For those who don’t already know, I completed the very tough course in 12 hours and 4 mins coming in at 22nd place. Split times were 1hr and 19mins for 4K swim, 5hrs and 58mins for 180K bike and 4hrs and 35mins for 42.2K run.

Come Saturday evening I was starting to wish I had not entered the Forestman course (12th July) as from around 4pm the rain did not stop until about 4am the following day. I decided to take my 2 boys round the bike course on the Saturday evening to see how the 3 lap course planned out. This resulted in a 1 hour and 10 min drive.  I had heard that it was quite hilly and technical. The course was infact very technical and hilly, which made it even worse cycling in wet conditions especially having to contend with about 7 cattle grids each loop, not to mention the horses and cows as well.

I decided not to tell Camilla how difficult the course would be once I got back from doing a reccie of the course. I just put the boys down to bed, decided to double check my kit bags, have a glass of red wine for luck and went to bed at about 10pm.

With the rain coming down so hard it was difficult to sleep, the alarm went of at 3:20am, still the rain kept coming down. Was not sure whether to go back to bed or put the kettle on, decided on the latter with a bowl of meatballs and spaghetti for breakfast. The time was 3:55am and it was time to leave and catch the bus to take me of to the lake!!!.  It was still dark as I left, but at least the rain had decided enough was enough. Anyway, I boarded the packed out coach at Sandy Balls with virtually everyone else competing.

We arrived at the lake about 75 minutes before the swim start which was 5.30am, this seemed to go really quickly and before you knew it, it was time to head down to the lake for our briefing. The water temperature was good, which made it easier getting into the water. We all lined up and then the hooter went of for the start of long day. During the swim I felt really good had plenty of space between me and the other competitors so I could just concentrate on my own swimming, which took me to a time of 1hr and 19 mins not bad for a novice swimmer.

I probably spent about 4 mins from getting out of the water before I turned my 1st pedal, as the transition was quite long from changing to getting on the main road (400m). The roads were still wet through from the rain, but I started of very well overtaking a good 40 people on lap 1. Lap 2 and 3 were a bit lonely not seeing many competitors as there was only a handful in front of me at this time. It was difficult cycling in the wet conditions made worse by having to contend with about 7 cattle grids each loop, not to mention the horses and cows as well, plus the wind.

But to my surprise I had completed 112 miles in less than 6 hours and was feeling quite fresh. I saw my wife and 2 boys for the 1st time as I came into T2, which was a nice boost.

T2 took about 4 1/2 mins and then I was off to run my first ever marathon and what a marathon it was!!!. The 1^st part of the run was all up hill, until we turned of to go into the New Forest. I decided to stop at the food and drink station and take on some more fluids and gels, which I was glad of because then the real hard work started. For the next 23 miles there were no flats, just rolling terrain and steep hills and I mean hills!.

I decided that I should just walk the hills and run everything else, to make matters worse the ground conditions were not the best, we were running on stones for 23 miles!. Anyway, I can say that I completed the marathon in 4hours and 35 mins, which turned out to be quite a good time, as only 20 people went under 4 1/2 hours.

My wife and two boys were waiting for me at the finish. I have to say what made the day for me was running across the finish line with  Louis and Jenson.

Now I have 2 weeks recovery before setting of for the TTC only 1000 miles in 8 days!!!

A very special thanks to Peter, Rene and Denise  who generously donated $400 to the TTC coffers during our 200K ride in Singapore last weekend.

Thanks guys, very much appreciated.

Peter, Rene and Denise after the 200K. Are they smiling because the ride is over or because they are in the bar??

Chris & Murli

Well that was more difficult than I thought.

It takes ages, uses loads of blades and is very fiddley – just how do you shave the back of your knees and where do you stop?

There are so many things to consider – and waxing is definately not an option.
Do you use your hair clippers to give the legs a number 1 then use Veet cream to finish the job (other hair removal creams are available)
Do you shave then Veet to get the bits you missed
Or do you just go straight to Veet?

Lets face it 24 hours ago I would have throught Veet was some sort of organic veg to be eaten with yoghurt whilst wearing tie dye.

I went for the shave then Veet option and I can say that my legs are a bit more lumpy than I thought – it looks like the shins have been through a hard time or two.

My legs were not the hairiest but I can say that the operation took 3 weeks worth of blades – funny that the Mach 3 blades dont seem to do legs too easily yet chins are a breeze.

So now the big question – how long before the hairs grow back? and will it be itchy?

Onto the cycling – 2 rides this weekend one early cold and wet the other much nicer, but both windy. Sundays was a 50 mile jaunt round the usual route in 3 hours – so I am happy with the pace.

Its the last week of training now with thoughts moving to kit lists and logistics more than miles and food intake.

Two weeks today we will be well on the way into France.

In ten days time Murli and I will be on our way over from Singers to the UK – pls book the warm weather!

Five rides this week.  Managed to get three early morning rides in plus a great 200k Audax ride on Saturday into Malaysia plus the usual Sunday morning Joyriders breakfast run.

The Malaysia ride went well, felt pretty good but did tire at the end.  230k in total.  Managed to stick with the lead group and survived the Causeway this time (I fell the last time I returned coming back into Singapore).  The 8hr 10min ride  (including to the ride start and back from the pub!) was great prep for the TTC and I was particularly pleased that I felt good enough the following morning to complete the breakfast club run.

Donations are now looking much better at £25K, 50% of target.  The UK guys completed a bucket shake in the town center yesterday – keen to know how much that raised.

Some great work on the Joyriders website by Kampong Boy Calvin who has now established a live Twitter feed so that we can keep the Joyriders team updated while we prepare and during the ride itself. 

In KL most of this week so very little riding possible.

Tue 7th July   Joyriders Tue Sprints 55km  1.51hrs         30kmh

Wed 8th July  Joyriders Wed          52km  2.07hrs         28kmh

Fri 10th July   Joyriders Fri             38km  1.16hrs         30kmh

Sat 11th July  200K Audax             230km 8.10hrs         28kmh

Sun 12^th July  Joyriders club run      76km  2.42hrs         28kmh

Have a good one

Chris

Dave E has just got too much time on his hands

I’m Gonna Be (1000 Miles)
——The Poor Trainers

When we wake up, well we know we’re gonna be,
We’re gonna be the men who are going to cycle to,
The twin towns, of a place called Northampton,
Yes, they are the places we are cycling to,
When we get there, well we know we’re gonna be
We’re gonna be the men who are propping up the bar,
13 lagers, followed swiftly by 13 more,
And no more cycling, we’ll be traveling by car

And we will cycle 1000 miles
And we wont cycle any more
’Cause to cycle a thousand miles in 8 days
Surely makes your backside sore.

When we’re cycling , yes we know we’re gonna be
We’re gonna be on those bloody bikes for 8 long days,
And when the pain hits, as we’re climbing up those hills,
We just remember all the money that we’ve raised
When we get home(When we get home), well we know we’re gonna be
We’re gonna be the men who need a rest in bed
And what’s next (And what’s next), well my bike is gonna be
It’s gonna be spending the next year rusting in the shed.

And we will cycle 1000 miles
And we wont cycle any more
’Cause to cycle a thousand miles in 8 days
Surely makes your backside sore.

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

When we’re cycling , well we know we’re gonna ache
We’re gonna ache and then our legs will start to burn
And when we finish, well we’ll know that we have raised
That we have raised a shed load for Autism Concern
When we get back (When we get back), well we know that we wont miss
We wont miss , spending all day sat on a flipping bike
And when Jon says (and when Jon says), shall we do the same next year
We’re gonna tell him politely he should take a hike
We’re gonna tell him politely he should take a hike

And we will cycle 1000 miles
And we wont cycle any more
’Cause to cycle a thousand miles in 8 days
Surely makes your backside sore.

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

And we will cycle 1000 miles
’And we wont cycle any more
Cause to cycle a thousand miles in 8 days
Surely makes your backside sore.

Cycling in the Tropics – There was trouble ahead!

Spent two days in bed this week dosed up to the eyeballs but by the end of the week, all was right with the world again and I managed to get out for a short 50K session early Friday morning.

Saturday, to be honest, I probably did too much too early as I wasn’t fully recovered.  The last 20k of my 160k ride was a real struggle.  It was particularly hot this weekend though – 34 deg and I don’t think I drank enough.

The TTC fundraiser Murli and I (sorry Michele and Alison) organised went really well last night (Sat).  We managed to raise $2,850 – a great Singapore result for a charity based back in the UK.  A huge thanks to Joyce and the Joyriders who attended and assisted on the night and a special thanks to the three Singapore bike shops, Swiss Valley (2 cycle shirts), Rodalink (3 pairs of sunglasses) and Bike Boutique (4 $100 service vouchers) who donated for the raffle and auction.

I hope to get out a few more times this week (there’s a 200k trip into Malaysia planned for Saturday) but the following week, my last full week in Singers before I leave for the UK, I’ll be in KL all week.  That’s when my bike is booked in for its service.  New tyres went on earlier today – the Continental GP4000s tyres that I replaced had done over 10,000km and still have life left in them, thoroughly recommended.

Looking through my stats – since the end of Dec when I bought my new bike and started to log my rides, I’ve undertaken separate rides covering a total of 7100km, I don’t think that I’ll hit the 8000 before the start of the TTC but I guess it will be close.

Fri 3^rd July               Joyriders Fri                                52km   1.52hrs         28kmh

Sat 4^th July              Mandai loop, Changi, Kranji            124km 5.24hrs         30kmh

Have a great week

Chris

Cycling in the Tropics – there may be trouble ahead!

Three rides this week, 2 short (50k) runs plus a longer run on Saturday (124k).  Feeling great on Tue and Wed but my heart rate was way into the red zone for much longer than usual during Saturdays ride and a number of times I deliberately eased off.  Looks like I’m coming down with something! 

Normally I would have undertaken a 160km route on Sat, instead I ducked home earlier than originally planned – just to be on the safe side!

Sunday saw Charlie and I hosting the monthly Joyriders lunch at our condo.  I didn’t ride Sunday as I simply didn’t feel up to it but after a couple of medicinal beers on Sunday afternoon – I suddenly felt a lot better!

Tue 23^rd June           Joyriders Tue Sprints       54km   1.52hrs         29kmh

Wed 24^th June          Joyriders Wed                     52km   1.52hrs         28kmh

Sat 27^th June           Mandai loop/Changi          124km 4.04hrs         30kmh

Plans are progressing well for our TTC fundraiser in Singapore this coming Sat.  Michele, Murli’s girlfriend has been instrumental in assisting.  We have a number of key donations for an auction and lucky draw – notably from Andi at Swiss Valley bike shop (www.swissvalley.com.sg), in River Valley Road and from Choon Wei at The Bike Boutique (www.thebikeboutique.com) in Amoy St.  We will also have a live blues band, a poet who creates personalised verse, a tarot reader and possibly a caricaturist!  Not forgetting the screening of the Lions V S.Africa game of course!  Shaping up for a great night out.

My baby!!

Great BBQ

Martin (from Marberg) and Madeline (M&M) at the booze - we had a kinda hat thing going on today!

More Hats - Garfield & Peter

The Beer King - doing what he does best - corrupting the young!

Huge melons!

Michele and Chris look on as Murli acts up!

In return for my birthday cake I have to sing - The Court of King Caractacus!

The booze crew!

Kelvin in the dentist chair!

Joyriders June birthday babies

Sam looking after his mum!

The vodka-melon went down very well!

Best Regards

Chris

Another day, another ride.

This time just a short spin round the local villages on another of our usual routes from Petes place. We did about 25 miles in total, getting the riding discipline going again which meant we kept a good pace all evening. Its was very warm and humid with dramatic storm clouds all around. I am not sure about the other boys but I got back just as the rain storm came.

Back in time to watch most of the Murray game.

The bike is in for a service today so that could be it for me until Saturday now.

We had a good couple of rides this weekend. On Saturday 9 of us rode our usual route past Pattishall, Maidford, Greens Norton, Silverstone, Ashton Hanslope and back through Salcey. The pace was furious for such a rolling route and the weather was good to us. The lead group doing the 50 in 2hours 40 minutes. We all headed back to our respective bases to find somewhere to watch the Lions get beaten up by the Boks. But some even managed to find the energy for another 20 or so miles.

This is a much faster pace than we will ride the actual route in and our discipline was not too good as we broke into groups and had a number of individual  sprints launched to either bridge the gap or to launch an attack. 

On Sunday a smaller group met in town and did our Market Bosworth Market Harbourough, Naseby and back route. Another rolling route and another fast pace – but this time we were much more discliplined with a proper chaingang being set up. For long sections of the ride the four of us managed a faster pace working together that we had achieved yesterday being fragmented.

As I live out of town I split off from the others at a suitable point and made my way back through the villages – it was at that point that I realised the pace we had been achieving as my speed dropped quite a lot for the last 10 or so miles

I did about 65 miles in 3 hours 45 minutes.  which is approx 19 mph (30 kph) average not allowing for a couple of short stops for drinks etc

The conditions on both days were great for cycling – lets hope its the same in four weeks.

Just time now for a quick Pims – well it is the summer

After a week of forced rest due to Last weekends fall I made the Joyriders 5.30am Mandai Loop run on Saturday, followed by a Kranji jaunt with ANZA. Felt pretty good but still some pain when deep breathing – particularly with the pack chasing you down Bukit Timah and up Adam/Lorni Road after a 40k sprint!

Chris & Murli ready for the off

The ANZA ride was good fun and particularly enjoyed the sprint up Buena Vista with Fred at the end of the ride.

Saturday afternoon saw me undertake 3hrs of stand duty at Suntec Shopping Center where Joyriders had a stand at the Active Aging Carnival promoting cycling as a way of keeping fit – for all ages.

How light??

Unfortunately somebody made me drink too much on Saturday night so Sunday was a recovery day – no biking!!!

Sat 20th June Joyriders Mandai Loop/ANZA Kranji 103km 3.23hrs 30kmh
Regards
Chris