Sh*t (we) cyclists say

I've just come across this video while reading Serendipities of Life. I can stop laughing!

A Friday night lecture on world travels (on a penny farthing!)

Friday 6:30 pm, somewhere in Farringdon. Lucy and I cycled from work searching for a place called "The Gallery". It was not well signed, but eventually found a bunch of fancy touring and antique bikes (including the very first Moultons) all parked in a narrow alley. It seemed obvious that we had arrived at the right venue. We were attending a talk by Joff, a guy that had cycled round the world on a penny farthing.

Waiting for the talk to begin

The lecture was organised as a fundraising event by Sustrans. Upon arrival we found around 80 people awaiting Joff's talk. Most of them you could tell were cyclists, and it was very pleasant not to feel weird in our bright yellow jackets. Bromptoms were lining up near the walls. Helmets were everywhere. Wine and food were provided for £1 donations, so that was a good start.

This was the first time that we had seen a world traveller in the flesh. We follow loads of round the world travellers on the net, and we've even read some of the books, but seeing one live was a novelty. With Joff was his home-made penny farthing.

The bike, appropriately named "Penny"

I had to have a closer look at the machine. To me, it seemed simple. No chains, no gears. Just a massive wheel with plenty of spokes (which turned out to be regular spokes, but joined together to form a single one), and solid tyres. Also, he fitted a front light to the big wheel's front hub. Not sure how it worked while in motion, but it seemed loose on the hub so as to prevent it from turning. He also managed to carry all his stuff in just two small panniers! We definitely have to travel light on our Camino de Santiago!

The talk itself was inspiring and funny at times. Yet it could have done with a better organisation, especially regarding the pictures. Too much talking and not coordinated pictures. Also, we felt that it lacked a bit of the planning and the "post-journey" emotions when he returned home. We laughed at the first question from the audience: "which fuel did you use!?" Clearly the audience was looking for more practical advice!

All in all, an enjoyable way of spending an evening. And an even better way to find some extra motivation for riding in 2012! It's only January, but the season has officially started for us!

London (Bromley) to Rye and back: a 200 km ride

Back in August I made a note on my diary. I would ride from Bromley (southeast London) to Rye (East Sussex) and back, totalling 200 km, with a bunch a machacas from the Friday Night Rides.

Time had come, and weather could have not been better for this time of the year. Although with a fairly chilly start, around 6 degrees when I left the house, the temperatures warmed up as soon as the sun came out. I took my night riding lights since we were expecting a couple of hours of darkness towards the end. Off I went, making it to Victoria station in less than 25 min! I should've ridden to the start, especially given that it was a Sunday morning and that would have meant little traffic...but on the other hand I am quite bad with directions and did not want to get there late (this is not Spain, and people are actually on time!). Despite that, I was, as always, the last one to arrive, just 5 min before the official 8 am start.

The route we took looked like this (thanks Martin!)

After 45 min of riding, we went past Biggin Hill aerodrome and down the North Downs, crossing the M25 into Westerham, where we collected two more riders. From there on it was a relatively hilly (for the Southeast standards) ride, without much faffing.

Around Biggin Hill airport in Southeast London (all pics courtesy of Adam)

At some point we relealised that we were running a bit late for lunch (again, this is not Spain, and lunch was booked for 1 pm, kitchen closing before 3 pm!). We pushed it to Rye in the last 30 km, forming a mini-peloton of 5-6 riders. Slipstreaming is actually amazing, they say it reduces in about 40% the amount of effort you need to put into the pedals...and I truly belive it. We were riding at almost 40 km/h on the flat, and while I was at the back, I could keep up without any problem and having to freewheel at times! Completely the opposite when I took the front: I was completely spent after 15 min...but then someone else gave me a relay!

Quick stop to regroup after the hill

All in all, I managed to stay at the front with the strongest two machacas (one of them a Paris-Brest-Paris 69 h finisher!!), although at some point got quite concerned about wasting all my fuel for the return leg. Most of the roads we took were B four numbers (in theory, the least busy of the roads, not counting the proper country lanes) and a few A three numbers. Not my personal preference, but the advantage is they're usually better paved and a lot faster to ride on. In fact, one of them had just been re-surfaced with fresh tarmac, and we really flew on that section. Good tarmac makes a difference! We eventually got to Rye on a lovely sunshine afternoon, got a bit lost finding the pub, but did it in the end. I was really craving for hearty meal, but knowing how upset my stomach gets while on the bike, went for a light soup and chips (again, adapting fast to the British culture!). The rest did, of course, have the fish and chips, another tipically British stereotype that is completely true! Oh yes, and pints. I still have not reached that stage, and reckon I would have been tipsy with an empty stomach after a 568 ml of beer intake.

After we left Rye, gone past 2 pm, we rode on quieter roads along the canal, until we made an abrupt left turn on to yet another steep shortish hill! At that point, Adam, the photographer, peeled off to catch his train back. My camera was playing up, so could not take many pictures unfortunately...

You can tell that's steep! especially after lunch

The ride back was bumpier than I had anticipated. Maybe it was because of the >100 km on the legs already? The scenery was beautiful though, passing through a lot of farmlands, plenty of apple/pear trees and some cute typical Kent houses.

Kent houses and their funny pointy roofs

Towards the last quarter/stage of the ride (still got that audax mentallity from our last audax 200) I was feeling pretty knackered, and quite hungry. Not sure if it was me, but the ride seemed to be getting hillier and hillier, and we still had another 40 km. I ate my last banana and a cereal bar, and that gave me boost for the next few km. The group kept splitting, with some riders heading East. The sunset was fantastic though. We turned our lights on and carried on cycling along quiet lanes. I started to feel a bit better, maybe it was because you cannot really tell how fast you ride at night, and with the excitement of it, we crossed the M25. One of the riders was local to the area and took us on a few diversions/shortcuts to avoid the last few hills as we were all feeling the legs. Without delay, we were back on the A21 into Bromley.

It was just past 7 pm and I was there waiting for my train back to Victoria. So glad I did not have to ride another 30 extra km, as I was feeling quite sleepy and hungry: not a good sign. My predictions came true, and after I headed north from Victoria station and into Camden, the semi-bonk hit me. It took me more than 45 min to get back home. I ate everything I found on the fridge, showered and went for a greasy pizza and Tuborg beer! Really need to eat a lot more next time!!! Oh well, another 200 km route in the pocket (or under the belt, as they say up here!) and a fantastic ride in good company. I even got some good advice for my hopefully first PBP.

The stats said:

- 2300 m climb (7500 feet)
- 220 km for the day
- ~24 km/h average
- 63.4 km/h maximum speed
- 9 h riding time
- 6 bottles of water

Special thanks to Martin for planning the ride, and to Adam for taking the pictures.

Went to bed at 10:30 pm as we had planned a mountain bike ride in the Epping Forest on the following day...

Machacas of the Tour

Well, the Tour de France has ended, so Alberto and I will have to adjust to life without the daily scramble to find a computer and/or TV at about 4pm everyday to watch the final km's of each stage. As a final goodbye to the Tour, we thought it would be great to identify a couple of riders who are the embodiment of the idea of machacas.

Machaca of the Tour: Thomas Voeckler

Voeckler (Team Europcar) is known for fighting it out on the breakaway, and this is how he won the yellow jersey in stage 9. So he's always been pretty machaca. But he exceeded all expectations by hanging on to the yellow jersey through the Pyrenees and on the first day in the Alps. Every day, Voeckler would say that he expected to lose the yellow jersey the next day, but he would fight on anyway. He blew everyone away with his ability to hang with the favourites and the hard-core climbers, while remaining humble and humorous. We love Tommy!

Thomas Voeckler in the yellow jersey (image source)

Machaca of a Single Stage: Johnny Hoogerland and Juan Antonio Flecha

This has to be a joint title, going to the two riders who kept riding after being horrifically hit by a media car while riding in a breakaway. Both riders finished not just the stage, but the tour, fighting through all the pain and riding with every extremity in bandages.

Flecha with his bandages the day after the crash (image source)

Johnny Hoogerland keeps riding after being thrown into a barbed wire fence (image source)

Machaca of the Saddle: Fabio Sabatini

In Tour tradition, Fabio Sabatini (team Liquigas-Canondale) will receive the honour of the Lanterne Rouge for being the rider with the slowest overall time. Finally, a machaca after our own hearts! By finishing dead last in the Tour de France, at 3 hours, 57 minutes, and 43 seconds behind the leader, Sabatini has spent the most time in the saddle of anyone on the tour. We always say that the biggest challenge of riding long distances is the amount of time spent in the saddle, so we salute Fabio Sabatini for his perserverance on this measure!

Sabatini at the back of the ride (image source)

Goodbye Tour de France 2011. Bring on La Vuelta!

A Real Machaca

Just in case you were wondering what a real machaca is, you can read this article about Ryder Hesjedal, a Canadian pro cyclist.

My favourite bit:

"To race bicycles is to drink greedily from the chalice of agony."

... and that's why I don't think I'll be entering a race anytime soon!