STOP PRESS: 50% of Fundraising Target Reached

Thank you to all my supporters who donated towards Bees for Development. 50% of target was reached after three months (on 28th March) of fundraising with still four months to go.

It has been an enormous morale boost to get such early support! When I was in the last 80km of the Denmead 300 bike ride (the longest ride I had ever done), I did think of all of you who have been so generous with donations and wishes. It pulled me through and I'm sure that on the LEL event in July this support effect will play an even greater role!

Thank you so much!

The Denmead 400 Perm - 4th April

The mental preparation starts for the next challenge: 400km in one go.

There were a few lessons learned on the 300, which was the first 'perm' I did. A 'perm', is a 'permanent' ride organised by Audax. That is a 'perm' as opposed to a 'calendar event' which is scheduled on specific days. A perm can be ridden on any day. The controls are shops, services, cashpoints or any place where you can obtain a receipt with date/time and location printed. This adds some time you spend off the bike. On a long distance ride, these all add up and can make the difference between a happy finish before midnight compared with a less happy finish after midnight. So, on the 400 we'll be looking for more efficient turnarounds at controls where we don't want to stop.

The Denmead 300 Perm - Pictures Up.

Camera found! Check out the slideshow (up until the next ride).

Other things you could be doing on a Saturday:

The Denmead 300 Perm - DONE

Sunday morning:
A quick note to say I'm home! Its now Sunday 11:30AM, had a shower and breakfast and am not feeling too bad. I can walk!

We finished at 2AM, and I got home at 5:30AM, stopping about 5 times along the way to take powernaps.

Will post more later - taking Poppy for walk, and looking at the bees this afternoon.

Sunday afternoon:
I'm a bit downbeat at the moment. Because as I set to blog yesterday's ride and put the photos up, I realised I couldn't find my camera anywhere. Hopefully it will still turn up somewhere sometime.

We had a very ambitious plan, to finish before midnight. By late lunch time, we realised we were not going to achieve this. Instead we finished at 2AM. I probably added an hour for everybody, being the slowest and loosing a lot of time on the hills.

I have mixed emotions about this ride. On a positive side, I managed to complete the ride, with 2.45 hours to spare. The light system was fantastic, my saddle bag worked out. My chain fell off a couple of times but there were no punctures. My eating and drinking was good. Had the right clothing. Fantastic, generous company. The weather couldn't have been better. The scenery beautiful.

So what was wrong? My slow hill climbing sets me back quite badly and plays on my mind. The biggest concern I have is the night riding. The navigation gets more difficult because its harder to keep an eye on the routesheet and the road (even with the brilliant dynamo light). Its harder to read the road signs. I pay good attention to the mileage to work out where I am and take note of the next instruction on the routesheet. I overshot one junction, and quickly realised I was wrong so turned back. I overshot a second junction, but had Pete not called me on the mobile, I wouldn't have realised for an other couple of miles (not quite true as I was slowing down thinking the junction must be soon or behind me). And when you're tired, I think such mistakes can easily happen. Again, these things play on my mind.

Back in January, after the first 200, I stated that I could not see how I would ever do a 300. Now I am saying that I can not see how I am ever going to do 4 300s in a row!

I got home at 5:30AM, stopping about 5 times along the way to take powernaps. The drive normally take less than 1.5 hours.

Some stats: 20.4kph average, 52.3 max, 178bpm max heartrate, 140bpm average heartrate, 8847 calories burnt.

A big big thank you to the now named Denmead Dynamos: Chillmoister, Urban_Biker and Keeks for being such excellent company. Unfortunately, LEE had DNS'd (Did not start) because of a stomach bug. Hummers joined us for a while too after providing a welcome breakfast bite. I have doubts though whether I'll do the 400 with them in two weeks time. I do hold them back more than is acceptable I feel - so will suggest I either ride a calendar event, or go my own pace.

Also a big thank you to Sarah for letting out the chickens two mornings in a row!

The Denmead 300 - Tomorrow

This is the route for tomorrow. Starting north of Portsmouth at 7AM, north around Southampton and outskirting south of the New Forest, furthest point is lovely Blandford Forum and then back, almost touching Salisbury. We are hoping to finish before midnight! (double click the map for a clearer view).

The weather forecast for tomorrow is the best it has been all year.

FNRttC March 2009 - Brighton

I was asked many times if 'this' was something to do with Red Nose Day! It would have been so much easier to say yes, but it was so much more fun to see the ensuing facial expressions when the truth was told. Mind you, its hard to explain when asked "Why do you cycle to Brighton, from London, in the middle of the night?". And you do this on Red Nose day? And you are not raising money? Should have referred them to my JustGiving site ...

We had the usual stop start exit out of London, before we came to quiet lanes. We had some really fast stretches (max 52.5 km/h). I also love the rolling section after the climb in Coulsdon

We cycled through residential areas, went through gates onto a footpath, left, right, up, down and ... all of a sudden, into a back alley, bike on shoulder, up the stairs and 'Arrivals'. Being in Gatwick Airport was quite surreal.

I just love FNRttC. Every ride is different. The only thorn in the side last night was an on/off puncture. Not so bad in itself, but you know that it holds up the group and it meant that I ended up walking up Ditchling Beacon. I have never walked up that hill before (I mean, I always manage to cycle up - slowly).

The mist over Ditchling Beacon and Brighton was an improvement on the hail we had last year. Shame we couldn't even see the sea though! I didn't have good memories of the Madeira Cafe breakfast, but this morning's Full English was pukka (= the max).

It was a great group of people with old and new faces. It was great catching up with Brian, Chris, the scott and meeting new cyclists.

Had a smooth journey back home, good train connections, coffee ready at home!

More photos are here.

First FNRttC of 2009 - Brighton

This Friday, 13th, I will be joining Simon Legg's gang, cycling from Hyde Park Corner to Brighton, starting at midnight.

Somebody stated that the first FNRttC signals end of winter. And I completely agree. I am so looking forward to this ride.

Watch out for ride report and photos Saturday morning ... lunchtime.

21 March - Denmead 300

So, here we are, its March. Ready to take on the first 300km ride. The longest ride I have ever done in one day, has been 200km. The last ride, the Kennett Valley Run 200km went very well, and I felt I could have done a few more km. I am really looking forward to this ride and am not at all apprehensive. Just excited, and in anticipation of how its going to go. I am very motivated for this, because it will be a first tester for LEL, where 300 will be the daily distance (or there about).

Churches with Round Towers

I followed up my curiosity about why churches with round towers are unusual, and found that they are particularly unusual outside of East Anglia. Welford's St Gregory's Church would be one of only 12 such churches outside of East Anglia. The round tower is Norman believed to have been built on Saxon foundations.

Where there is a lack of conventional stone, walls were made of flint. To make the corners strong, they would need to bring in stone from a distance, making it expensive. The solution was to make round towers. When a congregation could afford it, they would upgrade the tower to the square style, which carried much more prestige. This is another reason why round towers are so rare, and also why they tend to be found hidden in small country areas.