I had to stop my bike rides as there is a buckle in the back wheel. So I took it to the bike shop and when I got there, the tyre on my back wheel had disintegrated and the inner tube was poking out of the sides! So I'm glad I stopped riding it when I did. Could also explain why my bike times were getting slower as the wheel being buckled would have rubbed against the brake pads causing it to slow when I wasn't pedalling. This happens on the way to work, but I pedal all the way home. Anyhow the bike is getting a full service, new tyres which the guy in the shop recommended for road and sometimes off road use and some new pedals to stop that dreadful clicking noise! So no more excuses for slowing times!
Even though this means my bike will be in really good condition… it's getting replaced!! At least for the trips to work, I'll probably still use it at the weekend when I go out for trips with my girlfriend when she get's her bike for her Birthday. I am getting my first road bike!! It's a Giant SCR 2. I really can't wait! I bet you're thinking it's going to cost a bomb! But you'd be wrong, I'm buying it through a "cycle to work scheme". The bike itself is £545 but I've allocated to spend £600 to include some accessories, so I'll be paying around £28 a month for 12 months and then a one off payment of about £27 and then it's mine. Are you thinking that's a lot less than £600? It's £370ish! Confused? Have a look at the table below it show's how they take off the taxes. I wish there was a drive to work scheme! The only down side is that I have to wait til April to get it, a slow painful wait!
Also I've noticed that on my running page the Nike widget thingy has given up the ghost. I've done over 20 runs now so reposting them and for it not to work again would be a real pain. So I'm going to find a way of ripping the times from the Nike Plus site (I'll probably use Workout Dump).
My training in general is going well. I've been using my new heart rate monitor for my runs and from initially running like the Bionic Man, in classic slow motion stylee to keep my heart rate down, I've now got used to it and finding it a really useful pacing tool. I've changed my runs to 2 x 10k at a moderate pace and a 5k at a hard pace.
My swimming has improved the more time I spend in the water. I'm doing longer sets but I still need to improve it a lot to get anywhere near competitive.
I've been looking at races and I'm interested in a lot of them, but didn't realise they cost so much - £20 to £40 a race! I'm planning on doing about 7, so that works out on an average price of £210! I better start saving the pennies and try to not to buy loads of kit, which I'm really tempted to do! ;o)
