Snood

Left yesterday morning at 6.45 and cycled to Marylebone to get the train up to see Em and Justin.  It was bloody cold – especially on the nose!  Maybe a good idea to bring a snood and other skiing headwear?

Rain…

We’re now in range of the long term weather forecasts…

Light rain on Saturday in and around London / High Wycombe / Milton Keynes.  Cloudy but no rain on Sunday around Leamington / Banbury.  But when I checked this morning it said foggy but no rain for most of the route.  Who knows what we’re going to end up with…

What a glorious feeling…

Just done my first cycle in the rain, from Wimbledon to Marylebone station on the way up to see Em and Justin.  It was wet!  Here are a few important things I’ve learned

• It’s slippery!  And that was without the leaves on the ground that I expect we’ll find in November.  I found myself braking a *lot* earlier, taking a much wider arc when I turned and generally avoiding sharp steering movements, but still skidded all over the road.

• Conkers are the enemy of cyclists.  I spent most of my time weaving in and out of cycle lanes to avoid them

• I wore Helen’s Rude Boy waterproofs from the last canal boating trip.  Unfortunately baggy trousers tend to flap around and get caught in the gears.  They also failed to act as the foot umbrellas I was hoping for.  Squelch.

• I rode past some cyclists wearing sandals.  Cold but probably more comfortable than wet socks.

• I also rode past a woman wearing what seemed to be some sort of 80s fluorescent ankle warmers.  On closer inspection they were covers which zipped up over her shoes, ankles and halfway up her calf.  I will be investigating further.

• Most cycle lanes had turned into small rivers.  However drivers did seem to sympathise and gave me more room than in the dry.

• You don’t get a chance to spot this when driving, but pedestrians are hilarious in the rain.  I saw people trying to shelter themselves under handbags, wallets, packets of sandwiches (!), even Starbucks cups (!!!).  This blog is named after my personal favourite, a woman who launched into a full Fred Astaire ballet leap over a puddle whilst clutching an umbrella in her outstretched arm.

And the legendary Gore cycling luck continues – I picked up a puncture on my way through Battersea.  Luckily only a mile from Kings Road where there are quite a few cycle shops.  £10 later I was on my way again.  Apparently there are always many more punctures in the rain – maybe due to all the skidding all over the road

Training starts…

I finally got my act together and did a training ride on Saturday.  From Wimbledon to Raynes Park, Norbiton, into Richmond Park, once around the park and then back again – yes, I know the Wimbledon Common route is nicer but I couldn’t face cycling up Wimbledon Hill first thing on a Saturday morning.  It’s a pretty nice 16 mile route and it took me just over an hour - although being overtaken every few seconds by teams of men in dayglo lycra caused me particular trauma.  Please tell me that lycra is banned from Ldn2Leam.

On the steepest uphill climb just past Roehampton Gate I managed to miss a gear and spin off Mansell-style… well, perhaps not all that spectacular as the whole thing happened slower than walking speed.  I changed down too many gears too late whilst pedalling too slowly and the chain fell off.  I’m not sure that made a huge difference to my ability to make it up that hill in any case.

I need to fit that padded saddle that Helen bought me for xmas – it started getting a bit painful about halfway and the speed bumps on the way back didn’t help!  I think my limiting factor is going to be ass rather than general fitness.

I’m planning to do 2 of these cycles each week - one on a weekday evening and one on a weekend (probably morning) gradually getting longer as the date gets closer – of course anyone is welcome to join me although since my weekend mornings start at 7am I am fully prepared to continue cycling alone!  Next cycle on Thurs evening, anyone?  Andy and Emma, fancy combining it with picking up Helen’s bike?

Em Update for those who haven’t been getting her texts – she spent 7 1/2 hours in hospital on Friday and then had a brief calm before the drugs hit her.  They gave her a larger dose of Carboplatin than originally planned.  She’s been pretty sick although Justin mentioned on Sunday that she was starting to get a bit of sleep.  Anyone who hears from her or Justin – keep us all posted.

My first blog

I have to say I was a bit nervous but it feels good to have finally popped my blogging cherry.

We drove Leamington to London yesterday and it’s a long way.  And quite hilly on the M40.  My training regime so far has involved… er… enough said about that the better.  And just to rub it in Justin’s been in the gym on the bikes every lunchtime for the last week.  If only it was the thought that counted – I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about going cycling.

On the sponsorship note, could we tap into Accenture, IBM, or more tenuously PWC (Janet), E&Y (Wheatley), Deloitte (Jezza)…?  I’m pretty sure they’ve all got funds to support their employees doing charity events.  I’m afraid JLG Consulting hasn’t got a big charity budget, but there are a couple of people I’ll email through the ex-Accenture network who are involved in fitness businesses.