tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50400692411373494422024-03-13T21:14:01.032+00:0034/27 Marks Cycling BlogMark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.comBlogger128125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-1164864177157377652012-02-22T18:34:00.021+00:002012-02-22T21:54:42.561+00:00Out with the old, in with the new...I'm at that point now where it's likely to be the end of any serious cycling endeavours for me, you see I no longer have the desire to swing a leg over a bike... it's gone... all gone... dead... You all know the reason why, I think you've all worked it out now that I'm fearful, a scardy cat... Cycling has lost its joy simply because I do not want to smack the floor with any part of my body, I do Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-53332680881467946092011-09-15T22:10:00.002+01:002011-09-15T22:14:21.901+01:00Wow It's been How Long???Mid July was my last entry, eight weeks...
Why have I stopped blogging? simple really, I've not been on my bike. Why? Well it's all to do with these bones of mine and events. Bones that are weak due to osteoporosis and the event? well some of you may think I'm being silly but it was the death of my faithful companion Zach as I made mention of in my last entry.
I've been on edge when I've been Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-78803683221584710062011-07-14T16:14:00.003+01:002011-07-14T21:31:39.121+01:00Zach - 2000 to 2011Quite a few posts back I made mention of my loyal Dobermanns that I've had the privilege of owning down through the years with Zach pictured below being our current Dobermann, well I'm sad to report that Zach passed away yesterday with what looks like heart failure. Over the last few months he's started to display signs of his old age, he was 10 years 7 months. His walks at times were getting Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-39460716070540539612011-07-03T19:22:00.009+01:002011-07-11T12:59:41.092+01:00Hello World...
Yes hello world that's how I feel right now after being 6 months in the dumps so to speak, I feel fit and healthy and that feeling is the best feeling in the world, you really do miss it when something happens to rob you of your hard gained fitness but enough of that you must all be getting fed up of reading about me going on about these things...
Friday
Sooo, today or rather this weekend hasMark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-36807777263065190662011-07-02T20:59:00.011+01:002011-07-10T20:52:59.881+01:00Six months...January 2nd to July 2nd 2011
It's six months today since my spill in January which resulted in a broken hip, radius and ulna (elbow) bones and I think I've had a remarkable recovery. I'm not blowing my own trumpet in saying that, I put it down to modern surgery and recovery techniques. This last six months has had me go from lying on my back in a bed wondering if I will ever get back to walking Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-23359776634108043472011-06-26T18:09:00.002+01:002011-06-27T08:31:47.635+01:00Sunday 26th June - a great day for a ride...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 Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-43459279821329985202011-06-25T18:27:00.006+01:002011-06-28T19:40:09.764+01:00NCC Club Road Riding Skill Session 18 June 2011The 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 Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-91735392637838640502011-06-12T12:11:00.003+01:002011-06-25T19:06:05.359+01:00Bloody Rain Has a Lot To Answer For...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...
DayFromUntilTempFeelsUVRainCloudDirSpeedGustWeather
Sun 12 Jun7:009:5911 °c9&Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-19560954435188270532011-06-04T23:11:00.013+01:002011-06-05T14:21:01.383+01:00North Cheshire Clarion club run 4th June 2011Wow 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 Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-51497403916544215612011-05-28T18:20:00.006+01:002011-06-02T11:08:57.353+01:00Windy today init!!I'm really looking forward to Saturdays North Cheshire Clarions club run after last weeks successful jaunt but I'm being plagued by knee pain from Mondays physio and whilst I didn't think it would have a major impact there is a bit of a blustery wind knocking about and that combined with my dodgy knee plants a seed of doubt in my mind. Saturday morning comes along and I look out of my bedroom Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-78444864715405282332011-05-26T09:01:00.005+01:002011-05-26T15:12:42.963+01:00No Pain, No Gain...It's Thursday today and I'm stiff in my left leg. On Monday I had my physio 'knee' class that I've already written about a few blog posts back. I made mention of how one particular exercise, the one legged knee over toe thing had my left leg shaking like I had been thrown naked into a freezer resulting in my hip continually hurting for a couple of days after. Well on Monday I'm sat on the warm upMark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-44752104251278497132011-05-24T18:06:00.010+01:002011-05-26T14:58:34.197+01:00North Cheshire Clarion - The Early Days Photographed...I have hundreds of photo's that I've taken over the first eighteen months of the clubs history so I thought I'd share. Here are some taken from the clubs inaugural ride on the 4th October 2009 up to December 2009 and the Christmas run, all pre club kit days. (click on pics to enlarge)
4th Oct 2009 - Inaugural run & 1st p*nc*** Dr Tim, Antnee, Giles, Sarah, young indecipherable scot's lad, Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-88795474771405668452011-05-21T18:12:00.028+01:002011-05-24T05:55:46.160+01:00139 Days...January 2nd to 21st May 2011 = 139 days or 4 months 2 weeks and 6 days, this is the period of time that has elapsed since I broke a few bones on black ice during the first club run of 2011 to the day of my North Cheshire Clarion club run return. I have been awaiting a club run that was billed as flat or nearly flat and up to 30 miles for a few weeks and today was one such ride. Sunday rides are Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-73800159629081859882011-05-17T15:52:00.005+01:002011-05-23T16:45:19.519+01:00Things are starting to look up!Yes they are at last starting to look up. Last week I started a 6 week one day a week 'knee class' generously provided by the NHS, this class is basic but is helping me to get strength back in my leg(s). As I said It's basic in that it's simply circuit training through 10 different exercises and it all starts with a quick warm up on a stationary bike then it's 2 minutes on each exercise and the Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-80937247391547915822011-05-11T17:09:00.014+01:002011-05-15T13:31:42.326+01:00Hello fellow sufferee..In my previous blog entry I received a comment and a couple of questions from Gordon who in answering him is worthy of the main page and not a line or two in that little reply box so here goes.
Gordon's comment:
Hi Mark
Just found your blog today. I broke my hip 8 weeks ago today on my bike and our stories are similiar although I am 49.
Back wheel went out on some diesel? at 25 mph and IMark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-51338660347275828962011-05-08T20:04:00.006+01:002011-05-09T17:21:50.991+01:00Week ending 8th May...Sunday, today, was a good day for me on the bike, It's been a couple of weeks since I've dared venture out onto the roads and today was a good day for me to do just that. Yes it's windy but at least it's warm so I pumped the tyres up on my Scott, stuck my water bottle in it's holder, switched on my Garmin and set on my usual training loop around Aston and Preston on the hill. The last time I rodeMark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-36395997468825634062011-05-05T17:52:00.004+01:002011-05-14T13:33:23.677+01:00SportTracks Plugin :Training LoadI've had this plugin installed in my copy of SportTracks for quite a while now but have only recently realised it's worth. This plugin uses data from your Garmin to give you a record of not only your workout but also how hard you've worked over the short term (ATL), long term (CTL) and how these workout affects your fitness.
Heres a chart of my recent cycling activities to illustrate;
Ok now Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-90935966176895482042011-04-25T17:40:00.003+01:002011-04-30T16:57:20.539+01:00North Cheshire Clarion Audax...My club have put together what looks like an entertaining Audax that runs on Sunday 25th September 2011. There has been a lot of thought put into the route, a route that starts and finishes in Lower Whitley South of Warrington and takes in Tatton Park, the climb up the Wizard, Prestbury (cobbles!), Bollington and Llamaload Reservoir to name a few. It's an Audax so it's not a race and with a Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-1395877290954628312011-04-24T20:12:00.004+01:002011-04-30T19:55:04.652+01:00Roweclan club run...Todays weather was gorgeous, the sun's out and it's warm, really warm. The club (North Cheshire Clarion) are off on a hilly jaunt out towards Winter Hill and Rivington, a nice ride but hilly and that drag out of Horwich brings back horrible memories from the last time I rode it. With my recent form I was under absolutely no illusions that this ride was for me in fact I wasn't bothered whether I Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-86212221372707283092011-04-22T16:36:00.003+01:002011-04-22T18:57:12.948+01:00A picture can say a thousand words....One of my photo's from this weeks Kilton '10' TT. Two blokes riding the TT, one with all the gear, one without. Its clear to see who is much more aero and why.
Here's an interesting no-nonsense article on how those positional changes and more aerodynamic gear shave precious seconds off your time...Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-24405502484902207012011-04-20T23:50:00.014+01:002011-04-22T18:58:17.887+01:00Kilton 8.75 mile TT 2011It's that time of the year again when the testers are out in force, competing against the clock, against themselves, against each other. I'm in no fit state to participate but with camera in hand I head over to see if I can catch a few shots from the first Kilton TT of 2011. The day had been hot hot hot, it's only April but it may well have been the depths of summer, it's going to be hard out Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-38436767258399599842011-04-19T19:47:00.004+01:002011-04-21T19:41:07.842+01:00Might just as well had been a 100...Can I, Can't I? Should I, Shouldn't I?
I look at the clubs route (North Cheshire Clarion) for the coming Sundays club run, it's a flat 43 miler and I'm wondering if this ride is where I make my comeback club ride on. I'm thinking back to last weeks ride where I manage 20 miles and felt a lot stronger than previous attempts for a road ride and I wonder if 43 miles is 'doable' for me. I know I'm Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-87619371715051049922011-04-10T18:07:00.015+01:002011-04-21T19:47:25.465+01:00Another new post!!What's with me these last few days, within a week 3 posts!!! must be the ace weather we are having, the heat, the sun, does things to people, it makes them happy, makes them want to get outdoors after many months of yuckness and I'm no different, I love the sun, so much so that after an hour on the turbo yesterday in the sun with no resulting pains I decided that on Sunday with its as warm and Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-60665985903322076522011-04-09T19:02:00.002+01:002011-04-09T19:10:02.890+01:00My Bikes...What a nice day today is, 17'C - it was so nice I thought I'd treat the bikes to a bit of the good weather...
Focus Variado Expert, 2008 Ultegra SL - My first road bike, now used as winter bike and as photo'd as a turbo bike with blue turbo tyre on Shimano RS20 wheels. Mudguard needs attention...
Specialized Langster Steel, single speed with flip-flop hub
Ribble TT build. Just need to Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5040069241137349442.post-65603518327397089022011-04-04T12:26:00.038+01:002011-04-13T11:15:51.493+01:00Rehabilitation and bike stuff...'Put aside your crutches and walk'
Yes it's been all rehab for these last few weeks, exercise after exercise from my physio which if I'm being honest I haven't completely followed to the letter, some exercises I've followed some I haven't so much because they are so bloody boring. Three weeks ago I had my consultant follow up who looked and squinted at my CT scan from the week before, walked Mark's cycling bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00393299230316217032noreply@blogger.com3