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I put weight on over Christmas………….

Now I am in two minds at the fact I put weight on, on the one hand it was Christmas and I was not going to starve myself by avoiding all the nice Christmas goodies that were on hand but on the other it was a little more than I had hoped (but nowhere as bad as last years). What has not helped is the fact that I broke my bike and I was unable to ride yesterday or today (more of that later). So this coming week I am going to try to eat sensibly and avoid the sweets, chocolates and cakes etc. which are still hanging around from Christmas and do a bit more riding.

I managed to get a bike ride in on Christmas eve which was a bonus but it did include falling off at walking pace on black ice, I now have a lovely cut on my knee. Managed to get another ride in on Boxing day morning with the wife trying out a new route. Went out for a ride on Sunday on my own, the ride can only be described as a mud fest which included trying to ride up a track where the front wheel disappeared up to the axle in mud. On recovering my bike the pedals and wheel were covered in black gloopy mud. It was also interesting trying ride a cross a field where I was pedalling and not going anywhere, the front wheel stuck in the mud and the rear just spinning.

It was during the cleaning of the bike after the Sunday mud fest that I found a broken spoke on the rear wheel. It was not there on Saturday when I cleaned the bike so it must of happened during the mud fest ride. Not wanting to further damage the wheel any-more I decided not to ride yesterday, but I did do a 5 mile walk instead, lets just say is easier to cycle 5 miles than it is to walk.

I dropped the bike off at the local shop this morning and they quickly replaced the spoke for me so hopefully I will out again tomorrow and Thursday weather permitting. I want to get some miles under my belt not only because of my diet but I want to do an organised ride in 11 days time so I want to make sure I can do more than the advertised 15 miles as it will be in an area I have never ridden and apparently it will include a few hills!!

The GPS and mapping software has been proving useful, part of Saturday’s route came from looking on the OS map and worked very well apart from a river crossing, there was a bridge but it was the 2 foot deep water you had to cross to get on the bridge which proved a problem, result was wet cold feet. Sunday mud fest was another local route I found on the web and with the help of the GPS I was able to check I was going to correct direction, would be handy if they could tell you when the route was flooded with water though…………..

I am slowly getting used to the GPS, the total lack of manuals has not really helped as not only am I learning how to use a GPS and it terminology I am also learning how to use this particular GPS and the mapping software that comes with it. I am not saying that the GPS or the software is rubbish, quite the opposite. I have found the Memory Map Adventurer 2800 and the Memory Map software very good once I learn how to use it.

Well Mondays weigh in did not go well at all or rather last weeks diet did not go well, I had a bit of a weight gain, I had expected a small gain but unfortunately it was more than I had expected. Now it is going to be even harder over the Christmas period to maintain a diet, lose weight and enjoy yourself.

Not only have I made it harder on the diet front but my intentions of doing a lot of bike riding to help combat the food intake is now under threat on two fronts. First, this weather is a problem, I don’t mind the cold or snow (not that we have any down here) but the freezing icy condition, trying to balance on something just over 1.5 inches wide over a bumpy icy surface is not easy or fun. Add to that I have bike problems. I had problems with the bike since I bought it, then things with the shop got a little strained and after this past weekend where the problem caused some major paint\frame damage I spoke to the manufacturer who basically said it has to go to a main dealer. So I have to contact the shop I purchased it from or another dealer which would involve a 90 mile round trip assuming they want to even look at the bike.

Well I doubt I will write anything till after Christmas day so a Very Merry Christmas to you all.

At Mondays weigh in I eventually got past the 3 stone loss mark, in fact it is now 3st 1lb loss since I started the diet. But strangely I feel a bit muted by it, maybe it is due to the amount of time I have been trying to get past the three stone mark or maybe it is the thought that I need to lose a lot more, or that Christmas is just around the corner, I don’t know.

My next target is not to undo all my hard work over Christmas, last years was a disaster, so this year I don’t intend going down that route again. Apart from eating sensibly I am going to cycle as much as I can over the holiday period to help counter the festive indulgence, the only day I won’t be riding is Christmas day.

My ride distance is getting longer, I am now starting to do a couple of laps of the route I use over local heath to get the distance. Problem is I get bored doing the same lap twice, so I am trying to find two different routes that I can do. I also intend to do some exploring over the holiday period, try and find some new routes and areas to ride. Might even venture a little further afield to see what I can find.

Damm and blast almost there but not quite and yet the weeks keep ticking by. It was a weight loss on Monday night but it was 8 oz short of what I wanted to hit the three stone mark. I guess I should be grateful that I lost and yes I am but I wanted the other 8oz. I guess I only have myself to blame, it was me that had the Chinese at the beginning of last week, it was me that ate the cookies, so I am not blaming anybody except myself. Will keep pushing myself this week and with the good weather forecast I am hoping to have a couple of good runs this weekend.

Had a scare yesterday, the overflow was running with water so I had to get into the loft, I was expecting to find a ball valve playing up, unfortunately it was not a ball valve. In fact we (me or the plumber) don’t know for sure what the problem is accept that it not happening today. He gave the system the once over and could not find anything wrong, so now we play the waiting game and see if it happens again, just right for the xmas holidays. Having the plumber round today meant I had to change my week around so it is an early night for me as I have to be up at 5:00am tomorrow.

My better half decided that I should have a decent Christmas present this year, that not to say the past present have been rubbish but she wanted to push the boat out for me this year. So after much thinking it was decided I would get a GPS, it has the added benefit that she will get use of it as well when were out riding together anyway, so all is good. We spent a while looking around and eventually decided on a new model from Memory Map. These guys have produced mapping software based on OS maps and have just brought out their first GPS. What drew me to this product was the fact that you get their mapping software and the GPS at a very competitive price, unfortunately it is not as good as it should be.

There is one main problem, they don’t supply manuals, not in paper form not even in electronic form. You get two small quick start guides, one for the Memory Map software and one for the GPS and that is it. I have spent several days scratching my head and looking on there support forum looking for help on how to use their software and GPS unit. They actually state on the support forum that the GPS works out of the box, and I would agree with them switch it on and it works, no annoying requests to install anything to get it working it just worked. But if like me this is your first GPS, switching it on is about as far as you are going to go without reverting to some form of manual to tell you how to plan a route and load maps etc. I have since found a Users Guide (a basic 11 page document explaining the basics) for the GPS which has helped. But I can’t see the logic in not even producing a manual for your product.

Went out riding again today, only for a short ride as my son came with me and my legs were still aching from yesterday. So for an easy ride we went out to Hurn forest. My son decided every puddle was an adventure waiting to be explored and no puddle was to deep. From the very first puddle he headed straight through the middle of it as fast as he could peddle. This picture was taken near the end of our ride. Mind you I am many years older than him but puddles still seems to have that magnetic attraction to me as well!

The wife who took both pictures was not impressed as I made her wet as I raced through the puddle, how unthoughtful of her, no consideration for me as to how wet I got for her photo opportunity!! The wife walked today as she did not feel up to riding, hopefully she will be back on the bike next week.

Finally tomorrow night is weigh in night, just hope that I have lost enough weight this past week to get past that mark which has been haunting me for the past few weeks, its to late if I have not so I will just cross my fingers till tomorrow!!