First ride….

Well second really, cus of the 1km trip to end of the lane the other night…!  Got togged up in me new gear; dhb bib for wiggle(commando style of course), Met Inferno head-mit and Decathlon sox with Shimano spd shoes, and went for a spin mid-day here in Uttoxeter.  Various reasons for the delay in taking my first trip out…so here are the excuses- man flu, depression, scared-to-be-seen’ness, 13month old taking first unsteady steps…etc…etc.  After a month of not doing anything, i have been out of the exercise mindset i had when in France, plus with the moving back here stuff and getting back into work mode…cycling has taken a back seat in my priorities.  Also been concentrating in getting my home brewery back up and running…not exactly calorie-wise but there you go!

Here’s the eagerly awaited pics of the machine!

So the first ride?  Here’s the evidence…I think I did well, but my lungs!!….they were not impressed!  Salbutamol Inhaler came out in force…

Phew…13mins hard work that was!  But good fun…if it wasn’t for my lungs protesting I could easily have done more, my legs were up for it.  I was concentrating on the cycling so much I didn’t notice all the people standing by the side of the road pointing and laughing at me…..

It’s gorgeous!

Stunning, pics to be attached soon…the camera charger got left in France so no charge = no pics:-( I took some pics of the grand unboxing using the iPhone 3GS but with no flash, they arnt great. Been so busy I have not had the opportunity to get her assembled and out on her test run until last night. She’s so pretty, and Rose had even fitted the Sigma computer and all it’s sensors ready to go! The brown is more bronze and goes lovely with the seat trim in copper. So if all else fails(me) and I don’t ride her, I can still hang her up on the wall and admire her!

Anyway, for her first run up and down the lane, it was 10pm last night, no lights(except my head light) after my tea, puddin and 2 pints if home brew! First time with clipless peddles, first time on a race bike too! Wow! That SRAM Apex cassette has such a wide range! Top end I felt like I was flying, bottom end it was so low I recon I could pull a 747! Shifted nice and smooth too, my first time with modern gear changes, the double tap sys works well, and the brakes are very strong. Riding position was surprisingly comfortable on the hoods after adjusting the seat hight.

I was expecting to find the ride harsh after reading so much about alloy frames being so ridgid in comparison to carbon, but it really was comfortable…..but this was only for five mins!

A longer ride beckons! ……

To be continued…..

Still waiting….but not long to go!

Well for the last two weeks(sorry for the lack of updates!) I have been mainly getting back into uk life; enjoying meals out at weatherspoons, fish n chips, indian and Chinese take seats etc…. And with no exercise bike at hand I’ve done no exercise either….not good.

However! By Rose Pro-SL2200 has been dispatched and is in transit to the UK! Woohoo! Exercise will be forthcoming very soon! I am so looking forward to getting on the bike, but a little(lot) apprehensive about keeping the motivation up and dealing with the knobs driving cars round here. Being a fat man on a bike will attract abuse from chavs me thinks.

Anyhow, put an order into Wriggle yesterday and this afternoon a nice mid range Metz helmet and own brand bib shorts and snazzy polarised sunglasses arrived….so am somewhat prepared for the new arrival!

Pics to be expected very soon…..!

Steve

Pics of MTB and 2 rides round the block

Did 2 rides round the block this morning, it was humid and thundery so got quite a sweat up!  I think the spokes are complaining as i can hear them pinging when i lay the power down going up hill…

But as you can see from this picture-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its a boy’s MTB!  So probably not best for my 18stone…so i will take it easy and check the spokes i think…

Pics of the route, its only 1.6m long…

 

 

Borrowed a mountain bike…

Have been tired the last two days and consequently have only managed one session a day on the exercise bike. But today, I had an afternoon nap to catch up on the sleep I have been losing recently(had some problems at work causing some worry and hence sleepless nights) feeling much better now!

Anyhow, our neighbour Simon, mentioned this morning that he has a mountain bike I can borrow(I think he felt sorry for me cus of the delay in my Rose bike being delivered). Cycled it back up part of the hill this morning…blimy that was hard work! Managed to get 1/4 of the way up*ashamed*… Walked the rest…but in my defence I was sleep deprived and had a splitting headache!

Anyway…are my two hour kip this after, I felt perky so took her for a propa spin…what fun!! I had a fab 20 mins, took her down a local track and back along a road. I managed to get most of the way back up the hill before I needed a breather!

So much more fun than the exercise bike, and now I have something to work on…I want to do two cycles round the same route in the morning(whew it’s cooler, this afternoon it was 31c!) and see if I can do them without stopping…watch this space!

Progressing!

Bit of an update, I am doing really well, burning between 1000 and 1200 calories each day and have lost 2.5KG and considering the muscle I have been building I don’t think I’m doing bad! I did try keeping up the three sessions a day regime, but actually feel better and burn the same cals by doing two longer sessions of 40 minutes. I am also finding, that as I warm up, say ten minutes into the session, I need to up the resistance to level 7 or 8 as the pedals seem to fall away from my feet! I take this as a sign I am getting stronger!

I had a go on the stepper first thing today, I aimed to do the fitness test-5minutes of increasing speed stepping….it was too much for me! I had to give up two minutes in and jump on the bike! I must do more stepping! I can’t let that thing beat me!

Rose bikes website still saying my bike is on back order. Still expecting delivery four weeks after the order date, so hope to get it in the next 10 days….! I can’t wait to get my hands on it!! I promise to take lots of pictures!

Steve

Didn’t he do well?!

Well I think I did well today, 3 sessions of 45, 30 & 30 minutes respectively busting 1400 cals in the process! Really chuffed, no pains or issues, and if it wasn’t for painful butt syndrome and boredom I’d have easily have done longer each time. Totting up the virtual miles, I rode 30 miles! I recon I’m getting in a reasonable state to actually ride a bike now!

On a bum note(!), I sat a bit further forward today and am sure I felt my sit bones actually sitting on the seat, and although it wasn’t massively comfortable, it did reduce the numbness in my old man. Me thinks my flabby arse is gonna need toughening up somewhat!