Evening Queries

There are a number of queries that have been raised as a result of this evenings festivities mainly 1. Are mankinis compulsory for c2c riding? 2. What is a poshet and how many taps are needed to keep a vicar happy wearing one? 3. What hour to depart - organised us what a great idea. 4. Has Pam the landlady really got a pair of twins for the night? And many other questions
Racing

(Dated Thur 29th april, posting delayed due to o2's dodgy service "oop north")

The Gathering!

We gathered for a change at Moose as the clock struck 12ish and after much strategic dismantling of bikes and checking in of baggage most of which was overweight and the kind of levels needed for a month, we packed Shortlegs in the kiddy seat surrounded by luggage and, leaving Now then vicar GB and support in said support vehicle, departed northwards for our starting point

.

As is our want we started with a round of eyespy and progressed towards the motorway at breakneck speed with bikes on roof and rear. Enjoying the jocularity of the wheels on the bus we headed north with discussions on lucidity marshmallows and a rather disturbing admission from The Creator on reducing chafeing. Upwards we shot viewing bikes from below as we travelled and showing we are a broad church had serious conversations about youth and drugs sheep and a field full of the biggest badgers you have ever seen. We passed through penrith with Captain C threatening to eject and meet up tomorrow. As he was driving we declined. Passing onwards through stunning countryside lakes and mountains we hammered our way into Whitehaven where we unloaded, support arrived and bikes where re adjoined. Now happily sat in the pub in the sunshine.

Tomorrow as the magnificent 8 we ride.

Racing

Prelude to the gathering - D Day +1

Today, I have been mostly running round like a proverbial chicken ensuring all those last minute items, - hairspray, fake tan, party clothes etc are collated. (Hope there isn't a baggage limit!!)

As we head madly towards the gathering and before I lose the plot let me introduce you to your final "riding" hero, there are others in particular our support crews of Jenni, Daisy , Jacob and David and of course all our loved ones who will be gathered ears clamped to Radio 5 awaiting news of the results, but to conclude the runners and riders can I introduce me.........................

Richard - AKA Racing Snake, past end to ender, and blog updater


Favourite colour- When I am old I will wear purple
Sponsor- Hissing sid and snakebite
Hair- By Salt and Peppa (Mainly salt)
Beer- Sheperd Neame (any)
Marital status- Very and skint
Riding for- The challenge and 3 great causes
Song- Sunshine on a rainy day!

So I think you've now met us all, you should have received a few clues as to what we are about, and seen that we have trained very very seriously for this, you may also have noted we have one other aim, to have a laugh and enjoy it....

Anyway must dash, lots still to do before tomorrows depart.... shave my legs, do my nails, ........................

Racing

The "Kids" are excited D Day +2

Aha , there be just the two days to depart and based upon the emails flying from Bloke to Bloke it appears the anticipation and excitement are rising, God help their respective families!



For those of you counting along you will note that we have but three Blokes left to introduce to you so before any chance of disappointing strikes let me introduce you to 2 more...........



Firstly on your left in Yellow



Graham - GB, The Van Man, and rythm section

Favourite colour - Red, White and Blue

Bike - Very fancy bouncy thing

Beer - Yes lots, (seemed to like Copper bottom at the time of interview)

Passion - Riding into parked cars - uphill!!

Riding for- LUPUS UK

Hair- By.........? (Fill in the gaps as I can't tell only ever seen him riding with a bandana though I did hear a rumour it was Phil Collins).

Favourite Song - American Pie

And on your right in the distance

Mark- Mr Motivator, part time Horse whisperer and recently declared fitness junkie.

Favourite colour - Another one who has a penchant for black but with a hint of blue (particularly Legs)

Sponsor- Dads Army and the Skatepark kids

Helmet- Bog standard German Army issue from WW2 - in black

Sponsor- Shorts manufacturers

Dream - to ride BMX in the Olympics 2012 (for Peru!)

Riding For- Christchurch New Mill

Hair - AWOL

Favourite song - Having a good time

So we head to the penultimate day, and can we say a big thankyou to all those who have sponsored us so far, without your kindness and encouraging words we would not have got this far, and be quite as well prepared as we hope we are.

Tomorrow, your final hero amongst other things........

Racing

Inspiration

Here is a real hero and someone to give us all inspiration!!!!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100426/tuk-iraq-war-hero-smashes-his-marathon-r-45dbed5.html

Racing

Sunshine and double bubble heroes - D Day + 3

Good evening, another fine day with sunshine has seen me conclude my training with a blitz of ride to and from Barnsley Trailway station on my road bike as I headed to work and back, felt good but realised now in the danger zone re falling etc so made an executive decision that it's time to rest up and chill till we Ride........

Another of our heroes has kindly decided to share his training regime with us so read on to hear a sermon from Now then Vicar and to help yet again let me introduce you .......

Sean - Also known as "Now then Vicar" our spiritual guide and leader......

Favourite colour- Luminous yellow
Bike - Number 4 white!

Number of training Bikes- Lots and Lots and Lots,

Sponsor- Trampoline and ejector seat purveyors

Age - Should be beyond this mid-life crisis

Hair - By Friar Tuck

Habitat - Pulpits and Rugby grounds

Riding for- Holme valley team

Favourite song- Swing Low...... (allegedly this may have other connotations but I didn't understand! Maybe Mrs Now Then can enlighten us).

And so to the Sermon.....

Pulling out the stops.

It’s been a busy push through Christmas and Easter not much time for anything really in way of training so I’ve been relying on mental resilience; believing what my 7 year old daughter says when I offer help; “I can do it” and the power of prayer “God help me.” I decided that in this past week whatever happened I needed to get some miles in, after my gentle spin with Racing the week before when I alone confronted a rather brash farmer on my way home, who eventually began to see it my way.

So Monday night Holmbridge and back stopping only to chair the PAGM 14 mins there, 13 back ...not much of a ride.

Tuesday ... took Racing a cheque over to Skelmanthorpe, all off road there give or take a mile and I found a great route with loads of good jumps and etc. I came back in darkness on the road turning big gears to work the legs out....not many miles but good fun.

Wednesday...bugger all, just prayer for help, and a chat with a soldier from 2 Para who told me ‘how easy’ our ride was going to be.

Thursday...10K at the gym in the conventional way shanks-pony plus some grunting and blowing at metal work now my sciatica seems to be in abeyance. That all hurt a lot!

Friday...lots of non-alcoholic larger and a gig in the Peacock Lounge, with blokes on a bike support squadron Mr D Kaye, most enjoyable.

Sat...dropped Lydia off at 9.30 for dancing, lifted my 4th bike of the back off the car and started to roll the miles finding an excellent off route trail all the way from Springwood Mills to Clayton West, then spinning off road to Emley Moor, past the mast, back down from Shelley into the Skelmanthorpe for a downhill technical run, falling off twice in the same place but managing to stay on, on the third attempt, perseverance and commitment in bucket-full’s. Then back up through Shat across the school field and down-hill off road again into the Mills to collect Lydia exactly 1.5 hours later. Not many miles but great fun.

Sunday...more prayer and sponsorship. Looks like people are doing well for the Team (my personal effort) hoping to raise about £800.00. Mark’s appeal at Christ Church added a further £390.00 onto our sponsorship form. And: as an added bonus Leeds beat Worcester RUFC and we stay in the Premiership. The helpful comments I offered referee Pearson obviously worked and increased my lung capacity by another 3rd despite having no voice today.

Good week .....I’m doing the dark-side later, Captain C having set the unenviable weekend standard.

Now then Vicar

So if that doen't inspire you to sponsor your heroes, the only way to sort it is to introduce another, so here he is the double bubble, the man from the north, your hero...............

Tim- AKA "the Creator" TIM2 , Kit Man, technical language co-ordinator and haribo eater...

Favourite Colour- Gold (particularly Spandex leggings!)

Wheels- The bigger the better

Pairs of protective glasses lost - Many

Sponsor- Guinness and Doctor Who

Age- A mere Pup

Hair - Yes ( A debateable answer here!!!)

Riding For - Help for Heroes

Favourite conditions - Mud, Snow Ice and all sorts of .....Oils (apparently not the Yorkshire version meaning Hole but things to help his muscles!)

Favourite song - Rawhide

So as time flys and we head unanswerably toward the pre-penultimate day, I'll leave you with one thought....

Your heroes are here to do one thing-

Make others lives better through raising funds for 3 great charities - nuff said you know what to do!!!

Racing

Training Done - D Day + 4

A blinding day that was meant to begin with full on final training for the Racing snake and Captain C, but destroyed by a small child with a gippy tummy, punctuated by a late call up for the Rugby Union, and ended with a fantastic gift of a blog from Captain C read on shortly......

First though to help you picture the man as you read his blog let me introduce you to another of our heroes........

James -or Captain C (alamity) or perhaps Anakin ??? .

Favourite Colour - The Spectrum

Family - Lots

Bike - The one with all the new bits on it.

Sponsor - Red Bull and Lego Star Wars( read on!)

Riding for - Christ Church New Mill and Lupus UK

Hair - By Graham Gooch and Shane Warne

Song - I would ride 500 miles

And now without further ado a further tale of daring do from Captain C........

Training Done

The final weekend before our big trip, I was eager to get some decent miles in. As I placed my bike in the hallway ready for an early get away, the vision on the old yellow pages ad jumped into my head, “eeee I was right about that saddle.”

Off to bed full of the excitement for the next day, a planned trip with our graceful leader.Arriving downstairs fully kitted up and raring to go, 1 nice bowl of the new Sugar Puff waffles to get me started as to ensure Richard wasn’t cross with me for not fueling up correctly. Then “ping” you have new voice mail.... “Sorry Cpt C, little lads sick and I have to be a good Dad.”

Fully kitted up I sat in the kitchen contemplating my next move, undress and retreat back to bed, (well I had got the Old boy covering work), change and go to work..nar that would be a waste, (and I knew my Dad wouldn't go home anyway,) or go alone.

Conscious of the need for mileage, but also aware of the mental resilience required for solo flights, the need for miles won and I departed a little after 8. The standard B on a B start up to the windmills and over the other side whipping down into Thurlstone. The little back road loop the Trans Pennine way and off towards Dunford Bridge.

Moving swiftly along and enjoying the early morning sunshine I soon arrived at the car park. Unsure of the best way to get the next part of the Trans Pennine trail I decide to take a quick comfort break, refuel with a hamster bar and check the iphone GPS for my next move. It was only then did I realize that the iphone requires both GPS and GSM signal to locate your whereabouts, and with no mobile signal in the bottom of Dunford bridge I could only guess in the direction to go.

Heading out of Dunford B into the next county, I was soon reassured by some signs directing me to the trail, the road climb towards the main road into a head wind did start to bite a little but happy with the knowledge that what goes up must come down I ploughed on. Arriving at the main road I quickly crossed to find the trail and a lovely section of off road, down hill, swooping in the bottom to find a quaint little bridge, I was slightly bemused by a little climb back to the main road.

Crossing the main road again I hit the track hoping for a long and fun decent, I wasn’t disappointed. Speeding along I came across a guy alone with 5 MTB’s, forever the good Samaritan, I stopped to see if everything was OK and ask how he managed to ride all 5 bike at once! Seems he and a group of friends were tackling the Trans Pennine Trail in full, and the steep off road climb had caught a few riders out, but in true team spirit the fitter ones of the bunch had walked back to help, carry, push along their friends to ensure the team moved along.

(Note to our fitter riders...Please remember this!!! Help, Carry, Push!)

Rejoining my descent I soon found myself at the “DARK SIDE OF THE MOSS” as I rounded the corner to begin my ascent a blur of bodies whisked around the corner...roadies..then more ..and more! Geeez these guys where shifting..Smiling and nodding to well over 200 riders flying down the “DARK SIDE OF THE MOSS” becomes quite a chore and disheartened, slowly I plodded on, watching the 10th’s click by, feeling every little lump in the road and I began to question my decision to attempt “DARK SIDE OF THE MOSS” alone!

Pedal turn after pedal turn and eventually I reached the top, slightly warmer than I was at the bottom and extremely relieved. Stopping in the car park to catch my breath, I quizzed some slightly official looking riders (they had Hi Viz vests on) who explained to me about the 75 mile road race which had started at Lockwood Park and would finish there 75 miles later. As I watched the back markers make it to the top, I was happy that on a Road Bike I would obviously be able to climb just as quick!

Happy with my performance but unhappy with the odometer reading of just 18 miles I began to think of other routes home, speeding down the Moss I spotted the track to Yateholme Res, littered with road closed signs I was sure there would be a way through to BrownHills for a rebel like me!

Enjoying the off road section again I blazed past sign after sign informing me of NO WAY THROUGH....ROAD CLOSED...NO ACCESS.. And just as I arrived at the bridge to Freedom there they where, the largest metal gates you’ve every seen, the largest number of site safety signs you’d ever come across and the largest NO PUBLIC ACCESS sign. Chuckling to myself I about turned and began a nice section of off road climbing back to the main road, half way up I thought that I perhaps should have taken a picture of the gates for the blog, Doh!

Back on the road on heading off to the village of Holme still eager to get more miles in I took a quick left to drop down to Digley, confident I could take on the Digley climb as well as the off road climb we had done several times before. The road section done, I took to the track for the zigzag climb up to the main road, having to dig in little on the way and getting a little cross in the large stoned section near the top, I made it.

A quick bite on another hamster bar and it was time to see if RED BULL really does give you wings. Deep in my pack was a Red bull Power shot, having dragged it around several rides and forgetting to try it, reading the blurb on the bottle I expected to be home in less than 5 mins!

Opting to take the track back down to Digley to reward my climbing efforts I soon found myself in Holmbridge. Maybe it does give you wings, it certainly does something,because for some strange reason I decided to take the route home which beat me first time out!

Along Dob Top and up the climb past the chicken farm this time without getting off, continuing along the road up to Cartworth, down though Washpit at break neck speed and up under Bank Old road to Cinderhills. Not exactly thrilled with Richard’s route last time we where here, I stuck to the road and made it up to Scholes Moor. Adamant to have one last climb I pushed on straight ahead to take on Dean bridge and climb up to Hepworth. JOB done it was downhill all the way home!4 hrs 20 mins riding time 36.5 miles and 2615 ft of climbing!

I can’t wait for next week!!!!!

Captain C

What a Hero can you believe the hardship this man is enduring , please if you can get that pen out and sponsor him so he doesn't have to drink anymore Red Bull shots as they appear to make him feel he is invincible..... and be turning him towards THE DARK SIDE........

Till the morrow as the countdown continues

Racing

Weather fixing D-Day + 5

Another day gone and amazingly another Sunny one, so to help out, just guaranteed the bad weather for next weekend as I purchased Sun Cream, and just in case ...Fake tan!

As promised I have continued my detailed interviews of the Stars of the ride and so with much fanfare may I introduce you to...............

Neil- Shortlegs, one of Doddys diddimen and a true training hero






Favourite Colour - Blue (definitely Blue)
Sponsor - J.R.R.Tolkien
Bike - Currently a Scott 55 but may be anything by the time of ride -investigating a Penny Farthing for the luxury value
Habitat - Middle earth and jam butty mines
Riding for - The sheer hell of it with charity thrown in.
Hair - By Jonny Depp
Strengths - Sheer determination and guts, scubadiving and overtaking
Weaknesses - Ahem .....of course there are none, when pressed to comment on navigation the answer was "2" I think, and of course riding vintage cycles
Favourite Song - " All around the World"

Tomorrow as time presses on meet another of our heroes and maybe even a mystery guest.. till then .............

Racing

Friday before - D day + 6

The Countdown continues as we spiral inextricably towards the start, today I have been mostly eating cream cakes in one last desperate push towards weight loss in preparation for the ride and of course celebration of birthing days at work.

Our sponsorship totals are steadily climbing, but we need more to get these guys over the hills and from C2C so please spread the word.

I thought to conclude I would introduce you to one of the stars who will be riding so that you don't have to! Asking the questions and making up the answers as all good politicians do I found out the following:

Tim 1 - The man they call Lance and wearer of the worlds most stylish smoking jacket


Favourite Colour - Definitely Black
Maritable status - Very
Sponsor - Hamlet
Calf size - Bordering on the ridiculous
Bike for the ride - The one with very small square wheels.
Hair - by Kojak
Raising money for - Help for Heroes
Other talents - Photographer and smoke signaller
Favourite song- That one off the Hamlet ad (he had to say that his sponsor said so!!!)

I'm sure you will agree this man deserves your support.......

Tomorrow the countdown continues and we will introduce you to another of our Star riders.. tune in to find out who!

Racing

The Countdown begins

Ladies and Gentlepeeps, may I welcome you to the Countdown..... A day by day tale of sorrows, joys, last minute training, begging, and downright to the bottom of the pit of your stomach tension building excitement.

Well maybe that is slightly overegging the pudding, however I have to report that to your left you can now see in all it's glorious detail our route day by day and even mile by mile should you wish.

You can view the hills we will climb...... the hills we will climb............the hills we will climb and of course our descents and even sometimes the flat bits inbetween.

I can report transport arrangements are in hand and departure times set, I also have a personal bet on who says "Are we nearly there yet????" first.

To celebrate I am training hard............

Cheers

Racing

A random selection of facts!

Good evening and welcome to a random selection of facts for today,

Firstly it is confirmed that Now then Vicar has yet another velocipede, a Kona Spitfire or some such, a very dazzling white, with SPDs that are keeping him entertained as he tries to dismount!

Tim 2 has a new Pseudonym which must have been designed by Russell T Davies, welcome to



" The Creator"

Blokes on a bike facebook group has 62 members (Can we make it to 100 before we set off???) and some rather arty pictures of a rather splendid bunch of riders !

And finally the one the only Captain Calamity is 106 today, altogether now, Happy Birthday to UUUUUUUUUU,....................

Racing

Water water everywhere and even some to drink!

Good news my friends, hydration should not be a problem in the vast desert of Northern Britain.

Thanks to our friends at Shepley Spring we have all our water needs catered for!

Our grateful thanks can only be expressed in an appropriate manner, and I feel a competition for the most unusual photo whilst C2Cing with a bottle of the wet stuff would be a fitting tribute!

http://www.shepleyspring.co.uk/ for more on these fine people.

Racing

Climb them hills boys!

Ah my friends, you find me this e'en with a light refreshing summer beer to hand, that bizarrely tastes of alcoholic earl grey tea (don't ask!), pink proboscis and arms, a war wound on my left leg, and an aching body from the spoils of war that was the latest training ride, but a smile on my face though I can't quite remember why!

To begin let us start with Shortlegs and the latest of his troubles, (Captain C really has his work cut out competing against the trials and tribulations that are making up the Shortlegs story). For pure emotional effect it appears that Shortlegs decided we needed to test the proposal from Tim2 as kit man, of a spare bike by getting his bike nicked from Sainsburys on Friday!

So as a true kit man does, once more pedals were rearranged, and saddle heights shortened, there was talk of 19inches but I fail to remember the relevance and the two of them blazed a trail for the usual slightly delayed 10am start. Traffic was light this am and I shot to church in a little less than 25 mins from home and Captain C made it for 1 minute past.

Our group gathered in the sunshine, made up of the two Tims, Mr Motivator, Captain C , Shortlegs and myself, perspired gently in a most attractive manner as we climbed towards 5 lane ends (some of us were overdressed (Tim2) but rectified this without scaring the horses) and we regrouped at the top in the usual manner.

We passed Shortlegs chain removal spot at a good pace and without incident, excepting the fact that kit man had decided to decorate a wall with cycling shades and as such added to his personal ride by returning for said item.

The Sun climbed as we flew through Victoria having ridden for at least half a mile in full formation with standards fluttering in the wind (or lack of it) and the sound of the pipes in our ears (or was it just my squeaky brakes). The lack of horses by this time was making Mr Motivator jittery and he dived through Flight hill as if the hounds of hell were after him, before we tested that theory as we once more blasted our way through Hades.

As the sun drove the perspiration down our jowls, we shot towards Yateholme, were Mr Motivator decided to play a little game for the kiddies on the ride and laid a somewhat unusual Easter egg hunt of lock, tyre lever, cables etc (either that or he was trying his best to ensure Shortlegs stuck to the route this time) my how we laughed at this wonderful distraction.

We climbed as is our want past Digley and up towards Greenfield Road, Shortlegs steadily climbing as the rest of us raced on. Gathering at the top and having partaken of hobnobs and haribos, we posed for self timed group photos and laughed as the amateur David baileys jumped over bikes to ensure they were in the picture.

Further hilarity followed as we dived through the mud on the bridleway to Meltham and as we exited at the bottom onto the road Captain C missed a bright red fiestas bonnet by a good inch and a half at great speed.

The travellers rest was reached as the clock struck one, and we took up residence in the beer garden and as usual enjoyed "a great plate of food", (though to be fair it was more than last time
and boy did I pay for it later). Age ranges, the attractiveness of certain calves (whose a lucky boy Captain C) and the onset of baldness ,along with an initial table re sited from the side of Mount Everest all gave us pause for thought as we quenched our thirsts and filled our gullets.
Departing an hour later we continued, the pace for a number of us had now dropped but we gathered at the top of the next climb in defence of Mr Motivator as a fine looking horse passed by to which we gave close attention (but thankfully not the well known killer sloth of a horse from last time).

We shot through Crosland Moor and climbed through Honley Wood, and gathered at the filling station to stock up on sports drinks, mars bars and Shortlegs to spend an age refilling his water bottle.

To help him recover I paced him up the hill to Castle hill only for him to slipstream me with 100 yards to go and encourage the others to think our roles had been reversed.

To gain revenge for this the troops gathered around Shortlegs and forcibly made him turn right and stay with the route as we headed towards Farnley Line. My pace was fast leaving me and I was paying for the early speed so I gently climbed to meet the others at the top.


We now hit virgin territory as we turned left at the traffic lights on penistone road and climbed
another killer hill towards Highburton, the climb sorted the men from the boys and having been scattered to the wind as usual we watched Lance blowing those smoke rings to keep us on track (as a point to note it appears he has a light summer version of the smoking jacket for just such occasions and hopefully the flowers he picked up at the service station have made it home to Lesley, though they may be a little perspired upon given he tucked them under his arm for the final fifteen miles!)

Yet more climbs awaited as we drove onwards through Flocton and back to Emley and to ensure we covered all the local landmarks we climbed once more past Emley Moor mast. As we flew towards the 3 acres and Shelley, we admired the Archers bursting balloons from 50 yds (And no its not the earl grey Mr Motivator can vouch for me here!) and as the troops gathered and a misty tear passed my eyes as i contemplated my bailout I tried to join them, with only one thought on my mind, being that we hadn't had a fall all day!

Bruised and with the ringing laughter bouncing through my ears I left them to make my way home via Ponker lane covering a fine 45 miles, in 5hrs 24 mins and 53 seconds of cycling.

The troops continued and Tim 2 had final mileage of 46.59miles, 5hrs.50min ride time, 5633.23ft ascended, 5633.95ft descended, 1334.15ft max elevation, 283.11ft min elevation, 18.18mph max speed , average speed 7.98mph, min speed 2.87mph, calf size- nowhere even near Tim 1's!!!!!!

A cracking ride if devised by an idiot who likes hills or can't read a map, with good company, fantastic weather and lots of perspiration. Same again tomorrow????

Racing

Motivation with added Brain freeze

Sunday 4th April


After not being able to make the Good Friday ‘Early Bird’ training I was determined to have a solo outing at a similar time on Saturday instead (Now Then Vicar and Tim 2 had other plans). Well true to form 06:30 Saturday came and went and yet another best laid plan went out the window. Easter Day however was a different matter and at 06:45 I set off in the direction of Holme Moss. There was method in my madness, even though I knew I had to be in Church in 3 hours time, I was determined to conquer the Moss with style!

Stupidly, I had been reading earlier in the week various blogs on t’interweb about riding the C2C and two things kept cropping up, one was how difficult day 2 is going to be and the other was Winlatter Pass. At 6km long with a rise of 800ft it just seemed a little daunting. So earlier in the week I got the GPS out and worked out that from Holme Bridge to Holme Moss summit is 5.5km and the climb is about 700ft (nearly the same I thought). So back to the ride, I left home feeling to be honest, not great, everything seemed to ache from the start and by the time I had passed Holmfirth centre I felt crap and wanted to turn back.

I didn’t, but I must say that that the first part of the ride is the worst I’ve had to date and that includes some of the mud clumping moorland climbs that Tim2 has dragged me out on. I’m not sure what it was, but I decided to have a week off training and by the time I reached Lane End with every muscle screaming for me to stop and my saddle feeling like a razor blade I was ready to do just that.

But enough whinging, the next part was the main climb up Holme Moss, which actually wasn’t that bad (apart from the head wind and sleet), it was just a case of hunkering down, getting into the zone and counting down the corners and eventually reaching the top. Now was the really difficult part…. continue or turn around for a great sprint back downhill all the way to a warm home and some breakfast. For some strange reason ‘continue’ won even though I was thoroughly uncomfortable, freezing cold and my new ‘Fair Weather’ cycling resolution was rapidly disappearing into the distance.

I’m not sure where the inspiration came from; I’m not usually so strong-willed. It was either the thought of Neil Coventry doing the previous weekend’s 35 mile training ride with nothing but a vintage boneshaker, my broken down spare parts only bike, and lashings of stubborn determination, or Racing Snake’s JOGLE story of Wind, Rain, Snow and similarly a trek over Holme Moss where he finally realised he was ready to face anything, John O’Groats to Lands End could throw at him. I think it was the latter.

So off I went, looking forward to the trip down t’other side! That lasted all of 20 seconds…. I’ve never experienced brain freeze while not eating an ice cream before and certainly never for a full 5 minutes! Bloody hell it was cold! I got to the bottom with blurred vision and the despairing feeling that there was no way back without climbing Holme Moss the wrong way! So onwards…. but to where? I realised this wasn’t a route I had taken before apart from in a car and all I knew that was my theoretical plan was to hook up with the Longdendale Trail onto the Trans Pennine Trail back onto the main road a short hop to Victoria and all downhill to home (Simples!).

Well picking up the Longdendale Trail was easy enough and apart from it being a bit wet and muddy it was straight and thankfully flat…. until it ended! Mmmm, the Longdendale Trail doesn’t actually link up with the Trans-Pennine Trail, well not in a nice continuous flat sort of way. At the end of one you have to cross the A628 and then climb to the top of the moor (all off road) and after 3.5 miles of rocks, mud, puddles and extremely strong wind you can pick the Trans Pennine Trail back up at Dunford Bridge.

At this point time is ticking on and getting home in time for Church seems highly unlikely. I eventually get to the Winscar Reservoir turn off and decide to ring the wife and warn her I’m not going to make it. After a quick Mars break, off I go again and hit the Trans-Pennine Trail. I was expecting this to be another arduous, muddy, slow section but to my surprise and despite the mud and puddles it seemed only a couple of minutes before I reach the A616 and I’m going through Crow Edge. Victoria is next and then I decide to take the easy route straight down the hill to New Mill. I did consider the longer Tinker’s Monument route for all of 3 seconds, but thought ‘next time’.

Anyway, I finally got home about 30 minutes sooner than my warning call to the wife had predicted and on reflection the 38.6km in just over 3hrs wasn’t bad after all. I also learnt a few things on the way. 1) I prefer riding with a group, I always seem to push myself a little harder. 2) Don’t give up early on, I think it takes a while to get your body going. 3) Don’t have a complete week off again! & 4) Plan your route thoroughly when you’ve got limited time.

Mr Motivator

Will we be the chip paper of tomorrow???

In fine print of todays Huddersfield Examiner

http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2010/04/06/huddersfield-blokes-on-a-bike-raise-thousnads-on-charity-bike-ride-86081-26179740/

Come on guys take inspiration and give our wonderful charities a helping hand by sponsoring us Now!

Go on you know you want to!!!

Racing

If only all training were as good as this!

Ah, my friends, you find me after two full days of cross training, watching small boys devour breakfast in order to get their just rewards of Easter day.

Having been up with the larks on Good Friday morn, for an early rendevous with Captain C and a supreme ride in the early morning taking in our usual viewpoints of windmills, reservoirs, cloud, rain, mud and of course Captain C's infamous chain destroying climb avec dog, but this time in reverse , though we still failed to complete the climb on two wheels, (one day ............).

We discovered bridleways we were not aware of, and Captain C found the challenge of the "downhill" from near Emley to the Grove at Skelmanthorpe a true joy on an empty stomach.

The songs of the dawn chorus accompanied our pedalstroke as we proved the old adage of the tortoise and the hare (well we saw two) and were for a short while on the climb to Emley, destroyed by the pace of the runner who passed us with blinding ease.

A really good ride of approx 20 miles and one that will definitely be added to the Racing Snake training ride manual for the rest of the month.

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-kingdom/-shepley/451127011876867762

Having returned home for half eight the seaside beckoned and Caroline decided that I needed to add a little more training ,so we ventured to Robin Hoods Bay and undertook step training of the highest order added to the minor climb from the sea to the car park with partial carrying of three stone child and my workout was complete for the day.

To follow this up Easter Saturday included, a walk to Scissett in the rain, a swim with two children who continue to give a great impression of a fish, and a walk home, oh and that misses out the full on excercise of watching Skelmanthorpe United thrashing some poor opposition for half an hour as we passed the rec.

All in all I think I deserved the Pie and peas washed down with a refreshing beverage after all that excercise!

If only all training were as good as this!

Racing