Getting ready to give it a go... 'Hello Nello'

[Mandragora]

Tues 2th May
Total distance: 33.23.
Route : out to Morchard Road, Copplestone, Crediton, Shute, Exeter, Topsham and on to Lympstone via Exe Estaury trail
Time: 2.43.02
Av speed: 12.41
Weather: Strong head wind for first ten miles, then either tail wind or no wind for the rest.
Traffic: Yup! Two stretches on A377.
Cadence: 74 as often as possible - very easy to maintain/go higher on cycle path stretch. Had to lower expectations in headwind/hills.

Lovely day for a bike ride, so I decided to have a go at the 'last page' of the route and carry on along the Exe Estuary as far as Lympstone - met there by my husband, who'd been lured out with the promise of a pub lunch.

As I suspected, this section isn't too bad once you get to Credition - more downhill than up, and the back road run into Exeter is pleasant. I'd thought going on to Lympstone would take it up to about 40 miles, but it was lower - 33 miles. I had plenty of energy left and I could have continued out to Exmouth, but I didn't want to upset my 'taxi' service and keep him waiting! Will try for 40 miles plus when we're away camping in France in a fortnight.

 

[Mandragora]

Weds 13th May:
Total distance: 12.71
Route : Hilly route to Pennymoor; Cruwys Morchard; Cruwys Woods - Nomansland - home
Time: 1.10.10
Av speed: 10.86
Weather: Perfect cycling weather - bright Spring evening
Traffic: Boy racers driving enormous tractors instead of Ford Fiestas
Cadence: 73/74 seems to be fine for now - sticking with it!

Slow - but three bleeding great hills and a few 'get out of the way and wait till it's gone' decisions relating to nut-job Young Farmers out to prove just what big, tough boys they are - is the main excuse reason for this.

 

[neil_merseyside]

All these averages (but last) are above mine and I'd not bat an eye at a 100k or 100m as the only real difference is time taken to complete, but only as a one off event though! and a saddle may need to be avoided for a day or so!

 

[Mandragora]

Family down for the weekend, and also a caravan to get ready for next week's trip, so only time for a quick 'round the block' tonight (it's a route I've used for most of the last year, trying to do it three or four times a week - it's short, but with a stinker of a hill on it that makes it feel as if you've done at least one challenging thing). That'll be it till mid-week I think.

Hopefully get some good distances in the following week though

Fri 15th May:
Total distance: 5.67 miles
Route : Round the block
Time: 27.41
Av speed: 12.29 mph
Weather: Some wind, but circular route - no win no loss
Traffic: Light
Cadence: 74

 

[Mandragora]

Update: In France, doing cycling. Also managing the occasional bit of sunbathing and the odd glass of wine.

 

[jazzkat]

I've enjoyed reading this. Great going @Mandragora there's nothing like a foreign 'training camp' to get you going
You are doing some great average speeds in some challenging terrain.

 

[Mandragora]

I'm pleased with the speeds I'm getting out here (15mph the other day) but as the terrain here consists of beautifully smooth and fabulously easy "pistes cyclable" any times or average speeds I achieve are wholly deceptive compared to anything I could ever dream of doing in hilly Devon!!

 

[jazzkat]

Don't be so tough on yourself, you've been doing 10-12mph averages in Devon. I'd class those as good averages.

 

[Mandragora]

Last long French ride - Lit et Mixe to the lakes north of Mimizan and back, via Cap de l'homy. 58 miles altogether, and a mini tantrum in the tourist office due to the woeful signage in the town for where the route was, and the way they ignored me for 5 minutes in the way only French officials can. Still, a fab ride on a fantastic cycle track. Back home to hills and cars tomorrow.

 

[Mummy3monkeys]

Good luck. I'm a Norfolk girl too @Saluki , and just had a holiday in the Yorkshire Dales, what a shock. But the more I rode, the sooner I realised I could do it. Yes I walked up some really steep hills, but I rode up more and more. Then managed 60 miles, legs fine.
So to op, go for it and good luck.

 

[Mandragora]

Don't be so tough on yourself, you've been doing 10-12mph averages in Devon. I'd class those as good averages.

That's really kind - I've no aspirations, really, beyond trying to keep myself motivated and doing any training and preparation I can fit in for this challenge coming up, so that I can finish it, and try to get round the course before midnight! I was anticipating that I'd be talking to myself here, and geeing myself along, so the fact that there are people who are mildly interested, and kind enough to reply has been a real bonus.

In my younger days I used to do a fair amount of distance running, but even with that, I was so slow I was wholly resigned to coming last or nearly last in anything I ever entered. When I was a kid, they used to put my name on the athletics team sheet with an aside 'Do it for the points, M, do it for the points'. I was perfectly happy just to tag along for the day out on the bus and the free Mars bars (there wasn't much to do in Lincoln in the late 1970's ). I think that childhood philosophy of resigned 'lastness' is going to stand me in good stead here, too. The only difference this time is that I have a feeling it's flapjacks rather than Mars bars, but that'll be fine!

 

[jazzkat]

That's really kind - I've no aspirations, really, beyond trying to keep myself motivated and doing any training and preparation I can fit in for this challenge coming up, so that I can finish it, and try to get round the course before midnight! I was anticipating that I'd be talking to myself here, and geeing myself along, so the fact that there are people who are mildly interested, and kind enough to reply has been a real bonus.

In my younger days I used to do a fair amount of distance running, but even with that, I was so slow I was wholly resigned to coming last or nearly last in anything I ever entered. When I was a kid, they used to put my name on the athletics team sheet with an aside 'Do it for the points, M, do it for the points'. I was perfectly happy just to tag along for the day out on the bus and the free Mars bars (there wasn't much to do in Lincoln in the late 1970's ). I think that childhood philosophy of resigned 'lastness' is going to stand me in good stead here, too. The only difference this time is that I have a feeling it's flapjacks rather than Mars bars, but that'll be fine!

"It's the taking part that counts" ha ha. I've always felt the same. I started time-trialing a few years ago and over a few years got fitter and faster, my philosophy was just do it for the fun. I'll admit I only came last on the first one and I did and managed to put some respectable times in but even then it was just for the fun of it.
There's a quote from an old racer that goes something like, it doesn't get easier you just get faster. Keep putting the miles in and your speed will pick up.

 

[Mandragora]

Back from France, where I managed to do a fair bit of riding on fantastic cycle paths. Not totally sure about the details of each ride, but altogether I did about 150 miles, with average speeds on the longer rides of 13.5mph-ish, so pretty pleased with that. The longest one was:
Fri 29th May
Total distance: 58.28 miles
Route : Mimizan lakes and back via Homy
Time: 4h, 19.58
Av speed: 13.44 mph
Weather: Perfect
Traffic: None
Cadence: 74-78 most of the time

Most days I did at least cycle to the beach, round trip of about 16 miles, and average speeds improved over the week, eventually settling around 14-15 mph, and on one heady day I hit 16mph for the return ride- a personal best! It was all done on my old bike (Kona MTB, which is heavy!), so overall I was pleased. It gave me a chance to have a good old go at seeing if watching cadence rather than mph makes a difference, and is something I can sustain. What I've actually found is that, compared to the times I was getting last year on the same routes with the same bike is that it makes a bit of an improvement (though I won't be bidding for a place on Team Sky any time soon) and does feel easier. My legs seemed to be hitting mid to high 70 cadences without any issues on these relatively easy routes, and I was less tired at the end of the longer rides than I had been when I'd done similar last summer on these routes. So, in a low-key 'What the heck, it doesn't really matter' sort of way, I think it's something I'm going to keep on using as I prepare for the 28th (Which seems very close now!!).

Right - back to the grindstone at work and filthy weather on Tues means I've only done one quick 'round the block' - here it is:

Weds 3rd June:
Total distance: 5.59 miles
Route : Round the block
Time: 26.24
Av speed: 12.72 mph
Weather: Fine
Traffic: Stopped twice due to oncoming traffic/narrow road
Cadence: 74

 

[Mandragora]

Fri 5th June:
Total distance: 20.03 miles
Route : Cruwys Woods, Littleborough Cross, Morchard Bishop, home
Time: 1:39:40
Av speed: 12.05
Weather: Fine
Traffic: Ooo-err. Lost a bit of confidence since being away from traffic for a couple of weeks. Will have to get out and about a bit more.

 

[Mandragora]

Sat 6th June
Total distance: 31.73 miles.
Route : Loop including Cruwys Woods, Morchard Bishop, Morchard Road and return.
Time: 2:37:49
Av speed: 12.06
Weather: Head wind on road out.
Traffic: Light, but had to stop a couple of times due to narrow road/big cars wanting to get past.


Yaay! I'm making (a bit of) progress. Practically the same run as I did in post one about a month ago, but a little bit faster (not quite sure why it's a little bit shorter - I thought it was exactly the same route - oh well). I've also worked out how to download a strava-style app on my phone (my Nokia Lumia doesn't 'do' Strava. it turns out). This tells me that there was a total of 2009 ft of ascent, before the phone ran out of charge at 25 miles. I have no idea if that's a lot. It sounds a lot, doesn't it? 2000 of anything's always a lot. The hill I've been whining about is 17% at the steepest point. That doesn't sound much, but I have no idea, really... Now, a 2000% climb - THAT would be a lot.....