Ronda Cycling

Remember a couple of months ago I proudly boasted of having sold the car and bought a bike instead, and then a couple of weeks after that I mentioned boasting doesn't become me?

Well, all of that seems so long ago now, in fact these days I'm perfectly comfortable riding the 14km round trip into Ronda and not really thinking much of it. Today I'm even attempting two trips into Ronda, a combined distance of 28kms.

I know, you're all really jealous, I can feel it as you read this post. My fitness has improved that much, I feel better, I look better, and my mental acuity is improved, although on that score I should mention I've always been a brightspark but now I feel almost superhuman.

Of course two months isn't really enough to make me a superman, and the camera obstinately refuses to show the real me that I see in the mirror every morning, instead preferring to show me a version of myself from a few months ago before I started cycling; those were the days where I may have been lucky to drink a glass of water every other day yet happily drank 18-20 cups of coffee per day. Read More

You recall I've been rabbiting on just a bit about getting out and cycling the Serrania de Ronda? I've been feeling really good from a motivational point of view.

Two of our neighbors are keen cyclists, one of them is very good and can make the trip between Sevilla and Ronda in almost the same time as a car, OK, a little slower, but seriously, if it takes 90 minutes to drive, this guy will arrive 15 minutes after that on his road bike.

He's super fit, and our other neighbor who is also a keen cyclist regularly goes out into these hills for much much longer distances than I can manage.

Anyway, I hadn't really thought very much about their fitness or skill with two wheels, I just know that at some point I've been saying things like cycling is wonderful, it's great for fitness, and other things like yeah, give me couple of months and I'll be as fit as you guys.

They would snigger, good naturedly, and just look at each other. I took this to be friendly banter and nothing to be concerned about. Then the other day I noticed one of them coming back from his ride wearing the full outfit of the local cycling club, which is the same club that compete in the Tour of Spain and other big cycling events.

Then last night the other half is chatting away to the other neighbor and it slips out that in his younger days he broke a world record, he was a world champion cyclist, that he is still a professional cyclist who earns his income from prize money.

I'll give you three guesses how I feel after having been the bigshot saying I'd be as fit as them soon, something deep inside me is now saying it might take a little longer, perhaps a lot longer.

For the last week and half I haven't been able to get out on my shiny new bike. Cycling the Serrania de Ronda is hard work and the motor on the bike died, or at least appeared to die.

A friend spotted a wiring problem that with a bit of jiggling got the motor working again, however the fault isn't completely fixed, I suspect the wire is attached but loose and possibly not connecting 100% of the time. It's a closed unit so I'm not sure I'm going to be able to fix it, and the shop I bought it from is closed for a 3 week holiday.

So, picture a slightly overweight guy, just getting his stamina back, then not able to ride the bike and having to make do with walking, and then two weeks later getting back on said bike and thinking he can just power up his muscles and go cruising around the mountains.

Yeah.

That's what happened this morning. Said overweight guy had no idea the human body could lose so much condition in two weeks, worst of all, the walking around the hills we've been doing hasn't been much help. Different muscles getting used. Read More