If Carlsberg made commutes...

The new commute is great. Certainly. However, it isn't perfect. The rural part of it takes in a buy A road whic, in places has limited space for overtaking. The vast majority of drivers are great at giving me room and overtaking when safe to do so, but you do get the odd idiot like this chap.


So today I thought I thought I would try something new. A slightly different route which avoided the problematic A road.

Downsides:

Longer by 1.5 miles (is this actually a downside?!)
Hillier (again, is this really a downside!)
There is a Ford (it's little and I can always lift my legs up and shout weeeeeeee!)
Pothole-ier (this is the onl real downside)

Upsides:

Hardly any cars
Even more rural
More fluffy animals
Great views
Hardly any cars
It'll get me fitter
Some nice downhills
Hardly any cars


So today I tried it. It was one of those days that cylists love. Slightly crisp, frosty, but little ice and hardly any wind. Here is the result




Now ask yourself this.... would you rather drive or cycle?

The New Commute

So I've moved house.
Excellent.

I lost my bike lights on the way (about £140 worth)
Not so great.

I bought some new lights after consulting with the purse-strings (i.e. wife).
Good.

I found my lost lights in the glove compartment of the car.
Oops!


Yesterday was my first commute to work from the new house in Torrance. I'm used to commuting 5 miles each way, now it is 10 miles with some extra hills thrown in (one is officially 12%). So here is a video of the first half of my commute which is rural/suburban.



I think I am going to enjoy this.


.

My Last Cycle commute today...

....on my 5 mile each way route will be tonight on the way home. From Sunday (next day I am working), it will be approximately 11.5 miles each way (it can be 10 miles on busier roads) with a reasonable amount of climbing on the way home!

Hopefully this will offset the turkey/roast potato/cake/beer habit over the festive period!

Oh and from Wednesday I'll have a garage.

I'm a happy camper!

190 miles

I have big plans for next year. As well as settling in to our new house (moving on the 16th) and having our third child (due in January), I intend to do a really big cycle. REALLY BIG.

Why?

Well, for charity of course....wait, WAIT! Don't click away from the page! Read on as this is going to cause me considerable pain!

So how far is this really big cycle? 190 miles to be approximate.

So how many days am I going to do this over? One.

One? One?!!

Yes I am going to ride 190 miles in a day.



The plan is to ride from my home to my in-laws. So Glasgow to Blackpool (ish). This trip is significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, my mother who died earlier this year from MND used to holiday in Blackpool every year. She took me down to Blackpool many times as a child. So this is a trip she would make often, although not by bike. It is also a trip that many other Glaswegians make every year. It's a bit of a tradition. So I felt the need to follow tradition, all be it on a bike.

Oh and my in-laws live there. So I would have somewhere cheep to sleep afterwards.

So once I have convinced my wife of this madness I will start hatching my plans. I will need a route (only approximate at the moment), I will need sponsorship and that is where you will come in, and I will need a bum made of Kevlar.

At the moment the plan is to do it late June early July 2010. So watch this space for more details....

It's been a while...

Yes it has been a while since I posted. Sorry. I've had a bit of a busy life recently with some ups and downs. The big down is that my mother unfortunately died in October. She had been suffering from a particularly progressive form of MND for about 3 years, and unfortunately passed away after contracting pneumonia. I aim to do a difficult sportive next year with the aim of supporting related charities, so watch this space.

It's not all been bad though, as I will be a new dad (for the third time!) in January, and if all the lawery things go well I will be moving house in mid December. The best thing about the house move is that the commute will be twice as long!


With all of the above happening, and being incredibly busy at work, I've not had time to post here. However, I'm back and I will aim to post at least once a week.


You know me, I always have something to say!