Ashridge

Nicky and I went for a 15 mile round trip up and over Ashridge today in sun, rain and hail showers. There's no sign of bluebells yet.
Nicky and I both commuted our 8 miles to work this week on the sunny warm Tuesday, but in different directions, Nicky to Hemel and me to Aylesbury. I normally cycle 2 or 3 times a week, but it was the first time for Nicky.

Little Horwood

Nicky and I did a 41 mile ride today to the north of here. The weather was fine and sunny, with temperatures not as high as last Sunday, but it felt much more pleasant as there was hardly any wind. We stopped for our picnic at Little Horwood, then had tea and cake at a cafe in Winslow.

Training Ride

It's 6 weeks till we set off for Lands End, so we did a 33 mile ride today in Bucks in warm but windy weather.
Nicky is also planning next year's summer ride which will retrace a 500 mile walk her father did when he was 18 in 1933 from Dieppe to the Massif Central.

Sponsorship Site

Nicky has created the following site for our Lands End ride next month http://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/landsendforcollett

We haven't been doing any cycling lately as we've spent a week skiing in the Dolomites. We were lucky to have sunny weather and deep snow.

Good Friday Winslow Circuit

The sun came out this morning and it was nice weather for cycling, as long as you were well wrapped up. I tried out my new Windchill II jacket on one of my regular circuits before lunch, and it performed well. The only part of me that was a bit cold at the end of my ride were my feet - although I've bought some XL neoprene overshoes for my winter shoes, they rub on the pedal crank - drat. Two pairs of wool socks kept me warm most of the ride though. I cycled to Winslow and had a coffee at the garage there. There are cafes - but the service tends to be slow, and at the garage you can sit on the bench over the road. I cycled back via Wing and Mentmore - a round trip of 38 miles, average speed 14.9 mph. I used the Garmin Fit app on my iPhone to track my journey, and the result is here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/290191940 I don't know why my speed graph went over 40 mph several times, and a max speed of 72.7 mph! My speedometer on my bike reported a max speed of 27.9 mph.

Commuting, Bike Service and New Jacket

I managed to commute to work by bike 4 times this week, as the weather was dry, if a bit cold. A total of 64 miles. Though it looks like I won't be cycling at the weekend as snow is forecast.
I also took my hybrid in to my local bike shop to get it serviced for our Lands End trip. It needed a new chain, cassette and bottom bracket. I was tempted by the Endura Windchill 2 jacket in red, that is well designed, and not being bright yellow is suitable for general wear too. I plan to take it to Lands End, along with waterproofs of course.

New Luggage

I bought a Blackburn saddle bag today to fit on top of my luggage rack. I've already got panniers, but there may not be enough space for our Lands End trip. I'm quite happy to cycle with a heavy load, as we'll only be cycling 50 miles a day, and we are both happy to go at a slow pace. Here's a photo. The saddle bag will also be useful on day trips when I don't need to take more than waterproofs, snacks and a flask.

Land's End Trip Planning

Nicky and I are planning a ride from Tring to Land's End in May to raise money for the special needs school where she teaches. The original plan was to cycle there and get the train back, but there are only 5 bicycle places on each train, and despite trying to book at 10am on the day the tickets were available they are all booked up. So we've booked a one way MPV instead which we'll be able to make use of on our day off and we won't have the hastle of getting the bikes from Paddington to Euston and on the Tring train. The planned route so far is as follows, subject to change depending on which accommodation takes our fancy:

1. Sat - Tring to Newbury, 50 miles
2. Sun - Newbury to Frome, 53 miles
3. Mon - Frome to Wellington, 49 miles
4. Tue - Wellington to Oakhampton, 45 miles
5. Wed - Oakhampton to St Austell, 52 miles
6. Thu - St Austell to Penzance, 42 miles
7. Fri - Penzance, Land's End, Penzance, 20 miles
8. Sat - Day off
9. Sun - Drive home.

We'll be carrying our own luggage and hope to do a bit of sight seeing along the way too, rather than spending whole days in the saddle. My brother Mike lives at Penzance and has kindly offered to put us up, and plans to join us for the "final leg".

I'll book accommodation and finalise the exact route when we get back from our ski-ing trip at Easter.

I haven't done much cycling lately, just 1 commute this week during the brief warm sunny spell. Today has been 2C with a biting easterly wind and light snow. The lambs pictured must be a bit shell shocked - taken on a bracing 5 mile walk.

Ashridge Slapton Circuit

Today has been cold with snow flurries, but I decided to venture out on my road bike and test my new Garmin watch. My heart rate seemed to vary from around 120 to 145 bpm depending on whether I was climbing hills, which seems about right. I cycled over Ashridge up the quite steep Tom's Hill, then over towards Whipsnade and back via Slapton and Ivinghoe. A trip of around 22 miles. I soon warmed up, although my feet were pretty cold at the end, despite my winter shoes and wool socks. I'm looking into getting some neoprene overshoes that fit both my summer and winter shoes, to replace my worn ones.
Route and stats here

Hadrian's Wall

We had a great 5 days up in the NE and Yorks and were lucky with the weather. It was warm and sunny almost all of the time. I tried out my Garmin Forerunner 110 watch on a 9 mile walk http://connect.garmin.com/activity/275649590
And on a short run when I got home. I was surprised that my heart rate initially went up to around 170 when running, but settled at about 140. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/275649551