Training Update 31st July

Sad news – Richard Cowley has torn ligaments & is currently on crutches – not sure if he’ll be fit for the ride or not.  He was well ahead on training & was going to be up front with Nick for speed – Froome to Nick’s Wiggins perhaps? Here’s hoping that Richard recovers very soon.

               

And controversy – David was claiming 600+ miles, but further investigation revealed that this had been completed on a bike with a motor – a rather lovely Triumph Tiger – so his ranking has been reassessed!   I’m claiming I should get more credit for the miles I did last week on the basis they were all off road & therefore subject to greater rolling resistance than for the roadies amongst you – but suspect I won’t get far with that argument!

Anyway, after all that, last week’s yellow jersey goes to Mike who racked up an impressive 122 miles:

122 Mike

77 Matt

69 Ben 

57 Vicky

55 Rick

55 Gin

54 George

50 Hayley

14 David

14 Julia

I’m awarding King of the Mountains to Hayley from BioRegional – great to see you on the tracker.  On the map: http://goo.gl/maps/cbk86 you’ll see that Richard, me, Matt, George & Ben have passed through Lille, Vicky is in the middle of Lille and Mike has also made it across the Channel.  Slightly unfairly, I’ve only logged 50 miles for Hayley so far…

The previous week’s yellow jersey appears to go to me, but I think that may be down to lack of tracker completion by others!

Sponsorship – we’re at £250 so far: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/bqsrpedal

Gin

Training progress - Weekly Update

George pedalled 73 miles last week, so he gets the metaphorical yellow jersey - a shock result made possible by Richard's training easing up!  Vicky gets "King of the Mountains as she's just updated the tracker with 110 miles since it started.

On the map tracker, I'm very happy to be second on the way to Lille - Rick, Vicky and Mike are now on here too: http://goo.gl/maps/rBtv

Welcome to Shaun Terry from B&Q Dover who is joinng the team for the full ride - some of his colleagues in Dover are also interested in doing at least a stage.

 George's training thoughts
35 miles through the fantastic Hampshire countryside and for the first weekend in a long while the sun shone.  Rode out with 10 others and managed to get some decent hills in - Hampton Hill near Swanmore, Beacon Hill from Exton, and to finish the day back up the South Downs from Cheriton.  You can certainly tell we have had months of rain with the amount of mud and stones on the roads.   

More on cycling in the rain....

A quick poll of commuters in the bike shed reveals that cycling to work in the rain isn't as unpleasant as you might think - however, given that the number of bikes in the shed plummets as the rain falls, maybe I'm only talking to the hard core cyclists!
There's nothing wrong with being a fair weather cyclist - after all, it's still another car journey saved - but I found this article that gives some advice on making rainy pedalling a bit more pleasant.
I'm a big fan of waterproof socks - it might be a bit psychological, but if my feet are dry, it gives me the illusion that things aren't too bad.
Now - time to surf for a bike/boat hybrid....
Gin

287 training miles this week...

... over 2 thirds of which were pedalled by 3rd week yellow jersey wearer Richard!  On our map, Richard has virtually whizzed through Lille & is now on the outskirts of Paris.

Matt's appearing on the tracker now - mostly gym mileage - but that most certainly counts! 

However, Ben Earl gets King of the Mountains this week following a very soggy pedal to Warsash with me on Monday to an SR team event.  Many thanks to Caroline for arranging access to the yacht club showers – so very much appreciated!  Ben also his bike out over the weekend – some good solid mileage knocked up.

Ben on another rainy bike ride

On a Smarter Business Travel subject, Monday really illustrated the facilities that make a difference to cyclists that go beyond decent bike sheds/racks. 

Showers, changing room - and somewhere to hang up soggy kit to dry all help to make cyclists feel better about their ride and able to arrive at work looking, well, work-like.  B&Q House also provides towel loan which cuts down on kit to carry as well as solving the dilemma of where to dry a damp towel.

I've heard of other employers getting imaginative with facilities - providing ironing equiment as well as hair straighteners and dryers!

And an additional benefit is that all of these support colleagues who walk or run to work or who pop out for lunchtime exercise too - all helping to support a healthy workforce.

George is King of the Mountains, Richard gets 2nd Yellow Jersey

Richard managed some amazing distances in training last week, racking up 185 miles.  He gets last week's Yellow Jersey!  Richard has also completed the team challenge - which is to accumulate the 234 miles we'll all be needing to pedal.

George gets the week's King of the Mountains jersey, thanks mostly to fitting in a loop from his home through the Hampshire countryside that included some killer hills. 
Well done to Julia and David for 25.5 miles - although it sounds like Julia's bike may need a bit of tweaking to its setup to prevent future back pain.  Ben and I just managed to commute - 3 days for Ben and a pathetic twice for me!  I'm still waiting for Matt to start adding his mileage - he did some cycling at Richmond Park at the weekend plus some gym stuff. 

Team news - Mike Hawes has joined and Rick Jones is going to try and rustle up some French colleagues to join us.  Sponsorship is up to £120 - thanks to all who've donated so far at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/bqsrpedal .  I suspect Julia's been most instrumental in our fundraising so far.

And on Smarter Travel news, Sherry from B&Q's Facilities ran a second Bike Doctor free cycle servicing session for B&Q House cyclists as the one she organised during Bike Week was so popular.

Gin