Flapjack delights

24 hours after making cycle plus's flapjacks this is all I have left and I have only ridden 30 miles. I am so ashamed! For those of you with more will power here is the recipe. The magazine points out you can save money, you know what's going in them and you can tweak it to taste. They are full of carbohydrates to boost your energy levels mid ride so to make 12 bars (I made 24)

175g butter
280g golden syrup
225g mincemeat
425g unrefined porridge oats
grated zest of two oranges (I didn't bother)
large handful of raisins

Preheat the oven to 170oc/gas mark 3 and lightly grease a shallow 23 x 33cm Swiss roll tin. ( I just used a tray)

Melt the butter with the syrup on a low heat. Add the mincemeat, the orange zest, the raisins and the porridge oats and mix it all together really well. If it seems sloppy add another handful of oats until the consistency is thick and sticky.

Turn the mixture into the greased tin and press down into the corners with the back of a spoon until it is evenly spread.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden. Remove the tin from the oven and place on a rack to cool,

Once it has cooled slightly, cut the mixture into fingers or squares with a knife.
Remove from the tin when they are cool and firm, and they're ready for munching.

Nutritional information
Energy 375kcal
carbohydrates 56g
salt 0.5g
protein 4g
fat 16g
fibre 3g

Easy to make and too delicious

WInter TIme

One of the best things you can say about winter time is 'spring is on the way'. I also have time to write a bit on the blog site while putting on weight, feeling the cold and finding more excuses than normal not to ride.

One good reason I found to cycle this week was the #onixtwitterride. Twitter rides have been made popular by Lance Armstrong and appear to me a far better use of social media that the recent riots in the UK. Lance Armstrong manages to gather thousands by tweeting a ride to join him on a short journey such is the power of a legend.

[In the middle of writing this I have just read a twitter from #millermind saying he did 3 hours behind a bike today. Hope he is somewhere hot as I now feel even worse]

Back to the blog. There is a British bike manufacturer and on-line shop called onix bikes. The owner Craig is crazy about bikes and knows a thing or two about them. It was his idea to call a twitter ride last Sunday just north of Macclesfield and then into the Peak district over the Cat and Fiddle hill (highest pub in the land).

We gathered in a pub car park but were swiftly moved on when we filled it with over 40 riders on a very cold, windy and sometimes wet Sunday Morning. Not before Craig arrived though, his face a joy to see as he looked dumb founded and perplexed at the numbers who turned up. Within a few hundred yards of the ride starting we hit a hill maxing out at over 20%. I immediately lost my co-riders (until later) but struggled over this warm up and taster of things to come. A few punctures split the group but Onix provided a service car so they were quickly back on the road. (They also provided gels, energy bars and water bottles).

To sum up the ride it was windy, I was blown off the bike just before the cat and fiddle and when I picked the bike up by the top bar it was blown horizontal with me holding onto it for dear life. The hills were steep as you can see -

In particular the long drag up to the cat and fiddle and the 20% descent the other side where a few people crashed. {Millermind has just tweeted he was joking- feel better now]. Across the moors the wind made riding very hairy with people riding at strange angles down steep descents. A good decision was made to half the distance and ride back to the pub. Here we did the usual MAMIL thing of talking about our ride like it was a stage of the grand tour, ate as much cake as we could, provided by CafeVeloBlog and warmed ourselves up.

It was an amazing day, with stunning scenery, difficult and challenging riding and great company. I think the company was the main thing that made this the experience it was. There were professional riders, professional commentators #spokesmen and the rest of us. It felt like a tight group that got on well together. I suppose the cost may interest people-absolutely nothing, free, nichts. Interested - There will be four more around the country next year and I can say it was the best group ride I have ever done.

I should also say the onix bikes look the business, they are rated by a number of professionals and all of those tyre kicking, bike lifting, no idea what to look for mortals. Have a look on their site http://www.onixbikes.co.uk/

Finally a picture to show the combined weight we had to haul up those hills, looks a fair bit and this was after the ride and before the cake so as pure sprint athletes - didn't we do well over those inclines?

Lessons From the Bike

It's been fantastic, with the exception of Wednesday, to get some dry miles on the wheels. Amazingly 150 from Monday to Friday. On Friday I had a great idea, as I had done a few miles already I thought I would take out the Time Trial bike for a 25 mile ride. I normally only do 10's on it but there is a first time for everything. Having rolled down the road I hit the first of several hills and found the gears were stuck below the 13 sprocket which meant I either span really quickly up the hills or ground my way up them in the 54 at the front. Still it was a good ride if a little uncomfortable and of course being a TT bike it is harder going on the body and very twitchy on the bike.

Lesson One - check the bike before you go out.

13 hours later and it was off on the Orbea through Heswall, Neston, Puddington and down into Chester, to treat myself to a new Fizik cherry red full carbon saddle from 69 cycles. Well order it anyway, it will look great once its fitted. I've been testing saddles from there for about eight weeks now and I am finally happy enough to invest in a top bit of kit. The only bad thing about the solo ride was the headwind against me all the way into Chester, 27 miles the morning after a session on the TT bike

Lesson 2 - don't hammer it the evening before a long solo ride.

I stopped at Eureka for a well deserved coffee and cake before finishing with 54 on the clock not the longest ride but a good one after the week I've had taking it to over 200 for the week and of course the second 27 with the wind behind is always a joy.

THe other thing I have been trying is experimenting with my drinks. I have tried just using water for anything less than 25 this week. Well hitting Irby I got severe cramp in my left leg for the first time since 1986.

Lesson 3 - keep hydrated and top the minerals up, cramp hurts!!!!

Tomorrow is back to the track to finish my accreditation with some work behind the derny so should be great fun. Only problem - side kick Ade got himself sent to China, not the cleverest thing to do, still more on that tomorrow.

The Dream - The Reality

This is the WILIER VELODROMO - ALU Track bike.  Every fixed boys dream. Having searched the interent and various uk stores, it appears that Wilier have no intentions of bringing this work of art into the UK market.. Madness.. 

Never mind, Shaun has now got his Dolan track beast, and I am hoping that a stealth black Wilier Pista (Cyclesurgery Limited Edition) will be winging its way to me in the next month. We'll then be set to rip the track up like boardman in his heyday!

As to the track sessions, we are now lining up for our pink slips tomorrow, no, not what you imaging, these slips are our entry into the track skills session which will then lead us onto full accreditation and Shaun's goal of showing Hoy how it 'should be done'.... Can't wait to see that during next year Revolution!

Anyway, this is my first blog post, so with luck i'll get the hang of it shortly. 

He's back!!!!

It's been a while thanks to a number of things going on in  my personal life and of course the number of opportunities to ride the bike. One thing is sure though, the naked,sexy Italian lady I wrote about in one of my first blogs hasn't changed a bit. Stunning as ever and still willing to let Ade throw his leg over her whenever he wants.
Much has gone on since my last blog; Le Tour, the greatest show on earth was the cleanest in living memory with Contadour's participation turning cycling into a verbal contact sport.. Nothing is hitting people's emotions more than using Armstrong and doping in the same sentence. The sad death of Walter and the rise and rise of sky. Then of course there is the topical issue of Cavendish, surely one of the greatest UK athletes of all time and so much more to come. How he achieves it while distracted by PetaTodd I will never know.
On a personal front the rides, sportive's and all things cycling go on. I have bought a new track bike and I am loving riding the loop with the other Wirral mamils and their kids. We had the pleasure of seeing Sir Chris Hoy and other members of the UK track team in training last Friday and boy are they focused not to mention fast. More on this from Ade who will be joining me with some contributions to the site shortly,
Plenty has happened and I will be adding to the site shortly for your pleasure, remember we are still riding so if you fancy some company get in touch and enjoy the ride.

A very hilly Sportive - the bay dash

Wirral Mamils entered the bay dash sportive on Sunday. 62 miles of Cumbrian hell on a warm day ensured the cycling tan began to take hold, so no swimming until it fades again. The sportive takes riders around some stunning countryside and quaint Cumbrian Villages. Merge that with some of the steepest hills nature can create without defying the laws of gravity; including a 23% descent around hairpin bends on a road suitable for cyclocross. Mix into this good company including people we met on the road, a puncture, no wind, warm weather and, for me, the new orbea, and a level stretch paced at 25 mph and it was a great experience.
That said, we did find a few faults with the organisation, stops in the wrong places-just before a climb frustrates, no drinks at the end, though they did have a stall nearby. Overall a typical mamil day, amused by the fact our bikes cost more than any of our cars, the thought that we could now keep up with any professional rider and trying to convince each other our legs don't hurt and we could have done another 25, kidding no-one but we won't challenge each other.
Next is the Wirral bikeathon, then the hope 100, a real challenge. After that who knows...up for suggestions



Cycling weekly recently ran a survey to find the average cyclist of 2011. It's always interesting to see how you fit into the statistics of your favourite hobby but ultimately - it doesn't matter as long as you enjoy it. I intend to keep going until I'm way beyond average (I have to I just bought a new bike, more on it later).
Anyway some fun facts

84% MALE - Me
41yrs 4 months used to be me
height 5ft 10 nearly me
waist 33.3" - part of my waist is
Average spend on bikes £1,070 a year Ha- every two months maybe
number of bikes 2-3 I have 6 of my own, don't know why but need another one
Weight 12-5lbs no comment
Time riding 15 years - not even close
hours riding per week 8 - about right
50% have raced - me too
miles per week 105 - I do a fair few more
Only half have ridden a sportive, I've done two and a few more booked
81% use energy drinks quite right
70% have a turbo trainer but 10% don't use it - I love them and have two
57% have a heart rate monitor, I wouldn't move without one

other than that hardly any one is happy with their weight and time trial times for the 10 vary between 19-19 and 50-12 so give it a go.

There we go, the average cyclist, wonder if we can find one or do we all sit outside average? I hope so.... Ignore the stats and happy cycling