It’s a horrible drizzly day today so I won’t be going out riding but that’s just fine. Total mileage is below.

Totals for 2011

chameleon(17): 608 miles
Roadlite(48): 2000 miles
pimpino(17): 555 miles
dayone(91): 2837 miles
CAAD(3): 64 miles

Total Distance: 6064 miles

That gives me a fine mileage target to beat next year, lets say 6500.

I’m bored of this website now, at least I’m bored of updating ride entries on it so that’s going to stop. I want to completely revamp it and do other stuff with my website. I’m enjoying getting back into drawing at the moment (not very well mind but I’m hoping to get better, we’ll see), and I’d like to start writing again. Facelift for a start, then we’ll see what happens next.

As far as my 2011 challenges went, I rode over 6000 and I do have a slight six pack but that’s it really. I already have some cycling challenges set for the next year but won’t be making a list or anything.

Happy new year.

The last ride of the week was on my new cyclocross bike. A second hand (but still in pristine condition),  Cannondale CAAD CX 105. Chap who I bought it off didn’t like it and sold it after riding it a few times.

It’s errm interesting. What didn’t help was the very icy conditions but still, lets try to be objective.

It’s *very* long. In fact, it’s too long. Even with the seat right the way forwards and the bars raised a bit I felt hugely stretched out. Might need a shorter stem.

Rides great though. It has Campag Veloce levers on it which aren’t to my taste at all I’m afraid. The plastic shift down lever feels cheap and flimsy and I keep pushing the brake lever by mistake. The shift up lever is very easy to hit by accident, it’s be a real pain in the bum in a race. I found myself not changing gears because I didn’t want the faff. Bummer on that one.

Finally the tyres.

Cyclocross? Really? For where? The sahara? Waste of fricking time for anywhere where water falls from the sky. Who do I sue?

Might try and find the odd race in the new year, see how well I do. I can always blame the gears if I do badly.

48 miles to go to my target. I was hoping to nail that today but it was too icy and I lost interest by the time it looked acceptable. Looking out the window it looks too icy now for a commute but I’m on holiday in two days for two weeks. Should be able to put 48 miles behind me no problem. That’s just one road ride.

3 commutes and a quick blast into Warrington to collect a parcel and my car.

Very, very windy this week. Mentally so. One ride home the bike was over at a 45 degree angle at times and the rain was like being sand blasted. Not that pleasant.

I’ve bought a new (secondhand) bike too, just waiting for it to arrive. CX bike. I’ve missed having a proper one.

Back on the bike again properly now. Ribs not so bad now, it’s muscular pain I have now. Properly nasty sharp skewer pains when I move in the wrong places. Again, it’s getting better but sometimes it really hurts, especially when I strap my bag on.

Deficit is looking good. I have all of December to do 240 miles now, that’s 60 miles a week. Easy. In reality it’s only two commutes a week. Unless something bad happens again of course. The weather is turning nasty now but this time last year it was properly snowy and I was still getting out regular. It has been a great year for riding for me. I’ve never recorded this many miles in a year before and I reckon even when I was racing and commuting as a teenager I wasn’t putting this many miles in. Yep, quite happy in that respect. I feel awesomely fit, I’m dead skinny(ish). Keep it coming.

Might even get out today if I get chance but it does look really grim and wet and I have a lot to do today.

Well there is a good reason. you see, I was riding along a gnarly canal tow path. Is was some of the gnarliest flat, hard pack I’ve ever seen. I reached this astounding difficult obstacle known as ‘a bridge’ and rode under it like it was no effort at all. When I accelerated out from under the bridge, my chain snapped.

For a moment there I thought I was going in the canal. I really should have to be honest, at least water is soft.

I didn’t. The bike went towards the canal, I went the other way. It all happened so fast that I only just got one arm out in front of me. That arm took a lot of force and now has a massive scab across the forearm as a result, but not as much as my chest took. I landed flat on my chest and hard! Jumped up immediately and started hopping about moaning. So painful! I could hardly breathe either.

After a few minutes I calmed down a bit. Every time I moved or breathed my chest ached. Rick recovered my bike and displayed the snapped chain. After i’d fixed the chain it was clear i was going no further so Rick carried on to meet Tim and I set off home.  I felt OK for a while despite being in a lot of pain but as the day drew on it was clear something was broken. My chest swelled up a bit and poking it in one place resulted in serious sharp pain. Broken rib then.

Since then I’ve  manfully being dead butch about it and just carrying on but it is excrutiating. Can’t sleep very well, getting a shower or getting drewssed takes twice as long. I struggle to get in and out of a car and even driving is very painful. Some days I’m so tense by the end of the day that my shoulder muscles spasm as I’m driving home, like I’m getting an electric shock. Not very pleasant.

So no more cycling for a while. I do still have an impressive negative deficit but I reckon that will be virtually zero by the time I get back on a bike, which means december which was going to be a take it easy month, is going to need to be an ”on track’ month so 120 miles a week, if I want to hit 6000 miles for the year that is. And I do.

Ho hum.

I tell you what, if I don’t get hero of the month at work this month then there’s something wrong. I’ve been working ten, twelve hour days every day, have saved a million pound+ project from dying with some fairly (even if I do say so myself) innovative thinking, and have come into work every day despite being in agony.

Bet someone who comes in a bit earlier on Wednesdays for a couple of weeks gets it. yes.

Maybe I’ll get idiot of the month instead.

Wednesday on the way home I was caning along a short road section in Warrington when there was this almighty crack and a searing pain in my arse. I was completely thrown off balance and the bike veered out in front of a car. Who beeped his horn angrily. Yep, thanks mate, that’s helping.

Once under control I pulled over and inspected the damage. One of the rails on my saddle had snapped and putting any weight on the saddle made it bend sideways and push the nose upwards, hence the pain.

So eleven miles home standing up, on a fixie. Try that for manning up.

Friday’s ride was fine. I’m the only perspon in our changing rooms again. It’s fine by me but a bit sad that so many people seem to stop once the weather turns nasty. I really should look at putting mudguards on though.

Edit: And I let that little milestone pass by the by as well. Just realised. I’ve now logged the most logged miles for me in a year, ever, ever. Pretty awesome! If I carry on like this I will reach my 6000 mile target for the year before I even enter December!

34 miler on Saturday 5th Nov 2011
48 miler on Sunday 6th Nov 2011

Commutes were normal, usual idiots on the road. Didn’t manage much this week because I was so completely and utterly shagged. No idea why. Overslept twice which is completely unlike me, normally I’m awake before the alarm goes off. Managed Wednesday and Thursday but Friday I had to drive in anyway, never mind.

Saturday ride was ok, bit windy and a huge amounts of idiots on the road. I followed this couple of their bikes out of Rivington. The lady had an absolutely perfect bum and legs. I had to stop myself being a bit of a perv and following them for longer than necessary so I quickly clipped past them with a cheery hello. Took some pictures of some stickers that seem to be popping up here and there too.

Not sure what that’s about.

Sunday was beautiful. Just got back. Bit crisp to start but once I’d warmed up it was a lovely day. Not a cloud in the sky, not troo much wind. Awesome. Met Tim on the way up to Rivington too, we’ll be riding together next weekend.

Great!!!

Off the bike, there’s good and bad things going on. Work is terribly busy but I’m now formally in my new role which is nice, just need to manage some people to come round to my way of thinking about certain things now. Number one son is flunking out of college because he’s so fricking lazy, that’s not so good. Stupid little bugger.

Bummer.

We went up Northumberland to say goodbye. Chris always said ‘We were Gods’ to his wife when she asked how a ride went. There are stickers.

That’s all really.

Oh, we all got really drunk and then rode bikes (the next day). I rode really fast up some steep hills. Having not ridden with people for a long time it’s hard to tell but it turned out that even when I’m just messing about I can climb up hills faster than lots of other people, who may well not have been trying also. Whatever, all this riding has made me quite fit.

Now, errm, two more commutes. It’s not been a good week it has to be said. These two were errm, dangerous as fuck I think.

First one was very wet, going home a woman overtook me and then turned left in front of me, annoying.

Second one a motocyclist passed me and then *immediately* turned left. I was up on the front wheel to aviod hitting the styupid prick. Brand new motorbike too, looked nice. I followed him up the road waving away till he slowed down, I pulled alongside him still moving about 10mph and said ‘You almost hit me then!’ to which he stuck up his fingers and shot off. BELL END

Then this morning I overslept and just drove in. Good job I did because about dinner time BANG, flickery eyes. FUCK! Migraine on the way. Did some essentials at work and then legged it home, didn;t fancy that on a bike.

In bed, out for three hours. muther f!

Got up, felt awful for an hour or so, went to bog. MAHOOSIVE poo. Feel a lot better now.,

Well! It’s rained a lot. Monday I punctured on the way in. It was wet, dark, rainy, windy, cold and muddy. And then I realised I’d forgotten my spanner. So I try to patch a tube in the wet, no chance. I’m there, hunched over my tube still wrapped round the forks, rubbing away at the tube in the dark by the side of a muddy path with my underpants. NICE! Both times I failed so I have to ride the remaining ten miles into work on a flat tyre.

Not a good day.

Tuesday was wet again, and windy and cold.

Wednesday. God-awful ride in. Sideways rain. Couldn’t see anything the entire way. Absolutely saturated on arrival.
Coming home (in my still wet clothes and shoes), it’s SHIT driver day. I can’t remember the last time I rode about 5 miles on the road and had so many near misses! One idiot in a BMW overtook me at light speed and missed me by about 2 inches! So many people pulled out in front of me in Lowton I had to keep checking my front light to see if it was on. Yep, one seriously bright light, one seriously bright flashing light. Must be shit drivers then.

cocks.

You know what? I’m sorry macho gods of butch but I’ve had enough this week. I’ve put on a still sopping wet pair of shoes and a still damp and gritty pair of shorts once to often this week. I’m going to drive in tomorrow.