We're getting there!

After a week in the US where steppers and the occasional exercise bike was the extent of my training, it was good to get back on the roads today. 77.5 miles in 5 hours with glorious sunshine following me was the outcome. I have to say I write this feeling absolutely exhausted, but also encouraged by the fact that I am now only 10 miles or so short of the maximum distance on the C2P! Clearly the real challenge is doing it day after day, but knowing that the maximum is within sight is very encouraging.

Weekly Update

Not much to report this week. We kind of settling into a routine now! Great weather (well, ok, it rained on Saturday), no punctures, lots of miles and another good week for sponsorship.

Did back to back 40 and 35 miles over the weekend.

I'm travelling again this week so will be restricted to hotel gyms for my exercise...

An eventful week!

So, 3 punctures, breaking through the £1000 mark and another commercial sponsor on board. And that was all before the weekend!

Did a lovely 70 miler (71.3miles!) yesterday through Suffolk and Essex, including Clare, Cavendish, Sudbury and Castle Hedingham. Many thanks to the old boy on the gate at Castle Hedingham. It was closed for a wedding but he let me in for 5 minutes to have a break whilst I ate my power bar.

Hitting the Target

I know I know, three entries in a day (something else that comes in threes!) but just wanted to say that after stating here that I wanted to hit a grand by the end of the week, I have done it!

Current total is £1004!! That's all I have to say.

Oh, and the fact that the second puncture didn't hold so I had to run and train-ride home. But that's another story.

Commercial Sponsor

I have another commercial sponsor onboard! Many thanks to Glasswells, the furniture store for their donation. In the same way that I was delighted that my regular curry house made a donation a couple of weeks ago, I'm delighted that Glasswells have made a donation as we have bought all our carpets, wooden flooring and some furniture from them over the last 5 years or so. Many thanks to them!

If you look down there on the right hand side, I have now added a roll of honour for commercial sponsors, which you can use to clisk through to their websites. Do please support them - they have helped me!

The Rule of Threes Returns

I'm a scientist, and a rational thinker. Homeopathy, acupuncture, the occult. All rubbish. But clearly there are some things that we just cannot explain. As Chappers wrote in her blog a week or so ago, things often happen in threes - with her getting three punctures in the space a of a few days. Doo then got to two punctures in a week. Last weekend, I repaired a puncture, and today, I had two on the way to work! So clearly the cycling Gods prefer punctures to come along in threes*! Good luck with that third puncture Doo!

Fortunately I was riding with my friend Tim this morning who was able to lend me a spare inner tube, otherwise I'd still be walking to work (thanks Tim!).

Nigel's Training Lore #7.
Your bike has two tyres, so taking two spare inner tubes with you makes a lot of sense!

*Ok, in reality my commuting bike had a small sharp stone in the tyre and I went down a pot hole giving me two punctures this morning so there is an explanation, but don't let that get in the way of a good story :o)

Weekly Update

The sun has been shining all week! Still a bit chilly but what a difference it makes to have sun instead of sleet, ice, snow, rain, wind and everything else that seems to have been thrown at me since I started training!

For one of my mid-week rides I did my first ride from home to work this week as the daylight is just about enough (19 miles), and got the train back (6 miles to and from stations) which made a change and was enjoyable, and then did 67 miles today. In the end I didn't do the Audax as other things came up, but did a similar distance which was great. Instead I went up through Newmarket, Ely and Cambridge, so admittedly flat but hey, it all counts!

Ely Cathedral and blue sky!

Also pleasing to see that the sponsorship money is edging up, with nearly another £200 or so into the pot this week - with thanks to Eleanor for baking and hosting a coffee morning to help the funds. It would be great if this week sees the total smash through £1000.

And if that's not enough good news for the week, I have two very exciting preemie-linked blog posts planned over the next few weeks - watch this space!

Raining and pouring

Weekly update

Back to backs at the weekend: 30 miles Saturday, 30 miles Sunday

Cold

Windy

Very very wet

Very miserable

100k Audax to look forward to next weekend!

Help Wanted - Update

A while ago I posted about a couple of studies looking for help from parents of prems (and we all know how to determine if that's you!)

I have now been contacted again by Wendy Moncur at the University of Aberdeen who is running a study looking into communication of baby updates with friends and family:

What is this survey about?
When a baby is unwell in hospital, the right kind of support from close friends and family can reduce parents’ stress levels. We are developing a news system which allows parents to send personalised updates about a baby to their friends and relatives automatically by email or text message, to encourage friends and relatives to give support to the parents.
To get it right, we need the views of mums and dads like you. We want to know the kinds of messages that you think are most suitable to give to different people.

The study can be accessed here: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/websurveys/nicu/

Thank you!

When will Spring spring?!

[Image from DailyMail.co.uk]

Did you not get this image as you peered out of the curtains this morning? No, me neither! Another cold, icy, desolate day with sleet and snow freezing all exposed skin and resulting in numb feet and pains shooting up my arms by the end of today's 55 miler. This is more like the views as I cycled through Cambs, Suffolk and Essex this morning:


If it's not snowing in Paris in June I'm not sure I'll cope! Sitting in the warm now, I am glad I made the trip; it's another 55 miles closer to Paris and I learnt something about both cold (freezer bags can help protect the feet from the cold - shame I only tried it at around 40 miles) and nutrition (pretzels and licorice - not together- work nicely, and I should have eaten something at 1.5 hours, 2.5 hours and 3.5 hours). It's also not been a bad week overall - over 100 miles in training, nearly £300 sponsorship including my first commercial sponsor and surely we must be close to spring springing!

Nigel's Training Lore #6.
Actually, real food (pretzels, licorice, bagels, cereal bars) may work just as well as energy bars and gels.