Daves Random Ramblings

I think another entry is long overdue in my blog. Yes I've been epically quiet for several months, not to say there hasn't been much going on.  Oh no far from it.  I've had up's, down's, progressions and set backs.  But thats everybodys life in general. Cycling really has taken over now, so much for finding balance like I put in a previous post.  Keegan and I went to Kaprun in the February half term.  It had its moments for sure however 2019 in my opinion wasn't as good as the 2018 holiday we had. Maybe 2018 was better because I'd never had a winter sports break before.  But a second holiday doesn't exactly fall into the realms of something becoming "old hat", not already? The weight is still bouncing between 12 stone and 12.5 stone.  A little while ago I stepped on the scales and was extremely surprised to see that I had gone under 170lbs.  169.40 which is 12 stone 1.4 lbs.  For you metric lot thats 76.8kgs Tour Of Cambridgeshire T...

Hi all!  Well after what seemingly was / is a large break from blogging, but there is now "the blog that never was" and some of you will know what that means. Here is the next entry in my oh so random collection of thoughts. Its that time of the year again where winter isn't sure when its coming or going, but I would like to think that it is now going as the temperatures are picking up slowly, snow and ice are also vanishing (well, ok, vanished from where I bobble about in). Kaprun Keegan and I are now only 9 days away from heading back to Kaprun.  Seems weird that Kaprun has been a thing on the radar for 352 days so far.  9 days away from views like this that have been my computer background for the lions share of the year... Keegan has done incredibly well saving his pocket money for the trip.  OK in reality he's been banned from spending it so I do wonder how he will be with the money he has accrued over the course of the year. The Prudential RideLon...

So two weekends ago I went and tried something new. I stepped up a group on the WCC main club ride and went from intermediates to intermediate / fast.  Yes they are similar in the names with "/ fast" added onto the end of the title of the new group but this group were really not messing about when it came to the speed.  A really nice, friendly bunch of guys that made this look far too easy but I suppose if that's what they normally go at then it is par for the course for them. Being the newbie in the group I was happy enough riding at the back and drafting behind them.  Moving up the pack sometimes and only once at the front which I found a tad hard because I was trying to replicate the same effort / speed as well as having to deal with the wind resistance that you dont get as much when drafting / slip streaming / hiding behind another cyclist. I did feel a little bit unsociable as they were chatting away to one another and there was the "getting to know the ...

The next big ride has now been completed and I am so happy! It was a long day / weekend for sure, but thanks to Claire F (my sportive entourage) I was able to get to Dover on Saturday evening for my very temporary lodgings.  The room itself was basic and yet nice, although the temperature when I first arrived there just would not do: So I was able to get that rectified very quickly.  That's the advantage of a small room is it doesn't take long at all to heat up: ... so much better.  Unfortunately too hot as later on as I woke up after only 2 hours, laying on top of the bed covers like it was summer time again and I was absolutely melting. The alarm went off at 3:30am (why do I do this to myself?).  I had my liquid fuel breakfast and proceeded to get ready It goes without saying that it was pitch black outside and not at all warm.  The hotel had let us (as there were a few of us staying there the night before) store our bikes in a secure roo...

I've been suffering from a bit of writers block if that can pertain to me when I do not actually consider myself to be a writer anyway.  I suppose that is the thing about having a blog and like I always tell people that you should only put online what you're prepared for the world to know. Work has been trundling along as always with good and bad days but that is nothing that we all shouldn't expect.  But don't worry, the good is outweighing the bad and for that I'll always be appreciative. I actually managed to get out on my first ever club ride with Woking Cycle Club a couple of weekends ago on 9th September.  It was great weather for a trip to the Surrey Hills and a different ascent up Leith Hill on Anstie Lane.  We were not even halfway into our route when we had this "thing" thrown at us.  Suffice to say, coming close to the top of the climb I'm standing on my pedals, in 1st or 2nd gear, my heart rate is 172bpm, the sweat is dripping down m...

Hi all! I hope you all had a nice weekend.  I went into last weekend a massive 1.6lbs UNDER my target weight.  Then I had a complete "treat myself" and my weight this morning, well, lets just say that I'm not under my target anymore.  Although I suspect that things will start shifting downwards again once Dave gets back to this normal programming. So, it was a semi-relaxing weekend.  Finally watched Despicable Me 3 which I enjoyed and also Transformers : The Last Knight which wasn't bad either (but not the best transformers film).  It was strange seeing Anthony Hopkins taking on a transformer in a battle that, well, didn't last very long, but still. So yesterday I actually got out on my road bike for the first time since June 2015.  I wasn't sure whether my cycling wear was still going to fit but I don't think it looks too bad.  Oh and in case you're wondering, no I'm not deliberately sucking in my gut especially for the picture.  It was a n...

I read a tweet today from Jamie Nicholls  . Well, when I say a tweet, he posted an image of a post presumably done elsewhere as there was no way it was getting past the tweet character limit.  The final sentence really did sum it all up... "In other words, go big or go home and live outside of your comfort zone! ".  Now I partially agree with that sentiment because if you always stay inside your comfort zone then you'll never grow outside of it and move into new territories where you gain new experiences and abilities.  But sometimes you need your comfort zone to take stock and have a base to launch out from. I was looking for a motivational meme for this blog entry and chanced upon this which I think is really suitable.  But as much as you are your own competition, you are also your biggest cheerleader also.  That voice in your head makes you capable of great things, or just kills the belief in yourself.  So the greatest battle you can have is the ...