Here we go again!

I can't believe it has been so long since I wrote anything in the Blog. It was all to easy to let the habit slip from posting sometimes three times a week to nothing in less than two months.
We are still working on the house, and I can't see that slowing up too soon, but I have been out on the bike in all weathers, covering more miles in the first three weeks of January than in all of Jan and Feb put together last year!
The reason for the high level of miles is to train for a particularly tough challenge ride that over 40 of the club have signed up to do in August.

Merseyside CTC organise a Challenge ride in north Wales every year, and to celebrate the 30th edition of the event, they have set a particularly challenging route which is 97.7 miles long and has just under 11000 Ft of Climbing. Those of you who know me, or have read my blog before, know that I really love hills (NOT)

http://www.wildwaleschallenge.com/index.html

I wasn't going to sign up originally but after a great email from the organisers letting me know that the club was going to be well represented and if all entrants finished the ride, we would win the most represented club prize. Now you know I'm not competitive, but I couldn't miss out on a ride with so many other fishes, even in the Welsh hills.
So, with my money paid and the realisation of what I have done sinking in, I have decided I need to focus on my weight loss ( I have managed to put on 2 stone over the last 2 years since the Tunnel Time Trial!) and face up to my nemesis,THE HILL!!!

Jonathan, an original Palefish CC Member, has set up a fitness business,JGF Fitness, and he offered to do a cycle specific training session for the club. Now, as well as the Tuesday and Thursday club rides, we have a Wednesday evening Circuit Training session. The session works on all the muscles needed for cycling, especially the Core muscles which are a set of muscles I haven't worked........ever!!!
It will be the third session this week and I have to admit I am looking forward to it. Even after such a short time, I feel as if I am seeing benefits. The main one being 8lb weight loss in two weeks, only 26lb to go!!!

In other news, the Club is still growing! As I mentioned earlier we have over 40 signed up to the WILD WALES CHALLENGE and even on cold wet night we are still getting good numbers turn up, usually over 15!!
We did a training ride into Wales a couple of weekends ago, just to test our fitness levels and to give some of the new club members an initiation into the delights of the Welsh hills. I was surprised to see 38 Palefish riders crossing the marsh path in Burton, and we nearly outnumbered the Bikers at the Ponderosa Cafe at the top of the horseshoe when the 23 that made it arrived!

The Palefish Shoal caught on camera by a walker (who happened to be a member of the club) crossing the Burton Marsh.

Thanks to Kev for the Photos. He kept riding ahead to a good spot to catch the rides in action

A rare photo of ME!! And an even rarer smile at the top of a hill!

Steve with his race face on!

Some of the group braving the cold at The Ponderosa Cafe

There are just under 7 months to go until the challenge. If my calculations are right, that means there are 81 training rides left and if I only  loose 1lb per week, I should be at my target climbing weight just in time!!

Well that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! Hopefully I can be a little more regular with my updates in the future!

Introducing the Palefish Logo

You may have noticed the introduction to the Blog of a new Theme and Logo.

Since coming up with the name, about 13 years ago, I have had an idea of what the Logo could look like, and how the Brand could feel!
When I started writing the Blog, and called it Palefish, I didn't think that I would be commissioning a designer, copy writing logo's and buying domain names.

In the last few months the readership of the Blog has increased, and I have had a chance to take part in some exciting events and activities, that I may not have been able to do if I hadn't been writing my ramblings here.

I have been encouraged by family and friends to look at ways to develop the Palefish Blog/ brand.
I started playing around with images, but I am no Rob Janoff
After many failed attempts, that my 5 year old could have done better, I decided to call in the professionals.

My day job has meant that I have worked with some great creative people, and over a Coffee earlier in the year I asked Laura from Lime Twentysix to have a go at designing me a logo.
I met Laura when she was a student at Hugh Baird College studying Visual Merchandising and Promotional Design. She was part of a team I put together to create a logo and brand for the Bootle Town Centre Partnership. When Laura graduated she set up her own Business, Lime Twentysix

I hope you agree with me, the concept she came up with is fantastic. It is exactly what I wanted and feedback so far has been great.

Things have snowballed a bit since revealing the "Palefish"! Friends have been asking when the T Shirts and cycling jerseys are being made, do I have any stickers, even my eldest Son wants some merchandise!!
I have had another brainstorm with Laura, and we have a few ideas of things that may work.

To make things simple on the web front, I have secured the Palefish.co.uk domain. If things develop I may move to a full website, with the Blog as part of it, but for now palefish.co.uk is easier to type than palefishbikes.blogspot.com!!

So, there you have it, seven and a half months from writing the first tentative lines of the Palefish Blog, I have a Logo, a copy write, a domain name, and even a published report in a paper! I wonder what the next few months will bring?