The past six months

Well it's six months since I last posted and I thought it probably might be a good idea to fill everyone in on what has happened in those six months.

After Tower 2 Tower we went down to Poole for a couple of weeks and a I did a solid block of riding in the rolling Dorset countryside with my brother in law and and some gentle rides, mostly involving a food stop, with my wife. A few weeks later my brother in law came up to our house and I spent a week showing him the roads of North Lancashire and South Cumbria and our fantastic rain.

After this I think I was riding stronger than ever and even starting to enjoy climbing.

Myself and my wife had booked a week with friends in Benidorm and the first few days were really great but then on a days cycling my wife had a crash on the descent of the Coll de Rates resulting in her spending 5 days in hospital. Looking back she was very, very lucky to escape with bad road rash on her elbows, hands and knees but the worst injury was the multiple fractures of the wrist that required an operation to pin and plate it back together. As you can see Julie has a fine holiday souvenir.

She's healed up really well but still undergoing physio to get full movement back and the gravel rash on her knee is still healing.

My cycling kind of petered out to a gentle pedal after Benidorm but I have big plans in place for 2013. I'll post a full run down in the New Year but basically I'll be doing an endurance ride in France and will be raising money for the North West Air Ambulance - if you're really keen to know the plan before I do a blog on the plan you can find out by clicking the Just Giving link on the right of this site.

Until my next blog I wish all readers all the very best for a happy an prosperous New Year.

Day 5 - Trentham to Blackpool

Well yesterday afternoon all three teams rolled into Blackpool after a cracking few days.

The day had started off quite dull but brightened up as the day went on. As we headed towards UU for lunch the boys stopped for a comfort break and were suddenly joined by a load of cows - we think Mike had made their acquaintance before by the noises the made when he left.

We had a great reception at UU and met up with Brainwave and Donna's dream House for photos before heading inside for lunch.

After lunch the teams set off for Blackpool with Team Simpson taking their customary position of last to leave and we our final team banter on the road before all the teams met up a few miles from the tower to ride to the end in convoy.

The end was really different from LEJOG last year as there was a welcoming party for the riders of family and friends and Len from Donna's Dream House. After the obligatory back slapping and photo calls (and noticing that the Start and Finish banner had Start on both sides) the riders headed towards the hotel for a celebration meal and few drinks.

The big question of who was the Puncture Queen was not resolved as we had a puncture free day so Rick, Jon and Tom all get to share the imaginary prize.

I'd like to thank Jon, Mike, Pete, Tony, Tom, Rick and the two Marks for a great 5 days of laughter, tears, punctures and crashes - driving without 8 lycra clad arses in front of you just isn't the same.

Finally a big thanks to Simon who spent 1000 miles, nearly seven days and six nights in my company without complaint about my farting, snoring, gutter humour and bike geekness -it's been emotional my friend.    

Everyone made it

Everyone made it to Blackpool. I'll do a proper write up when my brain function returns.

Day 4 - Oxford to Trentham

Another late start today for Team Simpson, which was great as I was feeling a bit rough today.

Right from the start it was obvious that there were some tired legs even though the pace was good. After a couple of hours we had the first break of the day before cracking on.

Tom had the only puncture of the day so tomorrow we'll find out who is the puncture queen as Jon, Rick and Tom have had two each.

Lunch was taken in the form of a roast and a pint and the riders continued on their way. Everyone seemed quieter today - it was even quieter in the van and no Primal Scream today.

An hour or so later as the riders slowed down for a set of traffic lights Mike suddenly went over the bars and didn't seem to move straight away. Jumping out of the van we soon realised his front wheel was jammed solid in a grid. Mike was okay if a little battered and bruised but his front wheel was buckled beyond repair so Mike and Tony have now killed a wheel.

After a long grind the riders finally reached Trentham after completing their longest day.

Stats.

Punctures: 1
Crashes: 1
Roast Dinners: 1

One day and two beds to go.

Lunch Time

Team Simpson aren't letting riding getting in the way of a Sunday Roast.
Stopped at the Hutton Arms for one.

Day 3 - Newhaven to Oxford

Night 3 (for the drivers) provided the accommodation and sleep on the trip so far made even better by Team Simpson's decision not to leave until 9am. After filling the van up with fuel (fuel gauge now working again) it was a quick clean of all the bikes, fitting new pads on Toms bike, truing a wheel on Tony's bike and adjusting Mark 'Daffy' Leyland's front mech.

The team set off at 0910 about an hour behind the first team off and we screwed up the navigation straight away (sorry guys). After a few early hills to test the legs it became obvious from the live tracking we were watching that the guys were making great progress then Rick had another puncture (Ricks Dad - he needs that puncture kit). A decision was made to have the morning break there and then and Ricks tube was changed.

The lads continued to crack on and reached Guilford for lunch which we took at the station and included a quick tweaking session on Ricks bike. Not far out of town the team passed the other two teams in quick succession and put the hammer down all the way to the end taking another 40 minutes out of them.

We had another puncture with Tom in the centre of Woking and a swift bit of teamwork resulted in the team being watered and the wheel changed in under 2 minutes.

To be fair to the guys they did try to be humble but it didn't last long.

The victorious team.

Stats for the day.

Punctures: 2

Crashes: 0

Day 2 - L'Isle Adam to Dieppe

Today was the only day on the event that had a time limit as we had to be at Dieppe for the ferry to Newhaven for 4pm.

Waking up after spending a night in our 'prison cell' Etape Hotel room the signs weren't good as we were woken up by torrential rain bouncing of the porch roof. After a very brief breakfast we were ready to go at 0730.

About a mile into the ride Tom declared that he hadn't put his bag in the van but had left it outside the hotel so a quick call to Team Cavendish got his back picked up.

The riders were soon in the groove but got a bit spooked by a dual carriage way so asked us to re-route them around it. Rick then had the first puncture of the day and a quick wheel change and we were off again only for another puncture a few minutes later when Jon had a front flat.

Eventually we were back on route and soon passed another team and the guys were making really good progress then Jon had puncture number three. In one town we came round the corner to see Tony dusting himself down after failing to bunny hop a curb - no injuries happily.

After a lunch stop for the finest egg and ham salad butty France had to offer we were off again making excellent progress mildly amused by the trouble Tom was having with his hayfever and the state of his eyes.

We arrived in Dieppe with plenty of time to spare to back the vans, the riders to get changed and for me to get assaulted by a temporary ex-pat.

The ferry trip was a little rocky but uneventful and we were joined by a load of riders on their cycle challenge - Paris to London so we told them we wouldn't get out of bed for that.

Once in Newhaven it was a few beers and bed for the best nights kip so far.

Ride Stats:

Punctures: 3
Crashes: 1

Day 1 Paris to L'Isle Adam

Well we arrived safely in Paris after an interesting drive via the Champs and the Arc.

Once the riders arrived and after a few photos they set off and thanks to the Paris traffic it took us 12 miles to catch them up.

Arrived at the 'hotel' to double bed and bunk bed room - I have the big bed tonight.

No mechanicals or punctures so far. Tomorrow is a 730 start with a 1600 ferry deadline so hopefully more than a 4 hour sleep.

Warrington to Dover.

Apart from none of the 12v sockets working in Wiggins the journey down was cracking with no issues on the M25.

However we've had some 'fun' since then. We filled up the three vans with fuel at Dover and the fuel card needed authorization. Whilst you would have thought this would be simple it was a twitchy bum moment only resolved when we produced a UU pass.

On getting back to the hotel we noticed that Simpson was only showing half full of fuel but dipping the tank confirmed it was full.

A blown fuse was found to be the issue with the power sockets.

Crap nights kip last night but Eurotunnel at 930 and drive to Paris.

Tower2Tower - 1 Day to go!

Well tomorrow the three support vans driven by me, Simon, Beccy, Tony, Alan and Billy will make our way down to Dover before heading over to Paris first thing on Thursday to meet up with the cyclists at the Eiffel Tower.

The last few days have been hectic. We found a few routing issues which had to be rectified including one part of the route that was down a flight of steps over the weekend. Yesterday we had the vans liveried and loaded 500 litres of water onto them Today we loaded all the riders kit into the van, sorted the spares and started to fit the light bars but after doing one we called it a day as we'd been working for nearly 12 hours.

Tomorrow we are expecting three more sets of kit, have the final two light bars to fit and hopefully will have some chargers arrive to power the tracking devices for the live tracking which will be live as we depart at 1200hrs.

Here is a sneak peak of what our vans look like.

I hope to be keeping the blog updated throughout the event (and beyond with my usual blabbering) but obviously this depends on the connectivity available so there may be some shorter updates.

Don't forget to sponsor the riders here.

T2T - What's in a name?

If you've taken a look at my page with the live tracking for Tower 2 Tower you'll have seen that all the teams are named after famous British professional cyclists so here are some more details about each of them.

Tom Simpson


Until 2011 and the victory of Mark Cavendish, Simpson was Britain's only World Road Race Champion winning the title in 1965 (and BBC Sports Personality of the Year just like Cavendish). In 1962 he became the first Britain to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France and finished 6th overall - the highest placing by a Brit until 4th place finishes by Robert Millar in 1984 and Bradley Wiggins in 2009.

Simpson's major wins include two stages of the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain), Paris-Nice in 1967, Milan-San Remo and Giro di Lombardia in 1965.

The County Durham rider infamously died of exhaustion on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 13th stage of the 1967 Tour de France.The post mortem found that he had taken amphetamine and alcohol, a combination that proved fatal when combined with the heat, hard climb and a stomach complaint.

Mark Cavendish MBE


The 'Manx Missile' is the current World Road Race Champion riding for Team Sky Professional Cycling in the coveted rainbow jersey. Originally a track cyclist specialising in madison, scratch and points race, he has competed on the road since 2006 rising to prominence as a sprinter.

On the track Cavendish was World Madison Champion in 2005 and 2008 with Rob Hayles and Bradley Wiggins respectively and won gold in the scratch race at the 2006 Commonwealth Games riding for the Isle of Man.

On the road Cav's achievements are phenomenal. Winner of the points classification in the Vuelta a Espana in 2010 and the Tour de France in 2011 (first Britain to win the green points jersey). Joint 6th on the all time list of Tour de France stage winners with 20 victories and 10th on the list of all time grand tour stage winners with 33 stage wins. Only the second Brit to win Milan-San Remo, the first Brit to wear the pink jersey at the Giro D'Italia (Tour of Italy). Only the second Britain, after Robert Millar to win a stage in all three grand tours.

All in all Cavendish has 81 professional wins on the road since turning pro in 2007 compared to second place on the list Chris Boardman with 41 wins between 1993 and 1999.

Mark Cavendish was the only member of the 2008 British Olympic Cycling Team that failed to come home with a medal.

Bradley Wiggins CBE


The son of a professional Australian cyclist, a British mother and born in Ghent in Belgium, current British road race champion Bradley Wiggins could have competed for either of those three nations.

Now based in Lancashire, Wiggins began his career on the track as a specialist in the pursuit and the madison. On the track he won a bronze medal in the team pursuit at the 2000 Athens Olympics, gold in the individual pursuit, silver in the team pursuit and bronze in the madison at the 2004 Sydney Olympics and gold in the individual pursuit and team pursuit at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He turned professional on the road in 2002 but this side of his career was limited by his track cycling until 2007.

In 2009 Wiggo showed his grand tour potential by finishing fourth in the Tour de France (joint highest placing with Robert Millar in 1984) famously riding up Mont Ventoux with a picture of Tom Simpson taped to his top tube for inspiration.

In 2010 he moved to Team Sky Professional Cycling and followed that with a disappointing 24th in the Tour de France leading to speculation that his result in 2009 was a fluke.

2011 saw Wiggins win the Criterium du Dauphine, the first British rider since 1990 to do so, proving that he had good form for the Tour de France but a crash on stage 7 saw him abandon with a broken collar bone. After healing Wiggins returned to race the Vuelta a Espana finishing 3rd behind team mate and compatriot Chris Froome becoming only the third Britain to make the podium of a grand tour (Robert Millar being the other). Ten days later he won a silver medal in the World Time Trial Championships before going on to ride as part of the Great Britain team that helped Mark Cavendish take the road race world title.

Bradley Wiggins again appears to be on good form in 2012 having become the first British rider in 45 years to win Paris-Nice, also winning the Tour de Romandie and currently leading the Criterium du Dauphine by 38 seconds.

Matt Cronshaw


We have named our spare tracking device after a young professional with a bright future (waiting in the wings you might say).

24 year Matt from Carnforth, is currently riding for Node 4 Giordana Racing under the guidance of British cycling legend Malcolm Elliott having previously ridden for Rapha Condor Sharp and Raleigh. Matt is a superb bike handler (despite his two crashes in this years Halfords Tour Series), who is well suited to criteriums and has a fearsome sprint having already taken some decent scalps.

Career highlights so far have included 1st place in Tour of Blackpool Grand Prix and 1st place on stage 4 of the Tour de Beauce in 2009, 1st place on stage 1 of the Tour Doonhame in 2011 and 6th in OCBC Cycle Singapore Professional Criterium in 2012.

Cronshaw is currently the North West road race race champion and a regular in the Halfords Tour Series.

Apart from being a professional cyclist Matt describes himself as a 'successful repeller of women with a penchant for camel skin briefs'.

2 Weeks 200 Miles

Well its been 2 weeks since I started riding again and I'm just coming up to 200 miles back on the bike.

After starting off with gentle one hour rides for a week I started mixing it up a bit more with 1.5, 2.5 hour rides in the second week. This week I started off with a three hour ride and then 1.5 hours tonight - I'm looking at time on the bike rather than miles ridden at the moment to build my base up.

The Tower 2 Tower ride is just over two weeks away now and preparations are going well although we're still short of a driver and none of us can speak French.

I still have mixed feelings about the event - I'm looking forwards to the laughs but its going to kill me not riding so I'm figuring on using it as a rest week off the bike before two weeks being beasted in Dorset by the brother in law.

First hard ride.

Well last night I went out with a few of the T2T riders for a two hour ride to kind of see how I'm doing.

The first few miles saw me on the front then straight out the backdoor and a hard fight to keep in touch. Each time I got back on and started to recover I would lose the wheel but I kept at it.

Near the end of the ride I hit the front and decided to push the pace until my legs went which happened about a mile from the end.

Stats for the ride were 30.42 miles in 1:38.

Legs felt a bit stiff this morning but I'm really happy. Back to low hr rides for a few days then same again next Wednesday.

The view from the car.

Well this weekend I've had my first experience of driving behind the T2T cyclists over two rides based out of the Old Sawmill which was out lodgings for the weekend.

Friday even saw the cyclists setting off for a 23 mile ride around Derwent Water which turned out to be a pleasant but thankfully uneventful ride for everyone. On getting back to the Sawmill everyone showered whilst I gave the bikes a quick wipe down after the ride ended in the rain before we walked the mile down the road for refreshments and replenishment in the pub to end the day.

Saturday dawned wet, cold and miserable but with the promise of brightening up later on. There was a choice of a few routes for the day, a couple of hilly rides or a flat 'bad weather' option. The flat option was mentioned and seemed to be the choice until just before setting off when it was switched to a ride up Honsister Pass. After packing the car with everyone's kit we set off and straight away Jon snapped his chain. We tried five different chain tools and were unable to break the chain as it appeared to be riveted and not pinned. If was decided that I'd run Jon down into Keswick to get a new chain whilst the rest of the riders rode to Keswick and we'd meet up and collect butties for later in the day. After fitting a new chain we met the others with Jon's chains jumping on his gears a bit and stocked the car with butties.

We set off along the Borrowdale Valley and realised the Keswick Sportive was taking place so there were plenty of other cyclist out on the roads. Jon was still having trouble so we adjusted his indexing and things seemed a little better. As we hit the Honister Pass the pace obviously slowed right down and the group split up as everyone rode at their own pace. At the top of the pass the riders regrouped and took on board some food before starting the descent but Jon was still having trouble with his gears so we checked everything was indexed correctly and it was.

On the descent it was difficult keeping up with the riders in the car and mentally challenging keeping and eye on them, an eye on the road and an eye behind for all the sportive riders (yes I'm aware that's three eyes). After the descent and some undulating riding Jon was still having trouble so we loaded his bike into the car and arranged to meet the riders in Cockermouth after I'd dropped him back at the Sawmill. I think the issue with Jon's bike may be that the chainrings were quite worn so his cassette is probably worn too (hard to tell with all the crazy profiling these days) so under power his chain was slipping.

After a spirited drive back to Cockermouth I met up with the riders again and we had lunch. Then we set off for a lap around Bassenthwaite Lake before heading back into Keswick and the trip back to the Sawmill. By this time the weather had really cleared up and my car was filling up with more and more sweaty clothing (it stank last night).

All in all a good weekend with some things to think about for the event itself.

I've been back out riding today doing an hour and a half which is my longest ride since recovering from my abscess. It seems really weedy but I'm just returning slowly and not rushing things so six hours bagged for the week isn't a bad start. I'm going out for a couple of hours with the T2T riders on Wednesday night so will get a good picture of where I am then.

Back on the bike

Well I've just done my first ride back after all the issues with my abscess.

I've decided to go right back to basics and use the rest of the summer to build up a really good base fitness but this means really boring rides to start off with.

It's all about building up the hours on the bike at a low heart rate. Today was supposed to be an hour but ended up being 1:17 with my heart rate on the border of zone 2/3 (70-75% of MHR). These rides are horrible as you have to sit there in an easy gear trying to keep the heart rate down whilst spinning the gear - it's just really hard not to put more effort in.

Legs felt fine today and my heart rate was back to the levels it was before the issues with the abscess but my arse complained all the way round.

Same again on Monday.

About the Tower 2 Tower ride

30 cyclists will be cycling from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the Blackpool Tower from Thursday 14 June to Monday 18 June 2012 in aid of Brainwave & Donna’s Dream House, two local Northwest Charities and also the international charity WaterAid.

'Brainwave' is a national charity with 3 centres in the UK. There Northern centre is at Birchwood, Warrington. They work with families to assist them in home based individual therapy and exercises to help children with development delay, brain injury or genetic conditions to achieve their full potential.

Brainwave effectively provides parents with self help through six monthly assessments where they work with parents on an exercise/therapy routine enabling parents to undertake this with their children on a daily basis. At its simplest this includes techniques for different muscle stretches and work on core muscle stability which has been very successful in mitigating the increased muscle tone and helping build core muscles, which in turn enables improved motor skill ability.

Donnas Dream House in Blackpool is a locally based trust providing free holiday experiences for the children and teenagers with life-threatening illnesses and their families, and for recently bereaved siblings and their families.

Whilst the voluntary team of Donna’s Dream House provides the expertise, enthusiasm and administration, it is the generosity of many companies, organisations and individuals in raising and donating money, that makes it possible to bring not only sunshine and fun into children’s lives but a sense of wonder, adventure, laughter and much-needed holiday in Blackpool for the whole family. They suffered an arson attack at the beginning of the New Year 2012.

WaterAid is supporting many opportunities in the worlds poorest country’s supplying clean water and effective sanitation and has a long established relationship with the water industry.

Good news at last

Well this mornings visit to the nurse has been the best.

The packing that was put in on Saturday had worked itself out and the remaining opening has knitted itself together. I've still got have visits to the nurse to keep an eye on things to ensure no infection returns but I've been infection free for nearly a week now so pretty sure nothing will go wrong.

Seeing the doctor again this week so hoping to get the all clear to start training again - you watch we'll have no sun for months for ages now.

Really looking forwards to getting back in the saddle again now.

Time for a rethink.

Well the abscess on my neck has caused me to pull out of riding the Paris to Blackpool T2T ride in June.

The wound is looking better each day (I'm told) and Tuesday was the first day without any puss coming out of the wound which is a bit of a landmark. I finish the antibiotics tomorrow so the next week will be critical in how long it takes me to get back on the bike. If I have no infection from now on the doctors thinks I'll be back riding  by the week commencing 14th May so fingers, legs etc crossed.

The upshot of this is that I'll have had five weeks without riding and with a month to go until T2T from my projected recovery date there is no way I'll be able to get back up to speed for the 100 mile day and taper in that period. On the plus side I'll be driving one of the support vans so I can still support the team and not be sat moping around like a bear with a sore head.

Basically I've had to start thinking about revised goals for 2012 and it's still a work in progress. I have two weeks away after T2T which was originally meant to be a recovery period but now I'll be treating it as a training camp hopefully and Richard will sort out some rides (quite fancy Isle of Wight regardless of summer traffic). I've also got the Lancashire Loop sportive at the end of September so I think for the rest of the year I'm going to concentrate on building up a fantastic endurance base.

Looking towards 2013 I'll be 40 so fancy doing something really special on the bike and also intend to take up time trials - watch this space.

Abcess Trauma

Well I've had a 6mm lump in my neck for years with no issues at all that the doctors have kept an eye on it.

After a hard Tuesday training ride a few weeks it got very sore and grew to 5cm and I was put on a weeks antibiotics. After the week it had shrunk to 3cm so I was put on another weeks antibiotics.

Over Easter I did a few hard rides and the lump grew and became more painful than ever. I'd also noticed my heartrate was 20 to 30 bpm higher than normal.

Another trip to the docs resulted in a change to powerful antibiotics. Returning to the doc 3 days later and the lump was 8.5cm so the decision was made by the doc to cut open the abcess to drain it with the warning it would hurt - he wasn't lying.

It's now a week later and it's getting better but there is still puss coming out of it so I'm still banned off the bike until that clears up. I'm having the dressing changed on a daily basis which involves having it cleaned out and packing inserted with a wire probe.

I can't wait to get back out on the bike.

Useful phrases for cycling from Paris to Blackpool

Below is a list of phrases I was sent by Bobby and the Sergeant that may be useful for anyone cycling from Paris to Blackpool. Please note the translations may not be accurate.

Useful French Phrases

Greetings:

Hello, my name is Andrew, I am a cyclist.

Bon jewer, gem apple Andrew, Je suis un cycliste.

Hello nice French person.

Bon jewer, fromage eating surrendere monkeye.

Asking for directions:

I’m lost, can you tell me the way to Blackpool?

Je suis perdu, pouvez-vous m'indiquer le chemin à Blackpool?

Can you tell me the way to the hospital?


 Pouvez-vous m'indiquer le chemin à l'hôpital?

Can you tell me the way to the pie shop?

Pouvez-vous m'indiquer le chemin à la boutique à tarte?

Can you tell me the way to the pub?

Pouvez-vous m'indiquer le chemin de la pub?

I’m looking for the Eiffel Tower.

Je suis à la recherche de la Tour Eiffel.

Useful statements and questions:

My bike seat is stuck up my bottom!

Mon siège vélo est coincé mon fond!

No thank you, I don’t pay for sex.

Non merci, je ne paie pas pour le rumpie pumpie.

A few donkeys and it would look just like Blackpool.

Quelques ânes et il serait ressemblent Blackpool.

4 Big Macs, large fries and a diet coke please.

Quatre le Big Mac, grande portion de frites et un Coke diète s'il vous plaît.

Do you have any cream? My shorts are chafing.

Avez-vous une crème? Mes courts métrages sont les frottements.

Do my nipples look big in this top?

Ce que mes mamelons paraître grand dans ce top?

Can I bring my bike onto the bus?

Puis-je amener mon vélo dans le bus?

When I said spare tyre, I meant the one for the bike.

Lorsque je l'ai dit la roue de secours, je voulais dire celui de la vélo.

Oi Frenchie, come back with my bike!!!

Oi garlic baguette, revenir avec mon vélo!!!

No there are no asylum seekers under my shirt.

Non, il n'y a pas de demandeurs d'asile en vertu de ma chemise.

That beret is very stylish, and really looks well with the onions.

Ce béret est très élégant, et c'est vraiment bien avec les oignons.

Grab that yellow jersey and leg it!

Prenez le maillot jaune et s'enfuient !

Attractive under arm hair darling.

Attractive sous chérie cheveux bras.

Do you have a puncture repair kit?

Avez-vous un kit de réparation de crevaison?

How much wine can I drink legally and still ride my bike?

Quelle quantité de vin que je peux boire légalement et encore monter ma vélo?

Hey French pig, eat my dust!

Hey de porc française, manger mon poussière

If in doubt, the phrase “Aw ee, aw ee, aw” will get you through.

Training, training and infection

Well last Sunday was the first official training ride for our T2T (Paris to Blackpool) ride in June. With the clocks changing it wasn't a very nice 5am start for me and I really struggled to get my breakfast eaten, porridge was okay but the peanut butter on toast was impossible to swallow.

After an uneventful drive from Carnforth to near Ormskirk, via the delightful toilets in Charnock Richard services, I joined the other 15 cyclists.Things started off fine with my legs slowly coming round after being in the one position for so long in the car but then I made the mistake of waiting for one of the guys on the first little rise who seemed to be struggling a little bit. After waiting we had totally lost the rest of the group and not being sure which left turn was the key to the route we ended up doing 20 miles on our own before meeting up with the others. The rest of the ride went fairly well apart from a couple of punctures, three people falling over whilst stationary and poor communication when someone dropped off the back of the group.

During Sundays ride myself and Tony decided we'd start doing our Tuesday night training rides from work again so that's what we did. We set off just intending to have a chilled out ride but as always seems to be the case on that route the final 10 miles turned into a 10 mile TT with us only being three minutes slower than our best time from last year.

I've had a small lump on the back of my neck for a few years now which has been checked out by the doctor and is a sebaceous cyst. Over the past week the cyst has grown massively and it turns out it is now infected so I'n now on high strength antibiotics. Due to cyst being right on the back of my neck it is very uncomfortable  to sleep on my back and my whole neck has become stiff, my position on the bike also means the cyst is squashed so I'm going to be dosed up to my eyeballs to get through the pain barrier on Sundays T2T training ride.

No Pain No Gain

Well I'm a week into my training schedule and it's going well so far.

The diet which I thought would be the worst part isn't so bad - in fact at some meals I feel really stuffed. A typical day is as follows:

Breakfast:- bowl of porridge with ground cinnamon and chopped banana, two slices of wholemeal toast lightly buttered, glass of milk and my supplements.

Lunch:- feta, spinach and potato fritatta, apple and banana.

Dinner:- wholemeal pasta/whole rice, three portions of veg and steamed chicken/fish.

This week I've lost 5lb so far and 3% body fat.

Training this week has consisted of gym sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with rest days on Tuesday and Friday.

Saturday was a really hard interval session comprising of the following:-

4:00 minute warm up
1:30 tempo riding
2:00 high speed tempo riding
15 kilo efforts with 1:00 recovery between the efforts
4:00 warm down

It was complete and utter agony from the 6th kilo onwards and upon getting off the bike I really struggled not to vomit. After reading Sir Chris Hoy's autobiography I kind of expected this but asked his advice via twitter and got the following message from him.

@AndyCreer sadly it's just all part of the fun I'm afraid. Bad news is the better you get the more you are able to hurt yourself!

Saturday evening was the final trip down to the National Cycling Centre for the climax of the Revolution series featuring a certain Chris Hoy. If you've never been to one of these meetings before you get to see a real cross section of talent competing in a wide range of track disciplines.

This morning I've been out for a chilly base building ride but the legs are a bit sore after yesterdays efforts and from ignoring the 'why stand when you can sit' part of the cyclists mantra.

Riding a bike -The Great Escape.

The cleats on my shoe enter the pedals with a click, my fingers curl around the thick newly applied bar tape and my arse kisses the saddle. I'm man and machine as one as I roll down the road.

I check what I'm carrying - £10 note, spare tube, multi-tool, tyre levers, pump and CO2 inflator. The main decision is where do I ride today? How strong do I feel today? How long before the wife misses me? - then my mind has wandered.

The thoughts that usually occupy my mind are slowly stripped away. The distracting usual thoughts first - did I lock the door? Should I get fuel tonight or in the morning? What's for tea? I then progress to the more important thoughts - what is my Grandson doing? Should I change jobs? Should I buy another house?  - then suddenly my mind has switched off.

The pain comes now and again of course, but the pros do say suffering is optional, but brains own pain killers, endorphins, are more powerful than Prozac and suppress pain and induce a feeling of wellbeing. I think it was Diane Ackerman the American port who wrote "When I go cycling...the world is breaking someone else's heart."

I ride a bike for few reasons - to keep fit, to enjoy the countryside and to travel but mostly I ride to escape I ride for the silence, I ride to empty my brain, I ride for the void. Random thoughts do enter this void - lines from songs, lines of poetry, an old girlfriend - but mostly they are like snowflakes falling on water.

Sometimes I get home and I'm not even sure where I have been until I download the data from my Garmin.

On the bike my brain switches off and recharges - its the Great Escape.

New Year - New Start

Happy New Year.

Well I now know what kind of shape I'm in after being tested on a rig. The tests show that my functional threshold power and VO2 max are reasonable for my age and that I have a good peak power output but the major downside is that I am just too heavy (or fat if you don't want to be PC).

If I can shift 90lbs then I have the potential to be okay at time trials and sprinting but I need to make sure that I lose fat and not muscle. Currently I am 43% fat which is pretty piss poor by anyone's standard but with a strictly monitored nutritional plan and training plan we should be able to turn that around. The plan is to lose 45lbs this year and 45 lbs next year.

Training is roughly two to three months of long steady rides to get the body used to burning fat and then in March/April the speed work will start to bring up the speeds together with the distances.