I heard of Tommy Godwin’s “Year Record” back in 2006.

A post on the Mersey Roads 24hr thread on tritalk.co.uk reminded me about it and the Dave Barter at phased.co.uk now shows you daily updates on where Tommy would’ve been during his attempt.

For example: “On Sunday 29th January 1939 Tommy Godwin rode a total mileage of 109 miles bringing his year total to date to 4,447 miles.”

You can also receive a daily tweet of the mileage ridden by Tommy Godwin by following the Twitter account @yearrecord.

See also: www.youtube.com – Tommy Godwin Memorial

www.phased.co.uk – Tommy Godwin FAQ

Dave is trying to find more information about Tommy so If you have any information concerning Marcel Planes, Arthur Humbles, Ossie Nicholson, Walter Greaves, Bernard Bennett, Rene Menzies or Tommy Godwin please get in touch with him: Dave Barter – dave AT phased.co.uk

It’s been about three weeks since The Bike Whisperer set the Kinesis up to use a midfoot cleat position. I’d love to be able to tell you I now make 20% more power or something but it’s not yet possible to tell if there’s any performance improvements. No, I’m not going to try and analyse my power files in that kind of detail just yet.

I do make enough power to snap quality chains (and before you use my oft-spoken own words against me – no it wasn’t the join that failed and this chain had done a few thousand kilometres before I ripped the side-plate to pieces).

What I can tell you is that I’ve quickly adjusted to the mid-foot cleat change and it certainly doesn’t feel slow(er). I’ve put in some reasonably hard rides (up to 160k/100mi) as well as regular commuting and I’ve got used to the toe overlap and wrong-sided trackstanding. The odd feeling when riding out of the saddle is also barely noticeable to me now. I’ve noticed nothing in terms of aches or pains. Certainly there’s been no reappearance of my Achilles tendinitis that plagued me last year. It’s perhaps too early to write that off completely, however the signs are promising.

Today, Scherrit set up my Planet X Stealth time trial bike for use with mid-foot. I bought a second pair of Shimano shoes from ebay – the more bling silver carbon R131s. Scherrit will do all the custom drilling soon (based on a slightly modified set of instructions from Steve Hogg) but in the mean time I will use my existing pair of Shimano R085 shoes with the new Speedplay cro-mo pedals and saddle adjustment (775mm down to 751mm and some fore/aft adjustment, 4 deg front drop remained the same). We didn’t adjust the bars lower just yet in order to keep the setup ‘comfortable’ rather than ‘aero’ for the early test rides.

In other news I received three trophies this year from the Willesden CC. If I’d have bothered to enter a 50 and 100 I’d probably have scored a couple more!

Willesden CC Winners

Last night I bought some more cycling books, including The Long Distance Cyclists’ Handbook by Simon Doughty. It wasn’t until I read one of the comments from a certain Rocco Richardson (who was missed at the club dinner, get well soon!) that I actually noticed the author’s name. After a bit of googling, I’m sure that the Simon Doughty who wrote this book is the same one that holds the current Willesden Cycling Club 24hr TT record. So, I’m buying the book of the guy I’m trying to surpass!

What is it with this ride? There’s always something. This year, I was a bit late leaving due to having the Willesden CC club dinner the night before (3 trophies this year – score!) so on arrival at the HQ there were no 100k routes left, only 55k – no thanks. There were already 200 riders doing the long one. Doh! I decided since I’d already ridden the 30k out I would just do the equivalent distance to get my hours done. I had my GPS so I could ‘get lost’ without too much worry.

I started out following the tyre tracks of the previous riders (found a wireless cycle computer right near the start – contact the organisers if you lost yours) and saw a sign for a hill so headed in that direction. Eventually I spotted a couple of riders and followed behind them for a bit trying to work out if they were doing the course or not. If not I was just going to stick into the GPS some of the hills I remember doing in previous editions. We came upon a HHH signed junction so I decided to stay on the course – save using my brain for route making.

A couple of other riders went by while I was taking it easy and before long I recognised the fencing going up Bison’s Hill. Obviously I have to represent in club kit so upped the pace and was looking forward to decimating the few riders ahead when I see two of the guys stopped, one holding a chain. Whoops! I rode past apologising for my lack of chain tool and carried on past Cervelo guy who’d stopped for a breather. He offered words of encouragement (I think) which was nice.

It’s all a bit of a blur now – just riding and turning if I saw a course sign. I remember starting to ride up Ivinghoe Beacon (I think) and remembering going wrong here last time so asked one of the many riders who’d hit it coming from the other direction if they were doing the 100k. Nope, the 55k, one of them said. So I rode back down and carried on.

I was stoked to start seeing (and of course passing more riders – yeah, I’m like that) on Aston Hill. I was enjoying the descent and noticed one of the group I’d passed had given chase. I eventually eased up and low and behold it’s Ludwig from LFGSS! He says there’s a whole bunch from the forum back there and they thought it was BMMF in Grupetto kit flying by. Ha! Maybe if BMMF grew a foot or two in all directions! We all kind of rode together after that – respect to Jonny on SS and Joe riding fixed – mentalist! Again, I lose track of where we are and what’s going on, it’s just a nice day riding around some nice places. Tear off to the finish to hand the computer in, the others go to the pub and I head home with 100 miles in the bag.

Tonight’s commute home through peak hour traffic using the new midfoot setup was ok. I was making a very conscious effort not to do much lane splitting, lest I get caught out with the toe overlap trying to hook around a bumper bar. Clipping in is getting more accurate. Trackstanding the wrong way around is a bit wobbly but will only get better.

So far, there are no niggles, no pain, no strange muscle recruitment that I’ve noticed. The only odd thing is still the fact that the cleat is further back and I’m expecting pressure under the balls of my feet but not getting it.

Did a 2x20min turbo session using the midfoot setup too. It went ok but felt perhaps too heavy on the quads – this could have been the turbo angle or something though?

No pain, nothing bad to report about the new setup. Power was ok, nothing special but basically what I was aiming to hit.

After 140k cycling around Watford and Hemel Hempstead with fellow Grupetto, BMMF, I called in to see Scherrit to finish off the mid-foot cleat conversion of the Kinesis. The original setup was documented, the ATAC pedals were swapped out and the Speedplay cleats were test-fitted to the custom-drilled Shimano shoes. The saddle was dropped and moved forward and I cycled whilst Scherrit eye-balled the position. The saddle was raised a bit and moved further forward and the bars were dropped and the position was retested. The shoes rubbed on the cranks so the cleats were moved in to shift the shoes outwards. Scherrit adjusted the cleats whilst I was on the bike and conducted a shim test (left shoe was heel wedged with a Steve Hogg designed wedge) once more before locking the whole lot down.

Kinesis midfoot fitting image gallery

The alarm was set early today so peak hour could be avoided. Carving through gaps in London traffic on a totally new position and pedal system just doesn’t appeal.

First thing to note is due to the Speedplay design having the moving gubbins on the shoe rather than the pedal, you need to use cleat covers to keep dirt out of the cleats. I hate carrying extra stuff so this is annoying. You’re also supposed to lube the cleats every week. This is contrary to the zero maintenance policy I’ve applied to my SPDs, SPD-SLs and Time ATAC shoes/pedals in the past. Basically, so as long as you aren’t using totally worn cleats, you’re fine. I’ve never lubed or bothered to service these pedals and they work fine. Scherrit’s reason for using Speedplay is their ground-up design for cycling rather than being, essentially, a modified ski binding. They are also supremely adjustable and more suitable for mid-foot cleat position, which is why they are on my shoes now.

Clipping in to Speedplay is awkward for me – it operates the other way around from SPD, SPD-SL, etc. in that you don’t hook the front and push down, you hook the back and twist (at least that’s how Scherrit explained it). My method is more akin to ‘slam middle of foot towards Speedplay lollipop and hope for the best – surprisingly this seemed to work most of the time.

The Speedplay pedals also feel much more ‘skatey’ than my other setups. They probably move more freely as opposed to the centre-sprung SPDs for example.

Cycling with a midfoot cleat position does feel slightly odd, but perhaps not as weird as you might first think. It’s not difficult or anything, just, you know? A bit odd. Seated pedaling feels good. Now and then I find myself wondering what I should be doing with my toes – should I be scrapping the shoe back or is the motion more like an ankling movement. Clearly for me, with my Achilles problem, I should be minimising ankle movement and I think mostly I am, it’s just now and then I’d wonder if my feet should be moving more. After adapting, I’m sure this sensation will vanish.

I think I might be sitting a little forward on the saddle compared to previously. This is possibly one of the positional tweaks I’ll need to address or it could be nothing and just need some more riding.

At higher power outputs my right shoe in particular rubs against the crank. Perhaps I twist or roll my foot under load or perhaps it needs to be moved further out? Something to look at.

Generating power whilst seated isn’t a problem, though out-of-the-saddle efforts feels a bit strange. I’m training for long distance time trials (50mi, 100mi, 12hr, 24hr) so this isn’t much of an issue for me. At some stage I’ll have a go at a peak power test just out of curiosity.

A particular concern was the large toe-overlap now present – toe overlap being the front wheel, when turned, clipping the front of the shoe. At speed this is not an issue since you’re leaning to turn (#dontlean!), but in heavy traffic (ie. all of London) you are always weaving around cars, buses, trucks, taxis and the like at slower speeds. Peak hour could get a whole lot more interesting soon… #gravelrash

Trackstands are much harder for me now since it requires I use my non-favourite foot forward. In the past I’d turn the wheel right and have my left foot forward and be rock solid. Because of the toe overlap now, this method would mean the back of the wheel would hit my shoe and I’d possibly topple over. I can flip it around the other way so my right foot is forward but I rarely do it this way so I’m a bit unco at trackstanding with mid-foot.

Usually, when I can’t be bothered to trackstand I’d roll up to the gutter and put a foot down. This feels strange now, since the saddle is 20-30mm lower. It’s actually more comfortable to just put a foot down on the road.

Not a bad first test I would say. I’ll document some more as I adapt to the new setup. Wonder how long it will be before I order some bio-mxc2 shoes..

NB: I’ll post some info about the 2nd stage of the fitting process later

Great idea from Rapha. The Rapha Festive 500 challenges you to ride 500 kilometres (310 miles) December 23-31, 2011. Should you join, you and riders from around the world will attempt to escape the clutches of holiday indulgence by achieving this feat in just one week.

Finished on New Year’s Eve with a 220k jaunt around WOL (west of London), in the Chilterns, around Burnham, Maidenhead, Marlow, Princes Risborough, Aylesbury, Wendover, Great Missenden, Chalfonts, amongst others. There were some very impressive rides (I think the milder northern hemisphere winter helped) and I’m sure I’m not the only one taking a well-earned rest from the bike right now!

Using Strava and a GPS I logged about 770k during the Festive 500 which I thought is pretty respectable considering I started late and was working between Christmas and NYE.

The poor Kinesis suffered a bit though – I worked my way to the blue protective layer on a 25mm Marathon Plus and yesterday broke a spoke in the rear wheel yesterday as well as watched the bottom bracket spew its inners out. The cranks were moving about a centimetre side to side! Bye bye bearings. The HTC Sensation did well, logging over 9 hours of cycling yesterday with 7% still remaining on a single battery charge. It’s not going to last for a 24hr though, obviously so maybe a Garmin 800 with Extended battery pack is on the cards?