Bike: GT
Distance: 15.65 miles
Time: 46 minutes 20 seconds
Average speed: 20.26 mph
Maximum speed: 32.55 mph
Odometer (at end): 8535 miles
Sunday, 24 December 2006
Saturday, 23 December 2006
Shotley - Flatford - A137 - Shotley
Bike: GT
Distance: 32.77 miles
Time: 1 hour 38 mins 47 seconds
Average speed: 19.90 mph
Maximum speed: 37.19 mph
Odometer (at end): 8520 miles
A pretty crappy grey day; but ideal cycling conditions owing to virtual absence of wind. Much happier with this than previous ride: managed the first 10 miles at 20mph, and got to 25 miles in 1 hour 16 minutes, which gives me a good base to improve on. Concentrating quite hard, only notable feature was nearly dissecting a dog called Jasper at the Flatford Mill car park.
Distance: 32.77 miles
Time: 1 hour 38 mins 47 seconds
Average speed: 19.90 mph
Maximum speed: 37.19 mph
Odometer (at end): 8520 miles
A pretty crappy grey day; but ideal cycling conditions owing to virtual absence of wind. Much happier with this than previous ride: managed the first 10 miles at 20mph, and got to 25 miles in 1 hour 16 minutes, which gives me a good base to improve on. Concentrating quite hard, only notable feature was nearly dissecting a dog called Jasper at the Flatford Mill car park.
Thursday, 21 December 2006
Shotley - Oyster Reach (Wherstead) - Shotley
Bike: GT
Distance: 15.64 miles
Time: 47 mins 59 seconds
Average speed: 19.56 mph
Maximum speed: 30.68 mph
Odometer (at end): 8487 miles
Here is a lesson: do not eat 4 ham and mustard sandwiches, half a big bag of Doritos with dip and 10 pickles shortly before heading out on a hard ride. It will (a) slow you down (b) make you want to vomit.
Tough going. I wanted at least 20mph average, but conditions were cold and slimy, and I was suffering chronic indigestion throughout. Still, first ride since last Friday's century and it was good to shake some of the apathy out of my (now aching) legs by going out hard and maintaining some pace.
Distance: 15.64 miles
Time: 47 mins 59 seconds
Average speed: 19.56 mph
Maximum speed: 30.68 mph
Odometer (at end): 8487 miles
Here is a lesson: do not eat 4 ham and mustard sandwiches, half a big bag of Doritos with dip and 10 pickles shortly before heading out on a hard ride. It will (a) slow you down (b) make you want to vomit.
Tough going. I wanted at least 20mph average, but conditions were cold and slimy, and I was suffering chronic indigestion throughout. Still, first ride since last Friday's century and it was good to shake some of the apathy out of my (now aching) legs by going out hard and maintaining some pace.
Friday, 15 December 2006
Ealing - Shotley
Bike: GT
Distance: 111.01 miles
Time: 5 hrs 58 mins 41 seconds
Average speed: 18.56 mph
Maximum speed: 35.02 mph
Odometer (at end): 8471 miles
There'll be days when I'm fitter, but don't go as fast for so long (although I was, admittedly, helped by a generous tailwind for virtually the whole ride). Still, great fun - because I set off before 7 in the morning I had already racked up a fair few miles by the time most sensible people were sitting down to begin work...
This ride started off in the cold and dark, but soon improved when the sun came up over Hackney, and soon golden light was flooding through the branches in Epping Forest. The route I have developed to cycle back home largely involves country lanes, small towns and villages, so I was unencumbered by traffic once I was out of London and able to maintain a steady pace. However, towards the end, Ipswich was a bit busy which slowed me up, and by then my legs were tiring so I couldn't get my rhythm going again and the last 11 miles were rather slow (after completing a century in a respectable 5 hours and 18 minutes). Got to Shotley, ate a pile of food, had a shower ... and then caught the train back to London to collect the rest of my luggage for the Christmas break. And to gain an evil, but well-earned, hangover.
After 20 miles: 1 hr 5 mins / 18.5mph average. Epping Forest
After 40 miles: 2 hrs 8 mins / 18.6mph average, The Rodings
After 60 miles: 3 hrs 11 mins / 18.8mph average, Cornish Hall End
After 80 miles: 4 hrs 14 mins / 18.8mph average, Sudbury
After 100 miles: 5 hrs 18 mins / 18.8mph average, Ipswich
Distance: 111.01 miles
Time: 5 hrs 58 mins 41 seconds
Average speed: 18.56 mph
Maximum speed: 35.02 mph
Odometer (at end): 8471 miles
There'll be days when I'm fitter, but don't go as fast for so long (although I was, admittedly, helped by a generous tailwind for virtually the whole ride). Still, great fun - because I set off before 7 in the morning I had already racked up a fair few miles by the time most sensible people were sitting down to begin work...
This ride started off in the cold and dark, but soon improved when the sun came up over Hackney, and soon golden light was flooding through the branches in Epping Forest. The route I have developed to cycle back home largely involves country lanes, small towns and villages, so I was unencumbered by traffic once I was out of London and able to maintain a steady pace. However, towards the end, Ipswich was a bit busy which slowed me up, and by then my legs were tiring so I couldn't get my rhythm going again and the last 11 miles were rather slow (after completing a century in a respectable 5 hours and 18 minutes). Got to Shotley, ate a pile of food, had a shower ... and then caught the train back to London to collect the rest of my luggage for the Christmas break. And to gain an evil, but well-earned, hangover.
After 20 miles: 1 hr 5 mins / 18.5mph average. Epping Forest
After 40 miles: 2 hrs 8 mins / 18.6mph average, The Rodings
After 60 miles: 3 hrs 11 mins / 18.8mph average, Cornish Hall End
After 80 miles: 4 hrs 14 mins / 18.8mph average, Sudbury
After 100 miles: 5 hrs 18 mins / 18.8mph average, Ipswich
Tuesday, 12 December 2006
vorsprung durch Kaffee
Ealing - A40 - Ealing
Bike: GT
Distance: 36.59
Time: 1 hrs 59 mins 39 seconds
Average speed: 18.35 mph
Maximum speed: 39.90 mph
Odometer (at end): 8327 miles
A bit slower than last week, owing to some heavy traffic, but not a bad run out. Notable for the fact the sun didn't come up for ages, so there was an adventurous sense of hurtling into dark for the early portion of the ride. Also caught up with a guy who cycles to work in Denham a couple of times per week: I hadn't seen him for a few weeks, when it was his first day ... his job is going well and he gets an epic 40 miles cycle commute when he chooses to, the lucky bastard!
Was fuelled by some excellent coffee today: I have recently discovered the Algerian Coffee Stores, Soho. The Cafe Torino blend is pretty special: silky and rich, powerful, but without losing its real coffee taste.
That's my last pre-training ride out of the way. Proper training starts as of Friday, when I'm cycling home to Shotley: just got off the phone to my parents, and Suffolk is, unsurprisingly, not a festive place at the moment. It felt absolutely horrible to see the Old Felixstowe Road - the cycle link from Ipswich to Felixstowe - on the news tonight. That road reminds me of cycling to visit my gran, who would have had a birthday today.
Bike: GT
Distance: 36.59
Time: 1 hrs 59 mins 39 seconds
Average speed: 18.35 mph
Maximum speed: 39.90 mph
Odometer (at end): 8327 miles
A bit slower than last week, owing to some heavy traffic, but not a bad run out. Notable for the fact the sun didn't come up for ages, so there was an adventurous sense of hurtling into dark for the early portion of the ride. Also caught up with a guy who cycles to work in Denham a couple of times per week: I hadn't seen him for a few weeks, when it was his first day ... his job is going well and he gets an epic 40 miles cycle commute when he chooses to, the lucky bastard!
Was fuelled by some excellent coffee today: I have recently discovered the Algerian Coffee Stores, Soho. The Cafe Torino blend is pretty special: silky and rich, powerful, but without losing its real coffee taste.
That's my last pre-training ride out of the way. Proper training starts as of Friday, when I'm cycling home to Shotley: just got off the phone to my parents, and Suffolk is, unsurprisingly, not a festive place at the moment. It felt absolutely horrible to see the Old Felixstowe Road - the cycle link from Ipswich to Felixstowe - on the news tonight. That road reminds me of cycling to visit my gran, who would have had a birthday today.
Wednesday, 6 December 2006
wieder auf dem richtigen Weg sein
Ealing - A40 - Ealing
Bike: GT
Distance: 36.59
Time: 1 hrs 57 mins 17 seconds
Average speed: 18.72 mph
Maximum speed: 37.00 mph
Odometer (at end): 8228 miles
It was good to be back out training again for the first time since my accident, especially as I was pretty quick on a windy morning. Also, my odometer suggests I haven't been too slack, and accumulated nearly 200 miles since the Hastings ride just through commuting.
I was hit again today, but very slowly and not knocked off. This time, the guy was coming out of a junction to my left, I was in the cycle lanes: he just drove into me very slowly... I was wedged on the front of his car, which was a surreal experience. Lucky he was going slowly, or I'd have been properly knocked off. This is the problem with cycle lanes - they do give a false sense of security, when, in fact, the only thing they really protect you against is being hit from the rear. Junctions are still as deadly as ever - possibly more so because you mistakenly feel safer in a cycle lane - car drivers, by and large, will ignore the green strip.
Bike: GT
Distance: 36.59
Time: 1 hrs 57 mins 17 seconds
Average speed: 18.72 mph
Maximum speed: 37.00 mph
Odometer (at end): 8228 miles
It was good to be back out training again for the first time since my accident, especially as I was pretty quick on a windy morning. Also, my odometer suggests I haven't been too slack, and accumulated nearly 200 miles since the Hastings ride just through commuting.
I was hit again today, but very slowly and not knocked off. This time, the guy was coming out of a junction to my left, I was in the cycle lanes: he just drove into me very slowly... I was wedged on the front of his car, which was a surreal experience. Lucky he was going slowly, or I'd have been properly knocked off. This is the problem with cycle lanes - they do give a false sense of security, when, in fact, the only thing they really protect you against is being hit from the rear. Junctions are still as deadly as ever - possibly more so because you mistakenly feel safer in a cycle lane - car drivers, by and large, will ignore the green strip.
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