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

All the mod cons...

 

The blog this week is thankfully devoid of drama. I'll do a quick family catch up and some cycling stuff. The theme for this week's blog is the benefits of modern technology plus the first world problem of having access to amazing stuff!

I really should have an excellent family photo this week but somehow whilst we were all out together on Friday night I didn't take any pictures! So instead imagine the empty sofa above is packed with family Lindsley as it often is. If you're wondering why I took a picture of the sofa...I steam cleaned it and wanted a before and after shot to see what difference it made! Lee this week is no better and no worse. She had a fabulous day spending her birthday money and vouchers in Milton Keynes and then straight after we went to the Comedy Club at The Red Lion. Niamh organised us a splendid table and a great night was had by all! 

Being on her feet all day on Friday followed by a night out has predictably taken it's toll on Lee and she has spent the rest of the weekend in bed! This is life with Long Covid! Lee knew this would be the case and views a crash weekend as worth it for a very nice day!

I posted the above photo on social media and I must apologise to those who still believe I did an outdoor swim, bike ride, run and dog walk before 09.00. It was April the 1st and I love a good April Fool! It has been pointed out that it's me and it wouldn't be the greatest surprise if I'd actually done this...maybe one day I will! Other splendid examples on the day were the Leicestershire Cyclocross League and Northampton Saints! 

From the #NHS1000miles community there was a tale of familiar woe. Marcelle and Shiv did an epic 50km walk only for Marcelle's Strava and Garmin to credit her with just 49.72km! Those extra 0.28km make all the difference to us data obsessed active people...many times I have ridden or run a bit extra just to make sure that my apps don't sell me short. There is nothing worse than a 99.9 mile bike ride!!! Or is there? This paired with Tony Warne's blog - Life Through a Different Lens it made me think how spoiled we are by modern gadgetry, especially those powerful smartphones! Tony's blog is always a good read and this week discusses his Dad's love of photography and how much that has changed through the years. The smartphone has completely changed how accessible photography is to us all. In the old days it was point, press and hope that something reasonable came back from Boots (other film developers were available...) More importantly congratulations to Marcelle and Shiv...your feet will know you did 50k!!!

What the flippetty flip flops is that Dad???

People my age will know the gadget above was the only way to track your distance at one point in cycling history. My first 100 mile ride was at the age of 14 but as I couldn't record this on Strava did it really happen? I didn't even have one of those mile counters and the only way I even think it was 100 miles was because I planned it on an ordnance survey map, measured it with a piece of cotton and then did some maths to work it out from the scale! Now you can get your smartphone to do it for you but many of us prefer bike computers like Garmin or Wahoo. You don't even need to plan the route or know where you're going...just follow your device!

These kids, are maps!

But is life really better this way? Erm..yeah it is but with a few downsides. Before tracking apps all you had to go on was how it felt! Did you enjoy that ride? If yes it was a good one, if no it was a bad one! Now we're looking at heart rate, average speed, cadence, watts etc...every morning I check my body battery on my Garmin watch to find out how I'm feeling! Surely we were happier when life was simpler!

This week I got out cycling 4 times. This new way of life really is magnificent! Today I needed 40km to complete my weekly target. So I had a ride out on the road via Naseby and Brixworth seeing lots of spring things on the way like daffodils and lambs! It was just lovely to be out!

This way to the mud!

On Thursday morning I was lucky enough to join the RFW mountain bike ride at Wakerley and Fineshade Woods. I love that I can do things like this on my weekday mornings. I still had work that day but not until the afternoon. Because it has been wet the trails were really heavy so just 15 miles was still very tiring.

I was also able to get out on Tuesday morning. as it was cold and wet I didn't really feel like a road ride so I took my cyclocross bike for an offroad spin.

You have to love a bridge picture

look at the lovely trails...

I took a well tested route from Harrington to Arthingworth and then down the Brampton Valley Way to Hanging Houghton. I then went back to bridleways from Lamport through to Mawsley. One bridleway which was brilliant last year is now a horrible ploughed field. So for fellow off roaders avoid this bit.

un-ride-able - between the byway off Mill Lane and Mawsley!

On Monday I went for a quick ride around my regular training route I call it Standard 17. I used to do this at 6am before work but life has changed a lot since then. It's still a really nice route for a quick ride.

No daffodils were harmed by a Giant Propel

Front to back: Timmy, Bruce & Charity

As well as some good cycling I've been out for daily dog walks with my crazy pack. I've also managed 3 5k runs. 

In elite cycling I'm really enjoying the Spring Classics. Today's Tour of Flanders was a brilliant race. It's great that we can now enjoy footage of these races in the UK. Hopefully one day I'll get out to one of the monument races, preferably in Belgium. Apparently there was a dedicated beer today for each of the climbs in the Tour of Flanders, each beer selected has a strength equal to the gradient of the climb...so there's 12% beers in there - I love my Belgian ales but I do know that 19 of them will not end well!

It's a big week ahead with Sam's 18th birthday and then a few days off for Easter!

Happy Pedaling