Pricycles

www.team-dave.co.uk

This is the website for myself & Dave Lewis’  charity Lands End to John O’Groat’s ride we will be starting on 11th September 2010. The biggest difference about this challenge is that we will be riding to the start & back from the finish, so I suppose that makes it end to end, twice! We will be raising money for Air Ambulance & you can donate on the Team Dave website using the Just Giving link. Any donations will be received with great appreciation & I hope we can raise our target of £1200.

Team Dave

A select few of my outdoor orientated friends know about a little ‘Bee’ I have in my bonnet (not the one that cracked my windscreen) regarding a certain brand & its seemingly endlessly popular apparel.

The North Face, I’m sure, make some functional & quality outdoor clothing. Except one thing bites me about it… every other person who wheres the logo up & down the high street! T-shirts, fair enough, technical expedition & mountain clothing gets a big thumbs down!

Is it ‘cool’ to dress the same as every other person? Not in my world! I don’t claim to be cool & am probably far from it. I do my own thing when I want & in my own way (guess that might make me remotely cool), I’m not the average sheep! Nor do I consider it reasonable to pay an extra premium to ‘fashion’ said logo like oh so many others!

It was mentioned to me that I’m not the only one to think this!

Nice Image!

Check out the site…

http://www.thesouthbutt.com/

To pay more for a powerful brand isn’t new to me. I’ve seen it all before with Specialized & their mountain bikes. They tried to rise up & take on the mighty FOX with their own AFR shocks & forks, & took a massive leap back to the stone age in terms of quality & performance, did they listen to the feedback from their dealers? Do you see me on Specialized mountain bikes any more? This is why! Overpriced for the performance.

Consequently you will not see me sporting a North Face logo, on the other hand possibly the South Butt…. Also….

Drinking I’m told is also cool & the done thing, I DON’T DRINK! Some people can’t get that into their thick skulls!

Swearing is another thing I see a being classed as a cool thing & ‘big’. It’s totally unnecessary!

Just thought you might like to know!

Dave

Second XC race of the season headed to the venue of Hanchurch woods just outside of Stoke-on-Trent. I rode the venue a couple of years back when it debuted, a little claggy & slow going at the time on virgin trails. This time it was dry, hard & FAST! Aware of the 4 lap format now, (must have changed it last year as I learnt on the start line at NPS Rd1) I tried to get somewhere near the start for the drag strip up the fire road before turning left up the main climb. The other advantage of getting near the front was to keep ahead of the dust cloud stirred up by the 44 riders in the sport category.

First lap & I hardly see my heart rate drop below 180 bpm, I can’t keep this up, I need to settle down into a rhythm, I estimate there’s around 12 riders in front, too many for my liking! As usual the first lap is a bit manic & as the race settles I find my groove, I’m feeling almost OK. Sure there’s a gradient here & there that is a little hard to find the right gear for.

For the first time ever I have someone to hold out a drink bottle for me mid race! I given riding buddy Lee Monks & his girlfriend Kelly a lift up too, Lee’s racing in the same race & may as well dish out 2 bottles rather than 1, Cheers Kelly! Funny thing that always happens to me, I fall off! Right at the feed zone, getting cross rutted whilst riding one handed putting my bottle in, in front of everyone! What a wally!

Lap 3 & The singletrack at the top of the first climb, I think I hit every single pebble (there are none), root, stump or mound there is to be hit, I’m all over the place, what’s that all about!? Too much road riding? I stick to the job & collect my flow.

End of the 3rd lap & I’m 11th, that’s not really good enough, despite my from being a little iffy. Hey presto! I’m catching the odd rider here & there, some are obviously back markers & some perhaps master riders that have blown. Nonetheless it’s  a bit of a mental boost & knowing what’s left to do I pick my pace up for the last haul. I catch a couple of riders that are working together, I know the one is in sport as he passed me earlier, he wears yellow shoes. I sit on the back for a little bit to rest up & judge the pace of the pair & what’s needed to pass without towing them along. We approach a section where there’s some line options, a sizable log hop or a longer chicken route. I know the chicken route is slower from taking it on the first lap, I’ve gone for the hop on the second & third laps, I do the same for the last lap, Yellow shoes & company take the chicken route, I’m gone! No attempts to tag on. My gap increases through the remaining singletrack, I’m hauling, just feeling the edge of grip as I pump round the corners. I cross the line in 9th with the 8th placed rider in sight but just that little too far, another 100meters & maybe, just maybe…

Lap times…

1st – 0.23.07    2nd – 0.23.05    3rd – 0.23.29    4th – 0.22.52

If my memory serves me well, the last race here my last lap was also the fastest.

I noticed on the start list a name that goes back to my primary & secondary school days, Chaz Davies, same one? You bet! Growing up only a few miles apart, only to run into each other for the first time in quite some time. At a low key bit  woodland… Incase you don’t know, Chaz races motorbikes, fast ones! He’s ridden in the moto gp & set some impressive achievements, check his site out, http://www.chazdaviesracing.com/index.htm.

Managed to hook up with Al & Jim today at the bottom of Callow Hill, south Hereford. Of course I had to suss the paces that these guys are at on their third day of the end to end journey, they’re going well! After a little distance & waiting for a gap in the traffic I gave them a little break from the wind by giving them a back wheel to follow through Hereford. With some generally good fortune we hardly got held up at all through the traffic lights & roundabouts through town. Ideal! Unfortunately I had to peel off at the top of Hereford to get back to work.
I gather they’re in Cheshire tonight, & check out on their site how much they’ve raised so far!! Dda Iawn!

www.theonlywayisup.org

Whilst I’ve been whizzing round at the Exposure Lights Big Night Out & Chain Reaction Spring Marathon in a hot & dusty Builth Wells, My good friends Jim, Al & Dave O are embarking on a cycle adventure that I also hope to accomplish, Cycling from Lands End to John O Groats. The trio headed to the start on Saturday  & by now have completed there first day. I’ve been with Jim & Al on a few of their training rides & am confident they can reach their goals. Of course, they’re not just doing it for themselves but for those less fortunate by raising money for Hope House & Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. You can follow their progress on their website http://www.theonlywayisup.org/.

Al, Jim, Pricer

Now, my winter bike was formerly a training bike owned by Dave O’s son, Russ who sadly died of Leukaemia. Dave O loves to see it being put to good use & being looked after & it gives me great pride in doing so, & to be fair its a lovely bike to ride!

I hope you can donate to either of the causes that these guys are raising money for & I hope to join them for a little while as they ride through Hereford this week.

Pricer

The weekend saw the first national XC race at Sherwood pines, Nottingham. I have raced here before & struggled with the pretty flat fast course, in short, I lost the midlands title here in 2008. Determined to get over the mental aspect of the venue, a less than ideal run up the the race saw dwindling fitness & less than 100% fitness. 34th out of 69 in Sport men. A harsh reminder of the demands of racing!

One of the biggest things I have lacked over my successful 2008 season is base fitness. Joining the Hereford Wheelers at the end of the winter sessions helped in the top end aspect some, but you need a good base to set it on, a base that I haven’t much of.

Of course the clocks changed at the weekend! Hurray! That now means evening time trials! The first 10 miler of my life on a gently rolling course south west of Hereford returned a 3rd place result. Although some initial discrepancies in the timing have hopefully been ironed out! Full results below.

Road Bike ‘10′ – Allensmore (C10/16) 1st April 2010

Team  Position  Name  Actual Time  Average Speed
Hfd Wheelers  1  Jon Tetley  00:25:14  23.78  ? + 45/60 secs
Hfd Wheelers  2  Andy Sparks  00:26:20  22.78  ? + 45/60 secs
Pearce Cycles  3  Dave Price  00:26:25  22.71  ? + 45/60 secs
Hfd Tri Club  4  Mark Sims  00:26:44  22.44
Hfd Tri Club  5  Steve Dudderidge  00:27:15  22.02  ? + 45/60 secs
Hfd Wheelers  6  Guy Evans  00:27:25  21.88
Hfd Wheelers  7  George Burgess  00:27:31  21.80
Climb On Bikes  8  Andy Moxon  00:27:35  21.75
Hfd Wheelers  9  Richard Williams  00:27:39  21.70  ? + 45/60 secs
Climb On Bikes  10  Paula Moseley  00:27:53  21.52  ? + 45/60 secs
Hfd Wheelers  11  Sean Bennett  00:28:07  21.34
Hfd Wheelers  12  Neil Pascoe  00:28:26  21.10  ? + 45/60 secs
Hfd Wheelers  13  Graeme Thomas  00:28:28  21.08
Hfd Wheelers  14  Chris Hughes  00:28:29 21.06
Hfd Wheelers  15  Guy Phillips  00:29:17  20.49  ? + 45/60 secs
Climb On Bikes  16  Luke Bradford  00:29:43  20.19
Hfd Tri Club  17  Chris Head  00:30:05  19.94
Hfd Wheelers  18  Simon Lawrence  00:30:18  19.80
Hfd Wheelers  19  Jimmy Hughes  00:31:18  19.17  ? + 45/60 secs
Hfd Wheelers  20  Ed Hadley  00:31:39  18.96
Hfd Wheelers  21  Owain Pascoe  00:31:48  18.87  ? + 45/60 secs
Hfd Wheelers  22  Mike Parry  00:34:09  17.57
Hfd Tri Club  23  Simon Lind  00:34:23  17.45
Hfd Wheelers  24  Wendy Howells  00:36:35 16.40
Hfd Wheelers  25  Huw Powell  00:36:43  16.34
Hfd Wheelers  26  Luke Williams  DNF Puncture

Over the 4 day Easter weekend I shall be clocking some miles, see you around?!

Pricer

The racing season begun last weekend for me with the Hereford Wheelers 19 mile Sporting Time Trial on a hilly route starting from Stretton Sugwas, heading north to Weobley via Burghill, then returning on the main road that runs through Yazor & Credenhill. A relatively hilly route by my standards, nothing too severe but with some long sweeping descents & straight flat stretches that really benefitted the aerodynamics of thoroughbred time trial bikes. Despite that, I managed to pass a number of riders using my Specialized Roubaix to finish 10th.

Weobley Sporting Course 14th March 2010
Approx. 19 miles

Team            Position    Name    Actual Time    18.8    Average Speed
Hfd Wheelers    1    Ian Rivers    00:46:20    01:00:00    24.35
Hfd Wheelers    2    Jon Tetely    00:48:56    01:00:00    23.05
Hfd Wheelers    3    Alex Haines  00:49:53    01:00:00    22.61
Hfd Wheelers    4    Ian Peake    00:50:05    01:00:00    22.52
Hfd Wheelers    5    Andy Sparks    00:53:01    01:00:00    21.28
Cilmb on Bikes 6    Ritchie Lambert    00:53:13    01:00:00    21.20
Hfd Wheelers   7    Luke Williams    00:53:31    01:00:00    21.08
Hfd Wheelers   8    Brian Turner    00:53:36    01:00:00    21.04
Climb on Bikes 9    Dave White    00:53:43    01:00:00    21.00
Hfd Wheelers    10    Dave Price    00:54:20    01:00:00    20.76
Hfd Wheelers    11    Richard George    00:55:09    01:00:00    20.45
Hfd Wheelers    12=    Guy Evans    00:55:28    01:00:00    20.34
Ross on Wye CC 12=    Paul Stephens    00:55:28    01:00:00    20.34
Hfd Wheelers    13    Mark Collyer    00:56:15    01:00:00    20.05
Hfd Wheelers    14    Sarah Lloyd Stephens    00:58:33    01:00:00    19.27
Evesham Wh    15    Tom Brazier    00:58:40    01:00:00    19.23
Climb on Bikes  16    Ned Potter    00:58:54    01:00:00    19.15
Hfd Wheelers    17    Clint Welson    00:59:32    01:00:00    18.95
Hfd Wheelers    18    Chris Payne    00:59:37    01:00:00    18.92
Hfd Wheelers    19    Nigel Davies    00:59:51    01:00:00    18.85
Hfd Wheelers    20    Bryn North     00:59:56    01:00:00    18.82
Hfd Wheelers    21    Joe Waring    01:00:07    01:00:00    18.76
Hfd Wheelers    22    Chris Abel    01:01:45    01:00:00    18.27
Evesham Wh    23    Mark Brazier    01:02:15    01:00:00    18.12
M&D Cycles    24    Gordon Butler    01:02:18    01:00:00    18.11
Hfd Wheelers    25    Janet Harris    01:02:54
Hfd Wheelers    26    Guy Phillips    01:06:20
Hfd Wheelers    27    Debbie Clarke    01:07:10

Though some 8 minutes down is alot!

This weekend saw a shorter 2 mile route heading on the Roman road in Hereford to the roundabout at Stretton Sugwas & back, except with 3 timed runs. A steady head wind on the outward leg proved who could dig deep! In this I got 11th, again as you would expect, aerodynamics is a definite advantage! A few tweeks to the Roubaix could help a little, especially lowering the bars from 10 feet in the air! Perhaps a little exageration!

3 X 2 Sprint Roman Road 21 March 2010
Pos    Name    Club    1srRun    2nd Run     3rd Run    Total
1    Ian Rivers    HW    4m15s    4m16s    4m17s    12m48s
2    Jon Tetley    HW    4m19s    4m19s    4m20s    13m08s
3    Alex Haines    HW    4m30s    4m29s    4m34s    13m33s
4    Andy Sparks    HW    4m41s    4m35s    4m35s    13m51s
5=    Guy Evans    HW    4m41s    4m45s    4m48s    14m14s
5=    Neil Marshman    CoB    4m49s    4m50s    4m35s    14m14s
6    Luke Williams    HW    4m47s    4m46s    4m46s    14m19s
7    Simon Geary    HW    4m37s    4m49s    4m54s    14m20s
8    Graeme Thomas    HW    4m45s    4m53s    4m50s    14m28s
9    Richard George    HW    4m49s    4m58s    4m56s    14m43s
10    Chris Able    HW    4m52s    5m04s    5m07s    15m03s
11    Dave Price    Pearce Cycles    5m01s    5m03s    5m08s    15m12s
12    Gaby McDermott    HW    5m00s    5m14s    5m10s    15m24s
13    Sarah Lloyd Stephens    HW    5m10s    5m09s    5m09s    15m28s
14    Bryn North    HW    5m06s    5m13s    5m11s    15m30s
15    Eddie Hadley    HW    5m19s    5m00s    5m17s    15m36s
16=    Mike Parry    HW    5m12s    5m13s    5m22s    15m47s
16=    Tom Knight    CoB    5m20s    5m19s    5m08s    15m47s
17    Joe Waring    HW    5m29s    5m35s    5m28s    16m32s
18    Simon Bremner    HW    5m35s    5m46s    5m34s    16m55s
19    Steven Fortey    HW    5m40s    5m45s    5m59s    17m24s
20    Debbie Clarke    HW    5m53s    5m53s    5m45s    17m31s
21    Huw Powell    HW    6m04s    5m55s    5m46s    17m45s
22    Dawn Turner    HW    6m45s    6m26s    6m32s    19m43s

Next week is the first round of the NPS XC at Sherwood Pines, I will be using my Merida FLX for the rolling fast trails! Nervous excitement!

Dave

When I moved to Hereford a year ago I knew very little about the Wheelers other than seeing some of the shirts in the Climb On Spring Road Race in 2008. I remember thinking what a great opertunity it would be to get involved, namely with the time trials, club rides & winter turbo sessions.

Well, around October I popped along to Sutton St.Nicolas village hall (Incidentally just a few minutes down the road from Marden) to see what went on. I left with a burning desire to get involved. Armed with necessary forms to join, I unfortunately let a few things get in the way & put it on the back burner.

That is until I saw a familiar looking face down the swimming pool on Monday. Instantly I remembered him (Chris) from the Wheelers. Getting chatting to Chris he kindly offered to lend me his turbo to give the ‘Ramp’ test a go. Your On!

I later find out the ramp test is based on power output starting at 160 watts for 3 minutes & increasing by 20 watts & sustaining for a further 3 minutes for as long as you can keep increasing power output.

After a 25minute warm up we begin! Up until around an output of 280 watts I’m still breathing comfortably through my nose, I look around briefly to see some are working reasonably hard, but focus on the job at hand, nothing else! (Thanks Steve!)

Eventually I crack at a minute & a half into 400 watts output having run out of gears on my compact chainset at 360 watts, I think this was when I became the last one standing…

Not bad for the new boy!?

For whatever reason this has set my mind into such a positive approach for the new season that goals WILL be achieved!

My own Turbo ordered (Chris will be glad to have his back!) & will be back down with the wheelers next week for the regular training sessions for sure!

Pricer

A bit like the Challenge Anika series of old just with Clive instead, & bikes!

Up in a snowy Rhayader setting, things quickly ran into trouble on the route… …Lee’s head disappeared!

Hahaha!

Despite some pretty bleak snow storms the ride was fabulous with a great route laid out by Clive Powell. Great snow type meant it was pretty grippy & I can think of only a short few meters that had to be walked! Tidy

The thing I struggle with most at the moment is keeping my face warm & so not hinder the acupuncture treatment I have been having as a result of silly Downhill bikes!

Am I sticking my tongue out???

Following the ride, a couple of pots of tea & some grub in the cafe reflecting the day with Sparky & Lee, not to mention Lee’s ironic jack pot of 2 tubes in the raffle rounded it up nicely! Y0u see, Lee has more than his fair share of punctures and really loses his head when he gets them!

Pricer

Now, I change my bikes alot! But it’s always nice to try different things out. For years I’ve been drawn to the Superlight & now that I have one I’m glad to say that it’s brill & likely to stay with me for a good while! I like it, alot! So much so that the only other mountain bike that interests me is a carbon hardtail, preferably by Merida. Realistically the best manufacturer for one in terms of performance, quality & they’re much better value than the competition.

Fortunately I stumbled across a fine specimen that fit’s the bill just nicely!

Although not yet built, the Merida will get a similar splashing of components as the Superlight, Fox, Hope, Shimano & Mavic (UST of course!)

All that’s left to be done is to get out on the bike, but the snow isn’t all that inviting… Roll on the Spring!

Dai