Follow Your Heart

Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011) - Visionary, Entrepreneur

Follow your heart, see an inspiring video here...

London - Brighton (yet again).... preparation for things to come

WOW, its been a while since posting here. Well, my friend Deuan and myself have been eagerly discussing this year's 1000 Miles Challenge - and we found it. I can't speak about it yet but will be able to confirm soon. In preparation of this year's challenge we did a little LtB last Friday.

We left kind of early (10.20) at the Fat Boys Cafe near Croydon. It was already very hot and the sun was blasting as we set out. Without much use of maps/ GPS we had to remember the route we used to take last year. It almost worked 100% and we were able to follow the quiet route through Farthing Downs, Godstone, Ditchling (over the feared Bitchling Deacon). We motored on and it felt like we're on a roll. The 3.5h journey was very enjoyable and it felt great to be outdoors. Considering I now weigh around 90Kg!! the ride was almost effortless. It felt like this was nothing at all despite not having cycled long distances for a while. I guess the snowboarding week in March helped get those muscles fit.


We got to Brighton and went straight for the beach - OMG, what a spectacle. The beach was full. In some parts there were hardly 2m between people on their beach towels. We chilled in the sand for a short while, met up with one of Deuans friends and took the train back to London. Overall a very pleasant day (with only minor sunburns ;)

SKINS Challenge - Road Stage

Hampton Court - Aylesbury - Balham (London)

Deuan and myself started out at Hampton Court (10.25)

via Heathrow, Uxbridge, Beaconsfield

High Wycombe

motoring along

got to Aylesbury at 13.05 and nice lunch (baked potato & tuna)

we got adventurous cycling along the canal towards Marsworth

I dare you to jump over that canal

piece of cake

when you're on a canal boat, take a strong magnet and try some fishing for lock keys....hmmm

what shall I say...

some A road back to London (near Chalfont/ Amersham)

and to London (Southall)

to our final resting point (The Bedford Pub, Balham)

Overview:
- we did 97 miles today with the detour via the canal (going East from Aylesbury....who needs mountain bikes again?
- the route was definitely more on the flat side than going from London to Brighton
- weather was pretty nice, even though we got into half a dozen small showers

Total time: 6.05h

Average speed: 15.9452 mph (25.6613 kmh)

Route:

Tw12 3hx @ 10.25
Uxbridge
Beackonsfield
High wycombe
Princess Risborough
Aylesbury @ 13.05

Aylesbury @ 2.20
Aston Clinton
Holton
Amersham
Chelfont
Uxbridge
Southall
Hammersmith
Putney
Balham @ 5.45


Final Points:
- forgot my heart rate monitor at home that day - so no stats...
-couldn't find my SKINS shirt so took LEJOG baselayer and cycle shirt (good choice as it prevented sunburn.
- the SKINS cycle short has performed excellently on this challenge and I felt pretty comfy all the way through
- a great day of cycling, with many memorable moments along the canal and racing through London at the end to get to Balham...

SKINS Challenge - Hill Stage

Brixton to Brighton (detour)

This ride is part of 3 challenges to test SKINS C400 bib shorts, Cycle Pro Short Sleeve Jersey and C400 compression baselayer. Not that we wouldn't have done the rides anyway - we now had a perfect excuse to be doing rides every weekend ;)

...what a wonderful evening, Jorrin, Deuan and myself decided to go for a ride just after work. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and we were all excited to be doing this ride on a Friday evening rather than our usual early start Saturdays/ Sundays. I started my journey in Brixton after some nice pizza in the new pizzeria just in Brixton Village market, where I also fitted the heart rate monitor. A very unusual feeling to have this strap around the chest but also interesting seeing my heart rate go up and down. I also set my personal parameters to measure calorie burn.

A short while later, I met with Deuan, steady cycle companion and superb action film maker, at Fat Boys cafe in Croydon. We really wanted to go with Jorrin but after 20min waiting we decided to leave without him, knowing he's going to catch up little later. We got to Farthing Downs after battling through Friday's traffic, then came the call from Jorrin saying he is "3 minutes" away (thats Jorrin's way of saying I'll catch up with you in 15min or so). We used the opportunity to enjoy the view and take some pictures. At quarter to 6pm it was still really hot and the sun blasting. We continued our journey south...

We were met by Jorrin (15min after phone call), exchanged excuses for being late, marvelled at Jorrin's new wheels and pedalled through ever so stunning countryside, up and down the hills going to Brighton. We made a few stops at a petrol station and a pub to fill up on water, get some nuts 'n raisins and bananas. Luckily I had a few things in my backpack which were going to come in handy: extra pair of shorts/ shirt (from work), hair clippers, some cycle bottles, tools and unidentified stuff... things one takes on such trips...


The SKINS bib shorts amd cycle shirt are the most high-tech kit I've ever worn on and I was excited to see how it performs during the 75miles ride. I know that "good things aren't cheap and cheap things aren't good." For the LEJOG ride I invested in a good cycle short (Assos) and was already positively surprised with the enhanced riding comfort, compared to regular shorts (£50 or less...).



Zooming along the country lanes, overtaking one another, pushing it hard was fantastic. We really enjoyed being on our bikes. It was a very strange feeling to be riding into the evening rather than into the day. As it got darker we pedalled harder. Todays challenge was an extra 12 miles to take the total journey close to 75miles.

The SKINS C400 bib shorts surprised on the upside. Never did I have to adjust the shorts or padding (none of the usual pulling, lifting ;) The whole journey felt really pleasant being able to just sit in the saddle and ride, pushing ourselves harder than on last rides with fewer brakes.all solved with a pair of scissors though. My Assos bib shorts bought for the LEJOG ride were very good, especially at reduced price (from £120 to £75), but I still had to adjust the padding, and pulling them in place once ever so often. None of that stuff with the SKINS bib shorts. They stayed in place and were very comfortable throughout.

The Cycle Pro Short Sleeve Jersey already had a few trial runs in the city and it really felt great - it actually felt like it wasn't there at all, keeping me dry and comfortable whilst the shirt got soaked. I only noticed it after a while, stopping/ starting at traffic lights because a little plastic patch, at the bottom by the zip, stuck out and poked me...


We got to Brighton just after 9pm, went to the beach front, had a quick drink and got back to London by train. We all agreed that this has to be repeated and that its a much better use of everyone's time that being in the pub on Friday - which is nice but it just doesn't give the same feeling of having cycled from London to Brighton....

STATS:

Ride distance: 115Km (72miles)
Time (incl. stops): 4:45 h:min
Av. Speed: 24km/h
Max speed: 65km/h
Av. heart rate: 145 BPM
Max heart rate (MHR): 192 BPM
BPM% MHR: 76
KCAL: 3100

(london to brighton - yes its generally a bit hilly...)

Please check out the Blog from fellow cyclist Quentin - "Leading The Tour" in 2010, cycling all stages of the Tour de France - just a week early ;)

click here to get to his Blog (or click on his pic)!!!


He's on an amazing journey and I am kind of envious that he's out there battling the elements and being able to cycle through France's stunning scenery, taking on huge mountains, passing Lavender fields, and just being on the road....

SKINS Challenge - Time Trial

This ride is part of 3 challenges to test SKINS C400 bib shorts, Cycle Pro Short Sleeve Jersey and C400 compression baselayer. Not that we wouldn't have done the rides anyway - we now had a perfect excuse to be doing rides every weekend ;)

Time Trial Sunday...

and here we go! got up fairly relaxed at 8pm (Sunday morning), had a coffee (or two?), a slice of bread and smoked salmon, nothing too heavy, partly because I was still full from the bbq the day before.

I left around 9am to drive to Jorrin and go with him to some location in Surrey where we hoped to find a suitable road without too many interruptions, traffic lights, roundabouts and so on to do our TT (15Km/ 10miles). We went along the M3, got off at Exit 3 and went to Lightwater.


Now, I've never done a TT and I was really excited to be racing against myself for this relatively short distance. We took Jorrin's racing bike rather than my 'cruiser' and in borrowed shoes I set off. My heart rate was already at close to 80BPM before getting on the bike which is partly due to the warm-up (stretches really) and partly because I was a little nervous. Should have really done a few miles before even getting on the bike for the actual TT - next time...

On the bike, fiddling with the clip-ins, setting the stop watch on the Shimano flight deck and on the heart rate monitor - 3 2 1 GO

I quickly got to speeds of over 40Km/h zooming along this pretty straight road, hit a few roundabouts but kept on pushing hard. My top speed went down to 35Km/h where I could sustain it... The first couple of kilometres went by pretty quickly and were it not for some stupid motorists I would have been even faster. At various roundabouts without a chance to overtake, those guys slowed down pretty heavily to then turn without indicating, I almost crashed into one as I was trying to overtake...

With 10Km done, I was feeling exhausted already because some of the smaller hills kicked in and got me to stand-up and push on. Another useless roundabout where I had to clip out of the pedal leaving me to struggle for another km to get back in (its just not the same if you're used to your own shoes/ pedals).

13.5, 14, 14,7 arrghhh 15Km. STOP the watch.

STATS:

Ride distance: 15.06Km (10miles)

Time (incl. stops): 00:26:28 h:min:sec

Av. Speed: 34.1 km/h

Max speed: 48.6km/h

Av. heart rate: 123 BPM

BPM% MHR: 64

KCAL: 160

Useful calculator (time, distance, speed)
http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/speed_distance_time_calc.html


The Numbers:

the above numbers don't really mean anything unless they're put in a context. I've checked a few websites and a few different courses and found the Richmond TT results. Provided that the course is different from the one we chose I would have ranked 15th out of 75 people. The fastest person was at 00:23:36 for the distance... Now, that means something!!!

First, do the Richmond TT 10.4 and check actual performance
Second, practice more and warm up before another run
Third, read the TT instructions before attempting another TT

Overall I felt more relaxed doing the 15Km and I knew that I was going to be comfortable in my SKINS shorts and shirt. Again, they performed excellently and I did sweat but felt comfortably dry and well comfy even on an unusually formed seat...

To be repeated and improved upon!!!!!

Dear All - We did it!!!

We, Jorrin, Dirk, Ollie and Damian with Ian in support, cycled 1,148 miles started on Sunday 23rd May 2010, finishing in John O’Groats on Tuesday 1st of June at 4:30pm.

We travelled through... Cornwall (absolutely stunning but gruelling hills) to Tintagel, then to Street in Somerset, then (joined by Deuan for two days) to Llanthony in the Welsh Black Mountains, to Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, to Arnside in Cumbria, to Newton Stewart in the Dumfries & Galloway, over the Galloway Hills to Ardrossan, across to Aran to Lochranza, through the West Highlands, Lochgilphead, Connel, Fort William to Invergarry, the breakfast at the Caledonian Hotel in Fort Augustus with Chris, Johanna Stevenson and family (unbeatable!) up and down the south side of Loch Ness, through Inverness, over the Dark Isle to Carbisdale Castle, then north east over the mountains through Strathnaver to Betyhill for lunch before the final 55 miles to John O’Groats. We did it for Project Peru.

“Project Peru runs a children's refuge in the shanty towns near Lima, caring for over 30 children; entirely funded through voluntary effort, Project Peru is a small, lively, totally voluntary UK-based charity offering food, clothes, education, shelter and fun to those in need in a country where nearly half the population exists on less than one dollar a day! see http://www.projectperu.org.uk

For all of you who have already supported us – a huge big THANK YOU – there has been an enormous amount of preparation gone into the planning and funding of this ride. Thank you to Ian Homer for doing all the driving – So, now we have all done our bit and completed the challenge, please support (if you haven’t already) our chosen charity. We are still some way off our target of £15K – having collectively raised around £4K...

Many of you who I have spoken to have pledged to donate so if you still intend to here’s how you can do it.

Visit: http://www.justgiving.com/1000MilesChallengeLEJOG

Or you can send a cheque to Carole Hudson at Project Peru. Cheques made payable to "Project Peru" and send them to Carole Hudson, Project Peru, 1 St. Catherine's Hill, Guildford, Surrey GU2 4EF

Watch this place for the video DOCUMENTARY

Carbisdale Castle (Invershin) to John O'Groats - The Final Ride

WOW – the final day of our 1000 Miles Challenge!!! I can’t believe we’re here. Breakfast was rushed this morning, as we needed to get going hoping to avoid the oncoming rain. I wasn’t a very happy camper this morning (nor were the other people in our room) because Damian decided to get EVERYONE up in our 12-bed dormitory at 6.30am!!!! This was another short night with only 5h of sleep. As I tried avoiding getting up, desperately putting my pillow over my ears, all I could feel was a swoosh – and my blanket was gone. With Damian shouting “get up, get up, its time, we’ve got to go” the words we heard ever so often, the next blanket was on the floor without much resistance from Jorrin… What choice did we have but to get up! I slowly crawled out of bed into the bathroom, then kitchen, ate yesterday’s vegetable stew followed by porridge and toast (great combination…) and got myself ready. The final 110miles today!!

...the road to JOG

The weather forecast predicted heavy rain and Damian's parents coming up from Gleneagles confirmed that. Nobody fancied getting wet so we all tried to get everything together as fast as possible. We left at 8.15 and took the footbridge to the other side of the river and onto the A836 going North. The A836 then turned into a single lane road with passing places - the most quiet A road we've been on so far. At Altnaharra we went onto B873 along Loch Naver, with just a short 'faff stop' after to eat, drink, waste some time talking about things. The weather had been kind to us with no rain, slightly cold and some tail wind. Damian gave me a pocket history lesson of the Scottish Highlands starting around 16th century. We had a really good ride so far and did 38miles in 1.40h going up and down the hills. Time seemed to fly as we were chatting and pedaling.

...faffstop near Altnaharra

Then, finally, we saw the Atlantic Ocean near Bettyhill where we stopped for lunch. Everyone had a strong sense of achievement being closer to our final destination. Damian had a puncture; Ian stopped and checked the tyre. The tyre got changed and Damian drafted the car to get back to the group. The landscape became less barren and the hills were lined with yellow flowering gorse and the smell of pina colada was in the air. As we changed direction from going North to go East, we encountered good headwind and we chainganged to Thurso where we waited for Damian. We had apple pie and tea sitting in the pedestrian zone watching the main road. All of a sudden we saw a flesh of lightning racing through traffic - Damian. He didn't look like stopping to pick up his train tickets (an excuse to make us wait for him whilst he sneaks to John O'Groats???). We also missed Ian who tried to find a parking space. There was no time to waste. We had to catch up with Damian now.

...apple pie & tea @ Thurso, waiting for Damian

Leaving Thurso, Oli got onto what can only be explained as an 'apple pie' rush and I had real difficulty staying behind him. At some point Jorrin turned left to go to Dunnet Head, the UK mainland's most Northern point looking at the Island of Hoy. Oli and I continued to John O'Groats by ourselves going at incredible speed to the finishing line. We overtook a couple of LEJOG'ers en route, speeding past these guys with their panniers, backpacks etc - stuff we transported in the car - lucky us....Close to JOG we were then overtaken by Ian in the car.

We got to our final destination at about 5.30, record time also for us doing 110miles in 8hours with 3 breaks faffing around for only 1.5h. At John O'Groats we had pictures taken, did another few shots for the documentary and then waited ... Damian was the next to arrive and we took more pictures, video and were invited to the local cafe/bar for celebratory drinks by Damian. His parents also joined us in the cafe/ bar and we reported on some of the highlights of the journey and, waiting for Jorrin coined a new phrase: "We are now at the place named after a dutchman, waiting for a dutchman." Damians parents had booked a table at the Seaview Hotel and we decided to find the youth hostel to shower and get changed for the evening - no Jorrin in sight at that time (6pm).

...in front of the cafe/bar at JOG where we had celebratory drinks

Entry in LEJOG Book:
Olli, Damian, Dirk (Not Jorrin) arrived at faffheim today and wont be coming back ever again

The youth hostel, West of JOG (2 1/2miles) was the least accommodating SYHA and the facilities were ok, but actually a bit sub-standards having just come from Carbsdale Castle, Lochranza, Arnside etc...we had a 6-bed room, there was ONE shower in the men's bathroom, and the place locked up at 11pm sharp - no entry/ exit thereafter...we all felt a bit like being on a school trip.
I quickly showered and dressed to take the car back to JOG to pick up Ian and hopefully also Jorrin who should have arrived by now. I got there, parked the car and walked to the new arrival being inteviewed by Ian. I rushed them to the car as we only had another 35min to get ready for dinner. Damian had called the cab company in the meantime to investigate prices - £44 for 5miles was a bit steep and we decided to get back onto our bikes for a last ride!!!! Ian sprinted off like a young deer, dressed in his complete cycle outfit. Everyone else wore comfortable clothing ;)

We were met at the Seaview Hotel by Damians parents who treated us to a superb dinner with all ‘bells and whistles’! That felt good. We stayed until it was time for us to go back to the hostel, got a few more celebratory drinks to go and made our way back. It must have been 10.30 and it was still pretty bright outside. Its really amazing that it stayed like that for almost another hour (nice in summer but in winter the tables turn with long hours of darkness). At the SYHA we met some of the other guests of the hostel: fellow cyclists, walkers, holiday makers. We had a few more drinks before the warden turned the light off. We sneaked into Damian's bedroom to continue our well-deserved celebration for a little while longer before going to bed too. We will have to get up early next day to go from JOG to London - a very looong drive.

Things cycling:

Oli: "We are now at the place named after a dutchman, waiting for a dutchman."

Unknown: "It does take a while before the peanut butter enters the blood stream."