is it winter again?

You know the score. Lee update followed by cycling stuff! Its been another week of thankfully drama free slow recovery for our Queen of cakes. For me I've taken a break from coaching, done a TT, some rollers, a group ride, running, dog walks and junior parkrun.

Lee has been worried about her hair loss, fearing she was going to lose it all. However a trip to see her hairdresser, Brad at Queens in Rothwell, was reassuring. Brad confirmed hair loss had increased but it wasn't too bad and new hair is growing back! Lee is rightfully pleased with her new hairstyle. Baking has gone well this week with some very nice muffins. The downside is that Lee is very tired still and gets out of breath easily. Despite this she continues daily walks with her Mum. She's also keeping up with her exercises, including her Covid19 yoga sessions. Lee has been doing a lot of thinking. She's struggling to remember things and doing a lot processing.

Despite many wet days, at least half of my dog walks this week have been on nice mornings. Two of those walks were runs and for all of my walks my furry friends were a joy to spend time with!

For once I've listened to advice and thought about all the things I try to do. So I'm taking a few weeks off from coaching at the cyclones.

I'm still doing stuff for myself though. On Wednesday I took part in a time trial at Rockingham Forest Wheelers. Before the start it was horrible weather and that put a few people off. It did clear up though into a dry if cold evening. 

 

My time was pretty ordinary but gives me something to work on. The pictures help though. I already suspected my saddle was a bit low but also my handlebars had a lot of spacers! Measuring properly, I discovered my saddle was 15mm too low...hmmm I lowered so Sam could use my bike a couple of years ago...I don't think I put it back. I also started moving the spacers around to lower the handlebars. I tested this for comfort on the rollers and in a couple of weeks might  go lower still!

This leaves an unsightly "chimney," but I want to be sure before cutting the steerer tube down. On Thursday I did my now regular toad in the hole rollers session.

Saturday is group ride day and what a splendid route this was! I planned to join the Cyclasylum at Rushton but left way to late and missed the group. The weather was rubbish again and I opted for full winter kit except for fingerless gloves and I was on my Summer bike!

The route headed out into the lumpy Welland valley, perfect preparation for the Dartmoor Classic which is now only a few weeks away. I set out to catch the group without much idea how far ahead they were. My plan was just "don't stop!"

I nearly missed this gorgeous gated road before heading round to Stockerston. From there I skirted Eyebrook Reservoir and onto the test that is Stoke Dry hill. At the top I ate my banana 🍌 without stopping but was losing hope I'd catch the group. My reward for the climb was the descent into Lyddington.

I couldn't resist a picture of the 'Bishop's Eye,' that sits on the corner of the walls of Bede House We are blessed with a tonne of history in Northants and this listed building is a former Bishop's Palace that became an Alms House for men and women "free from lunacy, leprosy and the French pox!" I'm guessing my ridemates and I needn't apply! From there I took a road I'd only used once before that sums up cycling in Northants: quiet single track, rolling hills, lush green countryside! Then just before Caldecott I saw them!!!

Much to everyone's surprise I caught up with the group. We rode into Great Easton ( Hi Deelys,) and through Bringhurst and onto Middleton. Just for good measure on an already hilly ride we rode up School hill, a lesson to anyone that it's not flat here! 

From there it was through Pipewell, Great Oakley and into the most historical place of the lot, Geddington! Here we had the usual splendid service at the cafeoaktea rooms and most of us tucked into Croque Monsieur.

After that it was even colder as Bruce and I put the world to rights plodding back to Rothwell.

I had an early start at Junior Parkrun. Next week I'm the Run Director so I joined Sharon to see how it's done! It all went well and I'm hoping for more of the same next week.

In elite cycling news...The Giro! Just wow!!! The Zoncolan stage yesterday was amazing. We watched some of the stage at the tea rooms via the wonder that is GCN+ during that we reminisced how The Tour de France used to be the only televised event and even that was only highlights. Now you can watch pretty much everything!

Happy Pedalling 

Mixed week for Lee, much better week for fitness

You know the drill. The first bit is Lee's post covid19 recovery. The rest is my cycling blog with a bit of running.

So Lee hasn't had further episodes of Tachycardia. That's great except the beta blockers are causing her hair to fall out! When you're already not feeling that great about yourself, that  really is an unnecessary twist of the knife! There's some other irritating bits too. Lee's lungs are not strong yet which means she has an inadequate cough! She says its like she wants to cough from her chest but she can only cough from her throat. To help with that Lee has signed up to a post Covid19 yoga class following a recommendation from my friend Matthew. Anyone else in Northamptonshire who wants to sign up, message me, I'll send you the link. Today we went to Specsavers because Lee's eyesight detiorated further whilst she was in ITU. I think I may have rolled my eyes when she was told today that her eye test wasn't due yet! That was cleared up quite quickly. Later we went to get Lee's 2nd vaccination at Moulton. I got mine two days earlier at the same place. That was bad planning wasn't it! The vaccination centre is really well organised and staffed. Each time I've been I've met someone we know. Today it was our old friend Sandra!

Lee continues to walk and exercise daily and this is going well. She does still get out of breath quickly. What's really come back this week is reading! Books are being read at a rate of knots and the kindle is back in Lee's hands! She has also started baking again. This week its muffins! So it's not perfect but there is also plenty to be positive about.

On Monday it was back to coaching with the Cyclones. During the session one of Kettering's urban red kites gave us quite a display. As ever it was great to spend time coaching kids cycling. However I've also recognised that pressure on my time is causing stress. So I'm going to take a couple of weeks off from coaching and then come back with fresh ideas!

On Wednesday Sam was otherwise engaged so he couldn't ride in the Rockingham Forest Wheelers time trial. So I took this opportunity to volunteer to Marshall. Its always good to give back!

On Thursday I managed to do another rollers session whilst making toad in the hole. It's the perfect meal to make in between interval sessions. Burning off the calories beforehand also softens the blow of this most magnificent comfort food!

My traditional workout time was in the morning before work. I was able to do this because my inlaws walked the dogs. However there's more than one thing going on for our family and now I walk the dogs in the morning. I do enjoy walking the dogs and the recent rain has caused an explosion of green in the countryside. 

Twice a week I run with the dogs. Charity runs on a running lead and Bruce just trots along with us! Charity was well into her running on Friday and was pulling me along for the first mile. With parkrun coming back soon this is good training for us both!

On Saturday it was time to get some proper cycling miles done. On a drizzly morning I met up with the Cyclasylum for a group ride. The planned route was 42 miles and its about another 10 miles round trip to Kettering. With only 10 more  miles need for a 100km Gran Fondo on Strava I decided it was about time I got that ticked off for May. In fact its the first Fondo I've managed this year! Normally I'd have done a few by now...2021 is rubbish!

We headed south out of Kettering, through Cranford, Addington and Ringstead onto Raunds. Marcus (pictured,) and I started racing for village signs and before you knew it Steve also joined in. My theory was I needed a big workout due the Dartmoor Classic being only 5 weeks away. 

We paused at a regular banana 🍌 stop near Rushden and as usual banter was  flowing. We quickly got cold so it really was chomp and go.

We worked our way round to Woolaston where the traditional photo had to be taken. Then onto to Grendon and Earls Barton. Some of the group stopped for coffee at White Mills Marina but I decided to press on, because I wanted my fondo and because I always tighten up during a break. After quite a flat few miles, the hill up to Earls Barton was hell! I dribbled up it, way behind the others, knowing I was paying for all that sign racing! Just to let you know, most of the rest of the group had been sensible and not joined in! However not long after that we were on the fast straight to Little Harrowden. This was an absolute blast. Paul won the race to the sign which was well deserved as he'd dragged me back to Bruce and Steve in front. I must point out, we were riding fast but not reckless. All of this was done safely! As we waited for people to catch up in Little Harrowden my legs were shaking from sprinting. After Orlingbury we split up further with Richard and Marcus helping me to Broughton. From there I needed 17 miles and due to that impending hilly sportive in June,  I decided to make it as hilly as possible. So I rode through Cransley onto Loddington and then round to Harrington and onto Desborough before heading home! It was a great ride and having done it I feel more confident about the Dartmoor Classic. Let's hope that Indian variant doesn't ruin everything!

This morning it was time for marshalling duties again at Desborough junior parkrun. 102 kids ran today which is great, especially as that was my exact guess on the "just for fun," sweepstake! I'm building towards a big day as my first time as Run Director will be on the 30th of May!

Due to taking Lee to appointments I didn't have time for much cycling today. So I decided on a run instead. As I'd also not done a 10k run this year I decided to tick that off too. My legs were not impressed though. Clearly they were suffering from cycling yesterday and I was very slow 🐌. I'm not that bothered though. It's said that pace is less important than distance!

I hope others have caught the elite cycling on tv today. The Giro d'Italia was amazing with Bernal at the finish on gravel. The best bit of the day for me was the Mountain Bike World Cup. In the women's race Loana Comte is now the French lady to beat with Britain's Evie Richards finishing a very creditable 5th just behind Pauline Ferrand Prevot. In the men's Tom Pidcock stole the show, winning by over a minute to 2nd placed MVDP! Quite the result and as this qualifies him for the Olympic race! Exciting times for British Cycling.

Happy Pedalling 

Tachycardia tribulations

To keep up with recent weeks my cycling blog will once again start with a Lee update, have the usual bits and bobs of dog walking and running and finish with the cycling stuff. So read the first bit if you want to know about the Queen of Cakes, stick around if the rest of my usual topics interest you!

It's been a mixed week for Lee. She's had some good days and we are on the cusp of needing none of the adaptive equipment in our house. So in 7 weeks since leaving hospital Lee has progressed to not needing, chair raisers, toilet seat raisers and a shower chair. She has never used the perching stool in the kitchen and the commode remains unpacked in our bedroom. The jobs around the house are now very much shared between us with Lee doing most of the washing and cooking a few days a week. She has also been doing a lot of sorting and organising. Today Lee had her first cup of coffee since January the 2nd (decaff of course!) Some days Lee has walked up to 2 miles and a walk around a supermarket is now no problem. The trachy scar which Lee described as a second bumhole, is fading fast That's! That's the positives. All of this leaves Lee exhausted, the Nanna naps and early nights continue. The walking distance may be up but its still very slow and she gets out of breath quickly. This week we had another episode of Tachycardia. It wasn't as bad as previously but even so Lee's heart rate was over 130bpm sitting still and stayed there for 13 hours from 17.00 Thursday to 06.00 Friday. We didn't go to A&E this time because Lee didn't want to. I set the rule that if we hit 150 we are going in. I also made sure she spoke to the GP on Friday morning who thought we were foolish not to go to hospital and has set his own limit of 120bpm. Beta blockers have also been doubled! Believe it or not whilst all this was going on Lee was determined to get to the polling station to vote! I'm writing this at 14.10 on Sunday, everything is calm now and the Queen of Cakes has had some lunch and gone to bed!

The flowers continue to arrive and I have to say a big thanks to my ride mates in the Cyclasylum for their kind bouquet!

Because of the bad weather we cancelled our Bank holiday coaching session. Then on Tuesday I got confused and forgot to go for a run! The next day though was another matter!

On Wednesday, Sam and I headed for Middleton to sign on for the RFWCC "dash," time trial. This is a very short 2.7 mile race from Ashley to Middleton. It takes place on one road with no turns...which makes it even more bewildering that Sam went wrong!

After some clever time keeper co-ordination Sam set off first. A minute later I started, fearful that even over this distance young Mac behind me would catch up! At about halfway suddenly Sam was on the other side of the road heading back towards me! Luckily realising his error Sam turned round and finished between Mac and I. Number 2 crossing the line first caused some confusion but the time keepers worked it all out! Sam had seen a sign at the only junction and started to doubt himself. He looked over his shoulder to see two cyclists turn right and assumed that was me and Mac had already caught me! It wasn't! It was just two other cyclists out for a leisurely ride! Personally I think Sam cost himself 1.30 minutes and as such he should have beaten me on the night. I think I might set him up with GPS for the 10 miler next week!

I've checked the previous time we did the dash back in August...I've made a 3 second improvement. Sam did 8.40 last time out, he was only 3 seconds worse this time which is remarkable given his error!!!

On Friday I got a run in. Nothing spectacular just 5km with the dogs. We bumped into the usual 7am regulars on our two laps to the Badger sett and back.

This weekend I'm on call which means long rides are out of the question. So is junior parkrun. On call is either feast or famine but the only definite task takes place between 08.30-09.30, the most inconvenient of times! However due to the weather this weekend, I don't really mind. I won't have a weekend on call for months now, so it looks like I picked a good weekend to be stuck indoors...well except I wasn't totally!!! I did gear up and take the dogs out yesterday morning...as they were soaked already I gave them a proper wash on our return. They were not amused!!!

This morning I tackled an ongoing issue with my Forme Calver. The bike is brilliant in all regards apart from the rear brake!!! To save approx £200 a brake Andy at C&D fitted mechanical disc brakes. This seemed like a good idea at the time but the rear has been a continuous problem. I'm not saying Andy was wrong, he did me a real favour setting up a superb bike at a competitive price. There is just no power or spring back via the cable so today I changed the cable. The one I removed looked fine but took quite a tug to get out. With the new cable in the brake appears to work well again. Now I have a choice. I could switch to hydraulic or keep changing cables. A good quality cable is £3 and a five minute job.  A hydraulic brake set is around £220 so I might keep changing cables frequently for a bit longer!

I had two reasons for taking the Calver out for a short spin. Firstly it needed testing but more importantly I needed just a few miles to complete #NHS1000miles. In December, if you told me I would take until May to do just 1000 miles of activity I would have laughed. In a normal year this is ten weeks activity, its currently week 18 of 2021!!! Anyway the 1000 is done now, so is the weekend on call, so it's time to ramp it up!!!

Just in case you thought I'd forgotten Bridget Jones diary...its all going well. No booze for over three weeks, sticking to myfitnesspal, 5lbs (2kg) lost so far!

In elite bike racing news the Giro has started. Unlike last year its a full field of riders with less likeliness of covid19 retirements. They even have proper crowds watching! The race is even taking place at the traditional time of the year!!! So good to see.

Happy Pedalling 

The Best Medicine

As with the last few weeks the start of the blog will be an update on our Covid19 recovery. So if you just want that read the first bit. If you're into the cycling too, carry on reading!

Lee's long slow recovery continues. It's not going fast enough for her but the rest of us marvel at our brave, strong lady. The picture above shows Lee's trachy scar, she's been hiding it a bit since removing the dressing but is now determined to become less self conscious. She is still getting breathless with small amounts of exertion and needs a lot of sleep. However the Queen of Cakes is still taking daily walks and increasing her activity. We've added squats, lunges and calf raises to her leg exercises and some light weights for the upper body stuff. As part of the mental recovery Lee is reading for 10 minutes a day. She's also having lots of visitors and our house continues to look like a Florist!

My adjustment back to work didn't go as well this week. Work itself was okay, it was the time pressures outside of work that frustrated me. I'm up early to walk the dogs, work all day and then have busy evenings before collapsing into bed at 9pm. Eat, sleep, repeat! This week I managed a couple of runs because I double those up as a dog walk. Charity would like to do this less and has started to hide if I get the running kit out! We both need Parkrun back for our running motivation! I've had no time in the week for cycling though which is a double blow. Cycling keeps me sane and is part of my personal well being needs. However not cycling as much as I want also has me worried that I won't be fit for the Dartmoor Classic in June. So it becomes a source of stress! All this led me to a very grumpy state going into the weekend.

Another thing going on is my weight. Regular readers will think...oh no not this again! Yes we're back to Bridget Jones diary!!! Probably a combination of stress, too many beers and a lot of goodies I found myself at 15st+ (97kg) a couple of weeks ago...not great for me and not great at all for those lovely Hunt carbon wheels. Positive action has been taken, I'm 18 days booze free and back to using myfitnesspal. My only regret was telling my Mum's best friend Sue, that after 11 consecutive Saturdays I need to take a break from her cake deliveries. I hated that, as this kind gesture has kept me going. This morning I was14st 11lbs (94kg)...the goal that I never ever seem to get to is 13st (83kg) but I will be happy if I'm under 14st (89kg) by the time for the Classic on June the 20th. That of course, also depends on the pandemic and Boris sticking to the roadless roadmap and the four parts which are actually 5! There's a public announcement due soon and it appears we are on track for national hug day on June 21st but you can't trust this virus!!!

Let's talk cycling!!! On Monday, Andy, Ian and I led another Cyclones session with the teens and twenties, whilst Fran, Roland and John worked with the tiddly peeps. Everything went well and we saw progression and enjoyment in all the kids riding. It was also great to catch up with them to hear about their races at places like MK bowl and the various local time trials.

On Saturday morning I met up with the Cyclasylum, still in my grump from the week. However the ride over had started to dissolve this and it was completely gone after a few miles! Two groups started together, one doing the traditional first Saturday of the month 100km (62miles,) Fondo and the rest of us taking a shorter 33 miles.

We headed to Brigstock via those glorious lumps that make for great riding. In fact there's a LOT of great riding like this in Northamptonshire. Our quiet country lanes are like a well kept secret. We might border East Anglia but this place is far from flat. This week though, it was certainly less lumpy than last week!!!

On our way through to Benefield, where the group split I had a good catch up with people. It was especially great to chat with Andy P's son Sam. The conversation started as they all do with "How's your wife?" After that we moved on to what many of us would consider a dream job. Since leaving University, Sam has been working for Hope. Specifically he's part of the team developing the track bike for the British Olympic team. 

From Benefield the famous five left the full fortitude fondo riders. Another glorious bit of fast riding took Amy, Ian, Marcus, Neil and I into Oundle. 

We then worked our way round to Woodford via Islip, Alwincle, Thorpe Waterville, Achurch, Pilton and Stoke Doyle. At Woodford we had a cafe stop at the Grainstore.

Amy had diabetes in a cup

Breakfast sandwiches all round

I forgot my mask and wasn't sure my mobile set up was working so Neil kindly got my order in. I owe him for next time! After the stop we headed out to Cranford and split up, Neil and I riding together to Grafton Crossroads before I headed solo towards Geddington.

Part of our coffee stop chat was about round numbers and being robbed by Strava. People will relate to riding around the block until the bike computer of their choice hits a round number like 50 miles, then hitting save only for Strava to record 49.9! I realised heading into Rushton that I'd be on 47 miles by the time I got home and this felt inadequate. So I detoured to Desborough and was still a mile short heading into Rothwell so I took a circuitous route home making sure I was on 50.3 miles to avoid the Strava robbery! Of course by doing that Strava only corrected to 50.11!

Later that day my son's girlfriend was amazed as many non cyclists are, that I'd done 50 miles. However as mentioned a lot of my riding friends did 100km and quite a few went on to do 100 miles! In fact there's been lots of hundreds this weekend to remember Captain Tom. 

I'm not quite ready for 100 miles yet but I did decide to make sure I reported 💯 miles this week for the #NHS1000miles.

On Sunday morning I woke full of the joys of spring with all grumpiness gone. Some well needed overnight rain had cleared to a fine morning and the countryside seemed to explode with greenery. Everything made me happy; the dogs, the kites, the geese, the horses and the people I regularly see! We even met a gold labrador who is a sibling of Bruce!

After my walk it was time for Junior Parkrun duty. We had 94 runners today at Desborough Greenspace and it was wonderful to see!

I then needed 32 miles to hit 💯 for the week so I looked through my routes to find an absolute gem. A couple of years ago my friend Mark wanted a testing route to prepare for a sportive. So I planned the Mark & Rich pre chilli 🌶 ride. Just this time there was no Mark and no chilli afterwards. It's still a great route!

I headed out via Rushton through Pipewell where I had a chat with a lady on an e-bike. She gave me great advice for my parents who are considering a purchase. After that I greeted many other cyclists and walkers taking advantage of a nice day. I felt great on the bike and became aware of a great sense of freedom. This grew and I suddenly felt elated, it was like a great weight lifted and then I began to think about everything we've been through and I started sob! This is probably what I've needed for a while...this would probably persisted for miles had the moose attack not occurred! Suddenly the biggest wild deer 🦌 I've seen sprang out in front of me, it skittered across the road and through the opposite hedge with a look of wtf as we narrowly missed each other! I was snapped out of my emotional meltdown and must have looked like very odd as I rode on laughing out loud!

Back to the route. It was lovely through Middleton, Bringhurst and Great Easton onto Eyebrook Reservoir. This piece of historic water was stunning in the bright sunshine. Eyebrook is famous as a training site for the Dambusters.

 The ride up from Eyebrook takes in another aspect of the monster that is Neville Holt. In my unfit, overweight state this was quite an effort! I didn't mind the steady flow of motorbikes passing me but when a group of three cyclists breezed past it just made me more determined to reach my latest fitness goals. I also notice my Dartmoor Classic ride mate, Nigel, is getting some good miles down in Devon. The upside of this hill is in fact the downside and in a reverse of the climb we made last Saturday it was an exhilarating descent into Medbourne. 

The other advantage of this route whilst training for Dartmoor is the next set of hills. If you view it as one climb its a long hill from Ashley through to Desborough. This has a tough start but then becomes rolling and for me enjoyable. Except yesterday I was first held up by a car that had overtaken me moments earlier and then horses 🐎 which always seem to be in a dip at the bottom of a hill! To finish the job properly I took the hill to Harrington that was a QOM points climb in the Ladies tour. Then I rolled into Rothwell with a broad grin on my face. I was loving life, cycling is THE BEST MEDICINE!

I was still a mile short of the 💯 when I got home but that was good too because I joined Lee for another walk. That made me smile too!!!

Happy Pedalling