A ride out to Helensburgh

Out to the father in laws for a summer BBQ today so I chose to cycle. Was trying to do a route out west then up to Loch Lomond then around over the back of Helensburgh to his house … got lost somewhere in Dunbarton and then just headed on west with all the cars.

Glasgow to Inverness
Passing through two National Parks – Loch Lomond & The Trossachs and Cairngorms, the Lochs & Glens (North) cycle route takes the cyclist through some of the most stunning scenery on the National Cycle Network. The route leaves Glasgow by following the River Clyde to Dumbarton and then heads to Inverness via Abefoyle, Callander, Killin, Pitlochry, Kingussie, Aviemore and Carrbridge. Highlights include the Glen Ogle viaduct on the railway path between Lochearnhead and Killin.

Every time I ride the Lynskey Cooper like today on a mixture of canal path gravel or potholed tar I am amazed how smooth it is ….

 

My time was quite quick as managed to beat the wife in the car who went to pick up my daughter then got stuck in traffic on the way out …..

speed breakdown according to RIDE with GPS import of Garmin GPS track

Pedal on Parliament Edinburgh

pedal on parliament was amazing. Came across from Glasgow on the train

best kind of luggage

and then joined up with another Brompton rider who showed me a nice way down to Leith on the cycle path (old railway)

Joined up with a feeder ride in Leith

small leith feeder ride

then on to the park where the crowds got bigger and bigger

an hour before the start and already 1000 bikes

then a wait for the off

clogged meadow road

then down the royal mile

clogged pt2

and eventually to parliament where we could barely hear a word of the speeches on a feeble PA … but message to holyrood is strong if a bit silent …

FROM Pedal on Parliament SITE Just wow. When PoP thought of this we wondered if we might get 300 riders out. Then we raised our sights a little and started to hope we’d see a thousand. As we stood at the top of Middle Meadow Walk and saw the bikes come pouring in from all directions we began to think we’d started something big but we didn’t know how big until the head of the ride reached Holyrood while the back was still leaving the Meadows. The police’s conservative estimate was that 2,500 of you were out there pedalling on Parliament and we suspect it might be even more. In fact, we think that more people turned out to ride with us than have even signed the petition, showing the depths of feeling that was out there among people to see safer cycling.

There will be more as we digest all the great photos and videos, blog posts and testimonies that have been pouring in since the moment the ride started to assemble in the Meadows. We’d like to thank you all who turned out – not just for turning out but for being such a great, good natured and patient crowd. We’d like to thank the police for their assistance at a ride that turned out to be up to ten times larger than they were expecting. And, with a few grumpy exceptions we’d like to thank the people of Edinburgh for allowing us to have our moment in the sun – and in many cases, cheering us on.

Please, keep posting your pictures on our Flickr group and adding your stories on the Facebook group, keep tweeting them your videos and blog posts, and keep signing the petition(which will be up for a few weeks yet before we formally lodge it with the Scottish Government. And keep watching this space – we need to keep in contact because, for all the warm words from our politicians at Holyrood today, changing government policy to bring about the real changes needed to make Scotland a cycle friendly country. We’ll let you know what happens next soon, but for now the (exhausted) people who brought you Pedal on Parliament are going to have an early night…

Hill Running repeats but now a slightly sore calf

That was a bit horrible

Went to Alexander park to do some hill repeats tonight

amble to the park then started the repeats – 1st one was to scout the hill – then realised best option was the less steep longer ascent with a short drop down and then repeat repeat. The HR belt can’t have been sweaty enough as it showed a 109%HR effort …. but rest were fine showing me hit 92%of my MaxHR. It hurt a lot which I guess it is supposed to do ….

the hill repeated and my speed

polar HR (strange spike on 2nd hill)

then i started to feel my calf pulling so to prevent muscle damage i stopped and didn’t finish my 10 repeats ….. still a bit tender but should be fine.

Can I sneak in a ride …

The eternal question for the family man …

Can I sneak in a ride?

1. Eldest daughter to school at 9am
2. Father in law coming at 10am to take youngest for a couple of days …
3. Jolene down to London on the train at 10:20am
4. Couple of work calls to make ….
5. G>>A>>P
6. pick up daughter from school at 3:10pm

Could this be the GAP I SEEK??

EAT KILBRIDE LOOP - mapped out on http://www.ridewithgps.com

 

First outdoor ride on the Lynskey

The plan was hatched – a relatively early departure from the house then an hour cycling somewhere then an hour back. I ended up heading west through the less pretty parts of Dumbarton until I was under the Erskine bridge. Decided to ride over it as I had seen a cycle path over the bridge before and then attempted to fin my way back to glasgow on the south side of the river.

I had one or two extra meanders but came back through Govan. Here is ride

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/522434/embed

The view from the bridge is quite spectacular

sad to see that where I stopped to take this pic there were flowers in the railings where some sad soul decided to end it all in the past.

titanium on steel

I was using my Polar RCX5 with gps (and the gps was buried in my front pocket of my jacket meaning it’s view of the sky must have been greatly obscured by my body …. ) I also had my Edge mounted on the stem and the similarity between the data was amazing – I was expecting the Polar to be way out …. but after the ride it said 51.49km compared to Garmins 51.69km …. quite amazing. Would have been perfect if I had used the shoulder strap I think.

Uploaded both .gpx tracks into Sportypal to compare and here is the result.

as near as damn it

Did you hear about the Wooden Bike…?

It wood really go.

 

Jolene chanced once again on a homemade bike …

 

This one in Wood …. fantastic

 

Sunday running

I must remember to be less social – giving friends an open invite to come around at Sunday ‘sometime’ meant that my plans for a sneaky Kitesurf session were scarpered when a 12:30pm early lunch was confirmed. Bugger there was no way that would work out for me to get down to the coast have a session and be back washed and ready to cook. The solution I am led to believe is not to ditch said friends but to make alternative plans.

So plan hatched was to get my arse in gear and get out for a run. I confess to having been a bit lazy since the Jedburgh half marathon and my sciatic nerve was twinging a bit (stiff arse for lack of a better word) so down for a normal run to glasgow green And along the river path heading east. It is a great run and as I entered glasgow green right next to west brewery I became aware of heavy footstep runner approaching from behind … I sped up and he still narrowed the gap within 400m and passed me. Phew, younger, taller, slimmer and wearing clothes more appropriate for summer than a violently windy autumnal nay even wintry stormy day. Still a good run and slowed down from the unsustainable 4:20/km pace and sauntered on. Legs felt crap and a bit dehydrated (better than hungover) but heart rate was a lowly 141bpm …. Aaas one of those days.

The run is a simple out and back – down the glasgow green path until the path stops at the construction fence (for the commonwealth games) then back. 12.9 ish on the garmin foot pod and 13.01 using google maps.

Rest of day fine, friends good, food nice (cooked a smoked mackerel risotto yumm) prosecco palatable.

Hope you all had a fine Sunday too …….

Transport museum – riverside, Glasgow

Finally made it to the Riverside Museum a few months after it opened in its new home down on the Clyde. Took my daughter Bella who at age 4 should have the concentration to last around the whole lot. Love the way that bikes feature quite heavily in the new incarnation.

Close to the entrance are both bikes used by Graeme Obree in his years challenging for the hour record and various distance records. It may say specialised but everyone knows the big S had nothing to do with his victories over the years …. I was away when he went to the museum to give a chat but would have been good to see.

They have other bikes on display – Flying Scot as well as a rail containing a few different bikes but it’s a shame as these are high in the sky on a track that doesn’t move at all. They also have a wall of cars set up like a kids display and again this is far too high to see much.

Still it’s free (although you really should throw in a tenner for upkeep)

Rig143 – Glasgow ‘the bike man’

Popped into RIG143 today on what could be the start of an interesting film …. took some photographs as well (many more to come)

Brian holding a beautiful restored Flying Scot (painted at Bob Jackson) – the paint alone was £250 – open to sensible offers for a slice of history.

Rig Bike Shop

143 West Regent St.

Glasgow

G2 2SG

Opening Hours:

Mon – Sat 10:30-18:00

Sun 12:00-17:00

Contact:

rig143@hotmail.co.uk

07910 453 508

The red bull mini velodrome

Just realised I forgot to post this when it came up ….

On October 2nd 2011, Red Bull brought the world’s smallest velodrome to The Old Fruit Market in Glasgow to challenge fixed gear riders from across the country for the first time in Scotland.

Red Bull Mini Drome engages both body and mind as riders navigate around a unique and technically challenging course reaching speeds of up to 80 km/ph.

Rebull Mini Velodrome. Not sure about the drink and haven’t touched it since a night of 11 red bull and vodkas that gave me heart palpitations (in the first month of launch when i didn’t equate energy with caffeine) but I like the stuff they sponsor ….

Jedburgh Half Marathon

breakfast of champions

It is strange having to set alarms for the first day after the clocks change – my two watches are radio sync watches so wasn’t sure if the time was going to change automatically or not. In the end I set about 3 alarms to make sure I didn’t end up leaving an hour early for the race. Initially Findlay said he would drive – saving me the 2hr car trip – but as he was doing gigs up in Perthshire he decided to head straight there. So my routine on race day was wake at 7am … tactical ablution then the breakfast of champions, raw porridge oats, banana and a bit of honey. Clif Bar was for eating in the car. Picked up Douglas at 8am and hit the motorway for a quick stop an hour later for an espresso hit. Registration at 10am (the roads were also closing at 10:30am so had to be inside the cordon for then. Then tog up – stay hydrated and slight warm up (at this distance I don’t think a long warm up is needed in the same way as you do for a 5km race)

The weather was actually pretty good about 11C degrees, no rain as forecast earlier in the week – think that passed over on Saturday night … but there was a bit of wind which would change the second half of the race.

Race headed out and I got to see the leaders leg away into the distance …. in Fact when I was at the 9.5km mark I could see the leaders coming back at around the 12km mark … Winner Male – Robert Gilroy – 1 hour 12.04 minutes

Had a gel pack with me on the run that Fin had bought me … used on bike before but never running – had it just before half way – then picked up a water as well to wash it down and wash my hands which got covered in gloop …. quite good – should maybe have saved it a bit for later but who knows what the effect really was.

The course is great – although it won’t be the quickest as it is quite hilly and on the return we battled into a headwind of around 15mph. I got together with 2 other guys to push the pace up – figuring out on taking turns at the front to set a better pace … I had my brother in laws time in mind (he is 10 years younger but did a 1H31m time in the Glasgow Half) this worked well although the one chap dropped off about 3 miles from the end  and the other about a mile from the end. Was running then with Fiona who had a Glasgow Traithlon top on and her coach / hubby who was heckling encouraging her around the course. The last big hill he was going ‘c’mon the hills are your friend’ So i said out loud ‘they are not my friend so don’t worry if you don’t like them’ …. the other runners laughed, she grimaced and the coach didn’t express anything ….

Footpod out slightly laps are about 1.05km long ... 11sec less /km

Last push over the hill and saw the 1H31s tick over on my watch … the 6 miles into a headwind had sapped my last effort to break 1H30. Still only my second half marathon and 10minutes quicker than my first ….. I am going to train properly for the next one and smash 1H30.

elevation profile

Douglas got a 1H48 and Findlay a 1H51 PB’s all around – did you run - if so how did it go ……?

So the result 1H31m 26seconds (chip time)  66th out of 527 finishers and 19th out of semi old over 40 farts. ave pace 6:59/mile or 4m20/km and lastly but not least a medal for effort (which we like)

The Running Track

So I have been living in the east of end of Glasgow for two years and didn’t realise there is a running track under a km from the house … well I haven’t looked but noticed it on a satellite view of my endomondo track the other day so today i decided to investigate.

Wow a running track from space

According to my walkjogrun Advanced half Marathon guide I should be doing a 30min workout today – this includes 3to4 short pickups of 30-60seconds where I run at a fast challenging pace. So I thought the running track would be perfect – so reset the watch then ran 3 laps at a fairly brisk warm up , then 4 reps of 400m fast with a 400m section between each slower to get HR down.

Garmin Connect

 

Jedburgh Half Marathon on Sunday and the weather is …. SH*TE – predicted 27mph winds and rain ….. oh well its only weather isn’t it …… I wonder if Findlay’s training is going well???

 

The weather report from prestwick

windfinder app

Think on the water it may have been slightly higher

Kiting then Run

Went down to the coast this morning as the forecast was great (wasted an hour trying to get my Go Pro to switch on) think it is flecked and it has only been used once…. will check the battery compared to a pals otherwise will have to send back to B&H

troon in better weather

It was a lot windier than this pic and both Leo and I were out on our 7m kites … winds were gusting from 19knots up to about 32 – quite a change and got hit by gust twice in mid air so not the best. Leo bust his footstrap doing his 2nd kite loop so we decided to play a bit – first heading offshore to the reef … then going upwind towards prestwick past the long reef. Leo was tucking into small barrels about 3 foot from the windward side of the reef – I gave a healthier 20 foot berth to the sharp rock. I then went into the river mouth north of prestwick as the sandbar here throws up some nice waves.. Then after two hours I was knackered and headed for home ….. a good day.

Once back in Glasgow it was time for a run – today was a long run day and had intended a 20km run before I went kiting but once back and legs already a bit tired I headed off and did a shorter run  13km in 57min (a 4:24/km average) – I am planning to taper this week as I am running the Jedburgh Half Marathon next week ….. Was dreaming of a 1H30 finish but think it will more likely be a 1H37. Will see how enthusiastic race day makes me …..

Summary from Garmin Connect

BEST DISTANCES (from endomondo)

• Cooper (12 min) 2.87 km
• 1 km 4m:02s
• 1 mile 6m:39s
• 3 miles 20m:23s
• 5 km 21m:07s
• 10 km 43m:08s

How was your weekend?

Mulling over an interval session: in Mull

Off I went yesterday to the Isle of Mull. Filming a program for the Scottish Development international showcasing Scottish Food and Drink … the quality. We are over to Mull and the forecast for weather is dire and we are filming on a Salmon Farm and it looks like this will be in the p*ssing rain …. Aaargh.

Anyway on the bright side I am working with a cameraman I have not worked with before and he has just been doing a course on Chi running … so instead of speaking about Jib Arms tracks, Zeiss lenses and other practical issues we both agreed to take running kit.

9am - ooh the clouds are breaking up ... they weren't

6:30am I wake to amazing Thunder lightning and apocalyptic rain that makes old boys like Noah proud. Downstairs is a gym ….

there is one of these:

take one machine

which has one of these buttons.

This is the only time I dont mind running on a treadmill as you can be sure the speeds are accurate and the intervals are consistent …

So the routine is set JOG speed at 10km/h (6min/km) and RUN at 17km/h (3:30/km)….Press Start.

Once HR is steady hit the Speed interval button at the next full minute then keep going for a minute before you hit it again to go back to jog speed. On the 3rd one I felt rough as a badgers and was briefly distracted helping Dave the Cameraman get his machine going. I normally do 10 repeat intervals but this morning only managed 7 then cooled down and did a 15 min slow row to finish off.

Garmin trainer screen

Garmin online with a better summary

 

Garmin Online

The Shoot well surprisingly there was the odd break we we hurriedly shot the bejesus out of our location then hopped in car as heavens opened, managed to get on earlier ferry and drove back to Glasgow looking at Sleet hit the window. Winter is here nice. Tomorrow is all inside filming Hoooray ….

Today on the ferry back I drank a local to celebrate … not bad

Running in the dark and pissing rain

It takes some strength to get out of bed in the dark and to look outside at a cold and wet ‘not yet morning’ and then don the running gear.

I did that this morning – glugged down half a glass of water and headed outside into the rain. The original aim was to do a 12km run this morning but by the bottom of the road I had decided a shorter faster run was needed.

I’m going to be honest here.

I’m sick of running in the dark.

I’m sick of running in the cold.

I’m sick of wet feet and gear.

And that’s not to say I don’t enjoy it. Much to the contrary, the very thing that gets me out the door is knowing that no matter how much I “don’t feel like it,” a mile or two in, I always end up warming up, finding a groove and being all together content in my run. Every. Single. Time.

But let’s be honest: only running in darkness before and after work five days a week is hard. Not only for motivational reasons, but also running at night on the trails is different. While often magical, it slows you down.

All that being said, guess what people? The days are getting shorter so there is no choice.

Ran down and around Glasgow Green – the main roads actually have lights on them so was in no need of the small torch I had brought with me for the run. Was thinking that a run of 1H30 in the Jedburgh Half Marathon would be good – after this morning I think a time of 1H30 would be both good and impossible …. I ran a 4:18/km pace and I would need to do a 4:16/km pace in order to make that time on race day (for a full23km) My last (and if I may admit only half-marathon) some years back was run at 1H41 which is a 4:47/km pace so I hope I can at least trump that.

Race day and people running along always help with pace so at least that is on my side.

Fast Wednesday: Stick and Carrot Technique

Roger ’4 Minute’ Bannister

Room 101, the hate half hour or the running interval session as it has come to be known. Five kilometres in half an hour three of which are done in the style of a fat Robert Bannister all sweating, heaving and eye-popping.

I casually say to my running partner Douglas,”I did six of these last week. Let’s go for eight this week.” By the time we’ve completed one interval I make the executive decision that six will be more than adequate.

The Route on Glasgow Green

For this weeks painful experiment we chose Glasgow Green. At first glance Glasgow green appears to be flat. Let it be known to anyone attempting an interval session, unless you are running on a bowling green nowhere, I repeat, nowhere is flat. The slightest gradient becomes the north face of the Eiger and even flat surfaces begin to take on hill like properties.

The Charts. NB: 3rd interval nearly killed us!

On the charts ‘Fast Wednesday’ you can see that our attempt at jogging between intervals didn’t last long. I hold myself fully responsible for that second executive decision. We did stick to our guns on one of missions. In fact we excelled ourselves in the final part of the exercise routine which was to Jog in a westerly direction for the full 5k then walk in a north easterly direction towards West Brewery and replace all the carbs that we’d just burned off. This we did in the form of a pint of their finest Hefeweizen which lasted all of two minutes and had to be chased with a further pint of St Mungo’s. We did get some funny looks. The pair of us sweating profusely in our running gear pushing through the crowded bar carrying huge pints of beer. With that reward I am actually looking forward to next weeks half hour of suffering.

Mmm… beer in the sun.

[This post originally appeared on Findlay Napier's blog]

Saturday Morning Run

Never ever would I have imagined myself running along the Clyde footpath before 9am unless I’d been at a party the night before and was being chased home by some over zealous neighbourhood watch nazi. Nevertheless I found myself chasing Richard down to Glasgow Green and up river towards Rutherglen. Not a bad morning for it either and watching the racing skiff crews being shouted at by grey haired men on bikes kept my mind off my aching legs.

Pretty pleased with the 10k time here. I’ve knocked another two minutes off my personal best.

[This post originally appeared on Findlay Napier's blog]

2nd Fast Session/Gym Induction

This is fast (excuse the pun) becoming the worst part of the training. It basically involves me running like fuck round Alexandra park trying to avoid spewing or shitting myself.

Here’s the charts.

I was stretching at 10 minutes and tying my shoelaces at 13… honest.

To add insult to injury I followed that run by attempting my press ups for the day. Reset the program to day one and at four press ups. More on this over the next few days.

Gym induction today which was just like all gym inductions. Getting patronised by a spotty youth who is clearly fitter than me but can’t bear to let me leave the building without prooving it. A gym induction should go like this…

SPOTTY YOUTH: Do you know how to use all the stuff in the gym.

ME: Yes. This is my fifth gym induction.

SPOTTY YOUTH: Goodbye.

You’ll notice in this version there are no parting shots like “Come again” or “Have you considered Spin classes” What actually happens is…

SPOTTY YOUTH: Do you know how to use the equipment. Don’t answer fatty. I’m going to show you anyway. What do you work as?

ME: I photocopy rats for Glasgow City Council. It keeps me and the rats busy.

SPOTTY YOUTH: [on automatic pilot ignoring reply] Oh how exciting. Is that why you’re fat? Don’t answer. Use this machine. Smile you fat fuck. Let me show you how it’s done properly. You’ll never be like me. Does it hurt? I hope so you fat fuck. I hope so.

ME: I’m fine. It’s just that I’ve run here from a meeting and haven’t had a chance to warm up. [but wanting to say. 'What with the explosion of rats in the city centre these days I'm tired out from photocopying them for the council']

[Insert montage of me using every resistance and weight machine in the gym to the soundtrack of a choir wailing and cows being slaughtered]

SPOTTY YOUTH: We’ll you lazy fat fuck that’s the end of your gym induction. If you really want to loose weight become anorexic, get marooned on a desert island or get a gastric band. Don’t ever come in here again. Have you considered a Spin class?

ME: No. I couldn’t think of anything worse except perhaps a lifetime of gym inductions followed by interval sessions.

SPOTTY YOUTH: In the same way females must consider Zumba you are male and therefore must consider Spin. It has flashing lights and loud techno music and a man shouting at you. It is like the bridge scene from Apocalypse Now but with loud modern music and exercise bikes. You will taste the fear, sweat and mud. Come back and use the gym anytime you like but within the designated hours and not when there are people here who make you feel inadequate you fat fuck.

ME: Cheerio. Thanks for your help. [I will come back when there is nowhere in Glasgow left to exercise... so that'll be November unless it snows heavily in October this year]

SPOTTY YOUTH: No problem. Could you fill out this customer satisfaction survey. It allows us to measure the levels of awareness in all customers especially in these two key areas (1) Customers know less about fitness than us (2) Customers will never ever be as fit as us.

[This post originally appeared on Findlay Napier's blog]

This Weekend in Glasgow – Cycling

East End Cycling

 

The Glasgow Bike Station will offer free bikes to kids if they bring their old bikes as long as free Dr bike (bike servicing) for anyone else.