Bike Radar - The Result

Howie J kindly fed me a huge meal of pasta on Friday night and then it was back to the hotel to get kit ready and some sleep. My pre-ride routine of porridge was ditched, as the hotel didn't serve breakfast until 7am and I planned to be at Donington park around that time. I struggled to sleep and was awake before the alarm, got my stuff all packed up and ate my cornflakes and croissant. Then it was off to the racing track to meet up with Dan and Howie.
Unfortunately, Howie wasn't feeling great in the morning and decided to focus his attention on the Devil ride and some hot laps, so it was going to be me and Dan riding. Dan was driving over from Oxford and amazingly, we ended up parking right next to each other and so walked over to registration together. I picked up my timing chip and took care as I put it on, not wanting a repeat of my last botched effort. Numbers were attached and then down to the start line. We waited on a piece of ground near to the track and enjoyed a bit of banter with other cyclists. Thank goodness it was so warm and dry - that could have been a really muddy and messy place to stand if the weather had been anything else. After about 5 or 10 minutes of standing about, the guy next to me looked down at my bike and asked me if I was supposed to have anything in my bottle cages. AGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I screamed. No Drinks on the hottest day of the year! I apologised my way through the huge crowd of waiting cyclists and then ran back down to the field to try to find the car. Thankfully, it didn't take too long and I managed to get back to Dan & my bike, just as the briefing was finishing and riders were moving onto the track. What a nightmare that would have been if after a few miles I'd reached down to take my first sip of the ride and....... I'm sure that I could have come up with something on the fly but it was nearly a disastrous start.

After a lap around Donington, we were off out onto the open road and the sportive was under way. The first 30 miles or so were flat to undulating and Dan and I managed to tag onto a group of 4 wearing the same "Powered by Doreen" cycling jerseys. They were going at a nice pace and our average speed for 30 miles was around 19mph. The first stop came around 30miles and I'd almost used one water bottle. We had a quick chat about it and decided to miss the first stop as we both still had a full bottle (prob about 800ml) with 30 miles until the next top. I lost Dan around this point - he was feeling under the weather and needed to keep his HR low on the hills. When I saw he hadn't kept up, I carried on going, heading deeper into the hilly section of the ride. The hills were much more steep and tiring than I expected. Garmin shows 7300 ft of climbing and the vast majority of that was within a 30-odd mile stretch (the 30 miles I had to do with one bottle of water). We went up a 25% gradient hill - not too long but a challenge in the heat. It's so dispiriting to see that 19.4mph average you worked up, slowly being whittled down to under 15mph. By the time I got to 60 miles, I was on the last few sips of water and started to dream about getting to the feed station and pouring water onto my head. Looking back, it was probably a mistake to take the risk on such a hot day. If I had 2 full bottles, I would probably have taken on more fluid during that stretch. I have also decided that I'm going to use one bigger 900ml bottle & my usual 750ml on my next ride and see how that goes.
Feeding was going well and I was taking on one gel every 45 minutes to an hour. I was feeling great.

I finally made it to the feed station and as I finished filling my bottles, I saw Dan pull in. I waited while he refilled and then we set off together. It was more hilly terrain for a further 10 miles or so but as we got to the top of another long drag, we saw that we had lots of flat land surrounding us and so we knew that it wasn't going to be long before we were out of the hills and heading home.
We worked together really well; each taking turns to lead; sheltering behind other riders where possible and I was feeling really good. I commented to Dan that I was growing confident of finishing the Etape and he agreed that I would.
The final feed station of the day came around the 77 mile mark and again, we had full bottles and with only flat terrain ahead of us (and the food station a mile off the course) we decided to give it a miss and head straight back.

Around the 90 mile mark, I started to feel crap. We were riding into a strong headwind and it was really draining. I started to dread my turns on the front. My toes were killing. My bum was aching (yes!! my bum actually ached - more on this in a bit). Those final ten miles were long and painful. We were both watching our computers a bit too often. The worst thing about feeling this pain at 90 miles is the knowledge that on the Etape, that is where things really start to kick off!
Dan stayed on the front for the last 10 and really encouraged me to keep going - he saved me, he really did.

Finally, we got back onto the track at Donington and after a short hill, which didn't seem quite so bad when we did it in the morning, we crossed the timing mat.
6 hours 40 minutes on the dot. 20 minutes within my dream goal. Amazing. Scanning through the names of finishers, it looks as though I was the 3rd lady to finish the 100 mile ride.
Here's the ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/6332172
We were reunited with Howie and after some photos, I stumbled over to the tent to hand in my chip and had a brief chat with the Cycling Plus people (some comments from me in this article from Bike Radar)http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/cycling-plus-sportive-results-and-photos-21814

Next job was to get food & water. I ordered a cheeseburger (no lasagne and chips to be found anywhere :-) ) and had a couple of cans of red bull. I was totally wrecked. My body felt compromised. I think it was a combination of the heat, possibly the amazing quantity of caffeine I'd taken in (7 caffeine gels & 2 red bulls), possibly not drinking enough (4 750ml bottles in 6hrs 40mins), and just pushing myself very hard. Over the course of an hour, I ate and drank and sat and didn't make a lot of sense, but slowly came around to being almost human again. I decided to get back to the hotel, have a bath, have some recovery drink, lots of water and just lie down for a bit.

Back to the hotel came an important test - the saddle test that really counts. The saddle on the ride felt good and I was very happy with it. It was only in that last hour that I felt a bit of aching on my sit bones, which I took to be a really good sign that the saddle was supporting me where it should. The familiar pressure on the front, the burning pain that really hurts, was negligible. I am happy to report that the saddle has definitely passed the first trip to the bathroom test! No sore bits - hoo-bloody-ray! This is the saddle I'm going to be riding the Etape on.

One day on and I still feel like I've been hit by a truck. I had a poor night's sleep and just feel very tired. My muscles are feeling fine and I don't have any aches and pains. It's just a fog of tiredness that seems to have enveloped me. This week is going to be a very light week with perhaps only a couple of hour long spins. I have the Polka Dot Challenge on Sunday so my focus is definitely on recovery and resting in advance of that.

All in all, it was a superb weekend. I would definitely go back again next year but would take Colin and the kids with me. There was a whole mix of people there - cycling stars like Graeme Obree (picture below), families, roadies, mountain bikers, recumbants, folding bikes, tandems, HPVs - it was just great; a real celebration of cycling.

Bike Radar Sportive - Countdown

This weekend I'm doing the Bike Radar Sportive - http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/BikeRadar-Live-Cycling-Plus-Sportive-100-mile-route - starting from Donnington Park and heading out on a 100 mile circuit around the midlands & southern peak district. According to the route map, it's under 6000ft climbing with most of the hills coming in the middle section of the ride. 6000 ft doesn't sound too much - I did that much on the Etape Caledonia over 73 miles so perhaps I may get a reasonable time. I've sent Joe my goals for the ride - under 8 hours is adequate, success is under 7:30, and my dream goal is under 7hrs. Under 7 hours sounds ridiculous though! The forecast is amazing - sunshine all day long and temperatures over 20C although the wind might slow us down a little.
I will be staying in a hotel for 2 nights - I think I'll really enjoy it tonight and doing the century tomorrow but I know that I'll start missing the family by tomorrow night. I'm thinking of doing something really stupid again - got another new saddle. It's the same make as my old Selle Italia - same dimensions etc - the cut out is just a little bigger. It's on the bike, I tested it last night and it felt ok. I think I'm going to go for it. I know the old Selle Italia will hurt me anyway so what have I got to lose (apart from a few layers of skin?)

On the Etape front, I still don't have a number. I've been reading on the forum about how long it takes the high numbers to get over the line - in some cases, it can be half an hour! That's a long time to be looking at the broom wagon over your shoulder. I hope I get a nice low number so that we can get an early getaway. I have everything crossed.

Colin is doing the Sportive Training plan. By that, I mean that his training consists mainly of sportives. This year he has done the Cheshire Cat 66miles, North Cornwall Tor 43 miles, Etape Caledonia 65 miles. He's done a handful of 20 mile rides (literally, about 5 at the most) and one 40 mile ride into the peaks and that's about it. He seems to go from one sportive to the next with barely any riding at all. I fear for him again this year - I wouldn't fancy doing 80 miles and then having to tackle Ventoux on that amount of training.

I didn't get lost!

On Thursday, I created two routes in Bike Route Toaster and uploaded them to the Garmin 705. The process was delightfully easy - much more so than the whole memory map, gpx conversion etc that I had to do with the 305. I tried the first course on Friday night. The timing of the beeps in relation to the turning point was great but the direction, left turn, right turn or straight, didn't bear much correlation to the route I knew I'd plugged in. That had nothing to do with the Garmin itself; purely how I'd created the route in Bike Route Toaster. It's the first time I'd used Toaster so I'm sure that I can improve my route plotting skills for future rides - would welcome any tips on that.
Today I went out into the peak district for a longer ride. Most of the roads are very well known to me now but there is one section which I always get lost on, as I just don't go there that often. Turn announcements were about 60% accurate again today so when I was getting to the little known area near to Macclesfield Forest, I switched to map view so I could see myself on the screen and watch as I moved along the route - EASY! It was just so simple - watching the little triangle moving along the course and reassuring to see all the other junctions coming up in the right places, confirming that I was going the right way. At one point it beeped at me to turn right up a very steep lane and I shouted out loud "noooo, not up there" just as some walkers were going by. They shot me a weird look.
I used the profile view at one point on a very steep section but it was too depressing to see that what was already killing me was mild in comparison to what was up ahead. :-0 I did the Macc Forest climb, which was on the Cheshire Cat route - still hard work but I managed to keep my HR down to 152 (first time I did it I got a max HR of 169 on it).
I just uploaded to Garmin Connect and here is the route - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/6107199

A couple of saddle stops today - probably the most painful ride in 2 years, right from the off. I am still shredded. Tomorrow it comes off and I'm going back to the old one.

I wonder if I'm going to get a number this week ?!?

Last chance for the Saddle

So far, not so great for the saddle, I'm afraid. The performance at the Etape Caledonia wasn't outstanding - 4 hours riding and that familiar hot pressure at the front was present. And then there were the welts after the saddle was exposed to the damp conditions:

When I finished, I had a very angry red bruise on thigh. I just didn't know where it could have come from and just assumed that one of the kids must have kicked me and I hadn't realised it.
Here is the bruise; a few days old (sorry about the state of this):

It was only when I next rode that I realised what had caused it - when I unclip left, the nose of the saddle, which has two sharp points on it, digs right into my thigh. For the moment, I'm having to unclip with my leg straight, as it is still sore to have the saddle dig in, but after two years, this feels so unnatural.

I've used the saddle for 2 weeks now - about 230 miles - made many, many adjustments to the tension, and still I am not comfortable. In fact, I'm uncomfortable after only short rides now - a step backwards from my old saddle.
Tomorrow, I'm going for 60 miles into the peak district armed with my allen key. If I'm not comfortable at the end of that, I think I will have to return the saddle. It's a pity, as it seems that this is saddle heaven for so many.

New Gadget - Garmin 705

Last week was a great ebaying week - I sold the Cross Trainer that has sat gathering dust in my bedroom for the last 2 years (since I started cycling) for a whopping £450! Other assorted items brought my wealth to £635. So, feeling a little less guilty about buying the saddle and all sorts of other kit, I started wondering if I should treat myself to a new 705, seeing as the 305 is on the blink. I didn't think about this for too long and got my order into Wiggle on Monday. It was delivered yesterday and I'm spending this evening getting to know this lovely new gadget.

So far I have the cadence sensor installed. The magnet for the speed sensor doesn't fit around my fat spokes so I'll have to see if Garmin supply an alternative. The Garmin unit is on my stem and the map on the micro SD is installed. What I need now is to get some routes plotted in bikeroutetoaster and get them onto the unit. I'm going to plot a very often used 20 mile route, just to familiarise myself with the process. On Sunday, I'm hoping to try a ride into the peaks - most of the roads are familiar but there is one part where I always make wrong turns with the 305 or a map. It'll be a good test.

BTW, weather is looking great for this weekend.

Etape Caledonia

On Saturday, we had to drive the 130 mile round trip to register for the event as there were no registrations on the day itself. The forecast printed out on the notice board looked bleak and I was wondering what the right kit would be for such a changeable day. I don't mind a bit of rain but if it was going to be as cold as predicted, I would have to be in full on winter wear.

The morning was wet but not too cold so I went for light layers that I could take off if it got warmer. We had a 7.22 start time and although we left Edinburgh at 5.30am, the road into Pitlochry was really congested and we missed our start time by a few minutes. No big problem with that in itself but in my haste to get going, I broke my timing chip on the start line and didn’t have any time to get a replacement. Within a mile, I had dropped Colin! The route isn’t the hilliest you will come across in the sportive calendar so I knew that getting into fast moving groups was going to be the order of the day. In the first 20 miles or so, this wasn’t really happening for me – I just seemed to be going at a quicker pace than most around me and not quite quick enough for those rare few that passed me (I hope this doesn’t sound big headed but I was really amazed by how many I was passing and how rarely I was passed). However after the first feed stop, things started to come together and a bunch started to grow. It was great – speed was high and we flew along. The scenery was wonderful and even though we were really shifting, there was still time to admire the views of the lochs and surrounding greenery. The support around the course was fantastic with loads of cheering crowds and bagpipe players. Things were looking good; my avg speed was well over 18mph and I was feeling really strong. Somewhere before feedstop 2, I noticed that there were huge numbers of people with punctures. They were filling the verges – some with both wheels off trying to repair punctures; some just looked like they’d given up and were sitting on the grass. It was complete carnage! I started wondering what on earth was going on and as I passed by feedstop 2, I heard rumours of tacks on the roads and deliberate sabotage of the event. I kept my eyes on the road and just said silent prayers that I wouldn’t get a puncture. I had enough food on me to make it to the 3rd feedstop, which came at the top of the biggest climb of the day, and very fortunately, I managed to get there puncture free. As I approached the stop, I saw that no one was moving through and marshals were announcing that the ride had been stopped. When it became clear that we weren’t going to be moving on quickly, I stopped my timer. We waited at the top of the climb for about an hour or so; getting more and more cold. The top layer came back on but I was still really shivering by the time we were given the signal to start moving down the hill – a controlled descent with the Police leading the way. Despite the road sweeping that had been going on in the hour long wait, people were soon pulling over with more punctures. The organisers cut about 7 miles off the course in order to miss more of the tacks. Once we were back on the rolling terrain, it was back into fast group riding back to the finish in glorious sunshine. Amazingly, I didn’t puncture at all.

When I filled out Joe’s form about my goals and strategy for the day, I said that it would be acceptable to finish in 6 hours, would be happy with 5hrs 30mins and dream goal would be 5hrs. When I crossed the line my clock showed 4hrs 8 mins. Of course, I spent a further hour stood still on a mountain and they cut 7 miles off the course, but I can safely say that without all of the problems, I would have been comfortably within 5 hours. Unfortunately, getting the chip out of my pocket and dangling it over the start and finish line didn’t work and the organisers have me as a DNF – I’m so annoyed with myself, as I would have loved to compare my time with the other girls on the day.

The atmosphere in the village was great - again, superb support as we crossed the finish line. I saw some enormous great burgers being cooked and I really fancied one. God, I still wish I had got one of those burgers. Shortly afterwards, I got the call from Colin - he hadn't made it to food stop 2. The race had been stopped and he was given the option of getting on a bus or going back to Pitlochry on his bike. He decided to return on his bike. He was bristling on the phone and wasn't in the mood for soaking up the atmosphere at the finish so I met him back at the car. He didn't want a burger either. Damn.

As we were leaving, we saw a bus of cyclists returning to Pitlochry - what a nightmare way to end the day. I just can't believe that someone would do something so ridiculously dangerous - it's lucky that no one was seriously hurt. I hear that someone has been arrested now and will be in court on Wednesday. What an idiot!

Some stats from Garmin:
Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 4:58:41 4:05 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 4:03:59 3:20 pace
Distance (mi ) 73.10
Total Avg Speed (mph) 17.6
Moving Speed (mph) 18.0 avg. 38.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +5,806 / -5,802

Avg. Heart Rate 132 bpm Zone 1.0

So if my total time was 4hrs 58 – which includes the long wait for the ride to start again - that puts me 5th for my age group. 12th woman overall. Of course, there will be women further down the list who had punctured and might have done better and there will be women who didn’t get stopped and went straight through (but will probably have done 81 miles rather than 73) so it’s difficult to compare. However, I did ok and I’m chuffed.

I’ve got to go back and make it official next year.

ANOTHER EDIT: I should add that the saddle was ok. However, I was still sore at the end. The leather sagged a lot after 73 miles and so more of me was in contact with it. The Company owner has given me more instructions for getting the tension just right. My sit bones were very comfy though and the saddle position itself is great. So, certainly no worse than previous saddles and scope to improve before the next big ride. One thing I am disappointed with is that when it got a bit damp, welts developed on the surface. The company owner, Tom, says that this is very rare and makes no difference to saddle comfort. They don't look too attractive though. I think I'm going to ask to exchange - £166 is a lot to pay for a saddle and I expect a little more of it when I've paid so much.

Heading North - Etape Caledonia

We're about to set off for Scotland. I'm prepared for every eventuality weatherwise - our cycling bag is crammed with clothes for every condition; we even have the sun cream! There is some discrepancy between forecasts so I'll check again late on tomorrow and then dress accordingly. I'm really looking forward to it but have some nervousness about the saddle.
Will report back when we return.

Saddle tested

Today was my first decent length ride on the new Selle Anatomica saddle. I'm on countdown to Etape Caledonia so I didn't have a long ride planned - just an hour and 30 minutes with some short and hard intervals. It felt fine, certainly no discomfort and noticeably less pressure on the front bit. I was very aware of the feeling of my sit bones on the saddle - not uncomfortable, as that what is supposed to be supporting my weight after all - but I wouldn't describe it as completely comfortable either. I checked the set up guide when I got home and emailed the company. The founder of the company, Tom, has been in touch throughout me buying the saddle and he was quick to respond with some advice. I have adjusted the tension slightly on the saddle - I relaxed the tension until I could feel the pressure increasing at the front and then retensioned until I reached what felt like a good point - the sweet spot - according to the instructions.
Tomorrow is a day off - good thing too as I've been blowing my nose a bit more often today. Then I have a 45 minutes spin on Friday to give it a further test. I feel quite confident about taking the saddle to Etape Caledonia now.

Saddle On

The saddle was delivered to my neighbour yesterday so I received it last night. I called up Race Scene this morning and they said to pop over and they would put it on according to my measurements from my previous bike fitting. "pop over" - sat nav took me on the long route via M60, M62, M1 - adding 30 miles to the journey. Last time I went via Stockport but I assumed that it must know something that I didn't and decided to follow it anyway.
The saddle was put on quickly - just a small increase in height to accommodate the greater flex in the saddle - and we were back on the right road to Manchester.
I have tried 3 minutes on my rollers - it feels very different. My sit bones are very much in contact with the saddle and left dimples on the leather. It felt quite different to my old saddle. I'm having doubts about this last minute change before the Caledonia. Tomorrow's ride will be a better indicator - I'll wear my Assos shorts tomorrow to get a better idea of how they will all work together and if I'm going to be sticking with the saddle for Sunday or reverting back to the old one and starting again on Monday with the Selle Anatomica.

Boil seems to be only Cat & Fiddle like silhouette now.

UPDATE: tried 30 mins out on the road. I don't want to get too enthusiastic about it; it's early days and the true test will be on Sunday. However, it did feel comfortable - there didn't seem to be any pressure on the front. Assos shorts, which are sometimes a little uncomfortable with my old saddle seemed to work quite well with this saddle. I'm feeling quite positive about using the new saddle at the weekend. Tomorrow I'm going to test on a longer ride - 25 miles or so, don't want to do too much as I'm on countdown for Sunday - with all my sportive kit on too. The boil didn't hurt at all on the ride today.

Garmin gone wrong

Well, my Garmin seems to be on the blink. If I go over a bump it sometimes turns off. I called Garmin and they said they would replace it for £65. I was thinking of going for a 705 but unfortunately, they won't allow me to pay more to upgrade. I'm going to try to work on that though. They said that it takes 10 days for the unit to be sent out, once they have received the faulty one - OUCH! 10 DAYS!

I still don't have a number - hold on, let me check again - no, still nothing. I'm not concerned about it, as many others still don't have their numbers either. I'm just so keen to find out what the number is that I'm checking a bit too often than is healthy.

I have, what I assume to be, a saddle sore. It just looks like an enormous Ventoux shaped boil on the inside of my thigh - really, really sore and sooooooo attractive. Thankfully, I still have plenty of the cream that the Doc gave me the last time this happened. I'm really looking forward to getting that new saddle and hopefully eliminating these painful sores.

On the saddle front, it should be any day now. I called Race Scene, the shop which did my bike fitting, and they are going to help me get it onto the bike according to the fitting measurements. If it arrives tomorrow, I will be able to get it on the bike on Wednesday and get 3 rides out on it before the Etape Caledonia at the weekend. If it's not here tomorrow, I think I should wait for the following week to have it fitted. I'm sure it's going to be wonderfully comfortable to ride but I think it's too big a component to change a few days before an 80 mile sportive.

I went on a great ride into the peaks & over the Cat & Fiddle yesterday - will try to get a link on here to the route. I was on fire! The brickworks hill, which I wasn't able to get up in one go when I first tried it a couple of years ago - now it is really quite straightforward (not exactly easy) and I didn't have to go into my lowest gear. I'm feeling great. Now I just have to reign myself in during the next 5 days while I get ready for Etape Caledonia.

I've now changed from Powerbar drink powder - I couldn't hack the taste - and have gone for Torq, as recommended by some readers of this blog! The flavour is much more palatable. It worked really well on the ride yesterday. I also bought a bucket of plain Torq so that I can increase the carb without increasing the flavour. Torq have these handy little screw top containers, which contain one portion of powder - they're really going to help me streamline my bottle filling process on sportives. I have been experimenting with different gels too - my favourite is Powerbar Apple with caffeine. They are thick and take some getting used to but I feel that they really do work - mentally as well as physically. I am buzzing after a couple of those!

New Saddle On Order

I took the plunge and went for the Assos shorts - they are nice but I'm still getting some pain from sitting on the saddle. The pain isn't on the sit bones, as one might expect after 6 hours on a bike; no, when it starts, it's all around the front. A lady on the BikeRadar forum advised me that I shouldn't expect to get any pain there at all. This lady does some amazing distances on her bike so I feel that she is someone to really take notice of. She had been through exactly the same problem - has been through multitudes of saddles and shorts - and has finally come up with a solution that works for her. This is it, a Selle An-Atomica saddle - www.mcmwin.com



Reading the testimonials on the website really makes me believe that perhaps it is possible to ride without the pain. I ummed and ahhed over the price but finally decided that although it's a bit more expensive than my current saddle (well, almost 3 times more expensive at £166 inc shipping at the current exchange rate) it is a price worth paying if I can finish a sportive without the soreness. I still expect to feel some discomfort on the sit bones after 8 hours on a saddle but not that level of rawness that I have been experiencing. I paid for DHL shipping so I hope to receive it early next week and have it on my bike for my Wednesday ride and get it tested before the Etape Caledonia next weekend. I went for the black model with black rivets.

I still don't have a number and I'm obsessively checking that bloody website.

Weight-wise, things are going really well. I'm now 82.5kg - that's a loss of 10.5kg (or 23lbs). I feel great. Perhaps a little run down this week, but otherwise, really, really good about how it's all going. Training seems to be going well, sportives are going well, weight is coming off - all seems to be good.