A month on from the last blog post and still nothing interesting to say.

pretty much nowt has happened

a few rides, lots of commutes

but a ride along a beach made me stop and think about how I want to ride my bike

and of course the swans are back ( I might have said this already)

so....

plans are hatching once again (if nothing else I'm good at making plans, sticking to them is a different matter)

next Wednesday I'm planning to ride throughout all of the daylight hours (its the shortest day), starting in the dark, and ending in the dark, also seeing the sea under my own steam, no substantive reason to do this other than it seems like I'm putting down a marker for my future, I intend to try and do things based around the changing of the seasons, changing of the tides, changing of the whatever !.

This idea has come around after a number of years of thought, but mostly due to the excitement I feel when the swans return, combining my riding with such things makes sense right now.

its been over 2 months...

since vanity kicked in, but kicked in it has...

2 months after turning 50 years of age I think I "may" have come to terms with it, there's been one or two reality checks of late that have given me some perspective

So, Barcelona was wonderful, 3 nights is not long enough, we saw most of the city using the open top tourist buses, a great way to grab the geography of the place, took lots of snaps and ate lots of food, a grand way to become 50.



Family party and friends party also helped ease the trauma.



Bike wise, well its been a bit on and off really, my back finally gave in a few weeks ago and this meant a few days in bed, I'd already started my Pilates type exercises and this was helping, all seems fine now but I'm shy of really riding too much, been keeping it down at a low level for now.

Fat bikes, in case you hadn't noticed I'm a convert, so much so that I now own a Salsa Mukluk thanks to my good friend and bike pimp/pusher Tim Johnson, since getting it a few weeks back its all I've ridden.



This last week I've started commuting again, its my favourite time to commute because coming home in the dark means a free night ride every night, the search for fitness begins once again.



And, another winter of swans begins



Along with some other bits and bobs of sadness came this,

Chris Mearns died.

57 years old, riding his bike with another good friend, out of the blue.

what happened next ?

Weds and nothing, my back was not in good shape so the day was spent sorting out phone and computer issues and photographing reflections in the city centre whilst waiting for the computer to get fixed.



Thursday and nothing, more time wasted working on the computer, back not too bad.

Friday and no riding, visit to the museum was good though.



Saturday, just an hour in the morning on the cross bike.

Sunday, sposed to ride to the seaside here today, I didn't.



Monday, nowt....

Tuesday, rode to work on the fat bike, 22 miles, no back pain.

Wednesday, rode to work on the fat bike with my sleeping bag, sleeping mat and bivvy bag strapped to the bike, all seemed to work well, no swingage. Jandd frame bag ordered now, that should take care of the stove and food, also hoping to be able to put spare tubes and tools in that and that just leaves the Ortlieb dry saddle bag to fit for extra clothing.

In theory that means just water for food to go into frame mounted water bottles, drinking water and bit and bobs in a rucsac on my back and I'm good to go.

26 mies today



Thursday, The day started cool and damp, autumn is here early.



But then ended with 33 fat and dusty miles on the fat bike, in sunshine and warmth, I also saw an albino Swallow today, first time I've ever seen one.



Friday, nowt, legs tired, and the bike I pulled out of the cellar last night had a front wheel puncture this morning.

So, 500 miles ?, nope, about 250 was all...... but I did enjoy those miles :-)

mid week check in

So, the weekend at the caravan came and went, weather was mixed but I did get out on each day...

Friday, my back was playing up after a night on a strange bed, just got out for a few hours along the coastal path on the fat bike, unfortunately the beach was too wet to ride on, must have been a high tide the night before - 12 miles - 2 hours.

Saturday and feeling better, I headed along the coast in a northerly direction, a few tiresome miles along the road to the coastal path and then dirt all the way, heavy going on the sand as it was very soft but I persevered, a full fat bike would be a better option., I eventually got to Sunderland Point (after a pint and a burger) and rode along the point, again the sand was way too soft so I turned back for home. Got to about 6 miles from home and the sky started to leak heavily, thoroughly soaked to the skin - 45 miles - 6 hours.

Sunday, Singular Kite single cross bike, wasn't feeling too perky after yesterdays soaking but got out anyway, up along the Glasson Dock path to Lancaster and back - 31 miles - 2 hours.

Monday, tried to persuade the boy to do Saturdays ride but I knew he wasn't keen so decided to drive to the dirt and skip the tedious road miles, we got to Sunderland Point, this time I'd brough my camera so spent a happy hour shooting the derelict boats whilst Jack played on his phone ! - 33 miles - 4 hours.

Tuesday, early start on local trails to beat the rain, upto Latchford then back down to Northendon, again enjoying the Singular Kite single cross bike, currently my favourite bike, back still painful but bearable - 40 miles - 3 hours.

161 miles so far, only 339 to go by next Tuesday :-)

500 miles in no particular order

Done quite a bit of riding since that last post, even done some longish 75 mile plus rides, but on one of them I hit a tree and twisted my back, didn't think much of it at the time but its been paining me since.

SITS was fun but I knew before I got there that I wasn't going to be racing, did my 1st lap at a sedate pace and then the rain came down, bringing back memories of 2007, our team didn't take much persuasion to hit the beer and relax through the night even though the course was drying.

Getting up at 6 to a glorious sunrise and I took the first lap, tried a bit on this one and enjoyed it but my back was paining me so that was it for me, the others all got out and finished the event in style, it was a good weekend but I've no desire to race for 24 hours again at the moment.

Last two weeks have seen little enthusiasm for riding, just commutes with the odd extension thrown in, last weekend saw me out on the road bike, snapped chain, snapped spoke evaporated that ride, Sunday was better, Trek 69er on dusty trails right until the end when the sky started leaking heavily.

Monday's ride was on the Kite, surprisingly dusty trails again, about 30 miles, today was a straight there and back affair, a run in with a Galaxy was enough to dampen my enthusiasm tonight.

So, I have a ten day break from work starting on Friday, we have plans for the weekends, this weekend at the caravan so I'll be taking the fat bike and exploring around Silverdale/Arneside and a couple of road rides, mid week 3 long rides, next weekend in Anglsey with the fat bike again (hopefully).

500 miles is my target, 500 enjoyable pain free miles.

100 miles

as predicted being on call tempered my enthusiasm for riding, Monday was a car journey to work to take in supplies, Tuesday was a mountain bike ride, 29 miles of dusty durt, and then it rained, Wednesday was road bike day, but just a quick 27 miles, Thurs and Fri were straight there and backs, another 20 miles.

Saturday morning and my thoughts of a weekend 100 were dispelled by the rain, so I got out the mudguarded Croix de Fer and knocked out a sharpish 37 miles, just over two hours, quite happy with that.

Sunday, and again the rain put a dampner on my idea of riding to Delamere, I was hoping for 70 miles today, instead I got maybe 15, but it was around the forest, in the woods in the rain, showing Barney around (its about 15 years since he was last here).

So, 138 miles for the week, not as much as needed but enough to keep me happy till next week.

BTW, the photo has no hidden meaning, I just like it :-)

up da te

Skye


Skye was a big success we had a really nice time

lots of photos taken

a couple of decent rides

a couple of boat trips

all good

1600 miles travelled

phew !

185 miles ridden this last week, back on track now

at least as much next week needed, although being on call might temper that

could always do a Sunday 108 again, thats up and down the river rune 4 times for those who know it

Friday, Saturday and Sunday

25 single speed miles on Friday topped out the week at just over 140 miles.

Saturday saw me and Jack at the Bespoked Bristol hand made bike show, lovely stuff on show, you need to go next year.

Sunday was a wash out, little motivation to ride and even less so when the rain came in, so I didn't.

Was hoping for 3 big days this week before we go to Skye on Friday, however, that may not happen due to a few issues at work but we'll see.

Thursday

Long day at work meant missing a Delamere ride with Tim and Nick, so went out for an hour and a half on the road (croix de fer which is every bit as good as I'd hoped it would be) 23 miles, just spinning, keeping this side of the red line.

2 bottles of beer and a bottle of red (soon to be finished), Salmon, Jersey Royals and Asparagus, on top of a salad day.

starting to feel the benefits on my waistline at last

Hopefully 60 miles tomorrow, day off on Sat (photographing Bespoked Bristol) and then a 100 miles on Sunday - should give me a 275 mile week

we'll see how that goes.........

EDIT - doh, got my sums wrong

meat to sat 40 tomorrow and 60 on Sunday giving me a 200 miles week

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Monday - road bike, 42 miles, moderate to hard, a few hill reps but they are still hurting a lot.

Tuesday - road bike, 28 miles, easy, empty legs, just spinning along at 16mph

Wednesday - big blue IF - 23 miles on dirt, easy as legs still empty, pushed into the wind for a bit but stopped when it started to hurt.

Tired now, drinking hasn't helped, thats stopped tonight.

A missed wedding

circumstances changed which meant that we didn't get to London for Raouls wedding.

however, the sun came out so after making sure the sick were okay I headed out for a ride, mix of road and off road, local trails full of dust

42 miles takes the week up to just short of 150, more than planned but the weather was too good to miss, taking plent of water on board meant that I finished feeling strong, not K100 strong but 2 weeks into a 3 month training plan and I'm feeling okay.

Friday

27c today, wonderful, dry trails, riding the 69er, I think that if I had to make a choice this would be the bike I would keep above all others, it just goes...

another 30 miles day completing the plan for another 100 plus week, need to concentrate on the non drinking next week

Weds and Thurs

Weds - 30m miles of transpenine trail on the bike of rightousness, out for dinner with Jan, a good day.

Thurs - another 25 miles of rightousness, this time with a throbbing headache after a difficult day at work, early to bed for an early start tomorrow, he early rides start in earnest next week.

Another 100 mile week this week should have laid the foundation for a 200 mile week next week.

26 miles today

legs felt okay

broke a spoke on the rear wheel whilst sprinting up hill :-0

turned home with the wind

diet okay today

bowl of bran flakes

2 bananas

2 cheese butties (getting rid of stocks)

2 apples

lots of water

chicken and rice tonight

last of the beer in the house

spoke replaced

Trek 69er recovered from the cellar and fettled, if its dry tomorrow I'll go off road, if its wet I'll go on the road

might weigh myself tomorrow

More targets to aim for

Keilder 100, one week before I'm 50.

Lose 3 stone.

Sort out the drinking.

Tell my wife I love her every day.

Be a better person to my family.

Stop being a moody fucker.

Ride the ride of pork with my head up.

Start Again

still suffering from some sort of allergy thing affecting my breathing, still drinking too much and not riding enough, 12 hours of exposure turned into 48 hours of sleeplessness helping out instead of riding, in some ways this was harder than riding but a lot more fun, gave me time to catch p with friends and do some snapping.

Rode my Croix de Fer yesterday, was hoping to get to Delamere but wind and rain and tired legs curtailed that to just 25 miles, today headed to Hebden for a social ride that involved more coffee and chatting than riding but was still a good day out, bizzarely my legs felt fine on the climbs.

Road bike week looming, hopefully alcohol free.

Someone died

A cyclist died yesterday, I didn't know who he was, I've never met him or even know anyone who knew him

It has upset me far more than it has any right too

I don't understand my reaction to this, people die everyday, cyclists die everyday

maybe because I was discussing his race team with a friend just a day ago and she was explaining how it worked and the process's they went through to put the team together, maybe its because I can understand the anguish his family and friends must be going through right now

maybe its because I can appreciate and understand (but never experience) the sacrifices he has made to get himself to where he was in the world of bike racing and ultimately this cost him his life

maybe its the fact that I just spent a weekend witnessing people on bikes pushing themselves way beyond anything that they ever thought was possible and come out the other end smiling for no good reason other than to feel alive

whatever the reason, a young man lost his life yesterday, yet another reminder that we are so fragile and we should (but rarely do) celebrate and make count every day

today I rode a short distance, it felt good, tomorrow a bit further.....

make every day count

2 month catch up

ok, whats been happening ?

erm

March, lets think

road rides, mountainbike rides

road rides down south, art fag stuff, lots of drunken chat, meeting nice new people, feeling stronger on the bike

April ?

road rides up north, mountainbike rides in the locale, a bad cold, I mean really bad that got on my chest, the return of hayfever as the sap starts to rise and the trails dry out (happens every spring), a long holiday from work hat has involved gardening, riding, walking, laughing, eating, drinking and lots and lots of lovely sunshine leading to bike riders tan lines, all leading to an attempt at the 12 hour solo championships, well at least riding around for 12 hours.

oh yeah, fat bikes, I've bought two Surly Karate Monkeys with fat front ends and semi fat rear ends, frunning 26 inch wheels in these monkeys allows for a fat 3 inch tyre, me and the boy have been on a few rides now, the 32x20 gear is very very spinny on the flat but perfect for on the beach, looking forward to getting to Skye for a week of exploring the coast line, first of many I hope :-)

Thats pretty much it, no major dramas or depressions to report, mostly happy :-)

Prepare to fail or fail to prepare

ok, I failed but I didn't deserve this...

Sat came and went, no ride

Sunday came and boy did we ride, me, Jack, Tim, Nick, Rob and Jeff

Teggs Nose, peaks epic light, all the best bits of the foothills of the peaks, gettng lost, finding new trails, lots and lots of climbing and descending, all good

but then a comedy fall for me, it went like this...

last climb of the day, back up the cobbled footpath to Teggs Nose car park, always was a challenge even 20 yeras ago when I was fit, getting to the gate 4/5s of the way up was a challenge, going beyond the gate to the rocky steppy section was an achievement to boast about

today I got within sight of the gate, pleased with my self that I had done it, pleased that I was about to stop and use the opening of the gate to get my breath back and tuck my lungs back into my chest, remove my heart from somewhere near my ears and get my breath back before the others arrived

but, I didn't factor in the couple of walkers, he saw me struggling and ran to the gate to open it for me, I smiled weakly and mentally braced myself for the challenge ahead, just needed to lift the front wheel over this small step to get through the gate

Bang

chain snapped

I looked up to see the chap shocked at the noise and my immediate reversal back down the hill (bearing in mind its about one in four at this point) accelerating backwards I was most pleased to have the presence of mind to not apply the back brake, that would have been disastrous

Applying the front brake didn't slow me down at all, so I bailed to my right and took the inevitable crash on the chin, or in fact in this case in the ribs, the bars swung round and caught my right hand side, I knew immediately that this was gonna hurt but was laughing so much at the absurdity, meanwhile the chap had run after me, he was also laughing and helped me up, he was also apologising as he realised that this was totally his fault, and we both laughed and went on our respective ways.

In the car I knew, it didn't hurt that much but past experience told me that 2 days later I would be in agony, and so I was, luckily on this occasion I managed to involuntarily push something "back in" whilst tossing and turning in bed and so it isn't now as bad as it could have been, still sore and ten days later I've still not ridden but will do tomorrow.

so where was the failure ?, well this same chain had snapped 2 weeks ago, I fixed it out on the trail and promptly forgot about it, a failure to prepare :-0

Fail ?

30in30 - day 5, a big day, an hour and a half in the cold cold morning, misty, claggy mizzle, and then another hour and a half in the evening, warm sun, clear skies, going cool, but just lovely - got home full of endorphins, very happy and pleased with a good day.

30in30 - day 6, up early but legs not playing, straight to work, bout 30 mins, hoping that a days rest will see some life appear, a few difficult issues at work drained me, I'm out of shape where work issues are concerned, one particular issue has been plaguing me for a week or so now and this all conspired to suck my desire to ride right out.

So, I headed straight home, legs heavy, heart heavy, no inspiration, not looking forward to the weekend as a failure....


but then this happened

http://www.allhailtheblackmarket.com/2011/02/friday_target_blank_12.html#more

just watch this video with the kid in it and tell me that doen't make you smile and brighten any day up :-)

Drying trails ?

30in30 - day 3 - one and a half hours on local trails this morning, pretty slithery out there, trailrakers helped a lot in the skills area (i:e not watching where I was going leaning into a corner), legs suffered like hell though with a low spinny gear. Straight home after work.

30in30 - day 4 - 30 mins commute this morning meant an hour on the way home, legs still heavy, I'm obviously tired now and the thought of jacking 30in30 in occurred to me several times during the day but...

Out I went, turned right and headed for the trans pennine trail and westwards to do my hour, after 30 minutes or so my legs livened up a tough so I pressed on for while until I realised I had the wind on my back !, turned around and boom, legs suddenly got heavy again.

An hour and twenty minutes, job done, legs still missing in action.

30in30x2 ?, No its 30in30

Daft idea

but then I'm full of daft ideas

Change of plan back to 30in30

30in30 - day 1

started yesterday (Sunday) with a couple of hours around Norland Moor and that locale, it was wet and muddy and slippy and slithery and slidey and bloody good fun, made all the better for seeing and riding with a friend that I haven't seen for about 5 years.

30in30 - day 2

Then tonight, my legs and in fact my whole body was lethargic and not interested, it would have been so easy to just ride straight home, but I'm pretty determined to lose weight and get fit again this year so off I went, away from home..

Just over an hour done and happy that I'd done it.

30in30X2

On reflection I enjoyed 30in30, sometimes it was difficult, and sometimes I was doing it for the sake of doing it... but overall I enjoyed it.

However, the best part has been the benefits to my health and attitude that 30in30 brought, I'm over a stone lighter, I'm fitter than I've been for two years, I'm loving riding my bike again having broken that barrier of pain versus enjoyment, and of most importance it helped me enormously in my battle against alcohol.

The fitness benefits hit home yesterday, I rode for an hour in the morning, and then in the afternoon I rode hard for almost three and a half hours, it hurt like hell, but I loved it, relishing the twitchy legs that prevented me from sleeping soundly last night.

Now the term battle may sound dramatic, it almost certainly is compared to some people, but I do have an issue with alcohol, its not news, in fact whilst writing this I have consumed 3 bottles of beer and most of a bottle of red wine, there's another bottle of beer that I will drink after writing this so that there is nothing in the house (well nothing thats immediately available) which will help me go for another month of abstinence.

At new year I said that I'm ready to stop drinking, I shied away from saying forever because I didn't think I could do it, to be honest I still don't think I can, but I'm going to try anyway.

After 30in30 I had a drink to celebrate, then a few nights later again which meant two nights last week, then this week I've drank on Monday, Tuesday and tonight, I'm falling headlong into my old ways... its not going to happen again.

So what is 30in30X2 ?, well I figure that I can do either one 2 hour ride per day, or two 1 hour rides per day for 30 days, apart from the gym bike days I pretty well did this anyway during 30in30, I can ride for an hour before work, and easily do an hour after, especially as the days are starting to draw out now, the riding will be the easy part, but essential towards another 30 days of abstinance.

Wish me well :-)

and an update from last weekend - rain stopped play on Saturday and Sunday turned into a very very wet mountainbike road ride with the boy, it was ace, photo's here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45689323@N00/sets/72157625989958944

Back to normal ?

well, no, not really

Monday was a day of rest, a simple commute, shortest way both ways, tired legs.

A few beers and some red wine to celebrate a month on the bike and a (almost) month of sobriety.

Tuesday was on the MTB, straight to work along the river, trails were filthy so the bike got cleaned up at work, it also carried on raining during the day and as much as I wanted to ride I didn't want to get the bike filthy again so I did my usual route on the roads with the Genesis Latitude, really enjoyed it despite some dodgy moments with cars.

Wednesday pissed down all day so straight there and backs, legs tired.

Thursday, road bike, straight to work into the wind, a fast looking roady passed me so obviously I sat 20 yards behind him, 23mph, impressive, wonder how long he can keep this up ?, half a mile later and the tell tale look back, he was gutted to see me sat there and put his head down, another 300 yards and another look back, this time though he was blown, straight down to 17mph and a resigned look as I passed him.

Luckily for me though I only had another 300 yards before I turned off, by now I was praying that he wasn't going my way as I was now blowing !, he turned right, I turned left with thighs on fire !.

Thursday night and the wind had grown substantially, it would have been easy to head straight home but my resolve is still strong, so I turned left into the gale, struggling to maintain 15mph. An hour and 15 minutes into a headwind was enough, I was pretty spent when I turned back, speed immediately went up to 22mph with little pedal pressure needed. Got home after 2 hours 15 minutes, 34 miles covered, knackered.

2 beers and a bottle of red later and struggled to get up the stairs, day off needed.

Friday, drove to work, legs still aching, resting for the weekend, road ride on Saturday and then long cross bike ride on Sunday, plan is to head up the trans pennine trail as far as conditions allow, stopping at Jodphurs for a bacon butty and then if everyone is good head upto the Woodhead Tunnel. It might well be a little early in the year for an 80 miler but we'll see how folk are feeling :-).

#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 :-)