I admit defeat!
Ok I will admit defeat and accept that at present I’m not going to get any cycling done for a while. In fact I’ve been thinking I might have to knock the training program on the head until Christmas.
It was bad enough knowing the evenings are getting darker and the days shorter, which meant no more trails through the cooling sunny shadows. But now with these courses and the extra homework I don’t think I’m going to have much time to myself at all. Of course there will still be the odd week end when I can get out and about, (lucky the Sudbury Cycle Club have just started their Sunday sessions) but it is looking more like the bikes will sit in the shed until life settles down a bit.
I’m Not As Thunk As You Drink I Am!!
Yesterday i returned from my annual boating trip on the Norfolk Broads. It comprises of a three day boat hire with 9 mates to sail, relax, bond and indulge on the occasional glass of sherry, this year aboard the Superior Gem 4!
Ok so we managed a fairly good effort of over 350 beers in 60 hours and that was just on the boat, many more were consumed out in pubs, clubs and towns, plus we had to sleep in that time period as well!! Either way, we faired up a bit better than this family who must have a sinking feeling!
As we sat at Great Yarmouth Yatching Station on sunday afternoon, i noticed a bit of a frackard going on in the harbour masters office. As he walked out, i enquired as to what was going on. He informed me that a hire boat had struck a channel marker pole between Breydon Water and the entrance to Great Yarmouth Harbour. Armed with a freshly lit cigarette and a healthly full can of Foster’s, myself and two others went to investigate. We stood and watched the boat take in water while the Great Yarmouth Fire Service desperately tried to pump it out. Within 10 minutes, the fight was over and the boat was lost, leaning on one side and presumed hitting the bottom. At this point my beer ran out, so it was back to the boat for a top-up and a quick grab of the camera. A good bit of entertainment for a sunday afternoon!!
Tour de Lance
It was sort of decided before the race began that if Lance Armstrong finished this Tour de France then he would be standing on the podium, with 6 tour wins already the chance of making it seven was too tempting, even he admitted that he could not just ride the tour, he had to win it.
After Stage 18 Armstrong is already nearly three mintutes ahead of the next man; Ivan Basso and with the final leg back to Paris today and the time trails left on Saturday it only goes to say that on Sunday’s final day of racing, Armstrong will get his seventh win.
Seventh but last win of the tour, it was announced that he would retire after this and concentrate on other important parts of his life; the Livestrong foundation being number one. So for team Discovery Channel (old USPS) this leaves them captain-less, who could fill Armstrong’s shoes?
There are a lot of rumours and whispers in and around the tour at the moment as to who is going to sign with who for the next years riding.
Good luck to all riders and don’t worry Monday you can rest!
Not bad for Aston
Despite the wonderful weather that Sudbury was enjoying over the week end most of my time was spent keeping an eye on the Le Mans 24h race.
For me this was going to be an interesting year, Pescarolo on the front row ahead of the Audi R8’s, yep that’s right ahead of them. Plus the biggest news since the return of Bentley; the return of Aston Martin in the GT1 class with two Pro-Drive prepared DBR9’s.
The first few hours were looking great for both Pescarolo and Aston with the bookies class leading favorites; Audi and Corvette, settling for second place. But the race would soon change, stop/go penatilties for the lead Aston and gearbox trouble on the Pescarolo put the thoughts of wins to the back of the mind. Some serious racing during the night and early hours put both teams back in the running until it all turned sour.
Sorry but I’m not going to re-trace the whole race but let just sum it up:
vroom
puncture
more gear box problems
another puncture
vroom
vroom
leaking Aston
Aston in pits
Aston out of fuel
vroom
whoops lost it
look out tire wall
ouch Pescarolo out
Aston out of pits
puncture, again!
not looking good
just be proud you finished!
All in a very good race and if only both teams can sort out the teething problems and increase the realibility then it could be interesting next year, except Audi will be bringing the new R8…
Enjoy the sun
Lucy and I hit the roads and enjoyed the sunshine this morning. It was by far one of the hottest days we have had this year and after a quick climb out of Sudbury we stopped to enjoy the view of what there was on offer. After the breather we set off again and carried on round the local countryside only to find ourselves at a lovely ford just outside Arga Fenn were we sat just chilling for a bit.
