Category: Rides and exercise

Weekending 10 Jun 07

Monday: Louises spinning class at the Oval (but not for much longer). 600 calories burnt. Some weights but not too many. Had a fruitless trip to Halfords trying to get a Hollowtech bottom bracket removal tool as the Toy has an irritating creak on the chainside downstroke.
Tuesday: Fettled the bike at 5:50 am for the Time Trial. Rode out to the start and did the thing for real this time. Now I’ve been told I would better my time by a minute once you get under starters orders and so it proved. 8.75 miles in 22 minutes 45 seconds.
This was an amazing event for me, a 23 mph average was hard work but at least I now have a PB to aim at on this course.
Wednesday:Maybe a spinning class class, but certainly a trip to the gym. Managed to get in Sheila,s class at Europa Pools. Another hot class, 530 calories burnt, not a lot by recent standards but I was going through water like crazy. Weights in the gym and ran 1 kilometre @ 11.1 km/hr. 
Thursday: Booked in for Louise,s spinning class at Europa Pools. Or at least I thought I did last week but they had no record of it. There were at least two of us in the same boat which is more than a coincidence. I tried some SIS Go Electrolyte in the bottle tonight as like last night I was sweating profusely. It was a harder class than lastnight as I decided I was going to have a go on at least one or two sections. Anyway it was 640 Calories burnt and a max heartrate of 182 BPM. There was a long sprint section where it was above 160 BPM for most if not all of it. This was deliberate as I want to start trying to operate at the intensity that I put into the time trial on Tuesday.
A woman on the next bike but one asked about the site but I’d given the last card out and hadn’t replaced it. Hope you can find it on Google. It comes up on the first page of enough searches these days. Went for some mangoes (44p) from Lidl on the way home and wished I hadn’t, there was one poor girl on the till and about 30 of us queueing. They wouldn’t open another till and the locals were getting restless.
Friday: With the weather looking it good it could be another Steve Cummings training ride. First stop is the Station Cafe at Delamere. Delamere station Cafe it was, this wasn’t about breaking records today more about a tour of the cake stops. The factor 50 suntan lotion seemed to be attracting the insect life. Lemon sponge at the Station Cafe. The road to Cotebrook is still blocked so I did a recce of Oulton Park for Tuesday.
Tuesday is the next challenge, TLI Road Races at Oulton Park. Took a video of the trackday. Back on course I took a detour to the Ice Cream Farm for a scone (jam no butter or cream).
This was a lesson in modern parenting skills, you can’t hit the little buggers anymore so the only option seems to be withdrawl of treats. Lots of mummies with kids in tow today. One had lost it and dragged the kids back to the car. Others seem to have it in check with refusal to get them an Ice cream. I sensed it was a fine balancing act. What if the child spat the dummy out, as some were close too and an Ice Cream treat wasn’t enough. Had a running commentary about being a cyclist and wearing a helmet etc.
I was the only one there, so a bit of a talking point.

Bit of a detour to the Eureka for a Tango and a Munchman Oat bar. I went through Capenhurst to avoid the A5117 roadworks. Next stop was Ness Gardens for a piece of toffee cake with lemmon. Got baulked at Parkgate by a guy with a vintage car. Having said that the school was chucking out and everybody was parking on double yellows with abandon. Press the lap button at the bus stop and had a bit of a blow, then it was back to Resthill and the end of the ride.

Sheila,s spinning class at Europa Pools with special guest star Louise. Another hot class with the rota for the two fans being a talking point. If you didn’t have it you moaned. Bearing in mind the heat it was still a 530 calorie class. As I’d just riden 75 miles and burnt 4500 calories I wasn’t looking to break any records.
The woman next to me knows the Mars Bar scale by heart. When asked I said we had done 500 calories (which we had at that time). It was a Mars Bar and a half and an apple. I’m impressed or is it just sad that we measure effort  in a scale of Mars bars.

I was going to treat myself to fish and chips  from the Marrigold at West Kirby but the queue was out the door so didn’t bother.
Saturday: Was going to do an Audax around Anglsey but left my entry too late.
Sorted out the creaky bottom bracket finally. 8 mile loop in the evening to sort it out. A good week coming to an end and Sunday to look forward to.
Sunday: Sunny and I’n out the door before 9

 

Weekending 03 June 07

Monday: Restday
Tuesday: Work followed by the time trial starting at Brimstage. 24 minutes 22 seconds gives me something to aim for next week.
Wednesday: Lifestyle and Weight management Course followup class followed by at trip to the gym. Ran the proverbial mile in 9 minutes @ 11.1 km/hr, weights.
Thursday:  Louises spinning class at Europa pools. Now I’m ramping up things for next Tuesdays TimeTrial. It was hot tonight as it has been for the last three weeks but this was something else sweat was pouring out of me. Two of the girls had already done Louise,s 5:30 class so this was their second and they have only been doing them a couple of weeks, respect is due. Anyway I tried not to let up for a second on this class, kept resistance or cadence  up when I could have slacked off.
Anyway 825 Calories burnt and that was when I turned the HRM off. Max was 179 BPM and I’m looking to see 150 BPM as a working average for a session. Hovering just seems to kill my knees and I no like it. Ok it stresses the class out, me included but I can’t see the benefit of it. Now I don’t do any leg presses anymore it’s just a case of getting out the saddle on a hill. I use my body weight to my advantage. There used to be a time when I would push an incredibly high load but not so much now. I’d rather increase my cadence than have the machine stall and have to back off the resistance a few turns.
You’d swear I’d been under a shower wearing my kit.
Friday: Steve Cummings Training ride by the looks of it.
Steve Cummings Training ride it was, I’m having a ball New personal best of 18.2 mph Average. 3:52 for 70.47 miles Average heartrate 139 BPM Max 173 and 5014 calories burnt. Bumped into 3 chaps at Delamere Station Cafe, we were all on carbon fibre bikes. Spent a good 1 1/2 hours chatting about various things including how many calories you burn up on a ride. There is a diversion by Cotebrook that I choose to ignor but ended up retracing my path. The road is totally impassable. I rode this ride by Doing a Course and not Navigating a Route. It is a track of my last ride and the virtual partner comes into play. Somewhere around Waverton I can see I am behind schedule so I up my pace a bit, slowly clawing it back and then I am in front and I know I’m going to set a good time. A great day, on my own to my own devices, traffic free. Took a couple of pictures with the new camera, hopefully the quality of the pictures will improve.

Sheila,s spinning class. No heartrate monitor on as I don’t want to frighten myself. This is another hot class and bearing in mind that I’d just ridden 70 miles I’m trying to take things easy. I still go through 750ml of water. Class is full. I was glad of a shower at the end of it, The Discovery Channel kit was soaking you’d think I was wearing it in the shower. Another great day, just me living the dream.

Saturday: Change of plan, maybe early morning ride. Cash machines spat out my card so I was ridding to the Eureka with just enough money for a breakfast and some tea. Before that I bumped into Danny in Willaston. We hadn’t seen each other since I left Octel 8 years ago and a lot has changed. We served our apprenticeships together in 1975 spent over an hour catching up on things. Eureka Cafe for a late breakfast, Pinarello Kev was there, Kev that I rode out to the Ice cream farm was there too. Weightloss was one of the subjects covered. My weights been fairly static for the last few months @ 82 kilos. Rode back with Carroline and her brother through Puddington, Ness and Neston to the Chester High Road then it was up through Heswall to see my mum and dad (yes I do have parents). It was then back home to see the Giro on Eurosport. Then out to buy some clothes now my size has stabilised.  Primark and Tesco getting hit this time. I used to have big problems with clothes, just getting anything that fitted was hard work when your past a 44 inch waist size.

I’ve got a beef with Tesco, they have dropped my favorite pizza (these days) It was a Tesco Finest Buffalo Mozzarella Cheese and pesto with sun dried tomatoes on a Tuscan base. It was perfect for me, less than 750 cals, the right food group composition. The right size, as I ate the whole thing even though the food label quoted  the portion sizes for 1/2 the pizza.
It has been replaced by something similar but smaller in size, that means less calories and it still a good product but it’s not the one I favoured.
The healthy living option that I used to eat would taste like cardboard if it was overcooked for a minute as the base was that thin. They seem to cut down on the cheese to lower the calorie count and the fat content. Not a bad thing, but when put alongside pepparami and cheese monster pizza,s for less money it’s no wonder most of us have a weight problem. Stuff like this should be for treats only and not part of your diet. On that point, I’ll  expand the diet section and do a few more posts. I’m no expert but I’ll post what has worked for me. I won’t reccomend anything but there are certain things I won’t entertain like CRISPS . More later when I can think of how to structure the thing so as not to cause too much offence to those that need help.
Sunday: No ride up till now. Start back on my old shift pattern Monday so the routine is going to change. The commitment doesn’t.
Ride out to the Eureka for breakfast, my second of the week.Rode home via the missing link, plenty riding  out in that direction, plenty of women runners on route 56 for some reason. This is Race for Life  Sunday and is one of the highlights  of some peoples year. The rain held off for them and me.

Brimstage Time Trial Route

Now I’ve had the odd call to put myself to the test and race against the clock. Well this is my first go at it and it won’t be my last. Now as the Garmin Edge 305 logs everything I dont need a timekeeper and I’ll be using this route in the Route Planning Tutorial I am planning to write.

Now I first heard about this course when I went into Wheelbase on Saturday for some bits. There was a chap in there talking to Colin and the TLI Oulton park events somehow came up along time trialling. I was told about this course and that its ridden on a Tuesday evening. Very informal, turn up ride, I don’t know who logs the times as I turned up an hour early.

Anyway I had programed the Course into the Garmin Edge 305 and as there was no Tina,s spinning class tonight or Oval fullstop I decided to give it a go. Now I was told 23-24 minutes for the course meant I was in the ballpark to go racing and be able at least stay with a group and maybe not get dropped.

Well tonights time was 24:22 but there was quite a strong headwind going up to the Clegg Arms. This is an uphill drag and when you see the numbers you just wonder how your going to post a good time. Once on the Chester High Road things look up, low 20s are sustainable and the filter lane for Thornton Hough comes up which is taken with a sweep.

This is not a flat course but there are sections where the tarmac is good and your speed is a reflection of where you are. As I am returning home via the start club riders are heading out on their timed rides, I’ve turned up an hour early and have already ridden the course. Aero helmets and tri bars mean these guys are serious, I’m just playing at it.

Anyway the stats:
8.74 Miles. Time 24 minutes 22 seconds. Average  speed 21.6 mph Max speed 27.5 Average heartrate 154 BPM Max 171 BPM. Wind WNW 16.3 mph.

Link to Google Map of Course

Link to MotionBased Analyser

 

Weekending 27 May 07

Monday: Spinning class at the Oval, Weights.
Tuesday: Tina,s spinning class at the Oval.
Wednesday: Barbara,s class cancelled something to do with a footbal match. Gym for me, ran a proverbial mile at 10.1 km/hr, walked for 1/2 a km at 5km/hr up a 15% gradient. Rowed 500m in 1:48. 10 minutes on the crosstrainer. Weights. Place was practically empty and I still saw the match.
Thursday: What’s red and goes Beep Beep Beep? Liverpools open top bus reversing into the garage.
Louises spinning class at the Oval. 650 Calories and a max heartrate of 178 BPM.
Friday: Steve Cummings Training Ride 4:00.51 69.41 miles RestHill to Resthill.Average speed 17.3 mph. There was a strong headwind along the front at Parkgate but it was still a great day. There is a new rear tyre on the Toy and the Dura-Ace 12-27 cassette is on the back now. No mistakes this time.
Sheila,s spinning class at Europa Pools. Had a problem with the bike. One of the adjustable feet stripped its threads and I had to swap bikes. 594 Calories burnt Max pulse was 161 BPM. 
Saturday: Restday.
Sunday: Eureka Cafe for an impromptu ride. That must mean no one turns up. I know the forecast didn’t look too good but it wasn’t that bad that next to nobody turns out. I ended up going out with Merseyside CTC to the Ice Cream farm. Tom is there from the Chester Road club with another rider and that is it. Ended up doing 57 miles easy going and gave Mark a run for his money on the humpback bridges by the Ice Cream farm. Turkey and cranberry sauce baguette for me. The brakes on the Iceni are going to get new pads as the ones fitted are useless in the wet.
I don’t know whats wrong with everbody these days, I had the Altura Hiviz Jacket on with a pair of Polaris tights over a pair of shorts and was OK. Sealskin socks meant my feet were dry. The Iceni has mudguards on so I didn’t get any spray off the front or back wheels.
I got told about the Time Trial circuit from Brimstage so gave the start the once over on the way home. On Saturday night I programmed the route into the Garmin Edge 305. I’ll be riding it some time, I’ve been told that 23-24 minutes means I’m in the ballpark for racing.

Mark&co.jpg

 

Allan dropped.jpg

The above was a bit of fun as the group had split and gone two different ways. Both roads rejoin but I had put in a fast stint to be able to get Marks group from the front. Alan who wasn’t hanging around tucked in after they had gone past. I’ve since beeen told I was nuts going out on Sunday because of a severe weather warning, all I saw was some showers. Head count at The Ice Cream Farm was 8 cyclists which is a poor showing, there are times when you have nowhere to park your bike.
Another good week, mind you I seldom have a bad one these days.

Weekending 20 May 07

Monday: Louise,s spinning class at the Oval. 625 Calories with a peak of 173 BPM. Some weights before the class. I’m not looking to break any records this week as Saturday is The Tour of the Berwyns which promises to be a bit hilly as well as another long event. Spoke to Louise about the new link to the diet. (or should I be PC and say Healthy Eating Plan)
Tuesday: Tina,s spinning class booked probably some more weights before the class. As it was it was weights after the class. The class was 610 calories, but there is still some confusion about when the Oval is closing for refurbishment. Next week could be Tina,s last class for a while. Six weight machines after the class plus the abdominal isolator. Went on the rowing machine while waiting for a machine to be free. 500 metres in 1:45.5 . Got talking to a woman that had been on the Lifestyle and Weight management course who is just getting back into the gym after time out. Keep up the good work.
Wednesday: Barbara,s spinning class at the Oval. No HRM tonight so no calorie counting, trust me this was a hard class. Mentioned to Barbara the the new version of Google Analytics has the site having 2500 visitors in the last month from 58 countries and six continents, remarkable stuff. I’ll be doing a post about the site statistics, the diet is a bit more popular now that there is a link to the pdf document.
Thursday: Guess what another spinning class booked. Weather isn’t too hot so it’s probably just as well. Weather turned out brilliant at the end of the day and after getting stuck in traffic it was straight down to Europa Pools. As it was the class was full with a couple of newcomers and a few returning after a break. The girl next to me was doing her third class which is a good sign. It was hot in the class and I don’t use the fan in these classes. There is no air conditioning so your going to sweat buckets(well I do) even the ladies that perspire were sweating in this class. The Schwinn bikes ALLWAYS give you a harder workout, now Louise did a class on Monday in which I burnt 625 calories on Precor bikes, tonights was 750 calories with a maximum pulse of 181 BPM. There was a 5 minute sprint at the end that had me burning over 100 calories. I’m making sure there is enough resistance in to keep the pulse highand not let the energy in the flywheel do the work.
I gave one of the cards out to a class member, hope you like the site, it’s one of the things that keep me on track. No running tonight and after a shower I feel in top form for Saturdays ride. Bring on them hills. 
Friday: Sheila,s spinning class, took it easy on this one in view of tommorows ride. 500 calories Heartrate max was 157 BPM. I still went through 750ml of water and pink seemed to be the new colour of the class.

Weekending 13 May 07

Monday: Gyms closed due to BankHoliday so it was my first evening ride of the year. Resthill, Thornton Hough, Benty Heath Lane and ending up at Raby Mere. Then through to The Three Stags  and home, 12 miles, not a bad little route, I’ll be trying a few variations of it in the future.
Tuesday: Tina,s spinning class at the Oval. Only two more classes left until it closes for refurbishment. No HRM  on as I lost the watch so no cals burnt. Weights before and after but I wasn’t pushing it. Out of interest I tried lifting my bodyweight on a Lateral Pulldown and I couldn’t do it. Could just about do 70 Kg once. I normally stick to around 50 kg and would be looking to do a minimum of 10 reps.
Wednesday: An hour in the gym before Barbara,s spinning class, with the HRM on tonight. Rowed 2km in 7:59.9 minutes, did 30 minutes on the crosstrainer hillclimb programme.The machines consistently over read the amount of calories burnt but if thats all you’ve got to on just use it as a guide, at this level it is not an exact science. I’m using a £13 Crane Sports HRM but it does seem consistent. I’m not saying splashing out on a top end Polar HRM  is a waste of money but it can be done at bargain basement prices.Weights when I could get on a machine.
Lateral pulldowns after the class, 10 reps @ 56Kg plus 2 reps @ 70Kg. All that and the evening was still young.
Thursday: Louise,s class at Europa pools tonight. Probably an hour in the gym before the class. I haven’t been putting 100% into the weights recently as I haven’t been taking the logbook in to see what I’ve been up to in the past.
As it was I ended up doing 2.4 Km in 10 minutes on the rowing machine, 10 minutes on the cross trainer cardio programme @ 138 BPM and I couldn’t get on much else. Then it was time for the class. I’d just about cooled off before it started and although I was sweating profusely the numbers on the HRM didn’t hit any highs, 833 calories for all of it. It got to the stage where I was playing around with the level one setting on a two minute sprint to see if I could raise it to a normal level (150 BPM plus). Looks like I had backed off the resistance too much. Trouble is with the Schwinn bikes is due to the very heavy flywheel you can get into a coasting mode were the flywheel is doing the work for you. Your spinning like a banshee but not not getting the heartrate up. It was happening to me tonight, a quarter turn had the heartrate creeping up along with a lactic acid build up.
On any given day I’ll look at Google Analytics to see which parts of the site are generating traffic. Yesterday two people from California looked at the spinning section.
Calories burnt spinning seems to generate a steady stream of visitors from all over the place. The locations fascinate me, had my first visitor from Kuwait on the same day and I’ll have to have a lookat what the Australlian vistors are searching for.
It’s not Aldi Offers for sure.
Friday: Sheila,s spinning class at Europa pools, no mistakes tonight fast spinning at level one was the usual 150 BPM seated, any thing else might get it up to 160 BPM. A hillclimb had it peak at 175 BPM. 650 calories burnt spinning. Followed up by a trip to the gym. Ran a proverbial mile 1.6km @ 11.1 Km/Hr and went on three weight machines.
Don’t even think about parking here without a parking ticket, the wardens patrol the carpark like hawks. Tonight they where sheltering inside from the rain. It’s so close to home for them that they are allways going to check this carpark before they call it a day. Had a hit from Honolulu, Bogata and Jakarta today, the worlds growing smaller everyday.
Saturday: Restday up to now. Went shopping in Chester but before that I kitted myself out with some more Discovery Channel kit from the Bike Factory. I found out it was 20% off so I got another thermal Jersey while I was at it. Before that I’d found out that Steve Cummings was riding in Ivan Basso,s place in the Giro d’Italia. I’m really pleased to have done his training route now and I’m looking to follow the full race now I’ve got a Harddrive/Dvd recorder.
Discovery Channel had hard luck in the team time trial. They lost two riders and then had a faller close to the finish they needed five to get a time so had to wait for the faller. Steve got a good mention on Eurosport. Been another good day.
Sunday: No CTC ride this Sunday but I still had a great ride out to the Eureka and back to RestHill. The weather first thing was fantastic and I rode up to Heswall to see my mum and dad. It was a bit of a shock to see me turn up so early but I had a picture of the new me taken with the bike. After a cup of tea and a chat it was time to resume the ride.

It was then up Pensby Road to the traffic lights at Heswall. They were on green and seeing as the place was deserted were taken in a satisfying sweep.  The place is deserted and it is then onto Gayton roundabout which is taken at 25 mph. Todays song is Poison by Alice Cooper, the original version is still the best. It stays with me till Parkgate. I sweep past a lad on a mountain bike just before the bend at the Boathouse then a good pace along the Parade. Then it’s up to Neston cross but I turn off to go down Church Lane. Before you know it I’m at Ness Gardens which hasn’t opened yet.

Then it’s on to Burton with the thatched cottages looking particulary good in the morning sunshine. Right turn to Puddington and I’m soon at the junction with the Chester High Road and Craxton Wood Hotel. It’s then a quick ride to Two Mills and the Eureka Cafe.

Now in case you don’t know I have the breakfast every time I walk throught the door of the Eureka Cafe, the only difference is that Anne doesn’t put any butter on the two rounds of toast. I’ve been eating this breakfast at the Eureka for well over a year and I’ve still lost 50 Kg. I’ve had a fair bit of grief over it in the past but its not my problem and never has been. I’d ride the wheels off all that have passed comment.

Pinnarello Kev is there and we catch up on things. He is being renamed to Cannondale Kev as his new bike is a carbon bling bike. He’s changed job as Next cut his hours down so hopefully he can get out more. Another one that is enjoying his cycling around the Wirral.

Ray is there and we discuss next Saturdays Audax ” The Tour of the Berwyns” 200 odd Km of what sounds like a hilly ride. I’ve been give the gypsies warning to take it slow, we’ll have to see how it all pans out. Slow is 13 mph average. With that it’s time to head back to Resthill but this time have a bit of a go.

A green light at Two Mills has me doing 20 mph across the lights and just past the Tudor Rose I wave to Roy and Joan who are on their way out. There are a fair few cyclists on their way out too. Thing go well untill I get to that rough patch of road through Thornton Hough, the bit under the trees, the surface is terrible and the rear light bounces down the road. I’ve got to go back to collect it and it disrupts the flow.

Everybody thats out there these days gets a Hi or a Morning these days be they horse riders, walkers or runners. Its a quality of life thing, I know that they’ve got it too.

Anyway, things soon get back on track and I pass some runners around Home farm.Then it is down the hill to the base of RestHill. Now at the bottom I engage too low a gear and loose a bit of time. I’e done this climb hundreds of times now and at the stop sign the stop button gets pressed ride over.

Now the stats: 9.14 miles in 30:14 minutes @ 18.1mph. Average heartrate was 140 BPM. The light bouncing down the road cost me dear. I was done and dusted by 10.30 ish and had done over 24 miles. Another good day.

I’ve updated the link to the Diet I’m following.
You should be able to download the pdf file and see it for yourself.
It’s on the Diet page.

Weekending 06 May 07

Monday: Spinning class at the Oval. Taking it easy after yesterday, 600 Calories burnt.
Tuesday: Again a spinning class at the Oval. Tina was running late this evening so it was a session on the weight machines before hand. 660 Calories burnt.
Wednesday: Lifestyle and Weight Management Course followup class, so nothing planned. See you there Andy, there’s a new class to motivate.
As it was only one turned up from the last class that finished the classroom sessions last month. None of the blokes on that course made it to the twelth week nevermind the first followup class. I’m getting the distinct impression that I’m wasting my time going to some of these classes. Showed this group the before picture and spoke about my year on the course. I just hope someone in this class can make it the full twelve months. The followup classes have a totally different atmosphere to the course. Your not there to learn anymore, you should know it all by now. Results vary from individual to individual but all those that turn up have gained from the classes.
Thursday: Spinning class at Europa Pools booked, could try the weights also. As it was 11 made it to this hot class. Weather has been been brilliant over the last couple of weeks. I can’t be  bothered to put the HRM on tonight after the “obsessive” comment below. I know when I’m having a go. Full 8 minute sprint at the end at my suggestion, just as well Louise let us stay in the saddle and not do six or eight sets of eight to it. No weights.
Friday: Sheila,s Spinning class booked. Hardcore spinners do a Friday night class. A full class on a Friday with a couple of newbies doing their first class. Others new faces normally do a Wednesday. Like last night I was sweating buckets and made sure I took on plenty of water. Seeing as I now have an “unhealthy obsession” with the gym and cycling I wore the HRM. 675 calories burnt in this class. Still felt good so ran a proverbial mile on the treadmill. 1.6 km @ 11kph. Enough weights to tone up not bulk up and that was me done. 967 calories by the time I had finished. Max was 178 BPM and I feel comfortable up to 160 BPM. Before I forget one of the tracks we span to was a Scissor Sisters mix, it’s one of those tracks you can’t get out of your head. I’ve been at the back on some rides with Don’t Feel Like Dancing bouncing around my skull and it’s a relief to get it out.
Saturday: Restday.
Sunday: Good old CTC ride by the looks of things.
Next Monday could be another Steve Cummings training route ride. CANCELLED due to work. Grrrrr

Weekending 29 Apr 07

Monday: Louises spinning class at the Oval, weights after the class. Forgot the HRM so no calorie counting tonight. Probably just as well.
Tuesday: No Tina so no class, guess who didn’t listen to the answer machine and turns up in the full discovery channel kit. Nothing for it but a half hour on the exercise bike. Cross Country Program for 30 minutes with the resistance turned up. 500 calories on the macine but only 428 on the HRM, this was a similar intensity to a spinning class. Weights, still nothing over 49 Kg which is what I’ve lost.
Wednesday: was trying to get to the Oval but traffic meant I couldn’t make it, did bits around the house instead.
Thursday: Could be Louise,s spinning class at Europa pools, can’t make the early class.
Just managed to squeeze in to this new class for me so lots of new faces. A change in shift pattern means I can make the later classes after work and this was my second class this week.
This was a hot, hard class, the HRM said 860 calories after I’d cooled down, it was 780 calories after we’d done the stretches.45 calories just warming up. Max heartrate was 176 BPM and it was around 150 bpm for most of the class. The two minute sprint just about finished me off. Now I’d polished off 750ml of water in the class to replace sweat.
When I got home I decided to weigh myself and I weighed in at 81.8 Kg which is a new low for me and takes it above 50 Kg or 110 pound mark for the first time. BMI is now 25.2  0.2 off normal. Now I’ve never felt better than this, pity this weeks episode of House had some morbidly obese guy in it. I was in the same class and and I’ve got this picture that I’ve yet to come to terms with. The difference is starting to amaze me and I was the one looking in the mirror for all those years.
Thanks for the class Louise, it’s taken me through another milestone.
Friday: Could be a ride, looking to better my Steve Cummins training ride time……..
Had another fantastic day, got lost as there was no route in the Garmin. 68 miles in 3:52 @ 17.7 mph.
Saturday: Restday
Sunday: Merseyside DA Early Season Tourist Trial, got the route sorted now, just need to make the start.

Weekending 22 Apr 07

Monday: Louise,s  spinning class at the Oval 650 calories. Spoke to her about the warning I’ve put on the site for beginners. Weights and crosstrainer before the class.
Tuesday:
Wednesday: Highlight of this gym session was the rowing. 2 Kilometres in a new personal best of 7:35.5 this is what I’d call hard work. Weights (nothing above 50Kg in case anyone is interested) and ran a kilometre @ 10k/hr.
Thursday: This was all about the treadmill, jumped on it and ran 2k @ 10 k/hr 0.5k walk @ 6 k/hr 0.5k @11 k/hr with the final 0.5k @12 k/hr. Didn’t forget the weights and jumped on an exercise bike for the first time in a long time just to see what it’s like. This felt like it was broke, I was mashing away at level 23 (Max) at just below 60 rpm. Reducing the resistance level only brings home how far I’ve come in the last year. A year ago I was afraid to enter a place like this, came to afternoon sessions when it was quiet when I finally plucked up courage to enter the place. Sad really that a 46 year old bloke alters his lifestyle because of what he thinks others perceive of him. That was last year, this year is a totally different ballgame. You wouldn’t recognise me from last year, it’s happening far too often for it to be a fluke.
Now the gyms a strange place at times, we are all there for the same reason but you would think it was a library at times. Nobody talks, and with the advent of Ipods it’s just got a whole lot worse. I’ll talk to nearly everybody these days, if your there you’re having a go which is a far cry from the state I was in, vegetation.
I still don’t know what to do with the rest of my life, much has emerged over the last year. There seems very little out there for blokes in a similar position to me. This is further compounded by what I see around me, money doesn’t buy you much other than a 4×4 and a Costco membership. Now the cost of a Costco membership is about £35 so we are all equal as we walk through the door. Pity it attracts the sort of people that plonk a 4×4 in a disabled parking space.
Friday: Sheila,s spinning class at Europa Pools. Now the three new girls that turned up last week are suckers for punishment and they have turned up again. This was a hot class and Sheila mentioned the importance of getting your hydration right. One of the new girls had her leg go on her and slipped on the bike. I hope it hasn’t put her off the classes. One of the regulars had done 5 classes that week that’s some going. 550 calories burnt, it was probably more but I still have the odd problem with chest strap. Max heartrate was 168 BPM.
Saturday: Restday
Sunday: a herd of cows had me meeting up with one of the 1500 readers of my blog this month. I was out on my ride to the Eureka but everything stops when the cows get put in the field at the bottom of Redhill. Here I bumped into Claire who does a circuit of Route 56. I’d mentioned the weightloss and it turns out Claire and her husband had come across the site and between them they have lost 5 stone. It really is a small world and I’m amazed that my success is starting to inspire others to have a go. At Thornton Hough we go our seperate ways as there is a breakfast that I need in me before the ride.

Incidently my weight this morning was 82.1Kg, subtract that from 132 Kg and it comes out at a weight loss of 49.9 Kg  100g short of the magic 50 Kg or 110 lbs a phenominal amount. To put it into context it’s the same weight as two bags of plaster or cement. The suitcase weight limit for Easyjet is 22 Kg, the last time I flew with EasyJet I’d lost 22 Kg or a suitcase worth and it hit home hard when you have to lift the things onto the scale. More than two peoples baggage allowance starts to blow the mind.

Fast forward to the Eureka, todays ride was to Marford and all in I ended up doing 65 miles. Maybe a write up later. Turned out to be a good week.

Weekending 15 Apr 07

Monday: Work, restday, did a few chinups on a handy bar(not in a pub).
Tuesday: Work, but an hour in the Oval after work. Half the weight routine, 30 mins on the crosstrainer with the HRM only registering about half what the Preccor machine thinks I burn.Worked a sweat up whatever reading was in the ballpark.
Rowing next, set the machine up for 2 km and set a new personal best of 7:44.7  with a max heartrate of 177. This wasn’t a ballsout effort but more controlled with a final effort at the last 100 metres. It seems to have worked  and is about 5 seconds under what I consider a good time for me. There were no breaks to confuse things, just a straight one off effort.
Ran a mile(could be a km as I’m not certain) on the treadmill @ 10.1mph, heartrate was about 155 bpm.
Now you see a few strange sights in the gym, one of them is women exercising with no weight or resistance on the machines. I can accept that as they are under the misguided delusion that they will bulk up but when you see men doing the same thing you have to wonder what is going on.
Wednesday: Weights, abs and a 4 mile run at 11.1 mph followed  up by a bit of rowing had me burning over 500 calories, max heartrate peaked at 180 bpm as I had a maximum effort at the end. Running at that speed has the pulse at 155-160 bpm. It does seem to be a quick way of burning calories but I’m going to have to watch myself as the muscles used are totally different to cycling and I know I’ve done it the next day.
Thursday: Work, maybe the Gym.It was the gym, and the funny thing was I wondered about the units on the Precor treadmill, nowhere does it say what unit the distance is in.
Following Anons comment about the speed I’ll mark myself down to Km/h untill I’m sure. 2km rowing, 1 km run @ 5:40 , 10 mins on the crosstrainer, it felt like it was broke after doing the rowing and the running and a set of weights. Still managed to get back in time for House.
Friday:I plan to ride Steve Cummings training ride to Delamere for the first time. 63 mile Its programmed in the Edge, It just want a tweak to make sure I can get to the Eureka. Looking forward to this.

Done the ride had a great day out, weather was superb. Cake stop at Delamere Station Cafe and Ness Gardens as Eureka was closed!!!!!! 71.5 miles at 16.8mph. A ride worthy of a write up on its own. There were sections where I felt on top form like the section going through Delamere Forest. More later.

Sheila,s spinning class at Europa pools after the above ride this was going to finnish me off. Three new girls in the class, Sheila takes it easy on them but two of them look a bit out of their depth. It has to be said these classes are hard work and the rest of the class are seasoned spinners. You have to be keen to do a class on a Friday night when the soft option is to go out and hit the clubs and pubs. If any of these girls take to two wheels they would put a lot of the chaps to shame.
Sandstorm is an eight minute track so sprinting in two sets of eight is hard work. At the end of what I would say was a hard class the HRM was ticking up to 750 calories on the cool down.
Went the gym and asked about the treadmill units, Kilometres, so ran 0.5 Km @11Km/Hr just to see if it was the same as the Oval. 1 set of lat pulldowns and it’s time to hit the shower.

Thanks Anon for picking up on my error, I should have twigged when entering my weight in kilos.

There were no fans in the class tonight, now it has to be said I sweat a lot at this level of effort. So much for Nike dryfit fabric technology it was like I’d been wearing it in the shower. Another great day.

Saturday: Work
Sunday: Janets ride out to Loggerheads 70 miles this was a hilly one. Brilliant day out good weather