Tag Archives: cycling

june 31st

All through lockdown the weather was great with lots of settled and sunny days. While it was very welcome and enjoyable it wasn’t possible to enjoy it properly as a cyclist with the travel restrictions that were in place.

Since going back to work on the 8th of June the weather has taken a significant turn for the worse. It has become cooler but also a lot windier and with spells of rain including a couple of unseasonable storms.

The weather, less spare time and tiredness from work has led to reduced cycling opportunities and therefore reduced mileage from May to June.

I had a plan to complete the June Metric Challenge on Sunday but a weekend of heavy rain, thunderstorms and localised flooding put paid to that. Yesterday was my first day off since meaning this year June has 31 days, I’m calling 2020 a Lockdown Leap Year!

My chosen route was an extension of my last longish ride and a route I haven’t ridden since October 2017 taking me across the border to Castlederg and home via Newtownstewart and Strabane. Total distance was to be 107km.

Everything was going well until the 60K mark, between Castlederg and Newtownstewart. I started feeling queasy and my energy levels were starting to drop. The first half of the spin was fast with a 29.9km/h average at 50K. I was starting to think I’d gone out too hard and was having my first “bonk“. I managed to crawl my way to Newtownstewart where I’d decided to have a break, eat a sandwich and have a can of Coke.

Unfortunately my sandwich choice wasn’t as plain as I’d expected with lots of mayonnaise and onions that wasn’t exactly what my queasy stomach needed. Initially when I left Newtownstewart I felt a little better and with 75K done I was confident of getting home in decent shape. However, with a bit of a headwind and a rolling hilly road my batteries were soon depleted again and I was in limp mode all the way to Strabane and 90K.

I pulled into a shop, got a cup of tea to try and settle my stomach, worked out that 10K would take me to Castlefinn and made arrangements for Catriona to come and pick me up there. With that decision made and a bit of relief from the breeze I pushed on with my head down and simply ground out the final 10K to get across the 100K line.

I’m still not feeling 100% today, a kind of hungover type feeling. I have a feeling that I’ve picked up a mild bug, probably at work, and hopefully will be back to normal again soon with a few days of rest and TLC.

symbiotic training

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I’m getting to the stage where cycling and running at the same time is really starting to improve both.

I first noticed this last week when I ran my first 5K on Tuesday. That day and the next my legs, especially my quads were really stiff and achy. I went for an easy ride on Wednesday to spin out the stiffness and was able to get out running again on Thursday with a lot more comfort than I expected.

wednesday’s ride. click the image to view on strava

Since then I’ve had four runs, including another 5K on Sunday, but haven’t had another chance to get on the bike until this afternoon. Despite feeling tired and needing to really push myself out the door and into the heat I had a great spin averaging 29.2km/h over 40km and 292m of climbing. I’ve noticed my speed gradually increasing over the last few weeks but I don’t think I’ve ever averaged that fast on my own!

Having written myself off as a runner for many years I’m really pleased that I can now run consistently but even more pleased that it’s making me a better cyclist.

Header image by Pixabay from Pexels

getting back to normal

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On Friday last week the government announced that we were moving forward into Phase 2 of the “Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business” on Monday as expected. What wasn’t expected was that the roadmap would be adjusted from 5 to 4 phases and with some accelerated restriction relaxation giving us the snappily named “Phase 2 Plus“.

What was expected was that retail stores were finally allowed to re-open meaning I was fully back to work on Monday morning.

It was very weird going back to work. Everyone was quite anxious about what it would be like, how busy it would be, how we would all cope with the new requirements and changes and how safe everyone would be. This was compounded by the physical changes in the store as a lot of the store had been refitted and painted during lockdown and lots of the displays had been rearranged. It was great to see everyone again and catch up with them but it was amazing how much I’d forgotten about products and the computer system. To me it felt like we had all started a new job on the same day.

In general we’ve been very busy. Nothing unmanageable and so far we haven’t needed to close the doors or enforce a queue outside. It’s been fairly steady and most people know pretty much what they want before coming in. Wednesday was one of the biggest sales days for many years and Saturday was the same. The other days have been like a series of very busy Saturdays and even busier than a peak period like January Sale. I had my own biggest ever personal sales day yesterday so I’ve bounced back pretty quickly and haven’t lost it completely during lockdown.

The downside of all this work business is that it is now interfering with my fitness training 😆 The level of business is tiring as is just being back to work, my step count is way up and I could really feel it at the end of each day in terms of lack of energy as well as tired and sore feet and legs. Work also means less free time and mix that with bad weather on my day off on Wednesday and today is the first time I’ve been able to get out on my bike for over a week.

It has been much easier to keep running and I’ve now finished WK10 of None2Run meaning this week I’ve been running a full non-stop 20min after my warmup walk which I’m really pleased with. I went out twice this week at 6am and the plan is to do that 3 times each week. I much prefer the mornings rather than trying to muster the energy and motivation in the evenings after work.

The surprise change in the government’s announcement was that instead of relaxing the 5km limit to 20km we are now permitted unrestricted movement within our own county and 20km into another county if we live close to a county border. This meant that today’s spin was a much more normal route taking in towns and roads that I haven’t ridden for a very long time – September 2019!

After a break of 10 days and working all week I had pretty low expectations for today but managed to surprise myself. All the extra steps and running must have had a positive impact as I had an average speed of 27.6km/h over 72km with 505m of climbing. Pretty sure it was my fastest time over that route and I really enjoyed it despite getting soaked twice in very heavy thundery showers. It was a pleasure to ride a regular route without repetition and to be able to stop for a tea break 3/4 of the way around.

The incoming week is forecast to be dry again so the plan is to keep up the running and get two, possibly three, spins on the bike.

friendship

back on track

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Having successfully completed May’s Metric Challenge spin on Friday I was more determined than ever to remedy the fact I missed out on April. That was done this morning with a repeat of Friday’s route.

Not much changed from Friday. It felt a lot warmer at the start, the breeze was definitely stronger but there was significantly less traffic and a lot more bikes.

It seems like everyone has given up on the 5kfromhome limit but at least the majority were solo, in pairs or groups of 4 with at least an effort at social distancing. I only saw one large group of 9/10 who were tightly grouped and giving no regard to the restrictions.

Today’s spin has also given me a monthly total of 472km. Admittedly more than half of that has been in the last week but that’s my biggest monthly total since October 2018. I have to go back to 2016 to see consistently high mileage like that with only 3 months exceeding this month, or getting close, between now and December 2016.

Phase 2 of the relaxation of the lockdown restrictions is due to start on June 8th and from that date we will be allowed to travel up to 20km from home for exercise. There’s also talk in the media that this may be removed completely ahead of schedule but even at 20km my June Metric spin should be less repetitive and more like a traditional ride.

2020 metric challenge: may

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My March 100km spin was done under the 2km lockdown restriction. This was still in place up to the end of April and I just couldn’t raise the motivation to repeat the March experience which wasn’t enjoyable at all.

This month the restriction was relaxed to 5km from home. Doesn’t sound like much but it opened up one good route. It also allows the option of the main road between Killygordon and Castlefinn. Combining this and the hillier route over the last couple of weeks I’ve managed to get my cycling back up to a decent level again and have even begun to enjoy it! In April I’d only managed 161km but up until yesterday morning I had almost 270km for May.

All this additional cycling had given me the legs, the confidence and the motivation to make sure I didn’t miss the May 100km.

Yesterday was forecast to be the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures set to hit 25-28°C during the afternoon. That might seem low to many but for us it’s about 10°C warmer than usual. I didn’t want to have much climbing so I decided to use the figure 8 loop I’d used for shorter spins. This goes between Killygordon and Castlefinn using both sides of the river and an additional crossing in approximately the middle at Liscooley. It’s a rolly kind of road with a couple of short steep climbs but at 135m of elevation in 17km it’s as flat as it gets around here.

I decided that I also didn’t fancy the climb up to our house for breaks or at the finish so drove down and parked the car at the picnic stop just outside Killygordon. This worked really well as I was able to break the spin into 3 chunks. At 35km I stopped for a quick break to replenish my bottle and eat a bar. At 70km I stopped for a proper break and something more substantial. A cool bag with food and water in the boot was perfect to keep everything chilled and provide me with a cold bottle each time I stopped. Lunch sitting under the shade of a tree was very pleasant and there was a much reduced temptation to stop altogether as I wasn’t at home.

As an additional bonus I was able to finish the final loop slightly shorter, avoid the climb up from Liscooley Bridge and stay on the main road all the way from Castlefinn to Killygordon.

In the end up I felt pretty good at the finish. There was a bit of a breeze (about 20km/hr from SSE) that was a pain when it was a headwind but the short loop meant it didn’t last long and it helped reduce the effects of the worst of the heat and gave me a nice boost on the opposite side of the loop. Last night my legs were tired but with the lack of climbing it was very little compared to other recent and shorter spins and didn’t prevent me going for a run this morning. All in a very enjoyable spin and a completely different experience to March!

bikepacking

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Bikepacking has become my new obsession! I’ve been aware of it for a while and it’s always attracted me as it combines so many elements from activities that interest me. A combination of cycling, hiking, camping and backpacking. It appeals to the boyish attraction of adventure and unknown – possibly a mid life crisis at this stage though!

Over the last couple of years I’ve read various articles about bikepacking but this week I’ve fallen down the YouTube and Google rabbit holes and have spent hours watching videos and reading articles. I’ve become a theoretical expert on the best camping options, packing variations, kit options and bag suppliers. I even have a shopping list for kit that I don’t have yet, food options and a few ideas for places to go!

It must be the enforced lockdown bringing on the urge to travel and explore and it’s definitely the extra time that has given the opportunity to research but I’m determined to take at least one short trip before the end of the Summer.

Header image from ilovebicycling.com

new boundary

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On Tuesday last week our restrictions were relaxed to allow us to exercise up to 5km from home as opposed to the original 2km. Apart from an aborted MTB spin it took me a full week to yesterday to get motivated to get out on my road bike.

I had identified what looked like a pretty decent route that used some familiar roads but also threw in a few completely unknown sections to give a distance of 35-45km that could easily be stretched to 60km with a little bit of repetition.

I had planned to go out shortly after lunch but my motivation was still low and with the weather looking poorer than the last few days, it took until 3pm before I forcibly pealed myself off the sofa.

There was a noticeably sharp edge to the wind that created a dither about clothes and I eventually settled on jersey and gillet with arm warmers based on the fact it allowed me to remove layers if needed. Turned out I needed them all, especially on the descents and the only change was opening zips on the longer climbs. Definite change to my last few spins.

For a route that was chosen from a map based simply on the 5km radius it turned out pretty good. There are a good mix of climbs and descents, some short, some long and apart from a couple of short sections good surfaces. Turned out to be way more climbing than I expected though and with tired and achy legs and a reasonably strong Northerly breeze I really struggled and it felt much harder than it should have and despite it being my first proper cycle since 26th March I didn’t really enjoy it. I ended up taking the shorter option of 35km instead of the 45ish I had originally planned.

Despite all this moaning and complaining it is a good route, one I will be repeating over the next few weeks of continued restrictions and possibly beyond when I want a short but challenging spin.

One stretch is really enjoyable. Although it’s uphill it’s lined with fairly mature conifers on both sides and almost up to the edge of the road. It creates a great tunnel effect and a reasonably unusual sight around here as a lot of the mature forestry has been harvested over the last few years and the new plantings are still very young. Worth stopping for a photo

Strava link for the header image.

a mechanical in lockdown

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I’m not the handiest person when it comes to bicycle repair and maintenance and my main cycling fear during lockdown is that I would break something beyond my basic repair skills. That happened yesterday!

My cycling mileage has steadily decreased over the 8 weeks of restrictions but the MTB has been neglected the most. Apart from a short and uninspiring spin around the local roads my MTB hasn’t seen much use since since the end of March.

On Tuesday our exercise restriction was relaxed to allow us to go up to 5km from home for exercise. This covers two and most of a third forestry area that are perfect for a 60-90min blast on the MTB. On our last couple of visits to Monellan for walking we also discovered 2 new trails off the main tracks and perfect for a bit of “natural” MTBing.

On Friday I managed to shake off my resurgent cycling ennui and decided to dust off the MTB. Down the road, across a rough farm track, back on the road for 2km and into the woods. The first bit of trail runs down the side of the river and along the original estate wall before meeting up with another trail. Along the wall the trail passes through a number of narrow gaps between trees and on some of these someone has added piles of small branches to create small jumps for ponies. These also make perfect small jumps for a MTB. The third jump has been made too big to take with a bike so I detoured to the left to avoid it. As I passed I didn’t see the end of one of the branches sticking out that managed to catch my rear wheel and drivetrain. By the time I realised what had happened the damage was done!

Thankfully the hanger did its job and broke before the derailleur itself was damaged. A bit of online research and it looks like an easy repair but getting the part will be the tricky bit. There are a multitude of hangers available to buy and you need to buy the exact one to match your frame.

Normally a quick call to Halfords and I would have one within a couple of days. Unfortunately all the Halfords stores are currently closed in RoI and services in NI are highly limited plus my nearest NI stores are approx 45min away.

An online chat with the UK website resulted in a recommendation to contact a store and discuss with store staff as the online rep was working from home with limited access to information. I’ve decided to wait until tomorrow to try and make sure I get a more experienced member of staff on shift.

At least getting home was easier. Catriona and Conor were walking in Monellan so a short wait for them to appear on the trail and I was able to head to the car park, load the bike into the back of the car and wait for them to finish. A 4km walk home pushing a broken bike wouldn’t have been much fun!

Header image by Pixabay from Pexels

we’re on the one road….

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We’re on the one road
Sharing the one load
We’re on the road to God knows where
We’re on the one road
It may be the wrong road
But we’re together now who cares
North men, South men, comrades all
Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Donegal
We’re on the one road swinging along
Singing a soldier’s song

We’re on the One Road

The Wolfe Tones

On Friday evening the Taoiseach made another rare/now regular statement to the country live on TV. This statement was expected as the current lockdown restrictions are due to expire tomorrow Monday 4th of May and we’ve been promised both an update regarding restrictions and a roadmap for lifting them. We got both.

Following this statement we have also been provided with the detailed government document outlining the full “Roadmap for Reopening Society and Business“. It’s a fairly hefty document that can be downloaded and read in full here (pdf). Thankfully RTE News have provided a decent summary.

Essentially lockdown will continue for approximately 2 more weeks before Phase 1 of the roadmap begins on Monday May 18th.

As people have been getting restless with the restrictions of lockdown we’ve been given two small relaxations as a combined reward and motivation to keep going. These start on Tuesday 5th of May.

Over 70s and those particularly vulnerable to Covid19 who have been cocooning are now permitted to leave their house for brief exercise so long as they don’t come in contact with others.
Instead of being limited to exercising within 2km of our home we are now permitted to go to 5km.

It’s the second point that will have the most effect on me. It doesn’t seem like a big distance but as with the original 2km limit it covers a surprisingly large area. It allows me to take in both sides of the River Finn and takes me over the border into Northern Ireland. Technically this gives me unlimited mileage as there are no distance restrictions in Northern Ireland, as they are operating under UK restrictions, but I don’t think I’ll be going too far from home. Castlederg is a possibility but no further as I’m wary of getting into difficulties and taking up important medical/emergency resources that are needed elsewhere.

The other major impact on our household is my potential return to work. The televised statement suggested this would be Phase 2 (8th June) as the Taoiseach announced outdoor retail and activities only for Phase 1 (18th May). However, the detailed document and summary state the following:

My work would fall under the category of “homeware” but another section of the document outlines the return to work strategy as follows:

While the lockdown has been creating a financial strain and has been difficult to live with, returning to work on the 18th of May feels very quick. I’m concerned that an awful lot of retail businesses will be reopening for what is supposed to be Phase 1 of recovery. This will result in a lot of people back on the move for work and bringing shoppers back out. I’d expect this to be quite a rush as people are given their first taste of freedom. It makes me uncomfortable and despite the positives of a return to work I’m hoping it gets delayed until Phase 2.

So far I’ve heard nothing from work so I’d say they may be unsure also. In addition two weeks is a long time in the current climate and lots could change if the medical improvements slow down or take a turn for the worse. In the meantime I need to stop prevaricating with the remaining DIY jobs I’ve agreed to do, I no longer have unlimited time to complete them!

niall harran

walk | hike | cycle | blog

Tag Archives: cycling

june 31st

symbiotic training

getting back to normal

friendship

back on track

2020 metric challenge: may

bikepacking

new boundary

a mechanical in lockdown

we’re on the one road….