A good start to the week as usual. I had to take my bike in for a service, it
has been sadly neglected last season and feeling a little unloved. That means a 46 mile round trip to MK with a
mandatory lunch at Jaipur, a good use of a Sunday. Armed with new brakes, chain, rear cassette
and set of new cables, my machine felt as good as new again. I went back at full pelt, not to prove a
point so much as to get out of the biting cold and beat the sunset (short days
yuk).
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| Bromham Water Mill in the Snow |
Monday – Nooooo! The snow has arrived, I attempted to go
out and ended on my backside after getting only a couple of meters down the road
and gave up on the whole venture.
Thankfully only my ego was hurt, last time I came off a bike I ripped my
shoulder and was on pain killers for eight weeks!
Tuesday – Not a good start to the day but the mid-day sun
came out to clear some of the snow. It
was hard not to use the snow as an excuse but that’s when having a blog to fill
out comes in handy.
I did just a shade
over 20 miles which was mostly horrible.
The temperature fell rapidly after about 8 miles and I could feel a thin
film of ice on the roads through my back wheel, I had a few slips but stayed
on. To make it worse, five miles from
the end the cleats on my left shoe have decided not to engage anymore which
made the ride back particularly bad.
Probably the worst day of training so far!
Wednesday – Not a bad run, the ice has gone from the
roads but the countryside is still pretty and white. I headed out without a particular direction
or distance in mind and as such ended up in a few villages I haven’t been to
yet. There was a particularly good
section between Potton and Sandy where an ice coated canopy of trees covering
the lane, it really did have that winter wonderland feel about it. In the end I clocked up 34.4 miles and ended
up at Shefford before coming back. Good
session but fingers dropping off by the end.
Thursday – Continuing with the theme of randomness I
decided to head through the villages to the West and get some shots of Bromham
Water Mill and Stevington Windmill, both of which looked great in the
snow. Sub-zero temperatures and a lot of
slippage meant I only got about 20 miles in again, I’m looking forward to spring
that’s for sure!
Friday – Full white out no riding today. I went out for a run though to keep things
moving and got 10 miles in, it’s the first time I’ve run since getting my LEL
space so it was nice to have a bit of a change.
The snow was fresh and fluffy and it felt like running on a thick
carpet. See what tomorrow brings, it may
involve a long exercise bike session…
Saturday – Finished the week with a couple of hours of
spinning while watching endless repeats on Dave, better luck next week.
The Week in Stats
- Total Miles for the Week: 132.41m
- Longest Ride: 46.64m Bedford – Central MK Round Trip
- Hardest Sections: Some good sections out on the way to Potton, it’s been the cold that has been the killer through.
- Food of the Week: Mixed lentil dhal, what could better in the winter a protein packed Indian soup!
- Drink of the Week: Green Tea, read about it in the cycling magazines, I just know it’s hot, caffeinated and doesn’t need milk J
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