A pre-season update

I know I have been rubbish recently with posting anything; I’m sorry! My excuses are that I’ve been training pretty hard, playing in the snow and getting distracted by this little chap (Alfie).

Yeah that's right, snow dog!

Snow dog with a tasty head (Alf is a cannibal apparently).

The good news is that I’ve finally finished Sheddy! I put the final few slats on the other day so other than paint, of which she definitely needs a lick, she’s good to go. She’s already functioning pretty well as a turbo training dungeon (and has been for a while now!) as well as a tool and bike store. I’m a seriously proud Daddy, so below are some snaps of her growing up (so fast, sob).

The path is the next job on the list, as a muddy track isn't a garden design choice! The snow did get in the way a bit though...

In other news, I went down to see the big boss man JB at TrainSharp for a catch up, to set season targets and to discuss some ideas. It was a good day out with Paul and Sean there too. I got out on the bike for a little ride to do a hill test for Sean and he seemed pretty pleased with how it went. Nothing like having Sean Yates following in a team car to make you go deep in a max test!

Once the torture was over we headed back and checked over my TT position, before my first test on Sunday in the Southdowns 34k TT. We discussed what we did right last year, what we can learn and what my goals are for this year. It was a very busy and constructive day all round. Now I can't wait to get stuck into my targets!

I've booked my Ferry to St Malo for Monday the 11th so that's when I'm off to race again: very exciting times! I will definitely do another post before I leave to share a few of my targets for the year and what I'm really looking forward to. 

Until then...

Today

Question: What’s the stopping distance of a ‘well used’ training bike in rainy conditions?

Answer: Several metres further than the car in front when they do an emergency stop.

Luckily I did a very dance-like avoidance move (similar to the jive) and succeeded in taking the impact solely on my left quad, which is lucky because you don’t make much use of them when cycling.

I spent the next ten minutes riding like my leg had had it’s own miniature stroke; pedalling squares doesn’t really cover it.

Other fun occurrences on the ride this morning included getting ‘tidal waved’ by an overtaking car and sneezing a cereal bar out my nose.

In shed news: she’s a beaut. Below is the story of her growth from wee nipper to strapping young gal, in pictures.

Organised chaos!

Just some graves I dug up.

Got wood?