West 5 Cycles
Cycling, fixed-gear bike building and life on two wheels onlyIntensive training
Feeling guilty I have been neglecting this blog for quite a while – simple reason being that having started an executive MBA programme, balancing work, studies and cycling has just got that bit harder. Still cycle to keep myself sane – amazing what a good ride can do to a head full of work and stress. But I have had to reduce the amount of time set aside for riding though so my solution has been to head out into the country side on this mean beast of a bike: Planet X Stealth Carbon.
What’s good about it is that the 15 tooth rear sprocket means a serious work-out even when heading out on relatively flat terrain. 2 hours on this am sure is equivalent to 3 hrs on a roadbike. Easily. So more intense training, in less time – pretty good. And yes, the bike is a lot of fun to ride too – hard to not go fast.
The sound of silence
It’s been very quiet here I know. Work has taken over, and then there was the process of moving house this summer and now an executive MBA too, in addition to my day job. Cycling keeps me sane, but the drop in training has meant hills feel worse again and long distances hurt more. It is all about balance, the more stress at work, the more I need to ride, but not too much, so as not to overtrain either, and also then make me more tired at work. I guess we all balance extremes realising we can’t do one without the other, yet either in isolation or in excess has an effect on the other. So no more bike builds of late, its been a matter of perfecting bikes I already own and simply enjoying them, the best way I know how, by riding. In fact, need to ride more!
London to Paris
There is nothing that gets you cycling faster than picking a goal that might just challenge you a little bit. So I have gone for mine. I will ride from London to Paris in August in support of the National Autistic Society. That is my challenge. Which bike am I doing it on? Good question – given that there are some serious hills between London and Paris I will probably have to put up with doing it on the road bike instead of the fixie, although the thought tickles my imagination. If you fancy coming along – there is more info here. And if you are feeling charitable, you are welcome to sponsor me by clicking on the link on the left.
