Love, Valentine and Wham BAM (2/12)

February is the month of love. My lovely wife sent me some caring 'look after your back' information to prove her love to me and we enjoyed a pre-Valentines curry on the 13th. On Valentines day itself, I had a date with Roger. Roger is my blind buddy and tandem cycling partner.

I cycled a solo trip from my abode to Roger's domicile. We then both got aboard his tandem and set off on a jolly. It wasn't long before we randomly cycled past another of his tandem partners (Danny). We stopped to say 'hello' and then the 2 of us became 3, as Danny wished to abandon the group ride he had planned and joined us instead. 

Interesting talking to Danny, as he knew the Head of Health at my work place. The 3 of us chatted bike talk, work talk and usual nonsense for several kilometres. Our stop point was at Aunty Rita's cafe, in Flyford Flavel (I think). We were enjoying a breakfast here when the 3 of us became 4. Randomly again, a chap called John entered the cafe and joined us. He too, was a friend of Rogers. 

After a fill, we left the cafe as a group of 4 and cycled further through this beautiful day. 4 became 3 when John left us near Hanbury. 3 Became 2 when Danny left us in Redditch. 2 became 1 when I left Roger at his house and cycled to my own home, back on my own bike. What an awesome adventure.

BAM 2/12

Everybody knows I love my wife. I think most folk know that I love cycling too. And, just in case you didn't know, I quite love wild camping also. On the 15th Feb, I completed my 2nd month of the 'Bivvy-a-Month' (BAM) challenge!

Rob, Ron and I set off into the dark and headed for our destination - 'Round Hill'. The dark roads we cycled soon became quite light as we headed off the tarmac and onto muddy fields. The moon was not quite full but it shone real bright. We had no problems, save the pushing and hike-a-bike up the hills, reaching the summit of Round Hill.

What an awesome night. What an awesome spot. We were clearly high up as we could see for miles around. In fact we had a full 360 degree view of the landscape. This was the first time I had wild camped at (well, very near to) a trig point.

We guessed that there just must have been a fort or similar dwelling here in times past. It was just the best view point around. The moon was shining so bright and the stars were too.

(This pic was actually taken the following morning)

We actually camped in a little dip or hollow just to the side of the trig point. This awesome spot kept us completely hidden from view and sheltered us from the wind. All around we had awesome views of the shining stars and of course the big bright moon. Inside the dip, I felt like we were all items inside a frying pan.

We set up camp. Rob cooked some sausages. Only right we had a little drink to wash the food down.
Dancing ensued not long after. Ron was DJ and we all rocked out to Metallica, Motorhead, Pink Floyd, The Breeders and other tracks on his iPhone.

'He made the stars also'

We like the moon.

I'm not totally sure what Ron was drinking, but I'm sure he drank too much. He was convinced there were 2 moons. Ron also saw a hare and a bat which Rob and I were sure was just a figment of his imagination.

Egyptian shin dig or dancing the funky pigeon?!

Following a dance and a drink, we all soon settled down to star and moon gazing. I remember 1 a.m. coming and going and then I remembered no more until morning came. I must have been first to doze off as I didn't hear the snores of Ron or Rob.

A lovely morning followed an awesome night. Clear skies and super warm considering this was only February. I slept pretty fine considering this was a wild camp. My air mat had deflated somewhat as it so often does.

Not sure what had happened to Ron but he was covered in feathers and licking his lips. Initial thoughts were that he was munching on an early breakfast of pigeon. He tried to convince us that his down sleeping bag had ripped.

With everybody up, we had an amazing breakfast. We cooked not only sausage and bacon, we had eggs too! Delicious. We drank all this down with copious amounts of green jasmine tea.

Camp didn't take too long to pack up. We all felt that this was one of (if not,) the best wild camps we had ever had. Stoked to have completed my 2nd month of my BAM challenge (just 10 to go). Just as we left the off-road tracks we bumped into the farmer who just greeted us with a 'hi, these aren't bike tracks you know'. Ha!

As stated at start of blog post, my wife proved her love to me - she sent me a fact sheet about looking after my back whilst cycling. An interesting read. And because I love you lot, I figured I should share what I read. A lot of the following text has been copied straight from that back fact-sheet:

... estimates suggest that anywhere between 30-70% of us will get back pain when cycling. This pain can be caused by a variety of reasons but the good news is there are simple things you can do to ensure that you do not develop back pain or you manage your back pain and prevent it from becoming long term and debilitating... Cycling helps to keep us fit which is the best way to try to prevent or manage back pain. Here are some simple exercises you can try to help keep you on your bike. If you have an existing back condition, you may want to skip exercises that exacerbate your pain.

Before riding
Arms, shoulder and back stretch

G Place your hands on your bike’s saddle and handle bar
G Step back a few stepsG Bend your back until it is at a right
angle to the groundG Hold the stretch for 15 seconds.
When taking a break
Side stretch
G Stand with your feet slightly apartG Grab your left elbow with your right
hand and your right elbow with your
left hand above your headG Slowly pull your left elbow to the
right with your right hand until you
feel a stretch. Hold for five secondsG Return to upright position and do the same on the leftG Repeat four times (each side).
After a ride
Lower back stretch
G Place your palms on your lower back fingers facing downwards
G Slowly arch your back and stick out your chest while slightly leaning backwards. Hold for 15 seconds then return to original position
G Repeat three times.
At home
Diagonal stretch
G Point the toes of your left foot as you extend your right arm
G Stretch as far as is comfortableG Hold for five seconds, and then relaxG Stretch the right leg and left arm the same wayG Repeat four times (on each side).

Upper back and shoulder stretch
G Clasp your hands together behind your back
G Slowly raise your arms behind you until you feel a stretch
G Hold for 10 seconds then lower armsG Repeat four times.
Toe touch
G Bend forward at your lower back to touch your toes
G Try to keep you knees straight but if this is difficult you may bend themG Hold for 20 seconds then return to
original position.
Upper back stretch
G Clasp your hands together, palms facing forward Extend your arms in front of your body and hold this position for 10 seconds then relax
G Repeat three times.
Seated back and hip stretch
G Sit with your left hand behind you and your left leg bent and crossed over resting outside your right knee
G Place right elbow outside your left thigh
G Slowly turn to look over your left shoulder while rotating your upper body as far as you can for the stretch
G Hold for 10 seconds. Release, and then do the same for the other side
G Repeat four times (each side).

Feet in February

My first adventure in February was a ParkRun. This was my 20th ParkRun to date. I thought my days of improved running were long gone as my last few ParkRuns all took over 24 minutes to complete (my fastest ever being 21:39). I was willing and pushing myself to run a sub 24 minute ParkRun on this occasion and goodness gracious I did! In fact, I ran a sub 23! My official time was 22:59. Sure, it was a long way off my PB but I was super pleased with that. I finished in 58th place out of a field of 346.

The following week I ran another ParkRun and was again super pleased, especially as I had ran my fastest time this year. I took a whole 3 seconds of my run the previous week and ran a time of 22:56. I came 49th out of a field of 482 (5th in my age category).

That'll probably be the last of my ParkRuns for this month. I still plan to keep running but greater plans of cycling and wild camping will fill the next few weekends. Maybe I'll aim to complete a ParkRun at least monthly, just like I'm attempting to bivvy a month (BAM).

Thirsts

This is the First month of 2019. I have done a number of things for the first time this month. With my 2019 plans in mind, here is a collection of Firsts for the month (thus far).

January 1st - My first cycle. I cycled a 30k+ route with my bro Rob and buddy Ron. Also had my first pint (thanks Ron) - it was a dark fruits cider. Oh, also had my first shot of whisky. Maybe my reduced drinking will start next month.

January 2nd - Whoa, a lot of firsts today. My first run - I ran a regular 5k Studley Triangle route. Hmm, this was also the day I had my first McDonalds followed later with my first pizza of the year. This eating less malarkey might have to start next month too. On a brighter note, today was the first day I had quoted a biblical verse to this blog.

'Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together... He who sits in the heavens shall laugh'. (Psa 2:1-4)

That verse speaks politics to me. Politicalamity! And it appears that God himself laughs at the politics on the earth. It sure is comedic at times.

'The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men' (1 Cor 1:25)

January 3rd - This day proved that changing eating habits is super difficult. Not only do you have to convince yourself to eat less, you need to convince (or at least inform) others too. I went out with my wife and family to the lovely Stourport area. My dear wife asked what I would like for breakfast. After scanning the menu, I opted for a simple Full English breakfast. What came back was a Mega Breakfast with about 2 servings of everything including black pudding. So, yeah, a delicious fried breakfast which was my first this year. This breakfast reminded me of my staple diet during the TAW race last year. Later in the day, I had my first carvery this year too.

January 4th - What a great day for adventure this turned out to be. The evening welcomed my first curry which was super nice. Curry was followed by a trip to The Lark for some liquid refreshment. The night finished with my first BAM for the year. BAM is an acronym for Bivvy-a-Month. Ron, Rob and I decided we would camp out on this freezing night. First BAM! Woo hoo, only 11 to go!

This was the first time we had camped at this exact location. This was also the first time that I had ever used a hooped bivvy too. The bivvy was pegged out which was great as it stopped everything drifting away.

Ron's snoring was heard for the first time this year - at least by me and Rob! Not sure if I snored but I slept real well using my new Thermorest pillow for the very first time. The pillow was great but does not pack small enough for long distance bike packing.

When morning came, I brewed us all a cup of green tea. This was followed by an amazing sausage breakfast (we ate sausages before we went to bed too). This breakfast was particularly special as I used my new camp knife for the first time.

Frustratingly, this was first time I had punctured this year. Thankfully, our camp spot wasn't too far from home. Punctured bicycle made it home with no real worry.

Home

January 12th - This was a great day of adventure. This was the first time I saw my buddy Chris Hodge this year. We both cycled the 'January Sale' 200k audax. This was the first audax and first long distance event that either of us had cycled this year. We have both cycled this event in the past and have experienced seriously wet and/or cold weather, this was the first time the weather had been mild. This was a great day and I really enjoyed both the cycling and the company.

January Sale, 200k 

January 14th - Chris Hodge had built a wheel for my bike and after many months of patient waiting I was real pleased to attach it to 'Eleven'. For the first time since Ireland, I cycled Eleven (on my work commute) using a wheel Chris had built. There's a first time for everything, and this was the first time I cycled using a wheel Chris had built. Eleven cycled like a dream. Top job Chris.

Jan 19th - First Park Run this year. Not my first one ever, oh no, this was Park Run number 18. I finished in 80th place out of a field of 457. My time was exactly 24 mins. I'd like to run much faster but this is as fast as my legs would allow.

January 22nd - First yoga session ever! And this was not any regular yoga, oh no, this was Hot Pod Yoga! SJ had convinced me to attend and had sorted me a free trail session.

The session was really good to be fair. We were in this big pod thing which reminded me of Stranger Things and Teletubbies. Initially, I had the fear and started to panic a little because I felt a tad claustrophobic. Once we got started, all was great. We essentially performed a lot of Pilate's type moves but in a very warm, well 'hot', environment. The sweat dripped from us within seconds. Hot and wet!

Jan 26th - First 'different' Park Run this year. Better yet, this was my first Park Run with my wife too. We both ran the Churchfields Farm Park Run which is considered to be the countries toughest. This was my 19th Park Run to date and I finished in 30th place out of a field of 145. My time was 26:20. SJ finished not long after. I hope we both run this again sometime soon.

I've done a whole bunch of stuff for the first time this year. The above was just a selection of things to write about. If that doesn't give you a thirst for adventure, I'm not sure what will.

2018 out; 2019 in.

It's the New Year! I do hope the New Year blows the socks off anyone reading my blog! May your year be filled with love and adventure!

Before I blog about the new year (2019), I figured it would be fun to reflect on the past year (2018). What better than to have a look at the plan I made way back in January? Well, my plans were as follows: (2019 comments in blue)

• Cycle frequently, both solo and with my pals. Cycle on tandem at least bi-monthly with my blind and oldest (age-wise) buddy Roger. Giving myself a tick for this one, maybe the odd ride short with Roger.
• Complete a RRtY this season. This will involve cycling a 200k audax each month up until September. Completed - my 4th RRtY to date.
• (Maybe) complete an SR Series this season. (The 3 Coasts 600 is unfinished business). Never happened, have no inclination for 2019.
• Cycle 10,000k before end of year. Shot past this mark, wahoo!
• Complete XDP17 - failed attempt last year. Did not happen, maybe 2019?
• Wild camp. Yeah baby!
• Learn to become a tortoise whisperer. Indeed, followed by becoming a tortoise shouter..
• Search the scriptures. I did but need to explore further and deeper.
• Attempt to complete a Park Run at least monthly. I think I only completed 2 Park Runs. One was on Xmas day!
• Attempt to hold a plank daily up until TAW. Let's move on shall we...
• Collect and post motivational quotes to this blog. Meh..
• Lose weight at least up until TAW. Pah..
• Lift weights. Groan. Meh again..
• Run a 5k in 20 mins something. (A dream rather than a plan). Lucky to run in sub 24 mins currently.
• Be the best husband, lover, father, that I can. Guess you better ask my better half and kiddy winks...

Whilst I'm in this reflective mode, let me look back to when my records began and update further. Indeed, presented below is a list of my annual cycling and running distances (km, followed by miles in brackets). I've also high-lighted my 'big events' for particular years in red.

2009 - 5,086 (3,160) LEJOG 2009
2010 - 8,509 (5,287) Paris to Geneva Cycle 2010/LEJOG 2010
2011 - 8,378 (5,207)   PBP 2011
2012 - 6,935 (4,309)
2013 - 12,498 (7,766) LEL 2013
2014 - 9,253 (5,750)
2015 - 5,531 (3,436) and Ran 1,170 (727)
2016 - 6,515 (4,048) and Ran 1,204 (748) Iron Man (Bolton) 2016/TNR 2016
2017 - 8,940 (5,555) and Ran 514 (319)
2018 - 10,958 (6,809) and Ran 417 (259) TransAtlantic Way (TAW) Race 2018

I started 2018 weighing 89.6 kg and ended weighing much heavier. Grr. Oh well, who cares, I cycled far more miles than previous few years. Maybe I need to run more as my running stats were quite poor. In my final month of 2018, I ran a few more k and managed a couple of runs with my wife which was nice. I think the Xmas day was my favourite run of 2018 (even if I had my slowest time).

Xmas day Park Run 2018

Will the real Santa please stand up

I now start 2019 weighing 96 kg. This is of little surprise considering how much food I have devoured and how much whisky I have drank over the festive period. Lot's of work to do to get this weight shifted. Shifting weight is not my only plan, see below (in no particular order, save the fact that it follows a review of previous year):

Plans, or rather goals for 2019:

• Cycle frequently. Cycle with buddies and solo. Commute by bicycle.
• Cycle 10,000k before end of year.
• Wild Camp. In fact, attempt to bivvy-a-month (BAM).
• Search the Scriptures more thoroughly than last year. Add interesting quotes/thoughts to my blog.
• Run more Park Runs. Try a Park Run I have never ran before. Run a Park Run with my wife.
• Run 500k before end of year.
• Complete the Fort William 1000 audax (my 'big' event for 2019).
• Eat less, drink less, adventure more.
• Be the best lover, husband, father that I can.

H A P P Y  N E W  Y E A R

Tinsel and The TransAtlantic Way

Oh man, have blogged so little past month or so. This was because I had done little in the way of exercise, training, cycling, running and had no wild camping experiences to shout about. The usual bugs this time of year came and went and motivation took a dip. All was relatively pants. And then, wham, bang, out of nowhere the results for the TransAtlantic Way (TAW) race 2018 were published! Aces! This brought all the super memories of my best cycling experience this year straight back into my head-space. Check below, Jamie and I were official finishers! Woo hoo! Our initial plan was to finish within 12 days - we actually finished in less than 11 (not to mention 5 broken spokes and wild dog chases...).

Within the TransAtlantic Way race, there was another race going on. This was the bemoreMike challenge. The rider with the fastest accumulated time for racing up 5 mountainous sections wins. 

Only 56 riders completed this challenge. Some scratched and goodness knows what might happened to the others. I was very pleased with my overall position of 46/56. Amazing really, my first spoke broke before I reached the summit of the first climb.

So, so cool to reflect on the TAW experience. Really was an awesome ride and I'd love to complete something like this again. Jamie and I have already signed up for a 1,000k audax next year (and Toll too) and I so hope I don't hinder Jamie with any mechanicals this time...

The disappointment of cycling little and not wild camping are currently no big deal. I completed the TAW 2018 race man! The TAW is no longer a race either, so once again I'm super chuffed I raced it this year. I'm starting to feel a little motivated....

CotsDURO 18 re-visited

Oh man, finally managed to get the bike out after my last bout of man flu! After a week and a half of no exercise at all, I figured the CotsDURO 18 route would be just the ticket. I had hoped to cycle this the previous week with a group of friends and family but had to bail out due to 'the bugs'. This week, no friends or family were able to join me. I had cycled this route one time before but accidentally cycled it the wrong way around. What could possibly go wrong this time?!

CotsDURO 18, 122k, 2,158m elevation

It was very cold when I first set out but soon warmed up. The first 10k was quite a struggle and so much phlegm and snot was produced. Sadly, there was bike-a-hike section almost straight away. I like the idea of blaming illness, however, I think I would have struggled with some of these climbs anyway.

Lots of mixed terrain on this route and mostly off-road. As I was cycling up some single track I met a guy who was walking his dogs and flying his big bird of prey. That was pretty cool!

Wrongness happened at about the 35k mark. Psst! Both my tyres punctured - what a menace! Worse still, I had only 1 spare tube and no patches. (I would normally put slime in my tubes, however, being a new bike this was fitted with tubes that had valves which did not unscrew to add said slime). Thorns were the culprit for both tubes. I replaced the front one with my spare tube and scratched my chin what to do for the rear. I had little in the way of tools (no zip ties, no cutting tool - so no cutting the tube and tying) but did have some gaffa type which I thought would be worth a try. Yup, I gaffa taped the puncture and it worked just fine - for a bout 10 minutes... Bummer. I checked my phone and could see I was only 3k away from a bike shop in Malmesbury. I started the slow walk and was passed by 2 cyclists who asked if I was okay. They kindly donated me a tube (it was for a racing bike 23mm, my tyres were 33mm) which I fitted pronto and sped along to the bike shop.

The donated tube worked just fine but I was paranoid that it might be over-stretched. The bike shop was able to sell me a couple of tubes and I replaced the donated tube. The new tubes I fitted had decent valves (so once home, filled tubes with slime) and the bike shop lent me their pump to blow up my tyres to a decent pressure. Yay, all fixed.

Continued my journey feeling confident I could fix any further potential punctures. I passed the above monument and wanted to take a closer look - but couldn't! This monument is private and is located in someone's garden with no access to the likes of you and I.

Continued along much single track and open fields before stopping to eat my lunch. The sheer rattley nature of this ride had caused a screw from my water bottle holder to go AWOL - no problem, the tape I was carrying came in use again. The tracks were way more muddy/soggy compared to my last trip and the bike would get heavier as the mud clogged. Once in the wooded parts however, the mud would shed and sometimes the fallen leaves were so red in colour that I though I was cycling on Mars.

Some of the views, especially at height were spectacular. Just as well having cycled bike-a-hiked long sections to get there. So nice seeing patch-work fields and being away from motorised traffic.

The route this way around (i.e. the correct way) was way better and easier than reverse way round. Either way, the route is tough. Not to be underestimated this one and regardless of how fit I might be, there would still be definite hike-a-bike sections.

One of my favourite sections was the Uley Bury CW loop of Bury Fort. This was relatively easy, fast and felt wild. Just a menace having to open and close gates.

Made sure I stopped at Uley Long Barrow (aka Hetty Pegler's Tump) this time around. This is a partially reconstructed Neolithic chambered mound. Maybe I'll explore the chambers in more detail on another trip?

Leaving the mound and heading to the finish became a bit of a race against time. The light had started to fade and it wasn't long before it was real dark. It was great to be at height and see Stroud so lit up and the many fireworks were awesome too. What wasn't so awesome was the fact that I fell off my bike twice and cut up my legs. It was nice to finish after a final stretch of climb and off-road down hill littered with rocks.

All in all, a relatively great ride. I think this ride could be improved if some sections of bike-a-hike were removed. Maybe the whole experience would be better if I cycled this on the last Saturday in June (when the 'official' race takes place) as there'd be more light and the ground would be harder ensuring the bike rolled faster. Maybe a lighter bike and better gearing would help too. Pah, I'd ride it again, in any season, and on my commute bike - who's game?!