my bike for the ride - cube analog

Here's a shot of my bike. It's a hardtail mtb with a few adjustments for the road, including a comfier saddle for distance, ergo grips with bar ends, strapless toe clips for when the legs get tired, front suspension's dialled up to the max, and most importantly I've swapped my 2.25 full on knobblies for a set of 1.3 slicks which make it run and run, but they do make it a rock hard ride, hence the suspension is not set to "off" ;-)

Should be set for three days in the saddle .... I hope!

Half way there

I plan on doing 88 miles in a week. It started Sunday with 24 miles in the countryside. I was then stuck down by man flu. but managed to cycle in to work today which was 17 miles.
Part 3 is 17 miles ride home after work
Part 4 is 30 mile ride with Jared on Saturday.
I will be very pleased with myself if i manage to complete it.

Clocks have gone forward... chance for an evening ride!

When I got home it occurred to me I had an hour before sundown - just enough time to attack the two hills I have out the back of the flat on an out and back route... 40 minutes later, 10 miles of up and down with almost no flat bits and I feel very worthy, if a little knackered!


This is the course profile... the second hill is the hardest yet - long and for the first half-mile or so, very steep! 

very encouraged

Very encouraged with the riding this weekend. Concentrating on building up the miles in preparation, and very pleased with the hills we managed to cross off.
Already planning my ride for next weekend, incorporating distance and a few peaks aiming for about 4 hours in the saddle.

Busy weekend

Successfully managed a 30 mile route on my road bike on Saturday which felt pretty good, managed it in 1 hour and 50 minutes. After enjoying the weather on Sunday morning i decided to go for a 20 mile ride on my mountain bike, despite the pain in my legs the views from the top of Wittenham Clumps made up for it! My next plan then is 2, 30 mile rides next weekend maybe.... legs permitting!

Long Sunday morning ride

Joined Gary for 36 miles around Wantage this morning...
I was worried about the hills and the distance, but managed both and felt really good! The pace was gentle, and that made the distance much easier to achieve.
Thanks Gary!
First proper week of training for me, and 85 miles ridden... a long way to go yet, but a very positive start.

Week 2 - 23.4 miles

I was keen to push myself over 20 miles this week, and managed it with 23.4 miles. it was hard going as lots of hills on the route. my timing was 2 and half hours, so i need to get the speed up. Very pleased with what i managed but it makes the task of 180 miles seem extremely hard. going to have to step up the training to 3 times a week to stand any chance of completing this.

New top fits a treat

Training week 2

After the reality of the task in hand last week after a 10 mile ride. this weekend am going to push myself to 20 miles and may even catch up with Jared on his 26 mile ride if time allows. if you dont here from me by Tuesday please send out a search party.

Good week

I've had a good week this week, i've rode to and from work twice and am planning a good 50 miles of riding over the weekend... just hope the weathers good!
Might even give the team shirts a run out!

cycling tops

Very impressed with these cycling tops, they look awesome. Glad I stuck with the XL though.
Well done Ollie.

Training update

33 miles today - 12½ to work, and 20½ back home again. Quite slow, a bit tired, but not bad at this stage.
Not entirely sure Gary's 35-mile hilly weekend route won't break me on Sunday, but I've got a bit more confidence now than I had before! :)


If you want to see the routes, you'll probably need to befriend me on mapmyride.com (I reckon we should all join up there and share routes and maybe inspire each other over the next 3½ months) - I'm Purpledog64
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/77270638
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/77270572

Training

For anyone wondering how to approach training, this site​ gives some decent ideas that look appropriate to our schedule... we all need to be taking it seriously from about now!

routes in mapmyride

As promised, here are the links for the 3 days in mapmyride. You'll probably need to add me as a friend to see them. My profile is ge1098.

Day1
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/75831582
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/75831582

Day2
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/75838014
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/75838014

Day3
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/75843320
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/75843320

busy weekend

A busy 2 days for me this weekend (19/3/2012). Completed a 30 miler with Jared on Saturday. It was pretty flat, just wanted to get a few miles in the saddle. Went out on Sunday for a 20 miler, this time with a few hills in it which was tough.
Also added the charity ride into mapmyride. It's spread over the three days to give a good indication of what's to achieve. Will need to go through the route with Olllie as he may have altered the route slightly. I'll post links later.

welcome

Welcome to our blog!

A few of use are planning a charity cycle ride following the coast to coast "Way of the roses" route from Morecambe to Bridlington, covering approximately 170 miles over 3 days.

Here you'll find hints, tips, the highs, and the lows encountered while training in our run up to the event.

The event is due to take place July 7th - July 9th 2012.

Bye for now, Gary