Video test

Bit of a test of uploading video from my phone. That's my hand, that is.

Transformers

Well, that's what I watched, along with an episode of BTVS and Futurama "Beast with a Billion Backs". Fours hours. Four lonely hours, staring at a laptop screen (although Darren did call to try and persuade me to join him on a ride tomorrow). Three bottles of water, three Torq bars, one Torq gel.

Since coming off the trainer I've eaten (in three hours)

- One bottle of Torq Recovery
- One hotdog
- One tin of Spongebob Squarepants pasta shapes on toast
- One hot cross bun
- Two slices of malt loaf, toasted and buttered

It's now 5pm. Snack time.

Be careful what you wish for

More snow. That's what I said. And that's what we've had. The thing is... it's not great for training rides, at least not with our kind of snowy/slushy/icy/never-know-when-the-wheels-are-going-to-let-go conditions.

In the mornings it has been great. Mud-X tyres grip great on fresh snow, and they leave pretty tracks too - I followed another set of Mud-X tracks into work this morning (is that slightly geeky, knowing a tyre by the track?), knowing exactly who they belonged to and what bike they were on. There aren't too many people who ride real mountain bikes with real mountain bike tyres into work, so it had to be Dave on his GF Rig. Yup, followed it right to the bike racks.

In the the day and evenings... less good. No problems yet, but I wouldn't want to go and ride 4-5 hours on the road. So, it's back on the turbo, lots of BTVS. Tomorrow I hope to get in at least three hours, maybe more. Not a physical challenge, a mental one. My brain needs to MTFU.

Snowbiking

We don't get much snow here, so it makes sense to try and make the best of it when it arrives. So Jon and I went out last night, although the worst of it had melted. The roads were just about clear of ice and there was a tang of salt in the air, from all the gritting that has been going on. Once we got into the woods the fun began, as there was no way of telling what lay underneath the white stuff - firm ground, frozen ruts, sloppy mud, hub-deep icy puddles. It made for a challenging ride - and all with the hushed and bright atmosphere that snow brings. Feet were often unclipped, boots submerged in water and slop, but we didn't go down. A rapid dab is not a fall!

With the underlying ground obscured by the snow it was a ride of poor line choices and sinking bikes. We can ride mountain bikes, honest. We've done this before - these conditions, this route. We stopped for photos, phone calls, food. It was not, most certainly not, a training ride. It was fun.

We were out just under two hours. Jon nearly lost it on the newly formed ice coming into my road (flashbacks to another icy road, dislocation, hospital) but held the slide - I just heard the verbal exclaimation of surprise as his back wheel stepped out. We made it though, unbruised, unbattered, uncut.

Here's to more snow.

Muffins, not fluffins

Those of you who see my facebook status may recall the fluffins. Well, second attempt and I am happy to describe these as muffins.

Ups and downs

Ups - two gym sessions, good couple of turbo sessions (4 BTVS episodes), good early ride to work.
Downs - Crank arm falling off the Scandal riding to work, realising how much a Torq Recovery addiction could cost me, tweaking a quadricep during an impromtu 5-a-side at work.
Horizonals - That old bag of frozen peas I've been using for injuries for several years is really hanging in there.

I think I'm on drugs

It was quite chilly, and very icy underwheel. My concentration was divided between avioding the frozen sections, listening to MP3s and keeping a keen eye on the traffic. I did a route that I've done a couple of times, except this time a bit longer and a bit backwards.

So far, nothing interesting. However, when I got back after three and a half hours, I broke open my new Torq Recovery, Strawberries and Cream flavour. I've used other flavours of the recovery before when I was at the training camp in Spain, but I've never used them at home due to them tasting ever so slightly nasty. The new flavour is just on the right side of palettable so I invested in a tub, mainly to use at work after riding in. My usual recovery mix is Frijj milkshakes with ribose mixed in, but they don't sell them at work and I'd rather not carry one in each day. The Torq powder can be stored at work for use when needed, so problem solved.

After a longish ride I'm normally a little tired - an hour dozing on the sofa whilst listening to the football is fairly standard - so I put on some Sigur Ros, pulled a fleecy blanket over myself and settled down... to nothing. I was wide awake. No sleepiness, no lethargy. Only a feeling of being full of energy, which has lasted to, well, 20:41 so far. Is it the Torq stuff? We'll see, but given that it contains lots of stuff I've never heard of (L-glutamine, HMB) I'm pretty sure that it must be.

Of course, I may crash asleep in the next 5 minutes..............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ice ice baby

Tested the knee last night on the turbo with the first two episodes of BTVS series 2 - I don't think I saw much of that series, certainly not seen the first two. Starting to get darker than series one already, and Buffy is looking slightly more buff.

I've looked out of the window this morning to see lots and lots of ice, and my new outside temperature sensor tells me it's 1.6C. Brrrrrr.

Right, off to town for a haircut, then I'll brave the outside for a road ride. I hope to report later.

Second event, first injury

Completed my second event of the year, the Gorrick XC race at Yateley. Apparently the course was going to be quick, flowing, interesting and fun. Then it rained for 24 hours. As if by magic the course was slick, boggy, sticky, gloopy and not fun. About half way round my first lap (of three) I remembered how much I hate short XC races - riding at pretty much threshold for a couple of hours doesn't really feel good to me - especially when I fell off (three times). This was OK as the surface was so wet it was a soft landing... or so I thought.

I finished the race (33rd out of 59! Yay!), and after a bit of a chat with some friends (one of whom dislocated her shoulder and broke a bone at the same time, a few months ago) I went back to Darren's car to get out of my very muddy gear. My second fall had been due to misjudging the depth and sloppiness of a section, so I'd come off at reasonable speed, dunking myself in two foot of grit, mud and water. As you can imagine, I wasn't clean. Anyway, taking my leggings off I noticed a bit of a gash on my left knee - probably caused by a flint, or bit of glass - full of crap and gaping open, fair bit of blood around too. Hmm... it was cold out so I felt no pain, it was one of those "how the hell did I get that?" moments. As a highly trained first aider I squirted water on it to remove the worst of the grit, but soon ran out. Ah well, off to the medical tent (actually an ambulance!).

The first aid people were the same ones I'd done my first aid at work course with, so I had a pleasant chat with the paramedic-ess as she cleaned up my knee. The wound was a bit awkward, but not too serious and she reckoned that A&E may not even bother gluing it, so she put some steri-strips on it and advised me to give it a good soak in a hot bath.

So, after getting home, I followed the advice then went out to get some steri-strips all of my own (driven by Darren). Then while Darren, Chrisie and Elaine went out for a bracing walk I had a doze on the the sofa. Oddly, when I got up a bit later, the back of my right knee had really, really stiffened up - so now I was limping with both legs, in different ways. Cool. I couldn't bend the left leg due to the cut, and I couldn't straighten the right leg because of the spasm. Try walking with those and not looking like a freak.

So that was the Gorrick. Oh, Darren came 8th. Fit bastard.

11 down

Not a crossword reference, but to note that I've nearly finished series one on the 144EOBTVSTP, eleven episodes completed, one to go. Series two will be much harder, being a whole twenty-two!

So, I did the SPAM Winter Challenge this year, after missing the past three years through illness. It was super cold (-8C!) but not very frosty - shame because I'd packed my camera. The course was a bit dull, but I bimbled round on the singlespeed with Caroline. It was good to get out though, bit of a kick start after Christmas. There were a few icy, steep sections that I was pleased to get up, especially as several people were walking. There was also one icy, flat section that somehow put me on the ground, but we just won't mention that.

I went to the trouble of buying some overshoes so that my toes wouldn't resemble tiny frozen chipolatas. They certainly helped - feet were slightly cold, but I didn't lose feeling and I wasn't wracked with pain as they warmed up. I also bought a funny under-the-helmet hat that makes me look like I've had major skull surgery. I haven't.

This week has been a few turbo sessions, a gym session and a run. I should be out on a real bike tomorrow after work, which I'm looking forward to. The slight fly in the minty-arse-lard is that I'm off alcohol for January again, and the post-ride pint is the one I really really missed last year. I shall try to hold things together when we get to the pub...