Sunday 25 September 2011

Sunday 25th September to Saturday 1st October 2011

Saturday 1st October 2011
Bloody hell, it's October already and barbecuing weather to boot. World gone mad.

Got up dead early and as soon as it was light put another coat of paint on shower room ceiling as the tile people are in this morning.

Played nine very average holes of golf with John who was going to a BBQ and that was about it.
Apart from, cutting wood to finish the floor off in the shed which was okay then cutting the remaining piece into three for shelves which was okay.

Friday 30th September 2011
Woke up dead early to do some bread for MacMillan Cancer Care World's Biggest Coffee morning only for it not to come out very well. Which was a disappointment, however bosskat did me a Victoria Sponge Cake and some buns so all wasn't lost. Walk/Ran up town and back slowly - mega tired! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118034243

Thursday 29th September 2011 - Evening
Cycling back to Belper after work saw another milestone - averaging over 15mph all the way back which is ace. Lovely weather and a top ride.


Was back in plenty of time to take the daughter to Badminton lessons - I was rubbish though - absolutely cream crackered.


Thursday 29th September 2011
Another day, another ride into work.

Wednesday 28th September 2011
Up super early. Sorted me sen out. Fetched papers, bike on roof, off to Belper, cycled to work. In the office 8:20. Coolio http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117625514

Tuesday 27th September 2011
Got up dead early. Did a load of work stuff. Went run up town and back. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117402901
Got to work nice and early, did a ton of work, went to a Logistics Expo thing in Doncaster that was a bit of a disappointment although we got a couple of ideas for the future.

Lovely evening so went to test a Ping 3wood I made up from a broken head. It last 4 shots before head came off due to the adaptor coming out.

Monday 26th September 2011
Went to bed with a plan, carried out on getting up. Milkman left gate swinging in the breeze so had to get up at 4:30 to go and shut it. Never mind, back to bed, up proper at 5:30. Loaded up the car with the drum set to take to work. Ran up town and back. 2.5 miles at a slow 'I've played too much darn golf' sort of a pace. Had brekko, off to work early, drums unloaded and put away into the Stock Office Meeting room. In the office for 8:35 - not bad except am already knackered and the working day's not even started!!! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117173122

Went to an internet security thing at my daughter's school that was quite good at 7pm.

Sunday 25th September 2011
Tired, hungover not too happy about either of them two! Went to Jack's 21st last night, got to bed 2:00ish - way later than I'm used to and far drunker than is recommended. Head hurts and tired this morning. Not the best way to start the week!! Golf later - hope head sorted by then.

Golf was a disaster - am debating whether to upload the stats or not. 99 scored and 26 points as opposed to yesterdays 39 points. Abysmal from the off with only four pars to show any kind of dignity to it all.

Monday 19 September 2011

Sunday 18th September 2011 to Saturday 25th September 2011

Saturday 23rd September 2011
Sort of woke up around 7am to the sound of a scooter exiting the premises!! Phil off to work and I didn't even need to get up! Yay. Morning steady, wanted to bore out a Ping 3-Wood this morning but I reckon I've overdone it. Will see. Am going to fill it with Epoxy to see if I can rescue it but not looking promising!

Played golf with John at noon. Brilliant front nine, average back nine went out in 38 and came back in 47 I think for an 85. Stats below - have used the FreeCaddie Pro software I paid a few dollars for. It gives me yardages, measure shots, allows me to download most golf courses I've played. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117173112





Friday 23rd September 2011
Tried the diversion this morning wierdly it seems it's slightly longer than I'd thought. 10.01miles where it's normally 9.98 so can't work that out! Anyway it cuts out one set of traffic lights and a roundabout and it seemed quicker in terms of time although I ought to check that really.


Another Shortcut - The Leabrooks Diversion!
Not actually tried this as yet but I've sort of checked out a bit of it! Anyway in my never ending quest to keep flattening the route and remove any unnecessary hills I've come across this one for tomorrow!

What's cool about it? Firstly it chops off 120 metres which isn't much but it's making it shorter. Second, it gets rid of 12 foot of uphill-ness. The coup de grace though (with no accents) is that it means I can turn off before hitting those traffic lights next to the Co-op! Anyway will see if it makes a difference tomorrow.

Below: the Leabrooks Diversion



Below: The usual route is the simple route up Krays Hill and then along the main road, stopping at the lights.





Thursday 22nd September 2011
As had bike all warmed up I thought I'd do a Cycle2Work today. It means I've got to get off bang on 5pm so that I can be home in good time for badminton lesson tonight. Anyway I went dead steady as my legs seem to be absolutely knackered at the minute. Good news is that for the fourth time in succession I cycled all the way up the hill through Pentrich and onto the top. It's a good test for the old legs and definitely better when you're going home and down it!

Pounded back to Belper in 41 minutes, at Badminton lesson in mighty good time.


Wednesday 21st September 2011
Hadn't mentioned this before but it was beginning to become a crisis. After putting up new shed on Saturday I mislaid the set of keys for my shed which has got my bike in it. So got up early this morning to try and find em so I can get back on my Cycle2Work park and ride roadshow.
Anyway by 7am I'd still not found em so went and got papers. Got back and had a feel down the side of Uncle Peter's chair as we call it and found not the lost keys but a spare key to the padlock. What's the chances of that? - probably not that low but I was chuffed. It means tomorrow I'll be able to go on bike again.

Put front light fitting onto Boardman, and then went for a spin to test it out, just 7 miles in the dark and the rain but it's seomthing!



Tuesday 20th September 2011
Run up town and back v tired but got back to sub 10 min miles.
Went to Ursula's group after work which was good, got home at 10pm. There was a member there lost 10st - tiny slip of a girl, bless her - how could she be 10st heavier? Amazing.

Monday 19th September 2011
Got up on time. 5 mile run, v tired quate slow.
Phil passed his tractor test then proceeded to drive into our fence with the bleedin tractor. So that's given him something to do this weekend - put a concrete post and two panels in to replace the ones he's knackered.

Sunday 18th September 2011
Did pretty much naff-all all day really. Bit of baking in the morning, bit of car cleaning in the morning, car washing in the afternoon. Fetching Lucy who did 50 laps in BHF sponsored thing.


Sunday 11 September 2011

Sunday 11th September 2011 to Saturday 17th September 2011

Cycle2Works - 3 out of 5 days

Saturday 17th September 2011
Made sure Phil was up at silly o'clock. Got up about 7am!!! First job was Homebase got replacement fluorescent tube and a screw fitting bulb for outside. When Phil got back to work we made a bit of progress with the shed - in fairness I done 5%, Phil done 95%!! Anyway by end of day it was up - just needs some better flooring and shelving putting in which Phil wants to do - so I'll let 'im.


Golf at noon, started off really poor, in fact whole front nine was.
Started off with a topped drive on first and only managed a jammy bogey on first after being in bunker and then chipping in, double bogey on second after finding bunker off tee and then basically hitting the ball right then left, left, chip on , two putts and double bogey ensure. Third hole no better, pulled tee shot but pin high, fantastic chip on, six foot putt for par, three putts ensured a double bogey though. Fourth got the ship sorted a bit, crap drive pulled along floor, nice fairway wood, 9 iron into green, two putt for bogey. Fifth - cracking drive, duffed second shot, chipped through green, crap chip back on, two putts for double bogey. Sixth - single bogey iron off the tee was just short, nice chip, five foot downhill putt for par, missed made the two footer back up the hill. Seventh - nice tee shot, approach just short, bad chip, two putts bogey. Eight - a par at last, good drive, good second shot (tried driver off the deck), chipped onto green, missed six footer for birdie but got first par - on eighth hole! Ninth - decent tee shot, pin high but in crap to left of green, chip and two putts for bogey. So 46 shots for front nine, 10 over = 20 handicapper playing and when you're supposed to be off 17 that means you've only got 15 points instead of 18. Rubbish

Back nine better from the off, nice tee shot, cracking second and a six foot putt for birdie that dropped. Eleventh is always a pig (stroke index 3) especially when you pull your drive but I still should have done better than a double bogey, scrambled a single bogey on the 12, (hardest hole on the course) but still not brilliant stuff. Thirteenth see a cracking driver, nice wedge in and a miss for birdie but made the par. Fourteenth chance to get some money back with a two after a nice tee shot but had to settle for a par. Fifteenth see another good drive, good second, okay pulled seven iron third shot and a chip and putt for par so three pars in a row which was nice. Sixteenth see a rubbish wimpy tee shot but a steady bogey resulted. 17th sees a load of rubbish, good tee shot then hit driver off the deck for second and pulled it into rubbish then tried to be Seve for three shots and ended up taking no points on this hole - the only hole this happened on. Eighteenth sees an angry tee shot thats okay, a cracking approach to about five foot and a missed birdie putt - but always nice to finish on a par even if it could be better.

So back nine much better than front with a 42 that would have been much better but for the eight on 17, added up to 88 which considering how shocking the front nine was is not a bad result at all.

Friday 16th September 2011
Up really early to make sure Phil got off to work, which he did. Then got up, did a bit of work for a friend's website and got that done. Then fetched paper, bike on roof, park and ride from Belper to Somercotes.


Thursday 15th September 2011
Slept like a babe last night - absolutely cream crackered. So as needed to get home on time to get the shed sorted out I thought I'd better go in the car and avoid cramp and the like. So this morning a very slow jog up town and back that just sneaked in under 11 minute miles!!

We got the ground levelled off and the base down for the shed project last night so that's progressing nicely. Some issues with the floor to resolve however, but we have a plan.



Wednesday 14th September 2011 Part 2
Cycled back from work to Belper using the two quality short cuts.
Took about 42 minutes into the wind at times so I reckon the shortcuts have shaved a couple of minutes off at least. In fact, looking back at times for this 10 mile trip it's at least three minutes quicker than previous bests in the last month and nearly ten minutes better than the worst one a couple of weeks back. Times recently have been 51:00, 48:42, 45:22 and 44:28. Even going back to the Giant FCR1 trips the times were around 48 mins so a combination of improving fitness and shortcuts getting rid of hills have shaved probably four to five minutes on average. Ace.

A new shed arrived last night. Me and Phil managed to empty the old one into a temporary storage facility - the new tent. We then ripped the old shed out and put onto back ready for transport to tip once Phil has got his tractor license sorted out. We then got the base built for the new one. The plan is to get the new one up tonight all being well!

Shortcut number 3: The Wimsey Way Diversion
Have found another cool alternative route that cuts a bit off the distance. Not sure just how much as the watch went bonkers on the way home for some reason - probably the bit of rain that was about. Anyway it means avoiding the Nottingham road through Somercotes pretty much by going right on the mini roundabout and down Wimsey Way (nice name). Before you run out of industrial estate there's a little jitty (see pic below) that takes you down between two industrial units onto a little track that gets you back onto Sleetmoor Lane which is my old route.

Above: the lil jitty, below the new route in red versus the bit it cuts out that I used to go along at times in blue yellow.


Wednesday 14th September 2011
Tired this morning and no mistake. Still up at 5:50 again, weather looking okay, breakfast, fetch papers, bike on roof, off to Belper. Cycled to work in Somercotes. Good news - cycled up that damn hill through Pentrich again so non-stop from Belper.


Tuesday 13th September 2011
Up at 5:50, had a quick walk outside, decided wind had died down sufficiently to warrant a ride in to work from Belper. So fetched papers, bike on car roof, off to Belper. Cycle2Work 10 miles in 46 minutes which was good. The milestone being riding all the way up that hill into Pentrich (60metre ascent over 2km which sounds like nowt but you try it!!) for the first time in a couple of years which has to be an improvement! Anyway details are here:






Monday 12th September 2011
Got up a bit late as went to bed a bit late. Anyway, did some jobs then got on the road for a very weary jog/walk up town and back.
Was going to do something in the evening but the wind was still blowing a hooley with the backend of Hurricane Irene or whatever it was called hitting us.


Sunday 11th September 2011
Up early, did some shed research. Went a run on the old five miler route. Just sneaked in under 10 minute miles. Details here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113775224 Went over to Darley Dale, visited the festival of transport - a riot of excitement it was. Saw Eddy Brid with his Norton Dominator bike winning the best of show. Good for him. Then over to me mum's for tea which was very, very neece. Then watched Vantage Point on Channel 5. First time I've sat still for a couple of hours to watch a film in bloomin ages. It was a wierd sort of a film but still a bit good.

Monday 5 September 2011

Sunday 4th September 2011 to Saturday 10th September

Cycle2Works 2/3

Saturday 10th September 2011
Up early, wind up, raining. Proper Wales again. Went to Amlwch got bait into the water, heavens opened, drenched. Back to camp. Stops raining eventually. Sun out a bit. Tent got dried out, then it got packed up and we're back on our way to Blighty. We got tents up in fifteen minutes and down in ten. Cooker and cupboard worked well. All good apart from f'in weather!

Friday 9th September 2011
Off to Anglesey for the Autumn Camping Experience (let's call it). Friday not bad at all. bit of fishing with the boy, bed earlyish.

Thursday 8th September 2011
Up early doors to check weather reports, put a rear light on the boardman as I saw a guy whizzing along with one yesterday and thought yep, that's improved his visibile-ness no end. Then bike on roof to Belper and cycle in from there. Nice and mild this morning and wind not too bad. So all good! Details. Averaged between 12.7 and 12.9mph which is okay on the Boardman I'm coming to think. Am going to look to see if I can come up with a better route home tonight. Coming back into the wind was no fun at all: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113775219

Wednesday 7th September 2011
Weather not the best with light rain/drizzle all the way in but rode bike in from Belper into the Office for ten miles. Average 12.7mph on the Boardman. Details. Soon as have weight in order again am going to start having a crack with the Giant again to see what difference in time is... Ride back into wind was damned hard work. Details

Tuesday 6th September 2011
Run up town and back - steady if not awesome - less than ten minute miles. Details

Monday 5th September 2011
Played golf at Uttoxeter - steady 86 - 42 on front nine and 44 on back. Played well, lovely little course - holes all have a bit of character. Details

Sunday 4th September 2011
All over shop but not body magicing in any shape or form! Fetched a tent from Cauldon Lowe and a gas bottle from Kilburn. Am getting ready for a camping sess you think?!? Set the tent up - a Vango Gamma 450 and I reckon it'll be a great weekend tent - took us 15 minutes tops to set up and less to take down and it's pretty big if a bit low - 5'

So all good.

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