I've missed a week and can't remember everything I have done in that time.
Not really a testing time today except of nerves. There was an event in a local park called Cyclefest and I volunteered to help out with the Disabled Cycling Club. However three days before I got an email from Richard who did the German cycle ride with me. He was going in fancy dress as Daddy Bear and using one of the cycles from the cycling club to tow Mummy and Baby Bear (who were teddies by the way) but he wanted a Goldilocks. Yours truly stepped up to the mark.
Short white broderie anglaise dress bought and dyed bright yellow. Long blonde wig with an oversized yellow bow on top. White pumps and white ankle socks. Got some funny looks as I stepped out of the van in the park!
Francine and Malcolm dressed in their Christmas outfits and Richard and I dressed in our ensemble then left the park on our bikes and cycled into town. Two drunks sat on a wall wondered what was in their drink, thank goodness we weren't pink elephants!
We met up with lots of other cyclists in Centenary Square none of whom were in fancy dress but plenty of familiar faces. We then had a Police escort on bikes out of town and back up to the park.. There must have been 40 to 50 of us altogether.
We travelled slowly for the benefit of the less abled and children. So I was waving my wooden spoon at people on buses and shouting 'morning, have you had your porridge?' to anyone we passed. There were a lot of smiles around even in the traffic queues.
We cycled back into the park where lots of stalls were now in evidence and the Cyclefest began. What a great day!
When I left there I came home got myself sorted out, picked up the dogs and went up to Sleningford to join Peter and Isobel (and Isobel's friend , Leah) for the family weekend with the canoe club.
Sunday 27th June
Got up and had a fairly easy morning. The girls were up and in the water pretty early and out again before we got in. We hadn't taken a canoe up as there wasn't much water in the river and Peter's back has been really off again. We did take an inflatable dinghy though so we messed about in that. Some of the club did come down from The Hole to the bottom of the campsite but it wasn't easy as there was more rocks than water.
We went up to the hole with the dinghy but both of us in it made it too heavy and every rock could be felt through the bottom of the boat. Peter did The Hole and I walked down the side of the river which is harder than you think. Further down I took the boat over the last couple of little weirs but bruised my shins on the rocks.
We stayed on the campsite until about 3ish as we knew England was playing in the World Cup so the roads would be quiet! (They lost to Germany 4-1, silly buggers).
Thursday 1st July
Was up early and took the dogs out for a walk at about 6.30am. It's nice at that time as there aren't many people and, more importantly, very few dogs about.
At lunchtime I went swimming and managed 72 lengths (1.5 miles) in 61 minutes. Not bad for a person who does breast stroke and not crawl. I am thinking of doing some lessons to learn to crawl poroperly though.
Evening I went circuit training and took Liz a cycle helmet, drinks bottle and puncture repair outfit that I had blagged from the Cyclefest. She was chuffed to bits.
Friday 2nd July
This morning I had arranged to go cycling with Liz. Went over to her house as she is close to the Leeds Liverpool canal. We joined the canal at Crossflatts, Bingley and set off gently. She complained her backside was aching. I thought the seat was way too low but my allen keys didn't fit. We stopped off at Ellis Briggs cycle shop which is right alongside the canal. He raised it for her and then I he said the seat wasn't suitable for her as it was a man's seat. I suggested she looked at what was on offer and she found one she liked and bought it and got it fitted.
We carried on down the canalside spotting ducks with ducklings, a family of swans and some geese and their goslings. There was also a cheeky squirrel on the towpath.
We got to just under the 7 mile mark and to another set of locks so we decided to use that as a marker and a turnaround point. Liz seemed to be enjoying herself although she did tend to go really slow or speed up and brag that she was ahead of me!
We got back to Liz's house a tad under 14 miles after having to negotiate our way around a family of swans whose dad was a little aggressive and protective. So we cycled round the block to make it 14.1 miles in total.
Saturday 3rd July
Was up early again and out with the dogs. After the usual playing on the moor to get rid of some of their excess energy we carried on for a proper walk. Across fields they both raced after the bunnies. They would come back to check I was still about then chase more bunnies. Thankfully neither of them are fast enough to catch them but it does give them some good exercise. We were out about 1.5 hours in all. The dogs were shattered for the rest of the day.
Isobel is away at Guide camo so Peter and I weren't sure what we were going to do today but he suggested we look at an event called Cliffhanger that was advertised on the radio. We decided to go to Sheffield to this.
First thing we saw as we arrived was Robin Hood Water Sports and someone we knew from the canoe club. After a short chat we set off round the events. There was a bouldering competition (climbing without ropes) going on and various cycling exhibitions. Lots of stalls and some fun stuff like having a go at learning to ride a unicycle and zip wires. We enjoyed the event.
Then we had a wander around Decathlon (a very big and comprehensive sports shop) and I bought a very bright yellow cycling type top in the biggest size possible. Good day.
Sunday 4th July
Up early again (this is getting to be a habit) and out for a walk with the dogs by 6.30am. Cooler and more overcast today thankfully as I am doing the Jane Tomlinson 10k run today in Leeds.
Got there on time and we were soon herded round to the start. Grabbed a bottle of Gatorade to help me along the way. Couldn't hear what was being said on the tannoys and stage so had a chat to a lady who was also on her own. Then things started moving and we were off.
Set off steadily and ran for the first 15 minutes. Then moved to doing what I had planned r3/w1. This seemed to work well and although it was warm I didn't feel too bad. Just before the halfway point I saw a girl holding her arm and bending forward, she went straight to the first aider. Hope she was okay.
Just after the turnaround point there was another Gatorade station but I don't know why they give it to you in cups here. How can you carry on running and drink the darned stuff. I poured mine into my empty bottle and carried on. The r/w was working well for me until the last 2k. Then it started getting a bit muddled so I tried r2/w1, r2/w2 and r1/w1 until i knew I was on the downward home straight. I still didn't feel too bad. Right in front of me nearly at the finish was a blind runner roped to a sighted runner. Unfortunately he tripped on the finish mat and fell quite heavily right in front of me. If I'd been any closer I would have gone over them.
Anyway my finish was 1.14.05 which is about six minutes faster than last year.
