Ride With Bradley Wiggins Sportive 2013

Well this Sunday I rode on the same route That a knight of the realm trains on. It all started for me at 0 (oh my god it's early) 500 hours (5am and yes there is more than just one 5 o'clock in the day! thankfully I don't see it that often.

After a few last minute checks that I had got everything that I would need, Bike, helmet, gels, energy drinks, waterproofs, directions etc. I set off up to the well out in the wilds village/small town of Barnoldswick. I think even the sat nav went "You want to go where???". So packed ready and still a bit bleary eyed I set off on the one hour drive that would be the second shortest distance I would travel all day.

After much motorway that eventually turned into A roads up near Nelson, then B roads, then even smaller minor roads, all the time with me looking at my sat nav thinking I wonder how accurate that thing actually is and where are you actually taking me? it seemed that all of a sudden I stumbled across civilisation in the form of this little town nestled in the hills. It certainly seemed quite nice and thankfully the town is quite well geared for that many cyclists descending into it to take part in what would prove to be one of the more iconic (and emotional) sportives of the year. I was a bit worried that I was going to have to park miles from the start point but thankfully at 6.30 in the morning there are only the lunatics (like me) that are going to be going out on the 160km (100 mile) ride that arrived early. I parked up got out of my car and had a look around at the other riders. It seemed that every cycling club in the area had turned up with team vans, team jerseys, very expensive looking race bikes and all wearing what I can only describe as the top kit. As the day went on though some of these riders would yet again prove that even with the best kit in the world sometimes you just haven't got it!

I went and registered, got my rider number and timing chip came back to the car and put my bike together. After I finally got myself sorted out I thought I would wander on over with my bike to see when everything was starting. Little did I know I would end up on the start line already and it wasn't even 7am yet!!

Sir Bradley Wiggins even came out to say "Hello" in a not very articulate fashion and see us all off on the first wave of the 100 mile ride. I couldn't believe that totally off by chance I had got myself on the first wave and would be setting off already..

All ready to go at the start!

With a quick bit of a prep talk from Brad and the admission that he wouldn't be taking part in the 160 k ride as he was racing the following day (which is fare enough) we all got on the peddles and ready to go! Bradley had a few words that just made me think "Oh my god I have bitten off more than I can chew this time" as he did admit that this is a very hilly ride that stretches even him! That's right we were about to set off on a route designed by a TDF yellow jersey wearing, Olympic Gold medal holding Knight of the realm cycling hero of all present and he was saying "Erm yeh! erm this is a really hard one with some killer hills, so enjoy it!!!". Then the horn sounded and we were off!!! "Oh bugger I think I may die!"

Everyone made the same mistake and went out at break neck speed, I think in an attempt to go for the man test in the first couple of miles. Certainly it warmed the legs up a bit and got the heart and lungs firing. The chap that rudely commented on my bike (Yes I did hear you say that I shouldn't be allowed to ride in a sportive with an old looking bike and not wearing proper team looking kit too) was passed by me in a cloud of my dust and in all honesty I never saw him for the rest of the day! Not a bad thing really as bike snobs like that annoy the hell out of me.

It was 13 miles in and then came the first big killer hill.It was as you ride north west out Waddington on the B6478. Unimaginatively it was simply called the B6478 climb (in Strava land) but what they should of really called it was "The first of many". This 3 mile long hill only had an average grade of 6% but it would really sort the men from the boys as people were already starting to question themselves by the time they got to the top. I certainly saw when it came to the route split later on a few riders go left down the 100k route instead of right up the 160 k route.

After that the roller coaster ride began! I am sure if this was Lord of the rings I would have had Orks on my tail and a black mountain ahead of me. Not with the Eye of whatever it was called on top but more the face of Bradley watching everyone occasionally commenting on the mortals trying to ride in a Gods Tyre tracks. It certainly was going to be challenging. The wind was picking up. The skies getting darker and as we headed over the plains up the hill from Newton in Bowland through Slaidburn then eventually turning West towards Wray I couldn't help but to stop and take a picture of the magnificent scene before me.

Heading towards Wray

It was really epic scenery that as riders we pretty much had to ourselves. I saw hardly any traffic and I would even go as far as to say I had whole hours on my bike without seeing a single car. The joys of the country roads.

The first feed station was in the Village of Wray so that will be a little over 35 miles already done before the first stop. It certainly was a welcome break as I know that lots of riders needed the toilet (probably from taking on too much liquid before the start) plus a good point to get some cake and gels down top up the energy drinks (thanks to High5) and get back on it ready for some more hills! As all sportives of this distance everyone was happy and smiling at the first feed station. We would see what happens later on at other feed stations.

Up and over yet more hills my legs burning with increasing intensity with each one. Thankfully on the flats and downhills I recovered fast and felt ready for the next hill as they came. We turned south then towards Caton and Quernmore facing more ups and downs. I saw one poor chap (at about the 58 mile point) had totaled it on a very steep downhill and had the obvious signs of a collar bone fracture/break. Some riders didn't even stop to see if the poor chap was alright, so much for camaraderie! We tried to call for help only to find none of the 5 or 6 guys that stopped to help had reception so we had to just push on and either find a marshal or the next feed station to call for help. I set off with a group of chaps and we did eventually find a marshal who was on the phone to the paramedics that had just picked the chap up. Phew! unlucky for him but it was a costly racing speed type effort for us. One I feel would really hurt me later on.

The next feed station was at 65 miles and was a welcome sight indeed!

Feed Station 2 Just North of Chipping

 It had everything you would ever need, Food, drink, First aid (the chap with the bust collar bone is sat on the chairs in the middle), Halfords to help with any bike issues and the most important of all..the bogs! I was bursting by this point and was determined not to do as so many seem too and pee by the side of the road (not classy chaps and not legal either!)

It was a slightly longer stop than I had planned for but I wasn't going to be wining any races today! My legs were starting to hurt and I think my bike was hurting too. She was really creaking and I could feel the chain starting to drag too! One of the main difficulties I was having though was my gearing! I had clearly not anticipated the hills. I don't know why as it was obvious that this was going to have some killer steep ones. Unlike most of the riders who had really big ring rear cassettes on the back to give them a nice big ratio to ride up the hills with, something like 34 or 36 teeth, I still had the same one I have always stuck with with a maximum of 24 teeth as the big ring. This made uphills really hard work and I knew that the hardest ones were still ahead! My legs were holding up OK even under this sort of punishment. Even my breathing was fairly controlled and I was feeling stronger at this point than I did when I was riding the Cheshire Cat a few months before (see my earlier blog for that one).

So Out the south side of Chipping and turning up a rather steep and long piece of tarmac called Jeffers! This rather painful segment has an average 9.9% gradient with I am fairly sure they actually just put the decimal place in by mistake as it was practically vertical. It was this point that I had my first "Man test" FAIL!! I actually had to get off an push for a bit as I just didn't have the strength to push the pedals in such a crap low gear. I was happily in good company though as I wasn't the only one that came to the same conclusion! Come the first bend though it was a good telling off to myself and back on the bike, even if it was still quite steep!

It was a run over eastwards (finally) into Billington as we approached the third and final feed station. I was ready to give my bike a little bit of Halfords TLC by this point as my chain was complaining that it had no lubricant left on it and was dragging like nobody's business.

Feed Station 3 With TLC

 I really should get my bike properly serviced at some point soon. The Final feed station at Billington was at a school (obviously not open) but it was a quick stop then off again. This time after spraying some Halfords WD40 (GT85) to get me through the final 20 (ish) miles to the finish.

The dark Lord Wiggins had other plans as he looked on though!

Unsurprisingly his Dark Knightship was wanting to ensure that all before him paid the price for wanting to ride in his sportive so put 3 more big climbs in the way between us and the finish. Frodo would have never stood for this and would have told Gandalf to stick his ring where the sun should never shine from (but in Gandalfs case you could never tell!!!). Us riders on the other hand have choice and certainly no magic carpet to whisk us up the hills. Pendleton Road Climb was the first of the final 3, 1.2 miles of painful uphill with legs on fire and 265 feet of climbing. I was only hoping that this was the last and by this point had no idea how far I had to go either (I never keep track as I just don't want to know). Then it was the Nick O Pendle hill out of the north side of Pendleton 1.3 miles and 496 feet gain. by this time I wasn't laughing and in pain. But I just had to press on regardless! Finally the Barley lane climb which even though is only 1 mile and 7% it felt more like 10 miles at 20%. Then just a few more little lumps and bumps with a gently descent back into Barnoldswick. I have nver had a park look so welcoming in all my life. The finishing straight had crowds of people cheering at the barriers which did give me a boost so I made a last ditch effort to sprint in to the finish! Possible the slowest sprint ever seen on a road bike but it felt good to me!

So after 7 hours and 49 minutes on my bike I had finally finished. I headed over to get some food and my finishers pack then just chilled out for a bit. My Dad and my brother (Nick) came to the event together with Ella (Nicks daughter). They all seemed very impressed with the event that was going on and obviously had been having great fun taking part in loads of things. Ella even got her face painted!!!

So 101 miles down the line and I was tired, I have sore legs and my bike was feeling the pain too!

Lessons to take away are defiantly think about getting a new rear cassette for my bike. Probably get it serviced before the next event too!

That next event being the Manchester 100!

For now though I was just happy with the work I did for one day and this week I am riding too and from work everyday. In all (including Sunday) I will have cycled close to 200 miles in 6 days by Friday.  Not bad going really!

Looking forward to it already!

Happy riding :)

Long road behind me and a BIG ride ahead!!!

Counting last Sundays effort at the DM Keith Skoda sportive in Wakefield I will have ridden around about 100 miles for the week.

I have done battle with Manchester's rush hour traffic and survived. Plus as I am now actually doing a higher daily mileage and will be cycling too and from work 5 days a week regardless of the weather etc things are really starting to pick up.

I feel like I am getting stronger everyday however my bike will probably creak you a different story, such a high mileage is starting to take its toll on my wonderful home built and badly maintained road machine. The bottom bracket desperately needs replacing as it is really starting to rock side to side with each pedal stroke and of course this is causing the chain to rub and make a noise. In short my energy is not being transferred to the back wheel as efficiently as it could be and I end up really working very hard for sod all power output!

It is however doing my training wonders to regularly ride a good daily distance. I no longer get scowled at as I come into the office before I go and get changed (I have recently changed job) and I don't have to pay for parking like the rest of the loonies that drive into Manchester.

The ride in is really nice actually. I basically go flying down one long straight(ish) road (the A57) almost all the way into Manchester. My journey only punctuated by traffic lights and the need to use the shared use bridge at the end of the M67. Only a totally suicidal lunatic would attempt to navigate the roundabout at the end of the M67/M60. This is bad enough when you are in a car never mind on a bike. there are a few Strava segments on the way too (see my best effort from this week below)



I got loads of personal records and have since even improved on those too!

This weekend though it is down to some serious stuff!

Saturday is a day of having fun with the family, Evie has a birthday to go to then I am taking Rosie to the park as Evie goes to the cinema with her big cousins. Then back home for a good dinner and early to bed as Sunday is going to prove without a doubt the hardest ride I have undertaken so far! The thing we do for enjoyment.

Anyway its going to be an obscenely early start in the morning, I haven't worked out what time yet but I do know I have to be up there and ready to sign on by 06.30 (who comes up with these timings?) then about 07.30 to 08.00 setting off on which should and probably will prove to be a very long hard hilly and testing 160km (100 mile) route around them there hills. Look at it like this, if Sir Bradley (I've got loads of Olympic gold and silver medals plus I have a Yellow Tour de France jersey and these hills are my back yard) Wiggins uses them to train on and loved to go for a little leg stretch on them in his spare time, then it must be a good route that stretches a rider in ways you never thought possible.

In short I think this one may hurt a bit! However it won't stop me riding to work every day next week. Come next Friday I will have cycled close to 200 miles in the space of 6 days. Not bad going I would think, however I really don't want to think about it now (realising how daunting a task this is... what am I doing???). I am just going to relax, enjoy it and smash my 100 mile time that I did on the Cheshire cat. I want to knock off at least 30 minutes but I feel I may be hard pressed!

Hopefully my next post will be the tails of the big ride with plenty of pictures (should I ever find the charger for the camera).

Until then I will be attempting to sort my bike out and thinking of what I can do next!!

The ride after this being the Manchester 100 on September 1st of course..... Hurrah!

Happy cycling and stay safe!

By the way as I now have a very international audience including readers from Japan, Russia, France, Belgium and all over the place. I have now included a translation widget. For the foreign readers amongst you please check it out and let me know what you think :)

DM Keith Skoda Sportive 4th August 2013

Today was the day that I did yet another sportive. This time on the right side of The Pennines!!!

It was a very sociable start for a sportive but saying that it wasn't a great distance. The day started fro me at 6.30am so I wasn't having to scrape myself out of bed even though it is a Sunday ride. Anyway I gave the dogs a once around the block, had three Weetabix as I knew this would be a high energy day, loaded up the car, had a cup of tea then headed out the door at about 7.30.

Just as I got into the car and turned on the ignition however my phone dinged!! I instantly knew what the message was as Lynne had used my car the previous day and it now had no petrol in it.... much grumbling! however as I was leaving with a good amount of time to spare this wasn't really an issue. I just simply went to Tesco and put in £30 worth. Not quite filling her up but it would be enough.

Next came the long and winding road over Woodhead Pass then up the M1 to Wakefield. Not a bad trip at that time in the morning and apart from someone who was clearly out for a Sunday morning drive at half the speed limit (again much grumbling from me). Eventually I reached Wakefield and even managed to find a nice parking place right next to the Skoda dealers and at the same time out the way enough that I wouldn't have to worry about banging into other peoples cars as I put my bike back together. So once I got sorted I went around to sign in and much to the disappointment of everyone not from Yorkshire not a single person was wearing a flat cap or had a whippet with them! I take it this is more of a tradition for Saturdays or when going down t' pit etc. It was good however to hear some real English spoken in the way only a real Yorkshire man can! I was greeted with a good "Ey lad" but then it all went a bit normal to me, however being a fluent Yorkshire speaker (I am from Halifax originally) everything made sense. Unsurprisingly there is always someone not from Yorkshire at a sportive like this and they just looked confused! We do love that look.

Come 10am we were off in a very unceremonious start. The Cheshire Cat did a better attempt at a start but saying that it isn't the start that counts, it what comes next that everyone was looking forward too.

It all started with a long flat but fast road out of Wakefield with no real hills to speak of. A nice flat fast run south(ish) going through Notton and Woolley. It helped spread the bunch out a bit and much to my annoyance on one of the flat stretches and right in the middle of a superb breakaway my chain came off the front ring. I wouldn't have minded but I wasn't even peddling at the time. After remounting my chain (very quickly) I jumped back on and accelerated to catch back up with the break again. This in itself was probably a bit of a mistake as we were traveling very fast and not at endurance speed. It felt good though and helped warm the legs up and open the lungs up for the thrashing to come.

Once through Woolley we crossed the M1 and joined the main road on the west side of the motorway. We had been briefed by the organiser before hand that we would have to cross the carriageway and as this is a really dangerous spot they would be there with red flags to help us across. Sure enough they were there and managed to guide me safely across. What they didn't warn me about was the hill that came up next. Not the steepest I have ever been up but certainly one to make you sweet a bit. Once over the top of the first climb the route just turned into a roller coaster of ups and downs heading towards Denby Dale and Holmfirth. After a while I found myself alone and just riding to pickup the next sign. I did have a few moments in the ride when I thought I had missed a sign or did the one that I just passed say left or right?? Never good moments but I rode on always grateful to pick up the next one along the way. The hills were starting to bite a bit by this point too as there seemed to be more up than down! The actual High point was in a village called Upper Cumberworth about half way between Denby Dale and Holmfirth. This was a killer of a hill that just seemed to go on and on and on! however with much effort and wishing that I had some bigger rings on my cassette I eventually made it to the top. Just as all the riders taking part looked at there very worst (dribble, snot, sweet and who knows what else) there was a photographer sat at the side of the road ready to take a picture of such a glorious moment for posterity!! Won't be putting that one online me thinks.

After Holmfirth it was again back over the lumps and bumps heading westwards. The route even took me past the base of Emily Moore TV mast. This landmark can be seen for many miles around and is somewhere I have always wanted to go past too. Of course such a mast was only going to be at the top of yet another very big hill. After that though it was a seriously fast decent down back towards the motorway and home to Wakefield. The Photographer did manage to snap me on one of the descents that I decided to let it go and really give it some welly. If I manage to get that picture I will be putting that online. I certainly felt very fast and I can only hope it looked it too.

With sore legs from some good climbs and my ears ringing from the howl of the wind I finally crossed over the motorway again and dropped into Wakefield. I made it around the 40 mile route in 2 hours 44 minutes, so really not too bad at all. Not quite the racing speed i was hoping for but that will come with time and practice.

I had solved the problem of not being able to change up from the bottom to the top chain ring on my bike. Now however I need to set the stops up correctly to stop my chain jumping off the top and bottom rings (very annoying, plus cost me loads of time too).

I didn't get pins and needles in my hands like last time. I think my gloves may have been on too tight!

My bike still creaks and groans as much as the rider but that will be a big job to stop either of them making noise.

My hill climbing is starting to improve, my flat speed is good and my descending was superb! now all I need is to put it all together again next weekend for the 160km (100 mile) ride with Brad sportive. Now that will be long and hard with many big hills. I will be wishing for the at by the time I have finished I would think as the flat Cheshire plains will be a far cry from what I experienced today or will again next week. Them there 'ills!!!

Now having had my monthly dose of Yorkshire (and then some) Lynne and the kids won't have a clue what I am saying fro at least a few hours. Oh the joys of those confused looks..

All said and done it was a very good sportive and well organised too.
I really enjoyed it and if the y are running another one I will be up for it! Anyone else fancy riding in Gods Country?

Yet again More Happy cycling and a good few miles in the bank!

A nice run out on a Friday!!!

This afternoon after much messing about in Hyde trying to get my hair cut, I finally managed to get out on my bike for a bit. The ride was basically from Hyde to Macclesfield which if you take the short route is about 14 miles. This isn't quite far enough for me and unless I am racing "The Wife" over to Macc it just isn't lumpy enough or long enough.

To tick the lumpy and long boxes within a reasonable time limit (I left at 3pm and had to be in Macc for a BBQ), I decided to go over to Broadbottom, up the hill to Charlesworth, round the corner to Marple then along the main road through Poynton to Macclesfield. 

I did originally think I would go up over Monks lane and over to Hayfield and Macc that way, however as I am going on a big ride on Sunday I decided that I would not burn my legs out and went for a lower level ride that still had a cheeky little hill or two. 

The first cheeky little hill went from Hyde to Mottram and is just a long slog. It's not very steep but it does have a strava segment that goes its full length, it proved to be a good warmup for the legs and lungs so by the time I reached the top I was a bit hot. 

The next was the climb from the valley bottom in Broadbottom up to Charlesworth. This is a cat 4 climb and did make my legs hurt a bit. It was a good climb though and allowed me to run up and down the gears a few times before I reached the top. I was passed by another rider towards the top so that of course meant one thing, the chase was on!!! As we both turned right at Charlesworth heading towards Marple I could see this chap pulling ahead and getting a nice bit of a lead on me. The most he got was maybe 10 seconds but Sergeant Major Matt was jumping up and down screaming "CRUSH HIM!!!". On the first little bit of flat he was moving fast but I was keeping pace with him. Strangely on the first bit of downhill he didn't descend that fast so I made a big gain. He obviously knew I was behind him as he could probably hear my bike creaking, he indicated to pull out around some parked cars. I was on his wheel by this point. By now we were running the bends and had picked up some traffic too. I knew that I had to pass him before the decent into Marple as being stuck behind him would be dangerous at that distance. With less than 500meters to go to the top of the decent I decided to kick it up a knotch. I made the move in a matter of seconds and to make sure he didn't counter me and pass again I just had to keep on accelerating and put in some distance. After that it was a case of the steep and moderately technical decent into Marple. The tricky bit is the steep 90 degree left turn that if it's a bit wet can be deadly, otherwise it was a nice decent down to the lights before the climb past Marple train station. Again a bit of a leg burner but not too bad really.

The flat run to Poynton along a busy road wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The only notable point was the manure left down the middle of the road all the way to Macc. Really not a pleasant smell and a real one to avoid riding through too. A big thank you to the yokel farmer for that one. Obviously  a lack of thought for everyone else going on there!

So apart from getting a little geographically embarrassed as I was trying to find the right street all went well and it was a good few miles in the bank. It was a nice day for it too as the sun was out, yes it was a bit warm but not as bad as when I did the Cat. I have a good ride coming up this weekend that is going to test my hill climbing legs. I only want to not come last and at least keep up with the bunch for as long as I can hold on for. I intend to really push my limits for the ride this weekend and I will be treating it as a race. 

Keep you posted on how it goes as I think it's going to be very hard even though it's only 40 miles.

Yet more happy cycling!!! ;)

Cancel my last!!!

Last weekend was an all round disaster as things go! As you know I was all keyed up and ready to ride in the Jodrell bank summer sportive when on Friday night my oldest daughter decided to be ill. It just so happened she was sick in the front or my car on the way home from a hog roast we went too that evening. My car will never smell the same again!!! I didn't think it would be very fair on my wife to leave her with an ill child so I could go off riding my bike so I voluntarily said I would stay home to look after her. Lynne actually turned round and said as I have done this off my own back she would happily let me go and registered myself on the ride with brad sportive on August 11th. This sounds great to me as not only is it another chance to ride with Bradley Wiggins and quite a few of the team Honda girls but it also gives me the opportunity to get another 100miles under my belt. :)

This coming weekend I am taking part in the DM Keith Skoda sportive from Wakefield. This was supposed to be a good 60ish mile hilly workout but last night I received an email saying they are having to cut the route by 20 miles so it will be around 40 miles instead! Not too happy about that as I could just go and do that closer to home for free, plus it brings into question about the route being signposted or not! Well I shall find out soon enough.

Anyway as for today I am taking my daughter into Manchester to see some dinosaurs. It was at her request too.

Training wise I have been doing some turbo trainer sessions to keep me going and make my legs and lungs burn. I will get out on my bike (I hope) this week before the event this weekend and put some real mileage in as I certainly need too plus I miss it.

I shall keep you posted.

Ride happy :)