Sun Love!

Hi all, sorry it’s been a few weeks since I have produced the blog.  Over the past couple of weeks I had not managed to get out for a big ride due to a few reasons.  The weather was pretty poor and both of the people I like riding with had injured themselves.  This led to a hibernation of two weeks, a pretty morbid mood and a bad cold for a good 4-5 days.  I have still being commuting so have still being getting good mileage per week in but very little in the way of long mileage on single trips.  Glad to say I am back motivated to write this week after a really nice week of sunshine and training.  I am just going to echo what I have said before that the sun gives everything a rose tinting…apart from the lack of air conditioning at work!  The cycling has been revitalised after a bit of a rest and some beautiful weather I have to say.  I have covered 126 miles this week and if the weather holds I will be doing more this week.  Final ride will be the Great Manchester Cycle on the 4^th June.  Then it’s off to Ireland!!

On the charity front the money has been coming in over the past few weeks and this has taken me to £1407 (93%) of the £1500 I have set as the target.  All I can ask is that you please donate a few pence if you can!  Lee Pickford won the 50/50 raffle and took away £148 as you can imagine she was very happy!  Lee drew the ticket for me and picked out her own.  You can see the video and I swear on my little girl’s life it wasn’t a fix.  We did another bake sale the other week, which raised £110 that was excellent!

A bit of analysis of the sport over the last few weeks as a random topic.  Ryder Hesjedal won the Giro D’Italia which was very entertaining and will be sorely missed on my Sky+ after late shifts.  Some great performances in the race and a great TT finish.  Also being enjoying the IPL cricket and that finishes today…watching as I type.  It has been a great series some great innings and bowling spells.  Love watching Chris Gayle smashing the ball to all parts very entertaining. 

Now the let down of the week England football team.  New manager same crap brand of football.  I have been watching England since Italia 90 as far as I can remember when I was 10.  After the 90’s England’s ‘Golden’ generation has flattered to deceive on many occasions.  Each tournament has seen me get excited about the prospect of us finally winning something and yet we are always miles away from achieving anything.  The last five years have seen some of the worst football, and players, I have ever seen from England.  My thought is that the Premier League is that flooded with foreign talent that our players are only playing a small part in shaping the league and getting the experience they need.  You can argue that the influence of better players will make them better but not if an English player is not getting playing time.  We used to be a good side I just cannot see any signs of us getting back to being a feared side in the world.  For now anyway I will be watching all of the cycling and trying to shut out the International football.

Cheers for reading have a good week and long may this nice weather be with us!

Spin your bodies!

Ola!

This week has been a week of good things on the most part.  I have been to the gym a few times and started to work on some leg squats and flexibility.  Flexibility is something I always have in mind but normally end up doing very little about.  My brain is telling me its important, the physio is telling me it’s important and the gym staff are telling me its important yet I cant seem to get my head around building it into my routine.  I know it will alieviate some of the knee pain and be really beneficial now that the weight is has dropped significantly.  I need to sort my head out and get it done!  This will be one of my aims for this coming week.  On the cycling front it has just been the commuting this week.  Totalling around 70 miles and a bit of the spinning masterclass probably 30 minutes.  Two gym sessions also with cardio and some toning on the upper body.  This will help to drop more weight before the Ireland ride in June.  The squats are a new thing for me.  Having been watching a lot of the cycling recently you can pretty much say that all of the cyclists have massive upper legs and little of very much muscle anywhere else.  With this in mind I have started to incorporate some squats into my routine to build the quads and hamstrings.  This should improve my leg strength and help with the efficiency and endurance on the bike.

On the way home on Sunday evening my first aid skills where called into action as the cyclist in front of me was knocked off his bike.  The cyclist was going straight on at a fair pace from what I could see from further back down the road when a car decided to turn left without indicating.  The chap on the bike went straight into the side of the motorist and ended up in a heap on the floor.  When I arrived at the scene a few seconds after the cyclist was unconscious and had smashed his leg and hip up pretty bad.  The driver had already called an ambulance and was visibly shaken.  I couldn’t really do much for the cyclist apart from making him comfortable and reassuring him that the ambulance was on its way.  He was more concerned about his bike and his wife.  The police and ambulance arrived on the scene quickly and after giving a brief statement I got underway again.  I wonder if the chap was ok in the end.  His leg was definitely broken and I suspect his hip dislocated.  Morale of the story please please use your indicators and cyclists please be a little less aggressive cycling on the inside of vehicles coming up to make a left turn!

On the charity front this Saturday saw the Stretford Leisure Centre Spinning Masterclass.  Jan and Kelly took the session and approximately 45 people turned up to be brutalised for an hour and a half.  They where not disappointed.  Jan and Kelly did a hard session but everyone really enjoyed it.  As you can see from the videos I’ve attached.  Apologies for the camera angle I thought that the actual video would adjust but it didn't.

Big thanks to Jan and Kelly.  Also James Jackson for lugging the bikes from and to Sale with me on Friday and Saturday!  The event raised £106 and we took £48 in raffle tickets.  Thanks again to everyone who came down and contributed.  On the donations front this week saw me collect £5 from Christina J.  Please if you have pledged or would like to make a donation please go to www.charitygiving.co.uk/jamescrossland I am almost at my target of £1500 and every penny helps towards making a better future for the autistic kids.  I also have some 50/50 raffle tickets left so if you want to buy one or two please let me know and I will come to you with them!

Have a safe and fulfilling week everyone!

P.S No alcohol or takeaways either :-)