2012 Week 17

Week 17 (w/e 29 April 2012)
Miles: 101

So much for vowing to keep this blog updated promptly. Shoddy. Here's my new promise to you, the loyal reader. I'll get this blog brought fully up to date in the next two days and then I'll commit myself to updating it by the end of every Tuesday night with details of the previous seven days. I'll impose severe penalties on myself if I breach this agreement, don't you worry.

On paper, week 17 was a potential banana skin as far as keeping up the run of 100s went. I had commitments for two days that would rule out any cycling at all. In addition, I was still training for my annual fun run and so losing valuable cycling time there: a further day lost to bad weather would mean that I was potentially up against it. As you can see from the weekly total above, I just squeaked home. Here's how.

Monday. There were a couple of showers moving through on an otherwise sunny afternoon. One of them turned up at 5:30 just as I set off for an hour's ride. I'd only gone a mile and a half when I realised that the rain I'd hoped would just clip the northern tip of the Fylde was instead heading straight towards me, so I made a hasty retreat back home, just as the first advance spots were coming down. I managed to get back out later in the evening for half an hour, so ended the day with 11 miles at least. Tuesday was much better, being warm and sunny. It was also a scheduled running day for me. I nipped out on my bike earlier in the afternoon for 12 miles as part of my warm up. That took me to 23 miles. I didn't add to that in the evening, preferring instead to rest my legs. Unfortunately, I woke up on Wednesday with a very sore knee. I could tell that this wasn't just a slight ache or twinge but something more serious. It actually put an end to my training and I even doubted whether I'd be fit enough to do the fun run after all. Oh oh. What it really needed was a complete rest from activity. I should have given up the cycling for a week at least to rest it, but unsurprisingly I couldn't bring myself to do it. Wednesday afternoon was wet, but the rain had passed over by tea time so I was able to get out for around 40 minutes just before 6 pm, returning home with 34 miles. There was further rain in the early evening but by 9 pm there came an hour or two of fine weather. I should have seized my chance and got back out there for another 8 or so miles, but I got engrossed with watching Real Madrid v Bayern Munich on TV - extra time, penalties and all - and so let the opportunity slip away. I hoped it wouldn't prove costly, as with Thursday and Sunday lining up to be cycle-free days I only had two further days left to get another 66 miles done.

I spent most of Thursday on a social visit to Liverpool. It was a horrible wet day. The rain started coming down at about 1 pm and didn't stop. I gather that it was a little more patchy and drizzly back home, but even so I doubt that I would have got any miles done. Friday afternoon saw hazy sunshine, although it clouded over later on. I kept my eye on the rain radar and there was a large patch of rain to the south. Fortunately this seemed to stop on the edges of Greater Manchester and didn't venture any further north. I decided to get out for a longer ride to take a chunk out of the 66 mile target. I headed inland, crossed over the A6 and cycled along a stretch of NCN 6 and 90 before turning back for home. Two hours later I arrived back having cycled 32 miles, so the clock was showing 66. I wasn't finished either, as an evening ride on my usual loop pushed me on to 74, 40 miles up on the day. A fine effort.

That left 26 miles for Saturday and I got them thanks to three shorter rides. The weather remained mostly overcast but dry. I made my customary pedal to town mid-afternoon, then zipped out again for half an hour when I got back to advance to 92.5 miles. I polished off the target at 9 pm to end the week with 101 miles exactly. On Sunday afternoon I had to drive over to Yorkshire for a band rehearsal, but it was throwing it down all day until the evening anyway so I don't think I missed out on any cycling time. Just made it then.

The stats:
Time taken to get 100: 6 hrs 26 m.
Total for 2012: 2004.3
2012 average weekly mileage: 117.9
Consecutive 100s: 16
Miles needed for 6000: 3995.7
Percentage of target reached: 33.4%
With 35 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 114.16

Plenty of things to note this week. First of all, I've broken through the 2000 mile barrier in the shortest time ever as well. As well as meaning that I'm a third of my way to the target of 6000 miles, it also naturally follows that I need less than 4000 miles to get there. These little milestones are psychologically pleasing to tick off. On the downside, my weekly average average drops by a whole mile and the "average weekly miles needed for 6000" tips back over the 114 mark again after two weeks of being 113.x miles. I'll live.

2012 - Week 16 Graph

With the passing of another four weeks, it's time to take stock once again.

These four weeks in 2012 yielded 485.8 miles, an average of 121.4 per week. Not quite as impressive as the preceding four weeks but still quite tidy figures. In contrast, weeks 13 - 16 in 1998 produced a total of 515.3 miles (average = 128.8) and that included the 77 miles of the week of failure.

Anyway, the great news for me is that I'm still leading the pack. The leads are as follows:

1998 - 115.1 miles
2011 - 392.4 miles

As long as I continue to keep the 100s ticking over in 2012 I should stay ahead of 1998 for at least another month or two. But by late June I'm going to feel its hot breath on my shoulder.

2012 Week 16

Week 16 (w/e 22 April 2012)
Miles: 115.3

It was a bright start to the week, but the forecast had warned that rain would be steadily moving in from the west as the afternoon drifted into evening. Monday was also a scheduled running day for my fun run training, so I wasn't able to get out on the bike until the evening, when I made a start to the week's chase with an 8 mile trip. The rain finally turned up at 11:30 pm. Phew. It rained heavily overnight but Tuesday afternoon was sunny. Unfortunately I had a date at the dentist to sort out a broken tooth. The jab I had to numb my mouth made me feel just a little ropey, so I didn't make it out on the bike that afternoon. I dragged myself out later in the evening and added another 8 miles to the total, thus ending the day with 16.

Wednesday was wet. Bah. There was a gap in the bands of rain in the mid evening so I dashed out there in drizzle at 9:30 and managed to add 14 miles to the total to make it 30 so far. The rain was just starting to firm up on the way home but I made it back without getting a soaking. Thursday was a much better day, clear and sunny but chilly with it. An afternoon ride took me to 48 miles and then I pushed that up to 58 miles in the evening. Good work. Friday saw clear skies once more, but the wind was blowing in strongly from the north west. This was another designated running day, but I squeezed in 30 minutes of cycling first as part of my warm up, meaning that I advanced to 63 miles. I thought it best to rest my legs that evening, so off I headed into the weekend requiring another 37 miles to get the obligatory century.

Fortunately, the weather at the weekend was bright and clear but cold as you'd expect. Saturday was also notable for the icy northern wind that was blowing in from chillier climes. I made my customary trip to town that afternoon, then added another 30 minutes of pedalling just before tea. This took me to 80 miles. A third trip that day at 9:30 in the evening pushed me on to 89 miles. I completed the formalities on Sunday afternoon, with just over an hour's ride that saw me home with 107 miles in the bag. There was still time for a little extra action in the evening and the usual 35 minute loop meant that I ended the week with 115 miles. Without the distractions of running and the dentist this week, I'd say that you could have comfortably added another 30 miles to the total at least. Oh well, onwards and upwards!

The stats:
Time taken to get 100: 6 hrs 25 m.
Total for 2012: 1903.3
2012 average weekly mileage: 118.95
Consecutive 100s: 15
Miles needed for 6000: 4096.7
Percentage of target reached: 31.7%
With 36 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 113.8

My weekly average tumbles by 0.25 of 1%. On the plus side, the "average needed to get 6000" drops by 0.04 of a mile. Makes all the difference.

2012 Week 15

Week 15 (w/e 15 April 2012)
Miles: 125.2

Come on, after what I said in the last entry I've let things slip again when it comes to keeping this blog updated. Get yer finger out.

So, week 15. After seeing my averages drift marginally downward last week, I put in a decent shift and at least restored them to week 13's levels. Here's how:

Monday. The week started uninspiringly with a wet day. The rain stopped at about 4:30 for a couple of hours but then returned with renewed vigour in the evening. So no cycling was achieved. Tuesday was much better, a touch blustery with scattered cloud but dry at least. I took myself out for an hour in the late afternoon, clocking up 16 miles, then added another 8 in the evening. Wednesday was sunny but chilly initially. It was also a designated running day. I got out on the bike a little earlier than usual and did 10 miles as a warm up before hitting the streets. Rather than resting in the evening, I got the bike out again for an 8 mile loop, meaning that Wednesday closed with me on a solid 42 miles.

Thursday. Clear blue skies on this day, but the chilly wind knocked the temperature down a couple of notches. I moved on to 55 miles in the afternoon. A second trip in the evening lifted the mileage to 63 miles. Friday began with fine weather but heavy showers moved in at 3:30. Fortunately, these passed over in an hour but the day remained cold. I got out there for 40 minutes, returning home with just under 74 miles. With an eye on the weekend I got out again in the evening on my usual 8 mile loop, thus ending the day with 82 miles.

Saturday was drizzly so I didn't bother with my usual trip into town. I watched the Grand National instead. The rain had gone by 5:30 so I shot out there for an hour. A strong north / north easterly wind was blowing in and it wasn't half cold. Never mind, I came home 15 miles later with 97. I wrapped up another 100 by taking a trip out in the evening. I ended the day with 105 miles, in fact - you can probably guess that I cycled my traditional 30 minute / 8 mile loop. Sunday afternoon saw scattered cloud but no rain. I had a few things to do, so I only squeezed in 50 minutes of pedalling. That took me to 117 miles. There was of course time for a final ride of the week mid-evening. The usual loop out into the countryside and back ended my week with a score of 125 miles.

The stats
Time taken to get 100: 6 hrs 23 m.
Total for 2012: 1788
2012 average weekly mileage: 119.2
Consecutive 100s: 14
Miles needed for 6000: 4212
Percentage of target reached: 29.8%
With 37 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 113.84

Another (relatively) fast time to get the 100 this week. My weekly average was restored to 119.2 after last week's under par effort.

2012 Week 14

Week 14 (w/e 8 April 2012)
Miles: 113.2

I've got a bit of updating to do here - I don't want to get too far behind. Here's what happened a fortnight ago.

The unseasonably warm spell at the end of March didn't last for very long. So far April has been decidedly grey and chilly. I started this week with a zero, as Monday 2nd April was a running day on my schedule. I could have nipped out later in the evening but I decided to rest my legs. Weatherwise it would have returned at least 20 miles I'd say. Ho hum. Tuesday morning brought rain with it, but by late afternoon this had moved on and the sun briefly made an appearance. I ventured out at 5 pm into the teeth of a ferocious gale that was howling in - unusually - from the north east. Fun it wasn't, being pegged back to 10 or 11 mph at times. I got back with 13.5 miles at least. The wind was still howling late into the evening so I didn't bother going out again.

Wednesday. Clear skies today, but that wind was still lurking out there and it was bitterly cold. Despite this I got out in the afternoon and put in a reasonable ride, returning home with 31 miles done. I upped this to 40 by the end of the day with an evening trip. A reasonable recovery then. On Thursday the weather was much improved, sunny clear skies and no blasted gale blowing. I went out for a shorter ride in the afternoon that took me to 52 miles then darted back out mid-evening to see out the day on very nearly 61.

Friday was grey and chilly with some unwelcome drizzle mid-afternoon, thankfully short-lived. This was another designated running day, so I popped out for 40 minutes on the bike by way of a warm up, rolling back with 70 miles on the clock. Then I went for the run. Come the evening I thought it best to rest my limbs again, even though I had my eye on my stats. I was still 30 miles off getting the obligatory 100 for the week, never mind adding the extra mileage to keep my averages from slipping. Had it not been for the interruptions of having to go running this week, I'm confident on past performance that I would have just about clinched the 100 by the close of Friday evening.

Anyway, never mind that - into the weekend we go. Saturday was cloudy with some sunny breaks, but chilly again. I cycled into town that afternoon, as usual, then whizzed out again after arriving home. I advanced to 88 miles but an evening appointment with a few pubs meant that I wasn't in a position to add to this. Sunday thus arrived with me requiring 12 more miles to at least score another 100. The weather was grey and cold, with a fine mist of drizzle in the air. Not very promising then. Looking at the rain radar I spotted a band of heavy rain moving in from the west, so I dragged myself out there at 4 pm before it arrived - it missed us in the end, typically. A gusty wind was blowing in from the west that afternoon, but it was manageable. I rolled home with 105 miles. By mid-evening I decided to make a final trip for the week, so took myself out for half an hour or so to end with 113 miles for week 14.

The stats:
Time taken to get 100: 6 hrs 33 m.
Total for 2012: 1662.8
2012 average weekly mileage: 118.77
Consecutive 100s: 13
Miles needed for 6000: 4337.2
Percentage of target reached: 27.7%
With 38 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 114.14

A slow time to get the 100 again, thanks in most part to that appallingly fierce north-easterly gale from early in the week. Also, I let my averages slip! Shock! My weekly average tumbled from 119.2 to 118.7; the average I need to chase down 6000 miles lurched upward from 114.11 to 114.14. Shriek!

Joking aside, it's the first week this year that I've not moved ahead in the average stakes.

1998 Week 13

1998: Week 13 (w/e 29 March 1998)
Miles: 77.2

In the previous entry I mention that in the equivalent week in 1998, I only posted a score of 77 miles. This made me curious. After all, I've previously stated that '98 was the year when I really went for it, dashing out there on the bike whenever I had any spare time to really push the totals along. So what happened in week 13? Looking at the stats made me even more curious, as it stands out as a rare flop in an otherwise impressive parade of mile-tastic weeks. Indeed, prior to week 13 I'd posted 8 consecutive weeks of 100+, at an average of 130.55 miles per week. After week 13 came 38 consecutive weeks of 100+, a run that only came to an end in the very last week of the year - and then, oddly, only by a flimsy deficit of 8.2 miles, which was about half an hour's pedalling. I may have to review that week in the future.

I dug out my diary to have a read.

Back in 1998 I wasn't quite as particular as I am now with recording my daily progress, but I can estimate the totals from the journeys I wrote about. I used to commute to work when the weather was ok, which was a round trip of 20 miles. Speaking of work, I was frantically busy in week 13 organising a big office move which meant I had to go in for overtime for both days of the weekend. This had a lot to do with the sad failure to secure a ton of miles, as in those days it wasn't unusual for me to do 100 miles just over the two days of the weekend. Crazy. The week unravelled like this:

Monday - Off to a good start with cycling to work and back, despite the overcast skies. So that would be a total of around 20 miles.
Tuesday - Rain, so I drove to work.
Wednesday - Raining again, so I drove to work again.
Thursday - Still raining! So I drove to work. The skies cleared in the evening, apparently, but I didn't take advantage of this and add some more miles. I must have felt guilty since I recorded this fact in the diary.
Friday - More rain! So another drive to work. I did, however, manage to nip out in the evening for an hour, so that probably added 17 miles to the total - I was faster in those days on my road bike. So that probably took me to 37 miles on the clock.
Saturday - I had to go into work to oversee the office move so I drove in, despite it being a sunny day. Damn. I sped off in the evening though, for 75 minutes (it says), coming home with 57 miles (it also says).
Sunday - Back into work in the morning for more overtime, but I cycled in. But along came more rain in mid-afternoon... I got a soaking on the way home. Presumably it was still raining in the evening or I didn't feel like getting out there for more miles. Surely the former? Either way, that meant I finished with the reported 77 miles.

So there you have it. Defeated by a combination of wet weather and a weekend of work.

2012 Week 13

Week 13 (w/e 1 April 2012)
Miles: 132.1

I'm writing this on a thoroughly miserable, wet Easter Monday afternoon. It seems hard to believe that two weeks ago we were enjoying some amazingly warm and sunny weather. We could have done with some of that this Easter weekend, which has been consistently grey and chilly. Oh well, here's what happened in week 13.

The glorious conditions that arrived for the previous weekend continued well into this week. On Monday afternoon I started off the campaign with an 18 miler, topping that up to 25 miles in the evening. I repeated the same routes on Tuesday, closing the day a fraction short of 51 miles. Excellent work so far.

On Wednesday another form of exercise rudely interrupted my majestic progression towards another ton. Every May my local pub organises a fun run. I've done it most years since 1998. The clocks going forward is my traditional marker to begin my training, as this usually gives me four complete weeks to get into some sort of shape for the event. It's the only running I do every year. Several times in the past I've also entered the Blackpool 10 km run, which is normally held the weekend after the local fun run. I've never considered myself a runner and the greater distance is a bigger personal challenge to the 4 or so miles of the pub run. It was 2003 when I last ran the 10 km. Maybe this year, eh? I went for my first run late on Wednesday afternoon in the sunshine, managing a touch under 2 miles at a comfortable pace, just to let my leg muscles know that we were back in business again. I decided to rest them for the remainder of the day, so no cycling was done.

On Thursday I was walking as if I had tin legs, as always happens when I go running again for the first time after a lengthy lay off. Despite the aches, I got out on the bike in the afternoon and put on another 10 miles, thus rolling home with 61. The weather was also on the turn, much more breezy and cooler with it. I decided to rest again in the evening so resumed the chase on Friday. Much cooler and hazier conditions greeted me on my afternoon ride. A shorter than usual trip moved me on to 73 miles but I dashed back out in the mid-evening and closed out the day with 80.

That left 20 miles to get over the weekend and it was very comfortable in the end. Both Saturday and Sunday were cloudy and cool. On Saturday I made my usual trip into town, then did two further short rides that saw me end the day with 106 miles. An hour's trip on Sunday afternoon pushed me on to 122 miles and my final ride of the week that evening resulted in a total of 132 miles completed.

The stats:
Time taken to get 100: 6 hrs 23 m.
Total for 2012: 1549.6
2012 average weekly mileage: 119.2
Consecutive 100s: 12
Miles needed for 6000: 4450.4
Percentage of target reached: 25.8%
With 39 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 114.11

I posted my fastest time to get 100 miles this week, thanks to the clement, gale-free weather.

Had it not been for the running this week, I would have certainly emulated last week's performance and more than likely finished with about 170 miles. Never mind, as of this week I've completed 25% of the target. Excellent work so far.

In the equivalent week in 1998 I only managed 77.2 miles so I have a healthy lead over that year of 199.5 miles. Great stuff, but I'm going to need it in the weeks ahead when 1998 really cranks into gear.