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
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