Cycling Si

A week off in December

2011-12-11T13:37:00.001-08:00

Well here it is Sunday already and I cannot believe my week off has gone so quickly, it seems only yesterday I was relaxing into Monday morning. only regret this week off has been the weather, to say it has not been brilliant would be an understatement with strong winds and rain playing a large part in my not getting off my ass much at all, but this is not to say I have been idle on my week off.

The first real outing with the camera was on Thursday when I headed down to Wembury beach, a favorite spot of mine, but sadly the weather was still pretty bad and with the tide going out it did not make for much in the way of a photo, the Friday however was a different kettle of fish with brilliant sunshine, it was almost warm here.

My original plan had been to get up well before dawn and to get a sunrise shot that I have wanted for some time, sadly mother nature had other ideas that day.

I made it up pretty early and I was bang on time and on top of the very windy and cold tor a good 10-15 mins before sunrise at 08:04, setting up was pretty simple and just a case of waiting for the magic moment to happen.

Setting up.

Unfortunately as I said mother nature had other ideas, and sent a nice rain shower to totally dampen my filters and block the area I wanted to shoot across with rain. Well with the weather turning and the temperature just above freezing I decided to head off the top of the Tor down towards the car, has I descended the weather changed a little and I was able to get a couple of frames off with the image below being the result.

This one is actually a composite of two images, the foreground from one exposure and the sky from a second, given the soggy mess my grads were in I had little choice but to salvage something from my nice walk so I decided to head over towards Shaugh Bridge to see what the river was like.

I confess I liked the tree trunk in the shot but the lack of stable shore to shoot from limited the chances to explore it fully, plus I had another problem.......I needed breakfast.
After a quick breakfast bap (sausage, egg and bacon) I decided to see what it was like down at Wembury Beach again having been there unsuccessfully the day previous, despite the tide being out I still managed to get some nice photo's of which this was my favorite.

Saturday.

Today was a pretty nice day weather wise so my lovely lady and I decided to grab the cameras and head out for a pub lunch and a photo session over at Torcross, Devon and wander up the beach.

Surf bubble on the pebbles

We took a few photo's but this is more a sunrise place to shoot so we decided to head back around the coast to Thurlstone to watch the sun set over the great rock formation there, and well we were rewarded with a lovely sunset and some great clouds to set the sky off perfectly.

To say I am happy with the pictures here is an understatement, I am still struggling with not being able to use a circular polariser with my grads and the ever present problem of spray getting on the filters.

Well I hope you lie the photo's here today, I had wished to have brought more to you all but time is limited and I need to get to bed and go to work tomorrow once more, I am hoping getting back into my routine once more will help my fitness and cycling as I am so very behind with my program now it is scary, so until next time, have a good one all.

Simon.

November 2011

2011-11-28T12:03:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone it has been a little since my last entry here, things have been quiet on the bike front but I have been out and about with my walking boots and my camera instead.
I was quite disappointed to miss the best part of the Autumn season this year but I was still able to get a few late shots in, I think this seasons unseasonable mild weather has thrown mother nature a curve ball and messed the timing up a little.

A few weeks ago I took a walk down to Plymbridge here in Plymouth to get s couple of shots down the local weir, this is one of my best loved spots along the river and I try and get there now and then.

Sadly it was pretty grey and flat out there and I was running out of good light to shoot with but I managed to get a couple of nice shots.

This weekend just gone we took a trip down to Tintagel in Cornwall with the camera gear to explore a couple of locations, we took a nice walk down Rocky Valley and picked up a few shots.

Before we then headed over to a small Village, Therewith Strand to have a look along the beach there.
Although we were there long before sunset the biggest problem we faced was the wind and what can almost be one of the fastest tides I have seen, the sea had us beating a hasty retreat to the safety of the rocks pretty fast.

These two from the beach are pretty much the same slightly different locations, I did the second in B&W just to work with the textures there, I kinda like it although the first one I feel the foreground has been over exposed a stop too much for my liking but that is part of my learning curve with the D300s.
I can honestly say this is one area that is going to see a lot more of me in the future, already just from this short visit I have some fantastic ideas and I can seen a weekend maybe this spring/summer being planed.
As for my cycling, well it is happening, I am must putting some miles in where I can with this weather, I am still needing to pick up a desk fan for my indoor trainer and I shall get around to that real soon, one thing I need to start again soon is working with my weights and body weight exercises, the don't take long that's the silly thing I just need to organize my time so much more effectively now, well that is another thing to work on, my list expands once more. will be back again soon all have a good one.

Simon.

Soggy Bottom

2011-11-09T14:01:00.000-08:00

Hello again everyone, looking outside the window here in CyclingSi towers I think we can safely say that winter has finally arrived with a huge wet slap in the face, not that I am complaining I just wish that is was a little dryer and colder right now.

Despite the wet weather we have enjoyed recently this past Sunday was absolutely lovely, the sun shone from dawn to dusk and despite a cool breeze at times it stayed warm and very pleasant, the great weather made the running, or rather the riding of the Soggy Bottom XC race here in Plymouth all the more enjoyable.
In the past the race has been a full 3-4 race series but this year it is a single race so I made sure that I had my entry in nice and early, I think i was the first hehe. In past years I have helped out at the event with marshaling and taking photo's for the riders, it was a great way of spending some time out in the fresh air and indulging my love of photography whilst at the same time supporting a much loved local race scene.
I awoke nice and early on Sunday, and took a nice leisurely start to my day, sadly a little too leisurely and I ended up running late and panicking, my own fault but it meant that I forgot to pick up my backpack containing my tools, supplies, helmet cam and Garmin unit, great start! So after a quick warm up I stood on the start line enjoying some banter with the others and despite the mad start I was feeling relaxed and in a good mood. Unfortunately everything went to hell on the first climb and having used too large a gear from the start my legs were not ready for the massive gravel track climb up towards the top of the course and I was forced off the bike to hike up.. okay fact, I don't like walking in my cycling shoes, my feet roll and it puts strain on my ankles, something that made the rest of the race hell.

I struggled through the rest of the first lap often stopping to release the tension in my legs that were steadily getting worse to come through in a 51 min lap....shocking for 3 miles, but things started to improve a little as I pointed the bike up the gravel climb once more and apart from the steepest bit about two thirds up the climb I rode the beast and up and over the top RAWR!
The rest of the lap went pretty well too and I spent much more time on the bike and less on my feet as my handling skills slowly came back to me and I finished my second lap in 45mins, again not great but I was happy, I elected not to head out and do my third lap, I think I could have done it well I could have done it but given my speed I would have finished around the same time the next race was coming through oh and I was out of water too.

Looking back at the race I can take much away from the day, firstly is to prepare for it better, to get all my gear ready the evening before as I used to do, I was also impressed with my mental strength....the old me would have climbed off after the first lap but today the idea of quitting was not there and as such I have already signed for my next race a 40km enduro at the same track on January 2, so time to get my ass in gear and work it!

I had intended on writing this blog a couple of days ago but I have been awaiting the arrival of a new tool to help my fitness, a Pedometer.

This one seemed pretty well recommended and had a good write up so I ordered myself one, I am a fan of anything I can do to help me get fitter, loose weight and keep me motivated through the months ahead, plus it is one more column I can fell in on my #gothedist record sheet!

Well that is all for now I am looking forward to getting back on my bike tomorrow seeing as my legs are finally back to normal, going to get some miles in.

Simon.

Going the Distance

2011-10-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

It is hard to think that is has been over a year now since Robby came up with an idea of setting ourselves a monthly challenge via Twitter using the #OctGTD hash tag (we now use #gothedist), it allowed us to break down our larger fitness and weight loss goals into smaller bite size goals and to support each other through the months for myself the mutual support has been the best part of this and although in the more recent months I have taken a back seat I often tried to help others. Over time the challenge evolved as did the people involved and soon we were not just recording miles but now things like fluid intake the small things that matter so much that and we have to remain mindful of in order to reach our goals. It also helped us develop the mind too, with self image and positive thinking.

The Year

This past year has been a long and tough one, each month I have set my goals and worked hard towards them some times failing often due to the weather, in my first month I set and reached a goal of 80 miles but by the summer I was doing 150 mile months even up to 200 at on point, through the winter and into the summer I have found it tough struggling against the weather and fatigue as I kept on pushing myself harder and faster, this was to be my undoing in July and what was looking to be my most awesome month of all.
July had started off as a 150 mile month but I was flying by now, I had reached my target for the past 3 months and I although fatigued was really going well, by the middle of the second week I had already reached over 50% of my monthly target so I decided to up the goal to 200, but I had pushed too far and increased my mileage too much over the past few weeks and I was to pay for it over the next few months as over training and exhaustion set in and as my season was almost over I took it easy.

Learning Curve

So what have I gained and learned over this past 12 months? Well quite a lot really, first of all is the friends I have made, the support we have given each other has been great, I know that I would have struggled more with out it, I hope that I have managed to help others as much.
My fitness has grown quite significantly, when I first started I was doing 1 hour rides, now I am able to do 2-3 hour rides happily and even race albeit slowly, I do not think I would have some so far with out the challenge. I also learned several things about my training, although I have rough ideas of where I want to be with my fitness and weight I had no real solid measurable goals so instead of setting smart monthly goals towards them I just randomly pushed harder and harder until my body broke, also that I have to be mindful of all the little things, drinking, stretching just looking after my body allowing myself to train more effectively.

For the Future

Well the next year has realistically started and although I am still healing from the damage to my body, not just fatigue but my shoulder injury I am putting in the miles in, next month being November I will really start my focus on my training and the #gothedist challenges, but this time I am better prepared and more focused than before. First of all with aid of The Cyclist training Bible I have put together a training program to take me through to the spring at which time I will sit down and re assess my progress and adapt my program and challenge goals as and if needed for the next stage of training.

As long as the challenge still keeps going I will be a part of it.

Peace.

Simon.

Dusk til Dawn, the post mortem!

2011-10-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a week since the race and I think everything has dried out, almost! One of the best quotes I read from the bike forums in the days after was "It was the kind of rain that could soak the inside of a sealed jar" this pretty much summed up the weekend that I had been looking forward to all year.
We arrived on the Saturday in plenty of time and threw the tents up, the idea being to have a quick recce lap and to have a look around at the stalls then a nap before the kick off at 8pm, unfortunately the weather had other ideas and as we finished putting the tents the rain started to fall, this alone did little to dampen our spirits so as we erected the tents a torrent of camping/tent related innuendos were unleashed much to our own amusement.

With the race start rapidly approaching we sat down in the tent to discuss race tactics and who would go out first, okay it was scissor paper stone. First out would be Simon then me and lastly my brother and rotate through that order all through the night and into the morning, so at 19:30 we all headed over and Simon lined up on the start line with the others.

The rain had now become a pretty steady drizzle and it was pretty grim out there and even not riding I was having problems seeing out of my glasses, this was going to be fun. The start featured a short mini lap to spread the field out before the riders headed out onto the course properly which was great as it prevented the usual bottle necks as soon as you reach the first bit of single track.

And they are off!

Pardon the quality and focus, first time using the movie feature on my D300s

Simon, looking good!

An hour later Simon came back in and handed over to me and I headed out into the night, the fun had begun.

Everything started off pretty well as I followed the long fire road towards the first single track section, it was pretty bumpy but I just spun my legs as I like to do these days but as I neared the first bit of single track a problem I hoped I could avoid started, rain on my glasses, and it was going to be a problem.
Normally in daylight I don't mind a little rain when riding but in the dark it presents a whole heap of problems and since I cannot use the force well I have to rely on what I can see and that was not much, bu I soldiered on through my lap having to stop right before any single track sections and quite often part way through just so that I could see the course.
The rain was not the only problems I was having, while I was enjoying the wet course helped by some new tires the course was beating the hell out of my already damaged shoulder and while trying to take some of the load from it I was straining my lower back, in fact by the time I reached the hand over to my brother I could hardly put any power down at all.
Thankfully I now had 90mins before I needed to get ready and ride again but the weather was getting worse and my back was not recovering so I decided to take some extra time off the bike before attempting to ride once more, well suffice to say I did not, not even my brother ventured out again this night, Simon was the rock of the team and managed 2 laps and after that we all headed into our sleeping bags, I woke about 4am as I planed to try and do another lap but by now the rain was pretty heavy and there was standing water in the campsite not to mention my back was not feeling too good at all.

Grinding paste, not just my shoulder that wanted me to stop.

To sum up the race I am pretty disappointed with how things went but the weather was out of my control and being honest I could have ridden through the back and shoulder problem although I was risking doing some more damage to both, even now as I type this my should is still painful and I am due to see my GP in the week to get it checked, for me the issue was the rain on my glasses, sadly I cannot see with out them, but everything is a learning process and I am doing to see about getting some contact lenses if I am able to either this month or probably in my week off in December.
Out of all this there is an upside believe it or not, last time I raced here was in the dry back in 2007 and I was lapping then around the 1:45-1:50 and I was injury free, this time around in the wet and heavier I was lapping in 1:35 and that is stopping often to clean my glasses, I honestly think without stopping I could have shaved another 10-15mins off that time if not more so I have made some marked improvements this last 12 months, oh and we were not last!

Squirrel count

2011-10-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

I woke this morning to find the world outside shrouded under a veil of mist I love this time of year, misty mornings, leaf lined trails and all the warm rich colors, there is no such thing as a bad ride!
Although by lunch time the mist burned off the sun was soon replaced with grey skies, no rain is forecast but you never know, anyways I decided to throw my D300 into my bag and hit the trails for a short ride to break my legs back into riding.
The road section up to the trail was pretty simple, there is an avenue of tree's I enjoy riding through that gave me my first taste of leaves and my first near miss with a squirrel of the day.

Once I headed further onto the trail the colors really started to show themselves and the light breeze made it gently rain leaves and I rode along, brakes hard on, another damn squirrel. I carried on at a gentle pace, I nearly turned off road and headed up into Cann woods but my shoulder is still far from right and I don't want to over stretch it with the race so close.
I was pleasantly surprised how many people there were out today it is nice to see, sadly the number dwindle until new year and you start to see the road riders doing hill circuits on the dual carriage way near home and the "resolution" runners and clubs going up and down along main road, oh yeah and another damn squirrel, these guys are testing my brakes today good for my reactions I suppose.

I stopped on one of the viaducts to look out over the surrounding woodland, autumn still has not taken much of a hold, the next week or two will see things really change here I just hope the wind does not pick up too strong and blow the color from the trees as it often does around here. When I stopped I noticed this little yellow flower clicking to a crack between the granite slabs that make the viaduct, no matter how small or tough the location life finds a way.

Carrying on up the trail I could start to see the moors, I found the mist again, although not near me you could see it clouding over the open moors up ahead, I was not worried as I would be turning around soon, F'kit! another damn squirrel trying to become an ornament on my bike, seriously disc rotors make a real mess of them, I have seen the pics.

Finally I reached the top end of today's ride and turned around for the nice spin back down and towards home, I glanced behind as i rode through the thicker leaves to see them swirling behind me.
Although the sun was missing from today's ride the season more than made up for it, when there was no one else on the trail it was great, just me and the crunch of my tires through the leaves oh an another 2 near misses with those crazy squirrels on the way back, kinda happy my big 2.4 motoraptors did not collect and critters today.

I hope you like the new format of the blog, I want to write a few more like this and take my D300 and 28mm out on the bike with me, I am trying to find a little case so I can stash it in my rucksack of maybe attach it to the chest loops or maybe just take my old D100 out, either is a good solution.

Well the week end will see me racing over at Dusk Til Dawn up at Thetford, I am really looking forward to it and the forecast is favorable as well, so if you are there and see riders with the number 333 cheer us on as it could be me or one of my team mates.

Getting ready

2011-09-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone hope you have had a great weekend I know that I have, being honest it made coming back to work suck even more than usual. Friday was pretty good and thanks to being under paid this past 6 months I was able to treat myself to something really nice and head off to my first craft fair up in Exeter with a lovely friend, but first of all a little retail therapy.

Dirty.

I came home after a rough day in work today to almost fall over two large boxes for me, I must admit I was like a small child at Christmas, I ran upstairs, got changed and headed down for the unwrapping frenzy muhaha I love opening stuff.

Cycle ops Mag Trainer (without remote)

Riser Block

Garmin Cadence/Speed sensor + free Haribo (worth it for the sweets alone)

It is not often I spend out on myself like this.....okay maybe I do, but I don't look at this as splashing out, this is investing in my health and my future two very important things to me and will allow me to train with more focus and most important for me even in the worst of the winter months at times when even I seek shelter from the element, all this was aided by an error by the company payroll under paying me for nearly 6 months and a nice 20% off voucher so I guess everything happens for a reason, even the bad.

Saturday was also a great day as i headed up to Exeter with a great friend to visit a craft fair, okay I must admit, I have never been to one before, I was expecting lots of little old ladies oo'ing and ahh'ing over yarn and knitting needles, on the flip side what I discovered was something great, lots of inspiration and colors yeah there were old folk about, but loads of young people there too.....and lots of bored husbands, there was so much to see up there I found myself almost exhausted at the end of the day, it was only the great company that kept me going.
I could have spent a fortune at the stalls there and the next 20 years sewing them, yes I am a slow stitch er it is mostly a winter hobby for me.

New kits (Yest that is a Meerkat "simples")

Hoops, finally got some.

All in it was a good weekend, I am finally starting to feel better and almost back to my old self, the winter program is almost finished and ready to roll out and right now I am just riding 2-3 times a week until the race simply to keep the legs moving and try and maintain the fitness and prevent and further loss of form, hoping to do another blog this Saturday/Sunday weather permitting that I can roll out for a pre dawn ride so until then have a good one.

Simon

Night Rides

2011-09-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

It is that time once more folks.

Dark woods

Bright lights

Muddy trails

Fiery drinks

Misty breath

Starry skies

Broad smiles

Hello everyone how are you this fine day? I should really be writing this in the style of a Pirate, yes September 19th has come around again and I am celebrating International speak like a Pirate day, my twitter and face book feeds have been done under the masquerade of Capt Si of the Pirate ship Onone, well it is good fun and makes me and other smile.

Night Rides.

Tonight was my first Night ride of winter 2011, it was a pretty simple and short ride mostly to test the lights and get a feel for everything ready for Dusk til Dawn in October, and well I am impressed with the new set up, the head torch really makes it easier to corner at speed as you can look into the bend.

This is a rough idea of how much light I am putting down.

Happy bike

I stopped out on the trail to test another important part of my night riding equipment my hip flask, well it will come into it's own as we tread deeper into winter and the temperature really drops, although it was quite mild out once I stopped at the benches I could feel it cooling down, not a lot but enough.

I cant wait to head out again and for the weather to turn frosty, maybe even some snow.

Ouch.

Okay I have not been feeling so great recently as I posted in my last entry, well I have been dragging a semi cold out for over a month now and it has left me with almost no energy at all and just recently I have been carrying a shoulder injury.....okay I am going to swallow my pride here and tell you how I got it, truth is just too funny.

It was just over a week ago now, the weather had not been great but the Saturday morning was the first in ages and the promise of a pre dawn ride was enough to get me setting the alarm to head out.
At 5am the alarm went off and I lifted my head from the pillow and reached out for the alarm...it was a little out of reach...I stretched further, too far, my legs were tangled in the duvet heaven only knows what I was doing last night but by now gravity was having it's way with my as I fell into the bedroom floor shoulder first with an audible thump and crunching of my shoulder.

Well suffice to say I went back to bed as it was just too painful and tried to sleep it off, in fact it kept me from the bike for several days and being honest it is far from healed even now a over a week on, but I will soldier on and see how it goes I have been resting a fair bit giving my self time to work on my winter program and get something down on paper, so far it is looking good and I am sure i will see and make some real progress this winter, lets just hope I don't have anymore..."incidents"

I have managed to get out with my camera a little more last week, not had the time or energy recently but I will step out for more photo's real soon, so far the D300s is flipping amazing and I love it...I still miss my D200 though, I am hoping to get some racing pics at Dusk Til Dawn in October. The photo above I feel the greens are way too over saturated I can tweak it down a tad but I just like the bright colors.

Well that is all for now, I am hoping to get along to a craft fair in Exeter this coming weekend and get out and ride some more weather permitting but for now lights are on charge and I am feeling my mojo returning.

Simon.

Bright Lights long cold nights

2011-09-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

September is here, there is no escaping the changes in the weather and the darker evenings we have been experiencing of late, gone now are the runners (I wont see them again until January) and out again will be the road riders doing the local training loops....autumn is finally here albeit a little earlier than we would normally see it, but that is not to say it is a bad thing, I like many enjoy this time of year for so many reasons.

one of the biggest changes we see now is the nights drawing in, although I will miss riding in the sun it does bring out a more fun side to mountain biking for me, the night trail rides, back when I first started we had tiny little lighting systems that cast little light onto the trail and had short run times, these days technology has moved on and we now have 1900 lumen LED lighting systems that run for hours. I personally have a more modest (1000 lumen) but still effective set up.

Lumicycle HID and USE Joystick

Although times and technology has moved on one fact still remains and that it is the fun of riding normally familiar trails that have been altered by the changing seasons, illuminated by our lights that is so much fun, even riding slow feels like you are riding fast, branches looming out of the darkness and sudden changes in the trail, lightning fast reactions as you speed through the single track the trail only visible for a few meters in front of your front wheel.

Might riding is also relaxing forgotten are the ideas of training out on the trail, the GPS get moved from the bars and put into my back pack along side my hip flask and I just go out and enjoy the trail, in the depths of winter there is nothing but your breathing, the crunch or tires on frozen trail, the wild life around you and the stars above, there is something to be said for stopping out on the trail and turning off your lights and just sitting down and looking up at the stars sipping whiskey from my hip flask, only thing missing is a campfire.

Winter Warmer

Another creature comfort I have been enjoying lately is baking, in my last blog I put of some photo's of my first batch, they were from a Muffin kit, it is almost all pre made but today I made my first batch just from a recipe.

Lastly I managed to get out with the new camera recently, I am still getting to grips with the new software and camera body but so far I am very impressed, I hope you are too.

That is all for now, I hope to be back in a week or so with a further update and some tails from the trails.

Simon.

September

2011-09-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to another blog entry. First of all I want to say thanks to everyone for all their support over last months race at the Brighton Big Dog, it was a top event and one I want to go back to again next year.
With racing in mind I wanted to add that the team's entry into the Dusk til Dawn race over at Thetford has been accepted so me, my brother Jim and Craig the owner of my local bike shop are set to race through the night, it will be 12 hours of off road racing and being a pretty flat course it should be a lot easier for me to keep a reasonable lap time through the night, but more of this next month.

One thing I left out of my last blog as it was a pretty lengthy entry was that the insurance company had finally approved the replacement of my old D200 and lens and had arranged for the delivery of a brand new Nikon D300s and the Nikon 17-55 f2.8. I have yet to get out and really put this through it's paces and see what it can do but rest assured I will soon.

Sorry about the crappy picture, it was late.

There are a few problems right now though, most notably is that my old copy of Photoshop CS3 no longer works with the OS Lion on my iMac, so right now I am experimenting with Nikon's own Capture NX2 editing software on a 2 month trial before I commit to purchasing, at £135 for the NX it hands down beats CS5 on price but will it allow me to process my raw images as I am used too, we will see, ideally next up is a 10 stop ND filter for the camera and a new bag, never enough money.

Well as the blog title reads, it is now September and already we can feel a slight chill in the air of an evening and I am loving it, I don't care I love winter and this time of year especially. I am really looking forward to getting out with the new camera this Autumn and more importantly getting some night time trail rides done, crisp air and frosty breath....ice in my beard and the sound of leaves crunching under my tires as I ride along the trails illuminated only by my lights, yeah I am seriously excited, I just need to get a bottle of winter warmer for my hip flask.
Actually I am so excited that I treated myself to a new winter hat, a Helly Hansen beanie to keep my head warm now that I shave most of my hair off.

hmmm toasty.

Have I ever mentioned that I love to bake? I think that if you scroll back a bit you will see some of my awesome flapjacks, well sadly I have lost the recipe for them that I tweaked over the years so I have been looking for something else to bake as a treat, so after munching on a muffin bought for me so I thought I would have a go at baking some of my own.
The first batch did not go so well as I forgot to add the egg but the second batch came out pretty well, I think for the race in October I am going to make a nice batch of apple & cinnamon muffins.

I don't like the share idea on Flickr for this photo....I don't want to share them.

Crikey, this entry has gone on a bit. I am going to finish off with my quick review of my #gothedist challenge, last month I fell short of my goal and covered 112 miles of my planed 150, the first week and a bit were awesome and I found the miles piled up and I had a good routine going, sadly a cold before and subsequently after too really punished my desire to get more in.
For this month I am going to push hard for 250 miles, I am already a day behind but I am tired and cramping still and decided not to get out and ride and instead write this entry and get my mind game in order.

Well that is all for now, I am hoping in my next entry to explore what I am hoping to do this winter for training and a rough idea of my plan through until spring and how I intend of burning off all these muffins I am eating.

Brighton Big Dog!

2011-08-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hello readers, a bit of a special blog entry today and I am afraid it is going to be a fairly long one, but bear with me as a lot has happened but I hope you will find it a good one and well worth the wait as last weekend was my first race the Brighton Bigdog.

The start of this month went really well, the first week and a half saw me pounding in some pretty serious miles for me, enough to make me contemplate increasing my #gothedist goal from 150 up to 200 miles, sadly things went a little off course just after my mid week ride on the second week and I ended up with a damaged rear wheel that needed straitening and a good service of my Chris King hub as the ring drive was not hooking up right.

Thankfully my bike shop was able to come good and get the wheel sorted that was not an issue although I did end up riding on my old heavy training wheel in the end, my real problem was the cold I picked up that weekend after working over time. So in the last week and a half before the race I was not able to get any riding done at all, my original plan was to ride hard until the sunday and then fuel up my body the in the week before trowing in loads of extra stretching and light rides in prep for the big day.

The Big Day.

Saturday came and my brother and I woke early.....well my nephews woke us early and after loading the stuff into the car we drove over to a very warm but slightly overcast Stamner Park in Brighton to get signed in and meet up with the others in the Sussex Muddy@rse club and the third member of our trio, Guy. Our plan was simple and decided by a devious method of selection......rock-paper-scissor.....Guy was to be our lead out man, the me and lastly my brother to take it in turns to lap the great course.

Stood at the change over area waiting for Guy I was not feeling too bad, a lot less nervous than I thought I would be, hell I have done many races over the years so I guess it is just second nature, from there things were about to get tough, the first 50 meters of the course are nice flat and grassy, that is were the easy bit ends and I knew my legs were in trouble and suffering with the steep climbs so much so that I walked up almost all the climbs on the first lap and had to stop often to rest as my heart rate was stupidly high and would not come down.

The first half of the course as you might have guessed was almost all up hill, the good thing about that is the seriously fun trails that weaved their way back down the hill, it ranged from tight and twisty trails to just blat out fast sections through the woods that had you feeling like you were on a speeder from Return of the Jedi carving through the trees.

Taken with my brothers Iphone on lap 2

Some how I made it back to the end of the lap intact and headed for the car to fuel up and pour even more water into my seriously dehydrated body while my brother went out on his lap on a seriously sexy bike that he arranged (blagged) a test ride on, a Yeti 575.

He tried to swap the kids with the shop owner for that bike after

Lap Two.

Ding Ding round two and off out I went again, I was still not even close to my pre illness strength and fitness but I found myself riding a lot more of the course this time, I still walked a couple of the climbs but I was riding further up them than before, and along the flat sections and downhills I was starting to spin more and my regular cadence, things are looking better......but from about half way around the lap things went bad again, not with me but with the bike.

I had taken the choice of using my very heavy spare wheel to race on as it saved me having to swap back after the race, unfortunately the free hub failed with 3.5 miles left of the lap, it would spin freely then seize for a moment and thus try and thrown my chain off, this meant that free wheeling on the down hills and corners was not possible and I had to try and turn a much larger gear than normal on the downs to stop it throwing the chain and tearing the rear mech off.

But I managed to limp the bike home, I was suffering and so was the bike but we made it home together albeit slowly but very proud.

Once the dust had settled?

Despite suffering this weekend and not being well I was really well motivated, not once even on the first lap did the thought of quitting even cross my mind....I am not a quitter anymore, I just got up the hills in my own way and did the course at my own pace, I had help though from the others on the course, almost all the people who passed me did so saying encouraging things and even cheering me on.

My lap times were not great both my brother and Guy were doing 50 min laps, my first lap was 90 mins and despite feeling and riding better the second lap the mechanical saw me doing another 90 min lap, I know I am faster than this and the steep climbs were not ideal for me but I soldiered on, we managed 5 laps between us in the 6 hours placing second from last which surprised me greatly as I thought were would be last.

Yeah I am proud of what we did, what I did and everything I have achieved over this past 12-14 months, I am now 39lbs lost and still dropping and each ride I feel fitter and I am still improving at a good rate.

Our "batton" yes that is a dog chew on there

Been there done that, got the T-shirt..... literally

Right now I am still suffering from the post ride cold, it took me ages to re hydrate after the race but I am getting there, hoping to put some more miles in this weekend and in the last few days of this month to meet my #gothedist goal of 150 miles and start getting ready for my next race Dusk til Dawn a 12 hour off road night race.

So until next time, hope you love your ride.

Broken Friend

2011-07-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and welcome to another entry from the mind of yours truly, I trust you are all having a good month so far, this month for me has been about change, most notably the change in the weather and how it has affected my riding but also about how I am going to have to make more changes within, to the man inside and how I am doing the things I do so that I can achieve my goals.

This month has been pretty kind to me really, this past weekend was the Bontrager 24/12 race here at Newnham Park for which my younger brother came down to try his hand at the 12 hour solo. The course was pretty tough as we have come to expect and the recent poor weather has made it even more lethal than normal keeping the first aiders busy.

My brother did really well, but the course got the better of his back and forced him to call it a night earlier than he had hoped, still he put in a great effort. Me on the other hand I was doing a 24 hour challenge of a different kind as i was helping a friend and my local bike shop (The Bike Cellar) out with his trade stand. Although it was not working in a bike shop it gave me a good insight into working in one and all the effort that goes into it, I now know I have made the right choice in changing trades as I enjoyed it thoroughly, it has re injected some drive back into me to push harder towards my goals.

On a sad note I had a little accident this week, I broke my lovely D200 camera and the 17-55 f2.8 lens I use so much, after all we have been through together, it has survived everything I have thrown at it from dusty hills and scorching heat to the muddy trails and snow, and lets not forget the salt spray of our beaches here and the cold snow of Norway.

After all that it was just a 1 foot drop off my bed while secure inside my camera bag, the lens....well the mount has been torn off and the rear element scratched, the zoom is very notchy, as for the body the mount is damaged, actually twisted and it has damaged the front of the casing and add to that the mirror is also damaged and it does not always power up.

Luckily it seems the house insurance is going to pay for replacements so I am heading off into town to sort out the quotes they require, not looking forward to that as I hate crowds at the best of times so wish me luck.

I though I would end the blog on a lighter note, I managed to pop out for a ride last night, it has been a week since I last rode, mostly due to feeling crap and working all weekend. My original intention was to just do a quick short spin to loosen my legs off but I soon found myself riding up into Cann woods, the trails were lovely up there and the sun is already starting to cast long shadows of an evening.

Makes you want to ride? You know it does, more to come later but for now the sun is shining and the trails they are a calling, enjoy all.

Simon.

Winter Warmers

2011-07-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, hope you are all well. Those of us here in the UK will be quite aware of just how crap the weather has been of late, I don't know about you but I have struggled to get out on the bike, with the enforced down time (yes I don't have an indoor trainer yet, it is next on my list) I have turned my mind towards preparing for the winter months ahead.
Other than the weather and a back injury (now healed) things are going pretty well this week, there could be romance in my future, well I hope there will be, so far she is an amazing woman and I really lie her, I just hope she is willing to accept me for the person I am as I do her, time will tell.

On the road

One of the things I am most looking forward too this winter is getting back into a solid routine, summer is great but I find my self easily distracted and I loose a little focus, a set session to develop my riding and I end up just riding, nothing wrong with that, I love riding my bike.
Having a plan goes a long way in training, even just a simple day to day schedule will work as the body loves routine, it thrives on it. In years past I have had a simple scheme, ride as much as i can as often as I can, that was great and yes I rode loads, I was quite fit, but come race time, well I went backwards as I was tired, that was until I picked up the Cyclist Training Bible by Joe Friel, using that book I put together a better plan and I started to see my racing improve and creeping into the top 10 in my class.
Those days have come and gone but the ideas remain the same and I managed to pick up an updated copy of the book.

Over the next couple of months I am going to put my routine down on paper and stick to it as best as I can, I am even going to invest in an indoor trainer again just to maximize my ride time, I am quite looking forward to it.

This coming October I am off up to Thetford again to race in the Dusk til Dawn event, this is a 12 hour night race all off road, it is not for the faint hear-ted, I have done this race twice before, first time was great but the second, well it was a wash out.....
One thing I have learned from these races is the importance of a helmet mounted light in addition to a bar mounted lighting system as it allows us to look through the bends in the direction we are wanting to go instead of just following the beam in front. Well this month I had a little extra budget to play with so I invested in one.

What I picked up was an Exposure Joystick mk5 with the helmet mount, this tiny little light is amazing, on full power is will put out 300 lumen for 3 hours taking only 4 hours to recharge, I will be running this little gem along side my 700 lumen Lumicycle Hid lighting system on my bars giving me a sweet 1000 lumen of lighting power that will burn for about 3-4 hours (the Hid runs for 3.5-4 hours).
This system is not just going to be used for racing as I intend on getting my ass out on the trails year round now which will help my skills too. So as you can guess I am getting excited about the early autumn/winter riding already.

Where's June?

2011-06-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

Good question, where did it go, seems only yesterday I was riding the trails in Afan and that was mid month. Truth of the matter it is scary just how fast the months seem to be passing by, before we know it both races will have come and passed and I will be settling into my winter training program.

My #gothedist challenge this month did not go as planned from my Welsh trip onwards really, I was not 100% the day of the ride and an ear infection soon took hold, a week later as the ear was healing I went out in what can only be described as a monsoon and I ended up with an eye infection, probably grime from the trail and or salt from sweating so much.
Sadly as you can guess I did not meet my targets this month, first time in a while but I am not upset, several factors hampered my progress and were out of the scope of my control, especially the rain.
But there is much I can take away from this month, although there were fewer rides they were quality rides from which I felt I made good progress, even my past 2 rides, although tired from the illness I found strength and growth from them, I was actually using gears higher when riding climbs.

So, what for next month you ask? well I strongly believe that,

"If you are not going forwards, you are going backwards"

So with that in mind I am going to up my miles to 200 for the month of July but drop my second modality for the challenge. I am also going to return to counting my calories using MFP again, my eating habits have become quite bad.

Well enough of all that, here is a little video of today's ride, silly here forgot to put the helmet mounting back on his helmet so this is taken from the chest strap on my pack, gives you an idea of just how much I am putting into the rides.

Well that is all for now, thanks again to everyone and those who are new to the blog, I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am, if there is anything you want to see more or less of then leave a comment. Next blog is in about a week, fingers crossed there could be new bike content and first ride video too.

Simon

I have a cunning plan Mr B

2011-06-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

Yes I do, a plan more cunning than a cunning fox in a cunning competition, got to love Blackadder.
For some time now I have had a rough collection of ideas bouncing around in my head relating to all parts of my life and how I want to proceed and grow, so I thought it was time for me to put my plan out in the open for all to see.

But before I do i want to thank everyone for my birthday greetings last week, I was very touched by the kindness, you rock! And lastly to share a couple of photo's of a couple of my gifts.

From my brother, something to keep me warm on my cold winter rides.

And a gift from me, to me, I finally found one, a Casio G Shock Mudman edition, I broke my last one.

Not long after new year a couple of things fell into place regarding my finances that basically meant that in 5 years from then I would be completely bill free, something I have been working on for a very long time and has already greatly reduced my stress levels already, I figured this would be a great time scale to work too, a fixed point in time to look forward too.

The next part only came about recently in a conversation with a friend on Twitter, I was talking about how I wanted to learn how to build and true wheels better when he suggested becoming a mechanic, I sat back, thought about it then smiled, I have found what I want to do for a career, only took me a few hundred years but thinking about it now it makes perfect sense and is the logical choice I have always done about 90% of the work on my own bikes and I enjoy getting spanner time on them, I just have to train.
After some research I found a company doing the courses, although I probably don't need to do all of them I sure want to have a good go and cover all the basics in an effort to learn my trade, the down side is the cost, just a 2 day course cost just over £400 and add fuel and accommodation and you are looking at £6-700, not even going to think about the 5 day courses.
So until then I am going to read as much as I can, working on road bikes is my weak side as I have little personal experience as is wheel building. Today a good thing happened to help this a little, I popped into my local bike shop, the Bike Cellar, and was chatting to the owner, who is also a friend, he was kind enough to ask if I would help run the trade stall for the Twentyfour 12 race here in Plymouth in July, of course I accepted, he also said that there was a chance I could get some Saturday work in the shop to gain even more experience. This was all really kind of him and I hope the Saturday job happens.

Last but not least there is my health and fitness, things weight wise are pretty stagnant with only occasional losses. I have a confession though, I have stopped counting and I am instead just focusing on just riding getting as fit as I possibly can in readiness for the two big races this year, once the last one in October is done I am going to sit back assess myself and how I am doing and set a program out to really get everything back on track in all areas.

I was going to add a fourth section, love and romance, I even joined an online dating site, a friend helped by pimping up my profile, put some pics up of my awesomeness and set about just looking around, I even tried messaging a couple of ladies, guessing I was not up to peoples standards or "interesting" enough, but the biggest problem was finding some one near by who I even liked or felt I wanted to get to know better, is that a bad thing? I don't know but I decided to pass on it all and just focus on the other things, the heart will sort it's self in time.

Well I hope this has made sense, I did not go into the fine details, no point in such a grand idea plus you would be bored to death and this blog would take hours to read.
Thanks again for reading, any thoughts or ideas please put them here or grab me on Facebook/Twitter, any help, support and advise is appreciated.

Birthday trip to Afan

2011-06-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone and welcome back to another installment of Cycling Si, I have a bit of a special one for you today, one that I hope you will enjoy as much as I did.

The Wall Trail at Afan features some of the best single track descents in the UK, this trail essentially traverses the North side of the Afan Valley on single track, varying from fast, open and flowing to tight, technical and rooty, in it's 13 mile length you will climb and descend around 1500ft, more than enough to test even the strongest legs and skills, so here is me, stepping up to the challenge again.

My day started at 5am, I quickly ate some breakfast and loaded the car, did not take long, I am no stranger to road trips so everything was ready to load, Afan is about 180 miles away from here so I found myself pulling over a few times for some coffee, nothing like a double espresso to wake you up and set you on the road again.
It took over 3 hours and several coffee's but I arrived in Afan, stepping out of the car I looked across the valley to the woods I would soon be riding in, damn it looked steep, I honestly thought I had bitten off more than I could chew especially with the recent poor weather, I had not come all this way to turn back now, I have ridden these trails a couple of times before so I at least knew what was coming.

The first part of the trail is pretty easy, just a gentle cruise up the fire road heading out towards the furthest point of the trail before heading up the climbs properly, thankfully the trail fairy's dive into the woods frequently and follow the contours up on the single track so you don't realize you are going up so much and it spices it up some too.

The view from one of the fire roads.

The start of the first bit of single track.

The recent rain had left much of the wooded single track quite slippery and for some one who is very out of practice this was quite amusing, picture if you will a cycling equivalent of Bambi on the ice, remember that one? Despite the damp I soon found myself settling in and riding pretty well and starting to make some progress.

One of several streams

Err I needed to stop and catch my breath......plus they looked cool and just so happened to be at the top of a horrible fire road slog.

Sadly the recent weather also meant that some sections were closed and a few diversions were in place, nothing major and the diversions were very nice and provided some views I would not have seen otherwise.

The start of trail 373, I love this part of the trail.

Me stopped at the bottom of section 373 for a break and an energy bar

The last decent to the fire road back to the car.

Well I hope you liked this entry, there was not as much video as I had hoped, but I did not press the start button hard enough for the middle two trail sections and the footage on the last descent is not great as the camera took a hit from a low hanging branch and was knocked out of place a little.

Looking back at this day I can say hand on heart it is the best birthday I have had in ages, I may have spent it on my own (well apart from the other riders I stopped and chatted with) but I spent it doing some thing I really love. It also has shown me how much I have grown as a person and a rider, that I am much stronger than I thought I was, yeah I may have walked short sections of the steeper fire road climbs but I managed the entire ride and would happily go again soon if I could.

Time to Rethink

2011-06-07T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone and welcome back, as you may have read in my previous entry I had and continue still to have some sleep problems that are affecting my performance and to a lesser extent emotionally too, I have spent a few days mulling over what could have possibly brought this on, I have in the past had odd weeks of poor sleep but nothing this severe, so thanks to a quiet afternoon in work i tried to work a solution.

The biggest problem I could see was the increase in my workouts, I had a 50% increase in miles last month that may well have been too great an increase for my body to cope with, I am aiming for the same again this month so I will see.
Secondly there is my sleep hygiene, no I don't mean I go to bed smelly, let me explain. Most of my workouts are done in the evening between 18:30 and 20:30 so with a bed time of 21:30 I am not really going to bed in a state that encourages quality sleep patterns, I am still pumped from my workout and then then I rush around getting my stuff sorted and the last of my chores that I simply cannot do earlier, or to put it simply I am trying to sleep with my engine running.

What I am going to try and do is when possible fit my training sessions into my afternoons after work, should not be a pain although I am not a fan of the heat or riding in day time traffic for that matter, this change will also allow me more time to perform body maintenance and maybe a strength workout too, but of most importance it will allow me to wind down and relax before bed, will try it for a month and see.

As my day ride in Wales is not too far away now and with the approaching race in August I have decided to start adding in regular trail miles, today's was awesome, I hooked up into Cann woods again for some nice dusty trails.
It was pretty much the same loop as last time but I added one large element.......the fire road climb "insert fireworks and fanfare here" this is a path that keeps going up, and is all gravel fire road, I am a sucker I love riding up hill and this is one of my favorites so i added a little footage from the climb in there, the view from the top is awesome but sadly mostly masked by new tree's but I love it.
Oh and for the record the Pineapple and Ginger Torq energy bars are the mutts nutts, I am off to buy a box tomorrow.

Well that's all from me for today, more to follow soon with this weeks rides with lots of helmet cam goodness from wales in the blog after.

Vidlog

2011-06-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone hope you are well and having a great day, I am still suffering the effects of my sleep deprivation here and well things came to a head yesterday when I reached the point that I almost collapsed, so I am taking a couple of days away from the bike to recharge my batteries a little and get some sleep, I might do a strength session later though, cant put a good man down.

Well it has taken some time but I have finally had the courage to put a Vidlog up here. It is nothing special just a couple of minutes of me rambling incoherently at my little camera, I am scruffy and unshaven and I do apologize it has been a tough 48 hours for me as I have said, sorry about the sound quality and my voice, I have a very soft voice and was almost yelling at the camera not to mention my mouth was dry and I was in dire need of a cup of tea.

Well there it is, I hope you enjoyed it, I do prefer letting my actions speak for me, or my riding anyway, there will be some more trail films this month and possibly some sweet welsh trails if I am able to get to Afan for my birthday.

May Wrap Up

2011-05-31T14:57:00.000-07:00

Evening everyone I trust you are having a great day. I must confess that I am not really sorry that May is over, as much as I have enjoyed the challenge this month I have found it tough every day keeping my motivation going even with the kind support when I post up another work out on twitter, but you know what, I am seriously tired.

This months challenge saw me up my miles and my game from a 100 mile goal in April to 150 miles for the month of May, a solid 50% increase in miles as I increased the frequency and the distance of my rides unfortunately that was not the only struggle this month. I can honestly say I did not mind the weather, not the best for riding but you got to take the rough with the smooth and you know me and a challenge.

The thing that got to me was the lack of sleep. I am not sure if it was the weather but it has been wearing me down, I would head to bed, normal time about 21:30 but I would wake up a few hours later and keep waking up until the alarm went off, things are getting better but I am far from being back to normal and one thing I know I do need desperately is a holiday, even just a long weekend away, I will see though.

But enough of that, lets see the positives from this month

I have noticed a 15-20 beat drop in my heart rate at resting.
I have proved to myself that I can do this, I can ride the distance.
I have become stronger in my mind, even when I hit the wall early in a ride I recovered and carried on for a good session.
I am a more positive and open person, I have made many new friends, you all rock.
My training has become a way of life again.

That is some pretty good improvements I think you will agree, but I think the greatest victory is not just reaching the miles but putting in a reasonable routine even with all the trials this month, I have still to put in the longer 2 hour plus rides that i want/need to put in on a regular basis and weekend riding, I am getting there but still needs work as does my incorporating weights sessions into my routine.

For June challenge I am going to add in some cross training and I have added 15 miles walking on the moors and I am aiming for another 150 miles on the bike, this should help re balance my muscles and prevent or reduce some problems I have noticed appearing, plus it gives me a break from the bike something even i need now and then.

Well that is all for now, I am going to put my head down and try and sleep, right now I am working on a draft for another entry that has a very open and honest content, and slightly adult too, if I can make sense I will post it up this week.

Rest weeks, repairs and flowers

2011-05-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, hope you are all having a great month so far I know mine is. For the past week I have been enjoying or well trying to enjoy an easy week with regards to my training, or at least that was the idea anyway. For the past week and a half I have not slept so well, almost every day I would keep waking up in the small hours, eventually I managed to get a couple of good nights in but still touch and go, I am just keeping my routine up as best as I can.

Last week also gave me a chance to do some much needed servicing on the poor bike, apart from my lovely new disc brakes it had a thorough clean up and is now running very sweet, oh yes, there is the pedals, I had to replace the damn things as I have managed to square off the bearings some how, but all is good now and the bike will make it through to July when I am going to completely rebuild the bike around the replacement frame and fork, should be good.

So far my #gothedist challenge is bang on course and I am 95 out of 150 miles for this month with a full week of riding ahead and a nice long bank holiday too things are looking really good and so am I.
I still need to work on my consistency of my riding but it has been a serious improvement over previous months attempts and I am steadily increasing distances too making it much easier to meet my goals, just need to focus more and get my body weight sessions in on a regular basis.

Going to wrap it up now with a couple of photos I took in the garden today, hope you like them and I will try and take some down time from riding to get some landscapes soon.

So for now happy trails.

Si

Well that was un expected.

2011-05-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hi readers and welcome back, well I finally got them, my new disc brakes that is. I got the call this morning that they had arrived so I popped down to pick them up and I will be fitting them on Monday.
Hard to imagine that it was back in March that I earned these lovelies when I managed to complete my Go the Dist Challenge and with miles in the bag too, so here is a taster.

They are just Shimano's SLX disc brakes running a 160mm rotor which will be more than adequate for my modest trail needs.

The good news keeps on coming this entry with a scale victory, yes after just over a month of avoiding the scales I stepped on them for quite a surprise as I had dropped down to 287.5lbs a loss of around 6lbs, I am so proud of myself. Given that I stopped recording my calories in early April and my muscle gain makes this loss so much sweeter.

My May challenge is well under way and is pretty much on schedule to meet my 150 mile goal this month but I am on a rest week next week so I will know better come next weekend. I am thinking of keeping this distance for my June challenge and then pushing it up to 200 miles for July, but the good thing about my progress right now is that is is a constant and always improving, having a loose dynamic plan able to adapt each week is quite handy.
Only real problem this month so far has been dealing with the changing weather we are having and most important the lack of sleep I am getting, still need to get my shit in order there and break into the routine as it is the sleep problem that is affecting my ability to ride and more important interact with people.

Well that is all for now, long ride tomorrow to complete this weeks rides then rest week next week, hoping to get some more photo's tomorrow and maybe some trail vids so until the next one.

Simon.

Whats in the Bag?

2011-05-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hi all and how is your weekend so far? things are going pretty well here on planet Simon and so far I have managed to get some riding done this week despite the less than favorable weather we have been having, as it happens today I actually got out on the bike for a ride before breakfast and I have been hitting the dumb bells and body weight sessions when I cant ride, safe to say I am pretty proud of myself.
Although my energy levels are pretty good and I am riding quite strong at the moment things are not quite as they should be, you know what? I am tired now I am not talking physically here I am talking mental tiredness, I am seriously in need of a break away from my normal everyday life here at home.
Something must be done as it is starting to affect my moods and I am relapsing back to an old habit or two most noticeably my best emotional defense weapon, pushing people away when I think they get too close to me or when I think I am getting too close to them. Not sure what I am going to do but I might see if I can scrounge enough money together for a long weekend away, hell maybe even a week, will see.

Right back to the purpose of the post, It cropped up in a few posts in twitter about people riding solo and being worried about being stuck out on the road or having an accident. I have pretty much done all my rides solo for years with a club ride once or twice a week when I could, my rides would take me out and over Dartmoor and into the relative "middle of no where" with just my bike and backpack for company, and we are talking pre mobile phone here too.

I am not sure how it is for other cyclists but I like to be pretty self sufficient when out riding, I have good mechanical skills and a McGyver like ability to fix (bodge) things if needed as a friend reminded me last weekend when we got to talking about old rides and having to use a large boulder to straiten a wheel he pretzel ed. So what do I carry in my bag?

In this photo we have.

First Aid Kit
2 Torq nutrition gels (Rhubarb and custard flavor)
2 Torq energy bars
Park mini tool kit
Spare tube
Pump
Also I carry 2-3 zip ties and my waterproof all in a bag

This is my tool pack, pretty comprehensive

Repair patches, inner tube and tire boot
Spoke key (large boulders work too)
Tire levers
Open end spanner with all important bottle opener
Multi tool (too many to list)
Torx spanner
Chain tool

All this I carry in my CamelBak Cloudwalker with a 2 or 3 liter water bladder (longer rides only) and also I carry a water bottle on the bike with an energy drink mix in. All that will keep me going for up to 5-6 hours plus and allows me to make almost all repairs to both me and bike while still out on the trail allowing me to get home heaven forbid the worst happen.

Well that's all from me for today, the weather is not looking too smart right now so I wont promise any helmet cam clips or photo's for my next update but I will see, next week is another full week of riding before my rest week so fingers crossed I am going to step it up some.

02/05/2011

2011-05-02T12:25:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone hope you have been well. Everything has not gone too well here with this month nearly seeing me loose my job and all the stress that brings with it, going to be touch and go for another 12 months but I think things should be okay provided I don't mess up, which for me means just keep my head down and stay out of the way.

Right couple of things I want to send some healing vibes to my younger brother who had a nasty crash in Wales recently, his bike is pretty battered and his helmet is a multi part kit and the bruises on his body, well he was very very lucky, heal soon bro.
Next up I would like to make my fellow cyclist aware of a fairly new site and they have a podcast too.

http://cycling360media.com/

The podcast is run by several friends I share on twitter and it aims to help and guide performance orientated cyclists with tips on everything from coachingand training to racing and bike fit, the podcast is available direct from the site or via iTunes.

I was looking at the weather forecast today and according to the weather man April was the hottest on record for years, must admit it was nice and warm without being overly stuffy. This also had the effect of bringing spring on pretty hard and fast it was great to see the green returning to the trails and the flowers too.

Spring sadly has one downside....hay fever. I don't actually count myself as suffering from hay fever as my body has a way of dealing with it all in one go, every spring for about a week and a half I come down with hay fever and I feel very flu like, but for the rest of spring and summer it hardly effects me making being uncomfortable easier to bear.

With May being a new month I have decided to do the #gothedist challenge again, in April I set myself a goal of 130 miles but with all of the problems last month in the end I covered only 64 miles, still not bad though what I lacked in quantity I made up for in quality, this month I am hoping to combine the two qualities and reach the heady goal of 150 miles.
Recently I have been taking a look at my riding/training in general and looking for ways that I can improve and get more out of my riding and at the things that I am doing wrong and that which need attention, this is what I came up with.

Hydration - I just don't drink enough both on and off the bike, while riding when I use a bottle but I feel changing to my Camelbak bladder to make it easier while riding at least.
Not making an effective use of my time - Right now I am training 3 times a week but almost never at weekends for some reason, even if i just trail hike I must start getting off my ass on days off and weekends
Stretching - I seriously need to stretch more or the past issues with my IT band will come back, it is already affecting the rotation of my leg and as a result I don't place my foot evenly along the pedal axle.
Food - with the increase in my riding I have allowed myself to eat more sugary foods and crap, got to cut it out.
Strength Session - I admit this is a weak point big time, I have failed totally to look after my upper body and core.

Well that's my mini list of things I think need attention right now and I will tackle them this month and try to form the habits now that will stand me in good stead come the tough winter months ahead.

Well in other news on the 1st we had another bike race down here in Plymouth over at Newnham a mixed format of an enduro and later a normal circuit race using a shorter lap, racing was fun as usual and it was great to see so many old friends over there.

That's all there is for now, my next blog I am hoping to have some more helmet cam footage/ride report also in a rare planed item I am going to do a section on what I carry when riding.

Jedi Freestyle Dance Troupe?

2011-04-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

You know I think the soft golden hair of summer has fallen on the land once more, outside it is wonderful the sun is shining and the trails are dry although there has been the odd day of rain but this has hastened the regrowth of the land and is rapidly turning everything green, bliss.

Many of you may be wondering about the title of the blog today? Well your not alone as it was the text I got from my brother today "The Jedi freestyle dance troupe are entered for the Bigdog!" What does it mean? Well Jim (my brother), Guy (good friend) and myself are now entered into the Brighton Bigdog race this year as a three man team and that is our team name, I daresay we will carry it over to the Dusk til Dawn race too this October.

I must confess the recent change in the weather has been a good one and had me defying doctors orders and heading up into Cann woods here in Plymouth for some trail action and yes.....I took the helmet cam. The first couple of attempts did not go too well due to the camera not being at the right angle, it could best be described as a Geologist porn movie......a lot of dirt and some heavy breathing!

Last nights ride was a good one, my legs were heavy and tired but it felt good to be out. and after a quick spin along the river and the Plym trail I reached the trail head and start the climb up into Cann woods. Right now there is a fair bit of work going on up there cutting down many of the areas and re planting due to a fungal disease that has affected much of the woods in the area and some of the trails up there are pretty chewed up or gone completely but some of my old favorites are still there.

Hope you liked the video, it is my first production so to speak and thrown together using I movie 11 on my Imac, the long fire road sections were speed as to move to the wahoo sections as fast as possible. My brother said "made me want to get out there and then and ride" after seeing it so I think that is a good result and what I wanted to achieve.

Well that's all for now really training when I train is going well and my legs are feeling pretty good in fact I am seriously enjoying riding up hills, just a shame my weight is not dropping as that is really holding me back right now but give it time I suppose.

Take care all

Simon.

March Wrap up

2011-04-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

Hi all and a happy April to you all, going to kick off with my wrap up from my March #gothedist challenge. I was lucky enough to be a guest writer on the blog of Fat Girl vs World this month and do the wrap up for March, she is a wonderful woman for whom I have a great deal of respect and admiration for, plus she is damn hot! You can see the entry on her blog.

March, for me, is the gateway into spring a time of renewal, change, and growth--not just in nature but in us as well. I have participated in all bar one of the Go the Distance challenges from October to the present. But with the exception of the first month, they have not gone so well--with illness and bad weather being a constant problem.

I am not really sure what the change was this month--possibly the improvement in weather; maybe the week off I took in February--but there has been a total change in my thinking. The change is not just about my training, but life journey as well. I found myself letting go of a few more fears and insecurities, freeing my mind to focus on things and people that really do matter to me.

The challenge was a simple thing to set: in addition to starting to record my calories once more, I set my now-standard 100 mile goal, but I also added a 10 miles of trail walking to the mix just in case the weather turned nasty. Given that I had only ever got close to my goal last October, I was concerned that I had bitten off more than I could chew and that I would fail again. This month I was to prove my fears were unfounded.

One thing that I have wanted to do for ages was to ride out in the back lanes and the open road away from the cycle paths. However, I have been worried about how I would handle the roads and, more importantly, how I would cope with riding up hills. As March’s focus was about growing, I outgrew my fears and headed out onto the open road and straight up the first hill I could find and straight over the top.

I think the only real down point this month was going too long with out a rest week. As a result, 2.5 weeks into the month I hit the wall, so to speak. I was now tired and in need of a break. So I just limped to the end of the week and rested for a week, with a few light rides before picking up the intensity (starting to think about increasing the time and distance).

For the future, I have learned that I have to change my riding patterns and go with two hard weeks, and then a rest week (instead of a 3-1 pattern) and to do 3-to-4 bike workouts a week with a rest day in between to maximise my energy and recovery. Lets face it, I am not as young as I used to be but I will be fitter than I was!

This has been my best months riding in years, let alone since last October. The challenge has helped me to grow stronger, both physically and mentally. I have seen some of my fears crushed under my tyres and let out triumphant yells as I crest each hill. I am not just talking about those on the road either: to quote Gunnery Sgt Hartman, I am “Born again hard” and I am loving it too.

As for my reward for meeting the challenge I am going to be treating myself to some much deserved new disc brakes for the bike, I am not sure which ones I am getting just yet but I am leaning towards the Shimano SLX units as opposed to the XT versions there is no massive difference in performance between them so I will decided on the day, I have also decided that it is time to build up the new frame although I dont think I will use the new carbon fork just yet.

My new disc brakes were not the only reward I gave myself this month, as I had completed the challenge ahead of plan I also treated myself to a helmet cam a Veho Muvi micro camcorder, it is pretty basic but does the job and is really small to boot being just 6cm in length.

The quality is pretty good and will record up to 3 hours of trail on it's internal battery which you recharge by plugging it into your laptop/PC.

The quality is pretty good at it's native 640 x 480 resolution although I compressed it pretty heavily in this video just to see what it was like. You can get both the camera and the extreme sports pack (extra mounts) and a spare memory card for £61.69 from Amazon.co.uk making it a very good deal.

That all for now anyway, just to let you know that I am aiming for 130 miles and 10 strength sessions this month although I am not off to a good start as right now I have a sore throat and a migraine, but I know I can do this and I am going to treat myself to a new helmet as a reward. Oh nearly forgot it has been noticed there is a lack of photo's from me just recently so I am going to restart my Photo a day challenge, the photos can be found here, hope you enjoy them.

Taking it easy?

2011-03-23T08:43:00.000-07:00

Well that is the aim for this week readers but I must tell you that there is a changed man before you now so much so that I am finding it hard not to train this week and just go easy on the bike, probably a mix of the great weather but more like a love for my riding. I am not going to really go into the details of what I am doing ride wise right now as I want to keep it for an end of month entry to wrap up the month in detail once the last session for my #gothedist is done, there will be a lot going into that entry and I feel it deserves one of it's own.

You know I enjoyed my drive home from the office today the sun was out albeit a bit hazy and there is a breeze but I have been finding that my car seats fit better or rather that I fit my car seats better so that instead of sitting on them I am sitting in them, a definite non scale victory there but today was also a good day because of the postman who kindly left several boxes for me for when I arrived home, first up was a book containing a load of my photos as a mothers day present, second box containing my Skullcandy Lowriders

In blue as I love blue and well matches my eyes :D As anyone will tell you I love music and I have become pretty tired and sick of using the pathetic little ear bud things you get with most music players they just don't sound right to me so the Lowriders made complete sense.

Last of all was a very yummy box from Graze, this is my first ever graze box and I decided to give it a try on the recommendation of a few friends and because I was happily consuming too many cookies either in work or not long after I got home.

They do several different themes of box, Nutrition, Well being and lastly the Energy box that I selected, for calorie counters the box is supplied with the break down of the calories in each punnet of nibbles which is kick ass and per punnet is less than I would munch on cookies after work each day so i think we are onto a winner here, the only disadvantage......I want to nom the entire box.

Right that all for now, this blog is just like me....short n sweet and please remember to keep an eye out on the last day of the month for a mega wrap up for march, hope the weather were you are is sweet and happy trails everyone.

Simon.

Retrospect

2011-03-14T16:03:00.000-07:00

Every now and then it helps to sit back and take a long look at the trail behind you to help you better understand just how far you have come because some time's the trip computer cannot tell the full story of the ground you have covered.
This time last year just after new year 2009/10 I think I was pretty much at my lowest ebb and my highest weight something in the ball park of 320lbs I cant recall the exact number and I don't have any clear photo's of the size of my problem for me walking was a problem and so was riding my bike as I would get breathless by the end of the road and my shins would get so tight (extreme shin splints I think) I could just about walk and ride and the fluid in my legs would build up so bad they would resemble huge hairy sausages and the resulting edema was infected, and those were just the physical problems, the emotional damage was just as severe I hated myself, there was no self respect I was lonely and miserable and each day was getting worse, I know what pushed me over the edge and it is something too private to put down here but anyone who has read my blog from day one will have a rough idea but thinking back my problems started long before then but I did not listen to my body as I used too and heed the early warnings.

You know I am not entirely sure what woke me up from my slow death it was not like I ever really gave up on myself, I would try to get going and pick myself up but my body was a mess and before long I would have to stop but something changed back in March last year and inspiration was drawn from a number of sources and a desire to do something and it lead to this post and the start of something good.
A few months later I finally got my legs checked by the doctor and although it threw a curve ball into my plans and for a while I was unable to ride my bike and instead turned to walking up and down local Tors on Dartmoor and little did I know how this would change things for me, the combination or the treatments for my legs and the walking actually strengthened my legs more than I thought and I soon received permission to ride again it was also about this time that I started to meet people on twitter, people who were on the same healing journey with whom I would forge friendships with regardless of the geographical location and I was to learn more about me and how to look after myself.... I was starting to grow and that summer saw my greatest loss of 20lbs down to 300lbs.
I was not an easy transition into the new year with weather and ill health hampering my progress but some how I managed to hold it all together and I started the new year at 297lbs up from my low of 291lbs. Although my rides last October were over pretty simple trails I managed to increase the duration and distance quite well but my legs were still not very strong and I would still have my shin issues although they were getting better.
I think the biggest improvement came at the end of February, I took a week off to recharge and pull myself together after the setbacks of the past few months and it worked a charm and my training changed and I found myself climbing hills on my bike and so much more even starting to ride out in the back lanes away from the same path I had been riding for nearly a year and things are only getting better physically and emotionally. I think the biggest weight loss over this past 12 months has been the burden I carried on my shoulders for so long now, all the hurt and hate and self pity and many more emotions and feelings I can only begin to think of at this late hour I just let them go, I forgave myself for all that I had done and moved on, don't get me wrong I still get down it happens to us all but I deal with things better and in more constructive ways, in my heart I sill year for some one with whom I can share this life with but I know that I will always be okay to be enough just as I am.

I am kinda glad I got that off my chest i think it helped and it might make sense, anyhow Saturday was a weigh in day for me, yes I finally remembered and I was very happy to find a loss and I am now down to 291.9lbs and I am looking and feeling much better as you can see below.

Modeling my new jacket strait after a ride

This is about as close as I am going to get for now for an exposed photo so sorry ladies, maybe next time or when I have managed to get some sun on my skin.

While battling the wind tonight on my ride I decided to attempt to try and explain things, it was inspired by an amazing blogger Fat Girl vs World in her post Evolution, while I don't see myself as evolving I am definitely healing and I hope it makes sense, if there is anything people want to ask me then please go ahead.

Oh yeah tonight's ride, I took a short video, sorry about the quality and the wonky angles, I am going to invest in a little helmet cam once my new bike is built hopefully in time for my first race in August the Brighton Big Dog.

Well that is all for now I am going to get some much deserved sleep, I should have passed out over an hour ago but this had to be done.

A Good Week and a Rest Day

2011-03-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

You know I think I am getting thinner already, my work shirts seem to be fitting better and there is a certain spring in my step now, no it is not love although all this healthy living and exercise is giving me the kind of libido that would not appear out of place in a 1970's adult alternative err movie but moving swiftly on and a cold shower.
This week has been a pretty darn fine week indeed absolutely loaded with non scale victories and something that was very sweet and I thank you so much Cheryl for the card, it is sitting up on my desk, on Monday I started to log my calories over on My Fitness Pal and so far I have managed to keep under the daily limit each day, only just mind you and it has not been easy mostly because of the snacking I am having to do to keep ticking over and avoid crashes, my 04:30 to 21:30 day is a long one.
It is going to take time and I am getting there with the diet side and the snacks that I am eating now are being replaced with healthier options.

Well this is my rest day although it was pretty tough to stay away from the bike, so far I have completed two sessions and yesterdays was a belting ride shaving 2mins off my best time for the circuit I did so progress is being made and yeah my body is adapting to the new intensity pretty well, last week and early this week I was feeling pretty sore all over my body but mostly in my trunk around the rib area probably from working harder and opening up the lungs, oddly my legs are holding up the best and i am having very few issues with them at all, my IT bands are pretty tight but that is a problem that has plagued me for many years and saw me having to undergo 6 months of physio to correct a severe imbalance that still rears it's ugly head, but with stretching and now Big Blue my fantastic blue foam roller of PAIN! I keep them in check. I think that i will stick to my current intensity and duration for another week and then extend my routes further out again upping both the distance and duration.

Today saw the arrival in my local bike shop of my new jacket, as I wrote in my blog a month or so ago I have been having problems finding a jacket that would fit my sexy but round figure, my last trip to the shop to pick up some new bottles saw me checking out Altura's Night Vision jacket, the XL was not big enough so they kindly ordered me the XXL to try and if that failed they could also get hold of an XXXL, well the XXL fitted fine, a little snug for layering but if I keep the pace up that I am setting now then it should be an ample fit in a month or so.

As you can see from the photo's it will be a godsend out on the road and the front is probably more reflective, so thank you Altura for recognizing that big guys n gals can be fit and active too, oh I nearly got the fluro yellow version....but I was worried about being mistaken for a UFO :)

Well wrapping up I can honestly say that this week has been a good week I feel DAMN awesome, I am slowly reaching the conclusion than any romantic interest is becoming impossible or there is no interest in me but that is okay, I have my friends and I have me and I AM enough, things are starting to go my way at last and I can honestly say that I am well and truly on the path to my happiness, the next 5-6 years are going to be make or break for me, either I have settled down with some one or I am going to move to Scotland and ride.

Life is good hope yours is too.

Simon.

Oh and I won £10 on the lottery Wednesday :)

07/03/2011

2011-03-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

I know I did a post the other day but I felt I needed to post another, as I sit here drinking my post ride glass of milk I have a massive craving for Fig rolls something I have not had for a very long time and it reminded me of something from way back in the day when I used to ride all the time and I mean I rode every day at least 15-20 miles, we used to go through an amazing amount of food and one of our preferred calorie sources was the humble fig roll as it was cheap and packed full of energy sadly this was a time before the now common trail pack and all we had was the rear pockets of our cycling jerseys which was not good for holding anything really as it generally bounced out so what we would do was wedge the packets of fig rolls in the spokes of our front wheels and use inertia to hold them in place, we would do 20-40 mile off road rides with fig rolls wedged in there until we were ready to sit and munch, and once half eaten would fit perfectly in our back pockets, I like how something so silly and simple made me chuckle to myself, anyhow back to today's ride.

Today's session did not start well and for some reason I threw up right before my ride and my chicken dinner was gone, this has happened a few times and I am trying to find out why I think it may have to be a doctors appointment, I set off out with the idea of doing a nice simple ride to break me in but I was magnetically drawn to point my bike up and do my new back lane route and things started off pretty well and the pace felt good, this time I did not spin as much on the climbs instead using a slow rpm to build strength at one point I was up and out of the saddle working it lol, sadly this harder work meant that as I reached the furthest point on that last climb my legs were just overloaded and I had to ease right back and when I turned off the main road I stopped and just sat for a few mins looking up at the stars and out across Plymouth something I have not done in many years and another thing that I have dearly missed.
From here there is one last short climb then it is some serious wahoo as I get to descend and get some of those hills back, according to my Garmin I reached 38 mph and then hit the flats back towards home.

For Vinny

All in all the ride felt good and yes I feel much stronger and a lot more confident, I am under no illusion I still have a hell of a lot of work to go but I am seriously on the right track, first way point is August and the first of two races this year, time will tell but right now I am rocking it and loving it.

March a quick update

2011-03-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

Hiya everyone hope March is finding you well, I thought I would post up a quick updates about the past week. Before I get down t things I have a request if I may, I am trying to get some feedback on the blog really, what sort of things you like to see and read in the blog how I might improve my writing anything that will help me make this a more enjoyable blog to read, just post a comment down below it will be much appreciated.

This past week saw my step up my riding a little or at least try by starting to ride on the open road again, my routes as you can see from my past entries have been on cycle paths and trails well away from the road, pretty simple affairs really. The rides them selves went pretty well but they took a lot out of my legs with all the climbing and constant load on me, I managed a ride on Monday and Wednesday both around the 10 mile mark and on open road and a body weight session on Thursday, even before my body weight session on the Thursday I was feeling it not just in my legs but my entire body was feeling the effects of the workouts everything felt alive and tired and come Friday I can only say I had my first real food binge in ages, I was craving serious food.
This misjudgment as I will call it that has shown up some serious flaws in how I am doing things, I am basically not tracking my food intake, my best weight loss last summer was from my tracking everything although I think my numbers were wrong at the time but it comes back to the fact I have got out of the habit.
Last summer I was working on the eating 1800cals a day but recently I have checked my BMR and I need a whopping 2500 just to keep the body alive, add into that each bike session is 800-1000cals in an hour and I was more than a little off in my math, oh and I need to drink more water.
So there it is a summary of last week it has been yet another learning experience but that is what it is all about I just need to work on creating a sustainable energy that will allow me to loose weight and get fitter at the same time.

Okay getting that out of the way, both my brother and me have been looking at improving our camp gear for the future and for me doing touring/bivi biking in a year or so and we have come across some really good stuff that is good enough for regular camping but is also compact and light enough to be used for touring from Alpkit, they do a pretty basic range of products but according to reviews it is very good, I actually bought my brother a lamp from them for his birthday and it is really good so good I am going to get one for myself too plus new sleep mats as well. Oh and I may have finally found a jacket that will fit around my coast line just waiting for it to arrive in the shop so i can try it on so fingers crossed.

I might be getting ahead of myself here but I have been shopping around looking to replace my disc brakes on the mountain bike already and I have narrowed it down to either Shimano's SLX or XT units they are stupidly reliable and work a well everything you need in a brake really, I have also considered assembling the new frame I have had in storage at the same time possibly with the carbon fork I have too but I will see how things go as I wont build anything until mid to end of April.

Time to wrap up now I think as I need to get some sleep but before I do I just want to thank everyone who commented on my blogs recently and to Vinny for pointing out something that well I have been putting off, Where are the pictures? Well there have not really been any while I have been riding for a couple of reasons A: I have been pushing hard on my rides so I try not to stop and B: it has been dark when I ride. But rest assured I do take my little camera out when I ride so I will get some pictures with that and get out with my good gear too Vinny just got to organize my time a little better than I am.

February wrap up

2011-03-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone February is well and truly over and a fresh set of goals for march have been set but a little more about those later.
February was not quite the month I had hoped it would be but then again it turned out so much more in other ways that I did not, one of the key problems that I faced was with the weather and although I don't mind rain this was some pretty heavy stuff so the sensible choice was not to ride so I did not but here is were I fell down I have become mentally set on riding my miles that I forgot the key...flexibility, when I was forced off the bike by weather I should have taken a strength option and done some body weight sessions, I think all month I only got one session with the weights in and that is shocking when considering how much time and possible workouts so I can consider myself having had a thorough bollocking.
But out of those ashes something good came as I found myself riding up hills again yes hills! I managed to fit in a couple of circuits of my hill climb route that went reasonably well but the real cream of the month came on the very last day when I did my first ride out on the open road in the back lanes, one serious victory for me and one I am proud of and something that I am going to build on.
So after all that did I make my goals well no I managed just under 60 miles, the goals I do set are easy IF i can maintain my focus and get regular rides in so this month I don't get to have my treat but it is put on hold for now as I will have one.

So with the passing of February we welcome in March and a fresh month of challenges and training and hopefully better weather, once again I have set my 100 miles of bike but this time I have also set myself 10 miles of trail hiking too, so fingers crossed and praying to the weather gods for some dry rides and as a reward I am going to treat myself to some new disc brakes for the bike, probably some nice Hope discs but it depends on my bonus at the end of the month.

Mondays awesome ride

I had recorded a video blog to accompany today's entry but it founds it's way into the recycle bin for several reasons may be I will try again another time as it is a great idea and I do want to try, I think it is because I have not really felt 100% recently, I have never had the greatest self confidence and it has reared it's head a little recently with a slice of insecurity thrown in partly about my riding but about how I interact with others especially on line from chatting on social media to commenting on blogs, I live in the constant fear of being nice....how fucked up is that. Anything I type I have to think long and hard about what I put down as I am worried that I many be seen as being creepy or that I might be trying to make advances to people when all I want to do is be nice and to make others feel better about themselves, it is this fear that keeps me hiding away and make me shut people out of my life even those that I would really like to have as a part of mine, hell I am a mess.

Right going to wrap it up here, I took today off the bike as I have been suffering from tummy cramps, I am going to get some new water bottles tomorrow I think just to be on the safe side so for now happy trails people.

23/02/2011 - I can ride up hills

2011-02-23T12:32:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone hope your having a good one I know I am.
Anyone who has followed my blog will be aware of how much I have been struggling with both motivation and the weather recently often only getting one ride a week, things were tough and no progress was being made and it has been getting under my skin more than a little bit, there have been times when I have just wanted to hang it all and head for the sofa with a pizza or three, that did not happen thankfully and thanks to my February week off, something that has been a tradition for years now, a week where I can get out and about in the daylight it has been something that has kept me riding for years and this year was no different, that week I managed to get one ride in and had planed on a second ride up in Brighton with my brother heading up along the shore front but although I did take the bike up we did not get out as we were both very tired and just enjoyed the company and playing with my nephews....soul food.
Well it all payed off Monday the weather through the day was terrible but soon cleared in the afternoon and I prepped the bike for a ride that evening, this time was something different, out on the main road there is a pretty nice circuit about 4.5 miles long that I can do that involves some climbing something that i have been nervous about adding into my routine but something I have desperately needed to add to my program, well any nervousness was soon replaced with hurt as I pointed my bike up the hill and spun my way up to do two laps, after my legs were pretty sore but felt good, the following day Tuesday again stayed dry and so without any fuss but some sore legs I headed out on the bike again this time a ride on open road, things felt okay but I seem to be struggling with maintaining a decent cadence that I feel comfortable with riding at, it might be the gearing on the Inbred I am not sure but were I feel comfortable is right between two gears something I am not used too as in previous years I have had SRAM cassettes in the 11-34 flavor not my current Shimano one, but in a couple of months I am rebuilding the bike onto the new On One Inbred frame and fork I bought back in 2009, going to be tough retiring the fame I bought so many years ago now but it will be put to use later this year as a winter hack possibly a single speed mud machine who knows.

Okay you have seen me add a couple of videos to my blog over the past few months well a couple of very lovely lady blogger's have taken the idea a step further and have added a video entry to their blogs and well it is kind of cool and something I might try for myself, I have wanted to do something from the trail side maybe a meet n greet kind of thing I am not sure but if there is anything you want to know about me than put a comment below or something and I will try and answer it.

In other news my work with the foam roller seems to be going well, I am loving that tingly feeling after I have worked my IT bands they feel so free and loose it is great in time with a good stretching regimen I think I can avoid all the painful injuries that have stopped me riding when I was at my peak.

Well that's it for just now as i am going to do my vidlog thing next Monday/Tuesday and to summarize my #FebGTD challenge.

Mondays hill climb session

Tuesdays road ride

14/02/2011

2011-02-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

Happy valentines day all hope your all having a great day regardless, I know that for many it is a tough reminder and not something that us single people look forward too and as much as we keep our chins up it does get to us for our own reasons. This year I did feel a little self pity creeping in at one point but I just powered through it and stayed on track I know one thing that I am not the man I once was not by a long shot, you know I think I might be getting an idea about how I fit into the grand scheme and what I want to do, the next 4-5 years will unfold into something pretty funky.

Right enough of that let get down to the nuts and bolts of what is happening well once again my post Christmas gremlins have struck again, I may have avoided being ill for Christmas but they are not letting me get away free so yet again I have been grounded with an ear infection so yet more pills and shit pumped into my already troubled stomach my body is NOT having a good time right now and no progress is being made and well it is really upsetting my calm.
I have never really liked the post Christmas period at all, there is just something about the January February period that just is not good for the soul, it is colder and darker some how and just makes getting out harder I know it was easier back when I commuted to work via bike as I would just extend my ride home a few miles and kept things turning over until the sun shone once more. So why are things so messed up right now? Well I have not really been 100% since I came down with the virus in November, It took me out for nearly a month and broke the momentum I gained through the summer months and from there I lost all focus, since Christmas I have not felt right my stomach has felt really bloated and gassy like I am about to explode probably a combination of all the rich food and the medication I have been off and on since November.
So yeah not good but I have a plan (ques up A-team music) well to kick off I have a week off work to recharge my batteries and get some rides in plus I have started taking multi vitamins each day, as for my stomach well I have a friend to thank for this recommendation, she suggested I try some Boots Biobalance Travel as it has really helped her tummy so well i am going to give it a try and well fingers crossed I can get things sorted and back on track.

Speaking of back on track me and my brother have put a head together and sorted out the arrangements for the two races we have planned this year, we have set up a 3 man team for both the Brighton Big Dog a 6 hour enduro this August and for Dusk Til Dawn a 12 hour night race in October so that's sorted and something to aim for, I cant get over the fact I am putting myself under a lot of pressure here to get fit and perform on the day and well i just don't want to disappoint everyone and myself, they are tough goals and I have a shit load of work to do, hey maybe even reach my #FebGTD goal this month.

On the up side my foam roller arrived today, it's long it's blue and it's good for you lol

and to top it off another good friend posted up a blog entry on the facts, myths and how to use them correctly, perfect timing and I am hoping it will supplement my stretching perfectly and help my poor IT bands out.

Lastly I managed to get out for a ride tonight, not the greatest by far but it felt good to be out.

Well as you can see it is the same route again, I really want to find some better routes preferably with some hills in too so I can build some strength but I just don't feel fit/confident enough to hit the open road just yet maybe in a month or so fingers crossed.

Well that's all for now I am going to head for bed I am going to do another blog in a few days after i have been up to see my brother in Brighton for his birthday, we are going to go for a gentle ride along the seafront and grab some lunch so expect some photo's.

Simon.

Feb and going the distance

2011-02-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

Wow here we are February already I cant believe just how fast things are going I am afraid to blink in case I miss another month, although February is a short month I am going to be packing a fair bit into this one as I have once again signed up for the go the distance challenge.
This months challenge is looking pretty good and part of it is giving ourselves a little love each day ( no not that kind you smutty minded sods.......well maybe later) and recognizing something about ourselves that we love, given how much of a low SO (self opinion) I have had over the years this is going to be a good way of growing for me and maybe gain some confidence. For the #FebGTD this month I have set my self the target of 100 miles in 28 days and if I manage it and I know I will then I am going to treat myself to a deep tissue massage to work the winter cold out of my body and maybe rectify some problems.

So as I have a lot of miles to do this year I have finally got around to replacing my old shimano cycling shoes for a nice new pair of Bontrager shoes.

So far they are lovely and comfy and fit my wide feet quite well and allow the wearing of some warm socks, just got to set up the cleats and get some miles in on them speaking of miles......

I have managed to get out on the bike twice already this week and both rides were tough, Mondays ride was cold, my feet were frozen solid and affecting my pedaling rhythm not to mention the pain when I tried to defrost my toes.

Wednesdays ride was quite mild but was windy as hell, my feet were going numb thanks to my shoes and I was just struggling to ride this day, but I got out and I rode and that rocks.

Well that's this weeks rides not a great deal to talk about but I got out there, with the arrival of my new shoes I am looking forward to getting out and going further it should be good.

Other bike news...yeah racing.....I am going to be doing some this year, we have out team of three sorted for the Brighton Big Dog this year well august to be precise, the big dog is a 6 hour cross country enduro and will be a good crash course for me to re polish my handling skills ready for the Dusk til Dawn later in October.

Well that's all for now as I really need to get some sleep.

Walkies

2011-01-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

Hi all hope your all having a great month so far, still sticking to those resolutions? I hope so.
Well I am going to kick this entry off with a hearty thank you to Ring Around Rinn for the

The terms of this award are pretty straightforward:
1. Post and link back to the person who awarded you this award (check!)
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers (or as many as you can); and
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won!

So here I go,

I don't like big towns and cities
My fave colour is blue
I love second hand bookshops, sadly not many left now thanks to the chains
I adore Hedgehogs
I have lived in 2 other countries other than England
My fave cartoon character is Wiley Coyote, I just feel so sorry for him.
My fave photographer is Don McCullin

There that's that done, not sure who to pass this award on too but my brother is a good start I am Jim and JAG and lastly The Fitness Gauntlet all very good blogs and well worth a look.

Well back on track and on Sunday I was half organized and got my gear loaded into the car ready so that I might get out on the moors for my first trail hike of the year and it felt so good just getting out and about in daylight was an added bonus.

Ha I am only wearing black until I can find something darker!

I was surprised how well I coped and I was really enjoying the climbs and was actually working them pretty well, guess even my limited amount of workouts over this winter have done some good, going to have to wait until Garmin Connect is back up before I add the work out link but the heart rate info was kind interesting compared to my cycling ones.

Right sleep time for me now, hoping to have another entry later this week.

Frustrated

2011-01-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

Hey all just an interim update of my blog sadly nothing of note has happened, the weather man is being a total twat and it has not been good, in fact if I go any where near my bike it rains, this sadly has been getting to me, not so much as getting me down but more a frustration and it is starting to eat at me a little and that has undermined my motivation quite severely to the point I just don't even do my walking or body weight sessions, some how I have got to find my mojo and get back into this...I MUST find my routine again, upside to all this is my cross stitch project has come along quite well hoping to have it finished by the end of the week and then start on my fresh one.

Okay I don't normally do this kind of thing as I am a very private person but a friend tagged me to fill in a little on line questionnaire so as a rare treat I decided to have a go at it, just four questions.

Four TV shows I watch.

Mash
House
Top Gear
Dr Who

Four words/phrases I use a lot

Twat, I swear far too much
Awesome
Aww, yeah I am a sentimental kinda guy and I like cute things
Yarrr, yeah I am a pirate fan even my computer and I phone have skull and cross bone wallpapers

Four things I have learned from the past

Stop beating myself up, I am awesome.
I am stronger than I think
Be myself, best I can be and that is more than good enough
Take the rough with the smooth

Four things I am looking forward too

Loosing this weight and being healthy
Starting cycle touring and endurance racing
Meeting people
Finding love

Four things I love about winter

Snow
Storms
Going out before dawn on a frosty morning for a bike ride
Having hot chocolate with some one I care about while it is all cold and snowing outside.

Well there we go, like I said I don't do many of these, truth no one has ever asked me to do one and only one person has ever gotten close enough to me to even get to know me.
Right sleep time for me here and I am going to make extra effort to get off my ass tomorrow and train.

Simon.

2011

2011-01-12T09:53:00.000-08:00

This entry is a little late really but there was something I was waiting for but a little about that in a moment, as anyone who know me or has read this blog I have been having problems with my legs essentially there is a build up of blood and fluids in my lower legs with a large edema this combined with the pressure of the fluid is affecting my ability to move and exercise so not good. I have been receiving treatment for it now for just over 6 months and things are going well but not great so my GP made an appointment to see the vascular consultant and get a thorough check and to see if further intervention was needed to help the recovery and this was what I had been waiting on, well I had the Doppler scans of my legs and everything mechanically is working fine, not quite 100% but more than good enough and to just carry on with things as they are so yeah as you can tell I am happy, I still have to wear the socks and use the cream and no off road riding but a small price to pay.

So whats happening well the snow has gone not that is was much once again we got off pretty lightly compared to the rest of the nation and we are now taking the brunt of all the rain heading northwards so instead of being cabin bound by the ice I am sheltering from the rain, upside of this is that I am getting some walking done and really getting into my body weight exercises, I have a pretty sweet little routine together now.

Dumb bell curls
Sit up's
Press up's
Wood Choppers
Squats
Lunges

I do this about 2-3 times a week doing 10-12 reps across 3-4 sets it is not a formidable program but works my core and upper body and is helping with the imbalance in my knee's right now, in the future I will add more exercises and increase the rep's and set's.
All is not bad though I did manage to get out on a ride yesterday and a belter it was too, I did the same route as I had recently done (yeah yet again) but this time it was not just a ride it was a training session, is there a difference? Well yes there is if i get out for a ride I take my camera along with me and I stop frequently I even take a flask of tea or coffee with me it is all about getting out in the fresh air, training I am more focused I don't stop unless i have too it is more involved and mindful of technique and effort, the latter is what I did last night and man it was fun pushing myself.

As you can see a good ride, same traveling time as previously and same effort but in one sustained ride, got to admit when I woke this morning I was a little sore from this and my body weight session but I feel great.

Oh.......It's raining again.

Normally by now I would have had a post up outlining the things I want to do this year and a rough route of how to do them but as I already pointed out I was waiting for the doc's report before I made any solid plans for this year, It took a few days to absorb everything the doctor said and I have come up with a bucket list of things to do this year and here it is.

Loose 70-80lb of weight by 31 Dec 2011 this is the big goal
To complete the Dusk til Dawn race at Thetford (a 12 hour night race)
Take up Yoga
Try Canoeing... Ocean Canoeing has always appealed to me
Take more photo's this past 12 months have seen some of my best works yet now I hardly touch my camera
Do a mini bike tour, down to Lands End or something that takes a couple of days, a start for my touring
Start commuting by bike again
Smile more
Read more
Sew more
Put myself first

Well it is a short list but there are some good things on there so if your still awake and reading this then I hope you follow what is going to be a good year.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T05:06:00.000-08:00

Well here we are another year has almost come and gone and so quickly too I cant believe it, despite so many set backs I cant help but see this year as a positive one I have grown as a person in so many ways I can hardly recognize the man in the mirror anymore he is a good bloke, loads of potential positive and focused yet as mellow as a warm summers evening you know what I like him he rocks.
Anyway the weather here is still cold as heck compared to the rest of the country we are getting off light but then again we always do, I wish it would either thaw out or just snow more because the ice is lethal to ride on next year for sure I am investing in some studded tire's they are about £60 each but worth it as I will be much safer and can ride pretty much all year, I think we have had snow and ice for about a month and a half now and as much as I love the colder climate it has meant so many lost workout sessions on the bike and I have been eating more to keep my energy levels up so not a good, this said I have been getting out and about as best I can and the only problem other than trying not to slide down the road on my ass is my feet I need to find a better solution as my summer shoes are too light weight.....that or buy an indoor trainer.

I got to admit I have been dreading Christmas but this year like the things are different for one I am not bunged up with cold and flu (that was in November) and more important I was worried my will power would crack with all the food on offer in my house but I have been good yes I have had chocolate but hardly any compared to the amount I used to devour and my family have been great too smaller dinner portions and respecting the fact I just don't eat what I used too and helping me on my journey.
And speaking of help the family gave me some great gifts this year, I have written here before that I would love a quality GPS tracker and I had been looking at both the Garmin Edge 500 and the Forerunner 305, the edge 500 is a cycling dedicated unit whereas the Forerunner 305 is a multi sport unit that would be more useful to me, well the decision was made by my family who bought me the Forerunner 305 for Christmas, given how costly these are I never expected it and had been saving for one myself so as you can tell I am pretty happy.

I finally managed to get a ride out today and a chance to play with my Garmin, I got up reasonably early and kindly declined the offer of a cooked breakfast and put my gear on and headed out, the cycle paths were pretty slippy in fact some areas were just pure ice including the last leg to Plymbridge how I stayed rubber down I don't know but I did.

Embankment looking across the river Plym towards the snow covered headland over at Jenny Cliff

A frozen Plymbridge

I actually felt pretty good on the ride, I stopped here and there to stamp some warmth back into my feet but other than that I managed and even pace back home for a nice cup of coffee and to have a geekgasm over the new data from my GPS.

So how about my #DecGTD well as per my last post you will know that I am feeling frustrated about the lack of time working out I have managed to get in but given the weather it was to be understood and I have been very tired and injured but there are other ways I can get sessions in from just doing my walk around the block and my body weight exercises hell even on the Wii fit so unless I am broken then I have no valid excuses for not working out I know that I can cover the distances now and I am strong enough in head and body to put the time in, on the plus side I am still being mindful about my eating habits not great but good and that in itself is a key part of the battle I think for January it is time to bring everything together I know I can eat well, I know I can exercise well I just need to put all the parts together into a plan and have a back up plan for when things don't go so well like the weather for example and most of all stick to it, the last few days of #DecGTD are going to be spent working out, sewing and sorting my goal for #JanGTD and the aims for the next 6-12 months.

Well that's all for now, I am going to unthread the cock up I made on my cross stitch last night, hoping to have it done for new years eve so I can start the K9 design, next blog will be new years eve with more training, cross stitch and hoping some photo's from the beach/moors so until then take care out there.

Catch up time

2010-12-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

Okay this is a long time coming but like always one thing leads to another and next thing you know well here I am, I cant say this has been a productive month so far for my #DecGTD goals a damaged knee and my legs have been given me some problems and lets not forget the weather, speaking of the legs I popped back to my doctor for some more leggings, they are healing but it is terribly slow and may put me on medication to help with the fluids pooling in my legs but first I have to go see the Vascular Specialist for another more thorough Doppler scan of the veins in my legs to determine precisely what is the cause of the problems but more about that later first off the best weekend of the year!

A few months ago I was lucky enough to have access to advance sales for Faithless latest arena tour, so after a quick call to my brother "you up for it too?" and the tickets were purchased and I am already excited big time, that weekend must have been marked for a weekend of win as I was also invited to the Sussex Muddy@rse Christmas dinner on the Friday, so a quick call to my boss and an extra day off was secured and I was soon rolling in my Astra the 200+ miles up to Brighton and my brothers place, the meal was really nice I went with the classic soup for starter ( this was awesome and i could have made a meal out of that alone) then a turkey dinner for main course and finishing off with Christmas pudding, all in all despite being tired from the drive up it was a lovely evening and a great chance to catch up and enjoy the company of friends I sadly don't get to see very often. The Saturday was the big day and the day of the gig and more important time with my nephews who I really connected with for the first time and played with them almost all day and I was also able to take a little strain off my brother and sister in law.
Gig time, we decided to take our time getting up there and made it in time for the second support act who were pretty good too so we chilled out with a beer before Faithless came on and man they came on strong they simply blew my mind, even now the though of it sends a tingle down my spine and despite a very bad knee and legs I was soon bouncing and dancing in the crowd it was electric and I think this vid sums up a lot of it as I simply don't have the words.

The gig was awesome and the chaotic journey home now started we got to the tube station to find the tube had been canceled and there was no train to take people away so bad was the crowds that they had to close the station, luckily not before we got to the platform, well after several very cramped and crowded tube rides we made it to the train station were we found we had missed the train that would take us close to my brothers place so instead we had to wait an hour and head back on the last train to Brighton that stops at every station along the way so we finally got back home about 3amand headed to bed only to be woken up 3 hours later by two little sleep terrorists also know as my nephews.

That was one hell of a weekend and I was quite taken back on the way too and at the gig as women seemed to be smiling and talking to me, I was just in a hoodie and sweats ready to dance, maybe it was my new found sense of self or what ever but it was nice and helped me bounce a little higher, only down side to the whole weekend was my blown knee the lack of sleep and my legs were so full of fluid that I cold not train for a few days. I was also pretty good with my food intake, nothing but good wholesome food and zero junk until the drive home when I simply had a chocolate bar to pick my energy up so I could drive. Faithless are playing the O2 again next year i will do everything I can to get tickets for the floor again and I heartily encourage everyone to see them live.

Looking at my #DecGTD record sheet it is not looking good, yet another month were I am at the mercy of several niggling injuries and some pretty harsh weather, when I do feel okay I am taking the safe option of walking instead of riding and I managed to get my first body weight session done it was just 30 mins but It was good. I have a simple routine 10 reps of sit-ups/press ups/squats/bicep curls for 2 sets then 2 sets of 12 reps and in between each set of reps I ran on the spot for 30 sec although i will probably change the run to star jumps instead, over the year I am going to add more reps and sets and exercises as my fitness improves and build it into 2 sessions a week to give balance to my cycling and walking resulting in a good all round fitness that should see my pretty injury free and looking even more confident than I do now.

Okay it is not often I openly talk about how I feel but here it is open heart time, I feel like a light weight a fraud even, with so many missed sessions due to all the little problems my goals are always high but I like to stretch myself to achieve them and move the bar when I do but I am getting so little done, the weather is nasty here and I don't want to risk riding on the ice and falling off as it takes ages for my legs to heal then there was my knee going out and being away for a long weekend that I actually had to recover from and well I feel like I am letting me and everyone down, I am talking the talk but I am not walking the walk so to speak. I have said that December was always going to be a limbo month to get the holiday season out of the way so I can focus on doing what is right for me for my #mefirst, getting suck into training and being mindful of everything I do, in my defense I have been better with food and I only eat what I want and stop when I have had enough, that alone is worth celebrating as it is breaking with a life time of programming.

Anyway that's enough for now sleep time beckons.

Glad thats over.

2010-11-30T09:19:00.000-08:00

Ah well November did not go as planned it was not the distance of any challenge that beat me it was a simple nasty son of a flu virus and it managed to take me out for nearly 3 weeks....now notice how I did not say failure? yep that's the new improved v2.0 Simon I am still in beta and working the bugs out but I can honestly say I am "a work in progress".
So how was November not a failure, well one simple reason...I did not give up I never at any point let any negative thoughts drift into my thinking even when my knee went out under me a few days ago I was still thinking about how I could work around my problems and set backs, and that is all they are set backs nothing more annoying but not the end of the world and that's how I have to look at things.

Failure is not getting back up after your knocked down.

After so many set back's false starts, restarts hell even jump starts all that matters is I am still working on this and not half lifeing into the couch surrounded by pizza boxes and watching X factor.

So as you may have guessed my #NovGTD challenge did not really get off the ground but the goal were possible and I know that I could have done them and more, but for now I am going to put November behind me and set my sights on finishing strong in December and weight loss will be a bonus I just want to get a full month of riding and workouts in but this time with a slight twist, For years when I was slim and fit my training would be measured in time, distance is nothing but a side effect of time plus setting time goals is far easier for me given I don't just cycle now it is easier to work in all I do, cycling, walking and weights and come the new year it will allow me to work on my year program based on Joe Friel's programs in his Training Bible books, a system that I have used pretty well and to good effect but enough about that now this can wait until the new year before I unleash my master plan.

So my goal for the #DecGTD is:- 50 hours

Now this goal is going to be tough especially at this time of year but I think I can do this and I am sure as hell going to try, even if I don't make it I am sure going to put a big dent in it.

I also want to thank Fat Girl vs. World for everything she has done for the GTD in organizing the spreadsheets and keeping everyone motivated, she rocks.

Snow.......I want some now! and lots of it too, it is pretty chilly here at the moment and there is a chance for some snow to land in my ville, I personally doubt we will see a flake but I am secretly praying for tonnes my inner child craves it hehe. One good thing about the weather is that I can use my scarf.

Got to love that thing it is so warm and comfy and people stop to look at it, I even had one person ask were i got it.

So that's it for now, not done anything or been anywhere so all in all a pretty boring blog, I am in dire need to get out and shoot more still I can feel a few beach sessions are in my future I have not been down there for ages, also I am pondering doing a #exposed shot so that people can understand the size of my problem, I doubt I will some how as the idea of putting myself up on here in less than full clothing kinda scares me.

Right I need to cook some food and see if it is going to be a good idea to ride tonight.

Singing in the rain.

2010-11-20T14:02:00.000-08:00

You know some times I wish that I liked working out inside all tucked up in a nice gym with people around hey never know even I might meet some one who digs me but then I know I would miss being outside I don't care about the weather that's what Goretex is for and that beings me to something I want to get off my chest.......clothing, now if you have read my blog you will be aware of my fave saying

"No such thing as bad weather

only bad clothing."

But what about when you cant get the clothing? Well that's a problems I am having right now just trying to find a simple jacket, first off I don't really want to spend a lot on a jacket if my shape is going to be changing but hey there are plenty of good solid budget options around but here is the sting, no one seems to stock or sell in the size I really need I cant find anything larger than a 44" waist.

Right now I am not much bigger than a 44" waist but I do like a loose fit and cycling clothing is generally cut on the small size which makes finding the right size harder, it seems that most companies in the UK don't think that the larger gentlemen ride bikes and so do not cater for us by either supplying or stocking the larger sizes.......I think the UK/Europe needs to bring in the Clydesdale class for racing too, we are not all racing snakes, anyway rant over.

Today I managed to get out and about for an hour or so with the camera and in between the showers and picked up a couple of reasonable shots that I felt were not quite right but it is hard to balance the exposure at this time of year due to the lightness of the water against the darkness of the woods and rocks.

Anyway I hope you like them, going to head down the beach again soon, been too long and I miss the sea. And as always you can see my other photos over on Deviant Art.

Training in cold weather makes the body hard and the heart warm!

Well with being out of commission for a few weeks with this damn flu virus and some pretty nasty weather conditions I am not going to get close to my goals for the November challenge but what is important is that I ride like I am going too, the goals are just that something to aim for the important thing is getting out there on the road. I have managed to get a couple of short rides in well two being honest as I have been struggling with some headache issues that now seem to be fading, both rides were pretty nice and both night rides, they may have been only 9 miles each but it felt so good to be out again.

I am going to start increasing the duration of my rides from here on with one longer ride at least once a week and I already have some routes picked out, one thing I desperately need to start working into my rides are some climbs now I admit I am not the worlds greatest climber but I do enjoy the feeling of clearing a climb and powering over the top.

And that brings me to another thing I want to go over....Since I came down with this flu I have struggled to get any motivation at all to get out and exercise, I think that it may have been a combination of many things that have drawn my time and energy away from me some good some bad but I have to start putting myself first I am not talking about being selfish or self serving but putting my well being first and what I need to do, just simple things that will mount up and really help me achieve all the things I want to do and they are.

I will think about what I eat more, from the quality to the portions.
To exercise more and make it a part of my life again not just a tool to loose weight, make it fun again. When things are tough make an effort to get out and off my @rse.
To get at least 7-8 hours sleep a night, when I get tired I get depressed and then my self worth drops away to nothing and I hide away.
To be less critical of myself.

These just a few simple idea's that I want to introduce to make me an even better me.

Well that's enough for this entry, I am trying to write a blog entry on whats going on inside me on this journey but it is much harder than I thought, I am a pretty private person even my family don't have much of an idea whats going on in my head apart from my brother, I keep to my self so if the entry never makes it on here then well sorry maybe get to know me better and you may find out.

Simon.

November beginings

2010-11-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

Well autumn is here well and truly and has been about for over a week but once again I have missed the best colour of the season thanks to flu, the damm virus i came down with has taken me out of action for over a week but finally I am back up to speed (more or less) and raring to go, at this time I have decided not to join the twitter group for the November challenge at this time but I am still keeping my goal of 125 miles as it is still more than possible I just have to concentrate on being consistent mileage and time are nothing if you are not consistent I would rather have four great solid weeks than one incredible one.

This month I am working on a few things.

Routine I must get into a good routine and maintain it the body needs routine and works best when it has one.
Stretching I must stretch more, my legs have some very nasty imbalances in them right now my right knee for one is a mess and not pulling it's weight when riding but I am hoping that by working on my walking style I can over write the problem and re program the muscles to move and work in unison, also the stretching will help my legs recover and will improve my body's ability to function as a whole.
Focus this is a key area for me for with out my routine I struggle to maintain focus and I can loose momentum and often I can let emotional and mental demons rear their head, this time of year is a tough one for me as I do miss being in a relationship most and it is so easy for me to slip into a negative frame of mind and completely undo all my good work sadly I don't have a really close friend anymore either, anyway another side to my focus is not to go the other way and go all gung ho and burn all my energy out inside of a month as has happened before when I have tried to turn my life around.
Post ride maintenance.... I am terrible for it, I just seem to forget to look after myself in this key time, I don't drink or stretch or replace calories

Once again it is a case of I know what to do.....just got to do it.

Well as I said I have missed much of the autumn colour due to illness but I have not missed it all, yesterday I managed to get out and about for a few hours with the camera and pick up a couple of photo's they required a bit of hiking to get too and despite the heavy weight of my camera bag the easy walk seemed pretty easy so fingers crossed I have not lost too much fitness.

Sadly light is pretty limited now but I am going to try and get out after work when I can and the weekend too to try and get some more over the rest of this autumn and the winter season and defiantly make some time to get down to the beach with the camera.

One upside to my flu is that I have managed to get some good sewing time and made some progress on my project in between coughing fits and having an insane amount of green goo dripping form my nose (ewwwww lol)

Really enjoying this and I am hoping I should have it finished for some one's birthday.

One thing I have been neglecting is my poor bike yeah it is being ridden but it is in dire need of a service and most importantly some full length mud guards, if I could spare the budget I would like to replace the frame with something that will easily take the mudguards, I think I am going to have to pop down to my local bike shop and see what they have to offer as mudguards will make it so much easier to ride this winter and reduce damage to the bike too.

Well for now I am signing off, more stretching and water to consume as there is still some of this flu bug to flush out of my body.

November

2010-10-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well my October challenge went out with a whimper not a roar but I am far from disheartened about it as I still managed to do 80% of my target and cover 80 miles out of my 100 target....in fact technically I managed my goal as I wanted to cover at least 75 miles by bike and that is what I did manage to do.
Over the last month I have managed to up my ride distance from a mere 6 miles to an average of 14 miles and I covered up to 16, this month was all about getting the confidence to push the distances up so next month will be all about consistency and doing the rides/walks with more frequency, sadly I did not get as much walking in as the weather is now heading into winter and daylight hours are getting thin on the ground so it will make my walks on the moors hard to do apart from at the weekends so instead I am going to do some short tarmac walks to help the balance in my legs, speaking of which I really need to get my post ride TLC sorted and stretch and hydrate better after a ride.

Unfortunately I think that my November challenge is going to be off to a slow start as I currently have a nasty little flu virus that is proving to be a pain to shift, some people I know have had it for a week now and still they are feeling rough so I am not holding up much hope but here it is I have set my challenge.

125miles using bike and hike with at least 100 miles of bike

Well a pretty good challenge and more than manageable if I stick to the aim of this month consistency and for a reward I am putting a little money in the kitty towards my new GPS a Garmin Edge500.

Well unless you living in a cave with no windows you will know that it is the death season for any one who is on a diet or any weight loss program...Christmas, I say this as I just spoke to my brother about what I wanted for my Christmas dinner with the Sussex Muddy@rse club also I have seen other Fitbloggers talking about how they are going to survive the season, well my solution or survival guide is real simple I am going to enjoy myself I am not going to gorge myself but if I eat I must no I will exercise, I have already made the mental agreement not to look at my scales until new year as with all the work outs I am doing my body will be changing in ways the scales simply cant show....I might take a Now photo of me if I can summon up the courage and take one again in 3-6 months time just to see the progress.

Well that's it for now, more an update and thoughts on the month gone and the month to come I just wish I could sort my emotions out so easily.

Oh I am trying to get some more photo's taken but right now only thing in my hand is a tissue to blow my nose and next blog will have some more of my cross stitch project in, going to be a bumper issue

Final Stretch

2010-10-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well here we are, the last few days in October and only a few left to get in my 100 miles for the #OctGTD thanks to a few problems I had last week and a bad back this weekend I am still short of my goal to the amount of 35 miles sooo being a bit crazy I have decided to make it difficult and re adjusted my goal to 50 miles for the week.
Right I have my insane moment out the way and I just want to say something important.

Thank you

A big thanks to everyone who has supported me or anyone else who is setting themselves a personal challenge and thanks for reading this blog, a few years ago when a friend and myself started blogging I never for one moment ever thought that some one would read this other than family but here it is and it is out there for everyone to read.

You know it has been a few months since I weighed myself I have no clue what my weight is or if I am loosing weight, putting it on well I am thinking putting on weight BUT not in a bad way. Right now there is a good reason why I am not hitting the scales and that is because my body is changing pretty fast right now with the increased training and chasing weight goals would be too distracting when i am trying to focus on getting my distances in each week, so with this in mind I wont look at my scales until new year well 1st January 2011 to be precise until then I am just going to ride and walk loads.

Just recently I have been putting some thought into my cycle touring dream, don't worry it will happen that is not an issue here but in my research I have come across an idea that really floats my boat Bike Packing.
The idea is pretty simple and was inspired by rock climbers and hikers who wanted to get out into the back country traveling fast and light carrying on the bare essentials, to allow the rider in this case to ride further out into the trails than their normal ride would allow, such techniques were honed to perfection in a race covering 2745 miles climbing 200,000ft simply know as Tour Divide now I know that is a little out of my league for now but the idea is there and I am thinking of giving it a try next year, just some simple rides on Dartmoor bivvying out then riding home....maybe a bit further in a year or so.....Dutch coastal path could be done in this fashion maybe some charity fund raising too.

Right sleep time for me a long week ahead and I am going to go get some for sure!

Rollercoaster

2010-10-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

Wow who replaced my legs with a good pair? Well who ever did thanks, hard to think that we are now into the third week of the October Go the Distance #OctGTD and things are going really well here but it has not been smooth sailing as I have had some ups and some serious downs too as once again tiredness and being ill hit me hard and again I allowed being single to get to me they was only it can...my heart but thanks to the aid of some awesome people and well my own hard hard-headedness I pulled through and for the last 2 weeks I have been pushing up the intensity and distance of my rides and I am well on target to make my goal this month....and it is this I want to talk about next if would allow me to indulge in a well healthy rant.

Earlier on today I had what I call my "random acts of clarity" and I came up with such a simple statement "#Octgtd is not just for October, setting good goals every month can keep you motivated and help your long term goals." and it was not until I was reading the blog of a friend Fat Girl vs World that I discovered that more than 50% of the participants had still not even achieved 50% of their goal, I am not going to say anything as we each have our own daemons so to speak and I don't wish to appear judgmental.

What I do want to touch on here is why we are doing this, for many it is a simple case of I just want to loose X amount of weight for Y reason for others a bit more but to make it to our goals is going to take a serious amount of commitment we have to WANT to do this for ourselves not for anyone else, others can provide the heart and the inspiration when things are tough we all need some one at some point but the journey is ours.

I have to admit that I with my brother was planning on doing an #OctGTD already or well rather the idea of it a simple task of setting simple monthly goals to keep me focused and to stop me getting demoralized I mean lets face it look at Mt Everest and you see and bloody great mountain but see the climb in stages or camps and all of a sudden it does not seem so big when I was racing my mountain bike I would use a similar mental game by breaking down each lap into 3-4 sections I found that as much as it hurt I knew that is I could get through one section I could do them all and also the lap would pass quite quickly.

Right I am off to bed as i need some sleep big time, another day another session and there will be some more on my cross stitch and weather permitting some nice photo's it has been far too long.

Chilling out.

2010-10-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

Today has been a better day, currently I am sat at my Mac with a nice cold glass of water and my legs are glowing quite nicely from today's ride and a nice stretching session every breath is smooth and strong.....tomorrow mind you I will probably ache and be a stiff as a board but for now I am going to enjoy the feeling.
Today I went a little further and headed up to Bickley on the Plym Vally trail it was beautiful out the sun shining through the golden leaves in the tree's it was truly hard to believe that this was October and how only a few days ago I was almost up to my hubs in water but still moments like these are to few to waste I cant help but finish a good ride and feel a great sense of peace inside.

The ride back is always great fun as it is a slight down gradient and you can get a nice head of speed up.

Well what made you go "Wahoo" today?

Well that's all folks tomorrow I have a hike planned but I need to make a slight repair to the car for some reason the blowers stopped working I am guessing it is just a fuse blown but I will have to check plus my Inbred is in dire need of some servicing the left pedal is once again making it's creaking noise under load and it s just plain stinking and in need of a clean hehe.

Feeling Better

2010-10-07T14:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah I am feeling much better, I have just had a few days off work and I was able to recover a little and finally shift this cold/flu bug hoping I can get a clear run at some solid training now and make some progress.
Wednesday was my first day back and after what can only be described as a shit day in the office I had decided that nothing was going to stop me getting a ride in, normally I just do my little 6 mile loop but the sheer delight of being out in the warm sun and burning off all the frustration from the day helped me push it out to a nice 9 miles, all through the ride my legs felt great and I had loads of energy still a million miles away from my true capability but solid steps back towards it.

So today I was back on it but this time a nice walk on Dartmoor with the Holly (the dog)

We covered the same route as last time pretty much because it was the first time I had done any walking in a few weeks and because the weather looked as though it was coming in wet and I wanted something with some good bail out options as I had the dog with me and guess what yep it rained for the last 5 mins, that aside the was was really good it was not an intense walk but it felt easier my legs felt a lot stronger than they have done and there was less tightness in my calf's and my lower back...I just moved better it was awesome and best of all up the climb i did not get out of breath......hell yeah!

So that's all for the moment just been checking the met office forecast and tomorrow looks dry but windy so more bike miles before a Saturday rest and given how ill I have been recently I am well on course to cover my 100miles this month so I am pretty stoked about that although right now I am considering dropping out of the twitter group #OctGTD and just doing things here in my own way, the community is great but well I don't know maybe it's because nah too tired to go into it right now I need some sleep hope I feel different tomorrow.

Feeling Crafty

2010-10-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Well the first week of October Go the Distance is under way and on Friday I put in a solid incredibly wet 6 miles in on the bike that despite the very wet conditions on the ride went really well, I honestly felt really strong and was just powering along without thinking about riding hard, given how ill I have been recently i was quite surprised and very elated, and a big thanks goes out to all my new friends and followers on Twitter you all rock!
You can see the amount of water on the roads in this little Vid

One thing that I seriously need to do next week or real soon is get my hair cut, I am struggling to get my helmet on, I think it is time to go back to my skin head again as it is more comfortable and easier to dry hehe.

Still not got around to taking any photo's and I am feeling kinda ashamed of myself given that I have a couple of places I have wanted to shoot around this time of the year I am not normally a snow scape person but I am wanting the snow to fall. I have the next two days off so I am thinking some sessions with the camera.
One thing that I am picking up again hence the title of this blog is my cross stitch, for ages I have been stuck on a project that is very awkward and a genuine pain in the ass and it has kinda sucked the air out of my enthusiasm but now I have a couple of new patterns from Mr X Stitch nothing hard just a couple of Dr Who inspired designs K9 and the Tardis I cant wait to get started. one thing i have been intending to do for ages was to pick up a box to store all my Sewing stuff in.

This is going to be so much better for storing my stash (a knitting term it seems to fit well here too) than in bags hidden away in my drawer.

Right that's it for now going to get some more reading done probably another post in the next couple of days with some more challenge updates.

Stepping Up.

2010-09-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

October....I honestly cant believe it is almost October and as it is the beginning of a new month I am starting with a new challenge....

To cover 100 miles in a combination of cycling and walking.

I have been toying with the idea of setting a monthly goal for some time now to give me some more motivation as my training sessions have been some what irregular and I have felt i could and should be going further and doing more, last month my brother James did a similar challenge so when another FitBlogger Fat Girl VS World launched her Going the Distance Challenge I decided this was the perfect time to step things up a gear.

Going to do another blog when i start and every day in October.

Rider Down

2010-09-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone well once again I have failed to put out any frequent updates but every time I found time to sit down and put a post up I have been distracted and well forgotten pretty lame I know, so I am going to start off by saying a big hi to all my new friends on Twitter and on Facebook your all awesome.
Well there has been a fair bit going on and as you can guess from the post title I have been a rider down, it started about 2 weeks ago when I had a week away from work and during which I wanted to get some longer distances sessions under my belt but it was apparent in the first couple of days off that I was far more fatigued than I thought and I was in no shape to do anything. It was my own fault really I had not had a break since February and going that long was a little too long for my body, so I spent the week just relaxing with some stretching the only activity I did was walking the pup, so that was my week off and back into the routine or so I thought my first session back on the Tuesday was a lovely walk with the dog on my short Burrator loop everything was going well and I was enjoying it but I noticed that I was struggling to get my heart rate up into my normal working zones well I had a rest day after and all seemed okay but when I woke up on the Thursday I was a mess, my throat was raw and I felt terrible and the Friday was even worse I woke up and I was dizzy and wanted to throw up this stayed until Saturday morning when the fever broke and I feeling much more like my normal self.

Well that was the bad now for the good well before my week off I managed a couple of weeks doing four sessions without feeling to strained so I was quite happy about that and I am looking forward to building on this over the winter months.
This weekend as I was feeling much better I popped over to Newnham Pk here in Plymouth for the Shred Super Cyclo Cross a night time flood lit cyclo cross event, the event was absolutely brilliant with some super fast racing good live music free beer (I was driving) and just the great atmosphere there is at any race at newnham I took some photo's that I am going to process later and I also took some video footage again with my Iphone.

Well that's the past couple of weeks covered so what is happening? I still have yet to get out and take anymore photo's BUT I am getting out this coming week as the conditions are almost right for some locations that I have wanted to shoot recently.
As for the diet well i don't know if I have managed to hold any weight gains at bay this past 2 weeks I doubt that I have but it is not the end of the world the important thing here is that I stay focused now and concentrate on getting the work outs in and being good with what I am eating.

Winter is coming....well not far away now and I am going to have to adjust my program/routes slightly, biggest change will be shifting my walking to road work and I am not keep on this as it is hard on my knee's but i am getting a good quality pair of trainers just for this and a set of Nordic walking poles to really get the whole body involved in the session, thankfully the bike sessions can remained unchanged thanks to my awesome lights.
Another thing I am planning on doing next spring is trying out Canoeing, I have long fancied the idea of ocean kayaking and I thought this would be a great place to learn and see how I like it.
well that's all for now I hope this has not been a ramble and made some sense next update will be this year lol and will include some lovely photo's and yes some of my cross stitch.

Cya for now....Simon.

Last update of summer

2010-08-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

Hi all hope everyone is well, it has been too long since my last update I really must start being more proactive here but I will admit this is not the only routine I have been struggling with the simple things like keeping to my exercise routine and my sleep habits but I am hoping they will come with time and persistence.
So whats been happening this past 2 weeks well yesterday I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon with a friend who was down on holiday in the area, we popped up to Princetown for lunch then back to Plymouth for a trip to see the National Marine Aquarium which was lovely and I am glad we got the chance to finally meet as I think she is a lovely person who has helped inspire me and others and well I am quite fond of her (too shy to say anything) although I think my constant talking may have bored her to death hehe. Training wise I have not done as much as I have wanted too really I have been managing to get 2 sessions a week so far but that said the weather here has been terrible with daily severe weather warnings from the Met office although one day was nice and warm so I was able to take Holly my dog out for a walk on the moors, she absolutely loved it.

(Holly)

The bridge in the shot is one I am really hoping to get some nice photos of once autumn has taken hold. Well that was the last dry walk my following one later in the week was well wet..... I got absolutely soaked and if i am to walk in most weathers I will have to invest in some water proof leggings.

(This photo does not do the weather justice it was pouring down and very windy)

One thing I have managed to do this past week is get out on my bike for a ride and in all honesty I was very surprised how well it went it was a bright beautiful day the new ride position really helped and my legs were so much stronger than they were last time I rode a bike proof that the walking is really helping my recovery.
The first signs of autumn are now well and truly upon me here well has been for a week now, the temperature is dropping at night and you can feel a real freshness in the air and the ferns on the moors are starting to turn a lovely red that contrasts with the lush greens I cant wait for the season to change fully and the trees to follow suit.

That's all really not much to report sadly although I have made a couple of promises to myself for September and that is to start working out 4 times a week for at minimum of an hour each session and to get my sleeping habits under control.
Well that's me for a few days peace love and happiness to you all.

New Legs Please.

2010-08-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

Been a bit of an odd week I am still finding it tough to settle into any sort of routine thinking about it I will probably fare better next week when the house settles down a bit and the others head back to work after a few weeks off.
My second walk this week was a bit of a contrast from Mondays as the weather was superb albeit a bit windy and I had thought about putting in a massive loop (for me) of about 6 miles bust after the first mile I was struggling with my feet I honestly thought they would burst into flames, I think it may be the combination of my compression socks, my thick walking socks and my big walking boots the friction between all three is probably not helping me so I am thinking just using either some thin normal socks with my compression socks or just using my thicker walking socks and see how I get on, fingers crossed I can sort the problem as it is about the only thing that is really slowing me down and preventing any real distance work.
Anyway Wednesdays walk was a nice simple affair using part of the old steam railway track from Princetown then doubling back over Leedon Tor to the car a loop of 2.7 miles with only a little climbing that I will admit I found much easier than I did a month ago so something must be improving..one thing that I must remember that as much as the heart and mind are more than willing the body is going to take some getting used to this and I need to make sure I have a nice base and conditioning.

(The view from Leedon Tor)

(Me with Leedon Tor behind me)

Sadly two walks were all I managed to get done this week Friday I had a nice route planed out but I started getting some pains in my left leg telling me something was not right so I passed on the walk and I am going to make an appointment to see my doc just in case although since last Friday when I had the pains they have not returned so maybe a walk Monday then decide.

Today was supposed to be a weigh in day but dopey here was sat nommin on his breakfast when he remembered that I had not weighed my self.....so it will be next week instead :D

Best Intentions

2010-08-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

This blog was intended for Monday but by the time I got home and got everything sorted it was a little too late really, Mondays plan was pretty simple just a nice hour or so walk on the moors to check out a nice all weather route up at Burrator that I can do strait after work when the dark months are upon us a nice easy route just 2 miles long and 500ft of climbing that can easily be extended and has quick bail out routes should the weather turn serious, the route I picked is one the the routes I used to love taking my dog around she loves it around there loads of stuff to get her nose into and it is nice easy walking I hope I can get Holly out there for another walk soon.

(you know just once I would love a nice sunny dry walk)

On the walk I also found a great little spot that I am going to return too come this autumn when the river is getting into full flow and the trees are changing maybe even some frozen shot's if it gets cold enough, it will make for some very nice photo's I cant wait.

Best intentions you know some one means well but some times you just need to do it your way? This is how it is for this week anyway, the family are currently on a week off which is nice as I don't have to cook but it also means that they are piling loads of food on my plate yeah it is mostly veggies and I know they are good for me but when your trying to keep under a certain calorie count each day there can be a little too much I love them to bits and their support is amazing but sometimes i need my space, I think this week I have managed to keep under my or at least close to my targets before exercise so I am not expecting a miracle this Sunday when i weigh in especially given the muscle I am putting back on.

Right sleep time as i am up earlier than normal to try and work on my stretches.

Down time and new goals

2010-08-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

Not been feeling so great this past week nothing serious just a head cold that I picked up from some one in work made worse by a complete lack of sleep this past week, on the upside it has given me time to sort out my new targets for the next 12 months.

While I was putting down my new goals I wanted to look at first how I was failing in my goals this oddly was easier than I thought, first off was routine I need to settle into a routine as quickly as possible and even when things are tough I need to stick to it as best as I can from simple training days to the most important one for me my sleeping habbits.
Secondly are my eating habbits it is so easy for me to eat out of boredom or emotional need if I can crack the former then things will be easier and then there is the lesser evil of recording, I simply don't record how many calories I consume/burn and my weight and exercise sessions.
Well there it is and I am not going to beat myself up over them instead I am going to make the changes I need too, this is not a short term idea this is a a change of thinking and lifestyle for the long term.

Since I was diagnosed with Venous Stasis all my goals have had to be altered as has much of my daily routine so until the edema has healed I am pretty much banned by my doctor from trail riding but that does not mean I cannot ride just so long as I am careful so i am going focus on my walking and build in some riding to give me a really good balanced fitness.
So what are my new goals well it is pretty simple over the next 12 months I want to get down to 200lb from my current weight of 291lb with a monthly loss of 10lb a month, my weight target is my main goal and as my legs heal thn I am going to add new goals for both my walking and cycling and possible start doing some endurance events.

So in summary I am going to get off my ass and get into a solid routine, every thing I do I am going to record daily and update here weekly and seriously stretch more.

Why i ride.

2010-08-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

This was inspired by a conversation about the weather and the seasons with a friend recently it brought up the memory of doing what I love so much at my favorite time of year and I got me thinking about what I love about cycling and in particular cycling in the autumn months and how much I missed the feeling the smell and the colours and being fit and healthy.

Normally things would start to change about mid September and I would have been riding and racing since early spring the trails would be dry and dusty and all the fast lines programmed into my head and the sun had browned my skin leaving the funniest tan lines, the subtle changes were first noticed on my evening rides with the club that first slight chill in the air as we would head homeward bound after a long warm sunny evenings ride it was not cold but perfect for refreshing revitalizing tired legs and bodies as we rode along looking at the setting sun, still today there was a sight I have never been lucky enough to see again it was early September on a route over the Dewerstone heading for Cadover Bridge as we climbed up to the Dewerstone the trail switched back and breaks out of the trees to follow the contours along to the last climb to the top, as I turned and came out of the trees the valley below was covered in a thin blanket of mist that just covered the tree tops all illuminated by the sun as it slowly started to set, it was just a beautiful moment that I had to sit and take in, it was also one of the reasons I picked up a camera for the first time.

The end of the race season was marked by an event on the calendar the Cheddar Challenge and was always on around the last weekend in September or the first in October it was never the greatest of courses a simple uphill slog then jam back down in what was more often than not a mud fest but on of the things that made it nice was the nice camping and facilities and…the bar and the massive party on the Saturday night, many is the time I have got very drunk and danced half naked around the site then have to turn out of my tent the next day and TRY and race, There must have been something about this race but after every event I had to spend the following week off the bike with a stinking cold well it was the end of the season pretty much so a nice chance to unwind.

It was not just the seasons that changed but also our riding too gone were the epic 30-50 mile off road rides over Dartmoor in the evenings out would come the slicks and road bikes and we would take to the back lanes stopping only to regroup now and then so we could all ride together, on the nice clear nights we could sit there waiting and turn off our lights and look up at the sky and see the milky way stretching out above us every star so bright, this was a practice I kept if I was riding alone too. The weekends still belonged to the trails and we would cover the same routes as we did in the summer but at a slightly more leisurely pace, while all this was happening the world around us was changing gone now were the greens of summer replaced by the red gold and green of autumn and the dusty hard pack was now hidden under a blanket of leaves, tyre’s crunching through the frosty top surface on early mornings as cold legs struggled to turn in the misty morning air.

I hope this gives you an insight into my favorite time of year for riding and how it coincides with my favorite season all these memories and a million more all the amazing things I saw and will see the great people I meet, it was also a time when I was very fit and felt a lot better about myself my fitness gave me a lot of strength and confidence, I would never say I was a competitive mountain biker but I love a challenge, the challenge of riding difficult trails and obstacles but above all I love training, to push my self further and work hard to see myself improve.

I guess Mountain Biking and Cycling in general is in my soul it was and is a large part of who I am, I will never give it up.

Weigh in Day

2010-08-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

Well it is Sunday the first of August and a good day to restart my diet well i say restart more a case of get back on course after all the stress and upheaval from the past couple of months so first thing i did this morning was jump on the scales and there was a result i was surprised at...I weighed in at a lovely 291 lb a loss of 11 lb since i last weighed myself just over 2 months ago and the first time i have been under 21 stone in a very long time so i am kinda happy at that and according to the house Wii Fit i made my goal of 10lb lost although it was 3 weeks longer than i originally wanted so i set another goal of 10lb in a month, going to weigh in again next Sunday ooh another big upside is how i have been feeling this past week or two and that is in a much better i have even felt the "training effect" i am moving better breathing better.
On the subject of goals i am having to re assess many of the original way points i put down i am still doing the new revised list and everything can change depending on how well my legs heal and recover their strength, it is going to be a long hard rehab but i will make it.

Well last Friday i was out on the trails again while most people were partying i was working my ass off out on the trails in the mist and rain, not sure what Dartmoor has against me right now but a few sunny days would not go amiss that's for sure not to worry though as soon as the weather closes in i just repeat to myself "Det fins ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær" a great Norwegian saying that translates to "No such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing" so as i rolled into the car park i looked out at the rain falling outside and the thick mist and cloud and i remembered i had forgotten my hat great start oh well off i go.

(heading down to Devonport leat)

At this point the rain was not coming down to bad but soon i was putting my jacket on as things became more serious, it was about now i really regretted not having my hat as the rain covered my glasses and the sweat ran into my eyes for some strange reason i was loving this.

(scout camp)

(Devonport Leat)

After a brief stop to check my position and to have a quick hot drink the trail turned up and seriously up, from here i did not take any photo's as the conditions were not too healthy and time was running short as the light failed and instead of going directly over the peak that was not completely shrouded in the cloud i scouted around the contours following the paths and goat tracks to head back to the car park to finally arrive back at the car, my legs were shot and i could feel some inflation in my calf that was now pretty sore and i was just damm tired, this has been the longest walk i have done so far covering 3.49 miles with 653 ft of climbing in 2:09hrs during which i managed to burn 1114Cals at 45% fat so all in i am pretty pleased.

So whats happening, well i have a few things going on right now photo wise i am taking a mini break will start shooting in a week or two well i find a little break freshens my vision of the things around me and i hope to come back with some great works, also i am working on a blog entry a creative writing exercise in a way to give a little insight about why i love riding and my favorite season i hope to have it finished this week.

You know i think i am getting there

2010-07-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

And i am you know it happened last week on friday when i picked up my new well new to me car my little Vauxhall Astra 1.4 it rocks!... anyway hehe finally something is going right all the uncertainty and fear of the last two years had gone or at least was no longer nagging at the back of my mind but instead of feeling energized i felt absolutely exhausted and drained i guess i have been dragging a dead weight of all my worries around with me for so long that i was just burnt out but thankfully i am feeling better already and i have a little energy and optimism back again so i am going to get back on track with my exercise and diet and start believing. Good news about the legs though they seem to be responding well so far and the large areas of tissue are receding well and are looking less "icky" i still have a long way to go but i am getting there i am going to upload a photo in a month or so and compare it against one i took this week.

Last weekend was the Bontrager 24/12 mountain bike enduro here in Plymouth and it was a great chance to see my brother and his family and all my friends in the Sussex Mudd@rse club for a nice weekend of racing sadly i was unable to ride as i was A:- way too unfit and B:- on doctors orders to stay away from anything off road on the bike so i went along to help support the teams and my brother, the event was great and the course even in the very wet conditions was good, i had hoped to get more photo's but i was just too weary and struggled to get about, i did manage to get a reasonable photo of my brother.

As per usual Martyn Salt (the organizer and friend) and the crew put on an awesome event with loads to keep people going for the full 24 hours of racing for the racers there was a free ice cream stop mid course and back in the arena there were some live music acts and this fella.

The video is about 5 mins long but flikr wont upload it all but you get the idea hehe after him was a real nice Jazz act she had an incredible voice perfect for my brothers last lap of the night session.

Well i did it i climbed 3 Tors.....okay they were close together but i did it and even in terrible weather at one point i could barely see 50m ahead of me it was my own mini adventure.
I managed 2.49 miles in 1 hour 37 with 593ft of climbing it was wet and windy and in a few more walks time i am going to go for a longer loop and hopefully in better weather too.

Well that's all for now i am taking a mini break from my landscapes but i am going to start shooting again real soon and i am getting real excited about the colours this Autumn.

Quiet

2010-07-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a quiet week really more of a case of resting up allowing my body to adjust to the changes in my lifestyle and recovering my energy a little. Good news is that my legs seem to be healing pretty well and the marks/infected areas are clearing up slowly but noticeably which is good to see and a relief to me really as i have been stressing quite a lot more than i have let on and that among other things has left me pretty drained thankfully i am not taking it out on those that do care as i have a nasty habit of pushing everyone away from me or taking my mood swings out on my closest friends not fair on them and defiantly not the person i am so signs of improvement all round hehe.
It is going to be a quiet time for photo's well at least until i get a new car sorted, my Vectra was sold tonight as nice as it was it was not really practical for what i do or need it for so i am car-less for a few days and that means no walking on the moors which i am and have been loving and also no photo's ah well cant have it all, oh before i forget i am heading over to Newnham Park this weekend to watch/support my brother and some friends doing an enduro mountain bike race i am jealous as hell but i cant ride so it cant be helped i will be happy enough to see some good friends and try my hand at action work...see if i still have the skills i used to have or better :)
Well that's all for a few days hope i have something to post after the weekend but for now it is back to my cross stitch and reading all the books i can find on or about photography anything to learn more about my craft hoping to find and start a course of some kind in the next 12 months so fingers crossed.

A change in the weather.

2010-07-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a great couple of weeks weather wise here with some absolutely lovely days and as you have guessed from my recent posts some really nice photo days, sadly the weather is slowly starting to turn here and the wet weather is supposed to be coming back in not that mind to be honest i am happy in any weather like one of my favorite sayings "got to take the rough with the smooth" some days especially this past few months i think i have had more than my share of rough but like always i rise above and i am a better person because of it.
Just as the weather crept in i managed to pop out with the camera to one of my regular spots and came away with one real nice photo

I just loved the colours here the rich warm reds contrasting against the greens with the rocks filling in the middle tones, more important for me it was a chance to work on my work flow and processing yeah i have mentioned it quite often this past few months but it is proving to be quite a turn around in my photographic skill and is pushing my motivation and my skill base even higher, i treated my self to a new book this week "Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters" so far i have had just a cursory glance through the book but it looks brilliant i am really going to learn a lot from this volume.

Sadly thanks to the problems with my legs my bike is sat in the corner looking pretty mournful with all the warm dry weather and the great trail conditions i really wish i could ride it off road but doctors orders are just that i am allowed to do some road riding but his best advice has been for me to walk more, easier said than done but i don't mind well to be honest i am actually quite looking forward to it, since my hike a couple of weeks ago i have managed to pick up a set of walking poles to help reduce the strain on my lower back especially when loaded with camera gear.

Thus far they have proven to be a real godsend and the best £15 i have spent in ages that did not involve cake or white chocolate.
Today they managed to get their first outing on the trail with a hike in the rain up Cox Tor on Dartmoor climbing 551ft to the trig point at 1634ft it was not a really long walk but the climbing is tough and the weather was pretty wet so all in it was a good first outing and after a weekend away to see some family, one thing i keep forgetting is to take my heart rate monitor and i keep kicking myself for it but i did remember my flask of green tea that was a welcome relief at the top in the cold wind.

Well that's me for now will try and get out more as much as the weather allows.

Happy trails.

Hot

2010-06-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hot too hot for me i must say as i love being in the sun i just don't cope well with heat and this past few weeks have been an absolute scorcher weather wise, one thing this has meant is some extra time out on the trails sadly not on the bike ( i will get to that later) but walking and more time in the evenings for taking photo's.
For a cycling related blog there is not much cycling happening trust me i wish there was but things have gone a bit pear shaped and once more i am back at the doctors, this time things are a little more serious although not as bad as was originally suspected, root of the problem is the veins in my lower legs have become weak and no longer push the blood back towards my heart as a result i am getting fluid build ups in my lower legs that is getting infected as it cant clear and this is putting more strain on my heart thankfully my heart is made of win and is very strong but like anything put enough pressure on it over time and it will fail. So what does this mean for me well it is all treatable i am having to wear compression stockings up to my knee to improve blood flow plus frequent movment and exercise (err okay) all this is going to take a lot of work over a long time 6-12 months are the rough estimates if not longer and for most of this time i have been advised not to mountain bike as any damage to the tissue below the knee will take ages to heal and may become ulcerated but i am positive about all this i have 2 years until the tour so plenty of time to get healthy and back in shape again this is another condition that will improve as my weight drops so fingers crossed and loads of support from friends and family and i can and will overcome this, seems to be just one hit after another right now and it has got me down a little well a lot really i could do with some one close i could talk to to be there for me as i would them but i am going to fly this alone i think.

Warm weather oh yeah that means some photo's and i have brought out some lovely stuff this week i hope you like them.

Both these were taken on an exploratory hike along one of the rivers leading into Burrator reservoir i covered a few miles of the river/stream and found some nice bits but nothing i was really looking for, i am hoping to find a nice cascade of water might try further upstream next hike.
Lastly there is

I just love this pic i am thinking of reworking it to make the foreground lighter but i just love the warmth of the photo all the skills i picked up recently i put into this shot and it shows in the quality of the base photo and the processed image i am so pleased it made the 184 meter climb to the top of Sheeps tor worth it although it was a crawl at one point i need to loose some weigh of both me and my camera bag.

Also on the photo front i had a special surprise on Redbubble were i keep my photos for print sales well one of my photos was selected among others for a special feature on the front page of the site, some of the comments were so lovely i was overjoyed it was nice to see and hear how much people enjoyed seeing my work there are times when i doubt or don't see what others see in both myself and the things i do it lets me down as a person not to have that self belief.

Going to call it a night here i still have one photo to process but that will take some time and i am tired, have a good one all.

18 June 2010

2010-06-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well here i am my birthday has come and gone and i am now 38 i dont feel no different and to be honest i dont know why i would feel any different now let alone in two years when i turn 40.....why people make such a fuss of age i dont know it is the person inside that is young or old (in my case young).
Well aside from a nice birthday i have managed to get out with the camera some to me i have not taken any great shots some nice ones yes but the best i can do no not by a long shot but the new skills i have picked up recently will help me along so far i am learning how to use layers, masks and combining the two for greater effect plus a few other really handy tips i have picked up, well i hope you like them.

And last but not least

The last photo is a re procesed photo done for some close friends, they wanted to use some of my photos as canvas prints for their home and with some luck this will lead to some good opportunities to sell some of my work, i would really love a wide angle lens and that ND110 filter i have been lusting over.

Sadly my cycling and diet have not gone so well i have managed to develop a problem with my lower legs that mean i am going to have to take things easy for at least 6 months, going to try hard not to let it get in the way of things although i must admit the fear and the stress of this past two months have meant i have not been well fuck it i fell off the diet wagon big time, well at least i know what is wrong and i am finally getting treatment.

Right thats all for now see you all at the next update.

Long time no photo's

2010-06-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah it has been a long time too long really for many things in my life a time i got on with it all.
Now that my car is sorted i have started to get out an about with my camera again i really have missed getting out with my camera not only am i able o create some lovely photos but also it is a great form of exercise, yomping along coastal paths or over moorland paths with 30lb of camera gear and a tripod is a great workout regardless of the weather. Last time i was out with my camera was back in Febuary it was cold and had been snowing a real contrast to last Wednesday's outing wich was a much warmer trip up on the moors, after the main processing i was not overly happy with what i took as this inital exposures were a little under exposed something that i am kinda used too when shooting waterscapes with a blurred motion in mind so i set too work putting into use some new techniques i have been desperate to try out i still have loads to learn about post processing but i am learning again and that is good i am going to cover some more ideas this summer i cant wait to see how my work evolves.....so the pics

I have had my eye on this one for some time but it was a case of getting off my ass to scale the slopes to get this vantage point

For the second shot i originally posted up this photo to be honest i was not really happy with the shot and i felt it needed something more so with some ideas from a friend on DA 3wyl we eventually came up with

Much better i am sure you will agree hehe, well hoping to get out in a few days time as the weather is improving i have a few beach/sunset ideas i want to put into action.

Sadly i have had little time and energy to get out on the bike this past couple of weeks and i have strayed with a diet more than a little i checked the scales and i have not put weight on so that is something i am going to mix my riding with some walking so that will be a nice mix and provide a good all round conditioning

The Birthday.

My birthday in a week and a bit.....38 yeah i look younger but i feel older some days more important it is just 24 months before i load my bike on a plane and start my ride, i a going to work out the distances soon but i am looking at a month tour roughly all self supported no wimping out hehe to be honest i cant wait.
The month of june also marks the first full year of being single oddly being single does not bother me i am happy in myself (at last it was a shitty road but i am there) and i am focused on getting my health back in order again what i do miss is having some one to share the cool things i see and do to have some one to care for me as much as i care for them the friendship maybe love will find me again maybe not in the mean time i am just having fun and being me faults and all and trying to be better :D

All Work and no play?

Just recently i have become pretty fed up with my job it has not and is not a challenge and to be honest apart from the hours it kinda sucks too this has lead me to start thinking about a possible career change....hell even start a career for years i have wanted to do something worthwhile with my life i suppose i am what most call a cross roads in my life....frankly it is more of a magic roundabout as i have no clue what i want to be or do here i am looking down both barrells of 40 and i have no clue at all my brother suggested training to be a driving instructor but i dont know i am not a people person and i dont suffer fools of any kind i would drill/beast my pupils utill they got it right and would not be a hazzard to themselves or anyone else on the road after about a week i doubt i would have any pupils they would be terrified so yeah the path of the teacher is not a good idea glass hopper, a few years ago my friends suggested i try photography as a career path and as much as i would love to do it and trust me i would it is an over subscribed vocation that has dwindling prospects not to mention that my work is not good enough....YET! maybe i should start really trying to sell some of my stuff and see how it goes just work on prints and stuff the hardest part is getting seen and recognised and i am not a salesman i dont have the confidence to be one either i suppose if i was to combine all my passions i would be a cycling photographer working for greenpeace or some other enviromental group hmmm dont sound that bad for now i am going to hang in there and see what presents itself and to take a few risks on any opportunities that pass my way.

Well thats about it for this entry more as i get out and about with both the camera and the bike

Running on Empty

2010-05-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

Ever had a feeling it was going to be one of those weeks? well i did a couple of weeks ago everything was going well i had had some dinner and i had walked up to get my cycling kit on ready to ride next thing i knew i was speaking to Ralph on the White telephone this was pretty much how i was going to spend the next 3-4 days little did i know it was the beginning of a pretty rough 2 weeks, next up was a trapped nerve in my shoulder that sidelined me for a couple more days that took ages to recover mix in some more stomach upset and the cherry on the icing my old car decided it was not going to play ball and fail it's MOT so aside from feeling pretty crap i had to sort a new car out and fast, well the new one is sat outside but not without a fight the one i had originally wanted managed to develop an oil leak and on further inspection it turned out the engine had taken on water and bent most of the internals glad i did not part with money on that to be honest a lucky break, but i have managed to get a new car and is a corker it needs a little work to cure some niggling problems but the price i got it for makes up for it and i will have a superb machine.
So that was the past 2 weeks all in all a blur and i did managed to get 2-3 rides in but the diet was not adhered to so well so nothing lost but thankfully nothing gained either.
Right what have i managed to achieve? well i have made a few more changes i have started drinking green tea again not only will this help boost my metabolism but the reduction in my caffeine intake will help make my aponea even more manageable, despite the stress of the past two weeks i have only had 2-3 bad nights and that is an improvement just riding my bike is helping.

As i am typing away here i am wishing i had some photos to post up sadly i have been pretty slack with taking my bike camera out with me and shockingly bad at getting out and getting some macro and landscape stuff so here is a promise by the weekend i will have both some trail pics and a nice landscape photo to share i may be less than perfect but i never break a promise.

Right off to bed and some sleep to recharge for tomorrow ride from here it is back into the routine and fully focused again.

25-04-2010

2010-04-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well that was a nice week weather has been lovely here so nice i took my rear mudguard off the bike, given i am a winter person i have quite enjoyed the rides in the sun it has been warm yet not overkill you know....just right :)
Ride wise it has been okay i only managed 2 rides this week out of a planed 3-4 but i have been working in the garden helping with some new fence panels so i think i can be excused, i must admit my ride on Tuesday was terrible my legs were heavy and very sore and my right knee was quite painful so much so that i spent some time Wednesday evening adjusting the cleats on my shoe to try and solve the problem, i must have got it right as Thursdays ride was really nice, i am still suffering with soreness in the legs but it was much improved i even added a couple more km's to my loop and even went out hard for a bit lol all in though Thursdays ride was great i loved it.

I had intended on doing a "breakfast club" ride again on Sunday but i woke up feeling rough as hell wish a pounding headache and i was feeling sick and i know exactly why too and it was not alcohol related either...dehydration i am just not drinking enough water both on and off the bike, my calorie intake is something i am doing okay with well until this weekend i was anyway Tuesday i was a massive 1000cals under my daily target and i think i am keeping pretty well to my targets each day but Saturday i failed big time first off there was the cream muffin then my father bought me a pizza as a thanks for the help in the garden and i have felt as guilty as hell since i read an article on Core performance and it mentioned about saying no even if loved ones mean well even if it just sneaking something extra onto your plate we have to say no i must say no if i am to make this happen for me love them to bits but i am gonna have to be firmer i think. Going to keep a firm eye on my intake this week i will admit to keeping to my limits "more or less" but i think one good solid week of sticking to the diet and recording all i eat and do will go a long way.

Things to do for next week.......Drink more - Stretch more, the last one is the big one.

That's all for now posting again mid week i hope.

First breakfast Club Ride of 2010.

2010-04-18T04:06:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe how early I was awake today for some reason my body clock has a habbit of waking me at about 03:30 far from a civilized time by ones standards, I have since yesterday had the notion of doing what I call a "Breakfast Club" ride an idea that comes from when I used to work shifts after a 12 hour night shift I would go for a ride on the way home nothing epic just a 1-2 hour ride, must admit I do miss doing them, I pretty much had the trails to my self and the beautiful sunrises and the things I would see were brilliant and made working all night so much more bareable some times I would pop off and grab a bacon roll as a treat on the way home hence the term Breakfast Club.

Although I was awake at 03:30 I did not actually get out of bed for another 2 hours.....well no point early as sunrise was still a few hours away and it was warm and toasty were i was hehe, I must admit getting out was easier that i thought but as soon as I started pedalling it hit me....it was flippin cold! The frost on the cars and on the grass should have given it away but i was going now and nothing was going to stop me and for the first couple of KM's it was okay but then my cold muscles decided I had gone out way to fast and having no real warm up they were going to protest every cm of the route this morning leaving my movements very stiff and just plain uncomfortable, what did work nice was my new HRM it was great I had the little fella on my handlebars were I could keep and eye on things and focus on making sure I was working were i should do for best effect.

The sun pokes it sleepy head out from under the blanket of night (Ha I beat you out of bed again Mr Sun)

I finally made it back home cold and stiff after the ride and immediatly put the kettle on and headed up through a still sleeping house to put some warm gear on and tuck into a lovely bowl of porrige and a strong coffee, despite the problems this morning it was worth it and since my getting home I have been far more alert and awake than i have for a long time.

Right so the numbers from today
10km covered (11.7 ave) in 49:07
ave hr:142 max hr:168 time in zone:33:24

Not great numbers but it is early days and I did hit 92% of my max apart from having frozen feet (I need new err warm shoes) my biggest problem was the cold legs this is a pre breakfast run so I am starting out empty and my legs are strait out of bed I went out far to fast hence i stopped more than once and not for the sake of a photo or two, I am still having problem with the muscles in my shins they are getting too tight and sore and preventing me for peddaling in my prefered way / at all, I think more work is needed on them and maybe a trip to a physio to try and find a solution to the muscle imbalances I know are already there but for now just riding as best as i can and keeping up with the stretching and leg workouts and see how i go from there these are early days afer all.

Wow thats a long ride report hehe and I was tempted to keep it real short but it felt good to be out again so I went with it, the diet has not gone to well this past few weeks being on the road to events and the short weeks have thrown my routine into chaos and I really need to get my ass into gear and geat it back into line strait away and to help this I signed up for an online dairy site Food Focus I have a friend from my cycling club who has just started using it too and seems happy with it so far. So other than that I am doing okay after much thinking I am finaly getting my head and heart in a good place and I am actually happy with myself I have everything I need for me right now and as much as I would love some one to share my life with I am happy enough as I am things are going well (I won £15 on a scratch card last night lol) and getting better there is still a lot I need to do but I am getting there.

Well thats all from me for now I think in future I am going to two types of blog entry, a ride story / training info entry and the other a look into planet Simon wich will cover everything ie. my sewing reading and just my life (or lack of lol) and my riding

A Weekend Away

2010-04-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

Wow i am feeling so tired i really don't like four day weeks as nice as the extra day off is i would much prefer my daily routine i suppose i find strength in my daily grind.
So what was i up too, well a few weeks ago i got a call from my brother asking to borrow my camping gear for a weekend event the Muc-Off 8 hour enduro given he is over 200 miles away i decided to make a weekend of it and pop up with the gear, well gives me a chance to see the family and the kids.

Bro

We got up there on the Saturday night as it was an early start time on the Sunday morning and hooked up with the rest of the Sussex Muddy@rse club and set up camp in our own little compound, it really was great to see everyone again, being so far away i only get to see many of the M@ people maybe once or twice a year and mostly at events (hoping to make it up for some trail rides this summer/autumn)so as you can guess it was a good time to catch up, the biggest tent had be decorated with some fairy lights and we all some how managed to fit inside the tent i for the life of my don't know how but we did it and managed to keep the cold at bay and have a good chat it was going to be one of those evenings some how i think the constant innuendo's and/or the large penis shaped balloons that were being launched around the tent but the evening shot by and soon we headed for our sleeping bags.
Okay anyone who reads this knows i have a sleeping disorder....at about 2am the most amazing wind picked up and was rocking my tent all over the place i stayed huddled in my bad and tried not to listen but i was constantly worried the tent would lift and go some how it did not and i was finally able to get some sleep.
Sadly the next day did not bring and respite form that wind and it was bitterly cold for the first couple of hours as the riders prepared for the 8 hour enuro, i think all in we had about 14-15 riders there in total in various sized teams even a couple of solo riders, my brother was part of a 2 man team riding with Guy.

Guy

I never really headed out onto the course to get any photo's hey i am sorry but after several years of hiking around bike courses with my camera gear it is not something i really want to do anymore been there done that kinda thing hehe.

Jim

The race was pretty good, our riders were putting in times ranging from 1 hour to 1:30 and given the tough nature of the 8 mile course those are pretty good times, i think the pro's were lapping in the 40 min area, in the end my brother and Guy put in a healthy 5 laps between them with some sever cramping problems putting paid to a 6th possibly 7th lap from them, all in a top weekend form all the riders.

So that we a quick rundown of the weekend, not much is happening for me right now i am having some problems with my ITB and my right calf muscle, both are tender to touch not surprising given the amount of stretching work i am doing think some ice treatment after training sessions on the bike are going to be needed.

Well that's me for now will be glad to see next week, just a normal week no holidays just reading sewing and riding will give some updates on my current project next week :)

New Toys

2010-04-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hmmm i am not a fan of the four day week, having to fit five days into four is not my idea of fun and if i was totaly honest right now i would prefer the regular routine i am trying to build myself into if i can get and keep myself moving i cant be stopped that my thinking and in the past it has worked really well for me.
As many people know i really dont mind rough weather and to be honest i love it, i came across a great Norwegian saying "Det fins ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær - or - no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing that saying has almost become a battle cry for me when i am thinking of hiding from my bike and heading for the sofa as the rain lashes down outside and although Tuesdays ride was not wet to start with it sure did raid in the last 2 miles home, i felt a little better on this session i know i did not stop nearly as much and i pushed a little bit harder in places so a good ride, hoping to increase the distances slightly next week build on what i have done.

Today (wednesday 7) is a lovely day nice and sunny outside i really enjoyed walking Holly legs felt good the flowers were out and i just snuggled inside my hoody (it is toasty and comfy)and soaked up the sun while listening to Sivert Høyem.
Right new toys time and here it is my new Polar RS100 HRM

Just going to program all the zones up now ready for a ride tomorrow i was tempted for a more advanced model but this one suits my needs perfectly for now as the money i would save will be best put towards getting my new frame built up ready for summer.

Well thats all for now folks i am going to do my stretches then sit down with my needlework and unwind take care of yourselves and each other back in a few days.

On the Road again

2010-04-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

Been a little while since my last posting and i really should post with much more frequency but for now it is slow steps and I am enjoying them so I think i am forgiven.
One of the things that is really helping me right now is some pretty inspirational people and the things they have done first up is Mark Beaumont i have followed him since his round the world record and recently his trip down the americas, i must admit that it seemed odd watching the films of the trips and seeing 9 months condensed into 3 hours it was Mark that gave me the inspriation to get off my ass and come up with my crazy idea, it was also an entry on Marks twitter that pointed me to The Big 30 Adventure having once been a serious racer and athlete i can understand how hard this was really glad she made it and lastly there is Eddie Izzard all these people are proof that ordinary people can do extraordinary things and it is this i think about when things are their hardest for me it gives me that inner push that little lift i need.

Well as the post said back on the road and yep i managed to get out and get some riding done this past week while it was no epic marathon it was good to get out and get my wheels rolling again even if it was cold and wet must be something about these conditons my bike loves i know i do.

Diet wise well i dont know if i am loosing much weight as i am not going to weigh myself untill the end of April for now the drive is in striking the balance between exercise and my daily intake of calories, i have found some really handy sites that will allow me to keep track of things plus i am going to pick up a heart rate monitor one that will do burned calories as well, for now though i am doing okay and without too much sacrafice i am keeping under 2000 cals a day and that is good going and something to be proud of, hoping to start walking on Dartmoor soon and some trips up the coast path, wish i could take holly my dog but she is getting on bit sadly hoping to do some this summer as i miss our walks.

Well thats all for me for today, more from me soon but for now i am going to plunge back into Discworld.

So what is it all about

2010-03-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Wow here we are almost through March i can hardly believe it time is flying and it is kinda scary.
The diet is going quite well not great but better, i am trying to stick to around 2000 calories a day for now and adding in some nice walks with the dog and some Wiifit sessions and some short rides on my bike not to mention doing stretching and leg exercises in work while i sit at my desk, so far i am doing okay i am really tired but i feel positive about what i am doing and why i am doing this for the first time in ages, this last month i have seen me change so much i am a million miles from the person i was 12 months ago, while i do still have my lows they are few and far between i am managing so much better in how i deal with people and myself i am not going to allow my Apnea and weight to beat me.
Okay so what is this all about? Well this is a two part journey i am on, the first part is to loose weight i am currently sat at 21.5 stone yeah a mess i suffer from Sleep Apnea and it's associated side effects and well over weight really, both of these problems are related so curing one will help the other so much but both work together to make changing very difficult but not impossible if i am able to strike the right balance, as i get slimmer i will get better a simple 3-4 stone loss will have a profound effect on me making it so much easier and me better, i am going to do this my life is at stake if things get worse the side effects of the apnea alone are enough to do this.
So that's the bumps on my road here the second part, in 18-24 months i am going to set out from my brothers in Brighton and cross over to Holland and cycle north following the NSCR north all the way to the end in Bergen the fly back from Flesland Airport it is roughly going to be about 4000km, this ride is penciled in for the spring/summer of 2012 and will be unsupported. For this i am probably doing it solo but i am hoping my brother if he is able to be away from his family, to be honest i would welcome the company so anyone who really fancies this then i would welcome them to come along. Okay you will note i say penciled in, well there is another tour i want to do and that is to cir-cum navigate Iceland roughly following Route 1 (sadly now been tarmac d) so if i choose to cover Iceland first then i will do the NSCR tour the following spring for certain.
Well there we have it that's the plan am i insane? well probably but it is something i want to do and something i need to do for me, the tour passion was inspired by following Mark Beaumont on both his round the world record and his recent adventure down the Americas add to that my passion for everything in life and my love of cycling it just had to happen.....and it will.
Right that's the main mission plan and i have to admit it is kinda daunting if i look at it head on so i have decided to break it down into a few mini goals and way points so here they are.
By September this year i want to be riding to work at least 3 times a week
To be around the 20 stone mark by my birthday in June
At the end of the year i want to be 17 stone or less
to ride as a 4 , 3 or 2 man team at Dusk til Dawn (12 hour night endurance race) later this year.
Well that's this years goals and i will make it, will set a new set come new year.

Okay enough of my master plan (laughs like Dr Evil) what else has been happening? well to be honest not much, i have not been out with my camera as well i have not felt inspired to take anything but i have been working on some new processing techniques and applying them to some of my older works, i have not uploaded anything yet but the changes are impressive and i am happier with that aspect at least, oh and i did get around to cleaning the sensor at last, been waiting for 12 months for me to do it.

I hate doing that but it needed doing.

When i went over to Bergen last year a friend lent me the first two books by Terry Pratchett in the Disc world collection, at the time i could not get into them and returned them but just recently i have found it easier and i am really enjoying the books.

Mad but soo good.

Cross stitch corner: okay i have two projects on the go right now, i am still working on "Hedgie" when i can but i also picked up a small kit form my local store.

okay i know i know it is another Hedgehog but i just could not help myself i adore them and Polar bears too, like all the things i make i give them away i am going to give this one to my Mother hope she likes it, the only project i will never give away if my first project the Easter Chicks i was given last year, well my pleasure is in the relaxation and making them.

Well that wraps it up for now, hoping to have some trail pics and some of my landscapes to post up next week, hope everyone is happy and as always keep up with me on my Facebook and on my Twitter.

4lb lost

2010-02-25T08:11:00.000-08:00

First week back in work after my week off it was okay i do feel a little better long way to go though feeling okay and stronger than i have in such a long time but i still get tired real easily that will pass once i settle into a more solid routine, good news though....i lost 4lb in 2 weeks i am so happy, hoping i can keep it off and build upon these first steps i am already doing a reasonable job by cutting out many of the foods and the evil that is sweets and crisps through the week, amazed how much money i saved this week already, i decided if i can loose another 2-3lb by the end of the month i am going to treat myself to the B+W 77mm ND-110 10 stop ND filter I have really wanted one of these for over a year now but never quite found the money plus they have dropped in price since it first came out, hoping in the right conditions to be able to blur skies and turn the sea and water into a milky emulsion for some really beautiful photos i have planed.
Ah speaking of photos i was sat sewing yesterday and i noticed the potted plant next to me in the house had these really funky looking flowers, as it was late and i needed to cook i decided to get some pics of it today, well on the way home the heavens opened so it looked like getting some pics was a certainty, well i don't know if it is because i am tired at all but i could just not get the shot i was wanting i really could use a good macro lens but it went beyond that, probably just an off day i really should stop being so hard on me and give myself the credit i do deserve anyway will see what the weather is doing tomorrow but i am thinking of going for a walk on the moors this weekend with the camera and find some water shot's i love.

Well it is not that bad but it is far from my normal standards.

I popped out today to try and find a box to organize the silks for my cross stitch....tbh i should make a list of the ones i have to prevent me from doubling up as i already have done once, going to take a peek on line and see if i can find something suitable other than "stuffed" in a bag as they are now and defiantly something i can keep my projects safe in when not being worked on, if anyone has any suggestions then please let me know.

Been thinking a lot about were my life is going recently, the mistakes i have made recently and years ago, missed opportunities and just screwing good things up then i think about the good that i am and can do the love and happiness that is inside just waiting to get out, i need to learn to use that love for myself as much as i do others and to relax a little more and be less intense and work on how i deal with others.
I do think love at first sight exists yes i try and see the good in everything even if it is annoying to others i get so happy or sad i can cry maybe out of all of this and putting my ideas and thoughts here i can find a place in the middle were i can find some peace in all my chaos then maybe i can find some one who will love me just as i am, i know some one does or did but the extremes of me were too much, if there is anyone out there...........

A week off

2010-02-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhhhh yep i have had a week off it was a bit of a last moment deal in work i was not feeling very well just a bit of stress and well i had some time off i had to take so i did, right now i am not sure if i am feeling better well i feel better but nothing is fixed if that makes sense the problems remain i just got back under control of them and just as well really. Next week marks the start of my preparations for the big bike ride, i have a lot of work trying to undo all the bad i have done to myself, oddly i am not ashamed of my self.....i am angry at me for allowing things to get this far when with a little strength i could have stopped the slide but like many things it happens before you notice it a little injury becomes a reason to rest as i should but repeated injuries become an excuse not to at all and there i think was my problem.
Well despite a few false starts i managed to get out with my camera before dawn as i had wanted too for so long, sadly the weather was not fully compliant and i found myself driving through what were at some points almost blizzard conditions and were i wanted to be shooting from to catch the early light was covered in cloud, so i took a quick spin around the area (not literally i must add although it was icy and snowy) and after a few non starters i found myself at Cadover Bridge, out of a few shots from around the bridge i got one i liked hope you do too.

Well i am up and running on Twitter and to be honest i kinda like it i am being followed and are following a few "tweets" it is kinda fun and i like that i am allowed only a certain length of tweet...it stops me from rambling on as i am renown for doing..........arse i am doing it now.
I got my new cross stitch project underway well i got a few stitches done i will get it going when i get back to work, i find the set routine very handy and well i kinda miss it will post up some pictures once i have made some progress on it as it will be a bit more interesting.
Well that's it for now, hoping to get out again this weekend to get some more photo's, everything is pretty quiet for me right now i have made a few new friends recently no one local but hey i am just happy to have friends, my brother is often on at me to get off my ass and get out and find some one special, as much as i would love that and trust me i would be very happy if i did well maybe another day right now my days are spent working, sewing, out with the camera and exercising and well trying to look after me a bit better and keep things on the mend to quote Henry Rollin from one of his books "You cant love anyone unless you can love yourself first" although i have a life time of love sat here waiting it will have to stay waiting for now at least.

Right boring bit over back in a few people....and i decided to go without pizza tonight as i need to be good.

Tooth Hurty?

2010-02-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

Crikey almost half way through Febuary already i cant really beleive time is flying so fast i am struggling to keep up with all the happenings recently, not all have been good but everything is good, so lets get started.
Well first up i am typing this on my brand new laptop, my poor old HP one decided enough was enough and crashed, well it is old and tired (much like the owner) and has now been replaced by a lovely Toshiba Satellite model

It is an awesome peice of kit, loads of HD space a 1.9ghz dual core processor and loads of ram, compared to my old one it is pure win, i very nearly picked up a net book but my need for a DVD rom drive ruled it out never mind i am happy.

I have also set up a twitter account again i am "cyclingsi" heaven knows how long i can keep it going but i think it will be fun.

Have you ever had the feeling you are pissing in the wind? yep i have this month, aside from my laptop going boom i have had to get my car repaired it needed a new front brake and exhaust, bouncing across Dartmoor and diving down the broken roads to the beach are really starting to tell on my poor little car but it is hanging in there, i am working so hard to save for my cycling trip in the next 18/24 months time and things like this are a pain i know it cant be helped but still you know, well times like this i sit back and i tell myself it is was easy it would not be worth it "Got to take the rough with the smooth" one of my favourite sayings.
As many of my friends know i am trying to get in shape again (sorry but round is not a good shape for me) so i have started to eat a lot healthier than i have been doing and exercise frequently it is at this point i will point out the paragraph above about pissing in the wind, yep you guessed it not good hehe i managed to slip doing the yoga exercises the Wii Fit and then i managed to break a tooth so badly on my multigrain sandwich that it had to be removed, ahh well rough with the smooth, not going to let little set backs break me anymore got to be strong fuck emo simon he is dead i am good and i am going on RAWR! hehe
Speaking of Emo simon i have been doing a lot of research into my Apnea recently, this summer past the hospital finally got around to sorting things out, or rather not, basicly i was told my conditoon was not severe enough to require further help and i was given a leaflet and told to loose weight, okay fair crack i will put my hands up my weight and my Apnea are both related and i need to break the downward cycle they are both putting me into. This past 4-6 months i have noticed some really horrible changes to my health both mental and physical and certainly goes a log way to explaining a good many problems, check out this site for more info and to get an idea what i am going through, depression pushing friends away and myself further and further into isolation, then being alone would make me even more depressed so i would push my friends away again and the cycle carries on but now i at least know and i am aware and the severity of things has kicked me in the ass to really do something about it now and i am starting with the weight loss i want to see my neice and nephews grow up maybe have some of my own one day so watch this space people.

Been a few weeks since i finished my last cross stitch and i have been itching to get my needles moving so yesterday i popped over with a list of threads i needed to my local shop and picked them up, while i was there i got chatting to the lady who owns the shop about my projects and hers and about the Hardanger book i picked up last month and about how i wanted to try a good many projects on evenweave before i attempted to do any, next thing i know i have not just my threads but some offcuts of evenweave for me to practice on, awesome owner and a great little shop.
Sooo for my next project i have chose to make another hedgehog design i found on the web Hedgie the pile of silks is pretty impressive too

I think there are about 22 in total off the top of my head, the reason so many? well it is uses blended threads quite a bit so it should be good fun to do, oddly the design asked for 11 count Aida, that is massive so i went with my usual 14 count really cant wait to get started.

Sadly i have not taken any photo's of note recently but time and energy have been at a premium but i have still been involved with the community over at Deviant Art, i am now a contributor for a group put together to help find artists who maybe are not getting the recognition they deserve, what i do is hunt for works that i think are really good and we bring them to the attention of others so their work can reach a greater audience. I love the idea of the group, if in my small part can help some one out then i think it is a good thing.
Managed to get the secret valentine finished, i could not get my head or my heart into it but i hope she loves it and it makes her smile, everyone deserves some love i will in time possibly but i am going to work on loving myself first.

Right off i go, have fun all errr sorry about the typos this posting but my hand is hurting like hell and just does not want to type.

Books Galore

2010-01-23T06:51:00.000-08:00

Hi all, not much today just a quick update, the weather has prevented my escaping with the camera much of this week well that and tiredness, as i type this it is lovely and sunny out i managed to fall asleep in a sunbeam earlier it was lovely i just crashed out on the floor with the dog doing the same by my feet well was rude not too.

Well i am not sure what on earth i was thinking or how i managed to get my self talked into it but i have entered a Secret Valentine group a couple of kind women managed to persuade me into joining the group. How it works is easy, we pick the gender we would like to send/receive the valentine from, we then have 2 weeks to make something in our chosen art form then it is sent to the admins who then send it onto the recipient, once this is happened we all comment and review each others work, simples! yeah right i for one am terrified i have no clue what i am going to do and i am still not sure why i chose to do this i am not worried if i do get anything but if i can make some ones day then it will be worth it.

My mail box has been busy this week a couple of books have arrived that i have been really looking forward too first one is a beginners guide to Hardanger Embroidery, i saw some examples of this while i was looking through Crafster for some ideas for my next project, it looks incredibly difficult especially for some one with my great bear paws for hands hehe hoping with some practice to start making simple gifts for people like bookmarks or cards, but as i have yet to try using even-weave cloth this will be quite the learning curve.

Okay next parcel through the letterbox was something of my own creating, i have wanted to put a years worth of work into a book for friends and family and after some searching Photobox seemed the best option so i uploaded some more photos and compiled the book, to be honest i have been kinda nervous about seeing this i cant imagine why publishing my photos is not something new to me i have done it loads in magazines in the past, well it is done and i am pretty happy with the results i wish i had more freedom with the layout and i think A3 might be better than A4 maybe next year i will use the larger size and is i get my arse into gear many more photos than i had for this one i think i put 26 in there...not sure hehe
Anyway this copy is off in the post Monday, hope she enjoys it as most of the photos were inspired or taken with her in my mind, seeing her smile and the stress from a terrible day gone for a moment at least made everything worth it.

Sorry about the poor quality of the photo's but i had a blinding headache at the time, some photographer i am hehe.

The new diet and mission to get fit and loose weight starts on Monday, ribs are healed and i seem to be pretty healthy and my sleep patterns are settled again i have a long hard road ahead of me and it is going to hurt like hell but to get my self respect and life back it is worth it, my brother and i have been revising the tour we are thinking of doing, not going to release any plans just yet but it is going to be good i for one cant wait, well off to do some chores next blog will have some nice photo's i promise later all.

18 January 2010........cant think of a better title

2010-01-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Back out with the camera today it felt good to get out even if it was really day, at one point i was driving through the cloud and i was loving it, okay i admit i love mountains Dartmoor is a beautiful place but i want bigger i would love to live around mountain some were along the north sea would be awesome, i have often thought about moving to Scotland even Norway both are beautiful places, they are but dreams for the moment, but i have a crazy ability to make the impossible happen, life is what you make it so time will tell.
I kinda like today's photograph i have not been here for years...and i mean years, many moons ago we used to ride along the steep side of the valley this river flows through along a trail know simply as "Broken Pipeline" this is due to the fact it follows....yep you guessed it a broken pipeline that used to serve the local villages with water, the trail it self can be pretty technical in places but is real good, we are no longer allowed to ride it (not sure we ever had access to be honest) these days but i have many memories of being out with the cycle club riding at silly speeds along it....last time i rode this was about 10 years ago in the pouring rain and in the dark, it was lethal but an awesome ride.

I am going to head back here a few times over the next few months as there are loads of great spots to shoot, oh yeah i decided to have a vanity moment and take photo of me at work, i had hoped to have got one in the snow the other week wearing my mega awesome Dr Who scarf but this will have to do.....errr excuse the builders crack hehe.

Hmmm restless fingers i need a new sewing project does not feel right if i have nothing to sew.

Back in a few days.

No photo's?

2010-01-14T13:14:00.000-08:00

Yeah no photo's right now, to be honest i am really tired and the moment, i was more ill than i thought before Christmas and it has left me pretty wiped out well that and to be honest i have not felt like shooting, my camera bag sits at the end of the bed like my dog waiting to be taken out to play (don't worry i play with my dog) sadly i cant find any energy or inspiration even with all the beautiful snow i did not shoot much, this time last year i was full of energy the happiest i have been in years...now well i am happy but lonely, i miss having some one with whom i can share everything with, i have a lot to give seems a shame not too. Well going to try and get out with the camera this weekend or early next week i think shooting for the sake of shooting might help me find my heart again.

Well being sat around the house does have it's advantages, i finally got around to finish watching Mamma Mia and damm it is soo good i even went out and bough the music from the film i have it in the car right now i look a complete fool singing along (okay badly) to the CD but i don't care the film, the story and the music makes me happy, i am just a silly old romantic who tries to see the good in everyone an everything around me and yeah it ticked the boxes for me. I also managed to get my holiday project finished, it took a little longer than i had hoped and it was originally intended as a Christmas card for the lovely woman i made my last project for but that was a rush to finish in time on it's own, i am still going to send it over to her, i was undecided for a while about should i or should i not but meh it was made for her, i still care about her and i wish we could be friends hope she does like it.

Well that's all for today hope my next one has a little more content and some photo's

Snowed out

2010-01-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Wow been my kinda weather this past week, cold as hell and snow :) yep had some real fun getting in and out of work, oddly i think i might have a talent for snow driving hehe.
Well the weather finally cleared up a bit and the chance to get a couple of shot i wanted to get while we had massive blue skies and loads of snow opened up...sadly it was stopped in it's tracks as the road up onto the high moor was closed off, ah well better safe than sorry i suppose.
So i managed to sneak off over to Burrator for a few shots, trouble being most of the areas here i worked no so long ago, i guess working with big weather storms on the local beaches recently must have dulled me a little as "awww pretty scene" was not what i wanted i needed the huge drama of the huge winter swells i love capturing the sea in all it's moods.
Well here is what i took, hope you like them

If you like these check out the rest of my gallery over at Deviant Art

Well after new year numb nutts here managed to come down with another cold ah well hehe kept me wrapped up warm with all this snow about so so sadly no cycling, i managed to get some more done on my cross stitch project, i had meant to have this finished by now but a- i forgot to buy a thread i needed and b-well i was not in the mood for anything over Christmas and new year, i was way too full of regret, i still am but now it is loss, instead of learning to overcome feelings for someone i lost that person, anyway back to cheerful, emo Simon is dead and new improved Simon is alive and kicking here is how far i have got.

I am really enjoying the small projects, i have a real simple one i want to do that i am going to send away to someone, it will probably end up in her bin and i probably should not send it as things are just best left and forgotten now, but well i care about that person and i will always be a friend if i am needed the door is always open, there final word on the subject closed case and a shitty end to a lovely friendship thanks to me.

There we go, first of my new style blogs, i a going to update every time i have some news or some photos, i think the only person who ever read these blog entries no longer does but i like blogging and i will carry on regardless.

Toodles :)

Good by 2009 hello 2010

2009-12-31T07:15:00.000-08:00

Well here we are 2009 is almost over just a few hours left i was going to put up my new years resolutions this time but i am still working on the list, there is a lot i want to do...and a lot as a person i need to do. 2009 was mental i honestly don't think i have ever been so tired at the end of a year it has certainly had it's ups and downs not sure how it all balanced out but if i broke even this year i will be lucky, i know that the people i met have been awesome i am so lucky and blessed to have been able to spend time with them. Highlights of the year, pretty easy my nephew Dylan being born and visiting a friend in Norway she is an incredible woman and i do miss our friendship, i loved my short time there i could spend a life time there with my camera and it would not be enough hehe.
This time last year a good friend was pushing me to try and do more with my photography, she certainly inspired me to take some beautiful stuff she also tried to get me to sell my works, well at the time i was not sure but she was right (as always...almost :P) well i recently organized a photobox pro account to try and sell some works and today i set up an account at Etsy i think i stand a better chance of selling prints here, just do limited runs of them, never know, i am after a new lens and maybe a new camera body too :P
But for now you can check out my photos here at DA and my gallery at Photobox.

Meh i am not one to put my personal thoughts and feelings on an open medium such as the web i am quite a private person really i don't like people making a fuss or talking about me well quite honestly it is no ones business but my own in fact there are only 3 people i can say i honestly trust enough to tell them how i am feeling or thinking and to help me make sense of those feelings.....this is also one of the things that has brought me down this year as one of those three i can probably never speak too again and she is a very special person to me. i wish she had listened to me 6 months ago and done what i asked we could have still been the best of friends now, all i wanted was for her to cut off communication for me just for a month or two so i could get closure between us i am a weak person emotionally all i wanted was a little time and some help, instead we both had 6 months i/we would rather forget happened as it hurt us both and now we are well no longer friends, my only hope is that she can forgive me in time for making her hate me i did not want to do it, all i can do now is be the better person she tried to help me be, i learned so much about myself.
Okay personal statement over, lets get back to what this blog is about, hope everyone has a had a good Christmas, mine was pretty good, i received some lovely stuff

As i said some lovely stuff, the scarf is my fave, it is massive and then some but so warm and comfy to wear, made for me by a very good friend something i will treasure, in addition i got a lovely set of speakers for my Imac which rock and are currently thumping away with some good tunes.

Well i managed to get my cross stitch project finished for my friend (one who made the scarf)

Talk about a mad rush to get it finished before i took it up to her i was still working on it about 5 hours before i drove up to deliver it to her and see my family, i must admit i am pleased with it, one thing though, if i had not lost so much time to illness this year then i would have added two forget me knot flowers as she loves them and it would have been a nice filler next to the "it & are" not bad for a first project it was a challenge and i loved it.
Okay to use a knitting term my next project is on the needles hehe, i found a great resource for free patterns on the net so i am going to do several small projects before i try anything big again, right now i am working on this little fella

I love hedgehogs, i have a feeling there may be many little projects themed like this, i decided to buy my first crafting book, A Rainbow of Stitches just waiting for it to arrive, i saw a mini review on Crafster
so i decided to spoil myself.

Sadly i have done very little with the camera and nothing with the bike this month, i started off with Swine flu then i came down with a chest infection...nice, then to finish me off i managed to break 2 ribs having some pretty violent coughing sessions, add this to everything else i think it has pretty much finished me off this year, i am hoping 2010 is going to be a good one.
Hope you all have a good new year i will be back with photos, bikes, cross stitch and more insane ramblings in 2010, take care all.

Simon.

Almost Christmas

2009-12-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a long time since my last post, wish i could say it had been a good time but i cant. I have managed to go from Swine Flu to a chest infection to broken ribs, so i hope i am forgiven for not riding my bike or taking many photos.
Speaking of photos i have decided to change the style and content of my blog slightly, i am really loving taking pictures and above all they are being well received at my galleries over at http://antimas.deviantart.com/ pop over and check them out, oh yeah the changes, i am going to update my blog with each set of photo's as they are taken, it is a good way of keeping up to date of whats happening in Planet Simon, so here are a couple of the most recent ones.

Hope you like them.

Last Christmas some one very special to me kept on suggesting i try and sell some of my photo's as prints, well things have been kinda up and down for me this year, and the idea kinda became lost (like me really) well i decided to try and sell a few from my old Photobox account http://www.photoboxgallery.com/Simonkirk hope i can get some sales as i would love a new wide angle lens....maybe a new camera body hehe, will see how it goes i for one am no salesman but i have improved greatly photographically and i am happy with my work, never know i might be famous one day....kinda odd for some one who wants to live his life hidden away from the world.

Well i am without a cross stitch project for the first time in what feel like an eternity, the gift for my friend is finally done, it was washed and framed on Friday and i delivered it on the Saturday when i dropped the gifts up to my family, hope she likes it, a lot of work went into it and the idea behind it was special.

Will post a photo after Christmas once she has received it :)

Well as you can guess i have not done much cycling, as per normal i get into a good mindset and routine for my riding and photography and something comes a long and upsets it, well over Christmas i have a week off to recover and get my head together again...and get some more photos, the chance to get some really early morning ones is a chance not to be missed hehe, until next time.

Too Warm?

2009-11-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

.......Yes it is far too warm okay, well for me anyway. This past couple of weeks have been kinda uncomfortable for me, it has been quite warm and humid during my night rides, always good to get out but very uncomfortable especially when you are so unfit like me. But get out i have done only managed 2 rides last week, better than nothing, Wednesdays ride was really good, felt awesome during and after the ride, i think the short trail hike to get some photo's to cheer up and close friend really helped me seemed to loosen the muscles up just what i needed after sitting on my ass all day in work, Fridays ride however was a different kettle of fish all together, still stupidly warm again but my legs seemed to be totally shot and i had no energy, in fact i cut the ride short and just ambled along home, it is always a good excuse for a photo opportunity.

Thing i may have over done it on Wednesday plus i have not been getting enough water and doing enough stretching, i am still needing to do some even now.

As i said above i popped out to get some pics, something that i have not really been in the frame of mind to do for such a long time, a friend was having a bad time so i produced some thing lovely for her, colour to chase the grays away not to mention it was just nice for me to get out an about, been a while since i put anything good out, hope you like them.

Bigger versions can be found at http://antimas.deviantart.com/

going to try and get some more done this week, winter is my happiest time of year, some how in the the bleak and cold there is often a beautiful warm element that i manage to capture that forms a great contrast against the cold of the season......plus it is not warm....did i mention i don't like warm? hehe

I did some baking at the beginning of the week, i made some of my lovely flapjacks and this batch was pure awesome, no secret about the recipe but i have found that using large chunks of apple really boosts the flavor and keeps it moist (icky word) and yummy

Taste as good as they look? Damm right they do hehe they don't last long in this house.

Okay not much more i promise, anyone reading this must be screaming at their screens telling me to sort my grammar and spelling out hehe.
News on Holly, well the lumps were Cancer, thankfully it is non aggressive and they got it all out yay, just got to keep an eye on her and check for lumps her stitches came out Friday so i have a bouncy whoof again.

Right off again, it is late and my bed is calling me, night all.

Sinners weekend

2009-10-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

Yep that's right sinners weekend this weekend, the one weekend a month were i can have a treat as a reward for eating healthily for the previous four weeks, why am i doing this? Well exercise alone is not enough to help you loose weight, the cornerstone of any weight loss what you put in your belly, put crap in you get crap out, so what i have done is removed all crisp's and chocolate from my weekly diet and reduced the sizes of my portions, in addition my lunch is now spread over my working day (yeah right i wish) i eat a little often this stops me from overloading my digestive system with a big lunch i.e makes me sleepy and what it now does is provide a steady supply of fuel instead, this in turn increases my metabolic rate, good eh? Well it all makes sense to me and is a proven and effective way of achieving my goals and those are important to me.
This months treats were very nice, well same as last week a big bag of cheese puffs and a bar of white chocolate, i love white chocolate i really do ooooooo nom :D

Well despite my wonderful diet regime i have not been able to get out on the bike so much as things have gone a little pear shaped at home and in work, Holly my little dog has had an operation to remove two lumps from her, sufficed to say everyone was really nervous and worried she would not survive she is not a puppy no more but her heart is strong, thankfully she made it through and is on the mend stitches out next Friday in fact as i type this she is laid beside me sleeping quite soundly, i am so relieved she is still there. Right now we are awaiting the results of the biopsy on the lumps, hoping it is not the big C fingers and paws crossed.

My last ride was just over a week ago now, another night ride i am actually really enjoying these i had forgotten just how much nothing but the sound of my tires on the trail (and the wheezing and panting of the rider) no one else around just you the bike and nature, speaking of that, i had another one of my stag meetings on my last ride, i was approaching Plym Bridge and right in the middle of the trail was a young stag, my massive light must have dazzled him as he stood there for a moment before hopping back into the forest, not sure who was more startled, him or me.

Well that's all folks for now at least, i have a good week of riding penciled into my diary, i seriously need to work on my stretching more, at least 1-2 sessions a day are needed to keep things moving and improve my legs ability to pedal and walk, so until next week i am going to fuss my dog then grab my cross stitch that i dearly need to finish.

Oh that extra hour in bed last night was lovely hehe bring on winter!

Niterider.

2009-10-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

Autumn is here with a vengeance now and to be honest bring it on, i love this time of year so much the colours of the trees, the smell from gardeners fires as they burn the summers growth and Hedgehogs scuttling around in the undergrowth.....Autumn also means for me...night rides, not really done any night time trail rides in over 5 years, a couple of 12 hour night races being the exception so on thursday of this week i finally managed to get out on the bike and best of all it was a night ride, the route it self was pretty simple and nothing challenging at all, it was more of a get off my ass and out there ride and to check that all my kit was working still, that includes the rider hehe. To be honest it was tough, my legs felt okay there was still some strength in them but everything else was a mess, the time off for the chest infection has left me with some work to do but i am fired up and ready for more.
Still on the subject of night rides (and yes you can guess form the title this is what this weeks entry is pretty much about hehe) well for ages i have been using Lumicycles halogen lighting system a 14w single lamp system that has served me really well and for my solo rides has been perfect but for any form of group sessions or racing it is pretty light weight, so last winter i treated myself to a new lamp unit again from Lumicycle (i like their gear simple effective and backwards compatible) for a good price i picked up their Hid (metal halide - same stuff used in sports stadiums) lamp unit, this piece of kit is awesomesauce, putting out a sweet 40w of power, it is still low power when compared to the newer Led systems (some are putting out 900-1600 lumen) available now but for my use racing included it is more than man enough, i fully intend on getting some use out of it this winter.

I have had a week away from my sewing this week been catching up on my reading and just unwinding after work, this past few weeks and for a few weeks to come have been really crap in the office almost a day does not go by were i wish i was not working there and it is really getting my down now, why i must spend so much energy recovering form my job let alone surviving it right now is beyond me, don't get me wrong i love working and hard work but when it reaches the point were the balance is upset and it intrudes too much on personal life then you have to wonder what you are doing it for, going to hit the job pages with renewed vigor, not much out there but i have to try.
On a brighter note i spoke to my friend and editor or Shred and Shredwest magazine Steve Toze, well we got to chatting about the magazine and i said i would love to start doing some work for him again and he was equally happy to get me on board again, so fingers crossed all, feels good to have a camera in my hands again, makes me happy and i know the photo's i take make people happy.

Been playing around with the GPS on my Iphone using an application called Trailguru and damm it is fun, to have so much feedback about a ride is really handy and it plots out the route over a map for viewing and future use

Track ID#9K43 (Mountain Biking) | Plymouth PL3 6, UK

Sadly with my standard 3g Iphone battery life is limited to 2-2.5 hours so i am looking at dedicated GPS units, a friend of mine in the U.S. uses the Garmin 305, think i am going to have to add one to my Christmas list hehe, well that's all folk so until next weekend, hope you all have a top week (big hugs)

Wet and Dry?

2009-09-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Been a while since my last posting and i do apologize, last few weeks have been a little up and down really, nothing serious but enough to be a real pain in the saddle.
This past weekend has been really good, off to Newnham park here in Plymouth to see some mountain biking and catch up with some old friends, also it was a break from my diet, 5 weeks without and chocolate or sweets/cakes of any kind so a couple of packets of cheese puffs and some white chocolate ( my fave hehe ) made a nice treat.
These days i am not one to allow a little wet weather to stop me from heading out on the bike, unfortunately my resolute attitude and my lack of conditioning has caused a few problems for both me and my bike, for me it resulted in coming down with a chest infection that took longer to clear than it should have..... i really should have seen a doctor to get it sorted but i am be very stubborn, i am the first to insist my friends and family seek help and advise, but i am the last to follow my own wisdom hehe, for now though i am fast on the mend and i should be back on the bike tomorrow....although i do seem to have picked up a sore throat and a slight fever from this weekend hehe.
The weather has also been stressing my bike, yet another bottom bracket has failed, Shimano's HT2 bottom brackets must be made of cheese as they don't last even me more than a couple of weeks of solid use, they have supposedly made them from a better grade of cheese but to be honest i am not going to take the risk, sooo i went out and bought a replacement form a company called Hope, it is just the stainless steel version (there is a version using ceramic bearings )but it should really last and is easily rebuild-able, time will tell but i trust their gear.

Although i must say, getting this unit was not without it's own problems, the first one i ordered came with 2 drive side cups instead of 1 drive and 1 non drive side, well it allowed me more time to sort myself out hehe.

Newnham Park was the location for yet another good weekend of mountain biking, with the final round of our national championships and on the Sunday the Newnham 60 a 60km enduro event, for me it was a chance to catch up with many friends i don't normally get to see and to see and to watch some of the finest racing on one of the best courses in the UK, this round of the NPS carried points qualification from the UCI for Olympic selection and as a result brought some very high profile riders Oli Beckingsale and Liam Killeen from Team GB and many others from around the world including Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå from Norway the 2004 Olympic champion.

Winter is drawing in pretty fast now that means Christmas is fast approaching, picked up a couple of magazines with some ideas for making my own cards, not making many just enough for those i really care about.

Another good side to my downtime is that i have had a little more time to work on my Christmas project for my closest friend, hoping to have it all done before the end of October, so much to do including all the cards i want to make, i have much to do and little energy for many things these days but somethings are important and i know that they will appreciate the care and time that as gone into them.
Well for now that's all there is, going to curly up into my biggest fleece and hope this sore throat and flu feeling go before the morning

It feels more like autumn

2009-08-31T05:35:00.000-07:00

Well not far would have to be the honest answer, i have been struggling to clear a nasty chest problem for this past month, just as i think it is getting better it gets worse and this weekend it got bad, a nasty combination of wet weather riding and lots of emotional and physical stress have not helped, but i am on the mend in every way and i am hoping to try a few light rides again this week, will see.
Right good news yeah there is some of the highest order, my new nephew was born recently, young Dylan Fearless Kirk......yes that is his name hehe i kinda like it, i hope he grows up in a world without fear and hatred but i think i am asking for too much.
He came in at 8lb 3oz and is really awesome, sadly i have yet to meet him but i will soon i hope.

Congratz to my Bro and family, really proud and happy for you all.

Okay onto other news, decided to treat myself to a new bike frame, well to cheer me up a little, i spent ages making the choice but i decided in the end to go for another One One Inbred

These frames are not the most advanced in the world but they fit me perfectly, something i have only ever had a bike do once before, they are made from DN6 tubing (another version of 4130 cromo basic but gets the job done). I have an older version of this frame and they have made some really nice changes to it, snaked rear stays and some hose mountings for the rear brake, all in this should make for a sweet bike once built.

While i was at it i decided to pick up the Carbon fiber rigid fork, i am not a great fan of suspension so these made a logical choice

Looks really nice i cant wait to get this all built up and out on the trails.

I said a few post back that i am planning on a tour up the coast of Norway, this is still on the cards but i am going to postpone it 6 months to spring 2011, and instead do a few smaller tours including one through Holland following the North Sea Coastal Route, nice and simple and will be good practice for the bigger harder tours, hoping to pop over and see Bergen and Norway at least once or twice next year anyway, love the country and the people, only place i have really felt comfortable in for a very long time. Still looking for similar minded loons to join me hehe.
Been trying to get the motivation to take some pics, well i have been struggling for a while now, i never like taking pics during the summer, i prefer the colder months of autumn and winter, in the mean time i am putting a couple of photo books together for family and my best friend, should make a lovely compilation of my work, maybe do something similar every year, but for now batteries are charge and lenses polished ready, going to get some nice pics from my trail rides, they always seem to come out nice.

Sadly not much done with the cross stitch this past week, need to get more threat....ran out right before a nice weekend off.

Many of those that really do know me will know that i have not been very happy recently but things got really bad one night a few weeks ago, i think i pretty much hit rock bottom. That night i sat there and put down a few things on my mind onto paper, things have and are changing for me, it will not be an overnight success but i am working on it, but here are a few of the things i can share from that night.

Keep the blood clean the body lean and the mind sharp! "henry rollins" sums up a lot of what I have planned, first of all I really must get a hold of my weight problem, i don't like being this big, I can't pinpoint were or when i gave up but this won't do, pride aside it will help both my sleep problem and my drive and energy, I need to ride more, next 2 years I want to cycle tour in Holland and Norway and race a 12 or 24 hour bike event solo, I like a challenge.
My job sucks and is one of my pet hates, but it is a job, I want to start evening classes, retrain and motivate my mind, find and do something rewarding and not just financially.
I would love some one to love, grow old and grey with, time will tell here but if love finds me again i will be very happy i am an awesome bloke with so much to give i just need to chill out and stop trying to push so hard, I often say I want to be a hermit and hide away but I don't want to really, my own self pity made me beleive and others that it was wrong to like me pushing my friends and loved ones away, this won't do anymore, they all love me for the nice person i am they are lucky to have me as i am lucky to have them.

Well there we go for another week, no mileage data as no miles done.
I just want to thank everyone once more your all awesome!

And i really need a short holiday.....any offers? must be cheap hehe

Rain Man

2009-07-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

Here we are Sunday and it is blog day and the first day back after my rest week, and damm it was hard to get going, only managed two rides this week but i have a plan and will gradually build the distances/intensity/number of rides over the next few weeks, every fourth week being a rest week to recover, it is a basic technique based around a sound training principle know as period training, i used it back in the day when i was fit to good effect but forgot to add rest days, silly me. got around to fitting my old bike computer back on the bike, should make it easier to keep a record on my progress ad well it is like a game, faster faster hehe.

Distance

This past few weeks have been dismal weather wise, so much rain recently not that i mind i will ride in any weather now but really, one or two dry days please to save me cleaning the bike so much.

Too much rain.

On the upside i managed one ride this week in the sun, felt great to be out a difference from my first ride that week, then i was heavy legged and struggled so much, this one was nice i was spinning over well and chatting happily to the other trail users, although i did see something really odd on the way......stopped to take a pic then rode on, very scary thing

Off the bike my cross stitch project is coming along well, nice to have something to do in the downtime, keeps my mind off things that i don't want to dwell on. Getting close to finishing the second word of the six, really enjoying doing this i sit listening to some great music or a podcast by some really cool crazy knitters called Lime & Violet, although i don't knit i love listening to them as they are so much fun and when they do actually talk about knitting i do learn some cool stuff about being a fiber artist like my friend.

Okay new from this week is my Weekly Numbers muhaha yeah this is .were i embarrass myself with how little i really ride and how chubby i really am.

2 rides
Dist - 17.5km / 16.06km
Time - 1.01:46 / 55:23
Weight 132kg (still)

Weight has remained the same sadly but my waist has shrunk a little, probably putting on muscle again, nothing to worry about just a mental step i knew was going to happen