RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY

The weather recently has reminded me of when we made the first attempt to ride the Coast 2 Coast, rain and floods – needless to say I’ve not been out on my bike in it!

I’m hoping the prolonged period of rain is nature getting the most out the last few days of the ‘wet’ 2012, a year when rain and floods were the talk of most people.

While April is the current month when we hope to take on the Coast 2 Coast bike ride in 2013, the weather will play a part in our planning and strategy.

It looks like we’ll have a support team who will help make the trip a friends’ holiday as well as a charity bike ride. This should help with transporting equipment and by shortening the length of the ride each day, we hope to complete it whatever the weather.

Training will start after Christmas and before 2013 starts, so we’ll be, or rather I will be, in the best fitness possible for the ride.

I’ll be getting help from the medical profession to ensure my back and hip problems are dealt with by correct exercise, as this is something I know could have a negative effect on the ride.

So here’s to a drier 2013, in particular in April, and a chance to successfully complete the Coast 2 Coast bike ride!

COLD WINTER WEATHER NOT THE BEST TRAINING CONDITIONS

The most frustrating thing about winter weather is the ice that coats the lanes around my house that ensures days out on my bike are restricted, unless I want to risk injury!

Luckily there are a few days that allow cycling, albeit during weekends or the odd day when I’m on holiday.

The daylight is limited to just seven hours a day at the moment, although with dawn, dusk and generally darker days included that can reduce it by an hour or so.

At this moment in time it seems the next attempt to complete the Coast to Coast bike ride is so far away, but now is the time when training is important in order to be right for the ride.

Weights and the odd time on the bike or running is what I’m doing at the moment and will continue to do along with the regular badminton and football, until the weather allows more opportunities for more time on the bike.

My left hip is now looking too good following my X-ray results and it’s having a negative effect on my right knee.  My hip is ‘not what you would see from a normal hip on an X-ray’ was how the doctor told me.

I know this is the case because I’ve lived with it for 30 years since my operations as a young boy. The unanswerable question is how long it will last without long term pain and the potentially inevitable hip replacement.

I’m reluctant to give up my football and badminton so will carry on with these sports and others as long as possible.

The Coast to Coast is now likely to take place over four days to help with my hip problems and I’m hoping the rest I’m going to have in the next couple of months will help make sure I’m ok for the ride.