Category Archives: cycling

metric challenge 2021: may

In the very first week of the month I managed to aggravate my back. I’ve had sciatica issues with my back off and on now for a good few years and every so often I will do something to cause it to flare up. This time it was unusual in that the pain and spasm was on the left as well as the usual right side. I obviously managed to hurt the muscle on that side. For the first two weeks I was wearing a support to work every day and taking prescription anti inflammatory tablets to keep it under control. While I was keeping up with my daily walking cycling was definitely out of the question.

As the month progressed the pain eased but two weeks ago I still had serious doubts about being able to complete a 100km spin for the month. I had managed to get a decent hike on the 19th and had hopes to get cycling again that week. However, the weather gods decided that wasn’t going to happen and it was the 25th before I got out for an hour after work, just enough to see how the back would react. Everything went well and I had a good 50K spin the next day. Apart from some tiredness I felt good and no major complaints from my back. The plan then was to get a second short spin after work on Friday before trying for the 100K on Sunday – sounds scarily like a training plan!

In the end up Friday didn’t happen. The forecast was for rain and I was knackered after a busy day at work. However, summer was finally on the way and I was still clear on my plan for Sunday.

As well as the usual bike and kit preparation I also got my back ready. I still had some of the pain medication so took a full dose on Saturday and also Sunday morning before leaving to give me the best chance of completion without causing any further issues.

Sunday morning is also football training for Conor and with Catriona at work I had to delay my start until I had dropped and collected Conor. I usually like to get on the road between 9 and 10 but Sunday I wasn’t away until well after 12:30. Just like in April I had some stomach issues that morning again. Some of it may have been the beer at the BBQ in Mum and Dad’s the previous evening for my brother’s birthday but I think it was mostly nerves and anxiety that I wasn’t up to the challenge.

Leaving home the route was still very fluid. I knew I was heading for Ballybofey and into Barnes Gap before turning off to take the back road route to Laghey which also mostly follows the route of my Donegal 200 Audax Permanent. After Laghey I had a few options in mind and in fact it wasn’t until Laghey that I decided how to go home. The first 40km to Laghey were mostly into the wind. It was blowing from a mix of S and SW direction and forecast to flip to the SE later in the day. At Laghey I decided to push on to Ballintra along a sheltered rural route before turning back to Donegal Town and home with hopefully a tailwind to help.

I’d been passed by quite a few motorbikes on the main roads and coming through Donegal Town the Diamond was full. There must have been 150 bikes parked up and the local shops were doing a roaring trade in coffee and ice cream. It was great to see signs of normal life finally returning. I left Donegal Town on the bypass before swinging back in at the other side of town to stop for lunch. It was a simple sandwich, Snickers and a bottle of Pepsi but it was great to sit in the warm sunshine and get a sugar and caffeine shot.

Heading back to Ballybofey another cyclist caught up with and stayed with me for most of the way through the Gap. He was from Raphoe and riding a MTB with light off-road tyres. Before we parted he mentioned being puffed from staying with me on the road bike but I felt it was me keeping up with him and he still looked pretty fresh to my eyes! His company and conversation was very welcome as the road back through the Gap is not enjoyable, busy with traffic, pretty boring and a sapping steady climb that I’ve never enjoyed. His conversation distracted me and made it a lot easier – as did the tailwind!

I turned off at Lough Mourne with the intention of taking the Corgary Road and descending Meenglass into Ballybofey before heading home but at the top of Meenglass I changed route yet again. I was feeling pretty good and didn’t fancy the final 1.6km climb home so decided to stay on the Corgary Road to Aghayarn and Castlederg before climbing the gentler Moneygall Road and dropping down to home. It was approximately 10km longer but I figured the extra distance was worth the chance to finish mostly downhill for the final 5K.

My final distance ended up at 111.22km which is my longest spin for 2021 and my longest since October last year. I felt a lot better than I expected with almost 6 weeks of very little cycling and with a recovering back.

The weather all day was bright, dry and mostly sunny with temperatures in the high teens/low twenties. It was a joy to cycle in warm air for a change but it created a hydration challenge I underestimated. I only took one 750ml bottle with me and this was gone by 35km. I’d hoped to be able to refill once only at 50K but not to be. Thankfully there were plenty of shops to get refills but I’ll need to be more careful on future long runs in more rural areas. As it was I had no water for the final 15km due to extending the route and felt pretty dehydrated by the time I got home.

On the good news front my back coped much better than expected. It was burning quite a bit for the last 20-30mins but that was normal and not unexpected. Alternating position plus on-the-bike stretches kept it under control until I got home and there were no long lasting effects that evening or the next day at work. In fact it has continued to improve and I was back cycling today for 50K with virtually no problems.

This weekend is another Bank Holiday in Ireland and I’ve also booked some holiday days so I’m hoping for some more good weather and at least 2 longer distance spins.

metric challenge 2021: april

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After my motivational crash and mental reset in the middle of the month my reduction in activity had a very detrimental impact on my cycling. After a strong February (568km) and March (558km) April has been quite poor. Up until yesterday I only had 133km across 5 rides. In addition I hadn’t sat in the saddle for 2 weeks! True to form I was also leaving my 100km to the very last possible day seeing as I’m working the last two days of the month.

Time was a precious commodity yesterday. Our normal car pool arrangement fell apart this week as the neighbours’ girl was off sick. This meant I had to collect the boys from school and of course it’s a half day finish at 1:20. My normal preferred mid morning start (10ish) was out the window meaning no lie in and no dawdling on route.

A 7:15 alarm was set with the aim of hitting the road by 8:30. I was eventually out the door at 8:45 and almost cancelled due to a bit of an upset stomach. Not sure if it was the larger than normal breakfast or anxiety. I was definitely feeling nervous, whether it was stress due to the time pressure, performance anxiety worrying if I was fit enough, anxiety about being so far from home for the first time in 8 months or a combination of all of that.

The route was Derry via Lifford and Carrigans, through the city and back home via Bridgend, Letterkenny and Ballybofey. The wind was from the Northeast which made the 45km to Derry a bit of a slog and also pretty chilly straight into the cold 18km/h breeze. However, leaving Derry I had the benefit of a tailwind most of the way back as far as Stranorlar at 95km.

Coming into Derry I had the only rain of the day. A short 15min shower just heavy enough to justify stopping to put on my waterproof gillet. As it’s also HiViz I kept it on through the city to help make me a bit more visible to both cars and pedestrians. I managed to avoid the majority of the traffic by jumping on to the cycle path that runs along the Foyle all the way to the bottom of the Buncrana Road. This is partly shared use but a lot of it is segregated for walkers and cyclists. A lot of pedestrians are clueless about this though as there is no physical separation, just a change of surface colour and signage so it’s slower and requires constant vigilance. It’s still a lot safer than playing in the traffic though.

I had chosen this route partly because I was able to stop at 52km and enjoy a welcome cup of tea and a bun at my brother’s coffee van (#curiouscoffeecompany). I was also able to top up my water bottle removing the need for 2 today.

Business was good and the clock was ticking so I wasn’t able to hang around for much more than a short chat. However, refuelled on sugar and partly rested I made great time to Letterkenny and the only real climb of the day. Good route planning meant that I also had some wind assistance most of the way to the top.

The heat of the climb, loss of windchill with a tailwind and the re-emergence of the sun meant I was able to remove the leg warmers and enjoy air on my legs for the first time this year – I decided to spare you any photos!

Shortly after this I had my worst bad pass for a while. I was on a very slight descent and nipping along at 45km/h in the hard shoulder. A Nissan Micra passed me and straight away indicated to take the left turn less than 100m ahead. We drive on the left in Ireland meaning he was about to cut across in front of me. I slammed on the brakes with no hope of stopping without crashing but he stopped dead in the left lane. I figured he either didn’t see me when passing or totally underestimated my speed and somehow had the presence of mind not to turn left allowing me to pass on the inside. I gave him a good bollocking through his open window as I went by, followed a few seconds later by a long honk on the horn responded to by the most universal of hand signals🖕

Arriving in Stranorlar at 95km I was flagging. I was tired, the sugar had worn off and I was getting hungry again. I was also turning back into the wind for the final 10km. A quick stop to eat a cereal bar helped but the next 15min were not much fun! Arriving into Killygordon there’s a short, sharp climb to the traffic lights. I decided to stand up to power up it and my left leg just said no! The muscle in the back of my leg felt like water resulting in a quick rethink and a very quick downshift to keep my momentum going.

Exiting the other side of the village I ticked over the 100km mark at 3hrs 41min which I was very pleased with considering my mileage this month. I finished up the last climb to home (no standing attempted here) with the wind fully behind me again and rolled in home with 105km in 3hrs 54min at 1:10. A quick change, a handful of nuts and I was picking the boys up just 10min later than normal. Of course in moody teenager world this was a terribly unfair amount of time to be waiting, despite a warning that morning that it could be up to half an hour 😆

Dead pleased to get that done, I really thought I was going to miss this month! Not a bad time for me either.

Header image © Strava. 100KM Gran Fondo April.

reloading spring

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Wednesday morning started unseasonably cold and frosty with a fog hanging over the valley. However, the forecast predicted the sunshine to quickly burn off the frost and fog for a beautifully sunny and warm day.

On Monday our travel restrictions were eased allowing us to travel outside our 5km limit for the first time since early January. We can now travel as far as we like as long as we stay within our county boundary. If we live on the county border we can travel up to 20km from home into another county.

During this third, and hopefully last, lockdown I’ve been very lucky to live so close to the border with Northern Ireland. My 5km takes me over the border and there were no cycling restrictions there. This allowed me the opportunity to build a number of routes so long as I stayed within my RoI 5km limit. Most if not all of the local cyclists I know have paid scant attention to what was an arbitrary and nonsensical limit and I really don’t know how others managed to obey it completely. From my own point of view I was getting really sick of the same roads and I was using a much bigger area than my 5km radius.

With my new found freedom I decided to pay a visit to Raphoe and cycle familiar roads that I haven’t been on since the beginning of November, almost 5 months to the day. I waited until after lunch to maximise the benefit of the sunny day and left the house with temperatures around 11°C – it was glorious.

My halfway point was Raphoe and I decided to stop for a cup of tea and a cereal bar. I bought from a girl staffing a horse box coffee shop, one of the many roadside coffee vans that have sprung up in the last year or so. She was in or around 20 and, although very friendly, I think I was a lot more enthusiastic about the lovely sunny day than she was. I’d like to think she thought I was a happy man but she probably though I was a middle aged weirdo!

I parked my bike and grabbed a bench in the very pretty Diamond with a great view of the “Earth Mother” statue from the HEART Project. I sat here for about 10 minutes, basking in the warm sunshine but could have sat for an hour easily.

I’d once again dropped layers with the promise of warmer temperatures but couldn’t quite give in totally. I was still in my Perfetto and leg warmers but definitely should have gone for arm warmers instead of the full Perfetto sleeves and by the time I sweated my way to the top of the hill to home I was regretting not taking the risk of the first bare legged spin of the year.

I’m really hoping that we’re now through this very weird and mixed up start to Spring and that the warmer weather is here to stay. I’d love some more days like this sometime soon.

sights and sounds

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Yesterday I went for the longest spin for quite a while outside of the 100km metric challenge spins. It took me across the border into Co. Tyrone to Strabane and Newtownstewart before returning via Castlederg and Drumquin for 80km.

As the weather had been settled and dry all week and I had an extra day off for St. Patrick’s Day I managed to ride my bike for 5 days and this spin brought me to 232km for the week. This spin wasn’t just about the mileage though. It was a great day for the bike with dry, bright weather and very little wind for most of the ride. What made it so enjoyable was the ability to lift my head and take in all around me and enjoy the day.

birdsong in all the wooded areas, noisy and full of life.
the miniature horse with legs so short and hair so long he looked like he was floating above the ground.
the old man out for his slow, careful walk smiling at the nonsense of me taking photos of my bike on the pedestrian bridge in Strabane.
the weir at Sion Mills flashing white through the bare trees.
newborn lambs bleating in the fields and anxiously staying close to their mothers.
the group of swans swimming in a flooded area of a field briefly glimpsed at just the right time across the top of a high hedge.
the colourful giant display of a gnome family along the river in Newtownstewart complete with decorated toadstools.
meeting an ex work colleague passing through Newtownstewart and stopping for a half hour chat.
the brand new display board for the International Appalachian Way in Baronscourt forest.
windmills turning lazily, catching and reflecting brief glimpses of sunshine.
pigs squealing in a farm shed outside Castlederg making me think of banjos and a film I haven’t actually seen.
roadside displays full of bright yellow daffodils.
spotting the often seen but recently missing horse from a roadside paddock in a new location in another field.
the hound with long ears and short legs that barks and valiantly tries to chase every time I pass his house and making me smile every single time.

Not many photos but lots of memories.

work stops play

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I expected it to be difficult to keep up the level of activity of the last few weeks when I went back to work but I had a plan for the week. I didn’t plan on multiple days of stormy wind and rain though.

Tuesday onwards has been pretty grim which had a big impact on my cycling. My plan was 60km each of my days off (Wednesday and Sunday) with 25km two mornings before work (Tuesday and Friday). Tuesday morning wasn’t happening as I really needed the extra hour in bed. Wednesday I did get out but the worst of the storm was to hit that afternoon into Thursday so I only managed a wet and windy 26km. It was still stormy Friday morning so the bike was out again. Today it’s Mother’s Day and #2 son’s 13th birthday so 2.5hrs on the bike was never going to happen. I had hoped for an hour in the morning but a walk was just about enjoyable, a cycle would have been hateful. A total of 26km for the week, how the mighty have fallen!

Walking has been more successful. I’ve managed to keep up my streak of walking every day. Even on the wettest days it’s not hard to dress up appropriately and make it at least partially enjoyable. My target for the week is 30km and finishing on 28.9 my only issue was skipping the 2km walk on Thursday morning. Heavy rain and hail showers was not my idea of a good way to start the day.

The biggest result of the week has been finally starting a strength and conditioning program. I’ve been following the Chain Reactions kettlebell routine from YouTube. Monday, Thursday, Saturday with a 2km warm up walk (skipped on Thursday). I’ve also added in some upper body movements to give a 25-30min routine. I was very stiff on Wednesday but OK since and hopefully it’s the start of a new habit.

#2 son 2008-2021

another great cycling week

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Over the last fortnight I’ve enjoyed two of the very best cycling weeks I’ve ever had. With a great dry spell I’ve been able to get out every day bar two. One of these was when a storm blew in and the other was yesterday as I went back to work.

In two weeks I’ve managed to cycle slightly over 600km. To put that in context my target to hit 6,000km for the year is 500km per month.

Apart from my “31 Days of Biking” Challenge in August last year, which was mostly short daily rides I have to go back to the “Every Day in May” Challenge in 2017 to get consistent high mileage like this. That month included one week of 517km which had my first ever Audax event (205km) followed the next day by a 106km Club spin that nearly killed me!

This consistent cycling has also had a significant impact on my fitness. I can feel it in my legs but it’s measurable according to Strava. A score of 79 is probably a lot lower than many other people but my highest score for the last two years (limit of Strava’s charts) was a very brief 81 in October. This time last year it was approximately 30, two years ago it was 12!

The challenge now is to maintain my great start to the month. These two weeks have put me back on track for my yearly target but this weather won’t last much longer and now that I’m working again I’ll have to be more organised. I have a plan that gets me to 170km per week across 4 days using two mornings before work and my two days off. I also want to start some much needed strength and conditioning training while keeping up with the walking. All of that is in the plan too which starts tomorrow morning.

metric challenge 2021: march

break the routine

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This morning was getting some jobs done about the house. Tempocyclist will be glad to hear that one of them was cleaning my bike which was on the plan before he published his latest blog 😄

Post lunch the idea was a ride on the road bike of approximately 60km but I just couldn’t get motivated for it. I think it may have been a bit of burnout after 6 days in a row but I’m mostly blaming it on the weather. It was cold here all day with a mist hanging just overhead giving a hateful grey and gloomy feel to the day. Just over 2 hours on the road in that was totally unappealing.

Instead I decided to get the MTB out instead. I fancied an hour or so wandering around the local roads and forests. I ditched the usual gear and threw my walking trousers over my bib shorts and stuck on my hiking shoes having switched my bike pedals to the flats. I wanted to be able to jump off the bike and do a bit of exploring in Monellan.

In the end up I was out for almost 2.5hours including just over half an hour exploring. I even took time to stop for a few photos.

A slog on the road turned into a great local wander. I even found a cracking spot along the river for tomorrow morning. I’m really glad I decided to change my plans.

Header image by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels

metric challenge 2021: february

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Believe or not completing this on the very last day of the month was according to plan. Since last weekend when it was clear that Spring was coming this week and that cycling was back on the cards I’d planned to do my 100K spin yesterday. However, a bit of over exuberance and lack of thought on route choices on Friday left me with a much bigger week than expected. This forced me to rearrange the weekend and make Saturday a recovery day.

As I said yesterday recovery rides are not my forte. I set out with the best of intentions but it usually ends up a normal ride, slightly slower and with my cadence on the higher side. My legs were tired and achy yesterday which forced me to focus on my form and actually resulted in a proper low power and heart rate spin at a higher cadence. As a result today felt great.

In Covid times I’m still not comfortable being very far from home so I chose to ride a similar route to last month. I shortened it slightly to give me 2 full laps of approx 37km plus a final shorter lap of approx 26km. I felt the meal break at 50km was too early last month but 75km turned out to be perfect today. It was nice to get back to the house, eat something proper and stretch out for a bit. Having a short lap to finish was also a nice mental boost to get going again.

The nicest part of the day was just under 5km from home. A little girl, about 7 years old, came along the pavement just as I was pulling away from traffic lights. She called out “I saw you this morning too”. She was absolutely delighted with herself and full of happiness. It put a big smile on my face that took me all the way home.

I’m heading back to work on Saturday and the weather is set to be good again all week. If all goes according to plan I hope to repeat this ride on Thursday 🤞

a week of cycling

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Just over a week ago I was complaining about the weather and how it had stopped me cycling for 8 days. Well, that changed this week!

To put that in perspective I’ve cycled further in the last seven days than I did for either of the whole months of December (173km) and January (206km). The dramatic change is down to a big improvement in the weather. Spring (or is it “fool’s Spring“) finally arrived on Sunday and somehow managed to hang around all week. Tuesday was the only blip as another storm blew in but it was a price worth paying for the rest of the week.

It’s taken a toll though, going from virtually nothing to this level. Last night I was very tired. My legs were aching and this morning I had an annoying tightness in my calves. My original plan was to get my February Metric Challenge spin done today but yesterday’s spin, with a very tough climb in the middle, was the wrong preparation for that on top of the rest of the week.

I decided to switch my 100km plan to tomorrow and instead went for a 26km recovery spin this morning. My legs are so much happier this evening which should make tomorrow a lot more enjoyable.

I’ve managed to get a decent variety of spins too. Four of them were reasonably hilly varying from 32 to 62km on similar but slightly different routes, one was a cadence interval session on a flatter route and today was an active recovery on the same route.

The last two are something different for me. I’ve never really done a proper interval spin or recovery ride before. The cadence ride was a mix of low/high cadence to build power in my legs and today was a proper high cadence, low power/heart rate ride. Riding slow and easy is more difficult than you would think but I definitely needed it today and focused to make sure I did it properly.

I’ve also managed to keep up the walking. As the evenings are stretching out I’ve been able to get home, get cleaned and changed, eat and relax for at least an hour before going for a decent walk. The last few days though I’ve stopped carrying the additional weight as my legs have tired with the consecutive days of cycling.

photos from the week

The weather is set to continue with no rain forecast until Sunday next week and thankfully a respite from the pretty strong winds I fought for most of last week. I also got news that I’m needed back to work at the end of next week so I plan to make the most of this good spell and get March off to a good start while I have the time.

niall harran

walk | hike | cycle | blog