I forgot....

... how boring Turbo Training is!!! It's too Brrrr to go out but I can't bear more than 1/2 hour on the turbo, even with an ipod! It's only just past November and I'm already getting a muffin top!!! O no!

Poor kid

Dragged my ass out of bed this morning and hooked up with Richard for a "family ride" with his club. One of the riders had his young kid with him, think he was about 8 or 9, on the back of his tandem. 18 miles later at the cafe, said kid announces "Dad... I can't see anything" and looks decidedly wobbly! I think he was bonking! Anyway, when chatting to his dad I said "are his pedals fixed with yours?"
"Yep!" pronounces his dad. Blimey! no wonder he was bonking... had to cycle at his dad's pace!! LOL. Surprised he hadn't fallen off with exhaustion. O well, can of Coke and a Toffee cake put him right.
35 miles in total for me... probably more for that kid, as I peeled off early and took the short cut home.

New shooooooooooooooooos!

Just ordered some new pink cycle shoes from Wiggle. Whoop! PINK!!!! (",)

Took my mate bike shopping yesterday, got a really nice bike for £1k on the cycle scheme. Kuota. Alu frame but looks bling! White. She can't wait for the guy to get it in for her now. She better not park it in the shed next to mine! a teensy weensy bit jealous.
And my own winter bike got a good wash down, clean up and new inners today (just in case the others inners had perished). It's the bike with all my good lights on so I might actually be able to see where I'm going now. Didn't realise how hard those tyres are to get off the rims . Got a bad tyre/rim combo me thinks. Was gonna clean up the carbon before I stored it but my hands were freezing so I decided to leave it til next weekend.

Unplanned deflation.

Well, my swollen eyes are back to normal thank God. And I added another 25 miles today. Weather surprisingly warm, although wet, and I had a visit from the puncture fairy on the way home... but thankfully only 500 yards from my house. A nice lady (fellow cyclist) stopped to offer help. Bless. Cyclists Unite! I would have done the same (and have done).
Will sort the puncture out at the weekend as not riding tomorrow or Friday.

Halloween!

OMG when I went swimming yesterday my goggles were leaking so I put them on really tight and now I look like something off Halloween! I've got swollen slightly bruised eyes. More worryingly is the blue vein that has appeared! That shit better not be permanent! LMAO! Hopefully I will look much better tomorrow morning than I did this morning!
Another 25 miles on the bike today. Have to catch the train now as nights/mornings too dark (that's a lie, mornings are ok at the moment but I couldn't be arsed to do the full commute to work with a heavy rucksack).
Also... have an annoying clicking sound on my bike. Hate it when that happens. I know it's coming from the pedals but where exactly is another matter!

When Hi-Viz clothing isn't beneficial...

Two rides this weekend, only short ones at 15 miles each but saw a deer and two buzzards up quite close which was nice. Probably could have got closer to all of them if I wasn't wearing Hi-Viz LOL. Topped it off with a 2km swim tonight.
Well off target this year, but am gonna try and get 3k in by the end of the month.

Another 37 miles tonight, beautiful sunset and a muntjack deer to top it. All spoiled by the silly bitch who thought there was enough room to overtake me at a bollard. Unfortunately for her I caught her up at the next junction :)

projectile...

...vomit. That's what my headache turned into last night! (".) Baked potato don't taste too good 2nd time round. O well, being sick cured the headache so I suppose that's something (",)

Tad windy...

Was a tad windy tonight. It was bad through Nuneaton but turning into Astley Lane was like hitting a brick wall ... and then I had another 17 miles in that direction :(

I now have a wind induced headache :(

Went to Newport Velodrome last night. Wasn't cycling but it's worth going just to cop a look at the British Cycling Coach. Dark hair, blue eyes. Mmmmm
Took ages to get back though, thanks to police who closed off a road and didn't bother to work out a diversion. And when we asked for directions they sent us in a loop... idiots!

New Tyre

How come a new tyre for a bike costs the same as a new tyre for a car ??? Hmmm ???

hurty knee :(

My knee has started to hurt so did half a commute today, the flat bit :)
Rode the station early and all the traffic lights were on green. Why does that never happen when you're pushing for time???

Jobsworth!

Fookin jobsworth at the train station nearly made me miss my train earlier. I was already cutting it fine (by 3 mins) and a staff member wouldn't let me on the platform and told me I couldn't get the ticket on the train, so I had to leg it over the footbridge to the other side for the ticket office, and just managed to get back, in fact the train was passing underneath the footbridge, pulling in, as I ran back over! Thankfully it was 2 minutes late else I would have definitely missed it. And then when I got on the train there was a man with a ticket machine! Fookin jobsworth!
Had quite a pleasant ride home though to make up for it, nice sunset and then the crescent moon guided me home. I was thinking as I climbed the last hill how much fitter I am from when I first started. Then again, I suppose when you do the hills over and over, you do strategically climb them as you get to know them. And I suppose the tail wind helped. LOL (",)
38 miles today.

Well, it would be rude not to...

Well, I was going to do a short commute today, train both ways so 25 miles in total, but then I discovered it was a 13mph tail wind on the way home, so thought I'd better take advantage. Well... It would be rude not to eh? So another 37 on the clock, although I'm way behind my target and won't make it now. Might set a more realistic target next year (",)

Invisible Planes

Foggy this morning. Something a bit weird about hearing a plane right above your head and not being able to see it. 37 miles today (",)

Autumn is coming

50 miles today and I'm now starting to see the beautiful sunsets coming. In fact, I left work a little late today so was pushing it down the country lanes to get to the street lights of town before it got too dark to see the road. Just after the red sun had disappeared it left streaks of bluey-grey cloud across the sky. Bit weird to think of a grey sunset and never thought I would say that grey looks amazing, but it did.

Get your own lane...

15 miles on the bike yesterday and a 2km swim today. Well, when I'd done 85 lengths for the mile I figured I'd may as well make it 100 lengths of the pool LOL (",) and at least 80 lengths were continuous but that was coz I only stopped when people got in my way... why can't people stay out of my lane? Anyone would think they paid for the privilege of using the pool as well! To be fair tho, they were quite up for swimming on the one side when I asked them, bless 'em. Obviously felt they couldn't compete with an athlete like myself LOL
Maybe I should rename my blog "get your own lane" ha ha

Does swimming count???

Does swimming count when you haven't got many miles in? Only done 30 miles in the last week but have swam over 5km instead ... surely that counts for something? Well, what else are you gonna do with a free gym pass? (",)
I joined the gym on their off peak time, which amazingly starts at 6.30am! It's a new one by my mum's but it's got a 20 metre pool that always seem to be empty. And plugs for hairstraighteners! Which is very important!
Thought I could swim on the days when the weather is too bad to cycle, or when commitments at work mean that it's difficult to cycle, which seems to be a lot lately. Although weather forecasts of heavy fog don't help... especially when it turns out there isn't any ("~) Grrrr

Note to self....

Get your fookin lazy ass out of bed tomorrow and cycle to work!!!!!
(don't think I'm gonna hit my target this year)
(".)

Found a new cycle cafe

... my mum's oldest friends, Maureen and Martin's, house. Popped in to their's on the offchance and ended up with a cuppa and a bowl of strawberries and icecream. Yum!!!!!!!!!!!! Best of all... it was free (",)
And stopping at their's for an hour meant I missed rush hour traffic, so every driver on the way home gave me loads of space and I saw a really nice sunset.
Perfect. Must pop in more often! Got home in a really good mood (",)

PB!!!!

16.1mph average to work today Whoop! (25 miles). Yay... quite good for me. Got scalped by a woman on the way home when I was struggling against a 21mph head wind... and she was just "cruising" :( have managed to convince myself that it was probably a professional Team GB rider :)

Yay... Red Bikes is back!!!!

Whoop welcome back mate, hope you are much better x x x missed your comments x x x and you must fill me on the "bitch" LOL. tell me who it is :)

Another idiot

So today I was riding through roadworks and I had two close overtakes (too close!) with there only being room for one car width really because the road is coned. These road works have been there for ages and sometimes, if there is not too much gravel or road furniture on the inside of the cones, I do ride on the inside. So I was just contemplating going on the inside of the cones for my own safety when, yet again, another blast on the horn from an impatient driver wanting to get past (I wouldn't mind but it's a slight downhill stretch and I'm doing about 23mph so I'm not really holding them up).
So I looked behind and he was about 6 inches off my back wheel. No room at all to overtake unless he was planning on ramming me into the cones. So I decided on this occasion, although there was no road furniture on the inside of the cones, that it is still unlawful for me to be in them and, as such, I adjusted my road position ... so that I sat my slow ass in front of his big fast car... all the way through the road works :)
Then I gave him a cheery wave goodbye (of the two finger variety) as he drove off in a huff at the end, much to the amusement of two pedestrians.

After yesterday...

... had a really pleasant ride through Solihull on my way back from work. In fact, it was a bit uncanny. Perhaps all the drivers saw my violent racism yesterday and decided to keep away from the nutter cyclist LOL.
Am now combining my commute with the train one way. Knocks it down to about 38 miles, and cuts out the hills on the way back, which means I have got the energy to do it more often. I'm not sure I'm going to make my 5000 this year unless I REALLY get my finger out.

On a happier note...

... I found out my blog follower Red Bikes is ok, after his collision with a car. Get well soon matey xx

Grrr....

Sometimes I do wonder why I cycle.
First some bint overtakes me and then realises there is a central bollard, so swerves back in to avoid it almost hitting me. Stupid bitch. My only consolation was knowing that she was more shit up about than I was.
And then some bloke toots his horn at me from behind (I know why) but then moves to the next lane and gets stuck in traffic. So I hammered on his window and said "what is your problem mate" and he shouts "you were in the middle of the road!" (told you I knew why... soooo predictable). So I then enter into a tirade of abuse pointing out to him in no uncertain terms that at a junction when I'm going straight on I'm entitled to be in the middle of the lane and he should read the f*ckin' highway code and I'm not one of his little women that's gonna move out of the way for him and besides, where did he f*ckin learn to drive? India?. You may have guessed that he was indian, and I'm not proud of my racist abuse, in fact, now I've calmed down, I think maybe I should have just reminded him of the rules of the road calmly because I've done absolutely nothing for the cause of cyclists. But there are times when you just have to think of and hurl the worst abuse possible because some drivers are just fukwits.

Never! No way! I don't believe it!

Just looked at tomorrow's weather forecast. I have a tail wind on the way to work. And then... the wind TURNS AROUND and I have a tail wind home! Whoop!!!! Please please please let the weather man be right for once. This never happens in real life!

too windy :( and bad news :(

Downloaded some new toooooons onto my ipod which inspired me to get back on the bike after a week off because the winds were too strong. 25mph winds is just fecking ridiculous!
My blog follower Red Bikes has had a collision with a car apparently. Heard it from a cycle forum. Don't know how to get in touch except through the forum. Hope he's ok
:(

The cupboards are bare...

Well, they are in our restuarant at work now. All day I've been munching! Even the woman behind the till said "I've seen a lot of you today". It wasn't even a hard ride in, but for some reason I was feeling faint when I got there and then just ate and ate and ate. I'm like the hungry caterpillar!

That's why they call it Crawleyside

...because you have to crawl up it!

19th, 20th and 21st June I played Support Driver to Richard, Dave, Phil, Martin, Mahendra, Andy, Mike and Paul while they did the Coast to Coast from Whitehaven to Sunderland. Had a great laugh and, I have to say, it was quite refreshing to be in the support car rather than slogging it out on the bike.

And slog it out they did! Hartside and Crawleyside... I'm surprised that Sputnik (my very old VW polo) managed to get up there so I felt well sorry for guys. Suckers! LOL. Crawleyside, in particular, looked like a brick wall ha ha.

Want to give up my job now and do support driving for a living! Not sure I'll be too rich though!

Didn't do much cycling myself last week but made up for by 110 miles since Saturday.

How Much?????

Blimey. It costs more to have my bike serviced that my car...
bottom bracket, cassette, chain, bla bla bla... all blurred into one after that!!!

I feel the need....

... the need for speed! Top Gun eat your heart out!
Took a ride out to Upton today with my mate and on the way back we took a detour past an old airfield where they were holding a "help for heroes" fundraiser.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH
Fighter jets flew over our heads, corkscrewing. Looked and sounded amazing!
Can fully recommend sitting by the river eating BLT and chips too! Great day, really hot and then got home about an hour before the monsoon started! Another 46 miles on the clock.

on a roll...

Going up a hill today and some hot fitty hung out his works van and gave me a cheeky wink and a smile and "keep going luv, you're almost there". Two in the space of a week? My ass must be looking a lot better (",) Made me laugh and almost lose my rythym!
Another 38 on the clock today ... bad weather forced me to get the train half way back. They mentioned the light rain on the forecast but not the gale force winds!

I made someone's day today... apparently

Riding along today, really hot, lovely and sunny, and some bloke leans out of his car window and shouts "oi, luv... you just really made my day".
The summer brings all the pervs out LOL although I will take that as a sign that my cellulite does not look as bad as I think it does :)
I would take it as a compliment but the area I was riding through is full of chavs :(

Another annoying rattle

Nipped out with my mate Richard and his "crew" this morning for a 35 miler with a cafe stop. Very nice it was, steady pace, not too hilly... except for the annoying rattle off my bike... which turned out, when someone sussed it 4 miles to the end, to be from my bottle cage (nuts were loose). Damn those noises are soooo annoying!

o well, 38 miles by the time I got home (adding in the miles it took me to get to the meet point).

1k

Woooo... I've done my first 1000 miles of the year. O man, the weather was gorgeous today, 17 degrees at 6.30 this morning... had to check it twice, couldn't believe my eyes! About 26 degrees when I left work.

I think I sunburnt my ear! And because of that, I've realised that when I ride to work in the morning the sun is on my right, and when I ride home in the evening, the sun is still on my right. So I'm gonna be giving Crabsticks (aptly named because he got sunburnt down one side of his legs) a run for his money ha ha. Really tho, I hope not, because I don't want crabstick legs ha ha... or a sore ear!

Glad I took these photo's of my commute last week, because the rapeseed flowers are starting to die now.

Silence is golden...

Cured the annoying cracking/creaking sound on my bike. Well, the guy in the shop has I mean. You know what it's like... you zone in on a noise on your bike and it just gets worse and worse. Anyway, was having visions of my bike falling apart underneath me... but thankfully it was just the seat post needed cleaning inside (after I told the guy it was definitely coming from the front forks ha ha).
And other 10 miles to the shop and back means I'm on track to get my first 1000k of the year in (",)

I am the Bird Saviour

I saved a life yesterday. I think. Riding along and there he was, poor little fledgling crow in the gutter... of a 50mph road. And, of course, no one obeys the 50mph limit. I don't fancy my own chances cycling down there sometimes, let alone the poor baby crow in the gutter. So once again, off I get, run back, poor little thing could hardly fly at all. So I managed to catch him and I checked nothing was broken before walking into the bushes and putting him on a low branch (just in case he fell off, but didn't wanna leave him on the floor). Anyway he was sitting quite happy when I left. I think he was hungry coz he had his mouth open a lot... but that might be fear LOL. Anyway, there was a dead crow 50 yards back up the road. Hope it wasn't his mommy. But there were lots of other crows around, so fingers crossed. I felt bad leaving him, not that I could carry him anyway, but just hope his mommy came.
And since yesterday, added another 100 to my yearly mileage. Feel a bit fooked now. Will hopefully break the 1k barrier by the end of the week.

3mph my arse!

So I thought, although chilly, it would be perfect cycling weather today. According to the weather forecast... 3mph head wind to work and 5 degrees celcius. 12 degrees celcius coming home and 9mph tail wind.
Yeah right!
More like 20mph head wind to work, wind chill factor bringing temperature down to zero. I was absolutely knackered when I got to work, and only 12.6mph average LOL... that is the pits! Was frozen stiff, couldn't feel my feet! But thankfully, had a tail wind on the way back but it was still freezing. Piping hot bath was called for.
Seriously, if this weather keeps up, I'm seriously considering riding in my thermals and overshoes next time. It's way too cold for May and my knee is playing up because of it. The only consolation is everytime I do it, I'm more skinnier :)

I'm such a lazy cow... :)

So, woke up at 6am. Hit snooze. Hit snooze at 6.10am. Hit snooze at 6.20am. Hit snooze at 6.30am. Realistically, I need to get up now to have a chance of actually getting to work on time. So put TV on. Weather said 3 degrees. Now I know that I can do 3 degrees, because I know by 8am it will be more like 7 or 8 degrees and the skies are clear so it will be sunny... BUT... my bed is sooooo warm and cozy!
So had to make it up tonight with a flat 15 miler (",) and if I'm really honest I know that it's not enough to burn off the 'all you can eat pizza' I'm gonna eat tomorrow night (".) Oops.
But I have to say, that 15 mile loop ... I remember in the early days that I used to think it was hard and hilly. It's piss easy now, and now I think it's flat, and it's really nice to just do it, relax and enjoy it.
Good job the light was failing at 8pm, because it deterred me from taking an extra 5 mile detour... and I walked in to my mum's as she was serving up beans on toast... yum! Glad I timed that right.
O well... another 15 on the clock... better than nothing.

Better get my ass in gear...

Well, my knee feels better and I've now got only 7 months left (December is bound to be too cold) to make it to my target of 5,000 miles. Going on the my current rate, I'm doing crap LOL. Here's hoping the weather is going to be good for the rest of the months (",)

Best and Worst????

15.7 mph on the way to work and 12.3 mph on the way back. It could be my best and worst times LOL... I seriously underestimated the head wind home. I knew it was going to be worse in the evening from the weather report but, seriously, if I had stopped pedalling I think the bike might have gone backwards.
So another 50 miles on the clock. That's 100 this week so far, and my knee is giving me a bit of jip (actually, quite a lot) so I might take it easy for the rest of the week. If I ride again, I might just do the flat route to the station.

Damn fly

First 50 of the week done. Well windy on the way back, and I forgot my glasses (realised about 10 mins after I left the house, but too late to go back) so, of course, big huge fly went in my eye on the way back. Well, when I say huge, I mean about a millimetre in size... but trust me, it felt hoooj. Had to stop to try and get it out and my eyes streamed all the way home (".)
Nice day, although the wind spoiled it on the way back. The rapeseed is coming out and my commute is starting to smell and look amazing.

Sometimes when you cycle, you actually miss seeing the best stuff...

... like when you leave work early coz you need to get home, and you miss seeing the maintenance woman falling down the stairs at work. Don't worry... she's ok. Well, as ok as you can be when the lids come off the 2 large tins of brown gloss paint you are carrying and the paint ends up all over you, the stairs and the walls.
Looks like I missed a pure comedy moment. Damn, I always miss the comedy.

Feeling smug...

Normally I get an average of 15 to 16mph on my way to work (23 hilly miles) and about an average of 13.5 on the way back. I don't know why this is, whether it is because I'm more energetic in the mornings, whether it is hillier on the return (don't think so, it seems to average out either way) or whether it's just because I'm not in a rush.

But today... I got a 15mph (",) woo hoo! 1 hr 37 mins over 25 miles. So not only did I get a personal best, but I did it over 25 miles instead of 23 miles (going to my mums!). 2 miles further and a good 5 mins less. And I didn't have a tail wind. Had a slight headwind, but even with tail winds before still haven't done that time.

I feel smug (",)

Mmmm... either using the winter (heavier) bike a bit further into the spring has helped... or the thought of my mum's faggot and chips got me home quicker!

Top Weather!

Shorts and summer top worn out on the bike today. Weather was top notch. Only got chance to go out for an hour tho, which was my own fault for lazing in bed so long!
Still on winter bike which is creaking so much I think it's on his last legs, so I better get the summer bike out tomorrow and adjust the seat. I've been putting it off coz I just hate the whole tinkering around business, I just want to get on and ride.

TWUG 1 ... Health & Safety nil

Had a TWUG meeting at work today (two wheel user group) and we were updating the safe cycling leaflet. We decided from a safety point of view that we should include in the employees "must do" bit that they should inform their manager if they cycle to work (in order that their manager can refer them to us, of course, for safety advice etc) and the health and safety guy dared to suggest that the manager should be allowed to have the authority to put a block on someone cycling to work if he felt it was too risky.
The whole room went silent while everyone just looked at him in absolute horror! STOP SOMEONE CYCLING????!!!!!
Then he tried to dig himself out by saying something about it would only be for cases when it was risky... like when someone cycled long distances because of fatigue!
Ha ha... he was sitting next to me... and my round trip is 50 miles. His face was a picture when I told him.
I think he got the message ;) heehee.

I don't believe this!!!!!!!!!!

Get this... I'm riding my bike, I'm on a roundabout and I'm turning right. As I go round, a guy in a 4x4 pulls up at the give way... I'm already on the roundabout, he's not... he wants to go straight on, but I'm coming around as I'm turning right, so he has to give way.
He only BLASTS his horn at me and gives me the two fingers!!!!
Can you fookin believe that??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so livid, I gave him every hand signal I could think of (which was only 3 but I made sure they were VERY effective by including the clenched fist in the elbow) and surprise surprise he drove off as he didn't want to confront me.
Fooking C*nt!
Has anybody ever had this???? How can he even justify that in any way???? Do I just attract these idiots. I'm shocked!

I need to get rid of my accent... fast!

Went to the Warwick office today to get my stats done for the Wellbeing infonet site, and they told me they want me to do an "audio" blog entry!!!! I burst out laughing. I mean a written one is cool, yea, but an audio one???
I looked at Simon and said "you have heard my accent yea?" and he said "Yea" and I said... "well, it sounds like 100 times worse on tape!!!"
We were laughing but NO seriously... I've got the worst Brummie accent! How much are elocution lessons... I need help quick. I need to learn to talk posh (".)

I smell...

Well, I did today... because I got to work after 23 miles and found the shower wasn't working! Thank God for baby wipes, and for the fact that it was a cold ride to work!
Had to get home quick tonight so hopped on the train. 37 miles today and a nice tail wind on the way home to help me get there quicker.

Blog Title

Changed it... just for the hell of it. Got bored with the other title.

Missed my commute

Oops... "forgot" to get up this morning (",)

Poor Kes :(

Another 50 mile commute today. My legs are shot! 100 miles since Wednesday so that's good. The Wellbeing team at work have started to prep for the Shape Up challenge (a six week challenge where they try to get all the employees in shape... and it IS a challenge I can tell you LOL). Anyway, they are going to do a blog and they've asked me to do the first entry. Whoop Whoop. Sent them my draft, they'll probably tell me it's too long LOL, can't help it though, once I get talking about cycling...
Found a kestrel in the road today. Well, I had to stop and check it wasn't just hurt, after all... they are not like suicidal pheasants are they?... but it was dead as a dodo. Broken wing and beat up face. Poor sod.

1st full commute of the year...

49.34 miles! Slightly longer than usual as I'm staying at my mum's. I'm knackered. It was windy on the way back and I've spent about 3 hours 40 mins on the bike today!
Worse thing... I had the morning off so cycled in and then the restuarant had ran out of sandwiches!!! So I had to settle for cheesy chips (".) oops
Can't walk up the stairs now... too knackered!

Another windy hour

What's up with the wind man??? At least today it was behind me for the last 4 mile but another 15 off the clock. Every little helps. Got a major headache now... had it before I went out so I'm not surprised it hasn't gone away despite taking half the medicine cabinet.
O yea... the good news is... I've lost a few pound :) I'm now about 11st 6lb ... Whoop Whoop!

First time out in a week

and I only had time to go out for an hour... but the wind made up for that. Didn't seem to matter which way I was going either. Head wind going out... or so I thought... until I turned round to come home! O well, I think I must have burned off enough calories to cancel out the MacDonalds I'm planning on having later.

Why did I turn left at Henley?

Why would I do that? Why would I go down that road when I know how hilly it is??? Seemed like a good idea at the time. Clocked up 31 miles but the hills in the middle did my legs in and then I had a head wind home (".)
Doh!

Another 30...

10 yesterday and 20 today. Was windy today and just didn't feel like but forced myself.

Got lost today...

oops... but only added 10 mile doing it. Was concentrating on a lorry turning and didn't see the sign for Coleshill. It was only when I ended up in Kingsbury that I thought... "ooo... think I'm lost" and had to back track ha ha.
So another 40 on the clock. Legs are knackered coz it was quite hilly. Saw a buzzard fly along by me, and a hare... which first I mistook for a fox... because it was huge and it walked across the road up ahead and I thought "blimey, is that a fox out in the middle of the day?", Then when I passed the field entrance the hare was just inside. He was huge!!!
Yes, I know hare's don't exactly look like foxes... but it was far away when it crossed the road and it looked ginger. I didn't expect to see a hare.

The Bronx...

And another 20 on the clock whoop whoop!
Took a new route home today. Got a bit lost in "the bronx"... our local Council/Shameless rough estate. Thank God I was on the naff bike although it was quite obvious I was carrying my laptop so I hotfotted it through there as quick as poss! Having said that, I often get comments that my laptop bag looks a bit like a bullet proof vest so was probably good I had it on!
What's your weapon of choice... Gun, Knife, Bull Mastiff, Pit Bull, Staffy or English Bull Terrier. Felt sorry for the woman with the Westie LOL... she won't last long! ha ha. Yep, definitely one of the those places where you don't want to stand out as a "non-local".
(".)

Off to a good start

It's only Monday and I've already done one commute this week (21 miles coz I'm catching the train half way at the moment). I think I will be able to do it 3 times this week hopefully. Another 21 off the clock then yippeeyay.

One commute this week.

So another 21 off the clock. It was a half commute, to the train station, and cold. But I thought that because I've done the cold ride on Sunday I haven't really got an excuse now not to go out if it looks frosty. Had to hot foot it to the station though, left the house a bit late so it was like completing a time trial! Nice to arrive at work chilled and relaxed, after a 25 min train ride reading the paper, for a change. The hill on Coleshill High Street on the way back does not get any easier though!
Now I have to decide whether to go to bed now, so that I can get up for an early ride.... Or... continue watching The Matrix with that fit bloke in it that goes by the name of Keanu Reeves... Mmmm hard choice... but Keanu wins.

Just as I predicted...

... my ass hurts!
OMG that was sooo hard. So hard in fact that I jacked it in at 45 miles. It was way too cold, hilly and long for this early in the year. My face has cold burn (I'll be permanently red!), my "flower" hurts, my legs kill, my eyes are burned out too from the cold. I've never seen hills like that! Who's idea was it??? O yes, it was Taff's idea. He's going to die.
I only made it up one of the "signficant climbs". The first one I walked about 10 yards and got back on, the 2nd one I stopped, but didn't walk, just started again (I don't think the chocolate cake I had eaten in the cafe at the bottom of the hill helped to be honest... I felt a tad sick) and the 3rd one... well, no one made it up that one! And I thought I was only 200 yards from the top when I started to walk (it went up round a bend and I couldn't see the end) but it turned out to be about another mile! There is no way in the world I would have made it up that far, at about 17% gradient too! Forget that... not even on my fit days! And to be honest, walking up took some effort I can tell you! Made me feel better that the guys didn't make it either.
The downhills weren't much better. Still icy where the sun hadn't yet hit, potholes and gravel. Not my kind of downhill, scared the wits out of me because the bike bounced around so much and I was on my brakes all the way. I think they've worn out! O how I long for the smooth grippy tarmac of France.
Undulating all the way. There were no flat bits, unless you count the last two miles I did. Then I was back in territory I'd ridden before and although I knew the last 30 miles were doable, because I've ridden that bit before, I had lost the will to live by then and jumped on the broom wagon with one of the guys. Quite honestly, if you're not getting sponsored then it's not worth going through all that unnecessary pain! They don't call it the "Mad March Hare" ride for nothing then!
So got back to my mum's had a bath, she cooked me a pie and then I drove home because I just want to get in my bed. Zzzzzzzzzzz

Can't decide.

Got a 75 miler tomorrow with some mates.
It's gonna be -5 over night.
I'm unfit.

So do I take the carbon or the alu bike??? Will they grit tonight? I don't want grit in my carbon bike... BUT... I need the lighter faster bike because there are some "significant climbs" and probably some "insignificant" climbs that they forgot to mention.

God my ass is gonna hurt tomorrow

Damn...

... missed some great weather today but unfortunately had to have the day off work to do "other stuff" which is too boring to post but necessary. Was hoping to get back in time for a ride but it didn't work out. It's now 4.45 and will be be dark in less than an hour. By the time I get my kit on and sort the bike i'll only have half hour and i can't be arsed... and the sun's gone in now (".)

And another 20 in the bank...

So another 20 miles in the bank. I've added a ticker because I'm going to try and complete 5000 miles this year. Don't know where I've got that number from, but its 500 miles a month between now and November, when it starts to get too cold to cycle.
Must remember to bank the miles when the weather is rideable, instead of having them on credit LOL. I'm really good at putting off my ride until tomorrow... and then the weather turns bad.
Bad credit!

25 miles today...

... 7 degrees centigrade and I had the day off, so I was able to get out on the bike. Not sure how far, and I stopped off for coffee at Clive's, but from the actual time I was on the bike, I think about 25 miles.
Haven't seen Clive for ages, drank his coffee, ate his biscuits and then left LOL. His house is like cyclist's cafe. So much so, one of his mates made a sign "to Clive's cafe" with a picture of a coffee cup and an arrow and put it on the nearby traffic island without telling him. It stayed there for ages before he noticed, he just kept wondering why his mates were ordering him round like a waiter... then some spoilsport at the council removed it.
Anyway, had a MacDonald's later to replace the calories... oops!

One step forward...

... and three steps back. I went shopping today with my workmate, off to the fruit shop to get some healthy stuff to snack on.. you know, to stop us snacking on chocolate.
So today, instead of my usual 2 or 3 bars of chocolate, I've had a big bunch of grapes, one banana, quite a few satsuma's, some melon, orange juice, wispa bar, twix and a malteser rabbit. How did those last three things sneak in there?? They just appeared! Oops.
Seriously though, I'm like some kind of addict. I need to attend chocaholics anonymous. I was driving to work today, talking to myself, saying "FFS Toni, it's not drugs or cigarettes, it's only chocolate... just don't have any... JUST SAY NO!".
The minute I walk in the place it's like the vending machine starts talking to me! Voices in my head... and before I knew it... I had a twix in my hand and I don't know how it got there. Disaster.

1st Commute of the year...

Well... I've decided enough is enough... time to shift the fat. So I woke up to my 6am alarm.
It took me a minute to even remember what day it was, and then I realised I was supposed to be getting my ass out of bed to ride into work. It was quite hard getting out of bed, out from under my nice warm quilt and into the cold morning air, but once I was on the road it felt quite good. But coming back was hard going... that huge hill at Coleshill. Feel sick??? Moi???

Tried and tested...

the new gloves and socks today. 20 miles and snug as a bug. First ride of the year and surprisingly, I'm not as unfit as I thought I would feel. Felt ok on the legs etc, just took a bit of getting used to the cold air getting into my lungs. Only thing is... warm body + cold air = lots of snot
(".) ugggh
It's nice to have a break and then get back to it though, I must admit. It starts to bore me a bit when I've been on it all year.
All the new potholes are carnivorous though!

Thermals

In a bid to get back on the bike I've gone out today and bought some super warm gloves and super warm socks. I will test them out tomorrow before I am too fat to get back on the bike.

Damn weather

What a disaster... weather is going to be horrible for the next 5 days if the BBC website is anything to go by. Even snow by Friday (".)
I'm so sick of it, my ass is growing, I now have 2 chins and I need to get back out on my bike... not least because I am now a "case study"!
It's so depressing (".)

Case Study!!!???

So today, I attended a TWUG meeting (a Two Wheel User Group) at our office. I am one of the reps, we have one for each site. So anyway, I'm just chatting about the shock I got from standing on the Wellbeing Centre and how I can't wait to get back into cycling and they all thought it would be a great idea to have me as a "case study" for the Wellbeing programme.
This basically consists of my "results" being posted and monitored on the company infonet (internal internet) for all to see; so that people can see what a difference it makes to my health (weight, bmi, blood pressure, heart rate etc) between now and the end of the year as I get back into my cycling after the winter break.
That's great! Now everyone is gonna know I'm a fat cow! ha ha. I've told them that they are not doing anything with the info until I'm certain the results are heading in the right direction!

Whoops...

Today I got on the "wellbeing centre" at work, which is basically a machine you stand on and it does all your weight, heart rate, bmi, fat content, blood pressure etc.
So, bearing in mind my "fit weight" is about 11st 3lb (well, I am 6 foot tall so don't gasp with horror just yet!)....
Well... today it's 11st 12lb!!!! (now you can gasp with horror because I did!)
Those darn hills are gonna hurt when I get back on that bike.

3.5k in 30 days

Just seen on the news that there is a bloke who is going to cycle across America in 30 days covering 3,500 miles. That's quite a lot isn't it? wouldn't mind doing something like that, but right now, I don't think I could cycle to work. too much cake over Christmas :)

Even worse...

Since my last blog... I've discovered a fat lump!!! OMG it's like a baby saddlebag... right there on the side of my hip!!!! and it's only on one side, what is that all about????

This is NOT good... it's the kind of lump that's always in liposuction adverts!!!! you know the ones, removal of spot fat that won't go no matter how much exercise you do!

O no! I can't afford lipo, so how the hell do you get rid of that? I mean that calls for serious attention and if I go on a diet to lose weight I'm bound to lose my boobs instead! This is a disaster! plus I've now been on a health kick diet for over a week and I'm starving! I need proper food, not rabbit food.

It's just so hard being a woman! Back to the turbo I suppose, too cold to ride out!

The Definition of Boredom...

3 hrs 50 minutes on the Turbo in a week... and my bloody Christmas cellulite is still there! What's that all about..?? All I ate was 2 boxes of French Fancies, one box of Viennese Whirls (all of which were exceedingly good!) and a few [boxes of] chocolates! o yea, and some chocolate fudge cake and ice cream, amongst some other things that really are so insignificant I can't even remember them!

Really I don't understand it... I thought if you tipped them upside down, the calories fell out?

So now I am paying for it ... with boredom!