I've done it!

Dear All,

I have completed the challenge of cycling 340 miles from London to Paris in 4 days!

The experience was an absolute blast!

I shared the trip with 130 other people: I met some of them and made bonds that will last a lifetime.

We managed to raise a total of £1,500 for the PSP Association, which in itself is a great achievement which will be appreciated by many. Thanks again for all the contributions and support!

I didn't get to see much of Paris apart from the traffic and the Eiffel Tower, and I will never again complain about road works in London.

If anyone is thinking about doing it next year I can only say that it is going to be one of the best things you could ever do in life (and I'll give details and contact info of the event organisers to anyone interested)

I have attached a group photo taken on our arrival in Paris under the Eiffel Tower.

August mileage record

Dear folks,

A week on Wednesday I will be setting off to Paris with my trusty
steed, and a target in mind: to get to the Eiffel tower as quickly as
possible.

For those of you who might not remember why, I am raising money for
the PSP Association, who have supported our family and many others in
fighting Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a terrible disease we wish to
eradicate.

I have been training hard over the last few months, most recently
upping the mileage and the pace, hopefully achieving the goal of
setting a new record for charity rides!

So far this year I have been cycling more than 2,000 miles; the month
of August alone has seen me cycling a whopping 576 miles, a mixture of
commuting and training rides which improved my fitness level to the
level demanded by such a wonderful challenge.

The challenge itself will see me cycling 320 miles from Croydon
(London), to the Eiffel Tower (Paris) in just 4 days!

We still need to raise a few more pennies: if you haven't done so
already, please donate through Just Giving, using the button on the
top-right corner of this blog.

Orpington, return

Last weekend I experienced some aggro on my training ride.

I was committed to better my last average ride to Orpington, and I was ready to make use of the new found strength.

Unfortunately, my GPS started playing up and switching off mid ride. It would do that any time there was some vibration.

It is a Garmin Edge 205, and so far it had been very reliable, even off-road.

Unfortunately, as I have now found out, it suffers from a design flaw which means a particular vibration frequency triggers tiny sparks in the contacts between the battery and the main board.

The result is that it can switch off 10, 20 times during a few hours ride.

Fortunately, I managed to only loose around 1 mile out of 72 on the first day, which means I managed to keep an accurate average speed record: 18.4 mph, 0.3 mph faster than previously.

Again, the highlight of the ride was Box Hill. This time I was able to push harder than previously: as soon as I saw a few riders ahead of me and behind me catching up, I pushed a harder gear, climbed faster and managed to beat my previous performance. I then jumped on the wheel of another rider who was going faster, overtook pretty much anyone on the way past the Cafe, and then went to the front, leading the way. Speed crept up to 23mph on the uphill, when this other guy and me had a chat. Found out he used to race and I was glad I managed to lead and keep up.

I had to let go though at some point, because I still had another 35 miles to go.

I got to Orpington in record time, and managed the last climb without even realising I did. Overall a great ride, tainted only by some GPS issues.

The next day i went back to Wokingham. I was aiming to better my average again, and I think I might have done. But I will never know: the GPS was playing up so much i ended up missing about 10 miles recording, which meant all calculations were off.

I have been looking online for solutions to the Edge 205 problems. Apparently it can be fixed in house, but it would invalidate the warranty.

An alternative I am now implementing, suggested to me by a colleague at work, is to insert some foam in between the handlebar and the mounting bracket.
The foam I am using is a cut out from a dishwashing sponge. The hope is that it will reduce the vibration frequency, and effectively reduce the effects on the GPS reliability.

If that turns out to be ineffective, I will have to either send it back for repair, which might take a long time and not be back before the charity event, or repair it myself.

I must test it this weekend, or the next at the latest.

Fingers crossed it will work!

A great day!

Today I set a new personal record on my Benson ride!

53 miles in 2hours 46minutes, at the average speed of 19.1 mph.

The day started pretty well: I had a good night sleep, after a lovely meal that Geeta cooked for us, and a beer.
We also watched Slumdog Millionaire, which by the way it's an excellent film!

This morning I woke up on time, had a lightweight breakfast, and set off on time at 8am. The sun was shining, the wind was calm and the temperature just right (18C).

Today I also tried a new way of keeping myself entertained: the radio. I used my mobile phone's FM radio receiver and put one earplug in so I could still be aware of any vehicles coming up from behind. Unfortunately, this didn't prove very successful. Reception was intermittent, the music was not that great (Radio 1), and when I arrived at the bottom of Pishill, I decided there was no point in that and turned the radio off.

Up to the sign for Lower Assendon my average speed was 19.2 mph, for a distance of 14 miles. The descent into Henley saw my maximum speed at 45 mph.

The climb from the sign for Lower Assendon to the bottom of Pishill, a distance of 3.86 miles, took 13m 12s, at an average of 17.5 mph, with a max speed of 19.1 mph.

The Pishill climb section, up to the junction with Red Lane, a distance of 1.98 miles, took 9m 23s, at an average speed of 12.7 mph and max speed of 16.4 mph. In itself this was a great personal achievement, topped off by only using a 34x21 gear at the very top and overtaking two other riders on the climb.

At this point I had the only refurbishment of the day, an apple flavor Nutrigrain bar, but this time i didn't take my time to eat it, and instead kept the speed up, which also shows my in-training recovery ability is getting stronger.
I then hit the maximum speed of 47.3 mph on the descent into Britwell Salome. That speed was achieved without any pedaling involved: I assumed an aero position by lowering my body as close to the ground as possible!

The rest of the trip was memorable by simply the speeds I was able to keep: I made an effort all week commuting to work to use one gear higher then usual, in an attempt to increase my speed by forcing my legs into their natural cadence but at a higher effort level.

That proved a very successful tactic today: I consistently pushed one gear harder for the whole rest of the trip, and recover quicker during intermediate town sections.
I believe there is a natural cadence which occurs by sheer muscular engagement. This cadence represents a lower and higher limit to performance: push a gear too hard, and it will not be possible for your legs to deliver the power required, but push a gear too easy, and you will use more energy spinning your legs rather than do actual work.

I applied this from my strength training background, and it is working.
Initially you are going slower due to the lower cadence, but within a few seconds or at most minutes, your legs start pushing slightly harder and your cadence also increases, without a conscious effort, delivering a better performance.

Just like in strength training, this progressive overload must be very slight, since a too big an effort will exhaust the muscular system rather then merely stimulate it.

The bottom line is that today's ride is now my best ride and I have set up a virtual partner course that will enable me to push that little bit more next time and be able to beat this record soon!

Not a great day

Did my usual training ride to Benson today.
53 miles, 3,000 feet climb, and today, very windy.
I was really looking forward to it. Geeta was away on her leadership program, so I had Daniele with me all week. After missing out on last weekends ride, I couldn't wait to get a few more miles under my belt.
I even managed to go to sleep early last night (well, by 11PM).
But I must have been really tired from the past week.
I woke up late (9.30 AM), then took even longer to get ready and have my breakfast.
Finally I realized I didn't have any juice to put in my water bottles, so had to take plain water with me.
By the time I left I could tell I was not in great shape.
Anyway, I got on with the ride, I even enabled the Virtual Partner option on my GPS to keep me motivated.
Unfortunately, I missed a turn due to traffic at a junction (one of the problems of leaving late is that you have to deal with more traffic), which meant my Virtual Partner was ahead of me by a quarter of a mile, and kept the advantage all the way to the top of Pishill.
If it can be of any consolation, this time I didn't feel as tired when I got to the top of Pishill: not the best performance in terms of time, but I managed to keep a steady pace all the way to the top, which in my opinion shows I am getting better at managing my energy reserves.
After Benson, I met another rider and I am please to say I was first to the top of the climb, although he then caught up with me when I slowed down in town to recover some energy. Did I mention I was not in my best shape today?
By this time I was ahead of my Virtual Partner by a quarter of a mile.
Anyway, he was a nice chap, so we rode together, me at the front, for a few miles: apparently we were both heading back to Wokingham, but he was going back the Henley way.
By this time the wind really picked up, and every downhill section was a struggle to get above 30 mph. Needless to say my Virtual Partner caught up with me and his advantage was just growing steadily...
I got back home after a total time of 2h 58m, 5 minutes later than my Virtual Partner. Hence the disappointment.

For future reference, the Pishill climb (from the sign at the bottom to the sign at the top of the ascent):
Time: 9m 36s
Distance: 1.96 miles
Av. speed: 12.2 mph
Max speed: 16.9 mph

This week I am resuming the regular commute to work, which should hopefully raise my fitness level back to where I left it a week ago.
Next weekend I will do two back-to-back rides to Benson, and I just can't wait!

140 miles in two days

This weekend I raised the bar a little higher.

On Sunday morning, I left home at 7 AM and arrived in Orpington 3 hours an 58 minutes later. That's 72 miles at an average of 18.1 mph.

I was well chuffed with myself, especially since I was able to pace myself and keep a pretty consistent average speed throughout the whole ride, and tackling all the climbs with vigor.

Only needed three Nutrigrain bars and drank 1.5 litres of fluids: a mix of water, fruit juice and a pinch of salt, which helped the fluids being absorbed more quickly.

The weather was hotter than I anticipated, I had my new waterproof overshoes and my compact waterproof jacket in my jersey's pockets, but fortunately I did not need them.

I then set up the paddling pool for Daniele's party in the in-laws back garden and spent the afternoon playing games and eating a lot of indian food!

I was so pleased with the morning's ride that I decided to cycle to work in Maidenhead from Orpington this morning.



I left at 6AM: 67 miles and 3 hours and 45 minutes later I was in the office's carpark, at an average speed of 18 mph.

To say that I was exceptionally pleased with the performance is an understatement.

I am now feeling quite tired and am heading off to bed for a well deserved rest.

Next time, I might even attempt a ton! (i.e. 100 miles)

Training resumed

After achieving the £1,000 fundraising milestone, and a well deserved two weeks holiday in sunny Spain, I am back for more!

I will resume my regular cycling commute this week, and for the weekend I have planned a long distance training ride.

At 72 miles, this route (see link below) will take me from Wokingham to Orpington in Kent, going through the North and South Downs. The highlight will be Box Hill in Dorking.
The total ascent will be 3,160 feet.



I aim to do it in just over 4 hours, leaving home before 6.00 AM to avoid Sunday morning traffic.

I will then have to be fit enough to play with my son all day: that will be the real test! :-)

We made it!

It was a tall order, but we persevered and the combined effort has paid off.

We have reached the first milestone of our £1000 minimum sponsorship requirement, which has secured us a place on the London to Paris bike ride.

Though we can breath a slight sigh of relief for now, we still have to raise an extra £250 to meet the full sponsorship requirement; any more than that would be a fabulous bonus for the PSP Association.

We'd like to thank all of you who made this challenge achievable. Some of you went the extra mile and collected funds on our behalf. All of your support means so much to our whole family.

The training schedule will continue after a well deserved vacation.

That was hard!

Yesterday I achieved my goal of completing an 80+ mile ride.
I averaged 17.7 mph, completing the course in 4 hours and 31 minutes.
Unfortunately I left late in the morning which meant I was riding during the hottest hours of the day.
I took two bottles with 750ml of fluid each, and 8 bars of Kellogs Nutrigrain (Apple flavour).
An alert on my GPS unit reminded me to eat one bar every 10 miles.

The first 30 miles were relatively easy, I even resisted the temptation of keeping up with a time trialist who overtook me at great speed: I was very aware I still had 50 miles to go.

The first challenge came at Dorking, where I incorporated the Box Hill climb into my journey. After 40 miles, the relatively easy climb was not as easy as I remembered it. Still, I managed to overtake two female riders at the very top: I could never be beaten by a woman! ;-)

At 50 miles the climbs of the North Downs became challenging and fast, and I managed to overtake every single rider I met, whether on the uphill, where I learnt to spin smaller gears faster, and in the downhill, where I managed to keep up with several cars and overtook a cyclist who, at 44.5 mph, ran out of gears.

I managed to regularly top up my hydration levels but ran out of water after 65 miles. I had to stop at a petrol station where I filled up both bottles with water, orange juice, and managed to down a Mars drink in one sip.

The last 15 miles from Windsor to Twyford were the hardest as my body was in need of fluids: I managed to drink up another two bottles in that last leg.

After reaching the 80 miles mark, I stopped the clock, but I still had another 5 miles to go, from Twyford to Wokingham.
I took those last 5 miles very gently and managed to get home safely.

Next time I am certainly going to leave early in the morning, maybe as early as 6 AM, so that I can travel when the weather is milder, and avoid major traffic delays.

Today I travelled to work by bike, and I managed to complete the journey in good time, which is an indication my recovery ability is strong.

I am now looking forward to my next training ride: next time I will try and avoid big towns and instead head into the countryside.

Training

As some of you know, I have become a very keen cyclist this year.
To date, I have cycled 1,050 miles since January. And I plan to ride a further 2,000 miles this year.

It all started when Chris Hems got me into mountain biking last year, and I saw Shea Hindman commuting by bike in his suit!
I had been a road cyclist in my earlier life (back in Italy), and I must admit I could not resist treating myself to a brand new road bike. I got myself a Kiron Scandium, which weighs a meagre 7.8 kilos.

My current weekly schedule sees me commuting by bike to work three times a week. That's 81 miles of commuting miles a week.
Since I don't have a car, I must use my bike, come rain or shine. I am certainly not a fair weather cyclo-commuter.

I also take my son to the child minder on Wednesday mornings using the cycle paths in Wokingham. That's only a mile round trip, but saves on fuel and time.

On top of that, every Sundays I ride a training route of at least 50 miles.
My favourite Sunday route is Wokingham to Benson, in Oxfordshire, offering a total ascent of 900 meters (3,000 feet) over 53 miles. My personal best on that route is 2h 55m, at an average speed of 18 mph.

Since I decided to participate in the London to Paris bike ride this September, my training schedule got tougher.

I plan to ride a minimum of 80 miles every Sunday, and eventually move to two consecutive 80 mile rides in a weekend.
The first of those I have planned is an 80 mile loop from Wokingham through Camberley, Guildford, Dorking, Leatherhead, Cobham, Chertsey, Staines, Windsor, Maidenhead, Twyford and back to Wokingham again.
It should take me around 4 and 1/2 hours to complete.


View Wokingham 80 mile loop in a larger map

All systems are GO!

We have now officially started collecting funds for the London to Paris bike ride which will take place in September, in support of The PSP Association.

The funds will be collected by me and sent to the London to Paris bike ride event organisers, who will then forward the money to The PSP Association. Hence any contributions must be made directly to me.

PSP, or Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, is the illness my wife's dad, Kishin Chand Jajani, died of, after many years of suffering.

By taking part in the London to Paris bike ride challenge this year, I hope to raise awareness of the illness, on top of raising funds for The PSP Association who has supported us through many years of suffering.

This event is organised by a company and one of their conditions is for participants to raise a MINIMUM of £1250.00.

£1000 of which HAS to be DEPOSITED with them 12 weeks PRIOR to the event start date: 17th JUNE 2009

Time is tight, which is why I need all of your support to get me there.
If we can have your SUPPORT and CONCERTED EFFORTS to raise the £1000 minimum required over the next 3 WEEKS we can make this happen for a very worthwhile organisation !

You can pay me in cash or via Paypal using the Donate button on top of this page.

Please note for Paypal, if people want to use their credit or debit card (as opposed to their bank account which is free), please accept the fees for the transaction.

This blog will serve as a point of contact to keep you up to date with the fund raising progress and my training for the event.

Please do not send money directly to the PSP Association nor any other third party.

On behalf of me, Geeta and all our families, I thank all of you who decide to support us.