Saturday, April 14, 2007

Unfinished Sympathy

7 weeks on from what i thought was a cold, & here i sit, still suffering from laryngitis. A sore throat that won't go away. The doctor has now prescribed penicillin, but still no better.
On the plus side, i am back in training for the London To Brighton Bike Ride after a six week break due to the illness, so i guess i'm on the mend.
Due to the illness i have delayed the back wax task & the colonic irrigation task, but will try & get these done by early May. Then it's time to 'up' the cycling to get fit for the "L2B 2007". The plan is to put in at least 50 miles each week, up from the current 25. (Think of the London To Brighton bike ride as the "London Marathon" for cyclists!!).
5-a-side footy has begun again as well on a Monday. I hope that the illness, cycling & footy combined will kick in the "Loose some weight" task.
Other things going on in "Before40" land:-
A reply from TGI Fridays re: my Disaster visit to their Fareham Resturant. (Will post it here soon).
Over 200 "Friends" now on the Before 40 MySpace site.
Mmmm





1 comment:

petercmoore said...

Howdy!

You asked for L2B tips over at my blog - so here they are (for what it's worth!):

1. It's a LOT busier than you can imagine.

1a. Expect to queue for around 30 minutes at the start, so make sure you get to Clapham early.

1b. Some parts of the route (especially the uphill bits) get so crowded that you have no choice but to walk. Some of the "hard-core" cyclists get p-ed off at the "wussy weekend cyclists" slowing them down, but really there's no option.

2. Ditchling Beacon. It's steep. It's VERY steep. Something like a 1:3 uphill for around a mile. It's very hard work WALKING up after you've been cycling for 50 miles. Don't think about cycling up unless you've done some serious hill-climb training.

3. 25 miles each Sunday is a good start. It's the sort of training I did last year. But the last 10-15 miles really take the toll. I'd recommend getting a 45 or 50 mile ride in at least once in the month before L2B.

4. Getting home is a nightmare. You have a choice of

a) booking a space on the giant shuttle bus service back to Clapham (they take your bike back in a van with loads of others). Though I think this service only runs on the day of the bike ride.

b) trying to catch a train the next day. But the railway co. dole out spaces VERY sparingly. You will need to get to the station early to book a slot on a train well in advance.

c) having a friend with a big car/van or a bike rack who's happy to pick-up you and your bike.

Hmmm... These all sound like negative points; which I guess they are.

I didn't really enjoy the ride at all. Far too many people. And far too many people who were either hard-core cyclists p-ed off with having us 'amateurs' in their way; or idiots cycling too fast, too close to less experienced people.

It was baking hot and lovely weather and there were LOTS of supportive and friendly people there - and I definitely feel proud of the fact that it was a good achievement, raised a bit of money for charity and got me a little bit fitter - but all said and done I wouldn't repeat the experience.

Don't let that put you off though. There are plenty of folks who really enjoy it and go back year after year. I think it's my problem as I just don't like crowds and tend to avoid packed gigs and pubs, etc, too!