Three steps forward and two steps back...

Thanks to Kirby we have been re-introduced to some hills and a short route that we have no excuse for not doing in the evenings after work! We set off a week ago on Tuesday for a 20km ride, which I thought would be nice and leisurely. I should have remembered that Kirby's 'not too bad' usually means steep hills that I will struggle to get up and that I'll be red-faced and panting by the time I get to the top! Despite the hills, it was good to be back out and starting to do more challenging rides again. I know we really need to increase our training now, both in terms of the hills and intensity of the rides as well as the length of the rides.


Feeling determined to conquer this, Ant and I set out on the same route again two days later. This time the route didn't seem too bad and not as far as I'd remembered it. Hooray - we're getting back on track! Or so I thought... The next Monday we set out to do the same trip again and I really struggled from start to finish. I felt tired from the start and felt terrified of coming off my bike through the lanes, so I was cycling ridiculously slowly even on relatively easy sections. I was hoping I would get more confident again the more I cycled, but the reverse seems to be happening.

Following that ride I went down with a cold and cough, so I'm hoping it was the onset of the bug that got me down on that ride. We've not done any rides in the last week as we were away at the weekend and I've still been feeling poorly this week. However, in more upbeat news, I am going to collect my new bike tomorrow and we're planning to fit in some more riding this weekend, so fingers crossed it will go swimmingly well (hopefully not literally, having seen the forecast for this weekend!)

I'm afraid I've managed to delete the photos I took on the three rides we did (we did go, honest!) so instead I'm including some photos of our weekends away when we weren't cycling!

Petrifying profiles, a phonecall and a parrot!

The weekend began with a newsletter from the organisers of our London to Paris trip. The sun was shining and we already had an evening ride planned, so the newsletter was initially a welcome e-mail on a Friday afternoon. There are currently 54 people signed up for the trip...details of booking accommodation etc, how exciting! The excitement then turned to worry (and I see it had the same effect on Kate too from her blog...). How are we going to get ourselves and our bikes to Blackheath? Are we really going to be up to speed for the challenge? Our initial briefing will be at 6:15am, which means we need to breakfasted and ready to go before then and ready to set off at 7am. The first day is 87miles with some tricky hills and we've got to be at Dover by 4pm...that is a tall order. 10 miles an hour is managable - but not without a break and not with all those hills! Then there was the page of route profiles...that brought me right back down to earth again.

Anyway, ignoring the seemingly impossible route profile and logistics of the trip, we set out into the sunshine to get on with some training. We headed down to the Turf Locks again, this time out through Exminster to add a bit of a hill and make it a slightly longer route. It was a beautiful evening and we decided to stop for a drink and enjoy the peaceful surroundings...until the phone rang! It was Ant's mum so we had a pleasant chat, finished up our drinks and headed home. The journey back home was excellent! The light was starting to fade, the cycle paths were once again free of families and dog walkers and for the first time I felt able to put some power into my pedals and enjoy speeding along. This may have had more to do with the cider I'd just drunk than any improvement in my knee, but I was having a great time!

On Saturday morning we took a trip out to Bickleigh. Enjoying another beautiful morning and getting an early start so that I could get back for work in the afternoon, we headed out on the road to Stoke Cannon. There was a definite chill in the air, but we soon warmed up and it was lovely to find ourselves in the quiet lanes after passing over the railway line. My legs were feeling tired from the previous night's ride and I was dreading the hills on the main road which had completely beaten me on my first trip out with the CTC. I needn't have worried as we took a couple of wrong turns and it was ages before we made it to the hilly section! The detour gave us the pleasure of entering into the territory of a ploughing competition! Thankfully I think we were too early for that and we didn't have to face lots of tractors in the narrow lanes! The stretch along the main road out to Bickleigh was much longer than I'd remembered. I coped quite well with the first couple of hills, but it got tougher as I went along. However, my spirits were lifted by a whole load of sheep and lambs being herded along by a family and as usual by the promise of a lovely cup of tea!

In Bickleigh I had a few too many cups of tea and the most delicious millionaire's shortbread that I've had in a very long time! It was surprisingly warm sitting out in the sunshine and I was glad I'd thought to put suncream on before heading out. Despite being delighted to have made it and enjoying the wonderful resting spot, we were both all too aware that we still had to cycle back again...with a hill out of Bickleigh to start us off! I took it slowly along the main road and we soon found ourselves back in the lanes again. The journey home seemed a lot shorter, despite a few unsuccessful detours to find a toilet! We were soon back home and enjoying a picnic lunch down by the river. I was very encouraged that I'd been able to manage two fairly decent cycle rides two days in a row. I was also, however, shattered! We'll be continuing with some mid-week rides this week and I'm just going to ignore those pesky profile pictures for now!

Finished with physio & an Inspiring Young Man

I am delighted to announce that I had my last physio appointment today! Hoorah!!

Although I still need to continue with some strengthening exercises, my knee is almost mended and I don't need to go back to the physio again unless I have any unexpected problems. This is fantastic news and now I know I can really start to build up my exercise routine again. I did an aqua aerobics class last week and I'm planning to go again this week, as well as continuing to cycle as much as possible, whether that's out on the bike, or in the gym when time and the weather are against me.

Also, I've just realised that I forgot to mention our trip up to Barnstaple last week to see Mark Beaumont. This amazing chap, also know as 'The Man Who Cycled the World', broke the World Record for cycling around the world. He has also just returned from a trip cycling across the Americas. His documentary of the Americas trip is currently being shown on the BBC and I would highly recommend watching it if you get chance. It did make me feel as though my efforts to cycle just 30o miles are bit pathetic in comparison, but everyone's got to start somewhere! Mark started with a cycle across Scotland aged just 11 years old and then did an End to End ride at just 15! It's fantastic to see someone so inspiring and I can't wait to see what adventures he comes up with next! For more info, visit Mark's website at: http://www.markbeaumontonline.com/mbo/

Bought a Bike!!!

I have finally bought a bike!!

Last week I took Specialized bike with a carbon fibre frame for a test ride. I had no intention of buying it, but I was trying it for size. I also had road tyres put on it as the first time I'd tried a Specialized bike, I found it a bit slow going. The carbon fibre frame was not surprisingly a lovely bike to ride and it seemed to be a good fit, so the Bike Shed ordered in a slightly less posh version in my size! On Saturday I went in to try the Specialized Tricross Sport. It obviously wasn't quite so light and nippy, but on the whole it seemed like a nice bike to ride, so I decided to go for it. Eeeek! It was all a bit scary and it's a bit of a long way from the steel touring bike in racing green that I'd had in mind, but hopefully this will be a solution that will work for me. I chose new tyres, a rack and panniers to kit out the bike ready for our trip at the end of May, so fingers crossed I'll be ready in time! Unfortunately I couldn't bring it home with me as I'm putting it through the cycle scheme...but hopefully I'll have my nice new shiny bike soon.

We took a short trip out to Topsham yesterday. Unfortunately we decided to go a bit later as the forecast was for heavy showers which would be clearing later. We left a bit later having not seen any showers and made our way out to Topsham. The ride out went fairly smoothly and we seemed to be there in no time, which was great. We sat on the Quayside for a bit appreciating the warmth of the sunshine and watching the ducks waddle by. Just as we decided to move on and lock our bikes up to have a wander around town, the weather started changing and it suddenly became very cold. We had a look around a few shops and then headed into Route 2 for some coffee and cake. Yum! We took a back road out of Topsham as Ant had promised me it was a bit more hilly...lucky me! The route was fine, although I was finding I was feeling nervous on downhill sections where the road wasn't too smooth. As my initial rides were all on the flat, I hadn't realised that I had lost so much confidence, so I'm going to have to try and get over that as quickly as possible - especially when changing to a new bike which is going to be more bumpy than my mountain bike! As we came past the Double Locks, the rain poured down and we got absolutely soaked. I arrived back cold and wet and wondering why I'm so determined to put myself through all this. The weather is looking nicer for today though, so hopefully we can get out and enjoy some more pleasant riding! I had hoped to rejoin the CTC rides again this weekend, but although I am building up the distances I can cycle, I am still just far too slow and would never be able to keep up with the group. It's going to take a lot longer than I'd hoped to get back up the level we were cycling at before and I'm beginning to realise just what a challenge we have up ahead. Hopefully with some lighter nights, better weather and the arrival of my new bike, I'll start to enjoy going out cycling a bit more.

28th March - Exmouth

Following the success of the ride to the Turf Locks, I decided I needed to do another long ride and one which included some hills. We decided to head towards Exmouth as it's a route we've done a few times and which definitely includes some hills along the way!

We set off late morning and headed out towards Clyst St Mary. Despite the forecast being for heavy rain, the weather was holding so I was keen to carry on and get as far as we could. I thought I was doing quite well until we were overtaken by two cyclists speeding up the hill past us calling out a chirpy 'good morning'. Determined to keep on, we carried on through Woodbury and out to Lympstone to join the cycle path into Exmouth. At this stage I thought I'd made it as we'd conquered some hills and it was all flat into Exmouth from here. However, I really struggled along this last section. I was really starting to tire and the path seemed a lot longer than I'd remembered it!

Fortunately we were soon heading along the road towards Exmouth station. We needed to get back to Exeter for a birthday do, so I went and asked about the possibility of putting our bikes on the train to go back. The guard was happy for us to do that and although there was a train due, we decided to wait an hour for the next one so that we could go down to the sea front and enjoy our sandwiches by the sea. Arriving on the sea front I felt delighted that we'd made it and felt re-energised after some lunch and a nice warming cup of hot chocolate.

Arriving back at the train station we got our bikes settled on the train and then looked out of the window to see another four people with bikes heading up the platform. We are extremely grateful to the nice ticket man on the train who decided that everyone could put their bikes on the train as long as we shared the space nicely! Normally they only let two bikes on at a time, but as the train was quiet, he wasn't too bothered. Phew!

Sitting on the train, I started to feel really tired and I was glad we weren't cycling back again. The weather had started to turn, it was getting cold and the predicted rain had arrived. Cycling back from the station to home felt like a real struggle, despite being a short flat ride. I was tired and had probably reached my limit for the time being. After showering, we headed off to the party and I felt completely exhausted - but that was nothing that couldn't be fixed by a nice cup of tea and a generous helping of birthday cake! (Thanks Holly!)

March Update: Bike Shops and Short Rides

It's been a while since I posted. This is mostly because we've been spending our weekends visiting bike shops rather getting out on the bikes! I've been trying to find a new bike that will be suitable for touring and for using on the road. This turned out to be more difficult than I ever thought it woul be!

I had never planned to go for a bike with drop handlebars, so after my initial search on the internet, I thought I would want to go for the Dawes Karakum as this is a ladies specific touring bike and it comes with butterfly bars. Unfortunately after test riding it just once, I decided I didn't like it very much! Also, after having tried Ant's bike with its drop handlebars, I found I actually quite enjoyed it and decided not to rule this option out. This gave me more options, but still surprisingly few as it turned out. My main problem has been finding a suitable bike with a small enough frame for me to be able to reach the handlebars.

To begin with I was focusing on the Claud Butler Dalesman as I really liked Ant's bike and it was a good deal! Unfortunately despite lots of efforts from the guys in the Bike Shed to shorten stems and bring the handlebars within more manageable reach, we finally decided that the bike was just too big for me. So, it was back to the drawing board again and back to the Bike Shops again...

In the meantime, we had been trying to get out on small rides, but we didn't have a lot of day light hours left by the time I'd been touring the bike shops! One chilly evening after an unsuccessful day, we decided we'd go for a ride down to the Swing Bridge and back so that Ant could try his new bike and I could start building up my cycling a bit more. I was feeling really comfortable on my bike, so decided to carry on for a bit and we went all the way down to the Turf Locks. I was a bit worried the light might fade before we got back, but the trip rewarded us with beautifully lit scenes, a lovely sunset and some wonderful wildlife. This is why I love cycling...roll on some summer weather!

Coming back from the Turf Locks was much harder work as we were against the wind and after a short stop at Turf, my knee was starting to hurt again. However, back at the Swing Bridge, I swapped onto Ant's bike. Despite the bike being too big for me, it's just so much fun to ride! The lighter bike and easier peddalling helped me back towards the Quay, where we swapped bikes again so Ant could battle with the small children and dogs on the narrow bridges! I was glad to make it back home, but also glad to be out cycling again and getting on the mend and hopeful that once I finally decide on a new bike, the cycling will get much easier!