Durham Big Ride, my first medal :-)

me and hubby

Ok, so its been a while since I have posted.  I doesnt mean the journey isnt continuing or that I have given up......my life is just so packed out with things to do that I forget to blog it!

Start of the ride,
I am at the bottom right of the photo!

During the summer holidays I got the chance to go out with hubby on the bikes as the children went to stay at nannas house.  That was after he bought a new bike, a better bike than me I must add and it weighs nothing compared to mine!  We went out on a couple of small rides approx 5 miles and approx 15 miles...........not too shabby, then we decided to enter Durham big ride on the 4th September.  I really should have planned this a bit better.........it was uphill, uphill and more uphill..... in hindsight maybe its a good job I didnt look otherwise I would maybe have been put off!!  But all I want to say is after a tough uphill ride, with short sharp downhill sections before more gruelling uphill sections.............I did it, I might have taken my time, I might have been a bit slow but I managed to get my first cycling medal and I am proud.............it was only 25 miles but it was the toughest 25 miles I think I have done so far!

Tough Iverston bank, I couldnt do it :-( (this time!)



My First Cycling Medal!

10 Year anniversary.

Ok so its not cycling orientated but I think its worthy of a mention as an important part of my life!  10 years ago today I married my husband and my mum ensured it was certainly a day to remember!!  An all day party and loads of fun for everyone, thanks mum :-) !!

I managed another lonely 12k............not the longest of rides but my bike is in tip top condition for a longer one next week :-)

Bike at the Doctors.....

Ok so its only an update to say my bike is at http://www.directcarparts.co.uk/ in Durham as its very squeaky and the gears need some adjustment since they are not changing when I need them too, making it very annoying and harder than it should be!  I am actually eager to get back on it and out for a ride!  I dragged out the stationary trainer the other day since it was thundery and raining outside but I have officially decided that its not my idea of fun, I was shattered after 20 mins and even more bored than when I am out riding on my own...........so I definately need a gym membership for the bad weather days!

I must remember to brush my teeth!

Ok so its an oddly titled post I know but its true, glucose tablets are a cyclist best friend on a long journey but Jelly Babies are definately the way forward and my mum used to love Jelly babies too...........but I must remember to brush my teeth otherwise I will be toothless when I am doing my ride around Cuba!

No one will know its me :-)

I strangely felt motivated this morning and after convincing hubby to fix my bike computer and spending about 2 hours getting ready and making excuses to delay the inevitable a bit longer......off I went!  We were supposed to go camping this weekend but the weather forecast was not good so we decided to stay at home and leave the camping for another weekend, the cycling however I have decided needs to happen rain hail or shine.as long as I am wrapped up appropriately the worst I am going to get is a bit muddy and to be fair that can be quite good for the inner child :-)  Anyhow I decided to set off along my normal route on the railways paths through Langley Park and up to Lanchester, I have decided for now at least to stick with this route and distance until my speed picks up a bit and I will endeavour to go a bit further for now 15 miles ish seems like a comfortable distance for me to achieve. 

Riding along the weather was freaky, on one side of the path there was blue sky, white fluffy clouds and glorious blazing sunshine yet on the other side of the path the clouds were angry, black and the faint rumble of thunder nearly had me turning around after only 3 miles!  It was weird because it was so warm (21 degrees according to my bike computer) yet there was a cold wind swirling around me, a very odd feeling but I decided the fly fisherman were at a much higher risk than me and they seemed unpertured so I decided my mind was getting the better of me and I carried on.  After passing all my normal landmarks I looked down at my bike computer and was quite alarmed that my numbers were not as high as normal and I wondered why it was taking me so much effort to make the numbers go up and it took me a number of minutes to work out that my hubby had put the bike computer into miles instead of my normal km and when it should have read 5 ish it was reading 3 ish.........hmmmm I like km better as you see them clocking up quicker :-)

My New Best Friends!

Not easy to take a photo of yourself...

I felt a lot better than I did on Thursday and hope that my body will quickly recover the memory of exercise and it will get easier very quickly.  I rode well until I reached about 8 miles and my energy was starting to ease off and I felt a bit shaky so I had a couple of Jelly Babies and within a few minutes I felt much better.....good little babies!!  I soon picked up pace and the miles clocked up a bit more then by the time I got home I had clocked up a respectable 17.2 miles........pretty chuffed to be honest, I know I got a very long way to go.........need to be able to do at least 67 miles in one day........and at least 3-4 days running........its like riding from Durham to Carlisle on a bike :-o ...........scary stuff!!  Hopefully I will be like a twig before long :-)

11 Miles before my break....

My bike has got a horrible squeak and I think it might need a visit to the bike dr as the gears keep slipping or not changing when I want them to............. needs a good bit of lube and a couple of nuts and bolts altered, should be as good as new :-)  I hope!

Sun in my eyes.........Jelly Baaabieeeees!

Well that will do for now..........please share the blog with as many people as you can.......leave comments too...We still need to raise awareness of what we are doing and if the blog gets shared with the right people.........who knows what doors will open :-)  Thanks for reading ;-)

A lonely ride..........

Ok, so we all know its been  weeks since I have braved it out on the bike, but finally....I managed.  Its scary how time is flying and before I know it the challenge will be upon me!  6 months has passed since I signed up and in all honesty I havent worked as hard as what I should, I gave up Slimming World, hubbys shifts were erractic at work and this gave me the excuse I needed.  I gained weight surprise surprise, but I have rejoined and I am happy that although I gained I have still kept some weight off and I am not as heavy as in Feb, although I am sure I would have been so much better if I had stayed at Slimming world in the first place! 

I managed to get out on the bike, but boy it hurt!  It is unreal how a few weeks of not getting out can reduce your fitness by soooooo much :-s . I really struggled and when I got to Langley Park approx 4.5miles I really wanted to quit :-(  but my song came on my ipod, the song that spurred me on last time and the song I made my video too on youtube, and the pictures and the reason for doing this spurred me on......again.   I only managed to get to just before Lanchester, approx 7 miles from home but I felt lonely, sad and annoyed with myself.............I turned round and rode home.........a very lonely 14 miles or so...........

I got a letter from action for charity yesterday and although I have raised £2000, I still have £900 to go, but on top of that I need to raise money to pay for my airport taxes which is currently £305, my passport currently £96, any kit I need and my insurance!  OMG I still have a long road to climb and I cant let this opportunity go to waste especially when I have come so far........................I just need to use a tool which I have always struggled with in my life........motivation!

Light at the end of the tunnel... I hope :-)

I haven't written for a while because I haven't had much to report on the cycling front.. as my knee just seemed to go from bad to worse!! I kept resting it .. but then it'd puff up again and be painful and I found it difficult walking - it was even waking me up at night .. and all I would do to aggrevate it was drive a distance or sit for too long in a meeting!!!

Anyway this on Thursday I went to a Physio I'd been recommended Carlisle Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic I saw Judy Hattle - after much prodding and questioning she thinks I have patellar tendinothapy (a bit like tennis elbow - although for the knee .. often called Jumpers Knee!!) .. she gave me some electrotherapy and friction massage.... felt much better after - I have another appointment this week.  The reason seems to be that over the last couple of years I have been unable to straighten my leg fully - I thought this was just part of my 'bad knee' syndrom and with everything that was going on in my life at the time I just plodded on regardless.  It probably started when I fell on the ice 3 years ago (when my Mum was really ill).. I couldn't walk for over a week and had to go to hospital for a MRI scan (never got the results - good old Carlisle Hospital!!!).. so I guess at that point I hobbled around with a bent knee and it just became 'normal'..  However, all the sport I've been doing has been with a bent knee (high impact on my knee cap).. cycling wouldn't have been so bad but some of the other stuff at the gym would.  So basically it took all it could and then just gave up on me - hence me standing (at the bike maintenance course) triggered it's response of 'no - not anymore!!'  The good news is that if it is that I should be able to get it better than it's been for a long time - and still do Cuba!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :-)))))

The previous day I'd got an appointment with my doctor who sent me for an X-ray to check if I had any degeneration .. luckily she managed to arrange it for me to go to Borders Hospital (Melrose) as I didn't want to go back to Carlisle - too many bad experiences (both myself and with my mother).. At the Borders you just turn up and get an X-ray - so did that on friday too .. brilliant system (only waited 10 minutes!) The radiographer didn't think I had much degeneration - which is great.. next thing is a MRI scan (as Carlisle hadn's sent the last one to my GP she's trying to chase it up)..

Judy thought a MRI scan would be well worth getting - so appointment arranged to see doctor again this week... things are moving!!

Went swimming this morning ... allowed to do it so long as I just kick my legs - breast stroke and kicking is quite hard.. or is it that I'm not fit any more????????

Still a bit happier than I have been for a while .. just want to get on my bike though!!

A goal post reached with a little help from my friends :-)

Well, I am a bit dissapointed that ever since I got back into the riding again and bought some new cycling gear the weather has turned and it is more like monsoon season!!  I can only hope that we will get a bit of a warmer spell to follow :-s  Oh well!!  On the positive I have finally rached £2000 of fundraising, after holding my event my friend held an open house jewellery sale for me and kindly donated a portion of sales to my efforts, her total was a fabulous £50 towards my efforts and I would like to say a huge Thank you to Eve Gates at Vintage Jewels and JessieRose jewels which can be found on facebook https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/jewelsbyJessieRose .

I was so close to the £2000 hurdle, only £45 to go....I posted a link on fb and thanks to a very kind friend (Sarah!!)  I have finally reached the hurdle!!!  I am astounded at my efforts, totally gobsmacked and on a high!!  My mum would be so proud!!  So now, all I need is some nice weather?!?!  .............................