- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
Warning; no pretty pictures of rolling hills, winding roads and other assorted vistas.
So... rewind to July last year I had a gardening slip that buggered up my left knee. Getting better but it still hurts today. At age 68 injuries take a long time to heal.
Early Jan this year I slipped in a dark alley with an unseen step. Took the full force of the fall on my left shoulder. Very painful still, but tolerable as long as I don't try to flap like a bird - this produces an involuntary howl of pain.
Add those two injuries together, mix in some awful Lake District weather and some, possibly genetic, apathetic low motivation to 'get out' and I was off the bike for just over 7 months with today being the day that I finally rallied forth on my lovely Trek.
A cold NE wind was running but I was layered up and comfortable. Winter gloves on - toasty but crap for slick gear changes.
17.84 miles, 1086' ascent, half an hour in zone 5 and an abysmally low average speed of 9.8 mph. Can't remember having such a low average speed for decades. Fair to say I was shocked. Especially as I have kept pretty fit with walking, turbo trainer, treadmill and multi-gym workouts (carefully avoiding certain shoulder exercises) whilst off my bike.
Last couple of miles were unusually tiring especially as the final stretch to my house is up a 13% hill and my body argued with my brain about wanting to stopp. Brain won and up I went at a whopping 3.5mph.
Cest la vie. I sure I will improve. Onwards & upwards!
So... rewind to July last year I had a gardening slip that buggered up my left knee. Getting better but it still hurts today. At age 68 injuries take a long time to heal.
Early Jan this year I slipped in a dark alley with an unseen step. Took the full force of the fall on my left shoulder. Very painful still, but tolerable as long as I don't try to flap like a bird - this produces an involuntary howl of pain.
Add those two injuries together, mix in some awful Lake District weather and some, possibly genetic, apathetic low motivation to 'get out' and I was off the bike for just over 7 months with today being the day that I finally rallied forth on my lovely Trek.
A cold NE wind was running but I was layered up and comfortable. Winter gloves on - toasty but crap for slick gear changes.
17.84 miles, 1086' ascent, half an hour in zone 5 and an abysmally low average speed of 9.8 mph. Can't remember having such a low average speed for decades. Fair to say I was shocked. Especially as I have kept pretty fit with walking, turbo trainer, treadmill and multi-gym workouts (carefully avoiding certain shoulder exercises) whilst off my bike.
Last couple of miles were unusually tiring especially as the final stretch to my house is up a 13% hill and my body argued with my brain about wanting to stopp. Brain won and up I went at a whopping 3.5mph.
Cest la vie. I sure I will improve. Onwards & upwards!