The finishing touches

I had a great weekend putting the finishing touches to my preparation for the Ride100.

On Sunday I did my last ‘endurance’ ride of my training programme, covering 50 miles at 16 mph (this ride on Strava). The wind blew, and the heavens opened at one point, but all went fine.

Chiltern back roads. And rain

The chance even arose to stop at Chorleywood Cricket Club on my way round and see Fraser bowl a couple of overs for the Cavaliers.

Cavs amongst the wickets

I went out for 15 miles as well tonight, and this largely brings my training to and end, maybe just one last spin later this week to complete the effort. My Strava logs all the time I’ve spent on my bike this year, training for the ride. And whilst it doesn’t include the gym and spinning work I did over the winter, it does shows this year on my road bike I have:

• Completed 51 training rides, spending over 85 hours (three and a half solid days) in the saddle
• Ridden over 1,250 miles, the equivalent of riding from London to Casablanca
• Climbed nearly 52,000 ft, the same as riding from sea level to the top of Everest and Kilimanjaro!
  

None of which would have been possible without the support of my family, to whom I'm very grateful.

I’ll keep remembering all the training I've done, and the sacrifices made, come Sunday as I work my way around the 102 miles. I’ll also get inspiration from starting at the (Queen Elizabeth) Olympic Park, which is where I spent Friday night and Saturday for the Anniversary Games. It was great being back, and whilst much of the park is still a building site I could see across to the Copper Box, where ride starts on Sunday, and the Velodrome, scene of such cycling drama this time last year.

Back at the park last weekend. Where it will all start next weekend

 Roll on Sunday!!

Power to weight ratio

In his now infamous book The Secret Race, Tyler Hamilton describes a conversation he had with a doctor who told him “to win the Tour de France you need to be very, very fit, and very skinny”.

I’m not, clearly, trying to follow in Froome and Wiggo's footsteps and win the Tour, however this quote does succinctly encapsulate that cycling performance is entirely relative to one’s power to weight ratio; the fitter and lighter you (and your bike) are, the faster you will go.

Improving my fitness and losing some weight were my original aims for dusting off my bike last Spring, and cycling really has made a huge difference to my well-being. It has become a truly virtuous circle; the more weight I’ve lost the quicker I’ve got on my bike, and the more cycling I’ve done the more weight I’ve lost.

With apologies for the toe nails

And now (coupled with a rather dramatic improvement to my diet) I’ve reached my target weight. At 11st 7lbs (73kg), I’ve lost a full four stones, 25kg. With weight making such a difference to cycling performance, cyclists are obsessed with trimming a few grams here or a few grams there from their equipment, yet my whole bike weights less than 10kg, so I’ve lost the equivalent of two and a half bikes from my body weight!

I don’t plan to lose any more. In fact I’ll probably end up around the 12 stone mark after the Ride100 is finished. Either way, the very crude body mass index (BMI) suggests that I’m now a healthy weight for my age and height.



The key thing for me is healthy weight. My weight loss has been relaviely dramatic (and very expensive, as I’ve had to buy an entire new wardrobe!), yet I’ve been suprised by the number of worried comments I’ve attracted, from family members to well-meaning colleagues. I’m far from underweight, with no intention to lose any more, yet it feels like almost like a reflection of how generally overwight the country has become that by just being a healthy weight I’m starting to appear worryingly thin to some. It’s all very novel for me.

One long-term positive for my family and I from me losing this weight is that I’ve improved my chances of avoiding a range of illnesses, including heart disease. Exercise and good diet are championed by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), and the money we’re raising will help fund both their research and their communication and education activities. You can sponsor us for our efforts in the Ride100, to benefit the BHF, here.

And next Sunday, I hope all this work will enable me to set a reasonable pace through the Surrey Hills. Not that it will be easy, of course. Three time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond captured this perfectly in his famous truism about cycling; “It never gets easier. You just go faster”.

Training update

My training over the last couple of weeks has been going largely to plan. I’ve been doing a lot of riding; according to my Strava been out nearly every other day during the last four weeks, spending over 21 hours in the saddle, climbing 15,000 ft and covering 335 miles at an average speed of 15.7mph.

For one reason or another, the one thing I’ve not managed in the last fortnight is a long, endurance ride. I’ve done 30 odd miles a few of times, but life has just got in the way to prevent a longer ride. Not ideal, but I’m not too worried. There are still nearly three weeks until the Ride100, and I hope to ride 50 miles this Friday, and again next Sunday.

Sunday was good fun, as Becca and Chris came over and we rode together. The only problem, other than the 30 degree heat, was the party I’d enjoyed rather too well on Saturday night. It turns out, though, a decent stretch of legs on a bike is quite a good hangover cure. This was our last ride together before the 4th of August, and was really helpful to practice our slipstreaming. What a difference it makes!

All the joining instructions for the Ride100 have now come through, plus more information from Cancer Research. I’ve worked out a schedule for the day to ride to, and am basically ready to go. Just got to hold my form and keep my weight where it is for two more weeks and I’ll be off. I really can’t wait.

Up and down, up and down

Do a 50-60 mile endurance ride, "as hilly as possible", the training guide read. Now, living in the Chilterns, that was a challenge!

Luckily, I'm not the first person to try work out what this might look like. The annual Chiltern 100 sportive does just that, offering three different routes. I decided to 'borrow' their Corto Fondo route, modified to start and finish in Berkhamsted.

This provided 54 miles of cycling, with hardly any flat; three and a half hours of going up or down. I took it rather leisurely, but job done - my ride on Strava.

Just four more 50 miles endurance practice rides left now before the big day. A month tomorrow...

The longest ride; to Henley and back

I had a big circle drawn around Sunday, 23rd June in my training plan for many months. I've been trying to follow a training plan for the last couple of months to build towards the Ride100, and on this date it simply read "Endurance: 65-70% of event distance on a hilly course".

Why the big red circle? 70% of event distance (70 miles) is the longest single ride I needed to complete during my training. In itself, it stood out as a pretty unthinkable achievement just a year ago. For these reasons, I decided to try to do something special for this milestone.

I had an idea; why not ride to Henley and back? It was at Henley last March where I had the fitness test that suggested I really needed to change my lifestyle, an event that marked the first step on the journey that will culminate on The Mall in just five weeks time. And, as luck had it, Henley is 35 miles from Berkhamsted.

I made it - At Henley Business School

I planned a route, not going the easy way, rather cycling up to Stokenchurch and then down through the wonderful Hambleden Valley, a special place for my family and I. In my mind I pictured a glorious, sunny midsummer day to it in...

... yet the forecast leading up to the 23rd was far from promising. A high pressure system had just broken down, and a summer storm system had pushed in from the west. I was to be very lucky that the predicted rain held off, yet as I headed out on my ride into a really strong headwind I knew it was going to be hard work.

I push into the wind, though, riding the oh-so-familiar road to Tring before crossing to Wendover. From here it was out towards Chinnor, a dull road at the best of times, before hitting the long climb into the Chilterns and up to Stokenchurch. From there to Henley it was downhill all the way, through some of the very best scenery in the south of England.


I am, though, pretty biased, as one reason the Hambleden valley is so special for me is that my wife and I were married here. Another reason to take this route to Henley.

Leaving the valley behind it was a short but blustery cycle along the Thames valley before I turned into Henley Business School for a well earned bit of flapjack and a sit down. And then, it was largely the same route home.

5 hours 20mins after setting off, I made it home again. Removing the time taken for stops it took me 4 hours 40mins of cycling, an average of 15.1mph. Averaging 15mph, over 70 miles, with a headwind and 3,400ft of climbing, is something I'm still really proud of. It's probably my greatest sporting achievement since winning my primary school cross country, aged 10 (although I don't remember being quite so shattered following that). Here's my ride on Strava.

It was a huge day. A ride with real meaning, and one that gives me huge confidence as I look ahead to August 4th and the 102 miles that await. It gives me the confidence to think that I will be able to complete the challenge I set myself, and I will be able to collect the sponsorship from everyone who has so kindly support my efforts so far. Raising money for Cancer Research and the British Heart Foundation is why I'm doing this, and writing this blog, and all contributions are hugely appreciated. Our donation page for BHF is here, and Cancer Research is here.

A suitable reason for a traffic jam in my mind

Say cheese

Throughout the London to Brighton route the organisers had arranged professional photographers to sit in position and capture riders as they passed.

It took a few days before any of me appeared, but I think it was worth the wait - I quite like this photo of Chris and I, taken on the ridge above Brighton about 1km after the Ditchling Beacon climb.

Say cheese