Welsh ramble and the Wirral Bikeathon

It has been a great weekend of bike related activity. It started yesterday with a great ride out into the hills of Wales.

After a week of great sunny weather, everyone was looking forward to a fun day in the sun. Iain had been out into Wales a couple of weeks ago, and his route looked very interesting, so I decided to use it, as it took us into Wales in a different direction to the usual way.

We met at the 12th man, at 7.30, and the temperature was already a pleasant 14 degrees. 8 of us headed out towards the new Burton Marsh path, picking up Dan along the way. At the entrance to the path Dave and Darren were waiting for us. Once across the marsh, and the Dee we headed round towards Connahs Quay. Along the path by the river Pauric caught up with us. He had left a little late and had seen us and tried to close the gap, which he did eventually as we slowed to allow me to have a natural break! 

The 12 of us then turned out of the Town by the High School and intimidate started to climb. As you should know by now, this is not my favourite part of cycling!

We climbed up to the Mold Road, where Pauric discovered why his gears were not working properly, unfortunately, an intact cable attached to the shifter is essential! We scratched our heads and couldn't think of any way to fix it, so after a quick discussion, pointed Pauric down the hill towards Shotton and Graham Weigh Cycles, where he received great service and was able to ride home.

We carried on and up via Northop to Pen-Y-Parc, the first high spot of the ride.

We came up THAT!

5 miles later, and after a now regular foray onto a farm track, Keith suffered from the only puncture of the day. It was a good excuse for a couple of photo's. The scenery in this part of Wales is beautiful, only made better with a fantastic bike in it!

Cycling heaven

Great scenery (behind the bike!)

 That wasn't the last of the bad luck! just after probably the toughest climb of the day, a section through the forest leading to Maeshafan, which is 11% average, but just at the top, it ramps up over 20%! this took its toll on John's chain as not far up the road it decided to break! Luckily Iain is a prepared Palefish and had a chain tool, and a link, so after a little tinkering, we were back on the road again. It had however taken us nearly 4 hours to do 40 miles!

Busted Chain!

We set off again, an managed to reach the Mountain Bike Centre at Llandegla without incident.

I couldn't believe how big the slices of cake are there! And very nice too (but not as good as the cake at Eureka!)

Lycra in a sea of MTBers!

 After a refuel and rest, we started our return leg of the journey, but once again we were hampered by another incident. This time was a painful one as Derek slid on the gravel on the road out of the Cafe, and was unable to keep balance and hit the deck. Luckily he managed to protect his brand new Onix, and with the dust print he may have come up with a new Jersey design in the process?

As it had taken us longer than expected to get to Llandegla, we decided to take a more direct route home, rather than the planned loop round Chester, so we headed down the Steps, I enjoyed this much more than going up them, then on to Hawarden and Deeside, where Dan stopped. He had done fantastically well, completing his first 50+ mile ride that also included all the climbing!

When we reached Eureka, we split up. 5 of us decided to top up with fluids, and the other 5 headed home.
While we were there we saw Karen and Keith, who had been out on another long training ride. It is only a couple of weeks until the Iron Man race they are competing in, in Austria. The level of fitness needed for these kinds of events in amazing.

Enjoying the sun at Eureka

It was only a quick pit stop, and we were soon meandering through the lanes back to the 12th man.
Even with all the mechanicals, it was a great day, made even better by the sunshine and the teamwork the lads put in to support each other.

Today was a first for me. Dave (Badders) asked if anyone wanted to help at this years Wirral Bikeathon.
It is a charity ride, in its 15th year, and it is suported by local cycling hero, Chris Boardman, and Dave's family are also heavily involved in the organisation too.
Dave came round at 8.30 and we headed up to our rendezvous point in Arrowe Park with the chief Marshal.
It turned out that Dave and I were going to be in charge of one of the most dangerous junctions of the whole route! Luckily, we managed to get through the day without incident!
It was great to see loads of family's including young kids out on their bikes enjoying the sun, and also be able to make their day a little more enjoyable, by shouting encouraging words as they passed us!
There were some of the club riding today too, and I was proud to see the Palefish Jersey's amongst all throng.

Junior Palefish

Pete having fun in the sun

The Don family 

The Wallace Boys

As well as the Palefish riders there was also the Famous Pro cyclist taking part, who was very obliging and posed for a great action shot as he sped through the park! ( I did try to tell him it wasn't a race!)

Mr Boardman going too fast for my Phone to capture a good shot!

 I was also very impressed by the chap who completed the route on one wheel, especially the off road downhill section!

Balance!

 I also spotted the Wirral Mamils out with their kids, and managed to stop them long enough for a quick photo, and also long enough for Shaun and Ade to fill my head with ideas of a possible cycling adventure next year. Cheers lads!

The Maxi Mamils, and Mini Mamils

 When all the riders had passed through our half of the course, Dave and I took the oppertunity to have a walk up into the start and finish line, with Sian, Dave's daughter ( Junior Palefish rider) who had completed the ride with Mrs Badders!
We saw the lads from The Bike Shop in Moreton, and also managed to catch a few words with Chris, and get a great photo of him with Sian

Chris was thrilled with the attendance at the event, which could be a record with over 1500 people taking part. We chatted about the continued ride in popularity of cycling, and he was very excited to hear about our club and the fact that we encourage people out on their bikes and join a club, without the expectation to race or take it too seriously.

It was a great day, and definitely a different way of seeing a cycling event. Thanks for letting me help, and hopefully I will be able to be there next year too.

The First outing in the new Palefish CC Kit

It has been a hectic week this week. Well it seemed that way by the end of Sunday, which is why I am writing this on a Monday night for a change!

After a couple of weeks off the bike due to other stuff and the typical October cold, It was back to business as usual, even though I still have the remnants of the cold, sniff sniff!
Tuesday nights route was devised by Graham, who also led the ride, which was nice as I could sit back and let someone else take the front. The only issue is that I think I may have created a Strava monster! It was a pretty quick first section out to New Brighton and then a steady pace back through Claughton over the hill and back up Beryl* and down again before a loop round Irby and back to the 12th Man.
(*Beryl road climb)

Thursdays ride was the first really wet one of the season. It rained from start to finish of the 23 mile loop. I was surprised to see 6 people waiting for me and Tim at the 12th Man and even more surprised to see a new rider wanting to join us in our foolhardy session in the rain! Although the pace was slightly slower than usual, we still managed a good average and a few climbs. The only casualty of the rain was Laz who took a corner a bit too fast and lost traction with his tyres but gained it with his thigh! I am happy to report that he got straight up and carried on. I also have to mention that I am very impressed with my Sportful hot pack no rain jacket, which kept me bone dry from the downpour. I would highly recommend this jacket, well worth the money.

The big event of the week, and one of the proudest of my life, after kids, wife etc etc, was getting the message from Ken at Onimpex that our new Bio-Racer Club kit was in the country!

To say that I was excited is an understatement, I was like a kid at Christmas. Friday morning I arranged to meet Ken and collect the kit, I couldn't wait for the great British postal system! As always it was great to see Ken and we had a great chat about all things cycling and how Palefish CC was growing fast.
It was really strange to actually see the kit in the flesh.
The Palefish brand has been in my head for years, and to finally have it in physical form, in this blog, the club and now the kit, it feels fantastic.
I would like to take this opportunity to once again say thanks to everyone who has helped get Palefish to where it is now, Mrs Palefish, Ken who got me started road cycling, Paul and Tim and all the riders in the club, Laura from Lime 26, Shaun and Ade the Wirral Mamils, Ken at Onimpex and all the cycle shops that support us, and I now look forward to the next chapter.

Anyway, back to the kit! Palefish HQ was a busy place on Friday night and Saturday as the lads came to collect their kit. To be honest, I got a real buzz from seeing their faces as they opened the packaging and smiled as they liked what they saw.

Sunday was a busy day for the club, Three of the lads headed off to Hebden Bridge for the Mills and Hills Sportive, a great opportunity to show off the new kit.

Mark, Mal and Rich

Closer to home  Dave B, Dave C and Jon were running the Liverpool Marathon. I'm not a very enthusiastic runner but I have massive respect for the lads in taking on the challenge of running a marathon. Well done.

For those not partaking in Hilly Yorkshire rides or pounding the Streets of Wirral and Liverpool, there was the Sunday club ride. It was the coldest start of the year so far, and I was a little worried that the new kit wasn't going to provide the best protection against the temperature, as most of us had chosen the lightweight Cool Max sub 100g jersey. I am pleased to say that with a good base layer, and the excellent Gillet I ordered, along with some arm and leg warmers, I was toasty! It was great to see 6 other lads all kitted out in the kit, something we have all been looking forward to.
It was great to see Phil from Cheshire Oaks Cycles, one of the shops that supports the club, for his first Palefish CC ride. We also picked up a new member along the way to Birkenhead. Giles had spotted us on Facebook, after a Strava interaction with another club rider. We met up with Ken and Neil in Birkenhead and then Dave on the way to Eastham where we were joined by Tim. Phil was impressed to see so many riders out early on a cold Sunday morning. It has been a while, but we managed to get lost on the way out of Eastham, I blame local knowledge overriding my Garmin instructions!! As I mentioned before it was quite chilly, Phil's Garmin showing 1degree, and unfortunately Dave L was feeling the cold quite badly. Luckily Steve had some mechanics latex gloves in his saddle pack, which were green, so not only did they keep Dave's hands warm, they matched his new Palefish CC jersey!
To add to the getting lost, and Dave's mild hypothermia, we also had our first puncture in a while. It always comes in threes!

We progressed event free for the rest of the ride to the Eureka Cafe, where we all rolled into the car park resplendent in our new kit. It was great to have an Identity at last at the Country's best Cycle Cafe.
We had a good reception to the kit and it was great to catch up with the aforementioned Wirral Mamils.

Dave L and his Latex glove, Owen Andy and Dave F With Graham Neil Chi and Paul in the Background

There were too many of us for one table so we had to spread ourselves out in the Cafe!

Phil and Tim

After our brew I decided to take a team photo outside the Cafe to mark the club kit's first outing.

Palefish CC at The Eureka Cafe

Spot the Mamil?

I wasn't surprised to find a certain Wirral Mamil posturing in the background as I got the lads lined up for the photo!

We headed straight up the Chester High road, as time was now against us for some of the group, and as we reached Heswall we started to split off in our different directions. Before the majority left I managed to convince the lads in new kit to pose for one more Photo.

I hate to say it but it was a bit too sunny to get a great photo, I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities in the future for Club kit photo's!

It was also a fateful decision to stop as things seem to happen in four's now! As we were preparing to set off, Chi missed his footing on his pedal and fell off onto Steve's back wheel, which didn't stay too round! It amazes me how easy it is to buckle a wheel, especially as we tend to put them through some tough conditions on British roads. After a bit of cogitating about what to do, Chi called for a lift and took Steve and his bike home. the rest of us headed home ourselves, via Birkenhead to drop Ken off at the Station. And that was the First Club Kit ride done!

I am away again next weekend, but Zel is doing a ride on Sunday and some of the lads are going on that, and I'm sure the rest will get together at some point too. 

The most exciting thing is that as I was dishing out the kit to the guys on Friday and Saturday, they were giving me new orders for more kit, and on Sunday those who missed the first order run were telling me they wanted to put an order in. I think that by Christmas we will have a lot more riders in Palefish colours in the lanes of Wirral, Cheshire and Wales!

Where were you the Day Wiggo Won the TDF?

Today didn't start off too well! To start with I slept through my alarm and then had to rush to get out to meet the lads for the Sunday spin I had planned out to Delamere. From the start of the ride something didn't sound right with the bike. We headed over to Birkenhead to meet Ken, and just as we approached the Tunnel Dave L Punctured. Phill stayed with Dave and I rode on with Dave B, and Graham to let Ken and Tim know what was happening. It wasn't too long before we restarted and my concerns over the noises emanating from my bike began to raise. We rode as far as Eastham before I decided that I needed to bail from the ride, as the last thing I wanted was to be too far from home if anything happened.
The Lads headed off and I turned back towards home, accompanied by a worrying progressively louder noise. Of course, as I turned into my road, the noise stopped! The rear wheel is booked in to be checked over by Steve at the Bike Shop in Moreton tomorrow.
The lads didn't fair much better by all accounts. As I was the only one with the route on my Garmin, they inevitably went to places they didn't plan too ( got lost) and Graham suffered from a broken Cleat and had to pedal with only one foot clipped in all the way! Graham also suffered from a severe case of " Helmet Burn" something we have not been used to this summer!!

To complete the days misfortune, while I was out getting a few more miles in this evening to make up for the shorter than planned ride this morning, I saw the Wirral Mamils, Shaun and Ade. I stopped to chat and whilst we were talking, Iain rode past and decided to stop too, but he forgot to tell the person he was riding with, who proceed to use Iain's bike as a brake! Luckily they both managed to stay upright and didn't damage their bikes too much! We didn't laugh too much, well actually we laughed a lot! Once our composure was recovered I continued on a windy loop on the winter bike, without mudguards!!

Anyway, today was a very special day for anyone who follows British bike racing. I felt very proud as Bradley Wiggins stepped up to the top step of the podium to receive his yellow jersey. It has been a fantastic Tour De France this year, with Wiggo riding in yellow since stage 7, and even though he looked strong, and Team Sky were dominating the Peloton I just didn't want to get my hopes up.
I have been to some great sporting events in the past, but today was something special. The first ever British rider to Win, and also Mark Cavendish winning the final stage on the Champs-Elysees, for the fourth year in a row, and also rack up his 23rd Tour stage win. To remember the day, I have attached some Pictures from the official Team Sky website.

 We had our first club social on Friday, as well as having a great time and fantastic food, thanks Laz, we also decided on the Jersey design. Hopefully it wont be long until we are all kitted out and looking like the photo above!

A Non Carbon day!

I am feeling better this week, and have managed to get out on the Tuesday and Thursday evening rides with the Lads, and Lass. We haven't been pushing the distance but the pace is coming back. Hopefully normal service will soon be resumed, and will need to be as next Sunday I am attempting the Broken Spoke sportive, online registration is closed but they will accept registrations at the start on the day, if you fancy 85 miles and 1300m of climbing including the Horseshoe Pass.
When Zel told me this weeks ride from Vita Cycles was going out to Helsby and beyond, I decided that I wasn't ready for that yet, so I planned to ride out to Eureka. I sent Ade, one of the original Wirral Mamils,  a message to see if he would like to join me. Tim said he would join me as he hasn't done much in the last month and Paul signed up too. As the weather forecast for today wasn't great I decided to take the Giant out. I rode up to Paul's then on to meet Ade and finally Tim. Everyone had made the same bike choice, and for the first time in ages I wasn't surrounded by Carbon!

Low Carbon ride!

We rode out to Eureka via the lanes, through Parkgate, Neston, Burton and Puddington, and being spurred on by light drizzle we were there quite quickly. I had made the wrong clothing decision today! As I thought it would rain I wore my Santini Winter Jersey with my rain cape. It wasn't that cold though and I did overheat a little!!
We managed to beat the rush at Eureka and were sat drinking Coffee and eating cake, their rocky road is a particular favourite of mine and was calling to me to eat a slice today, when the Mersey Tri lads arrived and the Cafe filled up.

Busy day at Eureka

Once the caffeine and sugar had been taken on board we headed back. We were joined by Steve, a rider from West Kirby who was out for a ride on his own. It turns out he knows Ian and Carla and may join us in the future. Cycling is definitely a social sport. We meandered through the lanes again, this time via the missing link, Willaston, Thornton Hough, Barnston, Upton, Moreton, then round the coast to West Kirby, where Steve turned off, and then over Caldy and a final Climb up Thurstaston Hill back to Pensby.
After we had left Ade we rode back to Paul's where we indulged in another coffee and some excellent Bara Brith.
When I got home and put my bike away I was shocked to see how dirty it was! I hate to think how much worse it would have been if I hadn't had mudguards on!!!

Dirty Bike!

 I am hoping that this week I will get some longer hillier rides in on Tuesday and Thursday before the Sportive on Sunday. If anyone would like to join us we meet at the 12th man on Greasby Road at 7.45. Tim and Jon are picking up their new bikes this week so if you want to drool over some new Carbon you need to be there!

Todays ride details