4 weeks and counting

End of April and I'm a free man, more info then

the world has started spinning again

lots and lots of stuff has happened since the last blog, but to sum it all up... rode a bike quite a bit got ill illness lasted forever got well started riding again got the news I was waiting for started making plans 8 weeks till plans kick in lots of riding to be done in the next 8 weeks more news in 8 weeks

Read all about it

So, its been an interesting time of late wuth one thing or another, a few negatives but lots of positives. NOTSSUK came and went, we had a lovely day out in the hills riding bikes, we had coffee and beer and cake. This pic sums up the day for me.

And then I had a weekend away with my friends from work, the plan was to do some high level walks, which they all did but I wanted some time to my self so I took my Salsa Fargo out into the hils to explore a bit, and of course I got lost !

We had a grand time, the house we stayed at just outside Betws Y Coed was fantastic and we ate and drank well and enjoyed each others company. And then we (Jan and I) had the great pleasure to be invited to an old friends 'not wedding' at Fforest just outside Cardigan in West Wales, a beautiful location, great company and bizzare meeting of mutual friends, lots of great food and drink once again. This pic sums up the weekend.

And now back to reality, riding to work dodging the showers, but enjoying the last few rays of glorious autumn colours.

Trying to stay clean and alcohol free, especially trying not to make plans as I still dont know when I'll be free to live my dreams, enjoying spinning circles, contemplating getting involved with people, contemplating trying to run again

Been riding lots Had a rough week Had a good week Got older again

Been hot Been cold Been wet

Things are generally on the up

Back in the saddle again

I've had a few months off the bike to concentrate on my drinking, I got pretty good at that but now I'm ready to start riding again. For a change, I'm not making any plans, I've a few ideas spinning around in my head but they depend on a few things that are mostly outside of my control coming together so at this point they are staying private. This last week I've been out riding most days and apart from the aches and pains and saddle soreness I've been loving it, been fortunate that the weather has been reasonable as well, that always helps. 190 odd miles is probably daft when I've done not much of late, but its just been to good to miss. Big bonus this coming weekend is a day in the peaks with friends, can't underestimate how important this is to me, friends who don't mind when I'm out of the loop but are still happy to invite me along, I'm a lucky man to have these (and indeed lots of other) great friends who just accept each other for what we are and with all of our respective foibles. The bad things of this last year (which were partially part of my decision to go underground for a while) should serve to remind us (me) to take the time to preserve and cherish our (my) friends. It shouldn't need saying really, should it.

Nowt to say

as per title hopefully normal service will resume soon oh yeah non riding photos are now being posted here http://simpleydaytoday.blogspot.co.uk/

A metric ton

I've always sneered at kilometres, it seemed to me that its a soft way to get to a 100, and in the past I've always been able to knock a 100 miles out with not much effort

However, things change

its now over 2 years since my last proper century, and don't my legs know it, after last weeks start to riding again I decided to do a long ride at the weekend, a few enquiries around friends didnt reveal anything of any distance so I decided to do one of my favourite rides to see the sea.



Choosng the semi fat so that I could indulge myself in some coastal riding when I got there.



Which I did, exploring the mud flats of the estuary and then finding some lovely singletrack trails which took me back to Hale village.



From here I retraced my steps back along the trans penine trail to Sale Water Park.



Spinning along in the warm sunshine, purely to get the clock to tick over 100 kilometres :-)

It ended up at 102 kms, and to be honest I was happy with that, fat tyres, dusty trails, a nagging headwind on the way out, 2 Cornish pasties, 2 cans of DrPepper and 3 litres of nuun was not enough, one day I will learn to drink and eat properly !

A couple more of these and I'll be back to full on sneering mode again.


Maybe...