A new bike, training on dodgy knees, and what have you.

The structural failure of 'The Recycle' immediately following the Easter rebuild was a tragedy.  I reluctantly decided that buying a new bike was going to be the best way of getting back on the road fast.  I rely on a bicycle for commuting and for my general fitness, so speed was of the essence.

I ordered a 2016 model 'Kona Dew' from Tredz,  I was pleased that the bike best fitting my needs, cost less than three quarters of the budget I had allowed.  It arrived on Friday and was customised to my specification on Saturday morning.  I swapped the stock tyres for my narrower Schwalbe Marathons, the Schwalbes should be more puncture resistant.  I swapped the bell (though it was a nice touch to include one with the bike) for my sonorous classic Crane.  I anticipated swapping the seat, but the stock one has proved fine for my daily commute.  I added the essential for me, tool/emergency bag, full mudguards, carrier and lights.

There's a lot happening in the countryside at this time of year.  The new bike by a field we will pass each morning if I adopt an alternative start to my commute.

After a few laps of the block while fine tuning I set off for a longer ride.  This ride proved that the bike was going to be comfortable over the distance to work and allowed me to get used to a wildly different geometry.


Staying fit
Keeping fit since my knees started to let me down has been something of a problem.  I walked when I could, but that just didn't have the cardiovascular intensity required.  Also, I was no longer burning the calories that I used to, and found the tiny meals I had to contend with most unsatisfactory.  Cycling suggested itself as a way of reducing impact on the joints while exercising at moderate intensity and I found the time by using the journey to work.  This does mean getting up at five thirty and commensurate early nights.  I continue to walk in my lunch breaks, happily countryside meets the edge of the estate I work on.

Looking across the Dane to the church in Davenham, a view from my green and pleasant lunchtime walk.

The commute
My current route is 20.5 miles.  I am lucky that at least part of the ride (from Church Lawton to Ettiley Heath) is on very pleasant lanes and off road parts of Cycle Route 5.  I can link home and the cycle route via country lanes, however, this does add to the distance.  An earlier modification that added half a mile proved well worth it so I will evaluate a further addition.

Running
 Until recently, I was feeling the arthritis in both knees more keenly than the injury in my left.  The injury dominates again now (I have to unlock the damn thing every morning when I wake), orthoses/certain shoes do seem to help.

While cycling 40 odd miles four times a week keeps my cardiovascular fitness at the required level for physical and mental health, it doesn't maintain running skills or tone.  I let pain levels dictate what running I do, generally 5 - 7 miles, presently averaging less than once a week.  I err on the side of caution as overdoing it, in the past, has led to layoffs lasting several months.

My muscles ached after Mow Cop, this suggests that I am losing condition which isn't really surprising.  I am going to try to up the number of runs I do, keeping the length of additional runs short.  I will also try to increase the ascent in my runs.  The latter means travelling to run.  Combining an afternoon walking/sightseeing with an hour's run will make the drive seem worthwhile.  I am not inclined to cycle to run, security is too big an issue.


What have you

I treated myself to a Mow Cop Runners 'buff' on Sunday.  I have always admired their black and red colours and I get much more use out of 'memento' buffs than I do out of event 'T's.  Wearing event shirts seems a little ostentatious except when I am among other runners, like at an event camp site.  I do have some tops in technical fabrics, so at least I can run in them.  All the same, you won't get my cotton Manx Mountain Marathon 'T' unless you prise it from my cold dead fingers (I have a Manx Fell Runner's buff too).

The Rainow Five seems to be hot on the heels of Mow Cop this year.  Probably something to do with the late Easter.  I am looking forward to Rainow on Wednesday (03/05/17).  I am going to take mountains of food to eat on the way back.  I will not have time to make a meal after the drive if I am going to be up at 05:30 the next day.  I really enjoyed this event last year.  It's a shame I can't hang around a little longer afterwards.

Cycling to maintain fitness has been a life saver for me.  I think that if I were not commuting I would be tempted to ride too slowly (I enjoy the view better that way).  I may even attempt some touring in my holidays.  I do need to work on packing running skills training into the tiny mileage the condition of my knees will allow.

Mow Cop Hill Race 2017, 6.5 miles 1200' (BM)

23rd April - I was pleased to be able to take part in Mow Cop Hill Race for, what I am pretty sure is, the eighth time.  While a few preferred to run round London's streets on this bright April Sunday, many of us more sensible types spent our time out on the hills with excellent views of the Cheshire plains, the Peak District, and of course Mow Cop Folly and the Old Man of Mow.

Mow Cop 'Castle' folly.  I took this during the race so all things considered I don't think it turned out too badly.

In common with every other year I have attended this event, organisation was faultless.  Parking and registration were taken care of without fuss.  The weather was bright and though the breeze was not strong, there was a bitter edge to it.  I felt it would be comfortable enough to run in a vest, but wondered if gloves might be a good idea.

Lining up for the start.  This grey light was only temporary.

I started well back as I expected my time to be very slow this year.  This did mean that the short,  steep climb to the playing fields was especially choked, likewise the bottleneck at the first stile.  After the stile I made my way steadily up the hill, the sun shone, stuff didn't hurt too much, I felt good and enjoyed the scenery as I settled into a comfortable pace.

 A lovely April day, green and bright with cracking views over Cheshire.The bright day meant that photographs taken on the hoof didn't have too much shake.

 We seemed to be through the quarry, past the folly and Old Man, and across the road into the woods in no time at all.   I thought the following bog would be dry this year, and indeed it was until nearly the end.  We were suddenly shocked out of a false sense of security by a short, but exceptionally boggy, dip.

A nice grassy trail with the Peak District in the distance.  You can just make out Shutlingsloe, on the skyline, immediately above the runners.

I was feeling much better than I expected (probably only courtesy of Coop Ibuprofen).  I picked up the pace and caught the group ahead of me.  I passed a few and continued to pass people towards the half way point and beyond.  I felt confident enough to lengthen my stride and 'super cruise' past a few more people on the downhill road section.  This is something I haven't dared do since cartilage injury and arthritis first reared their head.  By the start of the next climb I was starting to feel a little tired and knew I would be slow up to and through the wood.  A few re passed me as I flagged here, but with a couple of exceptions I held my own from there on to the finish.  I accidentally took the curved path of the 'D' by the Old Man which cost me a good few seconds, though at my age and in my condition I don't really bother with seconds.

Every marshal we passed now encouraged us with 'not far now, all down hill then tea and cake'.   As I ran back down the green hill in the third photo, I just felt so glad to be out and lapping up the outdoors.  I finished, tired, but pleased that my knees were giving me very little grief.  I had a feeling that despite slowing on the last long climb my time wasn't too bad.  Nonetheless I was quite shocked to find that I had managed to get round in less than 1:10 (1:09:12)!  That's so much better than anything I have managed since my disintegrating knees first asserted themselves

 The promised tea and cake, or some of it.  This snap is from before the race during the setting up.  Well I wasn't going to get a look in afterwards was I?  

Congrats to all who took part, thanks to the organisers, the marshals and bakers and cup of tea makers and all others responsible for the support that makes this event possible.  As usual results were up before we left the village hall, if you haven't already found them, they are here.  The Mow Cop Runners web site and links to filtered results is here.

After the run, left to right:  Paul Stevenson (M50 1:07:25), ?, Simon Bray (M40 1:01:56), Trevor Hibbert (M40 1:02:34) .

[Re]cycling

The bicycle on which I have been commuting to work has a rather doubtful provenance.  My boss had been buying cheap second hand bikes to ride along the canal in his lunch break.  These bikes were almost certainly thrown together out of odd parts.  After he had broken a few, I scrounged what was left of these 'bitsas' to put together a bike even further removed from any manufacturer's intention.  The result was a rather rusty, but vaguely serviceable steed, the saddle on which was quickly replaced in the name of comfort.  Apart from that, this 'Frankenstein' bike served as it was for a few thousand miles.  With better weather and the opportunity presented by the Easter Bank Holiday, I decided it was time that the bike had a bit of attention.  

A tired old hack. 

It was even more work than I expected, there were a lot of seized parts and an awful lot of rust, dents and scratches to remove.  The bike was finally rebuilt, complete with a new rack and quick release bag/panniers, by about 6:30 pm on Monday.  I circled the block a few times and checked and made final adjustments.  The rear dérailleur was still not perfect, I resigned myself to having to machine some bushes for the very worn jockey wheels before top gear became more certain.  I had booked Tuesday off so looked forward to getting out on my lovely 'new' machine the next day.

The 'Recycle', my lovely, lovely bike, quite the head turner.  The bag side pockets open down and unfold into panniers.

Tuesday was bright if a little chilly, I set off to where I had seen wild garlic greens growing in an accessible place.  The bike looked even more impressive in the sunshine than it had the evening before and I began to think all the effort had been worth it.  Indeed, more than one head turned to look at the fruits of my labour.  I felt very satisfied, pleased and even a little proud.

One of the bounties of spring, Ramsons (wild garlic greens) on the bank of a stream, close to a quiet lane.

I soon filled a plastic bag with enough greens and slipped it under the bungees on top of the bike bag/pannier.  The  bag and rack was expensive, but I felt it was worth it to be relieved from the rucksack sweaty back effect.

As I turned into my street and rode over one of the many imperfections on my local roads, I noted that the bike wallowed a little.  I thought that I might have lost some air from the back tyre so I looked down to check when I stopped outside my house.  The reason for the wallowing was horribly apparent, the rear dropout had cracked right through close to the end of the chainstay!  All that effort wasted.  Speechless?  Well almost, I hope no kids were listening.

The end of a love affair that lasted but a few hours!!