New Technology

I went shopping for some bike bits with Richard on Wednesday morning. Richard got some new shorts, gloves and most importantly some new sun glasses! I got some gloves and a new bike computer.

So we just had to test our purchases out on Wednesday afternoon and we headed off for a ride in beautiful warm sunshine. We went north to Sutton on the Forest and then looped through Huby, Tollerton, Shipton, Skelton and back to York. Thanks to the new bike computer I can give you detailed stats for the ride. Distance covered: 22.93 miles, average speed: 14.5 mph, maximum speed: 25.7 mph, calories burned: 599.7.

The calories burned bit is misleading because although I might have burned off 599 claories during the ride I'm sure I must have consumed at least that amount in energy bars etc that I ate during and after the ride. I'd forgotten quite how much I hate the energy drink that I use whilst I'm riding, what a lovely chalky taste it has. Riding today brought back lots of memories of the 2008 London to Paris ride, the same old aching bum and sore hands, happy days!

My Cycling Heroes - No.1 Tom Simpson

Thanks to my friend Jonny from the 2008 London to Paris Bike Ride who sent me a link to this facebook group for fans of Tom Simpson.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=53571754945


Tom Simpson was the first English rider to make it really big on the international professional scene and was the first Englishjmen to wear the leader's yellow jersey on the Tour de France. He was a rider of real passion and was one of the first pro cyclists to take nutrition seriously, he was a great believer in carrot juice and virtually lived on the stuff when he was racing. Tragically he died of heat exhaustion while climbing Mont Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France. According to legend his dieing words were "Put me back on my bike"

A true hero!

No More Excuses

Well my coursework is nearly finished for the year and spring has finally arrived so I've run out of excuses for not getting out on the bike. So this week has seen the start of some serious training for me and Richard.

On Sunday we had a ride out to Shipton by Beninborough and back. Its a nice route which is mainly on country lanes and is quite flat which at this stage of the training is quite a blessing. We covered 12.2 miles so it was a nice gentle start to our training.

On Monday we had a longer ride. We headed out through Haxby and Strensall to Sheriff Hutton and then back home through Stillington and Sutton on the Forest. It was a good ride and we covered 25.8 miles. A hillier route than Sunday although nothing too steep. The legs felt good and it was nice cycling in warmer weather and being able to wear my shorts and my new Belgian Champion's cycling jersey (see picture).

Its really lovely out in the countryside around here at the moment. There are lots of lambs in the fields and the oil seed rape fields are starting to turn yellow. It's great to feel the sun on your back after such a long hard winter.