Biked to Colchester AGAIN :-)

Mission 2 done again. I biked from Ipswich to Colchester, however this time I went a different way. Also I went at a different time of day. When I did the mission last time I left early morning, whereas this time I went after work. Yes note that, after a days work (8-5......well finished at 4). I think it helped going later in the day as my muscled had got warmed up. Also I went along the A137 this time, whereas last time I went across country "south suffolk cycle route".
I thought to myself "it took 3 hours last time, I want to get it down to 2 1/2 hours"

Well, I did it in 1 hour 38 mins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was surprised how quick I did it. It was only 5 miles shorter along the A137, but it is a much better surface as it is a fairly main road. Not too main that it is dangerous. Another advantage of this route is that I know the road very well (unlike the country route) and it is just one road all the way there. The other good advantage of this route was that there was quite a few down hills and not so many up hills. I'm not sure I'd want to come back that way because it would be more up hills.

The official stats (according to my little computer)
distance:             20.03miles
max speed:         31.7mph    (speedy gonzales)
average speed:   12.2mph
Time:                 1h:38m:24s



Certainly beats stats for the last time. However, my effort seems very little in comparison to Steve Hanovers. The reason I biked to Colchester this time was because they were having a bbq/music evening to raise money for "Life of Linda" charity 900 mile cycle and tenor horn ride. See website

http://www.lifeoflynda.com/Life_of_Lynda/Welcome.html

I hold my hands up to the bloke, he (and the team) done brilliant. It is coming to a climax as I type, with a final concert in London tonight. They started in Inverness, Scotland and have biked 900miles down to London, doing various concerts along the way. They are hoping to raise £50,000 for 2 charities.
It makes me think about increasing my challenge..........but I think I'll stick to the Paris one for starters.


Having constantly updating my record of cycle rides, I have totalled about 157 miles for the whole of June

http://www.mapmyride.com/workouts/?

and over 200 miles since I have been keeping record :-)

I could feel the pain of the cycling on my arms tonight (you use your arms as well when cycling, especially up hill) when I was trying to play the piano. My "extensor carpi radialis" on my right arm was killing me, but they say no pain no gain ;-)

I am trying to work out my next long distance ride. Mission 3 was to go to Norwich by the end of July......not sure if that'll happen by end of July, definitly will do in August, but think July would be pushing it. Looking at a 35-40mile ride next (Norwich is 50+)

Watch for an update..................

did I beat my previous time???

YES!!!

Yesterdays stats were:
distance:            3.6miles
max speed:        24.3mph
average speed:  10.2mph
TIME:               21m.12s

:-) :-) :-)

I think it helped that it was looking very cloudy and about to pelt it down with rain (which it did 3mins after getting in)

Today, I beat yesterdays time as well :-) :-) :-)

Stats for today:
distance:            3.6miles
max speed:        24.2mph
average speed:  10.4mph
TIME:               20m.48s

not too sure if I'll beat that though as todays conditions were perfect, little bit cloudy, not too warm but not too cold. Also thinking about yesterdays time, I just remembered my chain came off on the hill, so 30seconds were spent putting the chain back on.

Question is, do I try and bike to Colchester again Friday evening????

Can I beat 22 mintues 37 secs?

Ok, today I biked to work (Care home job). Which is about 3.5 miles, but involves Lansdeer Road (hill). When I left at 7am I was surprised how warm it was. I managed to bike in just t-shirt and jeggings, no jumper. I thought at that point "it's gonna be a hot day"........

Well I was right............IT HAS BEEN A SCORCHER :-) shouldn't complain too much though :-)

However, when it came to hometime (2:30pm nearly the hottest part of the day) I had to bike home. To start with the ride gave a nice breeze, and going down the first hill was even better. Then, I had to go up Lansdeer Road :-( The sun was beaming down on me :-( trying to bike up the hill. I did make it, just was sweating by the end of it.

I checked on my computer to see how long it took to get home and it read
Ride time:           22m:37s
Average speed:    9.5mph
Distance:             3.5miles
Max Speed:         21.9mph

Not bad stats considering the heat!!!

Tomorrow's mini challenge is to beat that time (coming home) :-)

Will update tomorrow

Mission 2 completed :-) :-)

After being told off on Sunday for not writing on here lately, I thought I'd better do something. The main reason for not writing was because I hadn't done much cycling, since last weekends epic 41miles over 2 days.
I did bike to work 3 times (once to the care home, and twice to the lifehouse aka hostel). I'm normally a fair weather cyclist, however I got bit caught out cycling home Friday afternoon. It was clear in the morning, so I biked, then it started raining throughout the day. About 4:30pm my hubby rang to see if I wanted picking up, but at that point it wasn't raining much so I said I'd be ok. Well.........not long after setting off, it pelted it down!!!!! and I got a 'little' bit wet :-(

I had a busy weekend, so didn't to do much cycling over the weekend, and lost a bit of momentum/motivation for it. The telling off I got ;-) mixed with the kick up the backside on Monday, I decided I would do as planned in my mind and cycle to Colchester.

This morning when I woke up it was looking rather cloudy and windy. However, after discussions with hubby and checking out route/weather I decided I'd give it a go.

I decided on the route the Colchester United fans took when they did it
http://www.cycle-route.com/routes/Ipswich_to_Colchester_via_Raydon-Cycle-Route-3157.html
slightly editted from my house, and arriving at the Salvation Army (Colchester)

The first part seemed to take forever and due to quite a few open fields the wind was quite strong. Apparently it was 'suppose' to be a relatively flat route, which to be honest possibly was looking back. It didn't feel like it whilst doing it. Once I got nearer Colchester it was ok, until the killer hill right at the end (Balkerne Hill), didn't make it up without stopping.
Did feel a sense of acheivement on reaching the hall. Not sure the people at the hall believed me to start with, but then they saw the bike and realised I was telling the truth :-)

There was no way I was biking back, this time, so I biked to the train station and got the train back to Ipswich. I will do both ways eventually, but one way is a big enough acheivement for now.

Plus having looked at the amount of miles I've biked this month so far:
http://www.mapmyride.com/workouts/
I've done about 126.8miles. which I think is pretty good (averages out 6 miles a day).

I shall keep going........... :-)

The past week

I haven't updated this blog for a week, I know, but that doesn't mean I haven't been out on my bike. On the contrary. With the new website I found last week, the total miles I've biked this week is 45.82miles. :-)

25miles was acheived today :-) on another of my random bike rides. The rest have been commutes to and from work and the army.
I will also add that I have made it up lansdeer road hill most the times since last week (once I didn't as I was carrying a bag on handlebars).
I am pleased that I have managed to get up the hill most times, that is an acheivement in itself.

To check out the ride I did today, see Mapmyride
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/49850506/
The average speed drop quite a bit towards the end :-/ it had been 11mph-12mph, not 9mph but I may have over stretched myself.
I am on course for my 3 challenges. Still got 19 days to do Colchester, and doing 25miles today is the distance to Colchester, just need to do it twice in a day (as need to get home)

I am hopefully going to take part in the Ipswich Skyride tomorrow (assuming I can move). I will have to bike to army first then go and take part after. This is the first time it has been in Ipswich so should be fun :-)

Anyway that's the latest :-)

NEWS FLASH!!!!

I made it up Lansdeer Road hill :-)

I biked to work today, after biking to town yesterday, and on the way back I managed to get up the hill. I hadn't planned on going all the way up it, but got so far and thought "I'm half way, may as well try and go the rest" and I did.
I'm not promising I'll make it next time, but I'm pleased I did it this time.

Also found new website that I can map out my routes easier, and it tells me how many miles etc.....
I only started it yesterday but done 13.38 miles this week :-) so far

http://www.mapmyride.com/workouts/

Things are looking good :-)

New webpage found

I've found a new webpage I can mark out my trips, and it works out the distances :-) and adds them all up :-)

http://www.mapmyride.com/workouts/