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
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