Blogs

Glory be! I managed a 100k ride this weekend for the first time since March. Just when I thought this year was going to turn into a complete write-off.

Remember the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark? When Indy escapes by the skin of his teeth being crushed by that massive boulder as he flees some dark cave or other with some artefact or other? Well I see this as the perfect metaphor for my struggle with fitness this year - and more generally as my sixth decade inexorably approaches.

On Wednesday it was reported that deputy leader of North Somerset Council said cyclists were "arrogant" for using roads instead of adjacent cycle paths. Elfan Ap Rees was complaining about a petition asking for the council to redesign a £1.2m cycle path, half of which is being paid for by the national lottery.

So I had hoped to give you a blow by blow, day by day account of the Deloitte RAB Lands End to John O’ Groats cycle ride but due to some, shall we say, ‘velocity issues’ – more about those later – that proved to be rather difficult!  However, you will all no doubt be relieved to hear that having (almost) recovered from my experience, it is time to finally share it all with you!

Tom Smith won a bronze medal in the European Deaf Cycling Championships earlier this month, the first rider to represent Britain in these events in over 30 years.

A former GB junior rider before a back injury impeded his progress, Tom travelled out to Togliatti, Russia to represent Great Britain Deaf Cycling. Running between the 8-16 September 2012 the Championships featured a Sprint event, a Points Race, a Road Race and a Time Trial. Lacking a dedicated Time Trial bike to let him properly contest the final event, Tom entered only the first three events.

An amazing post Games legacy for cyclists is within easy grasp of the Mayor and Transport for London, writes Green Party Assembly Member Darren Johnson. They have the chance to bring Amsterdam’s cycle friendly roads to a whole area of east London. The London Legacy Development Corporation, run personally by the Mayor of London, has the ability to build whatever kind of roads it wants.

What an experience!

Tuesday 11th September, Tour of Britain stage 3 from Jedburgh to Dumfries, 152.6km of pain and suffering for some. Not so for me, I was sitting pretty as a VIP guest of Chain Reaction Cycles at the finish line in Dumfries enjoying the hospitality and conversation with Simon from CRC as we chatted about cycling.

There are times when words don’t need to be said. When the spoken alphabet adds nothing to the world. I didn’t need to ask the bloke sitting much too close at the bar last night, the names of his girlfriends/children, as they were right there, tattooed on his neck. I don’t need to ask a teenager what shop they got their sweater in, as it is right there, written all over the front of it.

It's not every day you get to ride with a professional cyclist, let alone six of them, but that is a day that 500 lucky riders got to enjoy last Friday down in the New Forest as part of the unique Garmin Ride Out event… and I was one of them.

It seems like ages since I last clicked on "Blogs" and typed a pre-Tour post about Andy Schleck not looking likely to win... Prophetic eh?

So what have I been up to? And will it have been enough to justify Dave and Tony keeping my blog page open?

Well apart from busting my shoulder and getting a trapped nerve in my back (very painful) I have been busy riding club time trials and working on my 10 mile tt time.

Heart rate: 185bpm, my lungs feel like I'm inhaling fire, they're searing, every breath is bringing a wheeze with it that makes me sound like I've got emphysema, need to take deeper breaths. 

Shouts ringing in my ears. 

I need to get out of the saddle, keep turning the pedals.  Cowbells. 

I'm staring at my front wheel, hunched low over the bars, trying to wrestle the bike up hill faster than it wants to go.