Monday Monday...

Is a track by The Mama's & The Papa's

So the start of another week. It's hot & sunny & right on the money for a few miles out in the country on the bike with the breeze in your face. I had arranged to meet Tony for his recovery ride & we had a nice ride out which included much laughter a banter about the tribulations of life as we ate up 20 odd miles before we even knew where we were. Post ride we checked out some old BMX mags I had found in my folks loft when they moved house recently, drank coffee & talked films & cars until it was time out.

Splendid start to the week & I'm hoping my back continues to improve...

24 miles total

Back problems = no riding...

I've been suffering with a bad back which has kept me out of the saddle for a few weeks & I was getting quite down about it at one point as it seemed everyone around me was enjoying the nice weather out on their cycles. I have been wearing a back brace for a few weeks & along with a mountain of tablets, I am now feeling some improvement. So I have ridden my BMX a couple of sessions, once @ Long Itchington & the other in Banbury @ Spiceball. The ramp at long itchington is small, 4' high & no more than 16' wide but it is a little quicker than most small ramps I have ridden so was a bit of fun & a good release just to be back on the ply. I plan to return to session it with Joe this week sometime... The other session at Spiceball was great, I had my fingers crossed that Rayo would be about & true to form, his car was in the car park when I rolled up. We had a great session & he made some really good front brake tricks which stoked me up to go for it a little more. In all, we had a real good sesh & I was happy just to be able to ride again :-) As I'm sure you're aware we tend to take good health for granted & it's not until something prevents you from doing what you love, that you really appreciate what it means to you.

The other part of this post is regarding my road bike. I've decided to see if a shorter stem will maybe alleviate the back issues & to be honest, I've been more hesitant to get back on my Kona than my BMX. Iain D talked me into a gentle ride out just to see how we got on & we did have a good trip all told. During one of our usual loops out, I was feeling good so I said we should do the 5 mile run from the Top of Sunrising to Wroxton & time it, to get an idea of how long it takes me. Well off I went spinning my legs as fast as I could manage & I managed a 13:20 which I think is quite respectable for a mere novice such as I! I think I'll have crack at beating it every now & then to see if I can get it down much more than that.

So in conclusion, I'm being cautious & making sure I don't overdo it which really means stay off the steep up hills on my single speed for a while!

19 miles done.