More ups than downs

The joys of modern life...I was 5 minutes from finishing this week's blog when it mysteriously wiped itself and I lost the lot!!! Here we go again...this week's blog will start as usual with a family catch up and then some cycling stuff! What we learned this week is that Lee is far from free of Long Covid, my new lifestyle works and cycling lots means lots of repairs!!!

We've had a good week with lots of time for family and friends. For Lee this has been boom and bust in terms of energy levels. On Wednesday she had a good day with her Mum, Aunt and Cousins. However this caught up with her at a family meal on Thursday when she rapidly hit exhaustion.

I knew our Saturday with good friends Martin and Vicky would be good so I did everything I could to help Lee rest on Friday. Im lucky that my new lifestyle allows me to do this. Then yesterday Lee and Vicky went for afternoon tea whilst Martin and I had a proper man lunch followed by a trip to the pub! It was a great day. Predictably Lee is shattered again today! It's not even 7pm and she's already in bed. Lee says that sometimes this boom and bust is worth it and at others it's not. It's a learning process! To help me recover from my long days Niamh took me for breakfast in the pub!

On Tuesday I went for an overdue gravel ride with Ian aka Clint Bhoodist.

He's a like minded person with a similar outlook so the miles flowed by. We headed out on The Brampton Valley Way to Market Harborough and then by tow path to Foxton Locks.

From there we circled back to Harborough where we had a pitstop at Wesses bakery. We set the world to rights over sausage baps!

 
After that we cycled home via Harrington. It was a beautiful ride on a beautiful day. I very much look forward to doing it again!

On Thursday it was time for another RFW mountain bike ride. Having had issues the week before I checked my rear brake and it seemed okay. However as soon as I started the ride my brake failed completely...it was long overdue for bleeding...lesson learned (probably!)

We seem to attract mechanicals so Giles had to use a cx bike. I do approve of his socks though. (For balance we all arrived by car, these were a joke present!)

As ever it was a great ride around the woods, led by Alan. I still enjoyed myself just would have preferred a back brake! 

On Tuesday I had to replace a rear mech cable. Today I did the hydraulic bleed on my MTB. I'd not done this before but as with all repairs there was a good you tube video to help me. It's quite a satisfying job. I went for a test ride afterwards and my bike definitely stops now! I enjoy fixing my bikes nearly as much as riding them!

I made many big decisions this year. The work one appears to be working. I have plenty of appointments, I enjoy it and I no longer have a relentless inbox. Another decision was to become a first claim member at Rockingham Forest Wheelers. The club is fantastic with a range of cycling activities and a good social scene. There is a real team feel. My new working pattern has opened up the Tuesday and Thursday morning rides. I can't join the Wednesday evening TTs but then they're not my favourite way to race a bike. The Friday Night Summer Series starts next week where RFW will be strongly represented, we are also putting lots of pairs into the Marston mega cross event. It looks like we will have a good summer!

Happy Peddling

St. George's Day

I didn't realise until this morning that it was St. George's Day, it's brought on all sorts of reflections, some a bit political but I'll expand without getting too soap boxy later on. As ever the blog will be a family catch up followed by some other stuff and finishing with all things cycling.

Left to right: Bruce, Charity and Timmy

It's been a quiet week in The Lindsley household. The main news is that I can confirm that my lack of oomph was viral not tree pollen related! How do I know? Well, Lee, Mrs Lindsley got it next and as per usual she developed a chest infection. This brings back all kinds of bad memories of those dark covid19 days! Thankfully Lee has responded well to antibiotics and apart from a  residual cough is on the mend. Also poorly this week is Timmy the dog! Poor thing has a tummy bug and not to be too graphic, he's a bit loose! In summary, it's not been a great week but we're okay!

Happy St. George's Day everyone...is a phrase not often heard. Our Celtic cousins celebrate their patron Saints enthusiastically but in England it's not quite the same. National pride is not something we do well in England due to a mixture of post-colonial shame and well...the polar opposite! The only time I really remember celebrating St. George was as a scout at the St. George's Day parade. It's with some of those scouting values that I wish we could celebrate a national day in England. Those values are about helping others, being inclusive and also being: trustworthy, loyal, courageous, considerate and respectful. With that in mind I've been reflecting on the reaction this week to asylum seekers being placed here in the Rothwell House Hotel. The more extreme reactions were escalated by irresponsible remarks from our local MP and the BBC who chose to report those remarks with no balance or counter argument. I would prefer if my representative in the House of Commons would remember the UK's responsibility to refugees and share my pride that the UK is bound by international law to provide a safe place in which to seek refuge. Climbing down off the soap box now!

I've had a much better week of cycling. On Tuesday I joined the RFW Good Bean Cafe ride. On a blustery day we headed out to the excellent Mint and Ginger coffee shop before taking on some of the Welland Valley's best hills. We went up the infamous Neville Holt and Stoke Dry hills and then followed this up with another beast out of Harringworth...whoever said Northants was flat, never cycled around the place! I coped a lot better than the previous week but the group did still have to wait for me on the hills.

Harringworth viaduct

Around Eyebrook Reservoir and briefly into Rutland!

Mud loving mountain bikers

On Thursday it was back to mountain biking. The trails are drying out and becoming more rideable but there's still a lot of thick mud around. I was more tired after 15 miles mountain biking than I was from 55 miles road cycling earlier in the week.

To finish the week I did my standard 17 training route. This finished off my exercise goals for the week with 80+ cycling miles, 6+ running miles and 12+ walking miles.

Happy Peddling

 

Hmmm...Tree Pollen or the Lurgy???

It's going to be a brief blog this week without too much family stuff to report. I did get a fair bit of cycling done, despite feeling 'not quite right,' and I got a couple of 5K runs in too!

Top: Niamh Bottom L-R: Me, Sam, Amy, Joe and Lee 

On Sunday night after a good roast dinner we had a family outing to the Red Lion, poor old Niamh was working but the rest of us had a jolly nice time. In recent weeks I've mentioned how proud I am of the kids. What struck me on Sunday in the pub was that there was no doubt that Niamh was in charge! Then on Monday all four generations made it to my Mum and Dad's for a Easter Monday dinner. Just a lovely family time. My Mum pulled off an astounding feat, she made gluten free sausage rolls which were nice and a vegan alternative which was also nice! Good work Nanny Chris. As I type a Pork shoulder is slow roasting for today's family meal.

I'm starting to think that my hay fever might actually have been a bit of virus of some sort. On Sunday night I felt dreadful and Lee wondered if I was having an asthma attack. The nasty cough persisted through Monday but seemed to subside by Tuesday. So I headed for the RFW Good Bean cafe ride with the aim of seeing how it went...well not so good. A nice group of 8 left the clubhouse but the first significant hill out of Medbourne saw me dropped and exhausted...so I called it a day and headed home. The 'Hill,' at Middleton really was a unnecessary addition to my short ride!

Why is the defib at the bottom of the hill?

I avoided all further exercise (if you don't count dog walks and housework,) until Thursday when I joined Alan for the RFW mountain bike ride at Wakerley and Fineshade Woods. 

Alan and I had a good muddy ride. The trails had kind of a top surface of slick mud. For me I felt better than Tuesday but still not my full self. It was just good to be out! It was also nice to see that the bluebells are coming! As ever one of the highlights of my day was giving my bike a good clean!!!

Bluebells

This is what my bike looked like...

This is how it looks now! Rinse and repeat...

For the rest of the week it was lots of dog walks and I also managed a couple of 5k runs on Friday and Saturday. 

Out with the pack...

The traditional Saints selfie

With a run, a dog walk and a trip to Northampton Saints, yesterday I topped 19000 steps. As ever it was great to catch up with people at Franklin's Gardens and a good win means the Saints are still in with a chance of making the play offs.

Yes I do need a shave...

Today I still had that lurgy lurking at the back of my mind so I didn't want to be a burden to another group ride. I decided to do a reduced version of the WVCC spring gravel ride. The full distance to and from Great Bowden was 100km and I knew I wasn't up for that. So I said I'd meet the group near Rothwell but not to wait for me if I wasn't there. I arrived at the top of Violet Lane in good time but the group were going well and had passed there earlier than expected. This was no worries for me, I wasn't feeling sprightly and could roll at my own pace.

On the way I bumped into my old friend Ian Bird who was marshaling the NRCA road race, using the Old circuit. I got some pictures of the race action too as I passed in the other direction. It's great too see road racing featuring as part of our local cycling activities.

With a slight shortcut I caught up with the group at Brixworth Country Park where they'd stopped for coffee. I then had company for a good chunk of riding as we went back around the reservoir, down Merry Tom to the Brampton Valley Way and then by bridleway through Haselbech to Kelmarsh. I let the others head off to the pub as I rolled home with a good 40 miles in my legs!

Great gravel

In elite cycling I was typing during Paris-Roubaix last week, which for me, finished poorly with MVDP winning somewhat unfairly. Today Amstel Gold has just finished. An absolute masterclass from Pogacar, a nice second for Healy and then Pidcock holds onto 3rd. Earlier in the day the women's race was good too with a win for Demi Vollering. Lots more to come next week with Fleche Wallone and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. 

Happy Pedaling

Easter 2023 - Sam is 18, family time and lot's of cycling!

The big news this week is that Sam Lindsley is 18 years old...so all of our children are now adults! Lots of other stuff to discuss though. Some great riding this week and many cyclists favourite bike race - Paris-Roubaix!

Let's get to Sam first...he graciously allowed me to take the above picture. I can't tell you enough how proud we are of Sam. A few years ago he was really struggling and on the verge of being excluded from school. His ADHD diagnosis should have been no surprise given that Niamh, Joe and Lee also have ADHD but Sam got through Junior school with few problems. In fact he ended his junior school time being the star of their production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Then, as often happens in a secondary environment his impulsivity, inattention and hyperactivity came flooding out. Sam was at one point the worst behaved kid in the school...and then he got to grips with things. He finished year 11 with great GCSE results and had become the best behaved boy in the school. In the 6th form he has become the Head Boy, mentors younger students and advises teachers on ADHD! Sam is a very committed student with a passion for history, sociology and politics. He is predicted good grades and had a conditional offer from Kings College in London. It's a remarkable turnaround. It should also be noted that Sam's GCSE year was the one where his Mum, Lee, nearly died of Covid19. During that difficult time Sam just got his head down and go on with things. Like I said...I can't put into words how proud we are of him!

The picture above is of Lee's brother Ian. He sadly died in 1982 due to cancer. The Tonka Toy in front of his picture was one of his favourite toys and had been in a bag in pieces in our understairs for quite some time. I decided it was time to restore it to it's former glory. I'm really pleased with the result and more importantly so are Lee and her Mum. This was a wonderful thing to work on. Some finishing touches are yet to come as I have ordered replacement "PACER X" stickers

This week for my cycling I have been lucky to get out for 3 good group rides. The first was on Tuesday for the RFW Good Bean Cafe ride. 

A group of 6 headed out to the East of Corby, stopping for food at Dexter's in Oundle. I was particularly pleased to catch up with Pete Rowbotham who is battling back from illness and injury. I say battling back...he was riding better than me! The day started out freezing cold and as the ride progressed got nicer and nicer. In the end it was rude not to turn it into a full 100k fondo ride.

Thursday's mountain bike ride was something quite different. On a filthy day we also suffered numerous mechanicals. Earlier in the week I'd replaced my rear wheel bearings only to discover the wheel wobble issues were actually due to a rubbish rear skewer! Then on the day I realised that the same wheel was massively buckled. Worse still for Pete whose freewheel broke with less than a mile rode and then Giles whose left crank fell off! It was tough enough already in slippy, soft conditions...we only did 7 miles but were utterly plastered in mud at the end.

Yesterday I joined WVCC for their Easter gravel ride...it was an early start leaving Market Harborough at 07.30 so I got really organised and prepared my bike and kit the night before. I left home bang on 6.50 as planned and then realised leaving Rothwell that I'd left my camelbak at home! So a quick message and change of plan and I met the group on the Brampton Valley Way instead. 

From the start I didn't feel right. Tree pollen has burst into life and my hay fever is always bad early in the season. So I was struggling...well I'd probably have been okay but this was a group of good riders who ride a notch faster than my usual pace.

It was just 1C as I left home wearing just about every layer of cycling kit I could find. A fog descended too making it even colder! 

As we rode on though the day did eventually warm up and by the end we were all discarding layers. Many thanks to Adrian 'Killa,' Kilworth for organising the ride and planning an excellent route. This was also a bit of practise run for the WVCC 100k gravel sportive on Sunday 16th April welland-valley-cc-spring-gravel-ride-. 

The other riders thankfully tolerated my slower pace, having to wait for me at times. As the route passed close to home before looping back to Market Harborough I decided my day was done and headed home from the top of Violet Lane.

One thing pointed out to me by Eddo was that my saddle height looked low. This is something others have said to me in the past and just like yesterday I demonstrated that I have the height set by the widely accepted method of putting my heal on my peddle at the low point of the crank and setting the height for a slight bend at the knee. Many people will now be thinking...why doesn't Rich just pay for a bike fit? Well I've heard mixed things about these and like to work things out for myself! I have found the following saddle height. I also have some brake cable issues to sort tomorrow so I'm going to try the method recommended in the blog I've linked to and see if it's different to the heal on the peddle method!

As I type I'm enjoying the Paris-Roubaix men's coverage. The women's race yesterday was stunning and the men's is going the same way. Dubbed the hell of the north or L'enfer du Nord, Paris-Roubaix is many people's favourite cobbled classic. We are so lucky to get footage of such things in the UK these days.

Happy Peddling