Category Archives: Health

You do too much exercise.

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-4°C, calm & icy.
Last day of snow, a heavy fall is coming this afternoon.
More turbo time to keep me sane but…
A colleague said in a firm voice that:

(I)” you do too much exercise, half an hour a few times a week is enough”.

Only a few decades ago, millions of men would work 10 or more hours a day burning far more calories than I do on the bikes. It was normal then. Now it’s normal to do barely any and shorten their lives by 10 years. I said that it’s un-natural to do none and our bodies suffer long term (and short).
Besides, it’s fun.

Turbo effect

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-2°C re-frozen snow. No thaw.
40 minutes on the turbo, plus other stuff as a warm-down. Not much, but it’s an encouraging start. I had no trouble keeping warm in the evening nor overnight. Such is the effect of exercise, it keep you warm for days.
There is bit more snow to come, and this wintry weather is said to last two weeks. Grief.
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Looming snow.

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-2°C. Snow soon.
A cold week with a front that wants to push it away as much as we all do. There will be snow, but probably not enough to close work I think. There are many hopeful souls out there though.
I’ve been on my turbo, that signifies the end of the longest lived cold I can remember; the despair. 17th of January and I have not ridden a bike this year yet.

Huff and puff

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1°C, clear & still
Back to work tomorrow, energy is returning along with my voice. Out goes the despair of getting another damned cold straight after the previous one.
Half an hour on the turbo plus some weights and stretches, that did nicely. Shame the mild winter has given way to such hard frost and ice.
Racing bike repairs are under-way: new headset= in, new pedals= on.
The wheel rebuild awaits, I have to post that one off though.
My Commuting bike could do with a new saddle, only because I don’t like this one. It’s not the right shape. I spend enough hours on it to easily justify the cost- about £45.

Back to back.

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7°C, sunshine.
The Doc says I probably have a second cold straight after the first. Unlucky, but not a serious worry. Presumably, there is no reason that you couldn’t be infected with two colds at once.
Snow is on its way, though it may not fall here. The Mirror paper predicts -15C and blizzards, though view predict that every time the temperature dips a little. Nobody believes them any more. Well, no-one worth mentioning does.

City Station

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Long cold.

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2°C, cold penetrating fog.
Still ill. All this started on the 7th of Dec. That makes it a month. Or is was it two colds separated by 5 days around Christmas. There is a shard of comfort when I hear that there are so many others with long persistent chest and throat infections.
There is no end in sight yet. I have taken the day off since 1/ my voice nearly failed yesterday & I am timetabled for more lessons today, 2/ I took the dog for her early morning outing by I saw purple spots before my eyes the whole time.

Will the world’s end begin like this.

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Grocer

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11°C, light cloud.
The girl who served me today in the grocery shop didn’t look right. She rested her head between each customer, pale. I asked whether she was unwell, she sighed with the word- “yes”.
There is some comfort in this, almost all of us feel poorly in this way at this time. All activity is an uphill push, leaving us pale and breathless.
Galling though, for me, is the missed opportunity for some good cycling in this decent weather. Here is the mildest winter break in years. Some parts of this nation has 13°C highs this week. I can only look outside.
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Mal-segue

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7°C windy, showers.
Not again: less than a week after the last cold, I get the next one. This is all sore throat and malaise with a bostin’ headache. This is where the best laid plans run aground: I could have clocked up another 200 miles and potentially breached the 5,000 mile mark for the year.
But no, not this time.

Occultation

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7°C clear windy. CK:36
Thinking ahead to a New Year’s resolution. I haven’t quite completed 5,000 miles this year for the first time in I don’t know when..
There’s good advice on use Bikeradar site, in short-

  • Build up the week’s mileage, add 10 miles per week,
  • Ride on low gears early season,
  • Do a short ride if unsure,
  • Use an alternative activity for a cross training effect,

By Easter, be back to 70 mile rides, like I used to.
So does all this sound like a New Year’s resolution? Maybe, but why wait another week? Today should be clear to go out for a few hours.
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Anyway, I ventured out and did 36 miles but rain got heavy in the last 10

Dodge showers.

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7°C, rain coming.
Venture out: under the threatening skies. A short ride can be just the thing to clear out the tail end of a snotty virus. Decision is: do I change gear to the 17t?
later: well, I went and the rain was as predicted- steadily increasing from drizzle to light rain. Cycle tracks were under an inch of water for some stretches. Water sprayed up from the front wheel onto my left foot. Why does it do that, why not both feet the same?
I got back feeling okay but with a rather cold left ankle.
24 decent miles done.

I can tell that I’m out of shape, the recovery took longer that and 24 mile ride deserved. Perhaps post-viral effects at play. In summer months, 24 miles would seem barely worth the bother of getting kitted up. The best of times, a 60 mile ride leaves no recovery after-effects either.