Something happened whilst we have been on holiday that I will remember for ever!
I was in the sea playing with the kids and as you can imagine, the water was cold. Since Kate was stood close by I asked her to look after my wedding ring as my finger had shrunk and the ring was a little too loose for my liking.
Kate gladly took it.
After a short time Kate was reading her book laying on her beach towel with my ring by her side. Some more time had passed and Kate had finished her book got up shook the sand off her towel and walked back to the beach hut only to remember half an hour later that my ring was on the towel when she shook the sand off.
I felt really very sad when she told me and soon we had 7 or 8 people looking in the sand in the area it my have been.
Usually I believe that I can find anything, anywhere, however, with how I was feeling the task in hand seemed even harder than finding a needle in a haystack, all the helpers kicking the sand around, burying the ring even deeper in to the sand, even further away from where it originally was.
After an hour or so the very kind people who was helping us, Kate and myself had given up.
Gutted, Kate and I went for a walk, sat on the beach on our own and talked about how important the ring was and the memories attached to it, we discussed that we could get a new ring and rebuild new memories with it and it was important for me to point out that my sadness was about loosing the ring only and that the emotions had no attachment to anything else such as people (as in Kate and the kids).
We returned back to the beach hut and after 5 minutes Kate got up and walked back out to the beach and I followed moments later to find that Kate had drawn two boxes on the ground to mark out where the ring would be and we started looking for the ring again.
Kate made a comment about my technique for searching in the sand compared to her flicking the sand around technique and in the process flicked the ring out off the ground....a very emotional moment!!!
Now, here's the thing. I have just finished reading a book called The Holographic Universe which suggests that everything we are experiencing on the outside of our eyelids is an illusion and we construct the concrete things around us (yes, it is a head bending book!) do I need any more proof that we create these illusions?
First of all, for what purpose did I want to take my ring off to begin with? I have swam in cold water before and kept my ring on.
For what purpose did Kate forget the ring was on the towel?
And how can it be that 7 or 8 people can miss it for 1 hour of searching for it, where it had been dropped and then nearly 2 hours after Kate deciding that she was going to find it, no matter what and it appearing with in moments of making this decision.
I have little concern for the answer as we have found the ring, however, how was the illusion created that the ring wasn't where we had previously being looking and then for it to be there!!
Amazing.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Ready
Today we are setting off to start our ride tomorrow (Wednesday). First I am doing a test on next years Yamaha YZF 250 which will be really good fun. I have woken up early this morning so I am going to go swimming before riding motor bikes! I have done little swimming recently and I'm looking forward to getting back into it on our successful completion of our ride.
I am totally rested now that I have had a fantastic time on the coast, in the caravan, with my family, good times, for 5 days and it feels like a month since I did any training!!
Training has gone to plan.
On my first training bike riding I had worked out that by the time the trip began I would have cycled as far as we where going to ride in the week. My odometer reads 900miles at the moment - how cool is that!
Also, I had decided that I wanted to build up to doing the distance we are covering in one day before the ride so I know what to expect. In the 12 weeks of riding, I had two opportunities to ride 90+ miles and once to do 135 miles and perfectly timed intervals in the 12 week period. I find it cool that without writing up a schedule these opportunities arose at just the right time.
Its amazing what your unconscious mind will create when you know what it is that you want to do!
I now have everything ready - vitamins, drinks, food, clothing and a serviced bike, all we need now is good weather and clear roads :-)
I am totally rested now that I have had a fantastic time on the coast, in the caravan, with my family, good times, for 5 days and it feels like a month since I did any training!!
Training has gone to plan.
On my first training bike riding I had worked out that by the time the trip began I would have cycled as far as we where going to ride in the week. My odometer reads 900miles at the moment - how cool is that!
Also, I had decided that I wanted to build up to doing the distance we are covering in one day before the ride so I know what to expect. In the 12 weeks of riding, I had two opportunities to ride 90+ miles and once to do 135 miles and perfectly timed intervals in the 12 week period. I find it cool that without writing up a schedule these opportunities arose at just the right time.
Its amazing what your unconscious mind will create when you know what it is that you want to do!
I now have everything ready - vitamins, drinks, food, clothing and a serviced bike, all we need now is good weather and clear roads :-)
Monday, August 03, 2009
Todays training....
...was a pleasure to ride :-)
Setting off, I had my awareness all around me, taking in the traffic, the road and the view of the trees and fields as I cycle by. I love the start, going for it, check out what is going on all around and then settling down into a great pace.
Once into the groove, its time to check on the inside! I have a look at my internal engine, checking on how my leg muscles are all firing in harmony.
With each combustive beat of my heart, fuel is firing my leg muscles into action and making my feet circle around the crank, giving me the drive to achieve my goal of beating my best performance to date.
I can hear my breathing, as air is rushing in to my lungs and taking even longer to exhale, I have a continually smooth rhythm. As I check on the outside I love the noise of my tyres whirring on the warm tarmac and the ticking of the chain set as I pedal along at 20+ miles an hour.
It feels great, powering on to the pedals, having a warm, slight burning feeling on my leg muscles, chest raising and falling and feeling of riding fast is very satisfying!
On the last part of my training ride, I realise that this is going to be a good performance and an excellent time. I want to beat my best time, I feel good and know the road ahead, I've been monitoring my bodies performance and I know that for the last 10 to 15 minutes I can push and make that extra effort.
I must admit making the extra effort feels great, there is nothing going on around me, I'm just griding out the last few miles with the image in my mind of looking at my watch and seeing that I have beaten my time and achieved my goal.
I beat my time by 1 minute 45 seconds......go figure :-)
Setting off, I had my awareness all around me, taking in the traffic, the road and the view of the trees and fields as I cycle by. I love the start, going for it, check out what is going on all around and then settling down into a great pace.
Once into the groove, its time to check on the inside! I have a look at my internal engine, checking on how my leg muscles are all firing in harmony.
With each combustive beat of my heart, fuel is firing my leg muscles into action and making my feet circle around the crank, giving me the drive to achieve my goal of beating my best performance to date.
I can hear my breathing, as air is rushing in to my lungs and taking even longer to exhale, I have a continually smooth rhythm. As I check on the outside I love the noise of my tyres whirring on the warm tarmac and the ticking of the chain set as I pedal along at 20+ miles an hour.
It feels great, powering on to the pedals, having a warm, slight burning feeling on my leg muscles, chest raising and falling and feeling of riding fast is very satisfying!
On the last part of my training ride, I realise that this is going to be a good performance and an excellent time. I want to beat my best time, I feel good and know the road ahead, I've been monitoring my bodies performance and I know that for the last 10 to 15 minutes I can push and make that extra effort.
I must admit making the extra effort feels great, there is nothing going on around me, I'm just griding out the last few miles with the image in my mind of looking at my watch and seeing that I have beaten my time and achieved my goal.
I beat my time by 1 minute 45 seconds......go figure :-)
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
More miles.
Matt and I had our first ride togather last week when we went out with Dave (my brother-in-law) on a 'chain gang' ride. I say chain gang, however, there was only 4 of us!
Dave had mentioned that its a 23mile circuit and it takes an hour. Therefore an average speed of 23mph. When we got going I looked at the speedo and noticed we where doing 25mph and I was finding it a challenge! Apparnetly, I had joined on to the fast group and was leaving the other group behind, so after a little rest I had joined the right group and we were on our way.
I found it hard to keep up with Dave and Matt was finding it hard to keep up with us both until he had found his rythem and joined in the chain.
Another ride I have done is 45 miles which took me 2 hours 26 mins, it was quite a hilly route and a little windy. I used 1646 calories, Max Heart Rate 163, Averge HR 138 & min HR 51 (before I set off). This was a good ride and on my own, I also realise that doing 150 miles, 7 days in a row is going to be a challenge, however, there is another 6 weeks training and prepareing to do as we will be ready, I am sure.
Dave had mentioned that its a 23mile circuit and it takes an hour. Therefore an average speed of 23mph. When we got going I looked at the speedo and noticed we where doing 25mph and I was finding it a challenge! Apparnetly, I had joined on to the fast group and was leaving the other group behind, so after a little rest I had joined the right group and we were on our way.
I found it hard to keep up with Dave and Matt was finding it hard to keep up with us both until he had found his rythem and joined in the chain.
Another ride I have done is 45 miles which took me 2 hours 26 mins, it was quite a hilly route and a little windy. I used 1646 calories, Max Heart Rate 163, Averge HR 138 & min HR 51 (before I set off). This was a good ride and on my own, I also realise that doing 150 miles, 7 days in a row is going to be a challenge, however, there is another 6 weeks training and prepareing to do as we will be ready, I am sure.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Doncaster/Humber bridge/Doncaster
I jumped at the chance when I was invited out for a cycle ride with my brother in-law, Dave, last week, to ride to the Humber bridge and back to Doncaster.
It was a great ride which I really enjoyed and gained some insight to what it is going to be like doing long rides.
So far, I have only ridden a small number of 25 mile rides and was looking forward to testing myself on a longer ride.
There was a group of approximately 30 riders, a big group for me, who usually rides on my own! I rode around the mid-pack mark because I know that riding in the slip stream of another rider saves me around 30% of energy. I felt very comfortable riding around the 20/21 mph mark and realised after a couple of hours that when Matt and myself are doing long rides there is going to be no other riders to hide behind and that what I was experiencing is likely to have no resemblance to our ride!
Riding a group is ace, for a number of reasons;
1. Seeing the riders around me riding close together and keeping less than a meter gap between my front wheel and the next riders back wheel.
2. Having brief chats with different riders as we swap around in the group and listening to the chains running around the gears and the tyres humming on the tarmac.
3. The feeling of being close to other riders when keeping it tight to reduce wind drag and the actions of my legs, ankles and feet when turning the pedals.
When we got to the Humber bridge the group stopped for a snack that had been kindly brought by a couple of people who where acting as a back up support team. I found that eating often helped me keep strong and maintain good energy levels.
After around 60 miles I spent around 10 minutes at the front, which felt great. There was 2 of us side by side and we were riding at 21/22 mph, up hill. The reason why I wanted to ride at the front was to get a feel for what it is like to save 30% energy and Wow what a difference.
I felt like I had good power in my legs and I wanted to keep going, however, after a while the guys behind took over the front position as I started dropping back to have a rest tucked away in the middle of the pack. At this point, a warning sign started to come up as my legs felt very tired!! After a tough 5-10minutes and a banana my legs felt like normal and I was off again, feeling good and ready to ride for as long as I wanted.
I had a couple of draw backs on the ride. When you ride in a group it is courtesy to point out holes in the road, cars coming and parked cars which you have to pull out for, however, there at times when you don't see what is lying on the ground when you are so close to other riders.
For me it was when I hit a hole, so hard that not only did I get a puncture I cracked the wheel rim and then roughly 15 miles from home I ran over a large stone and punctured BOTH tubes, unbelievable.
When I have been going out on rides I ride without taking a spare tube and pump because I have a belief that by leaving them at home I also leave punctures there too. From now on, I will take a tube and pump as there are other factors that can happen which I need to be prepared for.
The journey took 5 hours 44 mins, with a 20 min food break. The distance was 91 miles, max speed was 39 mph, max heart rate was 167 and average heart rate was 128.
Good stats for my first ride over 25 miles!!
It was a great ride which I really enjoyed and gained some insight to what it is going to be like doing long rides.
So far, I have only ridden a small number of 25 mile rides and was looking forward to testing myself on a longer ride.
There was a group of approximately 30 riders, a big group for me, who usually rides on my own! I rode around the mid-pack mark because I know that riding in the slip stream of another rider saves me around 30% of energy. I felt very comfortable riding around the 20/21 mph mark and realised after a couple of hours that when Matt and myself are doing long rides there is going to be no other riders to hide behind and that what I was experiencing is likely to have no resemblance to our ride!
Riding a group is ace, for a number of reasons;
1. Seeing the riders around me riding close together and keeping less than a meter gap between my front wheel and the next riders back wheel.
2. Having brief chats with different riders as we swap around in the group and listening to the chains running around the gears and the tyres humming on the tarmac.
3. The feeling of being close to other riders when keeping it tight to reduce wind drag and the actions of my legs, ankles and feet when turning the pedals.
When we got to the Humber bridge the group stopped for a snack that had been kindly brought by a couple of people who where acting as a back up support team. I found that eating often helped me keep strong and maintain good energy levels.
After around 60 miles I spent around 10 minutes at the front, which felt great. There was 2 of us side by side and we were riding at 21/22 mph, up hill. The reason why I wanted to ride at the front was to get a feel for what it is like to save 30% energy and Wow what a difference.
I felt like I had good power in my legs and I wanted to keep going, however, after a while the guys behind took over the front position as I started dropping back to have a rest tucked away in the middle of the pack. At this point, a warning sign started to come up as my legs felt very tired!! After a tough 5-10minutes and a banana my legs felt like normal and I was off again, feeling good and ready to ride for as long as I wanted.
I had a couple of draw backs on the ride. When you ride in a group it is courtesy to point out holes in the road, cars coming and parked cars which you have to pull out for, however, there at times when you don't see what is lying on the ground when you are so close to other riders.
For me it was when I hit a hole, so hard that not only did I get a puncture I cracked the wheel rim and then roughly 15 miles from home I ran over a large stone and punctured BOTH tubes, unbelievable.
When I have been going out on rides I ride without taking a spare tube and pump because I have a belief that by leaving them at home I also leave punctures there too. From now on, I will take a tube and pump as there are other factors that can happen which I need to be prepared for.
The journey took 5 hours 44 mins, with a 20 min food break. The distance was 91 miles, max speed was 39 mph, max heart rate was 167 and average heart rate was 128.
Good stats for my first ride over 25 miles!!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Balancing the wheels!!
Full of exuberance and totally motivated for our ride to John O'Grotes, I started cycling, whilst carrying on with my swimming and at the same time was busting out some long hours at work.
A little too much, so my body gave me a cold sore, and began to give me the feeling of being run down. As soon as I could feel the cold sore, I stopped training because I know my body is saying 'you have to stop, rest and pay attention to what you are doing!'
What did I need to pay attention to? Balancing the wheel. Being more specific about my training.
I now swim Tuesday, Friday, Sunday and cycle Monday to Friday.
Swimming involves technique and speed on Tuesday and Friday and we do a training session on Sunday, which is awesome fun.
Cycling involves completing a 25 mile ride at a steady pace for one more week and then I will be doing different sessions which include longer distances and interval work (I love doing interval work :-)).
I feel like I am getting to kill two birds with one stone at the moment. The reason why I swim is so that I can be fit enough to jump on my motocross bike and ride with good fitness straight away. Now with the inclusion of cycling, my fitness is improving even more and I think that by the time we have finished the ride, I will be ready to race again.
If I continue training and start practicing on my motocross bike, I imagine that I will be feeling competitive come the new season of 2010. Oooh, now there's a thought that makes me lick my lips :-)
For now though, I'll look after the seeds I have sown :-)
A little too much, so my body gave me a cold sore, and began to give me the feeling of being run down. As soon as I could feel the cold sore, I stopped training because I know my body is saying 'you have to stop, rest and pay attention to what you are doing!'
What did I need to pay attention to? Balancing the wheel. Being more specific about my training.
I now swim Tuesday, Friday, Sunday and cycle Monday to Friday.
Swimming involves technique and speed on Tuesday and Friday and we do a training session on Sunday, which is awesome fun.
Cycling involves completing a 25 mile ride at a steady pace for one more week and then I will be doing different sessions which include longer distances and interval work (I love doing interval work :-)).
I feel like I am getting to kill two birds with one stone at the moment. The reason why I swim is so that I can be fit enough to jump on my motocross bike and ride with good fitness straight away. Now with the inclusion of cycling, my fitness is improving even more and I think that by the time we have finished the ride, I will be ready to race again.
If I continue training and start practicing on my motocross bike, I imagine that I will be feeling competitive come the new season of 2010. Oooh, now there's a thought that makes me lick my lips :-)
For now though, I'll look after the seeds I have sown :-)
CT Scan
I have been to the hospital to have a CT scan on my wrist to check that the scaphoid bone, which was operated on, is heal correctly. My visit to the doctor last week was fun. My appointment was supposed to be 3 months after the opperation, this appointment was 15 months afterwards!!
My first visit with the doctor, he mentioned that there was about 40% success rate with the operation and that I would have restricted movement.
Before I went in to have my operation, I wrote on my hand which was to be operated on 'anything is possible' and 'everyone is amazing', I wanted him to do a good job for me :-)
We decided (the doctor and I) after the operation to have my lower arm in a cast to stop me doing daft things, such as ride Kates motorbike and cut my pot off so I could drive the hire car on holiday in America (well I only rode fairly slowly and it was nearly time to have the cast removed when we where on holiday!).
The cast was removed and I was to take it easy for 9 months. In 2 months from this time I was racing in Iceland and won the championship!
My plan for the visit to the doctors was to find out how good the bone is and then own up! The bone has healed well and I have very nearly full movement of my wrist and nearly full power grip, compared to my right hand!
The doctor was really chuffed so I told how soon I was riding, then racing and winning. It was great to watch his face as he smiled, listening to my tales :-)
I'll be signed off after we have the results of the CT scan.
All is good!
My first visit with the doctor, he mentioned that there was about 40% success rate with the operation and that I would have restricted movement.
Before I went in to have my operation, I wrote on my hand which was to be operated on 'anything is possible' and 'everyone is amazing', I wanted him to do a good job for me :-)
We decided (the doctor and I) after the operation to have my lower arm in a cast to stop me doing daft things, such as ride Kates motorbike and cut my pot off so I could drive the hire car on holiday in America (well I only rode fairly slowly and it was nearly time to have the cast removed when we where on holiday!).
The cast was removed and I was to take it easy for 9 months. In 2 months from this time I was racing in Iceland and won the championship!
My plan for the visit to the doctors was to find out how good the bone is and then own up! The bone has healed well and I have very nearly full movement of my wrist and nearly full power grip, compared to my right hand!
The doctor was really chuffed so I told how soon I was riding, then racing and winning. It was great to watch his face as he smiled, listening to my tales :-)
I'll be signed off after we have the results of the CT scan.
All is good!
Thursday, June 04, 2009
What is involved with cycling from Land's end to John O'Grotes
The reason why I am doing this ride is because it's something that I have dreamed of doing for many years and this is a great opportunity for me to raise money for the Bluebell wood appeal, our local children's hospice who I like to donate money to when we do any fund raising.
I have already received a donation (thank you Karen) which is great because I am now totally committed to successfully completing the ride.
I have 2 great reasons to do the ride which are providing me with plenty of motivation. Now it's time to consider what is involved with cycling from Lands End to John O'Grotes.
1, Planning the route - We need to choose a route that is direct and yet misses the major roads (including motorways!). The trip will be just short of 1000 miles.
2, Accommodation - We are planning on doing the trip in 7 days. As our daily distance is likely to vairy the use of a motor home will be ideal. This way we can stop when we want without having to find B&B's.
3, Finance - Fuel for the motor home, food, bike equipment.....
4, Equipment - The bike, shoes, clothing, speedo & mileometer, GPS (map/route planning), drinks & nutrition, laptop (for blogging, recording heart data, downloading photos and sending e-mail) and most importantly bike conditioning.
5, Planning - scheduling the training so that I am ready in time for the ride, whilst maintaining a well balanced work, relationships, family, spirituality relationship that will work alongside my health & fitness and personal development which I am working on which come with achieving the trip.
At this moment in time, I think that this is all that is involved with the trip, there could well be additions!
As training develops I will blog about how I am going to achieve each of these areas that's involved and finally I will consider what else I can do with my new experiences that I can use in the future.
In the meantime, I'll keep on pedalling.
I have already received a donation (thank you Karen) which is great because I am now totally committed to successfully completing the ride.
I have 2 great reasons to do the ride which are providing me with plenty of motivation. Now it's time to consider what is involved with cycling from Lands End to John O'Grotes.
1, Planning the route - We need to choose a route that is direct and yet misses the major roads (including motorways!). The trip will be just short of 1000 miles.
2, Accommodation - We are planning on doing the trip in 7 days. As our daily distance is likely to vairy the use of a motor home will be ideal. This way we can stop when we want without having to find B&B's.
3, Finance - Fuel for the motor home, food, bike equipment.....
4, Equipment - The bike, shoes, clothing, speedo & mileometer, GPS (map/route planning), drinks & nutrition, laptop (for blogging, recording heart data, downloading photos and sending e-mail) and most importantly bike conditioning.
5, Planning - scheduling the training so that I am ready in time for the ride, whilst maintaining a well balanced work, relationships, family, spirituality relationship that will work alongside my health & fitness and personal development which I am working on which come with achieving the trip.
At this moment in time, I think that this is all that is involved with the trip, there could well be additions!
As training develops I will blog about how I am going to achieve each of these areas that's involved and finally I will consider what else I can do with my new experiences that I can use in the future.
In the meantime, I'll keep on pedalling.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Lands End to John O'Groats
My friend Matt Coles has invited me to join him cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats in 12 weeks time.
This is something that I have thought about doing in the past and it will be a real achievement for me and I will be very proud to be able to say that I have done this ride.
I now look at the weather map in a new light when I imagine our 2 little bikes riding up the map from the bottom left corner upto the top right corner.
I am really looking forward to being at John O'Groats having my photo taken with Matt with the sea in the back ground at the most northern point of the UK.
The cycle training begins now :-)
This is something that I have thought about doing in the past and it will be a real achievement for me and I will be very proud to be able to say that I have done this ride.
I now look at the weather map in a new light when I imagine our 2 little bikes riding up the map from the bottom left corner upto the top right corner.
I am really looking forward to being at John O'Groats having my photo taken with Matt with the sea in the back ground at the most northern point of the UK.
The cycle training begins now :-)
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Time
It's been a while since I last posted!!!
I won in Iceland which was alot of fun :-) and have now stopped competing. I am loving swimming for training, DMP is working great with lots of new things going on and coaching is a total blast. So for now, as expected, all is good :-)
I'll add some more posts soon!
I won in Iceland which was alot of fun :-) and have now stopped competing. I am loving swimming for training, DMP is working great with lots of new things going on and coaching is a total blast. So for now, as expected, all is good :-)
I'll add some more posts soon!
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