Back on the bike

Hello It's me... Ok, not an Adele song, but a long overdue update on things. I think i'm gonna move my Birthday to September next year. I go for 5 months without beer, then the floodgates open.  Hard day at work = wanting a beer.  Beer = headache or at the very least - disrupted plans the next day.   That's kinda been the story of the last 3 months.  My dedication to the cause has slipped. Cycling has taken a bit of a back seat. Things need to change. (more on that later). Sunday 02 September..  Back to the Island. After a fantastic sunny ride around the Isle of Wight at the beginning of May, I had always planned to return this year for another lap. Encouraged by and probably led by Paul, my current Cycling BFF (as Rach calls him), we set the date way back in July and picked what turned out to be a stonking 'end of Summer' day for said adventure.  I nominated we went clockwise again, a) to compare efforts and b) cos I thought i'd remember m...

Yup, 2000 miles for the year cracked today. A nice 37 mile ride with the boss saw me surpass the 2000 'milestone'. A good Spring saw the majority of the miles racked up, but it's been a bit quiet this last month. My birthday on the 19th May saw the reintroduction of alcohol in my life after abstaining since New Years Eve. Funny how you never forget how to drink... Cycling has taken a backseat. On my birthday, before the first beers of the year, I had a little trundle to one of my favourite spots on the River Test. Full Greg LeMond mode 😊 A couple of rides a week at best, some without any saddle time at all. I'd been on around 1800 miles since my birthday, but, back on it this week. Time to crack on and hopefully hit 4000 by the end of the year. That would be my best complete year on the bike, ever. I think. A good enough target to aim for. These first 2000 miles has seen me drop 3 stone in weight and massively improve my cycling fitness at least. The old C...

Like buses! I'm using my week off to get out on the bike as much as possible (with out over doing it and getting injured). The sun has it's hat on, and that is good enough for me. A local couple of rides to kick the week off. After a rest day due to tiredness and a twinging knee from the IoW ride, I hit the road on Tuesday on the cross bike to cycle to Combe Gibbet. The objective was to ride along the ancient highway called the Wayfarers Walk to White Hill at Kingsclere, about 12 miles east along a route that offers stunning views as it generally sticks to the highest points of a hilltop ridge that runs for miles, ultimately ending, or beginning at Emsworth near the south coast. As kids, my folks took us out on walks most Sunday afternoons etc. and there isn't much of the route we hadn't covered, locally. For a few years in the 90's we lived in Inkpen, I could see the Gibbet from my bedroom window. I would often nipped up there on the mountain bike, usually hea...

Sunday 06 May - The Isle of Wight Randonee Being on my list of things I wanted to do this year, it was a 'no brainer' when I heard there was an organised AND FREE event on the island where riders followed the 'round the island' cycle route. This is a very well signposted route, but the bonus of doing it this weekend was that there would be Feed Stations at various points and many other cyclists I could tag along with. Safety in numbers and all that. A free event and as a foot passenger it only cost £16.80 'return ticket' on the ferry. Why hadn't I done this before? The weather was absolutely stunning. The views enhanced by wall to wall sunshine, no clouds and 25 degrees. This year we followed the clockwise signposts, I have read that this is the easier option, the hills are kinder and I suspected that to be the case as I dropped down the occasional 20% incline.   Only one way to find out, I plan to return in a few weeks or so and try it the other way ar...

A bit late with the blog post, but a fortnight ago I notched up the first 'tick' on my year of challenges. Well, three quarters of a tick at least... The 'challenge' I'd declared was to ride from Newbury to Devizes and back along the Kennet & Avon canal towpath. A trip of 35 miles each way, 70 in total. I have ridden along the Newbury / Hungerford stretch many times, so extending my knowledge sounded like a good thing to do, and towpath miles aren't the easiest. I'd picked a quiet Saturday at what turned out to be the end of a freakish Spring heatwave. Two days before I'd requested a half day at work and snuck out for a cheeky 50 miler on the road in 26 degree heat. These were going to be 'sunbathing on the bike' rides.  No checking data, worrying about average speeds or heart rates, just trundling and tanning..  Yeah, I'm vain. Relatively fresh from the Thursday ride, I set off, solo, from Newbury at around 9:45 a.m. - I wanted to...

Ok, time for a bit of an update. Once I'd shifted the damn lurgy that lingered for about 5 weeks or so over Christmas it was time to get back on the bike. Slowly slowly, getting the body used to exercise again, and not just the knees! Most of the winter was going to be spent on the turbo in the garage. Something I used to fear, but the marvellous invention of Zwift seems to have made it a lot more bearable. No need for loud music, or constantly checking a slowly moving clock, I actually enjoy the turbo time now. Odd. I suspect about 90% of my winter mileage has been inside. The weather hasn't helped, and finishing work each day at 4.00 p.m. means the need for lights on the bike - I'm not a fan of riding in the dark around rush hour. No thank you. This week I clocked up my 1000th mile of the winter - which was actually on par with my last proper training year, 2014. The monthly miles have been increasing as time has gone on.  All part of the plan as I try to b...