The psychology of cycling

Right, it's late, I'm tired and I'm worn out from football but I just had to put this up. The title might be misleading but bear with me...

Don't get me wrong, I am loving road cycling...but... peel back the lycra, throw away the fingerless gloves and use vaseline only for chapped lips, I AM A MOUNTAIN BIKER. Through and through.

From the age of 7 my parents bought me a Raleigh Mustang. 7 Gears, nobbley tyres. Since then I've gone through a Claud Butler with a flex stem, a Grisley with my first front shocks, a custom built Sintesi (god I loved her) and right now I have the most beautiful Specialized Fsr Xc Pro hanging in my garage needing a little TLC. I go out in any weather, get muddy, fall off (granty too!), break bits, break bits of me. I love it. I will always do it. I AM a mountain biker.

So, why is it that when I am out disguised as a roady on my skinny tired race machine and I nod at my homeys on their fully sussed, multiple inches of suspension mountain bikes, they look the other way?! Inside, the mountain biker in me is screaming "Guys? It's me, really! It's Chris the Mountain Biker. I'm one of you! This lycra is just temporary!" But to no avail.

It's like a click and I think it sucks. So long as it doesn't have an engine, if it's got two wheels we should all nod at one another.... we'll see eh?

Weekend Ride part 2......

As Chris has already mentioned, Saturdays ride was quite a tester with the heat & the hills. I have to agree with the boy (although i hate to admit it) that it was one of the best ride outs we have done. Had quite a rewarding feeling at the end even if I did fell like I was going to be sick once ot twice!It started at about 3 miles out when Chris attacked a short climb, his cadence must have been about 150 and he looked like he was riding a turbo charged hamster wheel. Things settled down after that but I reckon that was because he was trying to find his heart that had popped out earlier. The hill that took us up to the top of Clent was a beast. It was probably about a km if that but the gradient was...well, you had to be there....

Onto other things and the addition of a new team member. Bob has joined us and guess what, another mountain biker. To be fair, he will ride any type of bike he can get his hands on and is a currently taking part in a 24hr endurance race.

I would like to say thank you to Torq Fitness who have agreed to give us energy products at a good price. Torq supply all the usual products but also act a Performance Consultancy. Matt Hart is the main man & a nice guy so click on the following link to look at what they have got to offer, oh & mention us when ordering.. http://www.torq.ltd.uk/default.asp

Finally, I'm off on holiday in a weeks time to check out some French property but I think I have convinced my other half to let me take my bike so I can keep up the training. I can only agree with Chris (not again) that it is a far friendly cycling country than the UK.

Weekend Ride

Firstly apologies for the lack of blogging last week, a combination of working a few late ones but also I backed off my training for a week. After my second game of footy on Wednesday I could barely walk without an agonising pain in both my shins. A bit of google research and I came up with these: shin splints :o( Ok so I'm no Doctor but what I was feeling pretty matched their description. The main remedy for these is rest. Not good when you're training for the Alpe D'Huez but I took it as an opportunity to put my feet up. Note: Andy has still been getting out loads!

So we planned a three hour jaunt for Saturday meeting at Andy's. We set off into Bromsgrove and headed for Droitwich. I'll add in here, that we learnt on the London Paris trip last year that 1. The French Roads are lovely, smooth, no pot-holes, and are never dug up and filled with inferior tarmac & 2. French Drivers respect and expect cyclists, give them room and politely pap their horn when they are about to overtake. The UK has neither of these so we choose to head out on the quieter main roads as the country lanes we've been training on are getting very cut up.

So...Bromsgrove to Droitwich on the A38. Not too bad, a couple of short stabbing climbs but nothing too taxing. I read last week that a good training tip for the Alpe is to attack any climb whilst training in a lower than normal gear and pedal at 90rpm - yeah, you try that when you're out next, I nearly bloody died! My heart was jumping out of my chest for the next ten minutes. I'll stick to big leg muscle power for now. Right, Droitwich to Kidderminster was nice. Saturday here was roasting and this road is shaded so kept the heat off. Then we headed the back route to Hagley which has a couple of fairly big hills and we were about an hour into the ride by now. Then we hit Hagley. From here we could've turned left straight back to Chez Millerz but in front of us were the mighty Clent Hills. We had to, just had to. So we hit the hill up to Hagley Top, then the A456 past the obelisk and Badgers Set pub. What a climb!!!!! Steadied ourselves for about a K and then took the country lane right onto the top of Clent. We then did Walton Hill before heading back down to the M5 and the North Part of Bromsgrove. "One more hill?" cherps Andy!?!?!, well why not! So we powered (like that nice positive vocab?) up onto the lop of Lickey before the downhill to his house. What a ride. Quite possibly the best we've done yet I think. The stats: I think it was about 53K's but the hills made up for the shortened distance. We did that in about 2 1/4hrs. And did I mention it was hot, very hot.

So, onward and upward. I might sneak out for a quick hour this afternoon if I can but I'm defo (big bro reference!) going to take it a bit easier at football this week. I think we'll have to get one last ride in before Andy heads off on his hols next weekend.

Sponsorship is going well, almost £100 online, Mrs Millerz got us over £100 at work on Friday and we've had a fair few promises too. We've got our fuel expenses covered, are trying for a minibus but no news on shirt sponsorship yet so if you are interested, get in touch.

Happy Cycling!

Hammy

Big thanks Angela!

I could not think of a finer way to thank the wonderful Angela (in the office @ Hire-It) than by dedicating this post to her. Today, Angela has single handedly folded and inserted no less than 200 Crazy Hamster sponsorship forms to be sent with Hire-It's outgoing mail.

Angela you are a star.

from the Crazy Hamster Team x

PS, We've heard you not getting much male attention at the moment so feel free to pop by and rub our legs anytime!

Weekend Ride

Wow, where did that come from? We just blasted 55k's in two hours dead. That's an average of 27.5kph which is up about 3kph from anything else we've ever done.

I gotta say I was a little worried when I turned up at Chez Millerz at 4.30 this afternoon to find Andy pedalling away on his Turbo Trainer. He's obviously taking this one seriously I thought, or he's been reading the blog whilst he's been away and seen how much I've been doing.

The ride went well, both my good shorts were in the wash so I had to wear some old ones which still chafed a bit (sorry!) but as for the legs, they feel great. A bit strange but of anything, it's my arms aching tonight.

Anyway, it was proven today that Andy isn't actually bionic....

He'll probably make up some rubbish about checking out the wildlife!!

Millerzz returns from his training camp

Well, another week has passed and whilst Andy's been chilling out in Spain, I've been taking the opportunity of putting in some graft. An hour of five-a-side on Monday helped to shake off the stiff legs from the weekend. I planned to head out for a ride on Tuesday when I got a call from my mate asking me to fill in for his five-a-side game. I decided to do both which was all good and well until some idiot started on me at football and tried to headbutt me - looser. All's ok with this Hammy though!

I headed to my third game of footy on Wednesday but by 30minutes, I'd cramped up pretty bad and resigned myself to the goal. So, the best part of 120Ks and three games of footy in 7 days isn't too bad by all accounts?

Spoke to Andy earlier and welcomed him home. Needless to say we've planned a ride for tomorrow already! I think it's going to be a long one too :o) And maybe a run on Sunday, who knows?!

Oh, big shout out for all those who've emailed me with support. You know who you are, thanks x

Unique Sponsorship Offer

Firstly, look at this...

This is the proof for our cycling jerseys to be worn on the event and any promotional work we do. How cool are they?!?!

To fund the production of these, we are offering any company the opportunity to purchase one of three advertising spaces. Hire-It is used here as an example but they are contributing to our fuel bill and won't be on here unless they pay us more!

The cost is £175. For this you will get either the front, the rear or both arms. We will wear the shirts for photoshoots and you will be personally presented with one of the shirts (Unworn!!) signed by the team. We will pose for any photos you wish to take.

To express an interest please contact Chris on chris@crazyhamstercrew.co.uk

Please be quick, we've got to go into production next week.

If you would like one of the shirts for yourself, they will be £45 which includes a donation to the charities. They will be available in any size you want. Get in touch quickly.

Training steps up a gear...

Get it? Get it? Steps up a gear? I'm wasted as an Analyst.

Well the weather was supposed to be rubbish today which is why I went out yesterday and I decorated my bathroom today. But taking an hour off to watch the final stage of the Tour inspired me to get out on the steed again. I'm just loving it. The weather has actually been fine all day so I decided to head south to Worcester doing a loop of the A449. It's one road round here that Telewest Cable haven't destroyed so was quite a smooth ride. 19K's each way which I duly dispatched in an hour and a quarter which I think is quite good going.

I've got footy on Monday and Wednesday but might have to sneak in a ride or two in between. Anyone would think that I'm trying to catch up with Millerz's K's whilst he's away on his summer training camp.

By the way, has anyone got a cure for the huge chafing that goes on in the "blokie" region - vaseline I'm guessing?! (Sorry Ladies!)

Weekend Update

Millerz phoned to say his knees were hurting and wouldn't be in attendance but I'd promised myself a ride today so I went out on my own. Millerz is off to his summer training camp in Spain tomorrow so I thought I'd pop over to see him off.

Now AA autoroute tells me it is 20k's from my house in Kidderminster to his just north of Bromsgrove. Well, I dispatched this in 37minutes. Couldn't believe it myself, the terrain is quite undulating with a few cheeky climbs. After admiring his new 50inch Plasma TV I set off home. Inspired by today's Tour de France time trial I nailed it.

I really scared some bloke on the A38 when i slip streamed his car and the chap in Bromsgrove who I overtook in the High Street looked less than impressed. But.... I got home in 30 mins! Mashed may I add!

I cannot believe how much my fitness is coming on now. This cycling lark is good stuff. I want more....oh, and a pair of Carbon wheels too!

*** BREAKING NEWS *** Doping scandal rocks The Crazy Hamster Crew

News is breaking this morning in relation to a potential doping scandal concerning team member Millerz.

The 33-year-old (Yeah whatever!) Brit has been at the centre of controversy during the Training since it was revealed he missed out-of-competition drugs tests.
Millerz looked odds-on to win the Tour after taking Wednesday's stage and increasing his lead over second-placed rider Chris.
But CHC have learnt he lied to them about his whereabouts in June.
Young Brit Chris now assumes the race lead with four days remaining.

Millerz admitted making a mistake in missing out-of-competition drugs tests but insisted he backed moves to make cycling drug-free.
As part of Tour de France policy, the race leader is tested after each stage and Millerz has worn Blue since his breakaway win in Droitwich last Sunday.

We would like to point out that at this stage these reports have eminated from the BBC news website and are at this stage unconfirmed. The Crazy Hamster Crew directors take all allegations of this nature seriously and an internal enquiry is to be held.

Comment from Millerz and the other members of the team will follow.

It's Sponsorship Time...

With a little over eight weeks to go, and training in full swing, it'a about time we started to get some dollar in the bag for the fine charities we're doing this for.

We have a fundraising site at www.justgiving.com/crazyhamstercrew. We're working on some raffle incentive where for every £2 donated online, you'll get a ticket for an opportunity to win some awesome prizes. Keep checking here for what they are but no.1 is a signed CrazyHamsterCrew t-shirt hmmmmmmmm!

Look, Gemma's supporting us...

If you think you can donate prizes then either email us, or just post them to the Hire-It address on the top left marked for CHRIS. Any companies helping out will get a personal mention here and if you send us your logo we'll put you on our T-Shirts.

That said, if you're a t-shirt printing firm and can help out here, please get in touch.

Please do all you can. The boys and I are grafting our socks of, getting soaking wet cramming training in where we can and you'll agree these are fantastic charities to support.

Keep checking the site, we aim to post every couple of days,

Chris

PS, when we break the £250 mark I'm going to upload some very funny photos of Andy that he think's I've destroyed. C'mon, get donating
PPS, If you're the 1000th Viewer, take a screen shot to prove it, press print screen and paste it into an email to one of us. You can have a CHC Tshirt too!

******NEWS FLASH******

Today, there has been a report that Lee has bought a copy of "Cycling Weekly" & started his training program.......
At first it was thought that this was a enormous hoax & a mentally ill person was detained for questioning. This is a magnificent day in history, keep watching this site for further details.

End of an era... (WSFC Students post here)

Well four days away in the mountains and the bike didn't even make it out of the car :o( Gutted. Well, only kind of. I went away, as I always do at this time of year, with my lovely students from Worcester Sixth Form College. I supervise their Gold Duke of Edinburgh's award expedition in the Rhinnog Mountains. This years trip went quite well, preparation lacked a bit but all the groups managed to complete their routes and passed their award. I guess they'll be reading this so - WELL DONE GUYS !!. The only problem for me was the fact that they all insisted on walking as late into the night as possible which meant I couldn't get out for a ride but never mind, I did a few hills on foot and the fresh air was great. I told them all to check out the blog so if you're a college student reading this, then add the site to your myspace/facebook/bebo and drop it out in conversation/email and start one of those chain texts I know you all do! Oh, and refrain from just one alcoholic beverage and sponsor us a couple of quid on our justgiving site!

Have a great summer, finish your DoE and enjoy work/uni. Make sure you comment on this post so I know you've checked it out. I'll cross reference posts against the list of those on the trip. God forbid anyone who doesn't look!!!!!

And the end of an era thing? well I've just given ten years service to the college. I volunteer which means I don't get paid. This trip has been my last :o(

The wanderer returns.....

Well, Chris is back from Germany and we are both off for the weekend for a spot of training. Chris will be camping ( i hope the weather improves) with his Duke of Edinburgh mob whilst I am having a couple of days away with the family, & my bike hopefully.
I've got to say that the last couple of rides have been in the recent inclement weather & i didn't realise how much fun it could be riding blind in torrential rain..... Just for the record, Chris & I were due to go for a leg stretch last night (thursday) but he bottled it due to the localised flooding. Needless to say, I still went out for the crack, insanity rules eh!

I'm craving training?

Well I'm back from my break and all sausage'd out. Those Germans really do know how to eat meat. For those adults of you out there please excuse any puns. I thought I'd have put on loads of weight but we must've walked a fair few K's each day which seems to have done the trick.

I saw a new bike which I'd like to add to my collection (after I get a BMX). Check this out, and look they've got one for Andy:

How cool are they?!? Also whilst enjoying a fine German Weissenbier at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich we bumped into some lovely peeps from the good ol' US of A. Not sure how I managed to slip the Crazy Hamster Crew into conversation but hopefully we should be getting some kids from a school in Michigan following our progress now. All support is greatly appreciated so please, post away!

Right, back to the serious stuff. We need sponsorship now. If you can give us some cash, see the details at the top of the page. If you know anyone in cycling shops, outdoor brands or energy drinks etc and can get them to send us promo stuff please get in touch. Also, see this Pearl Izumi "Ernie and Burt" top I found in Munich:

They only had it in Small and I need a Medium one! Help! We're going to be getting some crazyhamstercrew.co.uk branded t-shirts made soon so if any company sends us stuff, we'll stick your logo on and send you some photos.

Oh, and yeah...I'm desperate to get out cycling again. I never thought this "roady" bug would get me but it's certainly creeping up!! Roll on tomorrow night, I get to see my steed again.