RPM vs the great outdoors

"Ride the Calorie Killer" says the wall of a small, bicycle-packed room at our local sports centre. This room is the home of an exercise class called "RPM" (TM), which is what most people would call a "spinning" class.

I've been to this class once before a few months ago - but Sally and I both went along last night. Her first time, my second.

In theory - because I like cycling - this should be my ideal workout. 45 minutes of intense cycling, to the beat of a good selection of music, with simulated time trials, hill climbs, and interval training.

Yet, though Sally really enjoyed it and felt great afterwards, I don't like it. Most people come out of it tired but energised and feeling good. But, as I did the first time I went, I came out feeling rubbish, and I've still feel pretty rubbish nearly 24 hours later.

Theories for not liking RPM:

1. I naturally push myself when exercising so having someone else shouting at me to push myself harder still just makes me overdo it.
2. I generally don't like people telling me what to do when I think I know what I'm doing anyway.
3. The heat! I sweat a LOT so being in a crowded room full of people all working at near-maximum power output is quite uncomfortable for me and my body loses a lot of fluid - maybe that's not good for me.
4. Perhaps I'm just not used to pushing myself that hard and how it feels afterwards. Perhaps I'm worrying about nothing. Perhaps I should just make sure I eat and drink enough beforehand, and have a proper recovery time afterwards.

I WILL go again. I was particularly tired yesterday so maybe it was just a bad day to do it. But overall I'd much rather be outside - even in the rain. Having the countryside whizzing passed, clocking up real miles, wind keeping you cool with real hill climbs and no one shouting at me to "TURN IT UP!!!". Much nicer.

11000 miles and everything's falling apart.

Something else that's new to me this year is owning a half-decent car. We bought a 6-year old Peugeot 206 when we moved to Swindon. It's actually the second car I've owned but the first one was old enough and small enough to be easily repairable and this second purchase has entered me into the realm of the "modern" car.

Initially I had BIG regrets about this as it broke down twice, in quite dangerous situations, in the first couple of months. When I say broke down I mean that the engine just stopped for no apparent reason.

After MUCH work convincing the garage that there really was something wrong, they finally identified that the intermittent fault was an old relay which, when it go too hot, cut out most of the electrics - including the spark plugs! We did get it fixed, and the car has been running fine now for some time.

However - having just reached our first 10,000 miles it, the engine has developed a nasty rattle which the garage want £200 just to take apart and diagnose (and then another £200 to put it back together). What with MOT's and insurance and depreciation and servicing, I'm starting to question the value of owning a car.

But I'm continuing to cycle and this week's mini celebration is that the odometer on my cycle computer says that I finally clocked 1,000 miles. Only took 9 months, which is pretty rubbish really. Must start upping my distances!

But that milestone also came at a price too as my bottom bracket disintegrated and the batteries on my cycle computer finally got low on power and needed replacing.

It's been an expensive month!!!

Finally...SPD's!

Yay! I finally forked out and bought some SPD "clipless" Pedals (Shimano M424's) and some cycling shoes (Specialized Tahos).

I'm very happy with them now but I learned a few lessons along the way.

Replacing pedals

The man in the shop caused some confusion about which way the pedals were threaded. He suggested the intuitive method (you'd expect them to be threaded so that they tighten when you pedal) but it doesn't work like that. For reference the RIGHT pedal has a NORMAL thread and the LEFT pedal is backwards.

Unclipping yourself

I was initially a bit scared of falling off so I went for a ride up and down the alleyway at the back. Where I learned that I tend to fall off to the left. So though my brain decided that, because I'm right footed, I should unclip my right foot first, that also turns out to be counter-intuitive. Actually, it does make sense if you think about it harder: I use my right foot to "lead" when I start pedalling, PLUS, when I stop I normally have the kerb on my left. So when I stop I naturally remove my left foot and put it down, and I lean left to make that happen.

So, with pedals replaced, brain correctly programmed to unclip left-foot-first, I set out on a short ride and managed not to fall off at all!

My thighs hurt today though - the action of applying force for the full "cycle" of the crank means that you use other muscles...so more training may be required before I get fully up to speed.

We'll watch the speeds with interest!

12 mins and 40 seconds

Sorry, but if you understand my own internal competitiveness with myself you'll understand why this is worthy of its own post.

Yesterday I set a new personal best for my ride home from work of 13 minutes and 49 seconds, thanks to a new route from my friend Mike and a strong tailwind.

Today I smashed that, doing 12 minutes and 40 seconds! Thanks today to a slight tailwind and some nice traffic lights!

I may as well throw my cycle computer away now as I'll never beat that.

Of course, if I want something to aspire to then there's my sister's friend who just cycled
John O'Groats to LAnds End in 7 days. SEVEN DAYS!!!! See here: http://rogjogle.blogspot.com/2007/07/stats-and-route.html

Naturewatch: Our new Bonsai Tree!

At one of our friend's weddings we were fortunate enough to win the Bonsai tree that was used as a table decoration. This is my latest nature fascination.

Sadly, as we went on holiday for a week it got a bit neglected and dropped lots of leaves. With some TLC, lots of water and the sunniest place in the house there are lots of new buds forming. I'm worried about the fact that we've got hard water though - it's not supposed to like that. Hmm...