Tour of Britain

I managed to persuade one of my sons to come with me to watch the final stage of the Tour of Britain on Saturday. The weather was great and I only had to use mild bribery to get him to come with me – “You’ll be watching some of the fastest men on bikes in the world. And I’ll bring snacks”.

So we set off on Saturday lunchtime for Waterloo, my son carrying his Mr Men book for the journey, and me carrying my backpack containing one sunhat, one waterproof rain coat, two packets of crisps (cheese and onion), two large sausage rolls, one chicken, bacon and sweetcorn sandwich, four digestive biscuits, four bourbon biscuits, one litre of water, two carrots, 200g of Japanese rice crackers, two Pepperamis, one Lucozade Sport and one can of Diet Coke. Enough for at least a couple of hours (my son is like the Hungry Caterpillar)!

We watched about half the race from the Embankment, alternating between the birdseye view from Hungerford Bridge and the street level view. It was great to see the Embankment closed to traffic for a change – the city actually felt reasonably peaceful for a change (apart from the 20 or so support cars bombing past every lap).


After about 5 laps my son started to get a little bored, so I suggested that we go to the park instead for a bit. As we walked up towards the finish line (at the 200m to go sign) my son spotted the giant TV screen. Now this was different – watching live was OK, but getting to watch the race on a giant telly – amazing! Unfortunately he couldn’t see unless I held him up, so I spent the second half of the race straining to hold him high enough that he could see whilst still leaning forwards far enough that I could see the bunch approaching. The pumping dance music and loud commentary kept my son’s attention enough that we stayed to the end to see the Barloworld rider Merlo win the sprint finish (I saw it live, my son saw it second hand on the giant telly, which he didn’t take his eyes off despite the peloton speeding by every lap)!

I got some pictures just before the start and during one of the breakaways (the Geoffroy Lequatre one) which I’ve posted on the right hand side of this page.

We had a great day out. My son described it thus to my wife:

Wife: “Hi Arun, how was your day then?”
Arun: “Great”
Wife: “What did you get up to?”
Arun: “Great things”

That’s it! Only topped by the discussion the two of us had on the bus on the way home:

Me: “So Arun, did you enjoy the race?”
Arun: “Yes, it was great. I liked the snacks. Dad, who won?”
Me: “Well, a man called Boassen Hagen won overall, and the sprint today was won by an Italian rider but I can’t remember his name”
Arun: “Probably David Beckham, or something?”
Me: “Yeah, something like that!”

Tomorrow marks a momentous day - I can officially race as a Vet! I think it is fair to say that I will be feeling my age the day after...

Cast off

Well, it’s been a while – that’s what happens when you start working and cycling again!

Things have been going pretty well – I got the all-clear from the consultant that my scaphoid bone was healing well (now that it had the titanium screw holding things together) a few weeks ago and celebrated with a couple of laps of Richmond Park. Two things struck me immediately – wind resistance and hills! Turbo life can’t match the experience and, much as I always struggle to haul my bulk uphill, I found myself enjoying the climbing experience so much that I doubled back just to take another shot at Broomfield Hill. Good job too that I made the most of it - recently they've resurfaced the park roads, making them (temporarily) dangerous beyond belief.

Since then I’ve also started commuting again – I’d forgotten all about the competitiveness of London commuter cyclists! There are busy sections of the Kennington Park Road where it’s like a dragstrip – riders head down, arse up, punishing themselves to the next red light. Fun, but dangerous…

I have no riding plans for the rest of the year other than a few club runs and commuting. I honestly cannot face the turbo again yet, so will keep myself content with regular steady base miles. Next year I want to catch up on all the riding I missed this year – some more racing (Palace, Eelmore, Surrey League road races) and the sportives (La Marmotte, Southern, Highclere) and maybe a longer continental trip or the club sportive.

Oh, and I’m thinking about building a new winter/training bike. The Scott is on it’s last legs so I’ll salvage the wheels, pedals and saddle, buy a new group, headset, seatpost, handlebars and stem and attach them all to this (maybe):


I’ll need a fork as well. Good excuse for some online shopping!

Cheap and cheerful, robust and not too ugly. Can take full mudguards or I’ll probably give the new Crud Guards a go. Should be perfect. Now, where’s that toolbox…

Two very late nights in a row, too much to eat and drink, too little sleep. These were my main regrets when my wife bashed me on the arm at 4:30am on Sunday morning to say that the alarm was going off. Why is this happening to me? Confusion soon gave way to the usual rushing around, trying to force coffee down whilst getting dressed, find car keys, wallet, phone and house keys. Two things were different this morning though – firstly I had no bike kit or bike to worry about as I wasn’t going to be cycling and secondly this was no road race, but the second of the London Dynamo pilot Richmond Park Time Trials. And I had volunteered to marshal, along with about 30 others.

Was I ever glad not to be riding! I was so tired just standing there directing riders around the corner (I didn’t think directions would be necessary, but at least three riders breathlessly whispered “Which way” as they approached the roundabout). Beautiful thing, the way the early morning light catches the stream of snot dripping from a rider’s nose!


The TT seemed to go really well and there were a lot of positive comments. I found time whilst marshalling to take some snaps – they really don’t do justice to the event and in particular the stunning location. Richmond Park is a beautiful place and was made so much better by the lack of traffic noise – for the first 45 minutes the only sound was the thrum of rear disc wheels. I really hope the park authorities take note of the success of the two events and allow more TTs next year - especially because I want to ride in one!

Another hospital visit tomorrow to check that my wrist has healed. If so I will be straight on the bike for a few easy laps of Richmond Park – anything to avoid another turbo session! Here’s hoping…

Keep on moving

Well it has been a while. Not much activity on the bike front other than putting in 5 turbo sessions per week, 1hr or so each session. I am having to really mix up sessions just to keep the interest up - some of them simply turn into a 240W average for 1hr churn away type activity (on lazy days make that 210W!). Others are more targetted, with shorter more intense intervals. I don't think I'm loosing too much fitness, but I have a couple of concerns - I am putting on a little weight ("so what?" my wife says), I may pass out when I get back on the road if I have to ride for more than one hour, and my playlist on the iPod Nano is in dire need of updating. At some point I'll get round to calculating just how much time I've spent in the garden going nowhere!

Other areas of life have been busier. I started a new contract at LloydsTSB in London Bridge - a very interesting project, and a great part of London to work in - Borough Market is about 2 minutes away, which means endless opportunities for great food. Good food, interesting work, a decent commute - not bad at all! It will be better still when I can actually get back on the bike for the commute.

We're also moving imminently. Hopefully we'll exchange in the next couple of days, at which point we have to firm up a rental. We've seen a fair few and I'm balancing the desire for a nice neighbourhood, decent quality interiors (we're going to be renting), enough rooms for the kids with a spare room for guests, and room for bike storage (this is obviously of paramount importance). The trouble is that I'm sure my wife is looking at same areas which I'm considering for bike storage and thinking - "hmmm, ironing board, laundry baskets and drying racks".

I attended the London Dynamo summer social last week as well. Sore heads all round! It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces and some new ones - I haven't been on the road in two months and forgot what a generally amiable bunch we all were! Half the club seem to have been to Ventoux to see the penultimate stage of the Tour - lucky sods! And talking of the Tour, my last day of relaxation prior to the new contract at Lloyds coincided with the Champs-Elysees speed-fest - well done Cavendish, what a way to sign off! The real star was Wiggins though (as far as I'm concerned anyway). He's a cool dude and a great rider who has improved on the road massively in the past year. Contador and Andy Schleck both looked as stong as ever too. Oh, and Armstrong didn't do too badly either! A good first week overall for Le Tour, a slightly dull second week, and then heroics in the third week. Great vewing overall.

Maybe 3 weeks until I try a road ride (depending on xrays to show that the titanium screw is doing the business on the scaphoid). I can hardly wait...

Holidays in the Borders

I've had a great past week - no cycling at all and plenty of relaxation and family time in Coldingham, just over the border into Scotland. We were really lucky with the weather- a few sharp showers but overall plenty of sunny intervals (as they say in BBC weathercaster-speak). The break was just what I needed given the tender state of my wrist and I was able to get away with doing very little to put any strain on my recovering bones (thanks to FHB & GF). The kids also had a great time - the beach was a 3 minute walk away, the shoreline was gently sloping and the scenery was stunning. Here's a picture of the view we woke up to every morning (minus the kids - we didn't make them sleep outside overnight, honest)!


I feel that I'm slowly putting on a bit of weight, what with limited cycling on the turbo and a newfound enjoyment of the relaxing effects of alcohol. I like to think of it as a "Reverse Wiggins" that might make me more powerful on the flat. This week is my last free week before I start a new contract and I will get to see the last week of the Tour on TV. Overall it's been a little dull so far I think. There have been some highlights - Cav obliterating the opposition, Contador's surges, the odd peloton split and the ever-present possibility of a break sticking and meaning something (bad luck Hincapie) - but overall I feel the lack of mountaintop finishes has served only to dull the opposition until the penultimate Ventoux stage. There is one massive plus though - Bradley Wiggins has been simply superb. He's a pretty cool and laid-back character and his climbing has been top-class this July. I really hope he makes the podium on Sunday - he fully deserves it. I'm sure he doesn't really miss beer all that much!

Tomorrow is time for another therapy session at St.George's Hospital - it will be the first time in 6 weeks that I will be removing this hard thermo-plastic style cast to do some rotation and flexing rather than simply to clean the cast and my arm. I can't wait!

Screwed up

hmmm, screws, wires, general anaesthetic, bandages and slings - kids call me 'slingsby' - typing with one hand again, pain and painkillers, lots to get done but an inability to do anything. yup, i'm back to the start again, one day after the op to stabilise the bones in my wrist. off to st.george's hospital for a post-op check again tomorrow. fed up, but at least my internal hardware is titanium!

no turbo for at least a week, new job starting soon, moving house imminently. not ideal...

No progress, in fact the opposite...

So, just after four weeks into the fractured wrist and broken finger scenario I went for another x-ray at St.George's Hospital. On the plus side my little finger on the right hand is healing well, and I now have about 75% of the range of movement back. Hopefully over the next few months this will progress to about 90% or more.

The left wrist, on the other hand (!), is a bit of a disaster. The fracture to the scaphoid bone does not show any signs of healing - in fact the fracture has enlarged. There also looks to be an 'irregularity' around the lunate bone. Before all this I had no idea how many bones there were in the wrist:


Quite a few! Anyhow, the upshot is that I am scheduled for surgery in four days time to have a screw put into the scaphoid, and in all probability another put into the lunate. The scaphoid might require a small bone graft which will be taken from somewhere within the wrist - I forget where, but the fact that it doesn't need to be taken from the hip means they only require a pretty small shard of bone.

So at least another six weeks in the cast. All being well the healing will be stronger due to the screws in the bones. I don't want to focus on the long-term complications that could arise. Instead I have tentatively planned for the Giro di Lombardia sportive in mid-October as my return to any sort of decent form. It seems a really long way away!

Still, being at home unable to do very much does mean I get to see all the kids' end of year activities, in particular the sports days. All three did really well - our daughter is definitely the best 'team player' and all-rounder of the three, one of the twins has revealed a previously-hidden talent for speedy running and the other (who's talent for running was already obvious) has improved even more. Both the boys came first in their sprints - we were very proud parents! They can't throw or catch a tennis ball though - they leave that skill to our daughter!

More turbo time beckons, whilst I also have to try not to become embroiled in arguments on cycling forums. The latest 'discussion' involved me trying to explain the merits of a Powertap to another forum user who kept saying that they must be crap because Pantani and Russell Downing didn't use them! Such blinkered and ill-founded opinion really got my back up for a day or two until I realised that there was no arguing with this poster - he'd never used any power measurement, never would, and wasn't able to form a coherent argument. I guess that summarises internet forums though, and the wide range of 'characters' that drift through them!