Skittles.....

So there I was half way through my first recovery week in a long time and as the weather is finally beginning to turn better (even sporting a pair of shorts to go running in at one stage), and like a true Scotsman I catch a cold. After a long lie in and consuming several mugs of lemsip I trekked to the pool for a paddle in the pool for 3kms worth of steady stuff.

It was afterwards during some chit chat with one of the old dears who had been in the pool at the same time that she informed me that at her age it feels like your swimming through honey. In cycling terms its when your in the small chain ring but your legs are convinced your pushing your biggest gear with into the `mother of all headwinds`. I felt like telling her I was battling with the gooey stuff today but I didn’t think she’d appreciate it. So during the last few swim sessions its just all been about getting rid of that honey in the pool and changing it back to water- slowly but surely I’m feeling better.

Away from training today I rediscovered after many years the joys of eating a bag of skittles- its been a few years since my mum use to buy them for me (they were a favourite of mine) but as I popped into the shop on the way to the gym they called out to me. That and since the word fruits is on the bag I`m counting it towards one of my five a day. Another 4 bags and that’s me there. Now all I need to do is get nack to 100% health. Now where did I put those lemsips….

David McNamee - International Triathlete

Ice-Breaker

We got the traditional season-opener out of the way on Sunday - an early start to avoid the traffic for the Ice-Breaker 2-up TT. Over 40 teams were there to open up the lungs over 14 miles. Walkers had 6 teams riding, including 3 first time road racers - and all had a good time, despite the effort, one team missing their start, and another missing a turn at a roundabout!

What a difference a proper warm up made - I don't think I've done one properly for about 10 years, and I don't hurt nearly as badly after as I usually do - maybe I'm not getting old after all.

Drew did a good job in my team - gave plenty of spells, and rode it technically perfect - apart from a wee touch of wheels - but at least that shows he was close enough behind. After our practise on Friday I opted not to ride my new TT bike as Drew was getting zero shelter behind me! I've been slowly tweaking the position as my stretching regime allows me to get lower - so am looking forward to seeing how much quicker I'll be able to go!

APR's coming up next month on the Moscow Circuit, so hoping to get a good club turn-out for those ones too!

Neil Walker

Winter Wonderland

Went for a ride at the 2014 Commonwealth Games MTB Course at Cathkin Braes today - in several inches of snow - wasn't too good for a recce really, as I couldn't see how the ground was bedding in after all the grass cutting! Plenty of people are walking the line of the course now though, which will help.

A couple of observations about riding in snow though - a singlespeed is definately not the right tool for the job (nice and light for pushing mind you), and Ice-Spiker tyres work well in snow as well as ice - traction where you never expected it!

Still, great views though - name a landmark and it could be seen!

Neil Walker

Rubbing Salt in the Wounds

The snow is falling and my car seems permanently frozen, so today I took the mountain bike out on the roads for I decided to have a small separation from my turbo. After 3 days in a row it just gets to repetitive and theres only so much afternoon TV you can watch whilst moving your legs round. Even though the logical part of my brain was telling me that riding over ice should surely result in a painful ending, the mountain bike was having none of it and kept rooted to the ground. However after 5 hours my fingers and feet were passed the frozen stage but worse than that I had inhaled a few kilograms of salt from all the grit on the road. After brushing my teeth 3 times in an hour its finally going away and I`ve thawed out but the fan heater is still staying on just in case.

Despite the weather training has been going well since I came back from Spain. The long of hours of training and living like a monk appears to be paying of as my fitness is improving and I`m slowly getting stronger (one step at a time). Well I suppose its time to layer up again and get some running in. Till next time….

David McNamee - International Triathlete

2 Wheels Good

Hello, struggling to think of what to write - bloggers block? I'm normally not stuck for words (if the right topic/rant comes up in conversation), but that is in the real world, not typing!

Life has been very quiet in the bike shop recently, the traditional February blues, coupled with the road to Stewarton being shut following the train derailment of a couple of weeks ago. Still, that means plenty of time for for family & bike riding - popped out of work early to sledging with Finlay (2) today, the recent cold snap is actually pretty good for bikes too - muddy trails are frozen hard, and back roads are quiet (you just need your wits about you on the ice), and snow is surprisingly grippy.

I road with Iain Nimmo and the Squadra Porcini guys at Aberfoyle yesterday - awesome MTB trails there, the SXC in April is going to be awesome - if the ground is reasonably dry it'll challenge Badaguish for best course of the year in 2009 - could be a total 'mare if your tech skills aren't up to scratch though. The line up of events is looking pretty good, and I'm really excited about being a local organiser with Cathkin Braes for the 1st time - pretty nervous too!

Going to be spending more time on skinny wheels this year - less training time with number 2 on the way means having to concentrate on shorter races, closer to home - so aero bike and pointy helmet will be the order of the day. Not really done TT's seriously since 1995, so will be interesting to see what I can do. It'll be good to encourage some of the club guys to give it a go too, plenty really strong riders who I think will surprise themselves and others as the season progresses.

I'm pleased to see my former employer (Scottish Cycling) really moving forward with their performance programme - see their home page for latest recruitment - given their recent growth, I'm sure that results (both racing, and the progress of the sport in general) won't be far around the corner - when you hear about the work going on in clubs like Peebles CC, you can just see the massive leap forward about to happen.

Neil Walker