startled pheasant (I hope) in the hedgerow as I cranked past, and the sense of space the darkness brought with it. I’m pleased I made the effort.