Back onto the exercise bike

Flickr image CC-BY: chazzvid

Following on from my comments about falling apart because of a round of golf, I decided last night that I was going to start making regular use of my exercise bike again. Like the majority of people who own stationary bikes, mine had rapidly found itself relegated to a clothes horse/drying frame and then found itself collecting dust in the garage. It’s been sitting in a spare room for a month or two, since a friend helped me lug it upstairs, so has been simply awaiting motivation.

I dragged myself out of bed 15 minutes earlier than usual and jumped onto the bike as soon as I could see straight. I didn’t bother measuring my heart-rate or anything like that — the plan was simply to pedal for 15 minutes at 70rpm with the resistance set at whatever didn’t make my feet fly off the pedals, to see how I coped with the experience at that time and to see whether there were any side-effects afterwards. The long and short of it is that it raised my heart-rate nicely, got me breathing heavy and worked up a light sweat, and I felt better all day for it. That lovely day-long “clarity of lungs” feeling you get when you’ve worked out — I don’t know if that’s a unique thing for asthmatics or if it’s the same for everyone, but I love it.

So the plan is to do the exercise bike at least 3 times per week, making use of my Polar HRM to keep my heart-rate in the aerobic zone, for 15 minutes to start with and increasing to 20-30 minutes per session over time. This will improve my cardio-vascular system and general fitness, may lead to some weight loss. Then I’ll look at adding other activities to the mix: weights, riding the mountain bike outside, and perhaps jogging. It’s not just to make golf easier to play, but that will be a motivating benefit of getting my health in order again.

Oh, and the not getting diabetes or dying at age 50 thing, too…

The bike ride that wasn’t

Today’s plan was to do the now-familiar towpath circuit – from Caversham Bridge to the Kennet mouth, up the Kennet towpath to the Oracle, through west Reading’s quiet roads back to the start – and to finish it off with a nice lunch at the Riverside Restaurant. Tarkwin and I had arranged to meet by the bridge at 10:00, which would have timed it nicely.

As I was putting my shoes on and getting ready to head out the door, Tarkwin rang… to ask me to pick him up in my car with my bike rack attached. Turns out he’d bent his front wheel trying to get past a gate by Rivermead Leisure Centre. I got there to find a sheepish grin and a bike with a bent wheel – short of doing a wheelie all the way home, that bike wasn’t going anywhere fast.

So we loaded the bike onto the rack, dropped it off at his place and went to The Gorge Cafe, on the opposite corner of the roundabout from the restaurant, and had a nice fry-up instead. It’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for years, and I wasn’t disappointed – a proper English-style diner, but without the 1950s aluminium-and-lino decor and grime. Then went for a wander down to the waterfront and sat watching the world go by for an hour. It wasn’t as strenuous a morning as we’d planned, but it was a pleasant substitute.

Pleasant for me: I don’t have to fork out £50+ for a new wheel.

Lunchtime ride around town

Got a text last night from Tarkwin asking if I fancied meeting him for lunch at the Riverside Restaurant, a place I’ve wanted to visit for ages. We arranged to meet out in the back patio area, which has nothing but a low wall and the towpath between patrons and the water. Then plan was to then ride along the towpath to the Kennet mouth, up to AW Cycles, back into the Reading town centre to stop by Tarkwin’s office, and then whatever. In all a lovely way to spend the afternoon when we’re both on holiday.

Today day was humid, though the ride to the restaurant was fine, and there was a nearby bike rack so we could lock the bikes up without having to have them cluttering up the outdoor dining area. Sitting a couple of metres from the water, enjoying a club sandwich and orange juice while watching the world cycle, run or stroll past was very relaxing. After lunch had settled, we headed east along the towpath to the Kennet mouth and the footbridge.

As Tarkwin wanted to stop by his office and go to AW Cycles, we decided against riding along the Kennet towpath, so went back the way we came and crossed Reading Bridge, dodging the roadworks. We took the back roads through Lower Caversham, nicely avoiding all the traffic, and came out onto the Henley Road exactly opposite the bike shop. We spent 20-odd mins in there with Tarkwin pointing at things and cooing (“Ohh, shiny!” was a common theme). Though in the end it was only me who bought something: all-weather chain and bearing lube.

It was when we got out that I realised my Forerunner had been left running, but it could be worse. We waited for the rain to subside and then headed back the way we’d come and over Reading Bridge, then going up past Forbury Gardens and around to the eastern end of Friar Street. While Tarkwin was in his office picking up whatever it was he needed, I sat on a bench enjoying the scenery… there was plenty walking past.

Then we decided to call it a day, as Tarkwin was feeling worse for wear. Something about being an old man…? When we parted ways, I headed down to Forbury Road by the station, back under the railway bridge and onto the towpath to Caversham Bridge and home.

In all it was just over 9 miles of riding. The total time out was 3.5 hours, but the actual time in motion was 1 hour, which is not a bad average speed of 6.7 min/mile (or 9mph). Here’s the MotionBased data.

Today was my first ride with the new cycling shorts and handlebars. The shorts made a huge difference – the outer shorts were comfortable and looked nice, and the inner padded shorts made a huge difference on the saddle. It doesn’t feel like I’ve ridden at all – no chafing and no pain. Highly recommended.

Wednesday evening bike ride

Got home a little later this evening, but still decided to get out for a ride. It’s summer… might as well make the most of the extended sunlight. I was keen to do the 6-7 mile route I had planned the other day, so headed off with the plan in my head, using the bike computer for cadence and the Garmin Forerunner for everything else (route mapping, speed, heartrate, distance, etc).

I stopped briefly by Reading bridge and somehow hit Stop on the Garmin. I didn’t realise this until I was well along the Kennet towpath and looked down and saw a resolute 1.75 miles staring back at me. While it’s no great drama, it does mean all the stats and mapping will be screwed up for that period, shortening the apparent ride time, etc. As can be seen on MotionBased.

The ride along both towpaths was lovely, and I’m very impressed with the waterside properties alongside the Kennet. It seems they’re the 1970s equivalent of the shiny apartment blocks being built elsewhere along the waterside towards the centre of town. Were I still a renter, I’d be tempted.

I screwed up as I got near the Oracle. The plan was to continue on the towpath/footpaths past the front of the Oracle and turn up Bridge St, but I ended up turning sooner and going through Minster St and St Marys Butts (such an odd name), then I was back on track up Castle St & Castle Hill. Then once on Tilehurst Rd I somehow missed the planned turn onto Prospect St, which would have taken me all the way to Great Knollys Street, out onto the footpathed part of the IDR, and an easy ride back.

By missing this turn and continuing to look for it, I extended my ride by almost 2.3 miles, almost a mile of which was along Oxford Rd, which is not known for its road friendly or sane drivers – even gone 8pm. It was an experience that I’m actually pleased to have done, as drivers in this country make me nervous (most are nutters, one way or another – sorry, but 7 years here shows me it’s true). Here’s the route in red and the missed turning in blue:

I suppose using the Garmin’s route feature might help with this in future. Might have to play with it properly some time – unlike my childhood, these days I often learn just what I need from a gadget and use it, discovering additional things later on. And I call myself a gadget geek…

I had two short breaks in all, both <2 miles from home. The main reason was numbness in my hands, which from what I’ve read in most likely caused by configuration problems (seat adjustment, handlebar adjustment, stem height, etc) rather than me being a lard arse. I’d adjusted the seat slightly before heading out – tilted the horn down so it was level – and it didn’t make a huge difference. I suspect the problem now is the stem height or the handlebars, as they’re a straight bar which makes my wrists twist to rest on them. I might pop into AW Cycles on Saturday for some advice – numb hands, sore neck and aching lower back aren’t normal.

The home stretch was quiet and uneventful. When I got back I was totally knackered, though none of my rides so far have required the use of Ventolin – my asthma hasn’t featured at all. The total calorie burn – according to the Garmin that has the missing chunk of time – was 1,100 calories. Assuming that’s more like 1,300-1,400, I’m very impressed. That’s like a gym session and a 2 mile run rolled into one. Tired or not, I’m feeling very good about myself. The map below shows the hand-entered route.