Bulbarrow!

Well, I managed to haul my some 15st 8ish up Bulbarrow. I went up the east side which is a 3 mile ascent over some 750 feet. The funny thing is that I lost my bearings and thought I was about to get 'the steep bit'. Wasn't long until I realised I was nearly at the top!!

Bike went lovely with its new schwalbe ultremo ZX's on. I'm too much of a novice to say if they're faster, but they did feel more grippy than the last. 45 miles in total, managed my glucose intake well so didn't run out of energy. I was quite achy tho for the last 10 across shoulders etc. Research seems to suggest that having the shorter stem might be part of the issue, so I've put the other one on and I'll how it goes.

First social club run on Sunday so thatll be a good test.

Nice run

Delightful run this morning. Just under 18 miles, steady pace. Did the spetisbury to Wimborne doing cowgrove lane running easterly.. So nice easy gradient, finished off with radio club road to put in a few little climbs.

Still a few niggles in right ankle, something still feels weird, foot angle maybe? Will experiment with cleat angle a bit.

Shorter stem was a revaluation, much nicer being closer to bars, but standing on hills my knees tap the wahoo cradle.

Still, warming up and everything felt good.

Still can't shift this headache tho.

Bugs

Still off the road.. Stupid sinus headache still with me, on day 4 of antibiotics and it feels a little better but not confident enough to go out. At least weight still seems to be dropping off

On track

On track, a photo by Matt HB on Flickr.

Really chuffed to reach my 15 and a half goal. Decided to take some more off as I still have a good amount round the middle. It's amazing how heavy fat is. Would never have thought that this much off would still leave anything left.

35 miles today

took a trip out to blandford and then to winterborne stickland, but not up the bastard hill from derweston!  Felt a bit rubbish really, still trying to get used to the more higher geared Felt with its roadie setup.  Im sure Ill get there eventually.

I did order a shorter stem today though, its such a long reach to get to the hoods and its pulling my shoulders more than Im comfy with.  Its just over half the length of the current so itll be interesting to see how that works out.

Didnt feel too bad on the ride, but the last drag along the A31 really is a drag.. its very unpleasant with the traffic, I must try to plan a way to avoid that, even if it means going slightly further.

getting to the stage now where Id like to look at clubs.. Arrow's do some in the area, when a social ride pops up that doesnt start from xchurch Ill have to give it a go.

Wish I was fitter.. I guess a more demanding bike setup will push me so its just a case of doing the miles.

Snowy ride

a bad cold has kept me off the bike in the last week, so getting out today was just what was needed.  It was bloody cold though, but as usual, once going I warmed up and didnt notice except for the patches of ice that I had to avoid.

getting used to the road bike is going to take some time.  Not helped by the cold which was making my quad's ache much more than they should have been. 

I was over joyed though to finally fix my numb toes issue.  some BG +++ green specialized footbeds did the trick, although I need to keep an eye on my right ankle as I had some discomfort in it, although oddly it went after a while.

Will retilt the handlebars up a bit tomorrow, reaching so far forward is proving to put too much weight on my wrists and Im getting a little bit of pins and needles in my fingers.  Hopefully thatll help out.

Bit of a sore throat tonight, so hopefully its not the lurgy coming back again.  I might have been pushing it going out today, but I really had to or Id have gone up the wall with frustraition, plus it wasnt fair on Abi and Oli as I was so grumpy.  I really need to learn to relax more, but its so hard at the moment.  Im determined not to go back on the citalopram though, its been nearly a month off it now and its been really hard.

The Light Road Bike

Untitled, a photo by Matt HB on Flickr.

Felt Z6 Carbon. Transformed my road training rides, it feels like cheating.

The Trusty Commuter

crosstrail, a photo by Matt HB on Flickr.

all weathers, but now with more roadie tyres

The story so far..

In October I had a sudden urge to get myself fitter. I decided that as no journey I do is more than 10 miles a bike of the pedal powered variety would be the answer. Enter cycle to work scheme and my new specialized crosstrail.

I did some research and thought that the hybrid would be a good machine to start on, panniers fit no problem and it went big enough for me!

To cut a long story short.. Since that first ride in mid October I've done over 1000 miles and not used the motorbike once. I decided 3 weeks ago to sell the triumph, a bit of a wrench, but she was wasting away. I out some of the money into a nice carbon road bike that I'm now trying to get used to!