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'!)
Monday, 26 March 2007
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
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