COUNTDOWN FOR 'ROCK2UK'

BACK TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN

Three weeks tomorrow I will be setting off for the outward journey to Gibraltar and the start of the 'Rock2UK' ride.

It was about this time last year whilst I was still undergoing radiotherapy that the idea was hatched. The very thought of a bike ride across the entire length of Spain and France gave me great strength and a lot of hope during a very dark episode in my life's story and although the recovery process has not all been plain sailing I am pretty certain that ROCK2UK enabled me to concentrate my focus on recovery and has helped get me to this point one year on.

Since ROCK2UK was first discussed the original plan has changed a number of times due to all the variables involved in arranging a trip like this.
Dave (broom wagon) Vaughan had told us that he would be unable to accompany us as support, as his employers would not give him the time off required. This meant that we faced the extra task of crossing Spain first to get to Gibraltar before heading back to the UK...it looked like it was going to be UK2ROCK2UK.
We had also hoped that we could  recruit some additional adventurous souls to ride with us.

The final plans are as follows.....

Dave HAS been able to negotiate some extra time from work by selling his soul to his employers...!!!
This means we will now be driven by Dave in the broom wagon to Plymouth on Sunday 21st August. We will then catch the ferry to Santander arriving there at about 12.00hrs local time on Monday 22nd. Dave will then drive us to Salamanca where we will stay overnight before continuing our journey to Gibraltar where we hope to arrive on the evening of Tuesday 23rd.
We will start the ride back to the UK on either the Wednesday or Thursday. Dave will accompany us with the support vehicle for the first four or five days and then he will head back home. We will be on our own as an unsupported ride for the rest of the trip.

No other possible riders came forward..........a lot of people said that they would love to do a ride like that, but were also able to put forward a score of reasons why they were unable to actually do so.....therefore it will be just JD and myself doing the pedal pushing.

For my part..although it has been a touch or go type of situation with my health all year... I have managed to continue with the training rides and by the time we set off I should have about 5,000miles under my belt so far this year.
One of the reasons for me doing this ride....apart from the pure cycling enjoyment of course....is to draw attention to the fact that even a diagnosis of cancer need not mean you cannot achieve your goals..!
Just go for it..... look at Lance Armstrong.

Both John and myself will be hoping to raise money for our respective chosen charities- more of which in another post.

As we approach the start of this trip over the next few weeks I will post more about the plans and our expectations of the ride itself.

A FANTASTIC TOUR..!

A TOUR RIDER FROM THE PAST

Another year...and another Tour de France completed.
What a wonderful sporting event the Tour is. It never fails to deliver thrills and excitement and this year these carried right on up to the final line.

Cadel Evans proved a worthy winner (a first for Australia) - he had ridden a consistent race clawing back time where it was needed and battling through the mountain stages in classic style. His time trial around Grenoble was total cycling magic and a joy to watch. Overall a dogged and tenacious performance.

Mark Cavendish won the green jersey as well as that final stage( a first for the UK) .....to watch his team HTC all working together in order to deliver him to that springboard position was perfection.

As for the Schleck brothers....to get two brothers on that final podium is no mean feat as well as being another first.

We must not forget Thomas Voeckler either.....ten days in the yellow jersey and a truly heroic ride - his courage throughout the tour really was something to behold.

The only thing that I regret is that I now have to wait another year for what I think is the most exciting three weeks in the sporting calendar.

 SORRY FOR THE RECENT BREAK IN MY POSTINGS....I AM PLEASED TO BE BACK.

HOW GOOD ?

PRO-LITE BRACCIANO WHEELSET

I thought that I would report back to you on some of the cycling gear that I have recently been testing out.

I will start with the Pro-Lite Bracciano wheelset that I have been using on my Tifosi Training/Audax bike. When I took delivery of them they were both true and perfectly round.  These wheels have now been used on the bike for well over a thousand miles and are still round and true.
They have 27mm V section 6066 Aluminium rims.  In the front there are 20 evenly tensioned aero spokes and in the rear there are 24 spokes laced in a 2 cross pattern.
The freewheel makes a quite distinctive and loud noise.....but I have to say I like the sound.

These wheels have a real turn of speed as well as giving a very comfortable ride. They really are a light and fast wheelset at 1482grms.
Responsive and stiff these wheels are superb and have proved great when ascending and also on the descent. Finally they are fantastic value for money and I would say that they are almost as good as the Fulcrum Racing Zeros that I have on the Felt and those wheels are almost four times the price..!!
A great buy and a wheelset that I really do recommend.

UNIROSS  HY MINI WIND CHARGER

This item I have used on two trips now. A weekend cycle camping trip...and a longer trip (11 days) to Northern France.

This neat looking bit of kit can be charged from the mains or from your computer via a USB cable or it can be charged on the bike by the wind generated by forward motion.
When fully charged it had no problems in charging my phone and my Garmin GPS cycle computer.

One drawback for a lot of people is that this charger is not compatible for charging an i-phone.

On the trip to France, most of the campsites we stayed at had facilities for charging from the mains power......because of this I am still uncertain of the units ability to charge sufficiently from wind power alone. It has proved fine when using a mix of both mains and wind and I get the feeling that you would need a full days cycling ( 6-8 hours) at reasonable speeds to charge the unit from just wind power only.
I do intend using the Hy Mini charger on my trip back from Gibraltar starting mid August and I think that will prove it's worth one way or the other.
On that trip I will also have the back up of a Solar Panel charger and a Power Monkey just in case the Hy Mini charger fails to do it's job.........

RSP TOURLITE (TOURING RACK LIGHT)

This light unit has proved a total success......
Once fitted to the rack on my touring bike I could just forget about it. Because it is actually screwed on to the rack, there is no need to have to remove it from the bike when you park up and leave your bike.
The unit has 3 LEDs and can be used in either of two flashing modes or a non flashing mode.

Peter Calcutt has one of these lights fitted on his bike and on our return from France I cycled behind him from the ferry port at Poole.
I  found that if I was in line with him while cycling along an unlit area I could see nothing past him as this light is so bright. In order to reduce the glare of this light I needed to cycle slightly to one side of him.
From behind you would have no idea of the size of the 'vehicle' in front displaying this light. Believe me this light is BRIGHT.
In my opinion there is no way that a driver would NOT see you if you were using the Tourlite.
If you look at the photo above you can see how bright the light is in daylight. Along an unlit road it is unmissable and on a lit road it appears as bright as the best costing a lot more money.

Yes, this really is a first class and top value light....I paid only £12.95 for it and I think that is really cheap for such a powerful light,

BLACKBURN LOWRIDER RACKS AND ORTLIEB FRONT PANNIERS

There is nothing that I can say about the Ortlieb Panniers that has not been said before. I love them.
The way that they just drop onto the racks and are instantly secure and the ease of removing them is fantastic.

I was a bit concerned before I had used them, that they might upset the steering on the bike. I need not have had any concerns.....the bikes steering was not affected at all.....indeed I had no problems on descents in France of just under 40mph.
I certainly felt that the bike was MORE stable using both front and rear panniers than it has been in the past whilst using rear panniers only.

The Blackburn Lowrider front racks are as fitted to the Ridgeback Panorama bikes that Mike and Chris used on the French trip...Peter also had fitted the same racks to his Revolution Tourer.

Now I am a bit of a perfectionist and when I fit something I like to ensure that everything lines up with equal distances etc. One thing that I found an irritation, was that after fitting I noticed that the rack on the right side of the bike sat closer to the wheel than the one on the left of the bike. No matter how I tried I could not get them to match perfectly.
 I happened to mention this to Peter and he said that he had found the same problem when he had fitted his.........on speaking to Mike he told me that he had noticed the same on the bikes that he and Chris had and remember their racks were fitted at the factory.

Anyway it seems that when Blackburn manufacture these racks...the machine that drills the hole for fitting to the front fork is very slightly out of line and that's why this misalignment is repeated on all of our front racks.....
Having said all of the above the racks perform just as they should....were easy to fit....and look good on the bike.


UNFORTUNATELY THERE WILL BE A HIATUS ON THIS BLOG FOR A FEW WEEKS. 
I WILL TRY AND RETURN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

FRANCE - DAY TEN & ELEVEN

COASTAL VIEW

SMALL COVE ON OUR COASTAL RIDE

The day of the Coastal Ride that Peter and I had planned started dull and very overcast. We had experienced rain over night but at about 0700hrs the rain stopped. We had breakfast and prepared the bikes and at about 1000hrs we were off.
Mike and Chris had planned to have an easy no cycling day while Peter and I were cycling along the coast. The route out of the town centre was easy to follow and as I had pointed out to Peter we only needed to ensure that we kept the sea on our left.
The route was typical French coastal road cycling ....plenty of ups but just as many downs...the road surfaces as most of the time in France were smooth and the cycling was exhilarating. The only real downside were the crosswinds which meant that you had to keep your wits about you....if you weren't careful you could get blown badly off course. After about an hour it started to rain and for only the second time on this trip I had to put on my waterproof race cape.
We visited Pointe du Grouin which seemed to attract quite a number of visitors and then we headed for the small town of Cancale where we found a small cafe for lunch. I must say that I found Cancale a bit of a dissapointment...I don't know why but I had expected it to be a more attractive place than it was. Having said that, the rain of course did not help.
After lunch we headed back to St Malo via a more inland route but the crosswinds were just as bad.
We found our way back to the campsite with no problems, even being cheered on and waved at by a coach full of French schoolchildren.
Cycling is such a popular sport in France that wherever you go you often get schoolchildren waving and shouting 'Allez Allez' in encouragement as you go past.
That evening the four of us had a look around a World War 2 Fort that was just behind our camp site before settling down for a meal.
So our cycling was now all done....apart from the five minute ride to the ferry port on the Friday we wouldn't be doing any more riding. The plan was that on the Friday morning we would have a lazy breakfast.....break camp and pack everything in the panniers....and than leave the bikes at the campsite while we had a look around the old walled section of the town just the other side of the ferry port. The camp receptionist said we could leave the panniers in the office for safety and lock our bikes up just outside the office.
We had a great day looking around the town (some pictures below) and before we knew it the day had gone and we were in the short queue for the ferry and our return trip to the UK. On it's return to the UK the ferry called in at Jersey and we arrived back in Poole just after 2300hrs.....

It had been a great trip and although we didn't cover huge distances it had been another key step on my recovery back to health after my cancer treatment. There was a point during my treatment that I didn't think that I would get back on a bike again, let alone do a trip like this, so this was a bit of a milestone for me.
It was certainly a good test of Me - Bike - and Equipment prior to the ride back to the UK from Gibraltar (UK2ROCK2UK) that JD and I plan to do in a couple of months time.

I will tell you about the success or otherwise of certain items of equipment in my next post.......

VIEW OF THE FERRY FROM NEAR OUR CAMPSITE

THE ETOILE DU ROY IN THE PORT OF ST MALO - THIS SHIP WAS BUILT AT MARMARIS IN TURKEY  AND IS AN   AUTHENTIC REPLICA OF THE FRIGATE HMS BLANDFORD FROM 1741

A FRENCH CUSTOMS BOAT

A VIEW FROM THE OLD TOWN WALL - ST MALO

ANOTHER VIEW FROM THE TOWN WALL

GENERAL SEA VIEW

NEAR ST MALO PORT

OUTSIDE THE OLD TOWN WALL

PETER PACKING UP ON OUR LAST MORNING

FRANCE - DAY 9

TOP OF THE HILL NEAR ST SULIAC

After two nights in Dinan it was time to hit the road again.
With just three days left on this trip we felt that it would be sensible to head for St Malo. We wanted to have a complete day to look around the town and Peter and I also wanted to have a day to cycle around part of the coast from St Malo to Cancale.
That was days ten and eleven taken care of, so today  the plan was to cycle to St Malo by way of the small coastal village of St Suliac. Chris had read somewhere that this was a place worth a look so the plan was laid and we were on our way.
The route seemed fairly straight forward apart from a small error made within ten minutes of leaving the campsite. This meant that we cycled in a bit of a loop before finally heading off in the right direction.

OLD FORTRESS TOWER OVERLOOKING St SULIAC

VIEW OVER St SULIAC FROM THE TOP OF THE HILL

It was another very warm day and with a bit of a breeze it made for good cycling. Just a few miles from St Suliac we had a choice.... Up and over a steep hill or take a low level route..... Apparently the route via the hill offered some great views as a reward for making the effort to grind your way to the top in something approaching the granny gear. Mike and Chris decided to take the lower level route and Peter and I went for the granny gear..!

At the top was an old fortress tower ruin and some lovely views looking over the village......well worth the struggle to get there. After taking in the views and taking some photographs Peter and I freewheeled at some speed down into the village. We headed to the coastal end of the village where Mike and Chris had already arrived. Just a little way along the coastal road we found a little beachfront cafe where we stopped for lunch.

VIEW FROM BEACHFRONT CAFE

 After lunch we set off  back along the coastal road and then headed up the hill out of the village....before long we were on the outskirts of St Malo.
We found a couple of campsites about five miles from the centre of town, but Mike and Chris said that they would prefer to be closer to the ferry port itself as they wanted to be within walking distance of the old part of the town.
This was because they intended to have an easy day of exploration while Peter and I were cycling around the coast on day ten.
The ride into the centre of St Malo was not too difficult although we did need to check the route a few times. After all the quiet cycling routes we had been cycling on this trip it came as a bit of a shock to the system to be back on busy traffic filled roads again.

ROUND HOUSE SEEN IN THE CENTRE OF A TRAFFIC ROUNDABOUT-  St MALO

 We headed for the Port area and before long picked up signs for a municipal campsite....we followed the signs and eventually we arrived at the site which overlooked the ferryport . We couldn't be closer and it really proved to be an ideal site for our needs....close to the town.....easy to cycle to the ferry (about 5 mins ride) and also well placed for the coastal cycle ride that Peter and I had planned for the following day....
That evening we found a small restaurant only about five minutes walk from the site and after our meal I rewarded myself with a giant cream & icecream confection for my efforts in the granny gear earlier in the day......

A JUST REWARD FOR GRANNY GEAR USAGE....!

FRANCE - DAY 8 a day in Dinan

VIEW FROM THE OLD TOWN WALLS

WALKING ALONG THE RIVERSIDE CYCLE TRACK INTO TOWN

GENERAL TOWN VIEW

VIEW NEAR TOWN CENTRE

LOTS OF OLD BUILDINGS

ANOTHER OF THE OLD BUILDINGS

ATTRACTIVE COBBLED STREETS

ANCIENT MOTORBIKE FITTED IN WITH THE OLD BUILDINGS

OLD TOWN GATEWAY

ANOTHER GENERAL VIEW

VIEW BY THE DOCK

FOR CAT LOVERS EVERYWHERE..........

CONGRATULATIONS........

Congratulations to Bradley Wiggins on winning the Criterium Du Daphine today.
Bradley has shown that he can really hold his own with the best of them in the mountains as well as being able to produce a good time trial result....
This must all bode really well for his chances in the Tour De France.....I can't wait..!!