Pedal Power

Sunday: A quick puncture repair and I'm off. A quick dash back to the house for my forgotten drink bottles and I'm off again. Spent the next three hours going up and down the Chiltern Hills like a yo-yo. I don't know who named the hills around here but they had some imagination as well as a sense of humour (remember The Crong, The Twist and The Hale from a previous post?). After Cobblershill came Hotley Bottom (great place to go after a curry?) later followed by Kop Hill amongst others.

I'd expected to get the usual cycling muscle ache not having been on the bike in ages but it didn't happen. I reckon there must be some truth in hill running using the same muscles as cycling as I also found the hills fairly easy. At least I didn't get out of the saddle once and didn't have to resort to the granny chain ring. Not bad on a squidgy mountain bike. As a long term roadie brought up on the mantra of short wheelbases and rigid frames it gripes a bit riding a bendy springy mountain bike. All that energy going into squashing springs and dampers. Suppose it doesn't matter if I'm not looking for a fast time. It felt good to be back on the bike.

The achilles felt sore during the ride but doesn't seem to have suffered for it. On Monday night I took the dog and my achilles for a test run. Did half an hour off-road, fairly flat and it felt fine. Not sure what's going on with the achilles. I can still feel it but it doesn't seem to suffer from running. Just have to keep an eye on it I suppose.

Off to bed. G'night.