Wild wet pre TT Club ride

I cant believe how quickly the Ten minutes of hell Time Trial has come round. Tomorrow by 13.25 it should be over! If it isn't I didn't do too well. The bike is cleaned, all unnecessary weight removed, and some slick tyres fitted. Unfortunately the rider has to be there or the bike would go a lot quicker! I have however hit a landmark weight this week, I am now only 6kg from my first target weight.
It took a while to clean the bike, and a lot of Purple Harry's Cleaning products. Even Dave from the club came round to give his bike a clean, and try out the Purple Harry kit, and I think he is now converted

                            Race ready and raring to go!                       Dave getting to grips with the Purple Harry                      

                                                                 
                                                                       Naked Kebel

The club ride today was wet, windy and wild. At one point, just as Carla suffered a puncture, the rain was coming at us sideways, but the seven of us who had ventured out made it to Eureka cafe safely, if a little sodden. The traffic on the high road didn't show us any respect, and I think the sadistic drivers quite enjoyed seeing us suffer as they covered us in huge Bow Waves from all the standing water. We had the last laugh though, I'm not sure how but I'm sure we did.
The ride back to the shop was just as much fun, into a cold headwind, which made the cold wet clothes we were wearing feel just that little bit more uncomfortable! ( Mrs Palefish wasn't too happy with the wet clothing either, more specifically the 2 year old cycling shoes drying on the radiator emitting a rather musty aroma throughout the house! Good job I have some Sidi's on the way!!)
The ride was good though and topped off a good weeks training for the challenge. I've been pushing the big gears on climbs to try to gain a little time on the up bits tomorrow.
So there is nothing left to do but get a good nights sleep, have a healthy energising breakfast, and go for it at 13.10!

Details for Spectators for tomorrows Time Trial are available on Vita's Website http://www.vitacycles.co.uk/pain_suffering_glory_a_new_year_challenge

Today's Ride details: http://app.strava.com/rides/4259672

A late evening blast and a City Bike expereance.

The evening rides are becoming more popular. It started off a few weeks ago with just me and Paul and last night we had our biggest group of 6 going out for a late evening blast. We rode out to West Kirby, at a reasonable pace through Meols and Hoylake, to do some loops of the Hill before heading up Thurstaston to Heswall and back through Irby.
It was the first time I had given the new Moon Shield 60 a proper outing. As with the X-power 500 front light it helps the confidence riding at night  knowing you are clearly visible to other road users, even if you do have to put up with moans from others in the group that you are burning their retinas!



We are planning on going out again tomorrow night. 7.30'ish at the 12th man on Greasby road. (sunglasses optional!)

Ride details: http://app.strava.com/rides/3972721

Today I had to go to Crosby Leisure Centre for a meeting. It is a bit off the public transport network, so I decided to use a pool bike instead of the Bus! It certainly was an experience. I can't remember the last time I rode a bike with Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub gears and a sprung saddle. The position felt a little awkward, very different to the racing bike, and also different to my mountain bike set up. But fundamentally a bike is a bike so off I went. It didn't take long to miss the smooth Ultegra gear changes and the range of gears available on my other bikes. I soon ran out of usable cadence!! The one advantage of riding to a meeting is being able to use cycle paths, especially the coast path from the docks to the Leisure Centre. It was great seeing the Tide come in to cover the Iron Men.

Dawes Haarlem City Bike at Crosby Beach

Riding back to the office wasn't as pleasant. There was quite a strong headwind, and it was slightly uphill. Add to this the wrong clothes, Suit and fleece lined coat equals a rather sweaty ride!!
I will definitely be using the pool bikes again, but maybe need to rethink the clothing and request that a Cervelo S5 is maybe added to the fleet!
I used the Garmin app on my phone to record the ride, It worked well, but drained the battery significantly, but that could have been the two and a half hour pause between riding there and back! I'm not sure how I hit 33mph either!!!

Ride details: http://app.strava.com/rides/3994500

 If you have been reading the blog for a while you will know that I use Purple Harrys Cleaning Products to keep the bike clean and shiny! If you have used it too why not give the company some support by commenting on a thread on Wiggle's Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/WiggleCycling/posts/10150635010455429?notif_t=feed_comment_reply

Finally, the Ten minutes of hell time trial is nearly upon us. There are still a few places left, so if you haven't signed up but wish you had, it's not too late, and it's only £25!
If you live on Wirral and read the Wirral Globe, please ignore the journalistic mess they have made of promoting the event! I'm not too sure how they managed to mess it up but they did.
It is definitely not a Motorcycle Time Trial, although on a personal level I wish it was. The web site has been updated, and next weeks paper will have the correct details.
For info on the Challenge: http://www.vitacycles.co.uk/pain_suffering_glory_a_new_year_challenge

Tunnel Test Take Two

Another Sunday, another early start! It was much colder this morning, even though we decided to leave at 7,  15mins later than last week. I was joined again by Ian, and this week Jon came along to check out what he had let himself in for. When I was talking to Phil in the shop yesterday he said places were now going fast. If you want more details on the event check out this link:  http://www.vitacycles.co.uk/pain_suffering_glory_a_new_year_challenge

So, we arrived at the tunnel, and I decided to put a bit more effort in this week, but not to go too fast, as I want to save that for the 19th. (great excuse eh?) It was decidedly warmer in the tunnel than it was outside, I hope it isn't too warm in Feb? We completed one run through and back, and decided that we wouldn't bother with a second and instead ride round to West Kirby. Today's attempt netted me a 30 second faster time than last week. It doesn't sound much but it all counts. I'm still not at the 10 minute target time of the event title, but I am getting closer. I am hoping that adrenaline will help fuel the muscles on the day.
As we headed out of Birkenhead the sun was rising and treated us to a great display. The iPhone doesn't do the image justice, and once again I wish I had a better camera with me.

The pace into West Kirby crept up, and we took it in turns to pull each other along, well, Ian pulled and I went in the front to give him a rest but not necessarily pull anyone! All good training for a TT though.

Ian Peeled of to do some hill loops and then ride off into Wales! whilst Jon and I did one climb out of West Kirby then I headed off home.

The exercise didn't finish there though. Two trips to the Allotment and one to the Tip cleared Mrs Palefish's Nan's garden of all the Bricks and Building rubble left over from the recent renovations.

Half the bricks!

The next job was a regular Sunday activity. An hour in the company of Purple Harrys Cleaning Products. It is unbelievable how dirty a bike can get in two rides! But it doesn't take long to get it clean again.

Hopefully I will get some good miles in the legs this week, (planned rides on Tuesday and Wednesday night 7.30 at the 12th Man in Greasby if anyone wants to join me), and also keep improving the power to weight ratio. If all goes well I may reduce the Tunnel time by another 15 seconds next week!

Check out my Diary page for this weeks stats on weight loss and miles ridden.

Today's ride details: http://app.strava.com/rides/3699202

Making the most of a sunny winter day

Today was the complete opposite to yesterday. I woke up to sun streaming through the window, and a promise of 6 degrees from the weather app. Typical! A day when no cycling was planned and the weather was great! I got up and we were having breakfast, whilst I was longingly looking out the window at the clear sky. The boys wanted boiled eggs, and Joe wasn't happy with the consistency of his yolk, so Claire put it in the Microwave. Big mistake! Now I bet you are wondering where this is going? Well, if you have ever microwaved an egg a bit too much, you will know what happened next. After a loud pop, and a few expletives from the kitchen, Joe had a poached egg, and Claire had a big clean up to do. So when she said, "What would I have to do for you to clean the Microwave" the answer was simple!! 15 minutes later I was pulling on my cycling gear to head off for a spin in the sun!!! Well worth the effort of cleaning super heated egg off the inside of the Microwave!! It was a great ride, much warmer that yesterday, 6.6degrees Ave,  and not too much wind. I even managed to do my best time up Column Road, and along the front in West Kirby, in fact if it hadn't been for the car I was stuck behind, and eventually overtook at 30mph, I think I would have been faster, not that I have become obsessed with Strava segments like the rest of the team!!!

After lunch, a bit of tree felling, a trip to the allotment and a run to the tip I had a couple of hours spare to clean the bike. It was filthy! I didn't clean it after the night ride on Tuesday.

Filthy Frame!

Extremely dirty cassette

I wouldn't normally put pictures of a dirty cassette on the blog, but I wanted to show you haw good Purple Harry cleaner and Floss is. I discovered this product at the Bike show earlier this year, and have been very pleased with both the products, and the service from the company. It is a new British brand that is doing realy well. So you have seen the before, here is the after!

Sparkly Cassette

Blatant product placement!

Clean Bike

Today's ride details, (with new best times!!) for mobile users:  http://app.strava.com/rides/2757572