Tuesday 17 August 2010
Monday 16 August 2010
Day 3 - End of Cycle & Snowdon
Day 3 – End of Cycle and Snowdon
Up at 6:30am for the drive back to Ty Nant where we finished yesterday. We spotted a few marker points signalling the top of climbs and mentally noted these for the beginning of the ride.
Legs felt fresh though ankle still sore and needed looking after. Not too much out of the saddle stuff today.
It was just around 18 miles to Betws-y-Coed where we were to stop for a quick rest. The ride was a fairly steady uphill climb and with fresh legs we reached the top without really noticing we were climbing. What a good night’s sleep does for you!! There was then a nice long downhill winding ride into the village which we just enjoyed and let the bikes coast. A great feeling after al
l the climbing.
A five minute rest then onto the last 9 miles of the ride up to Pen y Pas and the bottom of Snowdon where the climb would begin.
This was tough exposed riding with a head wind and a steady climb. Slowly the nine miles ticked down and we reached the turn to Pen y Pas. I knew now that we had one more steep climb and then we would be done. One final push up the hill and we were there. Only Snowdon to go!
We ditched the bikes and got changed in the back of van ready to hit Snowdon. Plan was to go up the Pyg track and down the Miners as easier on the legs.
We made it up in under two hours and finally we were done after three days of hard physical graft! A quick dip in the icy cold lake at the bottom at the end helped refresh us after all the exertions!
This was a really tough challenge which looking back I enjoyed but definitely stretched us both physically and mentally. We swam 11 miles, cycled 176 miles, climbed nearly 11,000 feet on the bikes and then climbed Snowdon.
We are not yet quite there with the fund raising target so please, if you can, donate to the below site...
http://www.justgiving.com/pinnacle-3-peak-cycle-challenge
It is for a great cause! Thanks to those that have sponsored so far. It is appreciated.
Bike Stats - Day 3
Distance Cycled - 26.8 miles
Time in Saddle - 1hr 50 mins
Max Speed - 30mph
Avg Sod - 14.66mph
Feet Climbed - 1,751
Thank you’s.
Dad – for being a great support driver and motivator over the weekend
Jay –for putting up with all the training beforehand
Gill – we couldn’t have had a better guide on the Lake.
Day 2 - Cycling - All Day
The aim was to meet for breakfast at 6:30am. My phone rings. It is Dad. “Where are you?” It’s 6:45am and I am sleeping the sleep of the dead. Out of bed into shorts and a t-shirt and straight down to breakfast. Black coffee does the trick and a bacon sarnie. A quick shower and we’re ready to rock. On the road at 7:30am and feeling good.This is the day I wasn't looking forward to. We were aiming for 100 miles and there were going to be hills. The longest I have ever cycled is for 68 miles in one day so this was a bit of a step up. Still we were feeling good and for the first hour cruised along. No niggles from the day before. Happy days.Riding through the streets of Preston was pretty interesting.The route was a bit more obvious today so Dad (as support driver) would go on ahead and we would leap frog him every so often. This gave him a few opportunities to take some action photos of us as we were doing our best Lance Armstrong impressions.On a bike you have enough time to take in your surrounding and it was great seeing the old mills that had been converted into offices and apartments. Weirdly, we kept noticing oddly named hairdressers; my favourite being "Off Yer Head". How cool is that for a name?
The route today was to head out South to Wigan then onto Manchester then Chester and out to Wales on the route to Snowdon.
Our satnav device had a few tricks up its sleeve today and infuriated us on a couple of occasions by taking us on the "scenic route". This basically involved turning off the road we were on to invariable be faced with a ludicrously steep climb followed by a rapid descent only to come out on the same road we were on a few hundred metres further up. Pointless. We soon realised we had to out think this machine that clearly had no appreciation for the fact that we didn't really enjoy riding up pointless hills. We quickly learnt to ignore future requests.
We had our first proper food stop at a great named cafe called "Butty Licious" around 30-40 miles into the ride. Still feeling good.
We were now heading out towards Manchester and still going strong aiming to go around another 30 miles before the next stop which was planned to be a late lunch. Heath decided to put the hammer down up ahead and we were rocketing along at 22-23mph on the flats for around 45 minutes. I'm pretty new to road biking but for me this was fast and was killing me. I shouted ahead for Heath to stop as I needed a five minute time out and a banana to catch my breath. I was pretty much done and not at all enjoying myself.
The next hour was a lot steadier and I was just ticking over trying to keep going. We were now in Wales and aiming for Penyfford for lunch. It couldn't come soon enough. The picture shows us just stopping at around 72 miles. I was nearly broken. Check out the grimace.
The pub was pretty good with great food. The only problem was that the landlord thought it was a good idea to have a parrot in there which was making an alarming racket. He thought it was an even better idea to walk around the pub with it on his shoulder like some modern day pirate. I would have throttled it if I had enough energy.
Lunch was a pretty quiet affair. I knew there were hills to come for the last 30 miles and we were steeling ourselves for the horrible grind we knew was ahead. My ankle was also starting to play up as I was getting pain in the achilles very time I pedalled. Not too much I could do but try and look after it as best as possible. All too soon it was time to get back in the saddle and we were off into the Welsh hills.
The hills did not disappoint and after lunch we faced a relentless climb for around an hour. The scenery was stunning and after a couple of false dawns we finally reached the top of the hill side. It was awesome to look around and not see anything higher for miles but then unbeliviably around the next corner there was more to go. It was just head down and keep grinding the legs. Finally we broke the back of it and meandered up and down on top of the hills for a while.
We were heading to the last stop of the day called Ty Nant and with one final evil climb we reached the top and cruised down jubilantly into the village centre. Our aim was to go 100 miles and we had said that we would crack on if we were under that distance. We checked our navigation and it said 100.6 miles. Yes! 100 miles cycled. Day 2 done.
Bikes into the van and into Betws-y-Coed 20 miles up the road to our hotel. Time for a couple of beers.
Ride Stats
Distance 100.6 miles
Time in saddle: 7hrs 33mins
Avg Moving Time: 13.2mph
Max Speed: 32mph
Feet Climbed: 5,929
Day 1 - Windermere Swim & Cycle
We arrived in Ambleside which is on the Northern tip of Lake Windermere on Thursday evening at around 6pm. After checking in to our B&B we headed down to the Lake for a quick scout around to confirm where we would be starting from and to phone our guide, Gill, to arrange a meeting point.
After an interesting carb fuelled meal at Luigi's, a cunningly named Italian restaurant, we hit our beds early in preparation for a 5am start the next morning with the aim of starting the 11 mile
swim at 6.
Bleary eyed we awoke to grey skies and drizzle which we didn't really worry about too much. We were going to get wet anyway right? I just felt bad for our kayak guide Gill as it wasn't going to be much fun for her chaperoning us across a massive lake in the rain for hours. After loading the kayak with our drinks and food we were ready for the off at just after
six pretty much as planned. The game plan was to swim to the other side of the lake heading for Wray Castle and to follow the quieter East shoreline down to the bottom of the lake at Fell Foot Park some 11 miles away!
Upon entering the water it was immediately apparent that it was a fair bit colder than the rivers
and lakes we had been training in down South and I hoped that this wasn't going to be too much
of a problem. Our strategy was to complete the
swim in one hit breaking every half hour for a quick drinks break and every hour to take on some food. Drinks for me were Lucozade Body Fuel washed down with water and food was raisins, Mars bars and bananas.
The first two hours flew by and Heath and I were swimming comfortably at a steady pace and feeling good. The sun was struggling to break through and the fact that we were taking quick breaks helped keep the body nice and warm so the cold wasn't too much of a factor. We reached Belle Island at just after two hours and had to wait for the ferry to go across before we could
continue on.
At around two and a half hours in my shoulders started to ache and we were just swimming from one half an hour break to the next. At around the four hour mark the shoulders were getting really sore and it was a matter of concentrating on the stroke to try and stay efficient and just ignore the pain and keep the arms turning. It gave me a chance to take in the stunning scenery and appreciate where we were.
The wind coming down the lake was very strong and whipping up waves that threw us off our stroke pattern and which were breaking over our heads at some points. Not great turning to breathe and just sucking in a wall of water! Still it kept things interesting. There wasn't a lot of other activity happening on the lake as I guess the wind had put most people off.
Gill warned us there would be a few "false finishes" and after looking up to think that the finish was just ahead but then realise that around the slight bend was more lake the spirits were waning. After about 4 hours it was a case of "are w
e nearly there yet?". Gill did a fantastic job of keeping us motivated and gave us the final words of inspiration that we needed at our last drinks stop to keep us going to the end which was 40 minutes away. Coming into Fell Foot Park the arms felt like lead but finally we started passing the moored boats and reached the pier which signalled the end of the swim. Time of 5 and a half hours. Part one complete!
After getting changed out of wetsuits and taking on some pasta for lunch it was time to get the bikes out of the van and get kitted up for the first leg of the ride down to Snowdon. The aim was to get around 40 miles in the bag today with a long cycle of around 100 miles on Saturday.
To aid our navigation we had bought some whizzy GPS unit for the bike which was basically a small Tom Tom unit. I had painstakingly spent hours planning our route before hand so that we wouldn't have to map read on the way. Come the big moment the whizzy machine decided that it was all rather to complicated and shut down. Damn. After a few hiccups we plugged in the town we were heading to and hit the road. Our first five miles was horrendous as we basically turned onto a dual carriageway with heavy side winds and trucks passing what felt like with inches to spare at over 70mph. This was not fun and dangerous. Our support driver (my Dad) and van was dispatched off ahead to the end of the route as we weren't sure which route we would now be taking.
Finally our satnav woke up and directed us off the road of death to a more scenic route where we
were now in our element. At around 30 miles in we stopped for a break just outside Lancaster at a lovely pub called the Plough. We felt great and had some quick liquid refreshment to keep the sugar levels high. Whilst there we got talking to a few locals who chipped in with a donation -
cheers Bill!
The last twenty miles were pretty steady riding through to our hotel just north of Preston. Heath had been taking energy gels which seem to give you big energy spikes followed by a sudden dip. The dips are not pleasant and I refuse to now use these preferring the slower release energy from bananas etc. Heath hit a massive dip around five miles out from the end but it was nothing that an old school Mars bar couldn't fix. Energy restored - we were back and on our way to the bright lights of the Ibis off the M6 outside Preston. We know how to do it in style!!
Dinner of pasta, in bed by 10, up at 6:30am and on the road at 7:00am the next day.
Day 1 done.
Ride Stats
Distance - 48.6 miles
Feet Climbed - 2981
Many thanks to Gill of Lake Windermere Canoe & Kayak you were great and we couldn't have done it without you! If you are up in Windermere and want to get out on the lake these are the guys to see!!
Thursday 12 August 2010
Ready for the big off
In Windermere for the big off tomorrow. Weather not looking too hot for tomorrow though rain shouldn't affect us too much. Scouted the starting point earlier so we are all set. Up at 5 and in the water at 6 . Can't wait.
Sunday 8 August 2010
Saturday Ride - 68 miles -- Fat Boys on the Road
Today was to be our last training ride before we set off with the aim to complete around 70 miles.
We left fully kitted out with snacks and drinks to keep us going and were on the road at around 7:30am. A nice early start avoiding much of the traffic.
Setting off from Marlow we headed out to Henley, Wargrave, Sonning, Wokingham, Crowthorne then back Twyford Way to Henley. The first 40 or so miles were pretty flat and we were making good time and feeling pretty comfortable despite my ludicrously tight hamstrings (must do more stretching).
We were stopping for breaks every hour for around five minutes to stretch out and take on some food to keep the energy levels high. My lower back gets extremely uncomfortable sat on the bike for so long so a few minutes of relief every hour makes the world of difference for me.
When we do the big ride the plan is to do the same every hour and then have a longer break every 3 hours for brunch/lunch/tea. I was keen to implement this today and suggested that we stop in a coffee shop somewhere nice around Henley at the 3 hour mark. Visions of sitting outside Cafe Rouge watching the world go by half an hour were keeping the legs spinning and the miles clocking up. We got to Henley but far too early - only 2 1/2 hours in and decided to press on. Surely there would be something equally as good up the road!!
What I didn't know is that Heath was keen for us to tackle a quite nasty climb, through Pishill, which isn't really steep but just seems to go on forever. I must admit that I found the going tough and not knowing when the appropriately named Pishill would end was extremely demoralising. It was one of those situations when you are knackered and your hopes get raised as you think that the top is just around the next corner but instead of the top there is just more road to climb with an increasing gradient. This kept happening until I was in my lowest gears and running out of puff and then I saw a road sign which signalled that the misery was about to end.
I caught up with Heath at the top (who had blasted off ahead of me) and he had managed to pop a spoke and now had a slightly buckled wheel which wasn't looking good. I was knackered and in need of a break so we pressed on up to Christmas Common a few miles up the road to try and get into the pub there where we were too early last time for a sandwich and a cold drink - the food is excellent there so my spirits were raised.
Unfortunately we were again too early and had to make do with filling up our water bottles from the hosepipe next to the dog bowl. Some things never change. Deflated we rode on to the next town Stokenchurch with the hope of finding somewhere half decent to rest for half an hour or so.
Riding into Stokenchurch there were around 100 or so Harley-Davidsons parked outside the pub as there was a local ride out happening and they had organised a big hog roast at the pub for the Harley riders. We parked up our bikes and gate crashed the party desperate to get hold of some freshly roasted pork (and crackling) in order to restore the energy levels.
To say we got some odd looks would be an understatement as we quickly realised that we looked somewhat out of place. We were surrounded by the typical rough looking biker sorts with leather jackets and all the gear and then there was us with lycra shorts, tight cycling tops and funny cycling shoes. Whilst in the queue it was gently pointed out that this was for "Harley Riders" only but I explained that we also came on two wheels and were starving. This seemed to generate a degree of sympathy and when asked whether we had any chrome on our bikes we dutifully lied telling them all that our bikes were chromed up to the max and then we were in. Five minutes later I was gorging on said pork bap (with crackling) and a happy camper. The food also consisted of roast potatoes, stuffing, burgers and sausages. Not exactly what a sports nutritionist would be recommending I am sure.
Upon leaving the pub it was now us who felt like the fat boys as our over indulgent lunch felt like I had a football stuffed down my top. Another important lesson learnt in not overeating!!
From Stokenchurch we doubled back to Ibstone and then made our way back to Marlow via Fingest. Heath lost another spoke on the back (I'm sure it was nothing to do with the extra weight after lunch!!) and we made it back in one piece - 68 miles covered. Not a bad effort.
Feel in shape now for the ride, will probably do a spin class or two this week to keep the legs ticking over. Can't wait to get stuck in.
Still collecting....
Bike Stats
Distance Covered: 68 miles
Moving Time: 4hr 40m
Total Time: 5ht 53m
max Speed - 38mph
Avg MOv Speed - 15mph
Feet Climbed: 3,647
Max Gradient: 9.7%
Friday Morning Training
Friday mornings are just so much easier than the rest of the week. There is no need to hit the snooze button as I instantly have that Friday feeling knowing that the end of the week has arrived and get out of bed with an extra spring in my step.
Friday was an absolutely gorgeous morning with four turning up for a workout. Started with a fairly steady downstream swim for about 20-25 mins then a quick rest. We passed the resident local heron who likes to keep a low profile just back from the river's edge and then swam through a bevy (apparently this is the correct collective) of around 30-40 swans. I was fairly careful to keep the splashes to a minimum as after experiencing 1 swan attack me before it would be pretty unpleasant for all of this lot to come after me so the less provocation the better.
We stop to turn around at the water inlet between Marlow and Bourne End and have a quick rest before heading back against the current.
I increased the pace on the way back and swam sets until the end using strokes and alternating between hard and steady. It is amazing how much quicker the swim goes by if you can keep your mind working on calculating sets and keeping track of your stroke count.
I was aiming to catch some of the others guys that were swimming this morning but wasn't quite fast enough. Maybe a little less rest next time and I will have a chance!
So nice to swim out in the open with the sun shining - good times!
Thursday 5 August 2010
Nearly There
Not too far to go now before the big event and the plans are coming together.
The route has been prepared and plugged into the sat nav we have got for the bikes. It wouldn't be much fun navigating by map every other mile! I have painstakingly calculated the route so that the ascent isn't too bad going into Snowdonia. Despite my efforts we still have to climb around 6,500 feet most of which is on the final day when we will be pretty knackered.
We have a final long training bike ride on Saturday morning where we hope to test the sat nav out and do at least another 60 miles. I have even bought a new cycling top so that I look the part!
The accommodation is now all booked and we have a support kayak courtesy of Lake Windermere Canoe & Kayak and Gill who will be putting up with us for the morning.
Starting to get a little apprehensive but also excited at the same time. I hope I have done enough training to get through. Perhaps I should open up a sweepstake on how many times I fall off to raise a little extra money??
Talking of money we are raising money for Naomi's House and have a target of £2,500.
We have hit 23% so need a little more - follow the jump to support us....
This week has been mixed training wise as I had a long weekend away over in N Ireland at a wedding. I still managed to fit in a couple of spinning classes and will be hitting the river tomorrow morning for a steady hour.
Not long...
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