Less than a week to go!

Though if you could see me at this moment you would never believe that this time next week I should be cycling 62miles up and down those Cornish hills. I am full of cold, sniffling, snuffling with an ominously sore chest. John is even threatening to make me take anti-biotics. And y'all know how much I love THOSE things! I left Essex yesterday as I was being of no use to anyone and couldn't visit Doug in hospital because of the risk of spreading germs. Still there is plenty to do here as it's only 4 days until John and I head down in the campervan towards Lands End. So I am making lists of my lists of things to do.
I did manage a couple of smallish rides in Essex as John so thoughtfully brought my bike to me. And I have to say, contrary to the popular notion, Essex is not flat. Not at all at all. Not when on a bike, that's for sure. Lots of undulations to take into account. But it was nice to cycle around an area that isn't Sussex and one familiar to me from my childhood.
Anyways, that's about all to report. I must go and get some things done before I have to take another rest.
Oh,, except if you still would like to sponsor me online go to www.justgiving.com/le-jog-blog  I have sponsorship forms here if you'd rather do it that way. So call me on 01403 738073.
Thankyou!

Messy tapering!

It's Sunday now and I am back in Essex. Tapering has been a hit and miss affair so far! I got back from Essex on Thurs, picked my bike up from it's service and John and I cycled for 2hrs on Friday. John's bike was in the workshop so, bless him, he came out on his mountain bike! I did try and persuade him to stay at home but there is no stopping him once he makes his mind up. The saddle was set a bit too low for him after our trip on the Downs Link a few weeks back. So he ended up with sore quads! Yesterday was Saturday and I went out for a recovery ride of an hour. Got rained on a bit but my new jacket is wonderfully waterproof. Left with an incredibly aching back and I suspect the cycle shop did not put my saddle back in the same place. So we will have to try and adjust it next time we're out. And I am dosed up with heavy painkillers....which kind of goes against my beliefs and training but, hey, I have 1000miles to cycle in less than a fortnight! Got to do something.
Came back to Essex as brother-in-law not so well. So do send lots of happy thoughts and love his way, would you? Thanks, it really does help.
Beth seems to be having a lovely time in the Californian sunshine riding retro bikes..no doubt to background music by the Beach Boys! I expect she is not missing our fine English drizzle one tiny iota!

'It's all downhill from here!'

And that just about sums up the whole training experience for me! We HAVE actually finished our big, peak training rides. From now on (for me) its all about tapering, smaller rides, same speeds. Obvioulsy, if your name is Beth, its all about  enjoying the long haul flight and chillin' with the relatives in California on a well -deserved break. Anyway we did it! Well, the training anyhow.
Sunday morning saw me really not wanting to get out of bed. Luckily, Deirdre had offered to have Finn (again) so neither of us had to walk the hound. And we'd left our bikes in Maplehurst so we didn't have to worry about prepping them. So it was - tip out of bed, get breakfast, get in the car and get to Maplehurst. Where we all compared sore spots from yesterday and set off on exactly the same route as yesterday. Ground Hog Day! OOOOOOO! Sore quads.....
Never mind! An hour or so into the ride and endorphin time! We managed a very civilised stop for coffee at Cafe Rouge:

and then pedalled onwards and upwards to Steyning for lunch. Cheesy chips with bacon were choice of the day for some of us! It's actually hard to know what to eat at lunchtime. I am finding that whatever I have makes me feel bloated and lethargic for quite a way afterwards. And unfortunately we had 3 largish hills to get over before we reached Storrington. We were seriously cut up by some stupid driver who nearly caused a major accident which could have involved taking all of us out and the oncoming car. Missed the whole scenario by a whisker but got plenty of verbal feedback from the five of us. Added to the earlier run-in Alex had in Ditchling with another inconsiderate car driver and it seems all the idiots were out sunday driving today!  There followed a rather slow climb up Mushroom Hill. Except for Alex who was under the impression we were racing to Adversane! He won! I got very depleted towards the final mile or two and John assisted me at one point by cycling next to me and pushing me! But eventually we did make it to the Bax Castle pub near Southwater and stopped for a quick drink before heading home for well earned showers.

Phew! Over 300m in a week! That's almost a third of our eventual trip! Wow!!!

Soggy tales

I am writing this very soon after finishing todays ride for once. Actually I am so tired and comfortable I can't bring myself to do much else other than cosy up on the sofa with a cuppa and my laptop.
Todays' adventure started at the White Horse with all five of us for the first time in many months. Trusty came up to join us, reporting that the weather down on the coast was very wet. We were all prepared with waterproofs and over shoes etc. in case it headed in our direction. We headed off at a good pace over into East Sussex and even Kent at one point. Beth had to re-inflate her front slow puncture then a short while later got a puncture on the other tyre! Then a few miles on that tyre went down again. Captain Trusty took some flak regarding this as he had sorted out the original puncture using a different method to how John does it. So when it went down again he was an easy target really for some ribbing. Never mind, we don't mean it really! Had a gorgeous ride over the heath to Hartfield reminding me of the walks we used to take there in my acupuncture college days. Revising point location on the heath!
We stopped for lunch well after the halfway point of our ride because there was a big hill we needed to get over first before we felt we deserved any! We stopped at a place in Maresfield which had a very eccentric lunchtime menu but all managed to find something to re-fuel on. Beth was celebrating her wedding anniversary so had a pint and a half of real ale and proceeded to get very giddy! Actually we think she is de-mob happy as she is off to California on Wed for two weeks. Lucky lucky gal!
We had been very lucky with no rain up until this point. But we paid for it over the next two hours. It just lashed. And we were on the A272 to Haywards Heath which is an interminable road even in a car! On a bike in the pouring rain it defies description. Any attempt at team riding went out the window with Alex and John disappearing ahead, Beth tootling along in middle and Trusty keeping me company at the back.Man, was it wet!
Just outside Cowfold we passed John talking to an older cyclist on the side of the road and when John caught up with us he related that the man had got caught in the rain and was desperately cold and 20 miles from home. So when we got back to the car John and I drove back and picked the poor man up, put his bike in the boot and drove him home - wrapped in a space blanket and with the heater on full blast. I do hope he has made a full recovery by now - not a great day to be stuck out on one's own.
So now we are home. Hot showers were the order of the day and resting up to do it all again tommoro! We covered about 60m in 5 and a half hours riding time. Well over 12mph which is great given the big hill and rain. Last big ride of our training schedule tommoro. Yippppeeeeeeee!

Peak patience

So following our mammoth rides I managed an hours recovery ride the next day and am even seeing the benefit in doing them. It does loosen the legs for the next proper ride...
Wish they could loosen my crunchy left hip! It has been a bit noisy since our big rides and gave me discomfort out on our two and a half hours today. Just John and I out today as Beth did her own ride and Alex was out with his personal trainer Eric. I have decided that having an Ironman as a coach is not necessarily a good thing. Or it is, depending on how you look at it. Because unless I have actually got a broken leg or a severe concussion there are no excuses! John has probably been through more pain and still made it to the finish line than I will ever put myself through. So, no sympathy when I whinge. Not even an acknowledgement most of the time! Just an 'isn't it a lovely day?' from him is all I can expect!
So my hip and sciatic pain made it round 26 miles or so of beautiful Sussex countryside! Leaving one day to recover before we do another64m back to backs. That, I believe, completes our big training and leaves only the taper to go. And Beth is off for a lovely break in California before we head off on our adventure.

Befuddled of West Sussex!

Hi there and welcome to confusedcyclist.com! I am aware of the fact that I am miles behind with my blogging. Not that anyone would care, except me! But I cannot remember all the rides. I just checked over at Beth's blog hoping for a reminder but I think she is as addled as I am at this stage! And with good reason...its been a hard week's cycling!!!  
So I think we went out last Saturday after 2 days rest. I only remember this because Agent Alex went off afterwards and umpired for about 24hrs in the rain, caught a chill and didn't make the next couple of long rides with the team. We cycled the hilly Cuckfield route and I got a puncture at some point. John kindly changed the tube for me (where would I be without him?) only to find the valve was faulty and had to change it again! That is one patient man... Anyway, it was a great ride and amazing how we can go out for 28miles or so nowadays and consider it a short ride! Oh, oh, I just remembered! John and I left the guys and went our own way back to Southwater via Kerves Lane. I got to redeem myself up Bourne Hill. That's the one I pushed my bike up months ago. This time I actually rode it. But it was a close thing! Then when we got to the top someone stopped John because they thought we'd dropped something. So John only cycled back down the hill again! We hadn't but hey, he needed the exercise...

John has been really busy booking accomodation for us all for the trip. We were going to leave it and call in on spec. But when John tried to get rooms for us in Penzance and found it so difficult then we thought it'd be best to pre-plan abit. So that has kept him out of mischief when he's not re-cycling hills of course.

Sunday was a recovery ride of an hour just to get the legs loosened. Then Monday it was full steam ahead for our first big ride of the back to backs. I met Beth down at the Bar and we tootled off to Storrington where John caught up with us and put a stop to any tootling. We got hoisted off at a pace and met up with Simon somewhere in Surrey called Ockley. We had a leisurely lunch at the Old Schoolhouse (very nice, fish restaurant). A bit too leisurely actually because I found it really difficult to get going again. The afternoon leg was slow and much hillier. However it ended up with a congratulatory thick shake at McDonalds and 64m under our belts. Beth, somehow, managed 67. I am still not sure how but hey, she doesn't get enough exercise so probably needed it!!! (Joking!).

And oh my goodness, we did it all again on Tuesday. But the other way around. So we got to do the hilly bit first. Beth and I set off on our own again with half an hours head start on John. He caught us and we had a lovely ride in the pouring rain for a while. My waterproof proved not to be, but at least I know now. Tired legs soon warmed up a bit. We had lunch in a different pub in Ockley but shakes at the same Mc D's! 64m again and, yes, the legs knew it!
We were on a bit of a high for the rest of the day and gave Alex a hard ish time in the pub that night for being precious and not coming out with us. Setting the tone for the actual ride I suspect. Taking prisoners will not be high on the team list I predict!

I want to write some more about a special place we are staying en route but it will have to wait til I have a bit more time.
I do hope anyone reading this is well and would remind you that time is running out to make a donation to my chosen charity!

Now for the hilly bits

So after yesterdays ride the trick was to get on the bikes with tired legs and do some more cycling. As Beth was in sole charge of the pub for the day (Simon off on some dry old business at a pub trade show...can you imagine what hard work that was going to be?) we had to be away early so we met up at 6.30. Yes, folks, that is a.m! I can hardly believe it myself, me , out on a bike at 6.30am. The cycle gods took kindly to us and made the sun shine so it was lovely once the early morning chill had disappeared.
Coach led the way initially and set a nice steady pace. We all knew that Houghton Hill was on our horizon so we were happy to stay behind and let our legs wake up a bit. Took longer for the endorphins to make themselves felt with me today but they did eventually and I have to say, I almost enjoyed Houghton Hill. To zip over the top of the Downs doing 30miles an hour on a bike on a sunny early morning. Wow, in the words of Irene whatever her name was "What a feeling!" And then to zip down Bury hill at 37 miles an hour on a bike......woooooooowheeeeee! Very exciting!
Then it occurred to me where John intended to take us next! We went all around Fittleworth which is also well hilly. Didn't see much of John at this stage - he just loves hills, mad fool. Alex commented that he suspected John was actually doing his own Ironman training today and had just dragged us along for the ride! I had to agree! Anyway we did it. I suffered a bit going home for a while - John thinks my refuelling is not good enough so I will make an effort to drink the sports drink and hydrate too. Refuelled when we got to McD's at Buck Barn. I don't recognise myself at the moment. All that cycling and now eating at McD's regularly when I really don't like them!
So we covered 47m in 4hrs at a slower speed I think. Below 12mph but that's fine considering the hills.
Now we are having a bit of bother booking accommodation for our nights in Cornwall. Seems Cornwall is full in the first week in Sept!

off road, on road, up hills

We had a day off from cycling on Sunday, which was very welcome! Monday is Simon and Beth's day off from the pub and Simon kindly spent an hour of it taking 4 of us plus our mountain bikes to Guildford to find almost the start of the Downs Link. This disused railway track runs from Guildford to Shoreham which is 37miles. We often use the leg of the Link near our homes to walk the dogs, cycle, geocache etc. So I was quite excited to experience a different part of it. The excitement was short lived as the first mile or so was hard going through sand...yes, SAND!  And uphill sand at that! Where did the Sahara come from? Pah! So a bit of getting off and walking ensued. And a bit of musing what we would do if we broke a leg at this late stage from Beth and I. We decided we'd use her holiday insurance and go to Barbados and recover for a month or so. So the prospect of injury didn't seem so bad.
Being on the mountain bike required a whole other set of muscles and generated other sore areas as the morning wore on. But mustn't whinge too much. The weather was lovely and it was a joy to be away from the traffic for once. And very pretty too. There is a train station at Rudgwick which is long since closed but the owners have kept it as it was, complete with flowers on the platform too...really remarkable and showing much dedication on their part.
Had a couple of incidents: one involving Alex falling sideways very elegantly...off road is a whole other balancing game afterall. But we won't mention this in case he gets embarrassed! And then Beth came a cropper with her crossbar when Alex decided to change direction suddenly in front of her without too much warning. See it was all about Alex today! I thought Beth was very contained in the face of pretty unmentionable pain....
Anyway, by the time we got to the Bax Castle pub between Christs Hospital and Southwater we decided enough good time had been had by all. Simon joined us for a leisurely lunch in the garden. Then buoyed up by their baguettes a boy-type challenge was issued by Coach. He (in the tradition of Top Gear) bet Simon he would beat him to Copsale from Southwater - with Simon on road and John off road.  So off they dashed and of course John beat the Galaxy. With those thighs and no traffic lights of course he did! And he was well pleased with himself.
We got back to the White Horse after a pleasant few hours, 24or so miles off-road under our belts and vowing (me anyway) not to go near the mountain bike again for a few years!