10st 3lbs
Unbelievably, I put on another pound last week. Lucy good-naturedly tried to convince me that it was a pound of muscle.
It doesn't feel like muscle.
I'll stick to this 'new' plan of reduced alcohol/junkfood for the next five weeks and see how things balance out. If I'm still not making progress, I'll reduce it further.
Today, I cycled to work and back. I'd spent the entire day at work with a slight hangover from yesterday and my legs felt lifeless. When I got home I simply couldn't face my 10K run.
I made the family and myself a fairly healthy meal of Mexican scrambled eggs (with peppers, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes) with my homemade paprika potato wedges. After that, I played records in the man cave and drank 3 ales...
Tuesday
The torrential rain made me drive to work today. I've ridden to work in the rain many times before, I just didn't fancy it today.
After work, Martha and I went to dojo. There was some fairly intense fighting training tonight. I only got to fight once and I lost. Went home feeling like crap.
No junkfood, no alcohol.
Wednesday
I'm doing an organised bike ride on Saturday so I won't be able to do my Saturday morning 10K. Tonight was the only chance I had of doing it this week (after my failure on Monday) so I skipped circuit training and did a run instead. I'd been at work for 10 hours and hadn't had time for lunch: my 10K was therefore a little slow at 61 minutes and 19 seconds.
No junkfood, no alcohol.
Thursday
The usual whirlwind Thursday - work work work, home for Dungeons and Dragons, drop children home, start lifting at 10pm!
It was a good heavy lift including deadlifts and military presses.
No junkfood, no alcohol.
Friday
After work, I went along for a good Karate kata session and then straight home for homemade beef chilli with cous cous and salad. Bed before midnight, ready for the Pedal of Honour in the morning!
No junkfood, no booze.
Saturday - The Pedal of Honour 2016
I've never ridden the Pedal of Honour before. Jonnie has completed it twice. The ride is organised by Jonnie's mate Dave Salisbury and his good friend Lewis. Dave owns a couple of pubs in the Chilterns. The idea is to ride from one of his pubs to the other via a picturesque 52 mile route raising loads of money for charity on the way!
I was up at 5:30am for tea and toast and then Jonnie called for me at 7. We spent 90 minutes driving on the motorway and A roads and then suddenly we were at the Alford Arms in Frithsden.
"It's not a race!" This message has been drilled in to us via the emails, printed instructions and even at the rider briefing at the start. We were encouraged to take it easy and ride together. The objective was to have fun and raise some money for a good cause - the local hospices.
Decked out in our brand new Pedal of Honour jerseys, Dave, Jonnie and I set off with 60 other riders at 10am. We had been given a free breakfast of bacon sandwiches and coffee (I just had coffee) and the sun was shining. It would have been perfect if not for a goose-pimple inducing cold wind.
 |
| Dave, me, Jonnie at the start in our new fantastic and entirely inappropriate black jerseys. |
Firstly, I must say something about the state of the roads. Jonnie had warned me last Sunday that the roads on the PoH were rather more 'worn' than those in the lanes by where we live.The roads on the PoH were shocking! Huge potholes, cracks the size of shallow ditches, and gravel were everywhere on almost every lane! My shitty descending was made even shittier by the obstacles in the road (actually, the road itself became the obstacle!) There were many times I'd wished I'd brought my mountain bike instead. Maybe this was how those NWAlps chaps felt on their recent Black Country ride?
The first part of the ride was a climb so long and gradual that I hardly noticed. Jonnie and Dave were chatting away so I took the opportunity to move up the line and bit and stretch the legs. I found myself at the top of the Chilterns looking down over some beautiful countryside. And then suddenly, steeply, we were descending!
It wasn't long before Jonnie was back on my wheel shouting at me, "Anthony, you're not even pedalling, you fucker!" as he sped past. Then down, down, down for the next 15 miles or so until we reached our first stop - the Russel Arms pub. We were treated to a feast of bananas, energy drinks, water, chocolate flapjacks and beer! All for free!
 |
| Outside the Russel Arms pub. |
 |
| Cheers, Jonnie! |
Happily, I'd brought my climbing legs with me (or was it the ale that powered me upwards?) Yes, I was quickly into my tiniest gear because the gradient had to be respected, but when I thought the climb had levelled out for a while, I eventually realised that it was over! Phew, nowhere near as bad as I expected!
And then the descent...
If I could design a descent, it could be no better than the 4 miles after Whiteleaf Hill. The gradient was just right to build up a head of speed and then hold it there around 25mph, no braking necessary. The bends in the road were smooth and the countryside gorgeous. The climb and that descent were probably the most enjoyable 5 miles of road riding I've ever done!
The next stop was the Old Queens Head. Not only were we provided with bananas, water and beer, there was also sausage and chips laid on. The sausages and chips would be too greasy for me to ride on but I helped myself to another couple of pints and a banana!
 |
| Free beer and cycling! What could go wrong? |
So, with a nicely fuzzy head, we headed out for the last 14 miles. Jonnie stated that he was going to have to concentrate a lot more now that he was fuelled with ale. Very sensible, I thought.
 |
| Uncle Jonnie - beer-fuelled cycling machine. |
I decided it was time to stretch the legs again. I moved up the line and latched onto the back wheel of the guy up front whose name I later found out was John. We broke away and got up to 19mph. I got on the front for a while while we tackled some terrible road surfaces. John got on the front again as the road kicked up but I couldn't stay with him. I wished him luck and then parked up in some trees at the top of a climb, waiting to take some photos of Dave and Jonnie. It turned out that they had stopped to help someone with a puncture!
 |
| Dave: Who the hell is that bald guy behind the tree? |
Down another tricky descent with a hairpin bend and then we were in the final stages of the ride. We came to a hill and I had a little run at it. When I got to the top, I spotted the course photographer who told me that this was the finish! I turned and went back down the hill so I could ride in with Jonnie and Dave. It should make for a great photo but it hasn't appeared on the website yet. At Dave's pub, the Royal Oak, we were treated to a barrel of the local ale and a fantastic barbecue! If only all rides were created like this.
 |
| The barbecue |
 |
| The beer - a pint or two by the local brewers Rebellion: I wasn't impressed, but it was free so I wasn't complaining! |
After everyone had arrived safely, Lewis stood up to make some announcements and give awards such as 'tightest jersey' and 'best bike'. Needless to say, the revelling went on until midnight and involved two other pubs, a 110mph drive and the Eurovision song contest. What a day!
51.89 miles at 14.0mph
Sunday
I woke up in a spare room at Dave's house. I had tea and toast and watched the Giro until the lads woke up. Jonnie drove us home for midday. Lucy welcomed me home with a wonderful homemade cake (bang went any healthy eating plans for the day!) and then I got ready for dojo.
My legs and shoulders were aching so badly that my techniques all suffered. Sensei did his best to get me back up to speed but body wasn't at its best!
Home for more lovely grub and pudding but no alcohol.
No comments:
Post a Comment