Helmsely Castle return via Giling & Crayke Castles planned for Friday 02/05

Slight change of plan from Glasson Dock for Friday to take advantage of the light North Easterly wind forecast to blow us home. Going for a 115 mile tour of some Yorkshire castles and lunch in Helmsley.

Helmsely Castle return via Giling & Crayke Castles

Helmsley Castle

Giling Castle

Crayke Castle

Looks good to me!

Fast mini peleton on the commute home

The commute in
Had a good ride in today despite carrying the laptop, felt strong and the weather was pretty nice. Got beeped very unnecessarily by a frustrated driver stuck in traffic at Kirkstall lights while overtaking another cyclist which is a reminder of the need to stay fully alert and eased off around rush hour traffic.

The commute home

On the way home I rode with a guy from Weetwood roundabout (which is awful by the way) to Otley, each of us sharing the load on the front, which resulted in a very decent pace (for me), a lot of PBs on Strava and my fastest time home to date (54 mins 57 secs). If I get the train home it's 65 mins door to door for comparison.  He was riding a battered winter commuter bike with an equally battered pannier rack bag on and didn't look as sweaty as I felt when we parted company at Otley! Clearly a good rider with a machine and bag that have seen some action. It was good fun riding with him.

The day off work ride
I've got some time off work coming up so contacted Phil from ICC (see my first ever blog post, that's Phil) for a long ride on Friday and he's in. Depending on the weather we'll probably go from Ilkley to Glasson Dock near Morcambe via the Trough of Bowland and back. Plenty of new territory there and I'm not sure exactly what to expect.

It's 191km (119 miles) but here's some stats for it from the www.plotaroute.com site
35% uphill
35% downhill
30% flat

I didn't make the 200km Audax but I did have a great ride instead

I just couldn't motivate myself to do the 200km Audax today but I did meet up with Al for a 7am ride up to Conistone and back, taking in a cheeky Langbar climb at the end and we both smashed our personal best times up it.

That's thanks to Al, if I'd have been on my own I'd have trundled home on the back roads in my comfort zone but he lit the touchpaper and we were off!

That was a perfect ride for how I was feeling today.

I should have done 10 hrs training according to my plan this week, I've actually done 6. Still, I've enjoyed those 6 hours and pushed the envelope (is that the term?!) at the end of today's ride so that will do.

Oh, and did I mention how hard it was getting out of bed at 6am on Sunday?! I looked at my phone sort of hoping Al would have bailed but absolutely knowing he wouldn't. Thankfully he never does.

200km Audax on Sunday. Can I do it?

200km, that's about 125 miles.

I did 115 in November and I was spent after that.

What's another 10 miles? 45 minutes on a bike maybe. Not so difficult when you put it like that.

There's rain forecast though, and I'm tired, and there's probably some more excuses if I go looking for them...

I think this one is more about the mental challenge than the physical (although the physical will definitely be tough - there's another excuse!).

If I do it, great, another tick, a good achievement and some significant calories burnt.

If I don't do it, then hopefully a shorter ride with ICC and still a target to reach for another day (defeatest mindset is already here) but I'll probably regret just getting out and doing it (Rule 5 and 6 of The Rules applies here).

This is a record of how I feel 36 hrs before. Let's see what happens.

Training - how do you know if you've peaked too early?

Al said to me recently careful you don't peak too soon. This has been in the back of my mind occasionally but I thought more about it this morning on my ride in to work after having done the two big back to back rides this weekend.

The question has to be, how do you know when you've peaked? I think the answer to that must lie within the training plan and the training goal but as I've never trained for an event this big before this concept is new territory for me.

I'm assuming that you set a training goal and work up to it, and your peak is when you hit that goal. If you hit that goal early then you'll either peak too early or need to set another more challenging goal.

First issue with that theory then is the training plan I have is a monthly one, so I can't see what the peak actually looks like in August. I think I need to try and get a copy of all the months so I can see what I should be aiming at. I can then decide if the intermediate plan is right for me and I'll know what the peak is.

Second issue is that I'm following the training plan very loosely anyway, working more on the advice given to me about just riding my bike as much as I can. "The more miles you put in beforehand the easier the event will be" were the words. This method doesn't have a training peak, other than perhaps the event itself, so peaking for me is the actual event and anything less that 1000 miles in 9 days is still building up to it.

I need to learn more about this area but I'm not going to loose any sleep over it, I'm just going to ride as much as I can and that philosophy is definitely making me stronger and quicker at the moment, even with my laptop stuffed down the back of my bibshorts on tonight's commute! That's because I forgot my rucksack in case you were wondering...

Well that was Scotland, and it was ace!

I achieved my goal - 2 substantial back to back rides and it didn't kill me. Really pleased with myself and proof that after 2 months putting in the miles it's possible to get from feeling totally spent after 25 miles (end of February) to a total of 187 miles over 2 days with more in the tank (end of April). I also beat another target of mine, over 200 miles in one week (I managed 222). Next target will be 300.

Day one from Ilkley to Penrith was a cracker, I was joined by Paul and Clive from ICC. Clive peeled off at Burnsall with a creaking bottom bracket and Paul made it to the top of Fleet Moss where we went our separate ways.

(that's Pen-y-ghent just peeking out behind my left shoulder)

I dropped down the huge descent into Hawes and ate this beautiful thing...

Then I cycled up this valley into Cumbria and to Kirby Stephen. I've decided that due to the scenery, the deserted smooth tarmac and the friendly gradient this is my favourite valley for road biking so far!

Once at the riverside cafe in Appleby, I realised there IS a solution to the age old problems of where to store your bike and how to ensure the toilet roll is accessible without putting your back out to reach round for it.

Finally I ended my day with fish and chips followed by rhubarb crumble and cream and a night in The Ginney B&B at J41 of the M6 which I thoroughly recommend (£57 B&B for the night, breakfast was excellent). 83 miles in the bag.

On Saturday I woke to bright sun, a light tailwind and cows walking past the window at breakfast! Home made muesli, grapefruit and orange segments, 2 poached eggs on toast and some toast with real butter and Marmite set me off in a good mood.

The road to Carlisle was great but that was the best bit, Carlisle was a typical city centre for cycling and the A7 out of it was busy. This then peeled off to the B something all the way up beside the M6 to Gretna then the M74. I got caught by a random who chatted and helped pass some time before he left at Ecclefechan.

The next 5 hrs from Lockerbie weren't great to be honest. The tarmac (yawn...) was broken with loose stones everywhere and the scenery after being spoilt in the Dales and Cumbria was almost non existent until Dumfries and Galloway (these photos kind of sum up the 5 hrs).

This is day 6 on my LEJOG ride and it's a means to an end definitely - get from the nice bits to the nice bits as directly as possible.

Does anyone know what this sculpture represents? I came across it en route somewhere near Moffat on the Sustrans bike path.

Anyway, things started looking up when I ate this (microwaved) scotch pie from a VG

And arrived at Chatelherault overlooking my final destination, Hamilton, at about half 5 with 104 miles on the clock, a sunburnt ear and my lovely mother-in-law wielding a bottle of chilled wine

Today's top quote from a Scottish Neighbour seeing me clad in lycra "I've seen more meat on a butcher's pencil"!

Also big thanks to Stu for giving me the 22 mile Lochs and Windmills Tour of Ayrshire this morning :-)

T-1 (hr until I set off for Scotland)

And LOOK at the day I've landed!

I've also swapped the delightful Travelodge Southwaite Services

 for a lovely B and B that has promised me a BIG breakfast ☺

And I've got company for the first 40 miles up to Hawes too from Clive of ICC.

Garmin Tandoori Nav

For my trip to Scotland, here is my new Garmin Tandoori Nav (plastic curry lid with directions sheet)!

Tuesday 15th April - This week's goals and a bit about the event

I'm writing this at 06:30 while waiting for my porridge to digest before riding into work. It's dead time so why not update a blog..!

21 weeks to go.

This week the Intermediate training plan is going a bit softer on me but it's still a lot of riding:

Tues 2 hrs
Thurs 2 hrs
Sat 2.5 hrs
Sun 3 hrs

So I'm ignoring that and am planning to break the 200 mile barrier this week (a first for me) over the following rides which include my first serious back to backer:

Commuting
Tues - 18 miles, 1 hr
Wed - 18 miles, 1 hr

Riding to Scotland
Fri - 90 miles - 7 hrs
Sat - 90 miles - 7 hrs

I think the idea is to ride as much as possible so I'm working on that mantra rather than following the training plan to the letter (which gives me a get out clause if there's a tough week and I'm not on form!).

I haven't posted much about the event itself yet. The route hasn't been fully announced yet as far as I know but it's going to look something like this:

I have had to book the laundry service so far, 3 washes of kit during the 9 days (drop off in the evening, comes back clean early the next morning) so I'm gradually (bib shorts alone are £70+) pulling together 3 sets of kit to ensure I get a fresh set every day.

There's more information on the route  here:
http://www.rideacrossbritain.com/2014-ride/the-route/

Week ending 13th April - training plan vs reality

This week's Intermediate training plan said

Tues 2hrs
Thurs 2hrs
Sat 4hrs
Sun 4hrs
Total 12hrs

According to Strava I've done 10 hrs, so not enough but I got a 90 miler in today so feel like that will do.

How was my first Audax?
That 90 miler was the 70 mile Spring into the Dales Audax I mentioned earlier. It was 90 miles because I rode out from home to the start and then peeled off as it went near where I live.

The Audax was different from a Sportive in that there was no signage but a route card was handed out and the general idea is to follow someone who looks like they know where they are going! That plan worked up until a point where the guy we were following ignored his Garmin and went the wrong way for a mile before realising.

There were wagon wheels and penguins at the first checkpoint, cheap and nasty coffee at the start (which still does a job though let's face it) and sarnies at the finish. It was pretty basic but for £7 you can't ask for more than that really. A very sociable event but a bit more underground as supposed to a Sportive which is perhaps more inclusive (and much more expensive).

Links
For more information on Audaxes and the calendar of events (there's LOADS everywhere for all different abilities) visit http://www.aukweb.net/

More details on the Spring into the Dales one can be found here http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/13-162/ and maps/GPX downloads here http://westyorkshiresr.org.uk/ai1ec_event/spring-into-the-dales/?instance_id=253

Sunday 13th April. Spring into the Dales Audax

Up at 6am after a rubbish night's sleep to set off by bike at 6:45. I'm meeting Andy and his friends at 745 and going to do the Audax and peel off as it passes Addingham. Should be about 70 miles. This photo doesn't do it justice but there's a big black cloud on it's way over on the stiff breeze :-(

Strava on my Blog

Just learnt how to add a Strava widget to my blog!

For the record here's the instructions

1. In Strava, click on your picture top right and select My Profile
2. Scroll down the page and bottom right is a Share Your Rides button
3. Copy the code for either of the widgets you want to display
4. In Blogger, using the menu for managing your blog, select Layout
5. Click Add a Gadget
6. Scroll down and select the HTML/Java Script widget
7. Give it a title and paste in the code
8. Hey presto! Very cool.

10th April - Quick ride and planning my 2 dayer to Scotland

Popped out at lunchtime for an hour to Draughton and Bolton Abbey. Quite a nice hilly route for an hour and I was desperate to get out on the bike having eaten a huge pizza on Tuesday. Plus it was sunny although there seemed to be more headwind than tailwind as always.

Also, being mindful that I need to start building up the back to back ability, I've being planning my 2 day 180 mile ride up to Hamilton in Scotland for Easter weekend, looks pretty good, certainly up to Carlisle where I'll be spending the night in a Travelodge at the motorway services. Motorway services food for tea and breakfast and a pastel shade bedroom, something to look forward to then!

Day 1, Ilkley to Carlisle, 142km or 88 miles
Goes via Hawes and Appleby-in-Westmorland.
Link to the route and a downloadable GPX here http://www.plotaroute.com/map/1202

Day 2, Carlisle to Hamilton, 150km or 93 miles
Sneaks up alongside the M6 pretty much all the way. I guess navigating will be straightforward but the motorway signs are going to go past very slowly and be a constant reminder of the distance. It's slightly longer but less hilly than day 1.
Link to the route and a downloadable GPX here http://www.plotaroute.com/map/1194

April's training plan

Here's April's Intermediate training plan:
http://www.rideacrossbritain.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Intermediate-Training-Plan-April-2014.pdf

Roughly I need to do the following this week

Tue 2hrs
Thu 2hrs
Sat 4hrs
Sun 4hrs

I've got an 85 mile Audax planned for Sunday (7 hrs maybe?) and due to family commitments can't ride until Thursday but with any luck I'll be able to commute on Thursday and Friday (2hrs each day) so that just about meets the training needs. Not sure what that plan is going to look like for August though or how I'll find time to meet it!

For reference, here are April's three training plan links...

·         Novice training plan

·         Intermediate training plan

·         Advanced training plan

Zen

Someone said the reason that they were doing LEJOG for a second time was the

zen of eat, sleep, ride, repeat.

I like the sound of that.

In the meantime today I feel like I've fallen down a cliff as my quads are killing and I can hardly walk up the stairs!

Saturday 5th April - Blimey what a day

Drove up to the Lakes and did a very wet 15 mile Mtb ride with Vinny and DDJ around Loughrigg fell, followed by a pint of guiness and a well loaded steak and ale pie.

DDJ and I then drove to Wasdale Head where we climbed Great Gable and got soaked again. Cloud cover was at about 500m and the way down involved a bit of scree surfing and some very cheeky navigation to avoid falling off a cliff. Now in the Wasdale Head Inn sipping a Guinness waiting for my 3 bean enchilada to arrive!

Update: the 3 bean enchilada and Dave's vegetarian lasagne are unfortunately having the expected side effects back at the youth hostel bedroom

Friday 4th April - a day off

A day off work! Going riding with a random I met off the internet, well from the Ilkley Cycling Club Facebook group actually. It's ok, we're meeting in a public place. 86 miles up to Ingleton. It's a bit misty out but no wind.

Well I'm back and I didn't get groomed. Phil was a very nice bloke actually and a handy rider (he was 13 years my senior. If I'm half as good as that in 13 years time I will be very happy) and together we rode my first 100 miler of 2014 so I'm well chuffed. Here's a pic of me at Ribblehead (it was too misty to see the viaduct but the sound of a train in the air was a bit spooky!). Thanks Phil.

Why am I writing a blog?

In September 2014 I'll be riding 969 miles from Land's End to John O'Groats (LEJOG) in 9 days as part of a team from Vodafone for charity. That's an average of 110 miles per day.

This is my story of the 5 months between now and September as I get on the bike and prepare for this challenge.

I'm writing this as a record that I can look back on in the future and in response to comments from a few friends who wanted to read more about what I will be going through. Perhaps others will find it when searching the net and find something useful too.

I have a Just Giving page, if you would like to sponsor me then you can do so here

https://www.justgiving.com/Jason-Phillips-LEJOG

I'm raising funds for the Vodafone Foundation Moyo Lesotho Challenge which aims to get treatment to 41,000 young people living with HIV/AIDS.

Lesotho is one of the poorest countries in the world and has the third highest HIV prevalence (23.6%). More than 130,000 youth have been orphaned by the disease. The epidemic has had a devastating impact on families, communities and economic development.

Every penny counts, is very gratefully received and feels like a vote of confidence from you in my chances of completing the challenge. I'm hoping to raise a whopping £3000!

If you would like to receive emails containing new posts from this Blog then please enter your email address here and click subscribe!

Anyway, here are my favourite cycling quotes that I've found while clicking around the net:


“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” Eddy Merckx

"It never gets easier, you just go faster." Greg LeMond

"Training is like fighting a gorilla. You don't stop when you're tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired." Greg Henderson

and this gem;

"It's not about the bike" Lance Armstrong
With hindsight it actually wasn't!