Random is a fashionable word, innit?
I don't ordinarily use it myself. I've even had occasion to argue its suitability. Can something be, like, totally random, fairly random, randomly random? I see random as an absolute - something is either random, or it's not.
This is:
It was a dark, dingy, dismal morning. I could not rush around getting my stuff together, as I simply did not have the energy. The children were being hassled, harrassed and shouted at to get dressed as usual, and you can't swing merrily from room to room gathering stuff together as there is a child in every doorway moaning about something and getting under the feet.
So, I was ended up setting off for my commute to Haverfordwest about 15 minutes later than I would have liked.
It was raining. Again. A mere drizzle at first, but it grew in heaviness and wetness once over the water. It was a hard ride. I got drenched.
My group of schoolchildren were sat outside their classroom like a group of refugees when I arrived, raring to go. I hate being late for anything, but when you're late for children, it's worse. It had stopped raining, but was still overcast.
As the day wore on the sun did appear briefly, and it stayed mercifully dry for us. My cycle home was quite humid, though with quite a strong breeze.
It's evening now. Raining again.
Father's Day.
Handmade cards, a cup of tea in bed (after being woken up far too early by an overexcited No.1 son showing me a spider he'd collared), some chocolate, and a couple of DVDs. What more could the heart of man desire?
I had a church service to lead, but it was a late one, starting at 11am. No rush.
My wife was working in the local park in a craft tent most of the day, so she took the kids with her after church, while I came home to prepare dinner (roast chicken, mmm), after which I watched one of my new DVDs, (Paul) to see if it might be OK for the kids to watch (it isn't). Very funny though.
Made the most of the solitude and got stuck into some knitting. I'm knitting a hooded cardigan for No.1 daughter and have just started on the sleeves. I'm knitting them simultaneously on the advice of more experienced knitters, and it's proving to be sound advice. I will also try and knit the two front panels simultaneously, so there.
So, what does the craft of knitting have to do with the sport of cycling?
Well, it's good exercise for the hands. After a ride my hands and wrists are usually quite painful, or completely numb, neither of which is a comfortable state of affairs. Squeezing brake levers, twisting gear shifters, and taking my weight is all my hands do on a ride. When I get to work I have to wait a while before my fingers can manage a spanner or a hex key, so anything which gets the blood circulating and articulates the joints is a good thing.
I'm not sure who's proudest when I see my children wearing something I've knitted them. Mammy knits them much better things, but if they can tell their friends their Daddy knitted this for them, well, it's a bit special, innit?
Today is a not cycling day.
All week I've been commuting to work in fair weather and foul, averaging around 25 miles per day.
Today is a "rest" day.
The family are out for the day manning a stall on a craft fair (not my idea of fun at all).
I've just done the shopping for the weekend - walked to the supermarket with my rucksack and hauled it back full of heavy stuff - half a dozen tins, a chicken for tomorrow, various vegetables and potatoes etc. My legs just don't notice the extra weight.
I need to spend time in the house; cooking dinner, tidying up etc, and getting myself and the living room ready for our moment of peace between 8pm and 9pm this evening. The weather outside is bordering between sun and rain with no telling which way it'll go. Quite a blustery wind blowing in from the west, so not ideal cycling weather anyway, but I really would like to go for a "pleasure ride" (ie climb some hills that I don't have to!). I know I'll start to get edgy if I don't!
My older brother has spent his entire life running. Oh, he works as well, but running is "what he does". Not just around the park, either - he's a FELL runner. Up and down some of the biggest hills in Britain. In his 60's now, he's been told to stop. He's had surgery on his knee, and the condition is not about to improve if he carries on pounding the hills like he does. A friend has loaned him a bike, but he hasn't been out on it once. He used to cycle loads as a teenager, but gave it up in favour of running (the daft lad). I wish I could lure him onto the bike. I've tried, but to no avail. He doesn't think it would be the same.
I agree. I don't run. It hurts. I'm fairly tireless when I walk, and can cover some distance, but where I could walk around 20 miles in a day comfortably, I could cycle 5 times that distance, with a comparable amount of effort.
There's also the joy, for me, of knowing that I'm riding on a bike I've set up myself. I know where every nut and bolt is and how tight it is. I know how much tension is in the spokes, even, because I built the wheels myself. I know how hard the tyres are.
All you do before a walk is put your shoes on - where's the skill in that? Most of my children can manage that most days!
But, today is not a cycling day.
I know I'm not on my own, because even though my best friends told me I was completely maaaad for turning out at 6.30am on a very rainy Sunday morning for the Tour of Pembrokeshire last week, hundreds of other friends did exactly the same thing.
However, you'd think that working in the bike hire department of a holiday resort, I'd be among sympathetic people when it comes to cycling to work. Not so.
It was fairly clear they didn't believe I'd cycled 60 miles that wet day. Thankfully there are photos aplenty here (my number was 431) to prove that I was there, but why did I need to prove it?
This morning, it was fairly cold, with a bit of light drizzle which had soaked me through by the time I got to work. It rained all day but I still worked outside (because that's where I like to be). It was raining heavily when I cycled home. Wetness is a fact of life in Wales.
So, why are people amazed that I cycle in such weather?
It's not everyone's cup of tea, and a few years ago I would NEVER have imagined myself doing it, but being a Cycle Safety Trainer has to be one of the best jobs I have ever had.
On Monday, at lunchtime, I bumped into Dave, a fellow trainer with whom I worked last year, a retired fireman. We were discussing the job over a Tesco lunch, and Dave said "I never go home from this job feeling I've had a bad day".
I thought about that a lot afterwards, the words echoing around my head like a mantra.
I thought back to a couple of weeks ago, when I was at quite a difficult school. The first two days I arrived home a seething mass of stress and tension, because the children, many of them from gipsy families, were very demanding, and I didn't feel the work I was doing with them would add up to anything. The last day, though, everything clicked. They all did really well in their assessments and written tests. I was on Cloud 9, and I can't wait to get back there again next year.
My current school is similar. A big school, I'm there for 3 weeks. It's a 12.5 mile cycle there, then I have to walk a mile or so carrying heavy road signs to mark out my territory, then back to school, then walk out again with my groups. It's physically very demanding and the children are mentally demanding. The local traffic is insane, to say the least, but we have to work with what's there.
The kids get stuck in, and they cope with whatever I, or circumstances, throw at them. They're ace.
The LSAs who have to come out with me usually start off quite diffident. They don't want to be there and have obviously drawn the short straw or they've done something wrong for which this is their punishment. I try to involve them in any way I can, and they invariably come back having enjoyed the experience, and wanting to come out again.
At the end of six hours, I'm completely drained of energy and emotion, and I still have to get the kids safely back to school and put my signs away. I still have to cycle 12.5 miles home.
Today, I could have sang all the way, and I still have a week and a half to go.
Yesterday (Saturday) I cycled 25 miles or so in absolutely perfect conditions - bright sunshine and a quiet but refreshing breeze - to and from Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, to register myself for the Tour of Pembrokeshire. My bike was rolling very nicely with a fresh new chain and brakeblocks and a general cleanup and I was feeling good. My speed averaged at just over 14mph for the trip, pretty good considering the steepness of a couple of hills.
Today (Sunday, obviously) I woke at 5.30am, had a hot breakfast of fried eggs and beans on toast, packed a saddlebag with food and tools and set out for the start line. It was raining, and I soon discovered it was also windy. I'd nikwaxed my windproof top, and the rain was rolling nicely off and my armwarmers were keeping the chills at bay. My legs, however, were soon completely numb from the knees down (no exaggeration). I got to Saundersfoot later than expected due to a 9mph average speed, and only had a couple of minutes to get in line for the first bunch to go. I'd met my friend Paul at the line, who was acting as a motorcycle marshall. He thought I was bonkers to even turn up.
Carbon-framed bike straddled by lithe-limbed and callow youths streamed past me up the very steep climb out of Saundersfoot, and continued to do so for the rest of the morning, though not quite as frequently.
My original intent was to beat my previous long-distance record of 95 miles in a day, and complete the 117 mile long course. I didn't care what time I did it in. However, it was now patently obvious that conditions were about as unfavourable as it gets, and that there was going to be no letup within the forseeable future. I had the option of shorter 80 mile or 60 mile courses, but they all ran together for the first 10 or 15 miles, when the longer course split off to go up and around the Preseli Hills. When we came to the junction I had no hesitation in selecting the easier option.
When I say "easier", I of course mean "shorter". There was nothing easy about it. There is no word for flat in Pembrokeshire.
After around 40 miles, we reached the first Feeding Station. I'd already stopped for a snack about 5 miles back, but was ready for a little rest, and further fillage. Free food is free food.
I think I'd decided then that as the route passed within a few hundred yards of my house I wouldn't be going any further than that. There didn't seem to be much point. When I reached Pembroke Dock I'd covered just over 60 miles, in 6.5 hours, with a couple of lengthy stops, in terrible conditions. I'm happy with that, for now.
I don't think I've done anything to them before, though quite how I've gone so long without hurting one of them I don't know. I got some pain in both my knees during and after the ride on Thursday evening, but nothing extreme, so i thought it best just to "ride on through it". I couldn't stand afterwards.
The next day my knees seemed OK so I went on a ride with a friend, during which my left knee was giving me twinges, but again, nothing so bad i had to stop or even ease off. Some of the hills on the homeward leg were a bit painful but I coped.
Yesterday I was in pain from the moment I woke. I was only going for a short ride anyway, so I applied the ibuprofen gel liberally and set out. I was in pain the whole time. I could apply no pressure to it whatsoever. I was limping badly uphill, practically riding one-legged, and had to cut my short ride even shorter.
I applied a bag of frozen peas as soon as I got home, and more gel. I did take a slow walk on it, just to keep it moving, but even that was sore.
Today I rest.
I'm applying icepacks for a couple of minutes every hour or so. There was no pain first thing this morning which is an improvement on yesterday, but there is soreness now. I'm just sitting around with my leg either flat or up, and I'm going nowhere.
Le Tour de Pembrokeshire is on 12th June 2011.
There are 3 distances: 63, 82 and 117 miles.
The most I have ridden in one day is around 95 miles, so I've decided to go the whole hog and do the big one. What's the point if it's not a challenge? It would also seem that the older I get, the bigger the challenge I'm ready to face. Two rides of between 40 and 50 miles have started my preparations. I have a nagging pain in my left knee which is a worry, it only hampers me on steep hills, when I have to overuse my right leg, which is not ideal. I'm trying a painkilling gel today, and may resort to a support bandage, but that will be a very last resort.
Next week I plan to be back at Bluestone on Monday and Friday, and I will lengthen my commutes both ways.
Tuesday to Thursday I will be at Fenton School in Haverfordwest, a fairly easy commute along the wonderful Brunel Cycle Trail. There are some nice variations I can take.
My plan is just to keep riding, so that by next Sunday my legs are just turning automatically. My stamina is fine, but I need to do some work on speed.
I'm raising money for Pedal Power in Cardiff while I do this, please feel free to donate whatever you can on my justgiving page, every penny donated will make a difference!
