Mike_Jones
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under_the_arches
Bollocks to all that fixed gear caper. No good round the sticks too may hills! On the first audax I did there were a few nutters on them. Get to a hill and they are bolloxed, crunch crunch the chains get crunched in the wheels and free wheel!
Travis_Bickle
Daughter is now the proud and happy owner of her first bike!
gore
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Bielsa’s_Bucket
I've done it.....I set myself the challenge at the beginning of the year to do 100 miles in one day. Stupid thing to do as I knew that I wouldn't have the time to put in any sort of training, so recently began to think it wasn't going to happen. Last Saturday I took my 10 year old daughter to Leeds/Brighton, whilst driving home we passed a 'bigger than average' cyclist and my daughter began laughing. "He looks like you" she said "a fat man on a bike". I decided at that moment that I was getting up early on Sunday morning to do the 100 miles ?Saturday night, whilst eating a Chinese takeaway and downing my third bottle of Stella, I went on the ipad and googled 'how to prepare for 100 mile bike ride'. There were 10 week training plans, strict diets to follow, tips on tyre pressures.........nowhere was beef curry and Stella mentioned !!! What was I thinking ??? I planned the flattest 100 mile I could find and loaded on to my Garmin ready for the following day. My alarm went off at 530am. I had a banana, filled up my 2 water bottles with lucozade sport, got my bike out of the garage, said goodbye to the wife, and at 610am, off I went. I left Clayton and went through Lidget Green, Manningham, Bingley (past all the cars queuing for the car boot sale), Keighley and on to Skipton. I then began to worry that I'd fucked up with my route. In total my Garmin said I had to do approx 6000ft of climbing, up to this point I'd only done a couple of hundred !!! I continued up into the Yorkshire Dales towards Kilnsey Crag, then on to Kettlewell, all the while wishing for some hills to appear, but there was nothing ? At one point though, I was glad there were no hills, as I passed a couple of young lads lads on mountain bikes. I knew that if we came to an hill they would soon fly past me but the roads stayed flat enough for me to get some distance between us. I also knew that the further I went with no climbing, the more the hills would be crammed into the latter part of my ride, not good when you're carrying fifteen stone !! I continued through Starbotton then up to Buckden where I did a small loop which took me in a bit of a dirt road which had me panicking that I may get a puncture. I had a spare tube with me but find it impossible to get anywhere near the amount of pressure you need for road tyres with the 'pocket-rocket' pump I've got. Luckily I didn't need it. Once off the dirt road I was then heading south having covered around 40 miles. I still felt good but knew it was going to get much tougher. When I got back to Kettlewell, I took a left and rode on the opposite side of the river to which I'd been on earlier. I continued on to Grassington where I had my first stop. I called in the Spar and bought myself another bottle of lucozade sport and a bottle of water, and went to sit on a bench in the square. It was at this point that I realised I was struggling and this wasn't going to be easy. I'd only done 52 miles, had still done less than 2000ft of climbing and had been getting the early signs of cramp in my legs. The palms of my hands were hurting and I had a blister on my left heel. I sent my wife a text message updating her on my progress, she texted back wishing me luck and said I was doing well !! I ate the banana I'd brought with me and I set off again. There' s a right turn after Grassington which takes you towards Burnsall and Appletreewick, it's an easy turn to miss, and I did, again, but thankfully only got about 200 yards before realising my mistake and correcting myself. I headed down the road towards Appletreewick, passing Mason's campsite which was very busy. I really fancy a couple of nights there camping but my wife won't entertain the idea. I need to just pack me and my daughter off one weekend and go for it (with the dog of course). The next right turn took me on the road toward Barden Bridge. A couple of blokes on road bikes passed me on this road and I watched them in the distance take a left turn and disappear. Where they had turned left, I continued to the right, down an hill that is marked as 14%. I got to the bottom of the hill, just near to where the ice cream van parks next to the river, then noticed that my Garmin was bleeping away telling me that I had gone off course !! Fuck !! I had to ride all the way back up the 14% hill and take the road to the left which the other blokes had taken., resulting in around 200ft of climbing which weren't even part of my route. I continued on towards Bolton Abbey where i had to take a route which took me through the Abbey grounds. I saw the new restaurant there (i think it's new, don't ever remember seeing it there before), another one to add to the places to visit on a weekend. There was a bit of a climb coming out of the grounds, then on to the road where you pass under the bridge. I stopped at the top of the hill just after the bridge to take off my jacket. I said hello to a bloke on a bike who was struggling to keep up with the young girl he was with. She seemed to breeze up the hill with no effort at all, whereas he was puffing away and looked like he was about to keel over. She didn't wait for him either, she was away into the distance whilst he was still trying to catch his breath at the top of the hill. I was then on to the A59 for a short stretch before turning right on the back road which takes you towards Ilkley. I took care not to take the left turn which takes you up to Langbar, an hill I've done a few times, but not the sort you want to include in your first ever 100 miler ! I stayed on this road for a few miles, it takes you past Ilkley lido. I was somewhere near the lido when Ilkley cycling club passed on the other side of the road, there must have been at least 100 of them. I've still not found the urge to join a cycling club, I spend all my working week planning stuff so prefer to keep my weekends free to do just what I want without having to worry about commitments. This same road took me all the way into Otley and across the river, where there was a cafe which had another large crowd of cyclists outside. I plodded on, happy with my own company and headed towards Pool Bank. A terrible thought came into my head at this point, wondering whether I had to cycle up Pool Bank, which if you know it, is difficult enough in a car, never mind on a bike after about 80 miles ! Luckily my route took a left at the bottom and headed over towards Harewood House on the A659. Just before I reached Harewood House, the Garmin took me right up a road called Weardley Lane. It was around this time when I realised I only had about 20 miles to go, but still had around 3000 ft of climbing to do, and this was where the climbing started. Fuck me, my legs were turning to jelly when I began the climb which was taking me up towards Eccup reservoir. Another small cycling club passed me going up this hill. As I got up towards the top, a couple of the ones who had passed me were off and pushing their bikes, this gave me a bit of a boost, but also nearly tempted me to get off and push myself. The only thing that stopped me getting off was the fact that I knew how pissed off I'd be if I got home knowing that I'd not really cycled 100 miles as I'd walked for 200 yards, I struggled on. I then rode through Bramhope and took a right which took me around the back of Yeadon airport. Once past the airport and seeing the sight of Murgatroyds fish restaurant, I felt a slight relief as I knew exactly where I was and the remainder of the route I was familiar with. A bit of downhill now towards Apperley Bridge, where I flew down at high speed, buzzing at the fact that I knew I wasn't far from home and was going to complete my 100 miles. The buzzing feeling didn't last for long, I stopped at Greengates, just outside Kiplings, and suddenly felt sick at the thought of the last 7-8 miles being all uphill. I sent my wife a text telling her where I was and she asked if I wanted her to come and pick me up in the car ?? No way !!!! I then remembered the milk bottle sweets I'd packed. Even being stood outside Kiplings, these milk bottles tasted better than any meal I'd ever had. I set off again up the hill towards Undercliffe, every turn of the pedals was hurting now. I turned right down Northcote Road which took me down past Peel Park, down Kings Road and then up Queens Road towards Manningham. The amount of effort needed to keep the bike moving at 4mph is incredible ?? Up Carlisle Road and then the hard work was nearly over, a right turn on to Thornton Road meant about 3 miles to go before I was home. I actually found Thornton Roads slight, but long, incline not too bad, until I got to the point where I could see the top of Chat Hill which was my turning point to head home. I didn't seem to be getting any closer ? I then noticed my Garmin was at 99.9 miles and the sense of relief was enormous. I hit the 100 mile mark just opposite The New Tyke on Thornton Road and seriously considered phoning home to ask to be collected in the car. I didn't and I plodded on for the final 1 1/2 miles, up Low Lane and through the village to my house. The greatest feeling was knowing that I would never need to do that again........
Travis_Bickle
Legendary stuff! Well done mate. I did 25 miles going to the old man's for a natter. Let me know if you fancy a trip out on the road (joined the dark side now, was 'road' testing the new clip clop SPD-SLs yesterday).A great effort!
luxury_scruff
Great post LBB, really enjoyed reading that.
Raposa
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Foxy_Dread
Yeah good stuff, and well done. Hills cleanse the soul.I had an hour out on my IslabiIke Beinn 29er today, on top of the brief run out on it yesterday. Decent bike, well chuffed with it.I´ll write more on this tomorrow.
Young_Marxist_at_Tescos
If you weigh 15st and you've done a ride like that on your own, it's a fantastic effort.Very well done.
Ray_Hankin's_shorts
Sounds fucking horrendous - good work thoughNice description of the areas though - makes me homesick
Travis_Bickle
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Cuts
That was monumental. Well done pal. 100 mile round there I'd imagine flat is a relative term. I've had cars wouldn't make that trip. How are you feeling today?It's stuff like that that means you can't ditch OMJs and I was, once again, contemplating doing so. Oh, the shame.Great read, deserving of a wider audience.
MolOverBeethoven
You need your head examining but it must be a great sense of achievement.
Toronto_Ted
Shoes ... Sidi or Nothwave. Black obviously but any thoughts, opinions. had a pair of NW way back and after that used Sidi, with a brief period of Adidas, sneakers just don't work. Great read that LBB !
gore
Top effort LBB and great post. Will have the 'pros' diving for the supplement bottles and 'intensive training curry club' :D
Bielsa’s_Bucket
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Travis_Bickle
Just checked the Strava. Great effort mate. And I was planning Rochdale and back and worrying (50 miles-ish from here). Inspiring stuff.
Cuts
I've Northwave, they were on sale, no other reason. Like all my stuff cost wins out.
Travis_Bickle
Just bought some Shimanos. Same logic as Cuts. They were reduced from £70 to £25! Had done some digging before finding them. Northwave meant to be wide fitting and Shimano narrow. Sidi's cheaper shoes are made by someone else and 'badged' up.