leaving it here for a while

Time to take a break from doing this.

Cheers for the comments guys,

Take care

Rob

checking in

I’m alive!

I gave back the tarmac yesterday, it was a great bike if you ever get the chance to ride / buy one I thoroughly recommend.

Not much riding to talk of this week.

Commute by MTB was uber slow. It’s a slow week.

1st impressions – Bike Review

Todays 1st ride on the specialized tarmac expert test bike was fun. In fact it was the first time I’ve really enjoyed riding since my accident.

So the bike…. is gorgeous the lines and look are fantastic and it is light weight yet solid to hold. Sitting on the bike it instantly balances well and standing still for a moment i could hear it whispering to me “fast, i want to go fast”

The Ultegra groupset gearing is so precise and even when i found my self in the wrong gear it was very forgiving as I ground the gears to get under way.

Riding is like something completely new to me, it just climbs so well both sat down spinning out and out of the saddle dancing up the hills this bike flies!

All the ways home today was two lanes of queueing traffic and I just slipped into the middle of the cagers and put my foot down and it was the first time i was smiling on the bike for ages!

Tomorrow I’ll take it out for a serious ride and I’ll post at the end of the week what I think of the whole package.

But first impressions are good.

Man I can run a long way!!

It was planned, we were prepared… sort of.

Saturday morning me and “six pack” had planned to go for a long and quite hilly run.

We set off in good spirits and whipped up the first hill no problems, it was then down hill for a long way about 3 miles. after about 40 mins I was starting to get a numb foot again and considering how far we had to go i was worrying.

However a strategic stretching stop followed by a strategic shoe loosening stop meant that my legs got the blood going again and my foot came back to life.

We spotted out first fellow runners at about mile 5 and they looked much fresher than we felt so we decided to let them over take us.Being the gracious gentlemen that we are.

Mile 5.5 – 6 is a massive uphill and that nearly killed us off.

A considered stretching exercise   at the top (read stopped to rediscover oxygen)

The next 2 miles are reclaiming all the elevation that we’d lost over the previous 5 and all conversations came to halt we focused on the simple tasks of keeping moving and keeping breathing.

We scattered our previous running distances of 7 miles personal bests and kept going all the way to 8 then 9 and at 9 is where the suffering really started.

We were exhausted by the time we landed back at “six packs” house….. then I had to bike back home…..

So 10.79 miles done, 1 hour 50 mins…. exhausted!

Oh and I got a new toy from the LBS for a week: Specialized Tarmac Expert Test Bike full review write up later in the week

Grinding out the miles

Todays commute in was stressful because i did the classic commuters failing of not getting packed the night before.

I don’t know about any of you but if i don’t pack my bag and my clothes ready for the next day then in the morning i end wondering around like a half asleep deranged person, putting on clothes, taking them off again, going outside… it’s colder than i thought, back in for more layers, thermal leggings instead of shorts… good job too because as soon as i got out of my road the icy wind hit me and i was wishing i was back under the covers.

I got up late too so by the time I actually got going it was light!

On the way home i was just trying to keep up with this fella on a road bike, and evey now and then he’d stop at some lights and i’d be able to take the off road route past him and keep going but he had me on the straights.

Eventually my legs gave out and i settled back into just grinding out the rev’s keeping myself going as fast a possible.

although today I did get several looks from drivers waiting at side roads that seemed to say “how dare you cycle on the road and make me wait another 10 seconds…. bloody disgrace” in a old army colonel (with walrus moustache sort of way) in fact i’m sure i actually saw some guy say those exact words… honest…… maybe.

Running Reward

My moob is still hurting a bit so no cycling today, but not enough to put me off a run this evening.

Me and my friend who from here on out shall be referred to as “six pack” went for the 6.5 mile hilly ride I did on saturday. I felt much better today and even though it felt like we were going slower we did it in a quicker time?

I suspect it is due to us not stopping to stretch half way round as this would have gone against the law of male ego and the universe may have collapsed.

So you should be thankful that we kept going….

if only to find out what happens on eastenders…..

if you watch it……

Anyway we did the 6.5 miles in 53:39 and I felt like I could have gone alot faster or for alot longer….

“six pack” cooked by the end, which makes a nice change for me as the past few runs he’s been like a leaping gazelle and i’ve been dragging my fat ass along trying to keep up!

So my reward was takeaway… fish, chips and gravy from our excellent chippie in Wickersley.

717 calories out and about the same back in probably…… but it tastes too good to feel bad!

Running well

Managed a 10k run in 55 mins, no serious numb foot issues like i was suffering the other week, but i have done quite a bit of running since.

I was so please with the feeling after this run, i was tired but not exhausted, managed to do it on a hilly route with only a couple of stops to stretch off and for a big part of i managed to slip into that “Zone” where i wasn’t thinking about running I was just running and my mind was elsewhere and it felt good.

It seems like the zoning is coming back into the training, about time too! It’s been a long hard winter so far.

How you doing? Update

Well it’s been a few weeks now and i’m mentally getting over the accident, i’m still feeling anxious about car’s, lorry’s, van’s and pretty much everything else on the road at times, but it’s not all the time. I managed to complete a whole weeks commuting by bike and did not get squashed again.

I did how ever get:

• Flithy from dirty roads –  Monday
• Broken shoulder almost from carrying bag full of clothes and college stuff – Tuesday
• Covered in snow – Wednesday
• Joy of riding again – Thursday
• Soaked to the skin – Friday

So an interesting week’s riding.

Physically I thought I was on the mend but i was playing with my kids last night and pulled my chest again. My left moob is killing me and i feel like i’m being stabbed in the chest.

My left arm has returned to a near useless state Saturday evening and i’m taking pain killers and applying ice to calm it down.

I’m finding that music on the bike helps and i’m looking forward to being able to ride a road bike on smooth road with trance in my ears, riding in the zone!

You want good service go see Charlie.

Customer satisfaction sharing post for you today.

The last week I purchased a Shoulder Strap pad for my timbuk2 messenger bag as the strap has been digging in and i’ve read that these are excellent.

I went through ebay and found one from Charlie the Bikemonger’s store.

It was delivered quickly and was exactly as described etc… as i’ve come to expect from companies selling on ebay.

What i didn’t expect is how wonderfully kind and generous the people who work there are.

When i got creamed by a peugeot a few weeks ago one of the reflective tail’s off my bag snapped off, which is a small price to pay for bag cushioning my fall, saving my back from untold damage and scars and still staying in one piece. Timbuk2 bags rule!!

Anyway i digress. Charlie the Bikemonger is a store that sell the timbuk2 bags and accessories so i sent them an email asking if they stocked the reflectors and explaining how i came to loose mine and if I could have one of their fine stickers (for the kids of course…… honest)

Bless my cotton socks they said this:

Hi Rob,

Sadly despite trying to order these, they never arrive.  So no true spares.  However between us here we have a few Timbuk2 bags will see if we can get a donation for free for you.

As for the stickers you should have got two so will pop some in with reflector tag, when I‘ve commandeered one for you.

Cheers

Michelle @

Charlie The Bikemonger

How nice is that the first time i purchased anything from them and they treat me like this.

So http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/ is my new favorite cycling bits and bobs, acccessories, parts etc shop… just a shame they are so far away.

As recommended by the HighwayMunky.

In Pursuit of Home

I’m not sure whether it’s just me or if anyone else does this but when i’m commuting i go fairly quick on on the way in but on the way home its a race….. I almost always time myself to see how quick I was, I go hell for leather all the way and my commute is about 11 miles with over half of it being on a fairly steep incline. So by the time i get home I’m one hot sweaty cyclist.

Which is quite funny to be hold in this weather as my little girl asked me the other day. “Daddy, why are you steaming?”

I can just plod along on a bike but i’m almost always pushing myself trying to go faster and faster for longer.

Is this normal?

Am I mental?

I usually find that one of two days every few weeks i loose all drive or run out of steam, this usually culminates in me eating everything within sight, going to bed extra early and i’m back in the race the next day.

Does anyone else constantly race or is it just me?