I woke up with a bit of a hangover. I cycled to Solihull and back and then did some bits around the house (mainly in the man cave.)
Tuesday
I woke up feeling like crap and decided that today I wasn't going to drink.
In the afternoon, I tried to teach myself the end of Kanku Dai.
Tonight's session in the dojo was awesome - fast, useful and challenging. After our warm-up, the higher grades were instructed by three different black belts:
Sensei Russell took us through some kicking kihon - drilling us old school style up and down the hall.
Then Sensei Lloyd led us through kata Kanku Dai one step at a time - really useful stuff!
We finished with Sensei Mark recapping the self-defence techniques we first practised with Sensei Ronnie a couple of Sundays ago. I was lucky enough to be partnered with Sensei Joey for the session.
Brilliant stuff - kihon, kata and kumite with three different instructors.
Back at home, I didn't drink beer.
Wednesday
Weight: 10st 4lbs
Blood Pressure: 130/73
Resting Heart Rate: 56
Today, I was meant to go into work to get lessons ready for next week. Instead, Lucy asked me to go shopping with her and to then walk the dogs. I'd much rather spend the day doing that than go into college!
In the evening, I forced myself to go out for a run. This time I managed to complete the whole 10K in a half-decent (for me) time of 62 minutes and 13 seconds.
At night, Lucy and I discovered Fleabag and watched three episodes in a row. I drank one beer and ate Maltesers.
Thursday
The gang went to watch Avengers: Endgame. Lucy, Mouse, Ninja, Plarry, Hydro, Cassie and I had made it to the train station when I realised that I had forgotten my glasses. I couldn't watch a three hour film without my glasses. The eye-strain would give me a massive headache within the first hour.
I raced back to get my specs while the gang jumped on a train. I managed to get my glasses and then leap on the next train in time to meet them at the cinema.
The film was very, very good but terribly sad. It was a real emotional rollercoaster, even more so than the previous Avengers film. And even though it was a three hour marathon, it seemed to go in a flash and I didn't want it to end. Highly recommended but only if you've watched the previous 21 films! (I'd watched 20 of the 21 - missing out Captain Marvel meant the first ten minutes of Endgame was a bit bewildering.)
Friday
This morning, Roger and I went cycling with Jonnie's daughter Jess. This remarkable young woman is training for a three day bicycle ride from London to Paris, even though she doesn't even own a bike! Today, she borrowed her mother's heavy hybrid bike with thick tyres and sit-up-and-beg handle bars. When we arrived to meet her, I noticed that her bike had a dry chain. We tried in vain to find her father's 3-in-1 oil. We had to carry on without it, intending to lubricate the chain at the cakestop.
We set off into a warm morning. I instantly regretted wearing three layers and my thick gloves. I stopped to put on my summer gloves which I carried in my back pocket.
I rode on the front, Jess in the middle, with Roger protecting her from traffic at the rear.
We went along our High Cross route with Jess dealing with everything from steep climbs to 30mph descents. She remained cheerful all day (apart from the usual beginner's dismay at the uncomfortable saddle!)
At Wilmcote, we were greeted with the usual fantastic homemade cake. I was pleased to see Jess having two massive helpings, so I had the same! Unfortunately, Eric didn't have any suitable bike oil so we had to set off with a dry chain on Jess's horrible bike. She did well once again, despite the discomfort on the saddle. It wasn't until we were only three miles away from home that I noticed she wasn't changing down onto a smaller ring when tackling hills. It turns out that she didn't know she had any front rings to change! After Roger and I showed her how to select the smaller ring we realised that she didn't have any more climbs to conquer anyway!
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| Jess: A great rider on an unsuitable bike. |
It was an enjoyable 40 miles, the drizzle of rain at the end of our ride failed to spoil our good mood. Jess proved herself to be a very fit and determined young woman. She deserves a much better bicycle!
In the evening, I went along to the dojo for a kicking session run by Sensei Ronnie Christopher. It was extremely technical partner work where ushiro geri was broken down into its component parts. At one point I had to hold the ushiro geri position with my leg stretched out behind me. Sensei Ronnie must have told me at least 10 times to straighten my leg but I just couldn't do it. I detected a hint of exasperation in his voice but I thought better of trying to explain to him about the forty miles on the bike this morning. I was trying so hard to straighten my screaming leg muscles that I actually went dizzy!
A very beneficial session for one of the hardest kicks in Karate.
Saturday
After walking the dogs in the morning, I attended the Master Class session by Sensei George Best. I'd been watching his videos earlier in the day and done a bit of research: Sensei George has been in the England squad fighting alongside Sensei Ronnie Christopher. I had spoken to Sensei Gary about him on Firday and he had told me that he was a kumite specialist. So of course, I went along to the session wearing my groin guard ready for some fighting!
It was a kata session.
The first forty-five minutes were spent with Sensei Joey on a long warm up and then some kihon. When Sensei George Best took over, he taught us Kata Chinte - a 5th dan black belt kata! I was surprised at this choice of kata because the majority of people present were brown belts. However, once we had learned the moves of the kata, Sensei George showed us the application and how it could be used in self-defence. Later, we did some reaction training in groups of three.
All very useful stuff.
As a teacher myself, I learned a lot from Sensei George - he excelled in holding everyone's attention and in explaining things carefully but not too verbosely. The lesson rattled along at a nice pace.
It did remind me a little bit of training in the old days - there were only two drinks breaks in a three hour session!
Sunday
The Tommy Godwin Challenge 2019.
Actually, this was the postponed 2018 event. Last year, high winds caused the organisers to cancel the ride and they had reorganised it for today.
Deadly Dan, Fast Ant and Uncle Jonnie crashed into my house at 8:30am. I made tea. We cycled off to meet Roger at the start line at Solihull Marie Curie Hospice. It was a nice dry day and it wasn't long before I regretted wearing my orange jacket. It also looks crap in all of the photos.
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| Me, Fast Ant, Deadly Dan, Uncle Jonnie (Roger out of shot behind me) |
Roger commented about how the atmosphere was very different to that of the March Hare. The March event is now dominated by the fast men on the fast machines, but everyone seems a lot more relaxed at the Tommy. There are lots of people on mountain bikes, families riding together, and a few riders going solo through the lanes too.
We set off at a blistering pace.
We were going much faster than on one of our usual Sunday rides. I suppose the chaps got carried away with the adrenaline and the big groups of riders, but both Roger and I were concerned at the initial speed. The two of us got caught at some traffic lights while the other three carried on. They did eventually wait for us, but then sped off again! After a few miles, we managed to reel Jonnie in but it was obvious that Dan and Fast Ant wanted to set their own pace.
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| Jonnie takes his cycling very seriously. |
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| Worrying about the fast pace... |
We continued along at a furious rate - we reached Snitterfield with an average speed of 15.5 mph! It was as if we were expecting to roll into Wilmcote for a slice of cake and a sit down. We still had 40 miles to go!
When we turned at Snitterfield, we were into a headwind. It was 12 miles an hour, not enough to be a major problem, but enough to wear out my little legs even more. We passed some beautiful countryside, but, as Dan pointed out much later, we also passed some quiet country lanes in favour of riding along some rather busy major roads. I think the route could do with some changes next year.
We made it to the feed station in Feckenham just as Dan and Fast Ant were leaving. We were pleased to find tables heaving with homemade cakes and treats! My wonderful girlfriend had contributed 5 homemade tray bakes herself!
After inadvertently insulting the nice chap from Red Kite by mistakenly saying I recognised him from Dynamic Rides, Jonnie, Roger and I sat on some grass and munched flapjack and bananas in the sunshine. We were pleased to bump into Young Chris from back in the days when we used to cycle with Nigel and the chaps from the Arden club.
After a little while, the three of us clambered back on the bikes for the final twenty miles. The first few miles after Feckenham were my favourite: we had some challenging climbing to do and we rode together for the most part. But after that, it seemed that either Jonnie or Roger was up the road while the remaining two struggled on, trying to catch him.
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| Jonnie enjoying himself tearing around Earlswood Lakes! |
Dan and fast Ant had been waiting for us at the finish line for 40 minutes when we rolled in! After collecting our medals, we cycled back to my place for the customary beers in the backgarden. We were pleased to find Dodgy Debbie there too.
The Tommy Godwin 2019: 62.4 miles at 14.2 mph.
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| Fast Ant, Uncle Jonnie, me, Deadly Dan. With our victory ales! |
Now my training will be entirely focused on the Birmingham Velo 100 miles cycle event on the 12th of May. I'll be riding for the South and City College Birmingham team trying to raise £50,000 for Cure Leukaemia.
You can sponsor us by clicking here.
Thank you!
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