Cycle Slam D-15

It's raining again!!

I missed updating my blog last week - life's been as hectic as ever & with the ever-disrupting weather & plenty going on, I've not found time to sit & write....

Weekday evening rides have been abandoned for now - the last one we did was way back on April 4th, however the Turbo has been a godsend & well worth the investment! When the New Year began, Sam set me a challenge, which you may remember, of putting the bike into top gear, then from a standing start, get the revs upto 100 rpm & hold for 10 seconds - that was quite a task 4 months ago, but I'm pleased to say that last week I managed 130 rpm for 15 seconds - thrice in one session - with the help of Sam & Jack's grey matter, and a calculator, we reckon that top spreed reached nearly 45mph - and it also takes a few revs to get upto 130 too! It's amazing how the extra fitness comes almost without you noticing!!

So last weekend was to be our last workout before the BHF Dorset Bike Ride on Sunday 29th - Sam & I headed out on Saturday for a steady 25 miler around our first organised ride's route - a few years ago for Menigitis - Unfortunately Sam managed to pick up a couple of flat tyres during the ride, so we were somewhat distrupted - but it was a great all the same. On Sunday it was Jack's turn to join me & we covered the same route, but this time with no punctures & I upped my cadence from Saturday - so another good trip. Luke's first outdoor cricket match was due that day too - It was with South Dorset & we were all looking forward to 35 overs each - however, the weather meant it was cancelled, so he played the final game of the season for Wimborne. Luke played the first half in goal & although he pulled off a couple of fantasic saves, he couldn't cater for the defenders who went missing.... 2nd half he played midfield & despite a tremendous effort & one Messi-like run at the defence, they went down 3-2.

Onto this weekend & Saturday April 28th will go down as my first 100 mile ride! I joined up with 2 of my fellow Stage 5 Slammers, Terry Burwell & Martin Young, for our own New Forest adventure. Terry & Martin started from Winchester & I from home with the aim to rendezvous in Redlynch, south of Salisbury. The forecast all week was for a dry day Saturday, with rain possible from 4pm; so you can imagine my surprise when I got up Saturday morning to make coffee & Tea to see the decking wet & the rain falling (or should I have not been surprised!). Still, there's nothing to say it's not going to rain in France, so off I went. It was just over 25 miles to get to Redlynch - I chose a direct route via Verwood & Fordingbridge, which was a good ride, but the wind & rain was in my face for most of the way, particularly going north! Terry is far more eloquent than I, so have a look at http://www.terryburwell.blogspot.co.uk/ for Terry's fantastic review of the day!! After we split on the way home - i was tempted to pop into the High Corner Inn, but the gravel track probably wasn't ideal for my racing tyres!! I did manage to have an incident with a couple of galloping horses that couldn't decide which way up the road from the Alice Lisle they wanted to go - but I don't think they were quite as scarily as 30 black Texas Longhorn Cattle that Terry & Martin had the pleasure of! Getting home was hard, especially north up the A338 to Fordingbridge, but with a pit stop in Alderholt I cracked on - I felt good on the flats & the speed was good there, but the hills were more of a challenge - but I did it - 103.73 miles to be precise & it was brilliant that I had my family waiting at the top of the road to greet me - they'd been following our progress on Endomondo - so knew exactly where we were - no hiding in this world!!! Thanks Terry for mapping the route & organising lunch at your sister-in-law's & thanks to both Terry & Martin for your company, support and encouragement!!

It was home for a cold bath (10 minutes max) then a hot shower & a lovely evening with my family, with pasta for tea, of course!!

Today was due to be the Dorset Bike Ride, but it was cancelled (rightly) on Friday due to the weather - disappointing for all, but there's no point putting anyone at risk. Hopefully we'll have a new date soon. The top of the backs of my calves are abit achy today, but that's all so i had a good session on the Turbo this morning - I didn't, and was expecting to, make 130rpm for 15 seconds but i was really pleased with 115rpm for 10......you've got to get there too....!!

On the sponsoring front, I had £500 come in from Kia UK this week - that is thanks to my former colleague Beverley Packwood - many thanks, Bev! My younger brother chipped in a very generous donation too - thanks James & Sandra & Liam & Ryan - so with gift aid I'm now over £4.5k - I'd really love to get to £5k, though!!

So, 2 weeks today, I'll be catching the bus to Heathrow, to fly out on Monday 14th! We've got Headteacher approval for Jack & Luke to be off school on the Friday 18th, when we cycle to The Olympic Park - so it's all getting very close & very exciting! I'm really glad I've got my first 100 under my belt - in 2 weeks time we'll be doing 3 of them on consecutive days!!!

Cheers

Andy

Cycle Slam D-29

Just over 4 weeks to go! Stage 1 kicks off a week on Monday, April 23rd & to send everyone on their we a Send Off party was arranged for last Thursday at Pizza Express in the Olympia complex in west London.  It was a great night & Freddie & Lawrence gave us a fun few minutes on stage with the auction later raising some strong money for the £2,012,000 target! The auctioneer was hilarious - not sure who he was, but he was good!!

On Saturday Sam, Jack & I headed out for a warm up for the 50 mile British Heart Foundation Dorset Bike Ride on April 29th - we did 34 good miles & it was great to be out again with my training buddies!!

I needed a long ride this weekend, so I headed out this morning, just after 10 - it was chilly most of the day & the wind strengthen as the ride went on with some of the cross winds feeling abit treacherous! I aimed to do 80 today & use my Endomondo on my phone as the main mile & stats counter & as the speedo on my bike tends to count slightly more than the Endomondo, i was hoping that 80.7 miles on the speedo would be enough - but Endomondo clocked 79.65 - but that rounds to 80 & i wasn't going back round the block for anymore!!! I was very pleased with the ride, but felt it abit in the headwinds after about 50 miles, but persevered through them & kept a good pave throughout - 80 miles on your, though, is lonely!!!

We were all delighted with Liverpool's win in the FA Cup semi final yesterday & now we know the final will be v Chelsea - can't wait!!

Fellas are all back to school tomorrow - have fun guys!!

Cheers

Andy

Cycle Slam D-35

I'm glad we chose to get out on the bikes early on the Easter weekend as today has been chucking it down all day & the wind's got stronger & stronger!

Without any extra days off from work for me this Easter, we've made sure we've had a lovely family break! Sam & I had a good ride on Saturday, tracking just under 57 miles & we were both really pleased with our speeds on the flats which we were holding for good stretches at 18-20 mph. I had a minor mishap at the bottom of Tarrant Rawston hill - it's quite a steep one, so i decided to pop myself down into 1st & give it a good spin up - unfortunately i gear-shifted into less than 1st & off came the chain & got stuck & everything jammed - with the joy of cleats the only way was down & my knee took the first hit!! Sam gave me a hand & we were soon sorted, although starting on a steep hill up is never easy with cleats, but off we went & soon we were back in the groove! Cheers, Sam!

Yesterday we headed off with picnics packed for a glorious day at Durdle Door & beyond!
The cliffs to the west of Durdle Door undulate steeply to a number of peeks & troughs & we climbed & scrambled up and down all the way to a spear-like Obelisk where we stopped for lunch - just under 2 miles walk & then back we came for a further couple of miles, intermingled with a game of stones vs barbed wire fence from 10 yards (Luke won, of course!) for a refreshing ice cream! Great Trip - good for the calves up & down them steep hills!

Jack & I headed out, once home for a nice 12 miler. Jack's asthma's being playing up abit, so this was a good outing for him after the walking of earlier - we both enjoyed the ride, although the uphill cattle grid near Holt Wood is never a joy!! Thanks, Jack!

Back to work tomorrow & forecast isn't great for the week. The Cycle Slam Send Off Party is on Thursday night up at Olympia in London, so that should be a good crack & then I need to step it up abit for the next 2 weekends as the big day approaches!

Great news on Saturday with an email to say that Land Rover's £1,000 sponsorship has been confirmed! Many thanks to Richard Harris at Land Rover UK for sorting this & great news for both my fund and the overall Slam sponsorship!

Finally hat's off to fellow slammer Martin Young who completed his own mini-slam over Easter - doing 200 miles over the 4 days including the route of a sportive that Sam & I did in the New Forest last year - good on ya, pal!

Cheers

Andy

Cycle Slam D-40

Firstly a big well done to Luke who had his first matches on Monday in the South Dorset Colours! He had an indoor tournament against Dorsets North, East & West and it was his first venture into 'if you're out, you're out' & not the 'bat for 4 overs & lose 6 runs if you are out'. How proud are we to say that Luke wasn't out anyway - he retired in the first match after scoring 25; didn't bat the 2nd as he was last in & got another 25 in the 3rd match! Behind the stumps he mustered a catches, a run out & and alround cracking performance! Oh, and the results - his team won all 3 games & got a lovely trophy each!! Well done Luke!!

I felt like I short-changed my blog on the training ride on Saturday - however there's three very good blog from fellow slammers: http://terryburwell.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/surrey-hills.html?spref=tw - Terry used to play for Leicester Rugby Club in the 70s & 80s; http://charityride.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/surrey-hills-cycle-slam-training-ride/ - Paul does triathlons! & http://nancytolondon2012.blogspot.co.uk/ Martin who doesn't like hills but actually is better than he thinks!!

Popped out for a quick 10 miler tonight on wet roads but with sunny skies - took it steady tonight in the conditions as the rain set in out around Holt - but still managed an average of 16, so that was ok.

Hotel & coach now booked for night before we fly off to start Stage 5 in May; I had considered getting an early bus up from Ringwood on the Monday, but leaving at 3:45am was beginning to get less appealing - so I'll get a late one up on the Sunday & stay at the Premier Inn at Terminal 5, which i didn't think was too bad at £39 for the night(or few hours I'll kip there!)

Easter approaches so we're all looking forward to 4 days off work with my lovely family!

On the fund raising front, i've gone over the £3,000 barrier including gift aid, which is great & thanks to everyone whose sponsored me so far! My next target is the £3,000 excluding gift aid - I need another £300 for that landmark - so if you're up for a donation - the link is at the top of the blog & I'll be really grateful!!

Best Wishes

Andy

Cycle Slam D-43

A very enjoyable ride yesterday through the Surrey hills - we did Box Hill the easy way - down the Zig Zags - although the climb just afterwards was far steeper than Box Hill! Great company throughout with groups merging & demerging throughout the ride! The two climbs after lunch were particularly tough, but we managed them & we had anoth 64 miles in the bag!

A chilly Sunday morning today took Sam & Jack & I out for a nice 30 miles - we headed out early so that we could see Luke's football this afternoon - I've missed a few games lately - It was an excellent game finishing 1-1 against the 2nd in the league - Luke was in goal & did a number of excellent saves & couldn't do much about the excellent header that Poole Town Wessex drew level with - great game Luke! Thanks too to Sam & Jack for a nice ride & most importantly to Linsey who supports us all with our challenges!

And now it's April!!

Andy