Epic Ride: Amsterdam 300 Challenge – Part 2

Cheers!

Hope you enjoyed my first ride report for the inaugural Amsterdam 300 put on by the awesome UK-based charity for disabled people, Scope. To complete the reports, here is my second epic ride report which can be seen on the NeilPryde Bikes website.

But before I sign off on this post, I need to say a HUGE THANKS to the following companies who supported me during my training and the actual ride. They are: NeilPryde Bikes (bicycle), Sport and Speed (clothing), Todays Cyclist (lights) and CNP Professional (food and drinks).

And if you like videos, here is my video diary for the final day of the ride:

Epic Ride: Amsterdam 300 Challenge – Part 1

Beautiful canal in Belgium

Hi all – it’s been a while since my last posting here on my blog but as you will see, I have been rather busy doing some crazy miles and rides. The craziest of which is a ride I’ve just recently completed – the Amsterdam 300. I’ve written up a ride report which, as per my last report, is available to see online at the NeilPryde Bikes website. To give you a taster of what I went through on the first day, here is my video diary:

Make sure you check out the ride report too – http://www.neilprydebikes.com/usd/news/amsterdam-300-challenge-part-1

Enjoy!

Taking on the Amsterdam 300 for Scope

Sitting on my trusty steed, my NeilPryde Diablo

Towards the end of last year, my friend from work, Graham told me about this ride he was thinking of doing – the Amsterdam 300. It’s a two day ride from London to Amsterdam covering 300 miles.

The website sells it as:

Pedalling 300 miles across 4 countries, in less than 2 days is no ordinary cycling challenge. An exhilarating night cycling stage from London to Dover is followed by a 100 mile daylight dash along the French coast and into Belgium where a riders camp awaits. Rested and refuelled, the peloton departs camp at dawn and crosses into Holland, where the tempo rises across the coastal lowlands for the final push to Amsterdam, arriving in time to celebrate in style and for some belated ‘Dutch courage’! This epic road cycle across Europe will raise funds for the UK’s leading disability charity, Scope.

If you don’t know, Scope is a charity that supports disabled people and their families at every stage of their life. They work with disabled people to achieve a vision of a world where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else. So very worthwhile cause if you ask me!

So aftersome careful deliberation, today I decided to take the plunge and go for it. I’m still trying to get my head round it and what it will take to do, both mentally and physically, but am feeling quite excited about the prospect.

Now to take part in the ride, other than train really hard for it, I need to raise £1200 in sponsorship money. With that, I have set up for myself a Virgin Money Giving fundraising page to help with the collection of the sponsorship money.

So dear readers, if you are feeling kind and generous and would like to help a worthwhile cause, please feel free to donate by clicking here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/CraigBrophy

Thanks in advance!

Craig

Tour of Britain Race Report – Stage 8: Greipel again as Albasini clinches overall win

By Peter Hodges

HTC – Columbia celebrate double success in London, as national Tour finishes on a high

The final podium at the 2010 Tour of Britain

Team HTC – Columbia celebrated winning The Tour of Britain in style as Andre Greipel took his third stage win of The Tour while Michael Albasini confirmed his overall victory to seal the Yellow Jersey presented by Bikeability.

Greipel took victory in the finishing sprint of The Tour, heading home Lucas Sebastien Haedo and Britain’s Roger Hammond in Newham to ensure that his HTC – Columbia team take four stage wins plus the overall prize from The Tour of Britain.

The Tour of Britain sprint finish in the Olympic and Paralympic Borough of Newham

In the General Classification standings, Greg Henderson used the time bonuses available at the intermediate Sprints to leapfrog Richie Porte and move into third spot overall, though at the top there was no change with Swiss rider Albasini holding onto his one minute and five second advantage over Borut Bozic of the Vacansoleil team.

Michael Albasini celebrates

Henderson also sealed victory in The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Jersey thanks to his fourth place in the bunch sprint, while Michal Golas kept hold of the Sprints Jersey, which the Vacansoleil team added to the King of the Mountains Jersey won by Johnny Hoogerland, who immediately after the finish donated his race jersey and numbers to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

Taking the honours of top British rider was Rob Partridge of Endura Racing in eighth place, two minutes thirty two second back, while Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta came sixth in the standings to take the honours as best of the five British domestic UCI Continental teams in The Tour, head of ProTour opposition like Garmin – Transitions.

Kicking off proceedings before the grand finale of The Tour of Britain was The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride, which saw cyclists and celebrities ‘UniteByCycling’ to enjoy the Newham circuit in sunny conditions to take on the challenge of Stage Eight while helping to combat prostate cancer.

Speaking at the final stage of The Tour of Britain, John Neate, Chief Executive of The Prostate Cancer Charity, explains: “It was fantastic to see almost 1,000 amateur cyclists warming up the tarmac for the pros in the final stage of The Tour of Britain.  Almost 4,000 people across the UK have united behind the cause on two wheels to measure themselves against the cycling elite. We are incredibly pleased to be partnered with The Tour of Britain and we hope to build the success of these unique sportive events further next year.”

Cyclists get a further chance to ride a Tour of Britain stage on Sunday 26^th September, when The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride takes place at Stoke-on-Trent over the tough of Stage Two of The Tour.  To find out more visit www.tourride.co.uk

Racing in sunny conditions and in front of large crowds on the 12 kilometre circuit was fast from the drop of the flag, by Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales, with AN Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team’s Matt Brammeier being particularly active.

The Irish National Champion was soon on the attack by himself, spending the first couple of laps out front alone before he was caught by a strung out peloton.  For that move, plus his part in a later breakaway, Brammeier earned himself the day’s Honda Combativity Award for the stages’ most aggressive rider.

Brammeier was reeled in by the Sky led peloton in time for Henderson to snatch victory at the opening hot spot Sprint, moving him level on time with Porte.  Two laps later and Henderson once again headed the field as they sprinted for the line, elevating himself onto the podium at the expense of the Australian.

A more sizeable break then got away, instigated by Cervelo’s Jeremy Hunt, who circulated alone at first before being joined by Brammeier, Tom Barras, Peter Williams and Wouter Sybrandy.  The quintet worked well together to build up a 30 second lead, but with HTC – Columbia and Sky on the front of the main field working for Greipel and Henderson the advantage was never going to be maintained.

Once reeled in the peloton could set itself up for the finishing sprint, taking in one final high speed tour of Newham, London’s Olympic and Paralympic Borough before turning onto the long, straight finishing line.

Bursting through to take his third win of The Tour was Greipel, who adds victory in London to wins in Blackpool and Great Yarmouth.  Behind Haedo enjoyed another good day in the sprints, with Hammond taking third to end his home Tour on a high note.

Team HTC - Columbia celebrate their victory

Stage Eight Results

1) Andre Greipel                            Team HTC – Columbia               1h 57m 07s

2) Lucas Sebastien Haedo             Team Saxo Bank                       @ same time

3) Roger Hammond                       Cervelo Test Team                     @ same time

Honda Combativity Award Winner: Matt Brammeier       AN Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team

Final General Classification standings (after eight stages)

1) Michael Albasini                        Team HTC – Columbia               29h 23m 47s

2) Borut Bozic                               Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    @ 1m 05s

3) Greg Henderson                        Sky Professional Cycling Team  @ 1m 10s

Final Prostate Cancer Charity Points Jersey standings (after eight stages)

1) Greg Henderson                        Sky Professional Cycling Team  74pts

2) Borut Bozic                               Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    68pts

3) Koen de Kort                            Skil – Shimano                          50pts

Final King of the Mountains Jersey standings (after eight stages)

1) Johnny Hoogerland                   Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    56pts

2) Richie Porte                              Team Saxo Bank                       45pts

3) Wout Poels                               Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    31pts

Final Sprints Jersey standings (after eight stages)

1) Michal Golas                             Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team    34pts

2) Richie Porte                              Team Saxo Bank                       22pts

3) Greg Henderson                        Sky Professional Cycling Team  21pts

Final Team General Classification (after eight stages)

1) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team                88h 08m 02s

2) Sky Professional Cycling Team              @ 6m 15s

3) Team Saxo Bank                                   @ 24m 42s

The Tour of Britain is proud to be partnered with The Prostate Cancer Charity.  Don’t forget this September your chance to follow in the wheel tracks of the professionals and ride three stages from The Tour of Britain.  Go to www.tourride.co.uk to find out more!

South West Tour Ride with Graham Jones and John Herety

Two decades after British cycling aces John Herety and Graham Jones vied with each other for the top world honours, the two legends recently joined forces to put The Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Rides in the South West to the test.  Herety, now the manager of the Rapha Condor Sharp team, and Jones, The Tour of Britain Route Director and commentator, saddled up to try out the 175km route of the South West Tour Ride ahead of the sportive in September. Also in the video, Andy Verral (Rapha Condor Sharp Team Mechanic) offers advice on preparing your bike for the rides whilst Andy Evans (Rapha Condor Sharp Physio & Soigneur) offers diet tips for all riders.

Watch what happened here:

Fore more information on the Minehead to Teignmouth route in this video, click here.  And if you would like to sign up for this challenge and help support a great cause, click here.  Don’t forget that if the South West is a little too far for you to travel, then there are also rides available in Stoke-0n-Trent and London.

Rides worth doing: The Tour Rides

For those of who have been keeping tabs on this blog would have seen that The Prostate Cancer Charity in the UK are trying to become the charity name behind cycling. Just the same as running is for breast cancer, they would like to make cycling the sport for prostate cancer. A natural association if you like.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and as a result, one man dies every hour from this horrid disease, not to mention the 35000 men that are diagnosed with it every year. So it’s not something to shy away from. But rather a disease that we need to fight against.

With that, the Charity has teamed up with The Tour of Britain to offer cyclists of all abilities the chance to ride a stage of The Tour, in The Tour Rides. Taking place in September, cyclists can try out the same routes that the pro’s get to race on in the Tour.

The same attention to detail and event planning is put into delivering a Tour Ride as staging The Tour of Britain. With extensive route signage, marshals, motorcycle support, official cars on route and neutral service, the Tour Rides offer a unique full-support experience.

Plus, there are carefully located and well stocked feed and drink stations along the route as well as hot drinks and sandwiches. I’ve been informed that this year’s Tour Rides will also incorporate timing splits and timed King of the Mountains sections (Pro Tour Ride).

The neutral service is being provided by the team at Saddleback Ltd who bring to the UK market those awesome racing machines, FELT – as currently used by the Garmin Transitions cycling team the Tour de France, as well as Lance’s groupset of choice, SRAM.

So on Tuesday 22 June, I was lucky enough to be invited by the Charity to go and try out the Stoke route of the Tour Ride. This route forms as Stage 2 of The 2010 Tour of Britain. It was a clear hot day – 22 degrees celcius. A perfect day to go out for the ride – as you will see from the pictures below. I had been looking forward to doing the ride for a whole week running up to it, especially as it was time out of the hectic schedule we were on for The Tour Series, plus I got to have my last ride on the Felt FC.

As it was a media ride, we weren’t going to do the full day’s worth of riding (ie. Pro Ride). We were only aiming to do 60+ km’s. However, we were going to take in the hilliest part of the route. Our day started off in Rocester, the home of JCB. From there we made our way to Leek taking in the stunning views of the Staffordshire Moorlands.  On the ride we took a short break in the village of Longnor, where we were welcomed with open arms by the owner of the local coffee shop called Cobbles. A true cycling fan, he offered us teas, coffees and sandwiches on the house. How could we say no to that? So if you ever in the village, make sure you stop by Cobbles.

From Longnor we made our way towards Leek, not before taking in plenty of 10% climbs and the well known, Gun Hill. I felt great at the start of the ride but the climbs were relentless and they began taking their toll. I have to say that Gun Hill was not easy at all and I can see why people gather along it when the Tour races over. There were some great downhills too (not too many of these unfortunately), but did manage to get up to speeds of 80km/h.

It was a great day out and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. If you’re on the fence about whether to take part, I would urge you to go for it. Sign up for The Tour Rides, you will not be sorry. And feel good in knowing that you are also putting money to a good cause.

I would also like to say a HUGE thanks to Andrew and team at Saddleback for providing me with the Felt FC to use on the ride! I loved riding it so much, I am now looking to buy it.

And last but not least, below are pictures taken on the day of our ride. These were taken by Joolze Dymond who is also the official photographer for The Tour of Britain and The Tour Series. If you get a chance, make sure you check out her website: www.joolzedymond.com

Remember, there are three routes to choose from and three rides at each, for the exception of London, which offers only one ride. For more details on all the Rides on offer (dates, distances, etc) in The Tour Rides, check out my previous posting on The Tour Rides.

Enjoy the pics and sign up!

Starting out in Rocester where our ride began

A beautiful day to be out riding the bike

Making the most of my last day on the Felt FC

The start of many many climbs to come

Easy for some, others not

The scenery was just spectacular

Riding on roads that were virtually clear of traffic. Made for a superb day out

You can almost see the heat come off the road

Some more uphills

Working the Felt. Plus, enjoyed the SRAM groupset. Definitely a convert to its style

How can you say no to that?

Peter and Liz helping us out on the ride, a day after the Chester round of The Tour Series

Some more ups

Peter trying the typical 'fan with water bottle' you see in the Tour de France

He was loving it

...and the fact that I was getting wet

Mind you, afterwards it did feel quite refreshing

Then just for the camera decided to do a typical rider 'response' to getting wet

Maybe over doing it a little 🙂

Watch out for the BIG hand! Getting a fresh bottle from Liz

Seriously enjoying my day out on the Felt. I think I should keep it!!

And there were some downhills too

But what goes down must go up

Liz and Peter enjoying their day out of the office

Quiet roads

Coffee stop in the village of Longnor. Check out Cobbles if you are ever there

Making our way towards Gun Hill

But before we get there, a few more clims to negotiate

Boy it was hot out there

There were loads of these too - 10 per cent climbs

Doing some close ups for the Charity

Taking the mick out of Joolze who's sitting in the boot of the CRV

Suffering on the first killer section of Gun Hill

Really thankful that Paul was there to encourage me along

My legs were hurting big time

Finished the second killer section

Enjoying the fact that Gun Hill levels out towards the top

Almost there

Joolze making us sprint for the top. She loves to see us suffer

Freewheeling into Leek

Enjoying the post ride chat with Paul...

...and laugh

The Great Tour Recce

The Great Tour route map

Late on Friday 7 May myself and a colleague from work, Kathryn and her boyfriend Gavin, made our way down from Weybridge in Surrey to Seaton in Devon.

Now Seaton is a small seaside town on the South West coastline of Devon England. It has also been described as the gateway to the 95-mile Jurassic Coast of the Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Coastline.

However, the reason for our drive down to Seaton was  so that we could do a recce of the first two stages of The Great Tour. Not on our own of course, but with a group from our office that have put together this challenging event.

So what is The Great Tour? Well, in short, it’s a circumnavigation of the outer edge of the UK coastline by bicycle.

The Great Tour itself will take place on 3 July when a group of cyclists drawn from the world of sport, celebrity, charity, politics, science and the arts will gather in Seaton to embark on one of Britain’s last great sporting challenges. Keeping the sea to their right for 64 days, the riders will never lose the sight, smell or sound of the sea during their epic 6600km pedal for charity.

The ride will be hosted by well known athletes who will be joined by a wide variety of guests and charity riders to create a colourful and inspirational sporting celebration of the British coastline.

The 2010 event will be the inaugural Great Tour, which will become an annual charity bike ride. This is most probably the most important thing to remember about the event. Its purpose is to help raise money for a charity of your choice. You take on an incredible challenge while helping to raise money for a good cause.

So this ride we embarked upon took in the first two stages of The Great Tour. Stage 1 saw us riding from Seaton to Swanage. Expected total ride distance is 128km with 2483m of ascent.

Stage two took us from Swanage to Ryde with an expected total ride distance of 114km and 1236m of ascent.

On Saturday 8 May after a great fry up breakfast at our guest house, we made our way to the Seaton sea front to await the rest of our team that were going to join us on this ride. Also joining us on the ride was Alistair Cope, a Devon local who would guide us on our way. Alistair is also one of the main guides on The Great Tour itself and is himself raising money for The Prostate Cancer Charity while taking on this 64 day challenge.

Now the weather wasn’t great. It was not too cold, but it was damp and there was intermittent drizzle about. Not something I was looking forward to.

Here  are some pictures, taken by Gavin(or Kathryn) of our ride over the two days:

Gavin Morton (our photograher) and myself outside our guest house in Seaton

Getting the bikes and ourselves ready before we set off

Discussing the road ahead

The group before our depart on stage 1 of The Great Tour

On our way out of Seaton

Wating for the group to catch up after our first climb

Gavin joining us

Road bikes to continue left on the road. Hybrids to go straight along onto the gravel roads

Appreciating why they call it the jurrasic coastline

Loving the climb, but I really do need a new bike

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Alistair going up one the many many climbs on this stage

Graeme and Kevin, Great Tour route leaders

Graeme and Kevin

Graeme and Kevin with Mick Bennett, former Olympic medallist

Taking in the scenery

Enjoying myself

I'm lovin it!

The scenery is just beautiful

Riding with Alistair and admiring how the climb just keeps going up

Taking a mini break in one of the many villages along the way

For any would be bike sponsor - Your bike could be in the picture instead of the Trek. Think about it!

We visited some interesting roads and places

Spectacular views once again

I love this picture

Feeling the pain

Graeme, Kevin and myself glad that we're coming to the end of stage 1

Packing the cars before makin our way to our local accommodation

Now we didn’t quite make the full stage. After all the stops and starts, we managed only to get to Weymouth, just over half the distance we were expecting to do for that day. But that was the whole purpose of the recce – to find out what challenges could stand in  our way when the main event takes place.

It’s at this point where I have to say that The Great Tour is not the ideal challenge to take on with a road bike. The best bike for this challenge is a hybrid. With a relaxed frame geometry and slick MTB tyres makes it easier to ride over the varying terrain than what a road bike could handle. I did manage it on my road bike, but my tyres did take a huge hammering.

But more importantly, the hybrid offers you the aditional gears you would need to climb over some of the steep sections of this ride. I have to be honest and say that I did run out of gears and some of the road surfaces were so wet that I wasn’t able to stand going up the climbs. This really did test the strength in my legs and arms. However, the road bike was great for some of the descents as we reached up to 80km/h without pedalling. Not for the feint-hearted!

Oh, before I forget, stage 1 is the hardest stage of the entire Great Tour.

Stage 2: Swanage to Ryde

After a good night’s rest, we all made our way into Swanage for our early morning start of 8:00am. Not before getting in a good breakfast though.

Our early morning breakfast stop

Running through the details of the route

Our group photo

Maing our way along the Swanage coastline

A group of men on their way to Studland - haha!

Going to Foreland (or Handfast) Point

The Foreland (or Handfast) Point

Enjoying my way along Newto Heath to catch the short ferry to Sandbanks

On the ferry to Sandbanks

Doing our bit for Mulebar - well, trying to at least

Felt Bicycles taking full advantage of the sponsorship areas I posses. Just need to get a bike from them next 🙂

Making our way along the Bournemouth coastline

The group

and in black & white

Stopping for pies in Lymington

Lymington. Well, that’s as far as I got to on day two of the ride with another 60+ km’s in the bag.  It was at this point that I joined Kathryn and Gavin as they made their way back home to Surrey. From Lymington the rest of the group made their way onto the Isle of Wight to complete the rest of their journey for stage two.

From speaking to guys afterwards, I understand that it was quite hilly too once on the Isle of Wight. So I’m glad I didn’t go the whole way as my legs were competely knackered by the time I made it home that afternoon.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself over the two days we were out there. The riding was great, the scenery spectacular and the company was excellent.

In summary, The Great Tour offers 64 days of riding, 6600 km’s, 87,500m of ascent and 500 hours in the saddle. So if you feel like taking up a new challenge and want to see the beautiful coastline that the UK offers, then why not sign up for The Great Tour.

*All photographs thanks to Gavin Morton