August 2011 Review

As part of “keeping myself honest” and tracking my progress as I return from injury, my plan is to do a ‘quick monthly summary’ of what I’ve done on the bike, any improvements or regressions, my plan for the month ahead, plus a weigh-in.


This is the first of those monthly summaries – my August review.

Mileage: 135km
Weigh-in: 89kg.

The best I can say is that I was “back on the bike”, which I discussed previously. Rides were confined to a few cycle-commutes. There could have been more, but plenty of rainy weather and a nagging cough meant I opted out of a few chances to ride.

Good news is that I did drop 1kg of weight, and am now out of my brief flirtation with the ‘nineties’ and am down to 89kg. Whilst the rides would have helped that, its probably mainly due to being a bit more disciplined with snacking at work.

I also bought a few bits and pieces to have me ready to go equipment wise. Two lights were purchased from Cell Bikes - a “Smart super-flash” red rear light (to replace the one broken in the accident 10 months ago), and a “Bike Rider Nitestar” 900 lumen LED light. I also bought a couple of pairs of Route7 Elite bib-knicks. Reviews for all of these will be posted up after I’ve racked up some good use from them all.

So what’s ahead for September?

The main plan is to bed down some regular riding habits. I’m still avoiding riding two days in a row, so as to protect the legs from injury – given my cycle-commute is just over an hour each-way, I figure the day off between each one is warranted at this early stage of the return. The goal will be to ride Mon-Wed-Fri, which will work out to roughly 135km/week.

I’m also going to christen the month “small ring September”. I’ll be keeping the chain on the small chainring all month, to avoid the temptation to push myself too hard too soon. September is all about slowly rebuilding an aerobic base, and I figure keeping it ‘easy’ is the best way to go. There are enough hills on my commute (eg. the Gateway bridge, Queensport Rd, and the rolling hills of Creek Rd) to keep me honest and ensure I don’t slack off!!

I think that covers it off!! Let’s all hope that the weather behaves itself so that we can all make the most of some beautiful spring weather…