Lee's long slow recovery continues. It's not going fast enough for her but the rest of us marvel at our brave, strong lady. The picture above shows Lee's trachy scar, she's been hiding it a bit since removing the dressing but is now determined to become less self conscious. She is still getting breathless with small amounts of exertion and needs a lot of sleep. However the Queen of Cakes is still taking daily walks and increasing her activity. We've added squats, lunges and calf raises to her leg exercises and some light weights for the upper body stuff. As part of the mental recovery Lee is reading for 10 minutes a day. She's also having lots of visitors and our house continues to look like a Florist!
My adjustment back to work didn't go as well this week. Work itself was okay, it was the time pressures outside of work that frustrated me. I'm up early to walk the dogs, work all day and then have busy evenings before collapsing into bed at 9pm. Eat, sleep, repeat! This week I managed a couple of runs because I double those up as a dog walk. Charity would like to do this less and has started to hide if I get the running kit out! We both need Parkrun back for our running motivation! I've had no time in the week for cycling though which is a double blow. Cycling keeps me sane and is part of my personal well being needs. However not cycling as much as I want also has me worried that I won't be fit for the Dartmoor Classic in June. So it becomes a source of stress! All this led me to a very grumpy state going into the weekend.
Another thing going on is my weight. Regular readers will think...oh no not this again! Yes we're back to Bridget Jones diary!!! Probably a combination of stress, too many beers and a lot of goodies I found myself at 15st+ (97kg) a couple of weeks ago...not great for me and not great at all for those lovely Hunt carbon wheels. Positive action has been taken, I'm 18 days booze free and back to using myfitnesspal. My only regret was telling my Mum's best friend Sue, that after 11 consecutive Saturdays I need to take a break from her cake deliveries. I hated that, as this kind gesture has kept me going. This morning I was14st 11lbs (94kg)...the goal that I never ever seem to get to is 13st (83kg) but I will be happy if I'm under 14st (89kg) by the time for the Classic on June the 20th. That of course, also depends on the pandemic and Boris sticking to the roadless roadmap and the four parts which are actually 5! There's a public announcement due soon and it appears we are on track for national hug day on June 21st but you can't trust this virus!!!
Let's talk cycling!!! On Monday, Andy, Ian and I led another Cyclones session with the teens and twenties, whilst Fran, Roland and John worked with the tiddly peeps. Everything went well and we saw progression and enjoyment in all the kids riding. It was also great to catch up with them to hear about their races at places like MK bowl and the various local time trials.
On Saturday morning I met up with the Cyclasylum, still in my grump from the week. However the ride over had started to dissolve this and it was completely gone after a few miles! Two groups started together, one doing the traditional first Saturday of the month 100km (62miles,) Fondo and the rest of us taking a shorter 33 miles.
We headed to Brigstock via those glorious lumps that make for great riding. In fact there's a LOT of great riding like this in Northamptonshire. Our quiet country lanes are like a well kept secret. We might border East Anglia but this place is far from flat. This week though, it was certainly less lumpy than last week!!!
On our way through to Benefield, where the group split I had a good catch up with people. It was especially great to chat with Andy P's son Sam. The conversation started as they all do with "How's your wife?" After that we moved on to what many of us would consider a dream job. Since leaving University, Sam has been working for Hope. Specifically he's part of the team developing the track bike for the British Olympic team.
On our way through to Benefield, where the group split I had a good catch up with people. It was especially great to chat with Andy P's son Sam. The conversation started as they all do with "How's your wife?" After that we moved on to what many of us would consider a dream job. Since leaving University, Sam has been working for Hope. Specifically he's part of the team developing the track bike for the British Olympic team.
From Benefield the famous five left the full fortitude fondo riders. Another glorious bit of fast riding took Amy, Ian, Marcus, Neil and I into Oundle.
We then worked our way round to Woodford via Islip, Alwincle, Thorpe Waterville, Achurch, Pilton and Stoke Doyle. At Woodford we had a cafe stop at the Grainstore.
I forgot my mask and wasn't sure my mobile set up was working so Neil kindly got my order in. I owe him for next time! After the stop we headed out to Cranford and split up, Neil and I riding together to Grafton Crossroads before I headed solo towards Geddington.
Part of our coffee stop chat was about round numbers and being robbed by Strava. People will relate to riding around the block until the bike computer of their choice hits a round number like 50 miles, then hitting save only for Strava to record 49.9! I realised heading into Rushton that I'd be on 47 miles by the time I got home and this felt inadequate. So I detoured to Desborough and was still a mile short heading into Rothwell so I took a circuitous route home making sure I was on 50.3 miles to avoid the Strava robbery! Of course by doing that Strava only corrected to 50.11!
Later that day my son's girlfriend was amazed as many non cyclists are, that I'd done 50 miles. However as mentioned a lot of my riding friends did 100km and quite a few went on to do 100 miles! In fact there's been lots of hundreds this weekend to remember Captain Tom.
I'm not quite ready for 100 miles yet but I did decide to make sure I reported 💯 miles this week for the #NHS1000miles.
On Sunday morning I woke full of the joys of spring with all grumpiness gone. Some well needed overnight rain had cleared to a fine morning and the countryside seemed to explode with greenery. Everything made me happy; the dogs, the kites, the geese, the horses and the people I regularly see! We even met a gold labrador who is a sibling of Bruce!
After my walk it was time for Junior Parkrun duty. We had 94 runners today at Desborough Greenspace and it was wonderful to see!
I then needed 32 miles to hit 💯 for the week so I looked through my routes to find an absolute gem. A couple of years ago my friend Mark wanted a testing route to prepare for a sportive. So I planned the Mark & Rich pre chilli 🌶 ride. Just this time there was no Mark and no chilli afterwards. It's still a great route!
I headed out via Rushton through Pipewell where I had a chat with a lady on an e-bike. She gave me great advice for my parents who are considering a purchase. After that I greeted many other cyclists and walkers taking advantage of a nice day. I felt great on the bike and became aware of a great sense of freedom. This grew and I suddenly felt elated, it was like a great weight lifted and then I began to think about everything we've been through and I started sob! This is probably what I've needed for a while...this would probably persisted for miles had the moose attack not occurred! Suddenly the biggest wild deer 🦌 I've seen sprang out in front of me, it skittered across the road and through the opposite hedge with a look of wtf as we narrowly missed each other! I was snapped out of my emotional meltdown and must have looked like very odd as I rode on laughing out loud!
Back to the route. It was lovely through Middleton, Bringhurst and Great Easton onto Eyebrook Reservoir. This piece of historic water was stunning in the bright sunshine. Eyebrook is famous as a training site for the Dambusters.
The other advantage of this route whilst training for Dartmoor is the next set of hills. If you view it as one climb its a long hill from Ashley through to Desborough. This has a tough start but then becomes rolling and for me enjoyable. Except yesterday I was first held up by a car that had overtaken me moments earlier and then horses 🐎 which always seem to be in a dip at the bottom of a hill! To finish the job properly I took the hill to Harrington that was a QOM points climb in the Ladies tour. Then I rolled into Rothwell with a broad grin on my face. I was loving life, cycling is THE BEST MEDICINE!
I was still a mile short of the 💯 when I got home but that was good too because I joined Lee for another walk. That made me smile too!!!
Happy Pedalling
What a great little blog, love the areas that you ride some off my favourite areas. Riding is great for the sole and makes us really appreciate what we have.
ReplyDeleteHope your wife is still doing well and keep up the good work. I'll read more in the future