What goes up - Must come down

Although nothing will replace the actual terrain of the Cat & Fiddle - for the benefit of Lee & Darren with last Saturday's ride I tried to simulate long climbs at similar gradients of the 'Cat & Fiddle' & then a couple of climbs one after another with no recovery between.

The 5-mile steady drag from home up to Horsehay was first for me - not too difficult - this was followed by the quick descent to Ironbridge via Coalbrookdale. We then climbed 6-mile from the Buildwas bridge up through Much Wenlock & up to Broseley - some respite followed with the 3-mile descent back into Ironbridge. Following the short climb out of Buildwas & the drop into Leighton we were back into a long 5-mile climb, around the south side of the Wrekin up to Little Wenlock before cresting the Wrekin & the fast descent into Wellington - this just left the short climb off the A5 into Wrockwardine before heading for home.

Although not long ride at 34 miles - with nearly 50% of it on the ascent [& some exhilarating descent] it was more than useful for Cat & Fiddle training.

Its Cat & Fiddle time!

Just registered for this years Cat & Fiddle Cycle Challenge on October 3rd - the ride is 55 miles out of Stoke thru Cheshire into the Derbyshire Peaks & back into Stoke - which includes the infamous 7 mile Cat & Fiddle climb.

As usual the ride is raising funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust & this year the the organizers are hoping to get 1500 cyclists to attend the event!

The Great Big Bike Ride Review

So we rode the Severn Hospice Great Big Bike Ride - Sue rode 30 miles & I rode 68 miles.

Sue's was accompanied by Clare & a few guys from work [Ricoh] - her morning was not without incident as Clare had a couple of spills, the second of which brought Sue to the ground as well - but with gritted teeth, bruised & blooded limbs they both finished the event.

A group photo call for Ricoh employees & friends meant a delayed start for my 68 mile ride. We eventually set off as last on the road 45 minutes later than the majority. The ride itself was as a little tougher than expected mainly due to a strong head wind - I was accompanied by my London2Paris cycling buddy Mike, Lee, Darren, Jo & Richard from work [Ricoh]. Luckily I had done most of both routes in prep for our rides so directions weren't a problem - although there were several souls that got lost along the way following the printed directions & maps issued at the start. I'm sure a few directional signs would be very welcome next year. All in all it was a reasonable event for a very worthy cause - I will post later how much our group managed to raise through sponsorship.