Easter Arrow to York

Last week saw me complete the Easter Arrow to York or the Easter Fleches to York as it is also known. This was an audax event with a complicated set of rules. In a simplified nut-shell version, it was a team event that covered 400k in 24 hours. I have attempted to recount my experience below.

Bikes ready for adventure

My buddy Chris came over the night before and we readied our bikes in anticipation. As usual, I was going to use my Specialized Roubaix and Chris his 'home made' machine. The chain stay on Chris's bike had a nice encouraging quote.

The rest of the team gathered at my abode 'Doo Little', just before 8 a.m. on Good Friday. My wife SJ made sure we started our adventure in the best possible way and made us all a cup of tea. Not sure what baby Lunar made of the lounge being full of lycra-clad folk.

The Team

Our team was called 'The Long Distance Lumox Lads' and (from L-R) consisted of Ron, Doo, Chris, Jamie and Andy. This was the first time any of us had entered an arrow event. This was going to be the first time Ron and Chris had ridden a 400k event.

The Off

At shortly after 8 a.m. we were off! It was initially quite chilly despite being sunny and bright. Jamie and Andy had already cycled from Birmingham to reach Doo Little and now we had to cycle just a few k more to reach a start control in Studley. HSBC ATM was our first control proof. From first control we had a nice, mostly country lanes cycle to our second control in Alcester.

Andy, Chris and Ron at the Alcester Control

Despite having breakfast less than 10k away, we all fuelled up that little bit more here in Alcester. We didn't stop long before cycling more gorgeous countryside. Our next stop was Edstone aqueduct - the largest aqueduct in England!

Edstone aqueduct - the largest in England

A quick break from cycling already!

Andy and the Edstone aqueduct

This stage of our adventure was quite varied - we would cycle along roads, cycle lanes and tow-paths. In fact much of our adventure was like this. Occasionally we would cycle through parks and share paths with walkers but no real menace was encountered at all.

Chris, Ron and Andy cycling tow path

Before reaching our third control in Rugby, we cycled past the iconic castle of Warwick. Such a beautiful castle and such a beautiful day. A stop for a snap was considered essential.

Warwick Castle

Rugby was to be our breakfast stop. We found a cafe but they were not serving breakfast because it was Easter. (Don't folk have breakfast during Easter?!) We continued a little way and were stopped by a local Vicar who gave us some hot cross buns. The buns were delicious but were not quite enough to satisfy our hunger. A 'spoons pub saved the day and provided our first fry up of the adventure.

Our next stop was to be at Great Easton. Up until Great Easton we didn't cycle more than 60k between controls. The weather was nice and only the persistent head wind was menace. We were expecting a cash machine or similar to be used as control proof but we found an awesome little pub instead.

Great Easton control

We were served to drinks and snacks by a couple of bunnies. This pub certainly had the Easter spirit! Some folk even said that they had caught a glimpse of the 'Easter Bunny' himself outside…

The Easter Bunny?!

After Great Easton it was a 60k trek to St Ives. Well, we were not 100% sure it was St Ives - according to the route planner it was but at our destination point it said St Ives was 2 miles away. It mattered little really as there was few suitable places for control purposes anyhow - a random shop between destination point and alleged St Ives was used for proof of passage. The nearest pub 'The Cock' was overly expensive so we continued just a little further and stopped at the Axe and compass (I think). We had to wait about 30 minutes for our food but it was a worthwhile wait! We all had an amazing burger with fries. Mmm delicious. I layered up here too as it was now starting to get chilly as the bright weather and light was starting to fade.

St Ives to Kirton was our longest slog at 83k. We cycled a lot of flat road here but being so dark it wasn't so spectacular. I remember the same roads during LEL were more exciting - that was probably due to 100's more cyclists occupying the road and an awesome tail wind. At least I was able to test out my new dynamo light - an exposure Revo MK 1. I have to report, my light was truly awesome - the whole team agreed.

Exposure Revo MK1

We were all looking forward to a curry at the control in Kirton but when we finally arrived the curry house turned out to be take-away only. It was cold now and we wanted somewhere warm to eat and freshen up. The pizza shop said they were closed but they were obviously open and just wanting to shut shop. I spotted a Chinese take-away that said it closed at 10 p.m. but looked open despite being 11 p.m. Indeed it was open and it was a most awesome shop too!

The Best Chinese!

A very kind Chinese guy welcomed us all in and allowed us to sit down while he prepared the most delicious dishes imaginable. He left these dishes open and provided us with forks and chatted to us while we warmed up and ate. He also took the above picture and treated us to free drinks. I so wish I took more note of the name of this establishment and the owners name. The only thing I took was a rather shady photo of the nice guy.

Mr Nice

So nice it was to be fuelled up as we headed out into the cold and continued our journey. Don't remember too much about this stage, only that it was long (about 70k), dark and chilly. I gave Chris one of my socks as he said his foot was frozen solid.

We finally reached Market Rasen at about 3 a.m. A local pizza joint was located and we thought this would be ideal for control purposes. A policeman was outside and we felt that our bikes would be safe under his supervision. Once inside the shop we ordered pizza and warmed up our feet. And then it got rowdy as lots of drunken hooligans and the like filled the premises. Some folk were nice and interested in our mission, others were clearly drunk. Mr Police dude made a few trips inside and out and kept control of the chaos.

The cause of the chaos?!

Once we were fed, we continued into the darkness. This was a long stretch to Pocklington and we saw the night turn back into day. The Humber Bridge was crossed during this section too which was nice.

The Humber Bridge

On the bridge we crossed paths with another arrow team but they said they were behind time by a good hour or so. We were racing time, this event was harder than any of us had reckoned. The head wind had slowed us down somewhat and despite not being overly hilly, we had a few ascents to battle.

Hilliness profile of our Easter Arrow to York

We hadn't reached Pocklington by the 22nd hour so we had to find a 22nd hour control. This was one of those 'funny rules'. A local ATM in Market Weighton was able to provide us with the necessary proof of passage. Pocklington was not too far away and we raced to get there, ever conscious that time was ticking away. Pocklington was the penultimate control so we stocked up on supplies for a final time and then we were off!

Despite the last section only being 22k it felt a trifle longer. I had started to feel tired and much of my motivation had now wavered as my head-space was telling me that we would make it to York within the 24 hours. Chris and Ron still seemed to have fire between their legs and led me (in a more zoomy style than I cared for) to the arrivee, a lovely 'spoons pub in York. Woo Hoo, we had completed our mission with just 8 minutes to spare! As luck would have, Jamie and Andy appeared not long after. What a great adventure and what a wonderful team. Will any of us be doing this again? - I don't think so! At the arrivee we ate and drank and celebrated as is the usual custom. Some random lady called 'Crinkly Lion' kept us fed with her free cakes. What a bizarre end to our adventure!

Chris and Jamie at the finish.

Andy, Ron and Doo all finished (off) too!

According to my Strava log, I had cycled 425.5k in 18 hours and 38 minutes (and 49 seconds) and climbed some 1,764 metres. That didn't include my stops. As stated earlier, my control proofs recorded that I had just 8 minutes to spare!

My Easter Arrow route to York

Heading home was a long drawn out affair. Jamie and Andy left first. Ron managed to get an early train. Chris and I waited hours for a space on the train (not being able to get an earlier train).

Bikeless and fancy free, I wonder what next adventure awaiteth me? ….

Dorset Coast 200

Last week was pretty amazing on the adventure front. Not only did I cycle a single-speed jolly and run my 5k Studley triangle route, I also completed the Dorset Coast 200k audax. How awesome.

My Dorset Coast adventure started with a trip to Windsor to meet up with my buddy Chris. From Windsor we headed to a quay in Dorset. The 'night before' our epic adventure was to be spent on 'La Mystique', a speed boat belonging to Chris's mother. This was my second stop on said boat and it really was quite a bizarre experience. Is not everyday you look out of your bedroom window (or port hole) and see 'things' moving up and down and left and right. Nor does one normally wake to the sound of a creaking rope.

GPX track log of the actual route cycled

Our adventure proper, started from the Parish Hall in Wareham Quay. A big bunch of cyclist's had gathered here ready to start this classic audax event - now in it's 37th year. (This was the first time Chris and I had entered). 

'Found' this cheeky taken snap on someone else's blog - oldbatonabike.wordpress.com

Hospitality was amazing from the start - here we were 'looked after' by means of a free drink. This event was real value for money - entry was only £12. At 7.45 a.m. we were let loose and headed towards Sandbanks. This short section was super zoomy and everyone appeared to be racing the largely formed peleton along. Within no time we had reached the Sandbanks ferry and looked forward to our mini cruise, which was included in the entry fee.

A ferry load of cyclists...

...including Mr Hodge!

Once off the ferry we cycled quiet roads that passed many beaches. One such beach was the infamous Studland beach - a nudist beach no less! Was that hot that even I peeled off a layer here. Cycling these beautiful coastal roads was great and my head was filled with thoughts of past holidays.

Lovely coastal roads

Layered up, but these layers soon came off

Our pace was initially very fast on these lovely roads but it wasn't long before we started to encounter some climbs. We had to climb up towards Corfe Castle and had Steeple hill and the climb to Daggers Gate after passing said castle.

Time for a little YMCA dance before the beautiful Corfe Castle. Ha!

This ride was turning out to be truly awesome. The sun was shining bright, the skies were blue, the roads were quiet, the company was sound and the views were spectacular. My bike was running smooth (despite the buckled front wheel) and Chris was real pleased to be back on his DIY build (despite the random creaking). Only slight menace was that one road was closed because the MOD were firing shots. No real bother, we just cycled a few different roads and joined set route a little further along. The run into the control was nice as it skirted alongside the beach and sea of Weymouth. Was only sat here on deck chairs with SJ and Lunar just last year. 

Stolen pic from old bat's blog

The Criterion Cafe was used for control purposes and we were given a free drink again. As is out style, we purchased beans, egg and toast here for fuelling purposes! The stop was also used to remove even more layers, boy - it was a proper summers day today!

Stage 3 was entitled the 'Roller coaster to Devon'. This section was super hilly - the event didn't have 2.75 AAA points awarded for nothing. Chris and I were both on relatively good form and no hill was too menace to be fair. Chris said he actually enjoyed climbing some of the tougher hills. The hills only went as high as the summit and then the descents were butt clenching zoomy affairs - awesome!

Hilliness profile of the Dorset Coast 200 (2.75 AAA)

Perhaps the toughest climb took up and past Abbotsbury Swannery. Not totally sure what this swannery was exactly, but a big 'Lord of the Rings' type building sat on top of a big hill. With much puffing and panting we climbed up to and away from said building in glorious weather.

Can you spot the building? Looked way bigger in real life!

Greatly undulating roads took us all the way to Axminster. As tough as some of the hills were, I kept expecting to tackle tougher ones but they just didn't appear. The killer hill did not exist. Axminster County Primary School was our control. At the control we were given free sarnies, drink, cake and soup. I ate a sausage and pickle sandwich, had a cup of tea (and much water), sponge cake and tomato soup. Made use of the water closet here too! The controller was slightly bonkers and was acting the strict teacher role and demanding we ate more cake or face detention.

A random feed stop

Stage 4 started up a big hill but again nothing we couldn't handle (despite being full of food). Both Chris and I were expecting a tough, tough hill, but again it never appeared. The route sheet said 'follow tortuous route' but this didn't mean 'hilly' as we first thought it might. We think the whole torture thing was probably attributed to the The Keep we passed or the crazy speed bumps near control perhaps? The control here, the Top o' Town Cafe was nasty. Shame really as everything else was perfect (perhaps this was the torture element?). Chris had a wet soggy KitKat and I had a soggy sausage roll. Let's not dwell on this and move on ...

Chris and The Keep

The final stage was a relatively flat stretch that took us back to the Quay in Wareham. We cycled this in a leisurely style just enjoying and making the most of our day. I stopped for a comfort break in the aptly named 'Tincleton', though Piddlington would have been equally suitable. We made it to the arrivee in good time. We had cycled 208k and climbed just under 3,000 metres in about 11 and a half hours. What a great adventure and definitely one of my favourite audax's to date. 

A new medal for the collection

Cycled a total of 238k this week. Total distance cycled this year now stands at 2,173k.

Ran 5.1k this week. Total distance ran this year is now 90.3k.

Not a lot to jot

Not a great week on the activity front. With 6 menace night shifts, what did one expect?! Still, as usual, some adventure was had.

On Wednesday, I received 5 brevet cards in the post ready for the York Arrow. This is the 400k team event (audax) that I had entered and managed to get Chris, Ron, Jamie and Andy to join as part of my team. Our team is called 'The Long Distance Lumox Lads'. The organiser never commented on my created route so the presumption is all is fine. Am quite looking forward to this adventure - the first time I have entered a team event and certainly the first time as captain. Chris and I rode a back to back 200k dart, so this will be a good progression.

My only cycle and only adventure of the week was a short blast around the BG SR 2 route. This ride was like riding in the Great smog of London back in 1952 - the UK was heavily polluted with sand and the likes from the Sahara. How bizarre, but true.

Measley scores on the doors - had cycled only 42k this week and did not run at all. Hopefully next week will be a little more active. Looking forward to my planned April events...

Cheltenham Severn Bridge High Loop and other short adventures

The days go slow but the weeks years go fast. Monday marked a whole 2 years as a married man! Within those 2 years I was also blessed with a lovely daughter and landed a new job. 2 Years ago, who would have thought?

A card from my sister Jane

Started this week off with a run around the Studley triangle. Initially felt like the right thing to do after not running at all last week. My run was pretty pants though. The weather was wet and drizzly, I forgot to set my Garmin and I didn't seem to be running so good. Even though it's not a major disaster, I can't express how annoying it is when one's Garmin isn't recording as it should! I think that was why my run was more menace than fun - once I realised my Garmin wasn't recording I had that 'paralysis of will' feeling.

Tuesday night was spent with Aid and Ron. We cycled a mostly urban style type of ride on our different MTB's. Aid had a hard-tailed 29er, Ron a full-susser and I used my single-speed (hard-tail). It just went to show, pretty much any bike could be used to have some fun!

No further adventure until Saturday. Saturday's adventure was awesome and worth the wait. I cycled the Cheltenham Severn Bridge High Loop 200k audax for the first time. This was an event organised by Steve Poulton.

As the name suggested, the Cheltenham Severn Bridge High Loop 200 started in Cheltenham. My start was real early, not much after 7 a.m.! The day looked promising from the start, however, it was a wee bit chilly first thing. Soon warmed up though as there was a bit of a climb leaving Cheltenham heading for Dowdeswell. First stop came at the 13k mark for info control purposes. I had to name the Church in Withington.

Such a beautiful church in Withingtom

Remember the name for info purposes!

Leaving Withington, nice roads (a roman Road) took me all the way to Cirencester. I passed a lovely building that I remembered cyclist past on the Poor Student perm. So nice in fact, have included a photo from said perm (as I was too lazy to take a pic on this occasion).

Wonder when I'll pass these arches again?!

Wonder if those arches were from the Roman era? I had followed a Roman Road and signs for an amphitheatre were passed after all! My journey continued in ever increasing temperatures and took me to my next stop in Minety. 

So hot here in Minety

 At this stop it was just so hot that I peeled off a number of my layers. Searched my pockets for food and ate a very tasty cereal bar. Oh, and answered another info control question - stated the postfix number.

Postbox number for possible future reference

Am sure this day was probably the hottest thus far this year. No complaints from me, made my cycling a more pleasurable experience. This particular route was nice too as it took me to places I had never cycled before. The next stop was a real pretty village called Castle Combe, would love to visit here again and take my wife and daughter.

Castle Combe

From Castle Combe, I made my way to Chepstow. A lot of my headspace was filled with my 'Bristol days' as signs for Thornbury were followed for stretches. (Thornbury was near to where I stayed when I lodged in Bristol, studying a degree in Biomedical sciences). The best part of this section was the fact that I crossed the Severn Bridge which I just love. I didn't take a photo (again) but took a picture to prove I had reached Wales.

Had reached the 'big' country

Chepstow was my lunch stop. I had the audax staple diet of beans and egg on toast. Bacon and sausage were naughty additions. Suitably fuelled, I headed off to Monmouth. The route to Monmouth included some wonderful descents. In all, the route contained about 2,000 metres of climbing (no AAA points though) so it was nice to speed down some lengthy descents. The hilliness profile of route is presented below.

Hilliness profile of Cheltenham Severn Bridge High Loop 200

Had a free cup of tea at Monmouth Waitrose. Never expected that. SJ had given me a Waitrose card but little did I expect it to get me 'free tea' with no purchase of anything else. Bonus! Maybe we should give homeless guys Waitrose cards?!

A little off-roading took me to Symonds Yat as I followed the Peregrine cycle path from Monmouth. Being such a nice day, this path was chock-a-block with walkers, dogs, kids and other cyclists. Such menace! Real road then took me to Ross where I was glad to stop for another cup of tea.

Selfie, all the rage apparently

Another short stretch of just 14k took me to Newent. As nice as this route was, I felt it had a few too many controls (11 in all). The next control was Staunton but nothing was open (then I realised that it could be used as an info control). The info question wanted to know how far away Pendock was. Pendock was 3 miles away, but Cheltenham, the arrivee was still a trek away. The final stretch to Cheltenham was a bit of a push as I was battling against a head-wind. Once I reached Cheltenham, it took me a little while to find my car. Ha! A great adventure was had and 221k's were cycled. My 2 AUK points for March's RRtY purposes bagged! The GPX track of my route is presented below.

Cheltenham Severn Bridge High Loop 200

Final adventure of the week was a lap of the BG SR 1 route. On this occasion, I took Lin with me. Ha, I renamed the route 'Killing Lin Softly'.

Cycled 297k this week (and ran 5.1k)

Cycled a total of 1,893k this year (and ran 85.2k)

Even dirty rats leave sinking ships

A birthday card from the Hodges

Spent Monday morning catching up on what my friends, family and fellow enthusiasts had done / had planned of late. Most notably, Jane was spinning in a gym after some time away from the bike and considering whether she should ditch her cleats. Lin had been preparing for the London Prudential 100 mile road. However, Chris topped the chart! Chris had been given £50 for chatting about bike related nonsense and had gotten entry into both the Eroica Britannia and the L'eroica in Italy. These Eroica events are classy retro race type things. I wish I could support Chris in Italy (like he supported me in France) but with this event being in October and having a 'little one', it looks most unlikely. Chris's adventures can be followed here: Chris's aka Mr O's biking bulletin

A birthday card from the Mrs

Monday evening was spent with Ron and our MTB's. We started cycling the Deer route but diverted once we spotted a suitable off-road track. Surprisingly the ground was hard. Was real fun to be off-road after so long. We rejoined the Deer route further along and was able to cycle back by continuing with the 'dirty' i.e. off-load version. All in all, a super x-country single-speed MTB spin.

A birthday card from Jane, she's sure she spotted me in there...

Didn't Cycle again until Thursday. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent panicking - I had to prepare for an interview. I was actually interviewed on the Wednesday, my day of my birth.

A year older, birthday shirt courtesy of the Mrs

Thursday was a great day all round. I was pleased to have landed a new job as a British Transport Police - Senior Liaison Nurse. Woo hoo! Will from MadeGood emailed me about their LEL documentary and stated ''[We] are planning an event in the mid-summer some time, which we will invite everyone that took part [in documentary] to attend. We’ll also have a copy of the film you can take away, and I’m thinking about putting together an unedited timeline of all the footage we have of you as a memento you can keep…  I’ll be in touch again when we’ve got some idea about a date for the summer screening''. To top that, I had a great cycle too! I cycled a x-country single-speed MTB jolly covering about 50k. Only slight downer to the day was the fact that I fell off my bike twice!

Final adventure of the week was another x-country SS MTB adventure. This time around I took Aid for a blast on some of the roads and trails I skirted along earlier in the week. Was great to be out getting so muddy. Only menace was that both Aids tyres punctured despite his slime-filled tubes.

Lunar agrees, Life is Good!

No running this week. Cycled 123k. Aged a year. Landed a new job. Received news from MadeGood. Life is good.

Badger, badger, badger, badger,badger, badger, badger,badger, badger, mushroom, mushroom!

Had a week of annual leave. A time to play hard and forget about work. Or so I thought...

Things started well. First adventure of the week was a blast around the LemonAid route. This was a nice nights cycling with Ron and could-you-believe it, Aid. Aid said he had been reading my blog and my taunts of 'Southern Fairy' had given him the motivation he required. Will use this blog for many more taunts and jibes I think. Ron and Aid were out using their 29er's. I was the odd one out (nothing unusual about that) and was using 'Queenie' my single-speed MTB. On route, we thought we were being followed by a helicopter. It turned out the helicopter was searching for (and found) a mental health patient who had escaped incarceration and subsequently electrocuted himself after climbing a pole. What an electrifying adventure!

Second adventure was a blast around the 'Stroud 5 Valleys' audax. This was a permanent event that I have ridden so many times now. Quite a hilly affair too.

Stroud 5 Valleys 50 GPX track log

Quite a hilly affair, scoring a single AAA point

Am not going to write loads about this event as I have blogged each of the several times ridden before. Today's ride was ridden on a nice Spring day and I used 'Scotty' my MTB for this adventure. Am real pleased I was not on the bicycle pictured below.

Random bicycle at the Painswick control

Most bizarre thing about my trip was cycling past a badger on a bicycle. Yup, you heard me right. Mr Badger on his bicycle!

Badger on a bicycle

My week had started so well, but by midweek, things had taken a turn for the worst. Work related issues put pay to my play. I had hoped to cycle each of my four bikes in daily succession but this was looking likely not to be. Instead, I was glued to a computer screen researching preventative suicide strategies.

Lin came over Thursday which was nice. Especially as SJ and I now had a baby-sitter and a chance to run together. We both ran the Studley triangle route which was great.

Friday was given over to work related nonsense. Argh, why does work always get in the way of fun. Grrr, the sun was out too.

SJ went for an early morning run on Saturday around the Studley triangle again. Once she got home, I felt inspired to do the same. I ran my fastest this year, running the Studley triangle at an average pace of  5:03/km. Strangely, I didn't push myself like I had done the previous week but still had a quicker time and faster pace. Perhaps my Garmin Forerunner had gone wonky?! Ha! Saturday turned out to be a 'duathlon' day for me as I took my road bike 'Slinky' out too. Earlswood lakes was where I cycled to and back. The main purpose of this trip was to test my new Exposure Revo MK1 dynamo light out. The light worked a treat and has the added bonus of being able to charge my Garmin. Shame I tested light in the daylight though. D'oh!

This picture was on the wall at my Sunday Service

Sunday arrived and woo hoo! - I managed a quick cheeky spin in the evening. This final spin was using 'Kay O' my single-speed (conversion) road bike. Was so chuffed I used each of my 4 machines this week, what a feat! My last ride was a quick trek up to the Jimney Ring and back via an alternate route. Am thinking of 'stealing' more Strava user routes if the weather stays fine.

Managed to cycle a total distance of 144k this week. My total cycling distance this year now stands at 1,473k. Am pleased I have kept my running going too. Have ran 80k this year. Wow!

Sunshine haze and happy duathlon daze

This week started well. On Monday, SJ and I ran the Studley triangle together. As nice as this run was, it was also kinda sad. We figured this would probably be the last time we run together for a while because my folks are visiting my siblings overseas and won't be able to babysit Lunar at short notice.

Mid-week was my first duathlon day. For the first time in goodness-knows-when, I managed to both cycle and run (and in that order too) on the self same day. I was getting withdrawal symptoms from not riding my bike but all felt good again as I sped along my TTT 20 route. Once home, I changed into my running gear and ran the Studley triangle. I pushed myself on this run just because SJ made comments about us both being competitive with one another. About half way round the route, I saw SJ (and baby Lunar) in the car which provided further encouragement. I completed the run in good time, with an average pace of 5:11/km which is my fastest pace this year. A little later SJ sent me the picture below, I wonder what she was trying to tell me?!

My next duathlon day was on Friday. Friday was such a beautiful day - the sun was shining, birds were singing and it truly felt like Spring had arrived. SJ suggested I take Cody out for a run with me and I thought 'why not?". So, Cody and I started to run over the fields in Studley on what I call the 'Handlebar Run'. Only problem was, Cody - my four legged friend, kept stopping for a sniff here and a sniff there. Despite the weather being glorious, the fields were not - they were still very wet. In places Cody just refused to run because stretches of our route were submerged in water. This was a wet, muddy and painfully slow 5k run. I won't be taking Cody out for a re-run in a hurry! The cycle was much better. In fact, for the first time this year I was not wearing my winter shoes! Nice, warm sunny weather took me to Evesham, where I picked up the 'Snowdrop' route and cycled as far as the Jimney Ring before heading home again. Such a lovely route with one tough hill for my single-speed to battle. I think I will repeat this route and have named it the 'No snow mojo' because it wasn't quite the Snowdrop and certainly helped me get my mojo back!

Last adventure of the week was a lap around my stolen BG SR 1 route. This is probably my favourite stolen route. Again the weather was superb, a lovely Spring like day. For the first time this year I was wearing shorts without leggings and no jacket! May this lovely weather continue!

Managed to cycle 134k this week which brought my yearly distance up to 1,327k. My cycling is way down on last years figures but at least I was still able to get out and spin my legs. Pleased with my running figures - managed to cover 16.3k with my two feet. Have now ran 69.9k this year. Happy daze!

My shoes were made for running?

This has been a relatively un-eventful week. I only cycled on one occasion. However, am pleased I managed to run 3 times though.

My cycle ride was with Ron. We cycled round and about our village. Cycled less than 30k this week and this was all in 1 trip.

My 3 runs were all with SJ and were all the same route. This route was the reverse Studley triangle. At least my shoes have seen some road.