Cycle the blues away!
OK, so it's been a while since my last post and a lot has happened. Very sadly we lost the Matriarch of Team Flynnie when my mum finally succumbed to cancer. Because of this we were not in the festive mood as you can imagine and decided to go hiking on Christmas Day which was lovely, but there were a lot more people around than I had expected.
Anyway, here we are in 2020 with a whole years worth of adventures in front of us. So the first trip I want to talk about was the bike ride I did this morning. I bought a new bike just before Christmas as my old one was going to cost more to upgrade than buying a new bike! I now have a nice shiny new bike that I have added a rack, panniers and a few other bits and pieces to as my aim is to get some bikepacking in over the summer - cycling and camping! Does life get any better than that? It does apparently according to Mary! The cycling is OK but the camping is definitely off!
My plan is to do a series of rides over the next few months of between 20 and 30 miles and gradually increase the kit/weight on the bike until I'm carrying exactly what I would need for a nights camping. The idea this morning was to crack out 30 miles in about 4 hours carrying spares/tools, food, water, stove and brew kit. So far so good.
I set off at about 0830hrs and the first thing I noticed was that there was a stiffish breeze coming from the north, and the start of my ride was 10 miles due north! Now a breeze is no biggy when your walking or driving, but when you're the wrong side of 50, very rotund and not fully fit it's a bit of a pisser I can assure you! Just to make the last couple of miles of the first leg extra fun it rained as well! At this point (once the rain had passed) I found a suitable spot and warmed up with a quick brew and a chewy bar. After that it was back in the saddle and onward with my journey.
I just need to pause here for a quick rant. As I mentioned earlier I am very rotund, no ones fault but mine. Not playing the blame game. But what really annoys me is that when I try to buy outdoor/sports gear no bugger sells it. So I'm left trying to get fit/lose the poundage in inappropriate clothing! Rant over as I have now found some suppliers. Just need the high street suppliers to wake up to the fact that not all of us larger folk are inactive.
I continued pootling on my merry way and I was really pleased with how the bike handled whilst being loaded up. The additional weight didn't seem to affect my speed or the feel of the ride. Admittedly I wasn't trying to break any records, just enjoy myself. With that in mind I had no problem walking up some of the steeper hills or just getting off and walking every so often to ease my legs.
So passed a very pleasant few hours. I hit my target (more or less); 29.3miles, 2 hours 59 minutes cycling time and an average speed of 9.8mph. Very happy with that, tired legs, and a real sense of achievement!
Hopefully there will be many more trips to come! Just remember to live life outdoors, and it doesn't matter how slow you're going you're lapping everyone who is sat on the couch.
Anyway, here we are in 2020 with a whole years worth of adventures in front of us. So the first trip I want to talk about was the bike ride I did this morning. I bought a new bike just before Christmas as my old one was going to cost more to upgrade than buying a new bike! I now have a nice shiny new bike that I have added a rack, panniers and a few other bits and pieces to as my aim is to get some bikepacking in over the summer - cycling and camping! Does life get any better than that? It does apparently according to Mary! The cycling is OK but the camping is definitely off!
My plan is to do a series of rides over the next few months of between 20 and 30 miles and gradually increase the kit/weight on the bike until I'm carrying exactly what I would need for a nights camping. The idea this morning was to crack out 30 miles in about 4 hours carrying spares/tools, food, water, stove and brew kit. So far so good.
I set off at about 0830hrs and the first thing I noticed was that there was a stiffish breeze coming from the north, and the start of my ride was 10 miles due north! Now a breeze is no biggy when your walking or driving, but when you're the wrong side of 50, very rotund and not fully fit it's a bit of a pisser I can assure you! Just to make the last couple of miles of the first leg extra fun it rained as well! At this point (once the rain had passed) I found a suitable spot and warmed up with a quick brew and a chewy bar. After that it was back in the saddle and onward with my journey.
I just need to pause here for a quick rant. As I mentioned earlier I am very rotund, no ones fault but mine. Not playing the blame game. But what really annoys me is that when I try to buy outdoor/sports gear no bugger sells it. So I'm left trying to get fit/lose the poundage in inappropriate clothing! Rant over as I have now found some suppliers. Just need the high street suppliers to wake up to the fact that not all of us larger folk are inactive.
I continued pootling on my merry way and I was really pleased with how the bike handled whilst being loaded up. The additional weight didn't seem to affect my speed or the feel of the ride. Admittedly I wasn't trying to break any records, just enjoy myself. With that in mind I had no problem walking up some of the steeper hills or just getting off and walking every so often to ease my legs.
So passed a very pleasant few hours. I hit my target (more or less); 29.3miles, 2 hours 59 minutes cycling time and an average speed of 9.8mph. Very happy with that, tired legs, and a real sense of achievement!
Hopefully there will be many more trips to come! Just remember to live life outdoors, and it doesn't matter how slow you're going you're lapping everyone who is sat on the couch.
Comments
Post a Comment