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Cycling – 2011 Mileage, 2012 Targets

Adi, 4 Comments

The year drew to a close while I was away in Tanzania, so never got to write my spurt of year end posts. This, is a short fill-in for one.

My total mileage in

  • 2010 : 2,266 km / 1,409 miles
  • 2011 : 3,796 km / 2,359 miles

Here’s the month-wise breakup:

Jan’11, I was just feeling the cold and being lazy. Nov & Dec were lost to walking / hiking in preparation for for the Kilimanjaro ascent (which I successfully did on 23rd Dec).

I missed my target of 3000 miles for the year by a big margin, still 2011 was a much better year for my cycling. Some of the milestones of 2011 were:

Finally, coming to plans for 2012. They are simple (and slightly repetitive):

  • 4000 miles of riding, all inclusive
  • More sportives (attended only 2 this year)
  • Lower HR
  • Better Climbing (subjective, but important)
  • 100 50mile+ rides
  • LEJOG / Cycling vacation in Lake District
  • Cycling vacation on the continent, preferably closer to the Alps
  • Get Rags a road bike and get her riding hills with me :)

Doable? Check back at end of year.

P.S.: While I missed my year end target of 3000 miles, Steve hit it with ease, finishing the year at 3,024 miles. His target, though, was 4000 miles. Good luck to him for 2012.

Cycling – 2011 Mileage, 2012 Targets

30 over 30 Challenge

Adi4 Comments

Inspired by Chet, disappointed with my own laziness since returning from Barca, and in preparation for the December expedition, I’ve decided to take on the 30daychallenge:

Every day in November, I’ll be walking, jogging, running or cycling at least 30 mins. 30 days with at least 30 mins of activity each.

Yes, it could become hard if the winter sets in, but then what did I buy those training rollers for, if not to cycle indoors on bad days?

Keeping myself going irrespective of the weather, day of week and social or work engagements – That’s the challenge.

30 over 30 Challenge

First encounter with Box Hill

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Surrey Downs & Box Hill ride

The original plan was to ride to Brighton but having started really late, it became clear by the 1/3rd distance mark that I wasn’t going to make it in time for a return train. So, after getting over the Surrey Downs, I changed route and headed over to the famous Box Hill.

Frankly, it was a disappointment at first. I kept waiting for a killer climb but nothing came and suddenly I found myself in middle of the Box Hill village. This famous climb into Box Hill is featuring prominently in the road race at next year’s Olympics yet even the couple of Cat 5 climbs (acc to MapMyRide) in Surrey Downs had been much harder. The disappointment (actually, relief) was short-lived.

A quick review of the area on Google Maps in terrain view revealed a sharply rising road on other side of the village called, appropriately, Zig Zag road. At that point, I had two options – to head back the way I had come and just mark Box Hill as conquered or to head down the Zig Zag road and see for myself how much of a challenge it’d be.

Well, when I looked up after the first switchback on the way down to see how high the car I had just passed was, it became clear I may have bitten more than my legs & wheels could chew. Thankfully, I still had an exit clause. I could take an alternate route by passing Box Hill and climbing barely half of what ZZ road required in over 4 times the distance.

Took a short break, had a sizzling hot hotdog, a pepsi and some rest. Also used the time to research a bit and discovered that it was this Zig Zag road clilmb that was to feature on the Olympic road race route, not the easy tweasy route I had taken up earlier.

That bit of info was reason enough, so headed back up the Zig Zag rd.

Thankfully, saw a couple of other riders on MTBs just about 100m ahead of me so put in a bit of extra effort and quickly caught up with them. After that it was just a matter of using whatever of my will- & leg-power I could muster to stick with them. Made the climb without stopping even once and at least half the credit goes to those two fellas. Having them around prevented me from giving up midway or even stopping to take a break. It was the first time I realised how having a training partner, or few, could help one stretch self farther and improve faster.

After cresting the hill and passing through the village, it was a clean, mostly level or slightly downhill, 12 km stretch before I hit civilisation and red lights again. So, gave it a go and averaged, despite three red lights a little over 30kmph in that section. Once I entered Sutton though, it was just another urban ride with the magic of Surrey Downs and Box Hill well behind me. It became so boring that after a short break to buy some water, I even forgot to start the garmin (add 2.6km to the distance in the pic above for actual ride distance). Took a slightly roundabout way home so I could complete 100kms on the garmin and tick off this week’s century ride.

Done :)

P.S.: Just saw that I have totalled 859kms so far in June. Wondering if I should go for a 41-ish km ride tomorrow to take that total above 900 mark :)
P.P.S.: Total for the year, despite the dismal first 4 months, now reads 1200 miles. Still 520 odd miles short of Martin. I had planned to equal his mileage this year. Seems now like a tough ask.

First encounter with Box Hill

First 100 miler

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Failed to reach the target destination but still completed my first imperial century yesterday.

Had planned to ride to King’s Lynn on the North Sea coast in Norfolk. Unfortunately, a late departure meant I wasn’t sure I’d make it in time for the last train to London. So, stopped at a small town (or large village?) about 10 miles earlier. The distance already read 156km so rode around the town to take it over 161km mark :)

SJW To Downham

I’ve got a problem though. Every time I come back from one of these longish rides, the body just refuses to cool down. Like yesterday, though I took a long shower right after getting back, the body stayed burning hot till late into the night. It almost felt like somewhere inside the body was still burning calories at the same rate as while riding at the peak. 2nd consecutive ride this happened and I have no idea how to stop that. Any help is really, really, REALLY appreciated!

P.S.: The sun killed me! The temperature was only 25-27 C but was downing humongous amounts of water and still feeling dehydrated-ish all the time.

P.P.S: Haven’t test ridden the Synapse yet. If I can stay awake, then might test ride it today.

First 100 miler

A century… finally!

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1st Metric Century

Completed my 1st metric century today. Am damn happy to have finally gotten this behind me and amused by the manner in which it finally got done :)

Thing is I’d attempted this multiple times last October & November. Unfortunately, the October attempts were marred by the rotten, bent rear wheel and the November ones by sudden rains and (once) snowfall. The result is that I have a dozen rides between 80 & 95kms in those two months.

Well today’s ride was planned to be a 75km straight return to / from Windsor. Despite the strong head/cross wind on the way back, decided to take a detour towards Wandsworth to check out the bikes at the (bigger) Evans Cycles outlet there. As a result of that diversion it was already 83kms by the time I made it to Hyde Park and I wasn’t really feeling too tired. So, decided to take another small detour and do a lap of Regent’s Park and return via Camden Town. Just about made it across the century mark before making it home.

The best thing about the ride – the legs were feeling good even after I’d gotten home so with another small break added, I think I can make it past an imperial century as well. Of course, only if I can find a long enough route without too many hills and am lucky with the rain and wheel!

Shall feel good with this for now :)

A century… finally!

Proud of my girlfriend…

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… on her first proper ride of the year, she bravely rode up the climb from Battersea into Clapham, amongst other smaller climbs. (It’s another matter that she stopped for 10 minutes after the climb to catch her breath and drink about a gallon of water.)

On another note, badly missing my NexusOne. Got the replacement SIM and popped it into the old E71. It’s nowhere close … :'(

Proud of my girlfriend…

A mature cycling culture

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Been thinking of some ideas/features on cycling forums / websites that I think are lacking. At some time the thought turned to Cyclists.in and from there to how the cycling culture in India still isn’t mature.

See, in my book, for a place to have a thriving cycling culture it should have had vicious debates on forums and in comments on these topics:

1. Are helmets good or bad for cycling / cyclists?
2. Shimano vs Campagnolo vs SRAM components.
3. Lycra clad speedsters vs. Fixie sporting hipsters vs. Regular pannier & mudguard sporting urban cyclists.
4. Aluminium vs Steel vs Carbon vs Titanium frames.

Since I don’t see any of these debates in place on cyclists.in, I doubt that the cycling culture has matured yet. Wonder how long will the culture take to develop to that level, if ever.

A mature cycling culture

Rants… and a few ‘Thank You’s

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I’m dumbstruck with the test ride & return policies of the cycle store chains in London.

On one end is Halfords with a clear policy of no test rides and no returns despite selling bikes worth £1000 and more. I wonder what kind of people bought these bikes from then in such large number without testing them.

At the other extreme is the (otherwise much hated by me) Evans Cycles with a policy clearly defined on its website and stores – they take a photo ID and a credit/debit card with a 1p authorisation before letting you take the bike out for a test ride. Also clearly listed on their website is that if I ask for a bike not in the store to be brought in for a test ride, they take a £50 deposit for a maximum of 2 bikes. They accept full value returns within 28 days but with bike in ‘showroom condition’. The only thing that baffles me is that even if I ride the bike just 5 days to figure it doesn’t fit my needs and want to return it, it’ll be already way off the showroom condition. Still, I appreciate the fact that they have all terms clearly displayed both on the website as well as in the store.

Somewhere in between those two, and garnering a lot of nays from me, is Cycle Surgery. Their website mentions that they allow test rides and that they have a 21 day returns policy. However, nowhere does the website mention the terms of the test ride. The CS store nearby that I’ve been visiting to get the new wheel built for my Trek, didn’t ask me for much proof. The first time, when I test rode the Allez and Secteur Elite, I just left my backpack with the DSLR with them. Next time, when I tried the Trek 2.1 and the Secteur Elite again, I didn’t leave anything at all. However, when I called another Cycle Surgery store in the City to book a test ride, I was curtly told that I would have to pay the FULL VALUE of the bike before taking it for test ride and that they’d refund it after doing a basic check on the bike once I’m back. Frankly, I was taken aback – this was equivalent of telling a customer we trust you as much as a hardened criminal and will treat you so! I checked the CS website and didn’t find any terms. So, I wrote to them and they confirmed that it was indeed their policy. What did I do? I called my regular store and asked them to call the bike in store. And two days later I test-rode the same bike without paying a penny or leaving any deposits.

As if Cycle Surgery’s test ride policy is not obscure enough, their returns policy is worse. The 21 day return policy on website is only for sales made through the website. There is NO information about returns of purchases made through their stores. To add to that, the guys at my neighbourhood store assured me that they had a ’28’ day return policy. Suddenly, the Halfords with a no-test-ride and no-returns policy starts to look better than Cycle Surgery. At least one knows what one is buying into! So, if as a last minute decision, I decide to not go in for the Secteur Comp from Cycle Surgery, you know what tilted the scales.

Those were the rants. Hrmphhhh. Now for the thanks :)

I’d like to thank the fellas at my neighbourhood Cycle Surgery for the help with new wheel build as well as the test rides and related advice. I won’t be taking their names here lest they fall foul of the corporate sharks (Lawyers) and whales (HR) in their firms but it shouldn’t diminish my regards. I had decided on the new rims I wanted but was disappointed to know that when built with the new hubs, it would not take the freewheel from my current setup but require a new freehub cassette. I had budgeted for about a £100 for the wheel but with the new hub and cassette, the total was nudging £150. I told them my predicament and within a span of my one test ride, they had found discounts totalling £43 to get the cost of new setup down to £107, close enough to my budget :)

Not just that. Later, when I decided to upgrade the rear tyre as well as another component, they gave me a straight discount on them as well. And I can’t forget to mention their support with the test rides, specially for bringing in two bikes for me from the warehouse/other store without any security deposits or even promises to buy. Finally, the thanks is not just for the actual deeds but for the extremely friendly behaviour from all the store staff, even those not working with me. It was very unlike the experience I’ve had at most other cycle stores around the city where the staff are aloof and snooty considering anyone but the most serious of racers / fixie riders as beneath them. Such good service a store which has no public policy on two most important inputs in bike purchase.

I would also like to thank Laurent at Chamberlaine Cycles. He has been another extremely helpful chap. I met him for a brief while on Tuesday and then gave him a call out of the blue today – he remembered my exact requirements, budget and the bike size. Moreover, he frankly discussed all the models they stocked, helped me test ride two bikes even though one of them was almost £500 above my stated budget and assisted in finding the right geometry on the model I finally selected (Defy 1). What was better was that after I told them that I needed a little more time to decide, he didn’t rush off to attend to other customers at most other shops but stayed around to discuss what other bikes I had in my choice set, even offering to make a few changes to the Defy 1 to upgrade the specs a little while still staying within my budget. And before I parted, like most non-natives, we shared a few notes on riding and weather in our respective home regions – South East France for him and North / West India for me :)

Thanks Laurent, and thank you to the good guys at Cycle Surgery. I don’t know which one of you will I buy the bike from but I shall sure be returning to you both for repeat business in the future.

Cheers!

Rants… and a few ‘Thank You’s