Training in public - with Pudsey

Banners up, spinning bikes borrowed, surprise bake sale - and Pudsey in attendance. We launched the Ultimate Commute today in B&Q House, catching colleagues as they made their way to the canteen at lunch time.

Lots of interest, questions about our training, the route and the ride - and about chafing!

It's all about me!!!

David Griffin's team surprised him by bringing in a selection of home made cakes for sale - with all proceeds going towards our sponsorship target.  The chocolate refrigerator cake was particularly appreciated by David!  He did his best to burn off the calories when with Julia, he took on an hour stint on the spinning bikes.

Sarah, Pudsey & Vicky

Sharon and Ben took over the bikes at 12:30, Gin and Victoria at 1, with Sarah and Vicky picking up the final shift at 1:15.
Sarah & Victoria are in the support team on the actual ride - so it was great that they had the chance to do a little cycling!

Ben, Pudsey & Sharon

Smarter Travel in Action

Rather than jumping into cabs to get between design shows, the B&Q lighting team tried out boris bikes in London this week - great to see imaginative business travel!

Surviving London on a bike!

So, the trip is looming and I promised to pen some thoughts about cycling in London based on my 2 years as a London cyclist.

There's probably a few key principles:

• Be assertive
• Get to the front and utilise the cyclist boxes
• Use the cycle lanes when they're available
• Make eye contact with drivers 

Nearly every junction in London has a big green box at the front, dedicated to cyclists. This is the safest place to be when waiting at traffic lights as you get out ahead of the cars / buses behind you.

As you approach a red light, aim to get to the cyclist box and be ready to pull out as soon as the lights change. If you're not sure if you'll get to the box in time, hang back and give yourself some breathing space from the vehicle in front of you.

If you're waiting at a box in poor light, I try and make eye contact with the drivers behind me to make sure they've seen me.

Watch out for doors opening from taxis etc, especially if they've pulled over.

Be assertive and make sure you've clearly indicated to change lanes.

Watch out for any vehicle turning left. If in doubt, hang back and give yourself some space at junctions.

Otherwise, it's just like any other cycling but a lot busier!

Lille, here we come.

Vic

Meet the support team - part 1

It sounds so simple - get on bikes and ride to Lille - but the closer we get to 28th September, the harder our tour manager Victoria is having to work!  Victoria's an events manager with a wealth of experience that includes sports events.  From negotiating train tickets for the return journey to persuading Tracey from B&Q House's gym to come along and advise on training, she's already busy with planning the challenge.

You may not recognise Victoria on the day we leave as she is also odds on favourite to be donning the Pudsey outfit!

Roy's also pictured here - he is going to be driving our support van - so here he's getting in some practise with heaving bike baggage around.

Roy and Victoria are to be joined by Sarah (as a driver) and Tracey (our challenge's fitness guru).

Did you know - cycling and walking can help with weight control

30 minutes of leisurely cycling will burn about 300 calories* - depening on your age, gender, weight and speed.  5 times a week, that'd be 1500 calories.  And assuming you do this 40 weeks a year, that's 60,000 calories - enough to lose 17lb of weight.**

30 minutes of walking at 3.5mph will burn about 140 calories.  Again, this will vary depending on your age, gender and weight.  5 times a week, that's 700 calories.  Assuming you do this 40 weeks a year, that's 28,000 calories - enough to lose 8lb of weight.**

Of course, these estimates assume that you don't eat any more calories!

* Source: World Cancer Research Fund
** Based on 3,500 calories to lose 1lb

Did you know - your journey may not be necessary

The quickest way to get to a meeting is reaching it from your desk!  Many of us already use telephone conference calls when a face-to-face meeting isn't possible.

Webinars are a simple way to take a group of people through a presentation.  Participants see the slides as the host talks and they can ask questions through audio or text chat based systems. 

But you can get get the benefit of face-to-face meetings virtually too.  Many businesses now have facilities for a huge range of video conferencing options ranging from Skype and similar desk based technologies all the way through to virtual telepresence meeting rooms.  Video conferencing allows participants to see body language and feel more involved in the meeting process.

Less time travelling, less cost of travelling - and it can be easier to get everyone you need together if you meet virtually.

Find out what your company can do to help you to cut back on business travel.

Did you know - flying might become 30% of UK's carbon footprint

If trends continue, flying may account for up to 30% of the UK's carbon footprint in the future.*

If everyone in England who takes three or more flights to Europe cut one return flight we would save enough carbon dioxide to take 200,000 cars off the road for a year.*

Take the train instead - the award winning  Man in Seat 61 website has a wealth of helpful advice on travelling by train in the UK and across Europe.  Get the details on how to take a sleeper to Edinburgh for example and learn how to get cheaper tickets.

* Source: Energy Saving Trust

Did you know - we could save £1.1 billion every year?

If everyone in the UK reduced their car mileage by just five miles a week it would collectively save around £1.1 billion and 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.* 

Look at how you travel for short trips - for example, walking to the paper shop or cycling to the post office.  You'll get fitter and benefit from some fresh air.  You're more likely to get chatting to yoru neighbours on your journeys.

Walking or cycling your children a mile to and from school each day would save around £120 and 250kg of carbon dioxide each year compared to doing these journeys in the average car.*

* Source: Energy Saving Trust

Did you know - it's easy to plan a bus commute

Take a look at Transport Direct's website - it has a great door-to-door journey planner that shows how to use public transport - complete with times and a comparison to driving.

Did you know - car commuting costs £1200 every year

According to the Energy Saving Trust, the average car commute takes 30 minutes and costs around £1200 every year in fuel alone - that's 5% of the average UK salary!

Give yourself a 2.5% payrise by sharing your commute with a colleague who lives locally. 

If every commuter in the UK shared a car with two others collectively it would save £5.4 billion and 11.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.*

Smarter driving can save you between £250 and £300 and between 500kg and 600kg of carbon dioxide a year if you’re a commuter*. That’s a 15% saving on your fuel bill, which is around two months’ worth of fuel a year.  Click here to check out the EST's tips. 

When you are choosing a new car, opt for the most fuel efficient model - this will take £515 off your fuel costs every year, £150 off the first year's road tax and £120 off subsequent years' road tax.*

* Source: Energy Saving Trust

Did you know - cyclists take less time off sick?

If you commute by bike you'll take less time off sick than non-cycling colleagues - they will take 18% more time off than you according to the CTC.

60% of men & 70% of women don't currently achieve the recommended minimum level of activity - 30 minutes 5 times a week - according to the CTC.  Cycling to work can really help to achieve this level, boosting our health.

Vicky gets the yellow jersey!

Vicky cycled 147 miles last week - so is the very deserving recipient of the yellow jersey.  She's been combining the gym (see her setup here for Friday eve!) with a turbo trainer, commuting and longer rides.  A turbo trainer BTW is a handy gizmo that enables you to cycle on your own bike in the comfort (and light!) of inside. 

Shaun did a very creditable 120 with a single ride of 70 - but he claims that his legs gave up at 60!

And Richard did 110 - very much back in the saddle after his injury.

You can see where we all are virtually on the map link.

George is leading the way though for total distance - he's now just outside Avignon and I think he'll get to Marseille this week virtually.

£1330 in sponsorship so far.

I turned a 4 mile commute into a 19.5 mile ride home by going via Winchester on Friday (evidence photo is to the right....). 

And on Saturday, on a rather good little off road ride near Ellisfield,  I managed to twist my knee as my bike got stuck in a very claggy muddy bit - the joys of a mountain bike.  Hobbled the rest of the weekend, but it seems to be healing well.  I'm applying the tried & tested technique of resting it for a few days - to be honest, if we weren't so close to the date of the challenge, I'd probably be cycling again by now, but I really don't want to be carrying an injury!

David on Drafting

Being a touring cyclist of old, I’ve had some experience of long distance riding and riding in groups.  Having started cycling again after a 15 year break I’ve been quietly please at how I’ve been able to get back into it and I can still remember many of the techniques that help keep you going on a long ride (i.e. past the shop at the end of the street).  Not saying it wasn’t hard work, but its coming together.  Julia is totally new to this and has had a steep learning curve, how to use toe clips, how to use the gears etc.  I think she has found our practice rides hard work.  She hasn’t been able to keep up if I lead, or ride hard for more than 15 to 20 minutes, meaning we’ve needed regular stops (not that I’m complaining about the stops!). 

Over the last few ride’s she’s just about mastered the toe clips and the gears so this week we a new trick, Slipstreaming (or Drafting).  Julia tried to stay within about a metre of my back wheel, thereby keeping in my slip stream and hopefully making it a little easier for her.  In return I kept an eye out to make sure I didn’t pull ahead and she could stay close.  I also made sure I didn’t do anything last minute, like swerve  to avoid potholes etc and off we went.  This time, a very different story.  On a 10 mile ride we didn’t need to stop and we were able to keep up a moving average or 14mph, with flat road speeds of 17mph to 20mph.  It also meant I didn’t get carried away kept my speed down so didn’t burn out early so win win. 

Its all about team work J

David Griffin