Exercising in hotels.

[Globalti]

Horrible, isn't it! I'm on a 2 week trip to Nigeria and DRC and feel I'm piling on the weight thanks to the rather good beer and the rather bad hotel food. So this morning I went and did an un-enthusiastic 10 km on a horrible exercise bike in a hot gym and finished up sweating like Boko Haram at a Police roadblock.

There's nothing you can do to improve those bikes, the saddles are squishy, sweaty and wide and always at the wrong angle and the riding position is all wrong. The feeling of being a hamster in a wheel is horrible. Oh for the fresh clean air of Lancashire, the rush of tyre on tarmac, the cry of the curlew, the sun on the fells.....

*sniff* sorry, came over all homesick just then. Too early in the day for a cold Star beer? Damn.

 

[Spinney]

awww

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

I feel your pain. Did a road trip across the U S last May knowing that I'd signed up for a hundred miler two days after we returned.

There's nothing so desultory as being on your own in a hotel gym at 11 in the evening whilst bobbing up and down on an exercise bike and staring at yer red faced reflection in a wall length mirror!

 

[ColinJ]

Oh for the fresh clean air of Lancashire, the rush of tyre on tarmac, the cry of the curlew, the sun on the fells.....

*sniff* sorry, came over all homesick just then. Too early in the day for a cold Star beer? Damn.

Don't read THIS then!

 

[Globalti]

Ah! Great write up Colin! I will re-read it later on the laptop and enjoy your photos of my favourite hills. That new tarmac you found would have been laid for the TOB a couple of years ago wouldn't it?

I need to do some epics like that to prepare me for the London 100.

When I get back from this trip it's time to get the beer weight off and train back, arms and shoulders for longer hours in the saddle.

 

[sidevalve]

That is SOOO sad !! Come home asap I promise to use up the remainder of your trip. It may be hell be I'll just have to force myself.

 

[ColinJ]

That new tarmac you found would have been laid for the TOB a couple of years ago wouldn't it?

I can't believe that they would take a bike race down that road! It really was very narrow, steep, twisty, and in a poor state of repair before I got to the new tarmac.

Ah, I just checked Street view and the photos from 2009 show that the whole stretch was potholed and crumbling before. They certainly made a good job of repairing it!

 

[Fab Foodie]

I've been pondering the same.
I don't tend to use hotel gyms, can't stand 'em.
If I'm working in a factory it's quite physical in many respects, but standing or walking in wellies and stuff for several hours tends to leave me quite stiff. I really should do stretches.
The knees are officially shot so jogging's out.
A colleague of mine lost a lot of weight and keeps fit walking staircases in hotels, I've done this and it's not all bad. I'm going to pack jogging shoes and do the stairs and just going out for some kind of power walk. Maybe some press-ups and sit-ups in the room.

 

[vickster]

I think there are certain types of exercise you can pay for in hotel rooms, certainly in Bangkok!

 

[ufkacbln]

Horrible, isn't it! I'm on a 2 week trip to Nigeria and DRC and feel I'm piling on the weight thanks to the rather good beer and the rather bad hotel food. So this morning I went and did an un-enthusiastic 10 km on a horrible exercise bike in a hot gym and finished up sweating like Boko Haram at a Police roadblock.

There's nothing you can do to improve those bikes, the saddles are squishy, sweaty and wide and always at the wrong angle and the riding position is all wrong. The feeling of being a hamster in a wheel is horrible. Oh for the fresh clean air of Lancashire, the rush of tyre on tarmac, the cry of the curlew, the sun on the fells.....

*sniff* sorry, came over all homesick just then. Too early in the day for a cold Star beer? Damn.

.. the pouring rain

 

[dan_bo]

Can't you take a pair of running shoes with you? I do. Great way to see a city.

 

[Globalti]

Run? In Lagos? Ha ha ha! You would suffocate on the traffic fumes or break a leg falling into a hole in the road. It really wouldn't be advisable. Would probably also put you at risk from kidnapping, which has now reached this city.

 

[Spinney]

Don't read THIS then!

I want to be back in Lancashire too!
Did a century last Thursday, over the Severn Bridge, up to Usk and nearly to Abergavenny, then back via Monmouth, Forest of Dean and Gloucester. Lovely weather and scenery - but all of the 'pretty fields and woods with some hills in the distance' - I'm getting a longing for windswept* moors and vast open vistas again ...


*as long as the wind is behind me!

 

[nickyboy]

Just back from 11 days in a crappy hotel in a crappy city in China. The only saving grace was the food was nice (NE China so plenty of meat and potatoes) and the beer was plentiful and cold. Packed on a few pounds too, no gym, no way to exercise other than a bit of a walk. But mosquitos are a hassle and it's hot too

Going up stairs isn't a bad call actually. Bit like hill reps

 

[dan_bo]

Run? In Lagos? Ha ha ha! You would suffocate on the traffic fumes or break a leg falling into a hole in the road. It really wouldn't be advisable. Would probably also put you at risk from kidnapping, which has now reached this city.

Pussy.