I’m now busy back at work with a very packed expedition program with the odd day at home before we head off to Penzance for the start. This means  switching to mountain biking for the majority of training with the odd road trip on change round days. Its been a while since I’ve been on my mountain bike and the first thing I’ve noticed, other than the lack of cars, is that I’m hardly using the small chain ring – this is a good sign. Second thing I noticed as I went head first towards a peat bog is that you need to concentrate a bit more when off road. Anyway, enjoying the contrast.

Went out last night for 3 hour circuit taking in Dinnet, Crathie, Gairn Sheil and Corgarf. Its a long time since I’ve been on the southDeeside road between Dinnet and Crathie and probably never on a bike. Its made for road biking with gentle undulations, lovely things to see along the way and great views out across Deeside. Only two cars passed me along this stretch making it all the more enjoyable. If you don’t fancy the whole circuit taking the bikes across to Deeside just to do this road is worth it. Ideal trip for the kids as there are Ice Cream stops at the start, middle and end.

Been on family duties over the weekend but managed to get a ride in around the Lake district. First thing to say is how very very busy it was. To escape traffic I got onto cycle route 17 however around Keswick it became a gravel path with frequent gates and loads of dog walkers. Coming around the northern end of Skidaw, the roads from Basenwaite, Uldale and onto Caldbeck were fantastic and more or less traffic free. I spent the first 16 years of my life around there and until now never realised the full road biking potential.

Following in the footsteps of John, Ric and Paul I’m now the proud owner of a SRAM 11-28 rear cassette. This has made climbing the hills so much easier than the original Shimano 12-25 which came with the bike. I got so excited that I changed Mahri’s bike as well and have been blasting over the Gairn Sheil road with a big smile on my face.

The weather and the route were probably not what we would choose for pleasure however at some point we will be in heavy urban traffic, we will cycle in the rain and we do need to be able to cycle longer distances on some of our days. Our group managed the journey without any major problems although we did have an incident with a car getting to close and making contact with a rider. Hopefully everyones confidence has grown a bit more and we start to regard the ride as a pleasurable challenge and not a daunting nightmare!!!! 

After the ride we were down at Ric’s to check out some Scottish routes, eat Liz’s fine food and drink beers – all part of training.

Well done the team.

Riding in these big showers is a bit like white water kayaking surrounded by jet boats. I’ve saddled up the old single speeder for some hacks around the woods most evenings taking the dog for a bit of company. Nice change.

Got a nice run down to Inverurie this morning. Its about 36 miles with very little freewheeling or up hill graft and takes just under 2 hours. Coffee and cakes at the bakery ummmm.

Dropped off Heather and Helen for a swimming session at Aboyne pool. Got a fast circuit in from Aboyne to Finzean to Strachan to Banchory then up the North Deeside road. Phew just back in time to pick the girls up. Cycling on mid Deeside roads is a bit easier than upper Donside.

Fantastic ride round the Cabrach circuit with Ella today. Large amounts of pollen caused much sneezing and streaming eyes. Those pancakes at the Old Fire station make this a must do circuit.

If anyone out there is interested in obtaining a pair of sore knees then all you have to do is any or all of the following:-

Cycle with seat to low
Cycle with seat to high
Cycle with a broken saddle
Cycle with small SPD cleats on a 10 year old pair of bendy soled comfort cycling shoes
If you normally use footbeds don’t put them in your cycling shoes
Avoid warming up, stretching, warming down and stretching again after any cycling activity.

Patients would seem to be the watch word when conditioning a body to do things it hasn’t done before. I’d done about 3 weeks worth of regular riding and hit about 300 miles total and then contracted a nasty bug which put me out for 5 days or so. As soon as I was able to get back on the bike without being sick I went out feeling compelled to make up for lost time – big mistake. A long cycle on a cold day, not feeling great and not finishing the ride with a proper stretching session has resulted in pulled muscles a swollen knee and a further week off the trusty steed. Say no more.