My First Audax

 The main thing that I have been doing during lockdown, other than remote working, is getting out on my bike.  This built up my fitness to the point that I was able to do my first Audax.  Not a big one, only about 160k, but more than enough to start with.

For those of you who do not know, an audax is similar to a sportive.  However, where a sportive will have feed stations and helpful road signs saying go this way.  An audax has a start base.  You do not have maps or similar.  It has a gpx file that you can download onto your phone or gps computer.  You can then follow this on a map app.  You ride and turn up at checkpoints, which are signs with a number written on them.  You take note of the number on a score card.  In addition to this you have a card that tells you when to turn and what road you should be on.  Useful, but this is all about the electronics.  You have ten and a half hours to complete.

I found out about these events from YouTube.  More specifically, Katie Kookaborough.  A youtuber who does stupid millage.  Typically, she will do 200k, but also does 400 and 600k events.  So I used a lot of her advice on how to set up for the event.

A lot of this I knew already, since I have done trailquests (Mountain bake orienteering).  However, some things I got from GCN and other helpful sites. So, what advice can I give and what can I tell you?

This shows my bike in roughly the configuration that I rode with, minus the handle bar bag and phone holder.

First is the bike set up.  I ride a Giant Defy 1, with 105 gearing.  This is not a race bike, but has been designed with Sportives in mind.  Rather than extreme race geometry, it is a bit more comfort orientated.  Also, the rear cassette has a good range of 12-30.  This means that it can peddle comfortably and do a good job on hills.  It has a compact chainset, which means two cogs.  Overall a nice all rounder.  I originally bought it as a commuter, but have had fun with it just going out for a ride. I have set up shimano peddles to fit with Look cleats.  Originally I had spds, since I was used to these from my mountain biking.  However, over long distances, I tended to get hot spots.  Sore feet at the point where the spd joined the shoe.  The look peddles are larger and distribute the pressure on the foot.  So comfortable over long distances.  Tire presure was set to 110 psi.

I have a tool bag for the back.  This contains a multi tool, tire leavers, a chain breaker and a 10 speed power link.  

In my top tube bag I have a spare tube and a pack of scabs (Puncture repair patches that are pre glued.  All you do is peel of the backing and slap it on the hole.  A cheap bike lock.  I got it for a whole £2 and it will do for popping into the shops.  A debit card and a £10 note.  I also carried a battery recharging unit and the cable for my phone.  I had lost my cycle computer.  It died, so I got a handlebar mount for my phone and used a map called Komoot.  A very good map navigation app that is free and allowed me to download the gpx file.  The battery pack allowed me to navigate for a full 10 hrs, as the phone died after 40 miles.  The other thing in this bag was munchies.  A whole pack of jelly babies, three energy jells and a sports snack bar. I also had a zip bag of SIS Go powder.

In the handlebar bag I had a coat and a warmer set of gloves.

On the bike itself I have a cycle pump, a Moon rear light and two 1 ltr bottles of drink, both loaded with SIS Go.  This is a high carb, about 98% sports drink.  So as you can tell by my load out so far, I am taking fuel and breakdown seriously.

For myself, I wore a set of fingerless gloves, a cycling top, with full length front zip, a set of cycling shorts, cycling shoes (Lake) and a Kask Mojito helmet.  In my pockets I had two zip bags of jelly babies, two energy jells, a sports bar and car keys.

Soooo, the event itself.  I turned up at the sports hall and parked up where directed.  Assembled the bike.  Munched a banana (Potasium, good for the start of this sort of thing).

At the checkpoint I was given my turn by turn guide (A sheet of paper in a clear zip bag).  I asked for a spare zip bag.  In case it rained it would keep my phone dry.  Once the start time was written on the card (I was half an hour late starting at 0830) away I went.

The previous year I had gone on a Sportive organized by the same club.  It was only 60 miles, but it started off a bit cloudy.  It turned into a scorcher and I had not suntan lotioned.  Big mistake.  Over 6 hrs in the saddle.  Think lobster. So I suntanned up before leaving this time.

Heading off I felt good.  In fact, I felt good all of the way around until the final 10k.  I did about 30 miles before stopping for munchies.  This took about 10 mins and had allowed my legs to recover a bit. Fortunately I was familiar with all the roads, as I had chosen my first event to be local.  That way, if I ran into trouble, I would know how to get home.  I stopped and chatted with another rider before hitting the road again.  I talked to another couple about 5 miles further on.  They seemed surprised that I had opted for 160 k first time out.  But I have been doing lots of riding and had done long distances as training.  OK, not 100 miles, but respectable runs.  

I also met the Treds cycle club on the run.  I thought that they were fellow competitors, but they were just out on a club run.  A bit slow, but it was the slow component of the club, with first timers.  We chatted and had a good laugh before I pealed off.

I was quite slow compared to other riders, but many of them were on the 100k route.  So I was looking at the long game.  I made it to the first checkpoint, but the checkpoint was not easy to find.  Fortunately it was close to a pub, so I took a picture of the pub sign before riding off.  Pretty easy riding.  The second checkpoint was more fortunate and easy to find.  Lots of cyclists milling about.  So One gave me an Eccles cake and we chatted before heading off.  A few miles later my phone started to die.  A quick look showed 5%.  So I plugged in the battery pack and it started to re-charge.  I left it in for the rest of the run.  For a £5 cheapie it worked well.

A bit later on I came across a rider I had met earlier.  Steve did not look happy and was thinking of quitting.  So I told him that what he needed was cake.  Since I knew the roads and went past Rutland water, I encouraged him until we could stop at the Rutland visitor area.  We both got large tea and a nice lemon cake.  Sat for a bit and chatted before setting off with both refreshed.

I stayed with Steve for the rest of the run and we just road, chatted and kept each other on target. We met another rider at the next check point.  A doctor who was just the same as us.  Out for the fun of it.  She did say she would ride with us for a bit.  We did, but she was much faster than us and left after a while.  Towards the last 20 miles I ran out of water.  Stopped at a pub and got a refill, topping up the Go powder into the bottle.  

The last 20 miles were a bit brutal and I needed to stop a couple of times.  However, I could not find the last checkpoint.  To be fair I didn't look too hard.  Just rode until I got back to the event building.  I was done in.  Trouble walking, the whole nine yards.  Also, I had trouble keeping warm, even though it was 15 degrees out.  I should have eaten more regularly I think.  Anyway.  10 hrs 14 mins total.  I gave Steve a lift to the train station and then went via the chippy.  Pie and chips had been on my mind for the last 30 miles.  It got me back.  

Anyway, when I got home and had lunch, a hot bath and early bed were in order.  I was creme crackered.

So what lessons were learnt?  I think I had prepared as well as I could, but should have been more regular on munchies, but other than that I had prepped enough.  I needed a new cycle computer, that was for sure.  Also, if I was going to do this over the winter, or the longer distances that happen over night, then I would need better lights.  Another thing that I would need is gearing that I can manage in the last 20 miles.  I was flagging and struggling with the hills, so I took Katies advice and looked at replacing my 12-30 cassette with an 11-40.  Its an mtb gear and would need a bit of fettling to upgrade.

Sooo, plastic moment time.  I did some research and got the Wahoo Roam bundle.  This has a speed, cadence and heart rate monitor, as well as the computer, that has a good mapping set up.  This will allow me to plan routes and do much more than I have been with just a phone  This is a great bit of kit and I love it already.

For the lights, because I do road and MTB, I did not want a specific road or mtb set up, but looked for a middle of the road set up.  Exposure Race 15 fitted the bill and would give me more than enough burn time for any events that I could think of.

My last change was to buy the larger cassette.  However, to make it work I would need a hanger extender and a new chain.  Easy enough to fit, but needed help indexing it from my LBS.  Only just fitted it.  However, it gives me much more spread.  The 11 gear means that I have to peddle harder in the top gear, but it means that I can increase my speed with a bit of training.  The 40 tooth gear means that I can pretty much tackle any hill, just spin the gears quickly and I will be up any hill that comes my way.  Many people might be a bit meh about this, but by spinning quickly I am using the same power as if I was grinding away in my old set up.  The difference being that it will save my legs, allowing me to go further without noodle legs at the end of the ride.

This shows the new cassette set up.  A bit of a monster, but the initial ride looked promising.

So yes.  I enjoyed doing the audax and was so impressed I hit the plastic to make the next one even better.

I will probably review my purchases in future, but for now, happy cycling.

Alex

Blameless Drivers

I had a bit of a run in with a driver recently.  Fortunately, I got the incident on helmet cam to share.  Have a look at the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCVY06peNLg

Looking at the video, you might think that there was nothing wrong with this.  However, the problem that the driver had involved the corner that they were overtaking on.  You can not see what is coming until you are parallel with the corner itself.  So you have to treat this as a give way section if turning right.  So I believe that a word was in order.

I have posted her reaction.  Watch the video of the incident and her reasoning.  Make up your own mind on this.  However, not that with fisheye lenses she is a lot closer to me than the video indicates.

The point of this though is not if I am right or wrong.  But the attitude.  Is it me or was she a little condacending?  Unfortunately this is all too common of road users.  It is not just that they do not show respect or concern for their actions in relation to cyclists.  My problem is that they show no respect or concern for any other road user or pedestrian.

The superior attitude is common to motorists dealing with cyclists though.  The "I pay tax and have passed a test" mentality seems to quite common.  So if I didn't pay tax and hadn't passed a test, that is a death centence is it?

However, it is this attituted that breeds accidents and road rage, as one group feels disafected or challenged by another.  Apparently, I have an attitude.  Funny, it only shows when people try to kill me.

But ultimately, this is not just about cycling safety.  It is about general consideration and road awareness.  It is understanding that we are all mortal and do not like being reminded of it just because somebody is impatient or can not see the problem with opperating a one ton machine and texting at the same time, or rushing to overtake, just so that you can slam the anchors on and left hook for a junction.

So I suppose what I am saying is that this is not just about cars.  It is that we live in an impatient and intollerant society.  We expect our pizza to be delivered within half an hour.  We expect to have over 100 cable TV channels.  We expect information instantly via the computer, our phones and our TV.  And we drive accordingly.  We do not allow for traffic.  We do not allow for road works.  We only know that we should be able to do as we please and that all of our actions are perfect and justifiable.

Thoughts?

Luck

Lance Armstrong Movie

OK, is it me, or is there something fundamentally wrong with this?  At the moment it appears that several actors are clamoring over each other in order to play the discraced cyclist. 

Call me provincial, but I just don't get it.  The man is a cheat, a fraud and has managed to tell the biggest porkies since the British Rail timetable was last published.  And we are making movies about him because?

Please tell me that he is not getting a percentage of the takings on this one?

Grrrrrr.

2012 Olympics

Yesterday was a big day as far as the local olympic celebrations went.  The olypic torch came through Kettering.  My daughter took the day off of school to go and watch.  One of the torch bearers was Dean Barnett, a local sportsman.  He is ranked about 5th in the UK for cyclocross and does a lot for the local cycling community, including organising regular Go-Ride sessions for kids (Which is where my daughter recognised him from) and he does a mean Tuesday night skills session for the adults. 

This, as far as I am concerned, is what the olympics are about.  Bringing the sport to the people throughout the country.  So as far as the Torch goes, I think that the organisers have really got it right.

Now for the moan.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Olympics is not so national.  It is called London 2012 for a reason.  The rest of the UK is not included.  It is purely for London and Essex.  If I were running the games I would have planned events throughout the country.  Take the mountain biking for example.  The UK hoasts some really nice, world class mountain biking countryside.  Lots of epic terrain or interesting singletrack.  They did not even need to use an existing track, but could have picked from any number of locations to stick their course.  Wales has a lot of great terain, as does the North, where you have the Lake District, the Peaks, etc.  So where do the organisers decide to put the world class mountain biking venue.  Yep, you guessed it.  Near London. 

The Terrain for the MTB event is flat.  So they have had to build little hills.  The usual gnarly roots and natural obstacles that make this such an interesting and challenging sport have been replaced by rock gardens and man made obstacles, along with nicely paved track to ride on.  I think they missed the point, especially since the UK is a really muddy country.  Something that, if exploited, can give a really nice advantage to local riders or people used to UK conditions.  However, as it stands there are no snake like muddy bits, with roots.  No epic ascents or descents.  Just a moderate track of uninspiring, but camera friendly, proportions.  Ideal for 29ers, but....

Now I can understand the need to have the track events centralised.  After all, competitors will be competing in several events and it would be very stupid to have them wizzing all over the country for different events.  However, there are some events that are mutually exclusive.  Cycling competitors probably won't be long jumping.  Boxers will not be pole volting etc.  So the opportunity to stage different events around the country has been lost.  The Welsh call this the English games.  It is not even that.  The rest of us do not get a look in.

True, trains etc run to London and it has an airport etc.  But so does Birmingham.  Leicester is not badly served by support networks either.  Milton Keynes has a nice ice rink.  You get the idea.  The thing I find bites is that the whole country is paying for these events, about 12 billion.  And only London and the South are gaining benefit.

Nothing like undermining the North/South devide, especially where North is considered anything above the Watford Gap.

There you are.  Moan over. 

By the way.  Well done Dean.  You deserved to hold the torch.

Driver Reactions


I have been having a laugh at some of Magnatoms helmetcam videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/magnatom

For the uninitiated, Magnatom rides his bike to work everyday and records his route with a helmet video.  He gets a bit heated with his fellow road users since he posts any particularly nasty motorists on his web site.  He gets the police involved.  He has received verbal abuse, death threats, etc.  So what is he doing that makes people hate him so much?  Simple, he criticizes their driving.

Now some of his videos I agree with and some I don't.  He can be a bit mouthy at times, but he is from Glasgow.  The most interesting thing about his Youtube videos is the comments left underneath:

I hope you die.

I hope that somebody kicks the ***** out of you.

However, lots of the motorists are really peeved off that he:

A.  Slows them down.

B.  Doesn't pay road tax.

There seems to be a lot of motorists out there who feel that they have more rights on the road, just because they display a tax disc.  They were defending one van driver for tailgaiting the cyclist for just this reason.  Following that logical conclusion it follows that I am OK to stick my bumper 3 inches from theirs, just because I pay more road tax or drive a faster car than theirs.  Dumb.

The question of who is right or wrong seems to be lost on many drivers.  If you point out the errors of one driver, they take it personally, as though you have insulted theirs.  I watch one video from another helmet cam where some thug and his mates got out of their car and smacked a cyclist, before getting back into their car and driving off.  And motorists were defending this blatant act assault as somehow justifiable.

Another thing that I find interesting is the complete ignorance of the highway code that most of these idiots display.  The sort of motorists who offer death threats seem t assume that because you ride a bike you have never passed your driving test and that, by definition, they know the law and safe driving practice.  Hah.

So they don't understand the tax system.  Think they are the only ones who have a right to be on the road and are obnoxious when their errors are pointed out to them.

Einstein once said that he had hope for the future of humanity whenever he sees someone riding a bike.   I, on the other hand, despair for our future whenever I see anybody behind the wheel.

Luck

Adoption

OK so we are looking at adoption.  What a palava.  Interested in adopting a sibling group.  But it is not an easy process.  The want to know everywhere I have ever lived and same with partner.  They also want to interview relatives and have no qualms about getting my 80 year old parents over here, from Mid Wales, to be interviewed (Social workers don't skype).

The thing is, we already have a child.  This actually seems to penalise you.  They want a nice clean blank slate where they can get you to go on courses.  Looking at the course list that you have to go on.  What a load of bunkum.  The reason that you have to go on all of these courses is that adopted children are harder to deal with than other children.

OK, I agree to some extent.  However, reading the list of all the things that adopted children do, I can relate these things to my child and her friends.  All of the stuff that an adopted child will do and be blamed on their trauma, will also happen with children who are not adopted. 

It is sort of like the definitions of ADHD.  Reading down the list of things that could be attributed to adhd and, low and behold it is the same things that ordinary kids do.  Hmmm.

Also, aparently in order to avoid the, by the way your adopted thing when child is 18, it is recommended that you tell them sooner.  Fair enough.  But the guidance is to keep telling them and discussing it with them.  In short, you have to point out that they are adopted and different and not mine and that we expect you to be more trouble.  Talk about alienation and picking at a scab.

So back to the courses.  Some might be useful.  However, a lot of them are going to be a case of the social workers covering their butts.  Looking at the list of courses, they are trying to turn us into defacto social workers and not parents.  All of the literature talks about the problems but doesn't actually give any good advice about parenting.  What a load of tosh.  I am a parent and my child is happy, well adjusted and enjoys life in our family.  We don't keep telling her she is different or making excuses for her.  We are her parents.

There is an old army maxim that there are no wrong decisions as long as you make a decision and stick with it.  In short, you need to lead, not dither.  It is the same with parenting.  You need structure and consistancy.

I understand that it won't be easy, but a lot of the support and help I feel is the Social services ticking boxes and covering their butts.  Also, as well as spending months and months going through the selection process, you then can go from meeting the child to moving them into your home in as little as two weeks.  And, funny enough lots of families suffer difficulties.  Perhaps, and this is just me, you should cut down on the paperwork and courses and put more time into the handover process, so that you have a chance to get to know each other and address any concerns while still working in partnership with the foster carer.

I don't know, I just find the whole process unecessary in some areas, and weak in others.

Luck

Another Pot

This is my Fish Pot.  Fresh out of the kiln.

I am sort of getting into Japanese style, so this is in keeping.  White earthenware body, with underglaze.  Transparent overglaze and sprayed with cobalt.  Looks rather good, even if I do say so myself.