#30in30 - Day 30 - Finished

A great day to finish on, east side of Calder Valley, great trails, great friends, great day out :-)

#30in30 - Day 29

A couple of hours at Cannock Chase on cyclo cross bikes, excellent stuff, bit of fire road bashing, bit of singletrack delight, bit of man made swoppyness, all good stuff, even took the boy with me and I think he enjoyed himself despite a JRA crash :-).

One day to go and I'm aiming to do a big (ish) ride to Delamere, ride at Delamere, ride home from Delamere to finish the #30in30 challenge.

#30in30 - Day 28

Late afternoon spin in the sunshine, an hour and ten, nearly done now :-)

#30in30 - Day 27

Cold morning and two punctures didn't do anything to alter my mood today, an hour and a half ride time plus 20 mins changing tubes, fingers too cold to function properley.

A shock email at work (work related, might mean more work, or at least staying there longer) threw me off my plan and I decided to leave early, especially as the sun was shining and I felt that my legs had a spring in them, so off I went, only down the trans pennine trail but enjoying the (slight) warmth on my face, an hour and three quarters, no punctures, little mud and job done.

Change of bike for tomorrow, got the Kite (single speed CX bike) from the cellar, fitted some big 38mm tyres, oiled the chain and I'm good to go :-)

#30in30 - Day 26

Foul mood today, hungry and tired and lacking any inspiration to ride a bike but I went home early due to a headache from hell, got to the turning point and went right, into the lanes and into a fucking strong headwind, dropped down to the 40 and sat and span for an hour and ten.

Didn't make me feel any better but at least I'm still on track, different bike tomorrow, Genesis Latitude hardtail, mudguards and lights fitted, its going cold again so hopefully the trails will firm up a bit and I'll cheer up !.

As a means to an end 30in30 is good, it'll give me a base on which to work, its helped me stop drinking and I feel a ton better for that, its also helping the belly disappear (slowly, it took 4 years to get there so 4 weeks ain't gonna make a huge difference) but as for riding enjoyment, well the constant dullness in my legs due to limited recovery time is cancelling that out.

So, 6 days to go now, it'll get done.

#30in30 - Day 25

One hour and forty five minutes on the road bike, in the wind and rain, and with the company of several stupid car drivers, but it still managed to be an ace ride.

Descending a big hill in total blackness apart from a headlight at 30mph is exciting and scary at the same time, throw in a stray bunny rabbit and the adrenaline sure kicks in :-)

More again tomorrow please.

#30in30 - Day 24

an hour and a half after work along the lanes on a mountainbike, very pleasant indeed.

#30in30 - Day 23

Cannock Chase, not been there for about 6 or 7 years, there's two man made trails there now, chase the monkey and follow the dog, equal mix of climbs and descents, nice stuff, quite chewy today though after the frost had got under the surface, I reckon it'll be well worth going back once its dried out, in fact it could be a nice venue for a weekend away.

Must ask around and see if there's any decent bunkhouses nearby, and for those that don't like Afan I reckon it'd be perfect :-)

New bike rocked, although the old forks are knackered, gonna try some ultra cheap Manitou's and see how long those last, even a year will be good value at £150 !

#30in30 - Day 22

Job done, just an hour.

#30in30 - Day 21

3 hours of sunshine and punctures, hedges have been cut, new tubes and puncture kits procured, new frame tomorrow, its getting easier as well, really enjoyed this afternoons spin.

#30in30 - Day 20

It was icey so that meant gym, one hour on the bike watching Top Gear, bored to tears

thats all

#30in30 - Day 19

Sunset



Moonrise



2 and a half hours tonight, solo night ride, 2 punctures (thorns) 1 big red fox, not sure who jumped higher, me or him !, really really enjoyed the moonlight, almost enough light to ride without lights but the woods were just too dark.

#30in30 - Day 18

One and a half hours this morning before work, legs fine on the flat, twingeing on the rises but all good, enthusiasm high, enjoying the spinning, feeling better every day and still no alcohol :-)


Foggy



Damp




Cold

#30in30 - Day 17

- Day 17 - done, 38 miles, 2 hours 40 minutes, sunshine and lollipops kind of day, really nice to be spinning along, legs felt good for once.

Road bikes with mudguards are ace, need bigger than 28mm tyres though, the roads are shattered and getting worse, MTB day tomorrow for a change, VooDoo Sobo with 2.4 Maxis Argents on, for the slither :-)

#30in30 - Day 16

Day 16 done

2 hours 15 minutes, 34 and a half miles on the Kona Jake , nagging headwind all the way with added tropical downpours, in fact the rain came down so fast that I was soaked through within 3 seconds so didn't bother putting my jacket on.

Again it took a good hour for my legs to wake up, and of course going out without eating made for a difficult ride, there is of course some method to the madness, starvation rides are what I've always done to drop weight and sure enough its working once again, that plus being deprived of more than a thousand calories of alcohol every day !.

One good thing about today was the fact that I felt that I could push hard on the climbs (ha climbs in Cheshire !) okay, they are short but even so it is a step forward, next milestone is to start pushing the length of rides out, looking for 60 miles next Sunday after a bivvy out on Friday night.

#30in30 - Day 15

2 and a half hours of more drive train wrecking grit mud and rain, the hair has gone, the legs have left town, really struggled to get going, almost bailed out a few times but just had to suck it up.

2 hours in and a felt more than a little bonky, must be the lack of a thousand calories every day since I stopped drinking :-).

If the weather picks up then tomorrow will be more of the same, going to aim for Spike Island !

#30in30 - Day 14

Its starting to hurt now, legs are heavy and sluggish, of course pushing a 3 inch tyre at the front isn't helping :-)

2 punctures today, thorns from hedge cutting along the canal tow path

But, the bright side was that I was riding in sunlight, warm and bright, beautiful and it made me happy.

Weather report for the weekend is looking dreadful, it'll be tough, but not as tough as this evening, going out for dinner and no alcohol for me, 14 days into being sober and its reaching crunch time, but its now or never ;-/

#30in30 - Day 13

half an hour this morning, an hour and a half this evening, mud, grit, rain, happy :-)

#30in30 - Day 12

Gym bike.

:-0

#30in30 - day 11

Had to get up early to ride as ~I knew I wouldn't get chance later in the day, so ....

it was horrible, trails made of porridge, legs heavy as lead, motivation low, but I did an hour.


come on legs, wake the fuck up

#30in30 - Day 10

Not fun at all.

An hour and a half in snow, sleet, wind, rain, mud, grit and darkness.

A job that needed doing.

Tomorrow will be the same but even earlier and wetter :-/

#30in30 - Day 9

A couple of hours up around Hebden Bridge, with friends, nothing epic by any means but just a roll up the valley and then back via some sweet secret singletrack, legs were fine, lungs fine, head clear, its time to step up a gear next week.

Happy.

#30in30 - Day 8

an hour and ten on the post bike this morning, took a good 30 mins before my legs woke up, a strong headwind not helping much, roads are pretty shattered again after the snow and ice so had to pay extra attention as it had rained heavily last night and there were huge puddles in the road. I was also mindful of riding into the sun after hearing of a friend who got carted yesterday, luckily nowt worse than a busted ankle but frightening all the same.

#30in30 - Day 7

Up early and out into the "danger flakes" as our Scots brothers call them, getting bigger and wetter all the time, out along the river and the trails surprisingly solid, the big front tyre also surprisingly easy to push, an hour and three quarters later and with freezing fingers I arrived at work, tea and a Cliff bar, happy to have ridden a bike.

And, I counted 11 dead Chinese Lanterns littering the countryside, not much Karma there ....

#30in30 - day 6

Rode the long way to work this morning, wet and muddy and cold, but an hour and a half after another poor nights sleep, had to go to bed at 9 due to the cravings for alcohol, ended up watching telly till mdnight :-(.

Long way to work tomorrow, and with a new 3inch tyre on the front of my "plump" bike, not quite a half fat bike, snow predicted tonight so that should be fun...

oh, and I finally wore out my waterproof trousers

#30in30 - Day 5

Really really struggled to get out of bed today, another poor nights sleep meant waking up feeling more tired than when I went to bed !

This meant that the chance to ride to work had gone, so into the car and away (eventually), the weather hasn't improved and the thought of driving home and getting changed to ride wasn't appealing so I went to the gym at work and sat and pedaled on a gym bike for an hour whilst watching Top Gear on the telly.

Never again :-(

1 hour

665 calories

34 kms

bored to tears, I'll be up at 6am tomorrow for a karma recharge.

#30in30 - Day 4

Day 4

Morning

Woke up after a restless night's sleep to find an inch of snow on the ground, so up and dressed and out into fresh snow, only one set of tyre tracks but plenty of fox prints spoiling the thrill of being first on the snow, just a 45 minute spin to work. My small pannier set was fully loaded with grub and milk for work and I was surprised how it affected the handling of the bike, in particular when riding no handed the front end wobbled ?

Night

Obviously the snow melted during the day to leave the trails full of mush, and because I'd only done 45 minutes this morning an hour was needed to maintain honour in #30in30 status, so off I set, grinding my drivetrain to bits, soon enough it was dark enough for the headlight and headtorch to come on. It was actually okay riding wise, just spinning along getting covered in Cheshires finest grit and mud, just the occasional wince as I heard the chai crunch, half expecting it to snap at any moment, anyway I got to my folks after and hour and a half, hosed the bike and myself down and headed home, happy to have ridden a bike again.

More good news is that my legs felt fine, obviously realising that this is what is going to happen every day for a wee while :-)

#30in30 - Day 3

Day 3 - Jan 3rd



An hour and a bit at Delamere today, 6 of us in the cold, special guests Tim and Jenn to show around, Tim, Nick and Jeff pretty much veterans of the woods now, we did pretty much the usual plus Toms Trail, which despite us being reluctant to ride due to the recent state of it was actually in good shape, the cold helping here.

Legs felt better today, but we were in Cheshire, no hills around here :-)

#30in30 - Day 1 and 2

Day 1 - Jan 1st



17 road miles in the rain, an hour and ten minutes, not a lot of fun, legs like lead, thank the lord for mudguards.

Day 2 - Jan 2nd



Another road ride, this time from Hollingworth Lake over Blackstone Edge and down Cragg Vale to watch the CX race in Todmorden, 24 miles in 2 hours, hard work on the hills.