However all this has not been without progress in the Midland Cyclist household since the last post back in early April when I went Mountain Biking at MudTrek in Wales.
The weather has improved and has been fairly consistently good (and in fact we also had a fantastic weekend at the start of May) and this has opened the opportunity to start to cycle to work more regularly. I have also been out some evenings for a short (~1 hour) ride now that the lighting up time is nearly 9pm, meaning I can be out and back safely without lights. Last year I'd have done many more commuting miles than I have done so far this year but being knocked off has still damaged my confidence to an extent. Some changes to my working week schedule has seen me needing to drive to Wolverhampton on a Thursday which was a previous standard commute day.
I have also ridden a lot of miles on my Giant Propel (in fact I have not ridden my Scott for the past 5 weeks or so). I am still really pleased with the Giant- fast, comfortable and eats the miles up:
However I managed a good mileage in both April and so far in May as well and finally seem to have rediscovered the level of fitness that I was consistently at all the way up to the accident. This was on the 80 mile ride up did "North of Meriden":
80.2 miles, 3200ft of ascent and 4:45 hours riding - I felt fairly tired with about 20 miles to go but a gel and cereal bar sorted that. What's more I rode the whole ride on the big ring, and whilst there were no real climbs its an undulating route so I took that as a positive as well.
In terms of the Giant - its surprisingly comfortable to ride. I have not got a particularly racy position in terms of saddle/handlebar drop, but its supple over all but the worst road surfaces. The Ui2 is excellent and has never missed a beat (apart from when I went out without checking the battery level and got left on the small ring). The brakes are superb - huge power from very minimal finger pressure only - its difficult to avoid locking the wheels at times. In terms of aero etc I have not really noticed huge benefits until you get over 25mph or so and this is difficult for me without going down hill! The deep section wheels (they are actually aluminium rims with a non-structural aero section) feel quicker (as an engineer I hate the words "feel" as its subjective). I have ridden in a reasonably windy day and they are best described as "interesting" and if you are not ready or prepared for it you can be pushed all over the road.
I popped out for a quick ride on Saturday 14 May 2016 and managed 26 miles at 17.8mph average, 142bpm average and this now reflects a much better level of performance and effort than even a month ago. Here's a (boring?) video I took of most of the route:
Today (15 May 2016) I rode with Noel and took it easy with a more social ride at Noel's pace:
The average Heart Rate of 131bpm was indicative of the lower level of effort needed.
Here's a few photos on the way and up the St Kenelms climb:
Here's a video of the approach to and ascent of St Kenelms Pass:
As I am going to France for 2 weeks cycling in June/July it looks like I am getting into good shape in time
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