Progress

I'm told I should be aiming for an average speed of 16mph, compared to my typical 8mph. So this evening I decided to establish a proper baseline time for my favourite ten mile circuit round Winter Hill and Cookham. That way I can start to work on improving my speed, and I can assess progress (if any).

I reckoned ten miles was a decent starting point, because I can repeat the exercise fairly regularly. This particular route isn't a bad one to work at, because it is fairly hilly, and (mostly) fairly free of traffic.

Last time I timed myself round this ten-mile circuit it took me a full hour. So I can take a rough stab at my previous speed being 10mph, without taxing the brain too much.

This evening the same route has taken me just under 47 minutes, or an average of 13 mph. On the steady climb up to Winter Hill I averaged 12 mph. On the steep drop down into Cookham, my speed is normally testicularly limited to about 20mph, although on this occassion I seem to have hit 25mph a couple of times, and briefly managed to keep up with someone in an Aston Martin (they are not short of a shilling around those parts).

From there on, the route is flatter, and my speed seems to have been a bit more regular, although it dropped off as I climbed back through the edge of Maidenhead, followed by a bit of an effort to finish quickly.

So I'm feeling quite pleased with myself. That was faster than I thought I could do, it shows things are progressing, and what's more it takes my total distance this week to more than 100 miles, which is a new high.

RCR52

My efforts to trace regional route 52 have now been rendered on the OSM cycle map, and here it is. I reckon that Andy Allan has done a great job on this, and the number of marked routes is growing rapidly. My small contribution has been to tag regional route 52, which circles Maidenhead, and is marked in pale blue. National route 4 (which others have tagged) crosses just south of Maidenhead, and is marked in red.

Apart from getting to see countryside in its full glory at this time of year, following the local routes gives me a good excuse to get out on the bike and get some exercise.

At the moment it looks as though this just about covers route 52, and my next step in both directions will be to trace the "Round Berkshire" cycle route, as best I can. That should take me through Windsor to the east, and beyond Reading to the west.

NCR4

A smidgeon under 28 miles today, trying to follow signs for regional cycle route 52 to the west, with about as much success as I had trying to follow them to the east on Saturday. It is clearly time for a rethink.

Anyway, once I gave up on plan-A, it was easy enough to pick up the "Round Berkshire" cycle route, which comes to almost the same thing.

After trundling round various parts of Wargrave, I used part of fully signed regional route 52 on the way home, then diverted through Hurley. Finally, I convinced myself that I could find a route from Bisham that avoided the steep climb from the Marlow bypass, on the A308 alongside Inkydown Woods. I was wrong, and for the first time I had to attempt a 60metre climb in 0.6km. I am mildly chuffed that I managed it without getting off and pushing. I couldn't have done that a couple of months ago.

The rolling plains of Windsor

Yesterday's ride was a very satisfying forty miles or so, trying to extend my trace of regional cycle route 52 towards Windsor, and beyond. I managed to plug some gaps in the route I have been plotting, between White Waltham and the edge of Windsor, but beyond that the trail seemed to fizzle out.

After the last signs in the western outskirts of Windsor, I tried looping round the centre, through Old Windsor, and worked my way out to Englefield Green, and then back through the park (which is great). However, I found no sign of how route 52 continues, apart from a short stretch just outside the park.

Since I got back, I've been trawling through various maps, so I've now got a few more ideas of things that I can try next time. And if all else fails, there is still plenty for me to explore in the other direction, towards Reading.

In the meantime if anyone has any ideas of where route 52 in Windsor has disappeared to, then please let me know. Or plot it on Open Street Map.

April roundup

Some good progress, and some disappointing progress this month - but mostly not a very impressive effort. I can blame poor weather, and pressure of work to some extent, but the truth is that I should be trying harder.

My total mileage in the month was 211 miles. That is significantly down from 285 in March, and 273 in February. My average trip is up slightly, from 13 to 13.2 miles, so the decline is mostly because the number of outings was down: from 23 in February and 22 in March, to only 16 in April. There was only one week in April when I managed to reach both of my weekly goals - of 56 miles and four outings. Even the number of postings on this blog is falling: from 34 in February, to 24 in March and only 20 in April.

Despite that, I am still keeping the weekly average distance high enough to stay on track for my annual goal of 2,500 miles. In April, I also managed my longest ride yet - of 56 miles. That means that for the first time ever I have ridden my imperial age. I have also reached all but one of the Jenkins churches that I am trying to visit on the bike by the end of the year. In the process my Eddington number rose to 15 by the end of April (and to 16 yesterday, on my first proper trip in May).

In total I have covered 876 miles this year, and am now theoretically heading for Florence on my virtual European tour.

The first priority in May is to get the monthly mileage back up to the distances I was managing to cover earlier in the year, which means maintaining the average trip length, while increasing the number of outings. My second priority is to increase average speed. I am still averaging about 8mph on a long trip, and it should be a lot more. If I am going to cover increased distance then I need to go faster.

Neverthleess, my waistline has come down a little bit, and I am feeling better for it all. The Maharajah is well - and so am I.

Postcard from Delft

Last week my mother went to Delft with some friends, and sent us this postcard, using a stamp with a picture of a bicycle it.

It seems there is a club for people who collect stamps wth pictures of bicycles on them. For anyone who is interested, the "Bicycle Stamps Club" is here. The site has links to various lists of stamps of interest to members.

I see that there have been a surpisingly large number of stamps featuring bicycles (over 3,000 in the list I looked at). As one might expect there are more from the Netherlands than from anywhere else (193, or more than 6% of the total). It is gratifying, though, to find that Great Britain takes the silver medal, with 144 stamps listed, accounting for nearly 5% of the total. No other country features more than 100 times in the list - not even France.

I really must get out more.

Giant's Causeway

I've spent the last couple of days in Northern Ireland, and in the process I managed to fit in a detour to drive along the North Antrim coast, with very brief stops at the Giant's Causeway and Dunluce castle.

The weather could have been worse. It was mostly grey, and very windy, but without any serious rain.

It was my first visit to this part of Northern Ireland, and the scenery is certainly impressive. It was something of a flying visit, so no cycling for me, but I did see a number of touring cyclists on the road, and hence quite a parade of varied equipment. Various Dawes models seemed to be popular, and there were other brand names that were new to me - mostly fitted with what I think were Ortlieb bags.

It looked as though there was some pretty serious touring under way.