The (Not So) Top Secret Project & A Windy Day Out in The Fens (LGD - 105 Days)

Sunday 28 January 2018, 57 Miles

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Another extended silence from me I’m afraid. But I haven’t been idle; far from it. Since my last post in November (crikey, I didn’t realise it was that long ago) I’ve pedalled 2,800 miles. I say ‘pedalled’ quite deliberately since I’ve been avoiding the worst of the weather by doing some sessions on the turbo trainer in my garage. These help to keep my legs loose, give my body a workout and also avoid the worst of the winter weather. I’m not a complete fair‑weather cyclist and I do ride in wet, cold or windy conditions but as I’m less inclined to do so than I used to be! To ease the monotony of the turbo I’ve been catching up on some boxsets including the brilliant and very touching last series of Wallander (the Kenneth Branagh version), as well as some Maigret episodes with Michael Gambon as Maigret (excellent) and very different to Rowan Atkinson (also good) but who will always be Mr Bean or Johnny English whenever I see him screen!

Over the last few months I have teased and titillated some of you with cryptic references to the top secret, hush-hush project that I’ve been working on. Well, today I can lift the lid as they say and reveal all. Well maybe not all. In a nutshell I’ve written a book! Passione Celeste (Captain Century’s Bianchi Bicycle Diaries) was officially published today. Wow! This hasn’t been a total secret for the last few weeks as I’ve been knocking out copies to friends and Bianchi cousins across the globe. Yes, I’ve gone global!! The book draws on my blogging over the last few years with some additional details thrown in. I’ve also included a chapter on the history and growth of Bianchi – it was great fun to do the research for this too. As Uncle Andrew (Griffin) who runs Bianchi in the UK says the book “celebrates the DNA that is unique to Bianchi – its Passione Celeste.” It seems to have been quite well received.

A few of you know that I am a proud Trustee of the Green Light Trust (GLT) – I was their CEO for about 18 months a few years ago. I’ll be giving a proportion of the income from the book sales to them. GLT does fantastic work in the East of England by helping people who face profound health, education and wellbeing challenges. Using the natural outdoor environment GLT helps these people to overcome their challenges to enhance and enrich their lives, lifestyles and livelihoods. This complements the work of mainstream health and education services who often lack the resources or expertise to support such people effectively. GLT’s achievements have been widely recognised with several regional and national awards. Through the book and my forthcoming USA tour I’m hoping to raise loads of money for GLT to help them continue with their outstanding work. It would be brilliant of you could make a donation through my Virgin Money Giving Page.

Now that the wraps are off I’m hoping that through my publishers and Emily in their PR department, many more people will get to hear about the book. If you’d like to get hold of a copy then follow the link above. Passione Celeste is also available through the booksellers worldwide and the usual online outlets. There are eBook/Kindle versions available too.

Well I think that’s about enough – for now at least – on Passione Celeste. What about today’s riding?

Earlier in the week Daren (Nairo) Morgan had offered to plan a route for us to ride. The ‘us’ here includes Richard who is best described as a bike nut and a relatively recent, in my terms at least, convert to cycling. I've lost count of how many bikes he owns. One of them is a Bianchi (Pista I think) so he's got taste! Today he quietly mentioned a new titanium frame which he had just acquired so my count is now even more confused. We arrived at Nairo’s house to be met by a rather strained looking Nairo. Enquiries revealed that he had decided to undertake some pre-ride bike adjustments. In a nutshell he thought his front forks were rattling so he had tried to remove the head set, clean and grease the bearings and re-tension the headset. At least that was the plan. Disassembly had been completed, cleaning and greasing had been completed. Reassembly was definitely not going to plan. After much head scratching and a fair bit of trial and error, Nairo eventually managed to put everything back together as was meant to be. Richard’s not inconsiderable bike building knowledge and experience was the missing ingredient to achieve success. So, next time Nairo, check and adjust your bike the day before, not 5 minutes before we intend to set off! And buy yourself a copy of ‘Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance’ if you're going to bypass Uncle Mick Madgett in future!

So about half an hour after our intended departure we finally got underway. Today’s plan was to head westward into the Fens on a 50ish-mile circuit taking in Littleport, Ely, Soham and Mildenhall along the way. The big challenge today was the Fenland Mountains which were averaging 20mph from the south west with gusts considerably above that. As regular followers of this blog will know, I consider strong headwinds to be East Anglia’s answer to categorised climbs. Today we were probably in the Category 3-4 domain. For the first 10-15 miles it was a case of grinding it out with a strong head/side wind. As I rode along I could feel my legs straining. With heavy rain last night, the road surfaces were quite wet but the strong winds gradually dried them out as the road progressed.

Looking at the route last night I got quite excited because I had noticed that we would be passing through Dunkirk. As this was the Fens I wasn’t expecting much in the way of road signs – ‘Dunkirk welcomes Careful Riders’ or ‘Dunkirk, twinned with Dunkerque’. I was hoping for a suitably signed house or a lane. No such luck. Our Dunkirk which sits on 0 (Zero) Furlong Drove is a tiny hamlet with a handful of houses and a farm. But according to the Ordnance Survey we passed through Dunkirk – and they’re never wrong, are they?! Like its French namesake, most of Dunkirk lies at sea level.

From Dunkirk we gradually turned south and east picking up more of a tailwind. Unfortunately my legs were cooked so it was still a struggle to pick up the speed. I had my solid (puncture proof) Tannus tyres on today and they always slow me down. But the chance to avoid punctures on messy winter roads is worth the sacrifice of speed. I’m not sure if Nairo and Richard would agree.

Richard gets his hands on Passione Celeste

The rest of the ride was largely unremarkable. The only point of note occurred just outside Mildenhall. Whilst waiting to turn right onto a main road a police 4x4 slowed up opposite us. The driver wound the window down and gave us a long hard stare. What had we done wrong? Northing surely.  The he spoke: "Aah, Bianchi. Fine bikes." As I wound up his window to drive off. I shouted: “I’ve just written a book.” I don’t think he heard me. Passione Celeste!

Normal for Norfolk and Some Other Musings (LGD - 192 Days)

Thursday 2 November 2017, 104 Miles

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Despite the lack of writing here for the last few weeks there’s been no lack of riding on my part. I’ve also been quite busy out of the saddle so before I tell you about today’s century ride I thought it would be good to catch up on a few of my recent events and adventures.

First up – progress has been made on the top-secret, hush-hush project. Real progress. The last few weeks have seen a flurry of activity making a series of minor adjustments. All a bit like fine tuning the derailleurs. You know – the chain is running slightly roughly so a quarter turn of the tensioner in top gear and all sounds sweetness and light. Changing down a couple gears and you can hear and feel the chain running roughly so another minor adjustment of the tensioner, perhaps only an eighth of a turn. On you go until eventually things are running smoothly across the whole gear range. Over the years I learnt that patience and a soft touch are the key to success. Unless of course the problem is more fundamental like a frayed cable.

This is how it’s been with the top-secret, hush-hush project. Making a minor tweak here created a new minor fault somewhere else. Tweak that and, worst case scenario, the original fault reappears! But with patience and persistence we finally got there. All the work is now finished, I’ve signed it off and handed it over for production. The official launch date is likely to be towards the end of January though a limited supply may be available sooner for the “special few”. There’s still some work to do on the PR and marketing fronts and I’m going to be immersed in this over the coming weeks. I’m getting quite excited at the prospect of being able to see and touch the finished product – it has been a long time coming; much longer than I originally expected.

THE Map!

All this has meant that opportunities to get some centuries in have not been possible. I’ve had to stick to shorter (c50-mile) rides. But no less enjoyable and I’ve been using them to ride along lanes I haven’t ridden before so that I can colour them in on my map of East Anglia. The map is looking pretty busy now. With the generally good weather and the onset of autumn, most of the rides have been very enjoyable. As I write, the autumn colours are probably at their peak so I’ve been making the most of enjoying them. The sugar beet harvest is in full swing now but the dry weather has meant that the road surfaces are generally clean and free of the cloying clay that seems to have a magnetic attraction to my frames and wheels.

It hasn’t all been sweetness and light though. On one recent ride I experienced a bad case of the infamous ‘Mavic Death Scream’. Let me explain. I’ve got a set of Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels which I bought a couple of years ago. I was freewheeling downhill at about 20mph when there was the most fearsome screech from the bike. Just like the sound you hear when there’s oil on your rims and you break hard. Eventually I worked out that the sound was coming from the hub on my rear wheel. So a trip to Madgetts in Diss was necessary. The cause of the problem seemed to be the nylon seal that Mavic use on the freehub, or possibly the pawls in the freehub itself. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Mick removed the freehub cleaned the seal and replaced the pawls. Whilst he was working I chatted away to Mick, Tony and Sean about some of my recent rides and showed them some of the photos on my phone. They seemed quite impressed with the Fford Penllech 40% climb that I’ve already written about (8 October). I guess they were less than impressed with my admission that I hadn’t actually managed to ride it. Sean, who had been holidaying in Snowdonia recently, knew about some of the roads I described. Repairs finished, Mick pointed out that there was still a bit of movement of the cassette on the freehub so I may have to face up to the wheel reaching the end of its life. Although it’s only two years old I reckon it’s done about 10,000 hard miles so I suppose I shouldn’t complain. When I asked Mick what I owed him for the work he said there was no charge, adding that it was worth it to hear me talk about my rides and share some of the photos. In my book that goes beyond good service. Way beyond. Next time I’m in the market for a new Bianchi I wonder how many photos and ride stories it’s going to cost me? (Only kidding guys!)

Well, there you have it - a glimpse of some of my recent adventures. What about today’s ride?

The cause of the puncture

With dry roads and the hint and hope of some autumnal sun breaking through the early morning mist and light cloud I decided to head north into south Norfolk for a century through Watton, Swaffham, Dereham and Wymondham. I decided to leave the Ksyriums in my garage to test on another occasion when I would be riding closer to home so I fitted a pair of Fulcrum Quattro wheels to the Infinito which I had decided to ride today. Off I went, looking forward to the ride. After only 9 miles as I was passing through East Harling, I could feel the tell-tale sponginess of a rear wheel puncture. A false start! The cause of the puncture was a tiny piece of grit which had lodged itself in the tyre and worked its way through to pin prick the inner tube. I must have picked it up en route as the tyre was clean when I left home. The most annoying thing was that this was the first puncture I’ve had this year. Not bad after riding over 13,000 miles since January. I had even started to contemplate the prospect of a year’s puncture-free riding. Silly me! A quick tube change and I was soon underway again.

A Norfolk 'hill'

The rest of the ride was really enjoyable. I took it at a steady pace savouring the countryside and soaking up the views. Although the sun didn’t materialise the crisp, cold air gave the ride a welcome freshness. I especially enjoyed the long straight lanes that are a defining feature of Norfolk.  The views at this time of year are simply magnificent. Although I do really miss the mountains of Wales the broad sweeping and gently rolling Norfolk countryside has a lot to offer for enjoyable riding. There was a real sense of nature getting ready to hibernate for a few months before spring reappears and the natural cycle begins again.

So that’s it. I hope to be able to get a couple more centuries under my tyres before the year ends. Watch this space…