Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Thursday, 26 August 2010
#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 :-)
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.
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
#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 :-)
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.
Friday, 20 August 2010
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
#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....
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
#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.
Monday, 16 August 2010
#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 :-)
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 :-)
Saturday, 14 August 2010
#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.
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, 13 August 2010
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...
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...
Thursday, 12 August 2010
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...
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.
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
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 :-)
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 :-)
Sunday, 8 August 2010
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.
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 :-)
Friday, 6 August 2010
"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 isflooding creeping back I might actually ride a bike or two and go on about that instead! :-)
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
Thursday, 5 August 2010
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!
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
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 :-)
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
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...
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...
Monday, 2 August 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
...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!
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