Tag Archives: somerset

I’m a survivor

Today was an ACG ride. A very well attended ACG ride. Though our numbers were a somewhat movable feast, there were, for the most part, around 12 of us. Guy led us on a merry dance around the Levels to Fenny Castle for coffee. And then off up and down the Mendips for those that fancied such antics.

I’d really like to have joined them for that latter part. Cycling me is feeling pretty good at the moment and although I know I still ill compare with my peers going up hills, I also know that I will get up them and that I am getting up them better than I have been. However it was not to be. There were indications early on that ups and me were not going to be friends today. But on the flat after that, hey, I can do that, and I did, and I enjoyed it. I’ve not been out with the ACG in quite a while, and catching up with everyone, be it on the bike or over coffee, was lovely. But while they were all drinking coffee to wash down cake, I had to use mine to wash down shiny pills.

Chris on Cheddar Gorge

So I decided that I would go up Old Bristol Hill with them, see how it went and then make a call for the rest of the route. I think it’s safe to say this did not go well. It went well from a Strava point of view to be fair, which is weird, but from a pain perspective? Really not so much so. Doing more of the same was clearly going to be neither a good idea, nor pleasant. So it was time to bail. Chris very kindly volunteered to join me, or escort me, or just generally make sure I got home in one piece. Which I/we did, because by then it was mostly a case of fighting the killer headwind on the flat along the top and then trying not to let it take us by surprise on the way down the Gorge. I wasn’t entirely all together though, and I’m not sure how well I’d have done without the company. Gratitude be due 🙂

Apologies to all for bailing. It’s really not my thing. Mea culpa, but I didn’t really have a choice. Hey, I was still out for a couple of hours, I made it up a big hill, the sun came out, the hills were green, the sky was blue, and the flowers were not all yellow. It was very pretty out there and once again, I’m a survivor 🙂

Cycling time: 2:13
Distance: 33.3 miles
Avg: 15.1 mph
ODO: 9294.2 miles

We just gotta be strong

Dichotomy. Maybe that’s what I am. Or that’s what I was today. Two things which are entirely different. Or maybe it’s more like the angel vs devil on your shoulders thing. There was the cycling me, which felt pretty good, unlike Alan. And the other me who has been happily stabbing me with a pitchfork all day.

Sometimes you can ride your worries away. Sometimes you can ride away from your worries. Although that does tend to involve riding back to them but hey, the break is good. Today riding pushed it away for all but some of the ups, and I didn’t feel the effects of pushing through it all until I stopped doing so. I was pretty happy out there, all told. Maybe I should have stayed on the bike – life’s alway better on the bike. Or at the beach 😉 But beforehand I didn’t think I could do it, and I still did, and that’s just the way it is 🙂

Things go in circles. Or cycles. Well I do anyway 😉

Cycling time: 1:49
Distance: 27.9 miles
Avg: 15.3 mph
ODO: 9260.9 miles

Free to be whatever I choose

Time to ride the bike in the sun and see if the legs were still working. Which they were. On a route that was carefully planned to maximise the use of tailwind across the levels. And it was nice out there, as you can see. I had a good time 🙂

Cycling time: 1:43
Distance: 27.5 miles
Avg: 16.0 mph
ODO: 9002.1 miles

Today is MaxiMe’s birthday so, just for once, that’ll be all for me today. Priorities 🙂

Give up yourself unto the moment

See this? Ok, it’s not an official Col sign. But it’ll do me 🙂 This year’s mental century block had nothing on my enduring Draycott Steep block. I’ve never made it up. Ever. And I’ve been riding a while now. To be fair I’ve not tried that many times. Two or three maybe, and I’ve always had to stop and walk, even if that was sometimes wet road/traffic induced. Nonetheless I’ve never done it. And, due to my dismal prior performance, I wasn’t entirely sure I ever would/could, which is why I’ve been avoiding it. But Alan and I have been meaning to try it again for a while. It was supposed to be today. But last night, with the possibility that he’d have a hangover (he didn’t) and that I’d have earache (I did) I was half expecting us to change our minds about attempting it today. Well we didn’t.

It didn’t necessarily feel like a wise decision. It felt even less wise when, after we stopped post warm-up loop to stash gilets, I coughed my guts up again – this cold is taking a while to clear! But I did want to do it. Or at least try to. We have a habit of doing hills well together, though not actually together as it were. I don’t know if I’d ever summon up the motivation to try it on my own. And I know I wouldn’t want to try it following the usual race snake suspects, who’d be leaving me in their depressing wake. So I guess it was kind of now or never?

The time was now. It seemed as good a time as any. You’d be hard pushed to find a better day to do it too. OK, so we were in pre-sunshine mist. But it was dry. The road was re-surfaced a while back. It was warm enough. And barring the odd considerate vehicle, it was quiet. There was no pressure. And…? Yep, I made it up. All the way up. In one go. It’s long and it’s steep and it’s long and it’s steep! I’d say it nearly killed me, but that would be a tad unnecessarily over-dramatic. It wasn’t quite that bad, but it was bl**dy hard work. Alan had had to take a break near the end of the steepest bit, heart rate you know, but that was probably because he didn’t know the worst was nearly over whereas I did, so I could push on knowing that. To be fair, I just thought he was waiting for me! The higher we got, the sunnier it got, in serendipitously symbolic fashion. And after quite a while, for the first time ever, I conquered Draycott Steep. See this smiley face? Well, ok, you can’t, but even now I’m still mad happy about it 😀

And we didn’t leave it at that which, had I been feeling truly rubbish at the top, had been mooted as an option. But since the sun was out, and the worst was done, it seemed rude not to bathe in the glory for a while. So we went across the top of the Mendips to Burrington Combe, so I could enjoy a good down. And then up through Rowberrow so I could enjoy going down Shipham Hill. I nailed the ups, and I nailed the downs. It turned out to be a pretty awesome ride 🙂

Cycling time: 1:52
Distance: 26.8 miles
Avg: 14.3 mph
ODO: 8877.8 miles

OK, so since Alan had had to stop, and the Steep took his zing away for the rest of the ride, he probably doesn’t agree with me. But I had a great ride, and I couldn’t have done it without him. Thanks mate! We sat in the sunny Square for coffee and cake afterwards, and I did my best not to crow too much. Although I skipped the coffee and went with the more celebratory instead. Well, it is my day off 😉 Woo hoo – I made it up Draycott Steep!!!

These are the contents of my head

Alan and I had a plan to ride today. But the forecast was lousy overall, and ever worse for later in the day, and we don’t really do early. He bailed. However I did want to ride, as the prospect of a third home workout in a row was not appealing. But left to my own devices, as I was, the chances were I would bail too. So I pinged Chris, who happens to be on holiday this week, and as he’d bailed on his long ride plan for the same reasons, we made a Plan B. OK, so it meant an earlier start, but I’ve been sleeping rather a lot later and actually welcomed an excuse to set the alarm. Which would explain why last night I couldn’t get to sleep for feckin’ ages and didn’t get half enough shut eye. Whoever Murphy was, he has a lot to answer for!

So I wasn’t precisely grumpy this morning, but I definitely wasn’t perky. Not after my first coffee, nor even after the second coffee when Chris arrived around 9:30am. I was yawny. Which is not an adjective, but will have to do because it’s what you’re getting and I can’t think of a legitimate alternative that I prefer 😉

So, where to go? Well considering the continuing considerable wind, the sensible thing to do from a motivational point of view was to head out into it so it would be behind us on the way back. With the odd hill because always flat is not good from a training point of view. And since the wind was from the west, we decided to do a seaside loop, starting with Shipham Hill. Who’s stupid idea was that anyway? Ah yes, that would be mine. Still, at least I was warm by the time I reached the top. Not warmed up, but warm 😉 And with that under my belt, I was set for the rest, which turned out to be a little flatter than planned, in a make up the route as you go along way. birthday belt

Some rides are just good rides. Unexpectedly for the most part. Chris did enquire at some point if, due to the way I was pushing on, it was one of those days. Nope. And I wasn’t, even if it seemed that way. It’s just that sometimes your legs have it and sometimes they don’t and today they did. So why was it so good? Good question.

A little while ago, after a good start to the year and post-training camp, I was feeling good. Like maybe I could. And then with this latest flare-up, I’d definitely started to feel less good. Like I couldn’t. And the longer the weather was keeping me off the bike too, the worse that “I can’t” feeling was getting. Even if the reasons I couldn’t weren’t/aren’t my fault, it still put a serious dent in my PMA. So getting out there, and discovering that those miles are still in my legs and actually I still can was just fantastic. A real boost. I felt good, and I had a blast. Even up the hills we did do. And especially when that wind was finally behind us *grin*. Yep, definitely a good ride 🙂

Cycling time: 1:58
Distance: 30 miles
Avg: 15.2 mph
ODO: 8615 miles

According to Strava, when it comes to going uphill, I’m putting in the best times I’ve done in over a year, and I’m still getting better. Which is great! I may have started off the day a little less than cheerful, but I’ve been a shiny happy person ever since 😀

Talking of shiny things, it would appear my birthday gifts all had a certain theme. Hence the belt above, from the mob. And the earrings that my folks bought me from Cycling Jewellery. Both of which I may have had a hand in choosing 😉

Spoke unto the wheel

Ok, so I’m a bit behind. But I’ve been a bit busy. And I had a birthday. Excuses, excuses 😉

But I have been riding, though not as much as I’d like. Still, 600 miles for March ain’t bad, right? 😀

I did a seaside loop last Wednesday, handily combining riding the bike with catching up with my fellow Cyclosport writer and friend Sean who was in Weston-super-Mare for work. Coffee at the New Castle in Kewstoke it was then. And a few miles and a few hills 🙂 sand bay view

Cycling time: 1:59
Distance: 30.4 miles
Avg: 15.3 mph
ODO: 8553.7 miles

And as all birthdays should involve riding the bike, and for once the weather pretty much agreed with me, on Friday I did a coffee run with Chris. Coffee at Sweets then. With a few miles and virtually no hills 😉

Cycling time: 1:53
Distance: 31.3 miles
Avg: 16.6 mph
ODO: 8585 miles

Sadly however this Sunday’s ACG ride didn’t happen. On the basis that if I’m going to lead a ride, it’s probably not all that responsible to lead one into gale force winds and rain. It would have been not just unpleasant but also quite possibly dangerous. As the other riders bailed one by one, it became clear that everyone else agreed, so I called it off. Which came as quite a relief to my Dad, who was over to ride with us before our celebratory Sunday lunch at the The Oakhouse. And I can’t say as I was too disappointed either, as I hate wind! Sometimes you just can’t ride 🙂

In the meantime my next sportive – the Cotswold Spring Classic – is on Easter Monday. And maybe I’ll get out this week, if the wind stops blowing a hoolie that is! Today the postman bought me a whole heap of Clif goodies to test and review, so it looks like Monday’s ride will be well-fuelled for a change 😉 And the pain is still lurking, which is a bit of a worry, but I also have some new shiny pills that kinda work and a few days to get it under control. Result! 🙂

If forever never comes

After a long, late, very enjoyable Friday night at my folks’ place, which involved a serious degree of self-medication as the pain level was rocketing, Saturday morning didn’t really happen. I pretty much slept through it! Which since I had a whole empty weekend to fill, neatly took care of a good few of those hours 😉 And besides which, sleep is good right? It was clearly what my body needed, which is often how it reacts to dealing with the pain anyway. So, no harm done.

However I didn’t want to waste the day entirely, and I was feeling somewhat better (mornings tend to be better than later in the day) so I took myself off walking again once my caffeine levels were topped up. I walked all around Burrington Combe, which I pretty much had to myself, and made it snow. Which was novel *grin*. It was hilly and muddy and cold and damp but none of those things all the time. And I sat on top of the rocks at the highest point and admired the views, rocking the windswept look, and loved it. All of it 🙂

Walking time: 1:19
Distance: 3.5 miles

Ain’t in no hurry

Just a short quick one today. Well, not that quick, but faster than expected 😉 That’ll be because it was flat of course, which seemed somewhat easier than usual. But then usual has been hills of late so it was bound to, by comparison. And the way out to Fairyland was somewhat wind assisted. But then of course the way back wasn’t, so I guess it balanced out. We weren’t in any hurry anyway. It was about shooting that breeze and drinking very good coffee 🙂

Cycling time: 1:46
Distance: 29.2 miles
Avg: 16.5 mph
ODO: 7948.4 miles

Let’s get outside

As ever, the way to clear the head, is to be outside. And these days that often involves Shanks Pony, not the usual steed. Only this time I had company, reluctant or otherwise. Apparently youngest likes going uphill even less than I do 😉 Having done the Gorge walk on Boxing Day, I knew that it wasn’t actually too strenuous or too long, so I didn’t feel too bad about dragging her along in my wake, whilst eldest led the way in his usual slouchy teenager fashion, complete with hoodie 😉

Youngest doesn’t see the point in walking apparently. You should be walking to get somewhere. It is a means to an end, not an activity in itself. To be fair, I used to agree with her, but now I don’t. But then is there a point to cycling? Probably not 😉 Walking is just another form of exercise, another way to be out there and not in here. With views, and weather, and all that lovely perspective-inducing stuff. And once we’d stopped going uphill, fuelled by sherbet lemons, and Nuun, she begrudgingly almost enjoyed herself. Maybe. You gotta love teenagers 😉

Eldest was doing his impression of The Thinker midway. Appearances can be deceptive *grin*. Because if he was really that way inclined, he wouldn’t have decided to run up the next set of steps. This was especially amusing, as not only did he wipe out halfway up, but he didn’t know there are two sets of them and I do *grin*. Aw, bless 😉 It was busier out there this time around, so we passed quite a few people en route. As we passed a couple going down, on those steps up, youngest caused much hilarity by announcing that she’d developed an extreme dislike of stairs *grin*. Yep, still not loving uphill then 😉

We make a pretty awesome triumvirate. In fact we rock 😀 OK, so they’re not entirely converted to the whole walking thing, but we used to do it, and we will be doing it again, whether they like it in principle or not. They enjoyed it in the long run (walk?), which is the important thing. I like walking, and I like spending time with them. Result 🙂

Walking time: 1:35
Distance: 5.3 miles

We nearly ended up at Costa to round things off. But to be honest, I have really good coffee at home, and I’d bought cake earlier. Besides which, at this point, on a Sunday afternoon, a coffee really wasn’t going to cut it. So we popped into the Riverside Inn instead 🙂

Where is that PMA?

Somewhat amazingly, even the Foo Fighters know about PMA. Who knew?

So, where is it? Well, still lurking in there somewhere I think.

I went for a ride with the BK Velo lot this morning. Riding with them tends to scare me. They’re fast, if not furious, and usually draw away into the distance with nary a backward glance, before waiting for me at the top of one incline or another. That doesn’t scare me. I’m plenty used to being left behind. But I tend to find such rides less than enjoyable, and feeling like that on my bike kinda scares me. My tentatively resurgent PMA doesn’t need the bashing. Hey, I’m sure none of that makes any sense, but you fight your demons and I’ll fight mine 😉

But I still got out of bed at 7:15am this morning, so I could meet up with Guy at 8:30am to rendezvous with them in Brent Knoll at 9:00am. Just because something scares me rarely means I won’t do it. Mary Mary, quite contrary, remember?

There were, when it came to it, 5 of us. Myself, Guy, Martyn, James and Paul. After some discussion it was decided we were going to Langport for coffee and back. So off we went. And I think it actually went pretty well. Generally being 2 + 2 + 1 meant I was either mid-group or at the back so could wheelsuck to my heart’s content. Whether it was because Guy is on his way back from real flu, or in deference to my presence, or both, or indeed neither, no-one was hurtling off anywhere. I kept up, other than uphill of course, and luckily there wasn’t too much of that. So, all good. Certainly better than feared. But my mental arithmetic en-route eventually made it clear that the route meant I was going to be out for somewhat longer than I really wanted to be.

So when we got to the bottom of a seriously enjoyable descent somewhere near Moorlinch, I decided I would part company with the guys and head for home. Even if that did mean going up Pedwell Hill. Ok, I could have bailed earlier, but I actually wanted to go up a hill. Well I thought I ought to anyway 😉 And just for once I wasn’t bailing because I felt crap or inferior. I just had places I would rather be today. Priorities. It is increasingly not all about the bike.

Thanks to BKVelo for the company and the consideration. It was good to catch up with them, and I enjoyed it. I did, oddly, even quite enjoy Pedwell Hill. I didn’t enjoy slogging the rest of the way back home into the wind so much, but hey, it’s resistance training right? Strava says I was as snail-like as ever, but these days it’s about how I feel out there, and I felt ok. So there 😛 PMA still on its way back…*fingers crossed*.

Cycling time: 2:39
Distance: 39.5 miles
Avg: 14.9 mph
ODO: 7882.9 miles