This was a blisteringly hot day - according to Tony's car's thermometer it was 29 degrees (my Garmin registered a maximum of 33 degrees during my ride) - and with a stiff old breeze from the north that greatly exceeded the 7mph draft that was forecast. It was my first outing on the E2/25 for a year or so.Driving out there, it was clear that the conditions were going to be 'interesting', due mostly to the heat, but also the wind. We collected our numbers from the HQ and retired to a lane near the start. Tony was off slightly more than an hour before me, and I found what little shelter I could beside a hedge and waited. After a while I rode up and down the lane, but it was so-o-o-o hot! By the time I rode off to the start, I'd drunk almost everything I'd brought (clearly insufficient!) and eaten a banana as I was feeling a bit hungry. I reached the start line a bit early and waited in the shade of a tree while talking to one of the women riders (I was starting three minutes after the women in the race). Passing riders who'd already finished observed that it was pretty tough on the return leg.The start was pretty straightforward, though I always get nervous when the pusher-off actually pushes me off, as it always feels like I'm going to depart in an unfortunate direction! But everything was OK as I zoomed off down the sliproad onto the A14. The breeze instantly had its effect, and indeed the outward leg was pretty quick all the way. Coming out of the turn, I was caught by #80 for three minutes, then at the bottom of the slip road by #78 for one minute. No-one else passed me, though I did catch some of the women riders.I found the nagging head wind a bit tough, especially on the slight uphill gradients (the course is actually really flat for the most part). I was also getting very thirsty, with what little saliva I could muster gluing my mouth up! So it was something of a relief to see the finish line looming! I finished in 57:02, which isn't too bad given my season so far.After the race, we returned home for home-made pizza and Leffe, which rounded off a hot, sticky and reasonably successful afternoon out.Stats-wise, I spent most of the race at rather a high pulse rate, often in excess of 190bpm. I think this reflected both the temperature and the effort, though the power recorded by the Powertap wheel was rather lower than I'd expected. All these data and more in the Garmin trace! 

One of the main reasons for buying a new tandem was an improvement in transportation. Not, I add, in transporting us and our luggage but in transporting the tandem by car. In the UK it's pretty much impossible to travel by train with a tandem, so each time we plan a cycle tour, we need to allow for getting the tandem to the starting point using our car.

After a few days of really hot and sunny weather, it came as something of a shock to arrive at Astwood on an overcast, cold and windy evening. This event was the annual two-lapper on the Astwood circuit, and I think I was still feeling recent bike rides in my legs. In any event I really suffered in this event, and in particular I found the headwind in the second half of each lap rather more trouble than I should.So, essentially, I went like a bag of spanners, finishing with 51:20 or thereabouts. Not much more to say really!The Garmin trace is here.

This was forecast to be one of the, if not the, hottest days of the year. It was also our first long ride on the new tandem - a 63 mile trip involving some steep gradients, notably the 10% climb of Tram Hill that takes one up to Brill itself and so representing a test of gears and brakes.  The ride itself was something of a shakedown ride, being an opportunity to make sure that the bike was spot on in its setup for both riders - very important, given that the intention is to tour on this bike.

Despite being a rather overcast evening this event saw a good turnout of riders - 21 solos and two tandems, I think. For my part I was feeling a bit tired after some heavy commitments at work and was  a little concerned that my performance would reflect this.I had hoped to get my time for this course down to the mid-23s - which speaks volumes for the state of my 'racing' season thus far! So it was with some apprehension that I lined up to start. To add further concern, the traffic in the lane where we meet seems to have increased substantially since the McDonalds opened for business.The race itself was rather uneventful - the usual caution in negotiating the first roundabout; the desperate attempt to keep a reasonable racing pace on the gentle climb between the secnd and third roundabouts; avoiding the numerous potholes on the dual carriageway. But I felt pretty good on the whole and, though my ageing eyes didn't seem able to resolve the smaller digits on the bike computer, I was reasonably hopeful that I wouldn't disgrace myself. Geoff Bunyan was captaining a tandem a minute behind me - they came past on the return leg in good and smooth style. They didn't make much headway as the road rises at the end of dual carriageway section, but one the road descended towards the finish, away they went.You can see the results at the NBRC website. I ended up with 22:42, which I was quite pleased by. I was riding my Powertap Hed Jet disc wheel, so I collected more power data. Here's the Garmin trace: 

The forecast for this event, unusally for this point in the year my first on the F1, was for sunny conditions with a light breeze. There was a light mist as we set off for Tempsford - but this lifted as we approached the F1. We did have to make a slight detour to fill the car with petrol! Unfortunately the wind did rise considerably, meaning there was a rather stiff cross-wind that promised to make the return leg a bit tougher than expected. However, I was keen to really kick-start my somewhat belated racing season. This was my first '25' of the season, rather astonishingly.After the usual start line banter, I set off along the minor road up to the flyover - here a white van man decided that the roundabout was an appropriate place to pass me, driving rather too close for comfort. Down the slip road to the A1, I picked up a bit of speed. Traffic was pretty light on the morning, which was rather good. But it was clear that the southbound legs were going to be a bit tougher than northbound. Turning as the Sandy roundabout, about 12.5 miles at a decent speed faced me, with the only possible hitch being traffic at the Black cat RAB, where I got through with only a slight drop in speed due to giving way to traffic heading off towards Bedford.I reached the Buckden RAB without too much trouble, and turned to head south. With the cross/head wind this was a bit harder, but not actually horrendously so...until the 19-20 mile mark, where I found the combination of a slight gradient and the wind dropped my speed to around 20 mph. But I soon picked the speed up, crossed the Black Cat in decent style to finish just outside the hour. I rode back to Tempsford with the guy who'd started a minute before me - he was a bit cross at his choice of fixed gear (he'd been misled by the weather forecast).I had to leave Tempsford before the results board was populated with data, but I estimated my time as about 1:00:04 (see Garmin trace below). A bit frustrating not to get below the hour, but rather better than I'd expected, given the paucity of racing and training this year. I was pleased that I seem to have finally got rid of my bad back - I had no trouble riding in the aero position. Onwards and upwards.Roadkill avoided: two deer, one cat, one pigeon.

Astonishingly, two weeks after I placed the order for the new tandem, I received an email notifying me that it had been built and was ready for dispatch. I say 'astonishingly' because I'd been led to believe it would take about 6 weeks for delivery. And so I took delivery of an enormous and unwieldy box.

This event was on a warm but heavily overcast and very humid evening. Still, conditions seemed to be enough for a decent turnout! I felt particularly sleepy before starting, though as usual sleepiness soon dissipated as my start time approached. For a change, it was a rather still evening - which was good.I was quite optimistic for the event. However, I hadn't raced for a month, and training had been interrupted by a brief holiday in Yorkshire followed by a work trip to Italy. While both those were fun, it did dent my training a bit, leaving a question mark over this event.As it turned out, the event was something of a mixed bag. I shot off from the start reasonably well, but my speed (as far as I could gauge it with my ageing vision) soon dropped off alarmingly, and this on parts of the course I'd normally be quite quick on. This pattern was repeated all through the event, with my general sensation being that of riding through a viscous substance. Perhaps that reflected the humid conditions.I finished with 24:42 which, while not a great time, was around a minute faster than my previous outing on the course.Here's the Garmin trace. 

We have had our Dawes Super Galaxy tandem for around 20 years, and it was second hand then. Of course in the intervening time, most of the components have had to be replaced due to wear or occasionally upgrades (see Trigger's Broom, and Theseus' Paradox). Indeed, as far as I can recall, the only original components that remain are the front seat pin, rear handlebar stem and the Arai drum brake. Also, two of the frame tubes were replaced after an incident when the front top tube had a bit of an accident involving a wooden gate post in Durness. The bike has served us well over the years - see the various accounts of cycle tours accessible via the menu above. For the past seven years it has been our main vehicle for commuting to work.

A few years ago, I decided to have a play with using a power meter in my training. Because I wasn't too sure about how useful I'd find this, I went with the cheap option - a Polar CS600X with WIND speed and power/cadence sensors. This worked reasonably well - at first - but I've had no end of problems with reliability. Mostly this seems to be because there are several essential components in the WIND power meter system: the power supply, the chain tension sensor, the cadence sensor and the chain speed sensor. If any one of these elements doesn't work, you see no power or cadence reading, and there is virtually no diagnostics available to figure out where the problem lies (except if there is no power). And what is particularly annoying is that the setup can work fine one day, and the next (with the bike not moved from the turbo trainer) it doesn't the next day.Anyhow, enough was enough, and I decided to move to one of the more 'serious' power meter systems. I was looking for something that could be moved from one bike to another, that used ANT+ (I am so fed up with the Polar proprietary system), and that would be reasonably robust. I thought through the following options:1. The Polar Pedal system. Not ANT+. Seems from reviews that the pedal installation is fiddly so not easily switched from bike to bike.2. The Garmin Vector system. Despite winning a product of the year award from a bike magazine a few years ago, this hasn't been released to the public yet and remains effectively vapourware. It also uses an undesirable (to me at least) pedal system - Look Keo - and may well be prove to be a fiddle to install the pedals as with the Polar system. At least it is ANT+. I should add that I've not got anything against the Keo pedals, but I've no desire to add Keos to collection of pedals that includes old-style Look, Campagnolo Pro-Fit, Shimano SPD and Speedplay!3. The Brim Brothers system where the power meter is within the shoe plate - seems attractive, but what's the release date? At any road, the system seems to use Speedplay shoe plates.4. SRM - the industry standard crank based system. Clearly the system to have above all others, but it's expensive and not easy to switch between bikes. It is ANT+.5. Other players come and go...6. Powertap. This is what I plumped for. I went for a Hed Jet disc wheel with a Powertap G3 hub. This is a spoked wheel with a permanently bonded carbon fibre cover bonded to the rim and hub. It seems to be a robust construction (though the skin is pretty thin and flexible), and I am proposing to use it while turbo training as well as on the road.So far, I've had the device for a few weeks, and I can make a few observations. Firstly, the ANT+ system is a godsend, particularly as it relates to the Garmin 500 computer that I use. I've only used the wheel for a couple of events, as bad weather and a combination of leave and working away from home have interfered. I can observe that typical wattage is considerably lower than recorded on the old Polar system. But that's kind of what I expected, and I am only using these data internally as there's little point in comparing with other riders or power meters. I'd add that the Garmin 500 offers quite a bit of versatility in how data are displayed. I've decided to set one of the screens to include Power, Power (3 sec average) and Power (30 sec average). This offers not only an instantaneous power value, but a rather smoother and stable figure. The Garmin's data are easy to import into Golden Cheetah.As a disc wheel, the Jet disc is different to disc wheels I've used in the past. My first disc was a Hed with a screw-on hub - this had a rather cardboardy feeling carbon structure and was hollow and symmetrically lenticular. This disc was sold and replaced with another version with a cassette (currently adapted for fixed gear use). I've also got a Corima disc, which appears to be a foam core with carbon skin, and is flat-sided. The Jet disc wheel is essentially a spoked wheel with a thin carbon sheet covering the spokes - sort of a fairing. It has therefore got something of an asymmetric lenticular appearance because of the wheel's dishing. The skin feels a bit flimsy, particularly around the valve hole, but has stood up to use rather well so far. The skin is firmly attached to the hub and is bonded to the alloy rim. I chose a clincher version, as I've pretty much abandoned tubulars for all but the best of road conditions - around where I live I was suffering too many punctures in recent years. I imagine that a 'normal' Jet disc would be quite light though with a Powertap hub, even the lighter G3 version, the weight is a little hefty.Expect a longer term review at the end of the 2013 season.

Another sunny evening greeted the 19 riders who turned out for this evening '10'. On the downside, the wind was blowing quite strongly! The event was also the NBRC Championship '10', for which the six NBRC riders were eligible.As expected, the section leading up to the dual carriageway was a little twitchy with a gusty side wind, but once on the dual carriageway, this translated into a wonderfully assisting tailwind - most of us took advantage of this, but the rider in front of me, who was riding a medium fixed gear, seemed to be twiddling away like a demon! The road surface on this very new road has suffered recently, with numerous small but deep potholes having appeared. I contrived to ride through one of these, which didn't do any damage to the bike or to my ride, but wasn't very nice! I must learn to steer a bit more accurately.Of course, it came as no surprise to me that the return leg was really tough, though once off the dual carriageway the going was quite a bit better, albeit with several severe twitches as I passed gaps in the sheltering hedgerows. I finished with 24:09 - not a brilliant time, but quite a bit better than my previous outing on this course when I recorded 24:40! Once again I survived without back pain, so I guess that is past me for the time being.  On the whole, I'm a bit more optimistic about getting my training and racing back on an even keel.

Rather a nice afternoon for a time trial - dry with a gentle breeze - but rather cool. I rode out on the time trial bike, newly equipped with a Hed Jet disc wheel with a Powertap hub. After a week fighting off a cold, I wasn't really feeling particularly optimistic, particularly given the last few months' lack of training, but I did hope to knock out a mid 23.After bizarrely wishing the timekeeper 'good morning' (it was 3.32pm!), I left the start line quite briskly. Unfortunately the traffic at the Billington roundabout was busy enough to slow me appreciably - I then had to accelerate back up to a reasonable speed again. Other than this, the outward leg was fairly brisk and I felt pretty good. Unfortunately, I got stopped again by traffic at the turn. Worse than this, at a couple of points in the return leg I completely lost the plot (mentally) and found myself allowing my speed to drop far too much.After a clear run through the second crossing of the Billington roundabout, I crossed the line with a pretty poor 23:59. Still, it's my fastest '10' of 2013 - maybe things are looking up...Here's the Garmin trace, below the fold:

I really didn't feel at all enthusiastic about this event. A weekend away in Brussels for family reasons had left me tired and a little jaded. This, coupled with all my lack of training, clearly foreshadowed a pretty poor performance. But of course avoiding club events is never going to help me recapture form, so I resolved to give it a go. I rode up to Astwood under darkening skies and with pretty strong winds. Fortunately it wasn't anything like as windy as last time on this course!The event itself was pretty uneventful, though my lack of 'practice' at handling the time trial bike left me rather over-cautious on the more exposed and gusty parts of the course. Despite trying as hard as I could, I finished with a lamentable 25:39. I had as usual been riding to heart rate - and as I write this report a few days after the event and while suffering from a cold, I wonder whether this was beginning on the day of the race.Full results at the NBRC website.

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.

This is rather good - an edit from a forthcoming release by Carter Tutti - Coolicon. According to the Carter Tutti website:

The title ‘Coolicon’ is the name of the manufacturer of an old metal lampshade Delia Derbyshire used to 'sample' while at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the 1960s. Carter Tutti have their own lampshade and Cosey’s use of it’s distinctive sound can be heard to great effect on both recordings.

It was with quite some trepidation that I approached this event. After all, in my last outing on this course I'd been splattered over the tarmac by two children out on the course. And my 2013 season has hardly been noted by glory - mostly due to illness and injury. Indeed I managed to work myself up into a state of quite some apprehension. On the morning I woke stupidly early and saw the heavy frost. Fortunately the early sun soon put paid to the frost, and it was rather nice as I rode out to the event HQ at the Marston Vale Forest Centre.By the time I rode up to the start, things had got a bit colder: a cold breeze had sprung up, and the sky had become rather overcast. Still, I lined up at the appointed time and shot off down the starting  descent. I felt a bit nervy with the bike twitching in a slight crosswind, though I think this is just me being a bit out of practice on the TT bike.Reaching the bottom of the descent, and set into a decent rhythm and soon crossed the first RAB. This is a bit awkward, and I've never got through on the tri-bars. Once out the other side, I pressed on to the turn. After the turn, things seemed to go a bit pear-shaped, as there was a stiff old headwind. At least the back pain that has bedevilled me for the last month or so was noticeable by its absence. Once again across the roundabout, and I was photographed a second time. It turned out the photographer was JB, who kindly tweeted them. Here's one, though I do look a bit portly as a consequence on not training enough![caption id="attachment_2217" align="aligncenter" width="258"] Grovelling into a headwind, Team MK '10' 28/4/13[/caption]After that 'photo-op', I continued my grovel to the finish line which I crossed in an estimated 24:11. Not brilliant, so I wasn't too bothered that the result on the board at the HQ was 24:21. I was just delighted my back wasn't convulsed in pain.All in all, a reasonably OK race. Well, apart from the time! Here's the Garmin trace: 

I cannot easily understand why I like this album so much.  I heard of it via an interview with Viv Albertine at The Quietus (Like Choosing A Lover: Viv Albertine's Favourite Albums). It's an album of field recordings recreating a railway across Mexico, and apparently furst broadcast on BBC Radio 4.[embed size="compact"]Chris Watson – El Tren Fantasma[/embed]

During the ride home from work it was apparent that the wind had strengthened during the day. Despite this, it was a pretty warm evening with all the signs that Spring had finally arrived. I made a mad dash up to Astwood on the time trial bike, without really paying attention to the choice of front wheel - I was riding front and rear trispokes, as usual.I could feel the wind tugging strongly on my front wheel, particularly when I rode past gaps in the hedgerows. Nevertheless I pressed on, as I have rarely been unable to race due to strong wind. I made it to the start line in time to see the first riders lining up to start. Grabbing a number and signing on, I awaited my start. I was the last rider off, and I suspect the wind had been continuing to rise while I waited. I was frustrated to have to stop for a line of cars before I could join the main road, shortly after the start. Once on the main road, I found the wind was a real problem on my front wheel, and I was unable to hold a decent straight line. I was worried about being blown into traffic, but in the end I decided to call it a day after nearly being blown off the bike twice in quick succession. I felt that discretion was most certainly the better part of valour.Riding home wasn't a great deal of fun - though I did see most of the guys powering along as though there was no wind at all! Maybe had I been riding a different front wheel... perhaps I was unfortunate in encountering a particularly strong gust on an exposed part of the course.

This is going to be de rigeur on my next turbo training soundtrack. It's a remix by Death Grips of The Prodigy's Firestarter.[soundcloud id='87437928' comments='false' color='#ff7700']

As I've whined about lately, this season has not got off to an excellent start. This event was only the second event I've started and the first I've finished in 2013. This has been due to a severe bout of back pain that has only abated in the last day or two, and which has sidelined me from training and indeed riding bikes for the best part of a month.  The last event I attempted was something of a disaster. Meanwhile, I've kept eating  as if I was actively training and racing with the consequent impact on body weight.Riders for this event were greeted by overcast skies and a chilly breeze. It was with some apprehension that I rode down to the event. I really don't feel fit at the moment, and I was concerned that my bad back would flare up again. We had quite a good turnout of 11 riders - I was off number 2.Heading out, I immediately found myself struggling to keep a decent pace - partly of course, this was due to the headwind (gentle though it was), but also I found it difficult to get comfortable in the aero position on the tri-bars. I'm not too worried about that, because early season events are always like that for me. I gingerly negotiated the first roundabout, successfully avoiding the potholes, and pressed on through the second roundabout and on to join the dual carriageway section. Once up there, the head wind was rather nagging and I had difficulty keeping the effort up. But after the turn  I found the return leg quite a bit quicker and more confortable. I eventually finished in 24:41. Not a particularly good performance, but somewhat better than I'd expected in the circumstances. More importantly, I finished without a recurrence of back pain. It can only get better from here, I hope.Results at the NBRC website.