NCC Club Road Riding Skill Session 18 June 2011

The North Cheshire Clarion has 3 recently qualified British Cycling Go-Ride level 2 coaches amongst its ranks Geoff, Paul and James and today all club members were given the opportunity to participate in some road riding skill sessions held on a near empty car park in Birchwood, Warrington.  A good turnout with 25 present all looking forward to who knows what. After the coaches had set up all those little cones and a few flags here and there on the car park we were split into three groups, one group for each coach. I was in Coach James' group and it wasn't soon before he was barking orders as he had us go through a few simple exercises aimed at getting us working better as a group around a square of cones firstly individually and then in pairs. Next a narrow chicane of cones which was navigated in pairs. All the exercises are designed to make us work better together, to get us communicating as we worked around 90' turns, to have us more observant as we attempted tight turns.

The last couple of exercises were really fun but hard work, firstly we were split into five groups IIRC, each group was paired off against another in a team pursuit as shown in the piccy below. I think it was a race of 5 laps but the group I was in was at a disadvantage as our very first race was against the winners of the first pairing, that first winning group had had a practice round, we didn't so it's no wonder we were well and truly beaten, that's my excuse as to why we were battered and I'm sticking to it....

The last exercise was was another team pursuit but this time 12 v 12 and I thought that this race wasn't going to last long as the long line of riders from each team stretched around half the track but this isn't how it all panned out. Initially after a few minutes we were gaining on the other group and was within a few bike lengths but one of the 'rules' is that there should be less than a bike length between each rider and after a while we were getting a little stretched so had to back off the pace slightly. This went on for a few minutes before we started again to gain on the tiring back riders of the opposing group and finally, finally, at last we caught them - not before time as I was seriously starting to tire and wondered if I was to be first to pull out, didn't happen I lasted the distance but was really puffed!!!

My thoughts on these last two pursuits was that whoever was on the front gave it some welly coming out of the bend onto the straight resulting in the line stretching and working hard to catch up before having to slam on the brakes as we entered the bend, repeat, repeat over and over for 10 minutes and you have seriously stretched and knackered riders, give everyone their credit though despite it being hard work, no one gave in and everyone lasted the distance...

 (YouTube video courtesy of North Cheshire Clarions News Blog link)


The last exercise of the day was a bit of fun with a bit of bike limbo, we all lined up and went under the bar one by one. At the end of each round the bar went down a few inches, the first couple of rounds caught the taller riders out and I lasted until round three when stuff I had in my back pockets caught the bar. It was fun though as the bar got lower and lower to see some riders hanging onto the sides of their bikes in order to get through. We are now down to two riders but the bar is now so low that the bikes cannot physically get through catching the bars or a shifter on the horizontal bar.

A fun day of the type of riding that inspires confidence of riding closely within a group and placing trust in your fellow riders, it was well worth the effort that went into the smooth running of todays training.

Photos from todays fun link

Lastly, you are probably wondering why this report is a week late, well I had other things on my mind as I was officially given the diagnosis of osteoporosis last week and even though I was expecting it because I did my research into the figures I received a couple of months ago from my DEXA scan, it was still depressing to to be told officially. Since that time I have been in a bit of a daze as to how to proceed with my cycling, do I give it up because of the risk of falling off and breaking more bones or do I stick two fingers up to the risk and do the que sera sera thing? as a result of this pondering I have done no cycling and for the moment have decided to enjoy cycling for fun in the sun (when its out). How this will all pan out I will just have to wait and see but I'm at a crossroads of sorts, of which road will I take, I have no idea.....

North Cheshire Clarion club run 4th June 2011

Wow I've not been able to write those words above for quite a while and it feels great to be able to do so now just 2 days after the 5 month 'anniversary' from my crash. Today for me was another Saturday ride from North Warrington on a beauteously sunny and warm day - the warmer and sunnier the better for me.

Another large gathering of 20+ riders had us split into 3 groups of 6 to 8. Off we set on an advertised 35 mile ride with a cafe stop in the middle and this distance is ideal for me as I up my miles over the weeks. Prior to today my biggest ride since my 'comeback' had been 30 miles and I didn't do too well so a few weeks on and quite a few miles later 35 miles 'should' be very achievable.

The group I was in was the 2nd group made up of 7 individuals and as we rode on through a residential area somewhere in Warrington (I don't really know the roads of Warrington) we had our first of two punctures and within a few minutes the 3rd group that set off 5 minutes after us trundled past with a friendly wave and no doubt lots of smiling faces with thoughts running through their heads of 'nerner we are going to get all the cake'...

A few minutes later we set off again to be stopped a few miles further on yet again by another puncture to the same tyre of the same same bike of the same person - Phil J your record was in the balance today but alas you still hold it, boohoo I hear you say? Tyre sorted so once again we restart our ride and I think we missed a turning near to the cafe stop and bump into Sarahs group going the opposite way. They had had their cake and were now on the way back. As they flew past I'm sure I saw Sarah wipe at a few cake crumbs from her mouth smiling as she did so ;-) - I do hope they left some for us the swinehounds...

Arriving at Lavender Barn tea rooms we dived in to the cafe relieved at the site of copious amounts of cake just waiting to be eaten, I chose Carrot cake and a coffee and it was gorgeous, well worth a photo..

We didn't stay long as we were seriously behind schedule and set of for home. Some corners were cut, some loops were missed and we set a good pace in order to make up some of the time. Yet again just like the last Saturday club ride the only hills today were either hump-backed bridges or motorway bridges with the odd smattering of an incline here and there so nothing to test the legs - that will be for another time. I did however on occasion get out of the saddle and give it some on those 'bumps' and I'm glad to report there was no sudden pains, aches or complaints from my left leg or hip so another box ticked, just need to try that on a steep hill now...

Andrew...

As you can tell I took some photo's as we rode, nothing fancy just over the shoulder shots as I'm getting my confidence back and not so scared of the road as I was but what I didn't do is what I'd do prior to my fall, I didn't shoot up and down the 'peleton' taking lots of pics, just these few you see here...

The rest of the gang...

The last few miles were at times a little rough into a moderate headwind and towards the end my legs did start to tire a little but I was able to keep up the pace with no problems so I'm defo improving. With a few loops cut out of the route the mileage came down from 35 to 30 so not the miles that I wanted but I'm sure that 35 would not have been a problem. My next goal is a flattish Sunday 50 miler in a couple of weeks...

My Stats
30.25miles, 1hr 56 min, Av Speed 15.6 mph, Av Hr 146 bpm (76% max), 800 ft climbing (garmin)

North Cheshire Clarion - The Early Days Photographed...

I have hundreds of photo's that I've taken over the first eighteen months of the clubs history so I thought I'd share. Here are some taken from the clubs inaugural ride on the 4th October 2009 up to December 2009 and the Christmas run, all pre club kit days. (click on pics to enlarge)

4th Oct 2009 - Inaugural run & 1st p*nc*** Dr Tim, Antnee, Giles, Sarah, young indecipherable scot's lad, Phil J & Phil M

8th Nov 2009 - Group shot Summertrees - Gaz, Sarah, helmet of Andy M, Antnee, Andy W, Dave W, Giles, Pablo, Matt, Phil M, Jonathan W

18 Oct 2009 - Delamere - 'Nitrous oxide press the button' Dave & Gaz

18th Oct 2009 - Cotebrook - Phil M, Dave, Andy W & Mr ugly

25th Oct 2009 - Elvis Transport cafe - Antnee doing what he does best and loving it..

25th Oct 2009 - Atop Alvanley Hill - Giles with an Antnee on his shoulder, Sarah, Dave

8th Nov 2009 - Delamere - Andy M giving Antnee a blow whilst Gaz looks on...

15th Nov 2009 - Lavender farm - Phil J, sarah, Giles, Jonathan W, Phil M, Antnee

6 Dec 2009 - Some mucky road in Cheshire somewhere, Phil M & yours truly

13 Dec 2009 - Allostock - Phil J, Sarah, Jonathan W, Andy W, Matt, Me, Gaz

27 Dec 2009 Xmas Bimble - Mrs & Mr Andy W, Jim, Phil J, Me, Martin H

North Cheshire Clarion Audax...

My club have put together what looks like an entertaining Audax that runs on Sunday 25th September 2011. There has been a lot of thought put into the route, a route that starts and finishes in Lower Whitley South of Warrington and takes in Tatton Park, the climb up the Wizard, Prestbury (cobbles!), Bollington and Llamaload Reservoir to name a few. It's an Audax so it's not a race and with a distance of 110km (69 miles) it's a great entry into the more laid back world of the Audax.

The entry fee is a very modest £6 and you can find more information here as well as on-line entry, be quick only 100 places available, some of them already taken....

Don't Be A 'Zone Drone'....

A really good bit of advice and advice well needed on today's club ride. This ride was billed as flat but flat doesn't necessarily mean easy and whilst the start of the ride was well within my desired zones 1 & 2 as the ride went on my heart rate gradually rose as the pace rose slightly on some undulating terrain. Nothing much happened today, 13 of us to start off with but Dave had to turn for home after a problem with one of his wheels so that left 12 of us to plod on on a cool but dry day.

I was playing the 'tail end Charlie' today with Pablo on the front and what that means is that I shout down the line a warning of any potential problems such as cars passing etc as well as giving encouragement to anyone that needs it, no-one needed any today and the cars mostly were well behaved so an easy job plus it suited me to stay that far back as it provided some shelter for me to hide in.

Zone time
Looking at the time spent in my zones I see that the zones I really needed to be in, zones 1 & 2 my base zones accounted for only 49% of the total and I know I can afford to creep up a zone into my 'tempo' zone, zone 3 on occasion but I did more than creep I spent a whopping great 19% of my time there which isn't ideal but what is really astonishing is that I spent 24% of my time in zone 4 which is approaching TT efforts and that is really undesirable when the aim of my ride is to ride 'base miles'.

Final Thoughts
Yes the advice is don't be a zone drone and that drifting out of your desired zone is OK on occasion but I think I need to view today as a lesson on how not to do it, how not to ride a base ride - it didn't work, hiding in the pack didn't work, the riding slow up hills didn't work because no-one slowed down so I suppose the only option I have is to go it alone or with like minded people. I'm not saying the ride was wrong it's just that I shouldn't have gone on it because you cannot expect everyone else to slow down when they are on a club run and not a training run.



My Stats
42 miles, 2 hrs 40 min, Av Speed 15.7 mph, Av/Max Hr 138/171 (Act max 191) 1063 ft climbing (Garmin)

Garmin stats

North Cheshire Clarion club run Halloween 31 Oct 2010

Another Sunday 50 miler the same as last week but that's where the similarity ends, last week it was 50 miles with a few hilly climbs today it was 50 miles but relatively flat. The weather turned out to be fairly mild with only a few spots of rain as we started out from Stretton. A new start point today took us away from the road edge by the pub to the Fir tree Close side road that leads to the Spires Hospital in south Warrington. Its a place we have been parking at from the clubs start and only a couple of hundred yards from the pub we used to meet at, it's much safer now that our runs are attracting 20+ riders on a regular basis now.

Today we had somewhere in the region of 23/24 riders playing out and again it was a split group with the 2nd group starting off 5 minutes later than the first. A nice easy pace for the whole duration of the ride and no hills to speak of. We had another 4 or 5 new riders with us, half in each group and often the pace was dictated by the new riders as they adjusted to riding in a group, they all did well and can only improve as confidence grows riding within the group.


We are getting close to the designated cafe stop at Spinney Motorcaravans now and in the distance we spot a group of cyclists, they are far enough away to make it hard to identify them properly but I could make out blue and yellow so I'm thinking we are catching the first group . I'm on the front with Sarah and I'm itching to catch them but I remember my responsibility to keep the pace steady so reluctantly scratched that itch - it wasn't them after all, when we arrived at the cafe that group was in the queue in front and our first group were already happily munching away.

Time to move on after nourishment and with a nice tailwind we set an easy 17 - 20 mph pace for many miles before turning into the wind slowing us down again and then finally after nearly 50 miles the ride comes to an end.

So today after my last few weeks of inactivity and the resulting loss of fitness, I finally feel I have turned the corner and am finally on the road (haha) back to fitness. Early days yet and a long way to go before I'm back to my old self but today there was nothing that taxed me. In saying that it wasn't a real test today as it was flat and only 50 miles with little wind in the face.

Tomorrow I'm starting a training regime based on the Joe Friel system as described in his 'Training Bible' and am due to do 12 weeks of base training that involves heart rates that will not be compatible with the hillier club runs, looks like I and a few others riding base miles will have to seek out an alternative flat route on those days...

Photos from today's ride


My Stats
49.22 miles, 3 hrs 16 min, Av speed 15.1 mph, Av/Max HR 138/173 (Act Max 191) 1469 ft climbing (Garmin)
79% of ride in zones 1 & 2

Garmin Connect data

Well I did ask for it...

Today was a club run 50 miler out into the hilly region north of Bolton setting off from north Warrington with nearly 3000 ft climbing. A cool start had me wearing 2 base layers under my windtex jacket, £35's worth of Sealskinz winter gloves (thanks to the Mrs), shoe covers and hat - all kitted out for winter. But would I be too warm considering the climbing we had in store with all this gear on, time will tell...

Off we set riding out towards the east of Wigan and everything was ok, no problems so far and then we hit the mile long drag of Horwich where my 'war wound' started playing up as a stitch flared up slowing me to a crawl and when I mean crawl, I crawled, I wasn't happy...


After I recovered and after more miles of yet more ups and downs I glimpsed the climb up Winter Hill on Rivington Rd as it spun to the right with its twists and more worryingly it's ups and more ups, you can see them coming which was quite demoralising and I'm wondering if this is where I have to get off and walk but nope just 1.5 miles of steady plodding got me to the top to be rewarded with a 2.5 mile plunge down to the Chapel Tea rooms in Rivington. Coffee, cake and a piano player greeted us warmly at the tea rooms and then it was onwards once more.



Flat all too quickly swapped places with hills, up down up down, Jeckle & Hyde country this, one minute nicely descending then its climb climb climb, beauty and the beast - beastland. All this climbing and yes I'm warm but not roasting, perhaps I was a little too warm crawling up Horwich and Rivington but mostly I was just warm enough, those gloves were a little cool to start with but warmed up nicely as the ride progressed and as the day warmed up so I'm happy with them as winter gloves.

Close to home now and on the last small climb of the day and I get shooting cramps down both thighs, ouch that hurt, not had those since riding the LCL 'sportive' in sept 2009. So today tallying up although I rode all the climbs I suffered a stitch, twinges in my hamstrings and lower back and the already mentioned thigh cramps and it's not surprising really, I did ask for it attempting a hilly climb when I'm so obviously unfit due to this rotten cold/cough that took me 6 weeks to get rid of. Prior to this little spell of sickness this would have been a taxing but enjoyable ride fairly hard on the lungs/legs but easily manageable. I'm not complaining though, I'm glad I'm back on the road and back with the club, just telling it as it was...

9% of ride in Zone 5

My Stats
49.7 miles, 3 hrs 21 min, Av speed 14.5, Av/max Hr 149/176 (191 act max) 2990 ft climbing (Garmin)

North Cheshire Clarion club run 10 Oct 2010

I'm was really looking forward to this ride as the weather forecast was for 17'C and little wind, I'm feeling quite good, good enough for a flat bimble in the beautiful back lanes of Cheshire but recently how I'm feeling prior to a ride isn't necessarily a good indicator as to how I will hold up for the duration of the ride.

So bike in car, kit on ready for the coolish start and off to Stretton, bike out of car and ride the 300 yards to the Cat & Lion and what a sight, 21 of us ready to ride, no scratch that here comes Antnee and another so that makes 23. It's decided that we should split into 2 groups and I'm in the 1st group. We set off 5 minutes apart and set a good pace heading for the cafe stop aprox 20 miles in. I'm on the front with Andy W for the first 15 minutes or so and then remember that it's my first ride back so should really be taking it easy and taking advantage of the shelter within the group so drop back and played the 'tail end Charlie'. We had 6 new guys with us today so 3 in each group was the plan. One puncture on the way to the cafe and we still managed to arrive before the 2nd group by a good 15 minutes, they also had a puncture however our puncture was sorted super quick. A 10 minute wait in the sun for the cafe to open at 10:30 but it was worth it for the walnut and coffee cake.

The day now has well and truly warmed up so now we set of to observe the start of the Johnny Helms memorial TT with many blasts from the past & the present, people like Graeme Obree, Yvonne McGregor, Colin Lewis, Les West, 'Super' Sid Barras, Phil Thomas, Vicky Thomas, Glen Longland amongst many others . After witnessing the start of this cyclist and spectator cluttered event we head off again for home again separating the group by 5 minutes however a 2nd puncture had the 2nd group roll past us not long after this restart and by the time we got started again we didn't get to see the 2nd group until we rolled up to the finish as Sarah and Paul waved as they drove off bikes already stowed away in cars.

So Sundays ride for me was a relief, a relief that nothing untoward happened regarding my fitness although in saying that it was more or less flat but there was one small hill that I gave it the bifters on and I managed that ok with no repercussions. Next weeks ride is the complete opposite of today with a hilly ride out through Frodsham, Delamere and Willington including such climbs as the start of Manley Rd which is a double climb just out of Frodsham where the road ramps up quickly eases of slightly then ramps up again, it's here that I've hit my HR max on two occasions and where I've nearly puked but don't let that put you off - that time was my first ride after an illness so was a silly thing for me to do however do be prepared for it it's not easy (for someone of my poor climbing abilities that is) - EDIT, just noticed this climb isn't actually included in Sundays ride so ignore me - Other notable climbs that we have done as a club and will be familiar with are the climbs around Delamere, The Yeld and that winding serpentine lane of a climb called Chapel lane in Willington, normally I'd be really looking forward to this but there are still doubts in my mind as to whether I will manage OK, just have to wait and see...

Today's Photos

My Stats
45.7 miles, 2hrs 49 min, Av Speed 16.2, Av/Max HR 144/174 1064 ft climbing (Garmin)

A week-end of the NCC

As you may have noticed there has been no blog updates for a couple of weeks from me and that's simply cos I've been slightly ill but I'm nearly back to normal now and looking forward to a full weekend of planned cycling activity. So down to the w/e's nitty gritty...

Saturday's ride with the North Cheshire Clarion

Saturdays flat ride was a great way to test my fitness in preparation for the Sunday Anniversary ride and I thought it went well with no ill affects other than an oddly high max heart rate and that was probably down to an incident with an idiotic Maxda MX5 driver (or so I thought, read Sundays exploits) and the least said about that the better as it spoilt an otherwise pleasant ride. Not much in the way of hills just lots of flat and the 13 of us out on the ride rode in a mostly tight pack for the duration with some pleasant chat on the way in slightly cool but dry weather.

My Stats
23 miles, Av Speed 14.8mph, 634 ft climbing (Garmin) max HR 184

Sundays ride

Today's ride was a special one as it marked the first year anniversary of the forming of the North Cheshire Clarion. The route was a mixed bag with flat giving way to hilly in the Crowton, Delamere and Frodsham areas. Eighteen of us set out from Stretton into the promise of rain which materialised in earnest later on into the ride. Early on nothing much of significance occurred other than I hit the deck after a fellow clarionist had a clipless moment at a junction resulting in him falling sideways onto me knocking me over, sore elbow now writing this, can I sue ;-)

As I said it was flat Cheshire lanes until we crossed Acton bridge on the A49 then a right turn onto the first significant hill of the day and as usual I took it at my own moderate pace and felt OK with no problems other than a slight shortness of breath which I suppose isn't unusual for anyone climbing a hill so thought no more of it. The next hill was a repeat of the last but of slightly longer length and that was it regarding hills until after the stop at the Delamere Station cafe where we were due to meet up with our mountain biking brethren at 11am, however due to an early puncture we arrived 15 minutes late to find that the mountain bikers, all five of them were waiting at the other cafe 50 yards further on down the lane but we all managed to get together in the end as you can see from the above photograph.

Another puncture as were about to set off resulted in hanging around getting cool and then we were off. There was talk of some taking short cuts to get home as time was really pushing on. Young Martin turned left at Hatchmere crossroads to carry on with the as planned ride so I went with him and everyone else went either right or straight on at the crossroads. Fantastic I thought as now there was just the two of us and as Martin is the Theo Walcott of the cycling world we could set some good speeds but you know what it's like after an extended cafe stop and setting off again into a cool day, how your legs feel like lead until they've warmed up again? Well mine was just like that and as the miles went on my legs did not warm up in fact they got worse when we hit the hills around Delamere and Frodsham. As the rain bucketed down I felt rather bad, I had no strength for the hills and my HR was in the 160-170 range on any flats we came across never mind the hills, something is not right and in places - most places I was down to a crawl whilst Martin just powered up the hills. The last five miles or so back to Stretton was a real killer, I told Martin to go ahead as I was really slowing him down but he wouldn't leave me and rode with me all the way back to Stretton, ta Martin.

I really thought that with a successful Saturday ride I would be OK for the much hillier Sunday ride and clearly I was very wrong, I should have taken note of my eleveted HR and regarded it as the warning sign that it was and that my fitness levels were in fact following the pattern of prior times after illness on the first ride back where I max out my HR with very little effort and feel like puking my guts up . Now according to this pattern I will rapidly improve, lets just hope I will be recovered enough to allow me to ride a planned Audax in two weeks, the 'Season of Mists' on the 3rd October with 2550 metres of climbing (roughly 8500 ft)

My Stats
44 miles, Av Speed 14.4 mph, 1797 ft climbing (Garmin) max HR 184

Photos from today's ride

North Cheshire Clarion club run 22 Aug 2010

For a change the sun was out for today's North Cheshire Clarion's club run to the Tattenhall Ice Cream Farm. Twelve of us gathered at our usual start point in Stretton then we were off through Frodsham, Alvanley, kelsall, Beeston, Tarpolay, Weaverham and back to Stretton.

The route included a few hills, not really hard ones but hills nonetheless and I found them a little easier than normal. I think I was seeing the benefits of the riding of a few time trials over the last few weeks, official TT's along with my TT training runs at TT pace. Alvanley hill I use as a benchmark hill because it's the first hill to make me get off and walk way back when, was ridden fairly easily today. You know what it's like struggling up a hill, breathing is off the scale, legs feel like they are about to blow up, eyes bulging desperately searching for a top that looks so so far away and takes forever to arrive at, well today this did not happen, this hill was over and done with in what felt like seconds, yes it was hard work but no-where near as tough as in previous climbs on this particular hill. I think I will have to search for another 'benchmark' hill, and still on the topic of Alvanley Hill, this was the climb that had several riders gunning for the top, three of the lads shot off (safely) for the hill top and I think young martin freshly back from riding in the Alps took the hill and so he should, he's young, he's fast and he's up for a hilly challenge, in fact when I was talking to him during the ride he said riding in the Alps was easy!!! - you should give time trials a go Martin and give 'Nitrous Oxide' Dave a run for his money. Aside from a fast ascent of a couple of hills there was no racing or sprints however I couldn't resist sling-shotting around my favorite pond in the way I have described in a previous post.

On Hoofield Lane there is a village pond that the lane wraps itself around to make a 90' bend, exiting the pond bend there is a 300 yard hill. As you are approaching the pond you are able to see well ahead and around the bend and up the hill. I love this bend I really do, the fact it's 'safe' and you can put some real welly into it. So it goes like this, I'm approaching the pond, I know I'm near, I finally see the pond, I see that the bend and hill out of the bend is clear, I drop down a gear and give it some, I'm into the bend, it's like a slingshot and I'm powering out the other side and giving it everything, up up and up the hill, I look down, I'm doing 27mph up a hill!! I'm ecstatic, I'm tiring, my legs are complaining but I'm near the top now only 50 yards to go, I look behind to see the chasing pack is 100 yards back and that's it I'm at the top and drained but by the time everyone else catches up I'm good to go... I call times like this my 'Cav' moments, the moment you lose all self control and you are that 10 year old kid again with wide eyes pumping legs and screaming lungs, you know it's going to cost you but you don't care...

So summerising today - It turned out to be a lovely warm sunny day with a nice cafe stop for tea n cake, two punctures and a couple of 'mechanicals' slowed the times down adding approx 30 minutes to the ride but that didn't really matter as the sun was out and everyone was enjoying it. A great ride today.

My Stats
50.26 miles, 3hrs 20 min, Av Speed 15.1, Av HR 143, 2142 ft climbing (Garmin)
Garmin Stats
Photos from today

Seamons 25 mile TT & North Cheshire Clarion club run 14/15 August 2010

Potentially a busy weekend, firstly a Saturday 25 mile TT to ride then maybe a Sunday club run.

So firstly the Time Trial. As I said in my last post I was quietly excited by this 25 mile TT but I don’t know why I should be seeing as my one and only other TT was the Kilton 10 (8.75 miles) and it nearly killed me. Thinking back to the Kilton effort I think I went off too fast and was suffering far too early into the TT so by the half way point where the real work began on the uphill part I was already too far gone. This time I planned to ride this 25 mile effort differently, I had a plan and that plan was to steadily ramp up my effort into my correct HR zone.

So to the start in a little village called Goostry near to the Jodrell Bank Observatory. I bumped into some of the guys from my club the North Cheshire Clarion; we chatted for a while then finally got on our bikes for a warm up in the last half hour before our start times by riding up and down some of the country lanes near the start point. My start time was 3.24 pm and getting into line at the start point early I noticed I had no minute man. No number 83 (So that makes me No 84) he didn’t turn up. Not that I was expecting to catch my minute man but it would have been nice to have a target within sight and the opportunity to do so.

So time to await the count-down. Behind me down the line in 90th position dressed ominously in the black of Rapha Condor Sharp was a professional cyclist called Matt Cronshaw, I was the donkey and he was the thoroughbred and I fully expected to be passed very quickly by this guy.

The Time Trial.

At the start point in the queue awaiting my turn, a guy 3 minutes in front of me was on his countdown when a pheasant came out of the hedgerow and limped across the road a few yards in front of him. (eerily similar to that scene from the film ‘Galaxy Quest’ where the cute little creature with the injured foot limped out into the open and everyone’s going awwww). He gets the shove off all the time pointing his finger at the poor creature threatening to eat it if it got in his way; it didn’t, it was startled and quickly limped off into the opposing hedgerow, the episode was slightly funny though.

So a few minutes later it’s my turn to be shoved off. I’m on my countdown, 15 seconds, 10, 5 - 4 - 3- 2 -1 – GO! And with a shove I was off, I wanted a slow ramp up to my desired HR range however I got into that zone within a minute of the start, I planned for it to take a little longer but you know what it’s like, it’s a race and the adrenaline is pumping and you feel that you need to get up to speed a.s.a.p., besides; I didn’t want to make it too easy for those behind me to catch me.

Soon though they did start to catch me, my minute man came passed me within 10 minutes and then on 22 minutes Matt Cronshaw came trundling passed like I was standing still and that became the pattern for the duration of the next hour as rider after rider overtook me, I must have had at least 6 riders do so if not more - I lost count…

The ride itself for me was tough in places and fantastic in others. Sometimes I was down on my clip-ons cruising along seemingly effortless at 25 mph and then turn a corner into a headwind and down to 17 mph. There were only a couple of hills, not major ones but enough to slow me down to 16 mph (ish). At one time on my first lap I was cruising along only to see a herd of cows crossing the road in front of me forcing me to slow down and nearly stop before Mr Farmer saw me, ran out into the road blocking his cows and allowing me through - thank you Mr farmer. I lost seconds there as I did in other places notably roundabouts and corners where I displayed caution navigating around the traffic and through corners also being polite thanking the stewards as I passed whereas others just barrelled through with little to no caution whatsoever.

The time passed slowly for the first 18 miles but then the realisation that there was only 7 more miles to go spurred me on and renewed my determination for the rest of the race but it’s at this point that I heard a knocking noise from my bottom bracket area and looking down I could see that my pump had slid down it’s holder (again argh) and was now catching the pedal on every revolution, very annoying but I didn’t stop and if it wore a hole in the pump so be it. Ahead of me I see a rider, I’m catching him and I’m chuffed as this will be my first overtake. I’m coming alongside ready to say ‘DIG IN” when I notice no race numbers on him - bummer it’s just a cyclist out on his own ride. I overtake him with a good afternoon and he then speeds up and tucks in behind me, sheesh some people, I’m the one supposedly racing here and he’s not so what do I do? Do I speed up to show him not to mess with the big boys or just carry on? I decided to just carry on at my own pace and he hung in there for 5 minutes until we hit a hill and I left him forever - yay go me, I dropped him on the hill…

I’m coming to 25 miles now and I forgot this TT lark is a low key thing with no grandiose finish line with a chequered flag and clapping entourage. So I’m looking at my Garmin and it’s reading 25.1 miles, wondering if I had missed the finish when I spy a car in a lay-by with an older gentleman and younger lady peering at me and there it is, a white line just visible in the road. Done, all over, finished. I lap my Garmin and very slowly ride back to the club house a mile and half away back into Goostry.

The target for my age was 1:10:04 whereas my actual official time was 1:15:36, I was over 5 minutes down but I am still pleased with myself, this was my first 25 mile TT, I didn’t bonk, I rode within my limits, I rode roughly to my plan, I managed to finish and I earned myself a club bronze award, what’s not to be happy about!

Now I’m writing this account 2 days on from the event and in hindsight I think I could have ridden harder, I fully expected to be absolutely knackered that night and over the next day but I wasn’t, my legs were fine so I feel I could have put more effort into it but at the very least I have learnt lots and know the next time that I need to ride harder - all room for improvement...

My Time
1hr 15min 36seconds, Av speed 19.84 mph, 588 ft climbing, Av/Max hr 166/171 (max 191)

The rest of the clan all did well but ignore Anthony M's time he managed to get lost, the poor lad...

Dave M	1:07:09	22.34
Andy W	1:08:44	21.82
Giles P	1:08:55	21.77
Matt E	1:11:20	21.03
Gary C	1:12:02	20.82
Mark R	1:15:36	19.84
Gary W	1:16:08	19.70
Anthony M	1:22:01	18.29

Sundays Club Ride

I wasn’t expecting to go out as I had a daughter to pick up from the Airport in the early afternoon and I thought Mrs Mark would take umbridge at me going out for both days of our weekend, however when she said for me to make sure I was home in time for the pick up I said yes dear and the ride was now a goer. As I have already said my legs felt fine after the previous days TT so meeting up with 9 others at Stretton we set off in a clockwise flat loop of 40 miles. For the first few miles I was on the front with Antnee but with our talking about the previous days events we didn’t realise we were riding at around 20 mph – so glad it was flat. We did slow down a little but everyone seemed happy with the speed including a new face who took it all in his stride and so we continued at a reasonably high pace for the rest of the ride. As I said it was flat there was little wind and the sun was out, a very nice day.

A stop off at a garden centre we’ve been to a few times and then onwards homewards through the lanes of Cheshire including walking the bikes over a narrow walkway over a stream and through a park of some sort near Warrington before arriving back at Stretton. A good slightly brisk ride on a warm sunny day, very nice indeed.

Photo's from the weekend rides here

My Stats
40.64 miles, 2 hrs 25 min, Av speed 16.8 993 ft climbing Av/max hr 138/165 bpm (max 191)

North Cheshire Clarion club run Saturday 17 July 2010

No Sunday ride for me this week so I thought I would try out the Saturday club run. The Saturday run is designed to be shorter and a little slower than the Sunday run to encourage people into the club so rather than going solo as was my intention for today, I thought I would give it a go.

The weather wasn't the best today with rain forecast, not heavy just a little light rain however not long into the ride the rain jackets came out in time for the torrential downpour we had at one particular point - XCWeather really got it wrong today, I'm so glad I came out on my winter/rain bike complete with guards but this is July and supposedly the height of summer, we shouldn't have to come out with winter rain jackets and over-shoes but that unfortunately was the case today, it's just not cricket...

The pace was nice and slow for the seven of us but not too slow 15.4 mph average isn't that bad considering the route took us through a lot of built up areas and heavy rain with the resulting spray and water on the road. Not much in the way of hills today so this type of route and the comfortable pace is ideal for an introduction into the club and anyone wondering if they could hack it in a club run should try it, you won't be disappointed... unless it rains that is - insert :rolleyes: gif here...

I would have gotten my camera out today but the rain wouldn't allow it unfortunately so no ride shots. The weird thing with this weather is just how localised it can be, driving home out of wet Warrington back into Widnes and Runcorn just a few miles west, it was as dry as a bone lol...

My Stats
31.5 miles, 2hrs 2min, Av Speed 15.4, 881 ft climbing (Garmin)

North Cheshire Clarion club run 11 July 2010

Re-reading my club ride reports I've come to the conclusion that they can make for some tedious reading at times, the majority of people reading this blog will know exactly what goes on on a club ride so why the need to go into blow by blow or mile by mile details, no need at all...

So starting today I'm keeping my reports short and getting more personal - unless something out of the ordinary happens that is. Today I wanted more miles than the advertised 45 miles so set off early riding instead of driving to the start point in Stretton. Quite a bit of wind, the weather looked very changeable and with dark clouds everywhere it did look like rain however looks can be deceptive and I'm glad to say no rain spoiled our ride. Quite a few riders out, I think 16 today. The route was a mix of hills and flat with a cafe stop at Summertrees in Willington and then onwards over The Yeld and back home through Frodsham. 52 miles for me back to the finish at Stretton, 45 for those that drove there. I still wanted more miles so rode on with a bunch of the guys heading home along the A49 leaving them as I turned off to head home-wards through Walton Gardens as they carried on towards north Warrington. Today compared to last weeks 70 mile ride my legs felt more tired with riding into the energy sapping wind, much more so in those extra 16 miles I tagged onto the end of the ride riding solo directly into the 12-17 mph winds.

A good much more sociable ride than these last few weeks. As a club billed as 'inclusive' we seem to have forgotten somewhat that sociable aspect of our rides, an aspect that does attract riders of varying ability's and fitness levels to come join us with the promise of being looked after so today there was a concerted effort to get back to basics resulting in no-one riding off into the distance, no-one getting left way behind although in fairness no-one got left behind prior to today and no sprints in potentially dangerous conditions.

My Stats
68 Miles, 4 hrs 31 min, Av Speed 15 mph, 3230 ft climbing (Garmin)

North Cheshire Clarion club run 4th July 2010

Today was the clubs 'long' ride and it was decided that the Eureka Cafe at Two Mills in Chester was the cafe destination of choice. I was the route planner for this ride and I was bricking it slightly as the only other time I had been to the Eureka was with another club over a year ago and as a 'guest' I was just enjoying the ride rather than taking much notice of the route, however I did record the route on my Nokia phone which I was able to extract and save out as a gpx file. So with that info I was able to build a route from Stretton to incorporate the cycle lanes around Chester to get us there and back.

So how did it all work out? Well setting out from Stretton we did a little local loop to get some early extra miles in which included a little hill that warmed us all nicely, then it was off through Acton Bridge before heading into the northern parts of Crowton and then onto Hatchmere. Here we split off into two groups as even though this was billed as a 'long' ride there was also a shorter 45 mile option for those that wanted to get home a little earlier. Two members headed for the Delamere cafe whilst the remaining nine of us continued on towards Mouldsworth.

At the Hatchmere crossroads we were joined by approx 10 members of the Seamons CC. We all got a bit intermingled with some of our guys sprinting off the front but the remaining four of us were stuck behind them however that wasn't a bad thing as the Seamons lot didn't hang around striking up a fair old pace of 20 -25 mph for the full length of Ashton Road. The young guys in our little group also didn't hang around as at the first opportunity they were off sprinting past them to rejoin our leading group. I being an old git was quite happy to remain with the Seamons lot and rejoined our lot at the next cross roads.

The next stage was to the west of Mouldsworth on yet more quiet country lanes and then the part I was worrying about - the actual finding of the start of the cycle track because as I remember we joined it in the middle of a housing estate in NE Chester somewhere. I needn't have worried though as my gps route was spot on and no-one had moved the cycle track, it was still just off Kingsway - much to my relief...

The cycle track itself for the first few miles through Blacon was fairly busy with dog walkers, pedestrians and kids so the pace was fairly slow until we reached a stretch that dipped into and out of Wales that was pretty quiet and was able to push the pace up once more. The next stage was over the bridge by RAF Sealand on the A550 and it's here that it got a little tricky as we were now back on busy roads. Riding an underpass under a busy main road I was sure we were on the right route and I was reassured when we were joined by a bloke from the Port Sunlight club who was also heading to the Eureka. So riding with this guy I was able to see that that my gps route was spot on and we were on the right track.

Next the Eureka itself. I had been there once before as I might have already mentioned so knew what to expect however this time unlike the last time when it was chocka it was fairly empty which meant virtually no waiting for our beans on toast. The cafe itself? no great shakes - it's basic, it's functional and it's cheap which is OK by me however the toilets are a throw back to pre-political correctness, anyone who's been in there will know what I mean...

After the cafe it was the return leg. A busy main road or two to get across, another cycle track but this time not so well kept or wide and with gates every couple of hundred yards to traverse and then it was west of Mouldsworth again but on different lanes and onto the climbing hairpin of Cob lane which I think everyone enjoyed at whatever pace they chose to climb it - the climbers out on the front belting up it and us older ones climbing at a much slower pace.

Next it was New Pale Road and up onto the top of Frodsham hill up past the telecommunication towers, riding up roads that as a club we have never ridden before and then a fast descent into Frodsham and onwards for the last few miles back to Stretton. Ride over, 70 miles completed.

So to summarise. We did lose our way on occasion but nothing much, just a missed turn here or there but a quick about turn had us back on track, the pace was good, a good mix of fast and slow and the best thing was no rain despite the miserable forecast of heavy rain and lots of wind, lot's of wind yes but no rain and the sun did briefly come out. The lanes were mostly car free, the first cycle lane was smooth and wide the 2nd not so and the terrain was varied which I liked a lot.

The Sprint

Again there were sprints but not for me today I wasn't interested I had other things to worry about, namely the route, however that didn't stop the 'young uns' from having a go. The only sprint I was involved in indirectly was the very last one of the day to the 30 sign in Stretton. I was riding on the front with Ade and I could feel Martin behind (sounds wrong that) getting twitchy for this sprint, he must have known there was a 30 coming up. I wasn't interested but mentioned the 30 sign around the next bend to Ade and the fact that the 'young uns' were just waiting for someone to make the jump. Ade sorted his gearing out just in time as 'Nitrous Oxide' Dave came from absolutely no-where bombing past us all - that was the switch, off in pursuit of Dave went Ade, Martin and his mate who does in fact have a name - John, Edit - no got that wrong he's a Peter. My thoughts was that Dave had gone way too early and yup coming around the bend there was Dave who'd given up the sprint; Ade went on to beat the 'young uns' to the win, well done that man :-)

My Stats
70.6 miles, 4hrs 36min, Av Speed 15.3, 2864 ft climbing

North Cheshire Clarion club run 27 June 2010

The best week-end of the year by far weather wise with temperatures into the mid 20’s and with this in mind I decided to ride out to the start point in Stretton from Runcorn. It’s only 7 miles so at a nice steady pace I manage it in less than 30 minutes. At 8:30am the sun was out and warm already, lovely stuff and with not an arm warmer or gillet in sight, just the bare minimum without riding naked was the dress code of the day.

Off we set in a clockwise loop to take in Appleton, High Legh, Warburton, Altrincham, Mobberly, a café stop at Tatton park and then on through Great Budworth, Comerbach and finally Dutton then home to Stretton. Today we had 14 out for the Sunday ride which include 4 first time visitors. This club is really growing considering it only started last October, I think we now have 51 or 52 members. The only trouble with that increase is that those who are rubbish at remembering names like moi have a really hard time, a problem yes but it’s a nice welcome problem. I think we should all start wearing name badges ’Hi I’m Mark No1’ ‘Hi I’m Andrew from Weaverham’ ‘Hi I’m Martin and I will beat you in the sprint’ etc…

The pace was good, not too fast or slow, the conversation was fluid, the weather was ace, no-one had their tyres let down unexpectedly and no-one fell over. Phil J was out on his new Dolan and what a fantastic bike it is, a full carbon jobbie with SRAM Red throughout, a real beauty. You can see more details on his blog here…

The café stop at Tatton park was a bit of an experience, an experience not to be repeated that is. The café and it’s outdoor seating cannot be faulted particularly in this glorious hot sun however guess how much 1 slice of carrot cake and a small bottle of fairtrade orange juice cost me? £3.50? £4.50? Nah this little 2 piece bundle of food came to a staggering £6.32p, now that is outrageous, I could have bought the whole cake for that amount. Next time I’m going to bring a peanut butter butty and fill up my water from the men’s bog….

The sprint
Yes there was a few sprints today, the first one was for a 30 sign. I was about 4 back when I saw the sign and mentioned a sprint. Young Martin was way way back and must have seen the sign also as when I glanced back I could see him coiled ready for it watching me like a cat does when it‘s playing with it‘s mouse. So I shoot off out on the front and from my peripheral vision I detect him catching me so I give it a real welly only to be passed by him within a couple of yards of the 30 sign, I came in 2nd closely followed by Martins mate, grr lol that was fun but that sprint goes to Martin…

The next one I participated in was to another 30 sign but this time I had it all worked out. My plan which did work btw is that I should engage young sprint master Martin in conversation with a few guys riding in front and me alongside him on the outside effectively blocking him in, dirty I know but it did work and it went like this; I spot a 30 sign a few hundred yards ahead so without warning I’m off bombing it leaving Martin trailing however his young pal who’s name I still don’t know is giving me some competition, he’s pedalling like crazy down in the drops and I just about manage to take the win with maybe half a wheel. A great plan but nearly scuppered by young guy No2, I will have to more sneaky next time…

Next week it’s a long and normal run, 70 miles with the Eureka café as the midway point and also for the time constrained there is also a shorter 45 mile run with both groups riding together for the first 20 odd miles. If you are interested just pop along to the start point in Stretton by the Cat & Lion pub for 9am. See the clubs website for more info.

My Stats
55 miles, 3 hrs 10 min, Av Speed 17.3mph, 1992 ft climbing (Bikehike)

North Cheshire Clarian club run 20 June 2010

A cool start gave way to another gloriously warm sunny day - that makes two really sunny warm club rides this year, aren't we doing well! For the start I had my gillet and arm warmers on and took a little bit of gentle ribbing for it but I didn’t care as I was suitably warm; everyone else was wearing full summer gear right from the start, hardy people these NCC'ers. Only seven of us out today, probably depleted with it being Fathers day but no matter we still had a good time and with there only being seven of us it doesn't take much remembering
to name us all, Anthony, Sarah, John, Andrew from Weaverham, young Martin, Martins pal and Myself.

Off we set from Stretton in an anti-clockwise loop that took us over a few hills. We’ve not had a hilly ride for some time and speaking for myself (this is my blog after all) I wasn’t quite sure how nice the hills would be to me as I am seriously lacking from on-the-bike time. Since the Cheshire cat in March I have had nothing to train for and these last few weeks I have been able to get out only on the week-ends and if I have been lucky one ride during the week. So off we set heading through Frodsham and if you have been reading my blog you will know that I usually get a stitch coming out of Frodsham on one of the semi hilly exist however today I managed to avoid it but it was only delayed until we hit Alvanley hill.

Did I mention that I had my new helmet camera today? No? well I did but (yes there was plenty of butts and legs) this little device has no means of playback or viewfinder to check the results of your filming, you have to wait until you plug it into your PC once back home soo today my camera’s aim was out by just a little bit resulting in an hours worth of butts and legs :/

After Alvanley we had a run through the two small hills of Delamere and onwards through Kelsall bypassing ’The Yeld’ as it had road closed signs on approach. The next hill and also the biggest hill of the day is Chapel Lane in Willington. Naturally the two young guys shot off up the hill followed not far behind by John. For a retiree this bloke has some serious strength in him, I on the other hand plodded up the hill puffing and panting all the way up. This hill starts with a gentle straight rise then you hit a right hand bend to see the road rise alarmingly up, it’s at this point seeing this that I’m sure I heard one of the young guys utter an unprintable expletive! So it’s up this hill 100 yards or so to a left hand bend to see the road still rising as it disappears around a further left hand bend so more hard grinding up to this bend only to see yet another left hand bend ahead! As you grunt past the last bend marked with an armaco barrier you are hoping that it’s all over but it’s not quite finished, the road is still rising but not as steeply and all that’s left now is to ride around the sweeping right hand bend where the youngsters and John were awaiting at the very top. If only they were aware that the café was just 50 yards further on they would not have stopped and waited however I and the rest behind me knew so carried on to get first in the queue for food lol,,,

That was mostly it for the hills, just one more after the café stop just past Acton Bridge and then a few miles and an hour later we were home. So summing up, today started cool(ish) and warmed up to a really nice summers day, tans all around. The climbing was hard at times but thankfully there were not many hills. No incidents on the road, a nice cake at Summertrees café, one flat tyre and home by 12:45 to spend the rest of the day in the sun…

Great day today.

My stats
40 miles, 2hrs 36min, Av Speed 15.4 mph, 2258 ft climbing

North Cheshire Clarian club run 13 June 2010

Mrs Mark reminded me later on today that braggarts will not inherit the earth - that's not how it actually goes however I hear what she is saying but I'm going to ignore her just this once by pointing out that today I managed to win not 1 not 2 not even 3 but 4 yes 4 sprints. Granted there was only me trying for the first three of them but the fourth, well I won that one fair n square - I will talk about that later...

A cool start from Stretton with a great turnout of 16. Today the weather was a will it won't it rain, do I don't I bring my rain jacket. Decided to take my chances with no rain jacket and off we set in a counter clockwise direction. A nice steady pace to start with but because I'm my mothers son and mummy being a Maltese person who thrives in the warmth but literally freezes in the cold, the coolness of the day had me shivering for miles upon miles before the first sprint of the day warmed me up greatly and made me a happy person.

Onwards we rode sometimes fast sometimes slowly on the flat roads of our route with nothing much of interest to write about except at one point our NCC pelaton was overtaken by this big bald guy that stood out greatly as every bit of flesh we could see was tattooed, his legs, his arms, his ears, his nose, his face and his bald head. We let him go seeing as he looks the type of guy you just don't want to mess with if you want to keep all your bones intact. We let him go for perhaps 500 yards until Phil J pushed one of my buttons by shouting "GO HUNT HIM DOWN" or something like that and off I go along with young Martin and old(ish) Gaz. Down in the drops I went giving a fair bit of welly but he was riding at a fair old lick himself and it must have taken 5 minutes at least to catch up to him but now caught what do I do now? I glance behind to notice that the other two had backed off slightly so I rode up alongside and had a good old chat with him before he turned off for home in Hale Nr Altrincham, jolly nice guy he was...

The next stop was the lavender farm tea rooms Nr Dunham. Tea, cake n scones and off we rode for the final leg of the trip. Again nothing much to say except I kept on the lookout for 30 signs and won a couple of sprints but in fairness to everyone else I think there was only me that really put a spurt on so hardly good victories! However the last 30 sign of the day had 3 of us sprinting for it. Matt was on the front with me close behind and young whipersnapper Martin behind/alongside me. I spot the 30 sign approx 500 yards away so mentioned something about a sprint when Matt took off and it definitely was sprint well and truly on and this time I had real competition. So off goes Matt and he's a bike n half in front, I give it loads and slowly catch him and come alongside, Matt gives another burst so I give it a kick which gained me a few inches, I kick again and again and again until I've passed Matt, I look to my right to see Martin's too close for comfort so kick again and manage to just keep him at bay before crossing the imaginary finish line at the 30 sign. I think Martin was just being polite, I reckon if he wanted to being a youngster an all he could easily have took me if he so wished...

Today I got the best out of my Scott Addict, the stiffness that this bike is well known for was very evident every time I 'kicked', every kick I gave it was rewarded with an immediate response that allowed me to win that last sprint. Today 'Scotty' did me proud ;-)

My Stats
42.82 miles, 2 hrs 35 min, Av Speed 16.6mph, 1545 ft climbing (Bikehike)

Random photo taken last week. Zach my 10 yr old faithful Dobermann

Zach is our 4th Dobermann.

Prince 1983 - 1993
Lori 1984 - 1997
Shawn 1993 - 2000
Zach 2000 - hopefully forever