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!

I will be back soon!

I thought I had better post something up, as it has been another month without an update!

The house is taking up a lot of time, and without a bath or shower, going for a bike ride then troubling kindly relatives is a step too far!
As soon as the Bathroom is sorted normal service will be resumed!

However, I have been to a couple of events in the last month. First was a trip to the TT stage of the Tour of Britain at Knowsley and second was a trip to the Bike Show in Birmingham, courtesy of pOcpac 
As time is limited, I will just post up some Pictures from both days. I hope to do a full photo entry of the Tour with pictures taken at the TT and the North Wales stage that club members went to see.
So just to whet your appetite here are some to keep you going!

Its all too much!

Things haven't settled down much since moving house. I have managed to get out on the bike, but there isn't much time for writing the blog!!

Last week Rob was down from Scotland, so a few of us headed out to Wales with him, to remind him of his cycling trips when he lived in Liverpool. Another group rode through the Tunnel and out into Lancashire to find Wiggo's Postbox, and also a great cafe, which we will be visiting to try out the cakes!!

Mmmmm Cake

Sir Bradley Wiggins Golden Postbox

There was still a Cafe spin to Eureka, which included a first for Mrs Badders and Sian as they rode through Wales to get there!

I think Ken and Kev were pointing to where they thought we were! 

Rob, Ken, Heather, Steve, Degs, Steve, Badders and me met up at Eureka and headed out into Wales. We rode up over Northop and on to Mold, where we had our first "moment of the day"!! Instead of following my trusty Garmin, we went the wrong way!! Not usually a problem, but this time it led us towards Denbigh!!

A quick re route took us up a particularly nice climb near Moel Arthur.The View was worth it though.

Waiting for Steve who took a wrong turn after a comfort break!

The descent into Ruthin was good though. Passing through the Town we saw the lads from Liverpool Mercury, coming off the descent of the Nant Y Garth which was our next climb! I have been down it a couple of times, and it is a fast descent, but to my surprise it wasn't too bad going up for 7 miles! We had a bit of closed road fun at the top, when we hopped onto the route of the Etap Cymru for about a mile. ( We did have a bit of off road earlier in the ride, when we came across a resurfacing team, but it wasn't that much fun riding next to the hot wet Tar and big plant machinery!)
The climb up to the top of the Horseshoe pass wasn't too bad either, but didn't go so well for Steve who suffered from a broken spoke. Luckily we had master mechanic Steve B with us who took the spoke out and trued the wheel while we were getting our brew at the Ponderosa Cafe.

Degs inspecting the offending Spoke!

Ready to roll

The ride back was uneventful, and fun as there is a great descent back to Hawarden. It is true that what goes up must come down! We split up at the Cycle path to the Marshes, With Ken, Rob, Steve and Degs heading back via never ending lane, and the rest of us via the Marsh track and then Heswall and Irby. A couple of the group managed 100 miles, but I had to get back for Mrs P to go to work!

The weather has finally changed from a glorious summer into a windy damp autumn. With the nights closing in and the unappealing weather I was expecting the evening rides in the week to become less popular. I couldn't have been more wrong. We are still welcoming new members every ride, and the numbers are still in the 20's.

This weekend, I organised a social spin to the cafe on Sunday, suitable for all abilities. One thing could conspire against a great turnout and that was the severe weather warning posted on Saturday for high winds and heavy showers. I wasn't expecting too many to venture out, but I was welcomed at the Twelfth man by 17 other smiling faces ready for a ride. We were joined by Jake, Andy O's 12 year old son, and our second junior member. We headed out towards Barnston and then on towards Brimstage. Unfortunately only 6 miles into the ride we lost Kev, as his front wheel developed a terminal problem,literally.
We carried on through the lanes via Thornton Hough, Raby Mere and Eastham then down the Oil Sites road before turning towards Mickle Trafford and the Greenway through Chester, where Jen suffered our only puncture of the day, and on to the Eureka Cafe for a Brew Stop. On the way up never ending lane I was discussing with Karen how it would be good if the Cafe had an app we could use to post orders as we approached, to reduce the queuing when 17 people arrive at once. I suggested this to Anne when we were at Eureka, to which she answered quite matter of factly, "just text me!"  enough said!!

 As we left The Cafe we split up and headed off in two groups, one back towards East Wirral, and the rest of us back to Greasby via Puddington, Burton, Neston, Lower Heswall and Irby.

A special mention has to go to Jake, who not only kept up with the group, he kept smiling, and even led to group for a while. His post on Facebook after the ride reminded me of why I started the club.

"Did 56 miles today, longest ride ever done. Thanks to the Palefish crew for all the support"

Jake with Dad Andy

Well done Jake.