Winner Winner Kinver Dinner

'I am mighty' (anniversary card from SJ)

Felt a year older at the start of this week. And, indeed I was! Monday saw me celebrate my birthday. After taking my daughter to school, I ran back home over the snowy fields which was nice and scenic. I had wanted to cycle some distance following my run but because the roads were still icy, snowy and frozen, I settled for a quick indoor spin. The remainder of the day was spent eating and drinking and celebrating being a year older.

Tuesday was another duathlon styled day. Took Slinky out for a quick blast and it made a change to ride her outdoors and not on the turbo trainer. I think I've found the 'creak'. I heard a sound, so turned around and think I found the thing that made the sound. The Carradice bagman (bag rack) had become loose and was rattling like crazy. My thoughts suggested this was the creak I had heard whilst on the turbo trainer. Guess I will not know until I put Slinky back on the trainer?! As soon as my cycle finished, I swapped cycling gear for running gear. My shoes then ran to school to pick up my daughter (and her friend).

Wednesday saw me return to work. I was supposed to have been on a training day in London, however, much work issues meant I had to show my face at the usual place. This basically meant that I could fit in a cycle commute - bonus! Silver linings and all that...

Thursday was a rest day. Rest from exercising anyway. Work had been a menace of late and my head-space felt like it could have done with some rest.

Friday was a good day. I took Slinky out again and cycled Cobley Hill on route to Roger's. Once at Roger's, I swapped bikes and piloted his tandem for a 50k jolly. I have been cycling with Roger (my oldest and only blind buddy) since February 2015 and to date we have cycled 1,422k on his tandem. Once our jolly had finished, I cycled Slinky back home via Rose Hill and parts of the TROAD route. Once home, I treated Slinky to a wash - simply because my chain cleaner and 'Muc Off' spray had arrived in the post (this was what my birthday monies were spent on).

Jamie and Doo

Saturday was also awesome. Jamie rocked up early doors and we headed out on an adventure. Prior to the adventure, Lunar dobbed me in to the Mrs. She said 'I like that Lobster on your jacket daddy'. The lobster was a scorpion, however, SJ now spotted I was sporting a funky new rain jacket. Anyways, Jamie and I had decided we were going to ride one of John Hamilton's audax rides, one of his 'Wandering Wolves' jaunts, namely the 'Circuit of Clee'. This was a 100k (117k) ride that scored 1.75 AAA points (i.e. it was hilly). We could start the ride from anywhere on route and Jamie had decided it was going to be Kinver. It was my job to get us to Kinver. Easy done - I created a route using Ride with GPS. After about 40k of road, bridleway, pot holes, tow path and the likes we reached our start point. I thought I had punctured a couple of times but it appeared the hiss I heard was Jamie's mudguards clogged with much mood.

Below is a summary of my memories following the 'Circuit of Clee' event:

• We stopped for breakfast in a cafe in Kinver and had a full English. They didn't have a toilet on the premises - is that lawful? They suggested that I paid 20p and used the toilets past the shops by the car park. I kept my 20p...
• Jamie called 'left' out of Kinver, we should have gone 'right'. No matter, we had a less hilly ride. We still cycled 1,895m. Yup, we earned the AAA points.
• Ludlow, Ray's Farm and Pattingham were our other control stops.
• Passing through Kinver we saw the rock houses which made me think about my Mrs because we spent time here courting. (I thought about my wife all day, it was our 6th anniversary).
• Jamie showed me where mistletoe grows - who knew?!
• We crossed the River Severn twice and crossed over rail track too.
• Much snow was seen.
• On the side of a hill we saw what appeared to be a giant igloo, golf ball or modern mosque.
• We saw sheep munching on sugar beat (no grass). We saw sheep that looked like pigs.
• On Ray's Farm we saw dogs that were branded donkeys and much rare breeds and exotic creatures.
• Jamie walked in a ford and got his feet wet.
• At one time it went very cold but was otherwise ok.
• Clee Hill was a big climb, there were others.
• My disc rotor made a funny sound which became quite annoying.

After we had finished our circuit, we were back in Kinver. We started to cycle back together but parted for our separate abodes as we neared nearer home. I think we both cycled over 200k that day.

Doo and SJ (6 years ago!)

Once home, I celebrated my 6th year anniversary with my wonderful wife SJ. So here's to you SJ! Looking forward to the next so many years.

Ended this week feeling quite pleased with my training. Managed to cycle over 400k (hilly too) and ran on 2 occasions. Am hoping to cycle over 500k next week and all being well will experience a night of wild camping.