Potholes!! Some of them would need a ladder to get out of them. It's also very busy (even at 6.30 in the morning).
As you have probably deduced, we eventually decided on London to Derby as originally planned. We took 14 hours to get back to Derby, which included 9 and a half hours of actual cycling time at an average of 14.7 miles per hour. I have never been so glad to see a 'Welcome to Derby' sign, although by that stage we were still pretty strong and kept a good pace going through the city, including a failed attempt at setting off a speed camera! We beat the welcoming committee to the finish line, so we clapped them in having driven all the way from Ashbourne.
Worst bits of the day were getting up at 4.45 am having gone to bed just before midnight, and then the miles between 95 and 110, just because I was bushed and couldn't eat any more energy bars. Thank goodness for bananas and Jeremy brewing up from the back of his car. What a star spending his entire day meeting us at assorted pubs along the way....hang on, perhaps there is some method in his madness!
The highlights were breakfast in Hertfordshire at Simon and Phillipa's, the tuna pasta bake and apple crumble which Tracy cooked for us on Friday evening and the fantastic English countryside we came through thanks to Carl's route, Martin's Tom Tom and Paul's programming of the aforementioned route into the aforementioned Tom Tom. We would have still been going had we relied on reading maps.
Between us we raised well over £2,000 for Ilam School, a massive thank you to everyone who sponsored me, it really helped me through the training to know I'd got all of that support. I'm also very grateful to Donna and the children for preparing a great bath and pasta dinner for when I got home.
My legs (and rear quarters) have been fine over the rest of the weekend, carrying loads of chairs and tables on Sunday afternoon was a bit of a struggle but I'm now raring to get back out on my bike.
It's been a hard slog and my old mucker Nige was never far from my mind. He's got a bigger, infinitely more important challenge on his plate. I feel fortunate that I can go out and ride my bike when I want, 'cos I know he'd love to be out there too. Get better soon old lad and the mountain bikes can come out of semi-retirement!
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Thursday, 24 May 2007
Buzzin'
This is a quick apology to anyone that comes across me in person over the next couple of days, I have already filled myself so full of energy drinks, bars, pasta, rice etc. that I am as high as a kite. Goodness knows how I am going to sleep, I feel totally full of energy. Should last until about 7.30 a.m. on Saturday!
Our bags were dropped off with our support driver last night, I have spares of things I don't even have in the first place, if that makes sense! Let's just say every eventuality is catered for, a few times over.
It's looking odds on that we will be going Derby to London because there is going to be a strong northerly wind which I have NO interest in cycling into. This does mean that we will be going downhill as well....doesn't it? Hitting London in early evening doesn't fill me with joy, though. I reckon I'll put a courier sticker on my backside and ride like a complete spanner just to blend in. I once cycled from Euston to Victoria, and followed a cycle courier who was heading the same way, no idea how I'm here to tell the tale. The best thing to come out of London has to be the train to Brum.....in my opinion.
I wouldn't want to be sitting next to me on the train back if we do finish in London. Not only will I be at the wrong end of the minging scale, but I will undoubtedly sleep/snore/slobber. Nice.
Preparations are slightly interrupted tonight for me to go and see Editors in Wolverhampton. Cannot wait! This also adding to my manic behaviour.
Our bags were dropped off with our support driver last night, I have spares of things I don't even have in the first place, if that makes sense! Let's just say every eventuality is catered for, a few times over.
It's looking odds on that we will be going Derby to London because there is going to be a strong northerly wind which I have NO interest in cycling into. This does mean that we will be going downhill as well....doesn't it? Hitting London in early evening doesn't fill me with joy, though. I reckon I'll put a courier sticker on my backside and ride like a complete spanner just to blend in. I once cycled from Euston to Victoria, and followed a cycle courier who was heading the same way, no idea how I'm here to tell the tale. The best thing to come out of London has to be the train to Brum.....in my opinion.
I wouldn't want to be sitting next to me on the train back if we do finish in London. Not only will I be at the wrong end of the minging scale, but I will undoubtedly sleep/snore/slobber. Nice.
Preparations are slightly interrupted tonight for me to go and see Editors in Wolverhampton. Cannot wait! This also adding to my manic behaviour.
Monday, 21 May 2007
Eat Drink and Be Merry
Mostly, this week, I will be eating anything I can lay my hands on! Only six days to go so it's all about fuelling up for the big ride on Saturday. My plan is at least one energy drink and bar a day in addition to my usual extensive fodder. I will then build up the food intake from Thursday onwards with plenty of pasta, rice, spuds etc. If I'm understanding it correctly, I need protein earlier in the week as well and leading up to the day.
I've then get all manner of drinks, bars and gels ready for Saturday itself, and I'm hoping to take in a few tea shops for coffee (yes, I know I said tea) and cake. That should do the job! I'll probably be too much of a porker to ride.
I'll keep the riding to a minimum this week, just the odd hour long jaunt. I will be watching the weather forecast very closely. I had a 30 mile ride on Saturday morning which would have been tough enough, but it was blowing a hoolie! I really don't like cycling in the wind. The 5 day forecast up to Friday looks good, dry, sunny and light winds. It looks hot around Wednesday but is cooling down on Friday so I will be keeping everything crossed, sunny, not too hot and no wind would be ideal, but no wind is the main focus!!
I've then get all manner of drinks, bars and gels ready for Saturday itself, and I'm hoping to take in a few tea shops for coffee (yes, I know I said tea) and cake. That should do the job! I'll probably be too much of a porker to ride.
I'll keep the riding to a minimum this week, just the odd hour long jaunt. I will be watching the weather forecast very closely. I had a 30 mile ride on Saturday morning which would have been tough enough, but it was blowing a hoolie! I really don't like cycling in the wind. The 5 day forecast up to Friday looks good, dry, sunny and light winds. It looks hot around Wednesday but is cooling down on Friday so I will be keeping everything crossed, sunny, not too hot and no wind would be ideal, but no wind is the main focus!!
I saw my brother over the weekend, he is a crazy cyclist, as I may have already mentioned. In his list of credits is John O'Groats to lands End, the coast of England and Wales, the coast of Jockoland, north to south of both Spain and France and a 3 week trip across America!! However, his best mileage day is 135 miles, which was revised to 140 when i told him we thought London to Derby would be 140. Believe me, if I get to Derby and the mileometer is reading 140, I'm going to have to be in pretty bad shape for me not to do another mile around the block!!
Most of his rides have been on his own and 'unofficial', he did point out that he did 135 miles whilst he was still at school, on a 3-speed racer and wearing a duffle coat and jeans. Geeeeeek!!!
Anyway, my next post might actually be a report on how it went, so I hope to be up to doing it probably on Sunday.
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
Life is like a Box of Chocolates
Forrest Gump had some great one liners, but the one most relevant to me this week refers to his being shot in the 'boo-tock'. Which is how I feel. Let's say some chaffing occured on Sunday and climbing into a hot bath was a fairly slow process afterwards and sitting on hard chairs is quite painful right now. Enough detail? No pictures I'm afraid.
The 100 miles went relatively well, I say relatively as I was a spent force by the end of it, although we did give it some hammer, averaging 14.9 mph (that's an ooh, as it was 15.5 for most of the way) and the heart rate was averaging 138, quite high for a bike ride. I enjoyed it though, and whilst I know the 140 miles of the real thing is going to be tough, I reckon if we take it easy, it should be doable.
I don't know why I felt so good but I do have a number of theories;
1. Training in the Peak District is good, I haven't done lots of long rides but most of them have been very hilly, and it must be good preparation. Once you are south of the A50, Staffordshire is somewhat flatter and it's easier to keep a reasonable pace going.
2. I'm good at carbo stacking, i.e. I'm a greedy whatsit. I could eat for England and I think my efforts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday served me well.
3. I may have stumbled across the secret of Aussie sporting success,......there is something in their beer (it certainly ain't beer that's in their beer). If this is the case, then I have made a case for a case of Tooheys to always be on hand. I drank more than my share of it on holiday and it hasn't done me as much harm as say, a few Riggwelters. Still, given the choice, I'd always go for the Rigg!
I managed a short recovery ride on Monday evening, as much to stop my bike rusting up. We did get a tad wet on Sunday, all the way back from Tamworth to be precise. My 'waterproof' socks acted like wet suit booties once they were full of water, although you can't get the pleasure of warming your legs in the same way as with a wetsuit by....well if you don't know, it's not for me to tell you.
That's me for now, can't sit for too long at the minute without discomfort. Thank goodness for 1 year old wee Archie, it means we have plenty of pseudo cream in the house.
The 100 miles went relatively well, I say relatively as I was a spent force by the end of it, although we did give it some hammer, averaging 14.9 mph (that's an ooh, as it was 15.5 for most of the way) and the heart rate was averaging 138, quite high for a bike ride. I enjoyed it though, and whilst I know the 140 miles of the real thing is going to be tough, I reckon if we take it easy, it should be doable.
I don't know why I felt so good but I do have a number of theories;
1. Training in the Peak District is good, I haven't done lots of long rides but most of them have been very hilly, and it must be good preparation. Once you are south of the A50, Staffordshire is somewhat flatter and it's easier to keep a reasonable pace going.
2. I'm good at carbo stacking, i.e. I'm a greedy whatsit. I could eat for England and I think my efforts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday served me well.
3. I may have stumbled across the secret of Aussie sporting success,......there is something in their beer (it certainly ain't beer that's in their beer). If this is the case, then I have made a case for a case of Tooheys to always be on hand. I drank more than my share of it on holiday and it hasn't done me as much harm as say, a few Riggwelters. Still, given the choice, I'd always go for the Rigg!
I managed a short recovery ride on Monday evening, as much to stop my bike rusting up. We did get a tad wet on Sunday, all the way back from Tamworth to be precise. My 'waterproof' socks acted like wet suit booties once they were full of water, although you can't get the pleasure of warming your legs in the same way as with a wetsuit by....well if you don't know, it's not for me to tell you.
That's me for now, can't sit for too long at the minute without discomfort. Thank goodness for 1 year old wee Archie, it means we have plenty of pseudo cream in the house.
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Sydney and Back
OK, it's been a while since I posted an update and the big day is getting ever closer. I have a reasonable excuse having been in Aussie for three weeks on holiday, and then on my bike for quite a bit of time since I got back. I've yet to get more pleasure out of blogging than looking at Sydney Opera House, or even grafting up a Peak District hill in the wind and rain....and long may it continue.
Australia was a time of plenty of beer, food that is bad for you interspersed with early morning runs in Queensland (hot!) and Sydney (spectacular!). It somehow takes the pain out of exercise when you are doing it somewhere interesting. I managed to get out on a bike once, around Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, it took about an hour and a half, which included half an hour getting lost in the university campus, it wasn't even during bar opening hours.
Since I got back I've done around 160 miles and I have a big 90 miles ride planned with a fellow Londontoderby participant this Sunday. As he said, it's either going to be a wake up call which comes too late, or I'll be left feeling okay that i can do the last 50 or so miles from memory!
I've even been moved to clean my chain, and what a difference it made to the ease of pedalling. It makes sense I know, but I have NEVER done it. I will be a more regular cleaner from now on. Again, I always reckon if I've got time to tinker with the bike, then I should be on it, much more fun for an anti-engineer such as myself. Not that I am against any engineers, of course, it's just that I rarely look at anything and wonder how/why it works, and I'm glad of it as well.
I'm also eating energy bars and drinking energy drinks nearly every day, as I need to get my insides ready for consuming them on the big day, if your body isn't used to them they can react badly with stomach cramps etc. I wish I still thought a Mars bar would do the trick, but of course it doesn't.
I will try to blog more next week after this weekend's trial ride, so if anyone sees two very worried 40 year olds anywhere on the road between Ashbourne and Tamworth on Sunday, give us a wave but don't expect too much enthusiasm back. I'm just hoping the cakes at Kingsbury Water p[ark cafe are still as good, otherwise I'm in trouble.
finally, as Jasper Carrot once said, "What about the Villa....?!?!?". Bring it on Martin!!!
Australia was a time of plenty of beer, food that is bad for you interspersed with early morning runs in Queensland (hot!) and Sydney (spectacular!). It somehow takes the pain out of exercise when you are doing it somewhere interesting. I managed to get out on a bike once, around Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, it took about an hour and a half, which included half an hour getting lost in the university campus, it wasn't even during bar opening hours.
Since I got back I've done around 160 miles and I have a big 90 miles ride planned with a fellow Londontoderby participant this Sunday. As he said, it's either going to be a wake up call which comes too late, or I'll be left feeling okay that i can do the last 50 or so miles from memory!
I've even been moved to clean my chain, and what a difference it made to the ease of pedalling. It makes sense I know, but I have NEVER done it. I will be a more regular cleaner from now on. Again, I always reckon if I've got time to tinker with the bike, then I should be on it, much more fun for an anti-engineer such as myself. Not that I am against any engineers, of course, it's just that I rarely look at anything and wonder how/why it works, and I'm glad of it as well.
I'm also eating energy bars and drinking energy drinks nearly every day, as I need to get my insides ready for consuming them on the big day, if your body isn't used to them they can react badly with stomach cramps etc. I wish I still thought a Mars bar would do the trick, but of course it doesn't.
I will try to blog more next week after this weekend's trial ride, so if anyone sees two very worried 40 year olds anywhere on the road between Ashbourne and Tamworth on Sunday, give us a wave but don't expect too much enthusiasm back. I'm just hoping the cakes at Kingsbury Water p[ark cafe are still as good, otherwise I'm in trouble.
finally, as Jasper Carrot once said, "What about the Villa....?!?!?". Bring it on Martin!!!
Monday, 26 March 2007
Cheers Mossy!
Has anyone else got one of those super reliable, always there when you need them friends.....unless they've been on the sauce? I've got a few, and one in particular known as Mossy.
He lives in Burton which is where I was doing my FA coaching badge assessment yesterday (Sunday). I was very organized and dropped my kit at the leisure centre on Saturday in order that I could get up at 0'dark thirty to cycle back over on Sunday morning. The plan was then to drop my back pack including my kit, a pair of football boots, a pair of trainers and a hefty A4 folder from the course with Mossy and ride back.
All went well in the morning, I managed to drag myself out of bed at 6.15 a.m. despite the clocks having gone forward and the youngest Sadler having made a late appearance on Saturday night and keeping me up beyond midnight! Arrived at Burton in loads of time having covered 25 miles in just over one and a quarter hours. I then played football for the best part of three and a half hours.
Whilst we were waiting to have the course signed off I thought I'd get in touch with Mossy to arrange a drop off. The weather had improved somewhat since 6.30 a.m. so I thought I would shed a few layers as well. But no Mossy. Texts, calls, you name it, nothing. I wasn't going to ride across town to try and find him so I had to set off with the pack on my back.
The weight, added to the fact that I had been giving it some on the football pitch, and it was uphill mostly back to Ashbourne meant it took the best part of 1 hour 45 minutes to get back and I was bushed. As I rode into Ashbourne the text came through "Just got up, been on the ale, are you still in Burton?" I won't tell you what my reply was.
He was suffering a mystery virus bought on by a mixture of Guinness, vodka and red wine and had just (at 4pm) rolled out of bed.
Needless to say he won't be top of the list when it comes to driving the support vehicle on 26th May.
(Oh and yes, you can now call me 'coach'!)
He lives in Burton which is where I was doing my FA coaching badge assessment yesterday (Sunday). I was very organized and dropped my kit at the leisure centre on Saturday in order that I could get up at 0'dark thirty to cycle back over on Sunday morning. The plan was then to drop my back pack including my kit, a pair of football boots, a pair of trainers and a hefty A4 folder from the course with Mossy and ride back.
All went well in the morning, I managed to drag myself out of bed at 6.15 a.m. despite the clocks having gone forward and the youngest Sadler having made a late appearance on Saturday night and keeping me up beyond midnight! Arrived at Burton in loads of time having covered 25 miles in just over one and a quarter hours. I then played football for the best part of three and a half hours.
Whilst we were waiting to have the course signed off I thought I'd get in touch with Mossy to arrange a drop off. The weather had improved somewhat since 6.30 a.m. so I thought I would shed a few layers as well. But no Mossy. Texts, calls, you name it, nothing. I wasn't going to ride across town to try and find him so I had to set off with the pack on my back.
The weight, added to the fact that I had been giving it some on the football pitch, and it was uphill mostly back to Ashbourne meant it took the best part of 1 hour 45 minutes to get back and I was bushed. As I rode into Ashbourne the text came through "Just got up, been on the ale, are you still in Burton?" I won't tell you what my reply was.
He was suffering a mystery virus bought on by a mixture of Guinness, vodka and red wine and had just (at 4pm) rolled out of bed.
Needless to say he won't be top of the list when it comes to driving the support vehicle on 26th May.
(Oh and yes, you can now call me 'coach'!)
Monday, 19 March 2007
Weather Everywhere
How daft is our weather? On Saturday afternoon I was subjecting the Staffs moorlands to the dubious pleasure of me in my cycling shorts for the first time this year during a jaunt around Uttoxeter, Cheadle and Ellastone. By Sunday evening I was confined to the turbo trainer and the garage as it was snowing.
Having said that it was very windy on Saturday, it's quite scary when you get a crosswind on a bike, you almost have to lean into the wind to keep in a straight line and pedalling down hills to keep speed up going into the wind is a strange sensation.
Crikey, how dull am I, jabbering on about the weather. Can't be as dull as my recreational time yesterday afternoon at Villa Park. Olly and I endured the full 90 minutes of Villa versus Liverpool, if they are one of the best teams in Europe, there's hope for us all...and Villa were denied a fairly clear cut penalty, but then you'd expect me to say that, wouldn't you. Up the Villa!
I have to admit to being faintly amused by Freddie Flintoff's escapades this weekend, not impressive less than 48 hours before playing for England, but going out, having too many beers, pinching a pedalo before having to be rescued from the sea does sound like a good night out. A bit like my dad on my stag do, but that's a different story altogether! Let's just hope Freddie wasn't singing Suspicious Minds, that could have turned it into a diplomatic incident! If I was a betting man, I would guess Kenya are going to be for it on Saturday.
(Thanks to Brian Mac for being my first sponsor!)
Having said that it was very windy on Saturday, it's quite scary when you get a crosswind on a bike, you almost have to lean into the wind to keep in a straight line and pedalling down hills to keep speed up going into the wind is a strange sensation.
Crikey, how dull am I, jabbering on about the weather. Can't be as dull as my recreational time yesterday afternoon at Villa Park. Olly and I endured the full 90 minutes of Villa versus Liverpool, if they are one of the best teams in Europe, there's hope for us all...and Villa were denied a fairly clear cut penalty, but then you'd expect me to say that, wouldn't you. Up the Villa!
I have to admit to being faintly amused by Freddie Flintoff's escapades this weekend, not impressive less than 48 hours before playing for England, but going out, having too many beers, pinching a pedalo before having to be rescued from the sea does sound like a good night out. A bit like my dad on my stag do, but that's a different story altogether! Let's just hope Freddie wasn't singing Suspicious Minds, that could have turned it into a diplomatic incident! If I was a betting man, I would guess Kenya are going to be for it on Saturday.
(Thanks to Brian Mac for being my first sponsor!)
Friday, 16 March 2007
The Return
I'm back and I've half a good excuse for having been away from this for so long. The first couple of weeks was because I didn't have much cycling to talk about just a bit of running and a lot of night outs and not enough sleep!
However, the past couple of weeks has seen me spending a lot of time in the saddle. The first trip out with the Saturday morning team was very hard, not only was I not in the right sort of shape for 45 miles through the Staffs moorlands, but I hadn't had enough food so I felt pretty awful on the way back home. Having said that I've kept the cycling up since then, doing a total of 80 miles last week, and 65 this week. In addition I've been using the turbo trainer a bit.
The turbo trainer! What an excellent way to tire yourself out in 30 to 45 minutes. I have been getting a seriously good workout and my heart monitor is telling me that I'm working far harder than I normally do when I'm out and about. It is excruciatingly boring though, you can only look around the inside of your own garage for so long before the novelty begins to wear off. Thank goodness for iPods!
I even managed to get up early this morning and have a ride over to Carsington Water on a spectacularly sunny morning. I was back home and in the shower for 8 a.m. feeling very good about the day ahead.
My target now is 55 miles this week which will make it 300 in total since the end of January which isn't bad for me. It's going to be tough as I am away with work for three days but I'm sure we'll find a way.
I have now started a fund raising page for the ride I am training for. If you fancy sponsoring me it's at www.justgiving.com/londontoderby
However, the past couple of weeks has seen me spending a lot of time in the saddle. The first trip out with the Saturday morning team was very hard, not only was I not in the right sort of shape for 45 miles through the Staffs moorlands, but I hadn't had enough food so I felt pretty awful on the way back home. Having said that I've kept the cycling up since then, doing a total of 80 miles last week, and 65 this week. In addition I've been using the turbo trainer a bit.
The turbo trainer! What an excellent way to tire yourself out in 30 to 45 minutes. I have been getting a seriously good workout and my heart monitor is telling me that I'm working far harder than I normally do when I'm out and about. It is excruciatingly boring though, you can only look around the inside of your own garage for so long before the novelty begins to wear off. Thank goodness for iPods!
I even managed to get up early this morning and have a ride over to Carsington Water on a spectacularly sunny morning. I was back home and in the shower for 8 a.m. feeling very good about the day ahead.
My target now is 55 miles this week which will make it 300 in total since the end of January which isn't bad for me. It's going to be tough as I am away with work for three days but I'm sure we'll find a way.
I have now started a fund raising page for the ride I am training for. If you fancy sponsoring me it's at www.justgiving.com/londontoderby
Sunday, 11 February 2007
You've got to Roll with it
Well, it has been a mixed week on the fitness front. I managed to get myself out of bed for a run one morning before work and I managed a really good session in the gym on Thursday evening. That aside, the weather put paid to any hopes I had of actually getting out on my bike. I did, though really want to get out which is an encouraging sign!
However I did stray with a couple of nights away working and I succumbed to the temptation of curry and beer. Not good for the fitness levels, but I don't think I could ever resist curry and beer, pathetic, isn't it?
I have borrowed a set of bike rollers off a friend for the next few weeks. The garage has been cleared out this afternoon so I am hoping to get my old bike up and running tomorrow evening to see how it works. he reckons it's pretty tiring and you can do a good workout in about half an hour. We'll see, but if that's the case it'll be a real help.
Oh, and Villa lost which isn't good, but England beat the Aussies at cricket which is as brilliant as it is amazing! Perhaps 140 miles in a day is doable!!
However I did stray with a couple of nights away working and I succumbed to the temptation of curry and beer. Not good for the fitness levels, but I don't think I could ever resist curry and beer, pathetic, isn't it?
I have borrowed a set of bike rollers off a friend for the next few weeks. The garage has been cleared out this afternoon so I am hoping to get my old bike up and running tomorrow evening to see how it works. he reckons it's pretty tiring and you can do a good workout in about half an hour. We'll see, but if that's the case it'll be a real help.
Oh, and Villa lost which isn't good, but England beat the Aussies at cricket which is as brilliant as it is amazing! Perhaps 140 miles in a day is doable!!
Sunday, 4 February 2007
Underway
Well, I did it, 60 miles on Saturday morning. It must have been the coldest morning for quite a while so my fellow cyclists didn't see me until we were 90 minutes in as I was hidden under a balaclava, under my helmet of course.
I was with some dismay that I heard the discussion on the course for the morning mention "The Cat and Fiddle", if you don't know it, it's a pub close to Buxton. It isn't quite at the top of the world but you can se the top of the world from it. Plenty of climbing!
We soon warmed up, apart from the ends of my fingers and toes, I can't see how to get over that on a bike, your toes and fingers don't do anything! Even the "Burton Racers" can't keep toes warm.
We managed a very welcome tea and a fairy cake in the Cat and Fiddle, and I even found myself itching to get going again. The final sting in the tail was a very short but steep climb up to Thorpe and home. I could feel my thighs beginning to cramp but couldn't possibly stop this close to home. I made it back only to find my milometer on 59.45 miles, not a good place to stop so I rode up and down the lane to get on to 60 miles, the furthest I've ever done in a day.
Do you know what, I loved it. The weather was magnificent, the views breathtaking and the company excellent. I think I might be hooked. I even managed to stay upright on the icy roads, obviously the benefit of having turned my rear tyre around the night before. I celebrated with a great curry out with some friends last night, believe me getting to sleep didn't take long. My legs don't feel even feel too bad today.
Oh and the Villa won as well, so the world is good.
I was with some dismay that I heard the discussion on the course for the morning mention "The Cat and Fiddle", if you don't know it, it's a pub close to Buxton. It isn't quite at the top of the world but you can se the top of the world from it. Plenty of climbing!
We soon warmed up, apart from the ends of my fingers and toes, I can't see how to get over that on a bike, your toes and fingers don't do anything! Even the "Burton Racers" can't keep toes warm.
We managed a very welcome tea and a fairy cake in the Cat and Fiddle, and I even found myself itching to get going again. The final sting in the tail was a very short but steep climb up to Thorpe and home. I could feel my thighs beginning to cramp but couldn't possibly stop this close to home. I made it back only to find my milometer on 59.45 miles, not a good place to stop so I rode up and down the lane to get on to 60 miles, the furthest I've ever done in a day.
Do you know what, I loved it. The weather was magnificent, the views breathtaking and the company excellent. I think I might be hooked. I even managed to stay upright on the icy roads, obviously the benefit of having turned my rear tyre around the night before. I celebrated with a great curry out with some friends last night, believe me getting to sleep didn't take long. My legs don't feel even feel too bad today.
Oh and the Villa won as well, so the world is good.
Friday, 2 February 2007
Why am I doing this?
OK, what am I doing? Somehow I have been persuaded to cycle from London to Derby on 26th May to raise funds for my children's primary school. One hundred and forty miles in a day. It doesn't look so bad if you don't use the figures.
I'd feel happier if the ride was towards the end of the summer as I would have longer to train, and it would be in decent weather. As it is I got my bike out of winter hibernation last Sunday and did 25, yes 25, miles in and around Alton Towers in a howling January gale. because there is no time to waste. It wasn't too bad, but then I was expecting the absolute worst. The wind is the hardest thing to overcome, I thought the speedo had failed at one point it was registering such a low speed. Still, I managed to average over 14 miles an hour, which I need to do for ten hours.......blimey!
Since then, I've been running twice and to the gym for 45 minutes of cycling. Somehow it doesn't feel like it's enough, but tomorrow should really find me out.
I'm meeting up with half a dozen guys who cycle 55 to 60 miles every Saturday morning. I have a Saturday off from coaching an under 9s football team so I'm joining them. Again, I'm not expecting too much from myself and am already looking forward to getting home into a hot shower. There are three or four of these guys doing the ride with me in May, they might be needing to lay a trail of flour behind them for me to follow.
Part of the logic for undertaking this is that I reckon it can't be too hilly between London and Derby so doing most of my training in the Peak District should stand me in good stead. I don't know, we'll see. Oh and I need to sort my back tyre out as well, I bought a super grippy rear tyre for cycling in the winter and I have put it on back to front. Easily done, bike upside down, wheel off bike, could happen to anyone and always does to me. the upshot is that the super grippy tyre is super slippy.
I'd feel happier if the ride was towards the end of the summer as I would have longer to train, and it would be in decent weather. As it is I got my bike out of winter hibernation last Sunday and did 25, yes 25, miles in and around Alton Towers in a howling January gale. because there is no time to waste. It wasn't too bad, but then I was expecting the absolute worst. The wind is the hardest thing to overcome, I thought the speedo had failed at one point it was registering such a low speed. Still, I managed to average over 14 miles an hour, which I need to do for ten hours.......blimey!
Since then, I've been running twice and to the gym for 45 minutes of cycling. Somehow it doesn't feel like it's enough, but tomorrow should really find me out.
I'm meeting up with half a dozen guys who cycle 55 to 60 miles every Saturday morning. I have a Saturday off from coaching an under 9s football team so I'm joining them. Again, I'm not expecting too much from myself and am already looking forward to getting home into a hot shower. There are three or four of these guys doing the ride with me in May, they might be needing to lay a trail of flour behind them for me to follow.
Part of the logic for undertaking this is that I reckon it can't be too hilly between London and Derby so doing most of my training in the Peak District should stand me in good stead. I don't know, we'll see. Oh and I need to sort my back tyre out as well, I bought a super grippy rear tyre for cycling in the winter and I have put it on back to front. Easily done, bike upside down, wheel off bike, could happen to anyone and always does to me. the upshot is that the super grippy tyre is super slippy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
