samuri.co.uk

Bike: Vela
Distance: 23 miles

Nice quick sunny ride. Fun in places, death city in others. It’s true what they say about Saturday afternoon/evening being the most dangerous time on the roads, crazy people about.

Bike: Vela
Distance: 38 miles

Nice and easy ride round some hilly stuff at the start, not so hilly at the end, about a 19mph average. I let everything flow fairly relaxed, didn’t push the gears too high on the climbs, I even let one chap go when he saw me and shot off. Just wanted to check my back was working OK. It was certainly complaining a bit once I got home but nothing major. Nice evening for a ride too.

This was supposed to be a celebratory post combined with a stunning result at the big race but sadly it was not to be. It’s still a good post though.

From about 22 years old, I was a smoker. Not a heavy smoker it has to be said but between 3 and 5 a day during the week, maybe 6 to 8 on a weekend day. I never really thought it affected me that much, I was fit, always very active, presumably I was pumping out all the crap in my lungs when I was out doing stuff. Clearly i was just kidding myself. I was also vaguely embarassed about smoking and very few people knew I did. I certainly put in a great amount of effort to hide the fact that I smoked, I wouldn’t smoke before going to work or indeed at work. I would not smoke at all if I wasn’t able to get washed afterwards and would generally only smoke in the evenings when I was at home.

My wife gave up a few years back and commented on the smell but I carried on (I totally understand what she was talking about now though, the smell of cigarette smoke makes me gag now).

Then a few things happened that kicked me into touch.

1. I went riding with a friend down south and was really struggling on the climbs, I always thought I was quick but even though I had a bruised chest, it was clear I was not.

2. Then we went on holiday abroad, I traditionally stop smoking for the week to avoid choking everyone else. I also traditionally spend a lot of time swimming when we go somewhere hot and by the end of the week I was really noticing the beneficial effect of not smoking on my breathing.

3. On holiday both my son and wife passed ‘fat’ comments about me. A little bit joking but presumably laden with a modicum of truth. Now I’m assuming this is a relative thing, I’ve certainly never been ‘fat’, but compared to my previous svelte incarnations I guess I was carrying around a few extra pounds.

So, we got back off holiday and I just decided to stop and start getting myself properly fit again. Bin the fags, start riding like a crazy lunatic. Hard work at first, but amazing how quickly I started feeling the benefits of not smoking.  The initial boost was endurance, I could stay in the saddle a lot longer without feeling knackered. More slowly was the ability to climb and climb and climb and later still the ability to sprint. Wish I’d done it 20 years ago.

MIleage for the weeks following our return from holiday says it all really.

So, how do I feel now? Fan-bloody-tastic. I wouldn’t have been able to quit without cycling and I’m very pleased to say I very rarely feel like I want a cigarette.

Going to have a few days off the bike now to let my back sort itself out and then I’m back it to getting my deficit down which I now know is possible.

Bike:Handjob
Distance:53 miles

Well that was a huge disappointment! The event was ace, lets get that straight, well organised for the first attempt, very ambitious and a great location. The weather was pretty crap and the ground was very wet, especially in the campsite. The course, that I saw, was great, wide variety of trails.

Now to the bad bits, namely me. Started off great, as soon as the car was out of the way I picked up the pace a little and my fitness from the last two months training was totally awesome! I was charging through the field without expending any real effort. Rode along for ten miles or so passing plenty of people on every climb. I had visions of a top five place in the vets at this rate, all the chaps I was passing were young guns so assuming there wasn’t a gaggle of superfit veterans leading the race out, I was sorted.

Then I had a puncture, not a major problem. Quick repair and off I go again, a bit faster this time to try and get myself back on track. Then my middle ring started sucking, big time. So bad I couldn’t go into the middle so ended up either slugging away on the big or spinning like crazy on the granny. My back was starting to twinge a bit too. Another 10-15 miles further on and I’m starting to experience some serious back pain. It really is starting to cause me grief and it affects my speed. Then my back brake dies completely, no amount of pumping is sorting it out, pants, I slow down even more. I’m OK on the steep climbs where I’m spinning in the granny and I’m still passing people there but the flat and descents are killing me. I’m very stiff going downhill and as a result I puncture on another fast descent. I fix it, take some pills and carry on but as I approach the fifty mile mark my back is starting to seize up and is making my arms ache.

At the 47 mile feed station I realise I’m no longer competitive and more importantly realise I can’t do that again with this back so call it a day. (This is helped by me realising I am the nearest point to the castle so getting back will be easy) . I still have to ride the mile or so across a boggy lake above that feed station, find a marshall and let her know I’ve wussed out.

Riding the three miles back to the castle was a very low time for me. I was extremely disappointed about not completing, particularly since my legs felt absolutely fine. The bike not running properly is my own fault but I’m sick of this back causing me problems (this isn’t the first time I’ve dropped out of a long race with a bad back).  I need to get it sorted, not sure what it is, if it’s the banging about or the camelbak or the position or just a crap back. it’s fine on the road, never get a problem with it. Ho hum.