....I like sitting down. Sitting down is ace, and less work than standing. I generally don't like to stand, and if I am I much prefer to lean onto something but I digress.
Sitting down is far more elegant and civilised, so why wouldn't one want to travel sitting down. And as far as I can see there are two instances where sitting down would not be favourable. One, where the mechanism for sitting down is disrepair, (e.g. saddle sores) or two, when ones view is restricted by the act of sitting down. Pedaling whilst sitting down is an inconvienence I admit, but sitting down with the wind through your hair and the world whizzing by is well worth it. It's one of the reasons why I like cycling so much. The sitting down is marvelous. And who doesn't want a seat?
It's dark. The rain is falling from the sky like a suicide from a high rise. I may or may not have had more than my fair share of a cloudy amber substance served in half litre glasses (by my calculation I've had about 8). And I've nearly lost a shoe, which if left to the Gids would have been a casualty of war if I had not decided to salmon across a wide 8 lane Munchen junction, screetching 'LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND.'* The way to our hotel, basically a mile long straight line from Theresienwiese (the Oktoberfest park) to Brudermuhlstrabe, is incomprehensible to us and we seem to be locked in a labyrinth of modern shops and ornate Italian style architecture. Every ten seconds I have to stop, and check the mighty Google. Every twelve seconds, I hear the awkward clang and thud of a slow fall of shame, and I turn to see the 6 ft 5' Gids and his bike lying prone on the ground hands still clutching the handlebars wondering how I got so tall. His head is still up right, his eyes locked on mine and his feet still on the pedals. The dulcet tones of chiseled well meaning Germans fill the air: 'You should walk' they say, 'the police will have issue' they say. 'Nahh, I'm fine...' he says, '...as long as we're still moving' he says. We stop at a corner, my bike is slowly scrapping down my own legs and I'm suddenly not strong enough to hold it up. Why is this happening??! Both my feet are planted firmly on the ground, I am standing, and I haven't fallen once! I turn round. My boyfriend is still by all accounts on his bike, but he's rammed it right into the back of mine and doesn't seem to realise this has stopped him and his position is going achingly slow from vertical to horizontal, dragging my bike down with him. Indeed he 'winks and smiles' in a cheery manner at me with a joi de vive of someone living his best if slightly intoxicated life, to the sound of metal bike spokes twanging. For myself, I don't realise I'm intoxicated until the thoughts, 'If I tie up one of the bikes, I'm sure I can drag him by the ankles home'.
NOMMMMM!
Needless to say we're lucky we're both alive, not in the jail, or in therapy. And Munich is an excellent place to visit and cycle. Just don't go to the Oktoberfest at noon, before lunch, intend to have a quick beer before absconding round to see the sights, but in fact, stay in a cosy little corner sandwiched between other friendly welcoming German couples all laderhosen and drindl, toasting you every 5 minutes for the next 8 hours.
The bike I was riding:
An Electra Townie low rider with a killingly wide seat and fat tyres.Turning a corner was like trying to stuff a half inflated mattress into a bag for life.
We'd got them from Mikes Bike Hire, having the previous day done Mikes Bike Tour round Munich - lead by cheery American Bobby (not Robert), whom for the rest of the holiday caused my boyfriend to shake his head mournfully and murmur 'a degree in Entreprenualship'.
The city itself is like visiting an elegant old aunt - there's no rush in her company as there's a twinkle in her eye and a talent for comfortable hospitality. The area where we stayed was equally lovely. Two stops to Marienplatz on the underground and less than ten minutes on the bike. There was plenty of bakeries for a coffee and a thickly buttered pretzel in the morning, with local pubs and restaurants for dinner at night. Riding by the River Isar we'd be led to The English Garden where local surfers would ride the man made rapids piped into the parks streams, and on hot days the students would dip fully clothed in those streams to be swept along to shallower shores.
Lets hear it for the girls!**
We were there the first weekend of Oktoberfest. Which is the last weekend in September and we appeared to catch the last couple of weeks of the summer (if you're going during June-October time make sure you get a hotel room with an air conditioner, not worth going otherwise) so blistering sunshine with the exception of that night. Though if you want a concise list of things to do and know here it is now:
Do Mikes Bike Tours and hire yourself a bike. Even if you're not normally a biker it is perfectly safe and easy to cycle, they have designated bike lanes in their busiest of street and you will miss odd little sights going from Underground to Underground (not that that's a knock against their public transport, it is of course, better than ours.)
They don't do half pints. A small is a half litre and a large is a stein.
If you're veggie expect cream and a dumpling on everything.
Respect the Oktoberfest. The area it's held in is surrounded by residential flats so leave quietly, don't park your bike on their garden railings, and for pity's sake know your limits. If you 'think' you're going to be alright, you're probably not. Leave the bike behind and use public transport. The bikes' will be perfectly alright provided they're locked up properly and you can always wander back in the morning.
Just say no, kids. Just say No!
Do you have any tips for cycling in Munich? Where would you guys recommend as a good holiday destination? Leave your cycling holiday tips below!
Wishing you a safer but just as brilliant holiday.
Prosit!
Jx
*Which is better than 'Don't Mention the War'.
** Sharing that board she's on with what I assumed may have been her mother (or sister), that little girl didn't always jump far enough forward to catch that permanent wave, but when she did she kicked the arse of most of the blokes out there.
Don't forget to subsribe at the button, or you can also join me on Join me on bloglovin', Twitter, and Pinterest (though to be honest I don't Pinterest too much, or at all). Care to leave a comment or a post suggestion? All comments will be answered, unless ofcourse it's spam or an advertisement (it will be deleted).
Why I have really enjoyed Le Tour De France this year.
In no particular order (at least not consciously) :-
1. Tony Martin - watching him time trial the third stage after being milliseconds behind the course leader.
2. Tony Martin again - watching him do a slow awkward and painful fall of shame in the fourth stage, break his collarbone, finish the race, congratulate his team mate, do interviews about the crash, raise a glass to his team in general then go to hospital to get checked out. SERIOUSLY?!?! Show me a footballer that would do that.
3. Peter Sagan - Always the bridesmaid never the bride, but still putting on a show - going for it in the breakaway and giving his best stab at climbing - and watching him fly like green swift down the descents!! If I had testicles, they'd be up in my abdomen. His finishing time and time again in second place yet still turning up for his interviews like he's having the best time of his life (which he probably is) is just... wow.
4. Nairo Quintana - Here's to the short arses! Making it difficult for Froome every step of the way and not doing things by halves. Watching him sling shot on stage 18 (I think?) then power his way up the Alps just to get second place.
5. Froome - I'm warming to him. I'm more inclined to see him as a genetic freak with overly large lungs that a doper, and even with all that aside I did like to see him break a sweat over Nairo getting to the top before him (I know it's not a simple than that - but some time it is).
Don't forget to subsribe at the button, or you can also join me on Join me on bloglovin', Twitter, and Pinterest (though to be honest I don't Pinterest too much, or at all). Care to leave a comment or a post suggestion? All comments will be answered, unless ofcourse it's spam or an advertisement (it will be deleted).
I'm not really a 'joiner'. I'm like a strip of hairy sellotape, I'd like to join things, I want to join things, I feel like I should but when it comes down to it I just can't. Especially when it comes to cycling. I never returned to the Deeside Divas (well, not yet anyway). I went to one CTC meet, and I've yet to return a book I've taken from the library. So, not a joiner*.
This attitude of mine is particularly prevalent when it comes to campaigning in cycling. I know the importance of cycling. First and foremost the impact it's had on my health and thusly my life is far from immeasurable. Due to the exercise as a result of my cycling, sleeping well, eating better, writing, the ability to meet friends and being able to enjoy their company are all achievable. I don't internalise things as much, I have more patience with others, my repetitive thought syndrome is more controllable and I'm able to articulate more of what I want to say. The ability to get out on a more cycle friendly safer road is very important to me. And yet I've been reluctant to stick my oar in, to put my shoulder to the metal, on any sort of campaign.
Why is this? Well, as I've already said, try as I might I'm not a natural partaker in things. But there's also a polemic in a lot of cycling campaigning which sounds like complaining for the sake of complaining. For example, several months ago there was a cycling advert which likened cyclists to horses, not in that we eat hay but that when cars are over taking we need a wide berth (which was the actual 'joke' in the Ad).
(This One)
This ad was eventually banned, and then after a kick up, un-banned but not seen since for a bunch of completely different reasons other than the moaning I found online but to be fair, we all know about how brave folk get hiding behind a computer screen (I for one feel very bolshy).
None the less ,it's this kind of attitude which has put me off, as it is the awful shouty ones screeching about how whatever is done (whether it's a 'concession' or not) is not right because it's not what they said, that get the most notice, and I've never met a cyclist who constantly ran red lights who didn't complain that we're not like Copenhagen (I've yet to meet one who's actually been). It's like the taxi driver who accuses me of being that same red light running cyclist, but then gets all affronted when I tell him does that mean he's the Blue van man who called me a 'Stupid Bitch Cunt' whilst riding on the wrong side of the road because he didn't have enough space to over take me? I digress.
'Whaaa!!!'
The point is, to me, cycle campaigning had always seemed to come through the medium of a sort of lycra clad UKIP. And whilst this has been going on, the 'MAN' (aka. the Government and thus councils) is making a lot of noise about Sustainable transport, leaving the car at home, introducing more cycle lanes, government sponsored ride-a-longs and all sorts of stuff. Don't get me wrong, I have a healthy mistrust of the government and councils alike. I was brought up during the Thatcher era and have seen her gone from something that's put on top of a bonfire, to being described as 'Great' (I always want to add '...but terrible, like Voldemort'). Indeed, the lack of satire in Scottish politics is not due to the inability of comedians to find Scottish politics funny, it's that the politicians are laughable and such stereotypes themselves there's very little else to be said.
But I care about cycling, having cycled more on than off these past 20 years , it is getting better. I want it to get even better. I want to know the government and councils are doing what they say they are, as well as being in a position to be aware of real life changes to roads and neighbourhoods that affect me and others like me. How does someone like me, who's neither a saddle wanking militant hater nor a government sycophant, find their place in cyclings' civic duties?
This Way Only
A quick search on the Google for Cycling Aberdeen resulted in the Aberdeen Cycle Forum, a volunteer group 'seeking to encourage and develop cycling within Aberdeen'. It meets monthly in the Town Hall - the section opened by The Queen none the less - and it was an eye opener. The first meeting of the year concerned an introduction by Nestrans Development Officer (or Rep) Catherine Mackay, and then a run down of the various road works involving either improving or creating new cycle paths. It's this last bit which really surprised me. Aberdeen City Council and various other surrounding councils have, like councils all across the country, been making loud noises with regards to making cycling an everyday travel-useful pursuit. Several areas were under discussion including to my surprise Riverside Drive and Ellon Road. Both roads I use regularly (though to be fair I use the pavement of Ellon Road regularly, you'd have to be off your nut to use the road). I had no idea that the council had undertaken the improvement of the cycleable aspect of these roads. Not only was what they were doing under discussion but also if they'd started it (Riverside Drive they had), how much had been completed and if there were any issues (for example a cumbersome sign going through the Riverside developments telling 'Cyclists Dismount' on a cycle path). There was also discussion on what of the Cycle friendly budget was being used, how it was being used, and where else it was being allocated to (there are a lot of 'No Waiting' and 'No Parking' signs going up).
What was interesting was that all of the participants were volunteers (with the exception of Ms Catherine, the Nestrans rep development officer). The conference room itself was provided by the city council, and there were several other cycling clubs and organisation in a sort of unofficial representation. There was the impression on the whole that not everything would be listened to, but, that day-to-day change could measured by those that used the roads. Indeed, remember this guy:
He was there and reported that since his fall(s) the cycle path has since been gritted!
I'm glad I went. It was interesting, because Councils and Governments are known for promising so many things to a point it's very difficult to know if they've delivered what they're supposed to unless it's a particular promise that directly affects you. Even at that, there's such a malaise that any sort of contention that your average member of the public may have is expected to be ignored.
So if you're interested in what's going on in your area do a quick online search. See what comes up and go for a nosey. Best thing that could happen is you might find a bunch of reasonable niceys trying to make the roads a little safer, getting the council and government to keep their word, and if the worst thing happens and they turn out to be lycra clad mentals, well, you never have to see any of them ever again.
What puts you off getting involved in civil and government issues? What involvement do you have and why do you take part?
Jx
Like and want more of this? Don't forget to subscribe to an e-mail blast, or join me on bloglovin', Twitter, and Pinterest!
As I think I said before I have actually put on about a stone from being on our travels. And there comes a time in everyone's life when they need to admit they're getting older. I'm 36 this year, it's quite old, and the older you get the more muscle you lose so I've decide to work on that. Which leads me to my second thing you do when you're not blogging.
2. Buy cheap sports gear from amazon.
Besides the expense I have no intention of going to the gym in January. Ever. In fact it's not something I would recommend to anyone. It's not a good gym experience. I'm not opposed to joining the gym myself and I have actually missed going to the gym seeing people work out. But don't go in January, go in February since that's when anybody it's been a fad for has jacked it in.
3. Buy cheap sports clothing from Primark!
£3.50 for a sports bra thank you very much! 8 quid for running tights yes please! The same for a purple fleecy and cosy hoodie don't mind if i do! OK, the sports bra is it going to hold you secure but for something to wear under your proper sports bar that you paid 50 quid for, so doesn't get quite as sweaty, so you don't need to wash it quite so often - or perhaps that's just me - saves on wear and tear of your over the shoulder boulder holder.
The general plan is I'm going to do some basic weight training until the end of January, and we've got the Etape Caledonia and the Etap Loch Ness coming up but I really haven't sorted out any dates for that as well as some idea of a program. I'm not going to plan out anything too stringent as anything i do plan out will be fairly loose and changeable, since I can't stick to any sort of regimen at the moment.
I'm also doing this on the blogger app on my android phone using the microphone speech thing. I hope it makes it easier to get pictures from my phone onto my blog pages as that's where I normally keep my photos for the Blog. I am actually doing this in the house and it would be a lot easier on my computer but maybe good for out and about. Though I do think my sentences are a little stifled. What do you guys think? Can you tell?
We went down on Friday and back on Sunday. I had intended to post whilst there which would have been brilliant but my phone didn't have T'interweb.
It was however bloody brilliant! We were in Harewood House, we saw the peloton slide by - I saw Mark Cavendish before he fell over, and Peter Sagan was fixing something on his bike.
Then Chris Froome fell over, poor sod. Then that vegan Contador. So I recon (though to be fair, for every one I've picked so far they've fallen over) it'll be Nibali all the way now, but that giant child Segan has my sympathy. His situation is proving that all the points in the world won't get you a stage win. Particuarly when Kittel's got his eyes on the prize. It's those giant shoulders of his, I'm sure Marcel could hold up bridges with those things, since Segan - who's already a fair size in the general cycling way of things - can't even squeeze past. I swear in the sprint finishes to come, if Peter Segan doesn't get on Stage podium, his pouty lip will get so large they'll be able to sit yon cuddly lion on it.
Still, do you not think it's been really good now the faves have gone? It's really something to watch those sole finishers, I nearly can't watch the last 50 meters, even when they get to a point where the peloton's not going to catch them, as I'm waiting for who ever it is to fall over, get a puncture, or kidnapped by aliens such is my pesimism. Tony Gallopin's stage 11 win particuarly heroic. Well done! I wasn't sure he was going to make it, it was almost heart breaking but then he managed it. They were talking on ITV4 about how going into the mountains people will just gird their places like loins, but I think we might see a few lesser knowns, and possibly a few newbies try for the stage wins in the mountains which is exciting to watch!
What are you guys looking forward to seeing in the Tour this year? Or are there those of you who can't wait until it's over?
So... I'm meeting the Gids and a mate for dinner in town, and naturally I whip out The Brompton. My route is pretty straight forward, up though the bottom half of Old Town, round the back of the Uni down the back of the top end of George Street, round the side of the posh school and I'm more or less there.
When I get to the back of the Uni, a man in a company van (I know the company so if it happens again, you can guess what I'll be doing) drives up along side of me (on a two lane road, with islands) and shouts and swears at me because I moved out of the cycle lane, which ended, and into the normal road area. Then, on the same road, I signal to turn right, and a woman in a volvo takes that moment to try to take me over, to be fair when we make eye contact she moves back again. Then when I'm cutting through the back of George Street, a man who makes a wide turn, stops and tries to tell me it's a one way road. It's not. I have to point out there are no No Entry signs from where I was coming from, nor is there any 'One Way' blue signs from where he came. The 20 mph limit paint work is even marked both sides of the road. Whilst he didn't like being told he was wrong, I wasn't swore at either, so I'll take that as a friendly exchange.
Now, cycling in Aberdeen has got better. This week, when my ankle went and I slipped of my pedal and the guy driving the car behind me (even though he had a face like fizz) waited until I got myself and my bike on the pavement, but there was no shouting or anything. I've been stood at the edge of the road whilst out on a training ride and had folks nice enough to stop and ask me if everything is OK? Is my tyre flat? Am I lost? The answer to that last one is usually 'Yes' but in the fun way, not 'In the desert' kind of way. More people than ever that used to drive cars are on their bikes, so more people are happier to give you more room, wait for adequate space to take you over, and know where and what a bike lane is. It's just... It has to be the weather. The long days... are reverse werewolf's the folks here. Instead of ravenous animalistic behaviour at night, they'd rather passively aggressively, or some times just down aggressively have a go at an easy target. It doesn't figure.
Is there any particular time of year or weather that you find drives people nuts? I think it might just be Aberdeen that does this but it'd be nice to know geogeraphically if this weather type phenomena happens anywhere else.
It's a U bike lock attached to a seat via little Velcro-y tabbie things. I'm talking about these bit here...
How would you, a normal person of possibly quite good intelligence go about taking your lock off the tabby things you were oh so clever to hack onto your bike so's you could carry round that damned heavy lock without having to think about it?
Would you:-
a) Spend seven, that's 7, the number between 6 and 8, (7) months fiddling around with those little tabby things, un-chritchhhing them from the bike, then from the lock, trying to get them through the little bike seat hangy plastic bits,chritchhhing them back together again, only to have to un-chritch them again and have to fiddle and re-chritch them back on to secure the lock,
or would you:
b) Unlock the bike lock, unwind the bike lock rope, slip the u-lock section off those little tabby things, that'll just sit there benignly, just to slip the lock back on again when finished using, never ever having to faff around with those tiresome little tabby things ever again.
Right. That's what I thought. I hope you feel superior.
...these past couple of weeks because I wanted something to write. And after the crappy crappy route of last week, I kind of didn't look at the bike for an entire week. You know I've struggled with getting back in the saddle this year. I just can't seem to get into it, especially now since it's about 12 weeks away (or less!) But I've pulled my socks up and managed 3 turbo training sessions, as well as made proper plans for going out tomorrow.
|The thing is though... and this occurred to me this week, I have no short term goals. Besides from getting the training 'done', and that's a bit hit or miss, I have no 'will make x amount of miles in x amount of time. I really don't want a 'will do x miles by x time' because that will be fruitless, and I have a lot of data but none of it generally means anything to me. I should do a test turbo session - pick a gear, pick a zone and see how far I go. And then once a fortnight see if I'm improving. I'm not good at the gears but so it will either need to be the very top one or the bottom one, but the new turbo trainer does have levels so if I need to make it harder I'll use that.
(extra points if you can tell me where I've nicked that from). It wasn't ace. Bits of it was abject hell. We spent the first four miles running up and down cobbled streets cos we got lost. Then, just as the arm burn was beginning to wear off, we hit a 3 mile road which was at least 6 inches thick with churned mud. Now, you know I hate cycling in mud. The Gidds knows I hate cycling in mud. Even the bike knows I hate cycling in mud. And it agrees with me. It's horrible stuff, sticks to your tires, splats it's way up the bike and then sucks all the energy from your thighs. And you have to actually look at it in order to get through it; it changes, hides sh!t that could brain you, and you spend your time watching it get stickier and uglier than you ever thought possible. Now I'm not a girly girl. I don't mind getting dirty. But ffs I hate that sh!t. Now I had a long time to think about this, because that 3 miles took us another 50 minutes. After that there was another couple of miles of fire track road - not really a road at all, just a dirt track covered by a thick layer of really loose tiny little stones. It was here there was a casualty...
We couldn't remember how to put the route in Garry Garmin so the Giddy Blonde had decided to use his three-day-old-brand-spanking-all-shiny-and-everything-new phone, thinking that since we were really in his neck of the woods we'd be able easily find our way back should the battery die. It was on the little pebble sh!t he fell, riding one handed fingering this thing (I'm not jealous) trying to see when the next turn was happening (not soon enough I can tell you!). He's taken a nasty chunk of skin off his hand (having took his glove off to use the phone) dunted his elbow and grit rashed a 4 inch section on his thigh where he landed, and finally put a hole in his snowboarding jacket (he was wearing a pair of corduroys, snow gloves, and his bright green snowboarding jacket, for an intended 40 mile cycle; sometimes there are no words).
We had a short spit of road and then it was along the Dyce railway line in 20mph head wind, that blew my sunny disposition home, leaving me on that sodding railway line.
When we got back on the road, got to the first major hill, his front gear pranged and that was all she wrote really. On actual proper road it wasn't that bad going, just oh-my-god not our day at all.
The flat gap in the middle is where we went and hid in the Giddy Blonde's mum's house. The flat bit at the end is where I needed a sit down and a shower before me and the bike could look at each other.
So lessons learned:
Remember how to use big G - I think I've written a post actually...
Don't let the Gids pick the route - he's terrified of the big bad roads and had chosen the smaller ones specifically. Never let him choose the route at all - the google car hadn't even been down the one we went down. It even looks dark and forboding - though it didn't have all those trees yesterday but that's how they get you!
Anyhoo. I'm consoling myself that there's a certain steeliness in plugging away at something - next weekend!
I really don't know what's happened to me. I used to go out in all kinds of stupid weather conditions and am still rather enamoured with that idea. Though currently I'm all like, Oooooo... It's a bit icy, lets just stay in...' or '..the wind's horrendous lets not bother.' Something's changed... I think it's because I'm feeling older - and I definitely have been feeling older these past couple of weeks. My 34th birthday is looming. There's so many things I didn't expect to be at this age, like still allergic to chocolate, eczema prone, and still having to work for a living. I wanted to live in a commune where writing was my part time task for the day, and other people did sh!t in fields that made stuff grow that we could all eat.
Really didn't expect to do this cycling lark - but that's a good thing. A house near the beach is another, and a nice wee dug to walk. I'm in two minds on whether to count the Giddy Blonde as a good thing - he's having some kind of silent man tantrum because he's decided to put up those sodding shelves I've been passively aggressively raging about, and I've not helped him. I instead have sat on my arse and worked out how to use the 'Advanced Workout' function on Garry Garmin, made the tin whistle screech and dossed about. He seems to have forgotten the 2 days I spent getting the house ready for his family for Christmas while he melched on the couch, his clean towels and bed linen aren't achieved through the medium of pixies, and his whole 'I'm not going to put shelves up today, what I'll do is I'll unwrap the parts and then leave them out on the couch for 2 weeks so that no one can sit on it and then complain when I loose the screws,' as well as 'My size 13 shoes don't live in the cupboard, they live under the coffee table in the living room, like, all of them, together.'
Ach well, if he wants to spend his weekend in a silent rage I might as well give him something to rage about... which will be a session on the turbo trainer. I've done three of these now. I want to make them more structured, so I've learned how to program the Garmin on the heart rate zones. I'm doing 2 mins sessions in zone 5 which is 90-100% of my heart rate with trying to get my heart rate in zone 2 for the 'resting sessions'. I've also managed to get the wheel pedometer to work so I should see how far I go. It doesn't exactly match road miles but I like being able to see how many miles I've covered. I might set one up with cadence because, as you know, I want to work on that element as well, but I'll see if it works with the heart rate first.
Or I might go for a nap. What would make him angrier..?
So… First 30 miles of the year! Really didn’t think I’d make it when I stepped out. And whilst I was trying to think, having not been on the bike for the past 2 months really – except for that 1 tt session, and the odd glide to work I really have done nothing – I didn’t want to put any pressure on myself but, you know what it’s like when you’re away for while, the brain gets to thinking, ‘wouldn’t it be fab if my average milage went up 3 miles… wouldn’t it be fab if this was stupidly easy…’ which of course it never is.
I set off from our new digs just after 11 but then foolishly went up the back of old town and through Aberdeen Uni (one of the oldest Uni’s in the world – with the cobbled streets that go with it). The shake on my arms was soo bad I ended up getting off the bike and walking for more than half of it, and then p!ssing off the Students trying to use the tiny pavements as I salmoned up them. After some reflection (and been sworn at by a posh man in a scarf) I decided trying to find a better route through town would be much better and ended up picking my way through the Sunday traffic on the more usual route, along King Street and through Union Street.
It was at that point I noticed my Bike Computer wasn’t working so I stopped at Alpine Bikes (this bit's worth it, trust me!). Normally I don’t go to these guys – they have a really good selection of ‘quality’ bike clothes (Endura etc, expensive stuff generally) but their folk aren’t brilliant at customer service – I ordered gloves once and never got the promised call back to go and get them, - and because they have a workshop they really don’t have encourage buying bits for yourself. Never the less, I went in for one of those little magnets that make your bike computer work. They don’t sell them so the guy suggested I check through in the workshop. the guy behind the counter was all like ‘No we found this one the other day… just take it!’ They GAVE ME ONE FOR FREE! I was expecting about £2 possibly. And then coming out of the bikeshop I saw someone going in and I was like ‘OOooo, I feel guilty… what if this was from his bike…’. But that soon worn off.
Eventually I hit the Deeside Railway Line. Perfect day for it – the cloud cover was enough to project shadows across farm land and hills caressed by a gentle mist that took enough shine off the road for perfect visuals. The Railway line did look like it’d taken a bit of a hit from the flooding though. A couple of the banks where they’d built new buildings had collapsed and I ended up walking over a couple of rubble mounds. A few of the areas where the tarmac ends and starts – where they’d put a sort of cement asphalt that get compacted – that had all been kicked up and was like cycling on chuckies (does every one know what I’m talking about there?). I had noticed a couple of better established trails leading off down into the country side, where instead of broken fencing they’d put proper breaks and gateways with signs so that’s really good. Just hope they don’t stop there.
The first 3rd of the journey up the railway – with the 3% rise for about 3 miles, I’m sure I’ve complained about it before, so I’m going to again – was pretty horrendous. And I did have a crisis of confidence, and considered just turning back more than once or twice, or three times, especially at the end of the railway line. When coming off the railway line you go down a really steep road into a hair pin bend, which is under a bridge, so you can’t see round it. Then it’s a mile or two of slow increasingly upward rolling hills which are just murder. I knew they were waiting for me and I really wasn’t arsed, but I stuck with it and kept my head down and I’m very glad I did. After the food of athletes (Cullen Skink), I zoomed back hitting the beach at dusk.
I really don’t know why going out’s so miserable. Is it that I’m not warmed up? Haven’t eaten enough? The lack of company seems to suit me but I wonder I’d be more intune to it if someone else was there today… hrmmm…
The route:
The Stats:
Distance:
29.4 mi
Elevation:
+ 1482 / - 1226 ft
Max Grade
15.0 %
Avg. Grade
0.6 %
Ascent time
01:34:48
Descent time
00:59:45
Moving Time:
02:34:33
Max Speed:
27.3 mph
Avg. Speed:
11.4 mph
Pace:
00:08:51
Moving Pace:
00:05:15
Max Heartrate:
195 bpm
Min Heartrate:
105 bpm
Avg. Heartrate:
170.4 bpm
Heartrate zones:
Zone 1:
43 min
Zone 2:
59 min
Zone 3:
32 min
Zone 4:
1 hour 2 min
Zone 5:
53 min
As to my performance – I think I’ve gotten a smidgen faster. Not much, but considering I spent 20 odd minutes faffing over cobble stones in Old Town, then another 5 picking my way across the rubble on the Deeside line, I recon I’m on the wrong side of two hours and back. Which considering that it’s 30 miles – not bad. Much better than the 10 miles per hour I usually do. But, yes, there is work to do!
On that note – I went out on Luella yesterday, having taken the back carrier and basket off. Now I didn’t feel any difference at all yesterday, but this morning I absolutely flew up a hill I normally struggle on. Me and the Gids commuted this morning and he usually drops me at this low bowl like hill before we even warmed up and I was in his slipstream all the way up! I was really chuffed with that. It may be I’m still warm from yesterday (is that possible?) but taking the extra bits off and just carrying a back pack made a heck of a difference.
...is something I'm not known for. At best I'm shy at my worst I come across as superior and any attempt at banter comes out down right hurtful, and the frustrating thing is I'm lovely. So knowing this I took me and myself down to Deeside Divas last Wednesday, which is run for free by these lovely people here.
On arrival I was 'inspected' then 'dismissed' as non-threatening, and then was I spoken too. Which I kind of expected, the first thing I do when I see someone on a bike, is check the bike - I've not got the 'leave your competitors in the dust' gene so seeing how fit they are isn't a consideration for me per se, but I understand others have that.
I was then spoken to by a man called Tim who was soo tall and lanky he looked like he'd been wrung through a Victorian wringer. He of course was OUR LEADER or COACH. Kind of. I wonder what he gets out of running a group of about 20 women in Lycra? He wasn't very shouty and didn't have any weird demands as OUR LEADER slash COACH and I was most disapointed when he didn't make me do endless sit ups whilst shouting 'NO PAIIINN!!!!!'.
We then headed up Causey Mounth, I intentionally hung back as I didn't want to awe everyone with my mountain climbing prowess, given that Causey Mounth isn't really a mountain and prowess is a term I'm using loosely to mean 'get out of breath a bit sweaty'. We had a little pootle for about a mile to put us in a group as we were doing an AMT (Australian Man Tango - I may have heard that wrong) Session, which is when the 'handicapped' get a two minute start before they unleash the dogs let the other cyclists try to catch up with them.
I of course was in the handicapped group, however I much prefer the term cyclistickly challenged. And I'm very cyclistickly challenged. I managed to keep up on the first lap, was dropped round on the second and ended up going round by myself on the last. With a lot of folk going 'Well done!' for managing a 4 mile route. And me wanting to go 'No!!! Honestly!!! Fuck Off!!! I'm just slow!!! I can do this all day!!! I've done this for 80 miles!!! Six weeks ago!!! According to Garry Garmin I have at least another 60 odd miles in me!!! ' But we weren't doing it all day. We'd only been up there for an hour, and were only going to be there for another 5 minutes at most. Or at least until I caught up with everyone who passed me on my last lap. So I kept my trap shut, and instead consoled myself with 'Well, it would have been disappointing to find myself the fastest. Where's the challenge in that really?'
Starts in:
Aberdeen, Scotland, GB
Distance:
23.9 mi
Elevation:
+ 1355 / - 1450 ft
Max Grade
8.5 %
Avg. Grade
0.9 %
VAM
367 Vm/h
Ascent time
01:07:33
Descent time
00:44:40
Total Duration:
02:19:28
Moving Time:
01:52:13
Stopped Time:
00:27:15
Calories:
609
Avg. Watts:
90 ( with 0s)
Max Speed:
33.4 mph
Avg. Speed:
12.8 mph
Pace:
00:05:50
Moving Pace:
00:04:42
Max Cadence:
117 rpm
Min Cadence:
17 rpm
Avg. Cadence:
63.6 rpm
Max Heartrate:
179 bpm
Min Heartrate:
44 bpm
Avg. Heartrate:
109.2 bpm
Heartrate zones:
Zone 1:
18 min
Zone 2:
10 min
Zone 3:
10 min
Zone 4:
5 min
At least I have somewhere to go. I think I'll go next week as well. I did enjoy myself and I haven't been out much though a bit more prep before hand might be an idea. Defo a snack or something before I leave, I only had a gel snot at the top of CM when he was explaining Alien Mouth Tent.
The metrics are quite interesting. My heart rate seems (in my opinion) to be a bit all over the place, moving time was just under two hours but my zones were just under an hour? Does that mean I wasn't working that hard consistently or that my hr monitor is not working - and as we know I do have misgivings about my heart rate monitor.
I do have other activities to post about but I'm running a bit behind due to other constraints. Myself and the Giddy Blonde have just come back from a weekend in Inverness (where there was some cycling) and where Not So Giddy Blonde may have to have his name changed to 'Mibbies not as Giddy but sure as hell cut from the same cloth Blonde'. Here's a 'Choice' excerpt from my Weekend -
