I started my blog nearly 12 months ago after an new year with flu that turned into pneumonia and I eventually ended up in hospital with pleurisy which was a very painful experience indeed.
This did give me the motivation to go and do something that I saw as a real challenge.
WHY?
I sat in my hospital bed feeling like someone was trying to extract my right lung using a red hot poker in the lower side of my rib cage and i listened to the rants of some chap that was properly delirious from goodness knows what drugs he was on. He was ranting on shouting "I am not finished yet! I wanted to do more but never got around to it!". Made me think really that by the time I am old and losing my marbles (even if my wife thinks I am already barking mad), would I be able to look back and say I did something worth while and not only pushed myself to my very limits then went one step further, but also touched other peoples lives along the way and hopefully made a bit of a difference. With my already long and varied history I cannot say I have wasted my life, but I still feel that I can do more too.
Maybe have a giggle along the way and get screamed at by Sergeant Major Matt a few times too!!!
In January once I was back on my feet I decided to get on the Turbo trainer and get the heart working hard.
 | |
| The original old girl! |
I had to drop out of the first sportive I was booked on for the year though so I was really not impressed! however I did think that I would have been stupid to try especially since I felt like I had half a lung missing still and my fitness had really dropped.
February.. I was feeling good about myself and really getting back into the groove. I had started setting new personal records again as my fitness got back to where it was before the new year and I was looking forward to the first sportive that I was going to be taking part in from Poynton.
Then fate had a different idea as WHAM! I managed to get clipped by an idiot that didn't look when he crossed the road and I went down hard breaking a bone in my foot in the process.
So back to hospital for me and I can safely say that having tried both the local hospitals I would not recommend a stay in one!!! never a fan of them in all honesty and really prefer just going to visit or have children at them.
I was then on crutches for just over two months and hated every minute of it. However it did just strengthen my resolve that I would do more and go further than I previously thought possible. At the time however just the 1.5 mile walk from town was a killer for me and was proving to be hard work.
March brought snow, and lots of it! bad for those on and off bikes. I was still hobbling about on crutches and having to catch the bus everywhere. On the upside though the Cheshire Cat was postponed until July so I was back on it and looking forward to it too!!!
April put me back on my feet and back on my bike. Probably far too soon in the eyes of the doctors but I was determined to get back up and running again working hard on my fitness and cycling endurance (much to my unimpressed wife's cost). I was out spending time on my bike going the long way too and from work and getting some good hills in to match. I did have to reign myself back a bit but then in May and June just went into hill climbing mode and went out to find some local big ones in the process.
 | |
| Lashing the snake! Top of Snake Pass |
 | ||
| A Monk and Two Passes. The foot of Winnats Pass |
 |
| Rolling the Moss! Top of Holme Moss and Happy for the first of many times. |
I was wise to do this as I think it stood me in good stead for the miles and mountains ahead as I took part in the sportives I had entered.
Finally at the end of June I made it to my first sportive. The Great Manchester Cycle! No hills, No cars, just nice flat(ish) road and 50 odd miles of cycling as fast or as slow as I wanted. It was great and I really enjoyed it. Some people can do with being reminded that it is not a race though as I actually saw some overly aggressive riders force others off the road. But hey! it just goes to prove that even BMW drivers can ride bikes. But it takes a bit more to be a cyclist!!!
Just a few weeks later and on probably the hottest day I have ever cycled on in my life came the Kilo to Go Cheshire Cat. 104 miles of Cheshire plain with some of the steepest hills I have ever ridden up thrown in for good measure.
 |
| Mow Cop! The very steep bit |
 |
| The picture makes it look flatter than it is! |
 |
| The map doesn't lie! Its really very steep. |
The heat had hurt, the miles had hurt and the hills had really hurt, at the end of it though once I returned to ride HQ in Crewe I was still smiling and ready for the next one!
 |
| Still smiling after over 100 miles! I must have been mad. |
After a few more little training rides as well as the usual commute to work I warmed up for the next big challange by riding in the DM Keith Skoda Sportive over from Wakefield. This was a good run out and a stretch for the legs but it would fall very short of testing myself again "THE ONE!!!"
Ride With Brad 2013 was really emotional. I can safely say if all the knights of the realm think the route he had put together is a jolly nice little training ride, then it just goes to show people like Sir Bradley (The Dark Over Lord) Wiggins really are something special and go way beyond what we mortals are capable of. It was certainly an inspiration and something that I want to do again in 2014. I was certainly found wanting this time as I actually had to get off and push a few times. Next time however I will be giving Sir Wiggo a run for his money, then getting my arse handed to me on a silver platter as the Grand Over Lord wipes the floor with it and leaves me in his wake! Should be fun!!!
My next big disaster came not through thoughtless injury or mishap but more of my own stupidity as I broke my bike in an effort to fix the old girl! September was going to be the Manchester 100 for me, however I was suddenly without steed and massively pissed off as it was my mistake that essentially broke my bike. That and using old second hand parts I had purchased from eBay at the lowest possible price.
 |
| The Old girl! In the shed but not forgotten! |
The Old girl did me proud however. I had ridden a 20+ year old bike for over 2000 miles, over the hills in all weathers and at scary high speed too (45+mph, that's over 100 Kph in metric). Thankfully someone was smiling on me as I was able to replace the broken frame in just a few weeks and now had a bike suitable for doing some real damage with!
 |
| The new steed! |
I would be putting this one through her paces on the Hidden Peak National Trust Sportive. The bike was a great ride and I was really impressed with the performance it gave me. I however had a bit of a directional fail and managed to actually get lost. Or as we cyclist call it, just making sure another route would be safe to use too. I didn't go too far out of the way and managed to have enough sense to realise that I was not on the right track, however I did manage to finish 30 seconds late for a silver medal and got only a bronze finish. Bummer I was really pushing hard and let myself down a bit. Overall though it was a really nice ride and a great way to end the sportive season.
As the dark of Autumn and winter set in I took to the track, I want to ensure I am not starting back at square 1 with my fitness levels for the coming year. This was only interrupted with a brief meeting with the side of a minibus that was being driven by a blind man. However after much thought and discussion with her that must be obeyed, we have decided that I can either go road or track, we just can't afford for me to do both.
The year ahead!
The coming year will hopefully start with the Evans Ride-it Rochdale Sportive, The same one I missed last January.
February I currently have nothing planned as I think she would kill me if I went cycling on her birthday.
March is the return of the Cheshire Cat (weather permitting, even if I did enjoy and prefer it in July).
April will see me starting to race on the Tameside Closed circuit races on a Tuesday night. This is the start of the annual amateur racing league season for 2014 and is on pretty much every Tuesday night until October. I don't think I will race in all of them but I do intend to compete in a few!
May will see me Race in and around Holmfirth in the Team Cystic Fibrosis Road Race and then June a race around Doncaster City centre. Those should both be great fun and mega challenging too!
At the end of June will come the event that I have been building up too and training for all this time, The Coast to Coast in a day! The ride I am still trying to get a place on as it sold out on the first day it opened, but also the point of me writing this whole blog and the reason I have been smashing myself for charity!
After that I of course hope to Bump into Sir Wiggo on his ride as well as keeping on competing on as many local races as I can get away with riding in, (Wife and children permitting).
 |
| Einstein was happy to cycle too |
It's all happy cycling and on the open road even with Sergeant Major Matt screaming his lungs out at me to get up that hill or eat the person in front of me once I have caught them. It's a sport I really enjoy and something that I have been able to apply myself too. It helps me burn off the excess energy and release the aggression that I have from my days as a soldier! I do believe it has made me a better person and if one person reading this blog is by this inspired to get out on two wheels too, then it is worth it.
2013 has certainly been Hell and I have gone through it mainly on two wheels but for some of it on crutches too! Good-bye 2013 and hello to 2014! Now bring on the PAIN!!!
 |
| Loving every minute of it! |
No comments:
Post a Comment