After a month punctures, lack of fitness and general despondency, I finally finished a race. And not just any old race, Crystal Palace, a circuit that I used to be alright at as a 3rd category rider, but have failed to make any impression on in the E/1/2 category.
It was hard but it always is. And took some time for me to throw caution to the wind and ride the bottom corner without braking. I've realised I'm OK at cornering, but only if I can see the exit. At Palace, you can't, and I'm correspondingly rubbish.
Here's the numbers: we covered 25 laps, or 32.9km, in 49mins 50secs, which makes an average speed of 39.6kph. My maximum speed was 54.7kph. My average heart rate was 171, max was 184, and my average cadence was 90 - quite high considering how much of the time you're not pedalling (cornering etc). According to my Garmin 705, I burnt off 1319Kcals in the race.
Picture © Phil Jones
I've got my first cover — should be hitting the shelves just about now. Unfortunately there's a great big bog brush covering up my shot, but it still looks good. And for once, the colours look right — not always the case with our printers...
Just back from three days at Afan forest in South Wales. We had great weather and rode loads.
After a month punctures, lack of fitness and general despondency, I finally finished a race. And not just any old race, Crystal Palace, a circuit that I used to be alright at as a 3rd category rider, but have failed to make any impression on in the E/1/2 category.
I just picked up a Sigma 30mm F1.4 lens. Pretty good deal: saw a price on camerapricebuster through Jessops, so ordered online, got an online discount price, and picked it up in the Croydon store an hour later. Sweet. Sigma lenses get pretty mixed reviews so I didn't really want to get it online incase I got a soft version and had to return it. This one seems ok so far.
