End of the year(ish).

Forgive me for I have sinned..........

Autumn in a blink.

Yeah, autumn has been a bit mental with changing jobs, and blogging has been dropped somewhat.  I have a number of blog posts that I might sneak into the timeline for my own anal quirks of completeness.  I should put them there because 2016 has been a fascinating year in all respects.   Who would have thought that I'd ride Eds-Lon, I'd be at the Six Days of London on the 6th night!, Brexit would happen, Trump would become POTUS-elect, climate change would hit 1.2C, I'd switch jobs, Pete R would become a dad, my EtOH tolerance would drop to zero and the kids might start to twig that Santa isn't in fact real???

Our voices were hoarse after shouting on Wiggo and Cav 

Brief overview.

Ride wise, post Eds-Lon there was the fall out of testing, a race around London on a tandem, my birthday on the Rise Above Sportive with Anna and tandem, a drop of in miles and then for the last month or more, a rebuild to descent mileages again with Notts-Manc-Notts on the Genesis for a test and re establishing a more logical training pattern.  I've submitted all my data, routes, thoughts and blog entries to the LEL team to help their route planning and may get a free place next year via the draw - fingers crossed.  I had been aiming at 220 miles per week but as roads get colder and kids have school things going on, this has only just been feasible.   Last 2 weeks has seen temperatures sporadically drop (some -3 to -5C riding) and the return of the turbo trainer while my Genesis has tripped over 20,000km to date (the Concorde has pretty much rested since July).   The Pain Cave is getting a dusting down, the Colnago sensors have fresh batteries ready for Zwift and Sufferfest, the turbo has started it's next winter of tyre shredding and that lurking winter flu.......well fuck you flu, at least you've given me a chance to type.

At the moment, I'm looking to see if I can get to 16,200km before Dec 31st - 10,000 miles.   I'm just about on track and with the kit I've got, I should just about make it.

Bit of an outcast.

For some of the more cycle-stylish stuff, I think I might be a bit of a cycling outcast or grumpy old man.  I'm still inspired by bikeporn, hyperbikes and crits.   The thrill of chain ganging, racing at high speeds, closing gaps and so on I still find invigorating.   The thrill of racing a lightweight, poised race bike still turns me on and gets my heart rate going, but at the same time I think I'm getting more and more disenchanted by the cycling communities.   Cycling communities do do a lot to bring people into riding which with the health of the nation can only be a fantastic thing.  But at the intermediate level where most of us are, more and more kit snobbery creeps in, riders who ride for the show boasting about "how stiff the chassis is" on their £3k bike but their max power is under 500W, riders who don't dare ride after dark or see the ride as a tour of cake stops become the norm.  I don't really associate myself with these riders because if I have the time to ride (which is often with short notice), I want to see if I can do 200km minimum or have a day picking climbs in the Peak District and get back in the dark after 16 hours - not rides most people jump to, especially if they don't know me and they may be in my company for that length of time!  Those clubs I would like to ride for with the higher paces almost appear too expensive - must have kit etc compared to what I have.   Which makes me feel a bit like a outcast cyclist who doesn't fit into either the MAMIL club rider or the younger race honed amateur racer.   My lone-cyclist style is much more my thing mainly because there don't appear to be as many like minded riders - robust kit, rides all weathers and really enjoys the solitude of trying to cover big distances.   Not sure if this makes me a grumpy outcast or something, but to me being given a challenge of "cover this long distance as fast as you can with the least support" really calls to me.

Dreaming.

I'm a self confessed dreamer.  Usually I'm dreaming of the open road - ones I know well here around Nottingham and while I was training further afield, and those I'm yet to explore.  I've been reading a number of blogs and those inspiration porn style blogs/news feeds/product placements of hardmen riding ridiculous distances and even in my ill state right now, I want to be either out there doing the miles in the cold and dark or working on my thresholds on the turbo with a banging soundtrack.  One day I'll join them.   One day.