East Croydon to Oxted via Old Farleigh Rd

This trip is a little different. The weather forecast was for an extended period of rain over lunch so I thought this would be a good opportunity to try out my wet weather strategy. Basically that's what I normally wear but with over-trousers and my Endura hi-vis jacket. Maybe surprisingly my Surly has hardly got wet since I bought it over 1333 km ago.


So standard bike with Ortlieb panniers. As another experiment I tried NUUN tablets in my water bottle. NUUN is just electrolytes – it is not a source of sugar or carbs. Tastes good and doesn't cloy like some energy drinks. Don't know if I really need them but it's good to try things out before a mission critical outing.

I started out with just my jacket as the rain was very light. Soon I put on the over trousers as its really started to come down. They were 'ok' certainly 'good enough' but not great. I may look for some Goretex trousers  with a more friendly lining. A zip leg like athletes trousers would be good too.

Ortlieb panniers performed faultlessy - excellent.

The main difference you notice in the wet is the bikes braking ability which isn't good. The last drop down Chalk Pit Lane was quite tricky.

There is a handy French Style coffee van at the Botley Hill Farmhouse which seems to be a bit of  a stopover point for cyclists

Didcot to Reading via Stoke Row

The lower approaches to the Chilterns a few miles from Stoke Row. The fields had Red Kites that were so close you could see every detail. Loads of Red Kites actually - it made me wonder if their re-introduction has been too much of a success.

The Thames Valley and the Chilterns is a fine cycling area I need to explore more. The Chilterns always involves some significant hills. Once you get off the main thoroughfares the countryside is wonderful.

I stopped over at the Black Horse Checkendon. A pub thats usually described as a 'hidden treasure'.

Open Source Pic

Cambridge to London Bridge

I caught the 6:54 from Oxted to Victoria then pedalled across to Kings Cross and then caught the fast train to Cambridge. The fast train takes  45-50 minutes which is pretty good. Cambridge Station was heaving with people. I've never seen it so busy.

I used a route prepared by Hackney Audax. It's a very direct route but once you get to Ware its pretty urban I think next time I would go via the Lea Valley route.

Weather was great not too hot but a trifle windy over the Cambridgeshire 'flatlands'.

Three Bridges to Oxted via Crawley Down, East Grinstead and Lingfield

Smugmug Gallery

Leaving Oxted, going to Three Bridges via East Croydon

Outside the bakers and butchers in Crawley Down Village

Crawley Down Pond

Crawley Down Pond

East Grinstead Railway Station

The Red Barn Tandridge Green

Near Crowhurst

Near Crowhurst

The Bus Shelter Broadham Green

Broadham Green

The Bell Old Oxted

East Grinstead to Eridge NCN Route 21

Go to the Smugmug Gallery


Video best viewed in HD

Sustrans NCN21 East Grinstead - Eridge from Stuart Murden on Vimeo.

Go to the Smugmug Gallery

Just Giving Sustrans Target Acheived

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to my Sustrans Bath2Bournemouth Just Giving page.

Click here to go to the Gallery

Bath 2 Bournemouth (no sound) from Stuart Murden on Vimeo.

A Week on the Machar Peninsula (Rough Cut No Sound)

Not cycling related but a great place to cycle. Low levels of traffic, pleasantly undulating use Sustrans map 'Lochs and Glens (South)'

Isle of Whithorn 2015 (Rough Cut) (No Sound) from Stuart Murden on Vimeo.

Off to The Isle of Whithorn

We'll be off to the Isle of Whithorn soon so there will be a bit of a blog break

We'll be packing wet weather gear ...  It's one of the 'sticky out' bit of Dumfries and Galloway.

 

 

The Dartmoor Ghost Ride - My Next Micro Adventure

The Dartmoor Ghost Audax Link to Audax UK

145km cycling event starting from Bovey Tracey, Devon. Controls at Whiddon Down and Yelverton, plus 3 information controls.

Under the ethereal light of the full'ish moon, experience the wonder of the open Dartmoor roads, & visit numerous 'haunted' locations on your way. 

This has the makings of a fairly significant 'upping the ante' for me with much more climbing and a distance of 147km that's 50% further than my standard 'long ride' plus it's at night.

AAA 2.25 'grimpeur' (hill climbing) event

Although there is a lot more climbing than my previous rides the gradients don't seem to be a bad as some hills I've done recently. A lot will depend on the weather. I quite like riding at night. The ride is very close to a full moon so if cloud cover permits it won't be that dark. Watching the dawn has a unique quality but cloud cover can spoil that. 

Cycling means you're travelling very 'close' to the weather; what direction is the wind, how strong is it, what are the clouds doing, is it hot or cold maybe I need another layer? 

So far I have been very lucky and really I've had no rain to speak of except once on a Brompton ride from High Wycombe to Tower Bridge where I mis-read the rain. I thought it was going to be a 'localised minor shower' so I didn't put on any rain gear when really the rain had set in for the day.

Cycling and Audax in particular has a 'smiling at adversity' culture.

This distance and profile seem to indicate that I could be in the saddle for 10 hours. That's quite a long time. I'm planning to gradually get up to 12-14hrs by the end of the year.

Over The Hills And Far Away - Tewkesbury and Malvern 100km Audax

Over the Hills and Far Away 100km Audax from Stuart Murden on Vimeo.
I great 100km ride using my Surly LHT. The wind was very strong something like a 20-25kph from the south west.

The Bike Re assembled at the long stay car park in Station St.

Upton on Severn

Looking West from the 'Singing Kettle'  (3rd Checkpoint) view 1

Looking West from the 'Singing Kettle' view 2

Lower Lode Inn (Penultimate checkpoint)

Oddas Chapel (Last Checkpoint)

The Brevet Card (Shot 1)

The Brevet Card (Shot 2)

Does Bike Fit In An Audi A4 Saloon? - Dry Run

What I thought could be tricky turned out to be very easy.

Loads of room to spare.

I completely emptied the boot. Folded down the seats. Took off the front wheel and 'Hey Presto'. There is plenty of room for miscellaneous items. Must remember to pack the 'Joe Blow'  pump. The Joe Blow has turned out to be a really good buy and something I would recommend to any cyclist. To be kept at home or in the car.

Although the bike fits well there's actually not too much spare in terms of length as I didn't want to change the drivers seat position.

I'm riding with no GPS but will have to make sure my Polar HRM and FujiFilm X100T are fully charged.

I'm planning to ride creating a single GPX track (previously I've used a track per stage) and I'm thinking 6hrs 30mins in the saddle with stops on top. The Polar RC3 has 8-10 hrs battery life whilst in GPS mode so pretty confident it will last out.

I'll be up at 5am on Saturday ready for the off at 9:15am from The Royal Hop Pole Tewkesbury. The weather forecast looks promising. I don't mind anything other than strong wind. An average wind speed of over 25km/hr would most probably put me off.

I'm quite keen to change the pedals to MKS detachables before the Dartmoor Ghost Ride. I have a spare pair from the Brompton and the bearings are much better than the default units. I don't use cleats on this bike.

Transporting my Surly to Tewkesbury

This is going to be an interesting exercise. I have just started moving my company stuff out of the Audi A4 Saloon with a view to putting in my Surly Long Haul Trucker. I'll put the back seats down and see what happens.




Surly LHT outside hotel in Shaftesbury

  

To what extent can I get it in without taking it to bits I'm not sure. I'm prepared to take the wheels off but would prefer to leave handlebars in situ.

One thing I learnt though is to keep the saddle well covered whilst in transit.

I'm sure I've seen bikes transported in 'Golfs' with just the front wheel off but maybe that's the benefit of a hatchback.

If all fails it's down to Halfords for a bike rack but that's a bit of a last resort to be honest. I'd better pack some HD mechanics gloves.

I had contemplated spending Friday night under canvas and then i realised one of the boys has my sleeping bag emmmmmm ........

Map and Paperwork

  

Audax route received. Organisers instructions received. Map purchased. Luckily the route more or less fits on one OS sheet no 150 so that's a bit of luck. I'm riding this Audax 'old skool' with just instructions and a map. GPS is Kaput. I've been studying the map and making mental annotations. Here's to a 9:15am Saturday start. 102.6km. Weather forecast looks promising .......



Tandridge Hill Lane and Beyond ...

Yesterday I got some practice in on local hills.

1. Under the Oxted viaduct to Limpsfield Chart Golf Club
2. Goodley Stock Rd
3. Tandridge Lane South to North
4. Tandridge Hill Lane which is a category 4 climb.

400m of climbing over 38Km


GOPR0131 1 from Stuart Murden on Vimeo.

I've added in a clip of me talking plus changed format to H.264. This format seems a lot better than AVI which I was using. It seems clearer and is much faster to process. I missed out a dissolve or two on re-editing - it's another thing to work on. I need a tripod too for the non moving shots. It's on my list as it would help with the Fujifilm X100T, but I have to watch the pennies.