Ireland Days 1 and 2

I am sitting here three days after completing the Ireland ride and wondering where I should start.  There are so many memories and stories not even including the physical data from the rides for those who are interested in where and how we went.  The pictures I have nserted are courtesy of the riders on the trip so thank you very much for sharing!

Day 1 - Manchester to Mizen Head to Bantry

The adventure began on Saturday the 9^th June with an early flight from Manchester to Cork then a taxi ride to our first hotel in Bantry.  Mark and I met early and got to the airport where we were charged an extortionate amount for a bacon sandwich each.  The Ireland fans where already drinking at 07:00 ready for their trip to Poland.  We went to the gate and where picked out of the pell-mell of people by Chris and Kevin, mostly due to the fact I was carrying my helmet and shoes in a carrier bag as I had forgotten to pack them!  Julie arrived later looking a little tired as she has been at a festival all weekend and had only got back at 01:30 in the morning.  We boarded our plane, which had propellers and reminded me of the plane from the Ducktails cartoon (showing my age again) and set off.  Arriving at Cork in double quick time we got into our minibus and where on the way.  From the off we could all see how undulating the Emerald Isle was going to be and this was setting the alarm bells off in my head... I hate climbing lol.

We arrived at The West Lodge hotel in Bantry and where first there.  We got checked into our room, which was excellent and then went to sit down in the reception.  Everyone arrived on the coach and there where around 60 odd people clamouring for room keys and luggage.  All of this with a small 27mile cycle later on in the afternoon.  Mark and I donned the lycra for the first time in the holiday and went down to reception to go and find our bikes.  The bikes where being taken to Mizen Head, the most southerly point in Ireland, where we would meet them and ride back to the hotel.  The coach drive to Mizen Head was horrendous 55minutes of small back country roads which undulated more than the Loch Ness Monsters back.  I felt sick as a dog when we finally arrived but was happy to see the bike again and finally start the cycle ride.  You can see the route and particulars on the Garmin data here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188033632 I was going along nicely and getting acclimatised to the hills and narrow roads when I punctured with about 5 miles to go.  Unfortunately I had given Mark my tube as I had presumed we would be riding together but had got separated at the start of the route.  A gent called Richie stopped and repaired the puncture for me and this set the tone for the rest of the ride with everyone helping others and looking after their groups in great fashion.  I rode in with Richie and finished after about an hour and a half.  Not as fast as I would of liked but completed none the less.  The scenery was spectacular on the way round as was the weather.  I was regretting Manchester Airport securities decision to confiscate my sun cream, in case I made a bomb from it or perhaps squirted it in the pilots face so he couldn’t fly the plane who knows.  I was a little burnt and it was only the first day.  The ride really blew the cobwebs out and was a great start to the event.  The evening meal was an indication of the way things would go for the whole trip, a three course meal which was very nice indeed and satisfied a lot of hungry riders.  An early night followed again an indication of things to come for me.  I do not do well on less than eight hours sleep and wanted the best start to the next day’s ride.

Big Red Bike Ride Jerseys.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outside the hotel in Bantry

Day 2 - Bantry to Ballybunnion

Morning arrived and after the chicken alarm had been successfully dealt with by Mark and some lycra donned we left our room for breakfast.  An early start at 06:00 for breakfast at 07:00.  The breakfast consisted of cereals and toast with a range of juices etc or so I thought.  Later after I had left I found out there had been a serving of a full English breakfast.  To eager to get sorted and sort my bike out.  I am kind of glad I missed it though as the full English became a habit in the mornings and by Saturday I was just eating them for the sake of it and not the enjoyment.  We congregated outside and where introduced to our race marshal Brendon.  Brendon went through the route and then said we would be best to split into groups.  There were four groups altogether and opted to go into group two.  I don’t think I could or would have wanted to maintain a high pace all week and wanted to be able to take in some of the ride.  Group 2 where designated to average 15-16mph and would be under the watchful eye of a lovely Irish guy named Tony who was in his early fifties.  Tony picked a couple of the more experienced riders to lead the group out each day, Keith and Chris and we were told if the lead pair exceeded 16mph we would receive some abuse from his cycle pump...I think he was joking but then again no one dared to exceed the 16mph limit to test his patience.  Brandon’s favourite saying across the week was “lads its fairly flat today”  I firmly believe that the Irish definition of flat is some way apart from what I would call flat.  I certainly wouldn’t call a total of nearly 5000feet climbed on Day 2 flat.  In fact I am sure the mountain we climbed wouldn’t call itself flat either.  Again the views where amazing over Killarney National Park as was the weather again.  You can have a look at the technical data here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188033607 The descent on the other side of the mountain was great also and we went down single file to keep it safe.  Later on we found out that one of the lads had fallen and used his face to halt his fall.  The victim was Bernard who became good friends with Mark and me over the week and we had some good laughs with old Two-Face.  He was lucky no broken bones even though he crashed at 37mph.  Cuts to the face arms and legs but nothing serious.  We rolled on through with a group of around 20 riders.  There were some crazy Irish drivers overtaking on blind bends and hills but again that seemed to be a reoccurring theme throughout the trip.  After the 2^nd rest stop the group splintered up and I spent some time riding on my own.  This was the first time I met Scottish James.  Although we silently rode along for a good 5 – 10 miles it was the basis for a hello back at the hotel later on that night and the start of a good friendship.  The last 10km where hard as so much energy had been put into the climbs earlier in the day and the undulating terrain had sapped the reserves significantly.  We managed to team up with Chris and Keith and rode into Ballybunnion.  The town itself reminded me of an English seaside resort lots of chintzy shops and amusements with a shed load of bars.  The hotel was really nice as was the food again.  We were ‘treated’ on arrival to the hotel with a live act on the steps of the hotel...I would like to say Celine Dion esq but it was not that close.

Top of one of the first climbs.  Tunnel led through to the other side at the top.  Why they couldnt make the tunnel further down the mountain I don't know!!

Watch this space for the next two days!  Hope you enjoy this!

Pre Ireland Blurb!

Hey hey,

This will be my last entry for a few weeks whilst I attempt to cycle 600 miles around Ireland in 8 days.  The fundraising, training and packing is all done all that is left to do is put the mileage in!  Just want to recap the last few weeks with you and touch upon how I’m feeling about the experience so far and what’s to come.

Monday saw me participating in the Great Manchester Cycle, 52 miles in pretty decent weather and through a nice route round Manchester centre and the Salford Quays.  Lots of people out riding for fun and for charity.  Physically I felt good around the circuit.  The legs have been in good shape for a few months now and the maintaining has been both fun and good work.  I am slightly worried about my neck and back as they where both aching at the end of most of the long rides I have done and I have to say they are my primary concern for the Ireland ride.  No amount of stretching pre and post seems to sort them out properly I guess it’s just the length of ride which is the problem and with five consecutive days of 80+ miles I am a little worried.  I think the first three will be ok then it will be painful for the rest of the journey and mentally I think I have prepared for that well.  Marek of www.mhcpt.co.uk has been helping a lot with the physio on the legs and back after rides.  I would also like to thank Rich from www.pedalprecision.com for his advice and expert bike fitting.  I cannot recommend both these guys they really are top people in their fields of expertise!  I wish they where both coming with us!!

The fundraising has been mega hard and quite stressful over the past 6 months and has detracted a little from the ride as it has been time consuming organising and setting up the various events we have done to raise money.  I would just like to thank every single person who has helped with the organising, participating and donating and really made the effort to help us over that period.  Some people have gone out of their way to help me and it has made me realise what a special group of friends I have.  I have thanked each and every one of you but again THANK YOU!  I would also like to say I am very touched by all the donations that have been made from friends, work colleagues and people I might not have spoken to in some time.  THANK YOU ALL!  The fact people I haven’t spoken to have contributed has been touching as have some of the big commitments people have made on the donation site.  On the flip side of that if you still want to donate please you can still do so at www.charitygiving.co.uk/jamescrossland all the money is going to a great cause.

I am hoping to put together something special video wise together when I get back so keep your eyes peeled for that!

Wish us luck and fair weather I think we will need a little :-)   

Please post some motivational stuff on my Facebook account or Twitter feed all support is really welcome!

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 :-)

Its all in the legs

Hey everyone!

This week has been a really positive week.  Lots of cycling in including a trip to Blackpool and back on Saturday with Mark O’Reilly in the name of training!  We set off at 07:00 in the morning and the weather held all day (apart from the god awful wind).   We went there in 3.5hrs which we where both pleased with especially as we both thought we where riding into a headwind…turns out we where not.  We had some food refilled our bottles then set off to come back.  The first 10 miles where a little windy but manageable then we made about a 45 degree turn towards home… at this point what can only be described as a very strong wind took hold.  From our pace of 5 miles every twenty minutes on the way to Blackpool it turned into 8-10 miles every twenty on the back.  I have included the links to the Garmin so you can have a nosey if you like.   

Out to Blackpool 

Return leg from Blackpool 

I was still feeling fairly comfortable on the way back my legs where in good shape however I was becoming increasingly more and more uncomfortable as we hit around the 30 mile mark on the way back.  My lower back was aching and my hands felt they had pins and needles running through them when I moved them off the bars.  I also got cramp in my arm due to the amount of climbs we had to do on the way back.  We had taken plenty of food and water so energy remained high until the last 5 miles or so.  We also stopped for ice-cream and coffee in a lovely shop in Chorley.  Mint choc chip is the best flavoured ice-cream.   Having got home and counted the miles we had done 116, which we where both pleased about.  I feel like I could go again today no aches and pains.  One thing is for sure we are going to have to do some back to back days to see how we cope.    

A massive positive for me was that my knee was hurting I had been to see my good friend Marek from MHCPT physio (www.mhcpt.co.uk)  on Tuesday and he had found the problem.  There was a big know just above my knee in the quads.  He was looking for it for some time but when he did touch it I nearly hit the roof.  An hour later, lots of pain and some tears brought to the eyes I could feel how much better it was.  Big thanks to Marek.

This week I received £20 in donations On Saturday evening we went to the Bridge Pub on Dane Road in Sale and had a really fun evening Race Evening organised by Sally Weatherilt and Mat.  In total we raised £216 so thanks to everyone for coming and making the evening a big success!  My total is still sitting at £1259 overall, which is excellent and I should make it to £1500 soon hopefully!

Please make your donations to www.charitygiving.co.uk/jamescrossland you can also let me know if you want to buy some raffle tickets for our 50/50 draw, which will see the winner receive 50% of the total raffle fund!  The tickets are £2 each or £10 for a book.

Is that a tiger…spinning…

Around about four songs in after the first set of sprints I knew it was not going to go well if I kept on going for the full class.  The cold (man flu) that had been knocking around all week had finally knocked me for six in the morning and it was hard work even climbing the stairs to the met stop.  Donning the all in one tiger suit had seemed like a good idea a week earlier but as I sat down after the first climb sweat trickling down the inside of the suit I knew I should have listened to the little voice screaming all week DON’T WEAR THE TIGER SUIT YOU WILL COOK in my head.  Instead I decided to get off the bike and torture the Swim Trafford kids with a really hard set whilst trying to stand around where the two massive fans where situated.  Everyone enjoyed the session and we raised a really outstanding £87.90.  Big thanks to James ‘Lance Armstrong’ Stannard for getting everyone involved.

Spin Session (45min session);

Disco Inferno               The Trammps                           10:50               Intro Music

Rock da House            Tall Paul                                   3:13                 WARM UP

Mountains                    Biffy Clyro                               3:23                 WARM UP

Ice Ice Baby                Vanilla Ice                                4:14                 First Climb

Bonnie Tyler                 Holding out for a hero              6:13                 Pairs – Sprint Battles

Tiger Feet                    Mud                                        3:52                 Last battles/Spin out

Larger then Life            Backstreet Boys                      3:52                 2^nd Climb (Hovers)

Hot Right Now             DJ Fresh                                 3:02                 Sprint Intervals

Boogie Wonderland      The Emotions                          4:45                 Dice roll

Call on me                    Eric Prydz                               2:48                 3^rd Climb

Doctor pressure            Mylo vs Miami Sound             3:25                 Standing Sprints

Bonkers                        Dizzee Rascall                        3:00                 Number Sprints

Eye of the Tiger            Survivor                                  3:48                 COOL DOWN

Stop                             Spice Girls                              3:24                 COOL DOWN

As I inferred earlier on in the piece the man flu has really taken its toll this week.  From Wednesday I couldn’t face the bike and Thursday and Friday should have resulted in some mileage but they did not.  The commute on Saturday and Sunday has been torture.  Both days saw the weather teasing me.  I woke up to dry roads and reasonable skies but by 06:30 it was pissing it down all the way through until I arrived at work.  Cold, wet and lungs of fire from the cold.  It would be really nice if I don’t get ill before the ride in June *fingers crossed*.  Also hoping for some more decent training weather and good weather for the ride.  It would be really nice for the ride not to turn into a slog.

Two of last weeks goals have been achieved.  No takeaways and no booze.  There is a bottle of Baileys (Mint flavoured) in the fridge so I am trying to resist and so far it is working.  Anyone want to claim it lol?  The gym sessions still have not materialised as I can’t seem to find time and the extra riding didn’t happen due to the lurgy!  I will definitely try the same again this week and a gym session somewhere!

A week today will see the Charity Race Evening kindly organised by Miss Weatherilt and her young man.  It should be a really fun night so please come down and support us!

This week has seen a total amount raised of £50 and an overall total now of £1239, which is a remarkable 83% of the overall total needed!  The spinning money has been added to the event money, which will be split between Mark and I in a few weeks.  That total is standing at £300.  If you want to make a donation you can still do so at www.charitygiving.co.uk/jamescrossland We also still have raffle tickets left for our 50/50 draw.  If you would like some of these please call, text, facebook, twitter, email or comment me and I will get back to you as soon as possible!!

Bit of a late addition to the blog...Big Congratulations to Mr Rich Salisbury and Miss Zoe Mills on their engagement!

“Better to live one year as a Tiger then one hundred as a sheep”

Horses for courses

Ola everyone!

This morning saw a return to the training cycling with a nice ride out with Mark O’Reilly.  After the knee being bad last week.  The commutes where not to bad but left the knee a bit sore after both legs of the commute.  It has got better though and today was a good ride.  55 miles with some nice little climbs and decents on a familiar route out to Lymm.  We completed a couple of loops.  The only bother with the knee was from the mile road sprint segment on Strava where on both loops we both went for it.  I still feel I have something left to give on that but didn’t want to completely goose myself for the rest of the ride.  Now that the lighter nights are here and the sun is setting around 20:00 on a nice day it will be easier to get out and about and get some more miles in.  Mr Gordon is threatening me with hills again he knows how much I love them!

I have come to the conclusion that I am going to have to make some rules and stick to them to be able to be a reasonable weight and have better fitness before the Ireland ride.  It will be hard for me to stick to as old habits have started creeping in with bad food and also there are lots of things I shouldn’t be eating available as Evie and Lindsey have a treat from time to time.  I have also found that alcohol has crept back in a little so I am going to try and cut that out completely again and stay away from the bad influences…you know who you are!  I will try and squeeze some gym sessions in it is just finding the time to fit everything in!

¨      No takeaways

¨      No booze

¨      More gym sessions

¨      More riding

This week saw a really good run on the fundraising again.  With a weekly total of £119 being raised as I write.  So thank you to all those people who have donated this week.  It leaves me on £1184 or 78% of my £1500 target.  Still waiting for a few people to fulfil pledges but I am under no illusions that times are hard and not demanding anything from anyone.  There will be a small event this week with the Swim Trafford Squad doing a fancy dress spinning session on Thursday evening.  There will be pictures so watch this space!!

Just a small comment on the Grand National.  I always have a flutter on the national and the big events.  Only small stakes but it is something I have done for a good few years now.  I love watching horse racing it is entertaining and you can tell that the horses love running it is what they are built for.  I can understand, and I do also, people getting upset when the horses are put down at races but in my eyes it’s the same chance that all sportspeople take.  If the horses didn’t want to run they wouldn’t afterall.  It doesn’t however make it less sad when one or even two of these beautiful animals are put down.

Anyway hope you all have a good week and keep your chins (I’m nearly down to one now not the double) up!