Saturday club ride

Today I met with Eric and Kay and rolled down to Barnes Green. We met the C group there for a very steady roll back with a tail wind. It was nice to see everyone. :)

Extrem 2012

This year I picked up a cold a week before we left for Ibiza to ride the Extrem - A 65km mountain bike race around the hills of Sant Josep. So I took a week off and did a couple of steady rides before we left. I noticed a few new guys in my category this year, the youngsters are creeping in :) Particularly Antonio and Agustin who last year were tubby 49 years olds, were now two sleek fit looking 50 years olds :) Once around the football field and we were off through the town up the steep road hill to the first rocky descent. Antonio and Agustin have gone off pretty fast in a small group, I can't close on the hills but catch them fairly easily on the technical descents. It goes like this for 25 km until it's just me and Antonio. He is still pulling hard on the climbs and I'm struggling to stay with him. At this stage I'm desperately trying to think of a 'Smithism' (Gary Smith has a fabulous list of isms for every situation) Today will have to be 'keep your powder dry' I decide to let him go at the top of every climb and catch him on the descents, I show willing and go through on a couple of the flattish sections too but I'm pretty stuffed and mainly just hang on. On the descent approaching the second to last climb I notice Antonio standing and shaking his legs. On the climb I wait for him to increase speed at the top and he doesn't. On the descent I notice him shaking his legs again. We now have a km of rolling track to the final Check Point and then the last climb,Sa Atalaia - an open 2km of hairpin gravelled firetrack. I have to attack on the last climb because the following descent is very narrow and technical and that's where I can hope to get a gap. I drink my remaining drink on the rolling track to the CP, I won't need to replenish my bottle for only 2km. I skid to a halt and quickly sign the control, Antonio has signed and is filling a bottle! I quickly push on and start the climb, by the time he catches me I'm a couple of hundred metres into the climb, and he's breathing fairly hard. He starts to pass me and I stand up and turn a biggish gear to match him. At a km to go I'm still with him and I know it flattens a bit soon and decide to go for it! He matches me and I push again and gap him. I get my head down and get to the descent with a 100m lead. It starts with a steep chest on the saddle drop in coated in loose ball bearing size rocks, scary!! :O I had to get off a one point to climb over a fallen tree. The rest of it was rocky steps and roots with a huge drop to the left.

Once out onto the road I got my head down throught the town. I glanced back as I neared the sports ground where we finished and Antonio was bearing down on me. In the sports ground we had to go part way around the running track to the finish line. I almost lost it on the last bend and crossed the line two seconds up on Antonio.

Nos ganamos

Jane took first veterana and me master 50

Sunday road ride

A good three hours on dry trails. Lungs a bit tight from my cold, my legs were strong though.

Saturday road ride

Today we did the longer route to Barnes Green and it was warm :)
It was packed with the Redhill guys when we arrived and the swrc c group turned a bit later.

Cold

The lovely weather has arrived and I have a cold. I didn't get one last year,so I suppose I'm due. I have been washing bikes instead :)

Spin

Weekend off I Wales, so we did a spin session with the Lco at the velodrome in Newport. It was quite sweaty and I woke with a sore throat.

Tuesday ride

Chucking it down so turbo.

Sunday ride

A nice steady two and a quarter hours around the lanes with Jane.

Saturday road ride

A nice tour of the hills for me and Jane today.

Tuesday othg

Llama farm
Just about hanging on today, Matthew and Robin kept the pace fairly rapid. 17.5 mph out and 18.5 return. Hopefully this will bring my fitness on for the Extreme - I need it :))

Sunday ride

Today we rode to Holmbury to test some 29ers at Moose Cycles demo day. I tried a Yeti and Jane and Paul tried an intense spider 29er. They were fun and Lisa made cake......hurrah! We also saw baby lamblets in wet weather attire - Evans' carrier bags. It was drizzly and very wet under wheel in places.

Tuesday othg

Today was Wiston, but by a longer and oddly semi reverse route created by Stevie. It was my first ride for a week, having taken a week lying around eating and searching for my mojo which I lost training hard for the ochentayocho :)
Andy and Ray(robin banks) sat on the front and pulled us along for nearly 2 hours at around 28 kph average. I didn't eat enough on the way back and bonked big time close to home.

Estamos en Ibiza!!

The weather is good but I hear thunder rolling in the hills.

Saturday ride

3 weeks early for the Pulborough ride because Easter is early. Colder today 12' with a strong north easterly. A good tough steady 130km.

Sunday riders

After yesterday's super tough hill ride,today we went for a spin on the mtbs except kb who rode a x bike. Greg snapped his chain on telegraph. Paul and Jane rode well and we bumped into Jaycee and Gal.

Tuesday mtb

Roger has been recovering from a recent operation and hasn't done a great deal off road. Today we did a steady ride along with Ray one of the Muddymoles regulars. Ray was also in a recovery, but from a chest infection. The sun was shining and the trails were dry and fast.

Sunday road ride

Today was a nice steady ride to Four Elms in the sunshine. Jane took a few QOM's on the way. As she begins to get fit, she's mopping up a few :) I had one KOM today until Jane took it off me :( it was a day of headwinds, no matter which way we rode it was in our face.

Wednesday

No othg yesterday, my Spanish lesson was changed. So today I rode the Epsom loop to wake up my body to a bit of suffering :). Every year I forget what pushing hard is like. There was quite a bit of traffic( I had to stop and wait for a huuge group of friendly hikers, at least thirty in a long snaking crocodile on the longest single track. Just before that there was a group of around fifteen runners on the fast track from Headley. And I had a chain suck on the first climb. But it was a good ride and I was less than two minutes off my June time for last year.

anyone can dance

Tuesday othg

The cold weather had returned today. I'm getting the hang of the frankenbike bike now and quite enjoying it. Camellia Botnar was today's destination and we met Brian Holm there.

Sunday mtb

The drought is over! After waking to pouring rain and cancelling today's ride with Paul, I thought I might do some turbo. Jane woke an hour later and said it's easing lets go. After two and a half hours of driving rain, huge puddles and splashy mud, I'm guessing she was being a little optimistic :) Good ride though :)

Tuesday othg

A couple of punctures on today's ride, but a good steady ride on a nice spring like day. I road the chimera frankenbike and just about kept up. :)

Sunday rehab ride

Another steady 80km on the road and the knee seems good. We took the nice rolling route out to Four Elms, and took tea outside in the sunshine :)
Today I took the Marin equipped with the road wheels and it felt good.

Saturday ride

Jane's first ride proper since her crash. I was trying my new wheels on the mtb. They should have been on the hard tail, but the rear brake was stuffed. So I put them on the Santa Cruz. Here are some pics of Jane modelling it for me.
:)

Saturday ride

No Jane again today, so me and Paul did a snowy ride around the downs. It was quite slippery and icy in places. There were lots of oohs and giggles as we had moments of lost traction. Photos by PF. Jane managed an hour on the turbo and felt good.

Saturday ride

No Jane today as she bashed her knee in a bad crash last Sunday, so I did a ride with Paul. Very sunny, very cold and perfectly dry for mountain biking. Paul's bike handling was very good today, I expect the racing all winter has something to do with it. :) My spinning is beginning to pay off and I'm lasting a bit longer on each ride.

Pen Cerrig

No biking today, a quick hike over Pen Cerrig from Crug Hywel to see the snow. It was quite frozen and beautiful.

Tuesday ride

Wet and cold, Roger was foolish enough to turn in the pouring rain :). We both froze, Roger had a problem with cold hands. First time I've ever seen any sign of suffering from him!! I punctured, of course, at the coldest point of the ride and poor Roger couldn't undo zips or retrieve things from his pockets, his hands were that affected.

Sunday ride

More vernal loveliness pushing it's way through to herald the new season. Lots of tall purple crocuses in sheltered places on today's ride. Another mild day at 12'C - no gloves needed today! An abundance of horses on the trails today,not so many bikers.

Snowdrops

A quick ride over Leith for Jane to get the QOM on the 'Rookery Climb' She got the QOM and third overall. She also sneakily took my KOM on Roger's climb :( We also saw our first snowdrops of the year. The weather was wonderfully mild at 13 C I took my gloves off!

Turbo

The Tuesday over the hill gang rides are so tough now, that one needs a thorough warm up before joining them for a ride. ;)

Tuesday mtb

A nice steady single track ride over Leith and then Holmbury with Roger. My back brake failed, but bizarrely I got a pb on summer lightning using only the front brake.

sunday ride

A supposed steady ride around the downs, but I blew up totally after stopping to fix a flat and becoming quite cold. A beautiful until then, the last hour was a haze of loathing :)

New year chips

Today's ride as through a beautiful frosty winter wonderland to Barnes Green for our annual January feast of chips. The ground was mostly frozen like our feet.

Sunday ride

A classic Sunday Riders Sunday ride around the downs. JD came for a ride today and was going well after her Xmas training in Santa Cruz. I'm still desperately trying to sit and maintain a high cadence. It's very painful but my legs are starting to adjust.

Christmas in Ibiza

I rode everyday except one,including six days with the C.C. Santa Eularia. Some great steady rides with a fast line out at the end. Me and Jane did the second section of the Sant Josep extrem, which wa fun, but I'd forgotten how technical the riding was when a bit greasy. My perfect dry summer tyres are a bit skittery on la patina.