timwilkes

Days ridden: 3
Miles ridden: 58.7
Average mph: 15.8

Another short week due to Easter. We sailed our International Dragon on Sunday. In a blizzard. The sails were filling with snow, wet hands in wet gloves were frozen, couldn’t even get the top off the hip flask! So we decided that, since we sail for fun, we would retire and win the race to the bar. Which we did. Monday was much better and we got two races in.

Back onto the bike on Tuesday and again it was so cold and icy I decided to do 15 miles on the MTB again. Then I was working up to my first “long” ride; certainly the furthest I have ever cycled in one go. Left home at 0900 hours on Saturday with the aim of getting to Burnham on Crouch in 2.15 hours. In fact I must have miss-measured the distance on the map as it was only 32 miles, not 35. I did it in 1.55 hours at an average of 16.7mph, which I was pleased with. The ride felt good, I enjoyed it and was not stiff or sore afterwards. I managed to climb North Hill, some 2 miles of steep to steeper gradient, without too much trouble. Just hitting the steepest part of the hill and had to change down to the granny ring, the chain slipped off, I shuddered to a halt just managing to unclip my foot and whip it down to the ground before I would have fallen at the feet of an elderly couple walking down the footpath. “Mm, steeper than I thought” I spluttered to the rather surprised looking couple.

Apart from that all else was well and we had a good race in the yacht, coming in second place. Most people at the yacht club were all for me cycling back, but I know my training schedule and I’m sticking to it. Well, that was my excuse!

Days ridden: 2
Miles ridden: 31
Average mph: 15.7

With Good Friday I took a break this week. I also started the training programme suggested by Help for Heroes, which is why my mileage has gone down. But next week I shall be doing a longer distance 35 mile ride. I am looking forward to it, since you ask! I need now to concentrate on building up two things; my speed and my technique. I have also started to take a “recovery drink” after each ride. I am using the well named “For Goodness Shakes”, happily available at the local Tescos.

Nutrition and hydration will be important during the BBBR so I have started to read up a bit more on this. I need to identify a good powder or mix to put into my water bottle for my rides too. I have been taking a couple of gulps of water ever 15 minutes during my rides, which feels fine. As the length of my rides increases I shall need to replace electrolytes, as well as fluids. I will also need to fit a second bottle to the bike. Additionally I shall need to replenish carbohydrates during the rides. I have bought some plastic banana covers that prevent damage to the fruit, so I can stuff one into my back pocket. I shall also probably supplement this with a cereal bar of some sort.

One thing I have learnt is about bonk training! This is where you exercise for a period of up to one and a half hours shortly after waking first thing in the morning, before taking any food to replenish your depleted glycogen stores. Thus whilst you exercise your body burns up body fat. It is apparently a rapid way to lose weight and I read with interest that our Olympic sailing team is doing this in preparation for the lighter winds they will experience in China this year.

Days ridden: 3
Miles ridden: 66.8
Average mph: 15.8

These winds are hard work. Great when it is at your back. Horrendous when you are battling your way into it. In fact I am quite chuffed to find that my average speed is still on track. Mind you, I also saw my highest top speed this week, 34.7mph and yes, it was downhill with the wind behind me! It felt reasonably stable on the bike, though I did find I was gripping the handlebars rather tight. Going into the wind you do feel your strength getting sapped and I have had to have some stern words with myself to pedal harder and faster! In fact on one downhill section, where I normally achieve a speed of around 28mph, I was struggling to reach 16mph against the wind.

I am having an internal debate with myself about the best cycling shoes to wear on the BBBR. The recommendation is to wear mountain bike style shoes with their more simple clips, which are much closer into the sole and easier to walk on. Whereas my road shoes have larger cleats which protrude away from the sole quite noticeably. They make walking rather tricky, though not impossible. I have learnt that an American company can supply rubber covers for the cleats which makes life easier, less skidd prone and less wear on the cleats. The reason I am concerned is that on the BBBR we shall be stopping every now and again to visit the sites of WW I and II battles, cemeteries and memorials, which will of course entail a certain amount of walking. So I have been wondering about getting the rubber covers, carrying a pair of flip flops to change into or changing my pedals and shoes for the mountain bike option.

Days ridden: 3
Miles ridden: 63.8
Average mph: 15.9

So cold and windy I decided to get back up on the mountain bike for one of these days. So my average speed is only for the two road rides I did. The knees are feeling better so I shall have to watch their performance as we get into riding longer distances. It was interesting getting back up on the mountain bike. I found that I was cycling harder and faster than I used to before I got the road bike. It was fun to be on the single track again, though. Ironically enough I got a puncture in the rear as I was coming back along the High Street, about half a mile from home. The Green Stuff inside the inner tube held out long enough until I got home. So I gave the bike a good clean and will replace the outer and inner tubes with new ones which I already have, just waiting for this eventuality.

Meanwhile the road bike does well. I have no regrets about buying it and have got into the groove of riding it. The chain slips on a couple of gears, which I need to sort out, otherwise all is working well. The brakes continue to be excellent and my backside is quite used to the saddle I fitted. It looks like a small flat board but is well designed and remains relatively comfortable after one and a half hours. I believe it is something to do with where your sit bones end up perching! The saddle is a Specialized BG Toupe Gel, again purchased from wiggle.co.uk I am now a Platinum customer of theirs, which gives me an ongoing discount for this year!

Days ridden: 3
Miles ridden: 72.3
Average mph: 15.4

Cold again this week and the computer on the blink sometimes. My knees are complaining and so I have reduced the time I spend running from forty five to thirty minutes. Perhaps the body is starting to change as a result of the work I am doing on these mornings. It feels like it sometimes! I have found a good 24 mile route around Weathersfield, Finchingfield and Great Bardfield. A few good uphill sections as well as some decent straights. I find that the hills are easier if I concentrate on using my core muscles and look resolutely at the top of the hill as I pedal up it.

I started doing Pilates last summer to help with both my flexibility and my posture. I did a dozen private lessons at the Essex Pilates Studio and got my instructor to develop a series of daily exercises for me to do. I have found this to be really beneficial and it has helped in my sailing too. During a particularly tough week-long regatta at Weymouth last season, doing my Pilates exercises made me feel a lot less stiff than I had at previous events. I find that it helps with my pedalling technique too.

Days ridden: 3
Miles ridden: 64.4
Average mph: 15.6

I do hope you are noticing that my average speed is slowly increasing! Again it has been a bitterly cold few mornings. I returned from one ride covered from head to foot in frost, the bike too. The wind chill must have been considerable. It certainly felt like it. I had to stop at one point to address a particularly chilly feeling around the wedding tackle with some judicious tugging down of the technical top! It reminded me of when I used to do a lot of competitive cross country skiing, when it often became a toss up between a warm hand and chilly whatnot or a warm whatnot and chilly hand!

I was asked at the weekend if I when I do the BBBR I shall be spurred on by all those people who have sponsored me. Good question! I replied that in fact I will end up doing the ride to prove to myself that I can do it, so it will be something of a personal challenge. Don’t get me wrong, I shall be cheering with the rest of them when the money is collected in and Help for Heroes reaches its target. I will be happy at the thought that I have done a small bit to help some special individuals.

For some twelve years, when I lived in Huntingdonshire, I was involved in raising money for Macmillan Cancer Care and for our local hospital. I was Chairman of an appeal to raise £1.5 million to build a new and much needed oncology centre at the hospital, which with the help and generosity of many people we achieved. Every time I drive past that centre I get a tremendous feeling – pride would be too strong a word, perhaps it is satisfaction. I would hope to have that same feeling once I cross the finish line at the Cenotaph on 1st June.

Days ridden: 3
Miles ridden: 57.4
Average mph: 15.2

Back to cold conditions and my first puncture. The tyres that came with the bike are rather skimpy racing tyres, not really suited to winter training rides. I was about seven miles out when the rear deflated slowly. I stopped and swapped inners and was away in about five minutes. Only five more miles before the same thing happened again. This time I had to call out the support vehicle.

Second e-mail shot, sent 15 February:

First of all, a huge thank you to the many of you who have so kindly and generously made donations to Help for Heroes, the fantastic new charity. This charity really does seem to have struck a chord with so many people. As you may remember, the target I set in December was to raise £5000 for Help for Heroes, which is raising money for much needed facilities and equipment at Headley Court rehabilitation centre. Well, between us all we have very nearly raised that amount! So given that there is still three months before the Big Battlefield Bike Ride starts, I thought we might see if we could raise £7500 for our injured servicemen and women.

Some of the injured are from the battalion I served in from 1974 to 1985, 1 Royal Anglian (The Vikings). They recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan. They lost nine members, had 57 battle casualties and over 70 other injured. You can see some of what they got involved in by watching “Ross Kemp in Afghanistan” on Sky One. He spent several weeks with the Battalion. I want to do my bit by these special heroes and I hope you will help me too!

I shall be riding my bicycle with fellow Viking Julian Pollard and 298 others from Le Havre to Calais, visiting a number of battlefield sites on the way. This is a distance of 350 miles, to be covered in six days in late May 2008. You can find out more at http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/bbbr.html.

I am now into my training, on my new bike. Bicycles have changed! My bike has a carbon frame and you can pick it up with one finger, it is so light. It has 30 gears. There are skinny tyres the width of your little finger. Brilliant brakes that work efficiently are an added benefit. I have shoes that clip into the special pedals, which means that I can power on the backward and upward stroke. All this means that longer journeys can be carried out faster. Hence the Lycra!

My regime at the moment is to do three morning rides a week, interspersed with two morning running sessions. I do this first thing each morning at 6.30. My rides are of 18 miles, which takes an hour and a quarter, averaging 15 miles an hour. I run for 30 to 40 minutes. I aim to increase my riding distance to 22 miles from now on. In mid March I shall begin including a longer ride of 35 miles at the weekend. It just so happens that is the distance between home and Burnham on Crouch, where I sail. So I shall ride over there, have a shower and lunch, sail in the club race and get driven home! In April I shall increase the weekend ride to 50-60 miles.

Thank you again to all of you have kindly donated to Help for Heroes so far. Let’s now try to reach the new target! You can donate easily at www.justgiving.com/timwilkes

Days ridden: 0
Miles ridden: 0
Average mph: 0

Mostly this week I have been skiing! We have gone to Courmeyeur, our regular haunt. We enjoyed the most wonderful weather, with bright sunshine, clear blue skies and superb snow all week, except for the first day, when it snowed constantly. Oh, and we got engaged!

Skiing is probably pretty good training for the bike riding, so I don’t feel too guilty.

Days ridden: 1
Miles ridden: 14
Average mph: 15

I whimped out this week and did more running than riding. The icy roads are not conducive to riding hard and fast so I have taken it easy. I run for about 45 minutes around the outside of the town, along tracks and pathways. I started running when I was 20 years old in the early 1970’s and have continued to do so every week day morning ever since. If I don’t, I feel bad for the rest of the day. I have experienced the “runners high” on a number of occasions. It is an exhilarating out of body feeling, entirely natural and perfectly legal!

Some eight years ago I turned my ankle badly twice in a short space of time and developed Achilles Tendonitis. I probably started running again too soon on both occasions and so developed a very sore tendon with scare tissue on my left heel. It used to be agony getting up from the sofa for the first few steps. I found some exercises to do which had been developed by American and Swedish academics, but I had to stop running. That is when I dug out my old mountain bike and started riding each morning instead of running. I am now on my fourth mountain bike! It took two years for the exercises to work and I then went back to doing some running, mixed with riding.

Days ridden: 3
Miles ridden: 40
Average mph: 15.1

The bike computer continues to shut down in the cold. Luckily the lights I have fixed to the handle bars and the small emergency kit saddle bag, as well as neat small flashers on the front and rear of my helmet, continue to work in the cold. I also wear a bright yellow and reflective high visibility waistcoat over my bike jacket. I’ve heard too many stories of apparently invisible cyclists being hit by cars or lorries.

I have had to add additional biking kit to my wardrobe! In addition to full length bib tights, I wear padded shorts, a technical sweat-wicking top, close fitting cycling jersey when it is as cold as it has been and a breathable waterproof cycling jacket. I also use neoprene over-boots to cover the clip in cycling shoes and padded cycling gloves, as well as a close fitting “skull cap” under my helmet. All this keeps me warm and comfortable most of the time! I find my extremities feel the cold worst, particularly my fingers and toes. The over boots are great at keeping my feet warm but in the very cold I find I need to replace my winter ridding gloves with “lobster claw” mitts. These have a slit between the middle fingers, thus allowing your fingers freedom to brake and change gear whilst maintaining a grip on the handle bars.

The jacket has a back pocket, into which I have put my mobile phone and a note to say who I am and where I live (in case of an accident), both in a plastic bag, a really neat small hand pump and a set of fold away reading specs, so that I can see any close –up repairs I might have to make!

Days ridden: 3
Miles ridden: 44
Average mph: 15

I am now into the swing of riding for three mornings and running for two in the week. It has been a bit colder this week and I think my bike recorder gives up when the temperature drops below zero. The wind chill factor means that anything much below 2.5C and it goes on strike after a while. I shall have to build it a cover!

Why I am doing all this? For Help for Heroes, a great charity. I first read about it in the Sunday Times, when Jeremy and Francine Clarkson wrote an article about their visits to Birmingham Selly Oak Hospital and to Headley Court. When I logged onto the web site I discovered the Big Battlefield Bike Ride. It was something I could aim for to help our heroes.

First e-mail shot, sent out 17 January:

I am asking for your help and support as a friend, colleague, Dragon sailor or soldier.

I served with 1 Royal Anglian from 1974 to 1985. The battalion has just returned from a tour in Afghanistan. They lost nine killed in action, 58 wounded in battle and over 70 injured. They were in contact with the enemy most days. I want to help these heroes from the battalion, as well as others injured in the service of our country.

HELP for HEROES is a new charity formed to help those servicemen and women who have been wounded or injured in Britain’s current conflicts. These heroes often find themselves at Selly Oak hospital and Headley Court Tri-service Rehabilitation Centre. There are some extraordinary people there, both the wounded and their wonderful nursing staff.

HELP for HEROES is strictly non–political; we can leave the talking to the politicians while getting on with raising a great deal of money to directly support our servicemen and women. In particular, Headley Court needs new facilities and equipment and I want to help them raise the funds required; the target is £5 million.

So in May 2008 I am taking part in the Big Battlefield Bike Ride. With 299 other riders, including some of the wounded from Headley Court, I shall cycle from Le Havre to Calais, visiting some of the First and Second World War battle fields and memorials. We shall ride 350 miles in seven days. You can find out more at http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/bbbr.html

I aim to raise at least £5000. I therefore need your sponsorship, please. I shall even be wearing lycra! I already cycle or run four mornings a week and I shall be toughening up the training regime from now on. I shall be increasing my riding time from 30 minutes to an hour. I have just taken delivery of a new carbon road bike, as my mountain bike will be too heavy for the 55+ miles a day I shall be riding in France. I shall update you on an occasional basis to let you know how this training proceeds.

Please do what you can to support Help for Heroes. You can donate and sponsor me easily on the web at ttp://www.justgiving.com/timwilkes

Days ridden: 2
Miles ridden: 36
Average mph: 14.6

The bike I bought is German. It is a Focus Cayo and can only be bought from the importers, wiggle.co.uk, which is an excellent online cycle store. I get a lot of my kit from them. The Focus has a lightweight carbon frame. I opted to have three ring gears. That gives me thirty gears to choose from! It was a risk buying online, without having a chance to look the bike over and seeing how it would fit me. I was persuaded this was a good buy from the reports the cycling press had written on it. One magazine wrote “After a fair amount of riding the Cayo, we've struggled to find anything really wrong with it. Don't let the price tag convince you this is a bike aimed at beginners, while it's perfect for those new to road riding, those with a few more miles under their bums should take a serious look at the Cayo.” What I continue to find amazing is that you can lift the entire bike with one finger, it is so light and well balanced. An amazing piece of kit.

I have been doing a few more miles on my rides and have started to read up some more on cycle training. My technique, breathing, hand position and other factors are starting to assume more importance now. I have changed the saddle to a more slim line but oddly more comfortable one and reversed the stem so that the handle bars are a few more centimetres higher, which I find more comfortable.

Days ridden: 2
Miles ridden: 21
Average mph: 14

The first week on the new bike. It is just incredible how bikes have changed. I am well used to mountain bikes but road bikes are a new venture for me. I remember being fascinated by the bikes and stories of a weekend road racer who was decorating my parent’s house when I was a boy in the sixties. He cycled from Leicester to our house (which I thought a very great distance) on a fixed gear training bike. That was something for my young brain to get around. Then one day he arrived on his multi geared racing bike, which left me open mouthed. It bore no comparison to my small boys’ bike, but I remember I loved the large rubber covered gear shift handles, the drop handlebars, the Brooks Swallow racing saddle. This lad then proceeded to tell me how he would happily cycle over one hundred miles in a day; just incredible!

When I was a little older I was given a five speed touring bike, which I really enjoyed cycling on until my first Mini came along when I was seventeen. I do remember the world track championships being on at the Leicester velodrome in, I think, 1970. we lived near the university halls of residence and the teams were staying there, so I saw a lot of the riders training hard on the roads around us. And that was it as far as cycling was concerned for about twenty years!

So this week I have mainly been getting used to clip in pedals, drop handle bars and narrow saddles, as well as even narrower tyres. No great distances or high speeds at this stage, just getting the feel of the set up.