Sunday 30 June 2013

Back on Track!

 
Yes, I'm back on track, I did 137 miles in June, my target is 130. It should have been more as I was due to go out for a ride with Haribo Joe today but my gout as flared up again, so I've had to sit and watch the Tour de France.
 
This time last year I had only done 420 miles, so nearly double that so far this year.
 
A lot of the miles this month are due to the new job which I can cycle to. It's only 4.5 miles, but they all count.
I take the shortest route in the morning, but I will do different routes home taking in a hill or two, or do some sprintervals training.
 
Sprintervals or HIIT training involves cycling hard out for a short set time period and then easing off for a rest period. I keep it simple by doing a minute on and a minute off, but you can vary it.
The main reasons I do them is to get me used to cycling faster, and also it burns more calories than steady cycling.
 
This month I need to get in some more hills, because at the end of the month I'm doing The Wiggle Mega Meon Sportive with Haribo Joe and my brother Pete. We're doing the "short" course which is only 55 miles, which will be my longest ride, but there will be 3000 feet of climbing, such fun.
 
 


Monday 24 June 2013

May X!



May is the first month that I haven't hit my monthly of 130 miles. (hence not updating this blog earlier in the month)

The main reason was my swollen knee which meant I couldn't really cycle for three weekends.

On a plus note my average monthly distance is still over the 130 mile mark.

June has started off slowly, camping trips and other excuses, but I have started a new job which I can cycle to.
It is 6 miles each way, so far I have cycled in twice this week, a great way to start and finish the day.

DIY
I've had a strange knocking noise from somewhere on the bike, so I decided to do a bit of maintenance.
I started with the obvious and cleaned and greased my bottom bracket and pedals, which didn't sort it out.
So after a bit of research I tightened every bolt I could find, which worked. I think the noise was from either the seat post or the headset.

Whatever it was I'm glad I did the basic maintenance, it saved me a few quid and made a difference to the feel of the bike.

I do feel sorry for bike shops because I have little or no experience, but after a few hours on YouTube I managed to do a pretty good job.