December Facts And Figures

A great end to a good year.

10 rides
10 hours
126 miles

The next weigh-in is on Friday, I've had a "good" Christmas so I'm not expecting great things.

Happy New Year

New set of wheels

Loving the new bike!

Comes complete with skinny tyres, I just need to work on my skinny belly.

Merry Christmas and Happy Fitter New Year.

How low can you go?

Pretty low at the moment!

I've not had a great couple of weeks, bad time of year to be a driving instructor, 6 year anniversary of my dad passing away, dull, boring weather.

Its all taking its toll, which has lead to me being a grumpier git than normal and not the nicest husband or dad.

This in turn has lead to comfort eating, which adds to my woes.
So far this month I've had over 3,000 calories in "snacks" (food eaten between meals).

I felt I was on the way back up till my gout kicked in again which added to the list of reasons not to get out on the bike.

I know if I do go out on the bike that I'll feel loads better.
It will remind me why I'm going to all this effort.

On a positive note, my brother Pete is bringing me a "new" bike after Christmas, and according to him "it's lovely".
I can't wait.
I just hope Hampshire council have got a good budget to repair the roads after I tear them up.

Just writing this has helped me realise how silly my negative thoughts and feelings are. About to hit those roads.

Thanks for reading and your support.

Two tips of the day!!

I thought I would share a couple of tips with you so you can learner my experiences.

Firstly, don't ride into 3 foot high concrete posts that have been there for years. See photo.

Secondly make sure your tyres are fully pumped up.
I just pumped the brother in law's tyres from 30psi to 60psi and it made a massive difference to the overall speed.

November Facts and Figures

Not a great month.
This is a picture of my rear axle which broke half way into a 30 mile ride. Luckily Kate was happy to come and collect us in the "sag wagon".
Father Christmas is bringing me new bike for Christmas, so I will have to continue cycling gangnam style till then.
I need to keep going out because if I don't I seem to eat more, which is not good when I'm burning less.

8 bike rides
7 hours
91 miles

February 20
March 133
April 110
May 66
June 91
July 165
August 212
September 142

Total 1163
Average/month 116

Goal for December

100 miles, most of it will be done after Christmas on the new toy.

Cycling Gangnam Style

Thanks to Haribo Joe for this excellent description.

Last week the rear axle of my bike broke half way into a 30 mile ride, luckily the wife was happy to rescue us.

I'm still unsure about what to do about my bike so I borrowed my brother in law's bike today so that I could do some exercise.

It is a mountain bike with fat, spongy tyres and full suspension, so every time I pushed down on the pedals the bike bounced up and down, losing loads of energy.

So not only was it really hard work, I felt sea sick.

When Joe saw me I was bouncing around so much he thought I was Psy doing his dance.

It's probably a good mountain bike, but a terrible road/hybrid bike.

When choosing your bike, make saw you know the type of riding you'll be doing and get advice.

It will save you a lot of time, energy and money.

A loss is a loss I suppose...

Just had this months weigh in and only lost 0.5kg.

Gutted.

Start of the year 134kg, now 119kg so I've lost 15kg or 33lbs.
It still moving in the right direction.

It's been too easy to make excuses not to go out cycling and I've felt hungry all the time, a bad combination.

My goal at the start of the year was to lose 12% so my target was 118kg by the end of the year.
The next weigh in is in January and I will be below 118kg.
It doesn't sound like much to lose over 6 weeks but it is Christmas so I'm being realistic.