It does what it says on the label and makes repairing a corrupted fit file a fairly simple and painless operation. Though you do need Microsoft Access or the Access runtime (which means a windows install) so it’s not quite right for everyone (luckily I have a Windows image with Office Pro running in VMware on my MacBook).

I managed a very cold 200km DIY around Nottingham-Hinckley-Medbourne-Stamford-Nottingham (See “Planning an Audax DIY by GPS route” post). Very cold day out, don’t think I’ve seen energy drink freeze before. Thankfully the kind owners of medbourne post office let me sit inside while I supped soup. Had a few problems with batteries dying quickly in the cold. So I’ve stocked up on an extra long USB cable to keep the GPS running and a better set of rechargables to keep the lights on. Overall speed wasn’t help with a binding rear brake either, but it was too cold to think about whipping out the allen keys to fix it, had visions of loosening everything off and then not being able to get it done back up. Rear hub also still playing up, so have bitten the bullet and Wheelcraft are building me up a blingier replacement

Next audax ride is the Rutland and Beyond 100km from Leicester which I did last year as my first audax event (notes here). This year I’m ECE-ing it up to 200km. So hopefully that’ll conclude 12 months of Audaxing, and as a bonus finish off my RRTY as well. Route sheet’s arrived and looks the same as last years. As I didn’t have a routable GPS last year I didn’t bother making a gpx, so that’s a task for the next week.

I tend to like to put my controls in places rather than at specific junctions or Grid References. Places tend to be easier for the Org to find on a map, and make life easier on the ride if you need to re-route because of conditions or a road closure. Another plus is that if the GPS plays up I’ve a good chance of still being able to pick up proof of passage. It’s also better to have a low number of controls as it gives you more choice on the route you take on the day (for instance with this one I worked out a rural roads version, but if it’s icy on the day I can also do it on A roads without too much trouble), and it makes the Org’s life easier.

I start with Google maps zoomed out a fair bit to work out roughly where I want to go. As this is going to be an early january ride I’ve decided that I’m going to head south from Nottingham to avoid the Peak District and also to keep out of the fens as I’ve not done much on the bike and don’t fancy a day of headwinds.

From looking at that  I reckon a ride around Leicester and Rutland Water would give me about the right distance. I start by picking 2 corners. Looks like Hinckley will give me a route to the west of Leicster avoiding major towns, and then I should be able to head East to Stamford to take me under Leicester and then give me a rural ride back to Nottingham

Basic DIY GPS route, but set to driving

Looks OK, and it’s over distance which is good. But it’s set to driving mode. So switch it to walking and we get.

Basic route set to walking

Rats, distance is now under 200km. Though it’s showing the shortest route is through the middle of Leicester, which I don’t fancy. So to bring it back up to distance I think I’ll hunt for another control about half way along that leg somewhere south of Leicester. The village of Medbourne appears to fit the bill.

Basic route set to walking with extra control

Hmmm, still a bit short Now come the tweaking to get those extra 5 km in. I’ve used the generic centre of Nottingham for the planning, but I’ll actually be starting from the North of the city. So let’s use a more accurate location.

Final google maps for DIY GPS

back over 200km on google’s shortest distance, so all’s good. Route doesn’t look particularly brilliant at the moment (don’t really fancy that section of the A1 myself), but can sort that out later.

To double check I now put the points in AutoRoute (I got a cheap copy from eBay). There are some route where this is the only way to check the distance, when planing the LEL DIY we couldn’t get google to let us ‘walk’ over the Humber Bridge so had to use autoroute for checking that section. Also AutoRoute is seen as the “gold standard” for checking the route, so if I’m submitting a route at short notice I know that if I include the AutoRoute file it’ll pass muster so I don’t need to wait for the Org to check it and let me know.

So enter the controls in AutoRoute, and ensure it’s set to shortest distance (this is under ‘More Options’):

Autoroute settings for DIY GPS checking

Autoroute confirming DIY GPS Distance

Excellent, still passes muster, so I can now submit it to the Organiser.

Now I can go back to googlemaps/bikehike/bikeroutetoaster/etc and work out a route I’d actually like to cycle between these points. With this route I just pulled the route off the main roads slightly as it was mostly on quiet A-roads anyways.

So here’s hoping there’s no ice about when I ride it next week.

Total mileage for 2011 – 5555.44 miles

Average Weekly miles – 106.82

Weeks with No mileage – 4

Hours cycling – 363 (15.125 days).

Average hours cycling per week – ~7

And now for a pretty graph:

Series 2 is the weekly total, and Series 3 is the average. So you can see how quickly the average drops off after a couple of weeks off or weeks with low mileage.

Fastest ride was a 29 minute blast round a local 10 mile club TT course in the middle of a longer ride. Hopefully I’ll get a bit faster than that for 2012

So not a bad start to my first year back in cycling. Definitely a promising start to some serious long distance cycling. I certainly feel like I’ve built up a solid base to build on this year.

So off I went on my Nottingham – Bourne – Woohall Spa – Lincoln – Nottingham course. Didn’t make any changes to the route as it had gone well last time.

It turns out there’s a good reason why a RRTY is hard to get. The cold makes a huge difference. Not sure if it was all the cold, or also a loss of fitness but I had a pretty hard time on this one. Despite not hanging around at stops I was still slower than last time I went round when I spent about 2 hours on a friend’s sofa eating and drinking tea.

One thing I need to do to improve this route is to find a decent cafe in Bourne. Costa is OK for a coffee, but some fried food would have so gratefully recieved yesterday. Luckily Little Dorrits cafe in Woodhall Spa always comes up trumps (and has decent bike parking round the back, there’s a gas cage to chain the bikes to), and they’re use to cyclists as the Skeggy 300 uses it as a control.

The flyboys were out in force with plenty of USAF out from conninsgby and the RAF from Waddington.

First time I’d been out on a bike for so long in the cold. It’s completely different from walking in it. I’d gone with some Roubaix material tights for the bottom half, with neoprene overshoes. For the top half a long sleeve base, with a short sleeve over the top and then a ‘winter’ longsleeve jersey overthat, and a Hi-Vis vest over all that (though I don’t know if that made any difference, but it probably acted like a combination gilet/wind-brake)). For my hands I wore a pair of thin karrimor running gloves, with my usual ** long fingers on top. I had a fleece buff to seal the top of my jacket, and wore a thin buff as a skull cap under my helmet

This seemed to work. I did get cold arms on longer descents, so I don’t think my top is as windproof as it could be. Feet seemed to be OK most of the time, occasional periods of being cold. Hands seemed OK, most of the ‘cold’ pain seemed to be more related to cramming the tips of my fingers at the end of the gloves, so a little bit of pulling around sorted that out until the next time they creeped up. My thighs gradually got colder and colder, and I’d have really appreciated a pair of shorts to pull over the top of the longs. I’d though about taking an extra pair but I’ve only got padded ones and was worried that double padding would feel wrong and uncomfortable.

The temperature stayed about 1-3C all the way round and I stopped for a warm up about every 3 hours. I think any colder or longer between stops and I’d have needed a couple of extra layers, and probably a proper jacket over the jersey.

The other interesting thing was watching the performance hit from the cold on batterys. Normally I don’t have to think about my garmin or iPhone’s battery on a 200km, but yesterday both were showing low amounts about half way round. I’d have thought the iphone would have been fine in the carradice but it wasn’t, and there isn’t much shelter for the garmin stuck on the stem. The last 50km I was getting worried about my front lights as I wasn’t sure how long they’d hold out and there isn’t really any where on that leg to pick up some more AAs. So that’s something else to think about on cold rides.

So not a proper hard man’s winter audax as there wasn’t snow, black ice or pissing on freewheels to get them working again but it was certainly hard work. And it was probably my last long ride of 2011, hopefully I’ll keep some mileage ticking over so I’m not so out of shape come 2012, and hopefully the weather will stay kind so I can get out in January.

And that’s about the end of the good news. I knew I’d had a couple of less than brilliant TMA results, and one of them that didn’t get submitted do to other priorities. And the exam went less than brilliantly for me. So I’ve ended up with a Grade 3 pass, which while a pass isn’t a great pass.

I suppose I could blame it on all the long distance cycling but that’d be too easy, and wrong. The material is quite a step up from the previous 2 module as you move a lot further away from ‘applied arithmetic’ to some very new and nebulous concepts (Groups, I’m looking at you), but again that’s no real excuse as the material is pretty well presented. The only real excuse is that I just didn’t put the effort in. I’d coasted a bit through the first 2 modules and thought I could do the same with M208. So when I start MS209 in September 2012 I’ll be making a better effort to study studiously and hopefully do better on that one.

Set a good pace to the first control on Tutbury after I latched onto a fast group,reasonably flat decent roads for this section. Though a bit of muck around meant I kept glasses on if I was following someone. Reminds me that I need to add some flaps to my mud guards to be nice to anyone following me. Glad I’d got guards on, as quite a lot of riders sported impressive skunk stripes. Quick stop at the control in a car park in Tutbury and then back onto some country roads to Ashbourne. GPS  unit took a different view of the route to everyone else, and it was at this point that I discovered I’d forgotten to bring a route sheet with me, so no chance to check. Luckily I could wing it into Ashbourne as the next Info control was pretty central. Seemed to loose an hour here to a cafe stop that didn’t seem that long at the time.

Short section left to get back to Alfreton, but this contained most of the climbing. Nothing too huge as we just skirted the edge of the Peak District, though as usual anything passing near to Crich is going to involve some hills. Rolled back in Arrivee for about 14:00, giving about 5 hours for the ride.

A cup of tea and then the ECE leg back home. Bonked reasonably hard in Lambley for some reason, but was out of sugary stuff with no shop to help out. So was a long struggle back up Spring Lane for me. But it’s all done now and the GPXs are off to the org for validation.

A nice potter around some newish to me road, so a great way to spend a Saturday. Probably my last calendar event until Febuary as there doesn’t appear to be anything that doesn’t involve a reasonable amount of driving, or having to rearrange proper things. So i’ll be out on my own DIY GPSing, hopefully with better weather than last year

Bike was caked in crud so had a good cleanign session the next day. Suprised to find the rear tyre flat though. So that’s the first puncture in 5000 miles, so I was about due one. Slight less impressed that one repaired spare tube had perished, and the other one allowed itself to be installed and inflated, but to wait 2 hours before going with a disturbing bang.

It all started from a cold side street in Leicester in Febuary 2011 with my first 100km, Rutland and Beyond. All a bit of a shock to the system after a couple of months of just trundling around. Just about managed to cope with a route sheet and a couple of photocopied pages from a Road atlas with the route drawn on in highlighter pen.

Things got better with the next 2 events as things got a bit longer (100km Three Fields + 200km Roses to Wrags). Got a bit more used to riding in company, not faffing so much at controls and moved onto GPS so I didn’t have to keep reaching for the map. Starting to get used to the idea of audax eating consisting of lard and sugar in heavy quantities.

First experience of riding in the proper dark (well 9pm) and first audax trip to the seaside as well with the Skegness 300km from Alfreton. Definitely starting to feel the distance now, but a lot better at making sure for a proper rest and refeed at controls. Discovered that hills make a huge difference on my first go at a GPS DIY. Discovering the joys of a horrendous headwind for 80km on the Lincolnshire cross, which was a taster of what was to come later on on my 600km ride. Then my first DNF for a calendar event with a broken saddle on the Moors and Wolds 400km (I now have a ‘fix’ if this happens again).

Another go at the hills with the Tramway 100km, much better this time. That wasn’t quite long enough for that month so I had another go at GPS DIY which worked out fine apart from a bit of rain. And then a 600km DIY along the London Edinburgh route (here and here) which introduced me to the benfits of not relying on a GPS alone for ride validation (which I forgot to remember later on in the year as well).And featured 300km of headwind, which I didn’t think was possible.

Next big ride was a solo 400km DIY cobbled together from bits of Moors and Wolds, another GPS cock up left the validation of this one in some doubt for a while as well. I really will make sure I get receipts in future. But it did mean that I also did another 200km GPS DIY so I could keep a nascent RRTY going. Quite a bit of elation when the validation did come through.

And then finished the season off with another hilly ride from Alfreton (Beware of The Plauge) which I ECE-ed into a 200km to keep the RRTY going.

So all in all a pretty good first season. 13 events in total with officiali 1,765 miles, a Super Randonneur award, and 75% of an RRTY. Not bad considering it’s less than 12 months ago since I actually bought my bike. I’ve learnt plenty about how I handle tiredness, the best way to pace myself around events and importantly, what service station and CoOp food stuffs I can eat in large quantities. I think my favourite ride of the year as the 400km DIY, on the ride everything seemed to just fall into place, and the great feeling of riding across Lincolshire and Nottinghamshire in the dead of the night on the homeward leg was amazing.

Plans are afoot already for 2012:

• Entries are in for:
• The Dean 300km (4 AAA)
• Yr Ellenydd 300km (5AAA)
• Mille Alba 10ookm
• With plans to enter:
• Brevet Cymru 400km (2.25 AAA)
• Bryan Chapman Memorial 600km (8.25 AAA)

Which should give me an SR, and if the plans go through at the AGM one of the new fangles SR25′s as well. Will also leave me only 0.5 AAA short of an AAA badge, so it seems rude not to go for that as well. I want to keep the RRTY going as well, so here’s hoping for a mildish winter.

9 out of 10 cats prefer carradice

One of the problems of doing longer rides or trying to use my bike for more taks is carrying stuff. There’s always something to carry, from just a spare innertube and basic tools to enough for a 600km ride across the country to getting everything to work of a morning.

First off, an admission to why I rejected one of the most common solutions. I can’t stand cycling with a rucsac on, it just drives me nuts. And I think the rubbing and the extra weight over a long distance would make it even more unpleasant.

I started off at the beginning of the year with a few small bits stuffed into jersey pockets. Nice and simple, but there was a pretty small limit to what I could carry comfortably so it was never going to work for long distances or commuting

Next I got a normal under seat saddle bag. This was just big enough for tools, tubes, a jacket and a couple of mars bars. If I tried really hard I could get my phone in there as well. So it would work for up to 300km probably, but not on longer audaxes or for commuting.

When looking for something a bit larger I found a number of options, but they didn’t look quite what I wanted. Anything that required a rack to sit on was out as I didn’t have the requisite mounts on my steed (and I didn’t fancy faffing with P-Clips), or couldn’t be removed quickly (I’m not always in the most salubrious parts of Nottingham, so fancied something that was reasonably quick to remove so I could take it with me).

I ended up with a Carradice Barley saddlebag with a Quick Release BagMan support.

The Barley is a simple design that’s been around for years. It’s made of hard wearing Cotton Duck (thick cotton material which is treated with wax for waterproofing). There’s one large compartment which seems to swallow most things:

Here it’s packed up with a normal set of kit for a day at work:

which is this little lot:

That’s a reasonable size lunchbox, jeans, T-shirt, boxers and socks. Which is enough for work, and theres still some room for other bits and pieces. Though I do leave a pair of shoes at work as they wouldn’t quite fit in (though when I rode down to Luton I managed to fit in a pair of converse hi tops, but they probably wouldn’t do for work)

There’s a bit of sag where the bag sits on the bagman, but that can be avoided with some careful packing or putting something at the bottom. On audaxes I tend to use my spare maps and routesheets for that. And other owners have used thin bits of plastic or cardboard

And on the sides there’s 2 pockets of a reasonable size:

This one’s been filled with 2x 700×25 innertubes, a pack of tissues and a tub of Nunn tablets. The other side holds a couple of multi tools, spare chain links, lock ties and a space blanket. With the side pockets packed like this I never need to empty them, so there’s no worrying about making sure I’ve got everything when I head out on a ride.

On the lid there’s a couple of strong metal loops. I think these were meant to be somewhere to attached your rain cape, but I’ve had good success using them to attach a dry bag on top for extra storage. I normally only use this for something light (thicker jersey and a pair of shorts normally, as shown in the bottom photo). There’s also a handy loop for adding a light, I’ve lock tied mine on for a bit of extra security. Only slight problem with the loop is that if the bag’s not full it bounces quite a bit, which can cause some strange noise as it hits the bagman

In the great tradition of quality british manufacturing, the name of the bag’s creator is written on the label, mine’s a Priscilla

As I don’t have a Brooks saddle (or one of the other with bag loops) I needed something to attach the barley to my saddle with. The Bagman QR does the job nicely. There just one large clamp bolt to do up to fix it onto the saddle rails, and that’s it. The Barley’s hanging loops just clip into the bagmans clips and there’s a stap to secure it to the frame a bit more securely, though I’ve started using a bungee cord for that as it’s easier and quicker with cold hands. The only other change I’ve made is to replace the tiny grub screws with some proper M5 bolts so I can get them properly tight without stripping threads. It’s also a handy attachment point for other items. On longer audaxes I’ve attached my waterproof to it, and also bungeed a spare folding tyre onto it which frees up more room for malt loaf.

After a year of use my Barley is showing signs of character with some shiny patches and some fading. But it’s still very waterproof (tested regularly in the UK), I’ve never seen moisture inside even in the worst of rain. It’s been regularly leant against rough surfaces and doesn’t show any wear. The only slight problem is some stitching fraying on one of the straps, and I’m debating whether to send it back to Carradice for repair or just take it to a Cobblers so I’m not without it for too long.

Size wise it’s been great for most things. Though for some future plans I’ll want something that can take a full change of clothes for a couple of nights away. For just a few nights or long winter rides I think I’d just go for a larger Carradice (Nelson Longflap maybe).

Over the year the only items I’ve regularly wished I could carry on the bike but couldn’t have been my OU books and a laptop. But I don’t think there’s really anything non pannier that would cope with those.

The route sets off along the A6 before a little bridlewaying onto the trackbed. Then the Monsal Trail is followed through a serious of impressive tunnels and over some high viaducts to Chee Dale. Here there’s a climb up to the High Peak trail which leads back to the start. The tunnels are quite long, and while they have basic electric lighting a good front light will make things more pleasant.

As it follows an old railway line, and then an old cartway the route is pretty flat. Though there is a pretty hilly bit that joins the two together. To get back to Cromford I decided to shoot down Wirksworth hill from Middleton Top which is good fun (43mph until I got stuck behing a slow car), though there is also an off road route down which bring you back to Cromford Canal for an off road route back to the start. Though this descent is quite steep and has some nasty drainage ditches which may catch the unwary.

The surfaces of the trails are pretty firm. I did this on a road bike with almost slick 25mm tyres without any problems. Though if it’s wet it may be a little slippy in places. The trails are shared with walkers and equestrians, so please be careful and considerate.

Our ride around took about 6.5 hours for ~40 miles, but that included a long lunch at the Royal Oak, cake stops, loitering for photos and stops to regroup.

The route below may jump about a bit as I’d set the Garmin to Smart logging rather than my normal 1 second rate, and it looks like it’s cut some corners in places. (It also means I’ve worked out how to get a gpx plotted onto an Ordnance Survey map :)).