Cider and wind!

Long weekend down in Mirepoix last week to attend the annual apple and cider festival - some of the cider being potent enough to cause a wobble in the unsuspecting after only a few small glasses. A good restorative after a ride if not with quite the kick of a Lance Armstrong chemical assist.

The Martins also took the opportunity to go for a few shorter rides and to be blasted by fierce headwinds - at point Nick and I came round a bend to be literally blown to a standstill! Still the return legs with the wind behind us was almost worth it. At one point on the flat I notched up 57km an hour and could have gone faster if only I had not run out of gears... and of course had been fitter!

My eldest Seb was also out with us on a rare visit and rode with me one morning - he is definitely built for the flat and sprints with powerful muscular thighs that make Usain Bolt seem weedy. Hills are another matter!

Club runs and sportives

Nick and I have been keeping busy riding through the Autumn - last weekend we completed the Brighton to Brighton sportive, including the nasty climb of Devil's Dyke from the North side - Nick positively blasted up and we both managed a gold medal time! We have also experimented with a Sunday ride out with the East Grinstead Cycling Club as well as the Rutters - The former being a little less prone to stop every 10 minutes which is refreshing.

Off to France in a couple of weeks for the Apple Festival in Mirepoix and more riding if the weather holds up.

Rutting and all that

Nick and I have been out on the last two Sundays for fairly decent rides, including one into the Kent hills around Sevenoaks with some of the Forest Row Rutters - And this time he had no issues keeping up with everyone. Planning a good ride again this week, weather permitting

Summer in the Pyrenees

Lack of entries lately down to blog neglect rather than a lack of cycling - 2 weeks in August down in the Pyreenean foothills at Les Senies saw me managing a ride on 12 out of 14 days and Nick (13) accompanying me on most of them. Over the 2 weeks he showed a massive improvement in both stamina and speed - completing along the way 2 rides of over 8O km each, both in 35 degree heat! On the latter of these we tackled the climb up to Montsegur at 1,060 m, his first proper categorised climb with over 9 km of serious climbing. He loved the rapid descent down the other side.

Ditchling Beacon - Done!

My son Nick's cycling experience and ability continue to improve and expand. He is now riding a full size bike which curiously was originally his older brother's, was sold to my friend Nick and remained largely unused and which now I have bought back. His speed and strength have both improved in recent weeks - today we tackled a short sportive out from Plumpton, 48 kms but which included the climb of Ditchling Beacon. We managed to get back in under 2 hours, which is his best average speed yet. The climb did not give him any problems either, whilst many were walking up.

Chapeau!

Apple!

Problems with my Apple Mac and the Internet have meant a lack of entries for the past few weeks. That has not however meant a lack of cycling, with  a good few rides in the UK as well as a trip to see a stage of this year's Tour De France in the Pyrenees - vive Team Sky! In fact hoping to get out tonight for a quick loop before a curry at Khans

Fathers' Day 2012

Father and son bonding took on a new meaning on Fathers' day when Nick (13) joined myself and an assorted selection of fellow Rutters on the Sunday morning ride out from Forest Row. His very first Rutters ride.

We arrived at the start outside Future Cycles to be greeted by a large bang as Nick's rear inner tube burst. Taking off the tyre we found a 28 inch inner tube crammed into the 26 inch tyre. Fortunately the spare he had was 26 inch - we put this on only for the valve to snap half way through pumping it up. We therefore had to resort to putting my spare 28 inch tube on, with the result that we both rode without a spare one.

The ride was around 35km at a leisurely pace - still Nick found the rises hard going, not least perhaps because he had not finished a lengthy football tournament until 6pm the previous evening. I expect big improvements over the next few months though, as he has taken up a paper round up Chapel Lane!

Escaping a narrow boat

Last week saw an eventful little family holiday in a narrow boat up and down the rivers Wey and Thames. The weather was poor and wet and despite the attraction of a couple of persons going overboard during the week, I had bad cabin fever by the second day. Fortunately I had bought my bike and on a couple of days was able to escape for some riding. On one of those days did a decent loop which involved Box Hill again and a section of the route for the fortcoming men's Olympic road race, ending up with a well earned pint by the Thames at Chertsey.

Weekend cycle fest

Last weekend the weather was still a bit grim, grey and drizzly, but that did not stop 3 days of cycling fun - First up was the annual networking mountain biking around Devil's Dyke near Brighton, held on Friday and as demanding as usual. Lots of very steep slopes.

On Saturday morning my son Nick (13) and I then decamped to the Isle of Wight for the weekend to take part in a part closed road Sportive in the West of the Island, starting and finishing in Yarmouth. My very first visit to the island found us staying in Ryde on Saturday night - and found me discovering how hilly it is in places with a short warm up ride which included a short sharp ascent of 16% up Knighton Shute. Saturday evening was pure heaven though as we watched as against all the odds Chelsea won the Champions League against Bayern Munich on penalties after extra time. Viva Didier Drogba!

The Sunday sportive was blustery and damp but a brilliant ride - we were doing the 62 km route, but went a little wrong and ended up covering 70 km and a few serious hills. Quite tough for Nick and the furthest he has done to date, but he really enjoyed it nonetheless. He now wants to do a few more... which I am sure can be arranged!

Box Hill!

Nick and I checked out part of the route of the Olympic men's road race - Despite continued poor weather which meant a stop at the Evans Cycles HQ in Gatwick to pick up some more arm warmers and another rain proof jacket. Both these were donned by Nick for a drizzly start to our 55 k ride. Box Hill has been resurfaced so it is smoother than a baby's bottom, lovely to ride up. Enjoyed coffee and cake at the top, which seemed to ruin Nick's momentum as the last 15k of the ride he found very tough. Good to get out!

Blog neglect - Early season update 2

Lack of entries does not equate to lack of cycling - although the past two weeks have been dire on account of the April rain. A break in the weather meant that I managed to get out for a short brisk ride this evening, concentrating on staying in the big chain ring as much as possible.

Since early March I have put on a good few kilometres - Including the Burgess Hill Springtime Classic in mid March, and a short sportive from Haywards Heath with Nick (13), at the beginning of April - His first (of many I hope). Also got in a few rides around Les Senies, although the wind was fierce nearly every day.

Early season update

2012 season off to an earlier start than usual with a couple of sportives knocked off already - First up was the on the Rivett reliability ride from Burgess Hill a few weeks ago. Sensibly opted for the shorter 80 km option, which was just as well as it was freezing with icy roads to contend with. A fairly flat course too, so a good way to start off. Then the weekend before last it was up to Biggin Hill for the Hell of the Ashdown event, a much more serious affair over a 110 km distance but with many iconic climbs of the area including Cudham Test Hill, Toys Hill, Goat, The Wall, Col de Groombridge, Bayley's Hill and Star Hill (the sting in the tail). Despite being on my lighter Planet X bike I found the early hills harder than I should have - probably caused by a few excess pounds. Strangely enough I seemed to be better on the final couple of climbs when alot of others were seriously flagging! 4 and half hours or so as a ride time was about what I was expecting. Next up is the Burgess Hill Spring time classic on 18 March - normally my season opener!

Brrrr....

Temperatures have dropped - so silly me tried a shortish loop around Ardingly on Saturday which left me frozen despite being wrapped up like a turkey! Still at least out in January which doesn't usually happen.

2011 and all that ... the summary

Exceeded my 2,500 km target for 2011 by nearly a thousand kms, mainly due an increased number of longer Sportives and the Guide Dogs Alps trip - The total distance was 3,374 km, split 1,488 km in France and 1,886 km in the UK - The French kms unusually being slower, by over 2 km per hour - all those Alpine peaks taking their toll on the average speed.

Historical summary:

2006 - 1,298 km

2007 - 1,042 km

2008 - 1,630 km

2009 - 1,916 km

2010 - 2,347 km

Longest ride of the year - 140 km at the Staffs Moorlands Tour of Britain stage in September in the rain!

New Year's day

We were down at Les Senies for a few days over the New Year break and extremely strong winds on all but New Year's day rendered riding impossible. We had got Nick a new racer for Christmas so we went out for about 30 kms from our friends at Fougax - was a bit stop start as his gears were not quite adjusted correctly. Also the temperature dropped down to a chilly 4 degrees once we began climbing a little. Still good to get out.