Long ride planning and fund-raising.

Meeting a fellow TC rider last weekend pricked my conscience. All our circumstances are different of course. he didn't look 50 for a start, but then I know that I'm not the oldest rider by a long way. None-the-less I am overdue a longer than long ride and am no longer adding to my psychological reservoir by just doing 100 milers.

On Sunday I shall get out to do another of those before work, but the following weekend I have planned a 160 mile route back from Amersham, where I am due to visit family. This will take me well into the night and a little of the following morning too.

On the 19th June I have now planned a 600 mile round trip from here to Aberystwyth. I plan to start at midnight to mirror the start of the TCR, with the added benefit of hopefully crossing the Welsh hills in some kind of daylight. All I need now is a favourable wind.

On the fund-raising front I am hugely grateful to Linda for her work on our business cards. These are heading to the printers this week. If anyone would like to help distribute a few, please do send a message via facebook or twitter. The more followers of the event come the 24th July, the better. Initally we are printing 1000 on which you will find the details below.


In the mean time I shall continue to harry the local press. This was our local paper last week, for which I'm very grateful.

All the awareness I can raise about the work the Alzheimers Society do, the better.

Blog :- www.transcontinentalbikerace.blogspot.com
Twitter : -  @johnnymbakewell
Race website for tracking: -  www.transcontinentalrace.com
Fund raising page: - www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

What's the chance?

As a postscript to my visit to Scotland I have included a couple of pictures here because they were stunning places to visit.

On the way, we stopped at the Leaderfoot Viaduct. Built in 1863, this incredibly beautiful structure crosses the Tweed and was originally designed to carry the Berwickshire railway. Mmm, rather you than me. I think I might be keeping my eyes firmly on my paper!

Really though this post is to say how amazed I was to bump into another TCR racer at Scotch Corner as we headed south.

Paul Ward, Race No. 121, who from what I could gather was in the middle of an extremely lengthy ride, was instantly recognisable from his bike. Set up almost exactly like mine, I asked him if he was training for anything in particular later this year!!

'Oh, a race from Belgium to Turkey. The Transcontinental Race,' he said. 'Really', I answered. 'I'll see you there, then.'

Actually more than anything, what he made me aware of was the need to clock a double 100, some time soon. Just psychological you know. Where's my diary?

www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

Anstrother and Crail

On our last evening in St Andrews, with my daughter behaving shockingly like a university student, attending a beach party and bonfire, my brother and I headed south to the fishing villages of Anstrother and Crail. You could go almost anywhere around this coast, -indeed anywhere around the Scottish coast, -and find photo opportunities, wildlife and fresh, fresh air.

I of course travelled by bike. I was so pleased to have brought it with me, squeezing it into the car and hoping that all the returning student stuff would still fit in around it. Any of the country lanes around here make for beautiful cycling with Corn Buntings singing from the fence posts and telephone lines and Lapwings careering across the skies in their wild and carefree dance.

The fishing villages on the south east peninsula of Fife are stunning. Crammed with small cobbles streets, teaming high walled harbours and beautiful boats.
Crail is the more picturesque of the two and we spent most time there listening to the haunting calls of the male Eider as they marshalled their wives and children under the watchful eye of a hungry Herring Gull. If the gull flew too close, the little duckings would swarm together into a tight little ball surrounded by their parents. Amazing to watch.

In the end between packing up a first year student and visiting my old home, I managed 78 miles of the best cycling this year. This also brought my average back up above 20 a day for 145 consecutive days and my total to just shy of 2900 for the year.

www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

St Andrews the cobbles and the Open Golf Championship

This is not Geraardesbergen, but St Andrews does have some cobbles. Not having not ridden on them on this bike in particular, and in any case, not recently, I delighted in the opportunity to imagine myself at the start of the race in Flanders a couple of months from now. (OK, so it was flat, in the sunshine and not midnight, but that's what imagination is for.)

It wasn't comfortable. I can't see myself sitting in the saddle much and am already looking forward to heading south toward Mont Ventoux and the first checkpoint 1,000 km away. I have in the mean time been looking at the Muur on line and came across this interesting graphic on Strava:-

http://veloviewer.com/segment/608907/Muur+-+Kapelmuur+(zonder+Vesten)

I didn't get back on the bike until later in the evening, but instead excitedly gazed down the 18th fairway of the Old Course, with the grandstands up in anticipation of the carnivals arrival in a few weeks time.

As much as anything I was amazed at how accessible it was. We walked across the roadway that divides the approach to the 18th hole, to cries of 'Four!' We even managed to stand on the famous bridge. Forgive me, I was never a golfer. Indeed my Doctor advised me never to become one, since at the time of my diagnosis with Ankylosing Spondilitis, he realised that flexibility was never again going to be a strong point. I can but dream, however.

The ripple in the water behind me is not my ball! 

 www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

Craigrothie on the way to Hogwarts (St Andrews Uni)

I am indebted to my elder brother for offering to accompany me to Scotland to pick up my eldest daughter at the end of her first year at university. (I can't believe that I'm saying that for a start.) Anyway, it has afforded me the opportunity to cycle around Fife for a couple of days, or at least between hanging out with my brother.

So yesterday morning I retraced my steps along the A916 with a little detour past Balgonie Castle. Built around 1296 apparently, by a Knight, Sir Robert Sibbald. It is open to the public by appointment and somewhere that I shall definintely take the boys next time we're up here.

This mornings visit, being in daylight allowed me to take some photos of my old stamping ground. I have nothing but fond memories of the place, but my brother's experience was otherwise.

Get this!

So shortly after we arrived in the village, my mother took a knock at the front door. Two local kids are standing there. 'Is your boy in?' they ask. My mother, thinking how nice it was that children from the village are so welcoming, invites them in to meet my brother, then about 5, I guess, and leaves them to it in the front room.

'So. Who do you support, Rangers or Celtic?' begins one of the lads. My brother, totally ignorant of the significance of this question in Scotland, thinks for a minute. Mmm, well Rangers starts with an 'R' and Celtic starts with with an S', he thinks. So I'll pick the the last one in the alphabet. 'Seltic' he says confidently. At which point the two boys proceed to beat him up and promptly leave the house!

They became friends later apparently. That was his initiation. He was always forgiving in nature!

I apologise for the pure self-indulgence of this post, but it was so much fun to return to somewhere after so long. I called in at the old house and was kindly shown around by the current owners. My parents had bought it as a wreck, returning it to habitability over the next 18 months, before having to move again with work. Not the original plan.

The house sits at the bottom end of the village opposite my old primary school. That hasn't changed either. Not much modernisation here.

At the bottom of the lane was a turning to the Dovecot that we remember playing around and I was told that I could climb from here back onto the main road to St Andrews via a little muddy track. Can't say I wasn't warned!



For a cyclist, hills are a challenge. Sometimes a grind and sometimes...when they're downhill for miles, just pure unrivalled exhiliration. So it was, cruising into town at just under 40 mph, I arrived in St Andrews. The seat of my daughters learning for the next 4 years. Halleluia!

Definitely coming back here.

www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

Glenrothes and Back Spasm

We crossed the Forth road bridge arriving at the Premiere Inn in time for a dinner. Since the evening before I had been suffering from a pretty darn painful back spasm. Something that comes from time to time, but this one was not going to let go any time soon.

Be that as it may, I wasn't going to let it stop me and headed out at 9pm bound for the village of Craigrothie. We lived there when I was about 4. It was my first school and just about the farthest back that I can clearly remember.

Anyway, I had to get there first. My attempt to download the area around Fife from Openstreetmap had clearly failed, so that I had nothing more than the most rudimentary base map to navigate with. It was windy and unlike Norfolk, either up or down, but never flat.

The map was good enough and despite the sometime considerable discomfort, I made the most of the tail wind that blew me up the inclines toward Cupar and Craigrothie.

Nothing had changed. The little village school was just as I remembered it. Our house of solid chiseled rock, as immovable as the hills that surrounded it. I checked in on the tiny burn, where we used tickle trout as youngsters. I can't imagine leaving my boys to go play in a stream at less than 5, but we were never in. I wonder that my mother knew where we were half the time. The school of hard knocks. No doubt where the groundwork for this adventure all began.

WInd or no wind, the return journey was pretty much all downhill and by the time I got back to the hotel, it was gone 11, but with another 30 miles in the bag. Not bad after driving all the way to Scotland with my brother on the back of a night shift.

2875 total

Pastures new

Yesterday I headed north by car to pick my daughter up from St Andrews in Fife. There's never much to say about long car journeys but I was delighted to meet Robert Butter here at the border.

Robert, from Holland, had just climbed to the Northumberland border with Scotland from the north and was then heading to Newcastle before taking a westerly course for the English Lakes. His bike setup reminded of my own Land's End to John O'Groats epic in 2010.
johnnygiant-lejog4samaritans.blogspot.com/

I had everything I needed to complete the 1300 mile route, including walking gear to scale the 3 Peaks on the way and the bike was as a consequence incredibly heavy. A far cry from the TCR? Maybe.

Anyway, safe journey Robert (the Bruce) Butter. No giving up. TO be fair, he didn't look like the kind of guy who was gonna do anything of the sort, but I couldn't resist regaling the story of the his near namesake, since this cahnce meeting on the borders of Scotland.

Robert if I confused the heck out of you, I apologise.( Look up Robert the Bruce and it will all be clear.)

The second half of the sandwich didn't taste so good.

It being the second leg of the Championship play-off today, I had the perfect excuse to cycle to my buddies house in Woodbridge to watch it and clock a 100 miles whilst I was at it. Fifty before and fifty after.

I had the added bonus of knowing that the completion of this particular ride, would take me past the daily average of 20 miles, or 140 a week, or just over 500 a month, which ever sounds the best for you.

I took off at 7. It was forecast as overcast and 13 deg. The wind was from the WNW ish, so it was going to help me a little in both directions. Slightly more heading south.

The fields and hedgerows are now awash with flowers and the birds, though busy feeding youngsters in many cases, still fill the lanes with their songs.

Since the match didn't start until just after 12, I added a couple of miles by visiting Woodbridge's famous tide mill, (sadly clad in scaffolding,) and contemplated life in a barge moored in the river.





This one is for sale.

You certainly could look for a long time for a nicer view from your sundeck.

The less said about the intervening couple of hours, the better. The food was good though and thoughts of Wembley cut short or not, I made the most of the ride home. It would have been criminal not to.

Well do Norwich.

Total now 2743 miles
Ave 20.02 every day since 31st Dec 2014.

www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

A dappled sun hides many ills

I had been cycling this last week, thinking how much more unpredictable it often was, cycling in a dappled sun than it often is cycling in the rain.

A puddle, is a puddle because there is a hole, so you avoid it if you can. Given the number of small potholes I've encountered recently on a sunny day, down small shady country lanes, I'm beginning to appreciate that you don't get to look around as much as you might imagine. Especially in dappled shade.

These little country lanes though also hide a myriad of pleasures too and today I discovered my new favourite 50 miles route north of Norwich. here are some of the pictures that I took.

Having traversed the A47 to the west of Ringland, I found that I was following small grass centred lanes for mile after mile. I dropped down into Lyng where I could have spent more time just watching the river Wensum as it passes through this tranquil village. It hasn't always been this way apparently, with a divertion of the river's course during the time of Henry IV 'resulted in a law suit over the fishing rights'!! (http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/lyng.html)

From here my route took me over the Fakenham Road and on toward Briston but before I had crossed the Marriott's Way. This old railway cut covers about 26 miles of footpath and cycle path and I have decided to take on it's entirety next week, just for the heck of it. I'll let you know how I get on.

Between here and Briston I followed a roadside nature reserve brimming with wildflowers of all shapes and colour. Some I know, and some I don't so that gives me something else to look into.

The first of these I think is Red Campion, the second an orchid of some description, and the third a rather poor example, given the amazing spread on offer, of some of the bluebell woods around these parts.

In the next post I shall return to something slightly more sobering, as I find myself reading about ethnic unrest and police activity in Macedonia. Rather worryingly smack bang in the middle of my current planned route.


Total is now 2573
Avg creeping slowly toward 20 a day since 31st Dec 2014.

Please don't forget the justgiving page. Much appreciated. John

www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

Tasty play-off sandwich.

At risk of offending my friends in Norwich, - for it was always going to problematic moving from Ipswich to Norwich, -

I took great delight in having the excuse to cycle part the way to the first leg of the Championship play-off between these two East Anglian rivals and back. 68 miles in total.

This on top of the 54, 65, 25 and 25 gave me 237 for the week and 2520 in total.

Football aside, I have been scanning through the new version of the race manual to make sure that I haven't forgotten anything. I shall need to persuade my GP that I am at least physically fit enough to take this challenge on.

I do wonder whether or not it might be better to claim honestly, that I am possibly a little mentally unhinged, since i am certain that this might be viewed as a pre-requisite for entering the race in the first place. Beyond that I just hope that by writing the letter, that they don't feel responsible for anything, should it go wrong. In many ways, it's a strange request for a race that is so strong on self-reliance and personal responsibility. I have no doubt that there is a good reason for it.

In any event, I thought that I might do an ECG on myself at work on Sunday night, as well as a full set of clinical observations, so that I can save my own GP the trouble.

After my puncture from earlier in the week, I realise that I have now run out of new tubes and my bike shed, aka our unfinished front room, has become something of an Asp's nest, with all the punctured tubes needing repair. Beyond that, however, I have borrowed a smaller light weight sleeping bag from a friend and begun to rationalise my kit. I have gotten into the habit of training with it all on the bike. I don't want to store up any nasty surprises.

Anyway, for those that have an interest, enjoy the second leg next weekend and may fortune favour the brave.

2520 miles total
Av 19.24/day since 31st dec 2014

www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

Cross training

Check out the Transcontinental Race  facebook page for the latest training video. Nearly ended in tears! Sometimes the competitive gene needs to be ignored.

https://www.facebook.com/dave.bakewell.1/videos/vb.1551390693/10203785188540787/?type=2&theater

www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

The beauty of early summer.

Finishing work at 08:00 this morning I headed south west initially before entering the Brecklands again for one of my favourite rides home.

With a tailwind for a change I made good speed. I had my heart set on 61 miles that would take me to 2400 for the year and just a 100 miles short of my last years training total, with still over 2 months to go.

That early in the morning, bank holiday Monday hadn't got started, so I had the quiet back roads to myself. I picked up some more food in Swaffham on my way through and then headed for the ford at West Acre where I stopped to record the burst of bird song that surrounded me. I'm not sure how well it will reproduce here, but it's worth a try.

As I sat by this bridge a couple of female cyclists passed me asking if I knew the route through here and if it was passable on a road bike. This being one of two little sections akin to the Strada del Assietta, i.e off road, I was confident to say that it was navigable and sent them on their way

How embarrassing then to hit a stone on the paved section between these two rough bits of road and end up with a puncture of my own!


A chap who was walking his dog as I sat on the roadside, asked how many spare inner tubes I was going to be carrying, as we talked all things TCR. Now that's a good question. Probably two.

In the end I clocked another 65 miles and added 26 this morning as a loosener before heading to bed after another night at work.

Total now 2430
Av creeping towards 20. Now at 19.3 every day since Dec 31st 2014

www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

I know that I keep asking, but I would really appreciate your support for this wonderful charity. Thank you. John

6500 miles, £4200, 101 Posts, and the odd puncture.

I am incredibly fortunate. OK, so I make the time for it when others would or should be sleeping and it's hard work at times, but as I write my 101st blog post and look back and forward at the last 18 months of being involved with the TCR, I have enjoyed some of the most amazing hours in the saddle and raised a good deal of money for charity in the process.

Here's to the next 5000 miles and with your help, a decent contribution to the work of the Alzheimer's Society and the work they do with sufferers and families of people with dementia.

Yesterday evening, having opted out of cycling in the rain in the morning, I left for work at about 15:30. I had spent time ironing out the problems with the GPS and mapping, (or so I thought), the bike had been serviced, it wasn't raining and I was confident of putting in 75 mile son the way to work.

Things never work out as you planned. Every ride under these circumstances becomes a good training ground for the TCR itself. Resilience in the face of adversity.

By the time I had reached Yaxham, less than 20 miles in, it was obvious that the GPS download of my planned route wasn't working afterall. I can't fathom it out. It just stopped plotting the route and started to send me from whence I came. Importantly this confirms the importance of having some kind of paper/map backup option and  I will start to source a set of European maps as soon as I can.

The 15 knot headwind was going to put paid to 75 miles, but it was a good workout none-the-less and I at least could look forward to a return leg in the morning.

In the end I clocked 54 miles.

www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/

Goodbyes

It has been an emotional and busy week with my fathers's funeral and the ups and downs that go with it. The support for our family has been immense and we are incredibly grateful.



Thursday was a beautiful sunny day and the 50 miles I rode to Ipswich was a great time to reflect. I called in first at my mother's to grab a drink and touch base, before calling into Foxearth to thank the staff there for the care and attention they had given my father over the last year. Inevitably I had a headwind to contend with, but recognise this now as something to be grateful for. A better workout.

Once in Ipswich, I had a spare hour, so stopped in to see a couple of the countries great football managers, standing proudly outside Portman Road. Sir Bobby Robson used to live in our village and was not above picking my brother up in his Jaguar, if he passed him as he walked home from school.

He and Sir Alf Ramsey, would no doubt have been excited by the prospect of the up-coming play-offs between Ipswich and Norwich, starting next weekend in Ipswich. I hope to be there.

Since the bike was having a little rest on Friday
, I sent it in to Andy at Specialised Cycles, in Norwich and I collected it again yesterday, having had a really deep clean and another new chain. He very kindly offered to give it the once over before I leave in July, 'on the house'. Generosity like this has become the hallmark of this event, with people picking up on the sense of adventure and running with it. We may not actually be allowed to take a support team, but we all have one in the background, willing us on.


I have spent a large part of this morning booking train tickets from Norwich to Harwich, taking out insurance with www.dogtag.co.uk and researching trains from the Hook of Holland to Geraardesbergen, via Rotterdam central and Brussells-Midi. The journey from home, starting at about 05:00 will take about 16 hours, so I am glad to have booked a sleeping berth on the ferry over.  

Since it's the start of such an amazing adventure, I may yet look at taking the whole family with me to watch the start. I hesitate only because I like to be in my own zone at the beginning of something so demanding.

The latest edition of the race manual is available to read on the TCR website as is a complete list of all the riders. There is a lot more information to be scoured and preparation continues on all fronts.

A recent article on training encouraged me to continue with 'core' strength exercises, not least having also read a review of the most demanding climbs in Europe, naturally included Mont Ventoux!

The anxious-making problems with the GPS were resolved yesterday, with George, my eldest son, safely navigating me from home to Thetford by car, using a route planned on basecamp yesterday morning. My greatest fear, would have been arriving in Belgium, without complete confidence that the GPS wasn't working properly. It appears that a recent software update included the need to select navigation mode. i.e Direct, Automobile, Cycle, MTB etc. The default setting of 'Direct' left you with maps covered in straight lines, without a road in sight!!

I did manage 70 odd miles during the week and will put in another 80 ish on the way to work this afternoon.

The total to date is 2285 since 31st Dec 2014

Useful paces to go.

http://reportage.transcontinentalrace.com/?page_id=1241
www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell4alzheimers/
Twitter @johnnymbakewell
Blog www.transcontinentalbikerace.blogspot.com
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