Shoe Fetish........

I set off on Sunday to meet Chester RC but I was the only one there. Are they trying to tell me something? Anyway in a moment of sheer lunacy I decided I would head off up the Horseshoe again. I took it easy on the way as I knew what was waiting and felt pretty good at the Ponderosa. However the climb over the old road was really tough. It wasn't helped when a lady flagged me down for directions half way up a steep section. When I jumped back on my bike to set off again, the rear wheel just span in the wet and I ended up in a pile on the floor. With a small bruise to my arm and a huge bruise to my pride I set off again dodging the sheep that seemed intent on making me look stupid twice in one day! How on earth the game of "Chicken" got it's name I don't know. It should have been called "Sheep". In any case I was in a bad way by the time I got home. I really was shattered this time. I did a slightly different route of 64 miles. The middle 20 miles takes as long as the first and last 20 combined! Just shows how slow the climbs are. I don't think I'll be entering the tour! I also met a couple of other masochistic cyclists at the Ponderosa cafe who train at Total Fitness in Chester. I was slightly upset that they didn't look half as knackered as me!




However one thing to look forward to, I have booked a weeks scuba diving in the Red Sea. I can't wait.
This was me in Tenerife last year poking around a wreck. I plan to go to the SS Thistlegorm this time. Its an early start and a late return but should be worth it.

Horseshoe Hell Pt 2

So with the horseshoe conquered once I was feeling cocky last Saturday and decided to do the Pass again from home this time. I picked out a route which returned over a road nr the Horseshoe. I was a little worried as I didn't know this road and couldn't remember ever passing the turning before, even in my motorbiking days. Still, it couldn't be harder than the horseshoe could it?

Lesson 1 - Never trust a map. It looked like the road followed the valley. Oh how I wish I had used an OS map and not a road map. Half way up this killer climb on the return journey I started to realise that this was easily the hardest ride I had done to date by a huge margin.

Lesson 2 - Never assume the hard bit is done. Once at the Ponderosa at the top of the horseshoe I had thought I had done all the really hard climbing. Little did I realise that I was about to lose most of the altitude in a 5 min high speed descent only to have to climb it all again on a single track road!

Attached a pic of offending return climb for anyone who fancies a go. The ride was planned to be 55 miles but turned out to be 58 by after an unplanned deviation from the route! Whoops

Still, the weather was fantastic and the road to Minera was completely empty. Despite the fact I was completely "cream crackered" it was very enjoyable. I even managed a quick ride on Tuesday morning without too much of that weak leg feeling I normally get for a few days after a big ride.

The rest of this week is a bit of a write off in terms of training. I am commissioning some equipment this week and on a stag weekend. Next week its back to Somerset and Blagdon Hill. Let's see if it's any easier. Surely a doddle after the horseshoe? Maybe not.

ALSO A BIG BIG THANKS TO MY RECENT SPONSORS. KEEP IT COMING I NEED ALL THE SPONSORSHIP I CAN GET