Cycling blind spots

The Manly Steed and I had a near miss the other night, and rather ashamedly I must admit that it was probably my fault.

We were heading back from a 32 mile Twycle training ride and I was pretty knackered and focused primarily on how fast I was going (trying to keep the speed at 17mph or above) rather than paying a huge amount of attention to my surroundings.

Traffic was fairly light, and as I came to a roundabout I followed the road up to the left before realising that I had taken the wrong exit, and should have carried on straight. I was still on the main throughway of the roundabout and hadn't actually exited, but all intents and purposes I was taking that exit.

With a quick glance over my shoulder I simultaneously swerved back towards the correct exit, realising at the last nanosecond that there was a car traveling at great speed along beside.

He screeched to a halt and swerved away from me, I screeched to a halt and swerved away from him, and then we engaged in a Mexican standoff before he sped around the roundabout once more and I moved onto the pedestrian island.

What transpired next was a large amount of frenzied shouting on behalf of the driver, and me calmly standing next to The Manly Steed and trying to stop my heart from beating out of my chest as he pulled up alongside me and swore at me a great deal.

So: was I in the wrong, or was he?

Frankly, I don't believe that for the purposes of this blog that it matters. What does is something my old drving instructor drilled into me - always check your blind spot.

That quick glance over my right shoulder gave me the split second between seeing and trying to avoid a threat, and cycling straight into it. Fortunately, the man who swore mightily was paying attention as well, and it was disaster averted.

When we're out and about, especially when we are tired we cannot allow ourselves to lose track of where we are in relation to everyone else.

I should have signalled, and I should have paid more attention to where I was going. It's another lesson learnt, so please bear it mind and learn from my mistakes.

Not everyone has The Manly Steed to take care of them when they are out and about...

When fitness isn't enough.

I have been finding the last few weeks of training to be a lot of fun, and the better weather has helped massively with my overall outlook on cycling. There is really only so much that you can do while battling into the teeth of a gale.

The Bank Holiday Monday just gone I decided to up the mileage a bit and do a solid first cycle of the season, aiming for a 50 mile route in the vicinity of Twickenham. Previously, the Manly Steed and I had been out for 40 mile trip in Kent back in the middle of May, and seeing as training has been going well we decided on something that goes against the grain of my cycling philosophy: just how fast could we cycle a 50 mile course?

We set out on an initial 26 mile loop to Chobham (a lovely place and straightforward to get to) and got there after 58 minutes and 15.5 miles of cycling. It was a nice day, a little overcast and with some wind but not too much: just enough to cool me down.

The Manly Steed had been in for a full service and had a new gear cable which was making things much smoother, and we flew over the M25 feeling pretty good with ourselves.

We stopped in Chobham at a small church and I ate a Powerbar thingy, chewing it down and drinking GoGo Juice from the Camelpak as I did so, before climbing back onto the bike and heading back towards Kingston.

In his book 'The Man Who Cycled The World' (a really good read!), Paul Beaumont talks about getting into the zone where you can keep going and going and everything feels good. I felt this way for about 10 of the next 15 miles or so as we cruised along at between 15 & 17 mph, passing back under the M25, into Addlestone and along the Thames and past Hampton Court Palace.

We stopped at the 2 hour mark to see how far we had come, and we had smashed out previous best mileage and hit 31 miles, a new personal best.

And this, ladies and gentleman, is where i went into a fairly significant bonk sat on the side of the road.

For those of you unfamiliar with this term, bonking for cyclists is like runners hitting the wall: it's where you run out of energy and just... cannot... physically... go... on.

After a while you find quite scarily that fitness just doesn't do it for you: it is all down to nutrition, and how much you have eaten. Put it like this: your car will only go for so long with one tank of gas before it sputters out and you sit like a numpty on the side of the road waiting for the nice man with the AA van.

I'm a big guy, and my engine needs lots of fuel. I figure that I get 1.5 - 2 hours of steady cycling on one big meal before I need to refuel, and then I'm snacking every 45mins to an hour. It's actually less than that when I've been doing high mileage every day for a while as my glycogen levels (basically the fuel storage) have been depleted.

On a long day's ride of 70+ miles over mixed terrain I have burned between 4,500 and 5,500+ calories, more than 3 times an average persons daily consumption. It is a constant battle for me and one which sometimes I lose, hence the bonking.

Once I bonk, it is really very hard to get my energy levels back up to a place where I can/want to carry on.

Having eaten my remaining 2 Powerbars I saddled up once more and headed into Kingston, over the bridge and up towards Ham Gate. What is normally an easy and straight forward ride became a hell of a challenge, and my right knee started playing up with pain at the front of it, probably caused by the high gears I'd been pushing in the first 2 hours.

I stopped 6 miles later having looped back to Ham Gate via Sheen and Richmond, and had a vanilla tasting evil sugar gel thing in a foil packet. Bonking, as per earlier, had resumed.

I then ground my way home, deciding to cut a couple of miles off as my knee was now really complaining. I stopped briefly to move my saddle backwards which seemed to help, and I struggled the last mile homewards having finished 47.5 miles in 3hr 04mins of cycling, with about 15 mins off the bike.

In retrospect I would have eaten better that day, but it is a constant battle to get enough calories in while out on a longer cycle.

My next major target for the year is to break 100 miles in a day. I'll aim to do a 70 miler before that, but I think that I'll manage that ok if training so far is anything to go by.

My tip for the year: eat lots more than you think you should!! And I do not sponsor nor endorse Powerbars - they just happened to be the only thing in Evans Cycles I liked the look of!

My route is here: http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=137755

Edit: I just found this helpful link that covers nutrition: http://www.bottombracket.co.uk/cycling-nutrition.html - well worth a read...

Training and Toughening Up

So the Manly Steed and I are on holiday in Kent at the moment, and we decided to take advantage of a couple of weeks off to get some decent cycling done. Cleverly, I forgot my cycling shoes which meant for the first few days I had to relax, sleep in, and try to arrange accommodation for the impending Twycle southwards at the end of August.

I managed to get the shoes last Thursday, and we were ready to spring into action regardless of the rain (lots) and wind (lots and lots)!!

I have a theory which I would like to put to you, especially if you (like me) prefer to be a fair weather cyclist and only go out when the sun is shining.

My theory is this: if you can go out in all weathers, and get used to cycling into the teeth of a shrieking gale whilst nearly blinded by the horizontal lashing rain, then you can do just about anything. For me, I actually prefer to go out and do a few nasty rides in this sort of weather because it builds my confidence at being able to handle it when it comes upon me unexpectedly, and there is nothing worse than seeing the leading edge of rain approaching at high speed while you dig around for your waterproofs.

We have done two training rides thus far, and have every intention of trying another one tonight - still windy, but with some sunshine!! YAY!

The first thing I will say is that the back roads of Kent are hilly. VEEEERY hilly.

Our first outing was about 10.5 miles and I could hardly walk for the 20 minutes after finishing, and finished in 45 minutes or so. You can see it here: http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=128494

The second one was nearly 16 miles and took an hour and twenty minutes or so, and involved descending (at 37 mph) and then scaling (at 5.5 mph) Charing Hill, a behemoth of monstrous proportions and something which I had never before manage to climb without stopping.

This time I managed it in one go (Hakuna Matata playing away merrily in my head!) and then paused for a minute at the top for a breather before wending my way homewards.

You can see my route for this here: http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=128489

The thing to look at is the summary - it gives a rather exciting graphic chart of the elevation of the ride - coming up Charing Hill I climbed nearly 340 feet over the space of a mile. Now, follow this link for Day 1 Twycle http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=124391 and contrast a hideous hill in Kent with coming up Berriedale (after 45 miles or so) and just before Drumnadrochitt (after 125 miles) and you will see some significant climbing to be done.

The bit to focus on is at what height you start climbing: I came up Charing Hill starting at just over 300 feet and climbed to just under 650 feet over a mile or so and it nearly did for me (The Manly Steed was, of course, absolutely fine). In Scotland, we will be climbing from sea level to anything up to 1140 feet over the space of 8-10 miles, which is a long way cycling up hill.

What is the point of all this babbling, I hear you cry?

That all Twyclers need to find themselves some steep hills to practise on - because there is really very little in the Midlands & South of England which compares with what we are going to be facing on Day 1 and Day 2 of the Twycle.

It's not just a matter of training and toughening up, it's survival!! :)

(I have put some pleasant pics of Glencoe at the start of this posting to provide some reference to what I'm saying...)

Twcyle Training - week 1

The Manly Steed and I embarked on our first weeks training in the week just gone, and bearing in mind our (my) current state of unfitness didn't have too bad a week before other pressing concerns (meetings, beer, sushi) got in the way!

Thursday : 12 miles

Saturday : 15 miles

Monday : 22 miles

So 49 miles in week 1 - not bad off 3 outings.

As I pedalled along, I was trying to think of how I deal with either a) the physical pain of a hellish long slog (Berridale Brae, anyone?) and b) the mental pain associated with a lot of time on the road (sometimes with 60 miles ahead and only 20 done it all gets a little daunting to me...!)

It's strange, and I have a confession to make.

I get odd little tunes stuck in my head which used to annoy the hell out of me, and I would spend ages muttering to myself about how repetitive they were and couldn't I please just think of something else, while getting more frustrated and therefore not enjoying my ride. What I have found is that they actually distract me from difficult situations (16.5 stone man cycles up a hill - there is a LOT of gravity pulling him down towards the bottom!) and so I actually now tee up the right songs for the right occasions.

The confession:

Childhood songs keep coming back to me at odd times, or possibly Disney ones. My current mantra for going up steep hills is Hakuna Matata from the Lion King. (cough) Coming down hills is an extract from Herbert the Hedgehog (search and you'll find him still...) If you Google it you'll see why this can still drive me a little insane after 3-4 days of it...

Don't judge me - you weren't there, you didn't see me weeping on the side of the road that time.

Also, in a weird way, I have to just find that still place inside me where nothing can get at me. I have said many times that for me, cycling is mostly mental and if your head isn't in it, it goes very slowly.

So when I'm coming to a difficult time, my legs are burning, my eyes are stinging from sweating so much and my lungs feel like they are literally about to explode out of my body, I try to just relax into it, accept it for what it is, and know that every revolution of the pedal gets me that little bit closer to the pub at the end of the rainbow...

The Manly Steed & I Join Twycle - We're Jogle'ing Again!!

Seeing as how the Manly Steed and I are both putting on weight (well, I am) and the weather has been pants all year, I despaired of ever having the motivation to actually get out on the road again.

No more, I cry, reminiscent of some lonely rebel without a clue fighting back against the establishment!!

We have joined with a fantastic group of people who are 'Twycling' the length of Britain from John O'G to Lands End. That which I swore never to do again (and there was a lot of swearing, believe me) I have gone into with at least my eyes open this time.

Right: a bit about Twycle.

First, the name.

Twycle is a cycle ride which has been set up and publicised on Twitter. Twitter / Cycle, Twycle. It took me a while to get it.

Twycle is the brainchild of Callum Fairhurst and Monty English, and is remarkable for the fact that Callum is 12 years old and is doing this to raise money for CLIC Sargent, a phenomenal charity which helps children with cancer. Sadly, Callum lost his 14 year old brother Liam Fairhurst to cancer last year, and is carrying on the fundraising torch for him after he raised £320,000 for charity.

We are joining a team of 8 core riders, including Monty English who some of you may recognise from Dickinson's Real Deal (Ah, the double D!!) who will be riding (apparently!) on an antique bicycle with no brakes. You can almost hear The Manly Steed laughing it's chainset off at the thought...

It will be a relay style affair, with a pair of riders doing a 2 hour stint on, and then passing over to another 2 who carry on with the aim of achieving approximately 150 miles per day, and roughly a week of cycling time.

The route has yet to be decided, and I am offering the occasional piece of advice from the memories seared onto my brain from last time, and because this is a relay I can hopefully avoid Berriedale this time. I have become something of 'hill specialist' since then - it is surprising how far I will go out of my way to avoid them!

So, the website is http://www.twyclebritain.co.uk/ and the Twitter page is www.twitter.com/twyclebritain and I am now tweeting (I think - it may be called twitting!) as OasisJamesRec.

Please sign up and spread the good word about this venture, and if you are able / inclined to then please feel free to donate at www.justgiving.com/twycle - the aim is to raise £20,000 and there are various celebrities getting involved, including Sir Chris Hoy and Sir Sterling Moss!

I'll be back and blogging about the longer training rides that we do, and then writing the whole thing up in my usual wordy style.

Many Thanks to Katherine C who got me involved in this by dangling it in front of me like some vicious tease... :)