The Longest Day

After all the training for the Dallaglio Flintoff Cycle Slam, it was time to test myself in the Magnificat Cycle Sportive – riding 127 miles in one day – including 9 testing climbs. And the weather forecast for the Diamond Jubilee Sunday was …. absolutely dreadful.

I had taken part in this annual sportive event, starting from Newbury racecourse and covering a circular route across the South Downs, in the two previous years. The first time the 51 mile course, and then last year the 81 mile course – which was all part of my Half Ironman training. But never had I tackled the full 127 mile Magnificat version, which is a true test for any club cyclist.

In past years, the weather had played a major part in my recollections of the event. In 2010, the weather was dry and sunny, but last year a major Atlantic depression rolled in on the day, bringing an inch of rain and some stiff winds. A major challenge, which I have referenced in previous blog entries. However, the event organisers Ken and Barbara Robson, had made a generous donation towards my Cycle Slam fund raising, and so I had willingly agreed to make their 127 mile event, over this Bank Holiday weekend, the final part of my Slam cycling challenge.

I had two weeks to recover from the Slam itself and prepare for the Magnificat, and I was soon able to pick up the intensity of my training. Cycling in the warm weather we had a week ago definitely agreed with me, and I was looking forward to testing myself over the longest one day ride that I had ever undertaken. As the Bank Holiday weekend drew ever closer, then the weather forecast for the Sunday looked increasingly bleak. The river boat pageant in London was definitely going to be a water based event, as rain was forecast for the whole day. So I packed my wet weather riding gear, expecting the worst.

Alarm went off at 5.30am (just like in the Slam) and I picked up a fellow TVT cyclist Simon Fox an hour later for the drive down the M4 to Newbury. The racecourse was a hive of activity – for that early time on a Sunday – with cyclists getting ready for a long day’s ride. We also met up with another friend David Blundell who was training for his fourth attempt at completing the Tour d’Etape, which is the annual opportunity for club cyclists to ride a stage of the Tour de France.

Now the Magnificat route is broken down into three stages – each of circa 40 miles – following an anti-clockwise loop across the Berkshire/ Hampshire and Wiltshire countryside. Each stage had some testing climbs, the first one of which Walbury was shrouded in mist as I led a small group up the climb.

But the rain was getting lighter, and temperatures were rising as a result, which meant that it was soon time to remove the outer layer of clothing. The tempo of the ride with Simon was good, with the first stage completed in 2 ¾ hours. The second stage took us into the most southerly section, with the climbs of Old Winchester Hill and Stoner Hill.

By the afternoon the weather was steadily improving, so I even had the chnace to get my legs were out. Now the reference to legs is one that is particularly relevant to Simon. He was using the Mgnificat as a test event for a charity ride he is doing in August – Three Peaks Two Wheels – where he will be riding 200 km a day between Ben Nevis, Scarfell Pike, Snowdon and then home. His sports therapist has recently recommended a full leg shave, so that some supportive tape could be fixed to him whilst he was riding. Now that is a level of dedication well beyond anything I saw on the Slam. Lawrence and Freddie having their legs shaved so that they can ride a bike – I think not!

So 80 miles in and I was very pleased to get to the end of  Stage 2 feed station where the tea and cake was most welcome. And still a final stage of 46 miles and over 2,000 feet of climbing to go.  But apart from the odd stray shower, the weather was holding up, so with renewed spirits we pressed on.  One of the most interesting sights of the day was the way that some of the villages had been decorated. As part of the Jubilee celebrations, several Hampshire villages had covered the roadside with scarecrows, dressed up as topical characters. Along with bunting, this certainly made us feel like this was a special day for a ride, which again lifted the spirits as fatigue threatened to set-in.

With 18 miles to go, at the final drinks station, I stuffed some Jelly baby sweeties  into my cycling pockets ready for the final ups and down into Kingsclere and Ashford Hill. I was now back on more familiar roads which certainly helped me believe that the full distance was now truly within my grasp. After the final drag past Greenham Common, we began the last descent into Newbury – to cross the finish line some 9 hours and 40 miles after the start. And no punctures!  Excluding the stops, that equates to an average speed over 14 miles an hour. Perfectly respectable for us all – and well within the bronze level cutoff time. Job done.

A tale of two sportives

I like cycle sportives. They allow you to discover new routes, countryside and scenery that you didn’t know existed. And in the past 7 days I have experienced two such events, as part of my training for the Dallaglio Flintoff Cycle Slam.

Today was great. A stunning early morning cloudless sky, moderated by a chilly breeze, which woke me up on the ride to the start point at the iconic Eton Dorney venue – home to the Olympic rowing regatta.

Whereas Easter Monday was, as forecast, a wet and windy day as an Atlantic depression rolled in as I drove round the M25 to a start point in North East London. Now let’s get the negatives of this cycling day out of the way first. Yes it was wet, but no worse than I have encountered before. The route explored Essex countryside with plenty of twisty lanes, but all a bit flat and featureless. And then, 50 miles into the ride, the signs ran out. With only a route card provided, that meant orienteering around the green lanes without a map, which led to 45 minutes riding around in a circle to end up at the same point to where we first realised that we were lost. Luckily, the Home Counties are not the Bermuda triangle, so we re-emerged from this minor crisis. But the good news of the day was 75 miles of riding into my legs and 5+ hours in the saddle.

Now onto the positives of today’s ride.  F3 Events are a professional triathlon event company whose triathlon and cycling events have helped me prepare for several of my sporting challenges over the past few years.  So I turned to them as part of my preparation for this years Cycle Slam. The training programme today involved cycling 15 miles to the start point of the sportive; then tackling the 55 mile undulating route; and then completing the loop by cycling home. The significance of the distance is that I wanted to cover at least 80% of the longest stage distance that I would encounter on the Slam. Job done!

The sportive route today was well marked – plenty of clear guidance signs telling us to go left, right or straight on – and whether to exercise caution ahead!  The information provided in advance of the event was equally as comprehensive and media savvy. As a new exponent of the “MapMyRide”application, I can’t wait for my iPhone case to arrive next week from Amazon so that I can securely fasten my phone to the bike so that I can plot my progress as I ride along.

The route was a good mix of country roads – undulating and criss-crossing the Berks/Bucks Chilterns with several cheeky hills, followed by technical twisty descents. The weather was kind throughout – sunny and bright with an occasional chilly headwind. Typical British spring time really; in the sun and sheltered from the wind was lovely, but swap those two variables around and it was less pleasant!

And we made a new friend today. My Thames Valley Triathletes training buddies were Wayne and Tony who were using the sportive as preparation for their fist Half Ironman event in June. Not long after the start of the ride we were joined by (the delightful) Emma, a native of Sweden, who sounded more Surrey than Stockholm to me. She too, was using the sportive as part of her triathlon season spring training. It was the first time she had tackled this cycling distance and, with mutual support, we all covered the distance in comfortably under 4 hours of riding time. For me, that just left the cycle ride home, which following a carb filled peanut-butter sandwich and a cup of tea, was duly achieved.

So does this sound the right type of training event for you? As luck would have it, F3 Events are running another cycle sportive next weekend, on Sunday 22^nd April, staring fromHenley-on-Thames.

Join me if you can.

Training Plans – one week in the life….

So what does my Dallaglio Flintoff Cycle Slam training schedule look like, some eight weeks before my leg of the event starts? Well, partly so that I can think about what I need to change and focus on moving forwards, here is what the past seven days has involved.

Reading this, you need to be aware that my training is based around my sport of triathlon, and that I thrive on variety:

• Monday – two hours of cross-training (6.15pm-8.20pm) – a one hour BodyPump class followed by a one hour Body Attack class.
• Tuesday – rest day
• Wednesday – staying away so an early morning training hour at the hotel – in the gym at 6.45am for 30 mins, followed by a 30 mins swim set.
• Thursday – I usually do a circuits class, but domestic arrangements meant that at 6pm I did another one hour Body Attack class, with a 10 mins cycle to/from the leisure centre
• Friday – late home from a London meeting, so just a 30 mins run at 7pm, followed by a celebratory dinner (just won a new contract at work!)
• Saturday – slightly fuzzy head soon cleared by 45 mile hill focused cycle training session with my Thames Valley Triathletes cycle group. Left home at 8.30am, returned at 12 noon, which equated to just over 4 hours of training (excluding the stops at meet points etc.)
• Sunday – Marlow Duathlon – 9am start for 2 hours 10 mins of competitive (high intensity) exercise involving a 7km run; 25km cycle and then a second lap of the 7km run course.

Overall, the past seven days has included 12 hours of training. Happy with both the volume and intensity of that training activity, although moving forwards, the balance needs to change as only 40% of the past week’s training has been cycling based.

The good news is that the start of British Summer Time next weekend means that we will have light until 7.30pm which opens up the opportunity for midweek evening cycle training. I also need to keep the intensity up, so the local Thursday evening Maidenhead CC Time Trial will start to feature in the coming weeks. Also April has a great choice of sportives, for a longer organised ride on Sundays.

More on my cycle sportive plans to follow in a subsequent post, for those interested in joining me for a ride.