Ruthin CRC marathon and #September100

Well, it would appear that I have ridden my bike 3 times this month...
Yes, 3 times, and it is already the 21st! Kielder 100 made for a good ride out so didn't get out apart from a blast for the usual Wednesday night ride, busy for the next weekend, knackered for the next Wednesday night ride and doing some bike fettling and then it was Ruthin.

Still, it seems to have worked, as you may have noticed if you go to Singletrackworld (and read everything) or noticed on here, I finished it!

Only saw the tail end motorbikes/quads as I started the final climb, turns out I was DFL but blazed crawled past the food stop without stopping (no need) and passed a guy on the way up. Actually rode with him for a while but once we got to some of the more draggy grassy stuff at the end I wanted to keep a rhythm I was comfy with so slowly pulled away.

Then I caught another guy on the descent through the woods! Pulled him in from a long way back, flew down the end of the descent, pounded along the road, and he passed me on the little rise actually in Ruthin, so I "let" him finish ahead of me.

But I finished it, all. I have been the last on the road before, but didn't complete the whole distance, have been cut off at time checks before but this time it was every last soggy, slippy, greasy, spongey mile. And I loved it all (almost).

Walking into the river to scrape off the mud before showering in the campervan was simply a bonus :-)

#September100 ride and another Jones XR rear gets torn...

Well, a quick thrash last night has gone to prove I probably could/should have gone quicker at the weekend in Kielder but hey ho, next year will be different as I think I have already said.

Nothing hugely technical last night but some proper hills to scale and some rough stuff to come back down. One nadgery little chute has still got me buggered though. I have ridden it, wildly and barely (well, not really at all) in control, all 15-20 feet of it, ages ago on my hardtail, but now...
It just spooks me, bit damp, bit uneven, few rocks that stick up just enough to stop you, no real line through so some rock attacking required but I keep bloody stopping at the top! My head says to itself on the way "come on, you can do this just ride it" but my body slows to a stop and I am too close to start and clip in, turning round and having another go just doesn't occur to me, so I get off and stumble down.
Bugger, bottled it again.
Then I take in out on the fast rough track further down, get load of confidence back and wish we were back at the top so I could show it who is boss (safe in the knowledge that we are not going back up).

This time however the brutal slamming through the rocks blasted a neat hole in the side of my shiny second hand Jones XR rear. Damn. Went with a bang it did, oh yea, though it might hold up for a few moments as I slowed gently but I was instantly crashing through the rocks on the rim at what the GPS reliably informs me was 21.9 mph. An odd sensation, but the rim survived ok and a tube had me back on my way again soon enough. At least it gave me another 13.2 miles towards #September100 and the encouragement to get to Ruthin for the Merida CRC marathon in a week or so's time.

So, what repair kit for tubeless tyres then?

Well, back on-line with a #k100 and #september100 update...

Well the Kielder 100 was a long hard slog, it just wasn't long enough.
By that I mean I only got to the first cutoff, missed it by 19 minutes.

It was however an awesome ride, some great singletrack bits, they were however a little rough to be blasting down, I did anyway and as a result pretty much knackered my legs after each one but they were worth it.

The initial climbs were as deceptive as they were beautiful, huge vistas unveiling themselves from the mist, riders fading back into the cloud, and we had obviously got loads of the climbing out of the way early right?
Well, somehow it seemed we could climb for a vertical mile or two, descend for a minute or two, then climb, again, for ages.

Had a great chat with loads of people, a laugh with someone at every stop and some fun chasing the second place guy down the final descent, man he was quick for a guy that had dome an extra 44 miles, in the same time! :-)

Still, it gave me a great start in the #september100 I suppose...

Next year will be different, I will declare it now, top half placing, I will decide at the end if that is of finishers or starters ;-)

#August150 fail but a good go, and the Lakes assert themselves...

#August150 surprise birthday bonus!

Well, I would not go as far as saying that #August150 is likely to be completed, but it will be a closer thing than I expected.

Last night I arrived late for the usual Wednesday night ride. It varies between an 8-10 mile technical climb, slither, scream back down, repeat exhausting hour or two to 12-16 mile climb/ride/descend more cross country ride. I just mentioned that some long miles might be good as a last blast before Kielder 100.

Blimey, 26 miles of hard miles as a blistering (for me) 12 mile an hour average! So, we are up to nearly 112 miles. Not going to get 38 miles this weekend, I think, but at least it could get frustratingly close :-)

Oh, and when my birthday presents arrived from my mum, they included a "for goodness shakes" powdered recovery drink sample. Seemed like a good opportunity for a test. Don't know if it works superbly as I shared it but don't feel too awful today, and it was pretty tasty!

Hello, and welcome to tracker1972's thought-stream.

Hello, and welcome to tracker1972's thought-stream.

#August150, chirruping baby and some rain...

Oh yea, some rain indeed. It just added to the fun of the weekend though! Had the awning out on the side of the camper so our fellow holiday makers (mother-in-law, father-in-law/riding partner and ermm, granddad in law?) could join us in the dry and relative peace (it was blowing a gale and it is basically a cheap tent clamped to a van).
Still barbequing outside in the rain was tricky but a quick deployment of their wind out awning (you know wind as in turn not wind as in blowing, don't you just love English?) gave a large enough wind shadow to allow some cooking.

Over the weekend I managed a couple of rides, one hot lap (for me) of Rutland water and a gentle pootle with the trailer and baby in tow. Both enjoyable in their own way :-)

So that has added another 27.7 miles to my #August150 total but on August the 24th with only a few days before I really should rest before Kielder the missing, er, 64.6 miles may prove tricky to squeeze in.

Still, will have lost 14 days to illness and "tapering" and got some decent miles in otherwise so not the end of the world, and it is my birthday tomorrow, and Wednesday night ride day so it's all good :-)

Oh, the chirruping baby? That is this one...

...who was chattering away with me at the start of this post and is now fast asleep, holding her (very proud and happy) dads hand.

A quick holiday update...

#August150 update but looking tricky for #K100...

OK, today was not an awesome ride. Tricky slimy descents, that I rode better than last time admittedly, and tricky, nadgery climbs that made my legs burn. Perhaps Mondays jaunt took more out of me than I thought it did. Perhaps my poorly spell made me weaker than I thought/hoped....

#August150 I'm a mobile bike mechanic (ish)

Well, I don't think todays contribution to #August150 is going to push me to the top of the leader-board but  it might just make a difference in the end.

#August150! and I didn't batter the idiot who tried to kill me...

Well, once again I mounted a trusty bike ("the commuter" aka a Claude Butler Urban 300) and rode back from the Sven Doctor. The Sven Doctor? Oh, Sven is our campervan and the doctor I suppose is the garage where campervan things get sorted out. Heating as it happens.

The ride actually took me back along a route I used to ride as an out and back when I first got the Claude Butler and didn't know anyone else who rode bikes, at all. That is partly why I ended up with a hybrid with suspension forks and seatpost that both work as well as you would expect on a £300 bike but we all learn.

Anyway, getting back into tram and bus slipstreaming into town was fun, but seeing a massive combine harvester of some sort, with tracks instead of front wheels, waiting at the lights for me to pass, in town was a bonus! The woman at the roundabout who stopped pulling out with a simple "OY!" from me as I went round was reassuring. Bumped into Dan from The Bike Tree, (a shop ride I need to go back to, it was great!), watched a Land Rover mince across some roadworks to get into a petrol station, oooooooo, a scalped road, how will your 4x4 cope!

But then the goody, the t**t mentioned above. Cruising up the road I made sure I stayed (I thought) far enough from the curb to stop anyone passing me at a pinch point with a traffic calming island. Some old giffer decided he could squeeze past me next to the island, literally as I said "what the..." he hit the island and tore his front offside tyre open.

Looks like I was right, he couldn't get through!

So he pulled up 50 yards up the road and I pulled up on the verge next to him...

Me, loudly, but calmer than I thought I would be "have you got any idea what you could have done to me if you bounced off that curb".

Him "sorry, I errrr, sorry" followed by some mumbling.

His, similarly elderly, wife looked terrified and he was shaken up as well so I had to calculate my next move...

Go for a traditional "owning with Bombers"?
   Didn't have any.

Demand his details and tell him I was reporting him to the police for driving without due care and attention?
   Didn't think I really knew what I was talking about.

Ask his wife if she was OK and tell him to get the jack and spare whilst saying it will only take us 10 minutes to change the wheel.
   Yea, thats more like me :-)

As it happened he just wanted to "ring someone" and get them to do it, don't really think he knew what to do with these funny new alloy wheels with funny locking nuts, or wanted me around, so I left them to it.

I think I will claim a karmic victory for the oppressed cyclists of the world with that one, moral high ground firmly taken :-).

Was quite a decent ride as well, still recovering and not coughing, get in :-)

#August150 back on track, I rode like the wind...

...and then I turned round and rode back into the wind, then back again and the wind was with me. Rother Valley may be a nice easy path but being around a lake for sailing makes it a bit breezy at times. More importantly is the fact that it was an extra 2 miles in the same hour that I spent a couple of days ago and still felt good.

Lungs- check- working fine.

Legs- check- working pretty well, although I could tell it had been a while since I did anything really on a bike.

Throat- check- some coughing and spluttering but not related to the activity.

The next steps? I guess I need some hills soon, and then Wednesdays longer ride. Not much time to get ready for Kielder but still going to give it a go :-)

One final observation...
I decided to do my recovery rides on my singlespeed on the flat on the basis that with the absence of a big gear I would not be able to really push it. It really works! And reminded me of how good riding a SS bike feels. So strangely direct even though it is the same freehub as when it had gears, weird huh?

Sports Tracker link to the ride.

and a spot the difference screengrab from Ascent.

Friday the 13th...

Well, Friday the 13 is here and so far I have swam shortly after a lung infection (apparently a bad move) but seem no worse off, taken our baby girl swimming for the first time, she quite liked it, and failed miserably to do anything to ward off the dangers of the day.

Oh well, guess there isn't anything in it after all.

Swimming was fun though, will have to try and get out for a proper swim, could feel the weakness in my shoulder (8 months or so since dislocation) so I assume that means it still needs work and that swimming will help? Either way, it was fun with out little girl and any exercise is good yea?

In bonus news I seem to be having absolutely no ill effects from yesterdays jaunt on the bike so onwards and upwards. Still not sure what approach will maximise my capacity for the Kielder 100 but little and often will do for now (and help with #August150) so going try and get out tomorrow. See how that goes, got a longer ride planned for Wednesday so that will be the first test...

Fingers crossed...

I rode a bike and lived! (and had a scone) #August150

Well, that was good, hopped on the SS for a flat easy ride, theory being that I couldn't muck up and push it too hard, would spin out before I got the choice and no hills to gurn up.

It worked!

Got on the bike...

and started pedalling, it was lovely and easy, just rolling my legs over, feeling the breeze, it was great.

Apart from the rain I didn't really cater for...

but that just needed shelter, and a quick snack...

but I made it, and lived to tell the tale, feel fine actually so more and more to come :-)

Got to dash for a free tea then pub...

Hello, and welcome to tracker1972's thought-stream.

Hello, and welcome to tracker1972's thought-stream.

The game is afoot, tomorrow I ride!

Well, decision made, tomorrow I don't think about it, I ride!!! Ok, it is only going to be a pootle along an ex railway (Trans-Pennine Trail towards Rother Valley as it happens) and I will be single speeding it in order to remove any temptation to push it on the flat to keep my breathing under control but still.
It will be a ride all the same though and I am looking forward to it. It has been a week and 5 days since I last got on a bike at all and it feels like a lifetime somehow.


How far will depend entirely upon how I feel, might only be a couple of miles, might go all the way to Meadowhall and back (I wish) but it will be miles in legs and wind in the hair and I can't wait.


There is more though, if I feel Ok after that Thursday night it pub night and I might ride the couple of miles home including a great bit of singletrack (well, it is wider in places but fast and swoopy in places).
Two rides in one day! Maybe, as long as I don't over do it (but it would be the first night ride in ages which would be great).


So, lungs are recovering, I am feeling a little stronger, here is to responsible active recovery :-)

Gentle Sunday with a Christening, and cake :-)

Well, as lie in's go that was a good one. Up at 7.30 ish after a fairly good sleep, little one fed, scraped clean and put back into her cot, back to bed for a snooze...

Gone 11! Nice one :-) Really needed it and this infection thing is definitely going, and going well. Was a bit fearful the the post viral lethargy might get me, and get me bad with it being a bit sever but don't feel weak, just a bit breathless and that is improving fairly rapidly as well. Still got hopes of not being the first to crash out of the Kielder 100 :-)

The Christening (which started at 3.00 pm, an hour+ away from home so the lie in was just long enough) was good. The vicar was interesting. An American who was fairly easygoing, and enthusiastic, but not happy clappy, in a CofE church. Gave all the kids instruments to join in during the songs, with predictable results. Took nearly an hour to get to the do afterwards, thank you TomTom. Postcode was correct (once we realised we had a 0 instead of a O) but nowhere near the actual do.
My quick thinking wife then put in the name of the village in instead of the postcode... 12 miles back the way we came roughly...
Still, arrived in time for food, then cheesecake, then got given some cake to bring home, and then had some of the cake (well, oversized muffin) made yesterday.

Am now officially ready for a good recovery sleep, hope our, potentially teething, little angel has the same idea...

See you next time.

No bike riding, but still a good day...

Well, that is an improvement, today I can breath, and walk, and talk, and eat! Not a great deal of the aforementioned, but all of them present. I once again consider myself human :-)

"That poo was immense!" :-)

Not a phrase that you get to hear everyday in "normal life" but takes on a new meaning when your daughter has made the sound of a jumbo tube of toothpaste being squirted into a pot of yogurt with a grin on her face and has been taken away for a nappy change. :-)

Yes it is childish and yes it made me laugh, a lot.

On the bleeding lungs front things are moving on well, coughs are further apart and I have only needed the inhaler thing for a couple of days, missed a dose today without any real consequences so I am sure I am on the way back to climbing stairs without having to stop, which will be nice. And being able to hug my daughter and wife, which will also be nice, very nice in fact.

Oh, in slightly other news I have planned another ride, oh yea, me, the baby, the trailer, the wife, the friend who hasn't ridden in years and doesn't have a bike but who likes taking pictures and a reservoir. Should be good.

Anyway, now my mood is lifting and my health is flooding creeping back I might actually ride a bike or two and go on about that instead! :-)

Still ill (more moaning), but finished the TdF!

Yes, viral infection or no, coughing up blood or not I shall not be denied my moment of glory on the Champs Elysee! OK, it was on Sky+ and I have only just got around to watching it, and I already knew what had happened but still, what a finish by Cavendish!

Grumpy, ill, moaning, poorly...

It is 7.45am and I have not slept. I should ignore the rest of this moan if I were you, just venting :-)

Sven is off to the doctors (he is a campervan)

Well Sven is off to the heating doctors. Really hoping that he is only in need of a little fettling to get the heating working as parts for a 20+ year old heating system are hard to come by apparently (normally found just behind rocking-horse sh1t I am told).

If it can't be revived apparently they don't do that kind of external heating system any more at Eberspacher or anywhere else so could be tricky to sort out. Anyhow, at least everything else is (currently) working, and we are having a lovely summer so it will be fine... I am sure...

Here is Sven by the way, awning up and all...

No riding today...

I feel like poo (now I am a father that seems more acceptable than saying I feel like shit somehow).
I have had the pleasure of being told "at least you look like shit" which actually is quite some consolation right now. I am on my second roll of bog roll in 18 hours, all dedicated to my nose and the breathing through the mouth thing is making my throat hurt. Lovely.

As long as it stays as a cold then I will be fairly happy, should feel ok for Wednesday night's ride and see how my leg, well, calf feels after a bit of a rest. Am hoping it just needs to rest and stretch a little, seeing as that is all that it is getting before the Kielder 100.

Also got a ride round the Mary Townley Loop to look forward to a week on Thursday. Was hoping to get a couple of longer rides in this week as a warm up but best laid plans and all that...

For the time being I will have to settle for admiring my baby girl who celebrated her 1/4 birthday on Sunday from a safe, try not to give her a cold, distance.

...my poor nose...

...is streaming at the moment and I feel like poo. That must be why I have just signed up for the #August150 challenge. Something to aim for before the Kielder100. It is however now time for bed with another roll of toilet paper, red nose here I come!

Anniversary ride and tea, sort of...

I am currently sat in a modernised field, next to the campervan in the awning. The barbeque is roasting some veg that will shortly be replaced with some burgers so we can celebrate our first anniversary in style :-) The ride you say? Well that consisted of packing our 12 week old baby in her car seat, and the base for her pushchair/pram into the Burley Bee trailer and cycling into, and back from Bridlington. All in all a perfect day so far :-)

Less than an hour to go...

... and I couldn't be happier. It will be my first wedding anniversary :-)
A blissfull year where everything has just got better, and better. The downs like getting flu have just made it all the more obvious how good life really is so thank you wife and thank you life!

Right, time to get this show back on the road!

So I can now (fairly easily) do this from my phone when I feel like it, as opposed to waiting to be at a computer, I have a summer, a couple of bikes, a couple of trailers, a baby girl, a wife, a camper van and the tech together, and stuff I don't want to forget and stuff I sometimes just want to say out loud...

I wonder if this time I have got myself straight :-)

Right, Opera mini 10 then...

Well, it looks like Opera mini 10 might just let me post straight from the browser!
That might not seem that remarkable but the built in browser is, well, not quite as fully featured shall we say :-)

Not sure about this...

WEwWELCaNCanT SEEM TO SEE WHAT I AM TYPING!!! NOW THIS IS BAD

Back again!

Well, fatherhood is still pretty cool, and now that I am on my summer holidays it is looking more like I will be able to come back here now and then. I am however looking for an easy way to blog from my new phone, Nokia 5230. Not easy so far but I am sure there is a way :-)
Bye for now...

Half term bank holiday...

Seems a cheat to have a bank holiday during a half term holiday. I guess we work the right number of days but still...
Another day more on a baby pace rather than our own, just a little more snoozing basically. Missing riding a bit but baby replacement is working out pretty well so far.
Possibly as happy asI can imagine being, tired and life is not perfect, but still pretty damn happy.
Fatherhood rocks.

Knackered and happy.

As above :-)
Daughter, fantastically gorgeous, could sit and watch her for hours.
Wife, snap, although I might talk to her more and appreciate her more.
Work, ok (well, it is work!)

Dying friend

Went to see a friend, possibly my wifes best friend, today with our shiny new daughter. The friend is expected to die any day. Hard day.

Second day back done...

School was easier, more awake somehow so achieved more with the kids I had today. Went for a ride afterwards and kind of didn't want to. Love riding and always regret missing opportunities to ride but given the choice, ride or spend time with my wife and baby girl it is not as easy to choose. Want them both but went riding simply because we need to try and get our routines back together. My ever insightful wife also pointed out I get a bit stir crazy if I don't get out to ride as well! Still, quick clean up then bed for some kip, then a nappy or two in the night, lovely :-)

Back to work...

Well, that is the paternity leave used up, two fantastic weeks with my new family and our baby gifted us with her longest break between feeds so far. 6 hours she treated us too! Going to miss my gorgeous wife and beautiful baby girl loads today I am sure but at least they will get some quality time together. Right, time fora shower I think.

Well, who would have thought...

... that becoming a dad would impinge on my Internet activities? I see that this blog is now less of a cycling record and more of a nightime #newdad thing. Becoming a dad us a great thing though and worth harping on about, did manage a ride a couple of nights ago though. What should have been a straight forward "Wednesday night ride" turned into an unplanned 20 mile off road expedition. Found some great new trails (to me), rode well and survived remarkably well but felt odd being away from my new family for so long. Got to get used to it though, back to school next week...

Forgot to say...

... went for an awesome ride last night, 18 miles of awesomeness :-) (with phone on and close to my wifes location at times) but riding an MTB is great most of the time but awesome some of the time.

Overdue baby...

Well, 6 days late is about to pass and the first week over is upon us. My wife is getting increasingly uncomfortable and I am finding it harder to leave her at home every morning to go to work. So glad it is a long weekend approaching so I can be around. Even if I don't/can't do anything it would just feel better. Anyway, working in the morning so bed time...

Well it's Sunday...

... and still no baby. Only a couple of days late which is less than unusual I know but still, it would be nice to start off at the weekend so I can be around for my darling wife! Clock still ticking so we will see when it begins.

Baby seems to be late...

Well, today is/was our due date but with an hour and twenty to go I think we can assume it's not happening today anyway. Probably during tomorrows BBQ just to spice things up I bet.

Long day but...

... it was lightened by a fantastic ride tonight! 15 miles of climbing and decending all wrapped into a great couple of hours. OK some of the off piste was a little too off piste but it was still fun to get out and get some fresh ground under the wheels. Didn't think about work madness once which was nice. Time for bed now though so, night all.

p.s. I am pretty. Sure no one will be reading this but drop me a comment if you are, that would freak me out! :-)

Knackered?

Who would have thought that after 2 days of term a bunch of Y6's could have reduced staff to such lows. They really are some of them. Never mind, nothing lasts forever!

And now...

Blogging from the iPod touch! Will wonders ever cease? Will I ever go to bed at a sensible time? Oh well, quick read of 20,000 leagues under the sea (free book on iPod touch) and sleep. Night all.

hmmmm

Just noticed that I called this my "thought stream" not done much thinking have I!

Well look what I just found!

Look, I have a blog, and it has been here all along, with updates every, oooo, two years or so?
Lets see, now I use Twitter a lot, Facebook a little, actually deleted my Bebo, just remembered I have a MySpace account as well...
Oh, and a mobile me (.mac as was) account with stuff on it too.
I think that is about it so I am not entirely sure what this blog would be useful for...
Might just bung random stuff on here from time to time just to put it somewhere.
Night all.