Ouch

Ouch ouch ouch and what's more Ouch.

Am I in pain....what ever gives you that (ouch) idea??? Could it be (ouch) the fact I am sitting here with a cold compress on my kn (ouch) ee or (ouch) have I given you some sort of (ouch) verbal (ouch) clue?

Yes, you are right, I am in pain with my left knee. For some reason, it is hurting like buggery... might have something to do with the 23 mile ride I did at lunchtime.

The ride...well to be honest, I was going to try to climb some hills but bottled out of it at the end of the road and instead of turning left, turned right towards the flatter lands of Penkridge.... and then discovered how windy it is out there (current average speed 15mph). To be honest, I felt like giving up as it was like riding through something sticky. Anyway, I got to the turn and somehow found some energy and picked up the speed on the way back, so much so I was worried about getting caught by a mobile speed camera (as if! It was parked on the side of the last climb into Stafford.... I went past it doing 11mph although I climbed the hill without problems).

So in the end I am sort of pleased I went out, although sore....ouch

The route: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=24827

Done: 23.04 Total: 211.52 To do 38.48

Height climbed 505 Total: 5632

Average speed 12.6

Tracker....

Need to enter data into this but this might help reach my targets

Anothe ride/Stafford Road Club

Well after doing next to nothing on the road this month, I went out this morning for the third morning running...and don't my knees know it!!!! The ride itself was okay if a little flat both in hills and in power: I doubt I averaged 12mph (forgot to check!). I did give up after about 10 miles as the sun was so low in the sky I couldnt really see where I was going and the road I was using was really muddy! (At least, I think it was mud).

The highlight of my ride however was bumping into the Stafford Road Club. A friendly bunch they seem and were more than happy for me to join in on their ride to RAF Cosford. However, they tend to do between 40 and 50 miles a ride (with an hours cafe break at the half way stage). Whilst I could manage the 12mph they say they average, I doubt I could do a 50 mile ride without much more practice! They do have a slow group which seems better tailored to me, so I left my number and hopefully they will get back to me.

The ride: www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=24656

Done: 19.31 (not going to make my average distance target this month) Total 188.29 To do 61.71 (3 days until the end of the month....don't think I am going to make 250 miles)

Height climbed: 470 feet. Total 5118

Jordan after a good servicing......

Well, she has had all her nuts tighted (blimey, the brakes are SHARP!) and the gears looked at so she was ready to cycle home this morning from Wolverhampton.

So, off I went noticing first of all how the taxi drivers in Wolverhampton don't seem to understand road markings...twat... and how bumpy cobbles are when you are doing down hill....almost made me wish I had an MTB.....hahahahahahahaha..... NOT! Anyway, a few quick peddle turns find me in the middle of Showell Road: or Shithole Road as the current wife calls it. Why am I mentioning it??? Well, some chav in a M reg BMW decided to shout at me as they overtook....shame for them that their car was so shit that I was able to stay behind them for the next few miles....wish I had had a D-Lock with me!!!!

I was surprised how quickly I made it to Cat & Kitten Lane and then on to the Stafford Road....confession here... I wimped out and used the cycle path rather than the main road...well its a duel carriage way witha 70mph speed limit! The surprised continued as I made it to Gailey (10 miles) in 44 minutes.

I past the hour at 13.0 miles....a good average that.

Well, one final climb into Stafford to face so I can try out the newly re-alined gears but quess what.... I made it up the hill (it used to KILL ME) using the middle ring at the front and 4th gear at the back.... most impressive for me!

My time home was 1.22minutes peddling with 1.28 being the overall time. I stopped only once for a drink at Gailey.

So the route: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=24539

Done: 17.11 Total 168.98 Todo: 81.02

Height climbed: 338 (yes, its flat!) Total 4648

Average speed....12.8mph

Servicing Jordan....

There must be a joke there somewhere..... Anyway, whilst I let your dirty mind work that one out, I rode to Wolverhampton this morning to have my new bike serviced.

Hummmm.... did I enjoy the ride? Well, not really... I struggled up Hyde Lea Bank as once again I could not get into my lowest gear... I did managed to get almost to the top in 3rd from bottom which is reasonably impressive. The rest of the ride to Penkridge was okay: I haven't been that way in a bit. Then I took the back road to Water Eaton which is single track and muddy most of the way. Interestingly, I never saw another car its whole 3 miles lenght. There were cars on the short bit of A5 I used. Thankfully they were friendly and no one tried to run me off the road.

Then it happened.... I got to the top of the hill on the Old Stafford Road only to discover I had lost my bike computer!!!! Sigh...so I doubled back on myself looking for it..... did I find it.... well actually I did which was lucky! So, I retraced my steps and soon (well not that soon) found myself on the outskirts of Wolverhampton.

Well, if you look at the map below you will note that its uphill most of the way into town...and cobbled for a bit which shook me up a bit.

So, Jordan is now having her nuts tighten (doesnt quite work that joke does it!). I got the bus home (the bus price has gone up 20% since I last used it about 8 months ago). I am collecting her all shinny and working perfect tomorrow morning.

Route: www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=24423

Distance: 20.48 Total 151.87 To do: 98.13

Height climbed: 743 feet. Total for the month: 4310

Average speed..... (a bit shameful)...11.1mph.

The shame.....

Sigh.... I said during my last post that I needed to get my finger out as I still had 118 miles to go to meet this months targets....so, how far did I do on the road this week.....18 miles...28 miles....50 miles....???????????????????????? Nope, sigh...none. Yes, that's right, the shame. I didn't do any miles on the road this week.

So, why was that then apart from the fat that I am a fat useless lump who couldn't get his arse into gear. Well, that's quite a good place to start but the weather and work had something to do with it. As did the fact that I brough a multigym and had great fun... I mean great fun putting it together. I mean the instructions said it would take about an hour... nearer to 5 hours all in all! Afterall, there were 303 pieces to fit together. The overall effect when done... interesting althogh even 5kg at the moment is quite hard in some exercises. I will see how well I get on. I do hope it increases my upper body toning which, to be honest, is very poor.

So, did I use Jordan at all? Well yes but on my rollers.

My first ride (Monday) was really rather disappointing as I wimped out after only 2miles. I mean, 2 miles!!! I could do that with my eyes closed and my arms tied behind my back.

On Tuesday I managed a longer ride but still not impressive: 6 miles in 34 mins. For some reason, my legs just didnt seem to want to work.

Sigh, bit depressed on Thursday with the lack of effort during the week so I thought.... (have they got a thinking icon..... nope, can't see one...sigh), why not see how far you can do in one day. So, at lunchtime I thought lets try a 45 minutes ride... achieved 7.4 miles at an average of 12.8 mph... not that impressive as I managed 6.8 miles in 30 mins last week but at start. Then before tea I did another 45 mins achieving 7.72 miles at 13.1mph. Finally, just before Corrie I nocked out a quick 5 miles making 20.52 miles for the day. I was a little sore at the end but pleased with the effort.

So...Saturday came... and went. Sigh. It rained on and off and sadly the boss found sufficient work for me to do to mean I didnt get a chance to go out on the bike. I did however do some time in the gym which was useful exercise.

Sunday then...come on, shirley (don't call me shirley)... I would get out for a ride today....er, nope. This time I blame the boss for wanting me to go for a dog walk so that I could act as security. After that, it was gardening time and general cleaning. Oh, and once again it rained. I really do need to MTFU and learn to ride in the rain.

Instead, it was back on the rollers after a gym session for another 45 min ride. This time I managed a reasonably more impressive 8.11 miles at 13.4mph.

So... that's 36.63 miles on the rollers this week. So in total thats 87.04 miles on the rollers.

A quick post script... got to go out for a ride tomorrow as I have to take Jordan to the bike shop for a service.

Sunday cycle/Cold

Yes, it was both cold (2c) and I had a cold (or that sort of thing....felt tired and under the weather all day) so I really didnt feel like going out for a ride today (Sunday) but hey ho, I needed to as my weight loss seems to have stopped and without riding, I never lose anything.

So, off I went and yes, there is no power in the legs. So, answer me this then...how comes I did 30 miles in a little over 2 hours 45 mins at an average of 12.1mph???? Can't work that one out.

The ride: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=23733

The traffic was light and behaved itself until the last but one corner when some twat decided he had to cut in front of me.... its beyond me to work out why he needed to do so and then pull up and get out 100 yards further on. Come on, if you had waited for me to pull out first you would have been delayed by what, a whole 2 seconds. Anyway, I did question whether he had a driving licence when I freewheeled by. Twat.

So: 30.46 miles. Total 131.39 To do 118.61 (better get my finger out...12 days before the end of the month!)

Height climbed: 703 feet. Total 3657

Average speed 12.1mph.

Tail wind.....

No, not a wind from behind, but had curry last night.... :-)

Well, I haven't been out on the road all week due to work and weather so as I am a little short of things to do at the moment (goes mad a bit next week) and the fact that I needed to go to the post box, I headed out for a cycle ride at lunchtime today.

So...given that I only had an hour or so, I decided to go out for a quick blast to see how fast I could go.... my average speed it somewhat disappointing at the moment to say the least.

So how did I get on? Well, I got to Penkridge (5.8 miles) in around 23 mins which is quite good and made it to 10 miles in around 43 mins which, again is quite reasonable. I did sort of hit the wall with the last climb back into town (its just about 20 yards too long) but was pleased when I pulled onto the drive to note the average speed achieved was 13.0mph! Pleased with that!

www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=23501

Done: 15.41 Total: 100.93 To do 149.07

Height: 384 Total 2954

A bit of news....

Well, yesterday was my 48th birthday....happy birthday to me! Looking forward to this year as I have some plans.....

First to carry on losing weight. I would like to be near my target weight of less than 100kg by my next birthday....that's 15 stone 10....about 3 stone to go then.

Second...to get as fit as my body will allow. To this end I have brought a multi gym for those days when cycling isn't enough.

Thirdly....to do at least one Time Trail and at least one Sportive...hopefully more.

Fourthly... To do the C2C ride in no more than a weekend....not sure if that's a long weekend, or the bog standard weekend..... I would like it to be the bog standard weekend but we will see.

Lastly (for now.... I might think of more later)....to do at least one 100 mile ride.

Shall I write FAIL now....or leave it until next year (hiding behind the sofa).

Roller round up

Well, Monday came and went and the weather/work wasn't friendly towards a ride on the road, so instead I decided to hit the rollers for another timed 30 min ride...well at least that was the plan but stupidly I did it just before tea which meant that quickly I ran out of blood sugar and had to stop after 4 miles which took a disappointing 22 minutes...sigh.

Tuesday and was lovely so did I go out for a cycle...did I hull, I was locked in a hotel with 8 women.... The weather was also nice on Wednesday but again, I had to share myself out between the team.... nevermind eh.

Come Thursday...guess what.... Yep, grey and miserable and rain....rain... rain....sigh. So once again I was resticted to the rollers but I decided its about time I really pushed myself over the timed runs....runs...yes, so far I have done two today.

The first one (at lunch time) achieved a distance of 6.34 miles with an average speed of 14.4 (top speed of 20.2), whilst the second one achieved a distance of..... 6.81 miles with an average speed of 14.7 miles.... A RECORD distance.

So, over the three ride: 17.15 Total done: 50.41....... Monthly Target Achieved!

Sunday roller action.

As I couldn't get myself into gear today... bike related joke.... I decided to hit the rollers for another timed 30 minutes session. I do find that half an hour on the rollers is worth at least 90 minutes on the road and of course, no one but your SPD clips are trying to kill you.

So how did it go? Well, I am pleased to say I improved my best distance from 6.11 miles in 30 mins to 6.34 miles which included getting off the bike to turn the radio up.... I might have made 6.5 miles without that. Oh, and I did do about half a mile before I realised the computer wasnt recording properly so stopped and restarted it.

My average speed was not quite a good as the last record run at 14.8mph with a top speed of 20.2mph.

So pleased with the days work. I wonder if I can get over 7 miles in 30 minutes by the end of the month? Perhaps I should see what I can do in 45 minutes as well.

Done: 6.34 Total 33.26 To do 16.74

Rant

A bit of a rant over yesterdays ride....

Well, I decided to go and see a football game in the afternoon so picked Eccleshall V Norton United, a cup game in the North West League. I had never been there before and it looks like a reasonable fixture.

So, shall I rant about the fact that I didnt have any energy to start with so decided to take a short cut away from the large hills I wanted to climb to start with....nah.

Or about the fact that the bike wouldnt go into Grannie on the climb up out of Stone towards Yarnfield.... nope but I do need to get it fixed as I need that 30:25 gear!!!

Or the fact that I took the wrong turn and ended up going the long way to Eccleshall. No, not that.

Its not that fact also that despite priinting all the relevant maps for the ride but the one with the ground on. That's not worth a rant, its just plain stupid!

Or the fact that the game went to extra time meaning I had to cycle home in the semi dark.... I had lights on the bike so that wasnt much of a problem. (Norton won 3-1 aet by the way... a tight game which could have gone either way. A stupid decision at the end however to send a player off with 30 seconds to go).

It also wasnt a problem that I missed the turn for the back lanes home so ended up using the main road... traffic was light, not a problem.

No, none of that was a problem looking back....so why the rant??? Well, I turned up just as the match kicked off, asked for one and a programme and the gate man tried to sell me a discounted admission ticket.... a pensioners ticket...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do I fecking look like a pensioner!!!!!

So, if that's what cycling does for you... I'm giving up!!!

The route: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=22895

Distance: 34.47 Total: 85.52 To do: 164.48

Height climbed: 1003 feet Total done: 2570

More Rollers and a Ride.

Well, given how good I felt on the rollers on Tuesday, I thought I would have another ride on Wednesday....sigh....not so good however this time as I only managed 5.28 miles in the timed 30 minutes. My average speed had also dropped to 12.5mph with a highest speed of 17.9 mph.

So....Roller total: 26.95. To do: 23.05 miles.

Come Thursday morning, I needed to go to the vets to collect some pills from the cat so, off I go for a twenty odd mile ride....oh the vets is only 1 mile away. The ride itself was fine although I was a little disappointed that I didnt manage to achieve 12 mph as an average (11.9mph...sigh) but found the hills reasonably easy for a change.... not that I climbed any real big ones.

The ride: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=22601

Distance: 22.45 Total done: 51.05. To do 198.95

Height climbed 547. Total climbed 1 467

Average speed....11.9mph...disappointing.

Timed roller ride 2

Looking back on this in say, six months, I wonder how impressed I will be. Not as impressed (and sore and hot and sweaty) as I am now.... Back then (or should it be forward then?) I bet I am superfit and think half an hour at top speed is, well a walk in the park (or something).

So why am I impressed? Well, as you will know I did 5.56miles in 30 mins on the rollers yesterday. Well today I improved the distance done to 6.11 miles in 30 mins. I think that's about a 10% increase in one day!!!! (okay, I know I will not be able to carry on at that rate of improvement).

My average speed also increased to 14.9mph and the highest speed done to 19.3mph.

Total then: 6.11. Total 21.67. To Do. 28.33

Timed roller ride.

I thought I would do something different today as I didnt really have much time to get a ride in. What was it I can hear you ask (actually, I need to get someone to test my head out as I know no one reads this, so that must be a voice in my head.....)? Well, I thought I would see how far I could go in a set time on my rollers.

Well the plan was to go for an hour as far and as fast as I could but...sigh, as with me, I could not last as long as I wanted so instead did 30 minutes.

The result??? Well, I did 5.56 miles in 30 minutes....that's 30 minutes without the clock stopping. My average speed was 13.7mph with a maximum speed of 17.6mph. Is that any good? I don't know. All I know is that I feel rather warm and happy.

Rollers this month: 15.56. To do 34.44

Windy weekend!

Blimey, was it windy yesterday (3rd Oct)! With winds of up to 40mph I didnt head out for a long ride as planned...well I almost got blown off my bike when I went to the vets so instead I went on the rollers and did a record 10 miles in one go.

So, Rollers: 10 miles done. 40 miles to do.

The ride: www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=22217

Distance: 2.74 To do: 247.26

Height Climbed: 116 feet.

Strangly when Sunday arrvied the weather was much better: dry if a little cold which gave me the chance to try out my new cycling jacket....blimey, it was warm: too warm after about 14 miles so I ended carrying it.

The ride itself was okay apart from the climb up to Portal Pool which was much harder than I remember (look for the large hill half way around the route). I went into Cannock along roads I used to use when I lived their, which was fun!

Managed the climb back into Hyde Lea reasonably well this time although was disappointed that the gears kept jumping. Will have to have that looked at.

Anyway, the route: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=22149

Distance: 25.82. Total 28.57

Height climbed: 804 Total: 920

Average speed. 11.7mph

October Targets

Just wondering whether I should actually set any targets this month as I have done so badly over the last few months making them.... oh go on then.

Distance: As the nights are drawing in, I will have less chance to get out on the road so I am going to set this at 250 miles this month.

Rollers: Given the above, I want to do at least 50 miles on these this month.

Height climbed: At least one 1500 ride and at least two more over 1000! Blimey, that's going to be hard. I would like an average ride of 750 feet.

Average speed.... I am crap at going fast and given the fact I want to do more climbing, I think an average of 12mph seems about right.

Average distance. Up a little from last month I think... how about 25 miles.

Weight loss. Down from 263 to 258lb.

Lets see how I get on with them eh..... bet I fail them all...sigh.

Sept targets revisited.

Okay, time to look back at the targets I set for Sept....

Well, distance…. Over the last couple of months I have gone up from 228 miles in July to 252 miles in August so perhaps another 10% increase seems in order. Target 280 miles. Done 305. Achieved.

Average speed… not sure if I have done this one before but lets set myself a target of 13.5 miles an hour for rides over 20 miles, unless they are very hilly. Currently I am averaging 12.5mph. Target 13.5mph Did: 11.5...failed.

Rollers…. Here is one where I don’t think I will set a target. Why you may ask…well I think I spent too long on them last month meaning I had to cram a lot of road work into the last week. I did 40 miles last month; lets see what I can do this month. 10 miles.

Weight loss…… Lets see if I can lose another 7lb. I am 269lb at the moment. Target 7lb. Now. 263. Lost 6 Fail.

Hills….. another target I missed last month… Sigh. So, at least a couple of 1 000 plus rides this month please. Target 1 000 foot plus rides. One 1000 ride. Failed.

Length….well, I would like to do at least a couple of 35 mile plus rides. I seem to be able to do 32 miles without a bother, so this must be possible….please. Target 35 mile plus ride. Longest ride 31 miles. Failed.

Finally, the average distance… I would like this to be over 22 miles. I failed last month but let’s see what I can do. Target Average 22 miles. Average achieved. 23.5. Achieved.

So, didnt achieve many of the targets set. Sigh. I am pleased the avarge is up and that I made the distance target but I must start doing more hills (climbed a total of 8800 feet this month). I went out for 13 rides and used the rollers twice.

The rides:


2nd Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=18429

5th Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=18816

7th Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=19039

11th sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=19395

12th Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=19666

13th Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=19812

15th Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=20081

17th Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=20311

20th Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=20681

22nd Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=20902

25th Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=21209

27th Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=21431

29th Sept
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=21650