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

North Cheshire Clarion club run 18th April 2010

What a lovely day Saturday was and I was really hoping for a repeat Sunday - wasn't really disappointed with the cool(er) Sat start as the sun did come out to play not long into our ride. Today I had to ride into Stretton as my car was in the garage because of a naughty fuel pump; why do cars always seem to break down when out shopping and then when called for Mr AA man spends ages wandering from car park to car park before finally stumbling upon you even though you are stood there like a pompom girl jumping up and down waving your arms madly in the air??

Anyway the ride, Stretton to the Tattenhall Ice Cream Cream farm via Hatchmere, Delamere and Kelsall. A nice pace was set all the way, not too fast or slow, a speed of around 16-19 mph. No real hills to talk about but of course there were some along the way however I found them all relatively easy, relative to my own previous personal experience on these hills that is. I put it down to the bike, a nice light bike with some excellent Dura-ace wheels and perhaps there is still some of that training still in my legs, the Chris Carmichael Time Crunched cyclist training. Someone remarked on how well I was climbing today, I replied saying it's the bike, he laughed at this and I started to think that he may actually have a point and this put a grin on my face.

A question, do you have a favorite road or hill you love to ride or climb? I do. On this route there is a particular stretch of road just off the A51 heading south called Crooked lane, aptly named because it's a very crooked country lane that leads onto Hoofield Lane. 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 we are near, I 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 after this bit of excitement it's back to the ride as we continue to make great progress and was soon at the Ice Cream Farm. The bike racks were empty bar one or two bikes and for the first time because it was warm we were able to sit outside soaking up the sun, lovely, cakes, tea, coffee - this is what cycling is all about.


Eventually reluctantly we moved on and by now the bike racks are full, lots of bling on display, whats this place going to be like in the summer? it's going to be chocker full of bikers all after cake! So we set of skirting the base of Beeston castle and head north east all the way home. As we approached the last couple of miles the usual happened, the pace upped and continued to up the closer we got to the roundabout that essentially marked the end of the ride, we were jockeying for position we were one long snake travelling at a speed just below race speed, conserving our energy until the very last moment waiting for someone to jump, waiting for someone to flick the switch - didn't happen, no-one jumped, no-one flicked the switch, we sort of just rolled up at a face pace to the roundabout and that was that boo hoo...

Right one last thing, I made mention of my weight a few postings back, the fact I was losing weight and down to 11 stone and hoping it wasn't my kidney packing in. Well 2 weeks later I have regained my weight so don't feel so weak and feeble any more and today (Monday) was my regular 3 monthly hospital visit and everything looks good. Will know for sure if I don't get any phone calls during the next few days. An interesting thing I found out today is one of the reasons I have a low haemoglobin count of 11.2 is because it's one of the side affects of one of the immunosuppressant tablets I take, should be somewhere between 13.5 to 17.5, bit of a bummer but a small price to pay for freedom from dialysis.

My Stats

64.2 miles, 4hrs 3min, Av Speed 15.9mph, 2366 ft climbing (Bikehike)

North Cheshire Clarion club run 28 Feb 2010

This is week -4 in the countdown to the Cheshire Cat and it’s now as a group that we need to get some real miles in. There’s nothing that can replace actual miles on the bike, time spent on the turbo can only do so much. The turbo is great for building some strength or when you can’t get out because of the weather but because of the sheer boredom on the turbo unless you are some sort of masochist, an hour maybe hour and a half is about the maximum that can be endured.

So it’s great to actually get out on real roads with real hills. For Sunday Metcheck had forecast sleet but a peek out of the window revealed a nice calm cool morning and that meant the ride was on. A quick breakfast with beans on toast and a cuppa and out to the start point. Eight of us today met up at Stretton and off we set, firstly through the village of Frodsham and up The Ridgeway. For those that don’t know this particular lane, The Ridgeway is 1 mile long and averages 5% peaking at around 8%, it’s not particularly steep but it’s a great quiet scenic hill for working on technique and gauging your progress on. This time around I was a little faster up the hill so all this training must be doing me some good. After The Ridgeway we progressed through Delamere with it’s two short steepish hills and on to the Ice Cream Farm nr Beeston.

After the café stop we skirted the base of Beeston Castle and wound our way through Tarporley, Oulton Park, Weaverham and then back to Stretton. The pace was higher than normal and this was a real workout of a ride, just what was needed. On the hills there was no letup, no pussyfooting around, some went off like a bullet out of a gun, some of us plodded. Either way every one of us got a good workout on the few hills we encountered, the hills were either short and steep(ish) or long not so steep drags and everyone had a different way of getting to the top. Aside from the hills, when on the flat the pace did not really relent, we rode as a group a FULL one mph faster on average over the complete ride, doesn’t sound a great deal but it was really hard work…

I do still need to work on my nutrition and drinking, today I went through 1.5 ltr’s of fluids (2 full bottles) for just 50 miles and I was slightly thirsty at the end of the ride. Looks like come the Cat I might be lugging 2 bottles around which I don’t really want to do, however there are 3 feed stops along the way so hmmm something to think about….

Tonight after the ride I am quite shattered, my legs don’t feel too bad, no stiffness or anything but my body feels like it’s been really punished, feels like I’ve ran a marathon and now I need to sleep, so I’m off to bed early at 9:45pm….


My Stats
50.7 miles, 3hrs 19min, Av Speed 15.3, 2086 ft climbing

Stats For the week
101.5 miles, mileage achieved for my 100 mile target for the week

North Cheshire Clarion club run 22 Nov 2009

A ride of two halves

I seem to start a new post talking about the weather and unsurprisingly this one will be no different. Over the last few days the weather has battered parts of the country, in particular we've had massive floods and gale force winds not far from our locality in the Lake district that has destroyed bridges, flooded homes and has unfortunately cost lives so a beady eye was kept on the forecast leading up to Sunday. Things didn't look promising with Metcheck issuing a severe weather warning forecasting many mm's of rain with winds of 20+mph - loony weather, a ride for the brave or is that the stupid hmmm.

Anyway come Sunday morning despite the forecast we had five turn up at Stretton ready to brave the elements. With the weather conditions and the fact we were riding into a heavy wind we compromised a little by diverting away slightly from the proposed route and chose to avoid the worst of the hills but our route took us over some anyway. We rode through Frodsham village then onto a steady climb up The Ridgeway and then over the rolling hills of New Pale Rd heading for Delamere, Kelsall, Willington and finally 25 miles in we hit the Ice Cream Farm north of Tattenhall. Tea and cakes then off again skirting the base of Beeston Castle before heading through Tarpoley, Oulton Pk, Weaverham and finally back to base.

The ride was tough as we headed west and south to the cake stop, heading into a 16-19mph wind that hit us either head-on or battered us from the side but at least the rain Metcheck had prophesied held off for the duration of the ride so that was a small blessing. A problem I have that affects my riding at times is that I have a low blood count courtesy of my condition. My haemoglobin reading is around 11 but should be between 13 to 18 and my haemocrit is 34% but should be between 42 and 54% so I will always suffer on long hills due to not being able to transport the same amount of oxygen to my muscles as the average bloke, so I pant like a dog and have to ride at my own pace. Yet another problem I have is that I sometimes get a stitch like pain in the area of my surgery whenever I hit the first hill of the day. Today that hill was The Ridgeway so had to climb it nice n steady. The funny thing about this 'stitch' is that after I have gotten it out of the way I'm fine for the rest of the ride, go figure...

So I suffered for the first half of the ride and I know I wasn't alone in this, the wind battered us and the hills sapped the living vitality out of us but after the cake stop I seemed to have had a burst of energy, must have been the coffee and probably aided by an occasional tail wind found the going not as tough... My bikes computer had stopped working - no speed readout, so when I was on the front the only thing I was working with was my heart rate and perceived effort so unfortunately I was either going too fast or too slow so sorry guys if I was working you too hard at times and boring you the other :[

The only other event of the day occurred was when I had a knocking noise suddenly appear that coincided with my pedalling, I really thought that my bottom bracket was on it's way out so we pulled over to investigate only to find that my pump had come loose and was knocking against my pedal - panic over but it's here we had another 'clip-less' moment, whereas the last time this happened it looked funny, this time it didn't - it did look like it may have hurt a little but the rider picked the bike up of the floor, dusted off and carried on like it was nothing :)

Anyway to summarise it was a good but tough ride with some hills thrown in along some picturesque Cheshire back roads, the first half was really energy sapping, the second not so bad. Sitting here writing this my thighs are a little sore but not that bad. This route will be a great route come the warmer weather...

My Stats
50.1 miles, 3hrs 17min, Av Spd 15.3, 2024ft climbing

Week end ride 11 Oct 2009

No Clarion ride this w/e, the Clarionists meet every two weeks for the road run until the time that there is the demand and numbers for a weekly ride.

So we (myself & Phil) resorted to our own devices and old habits setting off for our usual cafe stop at the Ice Cream Farm near Tattenhall. By old habits I mean finding hills to climb and once climbed then riding at a fair old whack to the next hill. Now in our locality there are hills to climb if you look for them, there is a spine of hills ranging from Frodsham in the north through Helsby and finishing around Willington in the south and our usual route takes us through these areas - deliberately of course simply because not too long ago I in particular was crap on hills and the general advice for improving your hill climbing ability is simple - ride them thar hills, seek out and conquer them. A year on I have improved somewhat, not as much as I would have liked but all the hills I at one time walked up in this area are now conquered every weekend. I'm not saying I'm a mountain goat able to just waltz up em, no, I take the hills at my own slow pace, sometimes out of the saddle more usually in the saddle and in my lowest gear.

Old habits die hard they say and yes they do, but what we have come to understand is that your body mind and spirit needs rest, you cannot continuously go at it 100% all year round, you need to back off and give yourself chance to rest and heal. I have bought a few books over the last year or so looking for training regimes in particular and what I have generally found is that these books are designed for serious 'athletes' who have at least 8 hours per week to spare for training. I have found that my body atm cannot cope with that amount - that's over training to me complete with colds and sleeping problems but in saying that, in these programmes defence - I have not tried to follow them - I just know that going 'at it' as I have done in the past for 8hrs a week wipes me out and is defo no fun - not that these books endorse 'going at it', far from it, I have to sit down read them thoroughly, stick to the plan and make them work for me

Anyway I aim to get some serious training in for next years Sportives so I bought myself 'The Time Crunched Cyclist - Fit, Fast and Powerful in 6 Hours a Week' by Chris Carmichael to help me along. It sounds ideal for me, I'm not a racer nor is my goal to ride some huge foreign Sportive - although that would change if I could pass the required medical. I'm the weekend warrior with a few domestic sportives in the pipeline who enjoys his riding and wants to improve.

This book makes good reading, Carmichael goes into some detail about the theory behind his workouts. He details four different training programmes depending on your goals. He has you go through a 'field test' to determine your average max heart rate or power before you start any of these programmes then gives you a series of ratios to workout the various HR zones or power zones you will be working in. What I have now learnt from working out my zones is that I have gone out too hard every time I have ridden my bike - I have been working at too high a HR for way way too long and that cannot be doing me any good.

So back to old habits and all that, we (myself & Phil) discussed before this ride that following the advice from this book we should be doing 'EMs' - Endurance Miles before starting one of the training programmes which meant taking it easy and avoiding the hills to keep the HR down contrary to our normal habits of 'going for it'. My HR max although not tested properly (i'm no masochist) has peaked at 191 bpm so working out the ratios I need to keep my HR below 150bpm and that is not easy on the hills we needed to ride to get to our cafe stop.

So that was the 'story' behind this ride - keep that HR down even if it meant being overtaken by grandma on her zimmerframe. I think we were mostly successful, for much of the ride we were able to keep to less than 150bpm but of course when we hit the hills our HR's did go up to 160bpm at times, can't be helped on this route I'm afraid, we will just have to work out a few more flat routes for future rides...

My Stats

Distance 44.14 miles - Duration 3:25 - Av Speed 12.9mpg - Climbing 2000ft - Av HR 143bpm