Friday 12 July 2013
Rule #1 for Dog Walkers
If the cyclist is immediately near said dog NEVER
The dog is only going to run one way, on instinct towards you, and likely towards the cyclists.(Since you've decided walking in the middle of a wide path is the best position to control your dog, as you ignore the calls from a cyclist behind, and dog switches sides just as the cyclist nears.)Cloud Trail 30 mile trip
The view from the grade II listed Trent viaduct |
I’m not convinced there is a more scenic cycle track in the
whole of Derby (although, it does lead towards Leicester and saying I’ve rode
from Derby to Leicester does sound pretty damn good, although a bit
inaccurate).
It’s part of the Sustrains cycle network 6, making good use
an old railway line and with the use of the Derby Canal takes you from Derby to
Worthington completely off-road enjoying the views of going across the grade
two listed Trent viaduct, passing Breedon on the hill, and various other places
I haven’t yet discovered.
But there in lays the trouble, it’s extremely difficult to
get off the track and get to Breedon on the hill to see the beautiful view of The
Priory Church itself, and just as difficult to rejoin, the track is purely
designed from Tonge onwards to get you into Worthington.
It was just after the Tonge station that I knew I needed to
turn off the track, the Tonge station allows no access to the cycle network or
to the road (although Google Maps of course unhelpfully suggested otherwise).
So I carried my heavy 16kg dual suspension bike up thirty short steep steps
into the village of Tonge itself and cycled from Tongue lane down to Main
Street, and this is where I went wrong.
I knew I needed to stay on Main street, although Main street
splits off onto the A453, and a turn left at a junction is required to stay on
Main street, a turn I missed.
The A453 is a fast flowing heavily used by lorries with a
hill inclined terrain, but cars and lorries generally gave a wide birth,
unfortunately the inclines weren’t as forgiving and as I began to notice I was
cycling away from Breedon on the hill, and not curving around it, I knew I’d
gone wrong and returned back along the A453 to Main Street to follow it
correctly.
At this point I was exhausted, but determined, I hadn’t come
all this way for the highlight of the trip just to be that I got lost.
Main
street was brutal on my quads at this point, and of course, slow and exhausted at
the peak of an incline I received a short-cut on a blind brow overtake by a
Mercedes.
Main Street however was nothing compared to Squirrel Lane, a
single track steep incline up to the top of Breedon on the hill, but very much
worth it with Cloud quarry just below, and the church itself.
Friday 5 July 2013
British Summer time
Summer is finally here in ol' Blighty (Is it? Is it really!) well it's here for a week at least, we can't hope for much more than that. I hate to be the naysayer of good weather but this Summer anybody who has commented on the change-able glorious weather has always ended their praise in for now.
So, for now the sun is shining, and my legs have been furiously pedaling, but wherever my wheels revolve it has to be without traffic.
Is it just me or have car drivers no anticipation for the fact warm weather brings out cyclists in droves? Instead of looking for cyclists, they seem to stop completely.
Alas, fifteen miles completed today, I'm fortunate I live where there's plenty of off road leisure tracks, yet even they can get busy and other cyclists show no awareness for anybody behind, (pedestrians generally don't, but if you're cycling around pedestrians, you have to expect that).
I cycle to a few simple rules --
Some days cycling just feels more stressful than relaxing.
So, for now the sun is shining, and my legs have been furiously pedaling, but wherever my wheels revolve it has to be without traffic.
Is it just me or have car drivers no anticipation for the fact warm weather brings out cyclists in droves? Instead of looking for cyclists, they seem to stop completely.
Alas, fifteen miles completed today, I'm fortunate I live where there's plenty of off road leisure tracks, yet even they can get busy and other cyclists show no awareness for anybody behind, (pedestrians generally don't, but if you're cycling around pedestrians, you have to expect that).
I cycle to a few simple rules --
- I cycle like I would drive, that means I'm on cycle paths, I stick to the left constantly.
- I overtake on the right.
- I always look behind before I move anywhere.
- If indicating will help/avoid someone stopping/having to slow down, no matter how silly it looks. I'll indicate on a cycle path.
Some days cycling just feels more stressful than relaxing.
Sunday 30 June 2013
A whole lotta walking
There's a whole lot of walking going on -- but there's not much else.
Walking: 85.41 miles (subject to change later today).
Cycling: 24.42 miles (That's just one cycling session!)
Although there was a leisure ride I didn't include that was about eight, ten miles, but it was a family ride filled with discovery, but the question remains
Spend an hour walking, or two, whatever it is, just have a section of the day where movement is the sole purpose, and really, what's more relaxing than walking along the beach whilst the waves are licking your feet?
Seems like too much hassle? You're on holiday to relax not to work out and worry! Yeah, yeah, that's great, and if you've earned the relaxation, go for it and worry about things when you come back, but there's nothing like trying maintenance as a test for a week, no matter what stage of weight-loss you're in.
I pigged out, I ate chips, battered sausages, ate ice creams the whole lot but I planned the day that the morning would be 'movement' and the afternoon would be sitting on my ass, and it was enjoyable.
Oh well, June out!
June's totals:
Walking: 85.41 miles (subject to change later today).
Cycling: 24.42 miles (That's just one cycling session!)
Although there was a leisure ride I didn't include that was about eight, ten miles, but it was a family ride filled with discovery, but the question remains
Why am I not cycling?
The British early mornings don't look appealing, something that I need to stop using as an excuse, sometimes at five am the mornings don't! Yet when I'm still laying around in bed and it's seven am and the sun is shining through the window, I'm laying there thinking ..Damn!Holiday luggage
To my surprise, I managed to head to the beach without piling on too many pounds, kilograms, ounces or stones (and shells!). I think I swayed upwards of one, which I was swaying right before I left. So how do you go on holiday, not worry about what you eat without putting on weight?Spend an hour walking, or two, whatever it is, just have a section of the day where movement is the sole purpose, and really, what's more relaxing than walking along the beach whilst the waves are licking your feet?
Seems like too much hassle? You're on holiday to relax not to work out and worry! Yeah, yeah, that's great, and if you've earned the relaxation, go for it and worry about things when you come back, but there's nothing like trying maintenance as a test for a week, no matter what stage of weight-loss you're in.
I pigged out, I ate chips, battered sausages, ate ice creams the whole lot but I planned the day that the morning would be 'movement' and the afternoon would be sitting on my ass, and it was enjoyable.
Oh well, June out!
Wednesday 26 June 2013
Go outside
"If your mind tells your body to stop, you will stop.
Train your mind first and enslave your body to it."
Tuesday 25 June 2013
Healthy diet
Recently I’ve read “What to eat” by Nina Planck, I wanted to
read something to subsidise my weight-loss mentally, and psychologically I
benefit from reading, so when I chose a book to read I tried to look at what
every other weight-losing person was reading.
I found “Fit for life” was popular, but for some reason I
just couldn’t get into it, it bored me, Sugar Nation is another one I plan to
read, but “What to eat” by Nina Planck sucked me in straight away, it wasn’t
just well-written, it was informative, eye-opening and has completely changed
the way I look at food.
The misconceptions surrounding weight loss or just healthy
eating are rife, they’ll tell you to:
- Eat less fat
- Eat less meat
- Avoid saturated fats at all costs (even if the
cost is eating more trans fat instead)
- Don’t eat eggs they’re bad.
This is wrong advice
Yet the list above forms the staple for what a large
portion of people think is healthy eating.
Natural fat is part of a healthy balanced diet, fat can even
help weight-loss, but many people think to lose fat they have to avoid fat. The
human body (in particular females) is designed to hold fat, alright some of us
(We know who we are!) are holding a little too much fat, but the type of fat we
eat alters the performance of our fat cells, partially hydrogenated, trans fat
isn’t natural, often found in ‘low-fat’ foods will cause weight-gain, where as
eating saturated fats is more likely to induce weight-loss with a range of
other healthy benefits including helping the digestion of nutrients.
The advice most health bodies are giving out for saturated
fats, and cholesterol are based on flawed studies, or they seem to miss the
important research that’s being carried out and focus on head-line spinning
phrases to help fight the obesity epidemic.
http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/
is a fantastic website, perhaps one of the best I have seen that’s giving
fresh, balanced and accurate information on what should form a healthy diet.
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