Riding Cardiff to London nearly broke me – Day 2

With a much shorter route and much lower temperatures expected, this was supposed to be a much easier day… but was it?

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I know it’s not your fault, Peter. This is your fault. Okay. [Music] Good morning and welcome to day two of Cardiff to London. We are all still fooling a little bit broken this morning and we’re just discussing the strategy for the 93 mi to London today. I was just trying to figure out how long this might take. No one really knows, but we have only got four official Jez stops uh to stop with our support driver today. But there will undoubtedly be some other stops in between where we get to the top of hills and we we wait for people coming up behind and we regroup. But we’re setting off this morning at 9:00 because we had a very very late finish last night. It was about half 2:00. We eventually got into bed. So there are some very tired eyes, tired legs, and uh dare I say tired back sides this morning. But we’re going to head down for breakfast now. It’s 8:00 a.m. We’re going to go go down, have a bite to eat, try and sort out a strategy for today. But I think the main strategy is going to be don’t stop for as long as we did yesterday and keep just keep moving. But yesterday was fun, but it was hot and it was very difficult. But today, we’re determined to make it a much more fun day. So, let’s get down, have some breakfast, and then get on the way. And something Stuart has just pointed out, just to make you aware, I am wearing a different jersey and shorts today. I haven’t worn the same ones from yesterday. I do have two of these jerseys. So, uh, yeah, I’m not going to be stinking quite as much as yesterday. At least not until we’re about 50 mi in right now. Let’s get some breakfast. [Music] Ra just left the hotel. We are on route after a lovely breakfast and we’ve got 93 miles into London. But it needs to be quicker than yesterday. I know how much. [Music] Right, we’re just about to start the first of nine climbs today, but there is only about half the amount of climbing today as there was yesterday, which is very nice. And I never had a chance to look at my bottom bracket last night. So, it is going to be squeaky and creaky again today. Also, the weather today is now forecast to be a lot cooler than it was yesterday. I mean, cooler is respective. Still going to get up to about 24°, but that’s much better than the 2930° it was, but yesterday’s right. I’ll take that. And for a lot of the day, we’re going to be getting a tailwind, so that is very welcome as well. [Music] Well, that was a cheeky lifer. That woke the legs up. As I say, with a lot less climbing today, I’m hoping that doesn’t set the tone for the day. [Music] So, we’re all on road bikes and Kamu has just sent us onto a gravel trail. Thanks, Kamu. Who’s getting the first puncher? [Music] This is very reminiscent of the Fitchway, but we’re not on Fitchway bikes. Oh, this gravel looks very, very sharp. [Music] But while we’re on this track, I’m going to talk to you to try and take my mind off the fact that one of us is definitely going to get a punch imminently. I mentioned it in last week’s video on the day one part of this ride, but these videos are sponsored by Insta 360, which is exactly what I’m filming this ride on now because Insta3 have sent me their new Xibe camera, which I have to say is absolutely awesome. I used to film all my rides on my GoPro, which is good, but the trouble is you do sometimes miss things. I’ve got the grill mount that goes in your mouth, and when it’s facing out on your mouth, you do capture things around you. But then when you turn it around to hold it to film yourself, something happens in front and yeah, you miss it. That’s not wrong with the Insta 360. It literally captures everything all at once. And then in the software, you just choose which way you want the angle to be facing. And this is how dull I am. But I took a full 360 video and going over the seven bridge yesterday, which I’m going to upload as a standalone video in 360. If I can work out how to do that. So, if you’re as dull as I am and you want to see what it’s like riding over the seven bridge and be able to look the whole way round, I’ll link that up here somewhere. If you want to grab an Insta 360 X5 camera yourself, I’ll leave an affiliate link in the description below. So, thanks very much, Instant 360. Really appreciate it. I think I’ve mentioned this before. A few of us do absolutely love riding gravel, especially my Jimmy and I. We’ve been out a number of times up and down the way now and it is always absolutely beautiful. But it is nice to have the appropriate bike for it because yeah, this is a bit of a worry. We’ve got enough of a distance in front of us today without have to stop for 15 20 minutes to fix any clutches. To be honest, I think we’re just as likely to get a pinch flat along here as we are something puncher in the inner tube. Should have put a bit more pressure in my tires. I’ve got a horrible feeling my back tire looks a bit spongy. Could be wrong. Hopefully, it’s not a slow puncher. It definitely appears to be bulging out the side of the rim bit more than I remember it. Hang on. I just want to check my tire. Oh dear. It’s definitely spongy. Yeah. Well, as as expected. I don’t know whether it’s a full puncher, but there’s definitely a slow puncher there at the moment. So, we’ll push on, see how far we can get, but I reckon this wheel is going to be coming off within the next couple of miles. Yeah. Again, thank you m [Music] despite the fact that this path has clearly given me a butcher. It is very beautiful. [Music] Oh, right. I’m stopping. Definitely going down. Oh, it’s down. It’s down. Uh, we need to find a uh a bench to stop up at. I try and keep as much weight off the back wheel as possible now until we find one. Right, wheel off. Here we go. [Music] Right, puncher fix. Let’s go. I’ve got another spare in a tube in the van, so I’ll swap that over when we get back. But otherwise, onwards. Oh, that feels much better. far less spongy under bum. [Music] Right, secondary problem. The tire clearly hasn’t seated properly in the bead. So, at the moment, there is a bump in the back wheel. But, we’re just at the bottom of the second climb. So, I’m going to wait until we get to the top and then I’ll sort that out. 1 and a half km, average gradient of 6%. Yeah, this one’s going to be a toughy. One thing I will say now we’re going up this climb is when I watched Francis Cage, Ben Chapman, Lawrence Carpenter, and Benny Boom Boom going through India and when they did Thailand and a few of their other trips, I noticed that there’s a lot of the locals that are very happy for you to cling onto their vehicle to drag them up a hill. Yeah, people in England don’t do that. More is the pity. Well, annoyingly, I just turned the camera off just before I saw it, but there was a 17% warning sign. Yeah, as I say, this one’s going to be tough. Oh, front wheels coming up. That’s not good. On first gear. I got nowhere else to go. [Music] Having fun yet? No. [Music] Oh, that was an absolutely beautiful descent. But straight into a climb. These little village climbs are killer. And this one is 2.7 km long. This is going to be a grind. I’m not going to film all of this cuz this could take some time. I am going to see you very much at the top. [Music] You just got to keep the legs spinning. It’s just a bike ride. Thankfully, the whole issue I had with my tire not seated properly in the rim seems to have corrected itself. I’m no longer bumping along the road, which is a bonus. Back on the flat 8%. I’ll take back what I said about the first climb. Hopefully not being indicative of the day to come. I feel like it very much is now. Car back. I hang on. Go. Let’s go. There we go. That’s more like it. Do not care. We love a sticky bowl. Oh boy. This is the light. There’s quite a big hill coming up. So, if you could uh just pull me all the way to the top. If you could pull me past everyone, that would be even better. Go on. [Music] [Laughter] Cheers, Jens. Oh, nothing like a drag up a hill. Sorry to the lads I’ve left behind. They’ll get their go at some point. All right. I mean, despite the fact that I didn’t deserve it, I’m going to take a rest now. Wait for the lads to catch up. What took you so long? You’re better than that, B. I’m not actually. I’m not. Oh, you think too highly of me, clearly. Let’s go. Let’s go. [Music] Thankfully, we’re motoring on at a fairly decent pace today. I say a pretty decent pace. It’s about 30 mph currently, but that is considerably faster than yesterday. There seems to be a lot more downhill today, which is obviously brought our average speed up quite a bit. But generally speaking, heading into London is always fairly fast because, as we all know, London’s in a basin. So although there will be some up and downy bits, the general trend is downwards. So hopefully, yeah, the average speed will continue to remain high today. And as I said earlier, the temperature is considerably lower today. It is still only 22 degrees at the moment, which feels much more respectable than yesterday. Oh boy, this hill. But that is still fairly warm. And I know there probably will be a few of you out there thinking, why on earth am I wearing a cap? And that’s a very good question because not wearing a cap would probably allow a lot more fresh air to blow through my helmet and keep my head cool. But my problem is I can be a bit of a sweaty monster and if I don’t wear a cap, I just end up with a very wet helmet liner which then runs down into my eyes and that stings a lot and it sort of impedes my progress somewhat. So I do like to wear a cap to uh too much information time to really soak up that sweat. With that climb out of the way, I’ve had the opportunity to tell you about the route today, which if you watched last week’s video, you’ll know had us finishing last night and starting this morning in Swindon. From there, we dip straight down south back into the North Wessics Downs and now we’re heading east as we go towards Henley on Tames and then taking in places like Maiden Head, Windsor, Stains upon Tames, finally finishing skirting the southern side of Heathro airport and then up through Houndslow through West London and into Trafalga Square. 93 miles today, which is considerably less than yesterday’s 130, which saw us finish at 1:00 a.m. That was a day. But as I mentioned in last week’s video, that was after more than 7,000 ft of climbing, 129 mi, a ride up through Cheddar Gorge and dealing with 29° plus temperatures. That was warm. Going up through Cheddar Gorge yesterday. Garbs without 28 and there is very little shade. When I checked the weather report this morning, I noticed that there was going to be somewhat of a tow wind or at least it was a wind coming from the southwest going to the northeast which is generally the direction we’re going. However, despite that, we’re currently suffering a not inconsiderable headwind. Thanks, Met Office. And just what we need as the headwind comes is another card. Right, we are well over halfway now. I’m just coming into Henley where we’re going to have a very quick cafe solve. There is a nasty going up into Henley. But once that’s done, that is the final of the nine climbs today. And as I said earlier, although there will still be some up and downy bits, it is a general downward tread going into London. Let’s get to the cast. [Music] Okay, final climb done and I couldn’t be happier about it. Let’s get to the calf, have a lovely bite to eat, and then finish our ride into London, [Music] right? Some kind of lovely cheese and pickle sandwich thing coming. But first, salt and vinegar crisps. I can’t even speak. Salt and vinegar crisps and some full fat coke. Need that sugar. [Music] Much better. Right. All right. Well, that was a very lovely stop. Nice bite to eat. And we’re going to meet Jez one more time in about 19 20 mi just around Heathrow. And after that, it’s all us into London on our Todd. [Music] Woo! I got a lovely cool head now. Don’t do it on the hot day of the year. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Okay, we’re still motoring. We’ve had our final stop with Jez in Belum to the past now and we’ve got just 13 miles into Travala Square. I swear I love cycling, but this has been a challenge and I’m looking forward to getting to the end of this. However, even when we do get to the end of it, we’re all now riding our bikes to Liverpool Street to get the train home rather than messing around trying to fit them all into the back of the van. So, yeah, there’s still more cycling to be done even when we finish. [Music] Well, there we go from the square. And they’ve even put some music on for us. Oh my gosh. Right, let’s get picky here, shall we? Right, we’re gonna get a picture and then go somewhere a bit quieter so you can actually hear me. Right, so there you go. Capital to capital, Cardiff to London. 222 miles over two days. I think it was an epic day of 130 mi yesterday. Over 7,000 ft of climbing. 2930° temperatures. a lot easier today, a lot less mileage, a lot less heat, a lot less climbing, and a lot more fun. And now we have to take the almost anticlimactic ride back to Liverpool Street to get our train home. So with that, I am going to say thank you very much for watching. I hope you enjoyed this challenge as much as we enjoyed suffering. And I will see you on the next one. Take care, guys. Ride safe. Ride safe. Is that a new thing? Uh, yeah. I just it’s just off the top of my head, you know. Got to stare it up. Got to change it up. Ain’t you got to try new things?