Trio's adventures

How much mud?

2009-11-07T17:50:00.002Z

I persuaded Ali to join me on the hit the north preview ride today. After ages sorting out her brake, yes at last she can use her own front brake and I can keep mine on my bike. Its my fault for not getting the part for it sooner! We headed over on road, getting there to only a few waiting in the car park. We headed off and soon were enjoying the mud and slippy slippy cobbles! Round once, with a couple of wrong turns when we could no longer see anyone in front, before heading off home. This involved more mud as we took in some of the trails and a couple of Chocolate stops to get a tired Ali home!

A dark dark night ride

2009-11-06T20:49:00.001Z

Rain all the way home again and it was in the door, bowl of cereal and then Odile was here to go night riding. Trails were linked together in a new way and it seemed even darker than normal up on the hills. Great to get out and we more or less avoided the rain!

Muddy, dark cross commuting

2009-11-05T20:08:00.002Z

Today was the last day of my midday saunter down a sustrans route between schools. After the recent slightly damp weather and leaves everywhere I didn't think ruby would enjoy it so I took the cross bike. Nice easy start to the morning with 6 miles on roads that were pretty clear. Just got the outcomes finished before the rain came then it was off to school number two. Very very muddy trek between them, ruby would have cried! Usual fuss from them so four of us went for a pint afterwards. Then a sprint across Manchester to the office, just getting there in time to return files.

Hometime and I rode to Prestwich before heading off-road, I had a joystick on the bars and one on my head. I was impressed that this was enough to ride with and even when it was foggy and I had to turn the one on my head off it was fine.

By the time I was home I was very muddy and Ali suggest Jalfezi and bubbles for tea. A nearly perfect day and I was only a little scared on the off-road sections.

Running as the sun rises

2009-11-05T07:28:00.001Z

Up and out at 6:30 again this morning. It got brighter and brighter the whole way round. I wore my Garmin but didn't look at it, just took it easy. Think I need to train myself to just cope with running at that time and worry about how slow it is later. Although I never saw the sun I assumed it was rising somewhere.

Just over 3 miles, in just over 30 minutes.

Lights, waterproofs, winter?

2009-11-04T17:26:00.001Z

I think winter has arrived, I rode into work in full waterproofs and then back home and I needed them! I've never been a fan of waterproof trousers but when you are not getting changed they are essential!

Bike was covered in lights as well and they were needed, yes winter is here!

A late track session

2009-11-04T06:35:00.002Z

Last night it was off to the track, finishing after my bedtime. Learning that standing starts are hard and a crash that I fortunately avoided coming down in. But still did the squealing sound effects. All fun and games!

Muddy puddles

2009-11-03T13:39:00.002Z

Well last week was fun and tiring but there was relatively little exercise really and no running. So after a nice rest day yesterday to recover from working 14 hour days I headed out running today. The plan was 30mins, off-road working reasonably hard. I had it in my head I wanted to average 10 min/mile. My garmin is set in kilometres so I had thought that was about 6:15 min/km. Off I went across the grass behind my house, I always get odd looks here especially when it is muddy as there is a perfectly good pavement next to it, but my knees thank me for it. Over the main road, down to a bit of hidden singletrack that now has gates all along it, one to miss on the bike! Onto the golf course and up a muddy slippy climb, heard a cheer through the trees from some golfers, not sure if it was a good shot or for me! At the top add another muddy loop, then back to the edge of the golf-course. Ignore the gravel track and its along the football pitches, they are very muddy and a little hilly. Up the steps, then push along the backs, last bit of pavement and I'm home. 9:47 min/mile average over 2.92 miles. Not bad going.

October Round Up

2009-11-02T12:14:00.003Z

Well October is over. I did a few cross races, but mainly rode to and from work and the odd night ride and enjoyed just riding a bike again. I wasn't in the mood for anything major and work miles kept me ticking by nicely! I also got out running again, building up slowly but 3miles is fine again. I've been getting up early for a run and that seems to work as otherwise I don't bother running.

The figures:

10.4 mile running
91.05 miles moutain biking (52.05 singlespeed)
163.72 miles cyclo-cross
383.23 mile road

11303m of ascent

Progress on targets:

Run at least once a week Failed in March :o(
Run 300miles in the year 42% complete
Cycle an imperial century a month Failed in March :o(
Cycle 8000miles in the year 88% complete

So onto November, much the same as October I suspect. Riding to and from work, some night rides. Hoping that will happen twice a week, once with the boys once with the girls. A couple of cross races and some weekend mountain bike rides with Ali. All the time trying to keep the running ticking over.

Three days of track racing

2009-11-01T21:56:00.002Z

Well the World Cup at Manchester has come to an end and my three days of working has finished as well. It was hard working such long hours and always being on my feet but I also saw most of the races I wanted to which was a real bonus. Also it should help my new bike fund (or if ali is reading this my pay off credit card fund).

Ali came up with a plan for today as I was finished by 6pm and we had a Curry in Rusholme before getting the train back. Unfortunately the size of my belly was so obvious on the train I'm thinking I need to stop eating everything in sight!

Night riding

2009-10-29T21:50:00.000Z

Ali was running over near Rivington so I got a lift over and met Odile for a night ride. I came up with the idea of heading over to the Nab. I need more practice in trees when its dark there was a lot of screaming from me! Then it was back to Rivi, up, down and back round via the castle, the trails there were lovely covered in leaves. Before we split and I headed home.

Cake, ride, cake

2009-10-28T19:55:00.003Z

Another day another ride, once again I took ages in the morning and we headed off a little late. Stopped at Cooksons to collect Ali's wheel before heading over to Hebden Bridge. There we were greeted with cake, I could have happily spent the afternoon eating it but I had promised Ali we could go riding! Jenn had plotted us a route so we headed off, lots of climbing - is there any way other than up from Hebden? But all rideable even by me!

A few stops while I rode back and forth through puddles so Ali could get a picture or twenty!

Before dropping back down to the valley.

A was a little tired by the climb up the other side, but some snacks and she was storming downhill!

Back to Jenn's for more cake! I think I like riding over there, hopefully there will be cake everytime!

Ali, bikes, beer, food

2009-10-27T20:03:00.002Z

So since I had a PJ day yesterday it meant ali's wheel wasn't ready for mountain biking so the question was what to do? So we headed out on errands, first to Cooksons to drop her wheel off. Then it was onto the trafford centre to pick up something for ali's sister. Then we had some debate about if going to my work to pick up some mud guards was too far or to go home, since we were both hungry we decided to head into Manchester and grab a bite to eat at Taurus before maybe getting the train home.

The route I had plotted took us along a road shared with tram lines, after I had taken us into a morrisons carpark by mistake, I was soon back out but Ali rode round for a while! The tram tracks went from being parallel to the road to crossing the road so we took a nice wide arc to hit them as close to 90 degrees as possible. The nice truck driver behind gave us loads of room. The next set of lights another two cyclists caught us up as we were sat at red, setting of again, nice big arc for me to cross another set of tramlines. Ali though was cut up and forced nearly into the tracks by one of the cyclists! To rub it in more at the next lights he started to tell her how he had come off on them and ended up in hospital! At this point being less than impressed she decided we were to drop them. He headed off first sprinting hard, Ali went past him as if he was standing, I though had to work harder but did leave him miles behind trying to keep ali in sight!

Onto Taurus for fab food and a couple of drinks.

Then it was off to work, I only got Ali to turn down one dead end when I went straight on! Followed by back into town for more beer and pizza!

After that I agreed with Ali that the train home was the way to travel! Especially when I tried to order San Marino beer (instead of San Miguel).

A day off

2009-10-24T18:35:00.002+01:00

I've needed a day off for ages, its a big adjustment working so much and then I keep going cross racing on my only day off. After a late night last night collecting Ali and then waking up way too early the day has been spent in PJ's eating cake. Now I'm enjoying a glass of wine after dinner. Just what was needed!

Grumpy - Ride - Relax

2009-10-23T23:22:00.002+01:00

The ride meeting point was Belmont 5:30pm. 5:25 after loads of false starts and shouting at Ali on the phone for no good reason I got in the car. Got there parked up and Jumbly suggested heading to Tockholes, once there I realised that since it was dark the only option was the one set of trails I knew, so up onto Great Hill it was. Off via the track towards winter hill, over the flagstones then pushing through the bog, even some carrying. Yes a simple night ride became a bit of an adventure. Not a soul was out there and after moaning all the way round and loving only sharing Great Hill with some sheep and Jumbly I felt loads better.

Friday nights are made for night riding!

Another run before breakfast

2009-10-22T07:48:00.000+01:00

Since I was too lazy to go out riding on my own last night I got up this morning for a run before breakfast. This time I took left turns instead of right turns and there was a little less climbing. Otherwise it was much the same. Still two runs in a week is where I want to be. Put compression tights on for the ride to work today, hopefully it might stop the muscle soreness!

Smashing a PB

2009-10-21T17:47:00.001+01:00

Wenesday once again saw me and another instructor racing across Manchester in our lunch break to get to another school. Last week we averaged 16.2mph, so the aim was to beat it, we smashed it 16.7mph! Overall the route loses 75m in elevation but compared to most of the riding round Manchester I do seems hilly. So the question is can we beat that time again?

Running before Breakfast

2009-10-20T07:32:00.001+01:00

I don't function in the morning till I eat so getting up at 6:30am to go running might seem a little crazy. Well that is what I did and 5k later I was home. The run wasn't fast and it wasn't pretty but it was fun being out nice and early. Now time for a shower (breakfast was eaten as soon as I got in!) and onto the bike to get to work!

CX on Merseyside

2009-10-18T07:57:00.008+01:00

Due to not being alble to get to the cross race in Manchester this weekend due to working I decided to head over to Liverpool to race there. This was a bit of a change for me as last year I only did the races close enough to ride to. Yes Liverpool is close enough to ride to but with the tired legs I have riding back would be too much! My sister had kindly offered me a lift but due to a change of plans Ali came over too.The course was so dry, my bike was still clean at the end! But there were a fair amount of places where you had to get off your bike. With a tight gate to squeeze through, some hurdles and some vertical slopes it was going to be hard. I thought I had a good start till I realised there was hardly anyone behind me! It was a small field though so I assume that everyone there was a highly tuned athlete! After that I made steady progress, although looking at my stats I was lazy in the middle third of the race, noone near me to try and hold on to, need to work on that one!

I really liked the course, with the mix of singletrack and fields, but it was a short lap and I'm glad the field wasn't any bigger! As it was the leaders lapped me three times!

I finished 2nd female, 1st female was once again flying I think I need to do some specific training to get anywhere near her!

We waited for the prize-giving wondering where everyone was, turns out they were going to send prizes out, so I still have no idea if there is a prize for 2nd female or not!

As always Ali took loads of photos, they're here!

Night riding with the boys

2009-10-14T22:05:00.002+01:00

I've been meaning to get out with donk and John again for ages but seem to never have a chance. So I planned in advance and headed over to Rivi for a 7pm start. There were four of us in total and we headed up the pike, then up winter hill. It was a little misty up there so we headed off. Simon punctured near the top, flying off his bike. Fixed we headed on down, only for him to puncture again. I left them at Belmont and spun on home. Definetly up for more night time fun next week!

New meal "Wednesday"

2009-10-13T20:22:00.001+01:00

Yes today is tuesday but due to me planning on riding tomorrow and Ali off out to see her sister we moved the day forward.

Tonight we had Vegetable Risotto, I forgot about pictures or anything but I can tell you it was lovely!

The end of a busy week

2009-10-11T18:16:00.002+01:00

So today was the last day of the week and the 6th day of work. This was a big week for me and it was going to be interesting how I would cope. Well today went well and I have enjoyed the week so yay!

Today I was leading sky rides, so I headed off early to pre-ride the route I was the main leader for. I got to the start of the first ride a little too early and then the rain started. There were only three riders, with the rain I wasn't suprised. A nice ride and it showed me once again how important these rides are!

Afternoon came and the weather improved, a good turn out and some fun laps of heaton park.

Then home with 35miles completed on the cross bike.

Now onto next week, I have a night ride planned to make sure it isn't all road riding!

Cyclocross racing is fun!

2009-10-10T18:00:00.006+01:00

After a week of commuting and with working on sunday I had planned to have the day off the bike on saturday. After a great night ride last night and a sucessful shopping trip for boxes to store ali's bike clothes this morning I started to think about going to Clayton Vale for the cross race there. I looked at how far it was and Ali pointed out it was a bit late and I should probably drive, I didn't fancy driving and so I asked her to come. Then I decided to do some cleaning, fortunately Ali stopped me and said we had to leave or I would have missed the start. We got there half an hour before the start, just enough time to preride the course and get to the start when everyone was lined up, oops!

I started right at the back and just headed off, soon I was seeing gaps and heading into them but once we hit the singletrack it was slow progress for a while. The lap was longer than last year which meant we were spread out pretty quickly! For the first couple of laps I was in a battle for 2nd position with Eleanor from Weaver Valley CC, I knew one mistake and she would be past as I could hear her behind me all the time! The second time on the steps I got a small gap and started to pull away slightly. Slowly I picked off the odd place and it wasn't long before the leaders flew past me! I thought then I would probably be lapped once more and I was right they came past me just before my last lap. By this time I was clearly in 2nd with a big gap to first and enough to third.

It was fun and even though I could have pushed harder I was getting there. Wondering if its time to do some training to teach myself to go faster! I could have continued riding at the end!

A quick look at my stats from this race last year and my average speed has improved, 11.4mph compared to 10.7mph. Although riding a cross bike as oppose to a mountain bike might have something to do with that!

Ali's pics are now here

Night riding with cows and cookies!

2009-10-09T20:26:00.003+01:00

I was meant to night ride last night with Ali, only we decided arguing was a more productive use of our time. So we decided to go out tonight. I got home and got everything ready, packed a bag for ali and waited. She was a little late back after having to carry my post home, I hadn't realised how big it was, she had bits strapped all over her bag! We got going at 6pm and needed lights for the road! Soon we were off road and watching it getting darker and darker with more and more lights coming on in Bolton-town. Up to the top of winter hill and we were in the clouds. At the top it was time for the cookies I had bought specially yesterday before adding an extra layer and heading down the hill. Here we came across a load of young bulls, no idea what they were doing there but they didn't look like moving, I think our lights were attracting them! But none of them were looking too angry as we went past slowly. After that it was home along the road and now its time for takeaway!

September Round Up

2009-10-09T16:48:00.001+01:00

Kielder 100 was the main event this month and what an event, I loved it. learnt loads and can't wait to go back next year! Back at work, although hardly got any so lots of time but no money!

The figures:

0 mile running (This has to change!)
173.83 miles moutain biking (all singlespeed)
165.66 miles cyclo-cross
369.29 mile road

19639m of ascent

Progress on targets:

Run at least once a week Failed in March :o(
Run 300miles in the year 38% complete
Cycle an imperial century a month Failed in March :o(
Cycle 8000miles in the year 80% complete

October now, it'll probably be mainly commuting miles and the odd cross race now. I'm also going to start running again!

Cold today

2009-10-09T16:29:00.001+01:00

Headed out this morning and decided not to be so lazy and try a bit harder on the way in. I'm slow on the road compared to most but I can try and be a little less slow! So when after passing a guy he passed me back I worked a bit harder to get in front, stayed there till he jumped on the pavement and through some lights. Onto where I was working and it seemed to get colder, I had all my clothes on. Great session though. Then it was round manchester to Blackley for another cold session. Way home and time to try. Well more not daydreaming and not really working. Made good time, was passed near home by a guy on a langster, no idea what he said to me as he went past but I kept up with him till we went seperate ways at Crompton way.

Great day and I averaged 14.5mph - uber fast for me! Shows I am lazy though as I wasn't out of breath doing that, although could feel the legs more than usual!