Back to the island, then back in to Leisure...
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 most of the route.. The Garmin GPS would and did fill in the gaps.
As last time, 9am ferry out of Lymington, ride the Island and home.
No organised event on, so the roads would be quieter, and the ferry certainly was. The excitement of the day ahead was evident on the ferry , as Myself, Paul, and Shane (friend of Paul) sat on the open deck, soaking up the early morning sunshine. Congratulating ourselves on picking a top day for it.
I've been saying to Paul for ages that the route isn't hilly. That was his incentive to do the route. Amazing how quickly you forget!! Hey, I cant be expected to remember every metre of a 65 mile ride!!
We left the ferry at around 10:00 am and picked up the Round the Island cycle route, destination Cowes.
I led, I had the route on my GPS and I always prefer to lead if I can, cos I like to think I keep the pace steady. selfishly unselfish.. ? A team player. None of us had ridden this far for a while.
The route in to Cowes was once again stunning, smooth, but this time a head wind.. I took that on the chin as that meant a tailwind from the South of the Island, back along Military Road.
The chain ferry at Cowes was an experience. The staff member said he'd take what ever coinage I had.. Like the Spanish Garda marching you to a cashpoint, but politely accepting less than the asking price if you didn't have it..
Climbing out of Cowes is a bit of a cruel warm up after minutes of standing on or waiting for the ferry.. But before long we were back in the countryside.. Whoever planned the Round the IoW Route to be fair, did a bloody good job.. I'd like to hug the coastline more from Bembridge to Blackgang, but either way the views are tops.
The advantage of not doing a mass ride is you pick your stops, and to be fair to my bike buddies we didn't really stop. I called a stop in Bembridge to buy some mineral water to fill my bottles up, but that was it! Ok, it's only 65 miles, but its either up or down all day. A stop here or there wouldn't have been grumbeld at, but fair play to these guys, we kicked on.
Not stopping meant not so many pictures / videos but the Military Road climb in to Freshwater is a 'must' place to stop and snap. After that, it was a cool decent down then a ride along a gravel cyclepath to the ferry and home.
65 miles. 4 .5 hours of pure bliss and sunshine..
And checking Garmin and Strava as soon as we had fed.
And the change bit..
Sport, hobbies, free time etc. seems to be a bit of luxury in this day and age.
One motto I've kinda lived by or to is 'quality of life'. Ok, that's for you to decide your own personal perception of that saying, but for me, it's that work doesn't own me, I go to work to pay for what I like doing. And that's generally been cycling or a bit of birding in the last few years, but this year it's been cycling again.
The last 3 months I've been leaving the house at 7:20 a.m, travelling to, working and travelling home from a job I haven't enjoyed. Getting home at 5pm. The absolute wrong time to be getting on the bike and riding when everyone else is driving home at 300mph, with no consideration / anticipation for anyone else on the road. Given the choice, I've chosen the turbo, in July, in a heatwave. Yup, that's how bad it's been.
So, cutting a long story short, next week I start work as a Duty Manager at a local Leisure Centre. Back to my roots, back to my old career and back to my beloved shift work. No more commute to Newbury, (around 800 miles a month on the car), no more riding at 'stupid o'clock' on the roads.
Back to working 'front of house', providing a service for customers. Encouraging, motivating, putting them first.
I'm excited. I'm very excited.
This will be good for me.
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 most of the route.. The Garmin GPS would and did fill in the gaps.
As last time, 9am ferry out of Lymington, ride the Island and home.
No organised event on, so the roads would be quieter, and the ferry certainly was. The excitement of the day ahead was evident on the ferry , as Myself, Paul, and Shane (friend of Paul) sat on the open deck, soaking up the early morning sunshine. Congratulating ourselves on picking a top day for it.
I've been saying to Paul for ages that the route isn't hilly. That was his incentive to do the route. Amazing how quickly you forget!! Hey, I cant be expected to remember every metre of a 65 mile ride!!
We left the ferry at around 10:00 am and picked up the Round the Island cycle route, destination Cowes.
I led, I had the route on my GPS and I always prefer to lead if I can, cos I like to think I keep the pace steady. selfishly unselfish.. ? A team player. None of us had ridden this far for a while.
The route in to Cowes was once again stunning, smooth, but this time a head wind.. I took that on the chin as that meant a tailwind from the South of the Island, back along Military Road.
The chain ferry at Cowes was an experience. The staff member said he'd take what ever coinage I had.. Like the Spanish Garda marching you to a cashpoint, but politely accepting less than the asking price if you didn't have it..
Climbing out of Cowes is a bit of a cruel warm up after minutes of standing on or waiting for the ferry.. But before long we were back in the countryside.. Whoever planned the Round the IoW Route to be fair, did a bloody good job.. I'd like to hug the coastline more from Bembridge to Blackgang, but either way the views are tops.
The advantage of not doing a mass ride is you pick your stops, and to be fair to my bike buddies we didn't really stop. I called a stop in Bembridge to buy some mineral water to fill my bottles up, but that was it! Ok, it's only 65 miles, but its either up or down all day. A stop here or there wouldn't have been grumbeld at, but fair play to these guys, we kicked on.
 |
| Top of Blackgang, looking towards Freshwater |
Not stopping meant not so many pictures / videos but the Military Road climb in to Freshwater is a 'must' place to stop and snap. After that, it was a cool decent down then a ride along a gravel cyclepath to the ferry and home.
65 miles. 4 .5 hours of pure bliss and sunshine..
And checking Garmin and Strava as soon as we had fed.
 |
| Again! Again! |
And the change bit..
Sport, hobbies, free time etc. seems to be a bit of luxury in this day and age.
One motto I've kinda lived by or to is 'quality of life'. Ok, that's for you to decide your own personal perception of that saying, but for me, it's that work doesn't own me, I go to work to pay for what I like doing. And that's generally been cycling or a bit of birding in the last few years, but this year it's been cycling again.
The last 3 months I've been leaving the house at 7:20 a.m, travelling to, working and travelling home from a job I haven't enjoyed. Getting home at 5pm. The absolute wrong time to be getting on the bike and riding when everyone else is driving home at 300mph, with no consideration / anticipation for anyone else on the road. Given the choice, I've chosen the turbo, in July, in a heatwave. Yup, that's how bad it's been.
So, cutting a long story short, next week I start work as a Duty Manager at a local Leisure Centre. Back to my roots, back to my old career and back to my beloved shift work. No more commute to Newbury, (around 800 miles a month on the car), no more riding at 'stupid o'clock' on the roads.
Back to working 'front of house', providing a service for customers. Encouraging, motivating, putting them first.
I'm excited. I'm very excited.
This will be good for me.
Great news on the new job Chris, well done mate, very happy for you, as I know how much happier you'll be when you are enjoying the work you do.
ReplyDeleteCheers GK.. We must be due a catch up soon?
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