When You Fall, Get STRAIGHT Back On , Video Update Ahead.

Been laid up over the last few days, so this update will mainly consist of 2 videos of me, one where I laid the camera at the side of the road a few times on the way up Chunal , for those of you (99.9%) that have never seen me cycle, this will be a rare insight.

So Chunal, Lets look at the elevation first.

Ok and the speed profile ?

Mile 9 was AWESOME Fun, 45 MPH at one point 🙂

So, the first video then, from last weekend.

So, thats all well and good and I hope you enjoyed it, the final (Typed) word from me is to introduce my next video, I was in New Mills by this point (and towards the end Joel Lane) I confess to something in this video and also get pretty emotional too, if you do Fail, its OK, just dont leave it 2 years before you try it again.

If this or I have inspired you, then PLEASE sponsor me for the 2011 Manchester to Blackpool charity ride, together, we CAN beat cancer.

http://www.justgiving.com/the39stonecyclist

Cycling….It’s My Drug !…Weekend Training Ride, Report.

Been meaning to write this since Saturday, Just not had the time.

I got chance for a rare weekend ride on Saturday, so I took it with both hands.

The sun was shining and my new Jersey had been delivered, I put the saddle bag on the CAAD9 and off I went, in search of “My Drug”

What is “My Drug”  ? To me its that feeling of pushing beyond all limits, the burn and pain in your thighs that feels like a huge cat is digging its claw’s into you, its the release of those limits, you are alone, man and machine, in harmony pushing both bike and rider to the edge.

Within 45 seconds of setting off I knew I was in for a tough day, for there was another rider, dressed in full HTC team kit, it was a case of “Head down and balls out” I didn’t give and inch, at all, with that threat now gone I went searching for the biggest hills I could find, I climbed into Oldham, got lost, climbed some more, got lost again and then ended up on the road I had come from, when I saw a turn off, up to what seemed like a great climb, I asked a couple of walkers if the road took me to the top of the hill, they said yes and off I went.

It turned into a dirt track at the top but I couldn’t stop, I was so in the zone, I just kept going and going.

After that I looked around and found another steep, long climb

You can see the Hill, not the pain etched on my face.

Then as I made for home, there was one hill that has always bothered me, its a good 3 mile climb, I have never know where it went, so I headed up there, passing an auld boy on a MTB and passing the time of the day with him.

At the top I noticed I was only half a Mile From Joel Lane

I grabbed this Piccy and then flew to the “Harder Side”

Without thinking I was giving it everything, I ended up having to stop to let a tractor past and thought I would snap these 2 pictures to give you an idea of the gradient.

It might sound like the ride was stop start, but nothing could be further from the truth.

I did 30 miles, 2489ft of climbing and managed it in 1 hour 59 Mins. I loved it, so much so I even ended with a video after the last climb.

I am hoping to get much much more climbing in before too long, I might not be the best but I am starting to enjoy it (barring the pain from the accident last year) and when I start to enjoy things , I tend to get pretty good at them too 🙂

 

 

and who doesn’t want to finish a ride on a descent like this ????

 

Joel Lane,Hyde

 

 

Gaz Rides A Comeback 3.0 Ride ! Pictures & Video Included.

Time For Gaz To Comeback:

The time was upon me, Yesterday at around 17.30 Hours I hooked up my Gopro helmet camera and went for a gentle ride.

When I say Gentle, What I mean is almost 1000 ft of climbing, With a 22% hill.

New Camera Time:

The Gopro camera is EXCELLENT at capturing the “feel” of speed, however it’s also quite bulky and makes you look like a bit of a fool, the flip side was that the motorists seemed to give me a HUGE amount of respect thought out the whole 7 mile ride.

Gopro Hero Wide 5 Helmet Camera

Comeback 3.0 – Why ?

So, many people have asked, why am I calling this “Comeback 3.0” the reason, I think pretty simple, My original “Comeback” was to get on a bike 2 years ago, Comeback 2.0 was following my accident on Ice in January and Comeback 3.0 will be the title of the rides I make until I am no longer suffering any issues because of Mr White Van Man and the RTC.

Nice View:

According to my Garmin I was climbing for the first 2.3 Miles, while not all of it was on the hard 22% gradient it was a hard slog, however when you get views like these, it was more than worth it !!!

Werneth Low, Hyde, Ironic As It's Not Blood Low At All 🙂

Werneth Low, Hyde, Ironic As Its Not Blood Low At All 🙂

How Did It Go, Gaz ?

Painfully !!!! It was a long, slow hard slog up there and in the video below you can see how much I struggled by the top but this was just one small step on the road to getting on with my Comeback, I was full of anger and rage at what Mr White Van Man had done to me and that got me though the pain for a lot of the ride, it is going to be a while before I can do as fast for as long as I could before the accident and also before I get my bottle back, I backed out of so many corners that I used to attack it was quite depressing, but BUT this is step one, it can only get better.

The Video:

Sit back and ENJOY, its 15 Mins long, there are 3 “uplifting” songs in there, i’ll shut up now in order for you to watch it.

Till next time, Ride hard and Livestrong !!!!

Gaz

Back On The Commute Trail. 2 Goals Achieved On Vacation

Keep reading for details of the goals I have achieved, I am gonna cover details of my cycling frst.

Phew,  I was only cycling for 2 days but I put myself though the ringer !!

Thursday morning I kept it to a minimum of 6.5 miles, my legs felt weird, not hard work, just strange.

What I did do however, was “ride it like I stole it”, It was my first day back cycling after 2 weeks of 35degree heat and I was battling a head wind, loads of rain and it was about 12 degrees.

I was gonna get close to my PB today. No not because I was super focused, because I was bloody freezing and wanted to get ino the warm office ASAP. I arrived at work with a average speed of 16.9Mph soaked, freezing and glad I was back in the warmth, isnt June summer any more ?

I was greeted by this when I got to work:

Better !

Sooooo its better than what we had but the main issue we had was the fact that  we didnt have enough spaces before, this has only given 2 more spaces, so while I admit it is much better, we just need 2 or 3 more now !

Thrsday evening I decided to ride a hill I have been scared of since I started cycling and have alway avoided.

I HATE hills, I dont enjoy them like I do sprinting !

I dont attack them like I do when I sprint so did I conquer it ?  HELL NO ! did I make it to the top not half dead ? YUP ! I was happy with that.

Friday, feeling strong I added a few extra miles on and did 11.5 miles before I got to work, I also took in a couple of repeats of  Lancy Hill in Stockport (Lancashire Hill) . With a 15mph average I was happy enough.

Friday evening I took in the same hill I  had done on Thrsday evening and finished the day on 20 miles with an average of 14.5 mph and a total elevation gain of just under 1000ft.

Not a bad reintroduction to cycling of the break I had.

OK OK Those goals !!!

A goal that meant more than most of the others was achieved almost 3 weeks ago !

In my original goal list  I stated

Goal: To be able to fit into an airline seat without the need for a “Fat boy” belt extender!

Monarch Airlines A300 - Manchester Airport

As we boarded the Monarch A300 – a 380 seat pane (No not an Airbus A380, I wish) it became clear that we had been seated in the very back row – Excellent I thought, you get so much more sensation at the back ! . I wanted to enjoy every second of this 4 hour flight, I always liked to fly but was always so big that I couldnt ENJOY it !

Sitting down I was suprized at just how comfortable I was in the seat vs how bad It used to be when I flew, I got the belt and was preying to myself  “please fit , please fit , please fit”  but it didnt, it was MILES too small, I was GUTTED.

“How can something that small, ever fit me ?”

However thats not the end of this tale because in my nervous excitement I had totaly forgot that the belt was set to its smallest size and that even my kids would have had issues making fit LOL

So I recomposed  myself and extented it to the maximum size and BOOM it fit !!!!!!! Well thats not true ,  it was now too big !!! so I made it a little smaller, grinning like an idiot and sat back and enjoyed the 4 hour flght. I kept the belt on all the way….Just because I could LOL.  Unfortunately I didnt get a picture, there would have been 379 people looking at me thinking WTF !!!!!

GOAL ACHIEVED !!!!

Goal No 2: To take a vacation and not gain any weight.

It was never gonna be an easy this one as the holiday was 14 nights, all inclusive but I took my workout stuff and promised myself to get to the gym….that was issue number 1 , I couldnt find the gym in the hotel, when I thought I had found it and went back the next day, it wasnt the gy. I did however swim every single day and took many long walks but by th 10th day I was convinced that I had gained weight, so much so that I said to myself  2anything under a 6 lbs gain and I will be happy”, I hadnt eaten great, nor had I been very good with drinks, upon getting back home I dragged our 90kg of luggage out of the car, checked the post and then sprinted upstairs to get my fat arse on the scales !!!!!

TICK TICK TICK TICK -” COME on will you and just bloody tell me what it is” !!!!!!, Like a demented foot I screamed to the scales.

Then BOOM !!!!! …..I was scared to look “I cant look” I said to myself, peering down I saw the following !

MNUS 1 LBS !!!!!!

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, Thats wrong” I said

I jumped off and back on, -1lbs, I got on and off, Minus 1lbs, I did this twice more,In total I weighed myself 5 times and it kept saying MINUS ONE POUND !!!!!! . Guess it was right then !

GOAL ACHEVED !!!!

You can now view my goal list on the following link:

https://theamazing39stonecyclist.wordpress.com/goals/

Random - o - Vacaion Piccy

Well well well, 2 goals (Get the picture link ? GOALS ?, Never mind)  I didnt think i’d get till my next vacation !  Guess I am getting better at this losing weight thing !

You only get once chance at life and thankfully I learnt that before it was too late (Just) !

Keep tuned as on either Tuesday or Wednesday I will upload footage of the 2009 Manchester Be Proud awards where I collected the “Sporting Achievement” Award.

I am also writing what I hope will turn out to be a informative and funny review of Turkey, if like us you have never been and are considering a visit it will be a MUST READ, it is gonna take me a while though, so if your going tomorrow I cant help, sorry 🙂

Gaz

Surosa Toledo Pro Vs Ribble Audax Review .

Today I decided to write a review of 2 popular Audax bikes, Allow me to start with a bit of backgroud that explanes why I have both of them in my stable.

2 weeks ago,after hitting an unseen dirt track on my Ribble and breaking a spoke I was forced to use my Townsend while the Ribble wheel was in for repair.

This caused my commute home to take 45 mins (I Can do it in 27 mins these days)

This was because I didnt have brakes, or gears, or wheels that didnt wobble, I was forced , because of how bad a shape it was in to avoid the main roads. I decided then that it had to go and I had to get myself a new “Back Up” Bike.

I set about looking on eBay for another Ribble, however the only ones at a decent price were either REALLY old, or poorly specc’ed. Almost giving up I searched Surosa, there was ONE listed, however it was just 2 miles from me, the only downside was the seller was asking £480 for it !!!!!! It didnt sell and after some hard negotiations he agreed to sell it to me for a little over £350, and here it is.

Surosa Toledo "Pro"

It stunning and pretty much brand new, its the same spec as my Ribble but has much more recent components, this blog post is designed to review both bikes and give an idea what they are VS each other.

Ribble Audax Review:

Ribble Audax

I have rode the 2007 Ribble Audax for approx 3500 miles since I purchased it in August 2009.

It has been a great bike that I use every day, the Mavic Open Sport wheels are not the best, however have taken my 20+ Stone pretty well with just 4/5 broken spokes in 3500 approx miles of riding. It has the older style shimano tiagra groupset and while its been reliable its felt at times, clunky and industrial,

I am at the stage now where I can cruse along on the flat at 20/23Mph on this bike all day without any problems.

When I stand up to accelerate it feels livley, however the back end does sometimes feel a little too lightweight and has at times lost traction when I was stood up and cornering at the same time.

I fitted a Fizik Arione Saddle and I have to say its the single most comfortable saddle I have ever used (I have even owned a brooks saddle and didnt enjoy that)

For £300 ( Although was an eBay purchase it was BRAND NEW !) its been an fantastic BARGAIN and really is a great bike.

Looks 4/5

Comfort 3.5/5

Performance 3.5/5

Durability 4/5

Surosa Toledo Pro Review:

Surosa Toledo "Pro"

WOW This bike was purchased as my “Back Up” but riding just the 2 miles home I knew it was FAR too good for that.

The Toledo has a slightly sloping top tube. The geometry gives the bike a more upright and relaxed riding position for better long distance comfort.

Equipped with the 2009 shimano tiagra groupset shifting is smooth, quiet and precise.

The wheels not only look good they also feel pretty good too.

It often felt today like the Surosa was under geared vs the Ribble as I felt I was going slower but spinning the cranks at the same cadence, however every time I looked down at my Garmin Edge I was doing between 19 and 22 Mph, It wasnt under geared, it was just a much more relaxed ride, so much so that I rode 15 miles with a 16mph average.

The first 13.5 Miles were done with a 17.8 MPH average, however it was a bloody hot morning and I didnt bring a drink, so I had to stop for one, by the time I was done I had cooled down and took it easy the rest of the way.

The Surosa doesnt look as light as the Ribble thanks to the oversized tubes, however my average today was quicker than ever (Until I had stopped that is).

Those oversized tubes give it an AMAZING look.

Looks 4.5/5

Comfort 4.5/5

Performance 4.5/5

Durability ??/5

Surosa VS Ribble:

The Ribble inspires you to sprint more. The Surosa allows you to ride faster for longer and harder, between the 2 the clear winner is the Surosa, more comfort, better  geometry and that Black finish looks the DOGS !!!!.

The other issue is that the Surosa feels more agile yet sure footed when you do feel the need to sprint,

I will be using my Ribble as my new Back Up bike and the Surosa will get a beating every day, that actually saddens me a little, as I had lusted after a Ribble for so long and while I had it, it was the best bike I had ever rode.

The Surosa now takes that title and I suspect a Surosa, not Ribble, will be my next bike purchase when the time arises.

Providing that the Surosa’a durability lives upto that of the Ribble’s……

Gaz