Thursday, February 22, 2007
Sneezy Turkeys, Pigs Eyes & Camel Backs
A quick thank you to my latest sponsors Damo and Lizzie in Felixstowe...
Things are starting to hot up again in terms of fund raising. I only wish the weather would do the same and then I could get out on the bike more. It seems to be constantly wet at the moment.
I managed to achieve my January training target of a 20 mile ride (well just about as I did it on 2nd February in reality) but so far my February target looks like going out the window. Two 20 milers and a 30 miler were the target. There's 7 days to go and I've done none of these yet. Having to snatch the odd 10 mile sprint here and there due to the constant wet roads and a hectic schedule at work. I can't wait for the mornings to get a little bit lighter so I can start going out before work again.
The 20 mile ride I mentioned was fun. It was a gorgeously sunny day so I set off to Dunwich which is just up the coast from me and exactly 20 miles there and back. For the twitchers amongst you it's right on the edge of the Minsmeere nature reserve and has some great scenery. For those of you that aren't into birds (the feathered one's - calm down) then it's right on the edge of where the recent Avian Flu outbreak was. Luckily not dead birds came falling out of the sky to knock me off the racer and although, as I write, I'm a bit sniffly, so far I'm still relatively healthy. At least the bird flu achieved something. Although I feel sorry for the turkey farmers that may lose their jobs, it's about time something happened to stop people buying the unhealthy crap that the likes of Bernard Matthews chucks out. Jamie Oliver will be leaping for joy. Now the schools will have to serve chicken and turkey joints with real meat in them instead of pigs eyeballs and gallons water...
The roads are perfect, metalled but very little traffic. It was so hot I wish I'd not kitted out in the winter gear (yes, those infamous tights again). Unfortunately that was the last time we had any sun on a day when I actually had time to get out. For the record, my average speed was 16 mph, which I think is quite reasonable, especially as I had a couple of short breaks to refit the chain (must remember to work out why it came off and fix it!). If I do that sort of speed on the first day of the challenge which is 95 miles, then allowing for 30 minutes for lunch, and two 15 minute leg stretching breaks, than means I should be able to get from Greenwich to Dover in 7 hours giving me a 2 hour contingency before the ferry leaves. Mind you, 16 mph over 20 miles is a darn sight easier than over 95 miles... Still, there's loads of time left to keep training.
I used the Camelback for the first time. It's basically a little rucksack type thing that has a plastic reservoir in it. You fill it with water and there's a tube that goes from the reservoir to your mouth with a bite valve on the end. The water tasted disgusting as the chemicals from the last time it was cleaned were still detectable, but it worked a treat in terms of keeping me hydrated.
Things are starting to hot up again in terms of fund raising. I only wish the weather would do the same and then I could get out on the bike more. It seems to be constantly wet at the moment.
I managed to achieve my January training target of a 20 mile ride (well just about as I did it on 2nd February in reality) but so far my February target looks like going out the window. Two 20 milers and a 30 miler were the target. There's 7 days to go and I've done none of these yet. Having to snatch the odd 10 mile sprint here and there due to the constant wet roads and a hectic schedule at work. I can't wait for the mornings to get a little bit lighter so I can start going out before work again.
The 20 mile ride I mentioned was fun. It was a gorgeously sunny day so I set off to Dunwich which is just up the coast from me and exactly 20 miles there and back. For the twitchers amongst you it's right on the edge of the Minsmeere nature reserve and has some great scenery. For those of you that aren't into birds (the feathered one's - calm down) then it's right on the edge of where the recent Avian Flu outbreak was. Luckily not dead birds came falling out of the sky to knock me off the racer and although, as I write, I'm a bit sniffly, so far I'm still relatively healthy. At least the bird flu achieved something. Although I feel sorry for the turkey farmers that may lose their jobs, it's about time something happened to stop people buying the unhealthy crap that the likes of Bernard Matthews chucks out. Jamie Oliver will be leaping for joy. Now the schools will have to serve chicken and turkey joints with real meat in them instead of pigs eyeballs and gallons water...
The roads are perfect, metalled but very little traffic. It was so hot I wish I'd not kitted out in the winter gear (yes, those infamous tights again). Unfortunately that was the last time we had any sun on a day when I actually had time to get out. For the record, my average speed was 16 mph, which I think is quite reasonable, especially as I had a couple of short breaks to refit the chain (must remember to work out why it came off and fix it!). If I do that sort of speed on the first day of the challenge which is 95 miles, then allowing for 30 minutes for lunch, and two 15 minute leg stretching breaks, than means I should be able to get from Greenwich to Dover in 7 hours giving me a 2 hour contingency before the ferry leaves. Mind you, 16 mph over 20 miles is a darn sight easier than over 95 miles... Still, there's loads of time left to keep training.
I used the Camelback for the first time. It's basically a little rucksack type thing that has a plastic reservoir in it. You fill it with water and there's a tube that goes from the reservoir to your mouth with a bite valve on the end. The water tasted disgusting as the chemicals from the last time it was cleaned were still detectable, but it worked a treat in terms of keeping me hydrated.
