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Monday: Tex,s morning spinning class at the Oval. Highlight of which was 2 newcomers walking out.
I’ve taken a look at the weight figures for the last 2 years and will start putting them in a spreadsheet. The second spinning class does seem to be doing the trick as the extra 600 calories will lose you a sustainable 1 pound a week.
Gym was full with nobody moving around the machines so I left.
Went up to see my mum and then called in at Vita on the way home.

Just as well I booked the second class in the morning as it was full and due to the bikes starting to fail it meant 3 people didn’t get a class.
The Aldi Hrm was playing up in the morning class, so it was time to press the new Edge 800 into action. Once I had figured out how to set the thing up everything went fine. Set up a new Workout in the Training section with the screen showing Heartrate, Calories and the time.

540 calories with a maximum heartrate of 183 bpm. Sweated buckets to.
The pair who walked the morning would probably have walked out of this one too.  So I’ll say it again ” If you can’t do 30 minutes on a stationary cycle in the gym on one of the programs you find a spinning class too hard.”
My average was 152 BPM, this level would have all the machines in the gym telling me to slow down given my age and weight.
Tuesday: Booked a spinning class which is now full. Should be OK in the morning, got the bike to fettle as Wednesday is RIDE DAY.
Morning class went OK with it logged on the 800. Less intense than yesterday.Some more weights in the gym.
Trying a Fizik saddle out so popped up to Vita for the test saddle. Quite a big difference in weight. The plan is to try it out on Wednesday,s ride.
The clip in saddlebag which at first seems a good idea flops around too much when on the bike so resorting to the tools in a bottle.
Becky,s evening spinning class at the Oval was another 490 calories worth which was fine but uploading it to GarminConnect or TrainingCentre didn’t happen with it showing a failure. Better to have it now rather than on a big ride.

http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/74361960

Wednesday: Up early to sort the bike out. Keo,s have gone back on the bike, new cleats on the shoes which look like they want replacing. I should be a good day.
62 miles 2 incidents with motorists, 2 cafe stops.
It’s been a bit of a turning point recently but the tide has turned. There has been no instant fix  but things are looking up. Limit what I eat and drink and just get out there and do something, whether it is a ride or a spinning class or two. Those weights in the gym count too, as I’ve lost ground there too. I’m not talking massive weights, just enough to let the muscles know what’s what.

The cheap scales I use seem to retain data for a few days to average things out as I’ve been 99.8 Kg for a week which is good. This morning it was 99.2 Kg but seeing what I’ve been through before this time it is a lot harder.

For a start I know what it takes and there is no shortcut. More later.
Thursday: 98.2 Kg Suns out so off for a ride, a lot happened yesterday that didn’t make it into the write up so it’s best if I rewrite it.
22 miles of what turned out to be a recovery ride.
Sent the errror message from TrainingCenter to Garmin.
Updating the Tacx took the best part of 8 hours with an evening spinning class missed.
Friday: Work. soldered up a battery pack for the Magicshine with a cut off Y lead so it can power 2 lightsor a light and whatever.
Also had a reply from Garmin saying delete the faulty history file in the 800. It uploads to GarminConnect OK but not to TrainingCenter.

Monday: Tex,s morning spinning class at the Oval. Mainly 30 second intervals today. Booked in for the 6 o’clock class too , the bikes could do with sorting as the seats are starting to split.
I’d foolishly bid on a Bontrager Sport seatpost on Ebay not realising it was aluminium and not carbon. Well it arrived today and boy is it heavy, 270 gramms. The carbon bars are going back on the Trek tonight.
Not been wearing a HRM for a while, just relying on feel.
Tuesday: Another of Tex,s spinning classes, today it climbing. Spent the best part of 40 minutes  with the resistance turned up with a fair amount of it out of the saddle.
Following Paris-Nice on Eurosport.
Missed out on another evening spinning class as things didn’t go to plan with a loft access hatch.
Wednesday: Work, first day back, looks like I’ve missed another good riding day. Need to update the blog about the 80 year old bloke asking me for a “backy” to Liverpool when I was stopped trying to get the Garmin GSC10  to sync with the 800.  Probably the strangest request I’ve had.
Thursday :Work.
Friday: Work.  But the 705 is back from Garmin. Turnaround was a week  with a refurbished unit being sent back. New case so it looks like a new unit.
I know I give Garmin a bit of a hard time but the support is first class if your in warranty, a bit costly if you are outside it.
Saturday: Work but last day. A strange place where management is trying to get 4 quarts out of a pint pot.  Never has the difference between a “job” and a “career” been so marked.
Barbara comes bouncing in having plotted her first “Course” with RidebyGPS.com.  Uses Garmin Communicator so loads straight into your Edge, pity Garmin don’t tell you install the thing before you get the thing out of the box.
Sunday: RIDE DAY.
50 mile ride with the CTC to Hawarden Farm Shop. More interest in the Edge 800 from the women on the ride. What has become apparent is the need for another Dummies Guide so one will be up and running in the next few days. It was a fairly big group with a vast range of abilities but things do appear to have slowed down a bit. Picked up a slow puncture too. All in all a good day.
Rode back from the Eureka with Dave and Mark, thanks for the wheel.

Thursday: Picked a Bontrager rear hub up from the post office that I had won on ebay and headed out to the Eureka via Cycle Surgery and Cheshire Oaks cycles. Had the days special at the Eureka and headed home via Vito in Irby. Ride was delayed by watching the cycling on Eurosport.
Picked up the comic in Heswall but missed seeing Rafa Bennitas.
38 Miles 3 bike shops and 1 Cafe stop.
Friday: Headed out to the Eureka in a headwind at 3.7 deg C boy did it feel bitter.

http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/69260924

Called in at The Bike Shop in Moreton where Grahame came in with a pair must have Sram P60 wheels. Dark by the time I got home with the MagicShines coming into their own.

Sunday: Headed out to the Eureka for breakfast  with much the same headwind as Friday. This time it was even colder with the temperature dropping below 3 Deg C. Headed out to the Bike Factory via the Dee which was pretty bleak with the next stop being The Ice Cream Farm via the canal towpath to Waverton. Met John Lyth at the ICF where I told him about dodgy emails coming from him. Took a loop back via Beeston Castle and the Shadey Oak. Also called at the 50p store in the back of beyond for the first time. Bought a hole saw for £1 that looks like it’s a single use item.
Got back to the Eureka in time and had some fun with Allan and company from the CTC on the A540.  Blasted down the A540 at 20 odd MPH only to get baulked by the lights at Gordale and have Allan come past me.
No time to muck around now this was time for the big ring.

Back up Resthill for 63.8 miles.  The ghost shifting that plagued me the other day has gone due to putting some wax on the chain and reindexing it.

Email is down again and one day I’ll sort out the blog menus again.

Wednesday: Cleaned the Toy before going out to the Eureka for breakfast. I made the mistake of lubricating the chain with Finnish Line Wetlube last week the downside being it picked up all the blown sand at Hoylake and Moreton.

Spoke to a chap that had ridden out from Runcorn via Chester using an Etrex and OSM maps.  He mentioned about the barge so that was enough to put in a detour on my trip out to the Bike Factory.

Picked up a Mavic spokekey for the Ksyriums and headed back leaving the cycle path at Blacon heading back to the Eureka via Woodbank.
39 miles’

Friday: Out  to the Eureka for breakfast, where Dave tweets his order in on Twitter.

http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/67711221 

http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/67711221“>

Didn’t quite get to finish of last weeks post but the course is on GarminConnect.  First job was to get a wheel magnet for the Cadense sensor. Problem was Wheelbase (Colin Brick) is shut on a Wednesday.  Next port of call was Clifton Bathrooms to photograph the shower  enclosure I’ve just bought. If you think Garmin instruction are a bit lacking wait to you try shower enclosures, the print out of the pdf was next to useless so it was a trip out on the bike to see it in the flesh.

This led me back to the new Wirral Trail, after last weeks debacle I had to get it sorted.  After Rock Park I’d have to say it’s a bit mixed, you get routed through a housing estate on side of Brombough Pool (now a landfill site) and then get routed through a brownfields industrial estate to reach to path along the the coast to Eastham Country Park.

The coastal bit is is nice but a bit short, there was a walking group of about 50 walkers going through the estate. Conversation with like minded holding it all together as there is nothing to recommend  most of it. Nice river views though.

You’re at a bit of a loss after the Tap and The Eastham Ferry hotel route wise as there are no scenic routes  through a tank farm, Vauxhalls and Oil Sites Road. All a shadow of their former selves. Tankers not giving you enough room  being the main hazard. Next stop was the Cycle shop at Cheshire Oaks with some nice kit on display but no wheel magnets.  Hope light is down to £59 but next to a MagicShine that I didn’t get a price of, probably RSP @ £129.
There were two old guys from the Eureka there that had done the L’eroica in Italy  last year.   A mudguard fitting pre-ride did not go to plan as you can’t get the blade under a  carbon seatstay bridge on what looks like any of them. Got to the Eureka just after 12 and eventually got talking to 2 chaps about Garmins and eventually the site which one of them had already come across. It’s a small world.
The ride home was back along the Chester High road and it’s not a nice ride at times. Lorries cut you up, vans deliberatly block you from filtering down the inside but today it’s not a problem. I’m out in the sun on my bike and they are still at work.
It’s much the same in Heswall, anyway the destination was the new bike shop in Irby to look at some bling bikes. Not content with a shop full of carbon exotica , Sabbath are dropping of their test fleet today. It’s all Tittanium and looks very nice. I’m in the mood for the September, audax model. It’s a pity you can’t get mudguard eyes welded on to the top of the range models or maybe you can.

I’m just looking for the ultimate winter bike, my Trek is great but from what you read newer, stiffer is not better. The bikes are getting too specific now, bottom brackets are now massive, chainstays likewise. Great on a smooth road, but 0n what I ride on I need a bit of comfort.
35 miles, 1 Cafe stop, 2 Bikeshops. Magnet bought in HALFORDS.!!!!!!

Last week only had a ride out to the Eureka on Wednesday doing a Course on the new Edge 800. Routing appeared on the top of the screen while the Coursepoints appeared on the bottom of the screen. I must have spent half an hour trying to get the multi screens to show what I wanted them to show.  You can have 10 bits of information on display  but it is hard to see that much while on the move. Did a few of Tex’s spinning classes at the Oval too.
Thursday to Sunday was work again so no ride.
This week is much the same with a sprinkling of snow probably ruling out a Wednesday ride.  The Magicshine bike lights have finally arrived from DealExtreme after 6 weeks of waiting.  I knew there was going to be a delay as soon as the toner bombs were found on the cargo planes.  The package had spent a month in Hong Kong post office. Sundays ride home the other week was changed because the much praised Cateye EL530 is useless as a light to ride by.
The MagicShine costs less comes with a battery pack and a charger too, is seriously bright with 5 modes including an insane strobe mode. Just charging the battery up as I write this.
One morning spinning class this week.  Looks like any ride on Wednesday will have to be on a main road as side roads aren’t gritted.
Dropped the ride for another of Tex’s spinning classes, then drove to the Eureka.  Only a few made it by bike. I drove along route 56 to see what it was like  and it’s just as well as there were patches of ice everywhere.

Thursday: Becky’s Spinning class at the Oval.
Looks like the bike is out for the next week or two.  I’ve only got to step out onto the pavement to see how bad things are.

Monday:  5 hour trip to Monmouthshire for Sussies funeral who passed away after a two year battle against cancer.  The first couple of hours were into rain and spray with a breakfast stop at Newtown.
Having passed the entrance to a Morrisons that looked like it served breakfast I opted for a Little Chef. Now I know they arn’t particular value for money but I mistakenly yes to an added tomato. Well half a tomato, when the bill came it was a quid for the bloody thing.
In true British fashion I didn’t complain. The irritating part was I didn’t even get the other half.  There was a series on the TV where Helston Blumenstall was trying to change the menu for the group. He failed and I can see why, why faff around with an upmarket menu when you can get a quid for half a tomato.
Newtown to Llandridod Wells is one twisty road and things were Ok until we met a Jaguar overtaking a tractor where he shouldn’t. It took a while to regain composure from a serious fright.
The next fright was getting buzzed by a Tornado at probaby 200ft, the whole car was shaking and felt like it was falling to bits. It made for an interesting drive. Glad of the satnav even if it did take some odd routes.
Quite a positive service considering.
Another 5 hour drive home up the coast and across to Bala put things into perspective. It’s really quiet with few signs of any life.

Tuesday to Friday: Work, not much to say really, job losses and hour reductions in the pipeline means no one is happy.
Saturday: Keith had phoned me Thursday to say the Edge 800 was in, so it was a ride out to pick it up via the Eureka Cafe. Picked up a puncture too bet only realised it when I came out of the shop. It’s time to put on some winter tyres as the carcass had a few cuts in it that would let grit in and cause another puncture.
Sunday: Jack day. Went to Blackpool and it was closed, literally nothing open. Trams closed , fair closed, Tower is a building site.

Posts will be limited until the end of October I’m in the middle of moving back to Bebington and the house needs sorting in rather a big way.  I need to find room for 5 bikes or get rid of one or two.
I’ve only been able to get a 26 mile ride in for September which is pathetic.
Another batch of cycling magazines has been despatched to the recycling bin with whats left under the bed to follow.
14 Oct  Apart from a ride out to the Eureka last week I’ve still not got out on the bike. Picked up a knee problem too, spending too much time on the floor working on the new shower installation. It pained me to throw away another batch of Cycle Sport, ProCyling, Cycle, Cycling Weekly and even the quaint Arrivee from the last 2 years away.  Pick up most of the news off the net now along with the Realpeloton podcasts which is good to listen too on the way home from work.

Found a Dragon Oil Share certificate in the clean up from 1997. Rang up the new registrars in Dublin to see if it was still valid which it was.  My first trade is now a 12 bagger. Pity some of the others haven’t gone the same way.  Logging onto the account after a few years out of it I was surprised to see so many delisted having sold out to private equity buyouts.

The move is going OK with the shower tray going in shortly, but been given the run around by B&Q about wardrobe delivery dates. Now 2 weeks overdue and I’ve 2 binbags of cycling clothing to store.  The plan being to ease myself back into it over the winter, lack of kit won’t be an issue.

Move is now complete with just the small matter of getting the bikes back.
Tour route is out with a super tough Etape. Was going to try a ride tomorrow but the broadband and cable is getting put in.
The Cateye lights look like the are up to the job for the night rides, the P4 led upgrade doing the job. A fair chunk of the price of fancy lights being the Li-Ion batteries and charger.

The move is complete, not without a few problems, mainly space and where to put all the stuff I’ve acquired.
I can see why B & Q are rated one of the worst online retailers, I’ve been waiting nearly 2 months for a pair of wardrobes, being fobbed off with delivery dates that come and go each week. Found stuff in the move that I’d forgotten I had like a yellow jersey sign by Dave Zabriskie with the tags on it, $129.99.  A George Hincappie brand jersey in small, what was I thinking bidding on that.

During the move I found a Bontrager front wheel  with a cracked front hub that I can’t explain how it happened as the spokes are undamaged.  A Magic Shine light has been ordered from Dealextreme for the night rides. Another review of the Cateye EL530 in Cycling plus gave it 7  but said it wasn’t meant for fast riding on unlit roads.  This bloody light cost me a pair of rims after hitting a pothole last year.
Managed to get out to the Eureka on Wednesday for a windy 19 miles, it felt good to be back on the bike after the layoff but the form has suffered as I haven’t any.

Looking to get back into things with an Ice Cream farm ride or two.
They should rename Cycling Weekly, Sportive Weekly as this weeks star letter was a chap overjoyed at paying £32 along with 3000 others to do the Blenheim Palace ride. I don’t know what you got for completing it but it couldn’t be worth £32, that’s a £96,000 take for the day.

Back to tiling the shower to clear some floor space for the turbo trainer.
Managed to get a 50 mile round Wirral ride in on Saturday with a stop at the Eureka then going on to see Keith at Eureka Cycle Sports to order an Edge 800. While I was there he showed me  Bryton sport 50 GPS which he is being asked to try. Has a lot of the features of the 705 but for £180. The catch is there is not a method of planning a route yet, the website doesn’t support riders uploads yet,with a bit of luck you could use your Garmin HRM and Cadence Sensors as it uses ANT transfer.
To cut a long story short Edge 800 is out on 3 November in the UK exclusivly to Madison the Shimano importers.  This means the prices aren’t going to be competitive as stock is going to be in short supply.
The difference between an Edge 705 and 800 is that you can download your custom OS maps. Ordnance Survey has released 1:50,000 data in the public domain. SJ block which is the northwest is about 900MB. Something to play around with in the future.

Ride wise I’ve had a bleak couple of months but thing are set to improve. I’ve had to throw out a pile of magazines about 10 feet high that must have cost between £1-2000. At £4 for mags and £2.75 for the comic times 52 it mounts up over the years. With the clocks going back, night time riding is going to be part of the plan. I’ve ordered a set of Magic Shines from Hong Kong but whether I get them before Xmas is debatable given the recent air freight bombing atempts.
Just read the Times supplement which says you can get a ride only entry for the Etape(s) now 2 off them from ASO for 75 and 90 Euro.

Another slack week ride wise with Monday , Tuesday spent on the house.
Finally got out on Sunday and seeing I was about to see 50 out I’d chance my hand by going out with the Northend.
Not been out with them for over a year now and it shows.
The ride out to the Eureka was at 19mph with a tailwind  with the ride to the Saighton road race at a similar pace.
Fell off the back at Beeston on the climb from the Shady Oak to the bottom of Beeston Castle.
Got back on and then the ride headed back to the road race finish.
Headed back to Chester after the finish and was going to ride around the Roodee but it was closed as Chester races were on. It meant a trip through Chester to the Dee cyclepath coming off it to go through Blacon.
Stopped off at the Eureka for a drink and a chat. As it was still early  I headed back via the Missing Link only to find the Willaston to Hooton road closed to traffic.
More later…..

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/42822701