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!

An audience with a cycling Legend

Tonight I went to The Bike Factory in Chester for the launch of a new Bike range. ( I told you there were other bike shops available)
First of all I was privileged to see the owner of the bike factory receive a commendation from the CTC for their services to cycling in the Chester and North Wales area.
The main event was the unveiling of the new Boardman Bikes Pro range. The man himself, Chris Boardman MBE was there to introduce the range and explain the reasoning behind the brand and new bikes. Then Andy, the operations Manager of Boardman Bikes, explained how the range came to market, why they have chosen the designs and also why they have chosen independent retailers to sell the brand rather than a national chain. After the talk Chris answered questions from the audience about his cycling success in Time Trials, The Tour and The hour challenge. All very interesting and inspiring.
After this there was a scrum to have photo's taken with Chris and get autographs, so I took the opportunity to talk to Andy about the bike designs, specifically integrated headsets and bars!!!!! You had to be there!
I waited until there was a chance to talk to Chris. Most people were talking about the Tour etc, so I decided to ask him about next years sport relief challenge against his old adversary Graeme Obree! He admitted to me that he originally hadn't agreed to take part, just supply the bikes, but in the end, Bowed to the pressure and agreed! As I have said before I have seen Chris training recently, and took the opportunity tonight to extend an invitation to our Saturday morning training sessions! I'm not sure he took me seriously, but you never know he may turn up one day!

Not only did I meet Chris Today, I also had a bizarre experience that started after I replied to a post on Twitter.
I ended up talking to Yanto Barker, a past Tour of Britain competitor and now signed to Team UK Youth for 2012 and owner of Le Col clothing http://www.lecol.net/. We were discussing Clothing sizes and the range available to the rounder cyclist. More to follow in the future on this one!!