Cycling heroin

Hey all, hope you had a good week (even though my premonitions of good weather where rather false!)

Well this week I have mostly being doing that which I have come to love with a passion, cycling.  I can’t remember ever enjoying something as much as I do cycling.  It is bit by bit taking over lots of spare time and has helped me kick my online gaming addiction.  I have also been following Le Tour De France it has been cracking this year and an awesome performance by Cadel Evans especially his time trial on Saturday.  I am also reading a lot again around different subjects which I am also really enjoying!

Went for a long ride on Thursday evening with Ted and a whole bunch of people from Evans out towards Glossop up some long hills and down some fast decents…my speedo reckons I was doing 62mph down one but I am not so sure, it was certainly exciting bordering on scary.  My long time friend the puncture visited again whilst we where cycling down some country lanes in the dark at about 22:30 so I have bought some http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/all-condition-armadillo-tyre-ec001821 i already have these on my commuting bike and haven’t had any problems with punctures for a while (touches wood frantically) so I have bought a rear one for my racing bike!  It probably doesn’t help being so heavy also.  So I arrived back in town at about 23:00 on the A6 from Stockport after my other riding custom getting rained on.  The Apollo was kicking out and I nearly crashed into a few people same in Gay Village a bit surreal cycling through a bunch of pissed up people.

So I have signed up for the Manchester 100mile in September http://www.bike-events.com/Ride.aspx?id=286 and am also planning a route to cycle from Manchester to Hull which is approximately 91miles in total Manchester to Hull.  You have to click on the walking icon also as much as I would love to cycle all the way down the M62 don’t think that will be the route I’m taking lol!!

So some thoughts this week on the fat loss mission.  I seem to be doing ok.  There are certainly a lot of physical indicators to suggest I’m at least changing shape in that my waist is smaller and my t-shirts are longer.  I’ve just been looking at some of the older pics of me on Facebook and I can definitely see an improvement.  However the numerical weight isn’t coming off as fast as I’d like and that is a little disheartening.  Also taking a bit of a battering to the confidence knowing I’m far to heavy for climbing hills in any sort of decent speed and knowing it’s probably the weight that’s causing me to puncture a lot.  I’m sure this will iron out and have to keep telling myself to keep up the hard work and motivation after all for all the cycling in the world its not that I am doing it for it’s so I can see my little girl grow up.

So totals for this week;

Cycling Commuting;  23.75km 

‘Leisure’ Cycling;       51.50km

2 x Gym Session;        30 minutes cardio (Crosstraining and rowing)

(Per session)                Various weights

                                    15minutes stretching

I know it’s a long one today cheers for putting up with me if you have read it all!!   

Have a good one this week and stay safe!

The Body Fat

Heya's

So this week was pretty mundane as apose to last weeks high of the Blackpool trip.  It taken me a few days to recover and not in the ways i thought.  Firstly people where saying that it would be my arse that was going be in pain, it wasnt it was my lower back and my arms.  A massage from the expert who is Karen Aitken from Relaxing Retreats http://www.traffordleisure.co.uk/centres/stretford/therapies/ sorted my neck and back out and a good gym session and swim sorted out the rest.

Went out this morning for a cycle doing some of the same route of the Manchester to Blackpool Ted has promised me a good pedal on Thursday evening with some hills so that should be very interesting!!  Decided to start the swimming again its not so great on the eczema but i have to say its good for my dodgy knee.  I will be going to see a physio and good friend of mine Mr Marek Holowenko http://www.mhcpt.co.uk/ for a session tomorrow to try and find out what is wrong with my knee.  Its not that i cant exercise its just painful when i kneel on it and a little sore after i finish cycling.  See what happens.

So had my body fat reading taken this week and was pleasantly surprised it was 20% which is borderline healthy/overweight  the last time i took the test it was 35% so i am chuffed.  Need to work on that looking to get down to 10%ish.  More swimming and gym me thinks.

So the totals this week;

Exercise

Commuting;  34.13km
Leisure;  45km
Gym Session;  Crosstrainer various weights
Swimming;  24 lengths front crawl

Have an uber week and hoping that the weather picks up for us all!!

Manchester to Blackpool!

Hi all,

Well its Monday and I’m a day late for the blog but last night I didn’t feel like doing it after riding to Blackpool lol.  So here is the story!

Mark O’Reilly, Lee Bradley and I started out at 08:30 from Old Trafford in really nice weather not to hot and a nice breeze.  The route took us through Trafford Park and past the Trafford Centre and up towards Leigh.  The route was fairly flat but there where some nice climbs and a couple of really fast decents along the way!  After about an hour and a half just past Bolton I got a puncture and was about 20minutes changing it with the help of Mark (Lee being deaf (he’s not) had carried on up the road only to realise we where missing about a mile and a half later!!)  So puncture fixed we headed up past the first check point and down through so random places I cannot remember the names of :-S.  We came across an amazing rain cloud around about 3hours in that dumped about an ocean and a half’s worth of water on us it was fun to ride in and to see the more sane riders who had pulled in to seek shelter!!  Lee decided after ten minutes of the downpour to put his rain jacket on even though by that point we may as well have been naked as we were all soaked to the bone!  The first stop of the day saw me putting some air in my tyre as it was a little low from the puncture and some much need drinks and a bit of food.  We set off again and saw many many people all raising money for great causes and some in outfits.  The Cavewomen, lady boys where my favourite costumes!  There where a few crashes along the way one women had crashed and wasn’t wearing a helmet she was out cold on the road.  We stopped but the marshals where already with her and the ambulance on the way so we went on.  About 3 miles from the end the pain really started to kick in my back and arms where in bits and it was only the thought of you guys support and the comradery of Lee and Mark that got us through the end of the cycle!!

If you would still like to contribute to the charity you can through http://www.justgiving.com/James-Crossland

Again thanks for all your support, thanks for the texts on the day wishing us luck and thanks again for the sponsorship it's been amazing!

Impassioned Plea…

So you may have seen me trying to get sponsors for the Charity Bike Ride next week.  A lot of people at my work have sponsored me which is great and a fair few of my friends to but a lot of the 396 friends on Facebook haven’t still.  I know its your choice and times are hard but it would help me a lot if you could donate even 50p which would mean that snack from the vending machine or not much else it’s not a lot but if all 396 people donated that much it would be £198 which would be awesome.

http://www.justgiving.com/James-Crossland) 

So on to more serious business this week I had my first weigh in.  I’ve been holding off on this as I know I am losing weight from my clothes and from visual references i.e I can start to see my neck again and I can actually bend over and tie my shoes.  Not massive things but things I took for granted before and which add a little motivation…so drum role please…1/2 a stone lost!!  So that great news its nice and slow so I’m happy with it as I expected there to be a bit of swapping fat for muscle etc but I am pleased.  I will be doing a body fat percentage test this week on Friday and will be watching that closely.  I expect it will be near to 30% if I’m being realistic which still situates me in the obese class but going forward I can see this regime is working and I’m loving the cycling which is probably the biggest reason for the progress.

Exercise

Cycling (Commuting);            61.85km

Wattbike Session                      10km

Gym Sessions                          x 2 -  Crosstraining for 10minutes and various weights.

So have a good week guys and expect a substantial blog next week (hopefully with some video) regarding the charity bike ride!!

Gay Village and the Lycra

Heyas!  So this week was pretty positive on the whole.  I managed to get to big cycles in without much pain and amassed a personal best total kilometres cycled of 90.2km.  I’m really pleased with this it show great progress and I’m starting to be able to get into old clothes again.  I guess its going to be expensive when I get to the weight I want as I will need a few new bits and bobs.  I hate clothes shopping!

So the week ended with me letting Ted down I was meant to go for a ride this morning with him but Steph came through from Sheffield and what was meant to be a few in Sale a chat and home by 23:00 ended up with me drunk in AXM in the gay village rolling in home at 03:30 so apologies Ted!!  You may have been thinking from the title that I was wearing lycra in the Gay Village, I’m sure some of you had lovely images of me in a mankini or such may it haunt your nightmares this wasn’t the case however I have bought some cycling shorts to do the Manchester to Blackpool ride (you will donate here http://www.justgiving.com/James-Crossland)  in so I was testing them out on the ride this evening.  I did my usual loop of Manchester and came in under an hour which was pleasing and my best time yet!  So its either the hangover making me ride better or the lycra you can decide!

Exercise;

Cycling (Commuting);            42.93km

Cycling (Leisure Ride);           47.27km – 2hours

Just finally before I leave you there for this week please follow this link and have a read of the story http://www.eczema.org/the_itch_goes_on_-_ian.html it could really be me who has written it as it is very similar to what I go through.  I am trying to get you to just understand a little more even if you’re still unwilling to sponsor me.

Have a good week!!

There’s no crisis here to see…

So this Friday I turned 31 and like the Greek banking crisis I haven’t gone into meltdown as yet (though a midlife crisis in a few years sounds like fun!)  It’s a number and doesn’t really relate to much tbh.  I still feel like I was 18 although my body does seem to be trying to bring me to the present by being injured for longer and not according me the ability to drop this weight as fast as I was hoping!!

Thanks everyone for the birthday messages and Facebook messages etc it was much appreciated as I know I can be an unsociable bugger sometimes!  I do feel the need to keep in touch with people on a more regular basis but my lacking of motivation to even type a text or an email is outstanding.  However if you do feel like getting in touch do so I am a lot better at replying then instigating tbh!

I was meaning to get out on the bike this weekend but one of the side effects of having a birthday meal at F&B’s seems to have been a very upset stomach.  Don’t worry I won’t go into more detail as I’m guessing you can pretty much use your imagination!

So onto the exercise I have again been cycling to work this week and have also done another 23km ride, roughly taking me about an hour.  I am going to look to increase this a little further during the coming week at some point.  I really need to get back into the gym but the last thing I want to do after a shift is spend another hour in the gym at work.  I have toyed with joining a gym in town but then reasoning says why should I pay when I can use the gym for free at work…Catch 22.  I have also being toying with the idea of going to Pilates.  This may sound like a strange choice but it will help with my flexibility, muscle tone and core strength.  At the moment my back is thinking where the hell did all the weight go off the front and I think the muscles have relaxed somewhat causing me a little back ache!

Cycling (Commuting);            23 km

Cycling (Leisure Ride);           23 km – 1hour

So I’m still looking for sponsors if you haven’t already please visit the link below.  If you have then I really appreciate it and will be looking to sponsor people who are doing charity events etc.

http://www.justgiving.com/James-Crossland

Have a good week all!!

Considering football retirement sorry Fabio

Hey folks,

So we played a football tournament last week for Stretford.  Everyone who played got burnt I think and it’s now Wednesday and my burns are still aching.  The worst of my injuries is my knee though

 

It’s really restricted my efforts this week in that I can hardly walk on it at all.  I have managed to cycle to and from work but not anywhere near the intensity it’s basically just turning my legs over.  Those of you who have known me for sometime know I have had problems with this knee couple of breaks in the past etc so I think I may call time on my football career.  I may be enticed out for the odd 11’a’side but tournaments I think are a thing of the past.  Enough whinging anyways we reached the semi’s of the tournament and lost to the eventual winners.  Well played to everyone who played and Selina for organising for us!!

My energy levels at the start of the week have been very poor and I’m not sure why.  Maybe the tournament itself or the sunburn or my knee injury but I have been very lethargic and getting tired early on an evening.  Later on in the week though I got back to about normal again and did a nice long ride out on the bike on Friday.  My knee is still aching somewhat but I am sure this will pass in a week or so.  I have bought some vitamin tablets to try and make up for any shortfalls in vitamins somewhere and I must start to drink more water again as I have let this slip over the past week.

POSITIVE news is that I have signed up for the Manchester to Blackpool cycle on July 10^th.  It is approximately 60 miles so a little training is in order I reckon.  I will be doing the ride for charity so if you want to sponsor me please visit

http://www.justgiving.com/James-Crossland

I will be riding for the Eczema Society as I have suffered with Eczema most of my 30 years so it’s a charity close to my heart they do a lot of great work for people who suffer with eczema and for the families. 1 in 3 children and 1 in 12 adults will suffer from eczema and it is a very debilitating disease in some cases.

Exercise;

Cycling (Commuting);          42.83km

Cycling (Leisure);                 22km

So hopefully the sunburn and knee injury will be right by next week and I can get back in to some sort of gym/wattbike/cycling routine again.  I will be 31 years old in 5 days also!!

Have a great week everyone and make sure you sponsor me please!!