Back on the Bike

I haven’t posted in a while, mainly because I had an exam 6 days after the Brighton Marathon, which meant that I spent a lot of time with my nose in books revising. Thankfully that’s all out of the way now and I can get back to fun stuff, specifically cycling.

After the marathon/knee debacle I have decided to take a few weeks completely off running, instead spending the time getting back in the pool and on the bike.

Its only about 6 weeks until London to Paris now, which means I will be steadily increasing the mileage each week to get all the soft parts used to sitting on a saddle again.

That being said, even though I was supposed to be easing my way back into the distance, the emergence of spring last Sunday prompted a foray out on the bike(s) last Sunday. During my meanders around the Sussex countryside, it turns out that a town nearby holds a festival/fete each year involving residents creating scarecrows and posing them in different styles around the town. The actual fete thingy took part the day before I rode around, but I was still able to find three of them:

I originally decided to take the road bike out on this ride (as I will be using this for L2P), but as the sunshine was so bloody lovely that day, when I got I home I decided to head out again for a little spin on the TT bike. The total duration was about 2.5 hours (very helpfully helping rid me of the hockey dinner dance hangover).

Monday meant splashing around in the pool again at the local masters session, due to a number of reasons I haven’t made it to the pool at all in over a month.

This was not the session to return to. Speed work!

For those that may have done speed work before, its idea is to go fast for a certain distance before recovering with an easy stroke. This is ideal for swimmers who can vary their pace. I cant. Like a mini metro, I have slow and slower. Especially after 4 weeks out of the pool.

Wednesday was back on the bike again, combining the commute home with a spin with a friend around Beachy Head. A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo on the top of Beachy Head with clear blue skies, well this is what greeted us today:

Olli was not wearing a onesie!

It was like cycling in a cloud. Descending was particularly exciting, especially with the bunker-like potholes scattered around. A decent 2 hour ride though with a few hills thrown in for good measure!

To complete my gentle easing (?!) back onto the bike, I turned up at the local clubs time trial. Unsure of the course, and briefly scanning the online course profile, I decided to reach for the road bike rather than the TT bike as the 14-mile route included a few climbs. I think EVERYONE else went for the other option, and EVERYONE else finished before me.

All 20 of them!

Oh well at least there is something to aim for!   

 

I started in 8th, i was overtaken...a lot