Meeting the London Brompton Club - Shoreham loop

On Saturday I had my first opportunity to meet the London Brompton Club who had scheduled a Brighton visit and a nice couple of loops to include a coffee (and cake) stop at Shoreham airport, lunch at Velo Cafe and then the undercliff pass by the Marina.

We met at the station at 10:30am, it certainly wasn't hard to spot all the LBC riders and their multi-coloured Brompton bikes as they started to arrive. A number of the faces were very familiar as I have been following the Club riders via Facebook, Twitter and some of the great personal blogs.

Everyone was really friendly and it was great to be introduced to the Club members. I felt in the presence of 'Brompton Royalty' when I met with Mr O (check out www.myorangebrompton.com) and Bumble Bee (www.bromptonbumbleb.com).

I was most impressed how organised the ride was and before long we were off and even selecting roads that I hadn't been down before - considering I was the 'local rider' this was a little surprising.

It was all relatively leisurely, which gave me plenty of time to introduce myself and chat to some of the riders, however, I could see at least one or two of the riders were quite 'bike fit' and could quickly accelerate if the need took them.

I learnt a few points about the bikes from the experienced group. Firstly, I was looking to upgrade to narrower wheels on the back, just below the seat post. Some of the riders had already changed from the standard solid wider plastic wheels to the Brompton approved 'Easy Wheels', which benefit from being narrower and better from transporting the bike ('wheeling' the bike).

I also found out from Mr O that 'The Friday Night Ride to the Coast' is actually a separate group that a number of the LBC riders have also joined. Check out the details via the following link:

http://fnrttc.blogspot.co.uk/

Unfortunately I had to leave the jolly little group at the planned lunch stop (Velo Cafe) as I had a family commitment and so missed the final loop via the undercliff pass.

All in all a great chance to meet the London Brompton Club - hope to join them for another Brompton adventure soon.

At Shoreham airport for coffee and cake

Bumble Bee and a Kodak moment

Nearing Shoreham

Some of the gang and Mr O with camera in hand

One of the top 100 climbs in the UK and my first puncture

In my last post I mentioned that I felt guilty for not being out on my beloved Brompton for a while. The guilt went to the next level when I realised that my chain was a little rusty as I had previously folded the bike up wet and not gone to the trouble of cleaning the little beauty. Oh Dear!

Anyway at least I was now making good and getting some time in the saddle. I headed for Steyning and the steep climb up the Bostal. This local route is actually listed as one of the top 100 climbs in the UK and is highlighted as a 'Category 4 Climb' on Strava. It was tough and even with my 6 gears I had to stand up to get a little more power for the last 200m or so. However, I am pleased it was another milestone and further evidence that you can throw just about anything at these small marvellous folding bikes.

Once I reached the topped the weather changed almost immediately and I headed down hill in a sudden hail storm - a little unnerving. Fortunately it didn't last long and before I knew it the sun was out again (well nearly).

My planned route then took me along the coastal cycleway between Worthing and Shoreham. There was a couple of spots where I had to stop and carry Sting over the washed up pebbles that lay a couple of inches thick across the entire path. Once in Shoreham I headed to the old airport and then past Lancing College via Botolphs, Annington, Steyning towards home (rolling terrain).

It was only the next day I realised that Sting had been injured during the ride - I had a long thorn in the back tyre that resulted in a very flat bit of rubber. I consulted the technical videos on the useful Brompton website, which armed me with enough information to tackle my first puncture on the new bike. I admit it was certainly more difficult than my road bike, which has quick release wheels. However, with a little more practise I should get quicker, and I was pleased that my first attempt was in the comfort of my own home rather than on the road.

I plan to back on Sting (with new SV4 tube) in the next couple of days.

A quick shout out to Brilliant Bikes - the local bike shop in Brighton only had a Schwalbe SV4 tube with a presta valve, which I actually prefer (same valves on my road and MTB bikes). I paid £6 but will order a couple more from Brilliant Bikes that sell them cheaper. Brilliant Bikes mentioned that the SV4's work great, but would recommend a valve converter, which sits in the rim and takes up the spare space ensuring the valve doesn't move and damage the tube or rim - great advice from Brilliant Bikes and not mentioned by the local bike shop in Brighton! They also highlighted that if I order the tubes from them they would include the converters for free - how good is that - service with a smile!

By the way, Sting did finally get a decent clean and some oil on that rusty chain - all good to go for my next adventure.

Details of my Steyning Bostal and coastal path loop can be found on Strava:

http://www.strava.com/activities/a-little-bimble-on-sting-via-steyning-bostal-114917255?ref=1MT1yaWRlX3NoYXJlOzI9ZW1haWw7ND0yNzczODcx

Top of Steyning Bostal

Missing my Brompton adventures

I haven't disappeared but I sadly admit that my Brompton adventures over the last fortnight have been non-existent.

There have been some decent enough excuses - weather, work, holiday etc. however I do feel guilty for not taking Sting for a spin and am certainly missing my wonderful yellow and black Brompton S6L.

I do have some plans for tomorrow and hope to get a few miles in the Strava bank and possibly will try to conquer one very steep local hill that is probably going to be the most challenging that I have attempted to date on my little fold-up bike.

I will let you know how I get on. Meanwhile, I am loving reading about the London Brompton Club adventures and hope to join them soon for a group ride.

I will not leave it so long next time. Keep in contact.

The beauty of the fold and the sneaky commute

If you are new to my blog you might not know that I am a triathlete and training for an ironman distance event later in the year. I also have fallen in love with the Brompton bicycle and am now the proud owner of a new yellow/black S6L, that is nicknamed 'Sting'. A weird combination you may ask - not my colour choice but the Ironman / Brompton link!

You can check out my triathlon training on www.trihardtraining.co.uk

This training week was labelled 'bike focus' and I targeted around 5-6 hours of cycling (in addition to 2-3 hours of swimming and 1-2 hours of running). The cycling is likely to consist of 1-2 commutes (mostly easy but can combine some hill / tempo work), some time on the turbo and a long Group ride (normally scheduled for Sunday).

At the moment I have been using my Brompton for the commute, which helps me to get familiar with the little beauty. My carbon road bike is on the turbo in the garage and some of the longer (muddy) weekend rides have been on my mountain bike.

As highlighted in a previous blog my Brompton fits neatly in the back of my Mini and I love the flexibility of having the bike available if a 'riding window' becomes available during the day. Yesterday I was travelling back from London to Brighton after a round of business meetings. As it was my birthday (I reached the ripe old age of 46) I planned to leave Brighton a little earlier so I could get home for a family dinner. The train rolled into Brighton station just as I got a phone call from my wife confirming she was running a little late so no real rush to get home. I noticed that the sky was actually blue (not bad for 4:15pm) and it made a nice change from all the rain we have been having

Then the idea came to me - get 'Sting' out the boot of my car and cycle home taking a nice scenic route - lovely jubbly! It also meant I could do the return cycle commute the following morning to pick up my car ready for Friday evening trip home, which all sounded great. Somehow it did feel a little sneaky but I was so glad that I had the option and once again the beauty of the fold and these wonderful bicycles pleasantly surprised me.

By the way this morning commute included a fantastic route via Edburton, Fulking and Poynings, then over the top of Devils Dyke (again pleased I had 6 gears) before dropping into Brighton - will download to Strava when I get home.

Sting conquers Ditchling Beacon

It might not be the steepest hill in the area but Ditchling Beacon has a bit of a name for a tough ride. Famed as the last long ascent in the infamous London 2 Brighton cycle event many cyclists have tackled the challenge but most likely on either road or mountain bikes. Today the plan was to try to make it up on my Brompton S6L.

Given I had ridden up the Beacon many times before I was pretty confident I should have no problem on my shiny new Brompton, however I was pleased that I had 6 gears to play with. I did post the challenge on the LBC's Facebook page beforehand and received many comments, some wishing me luck and others confirming they had already completed the task, one of which had ridden it on a 2-speed - no pressure!

I set out with a couple of my work buddies, Ewen and Charlie, who were not phased for a Brompton to draft behind their high-end carbon road bikes.

Ditchling conquered - a picture at the top

After about 30-40mins of rolling landscape out of Brighton (and a relatively decent speed - approx. 25km per hour) we arrived at the big one. I pressed my lap button as I clicked down into my lowest gear and started the climb. To be honest there was little leg burn and I steadily climbed the Beacon about 15 secs behind Ewen. Charlie, being light as a feather shot up in front. On my road bike I normally like to get out of the saddle for part of the climb, sometimes it helps to move around a little. I was quite comfortable on Sting so remained in the saddle for the duration.

I reached the top in around 10mins, not a personal best, but respectable for my first attempt on a Brompton. Ewen remained about 15 secs in front of me and Charlie reached the top in just over 7mins.

From the top it was a nice and easy descent back into Brighton - a nice workout for a lunchtime ride. Full details on Strava.

Again, very impressed with these great little machines - loving my decision to buy a Brompton.

Back on the track

Over the weekend I decided to give my Mini a bit of a clean - after the recent poor weather and grime on the road it looked a mess. Once it was gleaming I couldn't resist checking out the rear boot space (limited in a convertible) to see if Sting, my Brompton S6L, could fit inside. I was delighted when I found a way to raise the parcel shelf and back window to accommodate my bike, nicely hidden and out of sight.

Sting - snug as a bug in my Mini

The Mini convertible is a very versatile car as I can also get a road or MTB bike inside as long as the wheels are removed. The roof has to go down to get either bike in but once in position the roof can be raised to secure the bike. I have often turned up a sportives or a triathlon event and someone has asked where my bike is. They are always surprised when I point to my small car and say 'in there'. Like the Brompton - great things come in small packages.

So today I drove to work in my nice clean car with Sting safe and secure in the boot and the possibility that I may have a chance to get out for a cycle at lunchtime. 

Fortunately work wasn't crazy busy so at 12:30pm I changed into some suitable cycling gear (Lycra - sorry) and put on my new Mavic MTB leisure shoes - lovely jubbly!

Then it was down to my car to unfold Sting (I am very lucky to be able to park my car underneath the office in a securely monitored car park). I headed for Preston Park outdoor Cycle Track, which I have mentioned in a previous blog post, only a short 10mins cycle ride away.

There I met a work colleague on his carbon road bike who had come to join me and see my new mount. We maintained a steady pace but were talking throughout and keeping to a relatively easy zone 1-2.

With the short journey to and from the office we ended up doing around 45mins and banked 18km. Around the track we averaged approx. 25km per hour for our speed - not bad considering we were chatting away. 

Next time I will set some formal interval sets to get the best out of the training - all good stuff in preparation for the Brompton World Championships.

Later in the week I aim to try a hill set and may even tackle Ditchling Beacon on Sting, now that will be an interesting challenge!

Sting is in!

After my 30km countryside loop on Saturday I was keen to get Sting out for another ride so decided to commute into work yesterday. It is just under a 30km trip each way but I am lucky enough to have a number of options with the route. Given the roads were still very wet and a number of large potholes are appearing again I planned my route via some of the local country roads. They are more hilly (chance to check out Sting's range of gears) and the lighting is poor (chance to try my trusty Exposure and Lezyne lights on Sting), however the big upside is that the traffic is much lighter and I can take my time and swerve more easily to miss large puddles (mini lakes) and any potholes.

My morning commute was nice and steady, I still need to get more used to the feel of the Brompton and this was a good opportunity. Details of my route can be found on Strava - a journey that took me past Lancing College (a bit like Hogwarts from the Harry Potter books / films) and Shoreham airport before joining the coast road and cycle paths into Brighton.

At lunchtime I did venture into Evans Cycles, yet again, to purchase some larger overshoes (Endura) that could fit over my new Mavic MTB leisure shoes and give them some protection from the road grime and surface water. Also during my lunch break I made the rather bold decision of entering Sting and myself into the Brompton World Championships (BWC) in July. I have only had the bike for less than a week and I entering the World Championships - am I mad!

I was aware of this great event when I first researched the Brompton bicycle and thought then I would love to have a crack at entering but expected it to be on my 'to do' list for 2015/6 rather than this year. Anyway, nothing ventured...

For more information on the BWC take a look at the following link: http://bwc.brompton.com/

I also recommend you read some of the great blogs from members of the London Brompton Club who have great stories to tell about the BWC and have a lot experience across all the disciplines (sprint, marathon and world championship). I am not going for the treble - one thing at a time!

So just to bring you up to date - I had a faster commute home, partly because I drafted behind a road bike for the first 20mins along the seafront to Shoreham. The roadie was one of my buddies from work and although originally sceptical that I could keep up was quite impressed that the old boy on the Brompton stayed with him for the full distance. There were a few surprised faces as we passed around 20 cyclists from Brighton to Shoreham, a number of which had high-end carbon road machines. I know what it is like to be passed by a Brompton when you are riding at speed on a road bike, so it is nice to see it from the other side.

I record most of my training (including details of my swimming and running sessions) on my original blog - Tri Hard Training. On a future post I will try to tell followers a little more about my other sporting goals and background but meanwhile thank you for your interest. I hope to meet a number of you during one of my future Brompton adventures.

Stay safe and 'keep the rubber side down'