Post holiday blues pick-me-up

Razor sharp tan lines and thoughts of whether you can retire and live back at your holiday destination - the tell-tale signs of a good holiday.

I have been back at work for a week with some pangs of holiday blues, however I was very privileged to be invited to a medicinal event.  I drove up to Derbyshire at the weekend to join the Rapha Condor JLT cycle team for a pedal and the chance to hear their plans for the forthcoming Tour of Britain.

 

The day started with breakfast with the team followed by a pedal around a sign posted 28 mile (lumpy) route on the lanes near Flagg and Buxton.  I was tempted to join the fast groups with either Kristian House or Ed Clancy leading but I joined a small group riding with Ed Laverack, one of the team who had raced in the Pearl Izumi tour series this year.  We cycled at a comfortable pace which made it ideal to chat and ask Ed questions.

 

 

After the 2 hour cycle we had the chance to ride on one of the many bikes that Condor had brought to the event and to purchase some Rapha products at a reduced price, followed by lunch.

 

At lunch I was fortunate to be joined at my table by Ed Clancy and he talked openly about all things cycling including Victoria Pendleton's wedding which was the day before.

 

After lunch, John Herety chaired a Q&A session with the team and announced the names of the riders for the Tour of Britain. 

 

Bonne chance to Kristian House, Richard Handley, Mike Cuming, Felix English, Luke Mellor &, Hugh Carthy!



Holiday high points

Where did August go, too? 

I can account for two weeks which were spent on holiday in the Alsace, in the forests of the North in the Vosges mountains. The roads and the climbs were beautiful and my son and I cycled each day.

I also travelled further South to explore the tourist wine route and to tick off another Tour de France climb :-)

Shiny Ti

My replacement Chinook frame arrived in time for me to build it up and use for the Prudential Ride London.

I love the new decals and the shiny brushed finish of the titanium.  Sadly, by the time I had finished assembling the bicycle, the frame was covered in grubby finger prints.

I wrote to Van Nicholas to ask them what product to use to keep the frame looking like new and the answer... Pledge furniture oil!

I need a well deserved rest

Where did July go?

I remember participating in a local road race, or, more accurately, turning up just to be blown out the back after the neutralised flag was lifted and then solo'ing around for the remainder of the 60 miles.  I think that was my only metric century for the month.

My other road miles have been shorter training rides (time permitting) and weekend pedals to the BikeBus café with my son.

Nothing memorable has occurred during my Brompton commutes and time has been such a limiting factor that I am still running on the Kojak tyres I fitted for the Smithfield Nocturne.

X=N+1-1+1-1-1+1

The number of bicycles in the garage went up when Van Nicholas sent me a replacement Chinook frame.

Then it went down after I sold my old Brompton S2L, then back up when the buyer became a time waster and finally back down when I found another buyer. Then it went down when I gifted an old mountain bike to my dad and then back up when he gave me back an old road bike.

Now August and the highlight...completing the Prudential Ride London 100 mile sportive as part of a 4 man team entry. This was my final cycling goal for the year and my training target. I had gone from base endurance fitness (for the Metric Century Challenge) to fast race circuits (to get to 3rd Cat), a longer road race (to get beaten up by 2nd Cats) and then the Ride London with the aim of completing it in under 5 hours 29 minutes.

Sadly I couldn't match the pace of my other three teammates who went on to finish over 30 minutes faster than me, but I am happy with my time of 4 hours 54 minutes.

Freebie Oakleys

As part of the goodie bag from the IG Markets Nocturne, I got a set of the excellent Rich Mitch designed Oakley cards.

 

 

I love Oakley sunglasses and have had a pair of E-wires for sometime, complete with prescription lenses.  Sadly the prescription is a little out of date, so I was thrilled when my employer offered a benefit scheme to include getting a new pair of prescription sunglasses...for free.

 

I decided to go against the pro-peloton fashion and chose a pair of Frogskins...

 



Team support

I rode out to Whitwell today with the intention to race with some other members of my club, however I faffed about getting my bike ready, changing the cleats on my shoes and arrived at the sign on too late to get a place.

Instead of racing I cheered on my club mates and took a few photographs.

It was a very hot day to ride 58 miles at 23.6mph.

Cycling characters

With my Brompton folded and stowed away on the train, I generally pass the time by reading but it is kind of fun just to observe other people. In particular I like to see how other bicycle-carrying commuters manage on the train.

I occasionally see one chap who brings his road race bike onto the train and he removes the front wheel, angles his handlebar with the bike standing upright on the rear wheel and then he bungies it to the rail in the door area.

He was on my train yesterday and I watched as he disembarked and noticed that he had at least four GoPro cameras mounted on his bike and one atop his helmet.  This confirmed my suspicion that he is the Traffic Droid posting as SonofthewindsInc on YouTube. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0122n1g
https://twitter.com/SonOfTheWinds

I love the way he gives red cards during his commute :-)

http://www.youtube.com/user/SonofthewindsInc?feature=watch