shhhh dont tell jayne .....

i often see oakley jawbones in glass cabinets in shops and i look at them lustfully thinking - i like them but i tell my self I cannot justify the price on a pair of glasses.

The other side of me thinks back to how great my old minutes were - how you never noticed them on your face . How you could wear them all day and just forget they were there. No rubbing , no weight , you just forgot they were on !

Because they were in that cabinet i never got to experience that and my subconscious would stop me asking for the glasses out of the case.

i had four hours to kill in george bush intercontinental today - i spotted a sunglasses hut and had a look round. Sure enough there were some jawbones - not in a case just on the shelf I tried them on - looked in the mirror and thought thats it , they look good behind the glass and that glass is the barrier that stopped me buying them in the past but once i stuck them on my face and felt that feeling that only oakley provides of "have i got them on my face or not" it was auto pilot.

The fact they were a fair chunk cheaper than the uk also helped - while still supporting livestrong !



now - dont tell jayne !

tooooo far

its about that time of year - where i push my body a bit far. 1800k in 4 weekends +12k daily commute in the week

spent last weekend in bed under doctors orders not to ride my bike or do anything strenuous for a couple of weeks.

Severe viral chest infection saw me sent home from work at the end of the week before last. went to the doctors and was told to rest - so rest i did - weekend in bed , drove to see a house on monday and then drove to the west coast - kilchoan on ardnamurchan and read some books and generally chilled while Jayne did some big loops,

and then after the week was up i was due to fly to houston so i watched - ride the divide for the first time ! Seriously epic movie - i challenge you cyclists out there to watch it and not want to compete in the event or at least tour the trail !

Ride The Divide Movie Trailer from Ride The Divide on Vimeo.

Friday, 11 June 2010

Singletrack World » “Mountain Biking’s Greatest Race” Kicks Off Today

Singletrack World » “Mountain Biking’s Greatest Race” Kicks Off Today

Monday, 7 June 2010

snow roads

its that time of year again ....



was enjoyable - felt good to dufftown this year , ran out of fluids and consequently puff at tomnavoulin this year DOH

plans for next year are as a shake down for TD to attack this as per the audax then reverse it - riding the bike i plan to race on.

Monday, 31 May 2010

uk24 hour TT

Have opted for a new challenge this year before i go to equitorial guinea for 4 months. That is to ride the uk 24 hour time trial run by the mersey roads club

in the run up to this ive been taking on some long distance audaxes with some mid wee k TTs

tuesday after 10 under the ben - club 17mile TT 43mins odds - wednesday after that a 10TT 24 odd mins

last saturday i packed up the road bike with my bivy kit and rode from aberdeen up deeside and over glenshee to forfar - then slept by the loch and rode the 200k deeside loop audax the following day - total riding 400k



This saturday i headed for portmahumock and rode the durness duress 300k on saturday (first man home and with 28kph ave) then rode the cromarty cruise 200k on the sunday






Legs feel in good shape and i feel that my road legs are firmly on for the 24 , 24tt on the road bike is going to be a million miles from the 24 on the mtb - but at least i know i have the head for sitting on the bike for 24 !

I think this new level of suffering will stand me in good stead for the tour divide 2012.

the next two weeks will see me riding the snow roads 300 as i did last year - 5000m climbing and then the only for softies 600.

Saturday, 22 May 2010

10 under the ben

its that time of the year again .

Quietly confident in my abilitys after the success at the puffer i lined up near the front for the lemans start. Reached the chaos that was the bikes with little hassle and got going , worked my way up to the front for the decent from the pipe.

2 laps in running in 3rd place i lost a spoke in my rear wheel , resulting in the tire rubbing the frame. Had to stop to repair it to save destroying the frame. Lucky i had a few spares in the van

Got going again , had lost 3 or 4 place managed to get back into my rhythum and just turning the pedals.

Big improvement over last year whereby i had major achillies issues.

The finish of my 9th lap came and i had to stop again , thought my frame had snapped but the course had just taken its toll on my rear wheel to the point that it just flexed really badly under pedaling. Decided that at worst id loose too places and it wasnt worth risking a 90 quid rim to possibly come 8th - different if i was in with a podium shot though !

as it happened i didnt move down at all and stayed in 10th , had i got the 10th lap in it woulda been 8th, live and learn - wheels are off back to whence they came for warrenty due to where the spokes are snapping - my experiance of wheel building tells me that somethings not right - dead center of the spokes , not the threads of the shoulder. Suspect dodgy spokes !

Jayne also soloed and got an excellent 5th place in a really tough field on her new merida HFX. Think the bike gets a thumbs up !

Friday, 21 May 2010

Holidays

took a week off work at the end of april there and since jayne wasnt off i decided to test out the space in the van by living in it for a week.

Saturday - 150k audax
sunday - 100k audax
Monday - drumlanrig and wanlockhead - 100k
tuesday - gypsys glen -30k + 10mile TT
wednesday - fix bike and 10 mile TT
Thursday - Corriarricyk pass double from laggan 85k
friday drive home

Miles were good , weather was as good as could be asked for at the time of year , little chilly but dry(ish). Van is comfortable for 1 plus 2 bikes - and its pretty inconspicuous !