18/366

Bolsover Castle

Well we were treated to a lovely spring day today.  An overtime shift saw me rising at 3am and for the first time this year I heard the birds singing as I rose at silly o'clock.

By the time I left the depot with a fully loaded lorry at 05:40 the sky was lighting up and at just before 06:30 I was treated to a lovely sunrise.  As I was saying the other day, there really is something special about mornings like this.  The route I did today was one of the more scenic routes taking in North Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire bordering South Yorkshire.  Lovely roads and views between drops, especially when you get out Creswell - Bolsover way.  Also saw something you don't see often this morning, a stoat!  I don't know a lot about these animals but was surprised to see it in such a built up area.

An early finish and I was home for 11:00, quick change and out in the garden to give it a spring clean.  I f*cking hate gardening, hard to believe from someone who kept an allotment for nearly 2 years.  I dont mind mowing the lawn every now and then but when it comes to weeding, well I'd rather pull my fingernails out! 

One good thing about a good tidy up in the garden is that the pyromaniac in me comes out to play and true to form it wasn't long before a years worth of rubbish and the old chicken coop were up in flames threatening to take out the next door neighbours fence too, Christ that felt burns well :)

Once I had satisfied the destructive devil inside me it was beer time.  After a hard week of daily exercise and full of satisfaction after tidying and burning the garden I figured a few beers in front of the telly wouldn't hurt.  A great week of cycling has been on TV and I was 2 days behind so had plenty to catch up on. 

A great week for Bradley Wiggins taking the overall in the Paris-Nice, the first British winner since Tom Simpson in 1967.  Can he maintain this kind of form until July?  We'll wait and see.

17/366

Southwell Minster

Rode my first Audax of the year today, 105k out of Alfreton on the 3 Fields ride.

Upon drawing the curtains this morning I was greeted with brilliant sunshine, what more could I want?  Well the sun to stay with me would have been nice.  As soon as I got in the car the sun went in.  By the time I was on the M1 it was raining!  Well 'rain' is a slight exaggeration, fine drizzle is more accurate.

Luckily the light drizzle had ceased by 08:30 when after my cup of tea I set off.  Within the first kilometre I missed the 2nd turn of the ride, not the best of starts but a stark reminder to keep a beady eye on the satnav.  After turning round and following the correct route I was taken through Blackwell, Pleasley and onto Shirebrook, not the nicest places in themselves but some decent cycling roads linking them all together.  Once clear of Shitebrook (spot the deliberate spelling mistake) I was heading my first 'control point'.

For those who don't know Audax I'll briefly explain.... You follow a route which is unsigned, you have a detailed route sheet giving full instructions of the route.  To prove you have done the route and not taken any short cuts there are control points.  These can be manned by the organiser where your brevet card is stamped, they can be an information control where a question is asked on your brevet card.  For example today's question was what is the name on the burglar alarm of a house on a T-Junction at Whaley?  You simply write the answer on your brevet card.  The other type of control is a 'free control' where you have to get a timed and dated receipt of any kind from a town to prove you were there.

On my way to Whaley for the first control I was taken up a quiet leafy lane which was covered in squashed frogs, two frogs seemed to have been squashed in a compromising position, fancy stopping in the middle of the road to do that!  Control point done and I was heading for the second control of Bothamsall for tea and cakes and a brief chat with Dad who was manning the control for he is a member of Alfreton CTC who run this ride.

Thats the nice thing about Audax, you are given tea/coffee and often toast or sandwiches at the start, and more tea, coffee, cakes and sandwiches at the finish included in the price which is usually about £5, compare that to the price of a sportive (usually £20 +) and you can see the appeal of Audax.  En route there is usually at least one stop where food and hot drinks are available.

I had made good time to the second stop helped by a tailwind which would carry me to Soutwell and the third control, this one being a 'free control' where a quick stop at a cash point gave me my evidence that I had passed through the town.  Onwards to the finish back at Alfreton knowing that I would have to turn and face the wind that had pushed me most of the way.  Everything was OK until 80k's, then bang.... block headwind and just to rub it in most of the last 25k was uphill as well.  Head down and just slog it out was the only way to go, just over an hour later I was back in Alfreton.

At 80k my average speed was 27.2kph, by the finish that had been reduced to 25.1.  After coffee and cake I was on my way home quite pleased with my (moving) time of 4 hrs 11mins.

A good start to my Audax year, not sure how many I'll get in as my silly shift pattern rules out most weekends but I have a few already booked and paid for and am looking forward to them already.




Distance = 105.5 km
Time = 4 hrs 11 mins
Ave Speed = 25.1 kph
Ascent = 1165m (11.1 m/km)

2012
Road Bike = 948.2 km
Indoor = 313.5 km
Ran = 121.5 km
Total = 1383.2 km

16/366

Well as my week off draws to an end I find myself with nothing other to blog about than some form of exercise, a 10k run today, my first attempt at this distance against the clock.  I estimated from a previous run that I was around the 55 min mark for the distance.  So was pleasantly surprised to clock 51:30, quite reasonable I thought.

So what was my original motivation to get physical and sporty.  7 and a half years ago when Mum died I wanted to to something for cancer charities.  Give something back, especially to Macmillan Cancer Support who helped Mum in her last weeks.  It took me a while to find the right challenges.

I got back into mountain biking and foolishly decided to ride the 50 mile Great Nottingham bike ride, a road event on a mountain bike.  It was tough going for a fat bloke but I raised over £150 for my efforts.  This road based event wetted my appetite somewhat and it wasn't long before I purchased a road bike and started racking up some mileage.

On the start line for the c2c

Next up in 2010 was the coast to coast event.  I rode from one side of England (Whitehaven) to the other (Sunderland) with Dad over two days, again for Macmillan, this time raising nearly £300.  See my c2c blog here (clicky clicky).

So what's next?  I didn't have anything planned for this year, but following our close friends loss of their 12 day old daughter who had serious heart problems diagnosed prior to her birth, a half marathon is a distinct possibility.  I was looking at running this distance this year as a personal challenge, but our friends and their family are all in training to run the Cardiff half marathon in October, and have invited me (and Kelly) to join them.  Some of us are experienced runners, some (like me) are new to the game and others are still yet to tread the pavements in their unused brand new shiny trainers.  Whatever our ability we all have our own personal targets for the run, but one shared reason for doing it.

They have nominated the charity Little Hearts Matter for this run so it is important to us all to reach our own personal targets thus raising some hard cash for this charity.  I will of course be pestering everyone I know for cash when the time comes.  My target..... under 2 hours will do for me.

15/366

Long Lane at dawn, the gateway to many of my rides

Opted to go shorter and harder today (ooo-er) I was planning another 100k ride but once I was tanking along Long Lane I thought I'd keep up the good pace and cut the ride a little shorter.  I was heading for Hoby on a 90k ride but pealed off at Seagrave and took one of my favourite roads Berrycot Lane up to Six Hills and back home.  I kept an average speed of just over 28kph (17.5mph) which given the breeze out there today isn't too shabby at all for me.  I also took note of my 50k time of 1hr 46, another milestone to chip away at.  Must have a crack at 50 miles once the mudguards are off, I reckon that PB is there for the taking.

Distance = 71 km
Time = 2 hrs 31 mins
Ave Speed = 28.1 kph
Ascent = 455m (6.4 m/km)

2012
Road Bike = 842.7 km
Indoor = 313.5 km
Ran = 93.4 km
Total = 1249.6 km

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day but I may sneak a little run in, OK I probably will go for a run...

Tonight saw me heading to Stapleford Cue Club to indulge in my latest pastime, a few games of pool.  My mate got me into this a few months ago.  It's nothing serious, just a group of lads in it mainly for the social aspect of having a few games and a few drinks on a Thursday evening.  Just to make it more interesting they formed a team to play in the Long Eaton & district pool league.  We are currently out of season so tonight was just a (well needed on my part) training session working on my angles and doubles.  I played snooker poorly as a teenager and haven't lifted a cue since so I have a lot to learn.  As said, we don't take it too seriously, a look at the league tables will tell you that, it's just nice to get out each week for a couple of hours in good company, have a laugh and whack a few balls about.

14/366

Much a day of nothingness today, a wet and windy day saw me wimping out of my original plan of the hilly TT course, opting instead for a turbo session in front of Paris-Nice on Eurosport.  Good to see Team Sky doing so well and controlling the race to keep Wiggins in yellow.  I'm not Brads biggest fan it has to be said, whilst I wish him well I just don't think he has the ability to match all the hype,  Saying that with a certain Bertie Contador out of the way for a while and the fact that the Schleck's can not time trial it only takes Cuddles to have a rough time and Wiggo has as good a chance as the next GC contender.

My day out with Team Sky (that's me on the left in the Hi Vis)

I keep mentioning my weight loss of late so it's about time I put that record to bed before you all get sick of hearing about it.  I didn't set out with any real intention of losing a great deal of weight, I did want to shed some but not in a diety kind of way, I just wanted to cut out the crap I ate and hope I lost a bit of weight over time.  So what went wrong with that plan?

My new job certainly helped, instead of standing/ sitting around generally doing nothing at Tesco I now have a job on my feet, lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling baskets and 'stacks' of bread.  This 'exercise' has increased my metabolism and increased my desire to do more.  So after getting used to being physical at work I thought I would try running, mainly because in the winter it's quite a lot of 'faff' to get me and the bike ready for a ride and then clean up after, especially when my exercise 'window' is about 2 hours in the afternoon.  So I saw running as a more time efficient  way of exercising.

Little did I know what effect it would have on my weight.  It started to drop off very quickly, as I felt lighter and fitter the more I wanted to be in shape, loose a few more pounds.  It's addictive, and when its going well you have the desire to do better, that little bit more.  My diet has improved, I eat better and less.  I wouldn't say I was on a diet as such, I just watch my calories, try to keep within my RDI, but most importantly try to make sure I'm using more calories than I take in, that way I figure I can't put weight on.

So where am I?  I've lost 2 stone since last August, I'm now 14 1/2 stone, would like to get under 14 stone, would love to get to 13 1/2.  

I promise now to try my best not to keep rattling an about it with the exception of when I meet the two goals mentioned above.

Another 100k's on the bike in order tomorrow before a rest day on Friday and a 100k Audax on Saturday, can't wait to get my 2012 Audax account open.

1937 Paris - Nice

A club mate posted this on our clubs website, love the train crossing part.