We're half way there...

Well, June has come and gone and with it half the year is now behind us. Somehow, I’ve managed to ride a total of 2936.42 miles in the last six months which puts me very close to reaching the half way point of my goal of riding at least 6,000 miles this year.

The weather has, once again, been more of a challenge than the actual cycling over the past month with the rain and strong winds putting paid to any chance of me getting any big rides in. The longest ride I did was the ride up to Alport Heights, a distance of just 40 miles. As a result, the total mileage for the month of June was 471.16 miles - around 200 miles less than I would have liked!

This past weekend has seen the passing of a long-time friend. After many years of faithful service my old mountain bike has come to the end of the line and been killed off. For the last couple of years I’ve faced a constant battle to keep it roadworthy but this time the costs involved didn’t make this worth doing any more. Quite how many miles the bike had covered I’ll never know (I didn’t log its mileage for many years) but I'd ridden it for over 11,000 miles in the past three years alone! I’d owned the bike for over 16 years so it certainly didn’t owe me anything!

The bike was stripped of it’s tyres, mudguards, lights and rear gear mechanism (the only usable parts!) and handed over to the scrap-man on Saturday. Farewell old friend, I’ll miss you!

Alvaston Park. A regular

haunt of the mountain bike.

All set to raise money for the

Britsh Heart Foundation.

Sherwood Forest - November 2008.

36 miles of thick mud and heavy rain!

The end of a very grim ride!

The end of the road! June 2012.

Removing anything of use.

A sad old sight!

BHF ride...

Yesterday was my sponsored cycle ride in the Vale of Belvoir and I’m pleased to say I completed the 40 miles without any problems. The weather was good - dry and bright with only a steady breeze - the route superbly signed and marshalled and the sausage, bacon and egg sandwich I had after the ride was great! You can’t ask for much more!

Belvoir Castle.

Lynda and I arrived at Belvoir Castle at around 8:00AM giving me plenty of time to sign in and to get the bike out of the car and the front wheel back in place (I have to remove it to get it in the car!). I then went for a quick warm-up ride up and down the entrance road to the castle.

Ready for the off.

At just before 9:00AM the organisers called the riders to the start line and then began to release people in batches of around 30 at a time. I hung back a little and set off at the back of the 3rd group. The first mile or so was a bit slow going due to all the riders that were trying to get out of the park and onto the open road. After that, things settled down and I was able to pick up speed a little. I wanted to ride an average 16mph so that I could complete the ride in 2hrs 30min and that’s just how it worked out.

The riders gather...

Only 40 miles to go!

Much of the route was reasonably flat but there were also three or four punishing climbs too. Two of the hills saw many riders having to revert to the “pushbike” mode of transport and get off their machines and push. Somehow, I managed to spin my way to the top of all the climbs without having to get off my bike! The amount of cycling I do may have helped me up the hills but I think a lot of it was to do with riding the new Cannondale - it’s just so much lighter than my old bike!

The fastest part of the ride for me came at just after 30 miles when the route took a short but steep descent towards the village of Branston. The GPS tracker on my phone clocked me at 40.9mph down the narrow country lane. If only I’d been pedalling the bike I may have been able to push that speed up a little! As it happened, I was too busy looking out for potholes and gravel to have time for spinning the pedals as well!

At the end of the ride I felt much better than I’d expected I would. My legs felt good, I certainly wasn’t out of breath and my energy levels felt okay too. Although there were a number of refreshment stops on the route I chose to ignore them and instead carried my own energy drink and flapjack bars. I ate and drank at regular intervals, whilst on the move, and it certainly kept me from “hitting the wall” and running out of energy.

The end of the ride!

So, all in all, a great time was had. If this event is run again next year I’m pretty certain I’ll be taking part. The GPS tracker on my phone did highlight one little “issue” though... the ride is advertised as a 40-mile route. My GPS reckons I did 40.51 miles! Perhaps having to weave my way through the crowds and then up the steepest of the climbs accounts for the extra distance!

Thank you to the British Heart Foundation for organising a great event and THANK YOU to everyone that sponsored me!

Whilst I took part in the ride Lynda took a walk around the castle and grounds - you can see more photos HERE.

Today, I woke up feeling none the worse for the cycling yesterday so took the bike out again. I told Lynda I was going for a steady ride around the local roads and would be back within 20 minutes or so. An hour and a half later I returned home from a 25 mile ride! I sort of got carried away!

One last push...

In less than 12 hours I’ll be starting my sponsored bike ride for the British Heart Foundation. The weather isn’t looking too bad and I’m all set to go!

I’ve had quite a good day today raising sponsorship - my total stands at £220 at the moment - but I really would like to reach my £250 target. The Justgiving web page is still open so please consider making a donation. Every single pound can make a difference to someone's life.

http://www.justgiving.com/richardcrooks

BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION UPDATE...

There is now less than 36 hours until I take part in the Vale of Belvoir cycle ride in aid of the British Heart Foundation. My sponsorship drive is going okay, but it’s not going great! I really would appreciate more sponsors!

So far I have pledges totalling £155 and I’d like to thank everyone that has sponsored me so far.

Please, if you haven’t done so already, visit my Justgiving page and add your name to the list.

Thank you for your support everyone!

http://www.justgiving.com/richardcrooks

I NEED YOUR HELP!!!

Once again, I’m raising money for the British Heart Foundation and I need YOUR help.

Every year, thousands of people die prematurely from heart disease. It remains the UK's single biggest killer and for the increasing number who survive, life can be frightening and hard. The British Heart Foundation is the nation's heart charity. Every day they save lives, through pioneering research, providing vital information to help people reduce their own heart health risks, campaigning for change and supporting and caring for heart patients.

In 2005, 2006 and 2007 I took part in sponsored walks for the British Heart Foundation, last year I decided on a change of event and a change of transport and took on the challenge of the 36 mile Hearts First Robin Hood Bike Ride. I enjoyed the mud and pouring rain of that ride so much that I’m now having a go at the 40 mile Vale of Belvoir Bike Ride on May 9.

I know it’s only a matter of months since I last asked for your help but please dig deep in your pockets, search under the cushions on the sofa and raid the piggy bank, give as generously as possible to help the British Heart Foundation help others less fortunate than ourselves.

You can sponsor me on-line via my Justgiving web site at...

http://www.justgiving.com/richardcrooks

Thank you for your support.

Rich

Coming soon...

Longstanding readers of this blog will be familiar with the logo below. Those of you that have only very recently had the misfortune to stumble across my random chatter will be seeing a lot more of it over the coming weeks...

BHF bike ride day...

Well, I did it! The weather didn't help but I completed the 36 miles around Sherwood Forest. Looking back, the weather could well have been much worse than it actually was, but it was still pretty grim and, as a result of heavy overnight rain and constant rain today, the forest trails were far from ideal at times.

Lynda and I arrived at the Sherwood Pines complex at just after 9:00AM, by 9:15AM the bike was assembled and I was ready to head off to the registration area. As my route wasn't scheduled to open until 10:00AM I spent a little time fine tuning my brakes that had decided to stick a little - it turned out that I hadn't quite aligned the front wheel correctly in the rush to get it done in the pouring rain! My fault then, not the bike's!

Waiting for the off.

At exactly 10:00AM an air horn sounded and we were off. I'd decided to hang back at the start of the ride and take my time to see just what the trails were like and how my ageing bike (and bones) would cope with the conditions. By the end of lap one I had managed to wind my way past many of the other riders and started to up my pace a little. The first 6-mile lap took me half an hour - I was right on the 12 mph pace that I had wanted. On a dry day in summer, if we ever get one of those, I reckon the trails would be good for a 15 or 16 mph pace on my rigid framed bike.

Countdown to the start.

Rolling up to the start.

Crossing the start line.

The end of lap one.

Laps two and three saw the mud and slime on the trails start to increase and saw me starting to change from clean to grubby, I was still smiling though and enjoying every minute of the ride. It was on lap three that I started to feel like I needed a drink. After looking down at my water bottle I decided it would be better to take advantage of the British Heart Foundation feeding station instead. The idea of drinking from my bottle just did not appeal! It was covered in even more sand and mud than I was! After a quick stop for water I set off again.

Coming to the end of lap two.

Lap 3, and still it rains.

The next lap was one of my best, quite a few people had given in to the conditions and called it a day - not surprising really as many of them were families riding with children - and this meant I could up the pace a little. The only problem with doing that was that even more of the mud and slime got thrown up from my wheels and all over me! My boots and trousers were now caked in very gritty mud; my feet were also getting wet. I didn't know just how wet until I attacked one of the steeper climbs. As I got around half way up the hill I felt the water in my boots move down hill, from my toes to my heels! Yuck!

My penultimate lap will be forever known as "The Lonely Lap". I never saw a single rider for the whole six miles! If the trails hadn't been so muddy I could have really had some fun on the fast downhill sections. As it was, I decided that staying upright was a more prudent idea! If I had pushed a little too hard and bitten the dirt I guarantee it would have been where Lynda was stood with the camera - that I did not need!

Crossing one of the flooded parts of the trail - lap 5.

The final lap, the one that took my mileage from 30 to 36 miles, was a hard one. I made the mistake of stopping for a drink of orange at the feeding station and I never managed to quite get into my rhythm again. It was also the only time that anyone overtook me on the course. This minor little thing didn't sit well with me and, even though this was NOT a race event, by the end of the lap I had managed to get back past the rider and put around a quarter of a mile between us by the end.

Crossing the finish line.

Having finished my ride the only thing left was to pack everything back into the car and head for home, then I saw just how dirty all of my gear was. There was no way I could put the bike in the car as it was. Luckily, we found a hosepipe hidden away down the side of a building and put it to good use. The water was only trickling from the hose but it removed enough of the forest from the bike to allow us to get home without destroying the interior of the car. The rest I dealt with at home with our hose and a much stronger jet of water.

Nice, eh?

Now you can see why I didn't bother with my drink!

Will they ever be the same again?

The 36 miles took me 3 hours and 5 minutes. At the moment I feel fine - no worse than if I'd just done my daily commute to work in fact. Tomorrow, I may feel different. Would I do it again? Right now, the answer has to be yes. I would order a few weeks of cold, frosty weather leading up to the event and for the day itself!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone that was kind enough to sponsor me. I hope I earned your money!

British Heart Foundation update...

Time for one final update before I start my British Heart Foundation sponsored bike ride tomorrow.

So far, my fund raising has gone well but not quite as well as I'd hoped. At the moment, I have sponsorship totalling £267. I'm some way short of the £350 I would have liked to raise but I'm still very happy with the donations I have. This "credit crunch" thing we're having has made things harder this year and also two or three people that have sponsored me in the past are no longer working at the same place as I do. Once the gift aid (28%) is added to my total then I'll not be too short of my target.

Now, what of my preparations for the ride? Well, I've cut out all the junk food I'd normally eat at work - sausage & bacon sandwiches etc - and I've also been doing my usual daily commute to work and back on the bike. The bike has been given the once over this afternoon; chain cleaned and lubed, gear mechs and levers lubed, lights removed (I hope I'll be finished before dark tomorrow!) and tyres pumped up to just over 60 lb pressure, for a hard but fast ride. Other than that it's just a case of get on my bike tomorrow and go for it! Oh, and I did have just one sausage, bacon, egg, beans and mushroom sandwich at work on Thursday! Energy food!

Checking the chain & gears.

Ready to roll!

On Tuesday evening I fitted a new set of brake blocks to the bike in readiness for the ride too. The old ones were starting to squeal in damp conditions and, worse, were simply not stopping me very well. Riding at night, in the wet, was becoming a little too hair raising for my liking - approach a road junction, pull on the brakes and then carry straight on isn't good! Now, the bike stops almost too well and I have to be careful not to lock the wheels.

The only downside to having good brakes again is that the bike is now sporting four rather bright brake blocks! I had read on a number of web sites that Kool Stop Eagle 2 brakes were some of the best rim blocks available and that the "salmon compound" was great in the wet. Having covered around 35 miles since the brakes were fitted I have to agree they are very good and they don't squeal either - not so sure about the colour though!

Kool Stop brakes are good - the colour, not so good!

After checking the bike over I decided that I might as well load it into the car ready for tomorrow. That was almost a rather big issue in itself! I like to ride my bike when I want to go out on it rather than taking the bike somewhere by car, having a ride, then coming home again in the car. As a result, I'd never actually tried to get this bike into the back of this car! Oh boy, was it a tight fit!

It fits! Just!

Check back tomorrow evening for a re-cap of the day's events - if I've dried out by then that is! The weather forecast is for heavy rain and strong winds all day on Sunday, not the weather I'd ordered! I can see a repeat of the soaking I got on last years BHF walk! Hey ho!

http://www.justgiving.com/richardcrooks

Evening! Just a quick update on what’s been going on.

My sponsorship for the British Heart Foundation bike ride is coming along nicely; so far I’ve raised almost £140. There is still a long way to go before I reach my target of £350 but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can get there. If you haven’t sponsored me yet please do consider it. It doesn’t have to be huge amounts - every single pound raised makes a difference, and those pounds soon add up if enough people donate them! Please click on the icon below to visit my online sponsor page. Thank you!

In preparation for the bike ride, I took a trip into Derby to do a bit of shopping last weekend - I came home with a new cycle helmet (the first I’ve ever owned) and a pair of padded cycling boxer shorts! The helmet is something I’ve been intending to get for a while now, but never got around too. The padded boxers may not get used too often but I’m hoping that they will more than pay for themselves during the 36 miles or so that I will cover around Sherwood Forest. Mountain bike saddles aren’t the most user friendly of things you know!

So far, I’ve managed to avoid Lynda’s efforts to get a photo of me in the helmet but it looks like the one below. No doubt I’ll get caught by Lynda, and her camera, on the day of the ride. By then I may have gotten used to being seen with half a blue and silver melon on my head!

This week has seen my “Autumn Chill” music tour stepped up a gear with an acoustic gig by The Reasoning on Sunday afternoon and then a Karnataka gig last night. Sunday’s gig proved to be a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon; we had a steady drive up to Rotherham, lunch in the pub and then almost an hour and a half of great music. After seeing Neverland acoustic and now The Reasoning acoustic I’m starting to get a taste for these sort of gigs. Being held in pubs, on a Sunday afternoon, helps too!

The Reasoning, having fun!

Karnataka last night was a more serious affair - almost two hours of full-on “prog rock”. It’s over 18 months since I last saw this band play live and, half-way through the set, I found myself wondering just why I’d left it so long. There has been a change of drummer, and the addition of a backing vocalist, since I saw Karnataka last and the overall sound has benefited from it. I’m not saying there was a problem with the music before - far from it - but it sounded even better last night. Pity that I’ve so much going on right now or I’d go and see them again later in the tour.

Tomorrow, I’m off to see The Reasoning and Mermaid Kiss play in Crewe and then on Sunday it’s The Reasoning, once again, and RiverSea as support. I love my live music but it does start to get just a little costly when everyone starts touring at the same time!

BHF sponsorship...

Today, I arrived home to find the information pack for my British Heart Foundation sponsored bike ride had arrived - there’s no turning back now!

I have just set up a sponsorship page at the Justgiving web site so that donations to the BHF can be made safely on-line. Please visit...

http://www.justgiving.com/richardcrooks

Starting tomorrow I will also be collecting sponsors via the old fashioned way of pen and paper so, if our paths are likely to cross over the next few weeks, I’ll be more than willing to talk to you! If not, PLEASE visit the Justgiving site.

Thank you for your support.

Fund raising...

For the past three years I've taken part in the British Heart Foundation High Peak Trail Winter Challenge, a 17-mile hike in the Derbyshire Peak District. I've thoroughly enjoyed each of the three walks, even last year's torrential rain, flooded trails and snow, but have decided it's time for a break. This year I'll be spared the blisters, aching muscles and creaking knees but I will be thinking of the many, many people that will take part in the event. I may well even regret not being there!

I will, however, still be doing my part to help raise vital funds for the British Heart Foundation. I'm going to take part in the Hearts First Robin Hood Bike Ride on 2nd November instead! The thought of being out in the November weather for a 17-mile walk just didn't sound much of a challenge this year (joke!) so I've pledged to cover 36 miles (at least) around Sherwood Forest by bike! I say "at least" because if I can beat my sponsorship target of £350 by enough then I'll try my very best to add an extra flying lap or two of the 6-mile course as a thank you to everyone that sponsors me!

My application for the ride has already been submitted to the BHF so just as soon as I receive my entrance pack I'll be posting details here regarding ways to sponsor me. I know we're in the middle of this credit crunch thing but please give some serious thought to donating to the British Heart Foundation via my sponsored ride. Just think... if you skip just one trip to the pub next week or go without that unhealthy take-away meal or miss out a few bars of chocolate, or packets of crisps, and donate the money saved to the BHF you'll not only be helping this worthy charity you'll actually be helping your own health just a little too! I've funded my entrance fee, and also the purchase of a BHF t-shirt, by cutting out all the bacon sandwiches I'd normally have at work! That, I can tell you, has hurt!

Below is a short video that I'd like you to take a quick look at. It's only four minutes of your life but it may well be enough to save someones life.

British Heart Foundation...

Evening!

Just a very quick blog to let my regular reader(s) know that it’s getting close to that time of year again... fund raising time!

By the end of the week I hope to have sorted out what I’ll be doing this year to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

Once everything is finalised I’ll post details here, so please keep coming back to check for updates! The BHF needs YOUR support!

Bike Week update...

As I thought, covering 25 miles on my bike during Bike Week 2008 was not a problem - the ride home from work this evening took my total to just under 27 miles, and there are still five more days of Bike Week left! Quite how many more miles I’ll clock up remains to be seen though as the weather looks like going downhill from tonight with heavy rain forecast.

Using the Everyday Cycling web site to keep track of my mileage has now got me thinking of bigger and better challenges. I’m pretty sure that by the end of the year I can get close to, or even pass, the 500-mile mark. It will depend quite a lot on the weather - not having access to any showers at work means I have to avoid heavy rain - but I may just give it a go.

Whilst on the subject of cycling, I have another little idea ticking over in the back of my mind at the moment... The British Heart Foundation Robin Hood Mountain Bike Challenge. As anyone that has been reading my Blog for the past few years will know, I’ve been taking part in a 17 mile sponsored walk for the BHF for each of the past three years, this year I may do a bike ride instead. I may even do both!

Then again...

Just a bit of an update on what’s been going on…

Work has gone crazy over the past couple of weeks - people seem to have taken a liking to crashing cars so I’ve been ordering accident repair parts like they are going out of fashion! All good for business but not so good for the stress levels, especially when part of my order finishes up at the opposite end of the country to me! Quite how two bumpers and two backing beams can just disappear I do not know - it’s not as if they are small items like, say, computer discs carrying thousands of names and addresses! ;-)

Last Saturday was the presentation night for Melton and Leicester autograss club. Lynda and I went along with Gary and Suzanne. Gary picked up the trophy for winning the season-long Class 6 Championship, we all had a few drinks and generally had a good time. Sunday morning saw one or two slightly sore heads but overall we escaped without too much pain! The cooked breakfast that Gary did for us all certainly helped get me up and running again!

Another week has gone by without me stepping foot inside the gym, mainly due to my feet still not being up to it. The blisters I got on the BHF walk have taken a lot longer to heal than I expected and the thought of the gym just hasn’t been too appealing so far. Last night, much to Lynda’s disgust, I lost one of my little toe nails - another victim of the walk! I found it quite funny; Lynda found it turned her stomach!

As a result of not going to the gym, and also some pretty careless eating on my behalf, I’ve seen my weight creep up by almost half a stone. As of tomorrow, I am back to watching what I eat. By the time Christmas arrives, I will be back in shape again - just in time to put all the weight back on!

Yesterday was the last Derby RSPB coach trip of the year. I had been in two minds about going all week but Lynda talked me into it. By the time we had been at Titchwell for a couple of hours I think she may have wished we had stayed at home. The rain poured down for most of the day, the wind was blowing at what felt like gale force and there was very little in the way of bird life to be seen.

The view from a rain lashed bird hide!

And if you opened the window... there was very little to see!

The highlights of the day (apart from getting home) included a single Red-breasted Merganser and two Eider duck on the very rough sea, three Little Egret, six Avocet, a handful of Turnstone, a large flock of Golden Plover and a couple of Marsh Harrier. The bird of the day for me was a Merlin that flew over the salt marsh during a brief lull in the rain.

Tomorrow I’ll be starting my Christmas shopping. I hate shopping at the very best of times but Christmas shopping is just plain terrifying. I am expecting this year to be even worse now that the new Westfield shopping centre is open and attracting yet more people into Derby. Your prayers for my swift and safe return would be much appreciated.

The results of my blood tests came back yesterday - the ones that the doctor sent me for, being as they hadn’t seen me in over 10 years! - and everything is more or less okay. The only slight concern was my blood cholesterol level, which gave a reading of 5.5. It’s nothing that I need to be too worried about, so I’m told, but I do need to start and watch what I’m eating a little more.

Five-point-five is the average for people living in England, according to info I found on the British Heart Foundation web site, but is high when compared to some other countries. Apparently, the average for China is just 4.5, so maybe I need to eat more Chinese take-aways!

Tomorrow I will be off to help my mate Gary with his autograss car again. Due to Gary only racing at his home club track this year, and me being away for one of the meetings, this will be only my second meeting of the season. The weather forecast isn’t sounding too good at the moment but just so long as it doesn’t pour down all day it should be a good meeting.

The “East Midlands Open” title is up for grabs and the “East Midlands Champion of Champions” will also be decided. Due to the lack of meetings that we have raced at this season, I’m not sure if Gary will be eligible for the champion of champions race. The “East Midlands Open” title winner will be decided by a series of class races followed by a run-off between the best car in each of the 10 classes on the day. No doubt, whoever comes out on top at the end of the day will have battled through some pretty tough races.