So not much change for Lee this week. The long slow recovery continues. After I'd written the blog last week we went out to our good friends Jim and Tish wedding reception. Lee managed a couple of hours and looked very nice in one of her new dresses (sorry didn't get a good picture.)
We caught up with good friends. Two hours was the limit though. Lee started feeling very tired and her heart rate shot up again! We have also managed a couple of walks together which has been nice.
This weekend Níamh has decided to celebrate her 18th birthday. It was actually on the 21st of January but that was two days after Lee was sedated and no one, especially Níamh felt like celebrating then. So on Friday she had friends round for a garden party.
On Saturday it was a family day, which started with presents at home.
Then we had a four generation family meal at the Brampton Halt. It was lovely to be able to all get together like this after such a rubbish year. It's not over yet but things like this make it feel like we're getting there!
All this lovely activity has exhausted Lee and today she's had a recovery day!
To cycling and there's more quality than quantity this week. I deliberately had an easy week after a very active August. The cx season has started and I've decided to do as many races as I can...so all I've done this week is walk the dogs and some CX practise...until today!
I've joined the Leicestershire CX league but that doesn't start yet so I entered Central League round 1 which was at Northamptonshire’s famous Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. We don't have a league in the county but both the leagues mentioned have races here. Corby will have races in both leagues!
Corby is poignant here because there was a big Rockingham Forest contingent at Silverstone today. They let me in the picture as RFWCC is my 2nd club plus we're all in the Corby Capers training group. KCC also has riders there but not as many! There were plenty of friends from Welland Valley there too! Special mention to Mark Fiddy of WVCC both for a great catch up chat and also for preventing me from driving off with my phone on top of the car!
To the race. The vet50 field was huge with 69 riders. Its early in the cx season and instead of the traditional mud we were greeted by bumpy, concrete hard surface, a flat race, in hot conditions. The start looked like a Paris Roubaix section with clouds of dust billowing up.
This was tough race and as usual for cx it was 40 minutes of high heart rate relentless action. The surface took it's greatest toll on my hands. I have blisters on both despite wearing gloves. However it was also totally fantastic. I achieved my aim of not coming last (58th,) and also getting the same laps as the majority of the field. The support and encouragement from all around the course and the spirit of the other riders was superb. I'm knackered, I hurt and I can't wait to do this again!!!
I might add more pictures later when the photographers have uploaded but until then...
Happy Pedalling
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