As we arrived in Ashford it was spitting with rain, but we had been assured that this would clear.  We set off at 8am on rather wet roads.  The further we went though the better the weather got.  Most importantly unlike last year there wasn’t a wind coming across the coast and comparing my spilt times to last year I was up to 30 seconds a mile quicker on these sections.

Also unlike last year I pedalled up all the hills!  In the end I was just 3 minutes off last years time, over 60 miles thats not bad!

Post from: The Barsley Brief

The Great Kent Cycle 2009

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Cycling

Back in January I resolved to get fitter, to motivate me to this end I signed up to the Royal British Legion 2008 Poppy Cycle to Paris.  In January it seemed like a long time off – it wasn’t until September that the cycle started but I wuickly started training.  I soon bought a new bike a Giant OCR 4 (road / race bike) and almost every week went into Evernden Cycles to accesorse it!

I was rather slow on my bike to begin with, looking at one of my posts from February I was struggling to complete 30 miles.  That soon changed though and my furthest training was 76 miles to Farnham, in 5 1/2 hours.

Then in September I completed the Pedal to Paris, 283 miles in 4 days.

Over the year I have cycled 1526 miles acording to my speedometer.  For 2009 I am going to aim to cycle 1000 miles – a drop I know but I am not currently planning any big multiday events and want to set an achieveable goal.

House

I have completed most of the renovations and decorating on my house over 2008 and am enjoying living in it.  Currently I am stocking it with pots and pans and other necessities – I wasnt short of ideas for Christmas this year!

For 2009 I want to finish the house – although is a house ever finished!  For me this means all the little touches, light fittings, doors, skirting boards, window sills oh and a dining room floor!  Also I want to start work on the garden/

Computing

I started this website “The Barsley Brief” back in January 2008 and have written 76 posts since then.  I have enjoyed writing about my cycle to Paris but am now sometimes at a loss at what to write about.  I think I will continue into 2009 writing book reviews and my views on news and events.  A challange for me will be to move server when my current contract expires.

Though the Barsley Brief is not my only website, I became captiavted with the idea of affiliate marketing.  To explain what this is I’ll used the example of Confused.com, many people go there to get car insurance comparisons.  If you use them and then sign up for a insurance plan that they suggest they will recieve a commison from the insurance provider for selling their insurance plan.

I started out along this route with no real expectations, as I didn’t believe that it is possible for one person to make a really difference among so many large affiliate companies.  To date I have 3 completely unique affiliate marketing websites with mixed success, but not ready to retire yet.  Aim for 2009 – that they break even (pay for the web hosting £60)

Wishing you all a great 2009!

Charles

Post from: The Barsley Brief

2008 Round up

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I saw the following and thought they we quite interesting ways to make a dull subject of cycling safety / watching out for cyclists memorable.  I looked for a few more but struggled to find any others which we so interesting and engaging, most just preach to you.

They are from www.dothetest.co.uk a Transport for London campaign encouraging drivers to be aware.  While I haven’t seen any of these adverts on TV I thought they were really create, taking a completely unrelated environment and showing how important awareness can be.  I failed both.  Leave a comment with how you did!

Post from: The Barsley Brief

Engaging Cycling Safety Ads

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I couldn’t believe it was already the last day.  The final push from Beauvais to Paris.  Our pre ride instruction booklet said we would arrive in Paris at the Arc de Triomphe at 3.21pm  though there was still 55 miles to go first!

It was an even earlier start than usual!  Everything was about an hour earlier as we would be cycling longer through the morning to get to Paris for 3.21pm.  For a change we joined the 10 mph group.  This was a really interesting experience.  In the 14mph which I had done the previous 2 days I felt as if I was always pushing, I stayed up with the group well but there was no time to coast.  The 10 mph group was a completely different experience.  I found I wasn’t pushing so hard so it was fun to play, letting myself drift to the back of the group and then working my way back up to the front.  There was one long hill which kept turning back on itself, I really steamed up it overtaking people left and right which gave me a great boost and the energy to carry on.

We stopped in a little village for a break and to let the group close up.  We saw this village had a small cafe so 50 of us descended on it at once.  We weren’t stopped for long though so really had to gulp down the coffee.

I did have some trouble in the second half of the morning though.  I heard a hiss coming from behind me so I stopped and found I had a flat back tyre.  This time though instead of having to sit in the van they just swapped the whole back wheel and gears for someone else’s.  I found the gears weren’t so long so I was having trouble getting up some hills.  Though I was enjoying cruising through the back markers and quickly found myself back near the front.  Then we stopped again so that we could all cross a busy road in one group.  As we were stopped I found the repair van as I wanted my wheel back.  They had replaced the inner tube fitted it to my bike and dropped the back of the bike to the ground and BANG the tyre blew again.  The original puncture had actually ripped a two inch gash in the tyre so it was back on with the other wheel while they replaced the whole tyre.

We were back off on the last leg till lunch.  As we cycled towards the village we were lunching in we noticed a strange site.  The Americans had invaded!  All of our motorcycle escorts had disappeared and were replaced with WWII re-enactors dressed in American military uniform complete with jeeps and guns.

A military road block!

At lunch  got my old wheel back with a brand new tyre.  After lunch we would leave in one large group.  It was worth spending the morning with the slower group as the 14mph group arrived just 20mins before we all had to leave again.

The final leg of the ride into Paris was an amazing experience.  We cycled solidly there from lunch and it was amazing to come over a crest and see Paris spread out below us.  As we got further into Paris people on the pavement and in their cars cheered and waved, I didn’t want it to end.  An amazing feeling thinking all the roads are closed for you (and the other 250 cyclists!) .  We rounded a corner on cobbles and saw the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the road.  This seemed to be a sign to sprint and we all found a last surge of energy to fly to the Arc.

Once at the Arc we were greeted by crowds of well wishers including family and friends.  There was lots of time for photos and some people already mentioning next year!  I received my medal from the president of the Royal British Legion.  We paraded up the Champs Elysees for a short service and then cycled through more of Paris to load our bikes into lorries for their journey home.

It was a amazing 4 days of cycling.  It showed me what I was capable of, when cycling by myself I sometimes stop and push but with a group you just keep going up any hill!  Also I have never cycled four days straight 6 hours a day and have found since getting back I have so much more strength and endurance smashing some of my old training times.

I was on the cover of the Courier my local paper this week.  You can read the story here.

Post from: The Barsley Brief

Day 4 – Beauvais to Paris

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The Service in Abbeville

Another good breakfast at the hotel and then a long bus back to Abbeville to pick up the bikes.  After the rain the previous day we tried to clean off most of the dirt from the bikes and re oil the chain.  Several people found punctures where their tyres had slowly gone down overnight.  My bike was ok though.  The war memorial was on the main roundabout of the town and once again all traffic was stopped for a brief remembrance service.

After the service we popped into a cafe for coffees.  As we were in their we heard a loud bang as someone over inflated their tyre!  The majority of us were riding road / race bikes with slim profile tyres which were at over 100psi.  The theory is that this high pressure gives you extra speed as the tyres have less surface area on the road digging in and causing friction.

We were off at 9am.  I found the morning much tougher than any of the other days.  Much of it was across exposed farm lands where we battled a strong wind.  I found I wasn’t in the front group and was going straight into the wind unshielded which made each mile tougher.  Lunch was in Poix de Picardie and I learnt that the reason I was finding it so tough was that I spent the morning at the front of packs with people drafting along behind me.  In the afternoon I made sure that I kept behind other people to block out some of the wind.  This really helped.  Also the fact that Lunch was much later today meant psychologically it was better as you knew after lunch you were half way there!

There's always time for tea

We met up with the other groups at Auchy la Montage.  The village held a party for us.  It was great to stop for a drink and sandwich and short speeches before carrying on.  During the speeches we were caught out as God Save the Queen went into a second verse and 250 people mumbled the verse up until the last line!

Then as a group we left for Beauvais our final night stop before Paris!  We arrived here safely and had another rememberance service before leaving our bikes in the fire station ready for the final day!

Post from: The Barsley Brief

Day Three – Abbeville to Beauvais

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There was a short remembrance service at the Calais War Memorial before the first group departed bound for Abbeville.  Now that we were in France we would travel in groups each day.  There were three groups, 10 mph, 14 mph and 18 mph, so named because of the speed that they travel.  Through my training I have achieved pretty solid averages of 14.5 mph so went for the 14 mph group.  This was the last to leave at 9:30am so we found a cafe to sit down in before setting off.

Each group had a lead car, around 10 motorcycles escorting and closing roads, at the back there was a repair van and a food van.

We took a fast pace out of Calais initially averaging 16 – 17 mph.  This was to get us out of the town quickly and out onto the less busy roads.  From Calais, all the way to Paris we would be escorted and not have to stop for traffic, except trains at level crossings of course!  Leaving Calais the flat road turned into long climbs.  Throughout the cycle in France I found the roads so very different to England.  Here we have lots of short and steep hills whereas the areas of France we travelled through they seems to be very long hills, not as steep but would wear you down from their length.  However this wasn’t a problem, by travelling in a group you found yourself taking their pace and and although at times it was tough you had the determination to continue.

We stopped for lunch after 40 km in Salle Raymond Dufour.  We were served in what seemed to be the town’s Sports / theatre hall.  Lunch consisted of an airline style tray but with much better food in it!  Also I was surprised to see wine on the table.  Though I didn’t drink any!  After lunch we still had around 80 Km to do and it had started raining.  The next stage was the toughest with hills, rain and wind to contend with.  The rain was washing gravel and stones into our path and I past several people who were standing on the side of the road with punctures.  At one point I was pedalling up what I thought seemed an overly tough hill and looked down to my back tyre and realised why.  I had a back wheel puncture too!  I stopped.  It was terrible watching everyone go passed, I also realised how far spread out we had become in the rain.  I saw the repair van in round the corner and tried to wave it down but it carried on.  The food van saw me and stopped.  I got in and realised why the repair van had continued.  There were 3 others all in the back of the van with me needing repairs.  No sooner than we set off it was time to stop and pick someone else up.  At this point they stopped the ride in a small village so that the bikes could be repaired.  I sat in a bus stop and Pete helped me patch up my inner tube and get it inflated again.  Then I was back on my bike and off again!

Unfortunately the repair only held for an hour or so but fortunately this time the repair van was empty so while I rode along in it balancing on a tool box one of the mechanics changed the inner tube for a new one.  I was pushed out right at the back of the field and was enjoying making my way back through the group until we stopped at Rossett for a tea break.  It was still raining hard and we didn’t stop long.  Having lunch so early made this feel like a very long tiring day.  We continued on until we reached the Forest l’Abbye.  Hear we joined with the two other groups of cyclists and set off on the last leg to Abbeville as one large group.  I thought as we had joined together it would be just round the corner but ended up being over an hour away.  In Abbeville we left our bikes in the sports hall.  We were part of the unlucky group who’s hotel was over 30mins bus journey away.  Though it was a nice hotel.  Once again we arrived quite late at the hotel with just time to eat and then straight to sleep.

Stats

Distance 76 miles

Time 6 hrs

Average Pace 4.44 mins per Mile

Average Speed 12.7mph

Total Ascent 5297 ft

Post from: The Barsley Brief

Day 2 – Calais to Abbeville

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Standing at the start in Greenwich Park

Thursday 4th September had finally arrived.  I had to wake up far too early… even by my standards 4:15am.  Went to my fathers for porridge and to load the car.  We left just after 5am and picked up Nick en route.  It was a surprisingly smooth journey into London despite the Tom Tom blacking out a couple of times.

We arrived in Greenwich Park at 6:30am for registration, it was already a hive of activity with cyclists unloading and checking their bikes.  Registration was quick and simple, I was rider 16.  We met up with other riders we knew locally.  Together we formed the “Tunbridge Wells Independent Travellers” or TWIT’s for short.  We gathered in the Pavilion tea rooms which was doing a roaring trade in bacon rolls and coffees.  Time passed quick and we were called to General Wolfes Statue where the 250 of us gathered with our bikes for a photo shoot and a few short speeches. We were told that “this wasn’t the 12 Pedal to Paris and it wasn’t the 14th either”  I’m not superstitious, but the fact that this was the 13th Pedal to Paris would come to haunt us!

Cycling through London

Then we were off.  The police took us as far as the A20, so no need to stop for red lights or traffic.  We travelled as one large group this far and then started to spread out as we each found our pace for the ride down to Dover.  Initially I found I was up near the front within sight of the lead motorcycles.  Although I wasn’t travelling overly quick I should have pace myself a little more initially as there was a long way to go.

The first break stop was in Aylesford at the Royal British Legion Village.  I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of refreshments available.  Hot and cold drinks, crisps, pork pies, chocolate etc etc.  We didn’t stay too long though as we were keen to get to Dover amongst the first half in order to catch the first boat.  The 6 Twits left together as a group on the next leg between Aylesford and Sellingfield.  This was the longest leg of the day and seemed as if it was all up hill.  I would look up to the crest of a hill and when I reached it I would see the next hill!  I kept going at a pace I was comfortable at, though it is hard to pedal slowly so I found myself flagging a bit at this stage.  Although I had lost sight of my group there was always another cyclist in sight!  The route was also well sign posted.

It was now raining and quite windy.  It was particularly bad when lorries went past covering you in spray.  Though I perfectly timed the lunch break, arriving in Sellingfield as the heavens really opened up.  Lunch was really good, Pret Rolls and Sandwiches!   Plus the Tea was Yorkshire tea, the finest of all the teas!  I never knew you could buy it in a 3kg bag though!  At lunch I checked the map and was pleasantly surprised to see we were much closer to Dover than I imagined, only about 20 miles to go.  The journey along to Folkstone wasn’t bad, it was still raining though not as heavily.  After Folkstone there was Dover Hill.  This is the steepest hill of the day and I was feeling pretty knackered so i pushed the bike up just this one.  As did around 2/3 of the cyclists I saw.

We assembled in Dover and received our ferry passes.  Although  felt worn out after the day’s cycling my average speed was 14.5 mph which I was really pleased with.  Also I was in time for the first ferry.

We cycled into the port of Dover, straight through passport control and customs without stopping, we even set off alarms as we cycled through one of the scanners, but were waved straight on to lane 112 where we waited, and waited, and waited.

Queuing for the ferry in Dover

Seafrance were running late and we were pushed to a later crossing.  The exposed ferry port was windy and wet so we all invaded the foot passenger lounge and waited over an hour for the boat.  It was a new experience to cycle onto the ferry.  We boarded wirst and had to be really careful as the ramp and metal deck was so slippery.  The crossing was rough but ok.  From here we cycled into the centre of Calais, leaving our bikes in the local fire station and too a coack to Hotel Mercurie.  A wonderful old fashioned hotel with large traditionally decorated rooms and a good 3 course dinner.

Post from: The Barsley Brief

Day 1 – Greenwich London to Calais

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I leave at Greenwich Park at 8am on Thursday 4th September (though I will be there much earlier).  It would be great to see some familiar faces at the start line to wave me off!  We will be near the Tea Pavilion and General Wolfe’s Statue.

While I am away I won’t be able to write on this site.  Instead I will “blog” the old fashioned way with a paper and pen, in order to write up a full report for my return.

Thank you again to everyone who has supported the Royal British Legion by sponsoring me for this challange at https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/Barsley

Post from: The Barsley Brief

Pedalling to Paris

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Last week my training peaked as I cycled over 100 miles in the weekend, including 76 to Farnham.  Since then I have started to slow up on my training as recommended to ensure I am ready for the start.  However, every time I have been out it has started overcast and then poured with rain….. usually at the point when I am furthest from home!  I try though to put a positive spin on this, if the training is as bad as possible eg wet, cold, hilly and I can get through it then I will enjoy the actual ride.  That said I do hope it doesn’t rain!

I visited France on a day trip last weekend and am now so looking forward to getting there, there were fields as far as the eye could see, being harvested, the sun was beating down and there were mny people cycling along the coastal roads.  I can’t wait!

I will post an update at the weekend to give some more information about the Royal British Legion Pedal to Paris 2008!

Post from: The Barsley Brief

Counting down the days

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Even though I had carefully planned my route and uploaded it onto my GPS I instantly started up the wrong street, I knew I was headed to Tunbridge wells, just forgot which route I had mapped.  It was still dark, but fortunately I soon found that my Garmin Edge 205 GPS had a back light, so it was plain sailing from there on to follow the route.  For the first 30 min’s it was dark so I took it slow as with recent rain some of the road surfaces are quite slippery.  Also it takes 5 miles or so to get loosened up and into a rhythm.

From Tunbridge Wells, I took the back roads into Langton Green, Fordcombe and then on through the lanes to Edenbridge, it amazed me (although it was pretty early in the morning) that after doing 20 miles to Edenbridge I still hadn’t been overtaken by another vehicle and wouldn’t be for another 5 miles.

From Edenbridge I continued to Lingfield, Blindley Heath and Outwood.  I think it was around here I was eating my first Powerbar – Banana flavour, (too early in the morning for chocolate flavour!) .  Reading the ingredients I wasn’t surprised to see that there were no Bananas in it!

Over the M23 and into Salford, here I had a tricky junction on the A23 which I briefly joined but was surprised and pleased that my GPS correctly guided me round it.  I continued on thinking how well the route was programmed.  I couldn’t have been more wrong!  I use a website called mapmyride to create all of my rides, I like this over other websites, because you just select way points and it follows the roads to get from A to B to C etc.  However I soon learnt the problem, It doesn’t distinguish between private and public roads.  I first noticed this (Yes it happened more than once!) outside Salfords, I checked my map, I had 10 mile line maps so I could see a way either side.  But couldn’t see a way round, so I thought its not as if I am in a car, I’ll give it a go.  I ended up going through a farm but came out the other side with no problems.

Within a mile it happened again Arrgh!  This time it the road turned into a track and didn’t even follow the mapped route.  I ended up with my bike on my back climbing over stiles along footpaths!  But got through ok, the great thing with the Garmin is you can zoom out so I knew which direction to take.  Looking back there would have been an easy diversion round but I didn’t know that at the time.

I continued pleased to be back on the road through the lanes to the A24.  After crossing this I knew things would start to get tough.  Especially when you see a sign welcoming you to the Surrey Hills!  I continued following the GPS up a steep hill, climbing 200ft in a short space of time.  Only to get to the peak and find those two words again “Private Road”!  There was no going through this one as it lead to a house, so frustrating though as the main road was just on the other side of his house!  I sped back down the hill and checked the map for a work around.  Again I was so please to have a map which spanned 10 miles each side cos I needed it!  I ended up going six miles off route down the A24 (Not Fun), onto the A29 and cutting up to Coldharbour.  This was the highest point of the journey some 770ft above sea level.  Though I did enjoy the next down hill section!

From there I was feeling a bit worn out after the hill climbing and annoyed with the diversions.  I was determined to not have any more problems so I paid special attention to signposts and checked I was always headed a signed route.  As it happened the rest of the journey was fine.  I continued through to Ewhurst, and then Cranleigh where I stopped for coffee.  Only a quick stop mind and headed on to Loxhill, around here I saw 2 other cyclists and chatted and cycled with them for a few minutes.  It was galling to see them disappear into the distance but then I had done 60 miles and they hadn’t.  Milford was the next village / town where I stopped to buy some Powerade, cherry flavour, it was Vile!  But kept my legs moving round!

Then it was on following the B3001all the way into Farnham where I met up with a uni friend and enjoyed a BBQ and a sit down!  Before catching the train back.

The stats

Miles 76.40,

Total time 5 hrs 32 mins

Average pace 4 mins 20 secs per mile

Average Speed 13.8 miles,

Max speed 37.7 mph

Total calories burnt 5756!

Total Ascent 7037 ft

It was a good ride, but incredibly draining.  I learnt a lot from it, for example I don’t drink enough fluids when I am out on the bike.  When you start feeling thirsty it’s too late, you should keep drinking from the start and throughout.

I have improved my hill techniques, I still find some incredibly challenging, but now I drop down to the small front cog and aim to keep my cadence high to get up hills.

Also I think I pushed myself too much at the start.

Finally I learnt to triple check my route!!!

The sponsored cycle to Paris is no longer weeks away more like days!

Please sponsor me here

Finally if anyone reading this has experience in websites, can they suggest a image host?  I want to display images of my routes, but the maps have become so large you can’t make out the route using the maximum size on flickr!

Post from: The Barsley Brief

76 Miles, Three Countys, Five and a half hours.

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