I shoulda known that the success of last month couldn't continue when the month started off so badly. On the 1st September my luck started to fail when I got my first EVER puncture! This wouldn't have been so bad if I had been out with a good "boy scout"! Who woulda thought that a keen cyclist such as Mullerton, would go on a bike ride without being prepared and taking some essential bike repairing kit? Oh OK, I'll give him some credit - he had most of what you'd expect - tyre levers, a spare inner tube and a puncture repair kit ... but hmm... what is the point if you don't have a freakin' pump!?!
LOL! Thankfully, we were only 2miles from home, so off he rode, leaving me stranded on a grass verge on a lonely country lane! Woulda been simpler if he had left me with the tyre levers, etc, but he didn't so I ended up using a few branches to help me remove the tire - good old mother nature helping out a damsel in distress! ... 'Tis a good job she did too - as none of the men in any of the cars/tractors that whizzed/rumbled by did. Pfft!
Anyway, 5 mins later Mullerton was back and we were soon back on our merry way... but I shoulda known that this turn in my luck was a sure sign of things to come.
Unfortunatly, during the first week of September I started to get saddle sore - despite my gel pad shorts and women's specific gel seat - and after a week off serious discomfort on my bike this tenderness mutated into the BIGGEST abscess I ever did see. But that's enough of that... I'm sure you don't want the details, but let me tell you it was sore! OUCH!
Thankfully, after a week off my bike the pain was subsiding and it was starting to heal... but as I didn't want it to flare up again, I decided it was probably best to let it fully heal before I got back on my bicycle.
So that was that, 2 weeks off my bike! Oh my! How bored and frustrated was I? I had got the "bike bug" back and I was itching to go.
Obviously, this has left me well and truly off my original target, 2 weeks cycling equates to 50+miles.
Thankfully, this week I have gotten back onto my saddle. I know I wont make my target but I can but try!
As Gary the Cindercone hasn't been out for a while I decided Wednesday was his turn... which was probably a bad move - I'd forgotten how to ride off-road and I had definitely forgotten how to ride a bike with suspension.
(Gary - Kona CinderCone)
It was like I had never ridden before. From the outset I felt like a fraud... I felt like I should have had a red "L" plate stuck to my back - I was a wobbling mess! It probably didn't help matters that the initial bit of the ride was a quite tricky bit of singletrack, which I have never found easy at the best of times. Unfortunately, my already unstable riding ability was worsened by all the fallen leaves disguising the potholes, jutty tree roots and big rocks... but my god, if I had to put my foot down once I had to do it at least ten times. I even managed to hit myself where it really hurts (but I imagine if I was a boy it would have hurt much more) when I hit a huge hidden rock and my bike stopped dead but my momentum carried me forward! Ouch!!
Ah well, by the end of the ride I had found my Mojo again and it was like me and wee "Gazza" had never been apart! We weren't as fast as we had been at the beginning of the month - but I wasn't expecting miracles after 2weeks of no exercise and a terribly sweet tooth!
Anyway, I'm off out for a pootle around with my Mum in a bit - just to get some mileage in, but for those who know my Mum, you will probably know that what starts out as a leisurely activity will probably end in choas!
I'll keep you posted!
*Edit* Phewph.... by the end of the month I had made some headway towards meeting my target and managed to do a 63.50miles! Which is good, considering I had a full two weeks off!
