Almost a year ago Guy expressed his concerns at the growing levels of inactivity and obesity in UK school-age children as well as the lack of organized outdoor sporting events for young people. Guy established a Community Interest Company called ConceptX to address this, with the aim of organizing outdoor activities specifically for under 18s. I share Guys concerns and therefore jumped at the idea of cycling Coast-to-Coast to raise money for these events. I had high hopes of being able to drum up a strong University of Bristol Cycling Club contingent, however one by one they dropped and unfortunately I was the sole survivor who made it to the start line in Whitehaven.
Thursday marked the end of exams and signaled the start of the last summer of freedom from responsibility. Admittedly this begs the question, “what are you going to do with your lazy arse over summer Tom?” The answer being, probably sit on it quite a bit; hopefully a large proportion of the time this will be a side effect of zipping through the Cheshire countryside on my bike, training for the Half Ironman I've entered in September.
The pasta party in the evening set a very positive tone for what was to be the longest and one of the best rides of my life the following morning.
We set off as 7 Bristol riders in full kit looking pretty damn swanky indeed, and by invitation only, Elsa from Liverpool as the only anomaly kit-wise; she sure held her own in the pack and on the hills though. Elsa took on the first 55km with us and then it was down to UOBCC to complete the full challenge.
The group feel was fantastic and I could quite easily imagine us in France settling into an Alpine climb as a unit at a nice even pace. It’s a real shame Michael and Mads can’t come… their loss. After stories of Tom’s driving, I’m now more terrified about surviving the 700 miles by car rather than the steep technical descents on the bike; at least I’ll sort of be in control on the bike. If only I had a car… (a boy can dream).
The 100 miles went a little like this:
9am meet, greet, wait for Gam… oh no he’s not that late! Henry makes Sam look good at 10mins late.
The first 10km involved navigating our way through Bristol avoiding the late/lazy commuters (what ever happened to 9 til 5?) and trying to not get caught out by the numerous traffic lights along the way. Once we were out onto the open North Bristol roads, it was bliss. The weather was almost perfect for such a ride; lightly overcast and warm with a slight breeze to tackle the humidity. We kept a nice even pace in pairs for most of the ride along predominantly car free country lanes.
I was thankful to have such a clear mind on the ride and not have to worry about navigating whatsoever; that burden was on Mads, and she did a cracking job albeit with a few GPS hiccups (designed entirely on purpose to lengthen the route to the full 100 miles).
My favourite part of the ride was the only categorised climb on the route, the Cat 4 Lampern Hill. It came at 100km and after previously getting it in the neck a bit from Georgie after pulling too hard on the front straight after a corner, now was the time to get back in her good books. I wish there was a picture of this because it wasn't what you see on an everyday ride. Mat and I between us pushed Georgie up the hill with one hand on the flat of her back and spinning like mad trying to keep an extra half a person going at your speed. It added a whole new level to the climb and my legs were in such good form that Georgie and I actually dropped Mat, Mads and Henry on our way to the top. Let's hope I haven't "peaked too early" for the Alps trip.
Lampern Hill, Cat 4 - 1.6km, avg 9.3%
We managed to keep it together as a group all the way back to Bristol and hit the second rush hour of the day. We'd been "workin' 9 til 5" as Sam put it. 8hrs 30mins start to finish with 6hrs 30mins of those actually riding. The ride concluded with 3 laps of the downs which of course got increasingly faster. I eventually felt like Georgie would hate me either whether I put in a big effort or just sat at the back, so naturally I fired up the old burners and let Mads draft her way to QOM on the downs Circular Road Sprint segment on strava. Not a bad effort as the last lap of a 100 mile ride.
A very memorable ride all round and something I'd very much like to repeat in the future. Bring on the Alps!
In Other News I lost my KOM on Marshfield Ln Climb by 20 seconds only 2 days after I set it. Better 2 days in the lead than none.
This little fella knows what he's talking about.
Mat is too lazy to unclip at one of the GPS stops... Took him a while to figure out how to get off the wall.
Mads: "You lookin' at me?"
The route back to Bristol had no more long hills and was generally slightly downhill so it turned in to a pacey run in with the light tail wind.
The rests we took whilst waiting for the GPS to regain signal were very welcome and probably lead to several us feeling surprisingly energetic towards the end of the ride. Our chip stop couldn't have come at a better time. 110km down and 50km left it was time to reward ourselves at a very smart bistro pub in the small village of Leighterton.
Strong performers on a great social ride for UOBCC
=============================== Thanks to Matthew Mew and Madeleine Iafrate for providing photos from the ride to spice up this post ===============================
Exams are over! They are all in the past. The final one went so badly, but now it's just another painful memory. Besides, this was my attitude as I entered, so it's my own flippin fault.
The lego dance movie is an inspiration. My music video idea will surely lift off now summer has finally cracked. The relaxing pasta party topped with gooey Ben & Jerrys was just what I needed. Shame I'm awful at conversations without saying something completely Non-Politically-Correct. Good for cheap laughs... until it gets old. Story of my life. Legs are gonna get burnt tomorrow! Bricking it. How far? How far? Legs are not impressed just thinking about it!
Stress is oozing from my body causing me to feel constantly sleepy. Definitely rewarding myself with a snooze now.
Over the last week it hasn't been uncommon to see me donning some sporting attire in and around Bristol as I've knocked off 3 runs and rides between 'revision' and Dexter sessions.
On Sunday I headed over to Blaise Castle with Duncan and John (both post sub-16min 5ks!!) on a particularly hilly and off road route! It's safe to say that revision was low on my priorities after arriving back in a sweaty, exhausted heap and struggling to stay awake for the rest of the day. Hills are Hard.
Yesterday was sport free, but only because I was waiting for the big one... Dun dun duh! Hold on to your horses 'cause you're in for a bumpy ride! At least that's what Mads could have told me before we set off on our Bath epic. Just take a look at the profile...
"Allez, Allez!"
So the day came. The sun rose over Bristol... waking Tom at 5am just for shits and giggles. The exam was merely a blip in an otherwise perfect day. With the sun beating down, the birds singing, a light breeze bristling in the air, it was time to go yonder and conquer the hills of Bath. Boy was it worth it! I nailed my first strava KOM on a hill, and it was pretty tough indeed (avg 6.4%). Previously I've only held records for running or flat bike sections. I got the encouragement I needed from Mads and zoomed off with form in the legs that Wiggo would be jealous of right now. All of a sudden it seems as though hills are not the formidable enemy they once were. (This may be redefined by some soul crushing climbs in the Alps).
We stopped for some soothing, ice cold drinks in Bath and I even had a "cured ham and mozarella panini"... I know! The pretentious 'snacky' lunch was to shortly bite be in the bum as we approached the next climb of the day, up to the University of Bath. "Allez, Allez!" I hear Mads shout, so off I sprint up the hill with panini and water sloshing around in my stomach. 30 seconds later, sort of out of sight of the my ever competitive ride partner, I developed a food stich and dropped it down as low as she goes and just spun all the way to the top. Maintaining some dignity by not actually being caught on the way up. In hind sight, I was daft to even think about sprinting up a 1.7km, 8.5% avg climb.
I hadn't realised quite how long a ride it would be and as the sun started to take its toll; I started dreaming of the crunchy grapes I'd bought earlier and the strawberries and ice cream awaiting my return. Life is good when you've got something to look forward to. As a bonus, I definitely enhanced my burn/tan lines so that now I have glove lines... shudder.
Home made chocolate chip cookies and Carte D'or Ice cream (not up to Mads' standards, but it tastes so much better when you've earnt it)
Now, every cloud has a silver lining, and since the lining has just been laid on a plate with the sun shining, I thought it was about time to bring out that great big ugly cloud for a change of scenery. "Digital EPO" - the mere idea is blasphemous! It's a desecration of Strava and all that it stands for. We will no longer be timing our efforts based on segments or pushing for those last 20 seconds at the end of a ride to beat your previous time... Oh no. Times are changing. Because why bother trying when you can just boost your speed by 10% in a few simple clicks. I'm disgusted by the idea and the principles behind it. If there was a march against Digital EPO I would join it (only if there are free cookies. I love the cookies.)
I can't end on a sour note, so here's a happy thought: It is only 36 hours until I finish my exams for my second year of University, AND there's a rumour that Mads is bringing Ben & Jerry's to the pasta party to celebrate and indulge ourselves before THE epic ride to finish the year.
There I was sleeping peacefully, for a change, and something jolts me from my sleep. Hmm. It's not a fire alarm. Nor is it anyone banging the front door. Oh... oh dear lord... NOT AGAIN! Yes indeed. Bashful the stallion is at it once more at 6 O'CLOCK in the morning! Right afterwards I heard a bunch of drunk students ambling past the house. That says a lot about what time it was. Unbe-bloody-lievable! That set the tone for revision really... not that I got lucky tearing my brain out at turbulent fluid flow down a rough pipe... But it was rather distracting having sex in the back of my mind right from the start... And the prospect of none for a very long time. Take note at how the male brain works: 'Food, Sleep, Sex, other'. A crude generalisation, but sometimes that's the way of life. With little revision actually accomplished the day/week/month took a huge turn for the better with a simple phone call. Sometimes phones are really under-rated. The whole situation that brought about the unfortunate tale of my unfiltered blabbings on the internet has been resolved. Things seem back to normal, and it feels fantastic. Better than before in fact due to a giddy after effect of all emotions catching up on me. Now I think I can deal with Bashful getting it any time of day, knowing that there's a sex-filled future. Phew for that. There was very little motivation to revise after the news, so Dexter made an appearance with 3 episodes interspersed with 15mins for a revision session (crikey that's almost 3hrs of blood spatter analysis and pre-meditated murder!). And the 8km Run at just after 9pm finished off what was a truly random day filled with happiness and a bit of everything else in between. To top it off, I've been invited on a run with two guys who post sub 16-min 5ks!! Frankly, I'm terrified, but also feeling dead chuffed to be asked along. Better get some recovery sleep so I'm all set in the morning. A real 'Loving Life' kind of day. Starting June how I mean to continue.
Today felt a bit like what I imagine a Grand Tour rest day feels like; you're looking forward to it for ages and to start with you feel relaxed and relieved. You then realise you can't just do nothing, so you send a few texts, do a few bits and bobs on the net, and before you know it it's time for dinner and bed; you're just left asking yourself where the day went and not feeling rested at all. I entered about 50 comps today, watched a few youtube vids, sorted my travel insurance and went to the library to pick up the last remaining copy of a Mechatronics textbook. Then it was time for dinner... Not sure if it was just bad time management, but hey ho. At 8pm I got my act together (about time). I saw it'd stopped raining so, being the obvious thing to do, I got on my bike and tootled out for potentially my first evening ride requiring lights. I tackled a few hills: Brockley, Backwell backwards and Belmont. Couldn't pull off PBs on the two main ones which I'm really disappointed with. I went full gas on both. I really feel like I've gone backwards this year. Great to know just before the Alps. Randomly, up by the airport I cycled alongside a taxiing plane, which surprisingly was going the same speed as me ~ 30kph (19mph). Slower than I'd imagined a plane would taxi.
A positive is that my light lasted the whole way! I had no faith in it, but it did good. The sunset was beautiful to the eye; unfortunately the camera on my phone didn't do it justice.
Surprising performance from the light.
It was a tad wet and muddy out on the roads this evening.