A personal one.

My name's Jordan, I'm awesome!

So today I just really want to talk about life,

Recently mine has been all over the place; I've been lower than I have ever been before and felt so terrible for the things I've done and said, for the people I've hurt and those I've ignored.

However from doing this to everyone I have personally had the greatest 2 months of my life, I haven't had to worry about anyone else but myself, I've been able to do whatever I want, when I want. I know it sounds selfish, but when you've been constantly working for other people a little time out is needed.

So I've been out riding the bikes, chilling with my true friends, I've moved house, worked hard, met new genuine people, tried a different diet, taken chances I would never usually take (and maybe regretted some of them) listened to some awesome new tracks and most of all, I have actually felt good about myself... This to me is the most important point.

No one should have to feel left out, alone, sad.... the list goes on, making a few simple changes in your life can change everything. I know, I just did it and I feel great.

So over the last few weeks what have I done?

We visited some hoes!

Riding....

I've been out so much recently, most rides I have been accompanied by the most amazing guy I have ever had the chance to meet, work with and ride with.
This guy (and partner) have done so much for me over the past 2 months, I really can not thank them enough.

Dale "The Wheels" Elder: Ultimate ride partner.

Dale, Bossing it as usual!

I met Dale About 2 1/2 years ago and we hit it off straight away. He's funny as hell, hard working and just a really cool guy. I got him to come out riding with me, god what a mission it was for the first few rides!

But, he stuck at it, in 2 years he's gone from "back of the pack" to "domestique extraordinaire".
Sticking on my wheel up climbs, breaking wind in front of me and setting me up for sprints like a one man sprint train and he's a motivational diva.

Pin-up girl material.

He's definitely changed, for the best of course. At the same time I would like him to always stay the same, right now everything is perfect.

So we've been riding around and the distances we go are getting longer and the chats we have on the bikes are getting stranger. We've recently started "getting lost".

Getting lost?

Getting lost is just riding in any direction, finding a place you've never been and just keep going. We've ridden in circles which is very annoying. We've climbed hundreds of hills and have even tried cyclocross... Unintentionally, but quite thankfully. Its a thrill, the adrenaline feels amazing, the fear of crashing keeps you on edge and the possibility of punctures makes you want to quit. Which we did not, we rode that trail like true Flandrian Hard Men.

And in getting lost we have started using my Garmin to its full capacity and using the maps. So we don't get completely lost...
Planning routes of 50-70 miles for only 2 people to ride is quite hard as distance and time are hard to keep track of when looking on a scree,. riding the route on the road, not knowing if you're going to be climbing or descending is a hassle and you don't want to be out all night in the cold and under-fed, so planning ahead is crucial.

We recently did a ride with a friend of a friend, which I was very insistent that Dale was ready for as I didn't want to look "un-Pro". Dales partner had prepared musettes for the three of us! That was amazing! Peanut butter sandwiches, Granola bars, Brownies and Flapjacks! Everything an ever hungry cyclist needs for a ride.

So we did the ride, got halfway and our tag along had a mechanical issue, so the returning half of the ride was at a slower pace... until his chain snapped. Fuck!

I've never seen a chain snap, I don't even know anyone who's had a chain snap, this was a first and I was quite shocked at how easily a snap can happen. Thankfully I have spares, but not with me on that ride, so we said goodnight and road on...

The rainbow road.

Rainbow Road Ridin'

One of the best things about riding is, you never know what's going to happen.

Me and Dale were out riding and we reached a junction on a bike path, I said
"Let's go left"
So we start riding along this bike path until we get to the most amazing thing I have ever seen while riding my bike.

The whole bike path was covered in Pink, Red, Blue, Green and Yellow chalk! It was everywhere! We rode through it, the bikes got covered in chalk, we were getting chalk on us and the chalk was being kicked up into the air, it was beautiful!

Impromptu Photoshoot!

This was easily one of the best rides I've ever been on, it was so unexpected and really raised our moods. I will always remember that night, riding with my best friend, in chalk, at night.... Bliss.

Getting Fancy with the Camera

More recently,

Just standing in a field, asking you to love me.

We rode from Portsmouth to Southampton via Clanfield and Bishops Waltham.
A big loop round the top of Portsmouth and then back down through to Fareham.

This ride was just brilliant because of the amount of climbing we did. We had never ridden on 70% of the roads, and this is when we tried cyclocross.


I am planning to complete 2 Strava challenges in one ride next Sunday (10.08) The SiS Summer 100 and the Strava Gran Fondo 8.

The first being a ride of 100 miles in one ride and the other being 130km in one ride. So my pre-planned route of 156 mile should be plenty to complete both challenges and rocket me up the leaderboard. If you would like to join me just drop me a message on any of the social networks at the bottom of the page and I'll send you the .gpx file!

Getting messed up!

Work/Coffee

Work has been good, same old.

Not exactly.

Well, being appointed Head Barista is pretty sick, a little bit of control and influence is always a good thing...
You know when you just like things done a certain way? Being able to pick up on the little things is awesome and knowing that things are being done correctly gives a sense of accomplishment, picking which coffees we serve is amazing too. I can pick flavours I like and hopefully get others to like them too!

There's also a new girl! She's pretty cool, into the whole Health and Fitness... I don't know if anyone else has this problem? But is it just me or is it really hard to find a girl who is genuinely into Health and Fitness? These girls are so rare!
Check out her Blog The Endorphin Diaries

I am still working on improving myself, a few new designs are being practised at the moment, not got them perfect enough yet to want to show anyone pictures. I've been searching for loads of different little things I can do to improve my skill set. Tara bought an amazing book called Coffee Obsession by Anette Moldvaer.

Its a brilliant read with some great basic information on coffee, but the main reason for mentioning this book is the recipes inside! They're awesome. They all contain coffee, some with alcohol and some with fruit... Just check it out for yourself and create some amazing drinks!

I tried the Coffee Cola recipe, using a double shot of our Jailbreak Espresso from HasBean, Ice and 250ml of Coca Cola.... It was really tasty, you can distinguish both coffee and cola but there seemed to be a hint of really juicy red cherries too! But saying that, I wouldn't drink too much of it because your teeth will fall out...

At home I've been making cold brewed Cascara and cold brewed Vanilla Iced Tea, both of which are super tasty, I made my housemates try the Cascara, they loved it which is a win, I mentioned it tasted like Marmalade and they were begging me for it! However the Vanilla Iced Tea is just too good to let anyone else have. But you can go buy some and make it yourself? I get my Vanilla tea from All About Tea and the Cascara from Hasbean.

Personal/Other Stuff

So on the girl front... I don't even know anymore? I guess I sort of give up? I'm currently just very happy being me, doing what I want. But, you know, if there's someone out there who likes the same stuff as me and isn't a complete nightmare....

My Nan was in hospital for a few days with a suspected Heart Attack, which sucked big time. This lady has really done more than she should have had to do with her life already, I can't express my love for her enough without crying and looking a complete mess. You'll never understand true love until someone has given up 18 years of their life to raise you even though they shouldn't have, she should have been enjoying her life. (And  I know she would argue that if she would have done it a hundred times over and never regretted anything) I am truly thankful and blessed for everything she has done and when something like the above has happened it really gets you going...

I emailed Portsmouth University about my Course next year too! Excited to start that!

IRR.cc, I am still currently trying to sort this out, its a nightmare trying to fit stuff in and around other things...
But, things are looking good for the .cc so I'm happy... for now...

IRR.cc - Best Bro's

Music has been pretty sweet, there's a new Gaslight anthem out soon, so I'm stoked!
I borrowed my housemates guitar last night and had a solo jam session, at least I've not forgotten everything.

Looking at buying an S-Works Venge too! Really happy about this, going to take a while to build the frame up, fortunately I have a few spares banging around... A nice new project to keep me busy.

The France and Belgium trip is still being planned, I also started planning a 2-3 day training trip to Wales. So I'm really excited that its starting to feel a bit more realistic.




Thanks very much for popping by and reading about my life....
I promise more bike related stuff soon....

If I've not bored you to death and you want to keep up to date please follow the links below!
Alternatively click on one of those Cups/Mugs on the side bar!

Facebook// Irideroad.cc
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Also If you're on Strava hit me up... Jordan Clarke on Strava
Alternatively Garmin me? Irideroad

Chippin' 'ell lad! Part 1

Spartacus is back!

25th June 2014

So as I said yesterday I'm travelling to Bristol today... I've already been and am writing this on the train back. What the hell? I just looked out the window and there’s a giant white horse?

Anyway, it's been a pretty sweet day, the sun is shining, I have Spartacus back and I've travelled the farthest away from home ever alone. I feel a bit grown up...

So firstly, travelling to and from...

I had planned my wake up to perfection. I had 3 or 4 alarms waiting to blast out an annoying tune to wake me up, they did not need to, i was awake half an hour before they were due to go off, so all I needed to do was get dressed and pack my laptop. After doing this the taxi was phoned, I had at least 40 mins to get to the train station....

But boy did it get close to missing my train, I stood and waited and waited for the taxi, the minutes passing and my worry growing, if I missed the train my whole day would be screwed! Eventually the taxi arrived 15 mins "late" his excuse... The traffic.

So finally I get to the station and buy my tickets with 4 mins to spare, a very close call for someone who likes to plan ahead.

The train arrives and as you can imagine, it’s already packed, people are complaining over reserved seats and the heat already... We have not even started moving... Shut up!

Damn, the ticket lady has got it going on!

I arrive at Bristol Temple Meads unharmed, now to wait an hour for the train to Yate...

There was no way in hell I was waiting at the station for an hour so I asked if I could pop outside, they let me through and I got to see Bristol for the first time... What a S**t tip.

Half the buildings were falling apart by the looks of things, there were a lot of advertisements all over the buildings, begging for someone to buy the space and "develop" the area.

I strolled along the main road just looking around, some of the buildings are beautiful, and some are not. 

I keep walking until I stop and see "Baristas Coffee Collective" I immediately enter. Upon entering I see a bar, a snug area with a projector aimed at the wall showing a blue square (obviously nothing on today?) and a few people standing up at the bar, one ordering the other two on bar stools drinking their coffee.

I was in a rush so didn't really get time to look at the full menu of drinks or food, so I did what any normal person does when being asked the question...

"What would you like today?" 

At least the barista was nice, 

"Urrrrrrrrrrrrgh?" You know this noise? This is what I did, just like you do when you don't know what to order....

"Double espresso please?"

"1.60 please"

"That’s cheap" I thought, probably going to be a bit crap then?

Well, what was handed to me in an espresso cup can only be called liquid gold. Peachy liquid gold. Gold.

I lifted the gold to my nose and smelled the coffee, peach.

I dipped my finger in the crema and tasted it, intense, thick, dark and rich.

Finally I lifted it to my mouth, sipped and swilled. It was heaven, flavour rushed my tongue. The longer I held it in my mouth the more it tasted of peaches. I was in love for about 30 seconds... I had to leave and get my train.

However you can experience the same pleasure as me by going and visiting them some info below.

Baristas Coffee Collective

FB/ BCC

So I walk back to the train station and board the train.

The thing I've noticed all day is that trains are crap, I often complain about how horrible the ones in and around Portsmouth are, green, dirty... falling apart!? But never again will I complain, have you been to Bristol and used the trains here? I thought I was going to die.

However another thing I noticed was that the further away from a major city you get the nicer the train stations get? It’s a shame that this is the case, I'd rather have nice trains and nice stations. Hell, even just having trains I feel safe in would be an improvement!

All day, or at least the times I was sat on a train the scenery was beautiful, there are so many beautiful houses and castles/churches/I don't even know what they are but they were pretty sweet!

Anyway back to the point....

I made it to Yate, the train station is about 50ft below the main road so you have to climb up a set of stairs which take you up onto a bridge which crosses the tracks. But when you get to the top you are welcomed to the town of Yate. The view is nothing extraordinary but it’s not until you start walking towards my destination, Chipping Sodbury, the next town across, that you notice how wide the roads are, how even though it’s the middle of the day traffic is minimal and that everyone seems to be in a good mood? Something in the water? Yate also came second in their first Britain in Bloom entry in 2011, maybe that’s why it’s so nice? Little fact for you there, I'm so knowledgeable... "Cough" thanks Google.

So, I had to walk to Chipping Sodbury from Yate, it's really not too far. Plus when the weather was as nice as it was today it's beautiful, the only shame is that you do have to walk all the way down a main road, however it is lined with wild flowers, so it's not too bad, and you do have something to look at.

After about a half hour walk I arrived in what can only be described as the most beautiful and old fashioned/ authentic town centre in the UK. 

You really do need to see the place to understand how amazing it is. So like a complete tourist I asked a passer-by where the local police station was...

"'Halfway down t' high street"

So I wandered down looking at everything, I mean everything, the buildings were beautiful (I've used that word far too many times already, but it's the truth). Finally I reach the police station, shaking with anxiety and excitement, I was also a bit scared. What if something’s happened to Spartacus? 

That has been my only real fear in this ordeal, the fact that I don't know what’s happening half the time, communication between oneself and the authorities has been quite minimal. So the whole time I have been expecting something to have gone wrong at some point. 

I enter the police station, which may I add looks amazing from the outside, and as I entered it reminded me of my old school, polished wood and smooth red brick, cold but clean. 

I walk up to the desk and wait for 20 seconds until an older fellow turns up from around the corner.

I tell him that I am here to pick up my bike, where I have come from and about my day, how impressed i am with the town and how very pleased i am that someone on his small police force has been able to locate my bike and recover it.

He replies with,

"You're very lucky to get this back"

To which I reply

"I know, very lucky. I didn't think I'd see it again"

So I take a seat after handing over the paper work.