Road Rage-The Battle For Britain's Roads

I'm certain I'm not the only cyclist/car driver/pedestrian who watched last night's TV program of the above title. But who's side did you take? And, when you stop to think about it, why did you choose a side at all? Every one of these groups has a reasonable argument to make; car drivers don't respect cyclists rights in general, but cyclists do themselves no favours either and pedestrians aren't always in the clear. In fact, the only group who appeared to be neutral in all this were the Police. You do something wrong and they'll nick you and they don't really care if you're on a bike or driving a car. Fair play.

So what's the solution? Well, unfortunately there isn't a universal panacea. It takes time and it takes an open mind, and when the clock's ticking on global warming but parents in Hampstead 'need'  a 4x4 to go the average 2 miles to take the kids to school, I feel we're at an impasse.  I'd say, cyclists let's lead the way by not running red lights and riding the wrong way up one-way streets, let's ride defensively by not riding up the side of vehicles in order to get to the lights first only to get taken around a corner by a guy who wasn't looking; there were enough tragic examples of that on the program, can we learn from that? I would hope so.

In order to get anywhere with the politics of cycles on roads, (and off), I'd recommend that every cyclist join the CTC. These guys have been fighting for cyclists rights since 1878 so probably have a better idea of how to bring about change than anyone else. For my part and on behalf of Trek UK, I will be affiliating our club to the CTC and making sure that every employee is a member.

Fixing a Fat pt:3-Out Comes The Heart Rate Monitor!

It's unlikely that I'll ever be a travel writer, and, to be fair, I'm not sure I'd want to be one. However, I feel today's little jaunt around the roads of Northamptonshire would fit in more with that genre than with a training diary. It seemed to have an archtectural bent; by taking a slightly different route, (let's face it, the same route would have sent me to sleep let alone you), I ended up noticing a couple of churches, not because I'm a religious man, (spiritual maybe, but definitely not religious), but because they're actually quite impressive structures. They're on the map with red markers but here's the first.

As far as the fat busting goes, I've lost a kilo somewhere along the line and felt pretty good out on the ride. So much so that I went for a max heart rate, (MHR), blast up a long slope. If you're just getting into fitness and want to use MHR to set training levels, the simplest method I've heard of is to subtract your age from 220. I'd say this is staggeringly innacurate as it would leave me with a MHR of 175, so I really should have piked out at 176. However, I ran out of hill at 191 and still managed to ride the rest of the way home at a pretty keen speed, (for a fat bloke). Even when I was training for the Etape in 2005, my MHR was 194, so I'm happy it's still possible to get it up that high.
One thing I should say is that unless you're 'in tune' with your body and you recognise your limitations, then you shouldn't really try a MHR blast, (however unscientific, like mine), without consulting a doctor first. 
Training takes a backseat for a while now as we get into the Cycle Show build up.

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Fixing a Fat pt:2

So I've been busy with the preseason trade shows and i've not ridden much to talk about, although I bit off more than even a fat man could chew when I decided to ride into the office last Thursday. It's about 23 miles, and on the way in, all was fine; I'm getting the hang of the roads through Milton Keynes and, although still not my favourite part of the ride, I got through it quicker than my previous attempt when I tried following the Red Ways. I'm sure I saw the Minatour in there somewhere.
On the way out, I realised that early mornings and late nights, the staple diet of preseason, can easily catch you out. I was knackered before I got back on the bike and with 23 miles to go I wasn't really fit or prepared enough for the journey. Still, as the dark descended, I decided not to reach for the phone to get a lift but to switch on the Exposure lights and head off. All good until just before Whittlebury where I had to snaffle a banana before I expired. 9pm when I got home and hungry just wouldn't describe it.
Waking up this morning, Saturday, I could have curled back up in the covers and rested but no, I though another ride would help. After all, that's what it'll take to fix my fat and that's what this is all about. Podge.

So here's the route; hopefully you can click on the 'photo' markers and have a look at why cycling is a great pastime.

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