April 2011

April should have seen some good progress but the day job and the Easter vacation made it very difficult to find time to get down the workshop.
A weeks vacation in Spain was a very welcome break and time to start training for the IoW mini Randonnee. It's so much easier training in a warmer climate. 3 weeks isn't really long enough preparation for a 55km cycle ride when I haven't ridden for over 12 months and nothing this serious ever!
The bike had to be prepared too. I've owned it for 40 years and it was second hand when I acquired it. I can't even remember the last time I serviced it. Well, it was in a bit of a state, requiring; new pedals, an opportunity to upgrade to cleats, a new front tyre and a full bearings service.
The event was a success and I made it round in 5 hours with 3 1/2 hours pedaling time. Climbing 1542ft and averaging 9.8mph or so GPSLogger tells me. I fancy attempting the 100km route next year but that will require some serious preparation.

So what with the training, the holiday and the bike preparation the only thing I've done in the workshop is clean the hull with alcohol in off chance that I might get another coat on it.
Let's see what May brings.