Bag Balm - its the cows udders......

Regular readers of my blog will know that I have been suffering for the last month or so with a persistent little saddle sore and very painful it has been too. I have tried lots of different treatments, had days off the bike, bought new shorts and changed the saddle but it was still there. That is until my tin of Bag Balm arrived. Now searching the internet Bag Balm is frequently mentioned as being the dogs doo dahs as far as treating and preventing saddle sores goes. So I went in search of a UK supplier and luckily Amazon came up trumps (is there anything Amazon doesn't sell?)

Bag Balm comes from the US state of Vermont where it has been manufactured since 1899 and it comes in a lovely green retro tin as well. Now here's the thing, it was originally developed to rub on the udders of cows to soften them but if you read the Bag Balm website all sorts of people claim it cures anything and everything! Bearing in mind a lot of the testimonials were from our American cousins I did start off a bit sceptical but lo! IT WORKS! After using it for 2 days the sore has almost completely gone and today I did a 3 hour ride with no further problems. So it seems t'internet info was correct and I am now a Bag Balm evangalist. Praise be to the green tin!


To sponsor me for my epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.  

Tights and Turbos

The current spell of very cold weather has really curtailed my training for a few days its just been too cold! What has not helped is the fact that my winter tights actually fell apart after 6 weeks so I had returned them for a warranty claim to the excellent wiggle online shop. Normally I would have been sent a replacement but they were out of stock so I got a full refund instead. "It's spring" I said "I won't need winter tights until next winter" so I didn't replace them. How wrong was I?

I remember seeing Billy Connolly talking about bad weather. "There is no such thing as bad weather, only innappropriate clothing". How true. Being out on a bike or doing other outdoor activities without the right kit at best is miserable and at worst dangerous.

So having decided it was too cold it was out with the turbo trainer. Turbo training can be really boring so spending long times on it really isn't an apotion. The trick is to try and make sessions on the turbo a lot more intense. The downside is that it hurts more and you sweat....A LOT!  To add interest you can get motivational videos from companies like Sufferfest. I particularly like their advert.

Hopefully the weather will get a little bit warmer in the next week. I have my first sportive ride coming up in 10 days time. Almost certainly going to opt for the shorter 65 mile ride.

To sponsor me for my epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page. 

New Milestone reached today!

Halfway through todays ride I passed a significant milestone. Since I started road cycling in September of last year I have completed over 2000 miles or 2026 to be precise. That doesn't include mountain bike rides or time spent on the Turbo when the weather was really atrocious. I'm quietly quite pleased with that!

Today was not a great day wetherwise, I don't mind the cold but when it comes with a reasonably strong wind its a pain. Just to show what impact it can have there is a very open and exposed road between the cattle grids at Dorney (The dorney of Olympic Rowing fame) earlier in the week I did that stretch at an average speed of a little over 20mph. Today into the wind it was just over 12mph.

I managed some reasonable hills in the ride today, I'm purposely seeking them out now not blasting up them yet but trying to ride a smooth hill without busting a gut. My Nemesis though is Hedsor Hill near Bourne End. Its the only hill so far that I have failed to get up - twice. Once because I just ran out of legs the second time more recently was a mechanical problem (chain came off ). Today I set a PR on the hill and still had plenty to give. The steepest part of the hill is just under half a mile long with an average gradient of 11%. Augers well for the Ride London though because I think the longest and steepest hill on the course (Leith Hill) is about the same.

Anyway today I am going to leave you with a picture which says why wearing Lycra is not a good look.

To sponsor me for my epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.   

New shorts and panties.....or a Mankini?

I'm still troubled by a saddle sore but I think I have discovered what is causing it and its all to do with losing weight, the once tight shorts I bought 6 months ago are now too loose and rucking up in places you don't want them rucking up! So I have had a couple of days off the bike and bought some new smaller shorts only this time I bought bib shorts. Now if anyone doesn't know what bib shorts are - think Borat from the film of the same name and his fluorescent green Mankini but with cycling shorts attached (obviously I decided against the fluorescent green as well).

I tried them for the first time yesterday in the rain and they were so much more comfortable so hopefully the saddle sore will now heal up and I will have no more trouble from it. I read on a forum recently that getting a saddle sore is a "rite of passage" so perhaps I can now call myself a cyclist or a man! BTW, the picture on the left is not me - just in case you were wondering.

Its now only 3 weeks until my first sportive in Woking, there are 2 options a 65 mile or a 90 mile. I was hoping to do the 90 mile ride but I think realistically I won't be ready for 90 miles especially as I have had to cut the training following the bike fit and the saddle sore. Maybe I'll see how I feel on the day, this will be the first real indication of where I am training wise though.

To sponsor me for my epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.   

360 degree wind...is that actually possible?

Today was hard work! Didn't seem to matter which direction I was going in I always seemed to be heading into a very strong and very cold wind. Still, a bad day out on the bike is still better than a good day at work ever was :-)  Still sticking to the lower mileage getting used to the new riding position just as well today and I can't believe the return of the cold weather. 16c last Tuesday where did that all go?

Anyway on the positive front the boil on the bum seems to be healing up and was nowhere near so painful today so hopefully I will be able to prevent any re-occurrence in the future. More importantly I am now only £5 short of my original fund raising target of £500 for Prostate Cancer UK. So thank you to all my sponsors and get your cards out if you haven't sponsored me yet!

This is a picture of me just before going out today. Not a good look is it? But it keeps me warm.

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.   

Embarrassing bodies

As recommended by Garth the bike fitter, I have had an easier week so far allowing my ageing muscles to adapt to the new riding position and I can feel it! Muscles that I obviously wasn't using before now ache! I have also over the last couple of weeks developed a saddle sore, its only small but sometimes it feels like sitting on a golf ball with thorns in it.

Now the internet is a wonderful thing especially some of the forums, so I googled treating saddle sores and it seems everyone has their own potion to rub on ranging from anti-biotic creams, creams for Acne, preparation H for piles and the wierdest one is a cream called Bag Balm which was originally used by farmers for treating sore udders on cows............a lot of people it seems swear by it

As a first port of call I'm trying Tree Oil and Witchazel cream and of course I am now using chamois cream which goes by the name of Butt-r...probably would have helped if I had been using it before I got sore. Anyways I'm a long way off getting my tackle out on C4's Embarrassing Bodies so don't expect to see me on that just yet.

Today the weather has been absolutely horrible just as well I had a planned day off riding, time that I have spent catching up on some e-mails and promoting the charity ride and I shall be going to mailshot the neighbours later. I have a modified version that I will be e-mailing out sometime soon.

And here is another picture taken by Neil Attard.

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.   

Bike fit today and its a thumbs up!

So I decided to have a bike fitting today and travelled all the way down to Southampton to see ex pro racer Garth Kruger - a really nice friendly guy. A detailed questioning, tests on my suppleness All sorts of electronic measurements made and Garth cast his eye over me pushing on the turbo as well resulting in a few quite major changes to saddle height, moving the saddle back and having a slightly shorter stem for the handlebars.

The changes have made a HUGE difference and on a 25 mile circuit that I have done many times I smashed my PB by nearly 6 minutes without really trying that hard, in fact I was told NOT to try too hard and keep ride lengths down to under 2 hours for the next 2-3 weeks to let my body adjust to the changes. More importantly my legs felt great at the end of the ride and a 10% improvement without trying too hard is very pleasing indeed.

On the sponsorship front due to the generosity of friends and family I have changed my target to £1000 and I'm sure that Prostate Cancer UK will be very grateful for all the donations made.

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.  

Happy Birthday Molly!

One of my Cats Molly had her Birthday either yesterday or is it today? Being born on the 29th Feb 2000, so happy Birthday Molly!

So a day off the bike today just to give the old leggys a bit of a rest, need to be careful not to overdo it especially at my age - thought I'd say it before anyone else did. So February finished with a total of 575 miles ridden, easily my biggest monthly total which I'm very pleased with especially considering the weather. Yesterday was a lot warmer and the sun shone but the day before was really quite cold when I started out on a long run of 66 miles in a slight misty drizzle but ended in glorious sunshine.

The long rides are coming on though, eating more on the rides is helping and although the legs never felt in great shape I finished the ride strongly which has been a problem on past longies. I also tried out my home made flapjacks. Not a huge success it has to be said, taste great, look great but crumble into tiny pieces as soon as they are touched! Not ideal when trying to eat on the move. So I think more honey and butter next time and a slightly shorter cooking time so they are not so dry and I'll skip the flour which only seems to get used in the receipe I decided to use. No other ones use it.

Now looking forward to getting more miles under my belt in March in preparation for some April Sportive rides and my May goal of the London Revolution 180 miles in 2 days round the outskirts of London. Not looking for a time on this one  - just getting round will do. Lets hope some warmer weather is on the way too, today is after all officially the first day of spring.

To sponsor me for this epic ride and to motivate me on those hard training rides then please visit my fund raising page.