Old Git On A Bike battles with the wind (2000 miles ridden)

seasick

First off, thanks for the continuing chronicle - it's threads like this that have given me the impetus to get off my backside and get a bike myself.

Secondly, whilst I'm planning on trying to avoid hills and the like until I get more miles on the clock and I'm mentally prepared for the arse and leg ache, I'm just wondering if you've any tips for a newbie like myself?

Thanks in advance.

Neil Fat man on a bike

Just get out and ride. Try to keep it fun,
Set attainable goals and keep at it.
The old git's log ( sounds bad that ) method seems pretty cool. You'll be able to look back and see your progress over the weeks.
I decided to comit to a lands end / jon o graots ride next may, it gives me something to train for.
My targets at the moment are to get 100 miles a week, It's acheivable at 10 miles a day and a long one on a Sunday. I'll do a few weeks of this and then up the quota again. I need to lose about 4 stone and that is gonna take time. I gave up smoking about 5 years ago and ballooned . I reakon iy will take a year at least to loose the weight.
Have you had a look at Old gits website?
Good useful info on that .

Good luck and keep us posted

seasick

Hmm... perhaps we should form a coalition of the chubby.

I had a look at OGOAB's site the other day and whilst I'm not going public to that extent, I'm going to record the distance covered/time, etc. so I can hopefully see a gradual progression. That said, I've only had the bike a few days so I'll just keep it nice and easy for a while so I can see where I'm at before I start setting any goals or anything - at the moment, it's just tremendous fun to whiz around the place (only dampened by the occasional bug strike whilst going down a hill at 19mph).

Then again, goals are good, as football matches would last an infinite time period otherwise, and that would doubtless be unpleasant for all involved. :shock:

Old Git On A Bike

@ Seasick, as far as advice goes, Neil Fat Man On A Bike summed it up nicely, just get out for a ride as often as you can, the more you ride, the easier it gets, keep your targets real, nothing worse than setting a target and if you fail to achieve it, you feel you have let yourself down, make sure you are eating properly and have enough water on board for your rides, that's something I have to get sorted out, I only have 2 bottles at present, but I don't want to wear a back pack with a hydration packt, I might get a handlebar bag and carry extra bottles in it, or maybe one of those hydration sacks to put in the handlebar bag, not sure what to do yet.

I have not ridden for a week, I was sick for a while and then the weather wasn't great with the strong winds, so I decided to take a time out. Got back on the bike today, apparently, today was a 7mph wind, I don't think so, I had to stop for a breather 4 times in the first 2 miles and at times I was struggling to get over 7mph average speed over the shingle track, not sure if that was all totally down to the wind, but I could hardly breath, lungs were hurting, most likely down to not using them for the last week and smoking heavily again :oops:, the lungs gradually opened up and I got to the foot of the South Downs Way in Eastbourne, I turned around there and made my way home, the return trip with the wind behind was lovely.

Jun 16th to Jun 22nd: No riding, sick for a few days and very windy the days after that

Jun 23rd

Top speed 27.9 mph (cycle path & steep road)
Avg speed = 13.3 mph
Distance = 40.22 miles
Time 03:01:29

Pulse before ride = 72 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 104 bpm's 6:30pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 94 bpm's 6:40pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 92 bpm's 6:50pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 90 bpm's 7:30pm

Total miles ridden = 1132.47

black flash

It does get easier.

When I think how I struggled just 3 months ago, when I started (I'm the wrong side of 40 as well).
I did the C2C 3 weeks ago, and it was tough, but I did it and feel great for it.

I've lost a stone in 3 months, just riding at weekends.

It helps having someone to ride with, but I've started going out by myself more, and I enjoy it.

Getting a computer is also a good way to keep a check of progress (can highly recommend the Cateye Strada Wireless).

Wish I'd done it years ago.........

dbrent

@ Black Flash. I'm doing the C2C in September and would be interested to here your thoughts on it (how difficult, bike type, time scales, accommodation, do's and don't's, etc,).

@ Old Git. Sorry for hijacking your thread!!!

Dave

Old Git On A Bike

I didn't go out yesterday, after Mondays longish ride following 7 days without riding, I felt as if I had never been on a bike before, because yesterday and Monday night I felt crippled, thighs were killing me and I got cramp in both calves, never thought it would be that bad after having a little time off :?

I went out for a short ride tonight, got to 9.5 miles and started getting a bad pain up the inside of my thigh towards the top of the leg, I have had that in the same place before, a groin pulling type pain, I had to stop pedalling as it was getting bad, I free wheeled for a bit and used my left leg to pedal, the pain eased up slightly, so I got out of the saddle to pedal and it didn't hurt at all, decided to call it a night at that point rather than pull something, hopefully it will be alright tomorrow, log for tonight:

Jun 24th: No riding, too sore to ride after previous days ride

Jun 25th

Top speed 21.6 mph (flat cycle path)
Avg speed = 14.8 mph
Distance = 10.31 miles
Time 41:34:9

Pulse before ride = 66 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 108 bpm's 11:06pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 94 bpm's 11:16pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 84 bpm's 11:26pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 80 bpm's 12:06am

Total miles ridden = 1142.78

black flash

dbrent wrote:

@ Black Flash. I'm doing the C2C in September and would be interested to here your thoughts on it (how difficult, bike type, time scales, accommodation, do's and don't's, etc,).

@ Old Git. Sorry for hijacking your thread!!!

Dave

Temporary C2C diversion!

Like I said, I only had about 2/3 months of weekend training before the ride.
It was tough, physically and mentally.
Group of 21 of us did it, starting midday Friday in Whitehaven, finishing late afternoon in Sunderland on Sunday.
Did it on a hybrid and stayed Greystoke first night, and Nenthead second night.
We were very lucky and had 3 days of sunshine.

If I did/do it again-
DO - travel over Thursday night, to start early Friday
DO - try and get a support vehicle to carry bags etc.
DO - plenty of training on hills beforehand
DO - eat and drink plenty during the ride
DO - watch out for glass and debris from Consett onwards
DO - try and find someone of similar ability to ride with
DO - enjoy it, because it's over too quickly
DO - pray for good weather

DON'T GIVE UP

black flash

dbrent wrote:

@ Black Flash. I'm doing the C2C in September and would be interested to here your thoughts on it (how difficult, bike type, time scales, accommodation, do's and don't's, etc,).

@ Old Git. Sorry for hijacking your thread!!!

Dave

Temporary C2C diversion!

Like I said, I only had about 2/3 months of weekend training before the ride.
It was tough, physically and mentally.
Group of 21 of us did it, starting midday Friday in Whitehaven, finishing late afternoon in Sunderland on Sunday.
Did it on a hybrid and stayed Greystoke first night, and Nenthead second night.
We were very lucky and had 3 days of sunshine.

If I did/do it again-
DO - travel over Thursday night, to start early Friday
DO - try and get a support vehicle to carry bags etc.
DO - plenty of training on hills beforehand
DO - eat and drink plenty during the ride
DO - watch out for glass and debris from Consett onwards
DO - try and find someone of similar ability to ride with
DO - enjoy it, because it's over too quickly
DO - pray for good weather

DON'T GIVE UP

dbrent

@ Blackflash. Thanks for the info. It's a group of us that are doing it that ride together at weekends (I also do quite a bit during the week). We are also doing a few of the things that you suggest so hopefully no problems!!!!

Anyway back on track, thanks for the slight detour!!

Old Git On A Bike

The second half of June turned in to a disaster, after having to take a week off due to being ill and the windy weather, I was looking forward to getting back on the bike in the second half and registering more miles than I did in May, but things conspired against me.

Firstly, my webhost sent emails telling me to back up my 3 of my 4 websites hosted with them, so I made sure I had everything saved on my Windows ME desktop, their server crashed later that day and my 3 sites went down, but that was ok because I had all the site files saved on my computer, no problem there then, except that the computer I saved them all on decided to bite the dust the following day as well :evil:, I then had to visit each page of my sites individually using my laptop and save everything yet again, all sites are working again, I then had to get back in to many of the sites I am registered with where I couldn't remember the passwords, I used the "forgot password" function on a lot of sites, but then, I have about 40 email accounts and I have to go through them to find which one I used to register at each site, what a nightmare.

Although I have a new Vista laptop, I don't like using it because using the mouse pad does my head in, it's too slow to use, so I decided to try something else, my mum gave me an old, but hardly used since new, Windows 98 desktop recently, but it was only 64MB RAM and was not sufficient to run my BT Broadband on, as that requires a minimum of 128MB RAM and Windows 98SE , not thinking it would work, I took 2 of the memory sticks out the now broken Windows ME machine and stuck them in the 98 machine, at first, it gave me a horrible lime green screen with wobbly lines on it, but after swapping the 3 memory sticks to different slots several times, it finally worked, booted up normally and showed 256MB RAM on this machine.

Then all I needed to do was install Windows 98SE so I could get it online, I have an 98SE disk, except the computer was telling me it was Windows 98 and not 98SE :?, so, I decided to throw in my old Ubuntu Linux CD that I got about 4 years ago, only problem was, because the installation CD was so old, everything on it was outdated, including Firefox, which was version 1.0, so, I ended up downloading the latest version of Ubuntu on my laptop and managed to burn do tisk and install that, now I'm on Linux, can't say I like it much, but it will do for browsing, anything serious needs doing and I'll have to use the laptop, which should also be easier as I decided to buy a wireless keyboard and mouse for it yesterday, happy days , anyway, due to all that messing about, I missed a load more riding days towards the end of the month.

Now, July 1st today, all my computer problems are hopefully behind me and I am going to try and make up the miles I missed out on last month, I took it pretty easy today as I don't want to be aching tomorrow, like I was after having the previous 7 days off, where I felt like I had never ridden before and all cramped up, log for today:

June 26th to June 30th, No riding due to computer disasters

Jul 1st

Top speed 27.9 mph (cycle path & steep road)
Avg speed = 13.1 mph
Distance = 31.65 miles
Time 02:24:36

Pulse before ride = 64 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 116 bpm's 6:59pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 96 bpm's 7:09pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 90 bpm's 7:19pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 84 bpm's 7:59pm

Total miles ridden = 1174.43

stumpyjon

There's always something to get in the way of riding. Sometimes you just need to put the riding back to the top of the priority list for a couple of hours. We had our second child 6 weeks ago and it has cramped my riding a bit but I've forced myself out and feel better for it.

I'm also very lucky as my missus has been very encouraging and has even given me a boot up the backside to get me out on a couple of occaisions (read into that what you will). I know it sounds a bit cliched but I think I do genuinely get rid of some of the mental stress after riding for an hour or so.

And as you've no doubt already realised, the longer you leave it between rides the harder physically and mentally it is to get going again. Weirdly if I ride every couple of days I miss it on the days when I'm not riding. Leave it for more than 2 weeks and the desire to get out and ride seems to lessen :shock: .

Old Dude

Hey Old Git

Can't help you with most of your pc problems - but this forgotten password business? Try something like KeePass. It's a great password manager - encrypted, open source, free, also saves notes, urls, etc. (No I'm not on commision).

Old Git On A Bike

Hi Stumpy, yep, something always gets in the way, I miss it when I'm not out riding, I know what you mean about the mental stress, nothing better for it that a nice long ride, I'm a lot more angry when I have not been out,

@ Old Dude, yeah, I have seen stuff like those password keepers before, but I never trust stuff like that, all the sites I needed to get back in to are now sorted, passwords reset and I have mailed all the sites, usernames and passwords to a couple of my main email accounts just in case anything happens to the computer again.

It was pretty much black clouds all day and rained several times on and off, but at around 6:30pm it brightened up and the sun came out, a little too late in the day for doing a long run, so I kept it short with a run to the Star Inn pub which is on the quiet back road to Pevensey, then home again, I'll go out again in about an hour and do 10 miles or so along the sea front or to the end of Bexhill seafront and back, log for this evening:

Jul 2nd

Top speed 31.9 mph (cycle path hill)
Avg speed = 14.4 mph
Distance = 17.59 miles
Time 01:13:02

Pulse before ride = 70 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 102 bpm's 8:20pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 92 bpm's 8:30pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 84 bpm's 8:40pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 78 bpm's 9:20pm

Total miles ridden = 1192.02

Old Git On A Bike

Not long in from my night ride, I pushed hard all the way, out of the saddle sprinting a fair bit, resulting in my highest average speed so far, I think the previous best before this was 15mph, or was it 14.9mph, I'm glad I went back out again tonight, I could just as easily have sat on my backside, but I wanted to make the most of the weather as it's forecast rain all week and very windy towards the weekend, with winds possibly up to around 25mph if the forecast is correct, log for tonight:

Jul 2nd (2nd ride of the day)

Top speed 22.0 mph (flat cycle path)
Avg speed = 15.4 mph (personal best average speed)
Distance = 10.32 miles
Time 39:58:0

Pulse before ride = 74 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 108 bpm's 11:04pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 90 bpm's 11:14pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 82 bpm's 11:24pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 78 bpm's 12:04am

Total miles ridden today = 27.91
Total miles ridden = 1202.34

bigdavep

Just finished reading this entire thread. My hat goes off to you OGOAB..

My first bike in 15years should be ready to pick up at some point later on today. Really looking forward to getting back into riding. Dicided to get one because like you I find myself spending countless hours sat infront of the pc.

At this mornings weigh in i was 15st 10. Hoping to get back down to 13st 7 ish.

Keep posting here I really enjoyed reading it and will be checking back......


Edit.....Just picked the bike up now..Really happy so far..


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Old Git On A Bike

@ Big DaveP, good to hear you are taking up biking again, nice looking bike you have there, make sure it gets plenty of use, we don't want to see it gathering dust in the back of the shed . Take your time, don't try to do to much to quicky after so many years of not riding, if there is one thing I would suggest, that is, get yourself a pair of padded cycling shorts, they made a world of difference to me, really lessened the rear end pain.

Good luck with losing the weight, mine seems to have stalled for the time being and hovers between 12 stone - 2lbs and 12 stone - 7lbs, probably due to missing a fair bit of riding last month, as long as you burn more calories than you consume, it will drop off you, let us know how you get on.

Just in from my night ride, it's pretty blowy out there, and my lungs were at boiling point fairly quickly, as they always are when I face the dreaded wind, I even had to stop once each time on my way back in to the wind along the seafront, just a quick 30 second rest to give them a breather, they felt fine after that, it always takes a little time to get them going as I sit here at the computer all day and don't do any warm up before going out, I get up, get my cycling clothes on and go out the door, log for tonight:

Jul 3rd

Top speed 22.0 mph (flat cycle path)
Avg speed = 14.5 mph
Distance = 10.29 miles
Time 42:28:7

Pulse before ride = 72 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 106 bpm's 11:12pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 86 bpm's 11:22pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 76 bpm's 11:32pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 76 bpm's 12:12am

Total miles ridden = 1212.63

bigdavep

Just been out this morning for the first proper ride. I'm not sure exactly how far I went (bike computer should be here today or tomorrow) but I would guess about 3 1/2 miles. Did it with 2 stops in around 35 minutes. Did better than I thought as theres lots of uphill. When the computer is fitted then I'll be able to track my progress much better.

Lungs didn't feel too bad, maybe cause luckily I've never smoked (lager is my vice) but my legs were shot. Most important thing is I enjoyed it and feel much better about myself for getting off my arse and making a start.

Look forward to your next log, keep it up..

Old Git On A Bike

Nice one Dave, that sounds a lot like my first ride back in February, it nearly killed me

I planned on doing a longer ride today, got ready, picked the bike up to go down the stairs and one of the damn bottle cages snapped off :evil:, it was one of those cheap Lidl or Aldi ones, so, that's the long ride cancelled as one bottle of water isn't enough, I'll get a replacement from Halfords tomorrow.

Anyway, I decide to go to Pevensey instead, now, it's been bright and sunny all day long, no sign of rain, not a drop, the wind is behind me and I'm going a nice pace, I get to the 7 mile point and feel slight heavy rain drops coming down, typical, I press on to the 9 mile point and the rain is getting heavier, sky looks horrible, I can't be bothered getting caught in in anything torrential and turn back in to the wind, rain in my eyes, stinging from the sweat running down my face, I get to within about 100 yards of my flat and the rain stops, don't you just love the weather, always perfect timing :roll:, might pop out later tonight for another 10 miles, log for today:

Jul 4th

Top speed 24.2 mph (flat cycle path)
Avg speed = 14.6 mph
Distance = 18.01 miles
Time 01:13:56

Pulse before ride = 66 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 98 bpm's 7:37pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 82 bpm's 7:47pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 80 bpm's 7:57pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 74 bpm's 8:37pm

Total miles ridden = 1230.64

lesz42

Hey! inspired reading OGOAB!


just in the past 2 week, got a Scott aspect 45 ( nice bike) , and on tuesday, did a 17 mile ride, canal path, from chirk to llangollen ( really nice sunny day!)

was great!, apart from being saddle sore, was ok the next day, felt SO much better for it!

i am 14 stone at the mo, and need to be at around 13 or so, with all the peeps on here, and you, OGOAB, i know i can do it!

regards

les
!

Old Git On A Bike

Hi Lesz42, welcome to the forum mate, it always good to see another person taking up biking again, just make it a regular habit, not that you'll want to stop now your back on a bike, it's so bloody addictive You are in the right place for advice, the members on here are great and know just about everything there is to know about bikes.

Not long in from my night ride, that was a proper struggle, the wind is a lot worse than it was for the earlier ride, although the average speed is similar to earlier, that's because I had to push like hell just to keep up to around 12mph in to the wind, really hard work, I'd had enough at 5 miles and wanted to come in, but I gave myself a kick and kept on for the usual distance, I was glad when it was done, tomorrow might be a rest day, as I have ridden 98.17 miles over the last 4 days, log for tonight.

Jul 4th (2nd ride of the day)

Top speed 24.1 mph (flat cycle path)
Avg speed = 14.4 mph
Distance = 10.31 miles
Time 42:53:3

Pulse before ride = 76 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 108 bpm's 11:08pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 92 bpm's 11:18pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 82 bpm's 11:28pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 76 bpm's 12:08am

Total miles ridden today = 28.32
Total miles ridden = 1240.95

lesz42

no stopping now!

do all my long rides on my days off, as i live only 7 min walk from work! )


les

Old Git On A Bike

I was going to have a rest day today, but I went out anyway, it was supposed to be windier than it was, but not as bad as the next 2 days are forecast to be with winds up to 30mph, the wind was coming in of the sea virtually side on today, so it wasn't to bad, I took a short leisurely ride in the late afternoon/early evening as I wanted to take some photos, I didn't bother taking my pulse for that ride, I went out again tonight, rode over to Bexhill and back, tomorrow will be the rest day, possibly the day after as well, depending on weather conditions, logs for earlier and tonight:

Jul 5th

Top speed 19.1 mph (flat cycle path)
Avg speed = 11.5 mph
Distance = 6.90 miles
Time 35:50:9

---

Jul 5th (2nd ride of the day)

Top speed 30.5 mph (cycle path hill)
Avg speed = 13.8 mph
Distance = 12.02 miles
Time 52:09:8

Pulse before ride = 70 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 98 bpm's 10:55pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 80 bpm's 11:05pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 76 bpm's 11:15pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 76 bpm's 11:55pm

Total miles ridden today = 18.92
Total miles ridden = 1259.87

Scorpion

Hi OGOAB, just been reading your first couple of pages and intend to work my way through all the posts, boy is there some interesting and helpful reading on this thread.

I've just started out myself and after the first ride today I felt quite ill. I'm now recovering in front of the PC and reading your posts have helped me come to terms with how I should train. I definitely want to continue, if only to prove my wife wrong with her, "It's just another fad you won't last two weeks', jibe!

Thanks for some great reading, long may it continue.

Old Git On A Bike

Hi Scorpion, welcome to the forum, mate, nice to see yet another person getting back in to riding, if you're feeling ill during or after a ride, either you're trying to do too much too soon, or you are not eating correctly, make sure you are getting your carbs during the ride, I always take in a fair bit of carbs before a ride, along with a banana or 2, and take something like fig rolls, penguin biscuit and a banana out with me, keeps me ticking over, and make sure you have got plenty of water, you should be drinking at least 1 litre per hour of your ride, let us know how you progress.

I also got that "this is just a fad" thing from family, it wont last blah blah blah, prove your wife wrong, if she is so sure you will quit, have a little bet with her, something like, in 6 months, if you have stuck with it, you can get a better bike, if you quit, she can buy a new hat

I was hoping there were only going to be a couple of days of bad weather, but nothing ever goes as planned, the 6th, 7th and 8th were like gale force winds, 30mph+ and gusts recorded at nearly 50mph, then on the 9th it poured down for most of the day, it's pretty soul destroying when you start the month well, get a good few rides in and then the damn weather gets in the way, I feel I'm making progress and then get knocked back backwards again, anyway, managed to get out for a bit tonight, it's still a bit blowy out there, but a lot better than it has been, tomorrow is forcast 22mph winds, but after that the wind is dropping, the weekend looks good, lets see if it holds true, log for tonight:

Jul 6th to Jul 9th: No riding, gale force winds and rain

Jul 10th

Top speed 26.0 mph (flat cycle path)
Avg speed = 14.1 mph
Distance = 12.61 miles
Time 53:34:2

Pulse before ride = 66 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 102 bpm's 11:11pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 88 bpm's 11:21pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 80 bpm's 11:31pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 76 bpm's 12:11am

Total miles ridden = 1272.48

Old Git On A Bike

I had a lousy night on the 10th, didn't get to bed until after 3:30am, then my heart kept missing beats while I was trying to get to sleep, and after dropping off, it missed beats whilst sleeping causing me to wake up again numerous times, resulting in virtually no sleep at all, so I was too tired to go out at all yesterday, last night wasn't much better, late night again and had about 3 and a 1/2 hours sleep, wanted to go out today as it was nice weather, but I was completely lifeless, no energy whatsoever, I even started to fall asleep at the computer today, and that's unheard of for me, I had to have an hours kip in the afternoon, felt a bit better tonight and had a ride, I'll definitely be getting an early night tonight and doing a longish ride tomorrow, log for tonight:

Jul 11th: No riding, tired from lack of sleep

Jul 12th

Top speed 29.1 mph (cycle path hill)
Avg speed = 14.4 mph
Distance = 15.58 miles
Time 01:04:51

Pulse before ride = 64 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 100 bpm's 11:12pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 88 bpm's 11:22pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 82 bpm's 11:32pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 74 bpm's 12:12am

Total miles ridden = 1288.06

Scorpion

Thanks for the welcome mate, sorry to hear you've been a bit off for a couple of days. I very much doubt if I will be getting another bike in 6 months as I am extremely pleased with the one I just bought. Did my homework, tried it out first and it seems like I made the correct choice.

Thouroughly enjoyed my ride today and quite please with the results of my second outing.

Top speed 17mph (woohoo!) :roll:
Av speed 9mph
Distance travelled 10.4 miles.

I will continue to read your posts with great interest.

Old Git On A Bike

Hi Scorpion, glad you like the feel of your new bike, where are you doing your riding, got some good routes around your way?


I had a ride this afternoon, the forecast was for low winds, but the headwind was actually pretty bad along the coast and I struggled to start with.

I went over to Pevensey, then headed along the main road towards Bexhill, I decided to turn off towards a place called Hooe, there are some lovely back roads and quaint houses around there, I passed a gaited driveway, with a nice property at the end of a very long lawn which caught my eye, when I say the lawn was long, it was probably getting on for the length of a couple of football pitches, well nearly, with a drive leading up to the house next to it, I liked the look of it, the eye was drawn towards the house, so I decided to take a photo of it, I could see a couple of people in front of the house, and they were looking my way, I was trying to get the settings right on the camera, as the shots were coming out over exposed or under exposed, suddenly, the electric gates started to open, and from the left of the gate, an Australian man appeared and asked what I was doing, he must have come all the way up to me under cover of the bushes to surprise me lol, at least I think he was an Australian, either that, or a New Zealander with a dodgy accent

I said, it's ok, I'm just taking a photo of the house, he said it seemed a bit unusual, I said, well, it's a nice view leading to the house, he agreed. If I see something I like when I'm out, I take a photo of it, simple as that, I think he thought I was up to no good, maybe he thought I was doing a reccy and am part of a gang that robs nice houses, I gave him the url for my website where I log my rides, to show him I take some photos whilst out on some of my rides, and he wrote the website address down, so he might read this, he seemed ok about it in the end, he even said, nice bike, at that point, I knew he had no taste in bikes

Anyway, I managed to get a bit over 30 miles in today, wanted to do more, but I still haven't got round to getting a second replacement bottle for the bike, which I should have done by now, so I only had about a litre of drink out with me, which wasn't really enough, I did plan to take some money to buy some mineral water from the garage, but we had relatives around today and I forgot my money in my rush to get out, I will go out an do another another 15 miles tonight, probably, log for today:

Jul 13th

Top speed 30.5 mph (cycle path hill)
Avg speed = 14.3 mph
Distance = 31.22 miles
Time 02:10:46

Pulse before ride = 62 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 116 bpm's 6:24pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 88 bpm's 6:34pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 84 bpm's 6:44pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 84 bpm's 7:24pm

Total miles ridden = 1319.28

Old Git On A Bike

Just in from my night ride, it's great riding weather tonight, only the lightest of breezes, I did a loop through Bexhill to Coombe Beach train station, back round again to Bexhill and then home, log for tonight:

Jul 13th (2nd ride of the day)

Top speed 25.0 mph (cycle path hill)
Avg speed = 14.3 mph
Distance = 15.40 miles
Time 01:04:36

Pulse before ride = 82 bpm's
Pulse after ride = 96 bpm's 11:13pm
Pulse 10 minutes later = 86 bpm's 11:23pm
Pulse 20 minutes later = 78 bpm's 11:33pm
Pulse 60 minutes later = 78 bpm's 12:13am

Total miles ridden today = 46.62
Total miles ridden = 1334.68

Scorpion

Yeah, we actually do have some very good routes, a mix of countryside and coast. Nice to see plenty of dedicated cycle routes are now becoming increasingly popular.

I'm riding purely for enjoyment and as way to keep fit. If I see something I like on route I stop and take a gander. I drove support vehicle for some friends when they did the Coast To Coast ride up here, Whitehaven to Tynemouth and the next year they did the Castles And Coast ride, Edinburgh to Tynemouth.

They were absolutey shattered after the second one and they didn't seem as if they enjoyed it as it was a hard 3 day slog. That's not what I'm looking for, I'm in no hurry to get anywhere, just the fun of being out on the bike.