Drift Rd. then Windsor

 Felt tired to start with but, since it was a ride I proposed, I felt compelled to sit in the front from the beginning. 

Riding in parallel with Rupert, chatting while pretending you are taking it easy only lasted until we hit the first ramp where I was duly dropped. The same happened in every single ramp we managed to find in this pan flat route.

At some point, fairly early into the ride to be honest, I fell back and sat on Calum’s wheel. 

That was super helpful in Drift Road. To the point that I got to the conclusion that aerodynamics, when plays in your favor, is a marvelous thing.  

Aerodynamics helped me all the way to Windsor where I went for the traditional (for me) latte and half cinnamon bum (notice the half bit, I’m such a pro wanna be). 

The caffeine did its magic and on the way home I rode a bit over excited. Riding over excited means I was second to Rupert at the sprint and only because Calum had no clue where the line was (a trick that always works). 

It also means that as we were approaching the end I started to dream about the big siesta I was going to have this afternoon. 

Siesta that starts on 3, 2, 1…

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8042495498 

Take care

Javier Arias González

LOL (To Oxford and back)

Seen in Oxford. Top trolling

The Kinston Wheelers Saturday Gang... It is October, let's be happy with short rides.

Also the Kingston Wheelers Saturday Gang... Let's ride to Oxford and back. More than 200km.

Luckily for me all the stars were aligned and for once we rode steady the whole route. Keeping the group together. As if we were good friends.

Luckily for all of us the day was perfect for it. Weather was great (although at the end of October we should really have this nice weather), the route was also great. Every so often I found myself admiring the scenery, full of happiness, enjoying the moment. As the Pope said, moments worth capturing in a bottle to conserve them. 

After two weeks out of the bike and the double vaccine this week I was pleasantly surprised with how well I felt. My riding mates blew that feeling a little when they told me in Oxford we had had tail wind all the way out. 

I still did a decent return leg though. True that The Pope dropped me in less than 20 meters in the last climb (Berins Hill) but very quickly I gave myself a great set of excuses to justify my performance (I didn’t know the climb, it was too steep for my liking, you lose raw power faster than your endurance and I was two weeks off the bike. I’m an expert at finding excuses).

From kilometer 160 I started to feel tired so fell for my tactic of trying to convince everyone that we shouldn’t contest sprint. I even took a couple of turns as we were approaching Hampton Court and everyone knows that if I had intention to sprint there is no way I’d take a turn in the approach to the line. 

To no avail. The Pope attacked something like 500m to the line. To make things worse he attacked when I was at the front!

That’s a yellow card mate. Yellow card!

Luckily for me I managed to jump on his wheel and in the cheeky fashion that characterizes my style I passed him a few meters before the line.

Lucky in the sprint, lucky with the pace, lucky with the route (it was brilliant, thanks Harry), lucky with the weather, lucky with my riding mates. 

Lucky man. 

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8037888901 

Take care 

Javier Arias González

My 2022/2023 "season" starts here

 

With an “easy” ride to Windsor following a route the road captain named as “Boring Windsor”. 

A road captain that didn’t bother to show up because apparently it was raining.

A ride that was meant to be easy but didn’t feel that easy because two weeks off the bike take its toll.

Two weeks off the bike that marked the end of the 2021/2022 “season” and the beginning of the 2022/2023 one.

A 2022/2023 “season” full of plans imagined from the comfort of my sofa, a place from where everything seems possible. 

Plans are still in draft. There is more imagining to be done sitting on my sofa. For now this is how they look:

• Sun, 19 Mar 2023 - Gentley Bentley (https://audax.uk/event-details/9976-gently_bentley) - 200km Audax 

• Sat, 1 Apr 2023 - Tour de Flanders (https://werideflanders.com/en)

• Sat, 8 Apr 2023 - Paris Roubaix (https://www.parisroubaixchallenge.com/en)

• Sat, 15 Apr 2023 - Amesbury Amble (https://audax.uk/event-details/9979-amesbury_amble) - 300km Audax

• Sat, 13 May 2023 - Dauntsey Dawdle (https://audax.uk/event-details/9921-dauntsey_dawdle) - 400km Audax

• Sat, 20 May 2023 - Bryan Chapman Memorial (https://www.audax.uk/event-details/10222-bryan_chapman_memorial) - 600km Audax

• Sat, 28 May 2023 to Sat, 3 June 2023 - Kingston Wheelers Saturday Gang training camp. Hoping to convince the gang we should go for a Ventoux Cingles attempt (https://www.clubcinglesventoux.org/) As said above, everything seems easy from my sofa

• Sat, 17 Jun 2023 - Wander Wye (https://audax.uk/event-details/9898-wander_wye) - 600km Audax OR Quebrantahuesos (https://www.quebrantahuesos.com), depending on if I get a place at the Quebrantahuesos ballot

• At some point in July - A long(ish) event

• Sun, 20 Aug to Thu, 24 Aug - Paris Brest Paris (https://www.paris-brest-paris.org) 1200km Audax

• Sat, 2 Sep 2023 - Alpen Brevet (https://www.alpenbrevet.ch) As you would expect we are going for the Platinum route, 268Km 7090m

My main event for the year is Paris Brest Paris. My time in the 2019 edition was 59h 31m. Beating that time is my main objective. I want to set my fastest PBP and leave it there for the rest of my life. But I also set myself a stretch objective, from the comfort of my sofa, of going sub 55 hours. 

That’s it. Now that I have an objective for the year I guess I should start thinking how I’m going to get there. But that will be next Sunday. Enough thinking from the comfort of my sofa for this week.

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8007408884/ 

Take care

Javier Arias González

End of the "season"

 That’s it. This is my 2021/2022 “season” done. 

(Mind you that I use “season” only to pretend that I have all my cycling perfectly planned. Something that is only partially true, like all my riding reports).

I’m now going to take two weeks off the bike. As if I needed to rest.

The reality is this break comes due to the circumstances. 

On one hand it’ll be good (I guess, I hope) to have a break and to reflect on my objectives for my 2022/2023 “season” (oh, this sounds so pro).

On the other hand, it is a shame to have to stop now that I’m in the form of my life. Not every day you get a PR up Broome Hall Road (https://www.strava.com/activities/7930304942/segments/3013809713553065704) with 95k in the legs, 75 of them ridden solo, followed by another PR up Box Hill (https://www.strava.com/activities/7930304942/segments/3013809713546034920) and end up beating Rupert at the Horton roundabouts sprint. 

Two weeks of imagining my form slowly disappearing and anticipating how bad I’ll feel in the first ride. It is well known that if you take two weeks off the bike on your first KW Saturday ride you’ll be mercilessly slaughtered. 

Still, the naive, positive thinker in me, believes that finishing this “season” this strong is a great sign that next “season” I’ll get even stronger and it is going to be amazing.

As if I knew for sure how to get stronger.

All delusional thinking but it feels good. 

The ride in Strava:

Take care

Javier Arias González

Alice Holt

Flat endurance ride (https://www.unbiciorejon.com/2019/02/javiers-ride-classification-criteria.html)

My today’s track record as road captain.

Misjudged the weather and showed up for the ride way overdressed. I took off several pieces of kit even before we started the ride.

A rider that didn’t announce they’d join the ride showed up 5kms into the ride. Of course he wasn’t the best behaved rider of the pack.

10kms into the ride a coup d’etat formed and my navigation instructions were ignored completely. Several times in a row. 

Something like 20kms into the ride the unannounced rider decided to peel off. Who can plan a ride with such a level of anarchy.

I missed a right turn. I wouldn’t read too much into it because we miss that turn everytime we do this ride.

I wanted a K2 ride but looking at the success at my last “Proper, steady K2 ride” https://www.strava.com/activities/7790384597 I announced the ride as K1.5. It turns out it was closer to K1 than to K1.5. 

The good news is after today’s experience I came out with a great way of classifying rides. I’d put a given K value, say today’s K1.5, and then would warn everyone to discount 0.1 for each person that joins that have the letters E and D in their name. As Ed “The Pope”, Ed van der Poel and “GC” Denis signed up for the ride the adjusted K value was K1.2. Which sounds about the pace I had to survive today.

I only realized we were climbing Hog “hill” (https://www.strava.com/activities/7894281917/segments/3011276855885634848) when it was way too late to save my legs for it. Blew up 50 meters before the top.

A second coup d’etat, instigated by the same rider, changed the route to the end of the ride only to make sure I didn’t know what the final sprint was. I was preparing for the sprint at Hurst Rd in Hapmton Court and suddenly I started to see signs suggesting we were heading to Esher. A sprint I wasn’t prepared for. Luckily for me there were too many cars around so we didn’t have a final sprint.

In my favor I have that we actually stopped at Alice Holt which is a clear improvement on the last ride I was ride captain. In that one we were supposed to stop at Henley and after another coup d’etat, by a different rider, ended up stopping in Twyford (https://www.strava.com/activities/7790384597).

Let’s think long term and with optimism. I reckon in 40 or 50 rides I’ll master the role. 

The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7894281917

Btw. I checked my last three rides to Alice Holt and they were:

26th of January 2019 https://www.strava.com/activities/2104636782

25th of January 2020 https://www.strava.com/activities/3042232307

29th of January 2022 https://www.strava.com/activities/6599543557 

I guess we now know the route for the 21st or 28th of January 2023

Take care

Javier Arias González