Whaddaya mean you want the exposure but not give us anything in return?

As we are filming a documentary of the 2010 1000Mile Challenge which will be placed on Youtube and Vimeo with daily video and photo updates also on RoadcyclingUK.com, BikeMagic.com and BikeRadar.com, a daily blog update on those sites and many more areas of exposure the marketing and visibility potential for sponsors is huge. Especially for companies in the cycling industry this is a marketing and goodwill opportunity not to be laughed at. Tens of thousands of people will see their products and their logos on our jerseys and as such their customer base can only grow as a result. But some of these companies want everything and in return they want to give you nothing. It speaks for itself that we will not be using them. And I'm not naming them here either because any publicity is good publicity... I guess the old proverb 'you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink' will always remain true. Yes, 'you can give a man a book but you can't make him think'. And so it shall be.

Right now, I am just looking forward to tomorrow's training ride with Ollie. We'll be heading into the Surrey hills for a 100miler and I will burn off some of this negative energy. You never can win them all of course, but it is still hard to comprehend. Some of these companies that cannot see the value we offer them are probably a bit blind. One thing is for sure though - with marketing nous like that they are probably not here to stay for the long run anyway. Now, enough of this. Positive energy only.

Success!

It tastes sweet! After a great meeting with Tom and Tahir at Action Cameras I have received confirmation that they will help us out with 3 X170 bullet cams. What's more, they also offered to give a 10% discount to purchasers of the camera if they use a special discount code (watch this space), PLUS an additional 10% of the price as a donation to our charities. I really could not have wished for a more pleasant company to deal with. Tom and Tahir - THANKS!

The proverbial silence before the storm was actually an ash cloud...

After two weeks of more or less forced relaxation I have just arrived back in the UK. I say more or less forced because the mobile stopped working and I was also unable to get on to the internet and work... and getting home to a working internet and phone was also rather impossible due to the ash cloud. Apologies to employers - I guess this is what they refer to as 'force majeure'. But, please send your complaints here and I will forward them on to my friend Jonas in the Icelandic Foreign Ministry. Eyjafjallajökull made lots of things rather tricky and it clearly demonstrated how powerless we as humans are against the might of Mother Earth. Trying to get back to the UK was a nightmare. No planes, no trains. And ferries that were so full people were forced to try the craziest things to get on board. I heard some people were told they could not board as 'foot passengers' because those tickets were sold out. The only way to get on board was as a 'cyclist', prompting many people to buy a bike so they could get on, only to be told on the other side of the water they had to leave the bikes behind if they wanted to be taken to the train station on the bus... Many people were left rather out of pocket due to this rather bureaucratic craziness and I hope they didn't splash cash on expensive cycles. Then again, they could have actually ridden their new two-wheeled friends to the station. Or even home.

After some days of tension as to whether the ash cloud would dissipate and flights could be resumed the air finally cleared. Dirk's partner was able to fly home, and the car journey back to London was back in the diary. By the time of our return journey on Sunday 25th April most of the transport problems caused by the volcano had eased and we were happy to be able to resume our lives.

I was however carrying some extra pounds by now - those damned yummy Dutch specialties... With full resolve to shed this I booked some more training days before the start of the 2010 1000Mile Challenge on the 22nd of May. The date was now not creeping but thundering closer and with so many things to still organise I simply dived into the maelstrom and have started giving it some serious stick. On Tuesday I will be meeting up with Tom at ActionCameras to discuss the use of their excellent X170 bullet cameras and then there are still the jerseys to design and print, speak to potential sponsors for foodstuffs, sponsors for bike spares, and the list goes on...

At least bikes are not affected by Eyjafjallajökull...

Everything has seemingly ground to a halt. By something we cannot see, hear, taste or feel. Courtesy of the erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. Apparently there is enough ash in the air that it poses a danger to aircraft, but it certainly can't be seen with the naked eye from where I am standing in the garden. All planes and choppers are out of the sky, stopping passenger transport but also mail and food and other perishables and creating travel chaos for thousands. It does make for clear skies though, and it is lovely and peaceful here in Delft. No silver birds heading to the nearby Rotterdam and Schiphol airports, and no trails anywhere. The sky is indeed so clear that the sun can easily burn through giving us lovely shorts and t-shirts days. But I still have no bike...and it is actually really getting to me. It's like I have been forced to go cold turkey and am suffering withdrawal effects. Rather enviously I look at the zillions of bikes that are around everywhere here in Holland. I resolve to do some serious training as soon as I am back in London. 100 miles. Every day. Maybe. Definitely.

How to train without a bike?

Tomorrow Dirk and I will be heading over to The Netherlands. My son Noah will be coming along on this 'Big Boys Trip' too, and he has already packed his things. He's been looking forward to this trip for months now, asking me almost daily when we are going. When you're 4 years old these things are pretty darned exciting! I will be staying at my parents' house for two weeks, putting together my showreel, meeting up with dear friends I have not seen for far too long, and doing some work too before the big storm of sponsorship sourcing, organising, writing, and so on will hit... It will also mean that my almost daily 30Mile (50km) rides will suddenly stop. Because in this country of cycles I actually do not have a bike in the garage anymore. The Dutch bike I had went to bicycle heaven many moons ago and the 1977 Peugeot PX10 I used to commute to school on has been in London now for almost 16 years. I will be bringing a bike with me though, but the rebuilt and rather tasty looking Cube Comp Custom standing next to me in the office here is actually destined for my brother. It's a late birthday present which is aimed at getting him to leave his car parked more often and taking the bike instead. And he actually asked for it too, which took me rather by surprise as he is a bit of a petrolhead. He very quickly forgot about his MTB when he was a kid, went to scooters and then to cars and has been trading up since. Well, at least the polished alloy and black colour scheme will suit his taste. It certainly always drew admiring glances when I rode it around London in its previous guises. But, it means no training for me for two weeks and I can already sense that I will be adding some more to my already highish weight. Sigh...oh well, I'll just call it energy reserves for the 22nd May, which is approaching all too rapidly!

Undertraining vs. Interesting Television

My my my... I think none of us are training enough, apart from maybe Ollie, who commutes on the bike from Richmond to Canary Wharf every day and back! He´s certainly lost weight and his thighs are looking rather stronger every time I see him. And if truth be told, it really is very difficult to get everyone together for group training rides. We all have very busy work schedules and most of us have kids and wives/girlfriends, who naturally also need time and attention. In a way it reminds me of playing in a band! I vividly remember how difficult it was get us all at the same place at the same time. And it also did not matter whether you lived close to each other or not! The big difference though is the lack of 'creative incongruence', of course the biggest stumbling block when trying to create songs that worked...
Nevertheless, as we are making a documentary of the 2010 1000Mile Challenge focusing on the human drama of undertaking such a challenge, I comfort myself with the thought that at least if we are not trained enough, it will make the television more interesting!

2010 1000MC Training Ride 3 - Richmond Park

RICHMOND PARK

Saturday, 3 April 2010

Objective - 50 miles, practising drafting

Today will be a relatively easy one. The objective is to ride at least 50 miles/7 laps of Richmond Park, practising drafting and turntaking at the front, and adding some base miles to our training. I know Dirk went to a football game yesterday (and probably having a pint or two...) so it´s unlikely it will turn into a race this time. Having said that, I just helped him rebuild his bike with lighter wheels so I´m sure he´ll want to try them out in anger...
The weather forecast did not look like a happy one though - heavy rain showers - and as predicted it is pissing down when my son comes to wake me for breakfast. As soon as they had come they also disappeared thoughand by the time I stepped out of the front door it was dry. Not quite sunny and warm, but dry at least!

At 09.30 I pull into the Roehampton Cafe carpark and meet up with the rest of the gang, all of them sipping coffees and munching on cakes inside. For a cafe so hugely popular with the usual crowd of road cyclists training in Richmond Park it is disappointing that park management haven´t yet figured out that cleats caked in mud don´t clip into pedals very well. High time they gravelled the outside area I´d say!

After some chat about the looming 2010 1000Miles Challenge and a brief visit by a chap who saved me from a long walk earlier that week (giving me a spare inner tube when I was stood in the sudden and pouring rain, unable to glue the patch on...) we set off.

Another important training exercise today was to improve pedalling cadence, aiming for a smooth spinning motion in the ideal range of 85-100 rpm (pedal revolutions per minute) which is much more efficient - and easier on the legs, especially the knees. It builds aerobic fitness and by chopping the distance into smaller chunks it also means less anaerobic power is required. And hey, learning to pedal like this turned Lance Armstrong from a racer to a race winner, and if it is good enough for him...

Richmond Park is a beautiful training ground for road cyclists as the circular route around the park has some steep hills, windy flats and fast descents. Traffic is also limited to a 20mph maximum speed, but, if truth be told, 90% of drivers do not adhere to it. I just cannot fathom why they need to go fast even here, a park full of people on bikes on the road, crossing deer and lots of kids. Sometimes I just wish I had a Police ID so I could ticket the lot of them. Anyway, I digress... Today was a good training ride. We complete the 7 laps with relative ease but we still need to work on our average speed as some are still too slow. However, we are all upbeat and really looking forward to more training rides before embarking on the BIG one on 22nd May 2010...

2010 1000MC Training Ride 2 - 80 miles London to Brighton

2010 1000Mile Challenge Training Ride 2

Dry and sunny, 10C in London, 4C in Brighton

Objective: An 80 mile ride from London to Brighton.

7 AM rise, breakfast: 5 Weetabix and 2 coffees. After a number of cancelled rides due to everybody's commitments, today was the day. Dry and a good temperature for cycling. Training ride 2, and only 10 weeks away to the 1000+Mile (1600+kms) monster that is LEJOG. Luckily everyone in the team can make it this morning. Although we had aimed for a 100-mile (160kms) ride today, the feeling in the group was that a slightly lower mileage would be more appropriate. Because of the missed rides. So, we opted for our usual London-Brighton ride, a distance of 55 miles (90kms) from our usual meeting point at Fat Boys Cafe near Purley. There are however additional miles for all of us to get there, with Balham, Camberwell, Ruislip and Richmond as respective starting points, plus the distance from Clapham Junction rail station back home. This way we all get to at least 75 miles (120kms) At 8.15 Ollie arrives at my place. Just as we are having a pre-ride coffee Damian shows up, half an hour late because he had lost his way on the way over. We all eagerly climb onto our racing machines and head off to the meeting point, still 15 miles away. This is the first long distance ride (and second ride overall) on my new saddle and I am hoping I will still be smiling when I get back home. Our delayed departure means we arrive slightly late at the meeting point, and after another coffee and some quick tinkering on bikes we finally set off. Only 100 meters down the road however the cassette we just put onto Dirk's bike is protesting loudly, forcing a quick swap (less than 3 minutes) for another one. A brief stop in Wallington at the LBS so Dirk can get some warmer trousers and we're into the countryside at Farthing Downs. The traffic has sofar been relatively heavy today but the temperature is good and the sun is breaking through the clouds. Progress is swift. Quite quickly we pass Gatwick Airport and arrive at the windmill near Outwood where we planned to take a group picture. This really seems to be the crossroads of many Surrey countryside routes as there always are quite a number of people on racing bikes on this road. 5 miles on and we're at the pub the Jolly Farmer - our usual early lunch break location. After a quick refuel Ollie and Damian head back into London so they can be back in time for other commitments, while Dirk, Deuan and I continue on to Brighton at a newfound pace. We practice drafting and turn-taking at the front and via the Ardingly Reservoir we quickly find ourselves staring at the ominous Ditchling Beacon looming ahead, always a somewhat monstrous climb for the 39-23 gearing my bike is equipped with. Deuan and Dirk ride with triple cranksets and large rear cogs so their pace can be slower - I need to keep the pace going otherwise the gearing I am in will not allow me to keep putting pressure on and I will simply fall over. I get in front of them and try to remember everything I have been drumming into my head - keep in lowest gear, keep yourself at a steady pace, make nice round circles when pedalling to maximise the power you can put down, etc. But it is of no use - three quarters of the way up I just cannot push anymore and have to briefly stop for a breather. I look down only to see that my cassette still has two bigger cogs available - turns out I rode this far up on a 39-19! Suddenly I don't feel as bad anymore, down-shift and set off, and although I manage it, I find riding to the top without stopping again still quite a challenge. By the time my heavy breathing has normalised Dirk and Deuan arrive at the summit of this little but harsh hill. Then it's down the hill on the other side and a descent into Brighton for a quick picture, a well deserved late lunch and a relaxing hour on the train. I needed to still run an errand in London afterwards, so I added another 22miles (37kms) to my tally for the day, totalling 90miles (144kms) by the time I stepped back in the door. The last 25 kilometers were all inside London which I aimed to ride as fast as possible and covered in an hour exactly. It really drained the remaining energy. By the time 9pm came around I was well on my way to the land of Nod.

2010 1000MC Training Ride 1 - Richmond Park

LEJOG Training day 1.

Sunny and dry. 5C. Objective: 10 Laps of Richmond Park (120kms)

08.30. Dirk turns into my road and over a coffee laced with honey we quickly set to changing his touring bike into a roadbike. We get tubes and tyres onto his new wheels, switch gear cassettes over and take excess weight like luggage racks off. Oliver joins us at 09.00 for a coffee and a little later we’re off. 09.30 Roehampton Café, Richmond Park. We meet up with Damian and Oliver’s brother in law. Deuan had a meeting so unfortunately could not make it today.

After a bit of ogling Damian’s new PlanetX carbon racer we click into our pedals and head out onto the cold but sunny and dry tarmac. Oliver and I quickly settle into a 35km/h pace and take the headwind. Half a lap later we look back to see who will take their turn at the front but it turns out we pulled a big gap. So big in fact that we can’t see the other guys anywhere. We slow down a little but by the time we complete the first lap there’s still no sign. Rather than stand still in the cold to wait up for them we decide to hammer it and to lap them to join the group back up. So we push it. Lap2. Lap3. Still no sign of them, so we push it a bit harder. Lap4. Still nada. Lap5. Where are these guys? We turn into the parking lot at the Roehampton Café to wait. And find Dirk and Damian standing there with the entire front end of Damian’s bike in pieces. Turns out PlanetX installed the headset in Damian’s new bike wrongly, making steering very heavy. Luckily I have gotten to know bikes very well while building up my own, so I whip out an Allen key and 10 minutes of tinkering and we’re ready to go again. Damian needs to head back to Ruislip though to prepare for a gig later that night, so Dirk, Oliver and myself head out again into Richmond Park while Damian tackles the 22mile ride home. Now chilled to the bones due to standing around in sweated up cycle gear in low temperatures, we just can’t get warm anymore and find it difficult to get back into a rhythm. Two freezing cold laps later we give in and head back over to my place. Not a great start as we were 3 laps short of the objective, but we did cover 95kms total. Dirk confessed to doing only half laps with Damian though, cutting through past the Royal Ballet School. It explains why we never saw them again - they probably turned onto the main straight just after we had passed the short cut every time...

1000 Mile Challenge 2010 - LEJOG

LEJOG 2010 - THE SECOND 1000MILE CHALLENGE

In May the second 1000Mile Challenge will kick off. Last year my good friend Dirk Bischof rode the first in what may just become our yearly way of putting our cycling prowess in the service of charity. Whereas Dirk’s ride was in Japan, this year we are staying closer to home by tackling the classic Lands End to John O Groats cycle ride, with the aim of raising money for a little-known but excellent charity called Project Peru. Although the path from this most South-western point to most North-eastern point of the United Kingdom has been beaten by many cyclists and runners over the years, it is a big event and one not to be taken lightly. Aside from the 1100 mile distance there are some seriously steep hills and although we are all hoping it will be dry and sunny the whole way we are likely to see some strong winds and lashing rain too. After all, this is Britain - the weather is impossible to predict here. I will be accompanied on the trip by my good friends Dirk Bischof (MD of the charity Embrace), Deuan German (Finance Manager for the charity CEN), Oliver Hoare (Head Information Assurance for the Olympic Delivery Authority London 2012) and Damian Bell (MD of Supply Direct).

There will also be riders joining us on certain stages. If you want to come along, look at our schedule and tell us which stage you’d like to join. You will need a racing bike and stamina and we'll also ask you to raise some money for the charity. Our daily mileage quota is around 100 so come and challenge yourself! Of course I will keep you updated here on our training, preparation and during the ride itself. We will also be filming the trip and posting ride updates on Vimeo and Youtube, with a documentary of our experience also in the works.

As I mentioned, we are raising money for the charity Project Peru, a great charity which is completely volunteer-based. It is run by a lovely couple, David and Carole. Both in their sixties, they really are an example of how much can be achieved if you put time into your passion. Their charity supports children in the desert shanty towns of Lima, Peru with food, shelter and education. They also offer real, ongoing and practical help to local community groups so please be generous and help us to help them by donating any amount of money via my www.justgiving.co.uk/Eric-Jorrin site to donate. Aside from individual donations we are of course also very interested in talking to companies and organisations who may wish to sponsor us. We can offer a lot of exposure in return, so do get in touch.

The ride itself is not just called a 1000Mile Challenge. Although the distance from Land's End, in the furthest South West of the UK, to John O Groats, the furthest North East in Scotland is 874 miles as the crow flies, the route we are taking is a bit longer! The distance we expect cover in 10 days of cycling is about 1100 miles and interspersed with mountainous hills, unreliable weather and poor roads. It is sure to be an adventure, although I have to say I am not looking forward to lashing rain at the same time as climbing a 20%+ hill. And although all of us cycle on a regular basis, riding 100+ miles every day for 10 days solid is something that requires some more training and preparation than a sturdy breakfast alone. To prepare we have set up 10 training rides in the months leading up to the ride.

Of Acting and Cycling

After a long time pursuing music and other interests, I am about to splash back into acting, with a couple of things in the pipeline. The new showreel will be ready in the near future, I am head-shotting and the new site will be up and running soon too. Watch this space!

I will also be keeping you entertained (I hope) with tales about another of my great - new - loves. I have become a bit of a cycle-nut over the past years, and like the great Robin Williams have become pretty darn serious about the whole thing too. The switch from the utilitarian Dutch perspective on cycling -how to get from A to B on a 30-year old bike- to riding 100 miles for fun has been amazing. I thoroughly recommend it. You go fast enough to cover distance, slow enough to smell, see and hear everything around you. Whooshing through empty country lanes at great speed on a smoothly whirring machine, wind in your hair, enjoying some good exercise and being next to carbon neutral doing it…come to think of it, it is probably one of the most enjoyable things you can do with your clothes on.

A television documentary is in development about the 2011 cycle race from Paris to Dakar I plan to compete in, training has commenced for LEJOG, a 1600 kilometer charity cycle ride with my buddies scheduled for May 2010, and plans are underway for organising an 1800 kilometre cycle stage race in a warm location.

And ... Action!