Ride Stats: July

Good month July, more miles than any other month this year at 1104 and a high average speed of 19.2mph, helped by my racing and fast paced training rides this month.
Race results have been good with a win and consistent top ten places.
I've got a bit of a break for the first half of August because of work and a family holiday, hopefully more big miles and good race results in the later part of the month and into September though.

Race Report: Portsmouth CTL Circuits 25th July - Missed the Break! Doh!

Good race last night, just glad I made the start line, as I've started work down at the sailing club now and it makes getting over to Portsmouth a bit tricky.

The legs didn't feel great from the off, not sure why, but I was struggling. I've put in a fair few miles in the last week and I think that I overdid it a few days ago and was still feeling the effects. Anyway, I was having to work hard to pull a few attacks back throughout the race and the legs were feeling the strain.

It amazes me how different each race over at the track is, this one seemed to be a 'to-and-fro' i.e. a break would go, the pack would wait a while to see how it was working, then a few individuals in the pack would decide that enough was enough and pull the break back. It seemed that Wightlink Race Team did a lot of work to pull back break after break throughout this race, which at least proves that we are all getting stronger!

I say that the race was a 'to-and-fro', but I got it wrong in that case.
With about seven laps to go two guys went off the front. I thought that the pack would again start working together after a while and pull them back, but they didn't seem to. So I attacked, but by the time I had got half-way across to the break, the pack were getting their act together and began to start reeling me back in. So I sat up and conserved my energy, thinking that it was better to do that, than wait for the pack to catch me and then the break.

But as soon as I sat up the pack stopped working again and started coasting! With just four laps to go there was now little time to either jump over to the break or pull the break back in. If I had got on the front I might have been able to pull them back, but I would have taken the pack with me as well, and been exhausted for the sprint. So instead I sat back about fourth wheel back and waited for the bunch sprint. Coming into the final straight I kicked to come round two riders, but couldn't quite overpower the last one who took the line. So I got second in the bunch sprint and fourth overall; a solid result, perhaps not quite as high as I would have hoped, but a few more points in the bag. Getting there.

Race Prep: Clearing The Airways

As the final time trial of the Tour de France approaches, I thought I would let any new-comers to the sport know the reasoning and science behind the bits of cotton wool that riders stuff up their noses when they are warming up on the turbo trainers before a Time Trial. Or in the case of Chris Froome, forgetting to take them out before the prologue time trial of The Tour began.

The small bits of cotton wool are soaked in inhalant decongestant, or as most of us know it by the brand name Olbas Oil. The natural remedy, used by most of us when we have bunged up noses and sinus trouble is used by the riders to ensure every last bit of catarrh and particulates is removed from their airways. So that every breath transports the maximum amount of oxygen to their lungs.

I can't say that I have ever used it before a race, but when milliseconds make the difference in a time trial, then the riders try to make every possible tiny gain they can.

Let's hope Froomey remembers to take his cotton wool out before the start of the final TT!

Nutrition: Cycling Puddings

Puddings are a treat, right? Well we all need a bit of a treat sometimes, and sometimes those treats can actually do us and our cycling good.

The four puddings below are examples of these; they all have different merits and nutritional benefits.

Crumble

Full of low GI oats and with a good portion of fruit per serving, crumble ticks more than one box as a healthy dessert; ideal for replacing lost calories after a long ride, or topping up the carbo-loading pre-ride.

Recipe (Serves 6):
Fruit e.g. cooking apples (peeled, cored and cut into 2cm slices); cooking apples and blackberries; rhubarb (cut into 2cm chunks); gooseberries; plums (stoned and halved); pears (in 2cm slices); blackcurrants
100g jumbo oats
100g plain flour
100g butter, softened and cut into small chunks
100g Demerara sugar

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC.
2. If the fruit is fresh rather than frozen/from a jar or tin, bring to the boil in a centimetre of water and simmer for a couple of minutes, then drain. Spoon into a heatproof dish. If frozen, leave to thaw at room temperature.
3. Ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, extra sugar and sultanas/raisins can be added if you like, depending on the fruit – nutmeg and sultanas go well with apples; cinnamon with apples or plums; ginger with rhubarb, gooseberries or pears.
4. Crumble the oats, flour, butter and sugar between your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Spread over the top of the fruit.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the topping is golden brown.
6. Serve warm or cold with custard, cream or ice-cream.
The crumble will keep in the fridge or in a cool place for 2 days or so. It can also be frozen.

Bread and Butter Pudding

High energy, high fruit and high protein. Again a great pudding for recovery or carbo-loading, it contains simple carbohydrates that are easy on the stomach pre-race and to add to that it's got plenty of the super-liquid included that is milk!

Recipe:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/breadandbutterpuddin_85936

Possible variations:
- Instead of 50 sultanas: 25g sultanas, 25g raisins
- Instead of whole milk: semi-skimmed milk
- Instead of cinnamon and nutmeg: one vanilla pod/few drops vanilla extract. If vanilla pod is used, place in the pan with the milk and cream

For a hot cross bun pudding: Steps 1, 2 and 3 as above. Add 3 eggs to half a pint of milk, whisk, and pour over the bread layers. Sprinkle with nutmeg (no need to add sugar or to leave to stand). Bake as above. 

French Toast

A tasty carbohydrate rich pudding, relatively low in fat, and with the benefits of anti-oxidants from the berries in the compote or jam.

Recipe:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4093/brioche-french-toast-with-raspberry-jam

You could add a few drops of vanilla extract or cinnamon when frying the brioche, and it could be served with vanilla ice cream or custard. Instead of raspberries, you could use some or a mixture of strawberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, tayberries, loganberries, blackberries, cherries and blueberries. Stewed apricots or plums also possible.
If necessary, add a bit of sugar to the fruit. The jam works best if it has a high fruit content and is not too set. Blueberry or strawberry jam could be used instead of raspberry.

Or you could make a compote:
100g fruit, 1 tbsp caster sugar, squeeze of lemon juice.
Heat gently in a pan until the fruit starts to burst, then simmer for 2 minutes.

Other types of French toast:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2053653/chocolate-and-banana-french-toast http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/73609/cheesy-french-toast-with-ham-and-grilled-vine-toma

Summer Pudding

Simple carbohydrates and berries again make this a great pud for a cyclist; ideal pre-race to keep the sugar levels high.

Recipe:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4516/summer-pudding

Possible variations: Instead of a large basin, small moulds can be used.
These fruits can also be used: tayberries, loganberries, blackcurrants, cherries, blueberries.
Serve with whipped or clotted cream.

Race Report: Portsmouth CTL Circuits 18th July - Breakaway Boys

After last week's horrific DQ I was back to try and take revenge at Pompey track on Wednesday evening, in what proved to be an interesting race.

For the first ten minutes or so I rode in the pack, warming up and getting a feel for the track and who was riding. Once again there was a strong headwind on one side of the track, which promised to make a break difficult.

At about ten minutes into the forty minute race I got in a break of about six riders and we began to work well together. I thought it could work and for about twenty minutes we stayed away from the bunch; but certain riders in the group weren't pulling their weight and as the workers in the group began to catch onto that fact they too tried to take shorter turns on the front and as a result the pace of the group slowed. The peloton kept chasing and the hopes of staying away were gradually lost as we were reeled back in.

For a few minutes I sat back in the pack. Then Robbie, one of the lads from the Island, came forward and asked if I fancied giving another break a go. Hell why not. We bolted off the front, trying to get a gap, but for some reason the pack weren't going to let us go this time, and they immediately stepped up the pace. Looked like they might be working well together this week then!

As a result it surprised me when just nine minutes before the three laps board went up, the pack let three riders break off the front. The three opened a decent gap of about a hundred metres. I was even more surprised when another rider was let off the front and then I was able to jump across to him! Perhaps the pack weren't working that well together after all.

It took five hard laps for the two of us to pull the three leaders back in to make a five man break. Then when we caught them I somehow went straight onto the front, eager to keep the pace high to hold off the pursuing pack, who were suddenly picking the pace up as we neared the forty minute mark.

With all but one in the break working hard on the front we managed to stay away. Just. The pack were only two hundred meters or so behind us as the bell rung for the final lap. 
It then became apparent why one of the guys in the break hadn't been working. His team-mate had been doing good stints on the front and going into the final three hundred meters he was leading out the sprint, as I sat in second position. It was then that his reasonably fresh team mate behind me launched his sprint; I couldn't quite get on his wheel, and he managed to hold me off to take the line as I rolled through in second.

An interesting tactical sprint and some great team work by the Fareham Wheelers then. I was happy with a good podium result, and got a few more points in the bag to finish off two successful evenings of racing. Hopefully I can keep it going into the next few weeks.

Race Report: Sotonia CC Heath Race 2 - Breakaway Flyers and A Futile Chase

First road race in a while last night - over in the New Forest for the Sotonia CC Heath Race. A good field of 40 riders, a reasonably strong wind and a rare sunny evening (for July?!) looked set to make for an interesting race.

The course was made up of five laps of the six mile circuit, with a few rolling hills and some fast wooded descents. Jimbo got in an early break during the first lap, but it was pulled back in by the second time we rolled through the line. Then almost immediately another attack of three riders went off the front. Unfortunately Wightlink RT didn't manage to get anyone in that break, and to our annoyance it was the one that stuck!

During lap three I did some hard efforts on the front, desperately trying to reel the break back in. However, as the big teams Cannondale, VC. St. Raph. and Andover Wheelers had riders in the break there weren't many riders willing to work to pull the escapees back in. After five minutes or so sat on the front trying to pull it back with a heart rate of 90% max, I eventually conceded and let myself drift back into the pack, to recover in time for the sprint.

Swinging into the final straight on the final lap I picked my wheels carefully, choosing those that would bring me to the front at about the right time. Just before the incline up to the finish I clicked down a gear and kicked, banking on my long sprint to pull me through. In retrospect I probably shouldn't have changed down because as we hit the incline I never managed to get that new gear up to speed. However, I pulled through a fair few riders and finished third in the bunch sprint, with Jimbo screaming past me for a bunch sprint win and a team fourth in the race, and Sam coming in just behind me to take tenth.

A good result for the team then, with positions 4th, 6th and 10th, and another 12 points for my license.
Good to be back on track, without any DQs!

Review: Maxxis Ignitor XC Tyre

Tyre choice is always a tough topic, even more so on the XC circuit, where conditions and courses dictate the choice even more so than on tarmac.

When I bought the On One Whippet frame last summer for the Natwest International Island Games XC Event, I needed a set of tyres that I could mount up tubeless and leave on the bike. They needed to be reasonably hard wearing, good in all conditions, fast rolling and good value. After doing a bit of shopping around the Maxxis Ignitor tyre seemed like a good option. I found them for around £27 each online and mounted them up on the Hope Hoops that I am running with ZTR Crest Rims on the Whippet. Here's what I thought:

• Speed: These are pretty fast! OK they might not be quite as rapid as Rocket Rons, but I reckon they are comparable almost to Racing Ralph in terms of low rolling resistance and speed.

• Durability: This is where I think these tyres come into their own, they come in different compounds and with the harder compound option (that I chose) they seem to last pretty well. They have decent puncture protection and as I highlight below are fairly resistant to cuts and tyre-wall slashes. 

• All Purpose: Because of the nature of tubeless it's a bit of a faff to change between tyres, that's why I wanted tyres that could be used in all conditions. These seem to serve that purpose well, I've ridden them almost throughout the year, only changing them for a Panaracer Trailrakers in the depths of winter. They do well in the dry and the wet, clearing mud well and gripping well in the dust. 

• Terrain: If you aren't going to use these as an all purpose tyre, but instead use them for a certain condition where they excel, I would have to say it is the dry and rocky conditions. During the Island Games race we had some steep rocky descents with flints and chalk; many riders running lightweight tyres such as Racing Ralphs and Rocket Rons were suffering with flint cuts and punctures particularly on the side-walls. The Ignitors held up well, and have largely avoided flint cuts throughout their use. Admittedly this is with the harder compound option, and I can't vouch for the grippier softer compound tyres, but in my mind there is a compromise to be made between puncture protection and compound/side-wall choice on tyres. These seem a robust option and for that reason I think they are suited to the the rocky terrain often found on downlands. 

Overall a pretty solid tyre, both in terms of reliability and speed. They aren't the lightest, lowest rolling resistance, grip-orientated tyres. Yet, they do a very decent job at ticking all of the categories at more than a satisfactory level, and certainly make a great all-conditions race and training tyre. 

N.B.  I have to say that I have not replaced the Ignitor that I have just taken off my bike like-for-like; but instead have opted to try another similar market tyre, the Geax Saguaro. This is for two reasons: the Geax was on special offer, and secondly the Maxxis' beads seem too lightweight to run tubeless, as I was getting a problem with them "burping" off the rim, even on the Stans NoTubes specific rims. The Geax has a 'Tube-No-Tube' set up, so it is effectively a tubeless tyre, however it remains to be seen how it performs against the Maxxis in terms of grip and durability (future review in the pipe-line).

Available from Wiggle Bike Shop (Link)

What tyres are you currently using on your XC bike? Comments below.

Photo Blog: Newly Built Commuter Bike

Bit of a random assortment of parts, but it seems to work. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Tortec Expedition Rack will take up to 35kgs. Triple Chainset and large cassette allow those loads to get up hills.

Bar Ends and Suspension help make the ride more comfortable

Deore Disk Brakes should overcome the stopping power problems in the wet and gritty conditions of UK winter (or summer?!)

Some serious recycling of parts off the race bike. This XT Rear Shadow Derailluer has got a home-made inner-plate. Hopefully shouldn't bend this one on as it's stainless steel.

Geax Roadster Tyres are reckoned to be one of the hardest wearing Asphalt tyres around, and they  are meant to have very good puncture protection even when occasionally used off-road

The recycled XT Shadow rear mech and large 34T cassette should mean I can get up most inclines even fully loaded. 

Race Report: Portsmouth CTL Circuits 11th July 2012: A Bitter Victory

Think I've calmed down enough now to write a blog on Wednesday's race. Which was possibly one of the most gutting experiences of my life.

My first race back at Portsmouth Mountbatten Track after exams and sickness didn't start that well. The legs didn't feel like they were there for the first ten minutes of the race, I wasn't surprised given the lack of preparation that I have had in the past month. However, by fifteen minutes in something was coming, I was active on the front chasing down breaks and I was able to ride in the wheels fairly well, dodging the brutal headwind that was hitting us on one side of the track.

The majority of the race was fairly standard; a few breaks went off the front, but we chased them down reasonably well. The only thing that I did note was that the bunch really wasn't working very well together, certainly compared to the E.1.2.3 BUCS Road Race that I did back in May (the last race I rode). There was a select group that was working on the front and they seemed to be tiring towards the later part of the race.

So when at 35 minutes in, a solo break went off the front I thought it was worth a shot, knowing that my sprint wasn't up to much. I chased after him, just at an opportune moment when the main field had slowed a bit. It took me about half a lap to catch up with him, and without him knowing I managed to take his slipstream for almost a full lap.

When he did eventually notice me, we worked well together for three or four minutes, until we saw the lap board go up for three laps to go. Just as this happened we had a lone rider cross over from the main field to our little break, which was now holding the pack at about half a lap (250m). It was a good job that we did have that "bridger", as the guy that had been my breakaway companion suddenly blew his gasket and despite his awesome work pulled off and was soon engulfed by the pursuing main field.

For the last two laps I worked with the new breakaway buddy, keeping it steady, but working hard enough to hold off the main pack. Going into the final lap I tactically made sure that he was on the front for the hard headwind section and going into the finishing straight. I then clicked down a gear, and using the following tailwind managed to sprint past him to take the win.

This was where the bitterness came in. No bitter-sweet. Just as bitter as a sour lemon.
As I rolled off the track after the cool-down lap the official called me over. Then proceeded to promptly tell me that because I put my hands in the air at the finish I was disqualified. I admit I had heard him at the start say two hands on the bars, because some idiot a few weeks back took out most of the race because he couldn't celebrate properly. Yet, I don't know what it was, natural impulse, forget, excitement, adrenaline. Any one of those, or a combination of them caused me to take my hands off the bars for a victory salute for a few seconds, which apparently endangered the main field of riders who were 350 meters behind me.

I was gutted. My first race back after almost two months off and I had been duped of my victory. I had put everything into that race; in that last three laps my heart rate was at 96% max and I had lactic acid searing through my veins; then a new, unofficial rule had got the better of me.

I think I know how Cav felt two years ago now, when they disqualified him from the stage that effectively stripped him of his Green Jersey win. Someone on Twitter said "It's only a race ffs". But it's not, it's a lot more than that; it's self-esteem, it's hours of training, it's feeling like you have been singled out.

But I'll take the moral victory and come back next week, at least I know the legs are there.
Hopefully there will be no more bitterness in my future wins.

Discussion Post: Chain Lubes

OK, I'm going to try something new...below are four chain lubes that I have used and reviewed, with the Morgan Blue Extra Dry Lube coming out on top. I'm interested to hear what other people think about their chain lube of choice and what their recommendations are.
Let's see if we can get a discussion going in the comments section at the bottom of the post.

Morgan Blue Extra Dry Chain Lube

Positives:
- The most effective dry lube I've used - doesn't attract dust or grime, leaving the chain looking clean and running smooth for a long time
- Easy to apply with long nozzle
- Just as good for the road bike as the mountain bike or tourer (despite the description on the label)
- Surprisingly good value £4.49 for 125ml (Wiggle)

Negatives:
- Still a bit more expensive than other brands, but worth it in my opinion for pro-level lube
- Does need re-application perhaps more often than alternative brands of Wet Lube

Weldtite TF2 Extreme Synthetic Wet Chain Lube

Positives:

- Stays put, even in extreme conditions and long tours, this will stay on the inside working parts of your chain for a long time

- Doesn't wash off in the rain

- Very reasonable price: £3.50 for 125ml (CRC)

Negatives:

- Goes on like stringy cheese, which is rather messy

- Attracts dust and grime, which sticks to the chain, leaving it looks and feeling a bit claggy

Finish Line Teflon Dry Chain Lube

 Positives:

- Not many, really couldn't get on with this stuff

- Perhaps one positive is that it's white colour means you can see where it has been applied or not?

Negatives:

- Comes out in a milk-like solution with globules of solidified lubricant, leaves the chain looking messy and doesn't seem to penetrate well

- Seems to wash off or wear out quickly

- Very slightly smaller bottle

- Very much in the shadow of the Morgan Blue Dry Lube

- Expensive at around £5.50 for 120ml (Wiggle)

Finish Line Wet Lube

Positives:

- Stays put; I've used this in some of the worst conditions including snow and torrential French "monsoon" rain; it's stayed on the chain and kept working

- Easy and non-messy to apply

Negatives:

- Washes off more than the TF2 Lube

- More expensive than the TF2 Lube: £5.50 for 120ml (Wiggle)

- Like the TF2 lube, as a wet lube it attracts dust and grime, which can act as a good grinding paste for your gears if you don't clean them regularly. I think for this reason I am generally in favour of the dry lubes, even in the winter.

So there you go, four lubes that I have tried and rated. 

The Morgan Blue is the best in my opinion, but what are your views?

- What Lube do you use on your chain?

- How well does it work?

- Do you use a different one in winter and summer?

- Do you have a special "race lube"?

Discuss below... 

The 1910 Challenge - Plans for Summer 2013

Last term at Uni I spent nine weeks sat at a desk revising and eventually sitting exams, you can't focus your whole mind on Economics for all your waking hours though, and although I managed to get out on the bike a bit I also spent a fair bit of time sat at my desk daydreaming about future rides, challenges, races and training that I could do.

Back in January I found the video of the Rapha '1910 Challenge' and posted it as one of my Weekend Watch clips. As I watched it again last term I increasingly felt the urge to try it myself, and over the last few weeks, I have drummed it into my head that this ride is definitely on the cards for next summer. So this blog post looks at the route, the history and why some crazy fool like me might want to take up the most arduous mountain stage ever played out in the Tour de France:

The History:

In 1910, after just eight years since it's genesis, the organisers of the Tour de France first took its competitors to the high mountains of the Pyrenees. One stage that year stood out above all the rest though, a stage of legends, of valour, suffering and defeat. Étape 10 ran from Luchon in the heart of the Pyrenees to Bayonne on the Biscay coast. Covering 326km, the route took the competitors over everything the high mountains could offer; Peyresourde, Aspin, Soulor and the Aubisque. However, towering above them all was the Col du Tourmalet; a mountain which stills fear into many cyclists legs, and the highest Col in the Pyrenees mountain range. 

Last year I crossed the Col d'Aubisque and the Tourmalet on a fully loaded touring bike. However, that was on separate days and with a triple chainset and mountain bike cassette. They are stunning climbs, not just in terms of the views, but also the technicality of the descents and the severity of the ascents.

The Tourmalet stands at 2115 meters, and from the Luz-Saint-Sauveur approach that I took last year is 18.3km long, rising 1,450m with gradients of 7-8%. From the East and Sainte-Marie de Campan the climb is 17.4km long and a 1,500m rise, with gradients of 9-10% in the last 8km. It truly is the stuff of legends, I was lucky to pass it on a rare blue-bird day, but most of the time it is submersed in the cloud, with the lone silver cyclist rising out of the mist as you reach the summit.

Here is a piece from the Rapha website on the first ever inclusion of the Tourmalet in the Tour de France:

"It was one Alphonse Steinès that first suggested sending the peloton up the Tourmalet’s mighty flanks.
A loyal lieutenant to Tour founder Henri Desgrange, it was Steinès who, in January of 1910, led a reconnaissance of the great mountain."

"Steinès’ notebooks recounting his experiences during those early Tours are currently on display at Rapha Cycle Club in London. One thing they don’t record is the reaction of Desgrange when the Tourmalet was first mooted for inclusion in the race – Steinès was clearly insane. In the absence of anything that might reasonably be called a road, asking riders to negotiate a route that in places was little more than a donkey track was madness."

"Undeterred, Steinès set out to survey the mountain from the east. Travelling by car, when heavy snow forced him to stop 4km short of the summit he pushed on, this time on foot. It was close to 3am when he was eventually discovered by a search party and though it was a bedraggled Steinès that was returned to Bareges, it was also a triumphant one. ‘Tourmalet crossed. Stop.,” ran his cable to Desgrange, “Very good road. Stop. Perfectly acceptable. Stop. Steinès.”

"Steinès vertical ambitions for the race meant he would eventually become known as ‘the father of the mountains’. Yet it was another key figure in Tour history who would become synonymous with the climb that is now the most visited in the history of the race (of 97 Tours, including 2010, the Tourmalet has featured in 85)."

"France’s Octave Lapize had won a bronze medal in the men’s 100km track event at the 1908 London Olympics, following it with victory at Paris-Roubaix a year later. In the Tour of 1909, managing just a second place on Stage 2, Lapize had abandoned due to bad weather. The eventual winner, Luxembourg’s Francois Faber, joined him a year later on the start line in Paris, part of a much fancied Alcyon team. It was Faber who notched up the early successes, winning both Stage 2 and Stage 4. Then, on 21st July, the peloton set out from Luchon, the start of 14 hours in the saddle and a stage that would cement the Tourmalet’s place in Tour history. Hauling their 15kg bikes up the mountain, the rough, pitted roads meant the riders were frequently reduced to a walk."


"At the top of the Aubisque, Desgrange and the other officials awaited the first riders. It was Lapize who emerged first, his face a perfect rictus of agony. On the stage’s final climb and with the pain of the Tourmalet still in his legs, it was at that moment that Lapize uttered the words for which he would become famous: “Vous êtes des assassins!” – ‘You are murderers’."


"Other riders would come to be associated with the Tourmalet and for a variety of reasons; from the ingenuity of Eugene Christophe to the assuredness and dominance of Federico Bahamontes. But it is Octave Lapize and that brief, pained exclamation that best sums up the unique challenge the Tourmalet has presented for the past 100 years. It is Octave Lapize (the silver cyclist) whose statue, every summer, is ceremoniously reinstated at the mountain’s summit."

The Challenge

OK, so I'm a masochist of one of the highest orders to even consider doing this route, but there is something deep down that draws me to it. It is more than any other stage in the Tour de France, the route map above demonstrates compared to the 2010 L'Étape Du Tour the stage is a beast - almost twice as long and with near 50% more elevation to be climbed. In the style of Marks and Spencer "This is more than a sportive - this is an suicidal sportive". 

Yes I could go and ride the Marmotte, or the Étape, and I'm sure it would be one hell of a challenge, but the 1910 Challenge instils fear into me every time I think about it. It's a piece of cycling history, a monumental challenge, and for that reason I can't stop thinking about it.

So next summer, when I've got a van, a driver and A LOT more miles in my legs I hope to attempt it.
What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger...right?!

So...who wants to come with me?

Here's the Rapha documentary of the 1910 Challenge for those that haven't seen it before:

The 1910 Challenge from RAPHA on Vimeo.