Still not doing
much cycling really, still feeling a bit like I can’t be bothered to be
honest. I seem to be having a few
anaemia issues again so I need to address that first really. Sort of explains why the performances were
tailing off quite dramatically towards the end of the season.
However, Sue has
been going out on her bike fairly regularly and I’ve been tagging along with
her to keep her company. We’ve got a
nice quiet 14 and-a-bit mile route we do around Lound & Somerleyton and
it’s amazing how much fitter she has got in just a few weeks.
First time out we
got round in about 1hr 20mins and Sue was half dead afterwards. The other day we bombed round in 57 minutes
fairly easily! Amazing how quickly your
fitness comes on when you start from scratch, it’s a great motivator – when
you’ve been at it a while you have to claw at just tiny improvements, it can be
a bit disheartening.
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| Sue's faithful steed! |
I’ve had one
‘training’ ride since packing in for 2012.
On Saturday I went out for a few hours fairly briskly (Av HR 135) out
towards Bungay and looped back through Pakefield, Lowestoft ,
Oulton Broad, Lound & Bradwell along the middle part of the 1st
stage of the Tour of Britain. There was a charity ride along the stage that day
too and I expected to meet loads of cyclists but I think I was a bit too early
for them. Still a pleasing number out and about though.
Made me realize how
many bits need replacing on the old Indestructible Training Bike though. It
felt like a right old banger!!
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| The bombproof ITB!!! |
On Sunday the Tour
proper came through the town. We made a
short walk up the road to Bradwell and perched ourselves on a sharp right hand
bend near the doctors surgery (We ghoulishly hoped it might be a good spot for
a pile up!!!) An amazing number of
spectators lined the route and it was a tremendous party atmosphere. No crashes
fortunately!
I wanted to catch the spectacle on film but didn't want to miss everything whilst farting about with the video camera so I perched it in a convenient hedge. Unfortunately, 'Hedge Cam' didn't quite go according to plan....
So plan B was to velcro it to my hat. Sort of worked but the aim was slightly off...
We walked home and
watched the stage live on the telly, including an appalling pile-up just
outside the Showground! I really enjoyed
watching the riders on roads I know really well and ride on frequently. Made it
all feel a bit more ‘real’.
I’ve got a bit of a
dilemma – turns out I’ve potentially won a couple of club awards for my 10 and
25 times. They’re the fastest in the
club this year. It entails going to the
club dinner and getting clapped and getting a trophy. Not sure that’s really me
to be honest so I may not bother claiming them. At least that way they should
go to an up-and-coming junior rider who would probably enjoy the occasion far
more than me. We’ll see.
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