Pedalling to Jolly Olly's for Coffee and Cake

Gridironman.

Recovery week five

I am pleased to say that I am gradually getting back towards more normal cycling fitness though the back pain is still present at times. Fortunately those times are not when I am riding one of my bikes. In fact I am certain that some riding has actually helped with diminishing the back and leg pains. 

Tuesday October 10th 2017.

Thursday October 12th, 2017.

Saturday 14th October, 2017.

Hoping to keep progressing over the next week or two.

Gridironman.

HCMF meet at Bartley Heath & The Gridiron 2017.

HCMF Meet at Bartley Heath.

The Gridiron 2017. 

Sunday 8th October.

I was very happy to complete this year's Gridiron. It was the ninth time I have ridden it in ten years.

At the start I met Tessa and two of the riders who were on my Dutch holiday earlier this year. After a few miles I teamed up with a young lady, Melissa. I gave her some advice & she tucked in behind me until the first checkpoint, it was nice to have her company. Riding at a gentle pace I was constantly being passed by other riders including many Alton riders sporting their Owen's jersies. Later I met Tessa a couple of times and also Freja, Frank, Janice and Dan at the two checkpoints.

St Leonards Barn Ruins

There were many animals on the roads so we had to take care. There were many ponies, cows, pigs and sheep. I spotted a couple of buzzards and at St. Leonards the jackdaws were roosting and nesting in the old barn ruins.

It was quite cool at first, but the day was gradually warming up with the sun coming out so I dispensed with my cap, arm & neck warmers. I decided that as I was not suffering any ill effects I would carry on. The middle section was the hardest and I walked short distances on four hills. I could have done with some of the lower gears i have on some of my other bikes. Nevertheless I was happy with my choice, Paris, as he was so easy to ride elsewhere.

I chatted with two members of The Wanderers Club from the Isle of Wight asking them if the knew Hilary. They told me she was on the ride, but sadly I never met her.

The next 10 miles were much easier but when I got to Crow Hill I realised I needed to stop to feed and sat on a gravel bin by the side of the road watching the many other riders puffing up the hill. I ate a whole packet of  Haribos. They gave me enough energy to follow the correct route round Burley, many other riders cheated going through the village. With just 6 miles to go I had another break, sitting on the grass at the side of the road, once more giving the thumbs up to riders coming past as they asked if I was OK. There was certainly a great camaraderie amongst nearly all of the field. There were a few who were in such a hurry that they squeezed past when it really wasn't safe.

By the time I got to Lymington I was pretty well exhausted and had to walk up the last hill to the check in.

Here I was greeted by Clyde, and his good lady, who seeing my distressed state went and got a cup of tea for me with two sugars! We chatted for about 20 mins while I recovered. As I went outside I heard a shout, it was Andrew & Simon who had just arrived. After a brief chat I headed for home. 

This was the worst part of the day, I headed for Lyndhurst only to realise that this was a mistake queuing traffic for miles, I revised my route and went via Beaulieu, later on the motorway more jams so I went through Eastleigh & Twyford and was home in about 1 hr 20 Mins. (I did message Andrew to advise he should avoid Lyndhurst.)

Neck Wear

Musette & Water Bottle.

This year the Wessex CTC presented goodies at the finish, now I know why the price had gone up to ten pounds.

Medal & Carnet.

I had a nice arm bath when I got home then collapsed in front of the telly. This morning apart from feeling a little tired I am thankfully very well.

Happy cycling to you all who enjoy it.

Gridironman.

George to George and HCMF Meet at the Cricketers.

This week I have enjoyed another two rides clocking up over 30 miles. I had hoped to enjoy another but decided against it when I had a minor relapse with bad pain in my left hip area yesterday morning. I think I did too much gardening and maybe taking 5 bags of rubbish to the tip was not a good idea. My brother said he has had a similar problem which is the change in the weather combined with O.A. (Which my doctor diagnosed recently)!

A meeting with the Pedallers at The George, St Mary Bourne.

Tuesday 26th September 2017.

Thursday 28th September 2017.

Meet with the HCMF at The Cricketers at Tchborne Down.

Gridironman

The Recovery continues.

Four rides this week.

Monday 18th September & Thursday 21st September.

Saturday 23rd September 

Sunday 24th September.

A very satisfactory week. A modest distance ridden overall but at least I am mobile again. Total distance for the week according to my Strava records of  38.8 miles.

 A credible result!

Gridironman

Back on the bike.

Sunday 17th September 2017.

After almost three months of being unable to ride I have at last managed a gentle couple of rides. 

The first was only very short, just a couple of laps around the block. Today I managed close to six miles; from home to the Ropley roundabout and back. I am riding Tiny at present as he has front suspension forks and a sprung saddle post. These should help smooth out any bumps.

A newly spruced up Tiny.

My long standing friends will be thinking "Tiny, I thought G'Man had sold him some years ago."

The answer to this is this; my very good friend Alex bought Tiny from me for his brother Andrew to ride. He has since discovered that Andrew had not ridden Tiny for some time and arranged for Tiny to be returned. Andrew came last Monday accompanied by Alex and Chris and after Tiny was secured in my garden room we all went to the Swan to celebrate. Interestingly it is almost exactly ten years ago that I first bought Tiny on 13/9/2007 for the princely sum of £281.94. (At that time I thought that was a lot to pay for a bike!)

Since last Monday I have pumped up the tyres, done a quick wash to remove the dust, quickly cleaned and re-oiled the chain and removed a little rust. Then on Thursday I ventured out. I was alarmed to discover how wobbly I was for the first few hundred yards but I soon got more confident and having done one lap went for a second. I found no problems with my back and although my legs were fine they did feel a little stiff the next day.

Today I did the longer effort. Here is my Map and Data for the ride:

I rode from home to the Ropley Roundabout. Gears used were all on the middle sprocket (38 teeth) whilst on the rear sprocket I used mainly 4 to 7 (between 15 to 28 teeth). I was pleased with my time which was very near to the time I did the same trip for the first time on Tiny almost exactly ten years ago on 2 Oct 2007 when I did it in 30 mins.

It was great to be back on the leader boards of both the Alresford Groupetta and  Winchester CTC Strava, propping up the tables in both cases I suspect.

Now some 5 hours after the ride I am feeling good, though I suspect I might be a bit stiff in the morning.

Over the last three months I have had a great many visitors, in fact Mary and her husband Jeremy dropped in to see me just after lunch today. Last Monday I had the pleasure of entertaining John Moon and returning hospitality to Fiona another M2M friend. She came to stay the night before I took her to Portsmouth to join Nic and Julie en route to a coast to coast in Spain. In Portsmouth I was able to enjoy another reunion with Peter and David who were also on the M2M last year.

What a lot I've written after being dormant for so many weeks. I hope you all enjoy it and your own cycling.

Best wishes,

Gridironman.

Tour de France Watching.

Many of you will already know that I have not ridden a bike since 22nd of June when I rode to Ouistreham to catch the ferry back to England. This is because I am suffering with severe back and sciatic pains which are gradually getting better. (I hope). 

It is unlikely that I shall be able to ride before the end of the month and then I shall have to take it steady. If all goes to plan I should be able to join the CTC Birthday Rides Week in Gloucestershire in mid August. 

If being unable to ride for the last three weeks is not enough I have also been unable to drive for the last four weeks due to another medical problem. Thankfully I can do so now but a short test drive to Hinton Ampner on Monday was quite painful to my leg. I guess that I need to give it another week or more before I can drive any distance.

I have been considering discontinuing my blog permanently. However if there are sufficient folk interested I will recommence when I get back on one of my four bikes. Please let me know if you are interested in the ramblings of an OMIL.

In the meantime  I have at least had the Tour de France to keep me entertained and yesterday I had a visitor who came to cheer me up. Grant, who was one of my M2M companions last year, came on his lovely yellow Triumph Bonneville motorcycle. We had lunch together thanks to Tesco's £10 for a meal for two deal. It was great to catch up and share memories of past glories!

I have been following the exploits of my friends on their bikes and have been pleased to see they have been making the most of the fine weather to enjoy some good rides like this one:-

Just wish I was with them.

Gridironman.

My Tour de France.

A short but enjoyable holiday in France on my Posh bike riding with 7 other Winchester CTC riders and our French guide Jean-Jacques. The gilt taken of the gingerbread a little because of a painful back. I must have tweaked it just before the weekend on Friday because it started hurting that evening but was not severe enough for me to cancel the trip.

Here are my ride maps and summaries of the five rides I had:-

Picture Gallery:

The Approach to the Pont de Normandie.

On The Bridge.

Honfleur from the Bridge.

Le Havre from the Bridge.

Honfleur Inner Harbour. 1

Honfleur Harbour 2.

French Sunday Lunch Venue.

The Peleton enjoying the French Lunch.

The Basilica Saint Therese.

Interesting Normandy House.

Gite for Holiday Makers.

Fountain in the centre of Pont L'Eveque.

Linda enjoying an ice cream.

Sand Sweeper in Deauville.
 Huge beach, can you see the sea?

Typical Normandy buildings in the village of
Beaumont-en-Auge.

Major John Howard, 
Commander of the troops who liberated the first house in
Normandy and captured Pegasus Bridge.

Grid(not so)ironman 

Welcome back to Carol & Dave.

Tuesday 13th June 2017.

Four More Days of Fun.

Ride One.

 Tuesday 6th June 2017.

Simon's report:

I had to rethink the route for this Sunday's VCC ride as the Bridge at Shawford wanted all the orders for meals in 48 hours beforehand! So I booked the Dolphin at Hursley. So today Bryce and I tested the new route, we weren't expecting to undertake a Cyclocross event, but with 2 trees down and branches across much of our route it began to approach such. Well it was ridden on the cycle paths across Winchester, see if you can spot King Alfred? 

Recorded 36 miles - still high winds but just avoided the rain. I must change the tyres on the Hetchins as I started the day repairing a puncture straight out of the shed, then picked another up 6 miles from home!

Ride No:2 

Thursday 8th June 2017.

Simon's report of the day:

Local BBC weather forecast this morning was for a mainly dry day with the possibility of a shower much like yesterday (but the cows were sitting down so perhaps I should have known better)! Now yesterday here was sunshine for nearly all the day - which was rather fortunate as I fitted a bike carrier to the rear door of Bryce's new Camper Car. Sooooo....I thought I'd ride one of the old bikes, in this case 68 year old Holdsworth LaQuelda of 1949. I also donned period attire with my 1940's hand knitted wool jersey. As soon as I got on the bike the rain started and basically didn't stop until we got to the pub! Its quite a challenge stopping a 70 year old bike on a steep descent with wet rims and brake blocks that were those originally fitted - exciting times. 


Today's chosen Pub was the birth place of Cricket, the Bat & Ball at Hambledon, it was so wet outside I decided I'd take some photo's inside of the historic pictures hanging on the walls. We ventured out after lunch still to be greeted by rain but about 6 miles from home it began to cease and brighten up, I asked Bryce to take a photo of me on the Holdsworth but I was obviously travelling so fast I was just a blur! Well I let you decide if it was operator error or my amazing speed?? 




I trust all my UK pals have voted now - an incentive of voting in Country regions is that some of the polling stations are Public Houses! One pictured here of the Tichborne Arms.

Bryce hugging the hedge to keep dry.

The drizzle whipping across the hills.

Ride No: 3. 

Saturday 10th June 2017.

A very enjoyable day in an area I know a little. It was great to revive memories of my first sweetheart. Elizabeth lived in Corse Lawn and I enjoyed my  last cycle ride with her  near the Malvern Hills some 64 years ago! Sadly she married a "Pongo".

There were about 35 of us taking part in the 100 km event, the 200 km riders had left earlier at 8 o'clock. We were soon out of Tewkesbury and bowling along at a good rate with a tail wind. I found myself in a small group of five somewhere in the middle of the extended peloton. I let them go on at our first information point and rode with three others for a while. The countryside was lovely some arable but a lot dairy farming. Very pleasant typical English Villages and churches too. We encountered two weddings that had just taken place.

At the first control, at Croome Park, there was no one to check us in, we were on our honour to actually pass through there. I rode on alone to the next check point which was at the "Singing Kettle" somewhere on the top of the Malvern Hills. 

This was the easy approach to the steep bit
 just behind the church.

A tough climb to get up to the top with a maximum gradient of about 1 in 6. I managed to climb the steepest bit, just, and then just on the last few hundred yards there were temporary traffic lights and I had to stop. I was unable to get going again so walked for about 80 yards before it eased a little and I managed to restart. I did not stay long at the tea room, preferring to get a move on as rain was threatening. A good decision as I eventually got back to the finish before the rain came.

A very fast descent managing, according to Strava, 38.7 m.p.h. 

No. It is not Creawley Pond.
This one is in Apperley.

I rode for a few miles with two other guys,through a gate and across a common and then many more lanes before our next control in a pub near the river Severn where there was a wedding reception in full swing. We were into our last few miles now which I rode on my own seeing other riders from time to time as they passed me or when I passed them. 

The second wedding had just finished in the church in Deerhurst Village. This Church was our last point to be visited to ascertain the full name before the triumphant return to Tewkesbury. I was extremely pleased to discover I had completed the course in a little over 6 hours. (5 hours 4 Minutes riding time).

Roundabout decorations as one enters Tewkesbury.

 My Brevet Card.

Ride No: 4 

Sunday 11th June 2017.

We met in the station car park where the "War on the Line" was taking place. This happens every year. Here are some pictures which I took before we started.