4 – The route has arrived – what a relief!

The route for the Pan Celtic has been announced, which will be more-or-less the final version save for any last minute tweaks:

I’ve yet to look at it in detail, but will aim to load it into a 3D viewer so I can fly along the route and get an idea of what’s in store. I also would like to make a note of things like towns, camp sites and public toilets along the route! For my previous long-distance races I didn’t look at the route ahead, which keeps things interesting, but sometimes means I’m not sure if there will be anywhere to stop for food and water.

3 – Update / Photo drop!

It’s about 7 weeks to go until the Pan Celtic Race starts.

I’ve been sticking reasonably well to my training plan, which means going for a long ride on Sunday, and doing at least an hour and a half ride before work on the weekdays. This often involves either some hills, or some laps of Hyde Park or Regents Park – the benefit of which being I can get to cycle fairly continuously without having to slow down much for junctions. On Saturdays I usually take a break from cycling and go for a long walk instead.

Here are a few of the longer rides I’ve done recently.

14 March 2021 – Shoreham, Kent loop

50 miles (80 km) / 3,045 ft (928 m) elevation

I haven’t done much exploring of Kent despite living close. This ride took in a lot of nice lanes and a few hills.

28 March 2021 – Windsor

103 miles (166 km) / 4,390 ft (1,338 m) elevation

Cycle to Windsor Great Park and back with Chris and Esmail.

4 April 2021 – Ride to Teapot Island

80 miles (129 km) / 4,777 ft (1,456 m) elevation

Another trip to Kent, this time to visit Teapot Island.

5 April 2021 – Capital Ring

50 miles (81 km) / 1,927 ft (587 m) elevation

A ride around the Southern part of the Capital Ring with the London Clarion Cycling Club.

10 April 2021 – Rapha ‘A Day In Hell’

Rapha’s annual off-road self-supported ride. This time I picked the route out to the Essex countryside. A really nice day.

18 April 2021 – New wheels ride to Kent

79 mile (127 km) / 4,399 ft (1,341 m) elevation

The rims were wearing thin, so I painted some new rims and built new wheels. Photo trip out to Kent.

25 April 2021 – Brighton and back

124 miles (200 km) / 5,899 ft (1,798 m) elevation

Rapha have a coffee van where they serve free coffee to cyclists. They were parked at the Ditchling Beacon so I took the opportunity to cycle down to Shoreham, along the coast to Brighton, then over Ditchling, picked up my free coffee, and back to London.

2 May 2021 – Toot Hill / Great Escape Route

150 miles (242 km) / 6,079 ft (1,853 m) elevation

This week the Rapha coffee van was at Toot Hill, so I took the opportunity to swing by and then continuing on the Islington Cycle Club Great Escape route before heading back. When I arrived in central London I cycled along the Thames to take a look at the bridges which are all now being decoratively lit.

9 May 2021 – Chiltern Cycleway

158 miles (254 km) / 2,291 m (7,515 feet) elevation

Rapha van was in for repair this weekend, but I decided to head out to it’s intended location anyway, which was Ivinghoe Beacon. I headed out on the Edgeware Road which is a fairly direct route. I decided to walk over the peak (it would be a shame to go all the way without going to the top), then I followed the Chiltern Cycleway route (the Westerly half) to Henley-on-Thames. I arrived at Henley at 6pm, so then headed home along the Thames valley.

The bike

My current best Brompton is only about 3 years old, but it’s done quite a few miles in that time (including Pan Celtic Race two years ago), and has had various things break in the last year including a catastrophic failure of the titanium rear triangle, which Brompton swiftly replaced for free. Whilst happy to use as my daily rider, I’m not entirely comfortable with using it for this year’s race as most parts are getting on a bit, so I’ve been on the look out to buy a new bike. My ideal bike would be very similar – an ‘M6R’ specification Brompton. I love the titanium fork as it really helps eliminate getting numb fingers on long rides. When I cycled the Transatlantic Way Race on a steel-forked Brompton it took several months after the race to regain full feeling in my fingers. I’m not too keen on the titanium rear triangle as I find it a bit too ‘squishy’. I wrote to Brompton and Brompton Junction to ask if I could buy a bike with Ti fork and steel rear triangle (at full Ti price), but they weren’t willing to help. Anyhow I’ve given up on that idea now and instead have managed to order a new Ti bike through my favourite Brompton reseller – I’ll share more details in due course.

~ An té a bhíónn siúlach, bíonn scéalach. ~
~ We who travel have stories to tell. ~

2 – Training plan

For my previous two ultra races I didn’t do any specific training; I did have a longer commute, so just made sure I put in 150-200 kms each week that way.

This year, my commute isn’t as long. I also took a break from cycling early in the year due to lockdown, hence I feel it’s necessary to have something more structured, in order to make it to the start line in an adequately prepared state.

To come up with a training plan, I started by plotting the available time out on a spreadsheet and have added in notional exercises into the dates, ramping up from easy to moderate over the weeks. If I have any planned club rides or similar events I can pop those in when I know about them.

I’ve added in the Trans Kernow event as a milestone. It will give me a good opportunity to experience the ups and downs in Cornwall, and ahead of that hopefully a trip to the Isle of Wight.

Anyhow, you can see my plan here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10un6gDrzwi5fgwJ-aIQspymMk6BKoGsouQY0UF8bPaY/edit?usp=sharing

Since it’s on Google Sheets, I’ve been able to add some custom script so that when I open the spreadsheet, it automatically updates it with my ride distance and elevation data recorded on Strava. I exclude the rides I tag as ‘commute’ on Strava, since these are just short direct rides between home and office. This allows me to keep an idea of what I’ve ridden, against the plan.

It’s a loose plan, but it’s a plan, and it helps me stay on track and on top of getting physically prepared.

~ An té a bhíónn siúlach, bíonn scéalach. ~
~ We who travel have stories to tell. ~

1 – Introduction

First off, thank you for making a donation towards the London Air Ambulance charity.
You can read all about the great work they do here: www.londonsairambulance.org.uk

This summer I’ll be competing in the Pan Celtic Race – an ultra-endurance bike race, and I’ll be doing it on a Brompton.

The race starts on 4th July and I expect it will take me two weeks to complete the 1,400 mile course. It will be physically and mentally tough, and if I do make it to the finish line I will be very happy. All riders carry a tracker, and their progress can be followed on a website (a pastime known as ‘dot-watching’).

I’ve completed two ultra-endurance races before; the TransAtlanticWay race in 2018, and the inaugural Pan Celtic Race in 2019. Both races were pretty gruelling, but equally amazing experiences. I love cycling, and to ride in some of the most beautiful parts of the UK and Ireland is its own reward. Take a look at the videos on the Pan Celtic website to get a feel for the event.

The Pan Celtic Race routes through the territories that made up the Celtic nations. The route is different each year, but can pass through Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Wales, England, and Brittany. The route is devised to pass through beautiful areas, places of Celtic historical significance, and deviously challenging terrain. The specific route is yet to be confirmed for 2021, but due to you-know-what, will be confined to the UK mainland.

It’s run by an amazing, caring, fun and passionate team who I’ve had the pleasure to get to know a bit through the last race as well as attending a few of the gatherings – get-togethers with other members of the Pan Celtic clan. All the attendees I’ve met have been amazing people. Perhaps it’s that all people have a bit of awesome in them, and this race helps bring that to the surface.

Over the next few weeks I hope to write a few posts on my preparations. I’ve started training (to lose some of those lockdown pounds, and to get myself physically prepared for the race). I’ve popped in a few milestone events to help me along the way. Not sure about the bike yet. I’d like to buy a new one for the event, and make a few special modifications, but everywhere is out of stock! And then I need to get a plan together for my kit. Clothes, sleeping equipment, tools to take, medical supplies and so on. There’s a lot to think about!

Anyhow, thanks for reading. Please feel free to use the comments form to ask a question or share your thoughts.

~ An té a bhíónn siúlach, bíonn scéalach. ~
~ We who travel have stories to tell. ~

Strava art

I made a couple of cycling doodles recently, where I created pictures by cycling whilst recording the route I took. One was for a Look Mum No Hands! competition. I chose to draw a turkey for this as it was thanksgiving. I’ve won a jersey and cap which I’ll go and collect once the shop is open for business again. The other doodle was an adaptation of a route originally cycled by Anthony Hoyte that said ‘Merry Christmas’, which I changed to ‘Merry Crisis!’. Anyhow, a good excuse to cycle around London. Some roads were new to me and others brought back memories.

Sunrise at Chanctonbury Ring

“(…)how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing the blind, deaf stone alone with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.”

Christopher McCandless

On Tuesday night I cycled down to Chanctonbury Ring on the South Downs to arrive before dawn so that I could see the sunrise. I’d planned on going on Sunday to see the it on the solstice, but cloud was forecast, so I delayed it by a few days. The ride down was a nice route and pretty easy cycling. I had reached the suburbs by dusk and enjoyed the empty roads. It was a clear night and as an added bonus I got to see a thin moon set.

For the last few miles approaching Chanctonbury Ring there was a bit of nightime off-roading involved, but it wasn’t so bad that I needed to get off and walk at any point.

I arrived about 45 minutes before sunrise and the sky was already beginning to lighten. There were some campers on the Western side, but I had the Eastern side to myself. I found a nice spot to rest and had a quick nap for 20 minutes before waking to watch the sunrise. The hill sits proud on the South Downs, so the view over which the sun rises is impressive.

I then cycled over to nearby Cissbury Ring. This is a much larger area of land, less mysterious and more natural looking than Chanctonbury, and also very beautiful. From there I cycled down to the coast and along to Brighton, then back to London via Ditchling Beacon and Farthing Downs.

The way back after Ditchling was tough; the temperature went above 30C, and combined with hills and hot-tempered heavy traffic didn’t make for as pleasant a journey as the way down had been. There were nice sections though, some leafy lanes and smooth tarmac.

223 km (138 miles), 2,263 m (7,425 ft) elevation, 4 cheese rolls, one pain au chocolat, a few Percy the Pigs, a sorbet, and gallons of water.

I’ve labelled this number one of a series so that it might encourage me to do some more rides themed loosely around the Solar System. Until next time.. 🙂

Windsor cycling trip

A ride to Windsor to test the latest wheel builds and grab a photo of one more Lionel Stanhope painted sign. A sunny day; I managed to tan my hands a shade of pink. The route out was via Battersea Park, Putney, Richmond (though we were denied access to cycle through the park), Bushy Park, Shepperton, Windsor Great Park (also denied access to bring bikes within 1km of The Long Walk?!). Fish and chips in Windsor. We took a less scenic and more direct route back. The security guard at Nine Elms Waitrose said my bike looked cool. Obviously a man of taste. Popped into London after dinner to top up the miles to one hundred. Wheels still in one piece. A nice day out.