Anyway, enough of that, I need to bring you up to speed on my progress. I will start with the photo on the right, this is a rare occasion where the Lowroader riders are in the same place at the same time. This was our attempt at making 'happy faces' after the grueling ride that was the Mad March Hare. It was certainly MAD as you have probably read in previous blogs, with relentless rain and even snow along the 70 odd mile route. We were all riding with our late friend Nick in mind. The loss of Nick came as a huge shock. I only got to know Nick through the Lowroader Team, but he had a striking personality that left an impression. I am glad that I got to meet Nick, experience his sense of humour and infectious enthusiasm. He left too soon and is sadly missed.
I mentioned that I had moved house and I am now within cycling distance of work. This is great and means that I can combine my commute with my training - win win!! In order to preserve the Trek TCT (AKA Derek) I have bought a new bike. Epic Cycles hooked me up with a Genesis Aether (AKA Phil Collins) which is happily munching miles to and from work. I bought this via cycle-to-work which left a little budget for some upgrades to the Trek in the form of some lighter wheels and a lighter, compact crankset. I also have some trick Schwalbe tyres courtesy of SkateHut and I'm looking forward to trying out the new bits to see if I notice the reduced weight.
While the Mad March Hare ride was wet wet wet, my next ride at the Kilotogo Cheshire Cat sportive could not have been more different. Glorious sunshine for every one of the 102 miles. The ride went really well, I posted a silver standard finish time and was in great shape for the entire ride. I was waiting for the energy to run out during the final miles of the ride, but the legs stayed strong to the line. I think it's a testament to the training schedule and advice that I have been following from Dr. Garry Palmer at SportsTest. I was hoping to get a measure of the improvements last Friday when Garry came to Land Rover for testing. Unfortunately there was only time for three test slots so my comparison will have to wait. Mark went through a retest, so I will let him post an update on his progress. There was time to check some of my basic information and it looks like following Garry's advice has made a dramatic improvement to my body fat percentage with an improvement of 3.5%!
The next ride I have planned is the Little Mountain Time Trial in Worcester, followed by a mileathon to raise some funds for Birmingham Children's Hospital. The finishing touches are being made to our team jerseys and with less than 90 days to the big ride anticipation is mounting - bring it on!!
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