[Cycling] August Round Up.

August was a good cycling month for me.  After not really getting out in June due to holidays, and July to a lesser extent due to illnesses and work, it was nice to see August total reach 181 miles, the highest since May.  

The road bike saw a lot of action and I found some new routes and loops to add onto my rides.  The longest I managed was 31miles on a wet Saturday morning - but it was a lovely ride, looking forward to getting some more distance work in during the winter.  My only concern is taking the road bike out in the wet, windy and dirty conditions, so I might have to fall back on the MTB for some road work, maybe.

Speak on the MTB, he only got out 3 times apparently although it seemed like more.  I found another new bit of Thorndon to cycle round which includes a killer incline that I still have to spin in the lowest gear.  The MTB is still not the happiest bunny, I think I really need to get a new seat post and give it a proper once over and lubing.

Not sure what September will bring.  No leave planned and the weather will be closing in, so more wetter rides and more windy rides will be the order of the day.  Also, with the kids going back to school, the I think Thorndon will be quieter and that means I should be able to go there and work on the MTB more.

The burning question is... do I need a 3rd bike for use in the winter on the roads?  Maybe a cheap eBay hybrid with 700c wheels? ;)

August's Cycling Totals:

• Total Duration = 11h 46m 11s
• Total Distance = 181.07 mi
• kCal burned =9336
• Average Speed = 15.18 mi/h
• Average Pace = 4m 1s/mi
• Elevation Gain = 7595 ft
• Elevation Loss = 7785 ft
• Activities = 12 (9 Road, 3 MTB)

You should be able to chekc out my rides here: http://www.runtastic.com/en/users/Toby-Marsh-2

[Cycling] July Roudup.

Not sure why I haven't posted about any individual rides during July; but here is a roundup anyway.

I only managed to get out 7 times in the whole of July - not exactly brilliant, but not terrible - 3 times on the MTB and 4 times on the road bike.  Most of the cycling was on previously established routes, although I did find:

1. A new bit of offroad in Thorndon that added an extra mile to that ride. Interesting, uphill on wet grass is a killer.

2. I tried out a blast along the A128 fro Orsett.  Was OK, but too much fast traffic to make it a regular ride.

My times for the routes I've been doing before have got better and better, so I need to push one and increase duration and distance on the road bike.  Not too fussed about longer MTB rides at present as there is still a fair bit of Thorndon to explore if I need to.  Got to try and aim for a 30 miler this month, sure that is doable if my knee is OK (I popped it trying to chase a fitter cyclist up the hill in Dunton...) and the weather stays alright.

July's Cycling Totals:

• Total Duration = 5h 50m 49s
• Total Distance = 85.81 mi
• kCal burned =6313
• Average Speed = 14.49 mi/h
• Average Pace = 4m 17s/mi
• Elevation Gain = 3822 ft
• Elevation Loss = 3829 ft
• Activities = 7 (4 Road, 3 MTB)

[Cycling] June's final ride.

Another month of cycling done, and I have not gone nearly as far as I should have done. Only covered 60 miles in total, that's my previous weekly total during May! Next month, with no business trips or holidays planned, I should get some more serious mileage under my belt.

Anyway, so today's ride was the first dry road bike ride since 3rd June and the first time on the road bike since I got soaked in the middle of June; so I thought I might be a bit rusty. It seems not. Wasn't sure which route to take, but I decided on a nice jaunt round the local back-roads and a blast down the A128 home. All good, managed to keep some decent pace, only really slowed on 1 hill when I hit a wall. Not, not a physical wall... my legs started to remind me that they hadn't cycled this far in a while!  Maximum speed of 34mph, total of 15miles, 52 mins and 594' of elevation gain.  Good times.

So, yeah decent ride. Apart from almost being knocked off my some old dear in a Rover Metro. I was turning off the A128 (turning left) to head back home and she was turning across to go down the same road, but coming from the opposite direction. She either didn't look or thought I was going much slower than I was (I was doing about 20) and pulled right into the spot I was in. She missed my front wheel by 7 inches or so. No doubt that had I been heading straight and not turning, she would have hit me, and the combined speeds of 25 and 25 would have seen me damaged in a major way. As it was, she missed me so I shouted a loud warning but she couldn't hear me. I dropped a gear, paced it after her and when she had parked up, calmly (I know, I couldn't believe it either) explained that she almost knocked me off. She apologised profusely and explained she hadn't seen me, but that she always looks for cyclists. To be honest, I'm not sure she could see that well and could hardly get out of the car. Bah... but I didn't let it spoil my ride. Just wish my helmet camera had been charged and I had taken it with me so I could show you footage!

June's Cycling Totals:

• Total Duration = 4h 26m 53s
• Total Distance = 59.88 mi
• kCal burned = 4239
• Average Speed = 13.43 mi/h
• Average Pace = 4m 45s/mi
• Elevation Gain = 3133 ft
• Elevation Loss = 2979 ft
• Avtivities = 6 (3 Road, 3 Dad's MTB)

[Cycling] Wet Sunday Blast.

First proper wet ride today, a very quick 9 miles out to Bulphan and looped back as I was soaking.  I only went out in my lycra gear and a cotton tee underneath.  2 notes: 1 my saddle-toolbag isn't waterproof at all; 2. put your BlackBerry in a ZipLock bag next time Toby.

The road bike was OK in the wet.  Lots of spray off the wheels and the front was a bit skittish round some of the bends.  Amazed at how much faster you want to go when you are dripping wet, I even took a tractor towing a trailer or hay at one point by putting it in top gear and grinding up to 25mph on a rough road.  Was pretty cool, but needed some peddling to keep ahead afterwards.

[Cycling] Lunchtime Figure-of-eight 15.

Went out for a quick ride at lunch today as the sun was out and I'm in need of getting some mileage under my belt before Im on holiday and sans velo for over a week.  Had to be the road bike as I fancied some speed/pace rather than woodland.  Couldnt decide which route to take so I decided to just get on the bike and ride.  Ended up going on a figure-of-eight loop around Bulphan and North Ockendon.

Ended up being a very decent lunch hour route.  14.58 miles, 53 minutes, 360odd foot of climb.  Nice, will have to bank this one for more lunch rides to check for improvements of pace and speed.  The last 2mile leg on the A128 was a bit so-so with all the HGVs and delivery vans; and there was A LOT of headwind when heading east...

The sun also seemed to bring out the SMIDYs ("Sorry mate, I didnt see you").  Had a few, managed to catch a couple on the helmet camera:

The first was 1 minute into the ride, she just wasnt looking for a cyclist when she started to pull out of her drive, but I could see that from a long way back so I pull out and slowed down.  Thankfully she did stop and smiled an apologetic smile.  2nd one was stupid, the camera shot doesnt show how close I actually was to her; either she didnt look up the road she was entering or she assumed I was going a lot slower than I was.  She did the classic if-I-look-dead-ahead-maybe-they-wont-see-me and sped off down the road.  A few close passes (1 plonker on the phone in his aged Renault Escape whilst close passing), lack of indication and some engine rev'ers to get by you after you have filtered... never mind, I enjoyed the sun and the ride.

[Cycling] Bank Holiday 22 Miler.

Nice weather means the road bike comes out.  And it was great cycling weather today - little bit of sun but also some cloud cover, warm air but also a nice breeze - excellent.

Went out without a planned route in mind, ended up going for a nice 22 miler; West Horndon to Thames Chase, up to North Ockendon, Bulphan, Dunton, Dunton Wyatts, Herongate, back to Bulphan on the A128 and then home to West Horndon. Almost bailed at the first pass of Bulphan as I developed a stitch on the climb at Thames Chase, but glad I carried on and took the climb at Dunton/Herongate well if a little slow.

Total mileage was 22.36 miles, in 1hour 22minutes, average speed of 16.22mph and top speed of (only) 32.11mph.  I need to work on my cadence down hill to boost that speed up.  I did manage to get some decent flat speeds, so happy with that.  Total climbs of 738ft and approx. 1k kCal burned, so a decent run.  I also tried out my Veho Muvi camera on this run.  I used the clamp from the Sports Pack to mount it on the stem of my Carrera Virtuoso, which annoyingly gave the camera too much "up" and I ended up with lots of shots of the blue sky and the road on the very bottom of the screen.  Never mind, I'll try mounting it on my helmet next time and see if that helps the angle, but also the judder/wobble from  the road.

I've edited the ride (well most of it, lost the last blast back from Bulphan as the card was full) down to 4 mins (so about x16 speed) and added some UNKLE over the top for your pleasure...

So apart from the angle, it seems to be rather good for the size and price.  Might have to get a bigger microSD card at some point though, but Im not sure there was more at 2 hours battery in it anyway.