The racer / postie's bike cross breed

Did a 38 mile ride yesterday which had been put together by Richard, the organiser of the Guildford to Paris ride (G2P) yesterday.  Richard has scheduled a ride at the end of each month with the distance increasing by ten miles each time starting at 40miles for April 50miles for May etc. and invited everyone doing the G2P to join in order that we can get to know each other and provide a structure for progressing the training.  Richard has kindly allowed my brother Stacey to join us for the training rides and so in the pouring rain at 09:00hrs seven of us set off from Guildford. 

The planned route should have been pretty quiet traffic wise as we were off the beaten track down country lanes on the whole but it seemed that the call of “car” (to warn the others that one is approaching from ahead or behind) was being shouted out every couple of minutes.  The rain never let off so the roads seemed more like streams at times and at one point I think it actually was. 

Whilst I already know a couple of the others on the ride it was really good to chat with them outside work and meet a couple of the others I didn’t already know.

Pretty happy with my performance on the ride itself and put this down to the weekly training we started in February but its time to step up the distance now as I have not done 50miles before and don’t want to embarrass myself on next months organised ride.

I am currently riding a hybrid bike at the moment which is basically a long wheel base racer with straight handle bars.  The bike has been great for my commute to work as the upright riding position is nice and relaxed and its still comfortable with a rucksack on my back.  It’s not so great for these longer training rides however as it’s not as responsive and has nowhere to go for reduced wind resistance compared to the racers so takes more energy to keep going.

This has put me in the same place I was in when I was ten and first wanted a racer.   

Stacey would have been 16 and around this time was quite heavily into riding his racer on long rides.   

We lived in Ruislip and he and his friend Stephen had ridden their bikes to Jersey (via a ferry form Portsmouth) for a weeks holiday and also rode from Ruislip to Wales in a day (with full pack full of tent and clothing etc.) so with my typical idolisation of the elder brother I wanted a racer but mum would not let me have one as the drop handle bars where too dangerous (if only she knew what else I was up to)!

Mum looks on as Stephen (left) and Stacey start their ride to Wales

I get myself in shot as pops takes a picture as Stacey's bike nears completion 

After lots of pestering and spending of all my pocket money on some drop handle bars, swan neck stem and brake levers I had a single speed bike that looked like a cross between a racer and a posties bike.

One year later having not killed myself on the postie / racer cross breed I was handed down Stacey’s old racer frame, forks, wheels, 5 speed gears etc so once my drop bars where fitted I was in businessJ.  I rode that bike everywhere; I don’t know anyone else that was riding 5 miles from Ruislip to Uxbridge on their own at age 11 but this was a regular ride for me that summer and brings back very happy memories.

Hand-me-down bikes rule

Woke up on Sunday and was surprised to see the sun shining and despite having flagged so much in the afternoon following the Saturday ride I decided to go out on the bike again to see how the body reacts to day after day punishment.   

I didn’t have a precise route in mind and was not sure how far my knee would be co operative for so set off with the intention to do 20 miles.  Knee was grumbling quite a lot for the first 12 miles, giving me enough pain to let me know not to expect any ability to power up the hills but either I got used to the pain or the mental knowledge of “only 8 miles to go” made it possible to speed up.   

Pretty pleased with how it went but I have a long long long way to go before being ready for the 80 miles that is day 2 on the trip! (Fundraising Page)

Whilst out I noticed a cycle trail in the woods next to the road and seeing the jumps made from mud got me thinking about my earliest memories on a bike.  I was seven when ET came out generating the first BMX craze in the UK and loved spending time with the older kids in the street riding my little version of a chopper over jumps made out of mud down the park.   

Thinking about it I was probably in a rush to get to the jumps at the park when I picked up the five stitches mentioned in the post below.  All the older kids had BMX’s and I would have done anything to have one of the little mini BMX bikes but being the fourth of five kids it was hand-me-downs all the way so I made the best of what I had.  I learned how to go over jumps, wheelie and bunny hop on that bike so doubt the wheels even went round any more by the time I was finished.

I must have brain damage to be doing this

All seems to work so where to start?  Why have I signed up cycle from Guildford to Paris?

I have liked riding a bike for as long as I can remember.  Truth be told I have no recollection of my early years and tend to put this down to the first (of many*) blows to my head when I rode my bike into the back of a pedestrian when I was in infant school and came away with five stitches on my temple.

Thinking about why I like riding a bike has brought back lots of happy memories so rather than bore you with them all now I think I will share them over the next 4 months as I post my training progress blogs.

I don’t think I have ever ridden more than 20 miles in a day before this year so mindful of how I had been thinking I would like to participate in the ride this year and having been out for a really enjoyable road ride with my brother, Stacey, in January I decided to start training in February to see if it would be possible for me to do longer rides.

Stacey and I have been doing 30 mile rides most weekends since the middle of February and extended them to 40 miles on a few occasions.

I think we are doing pretty well so far, we are covering the 30 miles in around the 2 hour mark so average 15 mile an hour. 

We had a good ride on Saturday morning, started off nice an early and got back before the rain started.
Initially felt pretty good after the ride but struggled later when I was falling asleep whilst trying to study in the afternoon, or is that just because studying for insurance exams is so boring it sends you to sleep???

*For anyone interested I have taken many blows to my head over the years, two from car crashes (one mild concussion from putting my head through the window and one slight brain damage from impact of my head hitting the steering wheel, photo's below), not sure how many times from skateboarding for 13 years, lots and lots of times from the two years I got in the ring at twice a week at boxing and of course several times on my bikes. 

Car before crash

Car after crash

Here we go, my first ever time for blogging so hope people like this.

I am in training for a 200 mile cycle ride from Guildford To Paris and want to create somewhere to share my experience, especially with those who are very generously sponsoring me (Fundraising Page) 

This first post is a test to see if my work colleagues can access the blog so apologies if nothing further appears, it will mean that its one of my employers blocked sites and I have dropped the blog.