Back to the cycling after two week out due to horrific sunburn and taking care of my mum's cat.
My friend just got her new house, so we decided to meet on the east lancs. It took me about an hour to get there cycling up some hills from my flat through abram then Golborne... I still ended up at the wrong junction he he. She found me though, by this point it was midday and it was a scorcher...I did remember my suncream though ;)
We cycled along the well made cycle route adjacent to the east lancs right up to Salford then we came back the same way. It only took us about an hour roughly to cycle up to Salford and about 45 minutes to get back to my friends house, which was slightly further on from where we started.
One of the best feelings on this ride was the last 20 minutes when despite it being humid, hot and sticky the heavens opened and we got slightly soaked. It had stopped by the time we arrived at her house, but it most certainly helped. I do like the rain but I cant say I have ever been more pleased to see it. I think the temperature was averaging at 27 degrees!! Now for us little britainers that's damn hot!! No? You cycle in it then for 3 hours lol. :p
We reckoned we'd only done about 20 miles, so we googled it, well my friends other half did and shockingly we had done 30 miles up the east lancs and back! We were quite pleased it hadn't felt like that at all, it is however looking likely that 62 miles will take us close to 6 hours to do... sigh...
Cycling from home I had managed to push my mileage up to 37 I was rather elated by this.
We're estimating on the day, starting at 7.30am that we will arrive at Blackpool at about 2.30pm...yes that gives us about 7 hours so if we finish before then (if we finish at all), we wont be disappointed...
2 weeks to go and counting...hoping the weather cools down a little for the big day...
Oh and on another pleasing note, I have raised over £100 so far! :)
Thanks to everyone.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Monday, 15 June 2009
Photies :)
This is my left arm, the camera doesn't do it justice really. You can see where the hole is in my cycling glove he he he.
My right arm compared to the unburnt part of my leg, again no justice, I really need to invest in a better camera...
And my legs, you can even see the band where my shorts stopped. My left leg has blistered now (I am sure you wanted to know that). In short... owwwww
This was the canal in Manchester with a guy feeding the ducks. I liked it but now I cant decide if that guy is about to throw bread or is scratching his bum ROFLMAO!!!
Again pretty view with my friend off cycling off into the distance lol.I unfortunately didn't take many photo's of this route but there was some stunning scenery. I shall endeavour to do better next time.
Sunburn!!!
I went cycling on Sunday. Absolutely beautiful day! Now I always take factor 60 sun cream with me everywhere, I am extremely pale it's a necessity. An hour into our journey I realised it was in my usual bag at my friends house where we started from... I'll come back to this...
Our route was one we got off cycle-route.com it's a great site, you can look up routes in your area or write your own when you've found a good one. We picked this route seemed like a nice loop of manchester and back, roughly about 30 - 35 miles or so. We set off all is well, got to Manchester in good time, set off about 10.15am got to the centre at about 12.15. (This is with stopping finding the cycle paths, trying not to die on the east lancs and stopping for occasional hydration). We were feeling pretty pleased, until we set off. Now if you've never been to Manchester this is a BAD thing, right in the centre it's like the Labyrinth. All the signs seem to either disappear or start pointing the other way. Result = very lost lol. In short we probably circled the centre twice before looking at a tram map. And we were off again!! Now we took a diversion, to try and find a route along the canal, nope that did not go well!! Got somewhere, I dont even remember where, but we found a road and kept going... so when we arrived in Sale near Altrincham (by the way when you're on the road to Altrincham it's like the world doesn't exist there are no roads going anywhere but Altrincham, slightly amusing if we weren't quite so lost). We decided to phone for help, cue boyfriend... straight on google maps, post code, done head this way then that way... ok... we thought...
We headed in the once again, right direction towards Eccles this time it finally got us to the Trafford centre which is like a bloody city all by it's bloody self. What is with the copious amounts of roundabouts!! We stopped off for a drink and toilet break (needs must).
Sun was shining constantly, I had shorts on and my jacket sleeves pulled up to my elbow because it was quite hot, nice breeze though... remember these points :)
So after circling the Trafford Centre twice, we finally, got onto the right road and we were on our way. The right route took us onto a dirt track, it was nice, country road in the middle of no where fields on both sides, glorious weather, wind in our hair good day cycling on the home stretch. That is until the road ended with a wall of trees......
Hmmm....
We went right found a helpful farmer, who said, "Been here for around 20 years, think I've seen the main road once or twice." Ha ha ha... *nervous laughter* No he was actually very helpful. We were now definitely on the right route home. It took us back over the dual carriage way and onto home turf. There was an evil hill, which we had to walk up, this point we were both shattered...
It was like 4.30pm. This says a lot about our friendship that we're still friends after this fiasco lol.
Now is it me, or does the route home always seem the hardest and longest if you know the roads and you know how far you have to go? Rather than the end being on strange roads where you dont know the distance? For the charity ride I am definitely hoping this is true.
Anyway the final hill we cycled up, not 10 minutes from home, my friend was behind me at this point, I mean right behind me, I was flagging badly, my legs hated me, my body hated me and I think my bike hated me too. The last part of that hill if my friend wasn't behind me telling me 'No we're not finished yet, you're not done.' I think I would have just laid down in the road, there were actual tears getting up that hill I am not ashamed to admit, well maybe a tear... tears is a slight exaggeration.. ahem...
We got back, 5.15pm...
Cup of tea! He he he one of the best I've tasted :) We worked out on google maps we'd done approximately 50 miles *applause*
I got back home (in my car ;) ) and discovered I was a lobster! I have not been this badly sunburnt since I was 15 and fell asleep in my mum's back garden. I hadn't even realised until I stopped cycling. My arms and the tops and sides of my legs and my face. Two days later and I am still extremely sore and very burnt...borderline 3rd degree burns we're talking here, it hurts to walk, my face is the least damaged one small consolation. I took pictures, I will put some up when I download them lol. The pain is pretty much constant at this stage, thank god for aftersun gel. Sadly it's put me out of training for the week as my body is still in shock and sore... I cant emphasise how painful it is, enough lol...
But now all I feel, after being momentarily angry with the sun, is extremely silly. I should have known better with my complexion, I cant afford to forget my sun block :(
So I shall suffer on, heal as fast as I can, with only 3 and a bit weeks left...*bites nails*
Was a good route though... we did 50 miles!! How good is that?! For a newbie I mean :p
Our route was one we got off cycle-route.com it's a great site, you can look up routes in your area or write your own when you've found a good one. We picked this route seemed like a nice loop of manchester and back, roughly about 30 - 35 miles or so. We set off all is well, got to Manchester in good time, set off about 10.15am got to the centre at about 12.15. (This is with stopping finding the cycle paths, trying not to die on the east lancs and stopping for occasional hydration). We were feeling pretty pleased, until we set off. Now if you've never been to Manchester this is a BAD thing, right in the centre it's like the Labyrinth. All the signs seem to either disappear or start pointing the other way. Result = very lost lol. In short we probably circled the centre twice before looking at a tram map. And we were off again!! Now we took a diversion, to try and find a route along the canal, nope that did not go well!! Got somewhere, I dont even remember where, but we found a road and kept going... so when we arrived in Sale near Altrincham (by the way when you're on the road to Altrincham it's like the world doesn't exist there are no roads going anywhere but Altrincham, slightly amusing if we weren't quite so lost). We decided to phone for help, cue boyfriend... straight on google maps, post code, done head this way then that way... ok... we thought...
We headed in the once again, right direction towards Eccles this time it finally got us to the Trafford centre which is like a bloody city all by it's bloody self. What is with the copious amounts of roundabouts!! We stopped off for a drink and toilet break (needs must).
Sun was shining constantly, I had shorts on and my jacket sleeves pulled up to my elbow because it was quite hot, nice breeze though... remember these points :)
So after circling the Trafford Centre twice, we finally, got onto the right road and we were on our way. The right route took us onto a dirt track, it was nice, country road in the middle of no where fields on both sides, glorious weather, wind in our hair good day cycling on the home stretch. That is until the road ended with a wall of trees......
Hmmm....
We went right found a helpful farmer, who said, "Been here for around 20 years, think I've seen the main road once or twice." Ha ha ha... *nervous laughter* No he was actually very helpful. We were now definitely on the right route home. It took us back over the dual carriage way and onto home turf. There was an evil hill, which we had to walk up, this point we were both shattered...
It was like 4.30pm. This says a lot about our friendship that we're still friends after this fiasco lol.
Now is it me, or does the route home always seem the hardest and longest if you know the roads and you know how far you have to go? Rather than the end being on strange roads where you dont know the distance? For the charity ride I am definitely hoping this is true.
Anyway the final hill we cycled up, not 10 minutes from home, my friend was behind me at this point, I mean right behind me, I was flagging badly, my legs hated me, my body hated me and I think my bike hated me too. The last part of that hill if my friend wasn't behind me telling me 'No we're not finished yet, you're not done.' I think I would have just laid down in the road, there were actual tears getting up that hill I am not ashamed to admit, well maybe a tear... tears is a slight exaggeration.. ahem...
We got back, 5.15pm...
Cup of tea! He he he one of the best I've tasted :) We worked out on google maps we'd done approximately 50 miles *applause*
I got back home (in my car ;) ) and discovered I was a lobster! I have not been this badly sunburnt since I was 15 and fell asleep in my mum's back garden. I hadn't even realised until I stopped cycling. My arms and the tops and sides of my legs and my face. Two days later and I am still extremely sore and very burnt...borderline 3rd degree burns we're talking here, it hurts to walk, my face is the least damaged one small consolation. I took pictures, I will put some up when I download them lol. The pain is pretty much constant at this stage, thank god for aftersun gel. Sadly it's put me out of training for the week as my body is still in shock and sore... I cant emphasise how painful it is, enough lol...
But now all I feel, after being momentarily angry with the sun, is extremely silly. I should have known better with my complexion, I cant afford to forget my sun block :(
So I shall suffer on, heal as fast as I can, with only 3 and a bit weeks left...*bites nails*
Was a good route though... we did 50 miles!! How good is that?! For a newbie I mean :p
Fellow Cyclists
Right I really should post on here much more regularly now there's only just under 4 weeks left until the big day eeekkk!!!
I cycled to work 3 or 4 days last week, did karate on the ones that I didn't it kinda makes up for the slackin' honest. :)
On Tuesday, I got out a little later than planned, as my camel back had leaked all over my fridge and onto the floor... sigh... more expense that I'll need to rectify before the 12th of July. I finally got out, it was a nice sunny day...all was going nicely despite being quite tired and initially annoyed, I hit the bridge over the canal changed gear to get up the hill and then what the hell!!! My chain didn't just come off, it managed to come off and double loop itself, getting stuck in the central cog. I must have fiddled with it for like 10 minutes before a nice guy tried to help me. A fellow cyclist, he even went home to get his cog removal tool for me, I had fixed it by the time he got back but I stayed and thanked him for his help anyway, I was only 15 minutes late for work.
My point is, there seem to be 3 different categories of cyclist out there. The first group are hard core cyclists and seem to look at me with amusement and sometimes contempt lol, like how dare I attempt the cycling (I am assuming this is due to an increasing number of young people and such cycling in roads causing hazards and simply making drivers hate us more) and they give a knowing look as if to say 'you will never go as fast as me' *sly wink* as they speed off in their rainbow of lycra on their silent ninja bikes *jealous sigh*.
Group 2 are people like me, not exactly in it for social reasons and not completely dedicated occasionally my car is just sooo much more attractive and doesn't require motivation to drive it he he he, but we stil enjoy a good bike ride and try to get out every week at least once and we love a bit of a challenging route every now and then and can always spare a nod and smile for our fellow cyclists.
Then there's group 3 to be admired by all, they are the samaritans, they stop to help their fellow cyclist (thank you stranger :) ) they do it for fun at 8.30am on a Monday morning, for no reason other than it's fun and they always say good morning to pedestrians and cyclists alike. I like this group I hope to be so comfortable and confident in my cycling that one day I can be relaxed and just enjoy the day and the people I meet along the route....
I am not there yet...
So which group do you think you fit into?? :) I am definitely a group 2 although I do hold contempt for kids on bikes who just cycle whereever they like with no awareness of the dangers they can cause to themselves and others (rant alert) this is as both a driver and newbie cyclist... I mean who are they kidding?! Riding bikes stolen from their 8 year old brother/sister with their seats too low, wheels too small thinking they're the coolest thing on two wheels. Well let them race the lights or cut in front of a bus (I've seen them do it) wont be all that cool with their legs wrapped round a radiator grill. (Rant over)
On another note, I really need to invest in these funky tools every other cyclist has that seem to be able to remove all parts, solve world peace, save the climate and be a torch at the while they're at it lol. :)
Safe cycling!!!
I cycled to work 3 or 4 days last week, did karate on the ones that I didn't it kinda makes up for the slackin' honest. :)
On Tuesday, I got out a little later than planned, as my camel back had leaked all over my fridge and onto the floor... sigh... more expense that I'll need to rectify before the 12th of July. I finally got out, it was a nice sunny day...all was going nicely despite being quite tired and initially annoyed, I hit the bridge over the canal changed gear to get up the hill and then what the hell!!! My chain didn't just come off, it managed to come off and double loop itself, getting stuck in the central cog. I must have fiddled with it for like 10 minutes before a nice guy tried to help me. A fellow cyclist, he even went home to get his cog removal tool for me, I had fixed it by the time he got back but I stayed and thanked him for his help anyway, I was only 15 minutes late for work.
My point is, there seem to be 3 different categories of cyclist out there. The first group are hard core cyclists and seem to look at me with amusement and sometimes contempt lol, like how dare I attempt the cycling (I am assuming this is due to an increasing number of young people and such cycling in roads causing hazards and simply making drivers hate us more) and they give a knowing look as if to say 'you will never go as fast as me' *sly wink* as they speed off in their rainbow of lycra on their silent ninja bikes *jealous sigh*.
Group 2 are people like me, not exactly in it for social reasons and not completely dedicated occasionally my car is just sooo much more attractive and doesn't require motivation to drive it he he he, but we stil enjoy a good bike ride and try to get out every week at least once and we love a bit of a challenging route every now and then and can always spare a nod and smile for our fellow cyclists.
Then there's group 3 to be admired by all, they are the samaritans, they stop to help their fellow cyclist (thank you stranger :) ) they do it for fun at 8.30am on a Monday morning, for no reason other than it's fun and they always say good morning to pedestrians and cyclists alike. I like this group I hope to be so comfortable and confident in my cycling that one day I can be relaxed and just enjoy the day and the people I meet along the route....
I am not there yet...
So which group do you think you fit into?? :) I am definitely a group 2 although I do hold contempt for kids on bikes who just cycle whereever they like with no awareness of the dangers they can cause to themselves and others (rant alert) this is as both a driver and newbie cyclist... I mean who are they kidding?! Riding bikes stolen from their 8 year old brother/sister with their seats too low, wheels too small thinking they're the coolest thing on two wheels. Well let them race the lights or cut in front of a bus (I've seen them do it) wont be all that cool with their legs wrapped round a radiator grill. (Rant over)
On another note, I really need to invest in these funky tools every other cyclist has that seem to be able to remove all parts, solve world peace, save the climate and be a torch at the while they're at it lol. :)
Safe cycling!!!
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