jamesm-mediavelo - Tumblr blog

[jamesm-mediavelo]

Lay in bed Saturday morning, all I could hear was the sound of the rain smacking against the window. Time to roll over and go back to sleep... A quick snooze later, and upon opening the curtains I was greeted with glorious blue sky and drying roads - time to ride.

The text was sent - 10.30am to the local bike shop for coffee and then onwards. Meeting up with Olav en route we encountered a couple of problems...

Whilst the sky was now clear of any threatening clouds, they had definitely done their job overnight of emptying as much rain as possible onto the Warwickshire countryside.

A few detours later and we safely made it to Dynamic Rides. Coffee, catch up and back on the road we were greeted by cyclist after cyclist our on their Saturday training rides - albeit ‘training’ mainly meaning heading out for cake!

50 miles later, it was time to head home with the satisfaction of getting in some base (junk?!) miles in and seeing around 60 happy local cyclists out on the roads. Roll on summer I say!

[jamesm-mediavelo]

Last week snow and ice, this week 15 degrees and very humid!

After taking part in the Dynamic Rides 12h Wattathon yesterday, we decided it was time to go for an easy recovery ride and enjoy the warm weather (no gloves warm!).

Out for 3.5 hours, we covered 35 miles at what felt like 300 watts again! The wet mud turning into thick clay making it impossible to turn the wheels as the following photo shows...

It may have been an average speed of 10mph, and with at least an hour of bike cleaning the other end not to mention the clothes - but it's one of the best ways to spend the day on the bike. Takes us back to our childhoods exploring random trails and getting extremely muddy!

[jamesm-mediavelo]

At the end of 2014 we rode from Birmingham to High Wycombe, a windy and sub-zero temperature day of just over 100 miles. For 2015, we wanted to do something a little more epic and as I type this I have no doubt we achieved that.

The route was set based on direct trains out of Birmingham - and Taunton fitted the bill perfectly. It is SW of Brum, so the prevailing wind seemed ideal to help us finish the 230km route.

This is where my fellow rider and accomplis for the adventure James chipped in: “how about if we did it though the night?”. It seemed rude to push back on this frankly ridiculous proposal - if he was willing to do it I was too!

8.12pm on the 30th December and we found ourselves on the train down south. Storm Frank has been (and still is) battering the country, so we were expecting to get wet at some point. 

With backpacks filled with fuel and extra clothes we hit the lanes of Somerset for our first stint; including taking in the stunning Cheddar Gorge climb. Clear skies greeted us, and with the moon and stars shining down we were making good progress. The first stop was scheduled at the 24h McDonalds just north of Bristol - after a slight detour (sorry!) we made it after covering the first 90km of our journey.

It’s worth adding at this point that although we had the luxury of Garmin GPS for navigation, we actually printed off a route with KM markers (which was the reason for many of the slight detours!) which added to the excitement.

As we left the warm confines of McDonalds, it was the same time the clouds decided to form above and drop its contents on us. We powered on north to Tewksbury where we had to stop in a bus shelter to put on the extra layers we had brought with us.

Freezing and soaked to the bone we changed course to knock off a few KM’s. Heading east to Evesham we had one final stop (another 24h McDonalds!) where we knew we only had 40km to go. At this point we were 190km in and knew that the finishing line was just around the corner.

We headed out to the final stretch just as the sun was coming up. With daylight came an even greater level of wind chill, leaving us really fighting to finish the final 20km. With Birmingham in sight we gave it everything we had (for those who seen our Strava - that wasn’t much at this point!) and finished up at home just 8.5h after we had set off from Taunton. 

Along the way we passed through county after county, district after district, these small victories along the way kept us sane (although we probably looked far from it high giving reaching Worcestershire!). 

The final figures:

30th December 10pm - 31st December 8.30am 230 km Taunton - Birmingham 1500m of climbing 3 degrees average temperature

Time to recover now, feet up and enjoy the start of the new year. Happy 2016 all! Now, where to next year?

[jamesm-mediavelo]

50 in 3. Standard winter training? 

How about 3 cafe stops in 50 miles? That was the order for today's ride! We met at the local Costa in Knowle at 9am before heading south to Kenilworth. The coffee stop of choice was Time for Tea; a great independent cafe where cyclists flock to from the surrounding villages. It gets so busy some days you need to pre book a table!

With 30 miles done, it was time to turn around and head home. One final stop at local bike shop Dynamic Rides (well it would be rude not too huh?!) and we heading back into town and home.

That was another 50 miles ticked off the Festive 500. Only 125km to go now, and as I type this we are finalising the plans for tomorrow nights epic through the night ride from Taunton, through Cheddar Gorge back up to Birmingham. It looks like the storm forecast has changed, so the plans are go go go!

[jamesm-mediavelo]

The ride was called; 10am at the local bike track. A few mumbles of varying commitment came back, but at around 10.10am three of us set off north to tackle 100km of the local lanes.

10km in and “toilet stop!” Was yelled from behind. Another 10km and another shout for a nature break...! It looked like it could be a long day in (or out) of the saddle.

At 50km in, we stopped for our coffee and some fuel at what has became somewhat of a regular haunt - McCafe! We then ventured back out on the return leg, into somewhat of a headwind featuring even more toilet breaks (OLAV!!).

The final cafe stop at 90km, this time at the local Costa. @rideupgradesjim caught us up (he missed the 10am start!) after his very similar but solo route. 

Another 100km ticked off the Festive 500 - just 210 to go! Oh and the weather for Wednesday night is looking a little on the bad side...

[jamesm-mediavelo]

Today a few of us headed north from Solihull up and through Maxstoke (a decent climb on the best day!) before stopping for coffee in Kingsbury.

The winds have lapsed from the past few days, however those clouds that were threatening us yesterday soon closed in. The return 40km was into a face full of mist. You know the type - ‘it doesn't feel like it's raining’ mist. The sort of mist that soaks you through after a few minutes of riding.

What was great to see was around 100 cyclists out and about - both solo and huge groups. That may not seem a lot for you Londoners, but us in the midlands that's a big deal! 

All in a great ride. 80km ticked off this years Festive 500. 310km to go!

[jamesm-mediavelo]

Boxing Day 2015. Today was the day I had entered the WMCCL cyclocross at Kenilworth - the conditions could not have been better. 13 degrees and dry, albeit with a raging south westerly wind. My mates James and Laura were racing. I planned to ride out, race and ride back - achievable with the course only being 15 miles away. Sadly my mind didn't want to come with me and race today, so as I stood and cheered them on from the sides I knew that perhaps a day of recovery was for the best. Sometimes you just need to listen to your body. This brings me to the next few days, where I will attempt to complete the #festive500 - topped off with a mega 145 mile ride through the night from Taunton to Birmingham... Will we make it?

[jamesm-mediavelo]

Christmas Day 2015, and my #fbf to when me and my best mate drove an epic 1800 miles to take part in the l'etape du tour. The summit finish up La Toussuire was almost the end of us, as we struggled in 40+ degree temperatures.

An amazing adventure, with incredible memories. A full write up to come in early 2016.

[jamesm-mediavelo]

Marianne Vos #takethestage

On Sunday 26th October, some twitter rumblings and rumours had arranged a Women's only ride leaving from Lee Valley Velodrome to tackle the roads north of London through Epping Forest.

50 women tuned up to enjoy an organised ride, with support for the event in the form of a mixture of men and women marshals to help the day go smoothly... as well as three times world road race champion Marianne Vos to lead the first group out! Three groups set off to ride the planned 55km loop, with Media Velo member Matt Stanbury volunteering to marshal the event. This great shot of the two of them sums up the expressions across all the riders faces throughout the day.

The day was further highlighted by the support of Alice Barnes, Rebecca Charlton and a host of other exceptional female sports personalties.

The #takethestage on twitter brings up some great photos from the day, and shows the inspiration riders like Vos, Barnes and Charlton give to cyclists around the world.

Drafting Marianne Vos around London is an experience that all involved will never forget, and we would like to extend our thanks to Vos and all involved in this excellent day, supporting cycling within Great Britain.

Thank you to Matt Stanbury for the photos.