Progress Log, Week 7: Winter riding.

Here are the stats for week 7:

19/02/2013
10hr 43min cycling
165.1 miles
My weight: 181.9lb
Weekly weight loss/gain: -0.6 lb
21.0 lb to go. My weight goal is 160.9 lb

Well, there's still progress: the miles go on and the pounds (well, fractions of pounds) come off. I dropped below thirteen stone for the first time in a while (12 st 13.9 lb does count as 'below'!), so that's a milestone of sorts. I'll be happier when it gets below twelve, though.

Ipswich BC Reliability Ride 2013

Following last week's sportive, my brother and I had a go at the 100k reliability ride hosted by Ipswich Bicycle Club. The course looked promising, taking in some nice roads between Woodbridge and Framlingham and the weather forecast hinted at clear skies and wintery sunshine. Unhappily the sun only lasted for a short while into the ride, to be replaced by fog, rendering most of the ride cold and damp.
We signed up to complete the ride in four hours and joined the 'steady pace' group, which we were urged to join if we didn't want to try to have to hang on to the fast guys who would be setting off a little later. I should have taken note of the flat stomachs and shaved legs on display at the start, because we were dropped on the second climb of the day and rode the course in a group of two. After singing the praises of my Garmin 200's navigational capabilities, I hadn't realised that it is not obvious which road to take where the course joins a loop. It wasn't until I noticed a backwards facing arrow on the display that I realised we were riding the course in reverse. Oh well, we shared the same route but just had a different perspective to everyone else. I guess it was a touch of the Eric Morecambe's*: the right roads, but not necessarily in the correct order!
Still, the cake at the end was welcome and it was a good preparation for my own club, VC Revolution's sportive next weekend. Let's hope the weather's better!

My Summer bike is now my Winter bike (temporarily)

The right hand gear mechanism on my Roberts finally lost its ability to index properly a couple of weeks ago, caused by breakage of the spring carrier component, a known weakness of the 1999 model Record Ergo lever. Happily, the part is available and was sourced from the US, as tracking down Campagnolo spare parts from UK shops is hard work. Unhappily, the part has been delayed in customs, so I've been using my Burls titanium bike (described in an earlier post) in the meantime.
Apart from lacking mudguards, it has actually proven to be better suited to winter use than the Roberts in a number of ways:

Compact chainset

If your're lean and fit, the 52/39 chainset and 12-25 cassette of the Roberts will give a good range of gears for fast road work. If you're not, and that includes me, you'll struggle with the relatively high bottom gear on steep climbs. The Burls has a compact 50/34 chainset and with the same range cassette, gives a crucial couple of lower gears, making getting the miles in much more pleasant. The high gears are a touch lower, but not significantly so, and it takes a bit of getting used to as you spend more time in the big ring and need to adjust to having a bigger gap on the front change, but even so, I would heartily recommend one of these if you don't road race.

Titanium frame/black anodised components

The Ti frame and black anodised components on the Burls resist the blasting of salt and grit much better than the steel frame and polished components on the Roberts. I've been careful to wash the bike after rides, but even so, there are no signs of corrosion anywhere. As well as resisting corrosion, the titanium really does have a wonderful ride over East Anglia's minor roads, which are now in an even more shocking state than I remarked on in an earlier post.

Veloflex Roubaix tubular tyres

I love these tyres, they're fast rolling, supple and resist punctures very well. I've no punctures as yet this winter, despite any amount of gravel washed into the road, together with thorns from hedge-cutting.

*I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order (E. Morecambe)

Progress Log, Week 6: getting the miles in.

Here are the stats for week 6:

12/02/2013
9hr 18min cycling
143.2 miles
My weight: 182.5lb
Weekly weight loss/gain: -1.6 lb
21.6 lb to go. My weight goal is 160.9 lb

Thanks to the miles I'm doing, the weight is continuing to come off and if I'm honest, if I'd been a little more careful with what I eat/drink, the loss could have been greater. For variety, I thought I'd try an organised event, a local sportive.

Amis Velo Pre-Valantine's Day Sportive

Colchester-based club, Amis Velo held a sportive ride last Saturday, with a choice of 30, 45 or 60 mile routes. I plumped for the 45 mile route, as I wasn't sure what the course or general pace would be like and didn't want to enter a sufferfest so early on in the year. I needn't have worried: the route was a very pleasant rolling one through North Essex and parts of Suffolk, keeping off the main roads as far as possible and while there were many obviously fit club riders taking part, there were a wide range of groups riding at different speeds, so it was not difficult to find one riding at a comfortable pace.

Chillly start at Boxted Village Hall 

Accompanied by brother Antony and Matt, an old work colleague relatively new to this kind of event, we passed a very pleasant 3 1/2 hrs and 56 miles, including the rides to and from the start. My strategy was to take it easy on the hills and to push the pace a bit more on the downhills and flats, hitching lifts with slightly faster groups where possible, and it worked a treat. There's nothing worse than running out of juice towards the end of an event and having to grovel over the last few climbs, so I was pleased to finish with energy in reserve.

Credit to Amis Velo for hosting a well-organised and friendly event and the free cake and coffee at the end was marvellous. In fact I enjoyed it so much, I might do another one next weekend!

Gadget of the week: Garmin Edge 200 cycling computer

I've used the Garmin Edge 200 for over a year now and while it has been very good at what it does, I considered it pretty much a very slick conventional cycle computer, happily without the usual wires and sensors. It uses a GPS signal and is able to upload files to sites like Strava to review the ride data and see the course and elevation profiles. I hadn't realised, however, prior to last weekend's sportive, that it was possible to download a route map which I could then follow on screen and navigate my way around. It's much more primitive than a full sat nav, but for riding a specific course, it works perfectly, displaying an outline of the road to be followed, the shape of the outline being recognisable enough to distinguish which direction to take at junctions. If you get it wrong, it will beep at you as well. Simple and all you really need. Note to self: RTFM* in future!

* read the manual

Progress Log, Week 5: Here we go...

Here are the statistics for week 5:

05/02/2013
8hr 19min cycling
123.8  miles
My weight: 184.1lb
Weekly weight loss/gain: -2.6 lb
23.2 lb to go. My weight goal is 160.9 lb

I'm pleased to see some weight loss at last, and the process is delivering the faintest glimmer of the expected fitness benefits. My average speed is still pretty low, but going out for 35 miles doesn't kill me any more. I'm having a go at a couple of local 'sportive' rides over the next couple of weeks, in the 45-50 mile range, something that I would have struggled with at the end of last year, so I'll be interested to see how it goes.

As mentioned in earlier posts, I participated in the Strava Cycling Base Mile Blast, with the aim of cycling 500 miles and in the end managed to cover 602. The only reward is a little coloured virtual badge, acknowledging each 200 mile covered, but the lure of getting the 600 miler encouraged me not to stop once the original goal had been reached. Little things!