Training: EF-Ashridge-Ivinghoe-Bison-Shenley-EF

Another tough excursion into the Chilterns with a twist on the usual route, going through Ashridge Estate, over Ivinghoe from opposite to the usual direction, a detour through some flat country before swinging back and up over the dreaded Bison from the hurting west ascent. The weather was mild and slightly overcast with a light wind from the west.

The pace was mediocre over the first half of the ride and I contributed quite a lot of pace making at the front over these early miles. The ride through Ashridge was incredible - beautiful forest scenery and a few deer jumping across our path before passing the castle. At the top of Ivinghoe we'd lost Stav and Ben who'd turned back - they knew Bison was on the cards today!

When we did get to Bison, I immediately dropped back to ride it at my own pace, which worked out nicely as I managed to overtake a few riders on the way up - especially in the grueling middle section of 18% gradient. It felt like I was in a trance, dancing on the pedals. The pace quickened at the top and I'd caught up with the front riders on the descent.

On the straight, flat 5-mile road into St Albans we formed a nicely moving paceline and worked all the way into the town at 25mph. It was in St Albans, though, that I ran out of water (only took one bottle), so I knew I ran the risk of bonking over the next 20-miles to London. I didn't feel like stopping at a shop for a refill and then have to chase like mad to get back on, so I ground it out.

Kevin directed the group through the hills around Shenley and I could feel my energy fading quickly, though I did manage to stay on and even managed to take a few 5-minute pulls at the front. Eventually we made it to the coffee shop in Whetstone and everyone said they were knackered. Longest ride for quite a while, but came home feeling OK.

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Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

Damn Garmin GPS was on the blink today, so no stats :(. Nevertheless, a great club ride was had even though the numbers were a bit on the low side (8-9 of us). I helped out with the pace making for about 5km into the wind - tough work keeping up with the big man Trevor! He had a flat around Radlett and we stopped to help change the tube. The pace picked up on the last hill and run in into Whetstone. A good ride with no major pain after Thursday's big effort.

Distance - about 55km
Time: about 2 hours
Speed: sort of fast

2008 wrap up

Here's my top 5 rides for the year, though there are plenty that I'll remember for a long time to come...

The British Cyclosportive on July 1

Tour de France prologue in London (well I saw it anyway...) on July 7

A grueling summer club ride - the learning curve steepens! - August 5

My first race in many years - December 1

A very cold but rewarding club run - one to remember... December 23

Happy new year to all of you - let 2008 bring many more unforgettable rides ;)

Training: EF-Bulls Green-Welwyn-Colney Heath-EF

A really tough solo ride today. Decided to put the pressure on hard and ended up overdoing it quite a bit. Strange how a 77km ride can end up feeling like a 120km+ ride - it's all about the intensity...

Found a country lane that descended from Digswell hill on the way back, but wish I hadn't. It was a full on Paris-Roubaix style mud bath with loads of sharp corners and quick, steep hills that ran on for about 4km. By the time I exited this lane I was caked in mud. The last 30km were all into the wind and I suffered big time as I tried to maintain a reasonable pace - my HR shooting up very high.

The rest of the day has been spent in quite a lot of pain with aching muscles and butt!

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Training: EF-Mays Lane-Brickendon-EF

Easy solo ride today with working off extra Xmas weight in mind, so slow base miles was the intention. The weather was superb - sunny and cool - a big change from the horrid weather we'd been having recently.

I met another rider going my way on Mays Lane and we ended up riding together the rest of the way as he was from Leeds and didn't know the area too well. Keeping the pace steady, we had a good old chin wag along the country lanes. Before I knew it we were back in Barnet and the ride over. I greeted him farewell and rode home at a dawdle. A very nice ride!

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Training: EF-Gaddesden-Ivinghoe Beacon-EF

Definitely the coldest conditions I've ever ridden in today! The fog wasn't too thick when we left in the morning, but by the time we got up to Barnet we could hardly see where we were going. Werner was out today and we did about 10km at the front of the group, noticing that ice was building up on our clothing and eyebrows. Werner came up with a good one - "Frozen by Max Factor"...

The pace was quite slow as no one was in the mood for pain along with the pain of the freezing conditions and the roads were slippery and dangerous. After about 50km we suddenly had to make a stop and saw my front wheel sliding out from under me, but managed to control it by hoping onto a grassy patch. Someone behind me wasn't so lucky and went down - but he wasn't hurt.

We then went over Ivinghoe to get the HR going up. I found myself blocked on the way up and unfortunately let the front 5-6 guys open a gap of about 10-15 seconds. Kevin, Costa, Nick and I worked together to close them down and did do by the bottom of the descent. I was happy to see the guys didn't choose Bison hill to go over, but rather another nasty (but far from as difficult as Bison) hill called Bridens Camp which started off steep (11%) then evened out.

Werner suffered a flat here and I stayed with him to help change the tube. After that was a medium paced ride back through St Albans and back through Barnet and to the coffee shop in Whetstone. When I arrived home I saw my bike was in a right state - covered in frozen sludge, so got stuck in cleaning with a bucket, soap and sponge... ain't winter grand!

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Training: EF-Ware-Furneux Pelham-Essendon-EF

A very pleasant ride with the club. After last night's Xmas do, many of the guys were feeling a bit under the weather, so the pace was fairly slow for the first couple of hours, but there was plenty of chatter and fooling about as usual. We were joined by a few other riders, making our numbers about 15 or so. David was out with us today, but sadly no Werner who is probably still recovering after his crash...

A few turned back just outside of Ware, but about 10 of us carried on. The sun was out and although it was still very cold, the spirits were high and it was a great day to be out. On the way back, Ben, Steve and Trevor started giving it a bit of throttle and it felt good to be in the pain box for a while.

After Hertford David and i went to the front to give it some hurt, only to be a bit lacking by the time we reached the foot of Essendon. I dropped to the back once the climb started to do it at my own pace and ended up over taking 5 or so guys on the way up. I continued to chase up Elephant and almost caught up, but it wasn't enough to latch on for the next 5km of flat for which I chased alone. Before Potters Bar I caught Costa, but was caught behind a traffic light. I waited for a few other to catch up and the chase was on again through to Whetstone where we ended up only about 30-seconds behind the front guys.

Coffee was well deserved at the cafe, but as punishment for not staying with the leaders, I refrained from carrot cake...


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Training: EF-Broxbourne-Epping-Enfield-EF

Started with just 4 of us leaving from Finchley, but were joined by Kevin, Vince, Darren, Ben and Maurice at Barnet. I suffered an early puncture (again!) trying to bunny hop an unavoidable man-hole...

Stav, Ben, Andy, Darren and I decided to do a shorter loop as it looked like rain was threatening. As soon as we made our turn, the rain came pissing down and killed the enjoyment of being out in the beautiful Essex countryside.

Taking it mostly pretty easy we made our way through Waltham Abbey and back to North Finchley via Enfield. Another forgettable ride...

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Training: EF-Brookman's Park-Barnet-EF

A miserable, wet group ride that I bailed out of half-way through. I was shivering quite badly and was starting to feel numb in my legs and face by this point. After enjoying a nice tailwind out to Brookman's Park with the group (only 6 of us turned up), I caught a horrible headwind during my solo ride on the way back.

When I arrived home my legs were red from the cold. Hot bath sorted that out...

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Training: EF-Watford-Hemel Hempsted-EF

I decided to go out for the group ride this morning despite the warnings of extreme weather on the news - it was dry but overcast when I left home at 8:25. By the time I arrived at the meeting point, the rain was coming down steadily. About 8 of us set out from Finchley, with Werner and Darren joining up a bit further down the road. I punctured within the first mile of the ride, but quickly had it fixed with the help of Kevin (amazing how easy it is to put the tire back on these new wheels!)

We made a left at Potter's Bar and onto a route I'd never been on before. The rain and wind had picked up considerably by this point and I considered turning back at Shenley, but soldiered on despite the conditions. The pace was kept nice and steady all the way through Watford and up past Hemel Hempsted. The rain was becoming worse and worse and I was finding mud being flung into my eyes, making things even more dangerous. I could tell no one was having fun...

Eventually we turned onto a motorway with the wind behind us. Werner and I took turns at the front here, pulling the group along at 45kph+. We then encountered a rather long hill on which Werner promptly took off, leaving the rest of us behind. Didn't see him again as he turned off towards Potter's Bar. We continued on through to Barnet and eventually made it to the coffee stop in Whetstone. Everyone was covered in mud and grime and completely soaked. I helped myself to a well deserved slice of carrot cake along with cappuccino.

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Race: Hillingdon Race 1

First race of the Imperial Winter Series. There were two of us from Finchley Racing Team competing in the 4th Category event - both of us South Africans racing for the first time in the UK. We'd raced before back in SA, but separately and many, many years ago. Werner is 29 and I'm 31 and we were competing against guys that were for the most part 5-10 years younger than us, so it was a bit daunting. We have been training together with our club in London for the past 6 months, so we felt reasonably in shape.

After a few laps around the 2km course as a warm up, 55 riders lined up for the start. We had no concrete tactics - today would be a test of what the field was like and how we'd do against them. Werner was keen to break away from the gun, whereas I wanted to sit in, conserve energy and try for a break with 1-2 laps to go. The race was 30 minutes plus 5 laps, was completely closed circuit and featured only one really sharp corner, 200m from the start/finish line. We were given the go from the race official.

I managed to clip in and accelerate away pretty quickly and arrived at the sharp right-hander in about 15th wheel. the pace was manic throughout the first lap, but i managed to keep in the slipstream and in the top 20. My teammate was constantly in the top 5 places, looking for a break to go with. I was happy just not being dropped. On about the 5th lap i saw a gap had opened at the front and Werner was in it - 4 guys got away.

The pace increased for the next lap and i was just trying to hang on to the wheel in front of me, but soon realised that holding the wheel was not good enough. I saw another gap open up ahead - about 10 guys were chasing down my teammates group and they were leaving my group behind. Someone from behind must have noticed this because he went sprinting after them. I jumped on his wheel, hoping to get a lift to the leading chase group. We chased for a lap and eventually caught them. During this chase someone shouted at me to hold my line, but I hadn't done anything wrong - I told him to shut up take a chill pill. My god... I was trash talking. It felt cool and nasty!

The pace suddenly slacked off, but i knew there were still 4 guys up ahead which included Werner. Someone asked loudly if we'd caught them. I replied loudly that we had...and dropped them already! Hopefully they would believe me... We cruised along at a medium pace for another lap, but then some guys saw the breakaway on the opposite side of the course and the chase was back on.

The pain started creeping up on me as the pace was quickened - I could taste blood in my throat and my legs were turning to rubber. the pace was affecting other riders too - one guy cornered too wide and leaned into me from my inside, pushing me across the road, but managed to control it, both of us coming out OK. He apologised but I smiled - I was digging the danger and thrill of this race. From about this point I started feeling pumped with adrenaline and moved up in the pack.

My teammate's break was still out ahead, but with 2 laps to go I could see that we'd dragged them back to about 20 seconds. On the last lap the pace seemed to relax somewhat - I think they knew they weren't going to catch them. Just as i though about moving up in the pack for a possible sprint for 5th place, someone accelerated away off the front and the pace went up to 45-48kph. I couldn't further my position and by the time we arrived at the line i was toward the back of the group for an eventual placing of about 20th overall.

I found Werner after the warm-down lap. His sprinting was about as good as mine and as a result placed last in his group - 4th overall for the race. We were both fairly satisfied, but spoke about ways to improve our sprinting during the drive home. Next week we'll try again...


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http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4532341

My Racing Calendar 2008

Mike's Road Race Calendar 2008

So...these are the races I'm targeting for 2008. It's my first year of racing since I was basically 17. I did do a couple of races when I was 18 and 19, but that was it - just a couple. Apart from the race I did at Hillingdon in December last year, this is officially my first year of racing in 12 years! Therefore I've decided to get into it slowly, doing 4 races this year - 3 closed circuit criteriums and one road race:

Economic Energy Spring Rumble (12 April)
Regional B
3rd, 4th Cat
40 Mins

Essex Roads CC Circuit Races (17 May)
Regional A
2nd, 3rd, 4th Cat
50km

Metropolitan Police/Ciclos Uno Road Race (29 June)
Regional B
3rd, 4th Cat
72km

Southend Wheelers Criterium (25 August)
Regional B
3rd, 4th Cat
50km


I'll also be doing a week long tour in France during July and watch one of the stages in the first week of the Tour de France. At some stage during the year I would also like to do a sportive here in England, but still not sure which one to do... maybe the Ride of the Falling Leaves in October... we'll see.

Training: EF-Brookmans Park-Barnet-EF

Decided to skip the group riding this weekend as I've been feeling a bit tired recently. Completed my solo ride with a fairly good time considering I was taking it easy today. Wind was a bit of a struggle, but it was a nice cruise back home with the wind behind me.

Still felt sluggish, though, but hopefully this will improve before the race next Saturday...

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Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

A bit of freezing moisture mixed in with oil on the roads today and plenty of guys almost came a cropper on the slippery surfaces.

Ride started off pretty quick with Werner, Dominic and I pushing things along fairly hard. Just after the first hill I dropped my chain and had to dismount to fix it. Werner and Dominic kept going while the others waited. Once back on I shooted ahead to see if I could catch the duo up ahead, but they were out of sight. I kept riding along at a moderate pace, but the group took their time reeling me back in and I was caught just before the final climb.

The decent into Whetstone was fast paced as usual and everyone was knackered by the coffee stop.

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Training: EF-Colney Heath-Hatfield-EF

After spending the last 2 days off the bike because of a pinched nerve in my back, I decided to give the Sunday ride a try, even if turning back early was called for. It was pouring with rain from the start and everyone tried to keep the spirits high with joking about. Werner turned off at Potters Bar when it looked like the rain wasn't letting up. A couple of minutes later it did!

I carried on with the group until Colney Heath, but also said my farewells when I heard they were going to the Chilterns - sounded like a bit too much for my sensitive back...it should be OK in a few more days though. I caught a nice tailwind back home through Hatfield and a beautiful draft off a van for a few km's at 50-60kph. I was home and in the bath in no time!

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Training: EF-Brickendon-Essendon-EF

Took the new Finchley Saturday route with just one small shortcut to reduce the distance by 4km. One of the best short routes outside of London - scenery was great with all the autumn leaves falling like colourful snow.

Kept the pace generally consistent and just getting out of the saddle over the several small climbs on the way. Drafted a truck going out of Whetstone for a kilometer, peaking around 55kph - lots of fun, but a bit on the dangerous side. A very pleasurable ride!

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Training: EF-Brookman's Park-Barnet-EF

Short but tough ride with lots of wind to contend with. Base speed was fairly low, but mixed things up with sprints for hill tops and sign posts. Good ride.

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Training: EF-Dancer's Hill-Mays Lane-EF

Short, easy solo recovery ride. Felt a bit sore at the outset, but the legs were well warmed up after 10km covered. Kept the pace low and using easy gears throughout.

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Training: EF-Abbess Roding-Epping-EF

Lovely ride with the Finchley group - about 25 turned up. The pace was consistent throughout and I felt i had a good workout without totally killing myself. Passed through some beautiful countryside around Essex - should have taken my camera along...

Route was mostly flat except for the '3 bitches' between Broxbourne and Potters Bar on the way back. I still felt strong on the ride back home after coffee. Looking forward to doing a lot of steady base miles this coming week during my leave.

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Training: EF-L. Berkhampstead-Essendon-EF

New Saturday route with the Finchley group taking it easy over the first half. The pace was picked up around Little Berkhampstead and there were a few attacks going off the front. At the turning back onto Great North Road the guys took a few risk with the traffic and Vince and I were left behind. He was well pissed off and we chased for the next 10km back to Whetstone but didn't catch the main group. The traffic violators were given a piece of Vince's mind when we sat down for coffee.

A good hard ride and nice to be back on the weekend rides again after taking last weekend off the bike.

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Training: EF-Ivinghoe Beacon-Bison-Cathill-EF

I sometimes have nightmares about the route we took today - the Chilterns with climbs over Ivinghoe and Bison. The last time we went this way I was horribly dropped, punctured and left out to make my way back home alone - embarrassment turned to anger, turned to despair all on one fateful summer day. I was not happy to hear we were going the same route again.

The ride started off freezing cold - everyone was wrapped up well except for a couple of head-cases with bare legs showing (;-). The pace leading to Ivinghoe was a lot more casual this time, with Stav going on about his knee and Darren telling him not to panic. I prepared myself mentally and stayed sheltered in the bunch a few km's before the first ramp. Amazingly I stayed with the front group until about halfway but I could feel the pace picking up slowly. I looked back and saw that another group had formed further down the road, so I let the front group gradually pull away and climbed at my own pace to the top. Everyone regrouped there after a piss stop.

Bison was another matter - every man for himself as the gradient strung everyone out. I came over the top feeling strong and me and a couple other guys chased after the front riders. Regrouping again at the bottom we rode the next 30km in a paceline at 25mph over the mostly flat country back to St. Albans, with me contributing for most of this part.

The pace was upped again over the short but steep hills through Shenley and I suffered a bit of cramp, but caught back up with the group before we reached Barnet. The ride ended up with coffee in Whetstone - I'm pooped!

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Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

Nice big turn out on today's ride with between 16 and 20 coming along. Pace was frantic during the second half as Werner and a Cat 1 rider broke away and the chase was on. Lungs were burning badly by the time we arrived at the coffee shop - good session!

Afterwards a few of us went down to Costa's place to pick out our club kit - ended up getting a s/s top, thermal long sleeve, bibs and mitts. Looks pretty cool and will try them out on tomorrow's group ride.


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Training: EF-Nazeing-Chipping Ongar-Waltham Abbey-Northaw-EF

Tough ride out to Essex again with the Finchley guys, though there were only seven of us out today. Lots of rolling countryside and small villages on the route done at a slightly above base miles pace.

Legs felt pretty sore after 3-hours covered and ended up getting dropped on the last climb just before Potter's Bar. Glad to be back home and resting.

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Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

Ride started off with a nice 30kph avg on the flats and I felt pretty good. On the first ascent a Rapha Condor rider (I think he was their manager or something) had a nasty crash and we all stopped to give him a hand. His left crank arm had been over-greased and came off under the torque of the climb. His legs were pretty scatched up and he banged his head on the road (no helmet) and it appeared he could have been concussed.

After Stav put his crank back on we carried on at a mediocre pace, but we stopped a couple more times because the guy who'd crashed was having some more problems. Most of us carried on at a more aggressive pace after the last stop while Stav and another guy stayed with the injured rider. The pace was reckless al the way back to the coffee shop and I was just hanging on at the back, but managed to stay on.

Good, hard paced ride, but a pity about the crash. I'm now a bit paranoid as to how much grease I have in my cranks!

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Training: EF-Broxbourne-Essex-Whetstone-EF

79-mile club ride today which was done mostly at base-miles pace over gently rolling hills. Forgot to charge my Garmin Edge GPS last night, so none of the ride was captured and I ended up wearing my HR strap for nothing. The last 20-odd miles were over some stiffer hills and some of the stronger guys went to the front to make our lives miserable - ended up getting slightly dropped off the back on the last big hill with another guy, but we managed to latch back on with 5-miles to go.

Coffee and carrot cake to finish off the ride at our usual cafe. Although I felt a lot of pain in those last miles, I'm feeling fine and refreshed an hour after getting back home.

Distance: 127km
Time: 4:05:31
Avg Speed: 31kph

Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

Typical Saturday ride with the first 20km on flat done easily and the last 30km of hills done at full-on attack pace. My form was lacking a bit today after taking 2 days off the bike. Found out some more info about the Hillingdon Winter Series today - looks like I could be a Cat 3 by the beginning of next year - can't wait to start racing!

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Training: EF-Hertford-Whitwell-Colney Heath-EF

Very cool club ride today despite puncturing and dropping a chain. Managed to stay with the pace the whole time and did quite a lot of work at the front. We saw a bit of a race in Whitwell - some of the guys from the Finchley Racing Team were in in the running - hopefully they did well.

Our ride went over quite a few different roads and found some nasty hills. A lot of guys were messing around - sprinting for sign posts and hill tops. I reacted to almost every move and wasn't dropped once. Big pat on my back for today's efforts!

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Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

Nice easy spin with the Finchley group, though there was a bit of breakaway action that I got involved with for about 5km that started on the first climb in Radlett. All came back together (except Werner who went on a solo flyer) with a nice coffee in Whetstone.

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Training: EF-St.Albans-Great Missenden-Stanmore-EF

After taking Saturday off I was feeling a bit stiff taking off for the Sunday ride with the Finchley bunch and even thought it would be best to cut the ride in half - turn back early. I didn't, however, and paid the price towards the end of what was to be a devastating ride

I suspected a bit of Chiltern Hills action when we turned through St. Albans and prayed we weren't taking in Ivinghoe Beacon. Instead we went over Gaddesden and I managed to stay in contact over the top. The route took a turn onto unknown roads after that and we ended up in Chesham. I was feeling a bit tired by this point and knew I should eat some of my energy bar, but my stomach felt queasy - the warning signs had started.

There were two more big hills after Chesham - one before Great Missenden (2km at 5-7%) and a new nasty killer - Coleshill (1.5km at 10-14%). Me and a couple others were dropped on these, but it was brought back together by the other sides. We then headed back toward London on the motorway with a fast tailwind - speeds were in excess of 50kph. I took a few pulls on the front, but my energy levels were already critical.

On the outskirts of West London I suddenly cracked and came crawling to a very low speed - a paced myself alone for the next 5km. I met up with the group again in Stanmore Park where they had reserved outside tables at a coffee shop. After coffee we headed back to Finchley - the pace was upped again and three of us immediately dropped back - the strain of the day showing clearly now.

I was very glad to get back home - my legs seemed to have pedalled all by themselves over the last 5-10km - my mind escaping the pain that had taken over my body. A rough day, but I never gave up!

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Training: EF-Whitwell-Hexton-Hitchin-Codicote-EF

Today's ride was the biggest I've seen it so far - 20 guys give or take on what started off as a spectacular day. Werner joined again and all the regulars were there - Dave, Steve, Darren, Patrice among others who's names I still haven't remembered.

The first big 'dig' came after a piss stop at the bottom of the south side of Digswell Hill. Me and a couple others were caught out - my legs just couldn't respond fast enough, but I managed to catch onto the back at the summit, with the decent being a manic 65-70kph scramble to catch another group that had attacked off the front. We pulled it all back together by Codicote and continued for the next 30-min at a conversational pace through Whitwell.

Sadly one of the guys crashed just before reaching Hexton - apart from a bloodied knee he and his bike were OK and we carried on. After getting slightly lost (ended up in a dead-end), the pace was upped considerably and me and Patrice were dropped off the back before reaching Hitchin. We shared the pace into a horrible headwind, trying to catch the much larger bunch, but our efforts went unrewarded. We picked up one guy who had been dropped after Hitchin, but he had obviously blown up big time and he couldn't even latch onto the back.

After about 30km of chasing we finally gave up and took the pace a bit easier, knowing that we wouldn't catch the others. A few kilometers before Potters Bar, we came across Steve, who'd punctured, but he told us to not wait. Shortly after we picked up Werner who had dropped back to pace Steve, so we told him not to wait and the three of us rode back together, with Werner turning off for home at Potters Bar.

Patrice and I stopped for coffee in Whetstone where Dave was waiting (he'd taken a shortcut apparently) with Steve coming in a few minutes later. We chatted about the ride over double shot latte's and then rode back towards London to finish off the day. I'm feeling OK after the ride - my recovery is clearly getting better.

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Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

Fast paced ride with the Finchley guys. Werner turned up for today's ride and we found ourselves in a group of about 6 riders that had been dropped at a traffic light in the first 5km - the front 5 riders were not waiting. We decided to up the pace at the front, but the other riders in our group were content with their pace, so Werner and I spend a few minutes bridging the gap to the front group.

Within a few kilometers, the front group started breaking up and I was dropped on the biggest hill at about the halfway mark. I time-trialled my way to the end alone and ended up about a minute behind the front group, with the rest of the guys coming in about 2 minutes after me. Fun, hard ride!

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Ride of the Falling Leaves

Don't know many details yet for this year's event, but here's the route:

Ride of the Falling Leaves

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Training: EF-Welwyn-Bulls Green-Essendon-EF

After what has been a pretty low mileage week with most of my time spent doing a conference in Leeds for work, I've finally been able to put in a few k's today. Deciding to skip the group ride (not in the mood for a 80-mile hammer-fest), I did a high-paced ride through the Bulls Green/Essendon area, basically treating it as a 75km solo time trial, and the results were pretty good, with my Garmin showing an average speed of 32kph before the first of the longer hills started. I managed to hold the rhythm all the way home, coming in with an average speed of 31kph (though the results say 30.4kph...). Generally a good ride with some nice mild weather.


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Training: EF-St. Albans-Ivinghoe-Whipsnade-St.Albans-EF

Today's ride was a viscous bitch of a ride - definitely one for the record books for me. From the start I had an odd feeling of apprehension. There was a pretty big group - about 10 riders, but this swelled to about 15 as we picked up the 9am Potter's Bar group. I was told that we were heading off to the Chiltern Hills again and there were a few 1st category riders in the bunch who were feeling antsy.

After a brief 15km warm-up, we fell into a working on-and-off the front pattern along the fairly flat road towards the first of the Chiltern climbs. Our speed grew faster and faster until we were flying along at 40-50kph INTO to the wind. At this point about 3 guys turned off for a shorter (and easier) ride. I was tempted to go with them, but I wanted to see what riding with the top guys was like... if only I'd re-considered.

We discovered that the first climb of Gaddensden was being resurfaced, so the guys took off towards Ivinghoe and some even nastier climbs. The first one took me by surprise - a gradual incline to what looked like the summit and then a sudden, sharp turn onto a pretty horrible hill that climbed for 3km at around 7-8%. I was dropped here, but one guy tailed back and drafted me back into the group. The effort of the climb and the chase to get back into the group left me exhausted, and as soon as we caught the group, the next climb started - 1 mile of the most evil incline I've ever seen - 15% according to my Garmin - so bad in fact that halfway up I had to put a foot down for 30-seconds. Grinding away on my 39x23 at 8-10kph I eventually made it to the top and found the the re-grouped bunch at the bottom of the hill.

I was the slowest of this group and felt bad for them having to wait and to make matters worse, going down a tricky little decent a few miles later, my multi-tool somehow found its way out of my saddle bag and dropped onto the road. I had to go back and pick it up and then the chase was on, getting back into the group in about 5 minutes while they were coasting through a small town. The group leader said to everyone at this point that it was time for big-ring and no more stopping.

The hammer, in this case, was well and truly dropped - flying along with a slight tailwind along undulating open road, I was just hanging at the back for dear life. A gap opened up a rider ahead of me and suddenly we were two riders sharing the pace trying to get back into the 'race'. After five minutes or so of chasing, my back wheel punctured and the guy I was with didn't wait - understandable, but I was in a state - totally knackered. I changed my tube and carried on.

I realised when I got to the next intersection that I'd be riding home alone as I didn't know which way they went. By my calculations I still had another 40-50km to go, but I didn't know the area and found myself a bit lost. The map function of my Garmin 305 helped me get my bearings and I headed towards the south-east with a nasty little cross wind slowing me down. I stopped at a garage to refill my bottles and took off on a lonely and painful ride back home. I felt devastated, but soon fell into a sort-of rhythm and eventually arrived home after riding for about and hour and a half by myself.

Today was another painful lesson and one that I won't forget in a hurry.

View this ride data at Motionbased.

Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

Back with the Finchley group again for a very cool ride. Started off nice and easy, chatting with a few guys, but the end was very fast - averaging around 45kph for a good 3-5km. I started slipping towards the back of the group here, but managed to hold on until the end where we regrouped at the cafe in Whetstone for a coffee and chat.


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Training: EF-Welwyn-Bulls Green-L.Berkhampstead-EF

Decided to skip the group ride this weekend, take Saturday off the bike and spend Sunday doing some base training.

Perfect day for just cruising along and enjoying the scenery - warm sunshine made the ride really enjoyable. Had fun, but found it difficult to keep my HR in zone 3 - especially on the hills! In all a great relaxing ride and ended up with just a bit of cramp in my left calf.

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Training: EF-Dancer's Hill-Mays Lane-EF

Pitched up at the meeting place for the Finchley group ride. Where there would usually be no less than 8 of us, there was just me. The reason: hard rain that didn't look like it was going to let up. I felt miserable being there and now even more miserable that I had no one to share my discomfort with.

I waited 10-minutes and then took off for a quick 20-mile session. The rain was horrible but I succeeded in keeping my pace pretty high. I wonder if this is how winter base training will be - mostly solo?

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Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

Fairly slow pace today with the Finchley group. Spoke to Stav about joining up - looks good, just have to commit to racing a couple of events at Hillingdon this year then do some proper races next year.

Werner flatted and came in a couple of minutes late to the coffee shop. In all a nice chilled out ride.

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Training: EF-Ware-Furneaux Pelham-Dane End-Brickendon-EF

Tough ride with the Finchley group again. Nice new route through Ware and out toward Essex - which was mostly flatish then swinging back westward to Dane End, Hertford and into the hills at Brickendon.

We worked very well together on the flatter sections but things started breaking up on the hills towards the end, with me being shot out the back a couple of times. Caught the group again outside Potter's Bar on the way to Barnet, finishing with a nice cuppa coffee in Whetstone.

Today was a lesson in pain - my limitations are showing. With only a year of serious cycling under my belt, I've definitely improved a lot, but my strength is not what I'd like - especially on the hills

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Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

Saturday group ride with the Finchley Racing guys. Quite a high pace all the way through with me and about 4 other guys (including Werner) and a woman (pretty fast rider!) broke away from the main pack after about 20km covered. We worked fairly well together until the last hill where the woman (must get her name...) and I were dropped and the main pack was catching up.

As I knew the last 5km very well (through Mays Lane) I attacked as they caught us on the long twisty decent and stayed away until the end at the cafe in Whetstone, just about catching the guys who'd I'd originally went on the attack with.

Good hard but short ride - looking forward to tomorrow's longer group ride.

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Training: Group ride through the Chilterns

What a ride - what a day!

The temperature played a big part in today's ride with the Finchley Racing boys but little was I to know that the hills would play just as big a part until, when about to depart from our meeting place, someone suggested we take an excursion through the Chilterns. Now I've done a ride through these hills before, but that was on an overcast day with very cool weather and I was just out on a solo day trip. Today was supposed to reach 27 degrees and the players looked hungry for some punishment. My previous night's late night drinking session was looking more and more like a bad idea.

The pace was fairly brisk from the start with one or two guys keen to push along at the front. We caught a couple of other riders and some latched on who arrived late and we had about 8-9 guys by the time we went through St Albans. Feeling relatively fresh, I didn't have any problems over the first 40km or so... that's when we started hitting some gradients and things changed a bit.

Werner was impressive, staying at the head of the group as we started the first of the hills and predictably it started breaking up. There were consistently 3-4 guys who couldn't stay with the pace (me among them) whenever the hills got a bit too steep and long, but we'd usually limit any ground lost on the descents. The tempature was soaring to almost unbearable levels by the time we reached our water stop at about 75km covered.

The next 20km the pace was set at a fairly high level and I was eventually dropped rather badly on the last big climb of the day before getting to Barnet... so badly in fact that I came to a t-junction and lost sight of which was they went. As I knew the area, I made a right and headed back toward home - totally cooked. Definitely a ride to remember (or forget depending on which way you look at it!)

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Training: EF-Cromer-Great Munden-Brickendon-EF

2nd ride with the Finchley Racing Team guys, though today it was a longer ride. I hooked up with Werner beforehand and we met the guys at the start in Finchley. The first 60-70km were ridden at a really slow pace - just cruising along with everyone chatting and fooling about. Quite a few punctures due to the wet roads and a couple of natural breaks brought the average speed to below 28kph.

After a shop stop in Great Munden the pace was suddenly upped and Werner and me got involved with pushing the group on the front. Once we hit Hertford the group headed up to Brickendon - nice 3km drag and Werner decided to drop the hammer big time. I held his wheel for as long as I could, but slowly I saw him getting a gap which eventually grew until he disappeared around a few corners. I was well and truly on my limit!

We regrouped at the top and then pushed it again through to Potter's Bar. We split up and a few stopped for coffee at Whetstone. I found out about their Tue and Thu night sessions which I will definitely check out next week. In all a good ride and it's nice to meet and get involved with an active club.

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Training: EF-Colney Heath-Radlett-Whetstone-EF

First ride with the Finchley Racing Team group that meets in Whetstone. Nice bunch of guys and a fairly leisurely pace (except for the hills), though this is the usual pace of their Saturday ride and Sundays are apparently a bit faster and longer. There were a couple of familiar faces of riders that used to meet in Potters Bar... apparently many of these guys are now riding with this group due to the dissolving of the Finsbury Park Sunday group.

At the end of the ride we stopped at a coffee shop in Whetstone - all 15 or so of us taking over the tables outside the cafe. The shop owner, in jest, asked us all for urine samples - classic! We chatted about the Tour de France and the scandals that have hit it over coffee, tea and cakes and then moved off on our separate ways. I told them I would see them tomorrow for the ride that actually starts just down the road from me in East Finchley, though its quite early - 8.30am. Should be good.

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Training: EF-Essendon-Brickendon-EF

Very hilly and very windy solo ride after spending the last 3-4 days off the bike. Suffered quite a lot on the way back home as it was all into the wind and a lot of time spent riding uphill. Ended up just taking it easy over the last 15km.

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Training: EF-Broxbourne-Hertford-Essendon-EF

Hooked up with Werner at Potter's Bar this morning for a nice little pre-Tour de France watching killer ride! Told him from the start that I wanted to get back home quite early to watch the first Pyreneean stage of the tour. We agreed it would be short but fast.

Working together very nicely for the first 40km or so, our average speed was up to almost 33kph before the big climb of Essendon. Werner started pulling away on the lower slopes while I took it at my own pace and came back to him at the top (though I think he waited for me a bit). The last hill was a full on big dig to the top and I managed to stay right on his wheel to the top.

We split again at Potter's Bar, feeling invigorated and ready to watch a nice mountain stage of the tour!

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Training: EF-Dancer's Hill-May's Lane-EF

Warming up ride that quickly turned into a time trial and then a 5km pursuit after another cyclist along Mays Lane. Felt strong and rode a pretty fast pace considering the first 15-minutes of the ride were at warm up pace.

Distance: 32.7km
Time: 1:00:32
Speed: 32.4kph

EF-Broxbourne-Hertford-Essendon-EF

Another solo ride - decent pace and the conditions were good.

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EF-Essendon-Little Berkhampstead-EF

Quick ride around the Essendon hills - felt good and made a surprisingly good time despite the strong winds.

Distance: 50.2km
Time: 1:38:03
Speed: 30.7kph

Tour de France Prologue TT in London

I was there this afternoon - what an atmosphere!

Instead of going to Hyde Park Corner like I'd originally planned, I instead chose Westminster Abbey because I ride on this route every day and thought it would be cool to see these guys riding my road. I was located at the first corner of the route - about half a mile from the starting ramp.

Watched the floats and advertising vehicles for an hour (and scored some cool freebees), riders warming up on the course, then the first 60 riders actually doing the time trial. I then nipped off back home to watch the last 50-odd guys come in on TV.

What a ride by Cancellara!

Here are a few pics I snapped...

Event: The British Cyclosportive

Run over the same route as the first stage of this year's Tour de France, the event attracted 5000 riders from across Britain and around the world. It was dubbed the Etape d' Anglaise - 120 miles (actually a bit less - my computer registered 188km) and taking in scenic South East country side like Tunbridge Wells and the Kent Downs, this route was both long and demanding due to the many short but horribly steep climbs scattered along the course.

The weather prediction was for rain and strong winds, but when I made my way to the start line the sun was out and it was warm with a fresh wind coming from the south. I started way to quickly - jumping on a train that came past in the first 5km. Average speed for the first 30km was at 32kph (20 mph). I eventually decided that the speed was a bit mad and that I would feel it later on, so latched on with a more casual group. The next 20-30km were spent chatting to a few riders and taking in some scenery as the city was left behind.

The hills started in earnest and at 80km covered was the first major climb - about 3km at 10% on which I suddenly had to stop because of cramp in my hamstring muscle. After a bit of stretching I got back on the bike and felt fine again. A few hills later and I started seeing other riders in trouble - bikes being pushed and people sitting on the ground, recovering. I pressed on.

The next 30 odd kilometers were flattish and I hooked up with a few guys that were more or less on the same level as me - we agreed to start a pace line to conserve energy. It was working very nicely until I dropped a bottle and had to turn around to collect. My water was low and I'd passed the last 2 feedstations by...

The next 30 minutes were spent in no-mans land - strong headwinds and no one to lend a tow and I was absolutely dying of thirst. At 130km covered the 3rd feedstation came into site - I dived straight in for energy drink, water, cake and gels. I was starting to feel the pain by now - this was the point that I was used to finishing my longest training rides, but I still had 60km to go.

After getting going again I started feeling OK and jumped on the first train that was passing. The wind had picked up considerably by now and crosswinds were playing havoc with handling. The last climb of the day was the hardest - the summit of which was about 10 miles from the finish. It turned out to be a wall - it seemed every second I'd climb another meter according to my GPS. My gearing of 39x23 was definitely not the right choice and my speed dropped to around 7-8kph. I was suffering big time - legs screaming to stop. I was so desperate that I started looking for a place to put a foot down but my mind would not let my body do that!. Eventually the hill evened out and the summit was packed with spectators cheering support.

Then I felt the tailwind I'd predicted - nice. The next 10 miles were all downhill with a 15mph wind blowing straight down it! Although tired beyond comprehension, I kicked it into the 50x12 and literally flew down into Canterbury. The finish area felt surreal - all I wanted now was a hot shower and to stuff my face until the end of time.

My time for the 188km was 6h42, though I'll be getting my official time tomorrow. In total I rode 227km today - this included the ride to the start and the ride back home - ouch!

EDIT: My official time was 7h03'59"

Here are some photos I managed to snap, though most of them are pretty non-descript - I was either suffering or enjoying the scenery too much to remember to take photos.












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Training: EF-Broxbourne-Hertford-Essendon-EF

Solo ride on the old heavy Ridgeback aluminium bike - just taking it easy. 2 flats in the rainy conditions

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Training: EF-Dane End-Buntingford-Walkern-Colney Heath-EF

Well, I turned up early for the group ride and waited until 10am but no one arrived. Just as I was about to depart for a solo mission, Werner came wheeling in, so we took off for our Sunday ride. The road through Dane End to Buntingford was flooded in some places from the heavy rain the night before so our progress was impeded in parts - gravel around corners and huge pools in dips in the road.

After trying a random route and discovering a dead end we finally made it to Buntingford - which is where I discovered my pedal was squeaking strangely. We stopped to tighten it only to be overtaken by a huge group of 20-30 riders. Werner asked if I wanted to jump on the train - hell yes! We TT'd for a 1-2km to catch the group and sat in the back for a few minutes recovering once caught. They seemed like a pretty decent group and got chatting to a couple of guys - they were from St. Albans - just down the road from Potter's Bar. I was given details of there meeting place and time - I discussed this with Werner and suggested we hook up with these guys on Sundays from now on. He agreed.

The pace was brisk but nothing too heavy - I liked it. We stayed with them for 50km and eventually turned to Potters Bar when they made a turn for St. Albans. I was pretty tired at the end of the ride and Werner admitted he was feeling it too - we went our separate ways - we'll see each other again in about 3 weeks. Werner is doing a 200km Audax next weekend and I'm doing the British Sportive 192km the weekend after. The weekend after that is the Tour de France starting in London which I'll definitely go and watch over the 3 days its in England.

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Training: EF-Sandon-Buntingford-Welwyn-EF

Ride was steady until 30km to go when I started finding hard breathing hurting my ribs. A few km later and I punctured my back wheel. Rode back at recovery pace.

I rode with 2 new guys - one of which was pretty good - taking pulls in the front 75% of the time.

Another hard day.

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Training: EF-Bull's Green-Whitwell-Colney Heath-EF

My birthday! ...and a Sunday in purgatory...

Group ride started off with 5 players - me, Werner - the other Saffa, Dermott - the Irish guy who can deal out pain with a smile, and the other two regular guys. The sun was out, the wind was low and it seemed the recipe for a lovely day's riding.

We had 3 punctures in the first 20km which slowed us down considerably. A few k's later and I was starting to feel the pain in my ribs from Wednesday's crash - I would have preferred a slower pace, but didn't want to put a drag on the group. After 60km covered the hills started kicking in and Werner and Dermott were dueling over them - the rest of us struggling to keep up. My gears were slipping and my ribs were hurting badly from the exertion. On top of that the temperature was soaring to about 25 celcius and I was starting to dehydrate and bonk.

With 20km before the end of the ride, Dermott punctured again and then again 2km after that. I welcomed the stops, but the sun was beating me down without any wind to cool things down and my bottles had been drained. We eventually made it to the meeting point and went our separate ways, though one of the other guys went the same way as me so we rode back together.

After stopping to refill our bottles and grab a Coke, we pressed on for the last 13km home. 2km later I saw the other guy suddenly lose control of his bike and crashed into the pavement - his front wheel had punctured, hence his fall. His damages included a scraped knee, butt and he landed in a patch of nettles - his arms quickly became red and puffy. After helping him change his tube we took it easy for the remainder of the ride back.

A very strange day indeed...

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Training: EF-ColneyHeath-Welwyn-EF

Nice medium paced ride on a pretty flat route to get me going again after my crash on Wednesday. My ribs are still sore and bumps in the road made the going painful - still by the end of the ride I could hardly feel any pain there - just my legs! The weather was superb - warm and very little wind.

Distance: 63.4km / 39.4mi
Time: 2:01:16 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 31.3kph / 19.4mph
Elevation gain: 567m / 1860ft
Heart rate: 156bpm (avg) / 179bpm (max)
Calories: 2720

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Training: EF-Welwyn-Essendon-EF

Pouring with rain from the start I didn't expect anyone to be waiting at the meeting point for the group ride. Only one other guy pitched up and we agreed that we wouldn't make it a long ride. He took the lead choosing the route and led us though some backroads to Welwyn via Brookman's Park. I punctured my front wheel twice on the road to Welwyn - the other guy sponsoring a tube with my second flat.

I led the ride from Welwyn through Essendon hill and back to Potter's Bar. The rain never let up at all and I was totally drenched by the time I got back home. I would have like to have done a long ride today, but the rain made it very uncomfortable and nerve-wrecking.

View this ride data at Motionbased

Distance: 66.3km / 41.2mi
Time: 2:10:31 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 30.5kph / 18.9mph
Elevation Gain: 624m / 2047ft
Heart Rate: 129bpm (avg) / 175bpm (max)
Calories: 2776

Training: EF-Hatfield-EF

Quick out and back ride to warm up the legs after taking the day off riding yesterday. Ended up doing a surprisingly fast ride. Generally overcast with a few light showers, though not really cold.

Distance: 46.2km / 28.7mi
Time: 1:26:45
Speed: 31.9kph / 19.9mph
Elevation Gain: 427m
Heart Rate: 158bpm (avg) / 183bpm (max)
Calories:1959

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Training: EF-Walkern-Codicote-Welwyn-EF

Nice high paced ride with Werner and a new guy that turned up at Potters Bar. The new guy had to turn back early but he was very fast and pushed the pace whenever the road went up. Werner and I continued on into the hills around Stevenage at a slightly more relaxed pace, but picked it up again as soon as we hit the main Codicote-Hitchin road.

At the end I was totally drained - riding with Werner seems to do that to me - just what I needed really!

Distance: 110.7km / 68.8mi
Time: 3:34:00 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 31.0kph / 19.3mph
Elevation Gain: 1136m / 3727ft
Heart Rate: 150bpm (avg) / 188bpm (max - new max!)
Calories: 4551

View this ride data at Motionbased

Training: EF-Hatfield-ColneyHeath-EF

Nasty wind from the SW - pretty tough little ride. Ended up on the motorway after getting a bit lost on the way back home and then ended up in a dead end after trying to get to Dancer's Hill from Colney Heath without going through Potter's Bar. The wind didn't help much, but it compensated for riding a fairly flat route.

Distance: 68.0km / 42.3mi
Time: 2:12:30 (5 min subtracted due to traffic/getting lost)
Speed: 30.8kph / 19.1mph
Elevation Gain: 556m
Heart Rate: 150bpm (avg), 179bpm (max)
Calories: 2789

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Training: EF-Welwyn-Whitwell-Bendish(loop)-EF

Met up with the Potters Bar group this morning - the 2 English guys from last week's ride and an Australian that I hooked up with on the way out. Werner didn't pitch up and I don't blame him - the sky was pitch black, it was cold and the forecast said there would be heavy rain. We agreed from the outset that it wouldn't be a 70-80 miler like last week... more like 40-50 miles - unfortunately I didn't bring my HR monitor with me, just the GPS.

The pace from the start was fairly brisk, with the Aussie and I at the front taking pulls through the light drizzle. At Whitwell we encountered some sort of cycling fun ride with lots of men, women and children having taken over the road. We weaved through them and since I was leading the group, missed our turn and ended up doing a big loop around the surrounding hills and back into Whitwell. One of the English guys punctured as we entered the town again so we waited for him to change his tube.

The ride back via Codicote was into the wind, though it wasn't too windy. I led most of the time and actually preferred it as there was lots of water on the road being flicked up from back wheels. At Welwyn with 30km to go the rain really started coming down and all I could think of was getting back home - I was absolutely soaked. Pushing the pace over the last few hills, I started dropping the other guys, so freewheeled on the down slopes to wait for them. By the time we got to Barnet I could hardly see where I was going and the busy traffic made the going dangerous with quite a few close calls. Thunder and lightning started up on the last 5km.

Made it home in one piece - wet, but not really very tired.

Distance:98.9km / 61.5mi
Time: 3:14:22 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 30.6kph / 19.0mph
Elevation Gain: 959m / 3146ft

View this ride data at Motionbased

Training: EF-Sandon-Buntingford-EF

Official maiden voyage of my new bike - I have called her Eleanor because she is French.

Rode up to Potter's Bar at 10am in the hope that there might have been a large group for the Sunday group ride...but there was no one. As it was still 9:55 I waited for a bit - and was joined by three other guys - two English weekend warriors and an ex-pro South African rider!

We headed off with me leading out the group. The South African, Werner, and I got chatting about all things South African and how we were finding it out here in England - very cool guy and a pleasure to ride with. He said that he'd stopped racing 5 years before and that he was just getting back into serious riding again - it didn't show - this guy was fast, especially on the hills and we kept having to wait for the other two.

We stopped in Buntingford for a cuppa tea and headed back toward London, though there was a fierce headwind to impede our speed. The two slower guys we not handling too well and they told us saffas to not wait - they knew the way. So Werner and I took off into the hills around Bayford - it was here that I could see how strong Werner was - was struggling to hold his wheel on the steeper parts. Lack of miles in his legs soon caught up with him as we went into the last 10-miles before Potter's Bar - he started lagging behind and said that he almost "blacked-out" on the last hill.

At Potters Bar we shook hands and agreed to meet up again for some more riding - a very cool maiden cruise on Eleanor (saddle is a bit painful, but I'm probably just getting used to it...and the rear mech definitely needs replacing - lots of jumping) and hopefully a cool riding partner for the future.

Distance: 123.3km / 76.6mi
Time: 4:14:47 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 29.1kph / 18.1mph
Calories: 5304
Elevation Gain: 1321m / 4334ft
Heart Rate: 144bpm (avg) / 185bpm (max)

View this ride data at Motionbased

New pics of the Look

OCP quality I hope...

Training: EF-B.Cm-Hoddsn-NG.St-EF

Well - good news and bad news for this ride... The bad first then - after receiving a phone call from someone 40km into my ride, I decided to cut what was meant to be a 115km ride into a 70-80km ride so I could get back to London sooner (because of the call). Refusing to simply "turn around" and do an out and back ride (hate those...less scenery), I tried to find a road that looped through Hertford or even sooner - through Broxbourne. In attempting this I became horribly lost - virtually a tour of the cul de sac's of Broxbourne. My map on Motionbased shows just how lost I got! Thus my avg speed is again pretty low...

The good news was the phone call. Matt called to say he was finally building my Look bike up and that it would be ready today!!! Once I arrived home I showered, changed, chowed down a pasta salad and recovery drink and caught the tube straight to Victoria. I stopped off at Evans to pick up some Look pedals as Matt didn't have any and went directly to his bike shop afterward.

I spent a good 2 hours there watching him finishing off the build, drinking coffee and chatting about gear and his racing days in Belgium. My past anger at the amount of time it had taken to get my bike built was washed away - the Look was/is beautiful - especially with the Easton Vista SL's. Matt gave me a fantastic price on the parts - a lot was at dealer rate and he didn't charge for labour..he also threw in the areobars from a couple of weeks ago in for free. It was worth the wait and the ride home was lovely - despite the fact that I'd just ridden almost 100km earlier and the rush hour Friday traffic. I've made a few adjustments to it and its just superb - I LOVE MY NEW BIKE! Just can't wait to go for a long ride on Sunday, though I'll probably go for a 30-40km recovery ride tomorrow.

So the build has the following:

• Look KG451 size 53 carbon frame
• Campy Record '05 group (mechs and chainset will be replaced with new '07 Chorus)
• Easton Vista SL wheelset with Michelin Pro2 Race tyres
• Easton EA70 alu bars and stem (the silver spacers will be replaced with carbon ones)
• Look Keo Classic pedals (will be swapped out with the carbon Keo's from my other bike)
• Selle Italia SLR xp saddle
• El cheapo 25mm alu post (will be replaced with a USE Alien carbon one)
• Cane Creek S2 headset
  
• Bontrager alu cages

Here's a photo I've just taken of the new bike:




OCP pics with white garage door to follow tomorrow.

Distance: 96.9km / 60.2mi
Time: 3:11:37 (10 min subtracted due to traffic/getting lost)
Speed: 30.3kph / 18.9mph
Calories: 4048
Elevation Gain: 1008m / 3307ft
Heart Rate: 155bpm (avg) 183bpm (max)

View this ride data at Motionbased

Training: EF-Bull's Green-Welwyn-EF

Good paced ride - pushing hard into the wind and up hills - otherwise keeping HR in zone 3. Nasty cross-tailwind on the way back - constantly pushing me towards traffic, though not complaining too much as it was keeping my speed up. The traffic was pretty bad on the way out and back (mostly at the bottle-neck that is Barnet).

Distance: 73.3km / 45.6mi
Time: 2:19:49 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 31.5kph / 19.6mph
Calories: 3083
Elevation Gain: 726m / 2382ft
Heart Rate: 157bpm (avg) 183bpm (max)

View this ride data at Motionbased

EF-Wheathampsted-Weston-Hertford-EF

Tough day's solo riding - very windy and pretty warm. Started out too quickly and by 60km covered I was getting pain in my calves. The hills north of Stevenage and the unrelenting headwind from the east didn't help much. By the time I'd hit Hertford I was bonking badly, so stopped for a Lucozade. The hills up to Brickendon and through to Potter's Bar were a nightmare and I started to get a very worrying little voice in my head that was saying that this was all too much and I should just quit. Several times during this period I felt like throwing up, but managed to hold it together until I arrived home.

Despite the poor avg speed, I look at today's ride as a reminder that if you push it too hard too early, you will pay for it later...big time!

Distance: 126.1km / 78.4mi
Time: 4:26:25 (5 min subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 28.4kph / 17.7mph
Calories: 5008
Elevation Gain: 1274m
Heart Rate: 154bpm (avg), 178bpm (max)

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Training: EF-Broxbourne-Hertford-L.Berk-EF

No one turned up for today's group ride except for one on the slower guys from last week. Was tempted to tell him that it wasn't worth the effort today (then go for a solo ride), but didn't have the heart. Ended up riding with him, just taking it easy as last week. When we finished and split at Potter's Bar I picked up a very fast rider for the last 12km back. Avg speed over the this distance was around 36-40kph - and that was through busy traffic! Despite the slowness of the day, at least I got a nice bit of pain towards the end.

I'm going to stop riding with the Potter's Bar group if this continues. I'm really losing out on proper training and can't afford it with less than 10 weeks before the British Sportive...I think I'll aim to be at Potter's Bar at 10:10am from now on, and if I see the same slow riders there, I'll just keep on riding solo.

Distance: 72.2km / 44.9mi
Time: 2:28:56 (3 minutes subtracted due to traffic)
Speed: 29.1kph / 18.1mph
Calories: 3139
Elevation Gain: 845m
Heart Rate: 127bpm (avg) / 175bpm (max)

View this ride data at Motionbased