Don't know if I'm brave or the sun's giving me delusions of grandeur, but Saturday afternoon sees three brave souls - Danny Colbert, Dave Mellon and me - setting out from Soller on our first 50Km following Ben!
Do we feel prepared? Nope!
Are we scared? Nope!
Are we mad?
Tell you after the weekend!
Friday, 30 July 2010
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Spanish cycling continues for Claire…
After a long leisurely Sunday lunch with all the family, I got back on the saddle and followed the 5k route I did on day 5. I was impressed to find that I was 10 minutes faster - no struggling up hills this time… and I was punching out a much better pace!
I didn't get to ride Monday and Tuesday due to being busy… but I made up for it on Wednesday… Dave and I did a cracking 10k in an hour! Shaz, Dave’s Mrs, stayed back at the apartment, looked after our four kids and, God bless her, had a healthy dinner ready for us on our return!
The highlight of the ride was me pumping up Wellies hill – I made it to the top without stopping! Anyone who knows the area finds walking up that hill a killer, let alone cycling up it!
Ben’s chuffed to bits with my progress and reckons, if I maintain my pace, that I should in theory be able to do a 200km stint on the challenge next year!
Now who’s living in cloud cuckoo land?
Keep you posted! x
I didn't get to ride Monday and Tuesday due to being busy… but I made up for it on Wednesday… Dave and I did a cracking 10k in an hour! Shaz, Dave’s Mrs, stayed back at the apartment, looked after our four kids and, God bless her, had a healthy dinner ready for us on our return!
The highlight of the ride was me pumping up Wellies hill – I made it to the top without stopping! Anyone who knows the area finds walking up that hill a killer, let alone cycling up it!
Ben’s chuffed to bits with my progress and reckons, if I maintain my pace, that I should in theory be able to do a 200km stint on the challenge next year!
Now who’s living in cloud cuckoo land?
Keep you posted! x
Monday, 26 July 2010
Claire's biking blog
My two-wheel training continues!
Day 4 saw a very swift 15 minute ride pulled into a busy day. The killer was the first 300 metres up a mountain road - only managed to cycle the first half of it and even walking whilst pushing the bike was hard work. However, at the top came a nice steady ride downhill, allowing my heart to return to normal!
Day 5: a good 5k from the port up to Magaluf and back. It's a steady climb most of the way out and I wasn't chasing anyone, the ride back was great, all downhill! Even had the strength to race a bus along the road.
Day 6: having a rest day due to the amount of pain my bits are in (!) but feeling very happy with my progress so far.
Day 4 saw a very swift 15 minute ride pulled into a busy day. The killer was the first 300 metres up a mountain road - only managed to cycle the first half of it and even walking whilst pushing the bike was hard work. However, at the top came a nice steady ride downhill, allowing my heart to return to normal!
Day 5: a good 5k from the port up to Magaluf and back. It's a steady climb most of the way out and I wasn't chasing anyone, the ride back was great, all downhill! Even had the strength to race a bus along the road.
Day 6: having a rest day due to the amount of pain my bits are in (!) but feeling very happy with my progress so far.
Friday, 23 July 2010
Claire’s blog – I’m back in the saddle!
Sunday saw me get back on a bike for the first time in well over 30 years! Twice round mum’s driveway and then an attempt at the steep slope – which I made on the first go! Brain pounding as hard as my heart I set off down the road, nice and steady, all downhill to the first bit of flat road and then the next steep incline. I almost made it to the top before I had to walk the last bit!
Down another incline to a one way system, a huge roundabout which I managed twice before heading back up the hill for mum’s! I made the entire round trip in 15 to 20 mins, it nearly killed me but I did it!
Day 2 - OMG it’s a killer!
Out of mum’s drive, down to the one way system and twice round. I then decided to head for the port! Blanes is a very steep mountain so the route down is very fast, and I was aware of the fast traffic as I approached the motorway bridge. On to the ring road, round a roundabout before another steep downhill to the port!
Called into Ben’s office but he was out and then I set off for Mood! A 5 minute break there and I turned round and set off for the office to get Ben to give me a lift back up the mountain!
Suspect I've covered around 4 - 5 km on day 2, in 40 degrees heat! Ben's mega impressed with his older big sis!
Stay tuned! Lol!
Day 3 and even I'm getting impressed with my progress!
A very steady day out on the boat, languishing in the Mediterranean sunshine, brought us back to terra firma having not managed my bike ride all day! Ben decided to take me into Palma and we cycled along the whole of Palma front from Porta Pi to very near the airport and back! I was nowhere close to Ben’s pace, although Ben said that at some points I was well on his standard pace!
A good 10k and chasing Ben was great fun and the only thing to suffer are my bits! God the saddle hurts a gal when it’s unused to being made to sit on a bike seat!
Oxygen mask not required - a truss, however, may be!
Stay tuned!
Claire x
Down another incline to a one way system, a huge roundabout which I managed twice before heading back up the hill for mum’s! I made the entire round trip in 15 to 20 mins, it nearly killed me but I did it!
Day 2 - OMG it’s a killer!
Out of mum’s drive, down to the one way system and twice round. I then decided to head for the port! Blanes is a very steep mountain so the route down is very fast, and I was aware of the fast traffic as I approached the motorway bridge. On to the ring road, round a roundabout before another steep downhill to the port!
Called into Ben’s office but he was out and then I set off for Mood! A 5 minute break there and I turned round and set off for the office to get Ben to give me a lift back up the mountain!
Suspect I've covered around 4 - 5 km on day 2, in 40 degrees heat! Ben's mega impressed with his older big sis!
Stay tuned! Lol!
Day 3 and even I'm getting impressed with my progress!
A very steady day out on the boat, languishing in the Mediterranean sunshine, brought us back to terra firma having not managed my bike ride all day! Ben decided to take me into Palma and we cycled along the whole of Palma front from Porta Pi to very near the airport and back! I was nowhere close to Ben’s pace, although Ben said that at some points I was well on his standard pace!
A good 10k and chasing Ben was great fun and the only thing to suffer are my bits! God the saddle hurts a gal when it’s unused to being made to sit on a bike seat!
Oxygen mask not required - a truss, however, may be!
Stay tuned!
Claire x
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Return of the Mack – Dave’s training diary
Not sure if you remember that song, one of my favourites. Now there's two reasons for the title:
- I've just returned to the island
- the singer was a bit of a dodgy fella and always pointing guns at people... that's why Mark Morrison wasn't on the music scene for too long!
‘Hold on’, I hear you saying... 'what's this got to do with Ben and his training?' Well, when I was in the UK I recall a telephone conversation with Ben where he was telling me that this Swiss ball is easy: ‘I've been doing hundreds and can't feel it doing a thing!’
Roll on last Monday, our first session back in the gym. What Ben didn't realise was that my stopwatch was in my mind a gun... ‘Oh you bugger... ohhh you bugger... ohhh you bugger – arhhh!’ His face was purple, sweat dripping down his temple, pupils bulging, his bum was twitching (because he had a Swiss ball jammed between his knees!). He was in the firing line and he knew he was in trouble. ‘Now Ben, were you doing a hundred of these?’ I blew the barrel of the smoking gun... I mean stopwatch! We're back on track.
It's currently a tough time for our caped crusader; it is seriously hot and very, very tough to train. Ben is so hard on himself, it's tough for me to keep him pegged back and get him to realise just how far he has come. For me the hardest part is to keep him focused on today, taking small steps towards the ultimate goal - I'm sure if the team hadn't set the dates and built the website he would have quietly just snuck off already on his own!
Please feel for Laura, Ben’s lovely wife, this week. I can't tell you how much Ben was badgering me to go on a ride with him on Saturday – and I just couldn't. So it was poor Laura's turn to feel the pain!
She arrived at the gym on Saturday morning to collect her bike, looking all dainty in nice heeled shoes. I could sense she was a bike virgin... soon to be taken... taken to a beautiful place, ridden hard ‘til exhaustion, yet at the same time to feel exhilarated... to wake up on Sunday morning in the arms of the caped crusader knowing that she was safe... until the next time!
Roll on last Monday, our first session back in the gym. What Ben didn't realise was that my stopwatch was in my mind a gun... ‘Oh you bugger... ohhh you bugger... ohhh you bugger – arhhh!’ His face was purple, sweat dripping down his temple, pupils bulging, his bum was twitching (because he had a Swiss ball jammed between his knees!). He was in the firing line and he knew he was in trouble. ‘Now Ben, were you doing a hundred of these?’ I blew the barrel of the smoking gun... I mean stopwatch! We're back on track.It's currently a tough time for our caped crusader; it is seriously hot and very, very tough to train. Ben is so hard on himself, it's tough for me to keep him pegged back and get him to realise just how far he has come. For me the hardest part is to keep him focused on today, taking small steps towards the ultimate goal - I'm sure if the team hadn't set the dates and built the website he would have quietly just snuck off already on his own!
Please feel for Laura, Ben’s lovely wife, this week. I can't tell you how much Ben was badgering me to go on a ride with him on Saturday – and I just couldn't. So it was poor Laura's turn to feel the pain!
She arrived at the gym on Saturday morning to collect her bike, looking all dainty in nice heeled shoes. I could sense she was a bike virgin... soon to be taken... taken to a beautiful place, ridden hard ‘til exhaustion, yet at the same time to feel exhilarated... to wake up on Sunday morning in the arms of the caped crusader knowing that she was safe... until the next time!
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