I got kind of caught out the other day. I cycled to North Berwick as I do on a regular basis and had a really good run. I called a friend around mid day and he decided to come with me. Our intention was to cycle out there and get a train home. We had a really good run because we had a strong tail wind blowing up down there.

When we got to North Berwick we discovered we had just missed a train and there wasn’t another one for an hour. Not wanting to hang around North Berwick for an hour we decided we would just cycle home.

Its only when you turn around and start cycling into the wind, you discover how strong the wind is. Wind makes a massive difference to ride as a journey on the wind can’t feel half the length as the same jouney into the wind. We cycle back up as far as Longniddry and got the next train there.

It is important to know the wind direction before you set off and plan your cycle ride accordingly. I have the option of the train back from the east coast, but if you didn;t have a train nearby, it is important not to get caught out because cycling back into a headwind can make it a long way home. Always plan to cycling out into the wind, so that the wind is behind you on the way home. If the wind is coming from the west , start your ride by going west into the wind and coming home on the wind.

I have a favorites tool bar at the top of my web brouser and one of my buttons on the tool bar  takes me straight to the Met office local forcast. The first thing I look at is the wind, how strong itsn going to be and what direction its blowing in. This is, for me,  the most important weather factor and knowing that enable me to plan my ride accordingly. I can cope with a little bit of rain if I have to, but knowing the wind is the most important thing.

Cycling, like most other sports, is usually more fun to do in a group or with others. The beauty of it is being able cycle along mile after mile and have chats with the people around you make for really sociable times and there can’t be many sport that allow you to do that.  However, when with others there is almost always a difference in ability between the riders and someone have to end up going a bit harder to try and keep up with the rest. That’s exactly what happened to me last week.

I have some good friends from Edinburgh Road Club who I cycle with and, being in ERC, they are extremely fit and could leave me behind any time they fancied. We cycle together a lot however, and they usually wait for me. However, sometimes I really have to push myself to keep up.  Last wednesday we did 40 mile in a morning and were back into time for lunch at 12.30. I maybe kept up for ten miles or so, but chased them for the other  30 miles! By the time I got back I was exhausted, but how good training was that?

I really appreciate going out cycling with good athletes like them because it help me to push myself and get better and better. I could plod along at my own pace for mile after mile and, although I would be fit, I wouldn’t get the same cardiovascular work out as I get from being pushed. This is why I like going with the road club, because I push myself to be fitter and fitter. So my advice to anyone in training is to get some friends, or join a club, that you know will push you to the limits. The next time you go out on your own after a hard run like that, you’ll feel like you can fly!

On a Monday morning, there can’t be many better ways to start your week off then with a biek ride down the coast, and thats exactly what I did this week. I had to be back in Edinburgh by 1pm so wondered how far I could get and how good a run I could have knowing that I had a time limit.

I got to Gladsmuir in an hour which I was pretty impressed by, I must of had a pretty strong tail wind and have had my porridge. I went over to the cost and went by the riding school where I ride on a thursday. When I got there I met a friend Kim who was saddling up horse that I normally ride and was about to take her out for a run. I started riding a horse called flora a few weeks ago and I fell in love with her. She is a great horse and always does what I tell her.

When I left the riding school it was just begging to rain and, unsure that I would make it to North Berwick for the 11.30am train, I thought I would catch the train at Drem which I did.I have a fantastic conversation on the train with a complete stranger. This gentleman turned out to be a music journalist over from Los Angeles to cover the Lammermuir Music Festival in Haddington. He wrote for the Huffington Post and we exchanged details our writing and had a really interesting conversation. We ended up exchanging cards and email addresses.

It just goes to show how chance encounters came about and how they can occur in the strangest of places. Who’d have thought that going out on a cycle run on your own could lead to such an interesting encounter with someone. It also shows you the benefits of being an open and approachable person who engages and talks to complete strangers. It costs nothing to be nice and brighten up the day.

I finally got back on my bike the other day,  after 2 weeks off it due to my back trouble. I didn’t go too far, maybe only about 15 miles although I felt fine after it and I’m hoping that will be the end of my back trouble.

I have no doubt I will have back pain again in the future because I have long and proud history of back trouble spanning many years. Whether or not my back trouble has been related to my cerebral palsy or not in the sixty-four thousand dollar question to which I don’t think anybody has the answer to that. What I do know and can say without any doubt, is that my back and other joint pain has greatly been reduced by my cycling and exercise in general.

While I was suffering form back pain, I racked my brain to try and think of a reason as to why I should be so sore and the conclusion that I came to was stretching. I don’t normally do a lot of stretching after my cycle runs, and I don’t know what came over me that time, but after after a hot shower I decided to stretch. Among other stretched I bent right over and down to touch my toes. I was actually feeling pleased with myself that I was able to do that.

A couple of days later when my back pain was at its worst, I picked up a copy of cycle weekly and found and article on stretching. The piece talked about the importance of stretching and gave a number of diagrams of the kinds of stretches to do, and importantly, what not to do. Right there was a picture of someone bending down to touch their toes and a big X next to it  and text saying saying, don’t’ do this! Could this have been what cased my back problems?

Stretching is really important  when exercising but I think I have shown that you have to be careful how you stretch and you have to know what your doing. Knowing the right stretching movements is really important. Perhaps I have just learned the hard way. I would like to think that this will be the end of my back problems but given my history I would be very  surprised.  I think for me in it a case of managing my body as best I can and taking as little risks with it as possible.  I will continue to stretch my legs after cycling but my back seems really fragile and I’d hate to hurt it again in the future so, for the time being, I will leave touching my toes for another time.

First things first, I’ve never taken part in a cycle race in my life and am not planning to either, although I consider the cycling I’m doing as a form of training as well as a recreation. Since I joined the Edinburgh Road Club (ERC), I have taken my cycling a lot more seriously and it has, among other things, inspired me to write this blog.

As I mentioned in my last post, cycling has many facets and I don’t this we are in any way restricted to stick to one of the other. I cycle out of the shear love and enjoyment of it, but at the same time I do it be fit. The fitter and stronger I am, the more enjoyment I get from cycling as the effort to do longer and more enjoyable rides becomes less and less.

Many members of the ERC don’t race but instead enjoy the company and fun of riding out in a big group. I really enjoying cycling in  a large pack and by attending clubs such as ERC, you learn how to do that safely. Again, the fitter and stronger I have become, the easier riding in a group became and the enjoyment you get from it just gets bigger and bigger.

I don’t know if I have cleared anything up here, but the common threads seems to be pleasure and enjoyment. The fitter I have become, the easier cycling has been and the enjoyment has got greater. So wherever level you are cycling at, the more you train and practice, the fitter you are and the easier it becomes. This can only lead to more enjoyment of cycling where you are doing it as a sport, as a recreation or for transport.  Train, be fit, enjoy.