Friday, 6 January 2012

Illicit pleasures

I have it on very good authority that if you want your blog to be read, you have to have the title of each post as something that is liable to show up in people's searches on the big G and the like. This obviously presents whole new possibilities, but it's quite likely to get me into trouble, so I'm going to play around with very tortuous titles this year, to see if it makes any difference at all.

Of course it might be that just like the song lyric game I played with you last year (what do you mean you never noticed?) I may get bored and give up, and they will have to be relevant. As this one most certainly is.

I had not planned to cycle today. Which of course meant the weather was perfect for riding.But I had other plans as I went to see Andy Morgan at Kinetic One bikes, this time to be properly measured and fitted for the Red Madone. I won't bore you with the technical stuff (ask me when you need to sleep) but it's surprising how little things can make a difference. (BTW would you like this blog to become a double entendre-free zone? Mrs MR says it's childish and not funny, what do you think?). It was a luxury though, or will be to have two bikes that I can sit on in total comfort for 100 miles a day. So as soon as I've got a longer stem and dropped the saddle 4.5mm, it will change the reach, and the angles of my arms so I don't get neck pain, and.....oh sorry, still awake?

I also discovered my knee is fine when I'm pedalling in straight lines, but I have to clip in and out very slowly to avoid a bit of pain. I'm certain that is how the injury happened, and the osteo reckons it will heal all by itself. I like him,  that's the kind of medical opinion I want to hear. There is a lot to be said for telling people what they want to hear, particularly when they are planning on crossing the Pyrenees again in August.

More great news is that Duratorq is coming with me, I'm really looking forward to watching his arse disappear up the road ahead of me on numerous cols and descents.

I was so fired up at all this good news, that I thought I'd head out for a quick spin on K-1 and enjoy the good weather. Checked the forecast, put something very naughty on underneath my red thermo jersey and re-checked the weather forecast for the 2 hours before sundown. Nothing to worry about, a bit of "light rain" so I thought I'd chuck on a lightweight raincoat just in case.

Imagine my horror at being spotted in Wedmore by Skip and Mr Skip, whilst I was wearing a "hi viz" rain jacket. Oh well, we've all done it, and at least my guilty secret was well hidden under two other layers.

I do at least have the satisfaction of knowing there is definitely a weather god, and that he, or possibly she, really hates me. Light rain? (imagine Jim Royal comment), soaked I was by the time I got home, lucky I took that rain jacket. Unfortunately mini Mendip Rouleur arrived home from school at the same time as me, (I'm still on holiday BTW) having attempted to re-enact the worst privations of the Battle of Passchendaele on the rugby field. Either that on they'd been making mud pies and stuffing them down each other's jerseys. Either way he got first dibs on the bath so I  had to shiver for the 4 hours it took to him to scrub himself clean.

Best of all, no knee pain at the moment, although many paracetamol have been consumed, I'll worry about the liver damage in a couple of months. Either that or get Military Nurse to rig up some kind of battlefield IV infusion of painkiller, that can be attached to the back of the seat post in the most aerodynamically advantageous position.

Happy New Year!

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