Thursday, April 14, 2011

Final Preparations

I finished my last cycling endurance class on April 2 and plodded home slowly afterward having expended 2115 calories during the four hour session.  We practiced numerous intervals, sprints and climbs.  Glad that it's over for the season but I'll probably do it again next winter.

There's about a month before I start my cycle tour and I don't want to lose my edge so I did a 20 mile bike run on Tuesday to get a feel for the timing and effort. Piece of cake! Took me one and three-quarters hours and that included having to pull over and wait as a police motorcade roared down Preston Street.  It was also my first real test of the GPS while cycling.  It was fun to glance at my wrist and see the tenths of miles tick by.

The first leg of the tour is Ulverston to Grasmere, a distance of about 23 miles.  The second leg, Grasmere to Keswick,  a little over 15 miles. This gives me plenty of time to stop and take in a few sights along the way.  I'll definitely be stopping in to see John Ruskin's house and the Ruskin Museum.

One unforeseen detail pertains to my luggage. I've restricted myself to carry-on for years but because I'll be carrying a universal cycling repair kit and it contains a screwdriver I'm going to have to check my main bag.

Unless something comes up between now and my flight date  the next entry should come from Manchester where I'll be staying for a few days.

8 comments:

  1. When is the departure? I thought the 14th?

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  2. Can the entire world see this? You make me nervous. Someone could be waiting along your route, bop you over the head, and rob you of your fantastic equipment.
    Or they might "take advantage" of you.

    I know if I lived there and I was a very bad person, I would do it. The former, not the latter. No offense.

    xoxoxo

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  3. The nefarious would have to lie in wait and pick just the right cyclist (or pick every one). I'm quite sure I won't be the only one on the route in the merry month of English May. And they don't know the exact dates so they may find themselves hiding in a hedgerow overnight while I'm tucked into my cozy bed miles ahead of them. Hee hee.

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  4. Well, all right then. Just don't forget to pack your uzi.

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  5. Well of course, and I'm picking up my Tazer and its holster from my friend Richard in Manchester.

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  6. Yvon was asking me if, when cycling, the group stays together, or if they meet at the beginning and end of the route and that's that.

    How many in the group?

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  7. It's not a group, I'm on my own. Groups can book them but they don't assemble groups themselves.

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