C2C and Reivers.

Oh, how I love this time of year - it's great to see the farmers harvesting their crops and the large round straw bales dotted around the fields in the Chilterns. I'm not sure whether that is indicative of the area.....?

Anyway I have spent some time today getting my admin in order before I head up north for my cycle tour - C2C and Reivers. I haven't packed yet and although I know I must travel light, I find myself stressing about what I should and shouldn't take! We're aiming to cover around 60 miles a day and have booked youth hostel accommodation - keeping my fingers crossed that they have improved somewhat from my previous experience....!

It will be great to get away from it all and just have the cycling to think about.......! (My closest friends and colleagues will know what I mean!)

So until I'm in Reading again - have a great Bank Holiday and keep turning those pedals!

MEND participants graduate in style.....!

Sport Reading have been running several MEND programmes over the last few months and part of the participants graduation, I wanted to put on a BMX session at Waterloo Meadows. These children have been following a nutritional programme for 10 weeks and what better way to celebrate their success, than to ride a bike!
During the process their confidence has grown and seeing them have some fun on the bikes was a real buzz and I'm hoping we'll see them at the regular club session?

The whirlwind tour continues.......

Thank goodness Swindon Borough Council offices are just before the hideous magic roundabout as I didn't fancy tackling that on my bike! - I thought the one in Hemel Hempstead was bad enough!
Today was about getting up to speed on what Tamina Oliver has been up to these past 18 months in her role as a Cycle Champion.
It was good to hear that some excellent work is being done at special needs school, where they have cycling on the curriculum - something I have in mind for Reading.
Tamina sits within the Sports Development team at the County Ground football stadium and has some excellent resources to call upon.
I'm looking forward to seeing the disability project launching in the Autumn.

Colchester- The Cycling Town

I broke the cardinal sin today and drove to Colchester to see Richard Monk-it was a toss up between a 6 hr round trip by train or 2 hrs 40 in the car. A no brainer really as I still have to clear my Reading emails and other work associated with the project. Next meeting we'll be in London somewhere and we're going to take the bikes for a ride afterwards - I've been meaning to check out LCC 's cycling routes! Call it a perk of the job.....!
It was a good meeting and an opportunity to meet the host partner - Colchester Borough Council. Richard, like me, sits within the Sport Development Team, who were busy working on a visit by some Indian athletes in readiness for 2012! With lots of interesting projects up and running and more planned for the future, I'm very excited about being part of it.
Though can't believe I missed out on seeing the criterium races a month ago - which saw the entire town centre closed and some exciting racing to boot! Oh well,next year maybe.....?
Tomorrow finds me in Swindon - should be interesting............?

A first for me in Leicester.....

I don't know why, but for some reason I thought Leicester was as big as London - so you can imagine my surprise when alighting the train and finding it the size of a market town - albeit on steroids!
My reason to visit was to see Elizabeth Barner - Leicester's Cycle Champion, I needed to get up to speed on what's been going on and potentially help scope out future projects.
The meeting went well, which is more than can be said for the train journey home - well, I suppose it is Friday. I did feel sorry for the family of cyclists' at Bicester who were told by the passengers and a rail official " Don't even think about coming aboard with those bikes- you'll have to wait an hour for the next train.....!" Hope they eventually got to their destination.....?
The weekend is now upon us and getting some miles in will be my main objective, that and nursing my little cat.
Have a great weekend all......?

A quiet day

This morning provided a super ride in from Maidenhead - the weather was just perfect! 10 miles is, I think, the perfect cycle commute. Far enough to know you've done some exercise and not far enough to warrant a complete shower on arrival - though obviously I do freshen up!!

It was good to catch up with my Sport Reading colleagues, tie up a few loose ends on some marketing material and to affiliate 2 new clubs to the CTC - Waterloo BMX Club and the Let's Get Biking Club (a lesbian and gay organisation.)

It seems that the BMX track at Waterloo Meadows has seen lots of new participants since the re-launch and also we have lots of interest for other riding - looks like it could be the 2nd Cycling Hub in Reading. I'm SO pleased and a good facility for my replacement to make use of too.

A day at CTC National Office

Today was a day to catch up with my opposite number in the North - Karen Carter. Karen was the Cycle Champion in Rochdale before being promoted and has done some great work and leaves a D of E legacy behind.
We had numerous people to see at National Office and we also had to spend some time on getting some of the processes sorted for the new role - I was pretty spent by the end of it.
My day wasn't over at 5pm though, as I had to dash to Reading for an evening meeting regarding the BMX Club and finally got home around 10pm....! Phew, a very productive day....but am really looking forward to the quiet day planned in Reading tomorrow.....!

East Hampshire for the day

Today I visited Sarah Walker - Cycle Champion based in East Hants.
This was the first of many business reviews in my new role as Senior Development Officer.
It was great to get up to speed on what was happening in East Hampshire - All Ability Cycling, Forest Rides and some women specific events.
Sarah has a huge challenge - the county is huge and is very rural, so she will be targeting those hard to reach areas in a very different way to those officers based in towns. For one, she will be taking the bikes to them for taster sessions. It's a difficult call as I would never advocate driving lots of miles - but if she can engage them for 6 weeks or so and prick their interest, hopefully they will go and buy a bike and then continue to cycle long afterwards. It's a very difficult project, but I'm looking forward to getting involved a little more and it will be interesting to see how it develops over the coming year or so.

When the road turns upwards..........

Thought I would share a couple of my climbing tips with you all - it works for me every time!
Living in the Chilterns means having to cope with short, sharpish climbs on all of my bike rides - OK, I know it's not Wales or indeed the Lakes, but hey, it's not like riding the dead flat plains of the Fens!
Anyway, anyway, anyway - here's how I do it.
At the bottom of the climb, I fix my eyes on something in the hedgerow around 50 ft away- a prominent nettle,bramble or if I'm desperate, a discarded piece of litter!
Keeping my eyes glued on 'said' item until I pass it, but which time I'm looking for the next thing to concentrate on - this continues until I reach the top of the hill. The climb passes without me really noticing and it's certainly better than looking upwards to the top of the climb or just ahead of your front wheel.
The other technique I adopt is, climb seated for 100 pedal revolutions and then out of the saddle for 100 - it's amazing how quickly you can get to the top! I tried it last night on a climb at the end of my ride where the old legs were a little tired and it worked a treat.
So, why not give it a go and let me know how you get on.....? I suppose the other way to make climbing easier, is to drop half a stone - but I don't fancy trying that, do you....?

Heavy heart...!

Today was a rather unexpected 'working from home' day - one of my kittens had to have an emergency operation this morning and to be honest I felt I needed to be around, just in case.
I spent the morning sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting for that all important phone call - news on whether things would be OK for sweet Lily?
I had heaps to do - handover paperwork for my replacement, a 'what CTC can do for companies' leaflet and sort out an advert for my post and other vacancies that have occurred within the Cycle Champions programme.
So, plenty to do to keep me occupied!
I'm in Reading tomorrow for a Dad's Club cycle ride at Green Park - let's hope the sun shines and I have some good news from the vet......?

The BIG bang!

Hmm? Not quite THE big bang that you are all thinking of, but the bang was me hitting the 21st Century! Yep, at long last I have mastered the old mail merge technique and boy did it feel good - sad, but true!
After the BMX launch I really needed to send out a letter to ask for volunteers to help out with the new Club. With a little help from my colleague - albeit younger colleague! We managed to send out a batch of letters - I'm hoping for at least 3 people to come forward.
So, if you know of anyone that has an interest in BMX - please send them my way.
It was great to ride today without getting the obligatory drenching - long may it last?

Database training

With the CTC Champions project well into its 2nd year, the professional services team at CTC have been beavering away to find a suitable database - that is user friendly and will allow us to pull off vital stats to use in future funding bids.
I had been dreading the training, as my previous encounters with databases had me running for the nearest hill - in the Chilterns of course!
Though, I needn't of worried as it is very straight forward - but now looms, what probably is around 2 days work of inputting....! So, if any of you out there fancy volunteering your time, I'd be delighted to hear from you- it is at this point I'm hoping to be killed in the rush!
How about I dangle a carrot or 2 - CTC membership for a year and a couple of free tickets to the Cycle Show......? Seriously though, I am open to negotiations?

Weather depression hits the South East!

Oh dear, how depressing! I woke up to a blanket of dark grey clouds covering the skies, which were producing the "I will soak you very thoroughly in a nano second" type of rain.
So took the easy option and put the bike in the back of the car and decided to ride my short commute - though rain falling pretty heavily when I got to my usual parking area in Maidenhead. I don't mind cycling in the rain, but the showering facilites at Palmer Park are pretty poor - cold water at best and no water at worse! How I wish for piping hot showers, warmed towels and proper lockers that is on offer for cyclists that work at GlaxoSmithKline! Maybe I should make that one of objectives before I move on....?
So with back to back meetings pending, I drove all the way in and the bike remained snuggled up in the car, with a view of it get an airing when I get home........? But in the meantime I'll continue to look to the skies for the big warm ball, we all got to know so well in June!

Cha cha cha changes!

Life must be good if I'm bursting into song, though I can't think for the life of me who sang that song- answers on a postcard please!
Due to my role changing here in Reading, I realise these pages will somewhat change and although I haven't quite decided how - I think they will evolve in time to perhaps, just my ramblings around all things 'cycling'.

I hope you will continue to visit and share some of your thoughts with me?

I have come to the conclusion that I really must stop being so obsessive about my bikes - can't believe how upset I was when my nearest and dearest accidentally knocked over one of my prized possessions, which resulted in a chip in the paint work! Man, I was gutted and although I'm sure I'll be able to touch it up to a point where it won't be noticeable, I was pretty surprised of my reaction - it wouldn't have been the same if it were the car, of that I'm sure!

Anyone else feel like this or am I cycling this lonely path on my own?