No longer a cyclist?

As I mentioned in my previous post I was desperate to get back on track with my cycling. After failing my target so many times, I have simply lost my motivation and I desperately want it back.

Anyway after Saturdays disastrous ride with my Mum, I knew I was a long way off target, so Sunday would be a challenge. I had 22.5 miles to do!

On Sunday we awoke to find very grim weather; it was wet and miserable with a hell of a wind. This would be tough.

Becoming a roadie. Pt II.

Last weekend saw a couple of exciting first times for me, making my transformation into roadie a little more closer.

To start with we finally fitted some proper road tyres (skinny 23's) on "The Padster". Eek! I've not ridden on road tyres since my sparkly pink racer in 1988. I was nervous! Unfortunately, the first ride with them was on a very wet May Day Bank Holiday. Argh! It was a tad scary. I've never been overly confident on tight corners but on the skinnys and in heavy rain I was petrified. Somehow and very cautiously, I made it round every corner safely and by the end of the ride (which despite being a bank holiday, was only a mere 12.5miles due to the now torrential rain and gale force winds) I was more confident and happy.... Blimey, if I could ride on skinny tyres in those conditions anything else would be a doddle. ;-) The next few rides were much easier. =D

I also made another debut by riding without my shorts. Oo-er-missus! Baggy shorts that is. ;-) After reading all your comments on the last post I decided I should finally ditch my "baggies" and bravely go without and subject the world to my lycra'd behind. ;-) Amazingly, it didn't take long to get over my self-consciousness and I soon forgot. The only real downside was the lack of pockets for my essentials, ie, inhaler and mobile. (My saddle pack is full of tools and a spare tube and some of my jerseys only have one pocket) Ah well, I am sure I will find a way around it.

On a non-roadie-related note, I also had another first, when I bravely bought my first expensive e-bay purchase! A spangley new pair of Oakleys! Some Radars. What could possibly go wrong? The seller had good feedback, there were loads of photo's of the sunglasses, they looked authentic. I won the auction for just under £100. Yippee. I've been desperate for some decent sunglasses for ages. They arrived 2 days later. I quickly unpacked the box. Dammit! They were counterfeit! Someone had gone to a lot of effort to make them look authentic and the seller was adament they weren't fake. Anyway, now I have to send them back before they will give me a refund, so I don't have the time or money to get a replacement pair before our holiday. Grr... That will be the first and last BIG purchase I make from e-bay!

Anyway, it's not long until our French holiday and I'm getting excited. I've got my fingers crossed for good weather.... but to be honest as long as the wind isn't as bad as here, I will be happy. I'm also hoping for flatter terrain... but surely anything is going to be flatter than the undulating roads of the Cornish Coast.

Becoming a roadie.

Eek! It wasn't that long since I used to laugh at the mere thought of me on a road bike.  Back then, (early 2010) the thought of riding a bike with drop bars and skinny tires seemed so alien to me.  I had ridden MTB's since my teenage years. 

Gary the snail (enjoying some mud)

However, for those that have been reading my blog from the start you will know that since my re-found love for cycling, I quickly outgrew my hybrid and needed a speedier and lighter bike than my MTB to keep me pedalling.  So along came "Super Ted" - a cylocross bike.  A bike that would be able to withstand rides down the rough coast path and bridleways as well as being good on the roads.  Amazingly, despite my anticipation about curly bars, etc, I took to him like a duck to water and soon saw all the advantages to a lighter nippier bike.  Awww Ted, he's such a dream to ride and just what I needed to help my cycling progress.

Than along came "Paddy".  It was intended that he would be my winter hack bike, something to protect my beloved Ted from the harsh winter along the coast path and something that could take mudguards to protect me from the mud.

However, with the arrival of summer, Paddy is evolving into a "proper" road bike.  The metamorphosis into "The Padster" began when I decided that he would be the bike of choice for our French adventure (Mikey is taking his Cervelo so I thought it would look less odd, than taking my CX bike). So as it's not long now, his mudguards are off and this weekend he will be having a change of tyres, into some slicker and skinnier ones.

It's not just the bike that is going through a transformation though, as I have also noticed a change in myself. Most significantly, the main change is that now when we go on an off-road ride on the MTB's I really struggle to find my Mojo and find myself looking forward to getting off the single track at the places where we have to cross roads to the next bridle path. Don't get me wrong I still love the thrills of riding the tech-"ier" stuff and enjoy the rides but not quite as much as I used to.

The other change is a little more subtle. Back in the day I cringed at the thought of wearing tight cycling clothing - opting for baggy tee's, but in the last few months I have been wearing cycling jerseys and in preparation for our first cycling holiday I have been getting myself set up with a few new bits and bobs - some white road gloves and a spangly white jersey. LOL. All I need now is a pair of white roadie shoes. .... Shh... don't laugh, I'm serious. 

.... In order to complete my transformation into a true "roadie" though, I still need to ditch the baggy shorts.

A few longer rides.

Not really much to blog about, but thought I should write something to let you know that I am still alive and most definitely still riding. (After the poor start - mileage wise - to April due to D.I.Y commitments I have made up some of the missing miles.)

I have also enjoyed a number of long anticipated longer rides. Last Sunday we did a local 22 mile ride. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary happened; just the usual run-ins with ignorant car drivers. However, there was a very amusing moment when we passed a horse (and rider) on a descent and then on the long draggy hill back out, the horse started to canter and caught up with us, pushing me to climb at over 10mph, when I usually bearly manage to maintain 7mph near the top. Why didn't I let it pass? Pfft... I don't like being overtaken. ;-)

Today we also did a 20+ mile ride, this time going further afield and to see Fraddam to see some Alpacas and then adventuring onto some lovely smooth roads that I have never ridden on around Praze-an-Beeble (No, I'm not making up these place names). Despite a hellish wind and being desperate for a pee for over half of the journey, it was still pretty enjoyable and I am glad to say that, suprisingly, my legs haven't been struggling too much by these longer rides.

Pic from the Fraddam Alpacas site - as my phone camera's zoom isn't that good.

Other than that, things have been pretty much the same, there have been a few journeys into Penzance to meet Michael after work. (Although this won't continue for much longer though, as the onslaught from tourists is taking the enjoyment out of the coast path.)

The only change that I can think of in the last few weeks is that Paddy's mudguards finally came off at the beginning of this week! Sadly after one ride without them, they needed to be put back on for the next ride.  Since then, the recent lovely weather has tempted me to take them back off again, but I think I may just stick to my original plan and wait until the trip to France in May.

Anyway, I hope that everyone is having a lovely Easter weekend and making the most of the glorious weather.