Thursday, November 30, 2006
A Cold Wind Blows
How depressing the long cold winter is to a would be long-distance cyclist... I've invested a few well earned pounds in the right gear, and, as you may have read in the previous blog, even risked the wrath of my fellow "lads" by wearing a pair of cycling tights to keep my knees snug. It's not really the cold that's preventing me spinning those cranks and eating up a few Suffolk miles. It's the wet. It's been raining quite alot lately and even between rain storms the roads aren't drying out and as I've got slicks on my wheels, it's probably not safe to go flying round a 90' bend at 25 mph on wet, leaf soggy tarmac...
If it's not the cold and it's not the rain, it's the bloody chair repair man. Wednesday was a lovely day here in Suffolk. The sun shone in huge blue skies and the roads dried out (well almost). I was all geared up to go out but couldn't as an engineer was coming to my home office to try and work out why my swivel chair had leaked oil all over my beige carpet in the study. Well, his company were supposed to call to let me know when they were coming, but in this day and age keeping a promise to a customer is a bit much to ask, isn't it... Anyway, he turned up at five o'clock by which time it was pitch dark and raining again, so another opportunity to keep the fitness levels up went passing by...
I hit a milestone this week. I've now raised 25% of my £2,500 target with new donations coming in. Special thanks to David and Doris Orr who have made a second donation of £50. They won some money at a race course and wanted my charities to benefit. Top couple... Thanks are also due to BT who through their Community Partnership Scheme donated £100 which has gone straight to Brook Farm Playgroup to pay for some communications equipment for the kids - Internet to you and I!
Hopefully, the next time I write the sun will have been shining and me and my tights (they are designer ones at least) will have racked up another few hundred miles... Is June really only six months away now!!!!??? Yikes!
If it's not the cold and it's not the rain, it's the bloody chair repair man. Wednesday was a lovely day here in Suffolk. The sun shone in huge blue skies and the roads dried out (well almost). I was all geared up to go out but couldn't as an engineer was coming to my home office to try and work out why my swivel chair had leaked oil all over my beige carpet in the study. Well, his company were supposed to call to let me know when they were coming, but in this day and age keeping a promise to a customer is a bit much to ask, isn't it... Anyway, he turned up at five o'clock by which time it was pitch dark and raining again, so another opportunity to keep the fitness levels up went passing by...
I hit a milestone this week. I've now raised 25% of my £2,500 target with new donations coming in. Special thanks to David and Doris Orr who have made a second donation of £50. They won some money at a race course and wanted my charities to benefit. Top couple... Thanks are also due to BT who through their Community Partnership Scheme donated £100 which has gone straight to Brook Farm Playgroup to pay for some communications equipment for the kids - Internet to you and I!
Hopefully, the next time I write the sun will have been shining and me and my tights (they are designer ones at least) will have racked up another few hundred miles... Is June really only six months away now!!!!??? Yikes!
Thursday, November 09, 2006
It's Cold Out But Training Has to Continue
At last I've sorted the gears problem with the bike. "Just very bad tuning" was the verdict from the cycle repair shop. He also tuned the spokes which he said hadn't been set after the bike left the factory. All of this leaves JE James Cycles in a bad light. I shan't be using them again.
I took the bike out to test it and it went like a dream. Mind you it was freezing. I'm glad I waited for my new "full length shorts" before going out... On the subject of my new shorts, I just want to make it clear to certain doubters that they are indeed "extraordinarily long shorts" and not "tights"... That said, if tights are good enough for Danny Webber, Tierry Henry and Ronaldhino, then they're good enough for me.
I did twelve miles on the test run, and with a strong head wind and four weeks without practice, it was quite hard work.. It's amazing how the fitness levels drop if you don't keep at it. As a result I'm determined to carry on riding through the winter and abandon the plan to "hang up the bike" until Jack Frost had gone home again in the spring. There are plenty of sunny, if cold, days in East Anglia so I should get out at least once a week. I've also set myself another challenge to increase my distance by a mile everytime I go out. At this rate, I'll soon be doing 20 mile lunchtime cycles on a regular basis.
When I was out and about I cycled past the war memorial en-route between Kelsale and Theberton. It's by the side of the road (Harrow Lane I think) adjacent to a field that used to be a wartime airbase where many Allied pilots and groundstaff were based. The war memorial surprises you as it's set slightly back form the road partially hidden by bushes. There was a story in the local free newspaper recently about the plant pots that were stolen by some imbecile. Some people will take anything. You'd have to have a car to carry them away from that remote spot, and owning a car suggests the thieves aren't destitute, so why anyone should want to steal from a memorial to someone's grandad that died for their freedom is beyond me. It's especially incredible as the pots were probably only worth £15 each... Anyway, the good news is that there are two new pots there now so come the spring and the new plants start toflourishh, the memorial will be bright and respectable again - as it should be.
Anyway, must dash, but next time you're out and about on the Suffolk country lanes, look out for a dashing young man on his bike sporting a muscle highlighting pair of snazzy extra long cycling shorts!!!
I took the bike out to test it and it went like a dream. Mind you it was freezing. I'm glad I waited for my new "full length shorts" before going out... On the subject of my new shorts, I just want to make it clear to certain doubters that they are indeed "extraordinarily long shorts" and not "tights"... That said, if tights are good enough for Danny Webber, Tierry Henry and Ronaldhino, then they're good enough for me.
I did twelve miles on the test run, and with a strong head wind and four weeks without practice, it was quite hard work.. It's amazing how the fitness levels drop if you don't keep at it. As a result I'm determined to carry on riding through the winter and abandon the plan to "hang up the bike" until Jack Frost had gone home again in the spring. There are plenty of sunny, if cold, days in East Anglia so I should get out at least once a week. I've also set myself another challenge to increase my distance by a mile everytime I go out. At this rate, I'll soon be doing 20 mile lunchtime cycles on a regular basis.
When I was out and about I cycled past the war memorial en-route between Kelsale and Theberton. It's by the side of the road (Harrow Lane I think) adjacent to a field that used to be a wartime airbase where many Allied pilots and groundstaff were based. The war memorial surprises you as it's set slightly back form the road partially hidden by bushes. There was a story in the local free newspaper recently about the plant pots that were stolen by some imbecile. Some people will take anything. You'd have to have a car to carry them away from that remote spot, and owning a car suggests the thieves aren't destitute, so why anyone should want to steal from a memorial to someone's grandad that died for their freedom is beyond me. It's especially incredible as the pots were probably only worth £15 each... Anyway, the good news is that there are two new pots there now so come the spring and the new plants start toflourishh, the memorial will be bright and respectable again - as it should be.
Anyway, must dash, but next time you're out and about on the Suffolk country lanes, look out for a dashing young man on his bike sporting a muscle highlighting pair of snazzy extra long cycling shorts!!!
