Go slow in London

Today is a London day but due to too much luggage (I am getting a new work laptop so had to bring all the old kit), I could not cycle today.

I use Kings Cross for my tube station as it is closest to the YHA. Deciding to walk to a supermarket first to get a bite to eat, I was amazed to watch the traffic at the big junction at Kings Cross as the LCC go slow was in progress.

It was the most Police on bikes I have over seen! No I don't think they took part go the protest but they did cycle behind it and were on every corner of the junction!!

European bike holiday

Planning for the big European bike holiday has gone into second gear today. And what an effort it was!

When I started the original planning, I used the Bikeline guides to look at the route and jotted down the various stages of the trip. We had a good sense of how much mileage we wanted to do each day, about an average of 40 miles. This will give us the opportunity of lazy cycling days with lots of time to stop and do the touristy things. So sitting down with the 2 Bikeline guides and drawing up a spreadsheet was the first step.

 We have since decided on a departure date and a possible arrival date, so last night I took it a step further by checking availability of the Ferry and one or two of the places we wanted to overnight. We will mainly use Youth Hostels in Germany and Holland but with some of the stages, we will have to stay in a hotel. Ibis seems a good choice as it is reasonable and in many instances, very close to our route.

The HiHostel site gives you the opportunity of adding you potential stay into an itinerary which is excellent as it provides you with an overview of those places where you want to stay without booking immediately. It turned out that some of the places which I have originally thought where we could stay, either don't have a hostel, or is full or is so small that there isn't even a decent hotel available as an alternative. So map out of all the hostels in Germany and Holland, Bikeline guide on the side and Excel spreadsheet as third resource open and the tweaking started.


I had to change a few places around but now have a workable itinerary with at least 5 bookings confirmed! Plan is as follows;

Drive to Hull, get onto the Ferry to Rotterdam, then cycle from Europoort to Rotterdam, get onto the train to Basel. At Basel, get off and cycle to Lorrach where we will stay the first night. On Day 1 we will cycle back to Basel and start the official route with the next stop in Breisach.

Here are the overnight stays we will be using:

Lorrach

Breisach

Strasbourg

Karlsruhe

Mannheim

Mainz

Koblenz

Bonn

Dusseldorf

Duisburg

Xanten

Doorwerth

Gorinchem

Rotterdam

We still have a few things to decide which can come later like whether we will use the Ferry or will we use the train. We discovered last night that we can get to Basel in one day from Chester! Leaving at 7.35am we can arrive in Basel at 19.30. That means we save a whole day on travelling. It is two connections - one in London and one in Paris.
However, we have the return trip to think about and the Ferry is really nice - a sort of mini-cruise. Very relaxing! The two options have almost the same costs, so no major difference here.

On another note; I rented the series 'Bike' from the BBC via Lovefilm during the week and we finished watching it Friday evening. One of the interviews was with a woman called Elaine Mariolle. She cycled across America from coast to coast (3,000mi) in 10 days, breaking the record in 1986. Using 21 hours per day to cover an average of 300-400 miles A DAY !! Unbelievable!
I bought her book ' Woman Cyclist' and will be reading it from cover to cover soon.

She is such an inspiration, I am in awe of her achievements. 

Turbo trainer !

I blogged a couple of months ago about the possibility of buying a turbo trainer to keep fit during the long winter months when weather doesn't allow as much riding outdoors as you would like.

Well, the good news is that I got one for Christmas and it isn't just any turbo trainer but the model that I wanted as well as the full winter kit which include the mat, the raiser block and thong. It also came with a Race Day DVD.

My fitness levels are so poor at the moment that the DVD will probably kill me ! So I will keep it aside and use it when I am more fitter.

I am struggling with a cold at the moment so imagine my frustration levels at not yet been able to go on the trainer.

My master plan is to set the trainer up in the kitchen which is long and will probably be the best place for it. There is a TV in the kitchen which I can watch whilst training. I read on another site that turbo training can be quite monotonous so you need to perk it up with keeping data to monitor progress and listening to music or watching TV.

I now look forward to a winter season where I can keep fit and lose weight instead of gaining!
Hopefully I will be off to a running start when the weather turns instead of trying to get fit from scratch like the previous seasons.

Make the most of the weather !

The sun was shining and there was no wind blowing. What more can a cyclist ask for?

I went out immediately and did my usual 8 miles only to meet someone new on the A483 bridge and extend my ride to keep talking.

In the end I did my 10 mile ride with a bit of huff and puff (yes I am that unfit).

I took a few lovely photos along the way which was posted to my Map my Ride site to accompany the tracked route.

I hope to go out again tomorrow with my regular cycling partner and build on the huff and puff :-)

Plans

So another year finish. Well, almost.

I have BIG plans :-)

I want to buy a turbo trainer so that I can be in a better physical condition than I was last year. I felt that I took long last year to actually arrive at a decent fitness level so I reason that with a turbo trainer I will be in a much better position to perform earlier in the season.

We also have big plans for next summer :-)

We are planning to cycle the Rhine from Basel to Rotterdam :-)

So keep up with this blog if you want to know more :-)

Fabulous tea and cake at Hawarden Farm shop

'Did you get my message asking if you could lead the Ladies ride on 10 September? I'm walking the Sandstone Trail that weekend and it would be great if you could help out !' said the voice over the phone.

Coming back from holiday to 522 work and about 260 private emails, it was no wonder that I missed Sue's desperate request.

'Of course I would help' I said. 

Privately panicking as I haven't been cycling for about 7 weeks which included my 4 weeks on holiday.
It is always a challenge to plot a ride. Plotting or mapping a ride for yourself is obviously easy as you are always forgiven when you make a mistake, but when I have to plot a route for an unknown number of ladies, it is a bit ( hugely!!) more daunting.
Sue agreed that we haven't been out towards the south for a while. Rides tend to go more East Cheshire way so I'm always keen to do a south stint which is territory that I'm more familiar with. So quick thoughts settled on taking the girls to Hawarden Farm shop. The weather also didn't look great so a quick flat ride was what was needed.

I convinced a good friend of mine to come out with us for the first time so she and I set off at 9am to meet up with everyone else at 10am at the Community Cafe. We arrived first as planned and were just sitting down when the girls began to arrive one by one. At the end we were 10 which was great! The group were girls that were cycling regularly so they could keep up with the pace.

We posed for the compulsory starting picture (without Jane who vanished into the pharmacy buying anti-histamine!) and set off on the ride.

The weather was looking threatening but held off the whole way to my obvious delight! The route took us down the bike path towards Connah's Quay until Deva Link where we zig-zagged through Sealand to join the bike path along the river, heading for Higher Ferry. Walking and part cycling over the bridge took us past the Airbus factory - pity the wings weren't transported then as I think it would've been a good spectacle to watch! The last part of the Hawarden Farm Shop approach was winging our way up a hill past the most glorious Blackberries, Rosehips and Elderberries! I've recently been converted to foraging so my eyes are now catching all these delicacies in the hedges. The cake and tea at the shop didn't disappoint. A number of the girls haven't been to the shop before so they were very pleased to be cycling there.

The weather were almost threatening - we were feeling a few drops when we sat down with our tea but rain only started on our way back towards Higher Ferry.

Some girls went their own way after the Farm Shop and others were happy to peel off as we went along. Jo lead the rest of the group back along towards the river. Thanks Jo !!

The route went well and I was very happy that all my mapping happened as it was supposed to.

Thanks everyone; it was a really great day out  :)

Autumn time

I have a lot of catching up to do. This usually happens when you are away on holiday and come back to a house full of dust, garden overgrown and email inbox full to the brim!

Finding time to fit things in is always an issue especially if you struggle to prioritise. And then there is time for yourself that is needed as well as time for all the other issues you are engaged in.

I went away to sunny South Africa for a whopping four weeks. I spent some time with family out there and also toured the whole of the southern coast (Port Elizabeth to Cape Town). The tour then extended from Cape Town to Bloemfontein which was all done by car through the lovely Karoo. As it is winter time now, the days were between 15C and 25C but the nights were cold. As the houses aren't centrally heated, you need a heater and an electric blanket especially in the remote high altitude parts like Sutherland and Britstown.
I've seen some cycling whilst I was out there but didn't get any opportunities to do it myself. The cyclists that I've seen were mostly on roadbikes and one group was even cycling on the motorway! Not really something that I would do but I guess the roads that were available weren't as direct as the motorway.

The time just before my holiday was packed with things to complete for work and also some other exciting events like attending The Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on 19 July. I was one of the fortunate recipients at my work's draw and enjoyed the experience very much. So many people and so many cups of tea and little dainty pastries!!

A week has gone past since I've arrived back from holiday and I'm still struggling to catch up but am slowly getting there. Ironing pile has gone down, email inbox has been won and house is cleaner than it was. I do however still see places to clean but I guess that will be an ongoing thing and that the battle of house clean is never won.
The one thing that I haven't done so far is doing a bike ride. I was itching last week to get on my bike and when an opportunity arose last Friday, I hopped without delay on my bike to do an 8  mile return ride just to be caught in one of the heaviest rain deluges ever. I had to seek shelter 3 times and was soaked to my toes.

I'm itching to get on my bike and go somewhere. Just forget about work, house and everyting else occupying my thoughts and cycle. Maybe just go for a short ride somewhere, have a cup of tea and cycle back.

After all, that is such a soul cleanser and it needs to be done to stay sane. Make time for yourself to have time for others.