Behold King Bruce and Lady Chazzle McDazzle
This week's blog will be the usual format. A family update to start with and then the cycling stuff. We've had some good family time this week, I've got some great miles in and the Friday Night Summer Series has started.
Last night we were lucky to be invited to a splendid 70th party at the Ritz in Desborough. It was at this venue 23 years ago, that I first talked to Lee's Dad about us getting married. It was also the night we introduced Lee's Mum to vodka and red bull...she couldn't sleep that night! Thankfully the espresso martini didn't have the same effect this time!
We were near the toilets not in them!
The party 23 years ago was in memory of...no one at this stage can remember! Jean is Lee's Mum's friend, her daughter Sonia is Lee's friend. Sonia organised the party and did a fabulous job! They have lots of shared memories and we have had our kids at a similar time to Sonia and Graham. (Graham is also Lee's friend, I missed out on all this not being local to Rothwell and Desborough.) As a family they have faced far more than their fair share of adversity and on the night it was poignant that there was collections for cancer and stroke charities. What also struck me was that as an extended family: Jean, Sonia & Graham, and the kids, Alex, Robyn and Jude...they were all on the dance floor having a good time together. It was truly lovely to see.
Traditional 70s selfie...
Lee had a good time but contained herself to dancing in her chair. She was already exhausted after a busy time making cakes for the party. This is when it's most difficult for her because she wants to do these things. Her hands were cramping badly and her fingers ended up locked in a bent position. I did my best to remember my days as a physio assistant and gave Lee a hand massage. I'll try to do this daily now in the hope that it will help.
The cakes Lee made were magnificent and I am always proud of her creative talents. That doesn't always show though. I've realised that because I'm always worrying about her energy levels I get moany and critical around Lee. That's not a great look so I've set myself the goal of reducing this behaviour!
Lee knows me so well that she knew what my reaction would be to realising I'd completed 133 miles of activity this week. She correctly predicted I would go out for a 17 mile ride to get to 150. I did suggest I might not and she told me I'd hate that because I like the sense of achievement from hitting my goals! Lee was right...it's been a lovely day and just perfect for a gentle spin!
On Monday my friends in the Cyclasylum had a bonus bank holiday ride. This was great for me because I now work on Saturdays when they usually ride. It was great to catch up with old friends and start the week on a positive note.
There was one incident on the ride which I'm still in shock about. On a single track road between Cottersbrooke and Brixworth an inpatient driver decided to use the grass verge to undertake us. It was stupid and dangerous...we were just working out how to get out of the way...often in this situation I pull off the road to let a car past! If I'd done this the car would have hit me. Thankfully such incidents are very rare with mostly good relations between cars and bikes.
On Tuesday I was out with RFWCC for the Good Bean Cafe ride. The plan was to go to Cafe Ventoux but this was closed. So was the pub in Tugby near Ventoux so we ended up at Launde Abbey!
Going to Launde made an already lumpy ride even hillier! As you can see we climbed pretty much the equivalent of Scafell in the Lake District...it undulates round here!!!
On Thursday it was my first week of leading the RFWCC mountain bike rides. However everyone was needed elsewhere so I was on my own! No worries though, I tested the route. I'll lead again next week and I'm now more confident we won't get lost! It was also nice to ride in the woods with a back brake!
Friday night was the first FNSS MTB race of the season. 8 of us competed in Rocko colours giving it a real team feel! We also got good support and photos from Dave Hill!
I had low expectations as I still don't feel race fit. Nothing replicates race intensity and I've not ridden like that since the end of the cyclocross season.
I hate the start at Delapre because the grass kills my legs. So I was pretty much last by the time we entered the woods. But wow...in those woods was an excellent technical course and we didn't go back to the nasty grass! Congratulations to Outkasts for a great race venue!
There are things I can't explain on a bike but after slogging round for 3 laps being continually passed by faster riders...my legs switched on. I passed 5 riders and started to go for it...then I hit a slippy bit, landed in a heap and the 5 riders came back past! I got back up, continued to be lapped by quick people and did my best to finish! I wasn't disappointed, I didn't break my bike or body and had a thoroughly enjoyable race! My first goal is always not to come last and I was 22 out of 25 in the v50 category. My second goal is to be in the second group for laps. In v50 the winners did 6 laps, the next group did 5...I did 4...so only 1 goal achieved! Big congratulations to Jon competing on his first FNSS for Rocko. It's a big deal tackling these races. Jon said he fell off more times than he did laps! Yep that's FNSS. He's a very fit man though so I expect a rapid improvement and others need to watch out!
My good friend Clint Bhoodist tells me that running lengthens hamstrings, which is good because cycling shortens them! With that in mind I took my battered body out on Saturday morning for a run. My weekly goal is 10k and as I hadn't been for a run earlier in the week I did all 10k yesterday. It was a nice run and I did feel better for it. Clint is a wise man!
In elite cycling it's been a fabulous day. At Chur Evie Richards and Tom Pidcock took the MTB XC wins. Evie is like sunshine in a human form. In her post race interview she described just wanting to have fun, be like a child and it just worked! Yep that's me on a bike too Evie, just not quite as successfully 😁. Here's the link to the interview on instagram. Pidcock was his usual dominant self, he blew the others away! The Giro was also good today although I suspect that the teams are still trying to influence the commisaires after a crash 3.4km out wrecked the day for a lot of contenders. For those who don't know, if you crash out 3km from the line you get the same time as the riders you were around at the time of the crash...that .4km is a real pain. For me the big disappointment was that on a sprint stage Mark Cavendish was caught in the crash! I'm also embarrassed to say I really haven't kept up with the women's Vuelta Femenina. You can't keep up with everything!
Happy Pedalling
