June 2007 – Frank Kinlan's Blog

TLI Oulton Park Road Race 24 Jun 07

This is the fourth Tuesday on the run where I’ve had another eventful unique experience. Some may have taken the opening of my last TLI write up as me being a bit down, far from it. I knew I was out of my depth, you just don’t know how far on your first event.

I’ve made a few changes to the bike since last time, including wheels , tyres, gearing, bars, and saddle. As we all know it’s not the bike but the rider, I still got dropped but this time by the vets. I forgot to mention I was riding in the vets class (50 +). I’m not going to improve in two weeks to do justice to the main field and anyway I’d qualify for it soon enough.

There are a couple of decent shots that I can post here , but as it was I had a great start. Or did I?. Unlike the previous ride I was straight into the pedal and although not first going down Dear Leap a good second. After Old Hall I drew alongside the guy in the lead and said this wasn’t going to last.

This is where it was a bit surreal, on the first ride I was already struggling to stay on the back. This week I am off the front and have the unique view of clearing the track of bunny rabbits. There are loads of the little buggers of various sizes sunning thenselves on the early evening tarmac.

This goes on until after Druids where it becomes a bit more exposed and the bunnies have scarpered. No roadkill here, they probably get plenty of warning on a trackday.40-50 oldtimers doesn’t compare to 120 db of open pipe mayhem.

I’m under no illusion about what is happening on this ride, whereas on the first I was struggling to stay on the back this week I am off the front. Never in a million years is this sustainable but at least it lasts until the straight after the Shell hairpin. You don’t realise how long this stretch of track is and it’s all into a good strong headwind. I manage to slot in to the pack after having been given a warning by one of the New Brighton guys.

This week things are a bit different and I’m still in the main bunch after 1 lap. The next couple of laps involve learning how to ride in a group and this is where I don’t learn from my first lap escapade.

This is lap 3 and who is the soft sod leading the chase here, you guessed it moi. The pack had slowed to a crawl and I’d gone from the back to the front in the run up from Old Hall to the finish line.

There are times when the group slows to a pace that just invites the inexperienced like me to go off the front, well it happened again. Bear in mind in my first event i was on my own for eight laps with no hiding place.

The above is lap 4 and I’ve gone from the front to the back twice now. If I’d have had any sense I’d have took Big Phils advice and stayed with the bunch as it wasn’t going to happen a third time. From Druids to Shell Hairpin you can really get sucked along in with the bunch. It’s fast and you are in close company. You have momentum for the climb and the descent is fast usually with the wind behind you.

On lap six I am off the back with another guy. I’d wasted effort by going off the front once too often and this was payback time. The thing was it’s not until you look back and see no one behind you except the broom wagon that you realise that if you can’t put that extra effort in to stay with the main bunch your well and truly finished.

Two laps to go and the timekeepers are waiting to change over to the last lap sign.
Once I was off the back it was just like the previous event. As I passed one of the Marshall boxes on the Avenue one of the wits that was in it commented “Your getting your moneys worth”, “Always do” was the reply. One of the lighter moments of the evening. The thing is there is a tendency to call it a day and pull in if you can’t maintain the pace.

I think Frank is going to want the original of the above.

Maybe the chap was right I was getting my moneys worth, but all I’m looking to do is finish on the same lap. It’s all about finishing in my eyes. Pulling out isn’t an option.

This is me getting flagged off with a lap to go, I was not a happy bunny at the time. I’m half a lap behind the group and so wanted to do the full distance this week.
Next week I’ll use a bit of common.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=3139490

Re live the first 6 laps at least with this link:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=86342&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=3139490

Now I was half a lap behind these guys, next Tuesday the aim is to finnish on the same lap. Don’t do anything stupid and just get the hang of things. These guys have been doing this for a long long time most of them. I’m way out of my depth and finnishing on the same lap is a bonus.

I’ve no hard feelings about being taken off early as the way things were the previous week it would be getting dark by the time I had finished.

This was Tuesday on Wednesday I went out with the CTC for 54 miles and then went to my Lifestyle and Weight management follow up class. I’m still on this plan and less than a year ago I was just riding on my own. On August 1st 06 I joined the CTC . So effectivley I’ve been riding with the retired and pensioners for a year. Everyone has to start somewhere and this was my start. What does amaze me is the mileage some of these guys do.

Weekending 01 Jul 07

Monday: Sheila,s spinning class at Europa pools. Only six of us in this class and for some it was the first time with Sheila. We ended up doing a sprint for 8 sets of 8 which was 64 seconds long. Everyone got something out the class tonight due to the lower numbers and a different set of faces.
Tuesday:TLI Road Race at Oulton Park. Made a few changes to the bike including the carbon bars, Race X Lite Saddle, Race X Lite Wheels and Conti GP4000 Supersonics @175 g.
The front wheel is 100g lighter and most of that is the tyre. The saddle is half the weight @ 160g. more later
Wednesday: Went out with Merseyside CTC to Elvis,s. Never been to Elvis,s before but it’s been done out apparently. 54 miles went down to the marsh at Ness and called in at Ness Gardens. Rain in the morning had a few going home but it brightened up and was glorious in the afternoon. Glad I went out even if I did get a soaking in the morning.
Thursday: Louises spinning class at Europa Pools. 560 odd cals worth or about two Mars Bars worth on the Mars Bar effort scale. Some had found Sheila,s monday class a bit of a strain. It wasn’t, it was just a bit different to what some are used to. Change is good, variety is the spice of life. There was specific advice about which muscles some of exercises are targeting. The girls aren’t looking to bulk up so less resistance is involved. Thats if there is any resistance on the bikes on level one.
A 34 pound flywheel doing 100rpm plus has a mind of its own with no resistance on it. I rely on heartrate to tell me if I’m working, it drops off to normal if there is no tension on the flywheel. Sweated a bucket and had a go. Weights when I could get on a machine upstairs.
Friday: Work
Saturday: Audax 60 miles, a short loop around Snowdonia 1900 metres of climbing. You don’t want to know what the 200Km route comprises of. Dragon Ride is for wimps compared to the 200km route. 4400 metres of climbing. Think about it.

CTC Ride to Utkinton Garden Centre

It was a bit of a quiet ride this on with only 3 of us doing it. It got even quieter when the rear light with nine lives bounced off the back of the saddle bag and I stopped to retrieve it. Cliff was leading the run that was marked down as going into Wales but the forecast was bad so a run to Utkinton was decided on instead.

Nothing much to report on the way out, Cliff is setting a higher pace than normal as he’s trying to give me a bit of a challenging ride. There is a stop for rain gear when a shower blows over. The Discovery Channel windshell comes out the back pocket, it can cope with a shower as the raindrops bead off. It can’t cope with torrential rain, more of which later.

At Tarporley we bump into some of the guys I’ve met on the Steve Cummings Training ride at Delamere Cafe. We rode with them as far as the garden centre where we stopped for lunch. They are gearing up for Sunday Lunches and I settle for a barm with pork on it, tea and a piece of cake to round it off. I wasn’t feeling fast today as I had rode out to Eureka for my breakfast.

Cliff has a route sorted for the return to the Eureka, it’s just as well he told me it as it all went a bit pear shaped later on. I’ve got to mention Wilington Hall again, today it looks like they’ve got the Ferrari Owners club in the grounds. Cliff had pedaled off ahead and missed it. Next up is Clotton and Corkscrew Lane and just past the cottage with the pond on the bend things go wrong.

There is a tractor following us and then the light with nine lives bounces off, I pull in and let the tractor and following car past then double back to find the light. It is usually in bits in the road but is nowhere to be seen this time. Just as well as the tractor would have surely flattened it. Anyway it is in the grass undamaged again, so I set off at a great rate of knots to catch Cliff and Janet.

Bits of this ride are on the Steve Cummings training ride so when the next junction comes up I have no hesitation about taking it. About a mile down the road I realise Cliff and Janet have gone straight on and are heading to Eaton again. Nothing for it but to go The Ice Cream farm for a cup of tea and a scone (jam no butter). Weather is still good so it’s time to top up the bottle and head back to Chester.

The routes on the map and I call in at the Bike Factory to see what they have in stock, coming out empty handed it’s time to head down to the River Dee and see if the others turn up. I have another stop at the Bandstand to listen to the group that were playing there. Had it been another time I’d have probably stayed longer.

Bandstand at Chester.jpg

After this it was a ride around the racecourse and onto the River Dee Cyclepath. Here it started to rain. I could see that it was wet up ahead but it turned out to be a right downpour. This wasn’t fun, no mudguards mean’t there was enough water coming off the wheels to give me a good soaking.
The windshell was just that, the rain was no longer beading and bouncing off, it was just going straight through the nylon. This went on for a few miles then it stopped with a sharp transition to a dry path.

Back up past Sealand and then it was time to chance the A5117. Because of heavy traffic and the conditions it wasn’t too bad. Moving up to the lights I’m going faster than the traffic and at worst level with it. Peeled off up Woodbank and to the Eureka.

Ray and others from the Chester Road club are there so i join them and Roy and Joan join us too. This is when I have great difficulty in opening a Munchman Oat Bar. My finger tips are too soft with all that rain and I have to resort to piercing the plastic wrapper with a fork.

Talking about Munchman Oat Bars I’m always buying these from the Eureka. They are locally made and there is always one in the saddlebag in case of emergencies. I allways take one or two on an Audax as they go to some pretty remote places and you do need to be eating regulary on an Audax. Now I’ve had someone do a Google keyword search for them in the US and they have ended up at this site.

It was looking pretty grim looking out from the Eureka and I held off leaving untill I thought I had to do something. A couple of miles down the road and I was in sunshine. Back up Resthill mucking around with 12-27 gearing just seeing what was what and pressing the stop button at the junction.

69 miles, what seemed like an inch of rain, but largely bright, another good day and a fitting end to a fantastic week.

Link to Google map of ride

If you play around the Google map in hybrid mode you can see where I cycled along The groves and around the Roodee. Also my detour to the Ice Cream Farm.

I am 1

I’ve been doing the blog for a year this month and it’s evolved into something that is now a major part of my life. When I started it was to try and keep in touch with those on the Lifestyle and Weight management course. Apart from Andy this hasn’t been a success. Mind you the NHS has been less than helpful and a lowpoint was finding out the business cards I was leaving in St Caths (with the link to this site) could have been removed by the centre Management. If your in the position to qualify for this course your really do need to be doing something about changeing your lifestyle.

Looking back at the first posts and articles I’m amazed at how thing have changed over the year and the number of people visiting the site through Google keyword searches. Thanks to Google Analytics I get to see what people are visiting the site for, where they are and a host of other data.

For instance I had 387 hits from the United States last month and 11 from New York.
This got broken down in to a few looking for spinning calories burnt (no3 in Google) some Garmin 305 route searches and 1 doing a search for Quaker Oat Granola. It’s such a small world these day. Now I have Quaker Oat Granola Every day with 3 fruits on top. A search should bring you to the comparison review I did of it. Now the stuff I’m putting in the blog is getting on to the first page of various Google searches.

This really makes my day, I’m up there against some really big players. To come 3rd in a Google search with only Weight Watchers and Mens Health above you is something special to me. The diet industry is huge and likewise publishing I’m just a guy enjoying what he is doing, getting out there and having a go. Two years ago life wasn’t too hot at 21 stone, this week I was up against Discovery Channel rider Steve Cummings (he won). You couldn’t make this stuff up, no one would believe you.

I’m really pleased that nearly 300 of you are looking at the Diet page now there is a link to the PDF of the diet that I now follow. Hopefully this will inspire a few more to turn their lives around. This site proves it can be done, did I think I could achieve this much, in a word NO. Things are so much much better these days.

So where do I go from here, weightloss wise there nothing more to do. I’m happy with the new me. That’s all that matters to me at the moment. It has been an unbelievable year, you just can’t explain it to someone that hasn’t been through it.

Now a year on don’t even think about cheating on the diet, in effect who are you cheating, only yourself. There isn’t much else to do.

It’s been a great 2 years, if the next 2,3,4 are just as good I’m laughing.

If I can turn any 1 of all the visitors to this site to improve themselves I will be made up. I’m still sticking to the plan, it’s a routine that has really paid off for me.

Brimstage Time Trial (my second)

If you think things have been going good for me lately you’ll understand how blown away I was by tonights ride. I’d spent the day sorting bits of the site out as I’ve been blogging for a year now and doing a bit around the house. The Toy had it’s rear wheel changed for the Race X lite which proved to be only 50g lighter. I didn’t get around to changing the front wheel.

It looks like it is about to rain so I wear the Discovery Channel windshell on the ride out to the start. The route 56 is being resurfaced in parts and there are plenty of loose chippings on the resurfaced parts. Bob is at the start to do the timing with another two riders, Miles and Alex, Alex is doing it for the first time and has a copy of my last Time Trial Route from Motion based that he has printed out. It’s a small world.

Well you could knock me down with a feather at what happens next. The man himself turns up on his time trial bike, Steve Cummings, Discovery Channel rider is riding the same event. Now I’ve been living the dream since I bought “The Toy” and you may have gathered that I’m a Discovery Channel wannabe. I’m a big fan of the team but to ride against one of their riders on a local event is a once in a lifetime exerience.

Steve Cummings at Brimstage TT.jpg

Miles makes a comment about it being a Discovery Channel time trial, it’s a classic, there are only four of us riding the event and Alex manages to get lost. Thanks for the picture Steve, you’ve made my day, week, year. I’ve been riding Steves Training ride for the last few months and I agree that it’s a nice ride, who am I to argue.

Alex gets set off first and doesn’t hang around for his first event. Miles is next up and then it’s me.

Miles on his way.jpg

I spoke to Steve before I’d set off about what what I’d been up and that I’d bought the Trek before he had signed up for Discovery as Trek don’t have a weight limit on their bikes.

You’ve all read this site and can imagine what is coming up next. Two years ago I was a morbidly obese couch potato and tonight I’ve got an Olympic medalist one minute behind me. We all make mistakes and tonights was being in the wrong chainring for the start, I should have been in the big ring. It was soon sorted and I was on my way up to the Clegg Arms at what seemed like a faster pace than my first.

Now I’ve got two sets of data to overlay for this course now and I’ll do it in due course. Two miles into this course Steve passes me, he has already taken a minute out of me. Now I know I don’t have the wind behind me on the top road this time and my top speed seems to be down. Steve is gone, its as simple as that. Anyway I’m still having a good ride but this time ease off at the traffic light filter lane at the Aldi Depot traffic lights. The other mistake I had made was I hadn’t selected Map View on Course mode, this would have told me if I was behind myself on my first ride.

I should have whipped the camera out and took a picture of Steve passing me too, but you can’t have everything. I see 16 mph by the Seven Stars this doesn’t look too good. Just after the roundabout at Thornton Hough to Raby Mere I see Steve coming the other way. This guy is awesome, probably the reason he rides for Discovery Channel and I try to emulate anything he does. More later I need to go to bed. Stunning day, I won’t forget this for a long long time, rode back with Miles chatting about what I had been up to. Hope you find the site Miles, it shouldn’t be too hard.

Linkto Google Map of ride

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=3069445

The map player on motion based looks good but the anlyser for subscribed users is some thing else. What next I wonder.

The times:

Steve Cummings 17:48
Miles Jenkins        22:25
Frank Kinlan         22:58
Alex Sheldon        34:00

Weekending 24 Jun 07

Monday: Louise,s spinning class at Europa pools 550 calories burnt. This is a new class having been moved from the Oval which is closed for a refurb. Only six of us turned up and I was told by reception that there was no class only to insist that there was. Anyway there was no fighting for the fans and we had an eight minute sprint at the end. This should stand me in good stead for Tuesdays time trial, my second.
Tuesday: Brimstage Time Trial, new gearing and a new set (secondhand) wheels for this event. Don’t know if I’ll beat my previous time but I’ll be giving it a go. I know what’s required now and if I do it as a course on the Garmin I’ll be racing against myself and will know where to push. What a turn up for the books, Steve Cummings turned up and started a minute behind me, he passed me two miles down the road. The highlight of the year so far.
Wednesday: Spinning at Europa pools, Sheila,s class 525 calories burnt. Sweated buckets.
Thursday: Louise,s class at Europa Pools, the second class not here first class that has been switched fron the Oval. 625 calories burnt, again another hot class with no fan.Weights upstairs when I could get on a machine, some of the girls were staying on for Sheila,s Fusion class, suckers for punishment.
Friday: Rest day, nothing planned as I can’t get to a class in time.
Saturday: Work,
Sunday: Ride day

CTC Bob Clift Memorial Cheshire Cycleway Ride

This is my first go at this ride as I’ve only been with the CTC a mere 10 months. Thanks to Janet the route sheet was sent out to me by return of post and I was able to program the Garmin with it. I’ll submit it to the CTC rides website so others can share it.
The Start.jpg

I’d parked up at the sports centre and signed on, a few now familar faces and a good turnout from The Sunlight. Now I was geared up for a hard day having driven the route on Saturday. Chris in the middle of the picture was going to have a short ride.
Just before Willington Hall he has chain trouble and that was the last we saw of him.

I’ve written about the start from Willington Hall for the Tour of the Berwyns, I can’t reccomend it highly enough, it exudes class.

And then there were six, first up was Kelsall and a trip to Delamere. The Switchback at Delamere is on the Steve Cummings training ride. It’s a rolling climb and the dips give you momentum for the next. You can really feel good doing this climb by having a go. It’s not a drag and you gain speed as you crest each rise.

Ice cream farm.jpg

The stop at the Ice cream farm at Great Budworth was quite relaxed and it was here Roy and Joan caught us up. Time for a picture of them with Allan.

The Wizard.jpg

It was then on to the first real climb of the day, up the hill to The Wizard of Edge, Alderley Edge that is. It went quite well, I’m going to have to find time to visit some of these locations, you pass so many when you are out on these runs.

Tthe Sunlight take it easy.jpg
Had a good chat with the Sunlight lads at the control point. I’m looking to take things to the next level, so maybe I’ll be a club rider after all. Thanks for the positive comments about the site TJ. I’ve only ever wanted to show other what can be done. I thought I was doing well when I was over 100 Kg. This morning I was 82.0kg so 50KG or two bags of cement lighter than at my heaviest. I don’t know about this site beeing inspirational but the last years been 10 fold better than previous years.

Hovis country.jpg

The next section promised to be hilly, as I’d driven it in the car the previous dayI was concened I was going to struggle. It was low gear stuff and seemed particually steep in the car. I needn’t have worried, I still had the Wild Wales gearing on and sailed up everything. Don’t forget I’m on a triple.

I took these shots while on the bike, they haven’t turned out too badly, mind you I had to put the camera away for the climb as I haven’t got to the stage where I can do a 15% climb one handed. (yet)

The view from the top. Weather wasn’t too bad, a bit more sun would have been better but I can’t complain.

Things had been going at a steady pace all day and we thought we were going to get passed by the Sunlight at some stage. Seeing this pack descend on us, I’d thought they had caught us up.

Weve been caught.jpg on bike shot.jpg

This was after the canal crossing with the swing bridge.

Don’t know who they are but they didn’t hang around. Steadycam mode seemed to have worked well here. And so it was until the next control point at The Canal Centre.

Canal Centre.jpg

It was quite relaxed here. The Sunlight sailed past at 20 mph having to retrace to sign in at the chap under the umbrella.

Leaving the canal centre.jpg

For whatever reason Cliff didn’t manage to take a photograph of me here so I don’t appear in any of them today.

There were four of us left for the final leg from Eaton to The Ring of Bells , Janet was riding shotgun with Laurie I think. Myself Cliff Allan and Adelle formed a CTC chaingang on the run back to Waverton, the speed was 19-20 mph and it worked quite well. The Sunlight didn’t catch us, they were having enough problems with punctures and other things. The group size wasn’t in their favour either large groups mean long stops.

Janet beat the Sunlight back.jpg

As I had stopped the Garmin at the door of the Ring of Bells that was where my route finished with a bleep and a course complete message on the Garmin. We signed in, received our certificates and were sitting outside drinking tea and chatting about the ride when Janet arrives with The Sunlight in tow. Allan passes commment about it and I was just in time to snatch the above picture.

It was a good end to a good day, Allan said the pace was just right, Adelle found some speed in that new bike of hers and we all have another 100 under our belts. Only one casualty Chris with a broken chain. The Sunlight said they had 6 punctures, somethings amiss there. Thanks all I’ve had another great day.

Weekending 17Jun 07

Monday: Louise,s spinning class at the Oval, the last one as it to close for six months for refurbishment. Fir bit of comment on what we plan to do with ourselves on a Monday night. 560 calories burnt.
Tuesday: Oulton Park road race. 2000 calories. A highlight of my recent life.
Wednesday: Work till 7pm, restday.
Thursday: Louise,s spinning class at Europa Pools. Bumped off my bike and forgot my towel. In view of Tuesdays ride performance this was all about going flat out for 45 minutes. Other than actually racing, something has to change if I don’t want to get lapped again. Didn’t slow down even for level 1. 725 calories and a max of 184 BPM.
Just wanted to stay in the zone. Glad of the shower at the end of it.
Friday: Work till 7, catching up with the blog and planning the route for Sunday.
Saturday: Sort myself out for Sunday.
Sunday: Cheshire Cycleway ride 100 miler, out to Macclesfield and back.
Not an easy ride, there are some stiff climbs around Alderley Edge. It’s not flat by any means. Turned out to be another great day and not as fearsome as I thought.

TLI Oulton Park Road Race 12 Jun 07

Talk about diving in at the deep end. I dived into this event with lead weights attached and no water wings and sank like a stone. Only a week after doing my first time trial I entered my first road race. Now that’s a bit hasty I can here you saying, it was, but what an experience.

I’d been in touch with the organisers about entering on the day and the offered to put me in with the vets but I’d opted to go out with my own age group as I wouldn’t make the start for the vets race. Seeing the speed of vets go round had me thinking have I done the right thing here.

Other signs were not obvious at first but they all add up. I was the only one riding that I could see using a triple, the only one who didn’t shave their legs, wore team kit instead of club colours. The Toy looked like costume jewelery to some of the bling bikes there.As for the wheels, I can see why there are full page ads in the comic, they are a must have.
Circulating in the paddock was quite calming and after the warm up I watched the end of the vets race. They were doing around 7 minute laps.
Oulton Park Start

Next thing we are called to the line where Val on camera duty took this shot. The route was expained to us and we were off. Now I would have to say I got a bad start, My free foot would not go into the pedal twice. It’s bad enough once but waiting for the pedal to swing into position twice was bad news.

The whole pack is tearing down the hill to Lodge and I’m going backwards through the pack. We are riding the track in reverse direction by the way. The speed is unbelievable but I claw a place or two back by going around the outside at Lodge. It is already getting strung out and I’m hanging on for grim death. It is here that you feel the effects of being on the edge of the bunch as you feel the wind dragging you back and riders on the inside powering away from you.

I manage to hang on to the bunch until the Shell banked hairpin. It is about here I start to loose touch, I’m not last but realise things are about to get a whole lot harder. Not only that I’ve got the broom wagon (ambulance) on my tail and I haven’t completed the lap.

If you have a lgoodook at the next picture you can see how far behind I am after one lap, I’m about to move over to let the broom wagon past, if you’ve good eyesight I’m just to the right of it.

Only 9!!! laps to go.

Now around Druids there is a rider who has dropped off the back and is waiting for the bunch to come around. As I come up to him I see the he is a junior rider.
Are you first he asks, “No, third…….. from last!” I reply. I’m waiting for the group to come around he says, ” You don’t want to get effin lapped, come on” was the retort.
He picks up his pace and we start to circulate. Around Island bend we see the two riders that are behind us coming down Hill Top and around the forth lap they are being pursued by a massive pack of about 60 riders. There is nothing down for us we are going to get lapped and soon too.

Towards the end of my fifth lap the freight train steams past. I move wide on The Avenue to let them past, there is no chance of me matching the pace of the front runners. Their average is about 5 mph better than mine, but there is hope of hanging on the back. As the finishing line comes up I’m just about hanging on. Now on this lap I better my average lap time by about 50 seconds. It just goes to show how staying in the bunch conserves energy, my trouble is staying with the bunch.

Lap

Time

Distance

Av Spd

M Spd

Energy

I’m at the back hanging on for dear life with a few others, four I think and then we drop off the back of the main bunch. I can’t contribute anything I’ve been lapped.Any way the next lap isn’t too bad but as Old Hall comes up and the pit lane exit comes up three of them peel off and enter the pit lane. I glance across wondering what is going on. I’m on my own again, mind you when your dropped you are back in time trial mode, just you against yourself.

4 laps to go for some reason the others pulled up short. Lets forward to my last lap. I’ve been thinking about getting lapped again. I’m thinking about just hanging on in there. Well at Shell bend and the run up to Island two riders have made a break. Somehere between Lakeside and Cascades I’m passed. Having seen the lead these guys have I think I’m in with a chance of finishing before the main bunch. Not a chance.

I’m sticking to my line up Dentons and the Avenue as there is nowhere else to go.
I am an inch from the white line and the other side of it is grass. Having the first two sail past you was OK the other 50 odd is a different matter. I’ve upped my pace a bit as this is the final section of the course. They stream past with millimetres to spareand the pressure eases as Old Hall comes up.The racing line has switched side of the track so I not in danger of being forced off the track anymore. The final run to the line is a bit of an anticlimax, I’m a lap down and have been passed by most of the field twice.

I don’t know if anyone else has any data like this but I was averageing 160 BPM for 1 hour 11 minutes. There wasn’t much more to give and I don’t know what to do to up my pace to a level to stay with the group. I spent well over 20 miles on my own and the data reflects that. If I’d gone out with the vets things might have been a little different, I may have been able to stay with the group but then I would have been riding outside my age group. Having said that some of the feild could have been a third my age and I had a good few years on most.

Link to Motion based Map Player

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=86342&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=3007679

CTC Ride Eureka Cafe to Borras (Waterfalls Garden Centre)

This turned out to be a right photo fest. Everybody on the ride has at least one good photograph taken with the new toy.

The images are big so I intend to shrink them for the page.
Good numbers turned out and it was an interesting liesurely ride. There was a lot going on at the Eureka today and we saw a number of groups out there on the ride.

The Sunlight on the way out

Now after we had set off we had an incident at Capenhurst Lane. We are strung because it is single carrriageway and fast as the dual carriageway has merged. A stupid woman motorist passes 10 of us and then tries to turn through us. She comes to a halt and then tries to force her way through the pack. Words are exchanged and the chap sitting in the passenger seat gives John the “V”. I’m up the road trying to slow the three that didn’t see it.

It comes back together at Woodbank and it’s down to the lights on the A5117. At Sealand we have our first puncture. The group splits as we are told to go on but comes back together at the Airbus jetty on the River Dee. This wing is a massive structure and the bit in the picture is only one half of it.

A380 Wing.jpg

The group reforms after Barry,s puncture is repaired.

Bob on the front.jpg

But not for long a Vicky on the back of the tandem has to swap bikes as the seat height is way too tall, and the seatpost is stuck. This also involves a pedal swap. We have ellevenses across the footbridge at Saltney while the parts are swapped.

Not much to report until the hill at Marford, this is just the sort of hill I like attack, so I do. This was a full on effort and it paid off, I felt good for testing myself an I’d enough time to take some pictures of the group spread out coming up the hill.

Another shot of the girls beating the boys.

Another club run.jpg

Link to Google Map of Ride

This post is starting to get large, and we haven’t reached the cafe yet. I may have to split the post. There is a lot more to come including a bit of humor. I’ll have to edit the article at a later date. Tuesday is TLI racing at Oulton Park and I’ve got an entry by the looks of things.

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