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?

Just a test to see if this blog mirrors

Has this appeared in Optician Space?

Optician Team picks up more support

The Optician Ironman Team has secured two influential new sponsors in the run up to the UK Ironman on August 2.

Hilco has agreed to become a team sponsor through the provision of prescription eyewear for the Optician team members and is also making a heafty donation to Vision Aid Overseas.

See20/20 has also agreed to provide generous support for the team members by way of equipment to take part in the event. This is invaluable support for their efforts and will go alogn way to help them hit their fundraising goals.

Optician has a target of £10,000 to hit for Vision Aiod Overseas. It is already well on the way thanks to super support from the Optician Awards charity casino and donations from Transitions, Ultralase and Essilor. The additional support from Hilco, Speedo and See20/20 will bring that fantastic target a little bit closer.

Training for the event is well underway and Optician will be publishing an update in its July 10 issue.

If you would like to make a donation go to: http://www.justgiving.com/opticianironman09/

Oh no, I am being dropped by the pack

Eat my dust Bennett

Like a weak cyclist in the Tour De France I have been dropped by the pack.

I hate to say it but Fiona is kicking my a*s! when it comes to training at the moment. She was one of the intrepid riders in the now infamous 'Etack' Caledonia ( that's a cycling joke there). But since then the activity hasn't stopped.

While I have been grounded by family issues, she has been clocking up the miles.
'Last Saturday, We did the 100m south downs relay (Liss runners had a ladies, vets and mens teams) started at Beachy Head and finished in Winchester,' she writes. ' There were 6 in our ladies team and 18 legs. [No wonder this woman is so fast, she's got three legs-- Chris] ........this mean't 3 'HILLY' legs of approx 10k and it was exhausting! We left Liss in a mini bus at 3.50am so I could begin the first leg (over the seven sisters!) at beachy head for 6.30am! the final team member came in to give us a time of 13 12hrs . This gave the ladies an overall position of 3rd place. I returned home 10.30 Sat eve in order to prepare the bike for the magnificent 126 mile cycle the next day. At this point I was seriously having a sanity check.
On Sunday morning, I managed to sleep in until late ( 6.30) and actually found it quite difficult to walk after the individual total of 18m on sat. The weather was grim and after hearing about Chris Bennett's King of the North Downs epic, I really didn't feel up for cycling! However i managed to throw some jam and peanut butter rolls in my pockets and drive off to Highclere castle. During registration the weather seemed to brighten up a little and I felt I had no excuse but to get onto the bike. OMG the legs were screaming even just spinning in the first 5k (and this was on the flat!) the first climb hit and I was going so slow, I thought I was going to fall off the bike!
Thoughts of going home and giving up this early in any race was something that has never crossed my mind in the past........am i losing my mental toughness? [No Way --Chris].
I decided that this was no race for me but purely a sunday morning cycle in some spectacular scenery with lots of other cyclists, i 'picked up' (so to speak) a Farnham tri guy en-route who had 3 punctures and a new tyre (courtesy of Mavic) and we decided that the 77m route with picnic stops followed by a very civil pot of tea in the pub was the only way to tackle our morale. I punctured 1 mile from the finish Grrrr. At the end I laid flat on the floor 'spent'.........I hobbled to the massage tent for some leg manipulation .... Only days ago I called the Bala middle distance organiser and asked if it was possible to enter........and before i knew it I bank transferred the entrance fee...........THE 70.3 RACE IS NEXT SUNDAY [That's a half Ironman --Chris].............I THINK I NEED HELP

No, I think I need help --Chris

Life gets in the way of training

So many things have been going wrong in the Optician Editor's houshold its difficult to know where to start.

Suffice it to say the boiler is fixed, the terrace is done, the floor's not wet, the shed has been replaced, the brambles have been cut the allotment weeded and strimmed, the leaf store moved, the broadband re-LANed but sadly the pond is empty, as will be my bank balance when all of the above are paid for.

So before impecunity sets in I have splashed out on some tribars. Not the best picture of them ( the left hand is just about to grab the brake) but my middle son was in charge of the photography and my blackberry had been in my back pocket for an hour or so before being brought out into the chilly Box Hill air.

I'm looking forward to the King of the North Downs Sportive this weekend and by the look of the profile I don't think I'll be spending much time in the aero position anyway.

At least I can cycle the 112 miles and ten hills safe in the knowledge that all of those little jobs have been done....or have they.