Tuesday 26 February 2013

It looks like I didn't bonk after all!!

Today is the first time I have swung my leg over the bike in 24 days! And after 12 miles I am absolutely shattered.
In my last post I thought I had suffered the dreaded Bonk on the way back from the Cafe, but it has transpired that I have had a virus. Not even Man Flu, but a proper virus that has knocked me sideways. I even had time off work, and received a little sympathy from Mrs Palefish (previously unheard of).
Because of this I had to miss the Onix Twitter ride with Rob Hayles, the first Onix ride that has enjoyed great weather! And I also had to miss the Polocini Winter Sprinter. Luckily there was a great Palefish Cycle Club representation at both events.
Anyway, I hope that I am now on the road to recovery, I am not going to go to mad too soon, so probably aim to get back to Eureka at the weekend, via the shortest flattest route!!
It is the Eddie Soens Memorial race this weekend, so I will be taking my 2 sons to watch the racing again, and hopefully get some great pictures. The past year has passed so quickly, I cant believe that the Ten Minutes of hell Tunnel Time Trial was on the 19th Feb last year. Frustratingly, I don't think I would be any faster this year!
Finally, the second edition of SPIN CYCLE magazine is now available, just click on the tab at the top of the page to head over to the magazine. Once again James and the team have produced a great read, with some stunning images.

Saturday 2 February 2013

It's been a while since I last Bonked!

Everything seemed to be going well this week. My diet has started to work, back the right side of the wrong weight, but still a way to go, and my Mojo is well and truly back. Tuesday and Thursday spins with some of the lads from the club, and a great wind assisted 38mph on the flat on Tuesday night.
You can imagine my disappointment when after a good run out to Eureka this morning, on the way back, BANG! The wall was well and truly hit and I was in the hell of what is known in the cycling world as a Bonk! To sum it up for the uninitiated to the delights of the Bonk, you basically cant find any energy to spin your legs, let alone find the power to climb even the smallest pimple of a climb. It makes for a very slow, disheartening plod home. As I said in the title, it has been a while, and I hope it is a while till the next one. But  a big thanks to the lads who rode with me to make sure I got back ok, and as I sit here writing this, with my legs still aching, I look forward to the next ride without a dented Mojo!
Today saw some new faces to the weekend ride. To make it easy for us, two new riders to join Palefish both called Keith joined us, along with Iain who has been taking part in the week day rides for a while.
Also out for the first time was Derek's new bike, a great retro Raleigh. And also we saw an old face resurface in the group. It was great to see Ant again.
13 of us met at the Twelfth Man, the biggest group so far this year, which wasn't surprising seeing as the weather decided to be nice to us. It wasn't warm by any stretch of the imagination, and there were some Icy patches along the way, but we all made it safely to Eureka.
It was great to see Steve Smith there, on his way back from a training ride. Steve rode for the Vita team for a while, and then moved on the ride for the Kuota Spinergy team and now has a spot on the Maxgear racing team. I look forward to following his season.
We didn't stop too long today, long enough for a flapjack and coffee though.

Ant was obviously happy to be back out with Palefish CC!

As we headed back up the Chester High Road we saw Nipper heading the other way, and then when we were going through the lanes, me now in full Bonk, we saw John and Nicky who were heading out towards Chester and the Borders. The fine weather certainly was being taken advantage of!
I won't bore you with the ride ho,e as it was slow, and painful and I'm glad its over!!!

I do however need to up the miles and time in the saddle. In two weeks it is the next Twitter ride. This time it will be taking in the Ribble Valley and the Forest of Bowland. There will also be some special guests riding, including Rob Hayes. Click HERE for details. If you want to see what previous rides have been like check out my previous posts HERE and HERE


I have also signed up to the Winter Sprinter, which takes place the weekend after! so I had better get back out on the bike soon!!