Post New Year Riding

I started this post in February and things just cropped up so its been massively delayed. I have done a review and got it to a start to publish

It's now the middle of February so at least 6 weeks of 2014 have passed already and I wanted to summarise what I managed to achieve in January, and review what getting in Ride London might mean.

Firstly despite the news reporting the coming of the second global flood, the weather in the midlands had actually been quite benign. There were some cold days, and wet and windy days but there has always been one of the days at the weekend when the weather has been very good for January and I have managed to get out once each weekend and twice on one weekend. I started looking at weather and work commitments for a commute once per week although all the pieces did not come together until 13 Feb when I was able to commute for the first time this year. This was a reasonable day between high winds and rain, although it was a lot colder than I expected in the morning and there was a pretty strong and persistent headwind all the way home

However despite the reasonable weather there were a couple of icy days in January and on one of those I had "An Off". This happened one Sunday - I knew from the forecast it was due to be cold and it certainly was when I got up. I had a few moments of dithering thinking it might be too icy but countered this by knowing that the Bus Routes (and the number 11 in particular) would be OK so all I had to do was get just over ½ mile from my house and then I'd be OK. I managed about 95% of the ½mile but as I caressed the from brake to slow for the T-Junction to turn left the next thing I knew I was on the ground.

An adrenalin fueled moment later and I was up and on the path. Fortunately no cars were coming and despite being a bit winded I felt OK. My first thoughts when lying on the road were actually: "where is my Garmin and is my bike OK"! I got up and gave the bike and check and all seemed OK, felt myself and also seemed OK - a bit winded and full of adrenalin I so decided that it was nothing more than being a bit winded, so decided to carry on. I was very tense for the next few miles about the ice but felt OK and my confidence was restored as the miles and increased and the day warmed up. My side (right) felt a bit sore and after a few times when I stood up on the pedals up some small climbs and it hurt a bit more than I wanted. I decided that I was sore enough to remain seated for the rest of the ride. I got home OK and had a better look whilst I got changed, and could not see anything amiss - no bruising or discolouration.

However as the days went on my ribs ached more and more - sleeping was painful and any stretching hurt. I'd clearly bruised my ribs but wow, did it hurt. It took over 4 weeks for the pain to completely go but it was unpleasant for almost 3 weeks. What it must hurt like if you actually break a rib I have no idea but the pain must be intense.

The Number 11 bus routes (both A & C) that I created are good Sunday morning rides and I have done them a few more times. I am the KOM on both routes needless to say. I would not do them any other time than an early Sunday morning though given the traffic.

As I have posted before I got in to the Ride London so I am keen to get in some long rides as soon as possible, I'll try to post some news about these longer rides as I manage to get them in.

The Number 11 Bus Route

According to Wikipedia The Number 11 Bus Route is "Europe's second longest urban bus route". Part of the route runs past Sarehole Mill which is less than 2 miles from my house. I'd been thinking about the practicalities of riding the route for some time and plotted out the 'A' (anticlockwise) route in Garmin Connect based on the info on the bus company's web site, assuming a start and finish at Sarehole Mill. I was reasonably comfortable that I knew about 60-70% of the route and that part was OK. The other 30% I was less sure about. This part started from Erdington Five Ways and ran through Aston, Witton and Winson Green (past the prison) before joining the Hagley Road where I knew the route again. There looked like a few busy roads so I decided that for this reason, and more generally for traffic that this route would be an early Sunday morning ride only. This Sunday I felt pretty tired and not really up for a long ride so decided to give it a go. The roads were quite wet so I decided to take the Giant (with mudguards) rather than the Scott.

After a short ride to Sarehole Mill off I started on the route. On the whole it was reasonably easy to follow - the Garmin seemed to behave itself on the whole. It got mildly confused somewhere between Erdington and Aston, but fortunately a number 11A bus appeared and I was able to follow it for 100yards or so.

At 9am in the morning the roads were pretty quiet all round. There were some gentle 'climbs' but I was able to keep in the big ring all the way. It took about 1hr 40 minutes for the 25 miles or so. There were a few traffic lights but on the whole it was a pretty even ride round. It would take a lot longer on a weekday or not as early and some of the roads and junctions would be fairly cyclist unfriendly with more traffic.

I had also plotted the 11C (clockwise) route as well and had thought of riding both in the same day but felt too tired to go back round for another 25 miles or so this time.

Here's the Strava Ride:


And to my shame I made a segment for it as well:


Needless to say its a KOM, although when I created the segment it did identify 2 similar segments - both of these were on quite a lot of the route but neither followed it fully or all the way round, so I don't feel too bad.

Would I do it again? Probably once more, and I'll do the 11C route as well to get the set. I am surprised no one else has ridden it to be honest, although it is not the most scenic route by a long way.