Ummed and aahed a little over this but as I didn't get out on the bike yesterday as I couldn't be bothered with the wind or getting soaked on the trails I wanted to do something. I decided against going to the club as 1) My hip is still not right and 2) I only wanted to do three miles max at my own pace. I thought I would check out a quiet road that links Farington to the edge of Lostock Hall, its part of the cycle network apparently and I wanted to know if it would be owrth using when shopping on the bike. I know that it ends up on Croston Road and has bollards at the other end so cars can't whizz through it.
Got kit on and set off, after about five minutes it was clear my hip really wasn't happy but I kept going as sometimes it loosens off a bit once I warm up properly. I eventually got across the dual carriageway section which is quite frankly a royal PITA, its so fast and busy that its really difficult to cross. I'm never convinced by the tendency to put foot/cyclepaths around the perimeter of roundabouts as you have to cross over the fast flowing entry/exit points. As its a dual carriageway on and off this side of the roundabout it was difficult to get both clear, queueing drivers were lovely and quite happy to wait to let me cross but there was still traffic screaming up the other lane.
Heading into Leyland I set off down a track with a public footpath sign on it and ended up practically running into someone's front garden, oops. I backtracked a bit and jogged further up the road remembering that on the map it was a reasonably sized road, not a track. I got almost to the stables and noticed a junction. I crossed over and there was a blue cycle route sign, hurrah. I set off down the road which had loads of big houses on it, really big houses and big posh cars.
At one time it had been a fairly well used road as it was wide, had a proper footpath beside it and there were cat eyes still embedded in it. The white lines had been removed but they had obviously been there. A pretty good cycling option then though it doesn't entirely eliminate the faff of getting to Leyland though the centre of Lostock Hall may be slightly easier to negotiate, it will be pitch black at night. I passed the Leyland Trucks works then arrived at the underpass with the bollards, ran through then turned right to head home. I was still aware of my hip but it had calmed down a little or the endorphins had started to kick in as I was finally starting to enjoy myself. I speeded up for a while (someone up ahead) and ran through the precinct bit in the centre of town. I realised I was starving as the smells from the curry home and pizza place were lovely. I felt quite empty legged on the last bit to the Texaco garage then jogged the last quarter mile home.
So just over three miles and hip not brilliant. Think I may have to dose myself up with Ibuprofen for Saturday's trail race and get round as best I can. Speaking of which, wet weather measures have been implemented for it as the fields around Keswick are sodden, not surprising I suppose. I think I will do the Challenge again as I am not fit and the race goes through the Glenderattera Bogs. I'm not bothered about running through bogs, I do it all the time, however I don't run through boggy sections where the best part of a 1000 people have tramped through it before me!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Tuesday 2nd September: Commute to Work
Got my backside out of bed and rode to work. The forecast was for a nice morning but heavy showers in the afternoon and evening so I thought there was a chance of missing the showers (I usually don't but I so wanted to ride). It was a gorgeous morning but most definitely autumnal in feel, bah! I put some 3/4 lengths on over my shorts as I could always not wear them for the ride home in the unlikely event it was too warm.
I set off and it was a gorgeous sunny morning, a little cool but not too bad, until the first section of the tramway. The first section I hit on my ride in (or last on my ride home) is an old cutting and it just collects cold air, it has a very noticeable temperature differential to the rest of the ride which is magnified the colder it gets.I was wishing I had some ear coverings for a while but it improved when I got to the second tramway section which isn't a cutting but more like a small embankment with tree cover on each side. The sunlight was breaking through the gaps in the trees and creating gorgeous golden dappling effects on the tarmac. I slowed down a bit to enjoy it and tried to ignore the thought process in my brain of: golden light means the sun is not high in the sky therefore autumn is here!
Emerging onto the bridge over the Ribble and the river actually looked lovely - amazing what some flattering golden light can do. The tree cover on the Preston side of the riverbank is quite dense still so I stopped enjoying the scenery and started pedalling faster again, its not particularly scenic from now until St Annes unfortunately. On my old commute to Blackpool the last 5 miles or so were past fields which doesn't sound very inspiring but there used to be some fantastic mist/cloud inversion type effects on them in the winter. I just really have main road now.
It seemed to be bike central today, I saw loads of "proper" and fast cyclists out and about, I don't usually notice so many. It maybe the fact I set off a little earlier than usual or it may just be fuel prices. I was also caught up by Ed which is again very unusual, I think I've only met Ed once before even though he commutes out to Warton at least three times a week and pretty much always on a Tuesday, I put that down to setting off earlier. It was nice to have some company and we chatted for a bit on the cycle path until we had to move into single file ready for the road section. I initially tried to keep up with him but then remembered I still have 6 miles to go after he was at work and I had to cycle home again. If I haven't commuted for a while I often push too hard on the ride in and feel tired on the way home.
My backside felt like I was sitting on brick, I have a relatively new saddle on the roadie and it obviously needs a bit more breaking in!
I cruised at a nice speed to work, I still did it in just under an hour though which is a little too fast. I parked my bike at the sheds near C block and was a little disconcerted that all the bikes there had locks on......As I was heading into R block I saw someone else who rides in a lot actually take his bike into the building. I asked him about it later and there is a large empty cupboard on the ground floor that takes a few bikes. I had a look and think I might park my bike there next time.
Had a bit of a walk to get a shower as they are working on the C block shower. They have "improved" the J block ladies shower as it was a new cubicle with a bit more space, brilliant I thought. However, the door opens away from the wall so you have to open it wide to get in which allows water out, the door doesn't actually seal properly so more water out. They have also fitted the new shower tray on top of the old one without adjusting the height of the shower so there was barely enough room for me to stand under it and wash my hair and I'm only 5ft 4. Who knows what the C block one is going to look like once their finished with it. They are also supposed to be putting a shower in R block, no sign of it yet but I bet it ends up in one of the men's loos.
Ride home was not too bad, it had been raining on and off during the afternoon but was actually stopped by the time I set off though there did appear to be a bit of a headwind. The roads were wet and there was a short shower as I passed through Lytham but that was it, I managed to get home unscathed. I saw Ed again, coming out of the BAe main gate as I was stopped at the lights. Preston was really quiet so it was a quick one home.
So: 35 mile round trip and really enjoyable.
I set off and it was a gorgeous sunny morning, a little cool but not too bad, until the first section of the tramway. The first section I hit on my ride in (or last on my ride home) is an old cutting and it just collects cold air, it has a very noticeable temperature differential to the rest of the ride which is magnified the colder it gets.I was wishing I had some ear coverings for a while but it improved when I got to the second tramway section which isn't a cutting but more like a small embankment with tree cover on each side. The sunlight was breaking through the gaps in the trees and creating gorgeous golden dappling effects on the tarmac. I slowed down a bit to enjoy it and tried to ignore the thought process in my brain of: golden light means the sun is not high in the sky therefore autumn is here!
Emerging onto the bridge over the Ribble and the river actually looked lovely - amazing what some flattering golden light can do. The tree cover on the Preston side of the riverbank is quite dense still so I stopped enjoying the scenery and started pedalling faster again, its not particularly scenic from now until St Annes unfortunately. On my old commute to Blackpool the last 5 miles or so were past fields which doesn't sound very inspiring but there used to be some fantastic mist/cloud inversion type effects on them in the winter. I just really have main road now.
It seemed to be bike central today, I saw loads of "proper" and fast cyclists out and about, I don't usually notice so many. It maybe the fact I set off a little earlier than usual or it may just be fuel prices. I was also caught up by Ed which is again very unusual, I think I've only met Ed once before even though he commutes out to Warton at least three times a week and pretty much always on a Tuesday, I put that down to setting off earlier. It was nice to have some company and we chatted for a bit on the cycle path until we had to move into single file ready for the road section. I initially tried to keep up with him but then remembered I still have 6 miles to go after he was at work and I had to cycle home again. If I haven't commuted for a while I often push too hard on the ride in and feel tired on the way home.
My backside felt like I was sitting on brick, I have a relatively new saddle on the roadie and it obviously needs a bit more breaking in!
I cruised at a nice speed to work, I still did it in just under an hour though which is a little too fast. I parked my bike at the sheds near C block and was a little disconcerted that all the bikes there had locks on......As I was heading into R block I saw someone else who rides in a lot actually take his bike into the building. I asked him about it later and there is a large empty cupboard on the ground floor that takes a few bikes. I had a look and think I might park my bike there next time.
Had a bit of a walk to get a shower as they are working on the C block shower. They have "improved" the J block ladies shower as it was a new cubicle with a bit more space, brilliant I thought. However, the door opens away from the wall so you have to open it wide to get in which allows water out, the door doesn't actually seal properly so more water out. They have also fitted the new shower tray on top of the old one without adjusting the height of the shower so there was barely enough room for me to stand under it and wash my hair and I'm only 5ft 4. Who knows what the C block one is going to look like once their finished with it. They are also supposed to be putting a shower in R block, no sign of it yet but I bet it ends up in one of the men's loos.
Ride home was not too bad, it had been raining on and off during the afternoon but was actually stopped by the time I set off though there did appear to be a bit of a headwind. The roads were wet and there was a short shower as I passed through Lytham but that was it, I managed to get home unscathed. I saw Ed again, coming out of the BAe main gate as I was stopped at the lights. Preston was really quiet so it was a quick one home.
So: 35 mile round trip and really enjoyable.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Sunday 31st August: Cycle Shopping on the Spesh
Ever since I've been to Amsterdam I have been mulling over how to use my bike more for commuting/shopping/general fubbing around and using my car less. I have a bike which is ideal for the purpose - my old Specialized Rockhopper. I bought it about 7 years ago and it was my first proper mountain bike and not cheap (around 800 pounds) but it was a 17" frame which is quite simply too big for me to comfortably handle offroad but was actually ok on the road. I now normally ride frames around the 14/15" mark offroad. I started cycling to work on it in the summer and just changed the tyres over and I put up with it as I knew no better and wasn't really doing anything particularly technical until meeting Jez who told me straight away the frame was too big. In the end I bought a 14" Rock Lobster frame from Merlin and moved most of the components from the Rockhopper onto it. The frame and forks languished in the garage all winter until I realised that doing a road commute on a small MTB was actually not that comfy and I couldn't be bothered changing the tyres over all the time as I was riding offroad about twice a week and trying to commute three times.
Jez managed to scrabble together enough parts together to build the frame back up into a commuter. It had a pair of his old Mavic disk wheels (disk only frame) which had white rims and actually looked pretty good on the frame as its white and red, we got a cheap pair of rigid forks and a pair of 170mm cranks from fleabay and we had old shifters/mech/cassette on it, I think I only had to buy a saddle for it in the end. I used this to commute to work for a couple of years and it was ideal for the purpose as I put a rack on it and used to carry my stuff in a rack pack. I only stopped using it as my commute changed from 8 hilly miles with the option of easy offroad through Cuerden Park to 18 flattish road miles to Blackpool and I bought a road bike instead and carried a small rucksack. I did persevere with the Spesh over the first winter but it just felt too heavy and the MTB ratio gears were annoying on the flat after getting used to a roadie.
Around November last year I put a new rear mech, cables, middle chainring and road 11-23 block on it which helped but I still preferred the roadie and its been hung up in the garage for months. I put 4 seasons tyres on the roadie as well just to make it handle better in the wet!
After our Sunday ride we decided we needed some lettuce so I thought, I'll cycle and pick it up and give my legs a spin out after this mornings ride. I knew by the time I'd sorted the Spesh I woldn't have time to get to Sainsburys so thought I'd go to Tesco which is about three miles away. So I wrestled it down from the wall (and hung the road bike up as I can lift that up and down easily), pumped the tyres up, lubed the chain then looked for my Kryptonite lock. I couldn't find it and in the end I had to use the mahoosive Abus one which took up loads of space in the rack pack and I decided to take a rucksack as well. I think I finally set off around 3:45 into some nice drizzle but quiet roads. I got to Tesco and discovered they don't seem to have any proper bike parking (or maybe its round the back of the store or somewhere equally unhandy) so locked it in the Trolley area along with a few other bikes then clattered my way round the store in my cycling shoes and looking like a dork no doubt in my helmet, the shoes were MTB ones thankfully else I'd be like Bambi on ice on that floor. I picked up lettuce, stamps (and posted my Nana's Get Well Soon card), then picked up a few blocks of President butter as it was on offer then headed out. Bike was still there thankfully and then cycled home on quiet roads again- easy peasy! It was a 6 mile round trip and took less than half an hour total cycling time, at that quiet time it would be quicker in a car but not by much.
I have plans to cycle to the Library, the farm shop, butcher and into the centre of Preston as it is definitely easier and quicker than taking the car nad I can park the bike for free (if I can get over the anxiety of having some scroat nick it, the Specialized branding and the disk brakes make it attractive). I need to find some quieter routes around Leyland if I'm cycling on a Saturday afternoon as the roads can be silly and I need to get organised enough to get most of my bulky shopping either once a month or delivered.
I have also invested in a pair of flippy pedals, one side SPD, the other flat as I would like to have the capacity to hop on with normal shoes. The only snagette is that I ride egg beaters rather than SPDs but I have a pair of Pearl Izumi shoes that I no longer use as I put my toe through the mesh on the front and if I can get the old eggbeater cleats off I will put SPD cleats on those as well as toe covers! There doesn't seem to be an equivalent pedal in the eggbeater style.
I have also ordered a pair of panniers for trips to the butchers and farm shop....I plumped for the Ortlieb back roller classic, they're completely waterproof and I figure I'll be able to sell them on if I don't use them enough. I've ordered the red ones, to match the bike (tart!). They should hopefully arrive in the next few days.
I need to find the Krytonite lock as its a more user friendly size than the extra long Abus one for ferrying around then I should hopefully be all set for errand running on the Spesh.
Jez managed to scrabble together enough parts together to build the frame back up into a commuter. It had a pair of his old Mavic disk wheels (disk only frame) which had white rims and actually looked pretty good on the frame as its white and red, we got a cheap pair of rigid forks and a pair of 170mm cranks from fleabay and we had old shifters/mech/cassette on it, I think I only had to buy a saddle for it in the end. I used this to commute to work for a couple of years and it was ideal for the purpose as I put a rack on it and used to carry my stuff in a rack pack. I only stopped using it as my commute changed from 8 hilly miles with the option of easy offroad through Cuerden Park to 18 flattish road miles to Blackpool and I bought a road bike instead and carried a small rucksack. I did persevere with the Spesh over the first winter but it just felt too heavy and the MTB ratio gears were annoying on the flat after getting used to a roadie.
Around November last year I put a new rear mech, cables, middle chainring and road 11-23 block on it which helped but I still preferred the roadie and its been hung up in the garage for months. I put 4 seasons tyres on the roadie as well just to make it handle better in the wet!
After our Sunday ride we decided we needed some lettuce so I thought, I'll cycle and pick it up and give my legs a spin out after this mornings ride. I knew by the time I'd sorted the Spesh I woldn't have time to get to Sainsburys so thought I'd go to Tesco which is about three miles away. So I wrestled it down from the wall (and hung the road bike up as I can lift that up and down easily), pumped the tyres up, lubed the chain then looked for my Kryptonite lock. I couldn't find it and in the end I had to use the mahoosive Abus one which took up loads of space in the rack pack and I decided to take a rucksack as well. I think I finally set off around 3:45 into some nice drizzle but quiet roads. I got to Tesco and discovered they don't seem to have any proper bike parking (or maybe its round the back of the store or somewhere equally unhandy) so locked it in the Trolley area along with a few other bikes then clattered my way round the store in my cycling shoes and looking like a dork no doubt in my helmet, the shoes were MTB ones thankfully else I'd be like Bambi on ice on that floor. I picked up lettuce, stamps (and posted my Nana's Get Well Soon card), then picked up a few blocks of President butter as it was on offer then headed out. Bike was still there thankfully and then cycled home on quiet roads again- easy peasy! It was a 6 mile round trip and took less than half an hour total cycling time, at that quiet time it would be quicker in a car but not by much.
I have plans to cycle to the Library, the farm shop, butcher and into the centre of Preston as it is definitely easier and quicker than taking the car nad I can park the bike for free (if I can get over the anxiety of having some scroat nick it, the Specialized branding and the disk brakes make it attractive). I need to find some quieter routes around Leyland if I'm cycling on a Saturday afternoon as the roads can be silly and I need to get organised enough to get most of my bulky shopping either once a month or delivered.
I have also invested in a pair of flippy pedals, one side SPD, the other flat as I would like to have the capacity to hop on with normal shoes. The only snagette is that I ride egg beaters rather than SPDs but I have a pair of Pearl Izumi shoes that I no longer use as I put my toe through the mesh on the front and if I can get the old eggbeater cleats off I will put SPD cleats on those as well as toe covers! There doesn't seem to be an equivalent pedal in the eggbeater style.
I have also ordered a pair of panniers for trips to the butchers and farm shop....I plumped for the Ortlieb back roller classic, they're completely waterproof and I figure I'll be able to sell them on if I don't use them enough. I've ordered the red ones, to match the bike (tart!). They should hopefully arrive in the next few days.
I need to find the Krytonite lock as its a more user friendly size than the extra long Abus one for ferrying around then I should hopefully be all set for errand running on the Spesh.
Sunday 31st August: Offroad Ride
Got out for a decent ride on Sunday. I wanted to do a ride of over 20 miles to start building endurance again. I have been coping well on shorter rides mainly because I have been well rested I think but my endurance is currently non-existent as even my long runs are rarely over two hours in length. Ed is in the same boat due to the arrival of little Molly and Jez has been away lots so we picked a ride around the Hebden Bridge area which we know and is testing but without being knackering. We decided to head out of Hurstwood rather than Worsthorne for a bit of variety. The plan was to head up to the Long Causeway, along the road for a bit then offroad down towards Tod via the golf course, along the canal to Hebden Bridge, cafe stop, warm the legs up with the road climb out of town, brutalise them with the climb from Hardcastle Crags whilst trying not to bring up lunch, cruise along the tops for a while before almost finishing ourselves off with the evil climb up from Widdop res, finishing with a lovely downhill back to the car.
It was pretty misty again, though not pea-soup foggy as it was on our Wednesday evening ride over Winter Hill. The moisture in the air helped cool things down as there was no wind at all. I really enjoyed the ride and still seemed to have some technical competence. We stopped in Hebden for a bite to eat but we were stopped for a little longer than ideal and I got quite cold. It took a while for my legs to get back into it again and they weren't really happy until up onto the moors but then I was bracing myself for the Widdop climb! I cleaned the climb but my lack of fitness was showing, not so much in overall speed but more in the amount of use I had to make of the flatter sections to bring my heart rate down, when I'm fitter it falls faster. I cleaned the last technical section but not without having a good argument with my bike about where it wanted to go and where I wanted it to go - I won this time.
Normally the climb up from Widdop is sweetened by the fact it is pretty much all downhill back to the car and I suppose it is but not with a major bloody headwind and eyes full of crap chucked up from the wheel, my own fault for not bringing my glasses and we all suffered the same. It was a nice cruise off the Gorple road back to the cars. As we started to pack up the rain properly started, timing!
So, will hopefully ride Wednesday (will need to dig lights out) but off next week so who knows what will happen as Jez wants to get some walking in and I want to go camping somewhere so hopefully weather will be kind.
I forgot to reset the Garmin at the start of the ride so it added it all on to Wednesday's ride but I think we covered about 23/24 miles.
It was pretty misty again, though not pea-soup foggy as it was on our Wednesday evening ride over Winter Hill. The moisture in the air helped cool things down as there was no wind at all. I really enjoyed the ride and still seemed to have some technical competence. We stopped in Hebden for a bite to eat but we were stopped for a little longer than ideal and I got quite cold. It took a while for my legs to get back into it again and they weren't really happy until up onto the moors but then I was bracing myself for the Widdop climb! I cleaned the climb but my lack of fitness was showing, not so much in overall speed but more in the amount of use I had to make of the flatter sections to bring my heart rate down, when I'm fitter it falls faster. I cleaned the last technical section but not without having a good argument with my bike about where it wanted to go and where I wanted it to go - I won this time.
Normally the climb up from Widdop is sweetened by the fact it is pretty much all downhill back to the car and I suppose it is but not with a major bloody headwind and eyes full of crap chucked up from the wheel, my own fault for not bringing my glasses and we all suffered the same. It was a nice cruise off the Gorple road back to the cars. As we started to pack up the rain properly started, timing!
So, will hopefully ride Wednesday (will need to dig lights out) but off next week so who knows what will happen as Jez wants to get some walking in and I want to go camping somewhere so hopefully weather will be kind.
I forgot to reset the Garmin at the start of the ride so it added it all on to Wednesday's ride but I think we covered about 23/24 miles.
August.....ooops!
Well, what can I say, what the hell happened to August and my activity level!!!!!! I've been quite a lazy moo to be honest and I quite enjoyed it! It was always going to be disrupted as we had a lot on in August with various weddings, birthday parties and associated hangovers to contend with but I'm up for doing something now! My bike mojo seems to have come back, I'm in love with my bikes again - all four of them. I even rode my Specialized tank "utility bike" on Sunday and I even enjoyed that, in the drizzle. It was my first shopping trip on it, more on that
My running mojo is still MIA but I think that's not helped by my grumpy psoas muscle. I did a three offroad runs over the month and I had the same problem I had when I started offroad running. I think it is the contrast between cycling (and sitting on my arse!) and running dowhill/faster. The cycling position shortens it and downhill running in particular really stretches it out. The first dodgy run was on the 18th of August and it showed up within the first half mile of course I continued to do another 6 or so very hilly miles and its been grumpy ever since. I tried again on the 22nd and it took a while longer to complain but I think that was because the first four miles are basically uphill. By the time I had finished the boggy descent off Great Hill it was very unhappy and I had to effectively jog back to the car as it was very, very tight. I was actually worried that something was about to tear but in hindsight doing a 7 mile offroad run with a dodgy hip was not one of my most sensible decisions.
I decided to take it easy until the Derwentwater Trail Race as I know I can get round that in the time limit.
My running mojo is still MIA but I think that's not helped by my grumpy psoas muscle. I did a three offroad runs over the month and I had the same problem I had when I started offroad running. I think it is the contrast between cycling (and sitting on my arse!) and running dowhill/faster. The cycling position shortens it and downhill running in particular really stretches it out. The first dodgy run was on the 18th of August and it showed up within the first half mile of course I continued to do another 6 or so very hilly miles and its been grumpy ever since. I tried again on the 22nd and it took a while longer to complain but I think that was because the first four miles are basically uphill. By the time I had finished the boggy descent off Great Hill it was very unhappy and I had to effectively jog back to the car as it was very, very tight. I was actually worried that something was about to tear but in hindsight doing a 7 mile offroad run with a dodgy hip was not one of my most sensible decisions.
I decided to take it easy until the Derwentwater Trail Race as I know I can get round that in the time limit.
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