.....keep on keeping on......

This time last year, Paul who everyone knew as Gilly was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer, five weeks later he passed away. Father to Milly and George and partner, friend and soulmate to Pat and friend to many people.

Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all cancers, 40 years ago the survival rate for five years was 3%, forty years on and it's still 3%. Pancreatic cancer research attracts very little funding from major bodies some 1% of all the monies available.

My old mate Drew was a close friend of Gilly's so when he asked me to join him on his annual cycle challenge this time in memory of Gilly and to raise some money for the charity I felt I couldn't make any excuses, it's only riding a bike. 

I slept quite well considering the 4.00am alarm call but up and at them and on my way to Taunton for a 5.30 start. We were joined by Rick a cycling mate of Drew who had turned up the morning before so, at least he was keen and Drew's brother Steve who was kindly driving the support van for the day. The original plan was to ride from Birmingham back to Taunton but with a strong southerly wind forecast we agreed to flip the route and take advantage of a gentle push from mother nature. So off we went into the still warm morning, quiet roads and the sun rising, just follow the signs for the A38. A distant view of the Glastonbury Tor in early morning haze looked amazing, I may have to head that way again soon with a camera. Familiar roads to start with, Bridgwater, Highbridge and Weston before I ventured into pastures new. The only puncture of the day happened early after Drew hit a pothole, but fixed in record time. It soon warmed up especially after the climb from Flax Bourton but as climbs go it was quite a nice one and what seemed like no time we were in Bristol nearly 50 miles done.

Steve met us and we ditched unnecessary layers and topped up fluids and wound our way through the relatively quiet streets of Bristol. We pressed on now at a good pace taking turns to pull each other along until we got to Gloucester and seemed to get every red light at every junction. The roads were busy now, there seemed to be lots of hand car washes and garden centres on the route so if you need a clean car and some hardy perennials take the A38. After negotiating the busy roads of Gloucester and the very pretty Tewksbury we stopped just before Worcester in the shadows(ish) of the Malvern hills, 100 miles done.

Into the unknown now for me distance wise but after a while to get warmed up early on I was feeling quite good and we'd just done 100 miles in just over six hours so I was feeling quite pleased. Fuelled up and topped up, the final push, busy through Worcester, lots of lights and traffic and much the same all the way through to Droitwich and Bromsgrove. A few slogs along faceless dual carriageways and traffic lights, so many traffic lights, that and fatigue slowed us down a bit towards the end and one dodgy moment on a roundabout nearly ended Rick but no harm done. We did it, not bad for three blokes of a certain age, 137 miles in total, Drew wanted to beat 8 hours 42, he recorded 8 hours 2mins, done.

.....it's all downhill from here.........

Not blogged for a while, not really had a great deal to say and anyone who knows me personally will say I don't say that much anyway. Spring's been and gone and as the rain pours outside it must mean summers here, I've not been idle though, riding bicycles and taking pictures sometimes at the same time other times not. I got myself one those cross type bikes just to vary my riding up a bit, it's a lairy green colour which is great, ten gears and disc brakes I'm considering calling it Conchita ;)

Had a few days in Devon and had a wander and a bit of cycle around Dartmoor, it was glorious, stunning add your own superlative, youngest child even got to stand on the same rock as Sherlock or so she reckons.

Being getting lots of miles in, rode coast to coast from Somerset to Dorset and back a bit and on Sunday I took part in the Tour of Wessex, only did the second day. The second day was a nice ride around South Somerset and Dorset and it was with friends who made it worthwhile and didn't hold anyone back!!! The third went through my patch so I popped up the Porlock toll road to grab some pics.

All these miles are leading up to my big ride on June 8th, 150 miles from Birmingham to Taunton so it should be all downhill right? Myself and my friend Drew are riding in memory of our friend Paul who was taken too early by pancreatic cancer. If anyone can kindly donate they can here,  thanks to those who already have and anyone who does it's really appreciated, thank you.

........and I'm free to be who I choose any old time......

I don't know what I've been struck down by but thankfully it didn't seem to affect my legs today, venturing out on the mtb over the moors. In an effort to ride places new Bonus and I did a variation on a loop in his big book of mountain bike loops. We actually started on top of a big hill today, some may call that cheating but as we were expecting to cover twenty plus unknown miles we thought it was a good idea.

Getting ready to roll.

So off we went and still upwards, over Dunkery Beacon and onwards towards Aldermans Barrow and some proper wilderness type cycling over the moor. It was hard going, soft boggy ground and a bit of guess the path, some dodgy moments when you'd suddenly sink, all part of the fun though. We cussed our way to Larkbarrow ruins, a really peaceful spot, that's probably why the British army used it for target practice?

don't say thr B word....

We were grateful to get off the moor and to Badgworthy Water but after criss crossing the river lack of map reading skills and not knowing the area meant we ended up not getting to where we wanted to (yes, lost) We got directions from a nice lady with horses and got our bearings back and made our way back down to the Doone valley.

Oare church...

It was then a case of mainly spinning along the valley and a sticky road climb back to the main road and back towards and over Dunkery to the car. Another great ride but heavy going in places, Exmoor is such a varied place to ride, time to look in the big book for the next adventure ;)

.........It's that time of year again, I can taste the air.....

I've been laid low a bit this week, struck down by an allergic reaction to something in the air, bunged up, wheezing, not pleasant and not conducive to cycling. I was hoping to do the club Spring Audax but after waking up still feeling a bit groggy I thought better of it, my lungs are probably better off resting. Fortunately, Richard who was organising the event sent out an e-mail asking if anyone fancied taking some pics so I thought why not, if I can't ride been out taking pics of people cycling seemed a good second.

I drove out to Withypool and popped into The Royal Oak pub the first control point, who had laid on a table of very nice looking goodies, chatted to Rob who was doing the control, had some flapjack then headed up onto the moor to take some pics.

.....you can't hide it you might as well embrace it.......

Second week off and I've been out cycling again, which is good and very good for my PMA whatever that is. On Sunday Bonus and I were invited to go and ride mtb's by one of our workmates and a couple of his mates who rode a bit. I'm always wary of riding with strangers and worry about my ability after having a bad ride a couple of years ago. Things looked ominous when we met and they were riding very expensive full suss carbon mountain bikes with bling bits but they were both really nice fellas. With living in a small town it turned we knew someone who knew someone who knew someone's brother etc so it was all good. They set off at quite a lick along the road to Dunster and both myself and Bonus thought here we go but things settled down once we hit the rough stuff. It was weird riding somewhere I knew on tracks I hadn't ridden before so it was good to store them to expand my routes for the future. There was a lot of up in the first bit of the ride and me and my big wheels went up them really well, they're great those wheels and all in all it was a really good ride, new trails, new faces.

Bonus has a big book of mountain biking with loads of routes in and he's been wanting to try some out for ages so we did, sort of, we've tried some routes in the past and to be honest, we got lost. We loaded up the Bonus-mobile and set off to Porlock Weir to tackle a route along bits of the Worthy Toll road and then the Coast Path to County Gate on the Devon border. Not really knowing the route our only mistake was to try and ride the steep rocky bridleway whilst looking at the gentle slopes of the toll road beneath us basically get us to the same spot. After that we negotiated our way pretty well along some great tracks hidden in the hedgerows and along fields.

Not really knowing the route took its time with stopping to check the map when we reached fields with no obvious tracks or signs but we got there in the end. We then headed down to the village of Malmsmead in the Oare valley made famous in the Lorna Doone novel. 

We then set off along the valley which is a really beautiful peaceful place but as we were in a valley it meant up again but the track we took had a nice gentle gradient back up to the main road. A muddy and rocky blast back to where we started, hardly got lost at all.

Today it was back to the road bike, I hadn't ridden on my own patch for ages so I thought it was about time I did a big loop with hills. I took it steady up the toll road knowing I'd planned a big ride, well for me, ahead, it was as quiet as ever, sunny, light winds, not too cold, not too hot, just right. It's great place to be in decent weather once you get on the main road along the coast, quick, not too lumpy and the big descent down to Lynmouth. Another up back to the moor, I was feeling slightly crap but I think that was down to me going quicker, well that's what the stats indicate :) I tried a new up from Simonsbath which was a good climb then made my way along the top of the moors to Dulverton.

After a stop for refreshments it was up the valley and back towards home. This turned out to be my biggest solo ride excluding sportives etc. and I think I didn't fuel enough and was feeling a bit tired as I made my up to Wheddon Cross, gel and a can of something fizzy and down the hill. The sugar kicked in and I managed to keep a decent pace once on the flat and back t home, another great ride, I enjoy this cycling stuff.

........A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise....

Two weeks off work what's a boy to do? Well this one has been cycling, I'm fed up of doing stuff around the house and don't get me started on gardening. First ride of the week was on Tuesday with my old mate Bonus who came out of hibernation to go ride the mountain bikes. As I was getting ready the sky went black the air turned cold and it started to rain, oh well. Waterproof donned, layers added, I popped in the house to get something and when I came out the sky was blue and the sun was out, weird, layers and waterproof duly ditched. I suggested a ride up to Stoke Pero Church, he hadn't ridden up there before and it means the ascent of Dunster Path which is a proper mtb climb. Steep rocky bits, gulley's, rain channels, real skill needed which I don't have, points lost for dabbing, no junior kickstart for me. We went up the road to the church, there is a bridleway through the fields but as it's lambing season we didn't want to go worrying sheep ;) It was blowing a bit up on the exposed moor and it was quite a relief to get to the church and some shelter.

After all this up it was down but our path was blocked by downed trees which happened on a couple of tracks today, I'm sure the National Park Rangers will get around to them eventually. Decision time, up a steep track or a gentle spin along the river? Up, which was a surprise as Bonus hadn't been out for a while but it was a nice day and he's fed up of DIY too and was in no rush to get home. Steep climb then along Granny's Ride which is great but the descent meant negotiating under a fallen tree. It was a bit like a Krypton factor puzzle trying to get us and the bikes over and through the branches, it was a bloody big tree with a steep drop on one side. A gentle spin along some tracks to home, nice to get out with company again on dry trails in nice weather.

Wednesday meant another drive out this time to see Jennifer out Mendip way and a ride to the seaside, my seaside was warmer though with less wind, well it was when I left. Into the wind to start with, past the wonky church and a stop at a nice coffee stop with some really expensive photos for sale, I'm in the wrong business ;)  We safely negotiated Weston which was relatively grockle free and headed back inland. Another nice ride in good company, Jennifer took some pics and wrote a much better blog so I suggest you go and read it.

It was back to being Billy no mates today so I thought I'd go for a short spin on the MTB, well that was the plan. problem is I'm feeling really good at the moment, amazing what a bit of regular sleep does to boost the energy levels. So, I ended up doing a twenty mile loop which is starting to be the norm now but you have to make hay while the sun shines as the saying goes. Riding elsewhere recently also means I avoided the swaling which goes on this time of year, it's all about regeneration which over the past couple of years I hope I'm achieving.

........any day now the Sun's gonna rise..........

Cycling on a weekend is quite a novelty for me due to the nature of my job so when I do have the luxury of a weekend off I do like to get out. Last weekend my friend Steve invited me over to the Mendips to go for a ride. It was initially intended to be a mtb ride but Steve thought the trails were not in their best state and we should ride offroad another time. So we hit the road instead in kind of half and half ride, half with the ACG and half on our own. After meeting Steve we headed off to Axbridge to meet up with the assembling masses, well about nine of us, in the square. I've ridden with many of these folks before so it was nice to say hi and head off into the sunshine with them.

Although it was sunny the head wind was a bit of a killer but it was nice to ride the flat for a change and even took a stint on the front, I'm good at being a windbreak ;) After a quick coffee and a quick giggle at the testosterone race up Mudgeley Hill, Steve and I left the ACG to to take a flatter route home whilst we rode up and down some lumpy bits. The lumpiest of these bits was a hill called Deer Leap but the only thing leaping was my lungs out of my chest, steep by name Mr D. It was worth it for the views across Somerset from the top though.

From here it was literally all downhill from the top of the Mendips back to Steve's and some quite lovely soup. A nice ride in good company in a lovely part of the world.

This weekend I met up with an old mate Drew who used to be my next door neighbour a few years back. He's invited me to join him riding form Birmingham to Taunton about 150 miles one day in June. He did it last year and he did something similar the year before and asked me both times but I always made excuses. This year we want to raise some money for cancer research in memory of our mate Gilly who sadly lost his life to Pancreatic cancer last year. As soon as I have some more info I'll post a blog and links if anyone can spare a couple of quid to kindly donate or perhaps could help in any other way?

We thought it would be a good idea to meet up and go for a spin and discuss things etc. This was another half and half ride, half with some lads from Taunton road club and half on our own. Another fine morning along the lanes of Somerset getting pulled along by twelve other blokes was quite nice. I didn't know where we were going so I couldn't possibly hit the front. The group stopped in Langport for coffee but Drew wanted to crack on and get some miles in and I didn't mind it was nice day to be riding a bike. I've ridden up to High Ham from three different directions now and this way is far the nicest. Down the hill and into the wind but it was so nice, Drew told me we were riding along roads that only a few weeks earlier had been submerged in the flood water that had engulfed these parts.

It was nice to be riding somewhere I hadn't ridden before which is relatively close to home so I may pop out this way again I enjoyed it that much.  It was also nice to see an old mate again who allayed my fears on what's going to be quite a challenge for me, I'm quite looking forward to it!