Turbo Man's Fitness Blog: First Bike Ride in a Very Long Time

NO LOVE HANDLES ALLOWED!

'It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.' Theodore Roosevelt 23 April 1910

Saturday, 26 November 2011

First Bike Ride in a Very Long Time

This morning I was up bright and early, took the dog for his early morning walk along the coast, had a hearty breakfast of eggs & bacon accompanied by a glass of water and a strong coffee, and then got changed for something I haven't done for many months; a long bike ride. OK, it was planned to be 2.5 hours that I know isn't very long for some of you, but I haven't ridden a bike for more than 2.5 miles since April (I think) so this was, for me, quite a big deal. I was quite pleased that the weather was OK, as I had arranged to meet a ride buddy and so there was no pulling out.

I had prepared all my kit last night, so wasn't scrabbling around looking for stuff, and at 0730 I headed out the door. I was riding the Planet X on what was supposed to be it's last ride before becoming a flat-barred commuter, but I think there's a change of plan coming there! I was late meeting my ride buddy, partly because of the wind but mainly because I no longer have 'bike legs', and it took me longer to get to the meeting point than it did last year. Anyway, we headed out and rode fairly easily, a few efforts on the hills but overall a fairly gentle and steady effort. We had to cut a few km off towards the end because I was tight for time, and after dropping my ride buddy off at his house I headed home, but my lower back was aching which suggests that I need to become more familiar with my bike. I think we did about 65-70 km this morning, in 2 hours 45 minutes; nothing spectacular but it's a major step forward for me.

When I got home, I went upstairs, got changed into my gym kit and headed straight out to the CrossFit gym. If I hadn't promised my son that we were going I certainly wouldn't have bothered, I was knackered! The session was: 100 pull-ups, 100 press-ups, 100 sit-ups and 100 squats. Sounds easy, but it was quite painful, and I wasn't exactly overflowing with energy! But I did it (although I did cheat on the pull-ups!).

My legs are very tired this evening and I've tried to ease the pain with fresh scones, clotted cream and raspberry jam.

Train smart folks. Unlike me.