Sunday 17 June 2012

69 Cycles Sunday Sort Out Ride 17th June 2012

Went along to this as the time/distance were convenient (8 am start, finish by 1015 or so). Good turn out of around 15 cyclists. We did a pretty challenging route over to Brymbo in North Wales and then up to Bwlchgwyn before heading (mainly downhill) back to Chester. Good average speed for that course of around 17.6 mph.



Good crowd of cyclists, good atmosphere, well recommended - although quite challenging on return to Chester. Good for speed work. Will definitely come out on this again. 

Alf Jones Memorial 25 mile TT, 10th June 2012

This was the first 25 mile time trial I've ever done. It was on Sunday 10th June 2012, and my start time was 0705 (!!). It was also about half an hour's drive from Chester, so it was a pretty early start. Start and finish was close to the A41/A49 roundabout near Prees, with the HQ being at the Raven Cafe. I didn't particularly enjoy the course, as the A41 is pretty heavy with traffic, at least towards the end of the race, and there were three roundabouts you had to go round pretty much all the way.

Anyhow, my aim was to keep above 20 mph, so I was aiming for 1 hr 15 mins or less.

As it turned out, did a 1:14:08 - which was above 20 mph, but not by much. I only overtook one person on the race, who I beat by 5 minutes, but it turned out he was 67 ! Looking back at the ride stats, I think I could have gone harder - as it turns out I was still feeling OK so did another 20 mile ride on the same afternoon. I seemed to be catching people up on the hilly sections, but then falling back on the flat sections, possibly because I am not using a high enough gear. Anyhow plenty of room for improvement next time.

Sunday 3 June 2012

Sometimes it's better when it's grim !

Sunday 3rd June - instead of staying in to watch the procession of boats down the Thames, I decided to go out on a short bike ride. Had dithered about whether to go out most of the day as it was pouring down with rain and I am still suffering from the last vestiges of a cold. At 7 am I had decided not to go out (was possibly going to go on a ride from 69 Cycles in Chester, which starts at 8 am every Sunday).

Anyhow once I got out on the bike, I quite enjoyed it. Although it was raining it was not particularly cold, and the bad weather meant there were less cars around than usual. Did my standard route out to North Wales down Lache Lane, and felt like I was flying, getting from the start of Lache Lane to the Wrexham road near Hope in under 26 mins. When I got there, I realised I was flying because the wind was behind me !

Anyhow all in all a good work out. Route below:



For what it's worth, this ride was nowhere near as grim as the Mad March Hare Sportive 2012.
That was both very wet, very cold, and very hilly, with all the hills coming near the end.

Looking back at 2012, the Oswestry Hilly 17 mile time trial was also a bit grim, with torrential rain soon after I started. I did reasonably well in that one.

So the lesson is, even when it looks grim before you start off, it is rarely quite as grim when you are actually out there on the bike.

Earlier in the week, (Tuesday 29th May) I did the usual Chester Road Club chain gang out at Saighton near Chester. Unfortunately, one of the riders fell off, and I think they broke their collar bone, so David, if you're reading this hope you get better soon. Luckily one of the other Chester Road Club riders had their wife parked nearby and they took him to A&E.