#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.

good riddance to 2010

I'll be glad to see the back of 2010, fair to say that it was probably the worst year of my life with one thing or another, most (but not all) of the bad things have been documented on here....

But here's some of the good things from 2010 to focus on for 2011

Riding, reasonable fitness in fits and starts mixed up with lots of aches and pains, some great days out and even enjoying the one race that I did, well what I did of it anyway.

Several weekends away riding with friends who have stuck by me despite me being a miserable bugger.

Enjoying my photography more than ever and really enjoying the time spent photographing birds.

The weather, real weather, hot sunshine, cold snowy days, all good.

Walking, not done as much as I wanted to but still enjoyed what was done.

My wife and family, goes without saying but without them I wouldn't have survived the trials and tribulations of this year.


So, what for 2011 ?

Work should last for another year or so, so my big traveling plans are on hold till 2012.

Drinking has to stop.

Weight has to be shed.

Aches and pains need to be sorted.

Fitness needs to be attained.

Stretching and running and yoga.

A road trip to Scotland with the boy, riding and snapping.

Riding with the boy, a highlight from 2010 is his interest in riding bikes (always assuming he can get out of bed !)

More work on the Anglesey project, would be nice to aim for 2012 exhibiting.

and maybe, just maybe 2011 will see enough nature/bird work for Dave ?

On reflection

I'm not giving up, in fact the only thing I'm giving up is drinking, at least until the works xmas do on Dec 17th....

Last night of alcohol tonight, tomorrow night is into the cellar and onto the turbo trainer as it looks like it will be icey as hell tomorrow, so same strategy as last year, not going out on a bike in ice and snow, todays fall onto my hip was a painful reminder.

2011 has got to be a better year than 2010, its not all in my control, but the little that is needs to be under control, health, fitness and attitude.

Giving up

its been a while

my back is no better

my legs can do the riding thing

my back hurts after a few hours or if I have to push hard on the pedals

and now I have a cold/flu....

apart from commuting bike riding is done for this year

quite fed up really