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The Training
We kept details of the main training rides that we got up to, to motivate us to do as much as we could, and to let those of you supporting us to have an insight into what we did to prepare for the cycle itself. There are photos in the galleries from a few of the trips.
MAY 10/12th
Sam cycled back to his roots at the weekend, covering 28 miles from Tottenham Court Road to Sawbridgeworth through the Friday night rush hour (loads of fun). On Saturday he managed to cover 68 miles through the Herts and Essex countryside in just over 4 hours, and then came back to London on the Sunday, covering another 30 miles. It was HOT! Very hot! If its like that on the ride, the team will be getting through a lot of water and will come back with the most ridiculous tan lines ever.
Total Distance: 189 Km (126 miles)
MAY 3/4th
Sam and Chris decided to cycle to Newbury, Berkshire, but take a route so that we covered 100 miles each day, in order to be more prepared for the 9 days of 100 miles that are now only 11 days away! So we headed out from New Malden, to Staines and then along the A30 to Basingstoke on what has to be described as an awesome day for cycling! Great roads, little traffic and warm sun took us to Pangbourne on the A370 for lunch (60 miles knocked off), before we set off for Wantage. After stopping to help a soon-to-be-dead pheasant off the road, we turned south at Wantage towards Newbury, arriving there with the sun still shining, ready for Sam's Aunt's amazing curry and hospitality.
The next day, we used the A4 to get to Reading, before heading to Henley, Maidenhead and Slough and then stopping at Ickenham for lunch. We then basically cycled around London for another 50 miles in order to get two days of 100 miles in...which we did. Sam managed to pick up 2 punctures within 11 miles in and around Richmond, which is impressive but does not break Chris' record of 2 in 3 Km (see the Brighton Ride below). We also are now sporting sexy T-shirt sun tans, and Chris has glove marks as well! What a Hero.
Total Distance: Day 1 : 159.6 Km (99.2 Miles) Day Two: 168.9 Km (105 Miles)
APRIL 10th - 28th
If you visit these pages often, you would have noticed that there has not been much action in terms of big rides. This is basically because of conflicting calendars. Hovever, this does not mean we have not be training...far from it. We have all been out on our own through the rain and sporadic sunshine in the evenings after work and sometimes at the weekend. Sam has been using Richmond Park and the roads to and from Elephant and Castle as his training ground, often joined by Chris, who has also been using the Surry Hills and South London more. Matt has been out around Leatherhead and Guildford while Phil has been churning out the miles up in Preston. Below are a few estimates of what we have done in this time:
Sam: 250 miles - Chris: 350 miles - Matt: 100 miles - Phil: -
WEDNESDAY 9th APRIL
Chris and Sam did a small sortie to Richmond Park to build up the mileage as the ride approachs. Sam cycled from his house (Elephant and Castle) and then did 4.75 laps of the park, hitting a fairly speedy 63.8kmph (39 mph) whilst Chris came from New Malden and did around 3 before we went our separate ways home.
Total Distance: Chris: 51.4 Km (32 Miles) Sam: 78.08 Km (48.5 miles)
SUNDAY 6th APRIL
Chris decided that 1000 miles of tarmac was enough for now and headed out to Holmbury Hill in Surrey for a session on the mountain bike. The ride was scheduled for 10am but the snow blizzard that greeted me on awakening was enough to convince me to have a lie in! At 3pm I finally managed to head out to Holmbury Hill. The trails were very wet, muddy and surrounded by snow which meant a filthy bike but stunning scenery. I've no idea how far I covered but I think I took most of the surrey hills back with me! I have also come to the conclusion that mountain biking is much tougher than road cycling...
Total Distance: Unknown Time: 2 Hours ish...
SATURDAY 5th APRIL
Sam and Chris set off on a planned ride towards a place called Maresfield, using the A23 as a guide and supposedly skirting off here and there to avoid duel carridge ways. However, we missed our turning, so resorted to good old GPS on Sams mobile to figure out a new route. We ended up riding around Gatwick Airport (looking a the planes take off like all proper boys do) and then heading towards East Grinstead to mark a half way point. After a little snack, we headed back towards home all the way up the A22 and into Croydon, and flew through the traffic towards home. The heavens then opened around 4 miles from destination, soaking and freezing us. Chris got home, Sam was stupid enough to rely on national rail (or whoever it is now) to get him back from New Malden. A power cut at Waterloo meant an extra 10 miles through hail for Sam, who was not too happy when finished!!
Total Distance: Chris : 112.8km (70.5 miles) Sam : 127km ( 78.9 miles)
FRIDAY/SATURDAY 21/22ND MARCH
All four of the team set off on our first team ride after meeting up in Leatherhead at 10am friday morning. We made our way towards Guildford and up out of the town towards Winchester, using the soon to be dreaded A31. Here we picked up puncture number 1, belonging to Matt but it was ok, he had toilet roll with him...so no problems fixing a puncture! We made slow progress down the soul destroying A31, encountering much road kill, angry motorists, a puncture for Phil and some stray guard dogs. We lunched in Subway and matt fell off his bike while stationary...quite a feat! Lunch revived us and we had a good ride through Romsey towards the new forest, hitting our top speed of a fairly standard 54.4kmph (33.8mph) when the heavens opened and drenched us in a downpour lasting 30mins. Chris had a fight with a caravan in Lyndhurst, probably losing if truth be told, using the anger derived from this to push us on towards Bournemouth. We arrived there and checked into our hotel for a big big dinner and a good sleep.
Next day, Chris and Sam set off for home and made good time through the New Forest despite snow flurries and wind which at times made pedalling almost impossible. We decided that the A31 in the kind of winds we were experiencing would be suicide, so caught a train from Winchester to Woking and continued on home from there.
Distance: 248 Km (155 miles)
Photos
We would like to thank everyone at The Spyglass and Kettle in Bournemouth who gave us such good hospitality on saturday night, especially our maid and the manageress...thank you!
SUNDAY 16TH MARCH
Sam and Chris set off from New Malden with the aim to get Brighton and back under our belts in the day in what can be described as disgusting weather conditions. We made really good progress out to Box Hill, down towards Woking and Horsham before turning onto smaller roads to go towards Cowfold. We heading towards Burgess Hill through Hassocks and then hit Ditchling Beacon. Chris was a hero and did it in one, Sam didn't. We made our way into brighton, hitting our top speed of 70.9kph (44 mph). After a hefty lunch (a mistake) we set off back in driving wind and rain. Chris picked up a puncture 4 miles out of Brighton, which was fixed, and then picked up another (probably from the same bit of glass) 2 miles later. Standing over the A23 we decided time and conditions were against us, so pedalled back to Brighton and jumped on the train to Croydon. After some persuading from Chris, both cycled back to New Malden in rapid time.
Distance: 127.5km (79.2 miles) with around 5.5 hours in the saddle
Photos
WEDNESDAY 12TH MARCH
Sam rode from work (Warren Street) down to Richmond Park (via a few u turns and telling offs from coppers for jumping red lights) in order to get a few miles under the belt mid week. The park is closed to traffic after six thirty so is a perfect place to get a good ride in without having to dodge traffic or jump more lights, and a circuit is around 6.6 miles (10.6 km) and has a few steep climbs in as well. Chris joined Sam after one lap and together they pedelled another 2 and a half laps before the park was closed, max speed achieved was a fairly modest 48.8kph (30.3mph). After leaving through the Richmond gate, we journeyed towards Kingston, where Sam jumped on the train home and Chris continued through Kingston towards Epsom before turning off towards Ewell, Wimbledon, Raynes Park and then New Malden.
Distance: Sam - 62.4km (38.7 miles) Chris - 60.8km (38.0 miles)
SUNDAY 9TH MARCH
Matt rode from his house in Ashtead, along the A24, through Leatherhead and then joined the Guildford road to Eas Clandon. Just after here, he turned off to Shere and through Westcott to Dorking. He continued to Reigate, up Reigate Hill towards the M25, along to Sutton and past Banstead. The heavens then opened and he decided enough was enough. Following the A217 back, he turned towards the Epsom Downs, managing to get a coat at Millets on the way through Epsom and carried on through the rain through Chessington and back towards Ashtead. The ride took 3hs including the 15mins for buying a coat. Apart from that, he didnt stop until Epsom!
Distance: 81km (50.3 miles)
WEDNESDAY 5TH MARCH
Chris rode a short 22.5 mile loop from his house in New Malden out towards Chessington, then to Epsom, Wimbledon, Raynes Park and then home. The aim of this ride was to do as many miles in as close to an hour as possible!
The time to beat??
Distance: 36.2km (22.5 Miles) in 1 hour and 10 minutes... The gauntlet is laid down!
SUNDAY 2ND MARCH
Matt, Chris and Sam set off towards Leatherhead from Ashtead before turning onto the Guildford Road through West Horsley. Making a left towards Shere we took on a nice long downhill before turning onto Combe Lane to make the horrific ascent that Sam and Chris discovered on the last ride. After we made it up there (in one we might add) we had a nice ride back down towards Effingham before taking a mainly back road route towards Box Hill, at the top of which we had a small lunch break. From there Matt returned home to coach, while the other two journeyed towards Reigate, on the way hitting the days top speed of 68.9 kph (42.81mph). We turned towards Caterham, into Purley and then hit Croydon. We swung west towards Sutton and Cheam and had a little detour through Ewell before finally finishing back in Ashtead.
Distance: 94 km (59 miles).
SATURDAY 16TH FEB
Chris and Sam set off from New Malden, down through Kingston and out along the A24 towards the M25. Once over this, we turned to make an ascent on Box Hill. At the top we rested with a ton of other cyclists taking advantage of the perfect weather. We set off towards Dorking from Box Hill, hitting our top speed for the day of 78.8kph (49.2 mph) and got through Dorking before heading through Westcott, Wooton and Gomeshall. Turning back towards London, me made out way through Leatherhead, waved at the office on the way past and headed back over the M25 towards Cobham. From Cobham, we were on the home straight, heading through Esher, Thames Ditton and Kinston-upon-Thames, ending up back at New Malden.
Distance: 94.9 km (59 miles).
SUNDAY 5TH NOV
Chris and Matt set off from Matt's house in Ashtead and followed the A24 past boxhill and towards Dorking en route to Brighton. We continued to follow the A24 until Horsham, where we turned off and followed the A281 to Cowfold where we then joined the A272. We then hit the horrible A23 for a short while before turning off at Hickstead towards Burgess Hill. This lead us down the A273 before getting us into ditchling and the start of the horrendous climb at Ditchling Beacon. This climb rises from 90 metres above sea level to the summit at 248 metres in just over 1.6 kilometres (one mile), and sweeping from side to side and around a number of sharp bends across the northern slope of the hill. From there we had a fairly easy ride down into Brighton and onto the sea front.
The plan was to turn round and head back towards London, but just as we got into Brighton, a slip at a junction left me (chris) with a wrenched knee which left me unable to ride any further. A train home was the only solution!
Distance: 88 km (55 miles).