I need to get fit
Well there was just me cycling today, her indoors is still suffering from the cold so decided Christmas retail therapy would cure it!
I had already decided to try an extension on the route we normally take, so being on my own I was able to explore this new route on my own. The new route meant doing a second lap on the local heath but then taking a new route off our normal route and then cutting back into the normal route further on down the trail which would give the option of continuing the route in the normal direction or by doing the route in reverse from where we rejoin the route so in affect making one and a half laps.
Well things started well but then went down hill once I started down the new route, it was like a mud pool, this was then followed by a very steep hill…………….upwards, then there was flat section with some more mud thrown in for good measure. Then there was a very steep descent down a short concrete road covered in pine needles with a large steel barrier at the bottom! Having avoid any collisions with the steel barrier I headed of the heath to the next gate back on to the heath. Once on the heath and after a 100 meters or so I am at a T junction, left or right, I opted for left, bad move. I ended up where four legged bovine traction gave up trying to access and had to climb out of the undergrowth through bramble and prickly bushes, my shin are currently red raw. And for good measure I got a puncture.
I made it back to the gate and as I repaired my puncture, another rider came past who came down the path I should of gone up and he said it was very very muddy. With that in mind I decided to take the road route further down the road and come back onto the heath further round the route. Having rejoined the heath I found the path that I enjoyed cycling down was in fact a slow up hill gradient when travelling in the opposite direction, by the time I reached the end of the path I was wheezing like a asthmatic. It was about now that my body was telling me to pack up and go home, except to go home I had to rejoin the normal route which I was now about half way round. So I rejoined the normal route and the second time round all the mud water and sand were a lot harder to get through than when I had gone through them an hour or so ago. As I rode upstream (yes I had to ride up a stream) both my calf muscle started to tighten up. I am not sure what was more painful my calf muscle tightening up or me trying to stretch them while pedalling the bike.
I eventually made it back to the final hill (well small incline), on a normal day I would of ridden up it but my exhaustion got the better of me and I pushed it to the top. Once at the top it was just a flat-ish run across the heath and dodge a few mud pools (the one I fell in last week).
Suffice to say I made it home totally exhausted, only to find nobody at home and the daughter had run off all the hot water so I had to wait for the water to heat up so I could have a bath.
I don’t know exactly how far I cycled today but I think it was in the realms of 17 miles, not a lot in cycling terms but it was the longest ride I have done to date and if it does not help with the weight loss for this week then there is no justice!!
