Work hard, play hard, recover well...love life!!!

I had a couple of weeks break from blogging and probably will continue to write every few weeks from now on. Usual format, Lee first, then the cycling bits.

A couple of weekends ago Lee had a weekend at centre parks with friends. Here she is, gingerbread person painting! If you don't know the Queen of cakes is very creative and loves this sort of thing!

There's the cheeky chaps on the shelf at home! She had a great time with her good friends and I really must thank them for looking after Lee. Whilst it undoubtedly did her a lot of good she was exhausted for a week afterwards. 

The pattern of Lee's days remain constant. She still needs that afternoon nap every day. She's still very tired and very sore but this week I think we've seen a small improvement. For the first time since she went to hospital the Queen of cakes 🎂 has achieved her 8000 steps daily target one day this week.

So to summarise. No dramas (for Lee at least,) signs of improvement, the long slow recovery continues!!!

For me it's been the usual blend of dog walks, running, junior parkrun, and lots of cycling.

 I'm taking part in a sponsored challenge for the Cavell Trust. This organisation provides help for Nurses and Midwives facing hardship. The challenge is #10kForNursesAndMidwives and you decide for yourself how to do this. If it wasn't cx season I'd run 10k every day however that would not help my cycling so I'm just making sure I do 10k of activity every day in October. It's also worth looking up the story of Edith Cavell. She was executed by the German army in the 1st World War for assisting soldiers to escape from Belgium where she worked as a nurse. Edith_Cavell My sponsor page is available on either Facebook or on my Instagram bio and on Twitter.

Pesky little bolts 🔩 

As well as riding I've been doing a bit of maintenance. I'm quite pleased with myself for changing a bottom bracket and some other bits and bobs!

yuck!!!

gritty old bearings

all new!!!

There are two reasons why I look forward to the start of the week. The first is coaching KCC cyclones. The second is the Corby Capers CX training group on Tuesday nights. 

These two sessions look the same but they weren't!!!

I think Tuesday's session summed up whilst these are so good. Firstly we gathered at the start to discuss the race on Sunday. Then we were worked hard by Sean in a session of corners, hills, hurdles and intervals. At the end everyone helped to tidy the course and put the equipment away. It's just a wonderful group to belong to!

Last Sunday we had another dry fast race at Western Park Leicester. The course featured hurdles on a hill and some technical sections of single track and tree roots! I'm not massively happy with my ride, I was tired almost instantly and trudged round, finishing 2nd from last! I was hoping for better and think I could have picked up a few places by a 20 seconds a lap improvement. The truth is that I just couldn't push. My preparation was probably all wrong. I rode too hard in the club ride the day before, instead of then putting my feet up I did loads of garden work and then on Sunday morning I was the RD at parkrun! All of this after a very stressful week at work! Lesson learned (sounds unlikely doesn't it,) and I will try to do it all better next time. Or as Peter Cook said: "I've learned from my mistakes and could repeat them entirely!"

Don't get me wrong though. This was still fun and it was lovely to share the ride with clubmates from KCC and RFWCC and training mates from capers! #onecyclingfamily 

One of my other cycling families is the Cyclasylum. For the last two weeks we've had fantastic group rides. We enjoyed the countryside in reasonable weather. We've ridden hard and laughed harder. Just like the Capers, these lads keep me sane, which is kind of the point of the club name.

Yesterday's club ride was a lovely trip out into the beautiful Welland Valley. The route featured the horrible hills at Stoke Dry and the wall that is School Hill in Middleton. It also featured a glorious descent into Stockerston. On the fast downhill Scott lost his phone. We think it was deliberate so he could just get more climbing in. No one saw the phone fall out but amazingly with help from Neil ringing him, it took about five minutes to go back and find!

Happy birthday also yesterday for one of the best blokes I know Richard Golding! I think he's looking splendid for 56.

It was also Steve Minney's birthday the day before so happy birthday 🎂 to him too!

The last thing to mention is that I've written this watching the National Road Race championships. I've only seen the senior men's race so I need to find the highlights for the other races. Lots of people I ride with are there for what looks like fantastic racing. I believe Phil and Dave pictured rode there and are riding back, probably joined by the machine that is Ian Bird.

Happy Pedalling!

Lots of activity and a first for Lee!

Usual format. Lee update followed by some cycling. Lee hasn't felt her best this week but we've soldiered on. Cycling wise it's all about cyclocross!

So Lee came to junior parkrun today and helped out with marshalling! I made sure she had the shortest walk and a bench to sit on. Lee loved it and now knows what I've been going on about. Helping those kids to go for a run is an absolute joy! We've also been for dog walks together, which are always nice. That's the upside. The downside is that everything remains a struggle for Lee. She's still feeling tired and achey the whole time.

The good food theme continues. Some great healthy dishes this week.

Haddock in crisp crumb with stir fry veg

Spinach and tomato quiche

didn't get my own picture but this was great!

On Monday it was a super cyclones coaching session with Charlie Stockham taking the lead before he left for university. Then on Tuesday we had a Corby Capers at Weldon on the course for Sunday's cyclocross.

On Saturday I went to parkrun to save my cycling legs. Charity and I enjoyed a good run at Brixworth Country Park before i came home to give my cyclocross bike a thorough clean!

This cassette was particularly tricky due to several races worth of grass and mud encrusted onto the  cogs!

This morning after junior parkrun I made my way to Weldon for the cyclocross race. My friends from Rockingham Forest Wheelers organised todays race. It's a lot of work so kudos to them for a great day of racing.

I'm a bit disappointed with myself today. After the race at Silverstone and a good practise in the week I was feeling confident. I got a good start and after 3/4 of the first lap I'd moved up a lot of places. Then my legs just died. I think I probably went off too quick. Let's not put a dampner on the day though. This was a lot of fun and it was brilliant to see the whole cyclocrosss family again today. I am VERY tired now!!!

The official photographers Mick Brown and Wayne Holton got some fabulous shots, especially my "competitive," first lap. I guess I've learned that I have the pace, now I need the stamina to maintain. Lots of HIIT required!!!

In elite cycling its been the world champs this week. Always good and deserved winners in all categories.

Happy Pedalling 

Ticking over...

This week's blog will be a bit longer than last week but not one of those huge ones I can sometimes write. There's a bit more to say with regards to Lee and with my cold subsiding I got one good ride in!

Lee continues with Slimming World and this week was slimmer of the week! We have also managed to get a couple of evening dog walks done. 

On Saturday evening we were lucky enough to meet up with some good friends. Our friend Sara was up from Cornwall and she was with her friend H. Lee  knows H as Mrs Tibbs, because she was her first primary school teacher. It was great to see Lee having fun. She's paying for it today and is currently in bed getting some well earned rest. 

Onto cycling. I've felt pretty grotty still this week so little activity has been done. I did coach at the cyclones on Monday but apart from that I took the week off.

On Saturday I just needed to get out and ride. I wanted a couple of hours to get my legs going again. Thankfully Steve Minney planned a cyclasylum ride that passed by my house on the outward and return route! Clever that, cheers Steve!

It was a foggy start but it was clear the sun would burn it off quite quickly. Waiting at the top of Rushton hill my ride mates emerged from the mist.

Steve Duke wins Jersey of the day with his Purple Moose Brewery top!

With the fog gone it was perfect riding weather.

Ian picked the perfect location for a puncture. If it was raining they could have used the bus shelter. We sat and had or banana 🍌 break on the benches outside the pub and there was even a nearby bin! Hilariously  Google requested I review the White Lion in North Kilworth. I'm not sure they'd appreciate: "great place to offer helpful piss taking whilst the following  debate is resolved: "how many mamils does it take to change an inner tube?" 

Before I knew it I was back in Rothwell ready to get on with a busy day. Next stop was the newly named Cinch stadium at Franklin's Gardens for the long awaited return of full crowds to rugby 🏉 

We had a minute's applause to remember people lost in the pandemic and I have to admit I felt quite emotional. This for me is another big step on the road to recovery.

It was Junior Parkrun time again this morning. Having messed up timekeeping recently I was pleased to be having another go.  I'm also pleased to report no such issues today! I decided on a quiet rest of the day in preparation for ramping it back up next week.

A big shout out to my cycling friends or #onecyclingfamily as we are calling it. Strong performances from people I ride with in the national and local league cyclocross events. Huge shout out to Olly Crabtree who has tackled the North Coast 500. I'm so jealous. This gorgeous route in Scotland must be on most cyclist's bucket list. Here’s a video to show you what you’re missing!

Later on today the contagiously likable personality that is Evie Richards goes again in the MTB World Cup. Well worth watching on Red Bull TV.

Next week it's the first round of the Leicestershire cyclocross league at Weldon Park, Corby, hosted by Rockingham Forest Wheelers. I plan to help out as much as I can and I'm really looking forward to the race.

Happy Pedalling 

Snotty McSnotface

This week's blog will probably  be the shortest this year. All plans were wiped out by an annoying head cold, leading to a low activity weekend. Standard format; Lee update and then my cycling blog.

It probably says it all that I have no pictures of Lee this week. We haven't done much together which is a bit rubbish really. The highlight for the Queen of Cakes is that she joined her work colleagues for their "Recover and Reconnect," day. This is something our trust is enabling every team to do as part of our recovery from Covid19. Lee's team enjoyed a game of rounders and went for a meal together. I'm absolutely sure this did Lee the world of good. She didn't play rounders but did keep score from a chair! When I got home from work Lee was already in bed and remained exhausted for a couple of days. Whilst that sounds bad, Lee and I agree it was worth it!

On Friday night, Níamh came home early from work feeling unwell. She was freezing and had cold symptoms. Then on Saturday morning I woke up with a nose full of snot! Niamh by then, had gone from cold to hot, so we booked a PCR test. This ruled out any activity as you're required to self isolate until you get your result. Thankfully we were both negative! The time between the test and the result was very stressful because of the risk to Lee. At least Sunday has been a bit better!

I've got no cycling pictures either. On Monday I coached the Cyclones to a rewarding session full of progression. We also said fairwell to Fran as she heads off to Exeter University. Tuesday saw the return of Corby Capers cyclocross training. As per usual a good training session was enjoyed by all. On Thursday I got on the rollers. Apart from dog walks that's my entire week of exercise! 

As my test result arrived at 6am, I was at least able to get to junior parkrun. As ever those wonderful kids and the volunteers cheered me up!

The upside of being sofa bound for most of the weekend is that I caught up with the cycling at elite level. My GCN+ subscription has been good value as I watched the tour of Britain and the cyclocross from Belgium 🇧🇪.

That's it then...hoping for better next week!

Happy Pedalling 

Back to work week...

It's going to be a much shorter blog this week because we've done way less! I'll start with Lee then do a bit of cycling.

So not much change for Lee this week. The long slow recovery continues. After I'd written the blog last week we went out to our good friends Jim and Tish wedding reception. Lee managed a couple of hours and looked very nice in one of her new dresses (sorry didn't get a good picture.)

 We caught up with good friends. Two hours was the limit though. Lee started feeling very tired and her heart rate shot up again! We have also managed a couple of walks together which has been nice.

This weekend Níamh has decided to celebrate her 18th birthday. It was actually on the 21st of January but that was two days after Lee was sedated and no one, especially Níamh felt like celebrating then. So on Friday she had friends round for a garden party.

On Saturday it was a family day, which started with presents at home.

Then we had a four generation family meal at the Brampton Halt. It was lovely to be able to all get together like this after such a rubbish year. It's not over yet but things like this make it feel like we're getting there!

beautiful daughter

My wonderful Nan

All this lovely activity has exhausted Lee and today she's had a recovery day!

To cycling and there's more quality than quantity this week. I deliberately had an easy week after a very active August. The cx season has started and I've decided to do as many races as I can...so all I've done this week is walk the dogs and some CX practise...until today!

I've joined the Leicestershire CX league but that doesn't start yet so I entered Central League round 1 which was at Northamptonshire’s famous Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. We don't have a league in the county but both the leagues mentioned have races here. Corby will have races in both leagues!

Corby is poignant here because there was a big Rockingham Forest contingent at Silverstone today. They let me in the picture as RFWCC is my 2nd club plus we're all in the Corby Capers training group. KCC also has riders there but not as many! There were plenty of friends from Welland Valley there too! Special mention to Mark Fiddy of WVCC both for a great catch up chat and also for preventing me from driving off with my phone on top of the car!

To the race. The vet50 field was huge with 69 riders. Its early in the cx season and instead of the traditional mud we were greeted by bumpy, concrete hard surface, a flat race, in hot conditions. The start looked like a Paris Roubaix section with clouds of dust billowing up.

This was tough race and as usual for cx it was 40 minutes of high heart rate relentless action. The surface took it's greatest toll on my hands. I have blisters on both despite wearing gloves. However it was also totally fantastic. I achieved my aim of not coming last (58th,) and also getting the same laps as the majority of the field. The support and encouragement from all around the course and the spirit of the other riders was superb. I'm knackered, I hurt and I can't wait to do this again!!!

I might add more pictures later when the photographers have uploaded but until then...

Happy Pedalling