New Beginnings!

Happy New Year!

First day back in 2019 – my legs felt stickier than the sticky toffee pudding I had on Christmas day. Not to mention my stomach, which felt heavier than all the Christmas cake I was putting away. There was a fair amount of squeaking from the bike on the way in, obviously not happy at leaving the garage again either.

Anyway, at least the weather is unseasonably mild and the lack of motorists (obviously too lazy to get back to work as well as exercise) meant that there were no shouts of ‘wait in the queue like the rest of us’ – which has to be the classic and best of 2018. The thought of the cycle home is not overly appealing, however much more appealing that trying to stay awake at my desk after the Christmas break.

At least this year started with only a 2 day working week. It is always less of a struggle than having to go in for the full 5 days. Also, my bag is full of leftover Christmas snacks (Christmas cake, chocolates, etc). Hopefully my kids aren’t reading this…

Anyway, the first 2 days passed without much concern. As mentioned above my Vitus (current winter bike as shown above) was squeaking quite badly on the first morning. Thinking this was just due to lack of use over the holidays and requiring a splash of oil on the chain I just kept going until I got to work. When placing it in the bike shed I noticed the rear wheel did not freewheel very well, and this was caused by the rear brake caliper being stuck on. Hmm, maybe my sluggish start could be put down to the extra resistance of my brake…

Having freed the caliper I was eager to feel the rush of power as all my effort made its way to the road on my route home. Sadly, my lack of any real exercise over the 2 week Christmas shutdown and much intake of cakes led to it being almost as much of a slog as the morning.

Still, it’s always good to get back in the saddle and bank a few more miles towards the end of year target.