Bigman does his Guy Fawks......

Guy Fawkes also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries

The Bigman, the name he adopted whilst biking in the central belt, was like Guy Fawkes setting fire to the road tonight. He was climbing at speeds only known to him with me, legs like jelly and guts churning, gasping air like a beached fish trailing in his wake. He was on fire.

The Bigman has maitained his impressive fitness levels from his summer alpine bike climbing and seems to have built on it. Maybe the spin classes in Cowdenbeath rank as a category 1 spin classes but his strength is mighty impressive.

The evening was a cracker. A pretty full moon guided our path and the fireworks over Dunfermline and Edinburgh were an impressive site. My heart was lifted by the sight.

We met at the usual spot and headed up Cleish. We swopped stories but I was struggling right from the start. We didn't hang about and the hill passed quickly. Once we had climbed a quick check confirmed we were going for the full circle over knockhill. The view of the moonlight on Loch Leven was stunning - it made me so grateful that I'd come out and not sat in front of the telly.

We rocked along to the bottom of Knockhill. The climb up Knockhill was good but as we reached the last section the Bigman pulled away and opened up a 80 yard gap - it showed the gulf in class!

We parted at the bottom of Knockhill and I set off to Saline and home. I was enjoying the moonlight so much I took the opportunity to switch off the front light on the last single track section - it was safe because I knew the road was straight and I only put my hand over the light but it was exhilirating biking in the dark!

The bigman lit the fireworks - I was the roman candle that went fuff. Still I stuck in and really enjoyed the evening.

The Bigman is good company.

Awesome climbs and scary drops

Just to reiterate the last post. What an awesome day we had yesterday. The whole event was organised by a company called No Fuss and I have to say the day was brilliantly set up. From the moment we arrived and signed in we both felt in good hands.

Bigman stole my race number when he arrived - it caused all sort of confusion but it turned out they thought we were a team not individuals. Anyway with my new number we set off. The climbs were testing but gave us road monkeys the chance to take a few places. Sadly, we lost the places gained on the downhills....

We played cat and mouse with people through the first 50 minutes of the course catching on the uphills, sharing the craic and the getting passed on the downhills.

I suppose yesterday was a learning experience and I think certainly for me I need to focus on the technical side of riding - the roots were a nightmare and I so struggled and went over 3 times. Despite the falls it was great fun.

The Bigman was storming yesterday and really strong. He was immense on the climbs and grew in confidence as the laps went on. It was a shame he snapped his chain - he was consistent in lap times and looked strong, if not midgy eaten at the end.

As he has mentioned I knew I was in trouble in lap 3 - my whole upper body was sore and my arm was getting increasingly numb. By the end of lap 3 I couldn't change gear and braking became more difficult. By the end of lap 4 I called into the medical tent for advice. They told me that they couldn't stop me but if they could they would. Given this was a training event I decided discretion over valour and packed in. Initially I felt rotten about the decision but as the afternoon went on I knew it was the right thing to do.

I think I'll pay a visit to the doc in the morning to find out what is wrong. I had this before I did Ironman NZ - didn't stop me racing and I'm sure that I'll be 100% soon.

Yesterday made me even more aware of the fitness levels I will need to achieve to get what I want out of the Cape Epic - it also built my confidence as I know that we'll be able to do it. I did some calculations based on time, distances and climbs and I think whilst we won't win we will finish.

Bigman is a great team mate. He could have gone quicker without me but every time he got ahead he would slow down and when I caught up he always had a word of encouragement. We shared our thoughts on strategy and agreed a plan for the day - it wasn't difficult, there was no arguments and I don't remember exactly who suggested what but between us we came up with a plan that was working until my arm gave up.

The strength that you get working in a team is also a factor that can't be underestimated and I think that we'll work well together in South Africa.

It's going to be great!

It's all getting very real......

Not done much training for the last couple of days. A combination of rain, work and the feeling that I've been not taking enough rest led to me taking a couple of days off. Forecast is a bit mixed again today so I'll probably settle for a long spin session tonight and maybe a wee run.

I booked our accommodation in Cape Town yesterday and it's all getting a bit real now. They have opened up the rider pages on the ABSA Cape Epic website and I've updated my profile. As I was doing this I wondered how many other 46 year old, over weight, over ambitious and slightly insane people were doing the same thing.

We booked 2 nights in a 4* hotel with food, transfers and no worries when we arrive which takes all the hassle away from getting ourselves to where we should be - we'll already be there!

The kit list states that we need 4 sets of cycle kit so I wrote to a supplier last night to get a quotation for the Silent Wolf Scotland team kit (although the name is still available for any massive sponsorship deals out there!) - so once we get the design back I post the graphics on here and anyone who is interested can place an order. It will be good quality and potentially rival Columbia in next year's tour as the shirt to be wearing (at least before the mountain stages!).

Lat night was a bit surreal - as I completed the form for accommodation, the reality of heading to SA kicked in and taking on what is a massive personal challenge. I'm excited, nervous, scared and motivated in equal measure.

My big challenge as I continue to harp on about is my weight. I'm holding as I was a couple of weeks back but not losing. After our holidays the big effort will have to start. That is a big a challenge to me as all the training possibly more so.........

So I'll start again on my quest for perfect form. We're not able to be perfect though which I suppose is a good thing.......

little cogs......

What can I add to yesterday's blog to give a better picture of the training ride.....

True

• It was windy
• We went to the bike shop to ask about the bigman getting a compact fitted to his bike
  
• We pushed hard all the way round
• We were pretty fast
  
• We both felt strong and in good shape
• We both were wearing far too many clothes - 2 layers and a jacket was a tad OTT
• The Bigman hadn't eaten lunch - I had

False

• I didn't drag the Bigman round in fact I spent much of the time struggling to keep up
• The Bigman tucked in behind - the truth is the Bigman bore the brunt of the wind (hopefully he'll do the same with 24 deg and 17mph southerlies forcast!)
• My heart rate monitor didn't break 100 - my heart was pounding like the bass drum in a heavy metal band

The Bigman is now the terminator - a machine on hills. At the end of yesterday's full on trip I turned and enquired if he had any reaction to the burn up the hill home. He answered 'truthfully?' paused and added 'no'. Never have 2 letters struck such fear into a 46 year portly surveyor - the realisation of 95 hilly miles with the bigman machine is too scary to imagine. I turned back to Carnock a slightly nervous warrior fearing yet another clan massacre in the highlands! I'm hoping the ironman training is still in my legs and will drag me round.

The weekly diet has started again.....no doubt I'll be posting the same message next week. It's difficult to stop eating the quantity of food I was eating while ironman training - given I've cut down on training considerably it's only got one place to go and that's straight to my gut!

Been out for a 4 mile run this morning and depending on today's diary might manage to venture out with the bigman later today.

What he thinks he need a compact chainset for I'm not sure - he has no limit at the moment. Little cogs and the bigman whatever next.....

Waist of space......

Well an exciting day - Newcastle relegated, England win against West Indies and I buy a pair of 32" waist jeans.

In reality, I don't really care about the other events but to be wearing a pair of 32" jeans is a major achievement. They may be loose fitting and may equate to other brands 34" but i don't care - as of today I'm a 32". Now I know also that some guys wear a 32" jeans that are really a 38" or 40", you know the type buttoned just above the top of the legs, gut hanging over the top of the folded over waist line. Well, mine are not like that - even the girl in the shop suggested I was a 32" - I liked her and though she was great at her job!

The last time I was a 32" labour was in power, sadly Blair or Brown wasn't the PM and you have to go back to the leadership of Callaghan for me to be in a pair of 32's. However, I've been out for dinner with my inlaws and the 32" may not fit any longer! So for one day and one day only I might have been a 32". The chocolate banoffie pie was worth the sacrifice!

No biking for me today but another cross training run bagged. I've just remembered a great story of a run a few years ago when on a summers day similar to today I was plodding up through the next village to ours called Oakley. On my right I spotted a group of youngsters sitting on the roof of a derelict building. As I approached, they shouted 'hello', I waved back encouraged by the support. Next thing I heard was another of the lads shouting 'run fat' now I was expecting the next words to be 'boy run' and it would have been if the wag sitting beside him hadn't added 'old' to make the heckle 'run fat...old....boy run' - even I laughed. The neds are switched on in these parts!

I retire to bed shortly a (fat) happy man.....wearing my 32" jeans.

After all, it might be a dream......

Brokebike Mountain (biking).....

Well, having started the year with a focus on the road bike, I decided today was the day to drag out my hardtail (mountain bike with front suspension but no rear suspension). I bought my bike from the Edinburgh Bike Co-op place about 9 months ago and so far I seem to have fallen off it every time I've ridden it. I've broken a hand and badly bruised ribs from previous excursions.

So I quickly checked it, pumped the tyres, pedalled it round the garden, packed it in the car and set off to meet my pal Neil for some genteel biking along the Fife coast. Briefly, in the car I remember my last venture out on the mtb and the memory made me slightly judder as last time out I broke the chain. Rather spectacularly just after Christmas and in the depths of the Yorkshire Moors, if I remember correctly. A quick call to speed dial 001 sorted that as Danielle and my brother in law, Jaff, came to the rescue. I picked up another chain and fixed the problem but hadn't really ridden the bike since. Today was the day.....

It was a cracker, about 12 deg and sun shining as we set off from Inverkeithing Station. The clunking from my back cog was slightly un-nerving but I kept thinking, I can fix when we stop next....

The clunking got progressively worse and worse. No choice we had to stop. We both peered at the mechanical horse through a vacuum of shared bike intellect and poked various bits as if the poking would provide the miracle cure. Sadly, it turns out neither of us had the magic touch but it did cure the clunking. The clunking definitely had stopped, only to be replaced by a grinding. If it was a horror movie, the bad guy was about step out from behind the shower curtain, because the bike gave an oil curdling scream and stopped.

My co-biker, Neil, asked if he could have a quick go to aid diagnosis. Like a skilled surgeon with a blunt scalpel he jumped on my bike and pedalled off. The bike screamed and passed out - bits pulled off in many directions and my rear gear changer thingy (now lying at an odd angle) snapped from the frame. Neil rushed off for an ambulance while I nursed the patient back up to the road. Where were we? How would Neil find us? Questions raced through the red mist of my mind.

I wandered up through walkers and bikers pointing and deriding my bike and shame faced we found the local police station. The police station was very helpful, it was shut. Despite this set back, it held the key of an old black and white map which, with a quick call from Neil, led to my ultimate rescue. Although his car was making noises that I could only imagine my clunking bike would have been proud of.

The shop was great. They asked which clown had fitted the chain. I lied and said it was a bike shop, but I know the truth. It was me. I suspect they knew it was me as well. The link that I had used to join the chain when fitting had broken because it was badly fitted causing the chain to catch the derailleur and break it off the frame. He fixed it all for the cost of the parts which was fantastic. He also fixed all of the other dodgy things I done to it in the 9 months of my possession.

So my 2 hour bike trip turned in to 30 minutes with 4 hours to fix the bike!

Back on to the road bike tomorrow with Derek and Stuart. Home ground, safe territory and a bike I haven't touched!

I've had better training weeks.....

It's Friday night and I've not been on my bike since Saturday when we did a windy 50 miles - back out tomorrow with a couple of pals.

Off to a conference next week so hopefully the gym will have a decent spin bike so I can do some 'sufferfest' podcast sessions. Great podcast that gets the legs working, heart rate up and plays some great music - I love it.

We're thinking about supporting a charity as we both feel that this is a massive challenge. We hope some of our friends and colleagues may feel that they would like to support our charity and feel part of the trip. We'll pay all our expenses and so anything we do raise will go directly to benefit our selected charity. So which charity?

I can't believe that I'm so excited about a race that is still12 months away!

John

We're in....

I asked Derek if he would be interested in joining me to take part in Cape Epic about a week or so ago and after a little thought, agreement on our objectives in taking part and maybe the removal of his common sense gene he agreed.

The next challenge was getting in to the race. It is limited to 600 places which up until this year have been allocated by lottery. They changed the rules for 2010 to allow 100 places to be sold last Sunday night at midnight. I was tasked with trying to get a place.

Now I'm not the best at computer stuff and a slow typist at the best of times so I enlisted the help of my wife Danielle to help - she is super fast which turned out to be a real benefit. We sat watching the computer clock until it finally clicked on to 11pm our time and the finger frenzy began. Initially nothing happened, the website seemed to be struggling with the traffic but we persevered and after what felt like hours, about 10 seconds, the link appeared. We clicked on it, filled out the form and pressed send....

We were in! Danielle and I were jumping round the room. I called Derek. I think the realisation of what we are taking home hit home at that moment. This is going to be the challenge of a lifetime.

Later on we discovered that the 100 places sold out in 100 seconds and 300 people were on the site at exactly midnight South Africa time. So we were absolutely delighted to grab a spot.

We thought that we would set up a blog that would keep friends and family informed as to our progress and give us both the chance to post about the training and experience that we are undertaking.

Welcome to our journey......