Tuesday 22 July 2014

British Heart Foundation South Downs 100 and the end of being ridiculous

It is Summer time in the world of teaching (at least in England it is). Which brings longer, warmer and curiously wetter days. It brings aborted sports days, or ones that run in the full glare of an afternoon Sun. It brings a reduced (by literally mm's) workload due to 'gain time' following school leavers going off to do exams.

It also brings a chance to take stock and do some serious training.

Mostly.

Teaching in a core subject means that even when I loose an examination class (such as year 11) my gain time has always been minimal. For those who don't know gain time is the allocated time on your teaching timetable where you would see a class who has left. So if you teach mostly 6th form when they go on study leave you end up with a fairly empty timetable. For me I have about 6 extra 'free periods' a week due to my year 11's having finished school. The upshot of this is that I have been able to get a lot of my work based tasks done during my actual working day. Which has freed up a lot of time to hit the school gym after work. For longer. More times a week.

Now I am very much of the opinion that the best way to improve at something is to do it. For instance you want to be a good runner? Then go run. Simple really. However this ideology/training program will only go so far. You will (I know I have) see big improvements at the beginning as you go from being a complete novice to a fairly decent middle standard and then a plateau.

Now this makes sense, if you are doing an activity you haven't done before or in a long time you will naturally see big improvements in the first few months of doing that activity. Once however you plateau then it is time to change your training - whether this is seeking the help of people who have more experience than you or trying different training methods totally is up to the individual but if you wish to continue to improve then you have to change what you are doing.

Which brings me to the gym (don't worry I am going to get to the point).

So I initially started going to the school gym as a substitute to longer runs after work. I got a training plan put in place to help aid my endurance and strength on a bike - all with one eye on the BHF 100.

Here is where it all goes a bit awry though. I have never been a fan of the gym, I find it pretty tedious and to be honest there are aspects of it that I still do find annoying. However I have also started to enjoy it. Especially the weight work. There is a very sinister clip from Pumping Iron of Schwarzenegger describing 'the pump'.  However I can kind of see what he means.

What has this to do with anything?

Good question, the short answer is I feel less on an endurance 'athlete' now and more of a shorter burst one.

I don't want to be doing multi-hour events anymore as I just seem to loose focus and get bored of the activity.

A half marathon now is as far as I wish to run anymore. Purely because I am not sure my body really can cope with longer events. I had a really good run of not getting injured but since I started picking up a few niggles it has gotten worse and worse. Maybe this is due to stepping up to quickly or maybe its just that I am not designed for ultra-endurance after all?

All which brings me to the South Downs 100.

Helpfully it rained on the night before and the morning of the event. Now the area of England where the downs is located is mostly chalk rock. This made the chalk very slick and wet - I heard it described as being like glass more than once.

I do not know how many people completed the race but I was at the finish for about an hour after the first few finishers came in (from both the 100 and 35 mile events) and there was less than a dozen people crossing the line.

Anyway back to my event.

I started fairly strongly, the climbs were not too bad and it was hard but fun.

Unfortunately after 10 miles I binned the bike pretty hard on a slick chalk descent. Which was a shame because I had just climbed a hill pretty strongly and was feeling very confident. That is not to say on the descent I was over confident, what happened was there was two routes down the hill. The first was smoother but took a higher and faster line, the second was more bumpy but a flatter slower line. Naturally I took the latter. Naturally the bike went one way and I the other.

My knee following the crash.

I hit the ground pretty hard and didn't really skid, always an indication of being planted on the floor. To be honest I don't remember much of the crash, there was no real 'oh sh*t' moment. Just the ground rushing up to meet me and the sense of foreboding that I was about to hit the deck. I took a few moments out, took on some food and inched my way down the descent. 

Unfortunately the damage was done. Aside from my confidence being shook my knee was pretty sore from the impact. What didn't help was then starting to struggle to put power into the peddles for the climbs and falling off slowly a few more times. This coupled with fatigue and rain coupled together to make the ride pretty miserable. Added to the fact that there was no flat made the whole endeavor pretty horrendous to be honest. 

Climb with no power and in pain, descend gripping the brakes and feeling terrified.  

I made it to the second aid station (about 33 miles in) and I couldn't go on. I was defeated, just under a third of the event done and I had to abandon. Since then the swelling on my knee has gone down a bit and I can walk more freely however my collar bone and shoulder have started to ache more and more. As of today (Tuesday so 4 days after the event) my shoulder is much better but still not 100%. It could have been worse though, the nice man in the injury van with me (much more experienced rider) did exactly the same as me - bin it on the chalk - but had to go have an x-ray on a suspected broken knee cap. 

My Strava of the event can be found here. 


So, what does the second part of the title mean? Well, I have decided that the more mental challenges are to be given up. This year I have gone from training for a 5 mile race to completing a 35 mile ultra event. I have managed to alter my running style and have become much more competent on the bike. However the long endurance events are starting to run thin. I am picking up injuries more frequently and to be honest not enjoying things as much as I used to. 

Well most things.

I love going up the Downs near where I live and smashing some of the trails up there on a mountain bike. We still have our mountain biking holiday planned for the first week on the summer holiday which I can't wait for. 

I also am still absolutely loving being on the road bike - much more than the mountain bike as well. 

From my last long road bike ride.

I have also started trying to restore some old road bikes (see below). Which is fun, and hopefully will be a bit of an earner towards a new bike.


Oh and talking of new bike. One last interesting point to make (I think it is interesting).

When I was last up my parents I borrowed my cousins new ish road bike for a ride. Carbon forks, improved wheels etc it was a very nice bike (and I think my dad might be buying one). However I really could not get on with it. I found it quite twitchy and not as poised as my vintage Raleigh. I think there is something to be said for old school frames - something the man I was chatting to on the train to Leeds raised.

Which leads me to the final point. You Ridiculous Man will be no more as a blog. I aim to set up a new blog on biking - specifically a shorter blog that might be updated more readily.

However that is a task for another day.

Until then thank you for reading - all 3 of you.

Chris
(no longer as ridiculous as I was).

Monday 7 July 2014

Le Tour de Yorkshire part 1.

Excuse the rubbish pigeon French, also excuse the lack of updates.

Actually excuse me.











OK so silly little jokes aside I have not been the best blogger in a very long time. In fact you might say I have been pretty poor at keeping the 3 people who regularly read this updated - sorry Kyle I know I said I would keep going with this.

The truth is blogging/writing has fallen down the list of things that I have been prioritizing lately. Which is a very clunky sentence and way of saying I have been doing other stuff. Namely getting established at my new school and if we are really honest riding/exercising as much as I can.

This is a really important shift actually and something I need to labour a little bit. So sorry and indulge me a second.

As stated before I have lost motivation and enjoyment when running. The training for ultras just did my head in a bit too much and I moved too far away from what it was that got me hooked on running to start with. Now however I have finished the ultra - 35 miles in 7 hours 22 - I have started limiting myself to shorter runs and have been enjoying it much more.






As you can see above I was still pulling a smile at the end of the very painful Ox ultra. Also note how strapped up my knees were. I feel that this was my upper limit in terms of time taken and just sheer physical pounding I could endure. I have no fixed plans to run another ultra for a very long time. I have however not been put off running - as evidenced by running the Heart of Kent Hospice 10km around Brands Hatch.








However it is this piece of exercise that has really taken me over lately.


Which brings me to Le Tour.

When it was announced that the tour was hitting Yorkshire for le grand depart my reaction was 'oh that's nice'. However as I have started to cycle more and as it got closer and closer I began to get more excited. 

In the end a group of us decided we would make the pilgrimage and try to experience the race first hand. Unfortunately for one reason or another everyone started to drop out until it was left as just me. Luckily one of my best friends lives in Sheffield and I had a floor to kip on. 

So the week of the tour roles along and nebulous plans are hatched to rock up to Sheffield on the Friday and head early doors to Leeds via train to watch the start. I would then head to Harrogate on the train and try to catch some of the finish. Another train journey back to Sheffield for the evening. Stop over then head up towards Meadowhall and the finish of stage 2. Back to the car and home late Sunday evening.

However.

I got roped into playing in the year 13 leavers vrs staff football match at school (we won) and so left slightly later. 

It was rush hour/week around London. 

My route takes me along the M1 and past Northampton. It's British grand prix weekend and there are lots of people heading to Silverstone to set up tents on Friday for the weekend. 

Ace.

Add in roadworks, rain and your usual people who obviously have never driven before and when I finally rocked up very tired on Friday evening in Sheffield I was already dreading the drive home. Still Le Tour and a catch up with old friends will make it worth while. 

The route map claims 3 hours but it took closer to 5 on Friday evening.


*Disclaimer - I am going to write about Saturday now, I will write about Sunday when the photos have updated*

Saturday morning was an early start. Partially to get out of my hosts hair before their children were up and about and to get on the way to Leeds. Mostly it was a combination of not being able to stay on the floor any longer and being excited. 

I took a bus into Sheffield city centre and caught a train to Leeds. Northern rail were running a tour special rail ticket which cost £10 and allowed me to use any of their services for the day. This was excellent as a return Sheffield - Leeds - Sheffield was looking like being £20+. The train started fairly quiet and I wondered how close I might get to the roadside as there didn't seem to be many people. I chatted amiably with an older gentleman who was decked out in his finest (and much more expensive that what I wear) Lycra who was surprised he was able to get his bike on the train.

It took about half of the journey for the train to reach standing room only and then full capacity. For the last few stations we pulled up at platforms but no doors were opened. There was no entering or exciting this train. 

I have never heard of this before but the platforms we passed were rammed and to be honest I don't think anyone was getting off the train before Leeds anyway. 

Upon arriving at Leeds train station the full scale of what was happening hit me. I have traveled from Leeds to the midlands many times as a student. I have seen the station on a Friday night and at Christmas time. I have never seen it this busy. 

I made my way out into Leeds and was amazed by the volume of people and the colour. 

The day had started overcast and raining. I left my sunglasses at home and took a hat just to keep the rain off my face. By the time I was off the train in Leeds the hat was keeping the Sun out of my eyes and my waterproof was rolled up and shoved in my bag. 



I wandered up to the Headrow via Briggate. Now if your not from Leeds those names will mean nothing to you but this was shrewd management of people by the council as Briggate is the main shopping street. It is pedestrianized and has lots of small shopping centres off of it. 

I reached the Headrow and it became apparent that I was not going to be able to get down to the town hall for the start. So I slotted into a good viewing spot where I could and soaked up the atmosphere. 



The atmosphere was like a festival, everyone chatting and chilling out excited for it to begin. Whenever an official or team car went past there were cheers and people waving and honking horns. Even the police - English and French - got in on the action. 

I spoke to the people next to me and they had been there since 9 am. I was still stuck on my packed and delayed train then, the people at the front had been there since 7 am and most with children too. 

I was gutted to hear that I had missed the caravan and with it all the free goodies but I didn't care. I had a good spot to watch the riders from and was in the sunshine. 

I stood for a little over an hour as the crowd built up around me. There was not much shoving or jostling to get to the front everything was in good humour and very cordial. Eventually it started. We could hear the roar of the crowd as the riders approached. A cacophony or cheers, whistles and horns. I could see the flash of colours.

Then it was gone.

The team cars followed by.

Now I know that sounds rubbish. Really I do, I have tried to describe it to people but the best I can come up with is to talk about the atmosphere. That and the just the colour. The atmosphere and the colour. And the bikes. And the riders.

It's tricky. 

Basically what you have is a really awesome atmosphere, elite athletes hammering by at speeds some of my cars struggle with on thousands of thousands of pounds worth of bikes and in incredibly colourful Lycra.

As an event I can't think of much to compare to it or even to match it.

Once the team cars passed I wandered to the Angel Inn (hidden away but worth it if you can find it, cheap and friendly - my favourite Leeds pub) and reviewed my photos.

Oh the photos. I took a lot (nearly a thousand in two days) mostly taken with my phone over my head snapping blindly. Its a good system as I was also able to enjoy the racing!










I cropped and altered a load of pictures but was very impressed with what I managed to get - thank you s5 you did well!

After a cheeky pint in the Angel I wandered down to the train station. 

I was routed back out of the train station to join the queue for the Harrogate train as per my original plan. The queue though was at least a quarter of a mile in length and that is no exaggeration. 

It snaked down the side of the station and zig-zagged through the car park.

I then went to the start and was surprised that within 30 minutes they were already dismantling the start line. I turned my nose up at hyper expensive official merchandise and headed for a train to Sheffield disappointed that I couldn't see a large screen set up in Leeds anywhere.

In Sheffield I headed to the Peace Gardens and set up on there with a coffee to watch the rest of the stage. The atmosphere was chilled out and relaxed and everyone was enjoying the sunshine mainly and keeping and eye on the cycling secondarily. I wandered about the stalls and set up in Sheffield chowed down on a steak baguette and caught the last 30km of the stage on the big screen.

The crowds were epic for it. My friends dad and my friend (different friend not related to the other friends dad) who were both near/on Buttertub (a hill they climbed) both have said that it was an epic area with great crowds - my friends dad actually took his bike up the stage earlier in the day which was impressive.

When Cav crashed there was a huge groan from the crowd, for me though his team lost the sprint earlier by going too soon. They tried to break away with one last rise and too much of the route to go. This I feel cost them and put Cav in a position where he had to try and make something happen instead of keeping his shape and flying on.

Cancellara's solo break to the finish also seemed to disrupt Omega-Phama's pattern as they then had to hunt him down - and Spartacus has history with Cav and also has form for holding on to these final surges.

For me though - I love Cav but feel that his time has gone and I just can't get behind the mechanical Froome (sorry) - the day was all about Jens 'shut up legs' Voigt.

Like most Brits I love a character in sport. Jens is one of those with bells on and to see him hammer at the front on his own for most of the stage and take the KOM (king of the mountains) jersey in his last tour and at 42 years old was something special.




All that was left was for me to wander and meet my friend who had finished work and have a tourist style photo taken with one of the many yellow bikes around the city centre. It was a long start to the weekend but it was amazing, I really enjoyed it even though this day was spent largely on my own.



There is more to come based on the second day but I am waiting for the uploading photos to finish - cloud computing bah!