Well that was more difficult than I thought.

It takes ages, uses loads of blades and is very fiddley – just how do you shave the back of your knees and where do you stop?

There are so many things to consider – and waxing is definately not an option.
Do you use your hair clippers to give the legs a number 1 then use Veet cream to finish the job (other hair removal creams are available)
Do you shave then Veet to get the bits you missed
Or do you just go straight to Veet?

Lets face it 24 hours ago I would have throught Veet was some sort of organic veg to be eaten with yoghurt whilst wearing tie dye.

I went for the shave then Veet option and I can say that my legs are a bit more lumpy than I thought – it looks like the shins have been through a hard time or two.

My legs were not the hairiest but I can say that the operation took 3 weeks worth of blades – funny that the Mach 3 blades dont seem to do legs too easily yet chins are a breeze.

So now the big question – how long before the hairs grow back? and will it be itchy?

Onto the cycling – 2 rides this weekend one early cold and wet the other much nicer, but both windy. Sundays was a 50 mile jaunt round the usual route in 3 hours – so I am happy with the pace.

Its the last week of training now with thoughts moving to kit lists and logistics more than miles and food intake.

Two weeks today we will be well on the way into France.

Dave E has just got too much time on his hands

I’m Gonna Be (1000 Miles)
——The Poor Trainers

When we wake up, well we know we’re gonna be,
We’re gonna be the men who are going to cycle to,
The twin towns, of a place called Northampton,
Yes, they are the places we are cycling to,
When we get there, well we know we’re gonna be
We’re gonna be the men who are propping up the bar,
13 lagers, followed swiftly by 13 more,
And no more cycling, we’ll be traveling by car

And we will cycle 1000 miles
And we wont cycle any more
’Cause to cycle a thousand miles in 8 days
Surely makes your backside sore.

When we’re cycling , yes we know we’re gonna be
We’re gonna be on those bloody bikes for 8 long days,
And when the pain hits, as we’re climbing up those hills,
We just remember all the money that we’ve raised
When we get home(When we get home), well we know we’re gonna be
We’re gonna be the men who need a rest in bed
And what’s next (And what’s next), well my bike is gonna be
It’s gonna be spending the next year rusting in the shed.

And we will cycle 1000 miles
And we wont cycle any more
’Cause to cycle a thousand miles in 8 days
Surely makes your backside sore.

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

When we’re cycling , well we know we’re gonna ache
We’re gonna ache and then our legs will start to burn
And when we finish, well we’ll know that we have raised
That we have raised a shed load for Autism Concern
When we get back (When we get back), well we know that we wont miss
We wont miss , spending all day sat on a flipping bike
And when Jon says (and when Jon says), shall we do the same next year
We’re gonna tell him politely he should take a hike
We’re gonna tell him politely he should take a hike

And we will cycle 1000 miles
And we wont cycle any more
’Cause to cycle a thousand miles in 8 days
Surely makes your backside sore.

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)
Pete D’Amery (Pete D’Amery)

Da Da Da Dun Diddle Un Diddle Un Diddle Uh Da

And we will cycle 1000 miles
’And we wont cycle any more
Cause to cycle a thousand miles in 8 days
Surely makes your backside sore.

Another day, another ride.

This time just a short spin round the local villages on another of our usual routes from Petes place. We did about 25 miles in total, getting the riding discipline going again which meant we kept a good pace all evening. Its was very warm and humid with dramatic storm clouds all around. I am not sure about the other boys but I got back just as the rain storm came.

Back in time to watch most of the Murray game.

The bike is in for a service today so that could be it for me until Saturday now.

We had a good couple of rides this weekend. On Saturday 9 of us rode our usual route past Pattishall, Maidford, Greens Norton, Silverstone, Ashton Hanslope and back through Salcey. The pace was furious for such a rolling route and the weather was good to us. The lead group doing the 50 in 2hours 40 minutes. We all headed back to our respective bases to find somewhere to watch the Lions get beaten up by the Boks. But some even managed to find the energy for another 20 or so miles.

This is a much faster pace than we will ride the actual route in and our discipline was not too good as we broke into groups and had a number of individual  sprints launched to either bridge the gap or to launch an attack. 

On Sunday a smaller group met in town and did our Market Bosworth Market Harbourough, Naseby and back route. Another rolling route and another fast pace – but this time we were much more discliplined with a proper chaingang being set up. For long sections of the ride the four of us managed a faster pace working together that we had achieved yesterday being fragmented.

As I live out of town I split off from the others at a suitable point and made my way back through the villages – it was at that point that I realised the pace we had been achieving as my speed dropped quite a lot for the last 10 or so miles

I did about 65 miles in 3 hours 45 minutes.  which is approx 19 mph (30 kph) average not allowing for a couple of short stops for drinks etc

The conditions on both days were great for cycling – lets hope its the same in four weeks.

Just time now for a quick Pims – well it is the summer

With weddings, stag nights, christenings, shift work and all the other things that we have to do just as part of normal life getting time to train is not always too easy.

For me last weeks was quite frantic. Saturday morning was rained off, I had mixed feelings about missing the ride as we wont get an option in July – we will ride whatever the weather. But on the other had there is no point in getting too cold or coming off. I rode by myself on Sunday and did just under 50 miles getting home just before the rain came. I missed the yoga session on Monday as i was working away and Tuesday was too manic to fit a ride in. On Wednesday evening I did a a quick 1 hour dash as Jon tells us that we need to mix up the type of rides we do. Thursday was a day off work for me – I had loads of gardening to do and had to collect children from various points and fixed times but I stall managed about a 2 and a half hour ride doing just over 40 miles on my own.

So when Saturday same I was missing riding in a group. 5 of us decided to do the first 50 miles of the route which you will already have calculated is a round 100 miles. After all the good weather it was disappointing to wake up to drizzle (Chris and Murli have thunderstorms but we have to content with drizzle, I betChris and Murli don’t get drizzle in Singapore, you know that fine rain that wets you through – (copyright Peter Kay)) so we set off into the wet and the head wind, the rain cleared but the wind didn’t. Our route takes us through Whitlebury, Buckingham, Gawcott then over through some smaller villages through Oakley and deep into Oxfordshire. As we shed layers our pockets got fuller. We turned in about 3 hours and after topping up the water bottles in a PETROL STATION we enjoyed more of a tailwind back to home. Its a funny thing cycling as some roads that are flat in one direction are uphill in the other direction!

With about 15 miles to go the group split and the fit boys made it back in 5 hours 40 with me coming back in a respectable 6 hours. By now the weather was excellent about 20 degress which is roughly 10 degrees hotter than when we set off.

When I got back the sign “Beer £2.00 a pint all weekend” at the local was too hard to ignore – well what would you do?

Then onto a camping BBQ at Petes and a couple of swift halfs before trying to get to sleep on an airbed that is self deflating.

6 weeks to go now and one of the riders is getting married next weekend so I am guessing that could be a rest weekend.

Just time to get the bike booked in for a service and consider the delights of shaving the legs!!

Thursday evening was a fast and furious ride to knock of a quick 20 miles (1 hour) before a welcome cup of tea and planning chat at Petes. Having had a cold (no not just man flu) all week the ride was a challenge for me but the result was that I seemed to sweat the cold out.

After a week of fantastic weather Saturday was a bit of a disappointment. We assembled a group of 8 riders and set off on the first part of what will be our 1st day in the saddle on the proper ride, however, we had not really decided that this was the plan for the day until we had done a few miles so therefore no one had the exact route in mind! But nontheless we headed off through the rain to Buckingham by where a short stop to devise a route home a route proved how cold it was. 

From Buckingham we headed out to Aylesbury via Gawcott – this was a great ride and I look forward to this in July – but we came unstuck when faced with the racetrack of the A41 so we opted to about turn and head back to Buckingham then over to Stony Stratford, Hanslope and home. All in all about 65 miles or so and all done before lunch.

Sunday saw the last Rugby games of the season which will free up a lot of time for the parents and coaches amongst us to get a few extra rides in as we head towards the summer (the gardening can wait).

Today I have a day off so I will be able to get out in the early afternoon to keep the mileage going….

We (Dave W, Dave E, Richard, Pete, Jamie, Chris B) had good ride out thru Buckingham this weekend to get used to the first part of the ride. At one point meeting up with a big club ride from Bicester. We will be heading out this way again over the next couple of weeks so watch out for us.

Since then its started snowing so we will all be training indoors I guess this week on the turbo trainers.

Wayne entered a 70 mile ride on sunday which he completed in good time – I didnt envy him that as it was freezing – too cold to be coaching the under 11’s rugby team that was certain.

This morning we had good turnout for the usual training ride 6 in total. Because I did not have too may time pressures today I decided to peel off from the other guys and do a longer ride so I saw bits of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire as well as the usual Northants. The scenery was fantastic – the temperature and the wind were not!

In total I did about 80 miles (130K) which I am pleased with at this stage in the preperation beacase I gave not trained on the road enough since xmas due to the weather and other commitments. But the size of the task that we have undertaken is starting to dawn on me as on our first day we have to do 130 miles – so on todays route I was 50 miles short!!

But we are six months away from the event with the better weather, longer rides and the opportunity to shed some of the layers we have to wear at the moment.

Looking forward to the ride on 1st Feb.

The next milestone is 100 miles.

Dave

So its only 205 days to go and the weather is still being unkind to us and the forecast for next week is not too heartening. Training over christmas has not been as extensive as I would have liked but is about all I could have hoped for with trips out to see family and friends and all usual fetivities.

Text from Jon today regarding a ride at short notice but I could not manage it (all warm gear in the washing machine – I have not used that one before)

So this is it later this year we are off on a major challange so the miles and effort have to step up – watch this space – 3 hour ride tomorrow morning. Brrrr