Nearly there...

Nearly there now, the last week has been busy with me getting all the last minute planning sorted, what didn’t help was finding a leak on the front caliper yesterday which saw me driving over to Dewsbury to Padge’s house to steal the front brake off his bike as non of my other ones would fit.

I’ve just ridden it round the block and it seems fine so fingers crossed everything else will hold together for the duration of the weekend!!!

I’m taking it easy this week with just 2 training rides, the second of which is tomorrow at a steady pace then the next time I throw a leg over it will be at the start.

An early rise on sat will see both me and Rich (welsh coast to coast) setting off at 6am to make use of as much daylight as possible, Rich is hoping to be done by 4am, lucky sod, and myself by midday Sunday. I plan on having fish and chips at the sea front if I ever get there, we’ll have to wait and see…..

Another week and another recce ride completed, for the second time things went well without too many major problems.

A 6am pickup at Padge’s and we were on our way up the M6 to Shap, Today I was hoping to do the 60miles over to Richmond via Tan Hill and the sky was clear with a slight SW wind which would be a nice push along the way.

It was the first time I was using my Spot Tracker and it proved to be a great piece of kit, enabling Padge to track my progress and avoid missing our planned meeting spots. This is one of the times when these things come into their own, being able to contact friends for help, or even emergency services if life threatening, at the touch of a button and as they use GPS networks they work in 99% when out in the wilderness and not 0% like a mobile.



The first section was on roads and I was making good progress, climbing up and over Bank Moor and through to Kirkby Stephen. From here the long drag up the side of Kaber Fell and Tan Hill began.



Fortunately it was not as bad as I thought it would be and I was soon enjoying the singletrack of the Pennine way as I dropped again, this time toward Keld. The lovely views round the valley lifted spirits as I approached Gunnerside and then it was time for the other big climb of the the day.

The first 15min of which was a scramble up a very steep grassy bank which turned into a gravel climb up Whitaside Moor to Apedale Head and then the 40mph+ drop off Harkerside Moor into Grinton and past the Dales biking centre in Fremmington.



All that was left was to track the route of the river Swale into Richmond and the job was done, the only problem at this point was the farmer at Applegarth who took a disliking to me following the OS map and he tried to drag me through a barbed wire fence to dispute the point, he definitely got out of the wrong side of bed today!

So now I only have the first section to recce, from St. Bees to Coniston which I hope to do a week on Saturday, hopefully the weather will stay nice and dry as the trails are getting more drier every day, this weekend sees the World Cup at Dalby so I’m going over for the day with Lil RT to chill and take in some of the atmosphere.

Coming together nicely.

At last my new team bike has arrived, A shiny new Anthem x3, I have stripped some of the parts and replaced them for lighter ones.

I have fitted my Scottoiler and put my heavy duty wheelset on, these are fitted with Schwalbe Nobby Nic double defense tires which should be ideal for ripping through the Lakes and Moors where sharp rocks can easily destroy sidewalls, more so when the ride is 210 miles across some of the most scenic and brutal terrain in the country.

Only one month to go and a recce from Shap over Tan Hill on Saturday will leave only the first section in the lakes to do, time is running out fast but hopefully everything will fit into place.


I also bought a Spot Tracker so I will have eyes on my progress all the way, log on Here to see how things are getting on during the event, It will also be on from about 8am this Saturday.

Here is part two of the Moors section recce ride,
　
The Tuesday following the bank holiday Monday I set off to finish what I’d started. This time the sun was lighting up a glorious blue sky, the only downside was the 50mph winds that had been forecast!

I began with the climb up onto Urra Moor, the views from the top were beautiful with a clear view for miles around, the going was good once on the tops and I made good time to the first meeting point at Westerdale.

The techy moor land, heather lined single track sections were impossible to ride due to the severity of the wind, now hitting me full force from the side
From there it was up towards Rosedale Head and a very slow road section into a head wind as I turned towards the South and a good blast across Glaisedale Moor, down to Egton bridge and along the side of the railway (complete with steam train) to Grosmont.


This next bit hurt… a lot, the 33% climb out of Grosmont was as hard as it looked and seemed to last forever, Padge was parked about half way up awaiting my arrival, camera in hand in a hope of getting a good ‘pain’ shot , I did not disappoint.

I’m not looking forward to that next time.


Crossing over the main Pickering to Whitby road I remembered the fast rolling tracks along Sneaton High Moor, what I was treated to was instead a mud bog with many line choices and no chance of clearing the quagmire. Time to start walking again, surely it can’t be this bad come May can it???


I knew the end was getting closer as I crossed the coastal road towards Scarborough and shortly afterwards I was at the mast above Ravenscar over looking Robin Hoods bay. A really fast descent followed which lost stacks of elevation and spat me out onto the disused railway which was to take me all the way to the finish, a real nice way to end a good day in the saddle.
All that was needed was a big mint choc chip ice cream and Padge to push my bike back up the silly steep climb from the landing in Robin Hoods bay.

A day of two halves

Good Friday, not a good day. I headed off to recce the last section of the C2C from the A19 all the way to Robin Hoods Bay, the weather was good if cold and all was looking well.

Padge dropped me off and I kitted up ready for a good 8hrs in the saddle. That is when I found out that my pc had tried to kill both my Gamin computer and my Memory map Adventurer, the night before I had been frantically trying to load the route to both devices as the PC froze, the garmin had no route and the adventurer had no power in the batteries, needless to say, I forgot to pack a paper map(something I instill into everyone at any opportunity)

So there we go, I managed 15mls in 1hr 40 which makes it the worst recce yet, I going back to hopefully complete the other 45ml on Tuesday.

I just hope it means I have had all my problems before the big event so I have none whilst doing it.

Good news to follow the bad, on the way back on Friday I called in to the shop to pick up my new team bike, a nice shiny Giant Anthem, hopefully just the weapon for the endurance events we have lined up for this year. I just need to swap over some of my light weight parts and fit the Scottoiler and we're ready to rock!

The results are in.

I have the results from the blood test which I had last week and it looks like it is Raynaud's that i have and not a thyroid problem, this could be good or bad, if it was a thyroid problem I could take drugs to help, but on the other hand, if it was a thyroid problem it could have got a lot worse as time went by. At least I now know for sure what the score is and that there is not a lot I can do about it, time to MTFU!

Due to a few small logistic setbacks, like the radio 1 big weekend and a CRC marathon both running along Rich's route on the original date, we have decided to move forward a week which now only gives about 7 weeks to be ready.

Having just checked the weather for Friday when I'm hoping to do the next recce it looks like it might be snowing, what is up with the weather this year, can't the snow just sod off until winter rolls in aagain.

Lets just hope that the ride goes better this time, I'll keep a check on the weather before I decide which coast I'm heading off to.

New legs please.

This evening has been an unusual one for a few reasons, firstly Rebecca is having a sleep over at Grandma's which means Wifey has gone to bed early leaving Ewan and myself downstairs for a boys only night, and secondly I've had my first run of the season to try get my legs ready for the shock of the Le Mans style start of the 24hr races so they are shot to pieces and I'm walking around like the old dude out of Steptoe & sons!

I had my first play on the latest bike in my collection on Thursday, my Ti Airborne road bike that I prised from my team mate Rich. I had to go a blood test in the morning to see if my 'white finger' woes were down to Raynaud's or a thyroid problem (more on that from Monday when the results are in). I knew i would be cutting it fine for the late start at work so thought I'd see how fast it is possible to get to work under my own power. The answer is 36 min for the 11ml commute which normally takes 45-50 on my slow/heavy Alfine Ti hardtail or 20min early morning in the car.
I was happy with that, a lot happier than I was with the pinch flat that I managed to get on the return journey later that evening! Carbon soled race shoes are not good for walking in as the lack of skin on my heels proved after only 10 min. Thankfully my bro-in-law Mike came to my rescue at the expense of his tea, sorry Mike.

Other than that it's been a good week with some good sessions and according to my oldies the weather has been kind up in the Lakes the past few weeks, it is drying up nicely in time for the recce rides that I have planned for the Easter break.

Back on track

Now that Ewan Michael has arrived to join Team Thompson I have managed to get back on the bike again. Things started really well following the usual Crimbo blowout, Jan saw plenty of good training session and I was feeling good.

The 27th arrived and my date with the operating table was here if only for wisdom tooth extraction. The following week saw a few recovery rides and then Lil RT (Rebecca) had a bout of tonsillitis, which she tried to pass on to me!

Two weeks paternity leave later and it was time to go back to work and pick up with the training ride commuting following 5 weeks with hardly any riding. I could feel the difference the time off the bike made but now I'm feeling like I'm getting back on track.
Time is running out for organising the C2C attempt and I'm hoping some good weather is on its way as I don't fancy another recce ride in the lakes where a canoe would be more use.

Fortunately the rest of the organising for the season is coming together, I'm stocked up on Torq bars and gels and I have a huge pile of Allsports supplements to work my way through. We have managed to source a Scottoiler each to fit on the new Giant Anthems that are on order, both of which I'm hoping will help us in both the C2C and 24hr races this year. I've been running either a hardtail or heavy fs trail bike for the past few seasons so I'm hoping to notice a big difference. Finally the new team kit has been designed and is being printed up at Endura as I type.

All we need now is a bit of good luck/weather and hopefully I can improve on last years results and now Rich is back to full fitness following a big op and little riding last year he should be flying, the year will come to an end at Dusk til Dawn in Oct with us pairing up for the first time after 4 years of trying!

From the begining.

Here goes, first post....

I'll start by setting the scene a little, sat at home reading MBR and a feature on the coast to coast. I decided there and then that I wanted to have a go for myself, possibly over 3 days. Then I thought it would be fun to attempt it and bivvi overnight on the hills and pop down to eat lunch in the towns and villages along the way. Then, early last year I read about the 7 deadly spins and the 'one hit' attempt that Rich Rothwell was planning. A friend of my team mate, Blanche,(Dave Buchanan) was also attempting the Welsh coast to coast around the same sort of time. After reading their accounts and it was decided that my team mate, Rich Holmes and myself would both attempt to beat both records, simultaneously!

So far things have not gone to plan, the first recce ride from Ambleside to Kirkby Stephen was planned for early December, due to the flooding in the lakes over the previous month the going was very slow and it took the 6hrs we had to play with to complete the 22ml over a sodden Mossdale and on to Shap! At least I know how bad it really can get and I undertand where Rich Rothwell was coming from in his report.

The next recce was going to be a safe option as Padge and myself were to do this over the Christmas break. Richmond to Chop Gate, although there was a lot of snow/ice on the roads and a temprature of only 3 degrees things were looking good with 18ml clocked up in only 1.5 hrs, then Padge's rear hub bearings gave up in a spectacular fashion meaning an early bath following a lovely pub lunch and a pint of real ale in Thornton-le-beans.