I haven't written a preview of the 2013 Duo Normand, principally because both of us have had particularly lacklustre seasons this year for reasons of pressure of work and of illness and injury. However, on a recent joint holiday to Normandy, we did seem to see the vague signs of returning form. I built on this by riding five events between coming back from Normandy and returning for the Duo Normand. Everything seemed to be falling into place. From my perspective, at least. Things began to change a few days before we were due to leave for the Duo Normand - Gerry reported he'd picked up a cold. What was worse, it appeared to be quite severe. Not to worry, I observed, it'll probably pass before the race itself. But I found myself sharing a cabin on the overnight ferry to Caen on the Wednesday before the race with a severely bunged up and coughing team mate. It was looking a bit bleak for our tenth outing at the Duo Normand.

2013 was a bit of  a mixed bag for me cycling-wise. In terms of results, my racing was decidedly sub-par. We didn't have our usual cycle tour in Scotland. But I did at least hang in there and not give up!Time Trials. Once again, illness and injury really hammered my season, and I found form very difficult to come by. I suppose my advancing years didn’t help! Things were looking really good up until Christmas 2012, when I fell ill with a horrid cold that left me with a hacking deep cough that took an age to shift. Then when it did shift, I put my back out (once again) that set my training back to at least April. Most of the year seemed to be spent desperately trying to get under the hour for 25 miles, which was not good at all! I didn’t race at any distance above 25 miles this year, and in fact rode only a few open events, probably my lowest number in any season in the last decade.Once resumed, training seemed to go pretty well, though I was still far from fully fit when Team Grumpy regrouped for the 2013 Duo Normand. We were therefore rather pleased with our second place in the Corporate category since one of us was rather unwell, and we had no realistic chance of beating the eventual winning team anyway.New tandem. Following our second front tyre blowout on the Dawes touring tandem, and taking into account the bike’s age, we decided to take the plunge and fork out a wad for a new Thorn tandem. This was quite a big step, and we made the most of it when specifying the kit for the tandem. Notably, we plumped for S&S couplings, which means we can transport the tandem inside our car (albeit with the back seats folded down) rather than on a roof rack. You can see my multi-part review of the tandem elsewhere on the site (Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5). Suffice it to say that six months down the line we’re still happy with the tandem, though the flat stoker bars had to go. Needless to say, the Dawes hasn’t been disposed of, and we now house three tandems!Changes to our work calendar meant that we had no Scottish cycle tour this year, but two trips to Normandy compensated. We took the new tandem to France and had a great time in very nice (some would say too hot) weather. Plenty of excellent food, too.Team Grumpy. As far as I can recall, the 2013 Duo Normand was the only 2-up outing for Team Grumpy in 2013. We did regroup for the Port Talbot Wheelers ’25’ in early March (our usual season-opener), but unfortunately my back was so painful I could barely stand. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t ride. Anyway, given Team Grumpy’s lack of form, the Duo went pretty well, indeed better than we might have expected, particularly given the aftermath of a nasty cold suffered by one of us. We to second place in the Corporate category (behind a team that we frankly had no chance of beating, barring misadventure).New kit. For the last few years, I’d been using the ‘poor man’s power meter’ - the Polar system that uses chain tension and vibration to estimate power output. When it worked, it did well, with consistent data values (though perhaps on the high side). Unfortunately it was so unreliable as to be pretty much useless on a day to day basis. Eventually I cracked and coughed up for a Hed Disc with a Powertap hub. I selected this over other systems for several reasons. Firstly, I wanted an ANT+ power meter so I could hook it up to my Garmin Edge 500. Secondly, I wanted something that could be easily transferred between bikes. Reading up on the ANT+ Garmin pedal based system led me to believe that switching the pedals between bikes might not be so straightforward, and the crank-based systems aren't really an option for rapid shift between bike.The Hed disc wheel was quite pricey, but is so much easier to use than the Polar system. It delivers data to the Garmin Edge 500 via ANT+, connects reliably and calibrates easily. I’ve been using this not only for time trials but for turbo training as well (it’s effectively a spoked wheel with bonded on carbon sheets). I still don’t believe that training to specific power levels is necessarily the best way, and actually think that training to a measure of one’s physiology is smarter - i.e. heart rate.

Another month largely affected by back pain, though in truth it was gradually improving, and did allow some limited training. In all this time, I rode two events.In the North Bucks club event on the F5d/10 (10th April), I lumbered round the course in a pretty miserable 24:41. On the bright side, I didn't suffer any back pain. On the other hand I felt pretty flabby and out of condition. The situation wasn't much better for my next outing on the following week, out at Astwood. I had a mad dash up to Astwood after work and found myself last man off on a particularly windy evening. As it turned out, I was held to a standstill be traffic on the main road, then was nearly blown into the traffic by a gust of wind, and to add insult was twice nearly blown off my bike. My response to this was decide discretion was the better part of valour and to pack forthwith. (It has to be said that all the other riders completed the course).The only open event I rode in April was the TeamMK '10' on the F15/10 on 28th April. This was the same course on which I crashed last September, so it was a bit of a relief to get round unscathed, albeit in another poor time of 24:21 (this was 10 seconds more than I made it on my computer, but, hey, who worries about a few seconds on such a rubbish result!). The full results are here.Still not much form, but hopefully I can take this forward now the back pain has gone.

Amazingly, the after-effects* of September's crash has lasted through most of this month (despite managing the Duo Normand about three weeks after the crash). This, together with a brief bout of illness and a trip to Scotland has continued the general derailment of my training.On the bright side, analysis of the metrics collected via my turbo trainer and using the rather excellent Golden Cheetah does seem to indicate some pick-up in form. Hopefully I'll get the ball rolling through December and beyond, with the New Year '10' as an intermediate test of fitness. In all likelihood, the first real race of 2013 will be the Port Talbot Wheelers 2-up '25', which is usually in early March.In the meantime, I've got a clear idea of what training I need to do, which is not to say I have actually been doing it. We have had a couple of decent tandem rides on days when the elements have not been so set against outdoors activity, but apart from that, road riding has largely been confined to commuting to work (by tandem).It's about this time of year that we start thinking about next year's cycling holiday. We have a few ideas for 2013, most of which revolve around either renting a house for the holiday (rather than touring), or visiting Wales as a change from Scotland. Maybe we'll decide before Hogmanay. The timing is a bit more complicated this year due to academic calendar changes at work.* These effects have been rather odd: for two weeks I was mainly in graze healing mode: after this, the pain started! Firstly, a painful shoulder, replaced after the Duo with lower back pain. Since I cleared that away, I've had pain in hip joints, another bout of back pain, twitching leg muscles, calf pain and numbness in the foot. All of this affecting my right side, upon which I made abrupt and painful contact with the tarmac at 26mph. On the bright side, no bones have actually been broken. Indeed I must be heavy boned, as in all the scrapes, crashes and car-collisions I've suffered in my cycling career I have never broken a bone. Touch wood.

It seems that December has proceeded pretty much as the whole of the 2013 season has done: appallingly.My training has gone pretty well in fits and starts through the month, and monitoring the Critical Power estimates (obtained by the budget Polar power meter fitted to the turbo bike and analysed by Golden Cheetah) has indicated my training has not been completely ineffective!As I write, I've woken early yet again at the behest of my persistent chesty cough, which is showing no signs of shifting after about 5 days. So my last training was on 22nd December, a day before I left for a brief Christmas break. That turbo session went pretty well, and I was somewhat encouraged. Unfortunately, I've been so ill that it's looking unlikely that I will be able to ride the New Years Day '10'. I have decided to adhere to Team Grumpy's Rule #5:

Team Grumpy Rules

Over the years, Grumpy Bob and 'Grumpy' Art have developed a set of rules.  These are of course intended to be implemented at all times, however exactly.  Originally posted at the Team Grumpy blog.Rule #1. Remember to make your excuses before the race, not after. Otherwise it will just sound pathetic.Rule #2. Don't tinker with your bike the evening before the event. It will break, either then or, worse still, during the event.Rule #3. If all else fails, buy some new bike kit.Rule #4. And if rule #3 fails, new skinsuits are probably a good option.Rule #5. Never train or race with a bad cough - it will destroy your entire season.Rule #6. Tantrums are appropriate if provoked (e.g. by mechanical problems), but try to avoid damage to equipment.Rule #7. Team Grumpy riders are allowed to use whatever equipment they wish (and their wallets permit). However, the official team energy drink is always pop belge.

This has quite frankly been the worst start to a cycling year since I took up cycling seriously about 20 years ago. In the last instalment of My month in cycling, for December, I noted that I'd been quite ill over Christmas. I don't know what that was that afflicted me so badly for a few weeks with heavy coughing and fevers, but it left me with persistent fatigue. My resting pulse rate has risen and fallen from day to day, and on some days the slightest exertion causes my heart rate to rocket.So, it's not been good. Having lost weight over Xmas, I'm now piling the pounds on as I was unable to take serious exercise for 5 weeks.From about 26th January, this began to change, and I have not only begun training again, but I have started cycling to work again. Turbo training has never seemed to attractive! I use a Polar power meter on the turbo - it may be at the less sophisticated end of the power meter market, but at least it can give me a useful estimate of where my fitness is at. And it's rather clear that this extended illness has cost me dear. It will be interesting to see if I bounce back, or grovel back.

So I finally shook off the post-viral fatigue and began the slow haul back to form.The good news is that by mid February I was back where I was before falling ill on 22nd December - at least as judged by the critical mean power data I was collecting via the Polar computer on my turbo bike. I'm presently focussed on regaining as much form as possible prior to my first open event, the Port Talbot Wheelers 2-up '25' on 17th March. Fortunately this event is unusually late this year (by about two weeks). But on the downside, my 2-up partner has suffered the same illness as I have, but running a week or so behind me. It's generally felt that a Team Grumpy Omnishambles beckons.In preparation for the opening of my racing season (on 9th March with a club event) I've cleaned up my time trial bike, which has hung unloved since returning from the 2012 Duo Normand. I've scraped off the mould growing on spilt energy drink, and I've replaced the bar end levers that got damaged in the September crash. As far as I can see, the bike is in better shape than I am. I'm overweight and undertrained, after all.The turbo trainer bike, an old 531 frame from Ribble with miscellaneous parts sourced from the parts bin, has finally given up the ghost after about 15 years mounted on the turbo. It is very rusty and irreparable. As a stopgap measure, I've put my old summer bike on the turbo. On the upside, it's lovely and smooth compared with it's predecessor. On the downside, I'm not happy with a Record-equipped custom built 753 frame going the same way as the Ribble. So I'm in the market for a second had or otherwise cheap 23.5 inch road frame for turbo use.

I can safely say that since I took up cycling again in 1990, I've not experienced such a dreadful start to a season as this year. Following a horrid cold (and subsequent post-viral fatigue) that effectively took me out of training for nearly a month to late January, by the end of February I had dragged my form back to where it had been in December. Then, I ricked my lower back again. This had the effect to making climbing on a bike sufficiently painful that I was unable to train for at least three weeks.During that period, I tried a race (the NBRC club event in early March) only to find myself housebound with backache for a couple of days), and failed to start the Port Talbot Wheelers 2-up 25 in mid-March. Following that, the NBRC club event at Astwood was thankfully abandoned due to snow - thankfully because I might well have been tempted to try riding it.The final club event of March was the so-called 'Hardriders 22' - this was held on a cold morning with a heavy frost. I rode out to see the start, but declined to race as I was a bit worried I'd aggravate my back injury which by this time seemed to be on the mend. Indeed, in the last week of March I've been able to resume training, albeit restricted to the joys of the turbo trainer.Talking of turbo training, for some time now I've been using the Polar chain tension power meter to keep an eye on my training progress (see the review in six parts). Unfortunately this has been going through something of a hiatus after I unshipped my chain at speed, and it has proven rather difficult to coax the unit into working again. The explanation is that debugging problems with the device is rather complicated as the power unit is complicated to both set up and keep working. Complicated because there are three separate components:1. The main sensor/transmitter. This picks up vibration in the chain, so needs to be the correct distance from the chain, but also positioned correctly on the chainstay. This requires judicious positioning in 3D for it to work consistently. The second function is to collect cadence data from the magnet on the crank arm. So the position of the sensor on the chainstay needs to take proximity to the crank arm magnet into consideration. If either of these don't work, no data is sent to the head unit, with no indication where the problem lies.2. The chain speed sensor. This is mounted on the rear derailleur, and the instructions aren't terribly clear on its exact positioning. As I discovered yesterday, if it isn't just right, no chain speed data are obtained. If it's incorrectly positioned, the system may work in some gears only. The chain speed sensor is connected to the main sensor by wire - this connection can fail. If this doesn't work, no data is sent to the head unit, with no indication where the problem lies.3. The battery pack. Batteries can wear down, and the connection with the main sensor can fail. If this doesn't work, no data is sent to the head unit, with no indication where the problem lies.So, you can see that there are several points of failure, with no real diagnostics in place. If any point fails, the main symptom is that no power or cadence is displayed. This is the main reason I'm dissatisfied with the system. The most recent problem related to the position of the derailleur mounted chain speed sensor, which isn't something that I'd suffered before, and frankly it hadn't occurred to me! I'd think about reliability issues with any power meter system that I were to consider buying in the future. For the time being, I seem to be able to get along with the Polar system and I'm not inclined to change just now - though the cleat based system from Brim Brothers looks interesting (but may ultimately never be released).So, to end in an optimistic frame, I'm hopeful that I've turned the corner and training can resume. I may even unwrap the CTT Handbook.

It was always on the cards that tonight's event stood the risk of being dominated by the weather, and so it transpired. But it was beyond just being wet! Riding up to Astwood in sunshine, I could see deep black clouds heading my way, despite the essentially sunny conditions I was cycling in. When I arrived to sign on, most of the riders (there were 17 mad fools there) were all looking a bit apprehensively at the glowering horizon, with much talk of hailstones falling nearby.By the time the first riders started, the wind had dropped, but while I was 'warming up', the temperature had fallen noticeably. However, the wind whipped up wildly a couple of minutes before I was due to start, and by the time I set off conditions were, shall we say, less than favourable. Emerging onto the road to Chicheley, I found myself battered by gales strong enough to not only slow me almost to a standstill, but to make my bike really rather difficult to steer. But then it got worse...First, a few rain drops, then the hail started. Under the dark clouds, I could not discern any of the numbers on my bike computer. I had no idea how fast (or rather, how slow) I was going. I had no idea what my heart rate was. In fact, by the time the rain was evading my glasses and the lenses had steamed up, I could barely see where I was going.I pressed on to the Chicheley turn, which I took very gingerly. The next stretch up to North Crawley seemed quite speedy.  But I really had no grip on how I was going! From North Crawley I felt it was heavy going, and each bend was taken cautiously. Finally, I reached the descent before the final climb. I roared down as best I could, buffeted by wind and rain (fortunately the hail had stopped in favour of heavy rain), and ground up the climb to the finish. Still unable to read my computer, I waited for the result.25:30Possibly my worst time on that course that I can recall. I blame the ghastly conditions. Still, we'll see how I get on at the weekend, when I'm supposed to ride the API Metrow '25' on the E2/25. Last weekend's VC10 '10' was cancelled due to roadworks: this weekend's weather is forecast to be rather wet, so we shall see whether the '25' goes ahead...P.S. I failed to report on last week's two-lap event at Astwood - I'll write that up out of sequence maybe.

This is probably the only time this season I'll race on the Stagsden course (see Garmin trace below), as I was away cycle touring on the previous occasion this year. The evening was marred by an exceptionally heavy shower - but let's face it, that's pretty much par for the course for this season. I rode up via Astwood, and it was at Astwood that the deep black clouds caught me and I rode along the A422 towards the meeting point in one of the heaviest showers I can remember ever having been riding a bike in. By the time I arrived to sign on, I was completely and utterly drenched, from head to toe. My colleagues were all warmly ensconced in motor vehicles and took some delight in seeing me squelch into view. Fortunately that was all the rain I experienced that evening, but the roads were pretty wet throughout.From the start, this course always feels tough, as the road rises gently towards Astwood and beyond. This evening was no exception, particularly as there was a stiff head wind. Indeed, I felt as though I was riding through mush as my speed dropped. But once past Astwood, things felt a bit better, even though my speed wasn't that great. Up the hill to Chicheley and on to the turn roundabout. From the turn, things got much better. With the tail wind my speed picked up - I noticed 34 mph at one point.I squelched on past the finish, recording 23:19, which I was quite pleased with. I was closer to Tony that I've been on recent outings, though we were all somewhat eclipsed by Jason Gurney's excellent ride.Results (at northbucksroadclub.org.uk)

This event on the F1/25 unusually used an HQ in Sandy. I'd also decided to ride over to the event, and given my Puncture Bob alter ego, I figured it was wise to set aside enough time to deal with mechanical problems en route. As it turned out, it took hardly any time to get to the HQ, and I got there with far too much time to spare. The main field of the event was your usual open event: to celebrate an anniversary there was also an invitation event with some luminaries of British time trialling, including Alex Dowsett (Team Sky), who had won the Icknield RC event a few weeks before with a 47.It turned out that I was number 101 - the same as Bradley Wiggins in this year's Tour de France. The question in my mind was whether this would inspire me. After signing on and attaching my number, there wasn't really much else to do other than ride around the lanes near the start.  By the time I'd reached the start line, I'd racked up 36 miles and come to the conclusion that conditions were remarkably similar to the Icknield event in which I'd failed to crack the hour. I was a little concerned that maybe 36 miles wasn't a great starting point for a '25'...The opening mile or so before joining the A1 seemed very tough. Tougher than I expected, even given the extra large warmup. But out on the A1, things weren't too bad even with the headwind. Turning at the roundabout near Sandy, there was David Jones - snapping riders as they came out of the turn. I closed my mouth, sucked my belly in and tried to look like a fit and fast cyclist. The long leg up to Buckden was quick and uneventful. I got caught for a minute at about 8 miles and caught a rider or two myself. Rounding the turn at Buckden, I wondered what the long southbound leg would be like. As it turned out, not too bad, though the stiff headwind did make things a bit hard at times. The only alarming incident was when a drive scorched into a service station north of the Black Cat, cutting in front of me to do so. I was caught by one of the invitation riders just before the turn. That wasn't unexpected, particularly given my form this season.I finished in 58:56 (30th place in the open event), which I was quite pleased with. Its actually the fourth '25' I've ridden in 2012 and only the first sub-hour ride. Given that conditions were similar to those at the Icknield event, I was pleased with a 1:19 improvement.I didn't stick around too long, as I wanted to get home to watch the Tour de France. I eventually got home at about 11:15am with 84 miles completed.

Early drizzle soon cleared, and conditions were warm and sunny with only a light breeze to discomfit the 13 riders who turned out for tonight's event. On the downside, this was one of those 'flying ant' days, when all the ant colonies seem to simultaneously produce new queens. I was expecting to spend a lot of the time extracting ants from my eyes during this event, but fortunately, most of them had dispersed by the evening.We had a turnout of 13 riders (plus Steve T., who had a problemmo with his front tub valve and didn't ride). My biggest problem was that I'd just come back from a week at residential school with the attendant consequence of 7 days with no exercise and a diet of chips and beer. This led me to DNS Sunday's Finsbury Park '25', but really I needed to get the bit between my teeth again. So I rode over to Stony Stratford for this event.I found the outward leg really quite hard - particularly the climb from Beachampton through Nash. But that's not too unusual, this isn't my favourite course for that reason. The return was quite quick as, for a change, the roads were dry and I felt confident enough to belt down the hills, and corner on the tri-bars. I ended up with 27:43 which, because several riders were on road bikes and some fast guys hadn't showed up, was good enough to win the event.I did find my pulse rate rather high, seeing 190bpm at one point! Anyway, full results over at the NBRC website. At the moment, my attention is focussed on the Duo Normand, which is around 6 or 7 weeks away...

Early morning patchy mist had cleared, revealing a rather warm morning (well, warm for 7am!), for the Beds RCC charity '25'. The event was run, as usual, on the F1B/25. This course, which runs south from Tempsford on the A1, is reputed to be a slower than the northbound version, due to the severe undulations on the course just prior to the turn. But I've always found it a good course, and one that feels a bit safer due to the absence of slip roads: all joining roads do so at regular juntions and roundabouts.Before I started, my team mate Tony found he'd forgotten his overshoes. He borrowed my plasticky black ones though he seemed dissatisfied with their general grubbyness, and cleaned them up with some wet wipes he had kicking around. Dave Jones, a regular photographer at these events (I've posted some of his photographs before), had arrived without his specs, so I lent him my reading glasses so that he could work his camera.The essential support roles now complete, I rolled off for a brief warmup before starting. It was quite quickly obvious that this was a rather nice morning - there was virtually no wind as I lined  up at the start. I rolled off and tried to keep a semblance of speed as I rode up to the junction which leads down to the A1. Once on the dual carriageway, things seemed to flow quite well. I had absolutely no holdups at any of the roundabout crossings. Perhaps all this means I didn't try hard enough? Well, I reached the turn in under 30 minutes, and finished in 58:17, which (somewhat to my embarrassment) is my fastest '25' time this season. Perhaps I could have gone that little bit harder to finish with a 57, but given that Tony did a cracking ride to finish in 55:06, I was unlikely to get too much closer.With only 6 weeks or so until Team Grumpy's ride at the Duo Normand, perhaps this uplift in my form is an indicator that we'll snatch some form out of nowhere for the Duo. Here's hoping...

A bit late reporting on this event, but suffice to say that it was all a bit grim. Right from the start, I found the wind very strong and blustery, to the point where I was having trouble controlling the front H3, which was being surprisingly twitchy.  I also got stalled to a standstill by traffic on two outbound roundabouts, which kind of sapped my interest in the event.As it turned out I got caught by Tony just short of the turn, but limited further losses until we left the DC.  Not a great performance, 23:53 for 5th place.

The weather was forecast to be pretty dreadful for this morning's event, but it turned out to be not too bad. The roads were wet from heavy overnight rain, but except for a few drops on the ride home, the weather remained dry. A light breeze hampered high speed on the outward leg to Chicheley, though it was then easy enough up to the climb to North Crawley. As usual, I found it hard to get back up to speed riding through North Crawley and beyond, but once past the university turn I was rolling well again.I finished in 23:42, my quickest ride at Astwood this year, and good enough for 4th place out of 9 riders. Results over at the NBRC site.

A very warm afternoon made me feel quite sleepy. Not only that, while I was riding around before the start, I really felt I ought to be sat in a beer garden sipping Leffe. This wasn't helped by the fact the race HQ was in a social club bar. It may have been soporifically warm, but it was quite clear that this wasn't going to be an easy race: there was going to be a stiff tailwind for the outbound leg, which would make the return leg rather tough. Fortunately, the return leg is shorter!The F15/10 is quite a new course which has been used extensively this season (I've entered another event on it next weekend). It starts at the top of Brogborough hill, which riders zoom down safe in the knowledge they won't have to race back up it again! This got me off to a fast start, and even having reached the bottom of the hill, I was cranking out speeds in excess of 30mph for most of the way to the turn. The roundabout at Marston is a bit of a brute on the outward leg because, despite the fact that riders are going straight on, it presents an unexpected chicane. Once at the turn, it was really obvious (I mean REALLY obvious) how tough the return leg was going be. This was definitely a race of two halves. For the first half, I was whizzing along at a decent heart rate with the wind assistance, for the second half I put a huge effort in, with my heart rate skyrocketing, and only making a modest speed, despite the effort. Oddly, my speed fluctuated quite a bit, presumably due the varying shelter from the wind coupled with minor undulations in the road.It was with a huge sense of relief that I made it to the finish line. 22:55, which I thought not bad given the conditions. It was also around the other riders on a '5'.

This was to be the first of two ten mile time trials today, and was actually the last in the NBRC series of club events. It was a delightful morning, still and cool with the prospect of fine sunny conditions later.Not a huge turnout, maybe due to the 8 am start, and even despite the early hour traffic was building up. I made as much of an effort as I thought wise, given the afternoon's open event and I was frankly disappointed by my ride (it's a long time since I came last in a club event). I did get stopped at the first roundabout, but that doesn't explain away more than a few seconds.Maybe it's the "end of season" feeling, but I do have to keep enough enthusiasm to take me to the Duo Normand at the end of September.

The second '10' of the day was the Icknield RC '10', on the Brogborough-based F15/10. By the time Tony and I rode over the to HQ at the Marston Vale Forest Centre, we had lovely warm and sunny conditions, with what promised to be a light head wind back (much lighter than I had had the previous Saturday).I rode from the HQ to the start with Tony and then kept riding to and fro for a bit before getting to the start. After the usual banter with the time keeper, I rode off down the hill, quickly getting into a nice big gear for the opening descent. I had a pretty quick ride out to the turn (maybe averaging over 29 mph), marred slightly by traffic at the roundabout half way to the turn. But then again, that roundabout has an annoying kink that I always slow a little for.After the turn, I settled into trying find a rhythm that I was comfortable with (not comfortable in!). I was tooling along at around 25-26mph when I saw a couple of children ahead of me, wobbling along the road on what appeared to be bmx bike and one of those stupid scooters. They wobbled particularly as the rider ahead of me passed, so I thought nothing of it when the looked back at me and wobbled some more. To my horror, this turned out not to be a wobble at all - the kids veered straight across the road, colliding with me and projecting me across the road as a 26 mph tangled mass of carbon and shredded lycra and flesh, right into the path of an oncoming car.Fortunately the car stopped in time. The adults in the car got out to see if I was OK (the kids responsible for my crash seemed relatively unhurt, but somewhat shocked). I didn't have the heart to bawl them out - asking them just what they thought they were doing seemed to have a bit of an effect on them. I was clearly bleeding, with a shredded skinsuit and fractured helmet. The bike seemed reasonably OK, though the handlebars were out of alignment.I rode back to the HQ somewhat gingerly, where, after, retelling the incident to the organiser and others, I was prevailed upon not to ride home and to accept a lift home. The butchers bill is really just an astonishing array of grazes, scrapes, cuts and bruises. No broken bones, fortunately. It's all rather painful - I don't understand how professional riders can go on day after day after crashes. Maybe being younger and being paid to do it helps!

This event is usually the high point in two-up time trialling for many riders, including Team Grumpy, the informal name for the regular 2-up partnership between Gerry and I. We've ridden the event for 9 of the last 10 editions of this event, based in Marigny, Normandy. The course itself is a terrific one, with fast sections, short but tough climbs and equally short but spine-tingling descents all within 54.3km.

Normally at this time of year, I write a review of the past season. This year I won't, mostly because my season has been so awful. A combination of the weather, illness, injury, and having trouble fitting training in around my work all contributed to a poor season's racing (in combination with Father Time, it has to be said).I had intended to return from the Duo Normand and get straight into preparations for the 2013 season. By the time I rode the Duo Normand, my scrapes and grazes acquired in the crash on 8th September had pretty much healed up. Unfortunately by then what turned out to be a series of aches and pains had begun. First up was severe shoulder pain, and this was followed by lower back pain, hip joint pain, leg muscle problems and the like, all mostly affecting my right hand side (which had made contact with the road).So, as I write, I've effectively been laid off from cycling (other than a spot of cycle commuting) for the best part of four weeks. Not ideal. I was too crocked to ride the NBRC Hill Climb championship. This is held on the short but steep climb at Bow Brickhill. I am gratified to see that one of my NBRC club mates won the event, though by an excitingly small margin of 0.3 seconds! Personally, I dislike hill climbs - they make me feel unwell! Formally, of course, the final event of the 2012 club event series actually happens in 2013: the New Year '10' on the first of January.The layoff has been pretty useful in the sense that I had the time to follow up on the news coverage of the Armstrong scandal. I had read Tyler Hamilton's book The Secret Race on the Kindle just before heading off to France, so I had some idea of what the USADA dossier would say. But I wasn't prepared for the extent to which USADA savaged Armstrong and colleagues. The fallout has been epic, and I look forward to Bruyneel's appeal hearing to CAS over his sanctions.My bike club, the North Bucks Road Club, has had a bit of a rough year, with declining membership and lower turnouts at our club events. Our recent AGM addressed some of these issues, particularly fired by my revolutionary zeal. This earned me nomination as club Vice Chairman. Or, as I put it, Chairman of Vice. Having ploughed through the USADA report, one might say I am now well-qualified to be Chairman of Vice! But seriously, we do hope to pull the NBRC through the doldrums and capitalise on the upsurge in interest in cycling both locally and nationally. I've begun overhauling the club's website, though at the moment changes are somewhat behind the scenes unless you're a paid-up member of the club. Attendance at our Wednesday club events has been dropping, which probably reflects lower membership but also competition from other clubs' events - particularly those held on the fast Tring course which I think has attracted non-NBRC members particularly.