[Rendel Harris]

‘Tis the season for some folly…

Everyone, including some wonderful road.cc readers, was so generous last year in supporting our Christmas Day 200 mile lockdown ride in aid of Toilet Twinning, which raised enough funds for 24 facilities, I started thinking about what we might do if locked down again this Christmas…then I thought lockdown or not, why not? So from December 14th-23rd I shall be (virtually) riding “Monte Carlo or Bust”, the 1026 kilometres from our house in Peckham to Monte Carlo, ten metric centuries (and a little more) in ten days. If you’d like to support this amazing charity (and incidentally put me through a world of pain, surely worth the price of admission on its own?) in building facilities for some of the poorest two billion people in the world who have no access to clean, safe toilets, anything at all you can sponsor would be so massively appreciated and do so much good. Thank you! xxx

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/montecarloorbusttt

P.S. In the spirit of putting my money where my mouth is, I’ve put in the price of the first toilet myself, so I shall damned well make sure I do what I’ve paid for!
 

Topic

[jaymack]

The wonders of the interweb

The wonders of the interweb are amazing right up until the moment you have to rely on them. So, dreaming of a mass data loss probably isn’t as far fetched or paranoid as you may think! Perhaps you’ll inspire a ‘ride’ to Rome for Easter.

[Rendel Harris]

Actually had a nightmare last

Actually had a nightmare last night about reaching 1000kms and Zwift deleting all my data, so probably a good job I’m finishing soon! 111kms today to leave a nice round 100 exactly to finish tomorrow. Sponsorship now over £1500, which is just wonderful – always room for more of course!

[Rendel Harris]

After Stage 8 of this year’s

After Stage 8 of this year’s Tour de France Tadej Pogacar had spent 29 hours 38 minutes in the saddle; after eight stages of Monte Carlo or Bust I’ve spent 30 hours 27 minutes in the saddle, so I’m harder. OK, he may have done a few more kms than me but he is less than half my age…

Gave it some beans today, thought I should do at least one 100kms at an average of over 30kph and made it by four minutes, average 30.6.

Scores on the doors:
Ridden: 815kms
To ride: 211kms
Time in saddle: 30h27m
Number of pedal strokes (approximate):237,500
Sponsorship: £1427.50
 

[chrisonabike]

Good speed. Don’t forget the

Good speed. Don’t forget the hare and tortoise though…

[Rendel Harris]

Oh yeah, big time – he not

Oh yeah, big time – he not only was kind enough to lend it, he brought it over today half an hour after he got back from driving back to London from Wales. Top man, my #1 riding buddy and former rugby teammate (many years ago!).

[jaymack]

I’m delighted to know that

I’m delighted to know that you’re back on the road to nowhere.  And a shout out to whoever has been noble enough to lend you their turbo trainer for the duration…although he/she/they may well be pleased to see the back of their torture device if only for a while.

[Rendel Harris]

Having caroused fairly

Having caroused fairly liberally with lovely family yesterday, I must say hopping on the bike for another 100kms was pretty high on my list of things I could do without. However, I would never betray the faith so many kind sponsors have placed in me and actually a good sweat and endorphin release did no harm…even did a reasonably respectable time (for me), I think my subconscious was saying the quicker you get this done the sooner you can have a hair of the dog – which I now am, slainte!

Current scores on the doors:

Ridden: 715kms
To go: 311kms
Total raised: £1402.50

Plenty of time left for any sponsors who, with some justification, are waiting to see if I actually make it!

[Rendel Harris]

That would be a fate worse

That would be a fate worse than death! I would try your suggestion but it doesn’t actually have an off and on button, it runs on the power generated by the rider so just switches itself on when you start pedalling and off shortly after you’ve finished.

[chrisonabike]

Rendel Harris wrote:

All that left was the balance of kilometres for today, so I went out and did them in the real world, so still on target, 613.5 down, 412.5 to go!

Chapeau! Grim determination indeed! All downhill from here…

[Hirsute]

If you do not get back on

If you do not get back on that bike, you are going out to Australia to open the batting. Ps have you tried turning it off and on again?

[Rendel Harris]

Slightly frustrating day: I

Slightly frustrating day: I was happily churning my way through 80km on the way to a planned 110 and wondering if the calorie burn justified a beer with lunch when the trainer almost completely seized.* Nil desperandum, it’s under warranty, tomorrow was already a planned rest day and a kind friend has promised me a loan of his for Monday. All that left was the balance of kilometres for today, so I went out and did them in the real world, so still on target, 613.5 down, 412.5 to go!

* If anyone has any suggestions as to how it could be fixed they would be gratefully received! It is still going round but incredibly heavy, takes all my effort to get it turning, to the extent that my power meter was showing 550 W and that was showing as 35 W on Zwift! I’ve updated all the firmware and tried it with multiple programs, it’s doing the same with all of them and indeed even when it’s not connected to anything. I’ve tried re-calibrating it multiple times but each time I try to do a spin down calibration the app flashes up “Attempt failed, try again” after a couple of seconds. It’s a JetBlack WhisperDrive Smart, if anyone has any experience of them.

[Rendel Harris]

Well, the Ashes helps as a

Well, the Ashes helps as a distraction (albeit a miserable one) and living up to such generous donations from you guys is definitely an inspiration!

[jaymack]

I salute you and remain in
I salute you and remain in awe. I need drugs after 90 minutes on a turbo trainer to keep focused, after 2 hours nothing is going to keep me on the Trainer, fantastic work!

[Rendel Harris]

Well, today was certainly the

Well, today was certainly the hardest so far: as you can see from the ridiculously slow time I was absolutely pedalling squares after yesterday’s 100 miler. However, aided by bloody mindedness and potentially toxic quantities of caffeine I got to the target of 133.3 km, which puts me on 500 km and nearly halfway there. Not too bad for four days, back on it tomorrow – for now there’s a cold one in the fridge with my name on it. Wishing all supporters and sponsors a great weekend!

[AlsoSomniloquism]

Maybe it is also the bike

Maybe it is also my bike setup (although don’t have the issues with on-road). I also have a long trunk (the canyon bike recommending tool kept on telling me I must have made a mistake with the figures). One plus point is I could sit up straight sometimes and hold a garage rafter but even that didn’t help in the long run. Could also have been boredom as well I suppose. 

Still well done so far. 

[Author]

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