Sunday was the pick of the weekend as far as the weather forecasters were concerned and by Jove they certainly got it right (eventually). I had made arrangements to ride with old cycling buddy Phil M for a lazy jaunt in the flatlands of Cheshire. We met up at 11am and at that time it was overcast but very warm, we set out heading out towards Comberbach riding at a steady 16 mph and as time went on it got sunnier and hotter which is great imo, I love riding in the sun in the countryside having a chat. It wasn't all at a leisurely pace there was a few occasions where we blasted along until the lungs called for mercy.
There was also a couple of minor hills on this route, perhaps the steepest hills I've encountered since my accident and a great opportunity to test my recovering leg. These hills are not steep perhaps approx 7-10% at most but I gave it a bit of a kick on these hills and I'm glad to say that my legs were fine, no pains, no aches just my lungs giving me jip towards the top of the hills.
A great little ride which we both enjoyed, mostly flat and traffic free with a couple of small hills. Is there any more you can ask of a lazy Sunday jaunt in the countryside? I think not, well on second thoughts, perhaps cake?...
My Stats
28 miles, 1hr 52mins, Av Speed 14.9 mph, Av Hr 148 (77% max), 812 ft climbing (garmin)
The North Cheshire Clarion has 3 recently qualified British Cycling Go-Ride level 2 coaches amongst its ranks Geoff, Paul and James and today all club members were given the opportunity to participate in some road riding skill sessions held on a near empty car park in Birchwood, Warrington. A good turnout with 25 present all looking forward to who knows what. After the coaches had set up all those little cones and a few flags here and there on the car park we were split into three groups, one group for each coach. I was in Coach James' group and it wasn't soon before he was barking orders as he had us go through a few simple exercises aimed at getting us working better as a group around a square of cones firstly individually and then in pairs. Next a narrow chicane of cones which was navigated in pairs. All the exercises are designed to make us work better together, to get us communicating as we worked around 90' turns, to have us more observant as we attempted tight turns.
The last couple of exercises were really fun but hard work, firstly we were split into five groups IIRC, each group was paired off against another in a team pursuit as shown in the piccy below. I think it was a race of 5 laps but the group I was in was at a disadvantage as our very first race was against the winners of the first pairing, that first winning group had had a practice round, we didn't so it's no wonder we were well and truly beaten, that's my excuse as to why we were battered and I'm sticking to it....
The last exercise was was another team pursuit but this time 12 v 12 and I thought that this race wasn't going to last long as the long line of riders from each team stretched around half the track but this isn't how it all panned out. Initially after a few minutes we were gaining on the other group and was within a few bike lengths but one of the 'rules' is that there should be less than a bike length between each rider and after a while we were getting a little stretched so had to back off the pace slightly. This went on for a few minutes before we started again to gain on the tiring back riders of the opposing group and finally, finally, at last we caught them - not before time as I was seriously starting to tire and wondered if I was to be first to pull out, didn't happen I lasted the distance but was really puffed!!!
My thoughts on these last two pursuits was that whoever was on the front gave it some welly coming out of the bend onto the straight resulting in the line stretching and working hard to catch up before having to slam on the brakes as we entered the bend, repeat, repeat over and over for 10 minutes and you have seriously stretched and knackered riders, give everyone their credit though despite it being hard work, no one gave in and everyone lasted the distance...
(YouTube video courtesy of North Cheshire Clarions News Blog link)
The last exercise of the day was a bit of fun with a bit of bike limbo, we all lined up and went under the bar one by one. At the end of each round the bar went down a few inches, the first couple of rounds caught the taller riders out and I lasted until round three when stuff I had in my back pockets caught the bar. It was fun though as the bar got lower and lower to see some riders hanging onto the sides of their bikes in order to get through. We are now down to two riders but the bar is now so low that the bikes cannot physically get through catching the bars or a shifter on the horizontal bar.
A fun day of the type of riding that inspires confidence of riding closely within a group and placing trust in your fellow riders, it was well worth the effort that went into the smooth running of todays training.
Lastly, you are probably wondering why this report is a week late, well I had other things on my mind as I was officially given the diagnosis of osteoporosis last week and even though I was expecting it because I did my research into the figures I received a couple of months ago from my DEXA scan, it was still depressing to to be told officially. Since that time I have been in a bit of a daze as to how to proceed with my cycling, do I give it up because of the risk of falling off and breaking more bones or do I stick two fingers up to the risk and do the que sera sera thing? as a result of this pondering I have done no cycling and for the moment have decided to enjoy cycling for fun in the sun (when its out). How this will all pan out I will just have to wait and see but I'm at a crossroads of sorts, of which road will I take, I have no idea.....
Bugger it I was apprehensively looking forward to today's Sunday ride, a relatively flat 50 miler into the heartland of Cheshire. I got up nice and early as usual and it was all calm and sunny outside, ate my beans on toast, pumped my tyres up, got all my gear on and looked at the weather forecast hmm...
Day
From
Until
Temp
Feels
UV
Rain
Cloud
Dir
Speed
Gust
Weather
Sun 12 Jun
7:00
9:59
11 °c
9 °c
3
0.0 mm
86 %
8 mph
10 mph
10:00
12:59
11 °c
6 °c
2
2.1 mm
91 %
10 mph
12 mph
13:00
15:59
9 °c
6 °c
0
4.1 mm
100 %
12 mph
14 mph
16:00
18:59
10 °c
8 °c
0
5.7 mm
100 %
11 mph
13 mph
It's now nearly time to set off, I'm stood in the garden and I can smell rain in the air although at that time it wasn't to be seen but the wind was picking up and it had all gone gloomy, should I shouldn't I, I need to decide before it's too late!!! I don't know what to do, normally rain wouldn't put me off at all but my recent incident has made me think twice before riding in potentially slippery conditions, damn it what do I do..... Sod it I think it's not worth the risk and I've got a hospital appointment tomorrow to see the specialist about my 'thinning of the bones' and that appointment is one I want to keep, I strip off and get back into bed.
It's 11am now and would be mid ride, outside it's lashing down so I made the right choice although I'm not happy at missing out on a ride but at least there's always the turbo in the safety of the confines of my garage....
Wow I've not been able to write those words above for quite a while and it feels great to be able to do so now just 2 days after the 5 month 'anniversary' from my crash. Today for me was another Saturday ride from North Warrington on a beauteously sunny and warm day - the warmer and sunnier the better for me.
Another large gathering of 20+ riders had us split into 3 groups of 6 to 8. Off we set on an advertised 35 mile ride with a cafe stop in the middle and this distance is ideal for me as I up my miles over the weeks. Prior to today my biggest ride since my 'comeback' had been 30 miles and I didn't do too well so a few weeks on and quite a few miles later 35 miles 'should' be very achievable.
The group I was in was the 2nd group made up of 7 individuals and as we rode on through a residential area somewhere in Warrington (I don't really know the roads of Warrington) we had our first of two punctures and within a few minutes the 3rd group that set off 5 minutes after us trundled past with a friendly wave and no doubt lots of smiling faces with thoughts running through their heads of 'nerner we are going to get all the cake'...
A few minutes later we set off again to be stopped a few miles further on yet again by another puncture to the same tyre of the same same bike of the same person - Phil J your record was in the balance today but alas you still hold it, boohoo I hear you say? Tyre sorted so once again we restart our ride and I think we missed a turning near to the cafe stop and bump into Sarahs group going the opposite way. They had had their cake and were now on the way back. As they flew past I'm sure I saw Sarah wipe at a few cake crumbs from her mouth smiling as she did so ;-) - I do hope they left some for us the swinehounds...
Arriving at Lavender Barn tea rooms we dived in to the cafe relieved at the site of copious amounts of cake just waiting to be eaten, I chose Carrot cake and a coffee and it was gorgeous, well worth a photo..
We didn't stay long as we were seriously behind schedule and set of for home. Some corners were cut, some loops were missed and we set a good pace in order to make up some of the time. Yet again just like the last Saturday club ride the only hills today were either hump-backed bridges or motorway bridges with the odd smattering of an incline here and there so nothing to test the legs - that will be for another time. I did however on occasion get out of the saddle and give it some on those 'bumps' and I'm glad to report there was no sudden pains, aches or complaints from my left leg or hip so another box ticked, just need to try that on a steep hill now...
Andrew...
As you can tell I took some photo's as we rode, nothing fancy just over the shoulder shots as I'm getting my confidence back and not so scared of the road as I was but what I didn't do is what I'd do prior to my fall, I didn't shoot up and down the 'peleton' taking lots of pics, just these few you see here...
The rest of the gang...
The last few miles were at times a little rough into a moderate headwind and towards the end my legs did start to tire a little but I was able to keep up the pace with no problems so I'm defo improving. With a few loops cut out of the route the mileage came down from 35 to 30 so not the miles that I wanted but I'm sure that 35 would not have been a problem. My next goal is a flattish Sunday 50 miler in a couple of weeks...
My Stats
30.25miles, 1hr 56 min, Av Speed 15.6 mph, Av Hr 146 bpm (76% max), 800 ft climbing (garmin)
