Ouchy
Posted: Mon 9 May, 2005 Filed under: Health, Thoughts Leave a comment »After the exertions of Saturday in the garden, I’m beginning to wonder if I didn’t do my legs a fair amount of semi-damage. A lot of this is because of the amount of shovelling and lifting that was being done, and because I knew my back was dodgy anyway, I did a lot of bending from the legs instead.
Yesterday in particular, all the muscles at the back of my legs – calf, knee tendons, and upper thigh – were sore. There’s a comedian who says “You always know when you’re getting older, because you start making noises when you sit down or stand up”. Yesterday that was me. It’s better today, but it’s still sore when doing such strenuous exercise as walking.
I’m sure it’ll improve, but it has to be said that right now I’m really not looking forward to the cycling parts of getting home after work…
Too much information
Posted: Fri 6 May, 2005 Filed under: Health, Thoughts, Travel Leave a comment »You know, there’s one thing that no-one ever mentions when it comes to things like commuting to work by bike. Well, I’m sure there’s plenty of things that no-one ever mentions, the same way I’m certain that there’s stuff most cyclists mention when it comes to travelling on roads. Fucking idiots in 4×4 vehicles, for example.
But I digress. In this instance I’m going to mention something that I’ve never heard anyone else whittle on about.
It’s not an easy subject, and some people will just think “Ick”. Indeed, on some occasions even I think “Ick”. But it’s a fact of life – when you’ve been cycling for a couple of miles, and it’s warm – even worse, when it’s warm but rainy/windy, so there’s also a fleece jacket of some description added into the equation. I’m sure I’m not the only one to have noticed the manifestation of : Sweaty Crevice.
No more information need be disseminated. I’m sure you can all work out what I’m referring to. It’s not pleasant.
Be Afraid
Posted: Tue 3 May, 2005 Filed under: Health, Thoughts 3 Comments »One thing that has happened as a result of the visit to Center Parcs is that my interest in archery has resurfaced. So I’ve spent a bit of time looking for local archery clubs and the like, and I think I’ve found a couple that I might sound out a bit.
The down side of all this is that – yes – I need a new bow. And that could be very dangerous. Herself suggested I should perhaps look on Ebay – something I’ve avoided doing ’til now. I know what I’m like, and registering with Ebay could end up being a very expensive proposition. Mind you, with luck it might be a bit less expensive than going to Quicks down in Portsmouth, who do have some excellent stuff. But chuff, is it expensive.
Anyway – it’s looking more and more like I’ll be back into archery properly by the end of the year. And I can’t wait.
Weight Loss – continued
Posted: Fri 29 April, 2005 Filed under: Health, Resolutions 2 Comments »It’s been a while since I last wrote about the weight loss.
It’s frustrating, but it’s been a slow process. I thought I’d be losing it a lot quicker than I am – but at least it’s still going in a downward direction. I just wish the fucker’d fall off faster. Still, maybe if it comes off slowely it’ll stay off. Or somesuch garbage. We’ll see.
Anyway, as of last Sunday, I’m 19st 10lb. I’ve lost a full stone this year, and it’s stayed off. I still want to lose more – and I think that with the cycling and the more sensible diet (by which I mean “the stuff I eat” not whether it’s Weightwatchers, Atkins, HighGI, F-Plan or whatever) it’s going to keep coming off. With more exercise in the lifestyle too – and a fair amount of gardening and dog-walking into the bargain – I’m still optimistic about losing the weight, and gaining the target weights I want to. I’m not demoralised – well, not too much – and I still want to keep on with this plan.
We’ll just have to see where I end up.
Great North Run
Posted: Tue 26 April, 2005 Filed under: Health, Thoughts, Travel 5 Comments »Flippin’ ‘eck, one of my friends (I’d say she’s insane, but hey, horses for courses) has managed to get herself on a team who are doing the Great North Run on 18th September. Utter madness.
Still, we’ll be going up there to add to the (im)moral support and so on, so it should be quite fun. I’ve never been to a marathon-type event before, so I’m quite looking forward to it.
Bike Routes
Posted: Fri 22 April, 2005 Filed under: Health, Travel, Weirdness 5 Comments »
Over the last week, it’s occurred to me that the majority of bike routes (or cycle paths) in this area are, frankly, shite.
There’s one just round the corner from the house which is supposed to allow cyclists to avoid the chicane “road calming” methodology. That’d be great, except there’s some silly old bastard (not ageist, he’s about 70, and definitely a silly bastard) who parks his fucking metro right in the cycle-path. I’m considering talking to the local plod and seeing if they can do something about it. The alternative is writing up a couple of A4 sheets with “Thanks for parking like a cunt”, and supergluing them to his windscreen. That’ll learn him.
Going through Bracknell you get to see subways that bikes aren’t allowed through. You also get to see “cycle paths” that have full-height kerbstones at every junction, so you only use ’em at risk of buckling the bike wheels. There’s even junctions on the cycle paths where to turn left you have to bounce up a full-height kerb.
It’s actually kind of interesting too to see how drivers attitudes have changed. In fairness, a lot of the time drivers are now far more aware of cyclists, and some even let you out when the alternative is to face-plant a parked car. But most of them appear to see cyclists, then ignore them utterly. Leaving the office at half-five is as close to “dicing with death” as I’ve been in a while. There’s no chance – the drivers all rub against the kerb, and it’s nose to tail. The “safest” place is to ride down the middle of the bloody road. Or walk. Which kind of defeats the theory of cycling.
Pedestrian
Posted: Wed 20 April, 2005 Filed under: Health, Thoughts Leave a comment »After the rest of today’s activities, I decided I couldn’t be arsed to use the bike to get to work this afternoon, so I walked instead. Not the entire distance, just to the train station, then from train-station to office. And, of course, the same on the way back.
It’s not going to be a common-place “can’t be arsed” attitude, but today I just felt I’d had enough of road-users for some reason.