Cycling

I had my second spin session this morning - 45 minutes of sprints & stand-ups. Seeing as I’m a bit of a teachers’ pet, I always take a place at the front in classes (makes it easier to leave the apple on teacher’s desk . . . ) So anyway, I’m reasonably fit, but by...
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This is something I thought I’d grown out of - it’s a bit embarrassed actually. After I left a comment on Sloan’s Cycling Blog just over a week ago about how I’d got over my ‘Yeeehah I’m IN-DES-TRUC-TABLE!” cycling phase about fifteen years ago . . . I nearly got myself mashed tonight through...
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I read a deeply alarming article on BikeForAll.net about Daniel Cadden, who was prosecuted for ‘Inconsiderate Cycling’. Basically, he had adopted an assertive position on the road, while going down hill, and cars overtaking him were crossing the double white lines down the middle. Rather than prosecuting the drivers, who for the sake of...
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No, not the sort of wind that my second* favourite Viz (a UK adult-humour comic) character, Johnny “QUACK!” Fartpants is prone to. It must be this stupid hope of emulating a slice of El Zappoman’s 5,000 mile Odyssey. Last year I’d go out riding on nice days, when the wind didn’t blow. Because I was...
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Last time this happened I got wiped out, but it’s  too long ago to remember exactly when this happened (OK, it was fifteen years. But that would mean that I’m . . . . older than I feel). If you’re in the US, read ‘right’ for ‘left’ here: Riding along this morning at a reasonable...
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So to get my daughter some decent swimming lessons, I joined the local gym last week. Under my membership, she gets access to the pool (nice - 25m), and some pretty good teachers. But it’d be a shame if I didn’t take advantage of the facilities, wouldn’t it? So this morning at 6:45 I found...
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I had my induction at the gym yesterday evening. The alarmingly young personal trainer (is it me, or does everyone in uniform look younger these days - especially police). The usual measures - height, weight, lungs, body fat, heart rate, BP, etc. As expected, I could do with losing around 1.5 kg (a massive...
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I got another puncture today. Like the ‘number 13 bus’, these things seem to come along in groups. Just over a mile from home at the end of my Sunday ride, I heard the usual ‘hisssssing’ that means the bike’s handling’s about to go to pot. Again, this was in a tyre whose inner-tube had...
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I had 39 miles to do today if I was to set off on the right foot for my 3,000 miles in 2007 target. I’d planned this to be easy - meeting up with a friend in Newcastle for a 20 mile circuit, plus the ten miles each way into and out of town. But...
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As part of the maintenence I did on my bike today, I also adjusted the saddle height & positioning over the pedals. This was because on recent rides, I’ve found my thighs getting tired (that numb, achy, burning feeling) rather sooner than I’d like. This is symptomatic of either working too hard on the bike...
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