I really don't know where the time goes!
Must try and make time to update this blog more than every 2 months.
Have had a good couple of months, no events completed due to a number of very boring reasons but a fair bit of training done.
In fact over the last 2 months I have spent more time on the road bike than the mountain bike - shock horror and that does not include the turbo!! The main reason for this has been that I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather we have had recently to get some road miles in.
The training has however been mostly run related and this will continue until December when I will be taking part in the Original Grim Challenge. The event is a 8 mile cross country race over the Army training grounds between Aldershot and Fleet.
Once this is completed, I will be entering into a mountain bike focus period for the Gorrick Spring Mountain Bike cross country races in the New Year. This will include 10 days up in Scotland over Christmas and New Year, most of which will be spent within a few miles of the Nevis Range mountain bike trails.
Outside of training I have also started looking into getting a GPS unit for the bikes, there is such an array to choose from, it makes it quite difficult to decide. Current issue is whether to get something I can use for both running and cycling or whether I want to be able to view GPS mapping as I ride.
I have also been fancying a fixed wheel road bike for the winter - should make maintenance so much easier and hopefully give me better fitness gains. I currently have a specialized road bike in the garage which has not been used in a long time so am considering converting it to fixed/singlespeed/flip flop. I think it will be an interesting experiment, just need to finish my investigations first.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Thursday, 9 September 2010
I'm back
wow, has it really been 4 months since I last updated this blog - time does fly when you are having fun.
I'm not going to try and cover everything that has gone on since May, but suffice to say it has involved quite a bit of time on the bike.
I have taken part in a number of events: 1 triathlon and a number of mountain bike events with varying degrees of success. From the lows of crashing out on lap 1 on a 4 hour mtn bike event to the highs of completing 6 hours (my target) at the 12:12 Torq In Your Sleep event.
Am now concentrating on the events I have left this year plus getting a bit of practice at riding in the dark.
My event schedule for the rest of the year looks a bit like this:
25th Sep XTD off road duathlon at Hawley Lake
3rd Oct TrailTrax Navigator - Surrey Hills - orienteering by mountain bike I believe
31st Oct Test Valley Tour Cool Challenge Offroad - I did the Hot Challenge back in May and really enjoyed it.
14th Nov Gorrick Autumn Classic 2 at Crowthrone
28th Nov Merida Brass Monkeys Winter Enduro Series 1
Thoughts of course start whirring around the head for the next year, where my A event will be the 1212 enduro, this time I will ride for the full 12 hours.
It is also looking likely that we will be up near Fort William for a week over New Year, so fingers crossed that we don't have too much snow.
I'm not going to try and cover everything that has gone on since May, but suffice to say it has involved quite a bit of time on the bike.
I have taken part in a number of events: 1 triathlon and a number of mountain bike events with varying degrees of success. From the lows of crashing out on lap 1 on a 4 hour mtn bike event to the highs of completing 6 hours (my target) at the 12:12 Torq In Your Sleep event.
Am now concentrating on the events I have left this year plus getting a bit of practice at riding in the dark.
My event schedule for the rest of the year looks a bit like this:
25th Sep XTD off road duathlon at Hawley Lake
3rd Oct TrailTrax Navigator - Surrey Hills - orienteering by mountain bike I believe
31st Oct Test Valley Tour Cool Challenge Offroad - I did the Hot Challenge back in May and really enjoyed it.
14th Nov Gorrick Autumn Classic 2 at Crowthrone
28th Nov Merida Brass Monkeys Winter Enduro Series 1
Thoughts of course start whirring around the head for the next year, where my A event will be the 1212 enduro, this time I will ride for the full 12 hours.
It is also looking likely that we will be up near Fort William for a week over New Year, so fingers crossed that we don't have too much snow.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
A move to the dark side.
First of all I must apologise for the lack of pictures in this update, I am writing this at work and will add the pictures once I get home tonight.
Well the new bike arrived and the past few weeks have seen me pretty much use it exclusively, somehow the road bikes just cannot compete with off road riding.
After a few bimbles along the canal to check that all the bits were working, we headed over to Minley Manor (a local off road riding area) to have a bit of fun on something more serious. About 20 mins into riding and the first puncture, also left a fairly sizeable hole in the tyre - good job I had some new tyres at home!!. Puncture was dealt with a the tyre survived the rest of the ride and trip home.
I have now decided to do some mountain bike events this year.
My first event was last Sunday, a XC mountain bike race at Deepcut. With barely any recent singletrack riding behind me I was not sure whether it was a wise idea or not, but decided to give it a go in one of the fun races.
Lined up at the start and saw I was the only female in the race - excellent a debut victory!!! The race began with a straight and corner on a fire road and then the singletrack arrived. It was great fun, though hard work and the grin did not leave my face for the entire ride. It came as rather a shock when completely knackered I discovered I was not yet half way round!! I got a second wind though and in general the second half of the lap was not as tough as the first, or so I thought. Nearing the finish was a steep downhill with a ditch at the bottom before a climb back up, I headed down and decided to give getting across the ditch a go, I was too slow and that only meant one thing!! The front wheel caught and stopped, I of course continued to move forwards with a graceful flight over the handlebars. No damage done and after untangling the bike it was off up the steep climb and towards the finish. One of the guys in the crowd set he would get the footage onto youtube but as yet I have not found it.
Overall the race was great fun if hard work, I am really looking forward to giving the full autumn series a go later in the year.
I have a few more events lined up over the summer:
23/05/2010 - Test Valley Tour Hot MTB Challenge (80km around north west Hampshire)
13/06/2010 - Henley-on-Thames triathlon (sprint tri - I really must do some swimming)
04/07/2010 - Army Cycling Union Are You Tough Enough (4 hour MTB enduro event)
29/08/2010 - Torq 12:12 TORQ In Your Sleep (12 hour MTB enduro event)
25/09/2010 - XTD (off road duathlon)
So the next few months are going to spent off road riding as much as possible, not sure how often the road bikes will get an airing.
Need to purchase some decent lighting options soon so I can practice some night riding in the woods prior to the August enduro. Thanks to redbikes for the info on lights, it helped a lot.
So it looks like I am moving to the dark side, the house move has put us within a few miles of numerous off road riding areas and with 3 XC race series a year within 10 miles of my house, it seems daft not to get involved.
Well the new bike arrived and the past few weeks have seen me pretty much use it exclusively, somehow the road bikes just cannot compete with off road riding.
After a few bimbles along the canal to check that all the bits were working, we headed over to Minley Manor (a local off road riding area) to have a bit of fun on something more serious. About 20 mins into riding and the first puncture, also left a fairly sizeable hole in the tyre - good job I had some new tyres at home!!. Puncture was dealt with a the tyre survived the rest of the ride and trip home.
I have now decided to do some mountain bike events this year.
My first event was last Sunday, a XC mountain bike race at Deepcut. With barely any recent singletrack riding behind me I was not sure whether it was a wise idea or not, but decided to give it a go in one of the fun races.
Lined up at the start and saw I was the only female in the race - excellent a debut victory!!! The race began with a straight and corner on a fire road and then the singletrack arrived. It was great fun, though hard work and the grin did not leave my face for the entire ride. It came as rather a shock when completely knackered I discovered I was not yet half way round!! I got a second wind though and in general the second half of the lap was not as tough as the first, or so I thought. Nearing the finish was a steep downhill with a ditch at the bottom before a climb back up, I headed down and decided to give getting across the ditch a go, I was too slow and that only meant one thing!! The front wheel caught and stopped, I of course continued to move forwards with a graceful flight over the handlebars. No damage done and after untangling the bike it was off up the steep climb and towards the finish. One of the guys in the crowd set he would get the footage onto youtube but as yet I have not found it.
Overall the race was great fun if hard work, I am really looking forward to giving the full autumn series a go later in the year.
I have a few more events lined up over the summer:
23/05/2010 - Test Valley Tour Hot MTB Challenge (80km around north west Hampshire)
13/06/2010 - Henley-on-Thames triathlon (sprint tri - I really must do some swimming)
04/07/2010 - Army Cycling Union Are You Tough Enough (4 hour MTB enduro event)
29/08/2010 - Torq 12:12 TORQ In Your Sleep (12 hour MTB enduro event)
25/09/2010 - XTD (off road duathlon)
So the next few months are going to spent off road riding as much as possible, not sure how often the road bikes will get an airing.
Need to purchase some decent lighting options soon so I can practice some night riding in the woods prior to the August enduro. Thanks to redbikes for the info on lights, it helped a lot.
So it looks like I am moving to the dark side, the house move has put us within a few miles of numerous off road riding areas and with 3 XC race series a year within 10 miles of my house, it seems daft not to get involved.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Change of Plans
As usual I have not been great at updating the blog. Been pretty busy with a number of things going on so it had slipped my mind.
My event plans for this year have changed quite a bit over the last week or so.
I am no longer doing the Winchester Fast Twitch Tri as it has a 6 mile run which is too far for me with the current levels of training - don't want to push the knee too hard too quickly.
Unfortunately I did not get an entry for the local Hart tri as it was sold out.
I am instead doing the Henley on Thames tri in June and have sent off an entry for the Salisbury tri in May.
I had an entry for the Hampshire Hilly Hundred in May, due to the size of the waiting list the organisers offered the option to defer entry to next year for no charge, as a 100 mile sportive does not really fit in to my event plans this year I have taken up this offer.
I have also entered an off road duathlon in September which combines cross country running and mountain biking. Due to entering this event, coupled with the aim to start mountain bike racing in autumn and Evans doing a 10% discount on bikes over Easter, I have bought a new mountain bike. Oops!! So currently waiting for the call to go an pick up my new Specialized Rockhopper SL. With the forecast for the weekend looking great I am looking forward to getting the new bike out for a play.
My event plans for this year have changed quite a bit over the last week or so.
I am no longer doing the Winchester Fast Twitch Tri as it has a 6 mile run which is too far for me with the current levels of training - don't want to push the knee too hard too quickly.
Unfortunately I did not get an entry for the local Hart tri as it was sold out.
I am instead doing the Henley on Thames tri in June and have sent off an entry for the Salisbury tri in May.
I had an entry for the Hampshire Hilly Hundred in May, due to the size of the waiting list the organisers offered the option to defer entry to next year for no charge, as a 100 mile sportive does not really fit in to my event plans this year I have taken up this offer.
I have also entered an off road duathlon in September which combines cross country running and mountain biking. Due to entering this event, coupled with the aim to start mountain bike racing in autumn and Evans doing a 10% discount on bikes over Easter, I have bought a new mountain bike. Oops!! So currently waiting for the call to go an pick up my new Specialized Rockhopper SL. With the forecast for the weekend looking great I am looking forward to getting the new bike out for a play.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Still here
A rather long pause between blog entries again.
Been really busy since the last update both work and training wise.
Unfortunately I have been on call at work a fair amount recently which does limit time outside on the bike as I have to remain within 10-15 mins of the house. This was most annoying this weekend as the weather was great.
I have managed a few outdoor rides though including a pleasant 44 miles in the sun a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed being outside again and it was good to test out the new gloves and overshoes and even better to return home getting on for 3 hours later with toasty fingers and toes!
The training has mainly been focused around running though, knee seems good, the odd twinge but nothing that some decent stretching can't fix.
The big aim for this week is to get back in the pool again as it is less than 2 months until the first tri of the season and I have some front crawl to learn!
Hoping this good weather will keep around until the weekend so I can get out and ride in the sunshine. I do need to start getting in some regular long rides before the Hampshire Hilly Hundred in May. The event is now full, with 700 riders signed up plus over an hundred on a wait list, should be great fun.
Been really busy since the last update both work and training wise.
Unfortunately I have been on call at work a fair amount recently which does limit time outside on the bike as I have to remain within 10-15 mins of the house. This was most annoying this weekend as the weather was great.
I have managed a few outdoor rides though including a pleasant 44 miles in the sun a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed being outside again and it was good to test out the new gloves and overshoes and even better to return home getting on for 3 hours later with toasty fingers and toes!
The training has mainly been focused around running though, knee seems good, the odd twinge but nothing that some decent stretching can't fix.
The big aim for this week is to get back in the pool again as it is less than 2 months until the first tri of the season and I have some front crawl to learn!
Hoping this good weather will keep around until the weekend so I can get out and ride in the sunshine. I do need to start getting in some regular long rides before the Hampshire Hilly Hundred in May. The event is now full, with 700 riders signed up plus over an hundred on a wait list, should be great fun.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
another sportive found
Had a bit of a mixed week.
Knee started to give me a bit of pain last week, handily though I was at the physio on Friday, who said it was nothing to worry about. Looks like I just went a little hard on the last run I did. Physio is happy enough with how things are going and has left me to my own devices for 2 months, hopefully when I go back it will just to be formally discharged. Now I just need to keep the intensity of the training sessions low for the next wee while and ensure I do my stretching after each session to stop things getting tight.
So had a few days off at the end of last week, just stretching to loosen things off again.
This allowed me to finish off most of the unpacking and create enough room in the garage for a turbo den. I also finally got round to getting a set of pedals for the Specialized so that I can use it on the turbo instead of the Boardman. Had an easy 40 mins on the turbo on Sunday afternoon. Was a great day and would have be nice to get out on the roads but I was on call so the garage was my only option.
The rest of this week has gone fine with another turbo session and a couple of easy runs and I'm planning on going swimming tomorrow. The plan is to get out on the road either Sat or Sun for a couple of hours - hopefully the weather will not get in the way of the plan.
As an aside I was looking for another sportive event to do after my DNS in the Hell of The Ashdown and have decided to do the Hampshire Hilly Hundred in May. Although I work near the start of this event, I don't really know any of the area at all so it should make for an enjoyable Sunday ride. Just looking for an event or two in July/August time and that will be the summer season planned.
Knee started to give me a bit of pain last week, handily though I was at the physio on Friday, who said it was nothing to worry about. Looks like I just went a little hard on the last run I did. Physio is happy enough with how things are going and has left me to my own devices for 2 months, hopefully when I go back it will just to be formally discharged. Now I just need to keep the intensity of the training sessions low for the next wee while and ensure I do my stretching after each session to stop things getting tight.
So had a few days off at the end of last week, just stretching to loosen things off again.
This allowed me to finish off most of the unpacking and create enough room in the garage for a turbo den. I also finally got round to getting a set of pedals for the Specialized so that I can use it on the turbo instead of the Boardman. Had an easy 40 mins on the turbo on Sunday afternoon. Was a great day and would have be nice to get out on the roads but I was on call so the garage was my only option.
The rest of this week has gone fine with another turbo session and a couple of easy runs and I'm planning on going swimming tomorrow. The plan is to get out on the road either Sat or Sun for a couple of hours - hopefully the weather will not get in the way of the plan.
As an aside I was looking for another sportive event to do after my DNS in the Hell of The Ashdown and have decided to do the Hampshire Hilly Hundred in May. Although I work near the start of this event, I don't really know any of the area at all so it should make for an enjoyable Sunday ride. Just looking for an event or two in July/August time and that will be the summer season planned.
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Running everywhere
Has been a good last week of January training wise.
Mainly running, as I have not yet found which box the swimming kit is in and there is no space in the garage to set the turbos up yet.
So in total I went running 4 times last week, 3 times on the road and once off road around Fleet Pond, which was really nice. The knee problem appears to be fine, but I can still feel some issues with the quad extender into the knee cap. I think it may just be caused by tightness further up the quad. I'm back at the physio on Friday so we will see what he says, I was hoping to be discharged, but perhaps I will need to use the final authorised session.
DNS the Hell of the Ashdown sportive in Sunday as planned, shame as it was a nice sunny day, although reading some of the reports of spills due to the icy conditions makes me glad I did not venture out. Instead I headed out on the mountain bike on Saturday with the husband to explore the area around our new house. It was great fun, 3 mins from the house and we were offroad, with no need to cycle on the road again till we came home (disclaimer: we did have to cross the occasional road). Great fun on a mixture of tracks, from wide landrover tracks, to single track through trees and the Army High Speed Test Track, great fun cycling through the puddles. We only managed to explore a short section of the available off road and I'm really looking forward to exploring further as time goes on.
Have decided on a few changes for this years aims, the tri down in Cornwall is out due to the holiday plans changing. Instead I will be looking for a couple of sportives to complement 2/3 sprint tris and a couple running races to keep me busy through the summer months, then thinking about some mountain bike races in the autumn.
Mainly running, as I have not yet found which box the swimming kit is in and there is no space in the garage to set the turbos up yet.
So in total I went running 4 times last week, 3 times on the road and once off road around Fleet Pond, which was really nice. The knee problem appears to be fine, but I can still feel some issues with the quad extender into the knee cap. I think it may just be caused by tightness further up the quad. I'm back at the physio on Friday so we will see what he says, I was hoping to be discharged, but perhaps I will need to use the final authorised session.
DNS the Hell of the Ashdown sportive in Sunday as planned, shame as it was a nice sunny day, although reading some of the reports of spills due to the icy conditions makes me glad I did not venture out. Instead I headed out on the mountain bike on Saturday with the husband to explore the area around our new house. It was great fun, 3 mins from the house and we were offroad, with no need to cycle on the road again till we came home (disclaimer: we did have to cross the occasional road). Great fun on a mixture of tracks, from wide landrover tracks, to single track through trees and the Army High Speed Test Track, great fun cycling through the puddles. We only managed to explore a short section of the available off road and I'm really looking forward to exploring further as time goes on.
Have decided on a few changes for this years aims, the tri down in Cornwall is out due to the holiday plans changing. Instead I will be looking for a couple of sportives to complement 2/3 sprint tris and a couple running races to keep me busy through the summer months, then thinking about some mountain bike races in the autumn.
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Quick Update
Again I have managed to leave it 2 weeks before an update, I do have a good excuse this time though!!
Not much training recently, just a couple of turbos and runs since that last update.
Main reason behind this has been down to moving house, unfortunately those boxes do not pack themselves. I also had a quick trip up to Perth last weekend to see the St Johnstone v Aberdeen game, which then got postponed!! Still it was good to catch up with people up north.
House move has now been more or less completed, a few bits and bobs left to move then a weekend of cleaning - deep joy. Then just all the boxes to unpack and get the new turbo dungeon setup in the garage.
A change to my event schedule this year is that i have decided to scratch The Hell of The Ashdown, I have only had 2 outdoor rides since October due to knee rehab and the event has just come a little too soon for me. I'm sure I could probably get round it but a hilly 110km is not in the training plan just yet. It's a shame as it looks a great event, but there is always 2011.
Not much training recently, just a couple of turbos and runs since that last update.
Main reason behind this has been down to moving house, unfortunately those boxes do not pack themselves. I also had a quick trip up to Perth last weekend to see the St Johnstone v Aberdeen game, which then got postponed!! Still it was good to catch up with people up north.
House move has now been more or less completed, a few bits and bobs left to move then a weekend of cleaning - deep joy. Then just all the boxes to unpack and get the new turbo dungeon setup in the garage.
A change to my event schedule this year is that i have decided to scratch The Hell of The Ashdown, I have only had 2 outdoor rides since October due to knee rehab and the event has just come a little too soon for me. I'm sure I could probably get round it but a hilly 110km is not in the training plan just yet. It's a shame as it looks a great event, but there is always 2011.
Thursday, 7 January 2010
A new year
Happy New Year to anyody reading this blog.
Had a really good festive period which started with an early present from my physio by getting the go ahead to start running again. Unfortunately a bout of cramp earlier that week saw me hang on a little longer before venturing out.
Managed to avoid the major snow on the drive to Scotland for Christmas and had a really nice few days with the mother-in-law. Had planned my first run for Christmas day, but chose to postpone due to the icy conditions. First run put back to the 27th and again foiled, this time by the fresh foot of snow outside. Headed up to the highlands for new year which was fantastic, very cold (max temps of -7 during the day) but nice and sunny. No use for cycling but did manage my first run, offroad in the snow with my mum with some spectacular scenery. Much of the week was spent walking.
back to work this week and the new plan for 2010. Mondays run was successfully if very slow, a decent turbo session on Tuesday, I postponed yesterdays run again due to a foot of fresh snow (can't believe I have typed that twice in one blog entry). Was hoping to get out on the bike this weekend, but the current amount of snow on the roads coupled with the low temps and fresh snow forecast over the next few days, it is starting to look a bit like a turbotastic weekend.
Had a really good festive period which started with an early present from my physio by getting the go ahead to start running again. Unfortunately a bout of cramp earlier that week saw me hang on a little longer before venturing out.
Managed to avoid the major snow on the drive to Scotland for Christmas and had a really nice few days with the mother-in-law. Had planned my first run for Christmas day, but chose to postpone due to the icy conditions. First run put back to the 27th and again foiled, this time by the fresh foot of snow outside. Headed up to the highlands for new year which was fantastic, very cold (max temps of -7 during the day) but nice and sunny. No use for cycling but did manage my first run, offroad in the snow with my mum with some spectacular scenery. Much of the week was spent walking.
back to work this week and the new plan for 2010. Mondays run was successfully if very slow, a decent turbo session on Tuesday, I postponed yesterdays run again due to a foot of fresh snow (can't believe I have typed that twice in one blog entry). Was hoping to get out on the bike this weekend, but the current amount of snow on the roads coupled with the low temps and fresh snow forecast over the next few days, it is starting to look a bit like a turbotastic weekend.
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