Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Thanks for the sponsership everyone - Am recovering at the moment after doing the ride in a total saddle time of 14hrs 57mins, roughly 17mph.
The first day was tough - I started out strong, keeping to 20mph on the flats and 10mph on the hills. I was quite amazed at how the training had made a lot of difference, the ride felt good. I was on target for an 8hr 30mins leg time. However after the first 110miles I started to struggle up the hills and it my shoulder started to ache. Once I got to Stafford I really was struggling but I was determine to achieve my goal of doing the first 150miles in under 10hours. I arrived at Rolls-Royce Derby, with 9 hours 50mins on the clock.
The second day I arrived at R-R at 5.45 in the morning and got signed onto the list for the Derby-Skegness leg. My goal for this leg was to keep my pace from yesterday up and complete it faster than when I did it last year (6hrs 40mins). However when all 90 of us set off at 6.15 I moved through the group until I found somewhere comfortable. This was in the leading group of 10. For the first 25miles the pace was kept quite fast and we did this in just over an hour. However after the first stop the group spread out and I decided to keep a pace of around 18-19mph. At times this was quite tough but I was surprising myself in the speed I could maintain. I finished in Skegness with 5hours 07mins on the clock, a full 1.5hours faster than last year.
Thanks again for the support, it has meant a lot and I know I couldn't have found the motivation to do this without it.
God Bless,
Sam
Updates will be at the bottom about training and the trip as it happens:
On the 17th & 18th of June I will be undertaking a 250 mile Coast 2 Coast cycle ride from Aberyswth to Skegness. I will be doing the intial 150 miles on the 17th on my own and then meeting up with fellow R-R employees on their annual ride from Derby to Skegness.
I completed the ride from Derby to Skegness last year and decided to push myself further this in order to raise money for charity.
I have chosen MAF as my charity because of the amazing work they do in poverty stricken countries, providing physical and emotional aid and support. Please dig deep and support this great cause.
Thanks a lot for visiting and God Bless!
Routes, maps & ride stats are uploaded here:
http://www.endomondo.com/profile/1642686
****Training Updates 13/05/2011****
This week I have been cycling to work with some longish training rides thrown in to raise my endurance levels back up to what they were last year.
The rides completed this week have been:
Heanor - Matlock Baths - Derby: 33 miles, 2 hours 15 mins
This ride was my first experiance of a combination of winds, heavy rain, hail and thunder. A tiring yet good test of my shoulder strength after the accident.
Derby - Ashbourne - Derby: 30 miles, 2 hours 13 mins
Thrown in to get me used to the hills (I was yet to find out about the type of hills in wales!!). Cycled from work to ashbourne and back without stopping.
Derby - near Buxton - Ashbourne - Derby: 66 miles, 5 hours 10 mins
Decided to go for a long ride after the aforementioned Ashbourne ride. This would mean that I had cycled 100 miles in two days. I was planning to go to Bakewell and see how far I could make it after that. I was 3 miles from Buxton after a loooong hill in the rain when I decided to cut it short before the descent. A long and cold 32 mile bike home was a exhausting experiance.
After a break in Bakewell I spent 3 hours 35 mins in the saddle (longest without a break so far). This ride was good as it showed me what the hills in the first 6 miles of wales would be like. Much more training needed.
Commute Miles: 28 miles
Total this week: 157 miles with est 11 hours 40 mins
****
****Training Updates 23/05/2011****
This week has been a little more of a struggle to get the training in due to me being on nights. However I managed to ride to and from work for three of the fours nights and went to hockey training on the other.
The rides completed this week have been:
Derby - Matlock - Derby: 45 miles, 3 hours
Taking a new, longer and hilly route to Matlock, which was tough. Some steep hills on the route but also some nice decents.
Derby - Matlock Baths - Derby: 34 miles, 2 hours 05 mins
Normal route to Matlock Baths, however this was a time trial to push myself. I was using a wireless bike computer and tried to keep an average above 15mph. In the end after some fast sections of above 25mph The average was pushed up to 16.6mph, cutting my best time for the route down by 10mins.
Derby - Middleton - Staffordshire - Near Cheadle - Derby: 56 miles, 4 hours 01 mins
This ride was quite a slog. It was agreed during the week when sunny, however on the day it was horribly windy, making the flat sections as hard as the hills. We should have been keeping up to at least 18mph on those sections and were struggling to make 12mph. The hills involved were tougher than those that will be encountered in wales so was pleased that I managed to push through them. However the finish deadline was met so all in all a great training run. Lets hope its not windy when the big event comes... :D
Commute Miles: 27 miles
Total this week: 162 miles with est 10 hours 41 mins
****
****Training Updates 5/6/2001****
Haven't updated this for a couple of weeks now so here goes.
The rides completed last week were:
Derby - Matlock Baths - Derby: 32 miles, 1 hour 56mins
Simple ride to Matlock Baths but pushed my average up. The computer worked wonders to give you something to push yourself with
Derby - Bakewell - Derby: 50 miles, 2 hours 56 mins
A6 route to Bakewell, completed without stopping, experimenting with different energy foods ready for the rides. Found the most effective were a mixture of isotonic drinks and PowerBar Energy Cola Shots. Was pleased to get the ride in at under 3 hours.
Derby - Buxton - Derby: 75 miles, 4 hours 46 mins
A world of difference from the last attempt at the Buxton ride. This was done at my max effort (after hockey training in the morning) the whole way. Two stops there, none on the way back. On the way back I averaged 20mph so was well pleased.
Commute Miles: 40 miles
Total last week: 197 miles in 11 hours 06 mins
* * *
This week I have been mixing exercise i.e running after a long ride to see how far I can push myself. The record was 4.5mile run after a 51 mile cycle. The rides completed this week were:
Derby - Bakewell - Derby: 51 miles, 2 hour 58mins
A6 Route to Bakewell again
Derby - Bakewell - Derby: 51 miles, 3 hours 01 mins
A6 route to Bakewell, Same again.
Derby - Buxton - Macclesfield - Derby: 100 miles, 6 hours 56 mins
My goal of doing this ride before the event was achieved this week, however I had under estimated the difficulty of this ride as the other side of Buxton was extremely Difficult and windy. However on the way back I pushed my self to beat my target time of 7 hours.
This ride meant that I had achieve my training goal of 200+ a week for the first time, same again next week. This week was hard with Indoor hockey, runs after every cycle and fitness training. However it has given more confidence that I will be able to achieve the target distance on the event.
Commute Miles: 0 miles
Total last week: 202 miles in 12 hours 55 mins
Total to Date: 718 miles in 46 hours 22 mins (Avg 15.49mph)
* * * *
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