30 Days of Biking - The Summary

If you are new to me or not seen it in my Facebook & Twitter posts, I have been blogging daily throughout April about #30daysofbiking, but this isn't my 1st one as I did it in April & September last year too. See 30-days-of-biking & 'Autumn' 30-days-of-biking for my previous blogs under Wolfies Blog.

Now if you haven't heard of it then here’s the site which tells more about this global event '30 days of biking story', quite simply it’s a pledge: Ride somewhere every day for 30 days then share your adventures online.

So why did I do this 30 days of biking? Well I've done it a few times now & they were a struggle at the time, so thought I do it again to see if I can better myself from the previous 30 Days of Biking as I know in the past 6 months I have improved both me & my bike (now known as The Beast). So I decided this time I had to go further distances & not just around Chelmsford, I have to get myself to travel further out of the City. But as I now have a helmet cam, I thought I try do a blog with video every day too...

So how did I do? Well, obviously the shorter trips I found easier now but with improved times cycling to town & back. But the main things I excelled in was I finally managed to cycle more than 10 - 15 miles, hell I beat that twice by miles as maps below will show...

This was partly coz of changes I had done to The Beast to improve performance & comfort, but also I am still improving the strength & stamina in my legs. I also managed to do a blog every day with video, even if it was a day later due to slow uploading to YouTube. All blogs can be found on the right hand column under April in Archives.

Now for the stats, they really show a difference:

As you can clearly see I not only beaten my previous 30 Days of Biking in September, I did more than double the mileage & in less than double the time. So it shows I am getting faster & more stamina in the past year, but I feel I have hit the limit with my Beast. As nice as the bike is, its a heavy bike from an age gone by.

So until I can get another more suitable & lighter road bike, I doubt I will beat these sort of stats. But I won't replace The Beast, its got me here & it is a nice bike to ride now as I have moulded it to suit me. So when I do get another, The Beast will be the Alpha.

But as for the 30 Days of Biking, the highlight of the whole month was on day 28. I rode in a charity ride Pedal for the J's where I cycled the furthest I ever have done in my life of 35 miles excluding the cycling to & from the Admirals Park & raised money for The J's hospice of over £150 now. A bonus really as I did it more as a challenge to me in doing the miles & no doubt will do more charity rides in years to come as it was fun to do.

Day 30 of 30 Days of Biking

Well it is now the final day & I have done all 30 days, filmed & blogged all 30 & that was hard work to do but well worth it. I know so far from looking back at my progress I have achieved so much in the past month, but I will go into that in a summary blog later once I've collated the stats.

Here's a clip of my ride today:

Day 29 of 30 Days of Biking

Well I amazed myself today after yesterdays Charity Ride, I woke up feeling slightly achy & tired but a lot better than I expected. My knee was grumbling a bit but done well after yesterday so looking hopeful to losing the stick.

So I thought, as weather was holding out to be an OK day I better go do my next 30 Days of Biking & see how far & I did better than I thought there too. :D

Here's a clip of my ride today:

Day 28 of 30 Days of Biking

Well this was the day I have been working up to, Pedal for the J's 35 mile cycle ride. Up nice & early to a cold Sunny morning & was the best weather we could have for a long ride. Got to the Registration point at 8.30am & left at 9am.

Wasn't long by time I got to 1st refuelling stop 15 miles along, 1 hr 20 mins.

A few mins for a drink, a bite to eat then off again & the route was a scenic one.

Wasn't long before I got to 25 mile mark where & stopped & had a cuppa at High Easter.

Next stop was at around 30 miles in Pleshey to meet up with my beloved Jules at a lovely lil pub & had a good coffee there.

Saw plenty of cyclist pass at that point.

Stopped for a lil while & enjoyed spending some time with Jules before I was off again, the next stop was a few miles later in Great Waltham to refuel for the last bit of the ride.

By this point I had ridden 31 miles, I knew I've now gone further than I've ever done before & I've still got a few more miles to go. So off I went to finish the ride... And I did! :D

Was a fantastic if tiring event I won't forget, I do ache but in a good way. 8 yrs ago I wouldn't have thought I would do this, hell I didn't think I would ever cycle again ever in my life. I have again surpassed myself & I know I will again when I can.

I like to thank my beloved Jules, who took the pictures & videos of me cycling today. I finally now have pics/video of me & my Beast working together.

Here's a clip of my ride today:

Whole ride at 3x speed:

Highlights:

Short clip of me cycling:

Day 27 of 30 Days of Biking

Just a quick run around the block after servicing the bike ready for tomorrows big ride for Pedal for the J's Charity Ride. So another chance for me to ask for some more sponsors... ;-)

Click here to Sponsor Me!

Still, it was a nice quiet ride as the Sun sets...

Here's a clip of my ride today:

Day 26 of 30 Days of Biking

Cycle trip to town, but with trailer. Decided I would try a different route with the trailer & see how I go.

Sure was a workout on the ride back but an enjoyable route.

Here's a clip of my ride today:

Day 25 of 30 Days of Biking

Just popping to Springfield before the forecasted thunderstorm (that never appeared) to get shopping & energy supplies for the w/e ride. Did almost 10 miles & saw some interesting things...

Another rather uneventful but enjoyable ride!!

Here's a clip of my ride today:

Day 24 of 30 Days of Biking

Was going to be a busy day today, so just a quick run to try out new Bar Ends for preparation of the w/e.

As well as another day for 30 Days of Biking...

The Bar Ends did OK, not quite how I hoped they would be but I think thats coz I aint used Bar ends before & I think this design isn't my style as well as concerns of no quick use of brakes if I need them. I think for a cheap set to try out & use for this w/e they will be OK, but long term I need a version I can use with brakes & more suitable for me. So a bit more research & probably splash out a bit more...

Here's a clip of my ride today:

Day 23 of 30 Days of Biking

Sun was out, the sky is blue & I've just been paid, so its was a day of getting bits & pieces I needed for my long sponsored cycle ride coming up very soon. I was out for hours pottering about, taking pics & doing some shopping for the bike stuff & managed to do over 11 miles...

So was a nice day out in general despite 1 really silly driver who thought it was OK to shout abuse at me when I shouted at her for driving the wrong way deliberately. Soon got her comeuppances tho, as she was going into same shop as me...

Here's a clip of my ride today: