This has been interrupted by illness, although I’ve done nearly 40
miles in the saddle in the last three weekends.
The first few miles on each go were very difficult, not only because
I’ve not been on a ride for a couple for months, but because the first few
miles from my house are always uphill, some fairly steep bits, well steep for
me anyway.
My bike’s gearing doesn’t help with the climbs, while I uncovered a
problem going downhill too quickly this weekend – poor back brakes! It was a
bit of a shock at first but my front one is very good and I’ll be adjusting the
back one until it’s working properly again.
In the meantime I’ll be taking the downhill sections a little slower.
We’ve managed to narrow down the dates for taking the re-run of the
Coast to Coast, and it could even be the same week as last year! Surely the
same thing can’t happen again…
I’m hoping to get out for longer rides on the bike with Neil in the
coming weeks, so we can push it up to 20-25 miles in one go – with a few stops
obviously!
In the next few weeks I’ll be changing the tyres from the proper off
road ones I currently have to a medium pair that still give good of-road grip,
but afford more contact with hard surfaces like roads. I’m hoping that will
help improve my performances out on the lanes near where I live by about 10-15
per cent.
My injury problems seems to be going away with the more time on the
bike, particularly my left knee, which flares up for days after playing
football, but seems to calm down after 15 miles on the bike.
I’m thinking it’s the softer landing my leg has while pedalling, rather than the constant twist and pounding it takes while playing football or running.
The only negative thing has been that winter is showing its hand again
just when I thought the weather was going to be getting better and making
getting out on the bike easier!
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