The Day Degla Bit Back

Helmets - There a funny old thing.  Some people wear them others don't.  In fact on Sunday morning two people came up to me and asked me if the trail centre at Llandegla made you where them.  This is while they were unpacking two brand new Cube hardtails, so they can clearly afford the best bikes but not the protection.  Personally if i'm on either the Mountain Bike or the Road Bike I wear one.  Its a personaly choice and Im not going to get into an argument about whether people should be made to wear them or not.  If I am on a mountain bike I know there is a risk that there are big hard objects usually in the way regardless if this is a tree or rock and knowing that these objects are usually harder than my head I will always wear one.

Well this weekend proved just how valubale they are.  I was lucky enough that my Mum bought me a new Met Parachute full face helmet (Met Helmets) for my 30th birthday and this weekend was the first time I had worn it in anger and wow how glad I was.  While messing about on the Skills section at Coed Llandegla on Sunday I was happily trying out the jump section and getting a little bit of air and then flicking the bike hard into a berm. 

I had done this a number of times with no issues other than a few dodgy landings but nothing was out of the ordinary.  This time I set off hit all three jumps and flicked the bike hard right onto a berm and thats all I remember.  The next thing I remember is lying on my back with my club mates surrounding me asking me if I was OK?  As any rider will tell you, as your lying there moving everything waiting for something to hurt it is a pretty anxious moment let alone having just knocked myself out.  I spent a good few minutes lying there waiting for my body to react before I got back to my feet.  A 6 hour trip to the Countess of Chester revealed nothing more than concussion and a few brusies (at this point I must say a big thank you to all my club mates especially Jason who spent his Sunday evening in the Hospital with me until 10pm Thank You guys).  

It appears that I had landed badly on the back of my head and the impact had knocked me out.  Now what damage would I have done without a hard shell surrounding my skull?  It doesnt bare thinking about, a cracked skull at the best?  Not only do you have to think about your own safety but of the guys and girls you ride with.  How would those guys feel if when they had got to me had they been witness to something a lot worse than what happened?  For me its a no brainer your skull needs protection use a lid!!!!!!!

Roughride cometh

With just under 2 weeks to go until Roughride I was starting to worry that I haven't trained enough but then I started thinking back to what I have done this year.  I have ridden through appaling conditions, deep mud, rain, wind, 29 degree temperatures and ice.  I have climbed over 15,000 feet and the other weekend went out and rode 26 miles in the Clewyds which resulted in approximately 4,000 feet of climbing with fellow North Cheshire Clarion rider Jason.

I have ridden both on Singletrack, Wide open forest trails, climbed up technical climbs and decended at over 40mph down some interesting surfaces.  In all that I've only had one puncture and a couple of interesting offs which have resulted in bruses, cuts and a damged ego.  


Am I ready?  Well after all that I better had be!!!

Time Trial Hell

Well I finally decided to cave in and join the TT revolution with a few of the other North Cheshire Clarion riders.  The course was a 8.75 mile route from the Kilton Pub on the A50 and I was warned that it was slightly undulating.  I warmed up for a good 10 / 15 minutes riding up and down the lanes around the route before heading down to the start lane.  Getting there about 5 minutes before my allocated start time and I was really nervous(in fact so nervous I had to nip to the bushes).  I lined up behind my club mate Matt Ellis with no idea what to expect and seeing Matt go the nerves hit.  I rolled forward onto the chalk start line and was held up by the starter, having never had this done before it was very very strange so much I forgot to let the brakes off and got told off. 

As I was counted down I clipped in and set myself up for what was about to come.  3.....2......1 GO and i'm off.  My club mates had warned me about the start and not to go off at full speed because of the route climbing shortly after.  Did I listen?  Of course not and Boom I'm off 23 mph on my speedo legs spinning like crazy, heart rate rising and body temp going up.  I get down onto the newly fitted tri bars and quickly came back off them as I really didn't feel safe on them.  I am on the drops and i've hit the hill speed starts slowing but im willing my legs to keep going.  As I crest the hill my legs are starting to hurt and my chest is tight. I keep pushing hard and get to the half way point at an average of 23mph.  I stop pedaling, turn into the roundabout, straighten up and start to pedal again.  Well I say start to pedal, when I had stopped pedaling my legs had seized up with lactic acid and it was hurting.

I buried the pain back and started to climb, my speed dropped to 13mph and i was gutted to be frank.  Soon my club mate John came past as I'm struggling up the hill.  Seeing him come past made me dig in and try to minimise my loss.  The last half went by in a blur not helped with a strong headwind.  As I came towards the finish line I pushed hard and buried myself to try and get a few more seconds off my time.  As I shouted my number to the finishing time marshals my legs packed in and I ended up coasting towards the turn round point. 

My time 26 minutes 24 Seconds with an Average of 19.89mph.

I loved it but it hurt.  Will I do it again? Of course I will I now want a TT bike

Cycling and Stress Relief

When I first started cycling I never thought of the additional health benefits other than fitness and weight loss.  I am one of those people who tends to get stressed very quickly and with quite a stressful job I needed an outlet.  Riding with a group of friends either on the road or on a mountain / trail centre I found that I forget what has been bothering me for a while.  There is nothing like looking out over a mountain range where you and your mates are the only ones there to have a positive effect on your outlook. 

Social riding within a group also has huge benefits to ones mental health.  The concentration levels needed to follow a wheel while having a chat to another rider means that you can forget all the worries and stress that has built up over the week. 

So as the sun is shining and we have just had the warmest April since records began dust off your cycling gear and head outside......

More weight loss+ more riding

I am getting closer and closer to my ideal weight of 14 stone.  When I started this weight loss thing I was 16stone 8lbs but following a rigorous and by way no means strict diet I am weighing 14st 12lbs.  I'm very very happy with the way its going and really want to drop the final 12 lbs before June when I go to on holiday.

I have been using my IPhone to track my rides this year using a programme called  Cyclemeter.  I find this helpful in giving me an idea of my ride time and distance.  This month i have ridden:

194.82 miles;
Climbed 6,207 feet
Burnt 11,760 Calories and
Maintained an average speed of 16mph

These miles are all road miles and do not include the various mountain bike rides I have done over the past few weekends.  My legs feel strong and tomorrow I am going to ride another 50 miles meeting a friend on route. 

My fitness is improving all the time but I am struggling with tiredness post ride.  To combat this I now have energy drink in one bottle and water in the other making sure i drink lots of energy drink after an hours ride.  When I get back i use recovery protein to help my legs and put back some the important nutrients that I have lost.  For me SIS products work really well and don't make me feel sick like other energy drinks and protein I used previously. 

Off to eat my own body weight in Pasta ready for tomorrow now...

My Bikes

Having been riding both my bikes for a while now I thought I would do a quick review of them.

My Road Bike is a Boardman Comp 2010 (http://www.boardmanbikes.com/).  I got this as a number of people in my club had them and for the money you get a lot of bike.  I paid £650.00 and got a good bike with a fantastic spec.  I had thought abut going for the Carbon Fibre version of the bike but didnt want to spend that much on a bike when I wasn't sure if it was something I was going to enjoy.  

What can I say about this bike?  For a beginner road rider it does everything I could ask.  Touching wood I have never had a problem with it.  Its well built and I love the black stealth look.  I find it fantastic to ride and very comfy in fact i would highly recommend the bike to anyone and I would love to try the carbon version of this bike in the future.........

My new Mountain Bike is a Kona Kikapu 2006 (which I acquired through a very good friend and a member of the club).  This replaces my Marin Wolfridge which was slightly to small for me (although if i had pumped the rear shock up a bit it might not have been).  The Kona has 100mm front & rear shock..  The front forks are a fantastic buy from On One and only cost me £117 delivered.  They are Roxksox Recon Coil are amazing they soak up most things and with a lock out they are certainly not a bottom of the range fork.  The rear shock was new to me as I had never ridden a coil shock before and wow its fantastic.  Its a fox vanilla rear shock and goes over everything really well.  In fact this bike has given me so  much confidence so much in fact that last time out I was getting some decent air without trying. 

Well thats my bikes which I will be improving on in the coming years especially my road bike.

Le Enfur De Nord Cheshire

Yesterday (Saturday) saw 25 members of North Cheshire Clarion take part in the clubs first ever tribute to Paris - Roubaix " Le Enfur De Nord Cheshire.  The sun was shining and my recent rides made me think that this would be a tough but fun ride.

The ride would see us covering 39 miles across road, cobbles and gravel surfaces and hoping my mountain bike skills would transfer to the road I set off with a group of 4 other riders.

The first few miles saw us building up speed and working together to get the speed up.  The first section of cobbles were fantastic.  I have never ridden on cobbles before so when we came into Grappenhall Village, I hit the front and  hit them fast.  The feeling of bouncing around on a road bike where my full sus mountain bike would soak up everything was very odd but keeping the pedals turning at the same speed helped keep some control.

We joined another group of our riders and rode with them for few miles until we hit a section which saw our group put the peddle down and set off time trial style to get past.  The following decent saw 27mph flash up on my computer and I suddenly wished I had my disk brakes when I saw a red traffic light.

As we hit the the Trans Pennine Trail we were now onto a gravel surface which to to start with was a bit nervy not knowing how my tyres would bed into the surface but soon the confidence was flowing and we were flying along.  

A pit stop and get together at a cafe at Dunham Massey where a much needed cake and cup of tea were gladly consumed and we were back on the road and cobbles.  The second half of the ride saw all 5 of us flying along in one big group.  I have never felt so good as we were flying along the country lanes of North Warrington.  As we were heading to the finish my legs started to protest but as I was loving the feeling of riding this fast and in such a good group of people I flicked up the gears to spin the legs a bit quicker but with less resistance helping stave off the feeling of knackered legs as much as possible.

As we pulled in to the Swan pub for the finish I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.  The ride had been fast, bouncy, uncomfortable but for me one of the best rides I have ever done.  After riding to the start and back home I had covered 51 miles and was shattered.  A big thank you to our club secretary Giles and Adam for putting together such a fantastic ride.

My Stats for the ride (taken from Cyclemeter on my Iphone
Rdide Time 3hrs 7 minutes
Distance 51.53 miles
Average Speed - 16.53mph
Fastest Speed - 31.94mph
Total Ascent 1795 feet
Calories Burnt - 3011

Recovery - I dont recover well.  I had got in drank a pint and half of water and drank a sports drink to help put back in what i had used in terms of sugar and salt but I couldnt shake the feeling of tiredness.  After a quick trip to get some shopping I could feel myself falling asleep on my feet.  As soon as we got in I  climbed onto the sofa and slept for a solid 2 hours.  This happens every time I ride and I dont know if its because I am not eating enough or consuming enough water while riding.

I really do need to sort this out though.  Plus side I have finally dropped below 15 stone and am very very happy with that!!!!!!!!!!