The aim is simple, ride 500km in 8 days. As someone who is comfortable riding 200km in a day, an average of 62.5km per day for a little over a week sounds easy. However, the challenge runs from 24-31 Dec, over a busy festive period and with potentially poor weather. This makes for a worthy challenge…

My plan was to get in three 100km rides (on hopefully dryish days) and then fit in the remainder as short four 50km rides giving a day in hand if needed.

Day 1: Distance 83.1km – Speed 23.1 kph – Elevation 524m

Returning from Manchester where I had completed the Winter Solstice 200km audax on fixed, Helen dropped me off at Coventry so that I could get some miles in on day 1. Stopped at a garage in North Kilworth (28km) as I realised that we had left Manchester before breakfast and I was now feeling hungry. Apart from a small flood on one of the back roads near Fosse Way, it was an uneventful ride mainly on roads I know well. The section from Lutterworth to N Kilworth was on main roads but on Christmas Eve there was not very much traffic, the rest was generally lovely quiet country lanes.

Day 2: Distance 42.9km – Speed 22.2 kph – Elevation 205m

Popped out for an early morning spin after present unwrapping in order to earn my Xmas dinner later in the day. My normal Wansford-Bulwick loop with a slight extension at the end. Slightly up on the average km/day needed to complete the challenge.

Day 3: Distance 46.0km – Speed 19.3 kph – Elevation 320m

I had planned this as an 80km day, taking a scenic route to my parents for our traditional Boxing Day family get together. However the weather was not particularly nice so I opted for the shortest possible route and for the first time fell behind the required “run rate”.

Day 4: Distance 0km 

The original plan was to ride up to Nottingham for a night out with my brothers. That with the ride back the next day would contribute a considerable chunk of the overall distance needed (approx 220km). However a dental appointment first thing in the morning, and a 2pm start to the beer drinking festivities meant that I had to drive up, and consequently would have to drive back the next day. Halfway point and only 172km completed, now need to average 82km/day.

Day 5: Distance 52.5km – Speed 19.6 kph – Elevation 258m

My brother had given me a copy of the Contour Road Book yesterday so for a little extra motivation I looked up a nearby route I could follow for today’s ride. Route 364 Oundle to Wansford looked favourite, a road well travelled but by adding a little detour to Caster (as mentioned in the route notes) I could ride somewhere I had never been to before. A below par day distance-wise though so my required average crept up to 92km/day.

Day 6: Distance 78.2km – Speed 22.9 kph – Elevation 655m

The coldest day so far, frost on the roads and no-one turned up for the Oundle based Gorilla club social ride which I was leading today, so I joined in with the fast group. Unfortunately I was on 66″ fixed and the fast group was aiming to hit the hills! Apart from Jo coming a cropper descending an icy Rockingham Hill, it was a great way to work up an appetite for the Gorilla Xmas Curry. Not only was my track iron decked out in fairy lights, I was also playing Xmas tunes (plus some T-Rex!) from the portable mp3 speaker bought recently at a market in Hong Kong, slipped neatly into one of my bottle cages. Now left with 197 km to do in the next two days.

Day 7: Distance 105.8 km – Speed  19.2 kph – Elevation 297 m

So far I had ridden all the previous 303 km on 66″ fixed but with a gale blowing outside I switched to my touring bike and headed out to the fens via Route 337 Stamford to Crowland. I had pretty much decided to give up the challenge at this point with almost 200km to go and the forecast for two very wet and windy days but somehow managed to motivate myself to get out there today and see what happened. With a 35 mph tailwind the first leg up to Stamford was great until I noticed that my disc brakes needed adjustment. Now I remembered why I was riding my fixed a lot! The front pads were completely worn and useless, but I suspected the rear just needed adjustment. I did have spare pads in my tool bag but it was too wet and cold to fit them so I adjusted the rear to give me some stopping power and just took it nice and easy… From Stamford to Market Deeping I rode the main road which was not a lot of fun but with the wind still helping it was bearable. Once I was beyond Deeping St James it was very flat and very exposed, I had not yet turned into the headwind but where the road turned SE it was a struggle holding the bike up. A number of times I was concerned about being blown into a road side ditch or dyke so I tried to stay in the middle of the road wherever possible. The section from Thorney to Ramsey St James was hell, barely able to keep the speed up above 12kph, I though about turning for home at Whittlesey but my route would then not look vaguely like the outline of France so I manfully struggled on. End result – biggest day so far and only 92 km to go.

Day 8a: Distance 47.1 km – Speed  21.6 kph – Elevation 340 m

I had arranged a ride from Pitsford School today for interested staff and parents and a group of 6 had agreed to meet at 10.30 for a ride of about 25-30 miles. My original plan was to ride to school, do the ride and then ride back. However by now I did not want to ride any further than I absolutely had to so I was thinking that if the group ride was 30 miles, that and my ride home would be almost exactly the distance needed to complete the Festive 500. So I drove to Pitsford, aiming to ride out and pick up the car a few days later. Apart from the rain, it was a very enjoyable ride, as it always is riding with new people.

Day 8b: Distance 44.9 km – Speed  22.3 kph – Elevation 243 m

A glance at my phone app told me that the ride home would be almost exactly the distance needed to complete 500 km. I could have added a bit extra in just to make sure but I fancied the excitement of not knowing until I got home and uploaded the files…It was my normal commuting route home, although in daylight it was much easier to see the potholes that Northants Highways sees fit to leave until they grow to sink-hole proportions before filling. It continued to rain but at least with a wind on my back for the most part it was not too uncomfortable. My phone was in my pocket so a couple of times I stopped just to hear my app say “workout paused” to assure me that it was still recording and hadn’t somehow turned itself off or ran out of batteries. Finally arriving at home I uploaded the last track but for some reason it only uploaded half of it! That sometimes happens when the upload is interrupted by losing signal but a number of attempts later and it still wouldn’t upload. Slight panic, would I need to go out again, into the now dark cold night? I thought maybe it was a low battery issue so I plugged the phone into it’s charger and hey presto, upload completed. Now to access the Strava web-site and check the total distance…

500.4 km – Challenge completed! Now claim to my badge and wait for it to drop through my letter box 🙂

One of my Xmas presents this year was the Contour Road Book of England (South East Division) by Harry Inglis, printed in 1898. It details over 400 cycle tourist routes, all ridden and recorded by the author. For example:

As this route was close to home I thought that it would be an excellent choice for my first “re-trace”. Bearing in mind that some roads will have been changed in the intervening 115 years since the book was published, I will allow myself to adapt each route slightly in order to avoid particularly busy roads as long as no Principal Objects of Interest (POI) are missed.  Also I will make slight detours as necessary to include POIs that are listed but not actually on the direct route.

Leaving Oundle Market, follow the road out of town heading north. My first deviation comes at 1.1 miles, just before Elmington on the A605, a left which takes you through Tansor. In Tansor, opposite the church is Tansor Court, a fine looking building, that stands on the site of the old rectory. Tansor Court was built in around 1870 by a wealthy rector, but sold in 1903 shortly after which a new rectory was built (now called the Lindens).

 

Continuing on through Tansor you will reach Fotheringhay at 3.7 miles with a splendid view of The Church of St Mary and All Saints on your left and the motte of Fotheringhay Castle on your right. Richard III was born at the castle in 1452, and Mary. Queen of Scots executed here in 1587.

Turning right in Fotheringhay towards Nassington but taking the first right at the top of the hill takes you into Elton where we rejoin the original route once again. In Elton we take a right just after the public house and after climbing a short hill, turn left at the T junction which puts us on the road to Wansford. There are no other POIs on the route, and although Wansford is a pretty village the POIs listed for Wansford are in fact further on in Castor. The first of these is the Castor parish church of St Kyneburgha, with a striking spire built almost 900 years ago. The second is Durobrivæ, listed as a roman station. Durobrivæ is not actually in Castor itself but on the line of the old Roman road Ermine Street, and now adjacent to the A1 with no obvious way to cycle to it.

Total distance: 10.6 miles with 113m ascent, 128m descent, and max gradient 4.9%.

Having reached my mileage target for this year of 3650 miles in October I need a new one to keep me motivated now it is getting colder and darker. Looking back at my logs I see that the previous best total for November and December is 682 miles achieved in 1988.

With only a leisurely 11 miles around Shenzhen Central Park done so far this month that leaves 672 miles left to do in 46 days, or approximately 100 miles per week.

In preparation I have ordered some studded winter tyres for my early morning commute…

I was pointed to the Velominati Rules of Cycling via a forum earlier today. I was expecting maybe ten or a dozen rules at most, but 92? Most of those I don’t agree with anyway so I decided to create my own set of cycling rules to live by.

1. When touring, always leave space for carrying beer. Obviously!
2. If you catch up and pass another cyclist, slow down a bit and at least say hello. Too many of the “all the gear, no idea” types now cluttering up our roads don’t understand this simple protocol.
3. If you are wearing socks with cycling shorts they should be white ankle socks. Obviously!
4. If you wear team issue kit, do not wear complete matching sets, you do not want to look like you’re pretending to be a pro. Wear stuff ‘cos it looks good. The Sky kit does NOT look good, the Mondrian inspired La Vie Claire kit from the 80s looks good, as does the Kelme green/white stripes, Peugeot’s checkerboard band on white and the Z jersey as worn by Greg Lemond, the only American winner of la Grande Boucle.
5. Do not ride a bike that is designed to shave fractions of a second off a 1000m time if you can barely break evens on the local club 10.
6. When riding up a hill and your companions are working hard, create the impression that you are finding it easy by taking a leisurely swig from your bottle on the steepest section.
7. Learn how to completely strip and rebuild your bike, then if something goes wrong on a ride, the chances are you can fix it, or at least bodge something to get you home. As a corrolory to that, always carry tools/spares suitable for the distance and level of civilisation to be expected on the ride.
8. Ride a suitable distance from the kerb, about 2 feet is reasonable.  It is safer to make cars slow down and have to actually overtake you than hug the kerb and allow drivers to squeeze by at 50-60 mph. Also when passing parked cars always assume that someone will open the door just as you pass and give yourself sufficient room as you go by.

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