What a weather change! And an odd week🥺

 Today is Monday 16 th Oct and whilst it’s not many days since the last post I thought! It’s too cold to go out! And feel very lazy after a somewhat harrowing trip to the Dentist for our first ‘private’ check up😡 after 20  mins, the most horrendous de scale I have ever had, 2 X-rays and a whip round to ‘look’ at my teeth a nice little earner for them at £170 for each of us, that’s £340 for approx 50 mins work !!  Still in shock I am turning to my blog😊

Secondly I did a PSA test on Thursday last, as I have an enlarged prostate and like to be sure I am ok, I said previously I did it myself, struggled to get blood out ( am I tight fisted😂) I had the results on Friday which said my result had gone up from 1.5 to 5.9 some 290% !! In a year as the 5.9 was top of the scale for my age I did Ask My GP to get a second test  and a doctor phoned me back, informing me that as I had an UTI infection and taken anti biotics in the last three months it’s likely to be elevated as shown!! And to get a blood test possibly mid November, phew!! That was a relief and hoping that in a month things will calm down and I won’t be destined for the big ‘C’ 🥺

Back to biking 😊 not a bad week weather wise, more later! I managed 3 rides, the first on to test out my winter bike, which felt small,  uncomfortable and decidedly slower than my Titanium summer bike! 26 miles covered at a steady 14 mph including a head wind home! 

The second ride on Saturday started well in bright 15 degree sunshine on my Titanium bike, out over Tealham Moor, via Mark, over to Wedmore then things changed, the temperature dropped, 6.8 degs the rain and hail started and had to shelter for a few minutes whilst the worst went through, I continued back through Blackford and Mark before the rain stopped, by which time I was very chilly! My New Boardman jersey and my pertex montane had kept the most at bay, oh and the mudguards, but my hands even with full gloves were very cold. By the time I reached home in Burnham on Sea it had risen to 11 degs and it hadn’t rained there!! 29 miles covered.

Determined to make the most of the better weather on Sunday I was out again, dressed as the previous day, no rain forecast and bright sunshine, chilly at only 13 degs, but!! No wind a good 29 miles again, at an average of 14.4 mph, well pleased with that and the fact it was dry and no wind 😊

Today in contrast again the temperature was only 3.5 degrees so autumn is here ! 

Before the rains! 

In the rain 

Bit of flooding

Floodwater

Another Audax and couple of runs

Spoils from the ride 

 What good weather it was last week and this weekend ! The weather has been very summer like with temperatures well up. With the 100 k Grid Iron  Audax round the New Forest at the weekend, I needed to get a ride in to top up my miles and make sure legs were working ! So a 26 mile ride round the Somerset lanes testing bike and body, pleased to say they were both working well. I also was determined to keep the running miles so a 4 mile run down the seafront and another 4 miler up to Berrow church along the footpaths were just the job.

As it’s quite a way to Lymington from Burnham I booked into the caravan club site at Bransgore, driving over on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The site was extremely busy, I was given pitch 13, was this a sign 😊 soon pitched, tea and relaxing , the site is very nice, superb facilities, but a little open, pitches have no surrounding hedge etc, apparently an old WW2 airfield. Pasta for tea, followed by fruit cake and a beautiful sunset 

After a good nights sleep in the van, gear all sorted for the next day, I was up early, and away from the site before anyone else stirred. Lymington was only a twenty minute drive over the New Forest, mist rising from the low areas, the sun breaking through the clouds, a magical day ahead. By 7:45 I was ready for the off, so van locked I was away to register, the start was 8:0 but with 1000 riders we were allowed to go early. Shorts, short sleeve jersey with arm warmers was the dress of the day, bit chilly to start but knowing I would soon warm up. Pressed go on my Garmin and was off, on my own for a few miles before being caught by a small group, who sat on my wheel for the next 15 miles, without speaking to me ! Very odd, they finally came past as I stopped to look at the text informing me Grandson George had broken his collar bone tripping over his shoelace ! I next saw them at the first control after 25 miles, a superbly run control by the local scouts, tea and cake and a stamp on my brevit card, a short 15 min stop before heading out again. It was getting hotter now 

Donkeys, horses and pigs were lazing on the roads in the sunshine, most road surfaces were really good 

 I felt really good today and was shocked to see I was averaging 14.7 mph so the miles went quickly, a couple of busy roads for very sections, otherwise lovely quiet New Forest minor roads, hills were ok, all rideable, not steep, but some were quite long. The hill upto the second control was steep, but a well earned cuppa and few biscuits helped to forget it, brevit card stamped, water bottle topped up, time to move on. The scenery was spectacular and for most of the ride I was on my own, peddling and lovely gear and slowly grinding up the hills , but I was enjoying myself, one of the best days out this summer( my cycling buddy Lisa had jetted of to Spain to avoid another day out with me 😂😂) 

I was making good time, topping up my energy reserves with jelly babies and hot x buns and soon found myself cycling back into Lymington to the finish. Card stamped 66.2 mikes in 4 hrs 41mins, 2779 ft climbed, ( it seemed more hills than that) averaging over 14 mph for the distance, well pleased with that.

Got my goody bag which was a musette, cycling cap and a wooden medal, lovely at the end.

A quick cup of tea and more biscuits it was back to the van, change and head for home. Traffic was very heavy and it took me 3 hours to get home .

After a days rest the weather was still good so another 25 miles in the sunshine on Tuesday to test out my winter bike. I had my Ultegra crank checked by the bike shop after a recall by Shimano about it delaminating and failing! I had mine 7 years and have done over 20000 miles on it. It was found to be ok😊 

So a good last week😊

End on September already

Some photos from Glorious Glamorgan 100km Audax 

Dilema ! 

A friend 

The board walk, a bit slippery ! 

The park weir

Rough tracks 

Glamorous assistant with tea 

Glamorous assistant again with our friends 

 Monday October 2nd 

What a busy week starting off with two days of dog sitting for my son, Bramble, Scrumpy and Little Bracken were very excited to see us and greeted us with lots of energy 

But we’re wonderfully well behaved over the two days. Helped by a field session, with Bracken doing six mad laps of the field, Scrumpy helping himself to pears and apples, and old Bramble wondering round at a slow pace. A lovely two days 😊

Boiler serviced, that I forgot about, good job he phoned before he came ! 

Thursday a phone call from the dentist telling us our 8.45 appointment was cancelled as dentist of sick! This is the third cancelled appointment, then they have the cheek to send an email telling us we need to join their membership scheme! At a monthly premium 😡 at least the rest of the day went well with a lovely visit to Watchet to Somerset Art week, meeting up with friends for lunch ( which is another whole new story!! ) it gave us chance to give the van a run out, the weather was lovely, some of the art on show was not quite to my taste, preferring landscape watercolours. 

I managed 2 runs this week 3.79 miles at 10:57 min mile down my sea front run and a nice off road path run to Berrow church and back 3:08 miles at 11:15 min mile. I felt ok on both, leg still numb but apart from a slight irritation it was ok, I made sure that I stretched at the end 😊 

My final acupuncture appointment for Friday was cancelled, telling me she has covid! So rebooked but! Not till November.

Saturday was the highlight of the week, a 100km Audax cycle ride over in Glamorgan with my cycling 🚴‍♀️ buddy LisaBH. An 8 am start in Cardiff meant an early start from Burnham 6:15. Bikes were put in the van rather than the rack, as it was easier on the dark Saturday morning. 

The M5 was quite busy but the sat nav guided us easily to the middle of Cardiff and! Easy parking,with half an hour to spare to sort ourselves out and  picked our Brevit cards, a very brief, briefing from the organiser E.g. “ok see you all later” 

Getting out of the complex of shops etc and onto the path proved to be a challenge, particularly as we opted to follow a couple of cyclists, who we thought knew where they were going!! We were wrong so lost after the first 1/2 km 😊 I should have known better! We finally picked up the taff trail along the river and through a Park, before joining the back streets of Cardiff and getting lost when our sat navs kept telling us to do a Uturn, which we did several times, and after resetting the sat nav route getting the same, so it was paper instructions time, which showed we were in fact on the right route, and we finally exited Cardiff at St Fagan Museum and out into the rolling hills of Glamorgan, hills not steep but quite frequent and upwards of 1-2 km long ! After the heavy traffic of the city the quiet narrow lanes were a pleasure with views over the Bristol Channel towards Home and Exmoor, even though it was a little misty. It had been a chilly start and it was very dull and overcast, which seemed to be set in for  the day. 

After ups lead by Lisa and the downs lead by me, overtaking a large well organised cycle club group we finally made it after about 30 km to the Velo cafe at Llanwit Major, a pretty Welsh village , the cafe at the centre next to a bakery! So it was two teas from the cafe and a lovely large hot  cheese and onion pasty for me and corned beef pasty for Lisa from the bakery next door. Timed it just right as a very large group of cyclist arrived just as we were tucking into our snacks and tea. I couldn’t eat all my pasty as it was large and very hot , but very nice, so wrapped it up and put in my pocked for later

Back to the hills and narrow lanes before we hit the roads around Bridgend and Pencoed, which were very busy ! And the route took us a few km on main roads through a very run down industrial area, before exiting on to a narrow rough lane and a very deep Ford which Lisa was about to ride through before I pointed out stepping stones and the fact that the depth was more than half her wheel! After a very dodgy stepping stone crossing with road cleats we were able continue, be it up a very steep rough surface hill. 

More rough lanes past dodgy looking parked up BMW and Lisa swearing and cursing the muddy, dangling brambles and leaf covered track, we were pleased to get back on the road.

Another pretty part of the ride to Parc slip wildlife cafe at 70 km with reminders of the mining industry and the disaster in the past where a number of miners were killed nice cycling along the track before back to the roads and the return to Cardiff, a few more stiff hills, one caught me out because of my gears jumping, meant I had my first hill walk of the ride. We were soon back negotiating the Cardiff traffic and a by now very busy park full of rugby, football, dog walkers and half the population of Cardiff 😊 at last arrivee and brevit card stamped 64 miles and 4131ft climbed, not the best cycling route, info controls were missed as we couldn’t find them, errors in the GPS instructions , busy traffic and a dull overcast day, but the company on the day made up for it, lisa was a great cycling buddy, glad she was able to put up with me for the day. 

Sunday was a nice relaxing day with some lawn mowing of very long grass lawns, on a very muggy warm day. 

Varied week

 What a week since my last post, weather has been pants but ! I did manage to run three times 2x5k and a short 2.5 mile run between showers. Leg feeling ok and pace seems to be about 11:30 pace but more interested in distance to build up my strength and endurance.

Friday saw me at the acupuncture therapist, for my next to last session, this time she used ‘moxa’ as well as normal pins, went well and it did take me a day before my aches from the session went 😂 I think the sessions have gone well, leg is still numb from knee down, but there is more strength and it’s not as irritating as it was, so I think there has been good progress, I can also now climb hills standing on my pedals, given it’s nearly a year, I am glad I can at least do this now, still have to be careful ! 

Saturday weather was much better, light winds, chilly (8 degs) it was long bike ride day in preparation for upcoming Audax 100 k in Wales and also the Grid Iron in the New Forest in two weeks. My buddy was Lisa BH, the route 60+ miles and 2000ft climbing, taking in High Ham from Pedwell side and a number of smaller climbs on the Burtle, Shapwick, Pedwell, High Ham, Muchelney, Kingsbury Episcopi, Hambridge, Isle Brewers, Rock, NCurry, then back over levels to Chedzoy, Woolavington, East Huntspill and home 64 miles and 2021 ft climbed. A stop to recover at the top of High ham for a snack before the lovely long descent down to Langport, cafe stop at the lovely NCurry community cafe for tea and cake, which were both ready for after 38 miles, weather was changeable with sunny intervals, a nice spin across the levels to Chedzoy with little or no wind( makes a change) before climbing over the Polden hills to Woolavington. A great days cycling with good company, nice to know that despite a lack of cycling miles this month we felt the 100 km Audax will be fine, even with a few more hills thrown in 😊 no photos ! But will make an effort to add to next instalment. Busy week ahead with, dog sitting, dentist and my final acupuncture appointment , oh! Forgot to mention last week was flue jab week too 😊

I am back 😊

 Well I can’t believe it was May last year when I last pit something on here, even then it was only about 4 words !

Lots happened since then, and of course a year older at 72, an age I thought was really old, but seemingly other than the usual aches and pains and cycling more slowly I still feel in my 40’s 

However, I put my back out last September moving some dog agility jumps, ‘anterolisthesis’ the X-ray says, bit like a slipped disc, after a very painful night and a 4 am trip to after hours surgery loads of codeine etc I have bed. Left with trapped nerve in my right leg, leaving my leg numb from  knee to ankle.

It was several weeks before I could walk and cycle, and it’s been a year to get some strength back into the leg, enabling me to be able to now climb hills on my bike, standing on the pedals. Running on the other hand has been hit much harder and I am just now able to run 5 km be it at 11:30 min mile !! I am at week 5 of acupuncture and Bowen therapy which seems to have made a difference although leg is still numb it does feel stronger. My running is focussing on building up the miles not the pace. Hopefully after Xmas I might be able to join back with the Harriers club runs and Park runs ( I have been marshalling once a month) .

Mrs B continues recovering from her Bowel cancer after over two years since she had the operation, thankfully it does seem to have been removed and not returning 🤞🤞

The weather this summer was brilliant early on in June, lots of cycling over 400 miles, unlike now where I am down to 30 -60 miles a week because the weather is so bad, I am supplementing this by trying to run my 5 km three times a week.

I have an Audax at Cardiff on the 30 th September and the Grid iron down in the New Forest on the 8 th October, both 100 km events , I really do need to get out a few times before the Cardiff ride ensuring I can do 100 km easily. 

We changed our campervan in March this year to a 2018 Leasure  Drive Vivante built on a VW. It’s a high top, has single beds if needed and an excellent on board loo! 

Going to make big efforts to update the blog weekly with my outings on the bike, on my feet and in our van. 

Long time no post !

 27 th May 2022

Can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted! 

Been a long time coming

 Thursday 30th September 2021

It’s like starting a new blog, it’s so long since I posted on here.

Since my last post life has changed for us at home. Mrs B finally had her operation for Bowel Cancer, which sadly turned into three operations as the first didn’t quite work. This has left her with an ileostomy bag and a colostomy bag . We are hoping one is reversed with twelve months, but we are not holding our breath. 

We had our 2 nd Covid jabs in May and now awaiting the call for a booster jab. Covid in this area is still rising since restrictions were lifted, few people observe masks any more, which is very sad as those of us with a vulnerable person in the house are desperately trying to avoid it.

I have continued cycling and running, but only with individuals, keeping away from crowds, no park run, no running club meets. I entered one race since March 2020 down on the coast, an off-road 10 miler with 2500 ft of climbing, it was a very hot day and I DNFd after six miles and my wonderful partner Kelly went on to complete the course, I was so pleased she did🙂 

I have not done much cycling, it’s easier to slip my running shoes on and go for a run rather than ride. The summer has been generally good weather and this week the weather has just turned Autumnal. I ran on the Quantocks on Tuesday and it was decidedly chilly and I managed to miss the rain . 

We have not had a holiday since last March, but we were able to House sit for my son in Wimborne for a couple of weeks, enjoying the peace and quiet and the chickens .

I have the Dorset Three Peaks at the end of October a lovely event I have done before, living In Burnham on Sea I need to find some hills as it’s very flat round here. 

I am off to the Quantocks again tomorrow, weather forecast is not looking good but hoping for ten miles and a few hills. Sadly that’s the closest I can get to mountains or fells. 

My poor old campervan has not been in service for ages now, only taking it out once or twice a week to give it a run. I am missing going away in it, but given MrsB s condition it’s not a great plan. May be before the end of the year 🙂

Well that’s a quick update, I hope to post more and include photos