Just over a week ago I replied to an email from Tredz bikes as part of a competition to win a place in the Carten100 bike ride. For those who don’t know and too lazy to click the link this is a 100 mile bike ride from Cardiff to Tenby. That’s quite a long way.

I didn’t think much of it, after all what were the odds on winning, and then when Palace clinched a place in the play-offs I booked a ticket for the home leg without a second thought to the competition. Then a few days before the ride I got an email saying I’d won (gulp) by which point there were a number of things against me.

1. I wasn’t getting back from London until about 2am the night before a 7:30 start.
2. My bike was still in for repair and I’d again have to prep my turbo bike – by this point safely back on the trainer
3. The weather forecast was grim, the worst of it being a 25mph headwind most of the day the whole way
4. 100 miles had been extended to 106 following police advice

I rushed home from work on the Friday and spent some time swapping bike cassettes again regretting doing it up so tight a few days before – was not being able to remove that really a viable excuse? Not really but I must admit my heart sank a little when the wrench finally moved. An hour later I was in the car to London, thankfully in the passenger seat and over 4 hours, a 0-0 draw later I’d decided that I probably couldn’t do the ride. Crossing the Severn Bridge at about 1am I’d pretty much written it off and although K had got all my kit and nutrition ready I climbed into bed, decided I wasn’t doing it and didn’t set an alarm.

This decision meant I slept well but woke up just before 6. I sat awake for 15 minutes when I realised that I’d regret passing up the opportunity and proceeded to get myself ready. Kit ready, nutrition sorted I got in the car and while K drove I downed a can of Red Bull and a banana. Arriving at the Cardiff City Stadium start location riders were already leaving and I joined the queue. I spoke to Peter, the organiser of the event, and he handed my my race number and bike jersey and shortly after I was ready to go. One of the last to leave I reasoned that would mean I’d have groups to pick up all the way to the first stop at Margam where a proper breakfast would be provided.

I said to myself that if nothing else I’d won a free jersey but inside knew fully that I’d be far too stubborn not to go the whole way unless it was physically impossible. Mentally I told myself to break the trip up into 3 separate legs of 30 miles and then do the short bit to Tenby to finish. Easy…..

I quickly left behind the group I departed with as we went up Cowbridge Road but found I kept getting caught at red lights just as the group ahead moved through. The first climb on the A48 I span my way past a few riders, some of who were pushing already. Couldn’t help but feel it was going to be a long day for those riders but massive respect to them if they finished.

Along the undulating A48 before passing my office in Bridgend when the first of the rain started and on through Pyle and then Margam. Closing on the back of a group as we crossed over the M4 I think I missed the start of the sprint as the riders ahead suddenly surged away. obviously they’d picked up the scent of sizzling bacon at the first stop. Here the Express Cafe served up one of the nicest sausage baps I’ve ever eaten and having been stopped for about 30 minutes I set off looking forward to passing the half way point and getting onto the part of the ride on roads I don’t actually know. I often find it easier to ride on new roads as looking around makes the time go quicker.

Navigating through Port Talbot was a bit tricky due to traffic and lights so a mini peleton of about 30 bikes formed but once onto the bypass we were away and I once more left the group behind. It was shortly after as we crossed at Briton Ferry that the wind really started to take effect and then for the first and only time on the ride I gave up my triathlon instincts and joined a line of bikes to get some protection from the wind. I probably stayed in that group for 5 or so miles before it broke up in traffic through Swansea and we joined the Clyne Gardens cycle track which due to the tree lined nature offered a nice respite from the ever increasing breeze but when we crossed into Llanelli the toughest part of the ride was about to begin.

Progress was tough here and I found myself working my way past many small groups working hard to shield themselves from the wind but when we went onto the undulating coastal path, normally a very pleasant riding experience, the elements really did make life difficult. Sections of the path were covered in sand which was both slippery and energy sapping and there was sand battering your face as well as the wind slowing progress to a crawl. Going uphill was actually easier than the flat with the hills themselves shielding the wind. Having navigated through this area the next break couldn’t come soon enough and the Ship Aground pub was a welcome sight for the next official stop at around 62 miles. Drinking a can of coke and using the facilities I must admit I didn’t rush to get back out there but when I did I felt newly invigorated and confident I had the remaining 44 miles left in my legs.

The first decent climb in a while took as past Kidwelly before descending into Carmarthen where riders would get to experience the new longer route. Leaving the A40 at Johnstown to follow the NCR4 path up a very steep hill where numerous riders were pushing I soon found myself in my own spring classic as I rode on some bumpy roads with no sign of anyone in front or behind and it stayed that way for most of the new route until my conservative descending allowed a few people to catch up as I joined the back of a lead group. I took advantage of a short break at a service station on the A40 just outside St Clears leaving myself with two lots of around 20K to the finish. Once more leaving the A40 we picked up the new route to Tavernspite and the final stop but it was clear that many riders didn’t fancy the new route and continued on the A40, I learnt later that many more did the same at Carmarthen doing significantly less distance than the majority.

I’ll take this moment to have a short rant – I understand conditions were tough, and the route was changed at short notice but when you’re in an organised event, carrying a number and wearing the colours of that event you should abide by the rules. The organisers were clear that the two diversions were in place on police advice and I would hate to think that the event could be in jeopardy because some selfish riders didn’t fancy doing the full ride. Also I should add that the number of idiots I witnessed running red lights made my blood boil – one accident would be enough to ruin the event. If you lose your group another will be along shortly. Rant over.

There was a long drag to the final stop and when a Cardiff Tri member went past me on aerobars it was quite satisfying to reel him back in nearer the top of the climb. A glass of lemonade later it was time to finish this thing and knowing there would be far more down than up was a great feeling. I did the final 20K in 50 minutes and the adrenaline rush was palpable turning onto the A478 and seeing a “Tenby 5 miles” sign. Knowing this stretch well I was aware that this was still an undulating road but I worked hard on the uphills and for the first time in a while rode the downhills rather than free-wheeling. It was nice to have small groups cheering during the whole ride but as they do with Ironman Wales the locals of Tenby and New Hedges really get behind these events and it was great to be cheered towards the finish especially when entering the town square and under the finish line.

K was there to meet me right at the finish and while I was out on the road had booked us into a B&B and reserved us a table in the popular Blue Ball restaurant. Not having to head straight home was something of a relief. I didn’t wear my finishers shirt to the meal but the weary look in my eyes and the band on my wrist ensured that everyone knew I was one of that hardy band of men (and women) who had left Cardiff early that morning. Walking around Tenby afterwards it wasn’t hard to identify your fellow Carteners and while no words needed to be exchanged the mutual respect was told in a single knowing nod of the head. Anyone who’s done the Carten has to be given a lot of credit, those who did Carten 2013 have earned just a little bit more.

I can confidently say that 112 miles in Nottingham in 8 weeks time will not be any tougher.

My coach had decided that I should do a couple of local sportives if they fitted around my plan to get some practice at having an organised ride with fuelling stops.  So I entered two, Sarn Helen Sportif and between the two Outlaws an Evans Cycles Cotswold ride.

In the week leading up to my ride Bike Science contacted me and ultimately, my AiR frame, which has had an issue with the rivets in the braze-on dérailleur hanger where the rivet had popped, needed to go back to Boardman and I was asked to avoid riding it.  They’d tried a repair on it but ultimately the rivet wasn’t holding and the flex was causing too many issues with the dérailleur making it impossible to avoid chain rub at the high and low gear extremities.  I say high, this was purely theoretical as I rarely get there in a ride!!!  So the bike has been stripped down and sent back to Boardman under the frame warranty.  So far no complaints with the service, I’m just hoping it gets turned around quickly.

Biggest snag was that having entered the sportive already I faced having to do it on my turbo bike which hasn’t been removed from the trainer in 9 months since I got the AiR.  So Saturday morning, after my long run (reverse of last weeks 17K done 4 minutes quicker – fresh legs make a world of difference) I set about seeing how race ready the bike was.  First job was getting it off the trainer which seemed to have seized but once that was done I set about the bike itself.  Gears seemed fine but the main job was moving the 8 speed cassette from the turbo wheel onto my normal riding wheels – either way I had the change the cassette or the tyre and I’d rather use the wheel I normal use.

First problem then was the rear hanger wasn’t pulling back and so when free wheeling in low gears there was no tension on the chain and it would fall off, that problem solved the rear brake was jamming (not been used in a while) but again resolved easily enough.  Ultimately it came down to me not really having any excuse so on Saturday afternoon after watching Palace clinch a play-off place we set off the the in-laws who live 2 miles from the event start.

This was going to be a slightly shorter ride than my longest but with comfortably the most climbing and I set off taking it fairly easy having no real knowledge of the big climbs on the route.  The ride heads up along the Neath valley before the first climb along the Sarn Helen road towards the “Devil’s Elbow” – this was pretty tough but more that it was relentless than any really steep sections.  A quick water stop at the top and I went over the other side.  The Elbow itself is the tough climb but we were going down it and my usual nervous descending skills came to the fore.  A group were following me but seemed happy to stay there but two people came by us all doing what must have been 70kph on a narrow bumpy surface.  Rather them than me.

Sarn Helen 80 – plus some for luck!

Shortly afterwards I managed a wrong turning near Sennybridge and ended up doing 3 miles uphill before realising my error – I turned around and back tracked to the proper location – picking up the road I was supposed to be on further along felt like cheating. I’d managed to do 6 miles extra and lost myself 28 minutes.  Looking at the results that time alone actually cost me 20 places and I would have been top third.

Back on the right route we faced a head wind all the way to Llandovery, on what should have been the easy section of the ride, so much so that on a long descent it felt like riding into a wall and I was barely able to creep over 32kph.  Brief stop to Llandovery and we set up towards the Black Mountain.  My legs were already tired at this point and I ended up following a couple from Celtic Tri for 30 minutes or so (always at a tri legal distance I might add) before going past them as soon as the slopes started.  I quickly found myself in the easiest gear (one advantage of the triple I suppose) and made my way slowly up but with the cadence barely hovering around 60.  Not knowing the road well (I think I’ve driven it once many moons ago) I just didn’t know where the top was and every time you’d hit a switchback you’d realise there was another tier above.  Got up there eventually to find an abandoned drink station with just some large drink containers and so rolled over and down.  The descent was nice enough but as usual I’m never going to make up the time some daredevil riders might.

Home straight now and we rode down the Swansea valley before a final climb up and over Neath and back to Skewen.  Two miles from the finish I lost a cap from my tool bottle holder and stopped to retrieve it – tired legs cause me to unclip a fraction late and I fell in the road banging my elbow.  Pride hurt more than anything and the following car, who was thankfully a fair way back, seemed pretty confused by what had happened.

A decent event, lacking in a few marshalls, but the usual camaraderie was there even if I did spend large sections without seeing another cyclist.  With my wrong turning I ended up beating my longest ride PB, albeit at a much lower average speed, but I did take my climbing PB from 944m to 1639m which I make over a mile up.  No wonder it hurt – I guess that makes it more climbing for the distance than IM Wales?

Well 68 days now actually.

I’ve just finished a sustained 3 week block of training culminating in my longest training session yet on the weekend.

Starting with the week in Mallorca and then 2 weeks of increased planned training I’ve done some good numbers in this period.

• 29 activities in 21 days.
• 73K run in 7 hours.
• 492K cycled in just under 20.5 hours, 125K of that on a turbo
• 11000m swum in about 5 hours
• You can add 2 vets matches to that total – also, we won the league with a 100% record. Yay.
• Weight hovering at a couple of lbs above 13 stone.
• 28 Strava PRs in the month

I was supposed to do a four hour ride last weekend but a disaster with a popped rivet less than half way in put paid to that so this weekend it was with some trepidation I looked at a 5 hour ride with a 1 hour run off.  I misread my plan on Thursday and missed a second session on the turbo which irritated me a little but I must admit my body enjoyed the 2 day break from running and cycling.

Chepstow/Monmouth/Usk 80 mile route

I set off riding up through Chepstow and Tintern feeling really good on the climbs – there’s some decent elevation there but I didn’t feel stressed by them at all.  Making sure to fuel regularly – combination of ISOgels, Nectar drink and some solid food (a mcvities apple bar and a flapjack) – I never felt that I was fatiguing and was back into Caerleon almost 30 minutes up on my conservative schedule.  I road some windy laps of the flats at the end to make up the required time and beat my longest EVER ride by 50KM and set a new PB for climbing in a ride too.  The Cap Formentor ride from a couple of weeks ago had been the previous record holder – albeit that almost as much climbing in less than half the distance.  The discrepancy in ride time to actual time above was down to a mechanical adjustment 2K in but after that I rode straight through – the only short stop being due to sheep in the road. Those from Wales will sympathize.

The ride finished and I was straight onto the run (T2 time of 8 minutes including a trip to the loo) and I was surprisingly comfortable turning in sub 6 minute kilometres for 58 minutes.  Tired afterwards but very pleased.  Sunday morning was 1h45 run in which I covered a fairly lumpy 17KM with a few walks but nothing of more than 20 seconds and usually less.  This weekend has given me a lot of confidence and I’m going to enjoy this recovery week which will come to a crashing halt when I do the “Sarn Helen Sportif” next Sunday.  That’s about the same distance and Saturday but includes a couple of bigger lumps.

After buying my new bike in June I was aware that the worst component on the bike, other than the fatso on top obviously, was the wheels.  It was for this reason that I kept my old Kinetic One wheels rather than the Mavic’s the bike normally comes with.  I’d done some casual research into other wheels including some very expensive models and chinese carbon varieties.

I’d determined a few things from this

• good, branded wheels were too expensive
• I didn’t trust the Chinese ones to hold up me and my bike
• I was probably fine with the ones I had

Wheel upgrades were long forgotten until K suggested them as an option as a Christmas present and it was around this time that I’d remembered FLO Cycling were about to opening their third pre-order window so I did some more reading.  FLO have a very interesting startup story that would treble the length of this blog post so if you’re interested take a read here.

FLO wheels met a few of my criteria in that they were affordable (FLO sell direct to the customer to keep prices down), the performance figures are up there with much more expensive wheels and they look great.  One of the other key things I knew I wanted in my wheels were that they were clinchers and offered an aluminium braking track – I’ve had a few moments on my bike and didn’t want to sacrifice braking performance that I didn’t need to by switching to carbon brakes.  Plus it means that swapping wheels out is much quicker as I don’t need to swap brake blocks too.

Decision to go with FLO done there was only one decision left to make, 60/60 or 60/90.  I deliberated and changed my mind repeatedly in the 4 days until the preorder opened and on the day was on the site with many other people as ordering opened.  Site went into meltdown but my order for a 60/60 combo was complete while many posters on the FLO Cycling facebook page suggested that they weren’t being quite as lucky – I know FLO were doing everything they could to ensure everyone got their wheels and I think it was mostly all sorted and they’ve promised a more robust mechanism come pre order 4.

The day after completing my order I second guessed myself again and sent an email to the guys at FLO – who incidentally seem to reply very quickly – and after taking my circumstances into account they recommended I change my rear to a 90. So I did and then kept my fingers crossed they’d make it by Christmas.

Ultimately things were to conspire against me, a strike at the port in LA meant my wheels were late leaving the States and then they arrived and were taken in by Customs on Christmas Eve.  I checked the tracking info daily and eventually they were released with charges to be paid just after new year.

For Christmas I’d asked for a couple of necessary presents to complete the wheels, namely a new Ultegra 6700 cassette and 2 Michelin Pro Service Course tyres, in red to complement my bike.  The wheels I chose were also in the stealth red decals.

Once I’d navigate a trip to Parcelforce and paid the £147 customs/duty/handling fee – with that on top the wheels do work out a bit more expensive than ideal but unless FLO get an EU distributor your only hope is that customs let them sail straight through.

The built up wheels ready to go

Finally had time to put everything together and having fitted the cassette realised my torque wrench doesn’t go to the required 40nm so I’ve ordered one from ebay.  Came to the tubes and realised that although I’d picked up some Continental valve extenders a while back my tubes didn’t have the required removable valves.  So cassette on and tyres half on I went back on-line to order more bits.  Ended up going with Conti tubes with long 80mm valves.  These have the removable bit I needed and also meant that the 60 wheel wouldn’t need an extender and the rear would need just a single 30mm extender.  Tubes arrived and in no time I’d finished putting the wheels together and whacked them on the bike.   I probably won’t get to ride them for a bit but it was nice to see how they look and get a photo of the bike with them on.

Boardman AiR 9.0 with FLO 60/90 Combo

I look forward to getting them on the bike in the spring and seeing just how well they ride both in advance of the Outlaw and having a go at a couple of Strava PBs of course,  I’ll report back if anyone is interested.

K joined NEWT a few months ago and while I was considering it I never got round to it.  Despite feeling rubbish at the time and with two weeks out of the pool I went along to the swimming class on the 8th where they do a monthly assessment for new members.  This assessment is basically a 400m time trial to assess what swim lane you should start in and to give you a basic assessment of your swimming.

Previous readers will be more than aware that my swimming is enough to drive a swim coach to despair but there we go.

I told them in advance that I could go all out and do somewhere around 10:15 or take it easier and do 11 which would put me in the slow lane regardless.  I did the TT in 10:30 or so (didn’t wear a watch) and was then given a talking to by the coach.  Explained my situation but I’m not sure they listened that much and then went down to the far lane to join in the training session proper.  A few lengths there and another coach gives me the same grilling.

I’m already made up my mind as to my swimming, I’ve tried properly many times and not gotten out of the claustophobic state and I’m OK with that. My joining the club will probably rest on whether they are willing to let me swim my way or insist on trying to make me do it “properly”.  For various reasons I’ve not been back to a NEWT session in the fortnight since and I’m hoping K will have a word and gauge where they stand on my swimming.

In actuality much of their swim training isn’t going to suit my long distance goal so only one of the two weekly sessions is of use to me.  I’d like to join the club but don’t want to join only to never attend.  Will make a decision in the next week or so.

Been a while since I last blogged and have several stories to catch up on.

much like everyone else training over the last few weeks has been a bit on and off. I had big plans to work hard with my training as I had two weeks off over Christmas but as with many others I was taken down by an illness.

I’m not sure I completely shook off the previous one and with the stresses and strains of Christmas and the body’s general inclination to break down during rest periods I just didn’t get anything like as much as I wanted done.

For Christmas K had bought me a pair of race wheels but these got held up in customs on Christmas Eve and it was to be over a week before I could get my hands on them. This was made all the more annoying when I did get out on the road only for a spoke to snap on a descent only 30 minutes into my ride – I must admit to thinking my entire chainset had fallen off due to the noise it was making!

Wheel has since been repaired but I’ve been limited to the turbo since then but training has been going well over the last couple of weeks. Some good solid runs, decent swimming and what feels like far too many turbo sessions especially since the snow hit last week.

A particularly favourite session was a trail run in the snow while listening away to the Rocky soundtrack. Drago would have had no chance against me that day!

If my training plan is to be believed, I’m kinda hoping it’s fibbing to me at the moment, I should be beating my swim distance PBs repeatedly this month but today saw my first significant jump in distance.

The longest I’ve done done since Marcus set me a plan is 1300m and I’ve only swum further twice before – a 1500 in the pool that killed me and then my Oly race. Today was broken down, rather than a solid block but consisted of a 200, 200, 10×100, 2×200 and 200 – rest intervals of 30 or 20 seconds. For those counting that’s a total of 2000m a whole third more than I’ve ever swum before.

I approached the pool this morning with the same trepidation as the family of ducks I passed on the way in nervously eyed up the frozen lake outside. 200m warm up was followed by 200m of drills of my choice, and decided to play safe and swim with the PB. The 10x100s went by surprisingly well and I was instructed to swim them all fairly evenly. The first was 8 seconds faster than the second but 2 to 10 were all within about 3 seconds of each other. I passed my previous 1500PB during the first of the 2x200s and was about 7 minutes ahead of my previous PB and then I checked off the 1800m mark with only the cooldown to go.

I realised than I could go sub hour for the 1.9K if I pushed it but this was the cool down so I played sensible and ended up being 21 seconds over at 1900 before completing the full 2K in 1h03. Most importantly is it’s now 4 hours later and I’m feeling totally fine. My moving time to get to the Half Iron distance was about 55 minutes and although 3800m is going to take me a long time but I should be well within the cut-off and hopefully not dead. My biggest worry perhaps is having to do 2 hours of exercise that early in a long day without refuelling but I guess I can always sit down for a 3 course meal in T1 – wouldn’t slow me down much compared to how long I normally take.

In seven months or 212 days I will be, all being well, somewhere near Nottingham on my bike.  I’ll be part way through 112 miles of bike ride having already swum 2.4 miles.

I normally use this little app for holidays….

Currently the longest I’ve ever ridden my bike in one go is 52 miles and I’ve never swum more than an Oly swim and I’ve only done that twice. So although seven months seems a long time I’ve got a lot of work to do.  If I’m honest I think I could go out tomorrow and ride 80 miles or so and I could probably manage 2K swimming wet suit assisted although perhaps not on the same day. (more…)