The Ride London Surrey 100

Last day of this little exiting journey has arrived.  Last April me and Callum went on a tour around Wembley....

Later on that day I helped a lady with her luggage at a tube station near Oxford Circus and when I left the underground an email pinged onto my mobile to say that I had won one of the ten places on the Prudential Ride London.

Karma maybe ? Random acts of kindness repaid ? Whatever it was, I aim to do alot more of them and be a better person.  Just like the lad stood next to me.

From that moment on I planned the ride and the fundraising for the other "training rides".  What a fantastic journey and something I will look back on in years to come and remember with many many happy memories.

Cycling around Anglesey was absolutely stunning especially with Ian for company.  One of the best days ever on the bike.  157.5 miles.

The Blackpool to Hull ride was hard, rain and some headwind and puncture.  Thank you Rob for being the saviour and being there for me at the end. XX 162 miles.

Last training day was southern Wales Barry to Talacre, northern point of Wales.  Stunning and amazing and very hard but lots of memories.  Thank you so much Dave & Cynthia, mum & dad in law for being there for me at Talacre,  sorry I was a bit late XX    182 miles !!!

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On the Saturday we had to go to the Excel London to register where there was a great cycling exhibition with all things for the amateur cyclist from a full body deep tissue massage to cycling jerseys with your favourite Beano character on the front !!

I just got some gels and my reg docs with my rider number and bike stickers.  Oh and a big cardboard seat with Pru written on it.  No idea why !?!

So The Ride London Surrey 100 day has arrived.  Weather was beautiful. I had my Debby with me for the long weekend which was the best thing that could have happened. To the have the most important person in my world with me at the end was very very special.  It certainly made me put my foot down and speed to the finish line....

The night before we went for a meal and stocked up on as much good food as possible. Unfortunately I had developed a bad case of man-flu since Wednesday but my Harley Street doctor said I would live and gave instructions that my wife took good care of me.  My wife said something that I cannot possibly post on here as there may be children reading.

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Official description from the British Medical Council ......

Man Flu

A rare strain of flu so powerful and so deadly it can only be matched by the Bubonic Plague and Aids. A incurable virus which has adapted to only effect the "XY" gene found in men. The virus attacks the immune system 10,000 times harder than the average flu virus, causing excruciating pain for the victim. Man Flu has no cure and prayers can save the forsaken life of the infected. The often deadly virus is mostly laughed at by women who sadly cannot contract "Man Flu"

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I kissed Debby goodbye in the hotel at 5:30 a.m. and went on my way to the start at Olympic Park in Stretford.  On way there were loads of cyclists out all going in the same direction so no worries about checking the route along the deserted roads of London.  I went along the route as all the stewards were already in place and the roads were all closed. I feel sorry for the drivers who were messed around for the 2 days in London but 2 days out of 365 isn't that bad is it.

I went down to Piccadilly Circus and south to Trafalgar Square and then along Strand to St Pauls, past the Bank of England and onwards to Aldgate where by then there were hundreds of cyclists all heading North East to Stretford.  As I was going along the road near Threadneedle Street a Ride London support car came rushing around the corner and the guy was frantically waving and shouting for me to get off the road. A few seconds later about 100-150 pro cyclists came around the corner in a pro peleton formation.  Great sight but could have been a bit embarrasing.

One unlucky guy went "a over t" on the way by riding straight into a bollard. I was embarrased for him, poor guy.  He was OK though and we set off again for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The organisation by the same peeps who do the marathon was perfect. I was in yellow group so I headed for the start zone on Abercrombie Road.

Now it was basically get in line and queue, something us Brits are very talented at so we shuffled forward slowly getting closer to the start zone.  Nerves were starting to make those weird feelings inside your stomach. Thankfully there were portaloos along the start area.  haha

At the official start line there was a DJ picking tunes that were designed to get you motivated for the 20 second countdowns. Foo Fighters, ABBA, Dambusters, etc !! We went off every 3 minutes in groups of around 250.  Our song was Barcelona by Queen because at the front of our little group was Sally Gunnel (she won her Gold at the Barcelona Olympics)

Time out was 7:58 a.m. and we were cycling out of the Olympic area west towards the city....

I felt really good even with a deadly strain of man-flu in every pore of my aching body.  Did I mention I had a cold.  hehe  *wink*

The pace was fast straight away and everyone went off like a firework. I could tell everyone around me was well up for it.  I went past Sally Gunnel and her mate and said hello.

The roads were great and the crowds were out all along the route especially in the towns and villages. It was so strange and an amazing feeling riding past The Tower of London through Trafalgar Square and past Harrods.

I didn't stop to take pictures sorry but the pro ones were quite good so I bought them.

On other sportive rides there are times when you are on your own or between groups for a while but not on this ride, there is always dozens of people around you all the time. A guy we met on the train on Saturday morning warned me of two things. First don't rely on their food and drink stations as you will find you have 30 minutes of queueing for a gel and a water top up, so I decided to take as much as I needed for the day stuffed into my pockets which was a great tip off that dude, so thank you fellow train ride bloke. Also he said beware of other riders as there are loads of fallers mostly caused by silly mistakes like not looking where you are going or coming off on climbs and knocking other riders over too.  So I was really nervous and kept my wits about me at all times.  Coming off would have been a real downer.

To say that this second tip was worth it's weight in gold is an understatement as I did witness loads of near misses and fallers along the way.  No surprise really, with so many people out I was shocked there wasn't more.

The day was full of loads of great sections and too many moments to mention here and alot of it would be boring to non-cyclists so if you don't mind I will not go on about this section or that bit.  A few great quirky things were par for the course though like the guy who was cycling a pizza delivery bike with a full boom box stereo blasting out as loud as it could,  it looked so heavy, massive respects to him. I have to say that around a third of the people doing this were ladies and they were completely awesome too.  I struggled to keep up with them to be honest.

We rode through Richmond Park which provided some great outdoor toilet facilities in the shape of trees.  Next Kingston Upon Thames, Walton on Thames and Weybridge (not on Thames) !?

I remember in April riding my bike around Cirencester and the River Thames ran through there but it was very different.  It was so small as it was close to the source you could step over it !!!  Honest !

South into the heart of Surrey and you can see why the organisers decided on this route, it was gorgeous. Abinger Hammer, Holmbury St Mary, Forest Green.  It makes you want to stop for a cup of tea, a spot of morris dancing and a good singalong to "There'll always be an England".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GvkyKEYRnM

Then after 65 miles the fun began..   Leith Hill.  I was shocked and very sad to hear one of the riders had a heart attack near the start of the Leith Hill climb. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Please donate to his fantastic cause here.....

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/StepGreen

The climb was tough but more because the road thins out and the riders sort of get into a slow and fast lane,  almost like in front of you are 2 escalators going up to the first floor of M&S on Xmas Eve.  Madness. I heard loads of horror stories of people falling like dominos and once one goes there is always casualties around them. If you have to stop it is really hard to get going again and clip in your shoes on a ascent.  Thankfully I was OK.

I didn't even have time to do the roadkill ID game in my head, but I did spot someone's credit card on the road. So I stopped and told a volunteer where it was.  Random act of kindness done for that day !!

Like every single thing in life, with every up and pain and suffering there is an equally grand downhill with fun and pleasure to counter the pain.  The drop into Westcott was brilliant.

Next up was Box Hill (aka The Zig Zag road), the iconic and 2nd of this days top 100 cycling climbs in the UK.

It was a lovely road and I remember watching this road being ridden by all the famous pro cyclists at the Olympics. I felt honoured to be there.  But it was pretty easy to be honest, it was long but not that steep. We had a reggae steel band half way too to knock out a great beat to pedal to.

I knew that the days climbing was now behind me and it was time to finish this thing and go and see my gorgeous wife at the finish line.

We rode back into London across the Putney bridge and past The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Downing Street, back up to Trafalgar Square and then left onto the Mall.  I don't quite know what happened next as it was a blur but I had that inevitable burst of adrenalin and it was head down and sprint for the line.  A really nasty crash was just going on in front of me just after the finish line so all hell was breaking loose.

After passing the finish line I just stopped and an overwhelming sense of achievement, relief, ecstacy, sadness and unstoppable emotion came out of me.  It all started in London somewhere near Oxford Street, 4 months ago with an email and I had now completed 4 big days of cycling over 600 miles (1000 km) from the whole coast of Anglesey and across North Wales in a day, then Blackpool Central Pier on the west coast to Spurn Point on the east coast in a day and then Barry Island, southernmost part of Wales to the top in Talacre and now this day in London on the Mall outside the house the Queen of this great country lives in.......  Life is weird, unpredictable, awesome, what you make it and never ever dull. All this thanks to a random act of kindness (raok)....

Talking of raok, I was a bit stuck as to what to do with my bike on Tuesday as I was going to have to spend the day in London and needed somewhere to store my bike all day. So I went to a bike shop in Sevenoaks called TBW ( The Bike Warehouse) to buy a lock.  The guy in there was fantastic and didn't want to sell me one as he said it would be nicked even with a gold star lock on so he called a friend of his who had a bike shop in Central London. He arranged for me to store it there all day. What a great r a o k.

So I went in to see the guys at Cycle Surgery on Waterloo Bridge who were fantastic and also gave out a massive helping of r a o k too.  Cycle Surgery !!!   You rock.

Buck House

Finish line selfie

Two lovely ladies.... my Debby love of my life xxxxx and her lovely sister Rachel xxx

Recovery ride around Idehill, near Sevenoaks, Kent the day after.  I managed to get up Toys Hill and Yorks Hill, 2 more top 100 climbs of the UK.

Strange bike lane in Brasted, Kent ????

Last train journey home for Charlene......

The Pro shots from Pru Ride London photography...

So, job done, thanks for all who have pushed the donate button and sent some money to Hope House Children's Hospices and Help For Heroes but if you haven't and want to Thank you and here is the link one last time......

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RichardOwen



Bye for now XXXXX


So..... what next ????

Off to London

Well the final journey of this little adventure has finally come. Charlene is happy as she has some company on the way. No doubt telling her new friend all about her adventures leading up to this. Right show off she is. I hope she doesn't get up to any hanky panky. He looks like a right chav. Ribble bikes. I think he is punching above his weight wirh my Charlene.  A tad bias I might be yes. Hahaha.  

The trip is going to be a million times more fun and special though for me as I have my best girl with me. Debby xxxx

The Prudential Ride London 2015

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/790370335

If you can click on the 3D icon you get a really cool flyover view of the 100 mile course.

OCD

I am a bit of an OCD perfectionist and just realised that I have done 500.4 miles in these first 3 days which is 805 km so I need to do a minimum of 195 km(122 miles) to get to the 1,000 km. Trouble is I am doing the Pru Ride London 100 miler !!  I will have to do a 22 mile warm up then won't I !!!

I really wish I wasn't a Virgo

Thank you Craig

Thank you so much Craig, wish you were closer to shake your hand mate.

Thank you

Thank you so much to Dean Rigby for your support.

Day 3 The big one !

Day 3 - Barry Island to Talacre.

The southernmost bit of Wales to the most northern bit.

The day arrived and thank you for the sun and wind gods were smiling down on me, unlike the last one which was Blackpool to Spurn which was in a word WET !

Charlene on another train...  getting so bored with it now she is. Takes it all in her stride,  it'll be boats and planes next  !!

Not a bad view along the way, Wales...  stunning.

It was very busy in Cardiff as some cricket match was on...

A few more pics from my arrival in Cardiff and the mini Gavin & Stacey tour.

Gavin's house in Dinas Powys  (you didn't really think it was in Essex did you !     because I did !!)

Barry town square

The street where the filming all took place, Trinity Street, Barry.   Nice little 20% gradient to train me for the hills to come tomorrow !!

Stacey's house...

Doris's house...

Uncle Bryn's house...

Barry Island...

Beautiful morning in Barry at the best little B&B in Wales, New Farm, Barry.

http://newfarmbarry.co.uk/

Up at 4 a.m.   I must have been up well early to beat the farmer, his wife and any of their animals because it was deathly quiet.  It was stunning on the farm. Very relaxing and a bit weird getting up for breakfast on my own in a lovely Welsh cottage....

Thank you so much for the donation too from the lovely lady owner of the farm & B&B xx

I locked myself out of my room,  see the open window upstairs,  well a certain lycra clad numpty had to climb a ladder to get in to unlock the door !!!!!!

I was hoping the landlady wouldn't find out about me sneaking Charlene into the room with me...

And relax.......  note the cycling gear doubles up as pyjamas !!!!

Table for one.....

The morning has arrived so I have to get myself to the starting point which is 3 miles away down the hill into Barry...

A few things I had to get sorted in this DIY adventure was, the route, directions, spare inners for punctures, an ID tag incase I got into a bit of bother or attacked by angry motorists (I am not joking) spare contact lenses, disposable toothbrush, massive tub of chamois cream, food and drink and most important of all what happens if my battery dies on my Garmin !!!  All things were sorted and packed neatly into little pouches and pockets including a great gadget which tops up any dying battery.

The Garmin was just to prove I actually did this as it records where I am and speed, average mph, etc etc..  wonderful thing.  But the best thing to find your way is a good old fashioned compass, the sun and the list of the route I wrote on the top frame of my bike  !!

As I was going from south to north Wales all I had to do is look at the sun and if it was east in the morning and west in the afternoon I was going up not down and the Garmin has a little compass on it so as long as it was saying N all was OK..  saying that though I did make a mistake but the sun & garmin showed me the way.

The southern most bit of Wales,  Friars Point, Barry island......

THE START OF THE ROAD.....

I really did not need this about 6 miles outside of Barry....   !!!!!!

To say Wales is drop dead gorgeous is the understatement of the century....

Don't drink and drive...quite right   !!

The road was not exactly a disused country trail like I was hoping for.  The A470 is basically a motorway,  I reckon A is Welsh for M !!  So I followed the M470 from Treforest all the way to Builth Wells.  A total of 55 miles.

But it has a few fantastic attractions,  first it has a hard shoulder (some of the time) which doubles up as a great bike lane. Apart from when it is filled with glass, stone, dead animals and you have to duck under overhanging trees and bushes.

On that subject, I would like to tell you about all the wonderful animals I spotted along the way. Most of them had been run over (not by me by the way). I am ofcourse talking about roadkill.  I was obviously very bored whilst cycling many hours so I found myself playing road kill lotto.  I racked up dozens of points.  I got 10 points for a fox of which there were 3. Badgers were more common, around 5. 8 points each. Birds were hard so I threw them all into one category. I wasn't really in the mood to make up a sub-category of types so Birds scored 5 points each times 12 = 60 points. Rats were the largest group and I lost count so lets call it 20 times 3 points, also 60 points.  I had to make a group called "unknown"(2 points each),  which could have been marguerita pizzas for all I know. I counted 20 unidentified flat objects. So final tally was 240 points.  Weirdly, no hedgehogs ???

I can't half waffle when I get going can't I....  where was I, Oh yes.....The M470 (Welsh motorway)  runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park which is stunning...

Builth Wells...

So far so good....  I loved the climb up to the height of the Brecon Beacons and loved even more one of the best downhill descends I have ever done down to Brecon town.  I might have actually shouted out "Woohoo" at some point.  hehe

BUT... getting to Builth Wells and stopping for a coffee at a Little Chef was nice but the next 26 miles was basically uphill and I had my nervous anxious moment.  There is always a part of any long days ride when you kind of ask yourself why the hell you are putting yourself through it and do not know if you can make it. A load of negative thoughts start to creep into your head and the best and only way to get around it is to think about your loved ones, imagine yourself at the finish and keep on peddling.

Life is a series of ascents and descents and you cannot have one without the other. The way you deal with the pain makes the pleasure that much better.  Mmmmm..  that was kind of cool,  I will remember that one.

Spot the black sheep of the family....


Goodbye A470, hello A483 for the next 76 miles !!!!

Just as I got to the 100 mile mark the road topped out at Cwmyrhiwdre Wood and ahead of me was the rest of Wales,  the south was now behind me and what lay before me was the whole of North Wales. A sight that I will remember for the rest of my life. Absolutely unexpected and totally jawdroppingly beautiful.

Ascent repaid tenfold !!!

The road started off downhill and the shape of the huge U bend in the road reminded me of the horseshoe pass in Llangollen and then the road keeps going downhill for about 8 miles into Newtown.  I now have a new favourite descent of my life.

From Newtown my anxiety was totally gone as I knew the area from here onwards really well,  I was heading back to home turf and the feeling was fantastic.

The wind was blowing from the south and the road was flat and I had a burst of energy so I took off and went for it. Soon I was in Welshpool and could taste the finish line so carried on with my new found speed.

Next stop Oswestry.....  which reminds me I have a confession to make.  My Wales in a day has a slice of Shropshire running through it.  Some idiot landowner of olden days decided to take a bite out of Wales and I had to cross the border into England to get between Llanymynech & Chirk !!  Sorry.

The previous 2 long rides taught me to expect a feeling of nausea and dizziness and it came on the ride into a place called Pant near Oswestry,  very apt name......  I knew it was not the food and drink as I had learned to not eat too much and not drink too little.  This is down to heat. So I took away any unnecessary layers to help me cool down and I slowed the pace, drank loads of water and kept on peddling.

My lovely parents in law were going to meet me at the finish line to pick me up and take me home. Thank you so much once more.  just in case I didn't say it enough when I met you as I cannot remember much. XXXX

So I texted them ahead to say I was about 30 miles to go and meet approx 6 pm.

The hardest thing ever was stopping myself from turning right at the Whittington roundabout as my home and family were just 7 miles from this point !!!!!!!!!!  you will never know how close I came to taking that right turn. Maybe the thought of the mother in law in a layby outside the Smugglers Inn in Talacre for hours and hours was enough motivation to get a move on...  haha

So on through Wrexham and onto Mold.  By now I had eaten 6 Medley bars which had melted to mush in my pockets, a banana & a couple of other biscuit bars.  My body was suddenly shouting out for some real food or it would not go any further so I pulled into Spar just outside Mold for 2 bottles of water and a massive pork pie which worked a treat. My stomach passed on the good news to my legs which reluctantly gave into their shortlived little protest.

So Mold - Sychdyn - Northop - Flint Mountain down to Flint  Whhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee !!!!!!!!!!

That descent was nice and just what I needed.

NOW..... I was in Flint and I just turn left onto the Prestatyn road and I am just 10 miles from Talacre. My whole body ached, the wind was sort of to the side to maybe a full headwind. But by 170 miles every turn of the pedals felt like a struggle. It is quite amazing though how the brain tells your body to get on with it as you are just about to finish the biggest ride of your life and you can rest when you are old and decrepit. Which for me will be from saturday onwards...

I had ridden this road already so I knew where I was and head down I kept peddling...

5 miles to go and my Garmin tracker started to blink as if it was going to die. I knew exactly how the thing felt. haha   Poor thing had been on for 14 hours by now so fair dos Garmin you make em good.   Luckily in my pouch was the marvellous charger pack I had brought with me. So I reached in for it and got a bit of a shock.  One of my CO2 cartridges had exploded and cold white CO2 powder was covering everything.  I heard a few strange noises along the way and never thought it could have been that but so glad I never needed it.

Garmin charging...3% ++++

Richard nearly empty  2% -

I had googled mapped this roundabout and remember emailing my mum & dad in law the picture of the roundabout where you take the second exit towards Talacre (half a mile)

When I reached it, I was lets just say a tad emotional and when I took this second left I went eyeballs out as fast as I could to the end and nearly got a top ten time on the strava section.

182 miles, day 3 done. Please share and donate if you can..

Thanks for reading my ramblings and if you managed to stay awake massive respects.

Earlier I mentioned that we sometimes get an anxious moment to consider why we do such things and I have 2 very good reasons...

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RichardOwen

Here is the link to the virgin charity collection site.  Please remember the money you give goes straight to the 2 charities Hope House Childrens Hospices & Help For Heroes.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RichardOwen

Thank you XXX