Spot The Difference?

This is meant to show how swollen my left knee is, which has hampered my cycling this week.

It is an old condition relating to my iliotibial band which pulls my knee cap off to one-side.
I also twisted my pelvis many years ago playing rugby, so there are lots of issues.
Being a driving instructor doesn't help either as I'm stuck in one position for too long.

It happens quite often, but usually I hobble upstairs, do a couple of stretches and its right by the morning.
Other times cycling seems to help loosen everything up.

But not this time!
Nothing seems to be working.
At the weekend it was so difficult to get comfortable at all, day or night, that when I was lying on the floor doing some stretches, I must have got comfortable because I fell asleep under a table.

The main problem is that I'm reactive when it comes to my stretching, only starting when I feel the pain.
As I'm trying to do more and more cycling it needs to become part of my training regime to try to prevent the problems, rather than just cure them.
I know it will save me a lot of time and pain.

I've heard about rollers that you lie on, but I've never used one. Do they work, which one is best?

April - tick!

4th month in a row hitting my monthly target of 130 miles. I've just gone over 600 miles for the year. This time last year I had only done 263 miles.

Highlights of the month were completing the Meon Valley Riser in under 4 hours 10 which was the bronze standard. You can read the write up here.

The second highlight was making it up Harvesting Lane, which goes up Butser Hill. I had to walk up it during The Riser, so it was great to be able to tackle it again and beat it. Check it out here.

The third highlight was getting Haribo Joe back out on his bike, first time since his operation, it's good to have him back.

I'm doing well with my cycling goals, but my weight loss has slowed down a bit. But I'm refocused on that part as I know losing the weight will help with those hills. I like to think that I eat a pretty healthy diet, fresh veg etc, but portion size is still my problem.

No Walking This Time!

Just made it up Harvesting Lane, which goes up Butser Hill.

It is the hill I had to walk up on The Riser at the start of the month.

According to Strava it is over 20% at parts.

It was a lovely ride, took my time and enjoyed the scenery, instead of worrying about times.
Ended up doing a reasonable time..

Here are a couple of before and after shots.



Made it!

Evil!

And here's the Strava bit.

The Next Challenge

The Wiggle Mega Meon Sportive

This is the next sportive I've signed up for at the end of July.

I'm doing the "short" course, which is 55 miles up and over the South Downs.
It is a similar course to The Riser so it will be lumpy.

My target is to do it in under 4 and 1/2 hours, which is an average of 12mph, excluding stops.
My average for the Riser was 12.2mph, so if I can lose a good chunk of weight it should be achievable.
Best I get training!

All Rise

So the big day had finally arrived! I was going to tackle the 47 mile route of the Meon Valley Riser.

Here's a link to the route.
Registration starts at 7 o'clock with riders setting off at 8:30 in groups of about 20 every couple of minutes.
My plan was to cycle the 5 miles to the start as a warm up, as the first of many hills is within the first mile.
I wanted to get there about 8:30, so I wouldn't be hanging around too long.

Not sure what happened but I didn't get there till after 9. At least no hanging around as there was only a handful of riders left.

The ride over had been tough, very heavy legs. I hadn't slept well for the last couple of nights, so had taken a sleep aid, which worked, but maybe stayed in my system too long.

Yes, the excuses are coming thick and fast.

So I set off on my own, aiming to complete the route in under 4 hours, which I had worked out to be about 12mph which I knew I could do.

It was a lovely day, and a great route through stunning scenery. Unfortunately there are also a lot of hills, but it is called The Riser.
I'm sorry to admit it, but I had to walk up one hill, first time in ages.

Still not sure what was wrong but I did find it hard going. I tried to get out the saddle at about 30 miles, but felt my legs cramping up. Not good when you know, you've got 17 miles to go, and Crooked Walk Lane to get up.

So it suddenly went from going for a time, to just finishing. I had to stop every few miles to stretch.

I had planned to cycle home, but I had to phoned Kate to come and collect me from the finish.

Somehow I managed to make it up the last climb, Crooked Walk Lane, but nearly a minute slower than my previous time. It is downhill from there to the finish.

It was great as I got to end to see Kate cheering me on.
I then checked my time, 4:07.
Missed the 4 hour mark, but just inside the bronze standard of 4 hours 10, which I'm pleased with.

I then had a nice massage, all part of event, which helped sort out my legs.

It is a great sportive, really well organised. You can get porridge at the start and a baked potato at the end. There was a well stocked feed station half way round, with drinks, bananas and flapjacks.

The organisers run another sportive, the New Forest Rattler in August. I did it last year, and once again it was a great day. I'm planning to do it again this year, hope to see you there.

Overall I'm a bit disappointed with my performance. I wanted to do better, I wanted to enjoy it more.
But I am still over 18 stone, and my time was faster than a lot of people, so I should be pleased.
"Could do better" as my school report used to say.

I've started making plans to tackle the hill I had to walk up, I will do it next time!

Why Do I Go Cycling?

This is what I was asking myself as I set off on a ride yesterday.

I set off with heavy legs, unsure where to go, but feeling I needed a good ride with The Riser looming.

I think I've been focusing too much on The Riser, making sure I got PR's on Strava every time I went out.

But yesterday I changed all that and just went out for a ride, with no real route in mind, just wondering where that road led to, and then finding out.

Not sure how it happened but I went out for my second longest ride of the year, in an impressive time.

Two long rides, and a couple of cheeky mid-week rides meant that I smashed my monthly target of 130 miles. I finished on 188 miles.

I will keep on using Strava to monitor my progress, but also remember to enjoy my rides.

3 Tips To Help You Hit More Of Your Goals!

Have you ever set yourself a goal and hit it?

Have you ever set yourself a goal and missed it?

If like me you answered yes to both questions you're probably wondering why you hit some goals but not all of them.

Here are 3 tips that helped me to hit my goal to lose 2 stone last year.

Own the goal!

I've always known that I should lose weight, but never really wanted to. It was society's goal, not mine.
Thanks to cycling now I want to lose weight so I can enjoy my cycling more, especially those hills.
It has become my goal!

Therefore make sure it is your goal, not someone else's, or you will always be struggling to hit it.

Don't just think it. Ink it

"Write it down. Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants; cant's into cans; dreams into plans and plans into reality.
Don't just think it. Ink it!"


It is important to write down your goals and keep referring to them, ideally read them out aloud before you go to sleep and then when you wake up.

Writing out your goals is a massive subject, so do some research.
I got a free CD from this site a couple if years ago which helped. Not sure if its still the same one on there.

Share your goals and your progress!

This is part of the reason I am writing this blog, to keep me motivated.

It has helped!
I've set myself a monthly target of 130 miles. Towards the end of January I was on 119 miles, this is more than I averaged last year, so pretty good.
However I didn't want to update my blog saying I has missed the mark by 11 miles.
So I moved a few lessons around so I could go out for another ride on Monday morning, and hit 132 miles!
It felt great updating the blog, saying I had hit my first goal.

I hope this helps you hit more of your goals, whatever they might be.
Let me know how you get on.