all in the name of fitness

Back in 1999, and at the tender age of 34 and with a few reasonable successful seasons behind me, I decided to give my all to cycling for one season and see just how good I could get.

To that end I entered some early season hilly races that I normally avoided.  One of these was the Monmouthshire Cycling League Hilly 25 Mile Time Trial (a bit of a mouthful and almost as long as the race!) - a race basically up one side of a mountain and then down the other.  Just for the LOLS!!

Anyway, after an amazing (for me) top 10 finish I decided to cap my ride off by cycling the 45 miles or so home.  A route that again involved a fair amount of climbing.

After assuring Lisa that I'd be fine, donning some warm clothing over my race skinsuit and topping up my bottles with a carbohydrate drink I set off.  Around ten minutes later Lisa passed me in the car and once again asked whether I was sure.

Now I was heading to Majorca for two weeks training the following weekend and figured I could do with the extra miles so told my then girlfriend I'd see her at home and ploughed on.  

About a minute later it started to rain.  A lot.  "No matter" I said to myself as I pulled my rain jacket from my back pocket and put it on all while riding up the first climb.  I had a good schooling in the fundamentals of bike handling and this was second nature to me (unlike the subject of next week's cycle down memory lane).

ah Majorca - and a reward for 5 hours on the bike at our regular post-ride cafe in Puerto Pollensa
BTW, I've zero idea why I look so square-jawed in this picture - it really IS me, honest

By the top of the climb the wind had started to increase - a side wind from the north and the snow began to fall.  When I say snow, I actually mean a blizzard.  I increased my speed to get some warmth into my muscles before the first descent.

I don't remember much about the rest of the ride other than the pain of the cold.  When I got home around two and a half hours later it was apparent that Lisa had missed the bad weather altogether and she was surprised at my account of the ride home.  "Sunny all the way for me" was her response.

Oh how I chuckled…

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This week's techie video is all about Fujifilm's medium format GFX system.  Watch and learn!!