As January’s go this one has been kind from a weather perspective, unseasonably mild temperatures have allowed for more time cycling and running outdoors than even most optimistic people in the North East of Scotland could have anticipated. The year didn’t get off to the best start for me as I was still struggling with … More January 2020 update
Looking through my list of cycling objectives for 2019 there was one remaining that I hadn’t attempted, everything else had been cycled even if not achieving the target result. Then the good people at Grampian Cycle Partnership (GCP) launched their cycling friendly North East250 route, this was the catalyst for spurring me on to complete … More North East Scotland loop
Monday 1st July 2019 – Day 1: Start 0900hours Edinburgh Cramond Beach Day 1 Target destination: Grantown on Spey Finally the day had arrived, the start of the inaugural Trans Alba Race, 1720 kilometres with 20,770 metres (or 2.3 times the height of Mount Everest) of cycling around Scotland. Months and months of training and … More Trans Alba Race – my race
Is there anything more than frustrating than being out injured and looking at your Strava timeline all weekend? I certainly don’t begrudge anyone the fun and enjoyment everyone appears to have had, whether running, cycling, walking or swimming in the brief periods of sunshine that we enjoyed this weekend, because after all I wanted to … More The impatient patient
Having alluded to some achilles tendon trouble in my previous blog, I am now paying a price for failing to listen to my own concerns about this, and soldiering on regardless. I rested for 3 days leading up to the Etape Loch Ness to try and resolve the issue and to an extent it helped, … More Love me tendon, love me true
Having entered for my 4th Etape Loch Ness in October last year and before I had entered for the main focus of my 2019 season the Trans Alba Race, I have struggled to be motivated for the Etape and wondered how to make it as meaningful as possible given there were other events this weekend … More Etape Loch Ness – the gas is 2/3rds full!
I’m mindful that it has been a while since my last blog, 5th November to be exact, and the boldly entitled “Winter Training doesn’t have to be boring” actually stood the test of time. A 6 week period of being “between jobs” and the relatively benevolent winter weather we experienced in the North East of … More Springing into Spring!
Now as soon as I typed the headline for this blog, I realise I am probably making a monumental mistake by coming away with such a statement! With just over one week since the clocks went back an hour and winter time officially starting, I found myself enjoying my training last week, but mindful that … More Winter training doesn’t have to be boring…
Having packed and getting the car loaded for our family October holiday in the Lake District, my wife looked at me with a knowing look and said, ” you’ve forgotten something.” Assuring her that I hadn’t, resulted in a bit of back and fro, until I confirmed the bike was not joining us! I could … More End of season break
Having completed a challenging charity bike sportive on Saturday (6th October), 150km with over 2000 metres of climbing, the sad reality that the cycling season is all but over, is beginning to dawn on me and my thoughts turn towards focussing on a realistic training plan for the winter months that will keep me motivated … More Winter training goals
