Blog 2!
Tuesday, 10th January 2021
08:25
Have I settled in?
Yes, I have settled in quite well thankfully. The team house is super nice, its got a big kitchen, nice bedroom, nice dog barking in at the window every morning….. Lol. The Delko guys are also super nice, everyone speaks a little English so its good! We all did a ride today and did our efforts together which was interesting.
The food is also super nice! I made myself some spaghetti the other night for dinner but I added a 'spicy' sauce that a Norwegian team member recommended, and if you know me I have always finished a meal but the spice near killed me, I'm pretty sure it could cure Covid!! My lips still burn 3 days later… and no I have not ate any frogs yet.
The weather.
As much as I would like to flex on everyone about the weather I can't! Its -2 degrees to about 10 o clock then rises up to around 5 at maximum but its still really sunny, no clouds to be seen. I went on a ride with my Ethiopian team mate and I felt so sorry for him, he wears 3 base layers, 2 gloves and 2 overshoes to go training and still looks like an ice cube at the bottom of the decent! It’s a strange feeling tho, its -2 but doesn’t feel too cold whereas -2 at home you are constantly thinking about a finger falling off. I think maybe because its so dry you don’t feel it as much, I don’t know?
How did I start cycling?
The question that gets asked a lot. It started back when I was 12 years old, 7 years ago. Its been the quickest 7 years! My uncle had a road bike and It looked a lot of fun to ride with the funny looking handlebar and the skinny tyres. The next Christmas I got a road bike, it was a Viking and if you know them they are a little yellow thing and weighs the same weight as an 8 pole gate. I would spend all day on it. I would leave the house in the morning and would tell mum I would be home by dark, I loved it!
Then 1 year on I got a better bike and joined with Ballymoney Cycling Club, I made some of my best friends there that are still really close to me. I also would take part in the Sunday group rides with Glens CC, and I would hang on for about 2 hours then blow my lights out, but each week I would hang on a little longer. I feel them rides brought me on a lot!
What do you think about when out on the bike?
A funny one this! 'is it raining over there', 'which way now', 'still 4hrs to go' 'my legs hurt', 'what will I have for dinner tonight', 'not a bad day'. Pretty much whatever comes to mind! I also sing a lot down quiet roads. Or when im with Tom Moriarty we sing together.
But I love having company training, especially on long endurance rides when you have no efforts to focus on. I have this habit, even when I know the route I will always make a route on my wahoo as I like knowing how far I have to go and it helps with exploring new roads.
Your daily routine.
A lot of people have this impression cyclists eat, sleep, bike and repeat and don’t get up too much but I try mix things up a lot.
I wake up at 7 and drag myself down to the coffee machine and get a well fuelled breakfast on my training days, then I freshen myself up and then go through social media for about 30mins before getting ready for my ride.
Then I train.
I come home, shower and make the meal I had been thinking about for 4 hours! Then I would maybe take a 30min nap depending how hard the ride was. Then I would do one hour of stretching and core stability most days. Make dinner, maybe play some play station with friends, or watch Netflix and then into bed for 10 o clock.
But I try mix it up. I spend maybe four hours a week on my enduro bike also when at home, improving bike handling and having fun! And from the months from October to January I would go a run sometimes as I enjoy it but its not so good for my knees.
Pretty basic!!
Scariest moment on a bike?
World Champs TT, Yorkshire. It was caught on photo as well! I did that corner a lot of times when riding the course but when you come into it at race speed it’s a different story, I could hear my tyres screaming for grip. Thankfully I kept it upright. The main thing here was to not look at the curb! I could hear Martin in my ear piece saying his prayers.
Knee down joey!!!
My thoughts.
I'm sat here writing this at the end of my bed in France.
I like to spend some time in the evening on FaceTime to my family and girlfriend and asking how their day was and getting updated on what's happening at home.
Now that settled in I have made good friends with my team and I get along well with them.
I'm just hoping the Covid pandemic will clear up soon so we can all see some normality.
I'm riding to training camp tomorrow which is 100k. From Valares down to the coast to La Garde, I think it will be good because don’t enjoy car journeys.
But I think my condition is ok for January and everything is where it needs to be for camp, who knows I could be taking back what I said next week! But I think its important to picture myself as strong as everyone else. If not I have extra motivation to get stronger.
I want to upload a blog every Sunday evening as I think its a good time when everyone gets sat down with a cuppa. Talking about cuppa, I miss good tea! Coffee here is good but I like sitting down in the evening with a big fat cup of tea in my sports direct cup and if you know the cup it could flood the house!
If you have made it this far thanks for reading and I was blown away by the reviews on the last one, even from my English teacher, no pressure now. If anyone has questions please message me and I will answer on here!
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