Well yesterday was a great event run in aid of the charity against breast cancer , run by bike events who from what I can see provided the signs for a £15 entrance fee but there you go I suppose someone has to organise it.
Started off from Harwell with my buddies Matt and Rafe who I was meeting for the first time, setting off in a circular route around Oxfordshire in great weather considering it had battered down the previous two nights.
Lots of free standing water for the first part of the course and in parts it was a case of freewheeling through the waterlogged roads but it eventually gave way to drier conditions.
Personally I didn’t like the first 30 miles as it followed a lot of “A” class roads that where pretty busy especially some of the town centres i.e. Wallingford. It was at this point I had my first experience of a busted spoke, I actually thought it was a stone smacking the side of the bike but as I pedalled it was obvious something more serious was amiss as the wheel was wobbling all over the place. Anyway with a short stop and inspection I decided it was ok to ride on having released the rear break to stop the binding and it did last the whole ride without any problems.
Was a bit disappointed with the so called refreshment stops as they were just pub stops with the first one being closed so I was unable to top up my bottle, the trailbreaks rides I’ve done provided water stations with free energy drink top ups so come on bike events sort it out £15 ?.
Shortly after this I encountered my first puncture on my Giant since taking ownership over a year ago, rapidly fixed by Rafe and myself we headed on toward Haney and our pre arranged cake stop at Mattys mother-in-law’s, thanks very much for the toilet as I was bursting big time by this point.
The next 30 miles proved to be far more scenic and enjoyable, the west of the county is far less busy and nicer to ride around.
Uffington and the white horse proved to be the crux of the ride with a 12% gradient hill thrown in followed by a less severe but by no means easier hill shortly after, the mtb riding has given me strong legs on the hills now so they proved no problem at all.
Crossed the finish with a respectable just over 4 hours ride time so was more than chuffed with that, and all for a good cause, hopefully they managed to raise a fair amount considering there was about 1300 riders.
Ride Stats:
Finished Road Cycle: 8 May 2011 14:31:23
Route: Oxfordshire Classic
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/5355/b6a7/4c30/2ce6/Runmeter-Cycle-20110508-0859.kml
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/jAC4mS
Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/5355/b6a7/4c30/2ce6/Runmeter-Cycle-20110508-0859.kml
Ride Time: 4:02:56
Stopped Time: 1:29:01
Distance: 60.18 miles
Average: 14.86 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 39.80 miles/h
Ascent: 1365 feet
Calories: 3296
The moment the spoke snapped, exciting Video NOT!
Well finally managed to get out on a ride, great little 14 miler at night around the local bridleways with Damo from the Fire station.
Uptonogood Bike Challenge
June 22, 2011 — smiddyslifeAfter last years hugely successful and well organised event I was really looking forward to the second uptonogood bike challenge ever, unfortunately was feeling a tad rough from what I think may have been a stomach bug, cramps and dare I say it poops lot’s and lot’s of poops.
Turned up on the morning to a bustling field in Upton Oxfordshire full of all sorts of activities and stalls and headed in to register for the 25 mile leisure ride around the bridleways and single tracks of the Ridgeway.
The weather was a bit iffy to say the least with showers and glorious sunshine all mixed together switching between the two ever few minutes so it was jacket on, jacket off, jacket on etc. decided on the jacket on for the first part of the course just in case but this proved to be far to hot, so jacket off .
Set off in a large group following the mountain mania van over the A417 and onto the real start of the off road sections and on toward the infamous Ginge brook drop that proved to be a bloody, muddy nightmare, if you were brave you could ride it but I didn’t see anyone brave enough as the mud was horrendous.
The rest of the ride followed last years course and was a wash in mud and slop making it a real challenge for the Rocket Ron tyres that I was running front and back, they proved to be hopeless tyres in the wet even running with very little air in them they were all over the place and it was a miracle they didn’t fling me off at every turn.
Further and further into the ride I started to feel better so decided to try and better last years time that had been pretty slow due to multiple punctures and a lack of fitness. Much of the ride went well apart from braining myself on a low tree branch as I climbed a single track up to the Ridgeway, Getting into a bit of a habit this, I’m onto my third helmet in a year, luckily only my pride was hurt as I catapulted off the back of the bike, luckily no one saw my little excursion to the ground.
Completed the course in a respectable 02:47 which was the overall time and I beat last years time by 10 minutes, given the ground conditions I’m pretty pleased with myself.
Stats:
Route: Uptonogood Ride
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/lVcRPi
Ride Time: 2:47:02
Stopped Time: 14:15
Distance: 25.96 miles
Average: 9.32 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 34.95 miles/h
Ascent: 804 feet
Descent: 841 feet
Calories: 2357