No big changes for Lee, big miles for me!

Welcome to this week's blog. It will be the usual format of family updates first and then my cycling blog. The break will be in bold and it's up to you which bits you read or hey just look at the pictures!

It's been a bit of a quiet week family wise. No real changes for Lee. Her Dad remains very ill but comfortable. Níamh is away in London for the weekend, maximising those 19th birthday celebrations. Joe is still covid+ but completely well. Sam played 70 mins for his school football team in a 4-0 victory.

At this time last year I was sending messages to Lee hoping she'd read them when she came round. Some of these were pictures of Valentines cards I thought were funny. I remembered that this week and starting doing it again. Lee however didn't remember reading them. She didn't even know about last year's messages and went back and read those too. I thought she had read them but it was too soon after being sedated and she was still full of meds. So this was like reading them for the first time and very emotional.

January 2020

It's very difficult watching Lee struggle. In the week she turned around too quickly, her legs gave way and she dropped brownies she'd just made. The silver lining was that the rescuable gooey mess was delicious with ice cream. This leads to me to where I hope we will get to. Lee is not a mile munching exercise addict like me. She was very physically capable though. The picture above is from two years ago and is typical of what Lee could do. We were going for long dog walks together and Lee had no problem keeping up. When walking with other people, they'd remark how fast she was. The road to recovery is long and we  desperately need physio to start. However I'm hopeful those long walks together will return. 

Lee is enjoying cooking and I've had some great meals from her. Traditionally I do the savoury meals and Lee does desserts. However on the evenings I'm busy Lee has been trying out new recipes. The dinner above is chicken satay burger with wedges and red cabbage slaw. The next night we had Teriyaki beef. I might need to up my game! On Wednesday I had to deliveroo fajitas to Joe and Amy in the house of Covid19. 

Switching to the cycling blog now

On Wednesday this week I finally started to fulfil my New Year's resolution of cycling to work. This was enabled by my Dad's voluminous bike trailer. This beast who I have named Rolly, means I can carry a lot of kit on my 5 mike commute. I could even get some shopping on the way home so there's no excuse to use the car. It was a bit of a learning experience for me, especially when I turned a corner too quickly and I tipped Rolly completely over. Luckily this happened on a bike path, so no real danger involved! I did think Bunker Hill out of Rothwell at 20% might be a challenge, it was obviously harder but not brutal. With Rolly on the back it's still less than half an hour to work. I cycled to work for the rest of the week but only needed Rolly on Wednesday.

On Monday we did a ride out with the Cyclones kids. I cycled back over to burn off that delicious burger and had great fun doing some off road riding in the dark. As a kid I'd be terrified of the woods at night. Now I just find them peaceful. On Tuesday we had the last Corby Capers of the cyclocross season. As ever it was a top quality training session with plenty of banter too. 

On Saturday I headed out on a windy morning to join my cycling friends, The Cyclasylum. My plan was to do at least 50 miles, go for a 63 mile (100k) fondo if I felt up for it OR go for even more than that.

So I'm pretty happy with 70 miles. As ever on windy days, the headwind was hell and the tailwind was heaven.

We've done this route a few times and it's a good one. From Kettering we headed to Geddington and then onto Great Oakley via Newton. From there we went to Pipewell, East Carlton, Middleton and up the hill to Bringhurst. 

I could go on naming villages but let's fast forward to the cafe stop in Brigstock.

If you're  wondering if the cake tastes as good as it looks...yes...yes it does!!!

All fueled up we went up the Brigstock bumps to Grafton. At this point I said goodbye to the group and headed back towards Geddington. My plan was to get to Rushton and see how many miles I'd done and how much energy I had left. All of this was into a strengthening headwind. At Rushton I had 50 miles and felt good so I pushed on. By Kelmarsh I realised if I cycled to Naesby I'd have 10 miles of tailwind to push me home. 

The hill up to Naesby was brutal with a gale in my face but then the turnaround to head home was glorious. It was like someone gently lifted me and then chucked me like a javelin. No surprises with the Strava PR from Naesby to Rothwell! It was exactly 70 miles when I got home.

Sunday morning started with Junior Parkrun duties. This week I was volunteer coordinator.

This afternoon I went for a gentle spin down the Brampton Valley way via Market Harborough and heading home at the Maidwell crossing. 

It was just what I needed to finish a good week of cycling with 150 miles in total, all outdoors, no rollers at all this week. There was a real Spring feel to the ride and the snowdrops are coming out!

My challenges continue. Along with walks I've done 174 miles of exercise this week with my yearly total at 612 miles. I am on target for my #NHS1000miles in 7 weeks and I'm looking forward to a well earned beer 🍺 when I get there! As ever my furry friends are the perfect companions on some stunning mornings. 

It's the cx world championships this weekend with lots of British interest. On Sunday evening I'll be going to the Rockingham Forest Wheelers club house for a social event to watch the final races of the weekend. 

Well that's it

Happy Pedalling

Making up for lost time...

This time last year was hell. Lee had just been sedated and intubated and Níamh had a thoroughly inadequate 18th birthday. At the same time I had a couple of rough days with Covid19 and even if all of that wasn't going on...the whole country was in lockdown anyway!

As ever the blog will start with a family update and then move to cycling. Stay for as much as you want, I'll mark the split in bold.

Let's get the rough stuff out of the way. My father in law is hanging on in there. This week he has had a bed delivered for downstairs and chemo has finished. Hopefully more comfort and less poison makes the world feel a bit better.

The best decision I've made recently was to take Friday off. This was Níamh's 19th birthday and we were determined to make up for last year. The plan was to go out for lunch but Níamh had been out with friends in Nottingham and overslept. Everything is apparently her boyfriend Olly's fault and as per usual the man with the patient of a saint took the blame for them missing their train! The whole thing worked out quite well for me as I was able to get out on my bike!

poor Olly

When I got back Níamh was home and celebrations began. She had great fun opening her presents.some of this had to take place by facetime as our oldest son, Joe, has unbelievably tested positive for Covid19, luckily he is totally asymptomatic. In the evening we had a superb Thai Gardens take away with my parents and Sophie but Sam had to wait for his as he works until 10pm at Waitrose. He missed out on playing Cards Against Humanity with Big Dave and Nanny Chris. This was beyond funny but also a bit disturbing. I will never be able to unhear the things my Mum said!

What's in the box?

Sam made it home in time for cake!

During the day Lee and I had some time to talk. We did a lot of reflecting on the past year. There was the odd tear too. It's what we need. Right now Lee is exhausted. As ever it was important that everyone had a good day and she put others before herself to her own cost.

Switching to cycling now...

It's flipping freezing isn't it! As a result I still haven't ridden to work. My quest for 1000 miles of exercise in 7 weeks continues. Many of these are indoors on the rollers. However I did manage 165 miles this week, 85 of these were proper outdoor cycling miles!

On Friday I adapted a version of one of my favourite routes into the Welland valley. This route contains some good climbs and some great scenery.

Banana 🍌 overlooking Eyebrook Reservoir

Medbourne

Harrington

On Saturday I met up with the Cyclasylum riders as usual at Kettering swimming pool. It was cold but there didn't seem to be much ice so we decided to ride. Andy P cheered us all up by describing the route over from Denford as sketchy. 

We headed off with the usual banter and chat drifted towards the latest series of Afterlife. There was a lot of unrepeatable quotes and a lot of laughing. I pity anyone who overheard us.

The day seemed to get better and better. We headed to Guilsborough in glorious sunshine. I'll let the pictures do the talking...

From Guilsborough we went over to Cottersbrooke and then up that monster hill to Haselbech.

After recovering from the climb it was a fast run in back to Rothwell. The group was heading to the Fox and Peony cafe and then doing a few more miles. I decided to take advantage of getting home early and got some overdue jobs done.

Sunday morning started with Parkrun duties and this week it was my turn as run director. Everything ran really smoothly and it was a pleasure to be part of!

I needed 10 miles to hit my 130 mile cycling goal for the week. So having done road rides for two days I decided to get my MTB out.

I went to Prologis Park via Rushton and then through Weekley Woods to Geddington.

I then rode back to Weekley Glebe and round the back of Brambleside.

Having done a lot of miles this week, that was enough for me and I made my way home. It was great to use my Forme Ripley again. I forget how much I like this bike when I don't use it for a while.

That's it for this week.

Happy Pedalling 

Steady week for Lee, lots of miles for me and the CX season finishes with a flourish!

Usual format for the blog. It starts with what should perhaps be called the family update and then moves into cycling. 

The week started with Lee's Dad taking another trip to A&E, Lee accompanied him again and they spent hours there but did get some use from it. For me, I decided I needed to be home rather than coaching at cyclones so I did all I could think to do. This was do some tidying, light the log burner, make dinner and then sit on my rollers until Lee got home.

This is Lee's medicine regime! My goodness she must rattle. Every morning her first action is to take this vast array of pills and potions. No dramas for her this week, I just want her physio to start soon. She hasn't really improved physically since July and I think we need good advice so we know what to do that will help. Lee has continued with daily exercises from rehab but they were set in March. She also gets a daily walk in. She is okay on flat, firm surfaces but anything else exhausts her instantly. In the evening it can take her a few goes to get up from the sofa. However, we should be grateful as this time last year, Lee was in hospital fighting for her life!

Despite everything that's going on we are still having a nice life as a family. The picture above is how the weekend ended. It was a lovely family meal. All five of us plus Olly and Amy enjoying a proper Sunday roast. I even successfully (according to Amy and Lee,) made passable gluten free Yorkshire puddings. I got the recipe from BBC good food but if anyone out there knows a better one please let me know. Of course the dogs lived their best life afterwards with Sunday dinner leftovers instead of their usual dog food!

It gets all cycling and exercise now

My #NHS1000MILES challenge continues whilst I continue with #DryJanuary2022 and #REDJanuary2022. My aim this week was to get 120 miles done with a combination of dog walks, lunchtime work walks, indoor cycling on my rollers, cyclocross and a group ride. My weekly total was actually 130 miles. I will now need to average 145 miles a week to get to 1000 in 7 weeks. It's doable and I'm hoping this will lay the foundations for improved fitness this year.

Missing Cyclones on Monday gave me a bonus rollers session and in total I managed to get on them 5 times. Along the way I've entertained myself with various cycling videos and a bit of rugby. It could have been different though. The plan is still to cycle to work when the weather is safe enough to do so and Saturday's session should have been a group ride. Sensibly though it was cancelled due to fog and ice. The picture above is from Saturday and even my dog walk was perilous in places.

The main event of the week was the 6th and final round of the Leicestershire Cyclocross League for this season. Set in the picturesque grounds of Misterton Hall a fantastic course was set up by Welland Valley Cycling Club.

Big shout out to Mrs Lindsley at this point for buying me these merino socks from Planet X, along with those orange MTB shoes from Luck (thanks again to Hans for recommending these,) and my orange helmet, I've suddenly got a very colour coordinated race day kit!

I wanted to celebrate the day in pictures. No idea why but I decided to get selfies with as many of the Corby Capers riders as possible.

These sum up the friendly, fun atmosphere at cyclocross. The racing can get serious at times but for the most part it's about a community with great camaraderie. 

Somehow my splendid cycling friend and fellow Cyclones coach Ian Bird missed a selfie so here's a picture of him to make up for that!

After a couple of practise laps and watching the earlier races I had time for one more sighting lap before gridding. It was a huge field for our race. This was a combination of vet50/60 men and senior women. 149 riders finished the race. I was 72nd out of 82 V50 riders which is good for me!

Mike Deely, who once had a stated goal of trying to do as many laps as me, very nearly caught me. I have work to do or he'll get me next time!

I was also really pleased for Rob Campbell who has made a huge improvement on his previous races. I got nowhere near Ian Bird this time and that's about his improved performance too! 

I really enjoyed the course at Misterton which was reversed on it's usual direction. For me it had a bit of everything: mud, fast bits, challenging sections and draggy grinds.  At one point I thought I was going really well in the woods and promptly crashed the bike...pride does come before a fall. Of course, the delay this caused allowed Mike to catch up a bit 😉

After our race there was time to watch the senior men and V40 doing their hour. The speed and skill on show was amazing. Here's a few pics of other Capers riding to finish this section.

So that's it for Cyclocross this year, well except for watching the world championships next weekend. For me it's now about getting some miles done, the eternal battle to shift some weight and getting fit for long group rides, time trials in the Spring and the build up to the Friday Night Summer Series in May.

Happy Pedalling