Bikes, bikes and more bikes.

Decision time for bike purchasing.... a dull post designed to help me capture my thoughts and justify next move


A year ago I had two bikes gathering dust in the garage having not been ridden for about 3 or 4 years (regularly anyway). Then we moved office and I suddenly had the twin incentive of a commutable distance to work and a good shower in the office, so I started commuting about 4 days a week. I had them serviced and tried to keep them clean throughout the wet winter but the 9 years or so I'd had them was starting to show and I was thinking it might be new bike time when two things happened


1. I was knocked off my road bike on the way home by a right turning car and the bike ( a cheap Dawes road bike) was probably repairable but equally probably not worth it. Thinking that £1k was probably the most I could justify I invested in a Specialized Secteur Elite

A much better bike than I'd been used to for sure but a mid-range bike in the greater scheme of things. 


2. Shortly after that, having been on an MTB skills course, I engaged in a spot of Urban jumping in the high street and went crashing into a very hard piece of metal street furniture and wrote off the frame of my Scott MTB.


So I'm at least a bike down and I have one bike to cover my long rides and commutes and anything else I might want to do. The obvious solution is to get another bike but here's where I become indecisive...


I've signed us up to a cycle to work scheme so I have up to £1k of bike I can invest in (with a substantial tax discount) and am thinking two purchase options:

• A Hybrid bike along these lines and use that as the commute bike. The Secteur can remain a longer ride bike... but then what if I get back into MTB'ing?

• Buy a £1k MTB which I can use for commuting and off-road rides and utilise the Secteur for some commute rides and longer road rides 

Of course, there is the option to additionally buy an MTB (with option 1) or a more expensive road bike (with option 2) should I keep up my current enthusiasms.


My commute for picture completion purposes are:


Off-Road - 4,6 or 8 mile options (8 can be extended)
Road - minimum 5.5 miles, max - whatever i feel like


I'm flip-flopping at the moment. Option 1 makes more sense as I'm not really doing any off-road at the moment but... I might.


P.S. I stayed dry for July

Giving up the Booze - the early effects

So, 5 days into the #dryforjuly challenge and i’m feeling good.

I had some idea, obviously, about what might happen and I guess if I was doing this properly I’d have taken Blood Pressure, Heart Rate and various other measurements before I started to see if the month made a difference. But even without out that there are some things I noticed straight away (which I hadn’t prepared for):

1. I’m very hungry. I worked out I’ve cut somewhere in the region of 500-750 calories a day from my previous intake – I’m trying to ensure I don’t replace all this and that what I do replace is better for me
2. I’m very thirsty (certainly of an evening) – at least two pints of liquid a day has gone from my liquid intake – I’m trying to make sure its not all replaced with caffeine based drinks.
3. I still feel like shit in a morning, at least first thing. I thought I was sleeping well before but I’m sleeping deeper and less fitfully and the slumber is taking a while to kick out of. (never been a morning person)

The calorie calculation:

Two pints of Stella = 500 calories 

Add to this, I might also occasionally indulge in crisps and/or nuts and two pints is my low end calc in terms of averages, so 500 – 750 is probably conservative.

The other things I’m expecting to happen;

• I’ll lose some weight (see above, so long as I don’t replace all)
• I’ll save some money (at least £75 per week)
• My BP will have improved (but I won’t know for sure)

All good stuff, my main aim though is to permanently reshape my relationship with alcohol. I like a drink and have no desire to give it up for good, but I think a change is probably overdue.

Only another 26 days to go ......

Dry for July

So I’m doing something i’ve been meaning to do for a while. Spurred on by some G+ folk doing similar things I’ve given up the demon drink for July. A month without alcohol shouldn’t be a big deal, the fact that I feel I ought to mention it suggests I have a relationship with alcohol that is at least worth examining.

First off, I would say I drink too much, but I wouldn’t class myself as a ‘problem-drinker’ – who would? But, I do have a drink most days and would definitely exceed the Doctors advised quota each week. Also, I think I’ve gotten away from what having a drink can mean....

1. A nice glass of something to accompany a meal and enhance the flavours
2. A thirst quenching drink after a hard days graft or some exertion or other
3. Sampling new flavours and tastes from the vast array of real ales and artisan products
4. It’s a lovely summers day and its nice to just sit out
5. And, yes, simply to get drunk

Generally speaking, I might do some or all of these things (though I rarely drink to get drunk anymore) but a lot of the times it’s just habit, I’m on my way home, I’m passing the pub I may as well pop in for a couple and see if there’s anyone about.

So one of the things I’d like to achieve from taking a break is to re-examine my relationship with booze and break the habitual nature of my drinking. I’m hoping for some fringe benefits too in the month to come:

• I hope to lose a little weight (I’m 207 lbs at time of writing)
• Save some money (£3.30 a pint soon adds up)
• Free some time, all those popping in for an hour moments make a lot of moments –I’ve books to read, DIY to do, bikes to ride etc. etc.
• Get fitter – the run in to work this morning felt that little bit easier (a full day in ...)  – time to up pace, distance or both on foot and bike

       I’ll update here weekly, if nothing else, just for my own sanity

Lunch

Just Because

This is due to be my first appearance on the company blog at some point, but I'm in a queue so thought I may as well put it out there (edited slightly for wider audience)

I’m told it’s traditional when writing blogs to develop an over-arching theme; be consistent; give your audience what they want (assuming you know who your audience is)... Well, that sounds like hard work to me and is probably a reason it’s taken me so long to put pen to paper (or at least finger to keyboard) until now. 

So what changed? I walked into our town centre at lunchtime to pick up some delicious, nutritious items for lunch (as I ought to at my age) and chuckled and smiled on the way back as a young child of 4 or 5 ran along, skipping, jumping, waving arms frantically and smiling madly – doing something just because it was fun. As the father of a 2yr old boy i should be used to this. He’s at the jumping, climbing and jumping off the thing he’s climbed stage and it all makes him laugh and giggle. I tried to think about when was the last time I did something spontaneously just because it was ‘fun’. I exercise mainly to get to work or because I feel I ought to, I read books I feel might ‘improve’ me, I walk in the park because the dog needs walking -  any of this sound familiar? Those of us lucky enough to have a job are constantly putting the needs of others as a priority but how often do you do something for yourself just because it’s fun? or because it makes you feel better?

So here’s my challenge to you all... today, tomorrow, by the end of the week do something fun; hop, skip, jump down the street, read a trashy novel, listen to your ‘guilty pleasure’ album, whatever – I assure you it’ll make you smile and set you up for the challenges ahead (and do share it ). Me? I’m going to go for a run and climb a tree or run through a stream or hop and skip like a 5 year old. Coming back to the theme of my blog from here on in.... I’ll be going with the flow and drawing on tree climbing inspiration. Whilst I will aim to be informative and relevant, I do hope I find time to occasionally just have fun. 

Test, this is a test

like the man said, this is a test