I didn't know cycling could be this hard

With the weather cheering up and relatives cluttering up the house I dusted off the tandem and put one of nephews on the back to go for a bit of a cycle and give Mrs Optician editor a bit of a break.

With a mini peloton of my kids, my brother and nephews we headed off into the Surrey countryside at a not inconsiderable pace.

I think of myself a strong cyclist but, man o man, riding a bike with a teenager on the back is hard work. I even swapped him halfway through for one of my own kids who I could drive a bit harder but it didn't make any difference.

Great fun though streaming through the country lanes in the sunshine, 'till we reach a hill. Oh no.

Isn't she lovely

Having had a very light week of cycling, just two commutes, due to a strange leg I decided to jazz the fixed up a bit. I reckon to have covered at least 5,000 miles, maybe 7,000 on the fixed since I bought it ( for £200) 20 months ago with no replacements ( other than news forks right at the beginning FoC thanks to the bike shop) so I decided to treat it to a new set of tyres and to put the Brooks saddle on to see how it felt.

First impressions are the tyres ( Marathon Schwalbe for puncture performance) are heavy going but really grippy and soak up the lumps. The saddle is less of a hit as the seat clamp is very rudimentary and doesn't seem to allow any adjustment of the tilt.

Looks great though and I can nearly do a track stand!

A choice of two sportives

Last year my early season was pepped up with the Evans King of the North Downs Sportive so naturally I was keen to repeat the experience.

This year my local bike shop, Pearons Cycles, is celebrating its 150 year anniversary. As part of that they are running a 150KM sportive. The date: 23 May 2010
The start: Royal Marsden Hospital - Sutton, Surrey.
150 anniversary route - 150km through the lanes of Surrey and Sussex, taking in the climbs north and south downs. The ascent of Ditchling will reward riders with views across the south downs along with a swift descent to the half way marker. Take in the sea air of Brighton and refuel, then head north again riding through exquisite undulating scenery. At the finish, timing chips will be clocked in and results will be instantly available!
To view the Anniversary route please click here .

Unfortunately these are both on the same date so which do I go for? Shall I let the team decide?