I’ve got a cold. It started off mildly enough, so I binned a training ride to allow it to pass. It’s got worse anyway though, so now I’ve done nothing for the last 2 days (I had a century planned for today), I’m back at work tomorrow and I’m feeling very sorry for myself. Oh, and I’ve scraped the skin off my nose from the constant snot wiping. Bah.

I’ve got to get rid of it sharpish though so I’m resisting the urge to go out running or biking until I know I’m 100% again. I’ve trained with a cold before and ended up feeling like a zombie for 4 days afterwards.

I was watching Dave Haygarth’s star 3 Peaks turn on Countryfile again earlier. If you’re doing the race or you’re remotely interested and you’ve not seen it, it’s worth a gander. Simon’s got a bit part in it too 😉

Out on the CX bike this morning in the rain again. I do know that the new studs I’ve screwed into my cycling shoes work really well on steep wet hill scrambles whilst carrying a bike, so that’s good. The rain got heavier and heavier until I got about a mile from home where it just stopped suddenly. According to Deb there had been no bad weather in Prestwich for at least 2 hours. Grrrr.

After I’d dried off a bit we went up to Horton in Ribblesdale for a pint mug of tea and a comedy double pushchair er…push up Pen Y Ghent. We got part of the way up the bridleway before the girls started to complain about the bumpiness and I started to get bored of pushing the bloody thing.

We drove back kind of around Ingleborough and I can confirm that it’s really, really steep and BIG. I have to admit I felt a bit worried. It can’t be as hard as the Cristalp though. Can it?

Me, Michael and Phil went down to Cannock Chase last night for a ride with Phil’s Cannock-based mate Greame. His house literally backs onto the Chase and he’s got a very large driveway for faffing and parking.

We rode up a bit, down a bit, along, up again, down, then joined the “Follow the Dog” trail. That’s a very nice trail actually. Very twisty and narrow in places. Michael hit 2 trees in total, the first one was a mid-air collision – a result of me riding behind him shouting “encouragement” and youthful exhuberance when he saw a jump. It was quite an experience, seeing your firstborn flying through the air headed for a large birch. He was ok, thankfully!

Sadly, the main feature of the ride was the weather. Again. It rained almost constantly apart from the last hour or so where the sky cleared, the moon shone and a herd of deer crossed our path. Ace.

Today is my birthday. I was up early as usual and had a nice ride (well, I’m saying nice. Sprinting up hills repeatedly isn’t particularly nice but there you go. Most of it was pretty sedate) for a couple of hours. Back for some breakfast and presents!

I got a canvas of ME riding a bike from my mum and dad. There’s a wall in the house that’s starting to resemble a bit of a shrine to Jason to be honest. Perhaps I should bung a few pics of the kids on there too. I got some aftershave. I got a new pair of Gore riding mitts (the fingerless type – not winter mittens!). I got an Earthed 5 DVD (ace). A personal visit and a card from my brother which I wasn’t expecting. I got a brilliant Gore windproof cycling jacket that’s all anatomically shaped and very, very orange. I got some new boxer shorts. I got a bottle of single malt….I’ve done rather well, I think you’ll agree.

We’re off out now into Manchester for a veggie meal at a great place called Oklahoma.

It’s been a quiet week, relatively speaking. Early on I did nothing but clean mud off clothes and kit (washing riding clobber in a bucket prior to putting it in the washing machine), put camping gear away and sort bikes out. There’s still a fair bit to do, including strip down the Surly and flog it. It’ll be replaced with something nice, all in good time 😉 The Surly is an ok bike, but it’s not the nicest ride really. The angles just seem a bit weird, making it handle a bit funny at slower speeds. It’s great when flying downhill though. Maybe that’s the problem…it’s a bit of a boat. It’s heavy too.

I finally managed to get some riding and running done in the last couple of days, a nice ride last night on the CX bike and a run this morning followed by a trip to the pub tonight to talk about Hit the North 2….we’re still in “will we or won’t we?” mode but we should end up with some direction. Probably beer-assisted, but direction nonetheless.

I’ve got the next week off work, spending time with the kids, a trip to Cannock Chase planned and no doubt plenty of training for the 3 Peaks, which is now looming. What would make things easier would be an improvement in the weather!

I’m also considering entering the Strathpuffer 24. A 24 hour race, in January, north of Inverness. 17 hours of darkness, plenty of ice, plenty of hardship and suffering. Ace. We’d have to make a family break of it in the Highlands to justify the ridiculous amount of diesel that would be burned just getting there and back.