A French and Belgian Half Term Bike Ride.

As we approached Tom's half term at the end of May our plans were shall we say fluid. Sonder Bikes had recently sorted us out with a couple of Broken Road bikes which we are going to take to ride the Tour Divide later in the year. So we decided to head over the Channel and do some riding in Belgium and France to see if our set ups needed tweeking..

We worked out that it was as easy and near the same cost as driving to get the train to Dover, and then the ferry across with the bikes (£200 for the two of us).

We left New Mills just after 9:00 and arrived 19:00 in Dunkerque. We rode then along the coast to Bray Dunes where the French Divide route starts.

Our vague plan was to follow the FD route South then either reverse our route or head further South and get a train back for the ferry home.

We rode for a couple of hours and just before dark we put up our tents in the corner of a field and had a good night's sleep.

This was the first time we'd ridden the bikes any distance and my first job of the following day at 6:30 was to lift my saddle a few mm. I raised the saddle. I must have overtightened the seat clamp's bolt as the head sheared off.

This was a major problem especially as I had a seat pack that was to be attached to the saddle.
We'd brought some cable ties and with a few wrapped around the seatpost it temporarily stopped the saddle sliding down. Though it didn't stop the seat swaying from side to side.

The nearest reasonable size town was Ypres, and we headed there hoping for a solution to my problem.

It was Sunday, and in Belgium, bike shops are not open, but just maybe we'd have some luck.

We rode around the town with no success. Tom spotted a place called the Biking Bar which seemed like a good place to ask for advice.

The customers and the lady who worked there were all very helpful, and whilst there was definitely no bike shop open in the vicinity, they told us of a nearby hardware shop that sold "everything".

Some 3km out of Ypres and we found the hardware shop. It was massive, and it took the two of us a while to search out some possible solution.

A bit of lateral thinking and we seemed to have a fix. Two clips to try and crimp the seat tube, and a 3rd smaller one to grip onto the seat post. It seemed to work, but we bought another set just in case.

We'd sort of resigned ourselves to having to wait for a bike shop to open on Monday, so this was a win, though we were mindful we'd lost several hours of riding time. It seemed right that we should just enjoy the riding for the rest of the day without any particular urgency.

Below we stopped to buy some apples from the fresh produce vending machine.

We rejoined the French Divide route for a while, and the sun came out.

We ended the day on the Arenberg and camped nearby. We'd managed 130 km over the course of the day, which was more than we hoped for given my earlier misfortune.

Next morning we decided we'd head East rather than continue South for no other reason than we could.

Some busyish roads then a canal for several km. Most of which was into a headwind.

Come mid-afternoon my patience with the wind had lapsed and we headed back onto quiet roads which took us to a campsite for that night.

The weather the next day was grim, and we didn't have much wet weather gear, so we spent the day dodging rain showers and hanging out in cafes.

The weather improved in the evening, and we took advantage to eat our supper out in the open.

Next day we continued towards the sea.

A quick look at the beach turned into an exploration of the coastline. The wide and windy sandy beach went on for miles.

So much fun.

That is until we headed back towards the shore to find our way barred by a deep river.

We didn't exactly retrace our steps which was in hindsight a mistake, as instead, we encountered a load of gloopy estuary sediment.

A super fun day, which was only slightly tempered by us both getting a bit of sunburn.

The next couple of days we did as much sightseeing as we did riding.

Staying close to the coast.

On our last full days riding we headed back towards Dunkerque.

It was an absolute scorcher.

We covered around 700 Km over the week. Originally the plan was to do nearer twice that, but we settled for having a holiday where we rode our bikes a bit.

A Hill in Holland.

Tom and I had done a couple of Everesting rides before. Each one either of us has done in the past has been in a different country. So whilst planning another such ride, a new country was needed.
Holland has a few hills in the South of the country, and we decided that we would attempt an Everesting ride on one of these hills, the Eyserbosweg.

The ride had to be fitted in around school and work, so we were limited for time. We left the Peak District at midday on Friday, and we drove to Dover to take the ferry to Dunkerque. Our friend Gunther who lives an hour away from the ferry port in Belgium had offered us a settee to sleep on. After a beer and a quick chat, we settled down for a few hours sleep.

The Eyserbosweg was still a good two hours drive, so we were up just before 6am and away by 6:30.

The drive down the previous day and not enough sleep led to me stopping after an hour to have another nap. We hadn't started riding, and already I was tired.

We parked the car up on the hill, got changed and after a couple of last minute bike adjustments, we were ready to start riding.

The hill starts on the edge of a village which it soon leaves, heading for open country.

The mast is atop the hill marks the end of the climb. 86 metres at an average of 9%. We needed to ride 103 ascents.

We aimed to be a lot more disciplined on this ride to minimise the faffing time unlike when we everested the Kemmelberg, stopping every 5 reps.

The riding was easy though this was a busy road. There was more motorised traffic than we'd expected, but it was the quantity of cyclists that amazed us. This hill is obviously a must do for the local rider.

The first few reps passed quickly.

The weather was fantastic, and we'd soon done 40 reps.

I was feeling far more tired than I should have been at this stage, but I just kept on plodding up the hill as Tom was feeling great.

As the day went on the cyclists and cars became less frequent. As the sun began to set we rode a little further on to watch the spectacle.

As we descended the hill I started shivering. So much so that Tom thought I was going to fall of my bike. I felt sick, cold and very very tired. As we rode up the next rep Tom asked me if I was OK, to which I replied not really.

We kept on riding for another 4 reps whilst we discussed our options. I knew I could battle on, but I also knew that we had several hours riding ahead of us. I wasn't well, and knew that I could end up making myself really ill if I continued. Also of consideration was that I had 500 miles to drive to get back home. The only thing to decide then was if Tom was going to finish on his own. Tom decided that if I wasn't going to finish then neither was he.

So after 54 reps we decided to call it a day. Not a rushed decision, and one made for the right reasons.

A solid 10 hours sleep in the back of the car. Then we started the journey back to the UK.

We stopped at Gunthers girlfriend's on the way back for homemade Belgian waffles and a beer.

Then we lucked out and got an earlier ferry than we'd booked on. An uneventful drive, and we were back home just before midnight.

Not the outcome we'd hoped for with the Everesting ride, but I'm happy that we made the right decision on the day. As I type this I'm coughing and spluttering, but no doubt I'll be better soon.

Thanks Gunther for looking after us!

Quality not quantity in 2018.

2018 we've done some great stuff, but not the quantity of cycling that we've done in previous years.

Distance is of course a measure, but as I look back I reckon we've had a really good year that can't be quantified just by the miles.

Tom has spent more time with his friends after school and at the weekends, and I've been working more. There hasn't been the time to fit in some of the shorter rides we'd normally do.
Still we've tried to fit some stuff in.

Stats -

2018 3500 Km
2017 8000 Km
2016 8200 Km
2015 5800 Km

Strathpuffer in January, where once again we had a good ride. His first no sleep 24.

Followed by little riding until another successful Highland Trail 550 ride in May. Tom's 2nd completion, and this time he carried all his own food tent etc.

No big trip in the summer this year, but instead a fun ride out to St Davids in Wales and back via a scenic Sustrans route over a few days.

A few trips to Belgium, one where we Everested the Kemmelberg and due to my poor planning climbed over 10,000 metres , another where we got very wet at the Ghistelle Epic , and one where we talked about our 2017 Tour de France trip.

Oh and of course the finale, a hilly 6th Rapha Festive 500 in Mallorca.

I have to say though that we've both had to dig deep a good few times.

Who would have thought that if you didn't ride your bike every week that it might hurt riding a bike  all day or for a few days?

So looking forward, our 2019 plans so far.

We are riding in a team for the first time at Strathpuffer instead of solo. with some other fellow Alpkiteers.

Kielder Chiller 24 as a pair.

Another Everesting challenge during Summer half term.

#jennride in the Lakes in early July, then the Tour Divide starting late July .........

Best wishes for the New Year and thanks to our sponsors for their support!

Any fun rides you know of before July, let us know.

Rich and Tom.

Badger Divide part 1

Since Tom started this cycling thing in earnest, we've had a bit of a tradition of going on a trip at Autumn half term. The clocks have gone back, the days are shorter and the weather is more likely than not going to be cold, wet or both.

We could put our bikes away until the weather warms up and the days get long again, but that is not how we roll.

The vague plan for this year was to follow a route devised by Stu Allan that starts at Inverness and ends in Glasgow. We booked train tickets for there and back, and headed North.

Jenny Graham, messaged us to say lets meet up as we were in her city, and that is exactly what we did before we set out on our little ride. Lest you didn't know Jenny is just back from riding round the world in under 125 days. If Roy Castle was still around he'd have played her a tune on his trumpet.

A fine start to the day.

We left Inverness with no particular urgency, just a vague idea that Fort Augustus would be a good place to supper.

The morning mist soon cleared and the sun accentuated the autumn colours.

We came across a cafe in the woods after a couple of hours. An unusual place which did massive slices of cake which we didn't leave a crumb of realising that we'd neglected to pick up any supplies in Inverness before we left.

We were riding at a calorie slow burn pace, so I wasn't too worried. In fact we were too busy chatting to worry about food.

Once we made it to the Loch Ness we knew that Fort Augustus wasn't too far.

Fire roads for the most part, with the odd fun descents thrown in.

At Glenmoriston, we were running out of daylight, so opted to take the direct route along the road rather than the forest route which we'd ridden before.

At Fort Augustus, we spent some money on snacks for the next day before going to the "Pizza place" that Highland Trail 550 riders try to get to on day 1.

We were starving. Pots of tea, soup, and pasta filled us up though.

Then it was time to head up the hill. The Corrieyairack pass to be specific.

We'd not brought a tent, so there were two options for a dry bed. Tom voted for the nearest. We arrived just after 9pm, and were soon readying for bed.

Findra baselayers and Alpkit sleeping bags ensured a good nights sleep in sub zero temperatures.

A not particularly early start to the next day. But, hey Tom's on holiday.

It wasn't long before we were above the snow line.

October snows until the very top were no problem on the Sonder Frontiers.

Over the top.

Then down towards Laggan. We'd hoped to pick up some food hereabouts but the route passed nothing. We could have diverted but, Corrour station wasn't  too much further.

The wind was proving to be more than an annoyance as we left Laggan, and the weather was definitely changing.

Not long after us reminiscing about the last time we rode over this beach, the rain came.

Waterproofs on, we took to the aero bars with our heads bowed. As the rain fell harder it started to get dark, and we turned our Exposure lights on.

Nearing the head of Loch Ossian we spied lights on at the Youth Hostel though we rode straight past though to Corrour Station for food. We ate our starters and warmed up a bit before riding back in the rain to the YHA for our Firepot meals and a great night's sleep.

Next morning, up early to catch the train back home.

 I had to scrape my saddle of ice before we left. Brrrr.

As we arrived at the station we were pretty lucky to be so close to this fella.

A great trip. A relaxed few days up in Scotland. I don't think we made it half way on the Badger Divide, but the company was great.

Ghistele Epic One Percenter Gravel Ride.

Epic is a word that means different things to different people. It's not a word I use generally, as for me it conjures up visions of literally hanging on to life by a thread.

So when an invite to the Ghistele Epic One Percenter turned up in my feed, a 222km ride in Belgium, I was initially interested though in a don't use the "Epic" word kinda way.

Reading the Rules though suggested that Epic, maybe a word that was used tongue in cheek. You must wear a lumberjack shirt and sport a moustache were a couple of the rules that suggested that this was a ride that was going to be about fun rather than death or glory.

Buy tickets for the event, book ferry, ask for a day of school. Done.

Fast forward a few days, and then we begin weather watch in earnest.  It was definteley going to be wet.  One of the forecasts suggested 50mm of rain, but this screenshot below, taken the day before suggested things might not be so bad.

However, no matter which weather channel you looked at, the thought of camping after a big wet day out, did not appeal, so we booked a couple of nights in a hotel.`

Plenty of room for us and our Sonder Ti Caminos.

An early start to register for the ride. Though coffee and pastries were supplied.

It was great chat to some of the other riders at the start. A group picture, then at 7am we rode.

The pace at the start was fairly mellow, as was the weather. Within the first hour though the only riders we were left in contact with were Ruben and Rik.

There were 4 checkpoints on the route, and here's Tom at the first.

At the checkpoint like at the Barkley Marathons there is a book, from which you tear out the page that corresponds with your race number.

A witty title "Playmates".

It was raining, and though we saw a couple of signs saying it was 13 degrees C, it felt a lot colder.

Not playtime.

At around 80 km there was the first of two feed stations. A camper with a pullout canopy. The smiling crew were counterpointed by a guy stood there shivering, wrapped in a blanket, and the rain sheeting off the canopy. Hot soup, yes. Coffee, yes. Oh and gummy bears.

A warm van to get in to, a lift back to Gistel, these were thoughts in our minds.
We did though, head back in to the rain.

An hour after the feed station and the heavy rain showed no sign of stopping. The route was a sort of "out and back" affair, and we weren't at the furthest point.

Puddles, and mud, the going had become slow.

I was cold, and we were both at least partially wet. Can you have an Epic in Belgium? We had the makings of one.
We left a message with the organisers.
We were diverting and riding back to the start on the road.

The sun made a brief appearance winking at us to berate our decision to turn back, then the rain returned.

Rain now accompanied by a strong block wind.

As we rode the last few Km in we formulated a hasty plan for getting the bikes stowed and ourselves into a hot shower.

143km done. Oof.

Later that evening we met up with our fellow One Percenters for a beer though.

Apparently we missed the best part of the course, including the Kemmelberg.

Maybe next year, though only if it isn't going to rain.

A ride put together by witty passionate bike riders.

Thanks.