On Monday the Cyclones were at Desborough leisure centre. I volunteered to take them round my favourite trails and we had a great time! The kids loved it an dit's given them some ideas about the sort of great riding that's available locally. For the second half of the session they practised grass track racing in preparation for an event later in July.
O Wednesday morning with the nation in the grip of football fever I got out on my trusty Giant Propel for a well ridden route. There's not much to say other than it's a good early morning circuit near my home with some nice hills and some good fast bits!
On Friday, which was the Queen of Cakes and I's 18th anniversary I was able to get out to do my own thing around those Desborough trails. Before getting there though I did a bit of training by hill repeats on what we call elephant hill. It's a short sharp mound in the woods near Rothwell that are great practise for MTB racing. I may have given up on FNSS this year but this sort of work will really help me in the future as I'm guessing next summer we won't be renovating the house and I can concentrate on my cycling fitness.
As I left Desborough there was another opportunity to get a good Red Kite picture but unfortunately this is as good as I got...again!
The club ride on Saturday was the Pitsford classic route and that comes through Rothwell so I waited on the market square for the group to come through. At 9am it was already a very hot day!
I'd nearly given up waiting when the group came through at 9.20 and when it arrived the banter bunch were in front of the fast group. I'm still not sure what went on but we then continued as one group of around 16 riders. As ever it was really nice to catch up with everyone.
About half way around my tubeless tyres squirted sealant and then quickly sealed again. I'm not sure the heat is good for tubeless tyres but having done some google research there are conflicting reports about the different sealants and their performance in hot conditions.
Neil and I (pictured above,) had a good chat about the benefits of tubeless just before I lost confidence in them again. It seemed that the sealant had failed and there was an rapid intermittent hiss which persisted for a few miles. I then had a look at my brake calipers and felt an absolute twonk when I discovered a lime tree leaf wedged between my cable and the tyre...it was just a leaf...my tyres were fine!!!
On the ride it was fabulous to go over the Holcot causeway and also a complete shock. Pitsford Reservoir, despite several weeks without any rain, is nearly full!!!! You can't see that in the picture.
Another highlight of this route is the fast stretch between Sywell and Harrowden. We got a good blast going on that bit and were all beaming like little kids after a few miles of fast riding.
As per usual we ended back at C&D Cycles where cold drinks were more popular than the traditional coffee. The banter as ever was first class!
Mark Coleman is always disappointed if I leave out the dog pictures
Today I was taunted by another camera shy kite!
My cycling fitness and weight (heer we go again, back to Bridget Jones diary,) have definitely suffered from our summer of home improvement. I've got really knackered and then had too many beers and binged on junk food!
However we're nearly done and the house looks superb. Today was putting up the blinds day. As ever a job that looks really simple rarely works out that way!
I'm on a mission now. It's five weeks until we have a family holiday in Wales. I have to get my beach body ready for the trip to Barry Island...has to be done doesn't it? In my plan I'm goign to get back on the rollers, add a bit of pilates and sound strength training and the usual cycling. I also want to do a couple of runs a week. I loved the park run I did for #NHS70 and I'd like to do one a month...the main plan is to shift a stone before we go to Wales and get back into the 13's again!
Okay stuff to do!!!
Happy Pedalling
PS loving the Tour de France...wide open this year...but then so was the Giro!!!
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