61-63: March 2020

Monday 30 March 2020

Week 13 metrics

23rd - 29th March:

Total distance: 66.3mi
Total elevation: 3,202ft
Longest ride: 30.24mi
Time in saddle: 4h 40m

Wednesday 25 March 2020

Training has tanked lately. First of all I was away for work, with not a bike in sight, then I had a weekend away, similarly bike-free. And now I'm working from home, so haven't even been commuting on two wheels either.

The bottom line of all this is that my weekly stats have gone through the floor, which is not great. Motivation levels have followed suit, not least because I'm doing all this with the expectation of cycling from one end of the country to the other at the start of September, i.e. in five and a half short months. As things stand, I'm assuming/hoping the event will go ahead...but who knows?

Monday 23 March 2020

Week 12 metrics

16th - 22nd March:

Total distance: 50.9mi
Total elevation: 1,572ft
Longest ride: 18.2mi
Time in saddle: 4h 10m

Friday 20 March 2020

When cyclists go insane

I'm in the fortunate position of having a turbo trainer. Less fortunate is the sweaty mess I leave on the conservatory floor after a hard session. Not to worry, I thought to myself, I could get a mat to go underneath it - would protect the laminate from my sweat and have the added benefit of reducing vibration noise (turbo-ing is pretty loud).

Now Argos is generally a pretty good value shop - it's certainly not known for being pricey. So imagine my happiness at discovering they sell some cycling gear, including a mat to go under a turbo trainer...

Imagine my subsequent disbelief at seeing the price - 75 quid for a small synthetic mat.

Lucky for me Planet X currently have a range of sizes, £10 - £20 until Sunday...

Cycling, like golf (and, I guess, a lot of sports), is a pursuit that enables you to spend increasingly barmy amounts of money in pursuit of increasingly tiny gains. But don't do it. Shop around. It doesn't have to be this way..