The Week From Hell - Part 2

When I last posted I had just completed my house move.
I had hoped to get out on the bike this week, but she who must be obeyed decreed that the garden needed sorting.
So after football on Saturday it was off the B&Q to purchase the necessary equipment and some gravel - 6 bags should do it I thought.
A lovely bright Sunday morning saw me walk the dogs early and then set to it in the garden. 3 large bush stumps needed to be dug up and 7 paving slabs removed. The weather made it hard going but come mid afternoon it was all dug up, ground levelled, anti weed membrane down and ready for the stones.
The 6 bags I had purchased didn't put a dent into the area to be covered. It was 3.30 and I wanted to get it done so I shot to Wickes, No stones that matched, but much nicer limestone chippings for a fraction of what I had paid for the other stone and bigger bags to boot. In a rush I brought 15 bags and went straight back to it.
It covered the area and looked, I'm afraid to say, a lot better than my original choice. She Who Must Be Obeyed was thrilled (Thank Goodness) but then uttered a memorable line. "It's lovely," she said, " And it will look even better when you have done the other side of the garden to match, and the fences, shed and summerhouse are painted!"
The saga will continue........

The Week from Hell

Well, where to start?
The move has finally happened. After some last minute shenanigans, contracts were finally exchanged Wednesday afternoon, which resulted in frantic phone calls to all of the utilities to ensure we were connected, as we completed on Thursday!
The only cycling I managed was to ride my bike from the old house to the new one, I simply ran out of room in the van!!.
I might not have cycled much, but I have however had a really good few days building strength and endurance.....
Taking loaded boxes and furniture out of one house, onto the lorry, and into the new house ( and even then re-arranging positions, rooms and transferring boxes from garage up to the loft) !
After 4 18+ hour days straight things are nearly there, and I am a physical wreck. My aches and pains have their own aches and pains !

Here is a good tip....
If you don't have to move, DON'T MOVE !!!!!
Also, and meaning to sound sexist here, women are great at packing boxes, and un packing, but have no sense of taking into account the weight of the box that is going to be carried by someone else !!

Going to finish sorting out the house as we have builders starting in the next week or so, so I doubt I'll get out for a ride anytime soon, but I have found out that my new neighbour is a bit of a cyclist, so I might've found a training partner.

It's wierd, but cycling 300 miles in 2 days is infinitely more attractive than moving house !

Until next time.

Another Blank Week, but now I am able to cross my fingers !

Well the finger is now feeling and looking a lot better. However I have not been out on a ride since.
Instead I am packing up the house, for the third time !!!, ready for this week's impending move.
If, and this is a big if going on past experiences with this house sale, everything goes to plan we will be moving Thursday.
Carlsberg don't do property conveyancing, but if they did....
Lost one buyer to a heart attack and another pulled out on the eve of exchanging contracts, lost the first house we wanted, lost the second house wanted (sold the day before we finally got our current buyer), only for the first one to come back on the market, this has been probably the worst move in the world!!
But it has given my the chance to go through all of my cycling bits in the garage and bin the excess  - like the toe-clips that came with the bike !

So hopefully, by this time next week I will have moved and hopefully been out for a ride. But i won't hold my breath on either of those!

Until next time

Daniel

There's something wrong...But I can't quite put my finger on it !!

Saturday arrived, rain bucketing down, but meant to clear in the afternoon (it did!!). Got my gear out ready for a nice afternoon cycle before taking the dogs for their walk. Whilst out on the walk the leads got a bit tangled and whilst untangling the 2 excited hounds I managed to get one of the leads wrapped around my finger. But before I could freee myself, they saw another dog and WHOOSH, they tried to go and say hello. The leads tightened and I got a rope-burn around the base of my finger but also the top half of the finger was sitting at an abnormal angle and I was in extreme pain.

I managed to get them home and off I trotted to A&E. After a few hours out came the result, a dislocated finger at the knuckle, then the painful joy of it being popped back in. Painful as it bloody hurt, joyful as as soon as it popped back in most of the pain went, only to be replaced with a dull throb. To make it worse, I came out to a slighty cloudy but very sunny afternoon.

It will be not until the latter end of this week that I will be able to get back on the bike (once the swelling and pain have subsided), so I have had an impromptu week off, and with the house move next week, I doubt I will get much in then.

Still what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, they say. Until next time.

And this little doggie broke my finger (She is a bit bigger now than when this was taken) !!!

Another week, now increasing the riding

After a few weeks of just going out for a ride at the weekend, I have decided to up the riding a bit.
i did a nice 35/40 mile ride along the coast on Sunday, and then decided to start semi-cycling to work.
I call it semi-cycling as I work 30 miles away and it is a very undulating route, I decided to cycle from home to St Leonard's station (17 miles), then get the train to Frant and cycle the remaining 3.5 miles to work in Tunbridge Wells, and obviously repeating it in reverse after my days work. From next week I plan on doing it a couple of days a week.
It was an eerie feeling cycling along a pitch black, un-lit road at 5:30 in the morning, even though I know the road very well I found myself slowing down as I knew there was a bend coming up but couldn't actually see it until I was practically on top of it.
As the ride in September includes cycling overnight to Dover, the more experience I can get cycling in conditions like that the better. Cycling on lit roads in the dark is fine, but when you hit unlit roads it is a whole new experience.
So now I have doubled the distance I am riding in a week. This is the thing with training carefully, you gradually lengthen the distance you ride and try to keep up the pace you set or improve it.

Still a long way to go, but I'm getting there.

Until next time.

Another Nice Ride - feeling it a bit though

Saturday might've been a washout this weeken but Sunday was glorious.
After spending a post bithday Friday re-packing and organising boxes of stuff ready for my impending house move, and a sodden Saturday helping my fiancee with her horses, I was ready for a ride.
I took the dogs for a nice long walk along the beach on a lovely sunny, slightly chilly Sunday morning, and then donned the lycra and got the bike out of the garage.
I decided on taking a favourite route of mine, along the Cuckoo Trail to Heathfield and back, a nice 36 mile ride. With a bit of a headwind on the way out I rode along the lovely countryside path.
I thought that as I would have the wind behind me on the return leg that I would return via the road and push it a bit harder.
Well I managed the return in just over 35 minutes, and I must admit that I think I pushed a little too hard. That said apart from slightly stiff knees I felt ok. Whether the stiffness is down to the ride or all of the lifting and carrying I have done in the previous couple of days, or a combination of both I don't know. But it's good to find that point and then go past it.

Here is a good tip that I have picked up from my previous rides. Cover your knees with Ibuprofen gel before you go on a long ride and it will prevent sore/stiff knees at the end of it

See you next week

Icy a chance to ride

With football called of on Saturday due to a frozen, snow covered pitch I took the chance, donned my thermals and got the bike out of the garage.
With new slick tyres on I knew it could get a bit dicey as it was still below 0 and there was still some ice around.
Nonetheless I ventured off and decided to keep it simple, straight along the A259 from Eastbourne to Hastings and back. A 35 mile round trip.The wind was light enough and I decided not to push it due to the conditions and being out of practice. Well just under 2 hours later and after only a couple of dodgy moments on unnoticed icy patches I was back home, and feeling good. A cup of tea later I thought I'd like to do that again, so I did!
Once again taking it easy, especially on the return leg as the evening approached, and the temperature fell further, but the bike and rider came through unscathed and feeling a lot better than expected, after a 70 mile ride on the second training run and the first real test of where I am fitness wise in preparation for the ride.
I now have a bench mark to work from.
I have to say how much of a difference having the thermal tights made from my first venture out a couple of weeks ago, I hardly felt the cold, apart from on my face, when i had my snood down for better breathing.
the only downside, if it could be called that is that I lost the little pastic stops off the edges of my cleats when I had to rapidly re-gain my balance after a couple of slips on icy patches, but that is merely a cosmetic problem.
If the weather starts to improve, as in the mercury going upwards and not plummeting downwards, I am going to start trying to get out for an evening ride or two during the week, along with a good long ride at the weekend.
Still a long way to go, but I feel more confident now of reaching the level needed for the ride in September.

More next week.