Rather than listen to me ranting on about our bike rides I decided to ask Mr William Edwards to do the Weymouth entry for us, so thanks to Will, and here is his post.


"To sum up the ride: 2 parts masochistic suffering, 2 parts suffering like a dog! The day started well for me, good spin to meet Roddy with little wind, a huge contrast to later! Roddy and i had a great first 20-45 miles, nice tailwind, good climb up batcombe, with a sudden attack of cyclist ego striking down Roddy half way up the steepest section. A lovely tailwind followed us from the top of the climb till Dorchester, with it turning slightly as we made our way to Weymouth. This was undoubtedly the best section of the ride. At Weymouth we had a well deserved, post 40 mile break at Cafe blue, a coke and a vile Powerbar later we headed off to Abbotsbury. This was arguably the hardest part of the ride, a constant headwind of 20 mph took it out of the legs and we reached Abbotsbury significantly drained. The whole lunch was spent dreading the approaching climb of Abbotsbury, whilst hearing occasional bursts of hail against the conservatory of the pub. We set off for the return journey under slight overcast skies but with a cruel headwind already. This was the WORST part of the day, the steep gradient (17%) and the driving headwind really knackering me. As a result of this the route changed and e took a less hilly route home. The return journey was great, we both felt better and we had a really nice spin home, with Roddy feeling slightly too good for my liking! That was the last ting I remember before the crash... JOKING! A great day with great company, but quite a bit of pain thrown in!"

Training update

Sorry for the delay with the update, but this is the blog I have been dying to write, there has been so much going on between club rides, commuting, Will started racing and a training week in France, where do I start.
Ok! So my week in France was a combination of working on the house and some long rides, my first ride was a steady 45 miles on a sunny morning with no wind, Ah bliss, the ride took me east towards Confolens passing through a few very nice small villages on the way. I headed out along the D309 through Le Bouchage, then onto Benest where I then stared to go southeast, towards Alloue where I continued along the D309 at this point I left the sound of the rippling river Charante behind and then realised that my bike was making a strange noise, sort of a purring or humming noise, not a major concern but one that was making me think. Then it struck me! what it was, yep not a sound we get in the UK, it was the sound of smooth slick tyres purring on puurrrrrrfect smooth French roads.

When I reached Confolens I then turned towards the northwest along the D948 taking in the most amazing country side and the fantastic rolling roads were a dream, my average speed was rising and my legs were now pumping, “god I love this sport”, my next major town was Charroux which came and went all to quickly for me as I was heading towards Civray, from Charroux I picked up the river Charante again with yet more stunning views. When I was going through there I realised that the car that just passed me was the 1st yes the 1st car that I had seen moving for 33 miles. Ah Civray at last time for a coffee stop and for those of you who know me, I don’t normally drink coffee, but when in France and on a bike ride it has been known that I like a bit of rocket fuel, I was looking forward to the home leg of this ride as I know the road very well its straight, long [8 miles] and undulating with no parked cars on the side, so no Dave Notley with cries of “ON THE LEFT”, “CAR UP” or the one we get most “POT HOLE”, so fuelled up and ready to go I got back in the saddle and went like a bat out of hell giving it everything I had and determined not to drop below 20mph so I got to 26mph and worked like a dog, for the whole 8 miles I sat between 20mph and 26mph I was STOKED, and my legs knew they had done some work.

My next ride was al very much the same but a bit further, my hardest decision was where to go because there was no wind and lots of sun, so was it with the sun on my back or in my eyes as apposed to the usual into the wind on the way out, and back with a tail wind. I decided to head towards Confolens again via a different road and what is a relatively flat area threw up a few surprises for me, one very long hill, actually its 3 miles long but amazing, the roads were as quiet as usual and the tarmac as smooth as normal, so a rather gentle but nice 55 mile ride. The following day was a hard 62 miles and again it was sunny and with no wind, for March this was amazing weather and perfect for cycling, so the rest of the news is rather simple, my commuting is now starting to get longer and longer by choice so I can get fitter and quicker, My good friend Will Edwards has started racing and finished his first race in the bunch but shows good promise, sadly his second race was not so good he “CRASHED”, but is ok. On Saturday the 28th March Will and I did an 82 mile ride to Weymouth via Abbotsbury and then back up through Cattistock, all I can say is WOW!!!! The weather was not ideal for this ride as we head towards Weymouth we had a tail wind of around 15 to 22mph which meant on the way back we would have a head wind, NOT FUNNY. There is lots to tell about this ride but will save it until my next update.

WOW! What a week and what a ride we had today, last Friday seen my first cold for years and sadly when I have a cold I am reluctant to give in, but I did miss my Yeovil CC Sunday morning ride as when my cold hits my sinuses I have to give in.

This did not stop me working or cycling to work although to be honest the pace did drop a bit, and Wednesday seen the worst ride home I have ever had driving rain and gusting winds, I was feed up big time. So, a trip to the doctors for some antibiotics to sort my nose out and I was ready to go but not feeling fighting fit just yet.

Mike, Will and myself had planned a long ride from Milborne Port to Shaftsbury and round to Sturminster Newton, but as I was not feeling to strong we decided to go on a club ride, and boy am I glad we did, we headed out to Curry Rivel, There was 6 of us in the group Gary, Dave Notley, Chris and the usual 3 suspects of Will, Mike and Myself, the pace was gentle to start with as Gary is now 70 but do not be alarmed or sympathetic as believe me Gary is more than able to stick the pace and hold his own with us lot, however Gary peeled off early to head home missing the coffee shop stop and was he lucky he did as all hell broke loose soon after.
The pace picked up to a steady 20 to 23mph. It must have been the anticipation of the cakes and coffee, after our brief stop we then carried on home with a tail wind and fresh legs and boy were we on the move, the pace was great and as for the hills we were all racing each other up them [it’s a bloke thing] then we started playing SIGN’S, “what’s sign’s?” I hear you ask, well that’s a game a bunch off old blokes play to see who can kill them self first, just kidding, when you know that there is a sign up ahead someone says “SIGN” and we all get level and sprit to the sign to see who is the fastest.
It is great fun and gets the heart rate up plus gets you fitter quicker, and if you would like to know who was king of the sprints today, yep the YELLOW JERSEY goes to Mr Roddy Payne,
Today was probable the best club ride I have ever had not because I was sprinting like a maniac but because of the fun we had and the camaraderie, with bunch of fantastic friends and club mates who are all like minded when it comes to bikes and cycling, so I would like to say THANK YOU to Yeovil CC and all its members for making me so welcome and to anyone who is into cycling or thinking of joining a cycling club look no further than hear http://www.yeovilcc.com/

Regards to all

Roddy

My New Bike

Hi,

Well! My last posting was October and a lot has happened since then, so there is a lot to tell you about, first up is the weight, yep I am now 14stone so have reached my target losing 2 ½ stone [wicked]. It has been a cold hard winter but has not stopped me cycling, even in the snow, however the turbo trainer has been hot. I am still out at weekends with Yeovil CC and have also teamed up with a few fellow cyclists, Will Edwards and Mike Ives who have been great company as well as a huge help and inspiration.

Our weekend mileage will vary from around 45 to 70 miles, but we are now about to up the anti and are also on the look out for some good hills to climb, we are seen anywhere from Glastonbury, Dorchester, Wincanton or even Salisbury way. I have had a few minor incidents with the odd skip in Sherborne, but nothing serious thankfully, however today was a bit scary when Will Edwards lost concentration and went head on into a parked car, the car was all ok as was Will’s bike but will had a very swollen knee with a few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. But now looking back he was very luck and we can see the funny side of it, as with all cyclists Will was more concerned about his bike than himself, we then took a steady pace back to Sherborne where will was met by his mother who took him home safely in the car.

I have also got ANOTHER new bike which is a Van Nicholas Zephyr, which is Titanium, the reason I got this was because it was an opportunity not to be missed, my boss Robin Hague [Robin James life style salon and spa Sherborne] was very keen to get the cycle to work scheme of the ground as we are very into the whole eco thing as a company which is great news for everyone, so I decided to look at a new bike that I could not afford without the scheme.

The bike has been like a breath of fresh air and the ride I get from it is unreal so a huge thank you to Robin for his support and for launching the cycle to work scheme. Although my average speed has not increased yet I am not to concerned because it has been winter and that is to be expected, so as the warmer weather creeps in I will be trying to get faster so look out.

That’s all for now

Roddy

Hi Folks,

Well this is the story of how I became involved with this bike ride, 3 years ago a bloke called Mr John Ellis came to work with us, he was hugely talented and super fit, when I say super fit I am talking cycling fit. For example an afternoon ride for him would be around 100 miles which he would do in under 6 hours well under actually.

One day with my infinite wisdom I said to John ‘I am thinking of getting a bike to cycle to work’ 4 hours later and Mr over the top enthusiastic had convinced me to spend well over my budget on a Cannondale Bad Boy ultra [great name had to have one].

So I started my rides to work 10 miles each way 4 days a week, and boy did I love it, It was not a chore it was a joy and the days I was not cycling I was grumpy. Then at weekends I started doing longer rides 25 to 35 miles on my bike, which is a hybrid and not ideal for this sort of riding, so I looked at road bikes and I suddenly realised that I was now becoming addicted and was also starting to but LYCRA!

So I then had 2 bikes, my work bike and my weekend bike, [sad I know] so I then needed some buddies to go out with so I joined the local cycling club which has been great and Mr John Ellis has also been a great help. The progress has been great I have done several warm up charity rides varying in distance from 40 miles to 100 miles, but I am under no illusion that London to Paris in 3 days will be hard, correction VERY HARD. To date I am doing an average speed of 15 to 19mph depending on hills and distance, I recently did 50 miles in 2 hrs 54min with an average speed of 18.7mph, which I was well happy with, and have done 30 miles in under 2hrs. So my goals are to get to 14 stone and get my average speed up as well as do 100 miles in 6hrs or a bit less.

I am now about to start a proper diet and am still cycling to work as well as using my turbo trainer 3 times a week, so am really clocking up the miles. So you may ask ‘where do you get the motivation from for this’ I would reply; well1 my chosen charity is The National Autistic Society, and I have first hand experience of this as my daughter Molly is autistic and when you see the difficulties that children like Molly live with everyday and the fact that they live in a totally different world to ours I find it very easy to be motivated, I could also write pages of sad thing about Molly and I would have you in tears, but I would also be in tears and would wreck my PC so I won’t but I will ask you to sponsor me at www.justgiving.com/roddypayne1

Well that is it for now I will add some pictures soon so you can see my progress.

Regards

Roddy

My early training

Hi All,
Well this is my first posting and its very short, why? because i am wiped out from my training, so will do a full posting on Sat.