2012 Week 21

Week 21 (w/e 27 May 2012)
Miles: 162.3

I should try much harder to keep this blog up to date. Writing about events from three weeks ago is like looking back to another era at the moment, especially with the distinct change in the weather. I'm writing this now on a dreary, wet Saturday afternoon coming after what has been a dreary, wet week. It was only a few weeks back at the end of May that we had a burst of summer. It all happened in week 21. And I cashed in.

The previous week had seen me tot up a score of 147 during a mostly fine week. The following week was warm - sometimes very close to hot! - and sunny. Excellent weather for cycling then. I got underway on the Monday with the usual hour's ride in the afternoon and topped that up in the evening with the usual 8 mile loop that saw me to 24 miles on the day. Tuesday's weather was similarly glorious, so I repeated the routes I'd taken the day before, gliding to 48 miles in the process. Wednesday was the odd man out with the weather. While the rest of the country basked in glorious sunshine, this part of the north west remained stubbornly overcast and cool. Never mind, I took myself out for an hour in the afternoon to advance to 64 miles, then pushed on in the evening to finish the day with 73 miles. Great work for a Wednesday.

Thursday saw the return of hot and sunny conditions. An hour's ride in the afternoon took me to 89 miles. In the evening I had to visit a mate's house on an errand - I cycled there, naturally. So that round trip meant I closed the day with 92 miles. Friday was also pleasantly sunny; in fact, it felt HOT in sheltered spots. Marvellous. Unfortunately for me, a fair breeze had whipped up on that day and was gusting in from an easterly direction. Distracted by the start of the second test against the West Indies, I didn't get out on the bike until 6. I rolled home 30 minutes later with 100 miles in the bag once again. There was time in the evening to push this on to 108 miles.

It was hot and sunny again on both Saturday and Sunday, but that stiff easterly breeze hung around to take the air temperature down a peg or two. I cycled to town as per usual on Saturday afternoon, then dashed out for a quick supplementary ride when I got back to edge to 127 miles. After a couple of hours rest I nipped out again to finish the day with 135. I was on target for a comfortable 150+ week then. And so it proved. Sunday was again hot and sunny. An hour in the afternoon took me to 151 miles. The fine conditions tempted me to get out again mid-evening and push on a bit more than usual. Thus done, I rolled home with 162 miles in total, only 5 miles behind my best score of the year so far. Splendid work. I could do with a few more weeks like that this summer.

The stats:
Time taken to get 100: 6 hrs 20 m.
Total for 2012: 2534
2012 average weekly mileage: 120.66
Consecutive 100s: 20
Miles needed for 6000: 3466
Percentage of target reached: 42.23%
With 31 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 111.8

The fastest 100 of the year so far, despite the blustery end to the week. Of course, wind blowing in from one direction both punishes and rewards depending on whether you're facing it. So it all evens out I suppose. This week pushed my weekly average to a year high of 120.6

The Great Balloon Mystery

The Great Balloon Mystery

Sunday 28 May 2012
It was a warm and sunny afternoon, so I set off on a ride to push on from the 135 miles I'd managed to trouser that week. Cycling along Union Lane in Out Rawcliffe, my eagle eyes spotted a burst balloon at the side of the road with a tag attached to it with string. Curiosity spiked, I went back to investigate. The tag was printed with the words:

St. Margaret's Swinton
Parochial Church Council
Acorns Group

Although there was no encouragement for me to get in touch, as there sometimes are with these things to note how far they've travelled, a Google search led me to the website for a church in the town of Swinton, near Rotherham in South Yorkshire. I sent them an email and the reply from the vicar confirmed where it had come from:

"the balloons were released from St Margaret's Parish Church, Swinton, Rotherham at 11 00am Sunday morning to celebrate Whit Sunday. Thanks so much for taking the time to get in touch, the children at church will be delighted to hear this news."

Here's a map showing the distance travelled as the crow flies:

It's 70 miles according to this website: http://tinyurl.com/myk7rjm

The wind had been fairly gusting in from the east / south east for the last few days, so it makes sense that it has travelled from that direction. Cor, eh readers?

2012 - Week 20 Graph

Another four weeks have breezed by so it's time once again to pause and reflect.

As you can see from the graph, I'm still leading the pack but my lead over 1998 has been cut from a month ago. In the last four weeks I've added 468.4 miles at an average of 117.1 miles per week. That's slightly down on the previous month. In 1998, weeks 17 - 20 accumulated 504.2 miles at an average of 126.05.

The leads currently stand thus:

1998 - 79.3 miles
2011 - 432.2 miles

What do I need in the next four weeks to keep ahead of the menace of 1998? 467.8 miles. That's an average of 116.95. Not too bad then.

2012 Week 20

Week 20 (w/e 20 May 2012)
Miles: 147.1 

After the struggle of last week, this was much more like it: cycling every day in a steady progression towards a decent total. My kind of week.

Monday. The afternoon was clear and sunny until around 5, when a short shower sprang up. This delayed my usual cycling trip, so it was closer to 6 when I got out there. I came back with 12 miles but was able to top that up to 20 with an evening trip. Tuesday's weather was initially showery, but from the afternoon onwards it was clear and sunny. The only downside was the brisk northerly wind that pegged me back a bit. I got a full hour of pedalling done in the afternoon, moving on to 33 miles in the process, then pushed on to 41 miles in the evening. Wednesday's weather was very nice indeed, clear and sunny. A sign of things to come, as it turned out. My usual afternoon excursion took me to 55 miles and the traditional 8 mile evening ride pushed me on to a satisfying 63 miles for a Wednesday night.

Thursday was cloudy but warm, with hazy sunshine. I got just under an hour's cycling done in the afternoon, advancing to 77 miles in the process. This became 85 miles after I'd been out on the usual loop in the evening. Friday brought a downturn in the weather, with overcast skies and spots of rain in the air. With an eye on the looming magic number 100, I dragged myself out for an hour in the late afternoon despite the spits of drizzle. For the last few miles of the journey home the rain became increasingly more organised. Nevertheless, I came home with the ton in the bag. An hour later the rain was steady and constant and lasted until well into the small hours, so no more miles were added. Still, job done with two days to spare.

Saturday. Hazy sunshine for the afternoon. I made my usual trip into town, then came home and dashed off another quick 8 miles before tea. That pushed things along to 118 miles. In the evening I watched the Champions League final. With the extra time and penalties it didn't leave any opportunity to add to the total. Sunday's weather was mostly cloudy throughout the afternoon until the sun burst out at teatime. I got out for an hour around the time that the clouds dispersed, rolling home with 134 miles. Naturally there was still time for another ride out in the evening. I went on a slightly longer route than the usual one that produces 8 miles. This done, I closed the week with 147 miles.

The stats:
Time taken to get 100: 6 hrs 33 m.
Total for 2012: 2371.7
2012 average weekly mileage: 118.58
Consecutive 100s: 19
Miles needed for 6000: 3628.3
Percentage of target reached: 39.52%
With 32 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 113.38

A disappointingly slow time for the 100 this week. Must have been the gusty wind earlier in the week.

2012 Week 19

Week 19 (w/e 13 May 2012)
Miles: 103.2

Another week of difficult circumstances meant that the bare target of achieving 100 miles was in some doubt right until the final day. It took some application to get there, but I scraped home on Sunday afternoon.

Monday afternoon was overcast. Then drizzle arrived. A little later on it became fine for a couple of hours but by the early evening showery rain rolled in. The rain stayed put for the rest of the evening, turning heavier as the day headed into night. I was recovering from the previous day's fun run anyway - or rather, from the post-run beer celebration - so I wasn't too bothered about missing out on cycling for a day. But then...

...Monday night into Tuesday saw me felled by either a touch of food poisoning or some nasty gastric bug that I'd picked up at the weekend. I pretty much spent 36 hours in bed, feeling very grim indeed. So that wiped out Tuesday and Wednesday. And I still felt ropey for a couple of days afterwards, which didn't help the chase.

Thursday. Although back on my feet again, I wasn't feeling tip top. The weather was also fairly dank, with plenty of showery rain floating through. With one eye on the clock and the other on the 100 mile target, I really wanted to get out that evening, even for just 9 or 10 miles. But the weather was drizzly and horrible and I didn't make it. Which thus meant that I had only 3 days to cobble together 100 miles. I decided to set myself a target of doing 33.3 miles every day so I'd get there by Sunday. As you've probably grasped from this blog so far, I tend to do my cycling in short bursts of an hour or so. For this challenge I also decided to attempt to get the 33.3 miles every day in one go, or at least get myself close to it... weather permitting, of course.

Friday. The skies were mostly clear but there was a fierce wind blowing in from the NE. I took myself off in the afternoon on a 27 miler. It was flipping hard work on the way back with that gale howling, especially since I was still feeling under par. I topped up the miles in the evening with my usual loop to finish the day with 35.8 miles. So that was the first target achieved then.

Saturday. The best day of the week, weather-wise. It was clear and sunny and the gale had mercifully eased. I went out on the bike in the late afternoon and did a 29 miler. For this ride I headed south into the Fylde for a change, crossing the River Wyre at the Cartford bridge and then performing a loop through Elswick, Roseacre, Wharles and Treales (over the M55 and back) before coming home through Inskip and St Michael's. I topped this up in the evening to clock up 36.5 miles on the day, bringing the total to 72. Good effort, especially since it brought the final target under 30 miles. Things like that help mentally.

Sunday. So, one day to go. 28 miles required - that's two hours of cycling - but with the distraction of what turned out to be a gripping final day of the Premier League season. The weather also took a turn for the worse, with increasingly leaden skies and rain moving in threateningly from the west. To add to the woe, the wind had whipped up again, this time from the south west. For the middle of May it was decidedly chilly. I watched the first half of Man City v QPR at 3 pm and would have very much liked to have stayed on the sofa and watched the rest of the match. But those miles were calling me. It's funny how these things work out; had I managed 10 miles on that dank Thursday evening as I'd wished, I would have only needed 18 miles to get to a ton, so I would have had enough time to watch the footy and then dash outside to complete the chase. Tsk, typical. Never mind, I took my radio with me stashed inside my rucksack, and listened to the commentary of the unfolding drama as I pedalled inland. For this final trip I headed east to Garstang and Scorton. I'd just reached the latter when those late goals went in. I yelled out loud in delight and got a funny look from a sheep. I followed the NCN route for a couple of miles and then came back across the A6 to head for home. This final stretch was grim due to that ruddy wind. 12 mph all the way. What a grind. It also reminded me that a hybrid bike isn't great for these kinds of trips and conditions.

I rolled home at 6:30 with 103 miles, having ridden 30.9 on the day. The rain eventually arrived at 7:30 and two hours later it was belting down. The great escape!

The stats:

Time taken to get 100: 6 hrs 46 m.
Total for 2012: 2224.6

2012 average weekly mileage: 117.08
Consecutive 100s: 18
Miles needed for 6000: 3775.4

Percentage of target reached: 37.07%
With 33 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 114.41

The slowest time this year to get to 100 miles reflects the tortuous grind of having to cycle into strong winds. With a total barely above 100, my averages slip back a little as well. Just to show how tight these averages are, and how quickly they can slip away from you, in order to get myself back to the peak weekly average so far this year (119.2, set in week 13), I'd need to do 160 miles in the next week.

2012 Week 18

Week 18 (w/e 6 May 2012)
Miles: 117.1

A week with weekend commitments meant that I could have been hard pressed to cobble together another ton. In the end, it was a smooth procession to the obligatory 100.

I got off to a good start on Monday. The weather was sunny, with a strong easterly wind blowing in to add a chill to the temperature. I got out in the late afternoon for 14.5 miles, taking that to 22 miles with an evening ride a few hours later. Tuesday afternoon was grey with occasional drizzle, with the easterly wind still blowing in. I got out for just under an hour in the afternoon, returning home with 35 miles. An evening supplementary ride pushed the total on to 43 miles. Wednesday's weather was very pleasant: warm, hazy sunshine for the afternoon at least. It clouded over in the evening but remained warm. I got out on my bike an hour or so early, armed with my camera on an admittedly largely unsuccessful mission to take some more snaps for use on this blog. The 25 minutes I spent moved me on to 49 miles. I then did my customary hour's pedalling, reaching 65.5 miles in the process. I wasn't finished for the day, of course. A third trundle in the evening meant that I'd reached 74 miles by Wednesday evening. A fine effort.

The weather on Thursday was overcast but fine. I got out there for a good hour in the afternoon, coming back with 92 miles in the bag. A trip around my usual loop in the evening saw me home with 100 miles with three full days to spare. Excellent work.

Friday was a zero cycling day as I had to go over to Yorkshire in mid-afternoon for another band rehearsal. I didn't get home until close to midnight anyway. Saturday's weather was excellent, warm and sunny conditions until it clouded over in the late afternoon. I had to be up and about early to get my car to the garage for its MoT. When I returned home I got the bike out at 3 for an hour and a bit, advancing to what became the final total of 117 miles. We had a gig to play in the evening, so after watching the FA Cup final we made our way there.

Sunday was the day of the annual pub fun run. I only decided to enter on the morning of the race. My knee had continued to feel iffy throughout the week, on and off. When I tested it on Sunday morning it felt fine, so I decided to do the run after all. The weather was dry and warm, which helped the decision making process. Despite my ropey preparation - I'd done no training for 12 days and had also downed a few pints the previous evening at the gig - I managed to shave 8 seconds off last year's time. The knee was absolutely fine. At least now my running season was over so I could concentrate solely on the cycling.

In celebration I spent the rest of the day in the pub.

The stats:
Time taken to get 100: 6 hrs 25 m.
Total for 2012: 2121.4
2012 average weekly mileage: 117.85
Consecutive 100s: 17
Miles needed for 6000: 3878.6
Percentage of target reached: 35.35%
With 34 weeks to go, average weekly miles needed for 6000: 114.08

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.