Miles racking up and new currency in Southport

Made a comment last week about the spring weather, a little too early as I spent 2 hours in the rain on Tuesday night. Got in some hills in the dark and for some reason it is easier to climb them in the dark. I think it must be the fact that you can't see the incline or the top, just the bit of the road lit up by your lights. Still, by Thursday the weather was brighter again, out before breakfast and took this photo of the sun rising over an Ormskirk landmark. For those of you not local, that is not a UFO landing just above the tree line, just the old water tower. (It could be an extra from War of the Worlds).

Saturday was a bright sunny day, if a little too windy, but I headed out to Winter Hill again, climbed it twice, then a climb called Angelzarke and that was enough hills for the day. Headed into the wind across to Southport where they seem to have invented a new currency, see the picture for the local Park & Ride. I remember Wilmslow creating their own local credit card a few years ago, perhaps Southport has declared independence and is starting to use the Poung! Stopped in Southport for a reviving coffee before heading off with a tailwind, got in 92 miles altogether. Wonder what Sundays run will be like?

Sundays run with the club was manic! I was looking for a steady ride after Saturday but got manic pace all day. For the 2 hours before the cafe we averaged 19mph in windy conditions. I needed oxygen more than a coffee! Great ride but with very little conversation, nobody had energy to waste talking. Like a lot of things, it was great when it stopped. Average speed for the day 18.5mph, Saturdays solo ride was 16.3mph, a bit of a difference! Still, another 68 miles to give me the biggest training week so far - nearly 219 miles.

Final thought, in 2 months time I will have completed 9 days out of the planned 10 day end to end!

100 up!

The weather has turned more spring-like this week, with the days getting longer, soon be summer. Hit the road early this week, with two 7am rides before breakfast. One of 26 miles over Ashurst Beacon, (got to keep climbing hills to build up for Cornwall) and a shorter circuit around Clieves Hill of 24 miles. Had a bit of a mechanical on the Clieves run as my gears started slipping. Avoided an altogether bigger mechanical with one of these bin wagons. The driver reversed into a side road to turn around and when he pulled back out onto the main road kept looking to the right to make sure the back end didn't catch anything. He never looked left, which was where I was coming from, never heard my back wheel lock up or me shouting at him either, drove on oblivious to almost wiping me out. Incidently, found this picture on e-bay, but if you want the wagon it has already sold for £2,450, people will buy anything.

Rested up on Saturday, planning for 100 miles on Sunday. Got our at 7.15am and put in 26 miles before meeting the club. Set off towards Winter Hill and put in 52 miles with the club to the cafe in Rufford. As I was on a mission I only stopped to fill my drink bottle and carried on to get in some more miles. Put in another couple of loops of Clieves Hill and then stopped to take the photo of my bike computer as it clocked up 100.20 miles just 800 metres from home, job done.

I was stopped at the time which is why it shows 0mph but that was 5 hours and 50 minutes after leaving home my first 100 miles of the year. Just need to put a few more in now!

A little bit of Irish...

The spring looks like it may have arrived, lots of blue skies and the temperature becoming a bit warmer. Got three rides in this week, total 185 miles, a good weeks effort.
Rode out heading west from Belfast before breakfast on Thursday towards Lough Neagh (and no I can't pronounce it either). Turned out to be a decent climb away from the city and gave me the sight of the sun rising over a misty city, very scenic but really needed a decent photographer to catch the image rather than me with a phone.
Came across some stands at the side of the road and noticed the starting grid markings painted on the road, turned out to be the start/finish line for the Ulster Grand Prix. The claim at the top of the board is that this is the fastest road race in the world, I looked up the lap record which is nearly 132mph. Having ridden part of the circuit, the roads are at best country lanes, poorly surfaced and uneven. It is incredible to think they average 132mph around a circuit of 7 miles of country lanes, a lot quicker than the 16.5mph I managed, and at my speed the 0.5 is important!
Got in a long solo ride on Saturday, 80 miles in what turned out to be the least spring like weather of the week. Within an hour of leaving it was cold, with a strong headwind and it would have been easy to turn for home. Two things kept me out with a target to do 5 hours riding, when I do my LEJOG the weather will be whatever it is and I will have no choice, the other a quick thought about the guys the charity helps. No contest, stay out and slog through it.
Rode on Sunday with the club and put in another 70 miles.
Checked my countdown timer, 66 days to go, the start is starting to seem very close.

A little scotch.

Managed to fit in 3 breakfast rides this week as I have been travelling around the country. The highlight was definitely Friday. I was staying just outside of Glasgow and headed off towards the Campsie Fells at 6.45am and they looked awesome, hence the pics. The snow was still really deep on the fell itself but the road over it was dry and clear, although well gritted to keep it clear.

The first pic shows the sun rising over the trees on top of the fell. It was incredibly peaceful with hardly any traffic and I could have stayed up there for hours enjoying the scenery but had to force myself to turn back to catch breakfast and start work. The second pic shows the road itself across the fell.
Across the three rides I got in over 79 miles and was looking forward to a day off cycling on Saturday to go out with the family.
I was hoping to get in a 100 mile ride on Sunday but had not noticed that Everton had scheduled a game against Hull (5:1 win despite missing a penalty). I went out at 7.30am to get some miles in, met the club at 9.00 and rode with them to Preston but had to turn around and head back. Actually met the clubs B group out on the road and rode with them for a while until they headed for the cafe. I carried on, determined to get in as many miles as I could, also threw in a couple of hills and managed 90 miles. With another 40 minutes I could have got the 100 miles but it would have been stressful trying to get out to the match. Another good week, 170 miles in the bank. Off to Ireland this week, hoping to get in a ride there, after Scotland that would only leave me with a ride in Wales to complete my 4 Nations training!