Big Andy's Blog » cycling

Sixty miles!

Andrew — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 20:27:44 +0000

It’s been a bloody long time since I rode that far on a bike and the final 10 miles were those of a suffering knackered empty excuse for a cyclist who is paying for his lack of fitness and over eager speed-demon start. On Sunday one week after buying my Bianchi road bike I did the medium Evans sportive ride.

I started five minutes after Marion (she did the short route) from Whitchurch Hill and the pace was very fast with lots of people racing from the off, spurring me to go fast and overtake them. Lots of people were in groups but I was solo. I stopped at ~40 miles for a snack bar and again at 45 but this was not enough and I really struggled in the final 5-10 miles. Yes I completed the route in 3h35m with average speed of 16.5mph and max of 38mph. Looking forward to doing more rides, joining a cycling club and getting faster!

Olympics a Year away

Andrew — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:16:19 +0000

Today marks start of one-year count-down to the 2012 London Olympics. Already there is much in the press and warm-up events that are here to help prepare for next summer. One event that I am really interested in is the Olympic Cycling Road Race warm-up to be held on the 14th of August. The event includes many riders from this years Tour de France, including sprinters Mark Cavendish and Tom Boonen.

The Rules

Andrew — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:42:42 +0000

The Rules of Road Cycling (again cheers bro for the link!)

Bad Mood Monday

Andrew — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:31:53 +0000

This incredibly accurate image shows what I am feeling like this Monday morning. Tired achy, grumpy. (cheers to my Bro for the link)

In other news I bought a new road bike, a Bianchi Via Nirone 7 Sora, 2011, and went cycling with Marion in the countryside to the North of Reading. Now I ache a lot due to my lack of fitness and the uncomfortableness of a road bike compared to the mountain bike I usually ride. I spent the rest of the weekend watching the final two stages of this years Tour de France.

A new Dawn – A new Speedo!

Andrew — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:18:10 +0000

New Speedo for my bike! This morning I fitted it to the bike and rode to work. Normally I am happy to race cars and then take a breather, but with a device that tells you exactly how fast you are going the competitive side comes out and you have to go faster, even if you knacker yourself out in the process. The device is a Cateye Strada Wireless 8 Function Computer.

Tonight it snew

Andrew — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:06:43 +0000

2 o’clock sharp: snow started falling from the dark grey clouds. 3-45 gets heavier and heavier. By the time its time to leave (1630) there’s a carpet of cars along the road and ten cm snow on the pavements. Times like this I feel lucky to have a bike. Not that cycling home was easy. Weaving in and out of stationary cars my eyes crammed shut to keep the snow from hitting my eyeballs and keeping the bike vertical to avoid sliding on the hidden black ice it was a beautiful and fantastic experience.We were going to do some christmas shopping but the shops closed early so their staff could get home safely. Still there are 2 more shopping days before Christmas. I cannot wait!

Not been running for a week because of illness and the snow-ice-rain. I did buy a new pair of Nike Air Pegassus on Saturday and I am thinking of going soon. When the snow has melted or departed. We’ll see!

Wiggo into the Sky

Andrew — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:35:31 +0000

Brad Wiggins, British cycling god, has today signed to join the British pro-team “Team Sky”. This is awesome news for British cycling and I hope that this can bring more cyclists onto the roads and into jerseys to battle it out for medals and glory for Britain.

Today sucked. Really tired from the running and studying that I’ve been doing and a crappy day at work. It’s the Christmas party tomorrow so there’s that to look forward to! Hopefully I can go running before work tomorrow, either then or on Saturday.