7th March and Birdwell Wheelers 100k Audax, the day was the sunniest so far this year but it was still very cold. I set off with a group consisting of their fastest riders Trevor Mayne, James Allen, Craig Wilson, and more. Four of the grup dropped off on the first climb but I hung on until Hampole then spent the rest of the ride outward determined to catch them so I was on the limit so to speak.

  I rejoined them at the checkpoint and though they set off before me I caught them up as they where leaving Thorne thank to British Rail and their level crossing, after that I clung on to them all the way as far as the climb out of Brodsworth and I had only lost 10 minutes on them when I got back to HQ. All in all a good days training.

4th April
 At this point in time my weight is down to 11st:3lbs from 12 stone a month ago and my times on my test rides are also down though these can vary  with the weather conditions. There was a strong wind today but my ride was still the fastest this season giving me a bit of confidence in my progress so far, I suppose next weeks ten will  either verify or kill the notion.
My total training miles so far since the 1st of January amounts to 1,868.62, compared to the same weekend last year which was 1,840.34. I am just a touch up.

  I had good rides in the VTTA 18k and the VTTA 10 at South Cave, then in the Team Swift 25 at Ranby I seemed to have  lost all form and had a dissappointing ride. The following Tuesday after a visit to the dentist I did an hour on the turbo then went and raced on the hilly Birdwell Wheelers 5 mile course where I finished in 15:54 having climbed half the event against a very strong wind not a good time but it was certainly a good work out, my lungs were bursting. On the return leg with the tailwind I was travelling along at 40.6 mph. My annual mileage is now up to 2,264 miles.

Riding in the Birdwell Club Five

Saturday 24th and I rose early to ride up to Aberford and join the Yorkshire Road Club chaingang led by Vince Macklam. I did not know what to expect as I knew the pace would be high, but how high? Well I soon found out, having already ridden 24 miles at 20 mph average I had a short rest and then the group arrived. I had to kick hard to get on and thought that I wouldn't be holding on for long. What a surprize I got after a few miles to find myself taking my turn on the front along with the likes of Steve and Vince and with carefilly planned rest nearer the back occasionally I was still there at the end, though I still had a ride of 24 miles home which I did trying to hold on the the average speed. My annual mileage is now 2,456 miles.

Last day of the month and and my weight is down to 10 st : 12 lbs and the mileage at 2,604. my next outing will be the YCF 25 mile TT tomorrow. 

Over the last three weeks on Tuesday evenings I have been riding the Birdwell Wheelers five mile time trials. The first one was on a very cold and windy night and my result was just as poor, the second was a much better evening mild with just a light breeze, I did improve but the time was still dissappointing and on the third the wind was back and so was the cold but my result was a bit more pleasing.

1.  20/04/2010.....15:54
2.  27/04/2010.....14:55
3.  04/05/2010.....14:18
4.  11/05/2010......D.N.S

Week ending 15/05/10 was a good hard working week with 45 miles on Tuesday followed by a 100 miles on Thursday at 19.3mph covering the distance in 4Hrs:10 mins then a workout on Saturday with the Y.R.C. chaingang 80 miles in total with the ride up there and back. Annual mileage now at 3,061.63

The end of May tomorrow and over the month I have ridden two poor twentyfives due to bad weather conditions and one good ride hitting a time of 1:00:14 in the VTTA National championships. My weight is now down to 10 stone 10 lbs and my total mileage has hit 3,510 miles.

Today the 30th of May I did four and a half hours covering 70 miles of famous climbs, Holme Moss, on via Torside to Glossop and up Snake Pass down to Ladybower then halfway up Moscar before turning left over the Strines pass.

The View as I passed Ladybower Res.

 June started off well with a P.B. in the Newark Castle 25 mile T.T.of 59:55, then the weather changed so I did not get out for my Sunday ride the day after, and Tuesdays training was a hard turbo session plus a bit of work with the weights.

June 16th turned out to be a rather painful day as I came off the bike after hitting some debris in the road while riding in the VTTA afternoon ten at Ranskill. I was taken to Doncaster Roral Infirmary where my treatment was second to none. I owe a lot of thanks to all involved, the local residents who came out to look after me, the paramidic who was first to attend to me, the ambulance staff and all the doctors, nurses, radiographers and anyone else concerned.

Images of my injuries

June 24 and the staples come out today at my G.P's. My head feels as though it is healing well but the other injuries are still very sore and keep re-openong against my clothes.

June 26th and Out for my first decent training ride since the crash happened. I took my fixed gear bike (shown below) so that I did not overdo it. I covered 57 miles at a nice easy pace. I fond a bit of pain in the knee an occasional twinge in the hip joint and I painful rib when my breathing increased.