Yeah George

Bye Bye Jenny, Bye Bye

After what seemed like an age, I finaly caught up with my blind buddy Roger and went for a cycle with him on the tandem (aka the Beast). It was a beautiful Sunny day, so chose to cycle to Roger's abode too. Very pleased with my new Genesis Day One 20 machine - oh, what a dream. Roger and I had a great cycle, as usual and must have covered about 70k in all. We stopped at a rather splendid golf course for lunch. Hot and sweaty by the time we returned to Rogers domicile - and then I had to cycle home too!

Roger and Doo

Completed 3 to work and back commutes on my new machine. Even saw Jonny Mitchum out runing on one occasion. On each commute day, I also walked around the lake at work during my work break which was nice.

Didn't play badminton with the Mrs this week, made a change not having a thrashing. Did not swim either despite planning too, just couldnt get myself motivated on Sunday.

Completed my training for the week by running a simple cross country 5k run. Great weather again. Great weekend, but weather looks naff heading into the bank holiday...

New Blue

This week was great on the bike front. Mostly because Jamie and I became Genesis 'Day One 20' bike friends! That's right, I acquired a lovely new bicycle for commuting purposes. Let me introduce my new machine 'Blue'. Isn't she lovely?!

It was a bit of a menace collecting Blue. I had to cycle a girls bike (courtesy of Polish lady from 'Free to collector' FaceBook page) all the way to Birmingham (for trade in purposes) before I could collect my new steed. The cycle home on Blue was a good test - I rode on and off road and experienced rain and shine! Am happy with my Genesis and the previous Day One is now on FaceBook should anyone be interested. Even Chris our 'associate Genesis friend' rides a Genesis.

Other than the adventure cycling to collect Blue and back, only one other cycling adventure was completed. I managed to cycle a work and back commute. Had wanted to cycle more but the weather was just pants.

Due to the weather being so naff, I chose to run on a few occasions (and leave the bike in the dry). Three times, in a row, I ran a 5k circuit before starting my work day. Really should complete a Park Run soon.

Had wanted to open water swim this week but this didn't materialise. Was such a busy boy. Still was not 100% healthwise yet either and the lake was closed for other activities on Sunday. It'll happen sometime soon...

Managed another bout of badminton in the week with the Mrs. Started great winning the first couple of games. Then the Mrs got mad and beat me 3:2. She's so competitive...

All in all, a rather busy week. Was whacked by the time the weekend came. Always great to take advantage of a power nap!

A toe in the ocean

Very little training took place again this past week. This was not due to opportunity or paralysis of will. The man flu I had been suffering with for a good 2 weeks or more had not shifted. Much mucus. Grr. Filth.

Only once was a work and back cycle commute completed. This probably wasn't a good idea. Sure, the cycle helped clear my chest but my orange jacket and shorts were now covered with a goblin green film. Grr. Filth. Am not sure how many commutes 'Jenny' (the Genesis - single-speed cyclocross bike) has got left. Jenny is soon to be replaced with a geared model.

On the subject of bike adventures, my Geneva-Turin-Nice plans have been shelved. Buddies Jamie and Toll first bailed - maybe because of 'the fear'? Chris, my main man has a new love in his life. And, well, I'm skinted and Lunar starts school at the time the tripped was planned, so, that was me out too.

However, as one adventure is shelved another is born. I have decided to cycle a coast to coast adventure and (wild?) camp as I go along. I figured I'd follow the Trans Pennine Trail and have an easy adventure for a change (easy in the sense of navigation, not mega distance and relatively flat). My buddy Ron commented 'well, that's 1 day sorted, what ya doing the rest?' - cheek! I plan to cycle this trip solo but am more than happy to have company should any of my mates want to join me. I've not yet been brave enough to camp alone. To help kick my plan into motion, I have purchased a rail ticket ready for my adventure. My first day will be a cycle to Birmingham and then a train to Southport. From Southport my journey really begins. I'll keep you posted....

Played badminton one time in the week. Just like the last few weeks, this was with my Mrs. It was a great session and felt better because I won more games! Woo hoo! Scores on the doors 3:2. And, as an aside, the pharmacist where I'm currently based would look the spit of George Dawes should she cut her hair off. Ha!

Weekend spent with the munchkins!

Pushed myself to run on the weekend. Didn't take part in the Parkrun, but ran a couple of 5k run's all the same. Run felt great and this was the first time I had ran in like 2 weeks.

Hopefully, my health will be better soon. Maybe I'll dip my toe in the ocean. Who knows?

Sick as a badger / Wandering Wolf

This last week I felt mostly sick. Major cold, head ache, sore throat. A usual case of the dreaded man flu.

Almost no training took place as illness took over my poor body. Was not able to complete a single commute to work and back. Not one run was ran. The dirty great lake of Ragley was not swam in despite me having sorted out my wetsuit ready for same.

At the end of the week, I decided to play badminton with my wife. I figured I would sweat this man flu out. It didn't work. Neither did I, I lost 4:1. Yes, the wife gave me a thrashing!

Weekend came and against the advice of some, I went out and tackled a 200k permanent audax with my buddies Ron, Jamie and Andy. This was the 'Wandering Wolves - Shropshire Union' audax organised by John Hamilton.

The ride started in Codsall. So we all met there. We all looked dodgy donned in cycling gear hanging outside Coop, but we had to start somewhere. So we started there.

Our start was a grizzly one. Grey clouds overhead and riding in misty drizzle. Spirits were high though and the roads were great. We cycled along country lanes that were largely traffic free - bonus! Was nice to see so many Blue-bells were still out and all the greenery looked really green. We appeared to cycle through many tunnels and pass numerous churches on route which made the whole experience very nice visually. Shortly before our first control (I think) was passed a hotel with the 'old' CTC sign on it. Why they changed the name, I don't know... First stop was in Market Dray ton where we feasted on a rather splendid breakfast consisting of 3 rashes of bacon, 2 sausages, (mushrooms), tomato, 3 hash browns, toast and butter. Delicious.

Jamie's bike (before audax adventure)

Jamie was taking his new steed for a spin - a rather delightful Day One 20. Andy was using his relatively new adventure bike. Ron and I were riding our Specailized steeds. I'd quite like an adventure bike. I quite like the look of that Genesis. Oh, wonders - the Genesis branded as an 'adventure road bike'. Well...

Second stage took us to Chester. Amazed at how evenly spaced the controls were throughout. My Garmin was bang on 50k for the first control and 100k for the second - how cool was that?! The stop at this second control was next to a large river and we stopped at Moorings for fuel. This was a bad idea - the scones were rock hard (like rock cakes) and the thick Schmoo shakes were not thick and luke warm. Yuck! At least the scenery was great. I saw at least 2 fish jump in the water whilst I supped on my evil Schmoo. After the Schmoo we were good to gooo!

Stage 3 was a strange one. We seemed to keep slipping into and out of Welsh Wales. I never expected that. The country lanes essentially continued in their largely un-motorised manner and the drizzle had mostly cleared away by now too which was great. During this section, my flavoured water bottle had ran out and my second filled with water tasted like the dish-washer. Thankfully, we found a P.O. and was able to refuel. Why the shop was called the 'Poo Room, I never quite found out. This 3rd stage took us to Wem where we fuelled up once again.

The last stage took us back to Codsall. By this time, I found that the ride had started to take it's 'Toll' (haha, no offence Andy) on me. I was quite whacked and I think Jamie was too. We were the 2 of the 4 suffering with man flu. Still we soldiered on, on lots of newly gravelled roads and more (still minor) ascents. At one junction we (Ron) stopped to rescue a baby bird that was lying all alone in the middle of the road. After several pulls, and before you could say 'man, I've only gone and rode another 200k event', we had only gone and completed another 200k permanent audax. All in all, a great days riding and am tempted to discover the other 'Wandering Wolves' perms. I'm sure to suffer the next few days...