Kev Simpson Book of Excuses...

I think I'll need to borrow your book soon Kev! I should have ridden 2,000km by now (ODO reading 1764.4km or 1791.2km overall and therefore 208km to complete before the start of month-3, i.e. Tuesday...). What after 10-under and the kids preferring not to sleep recently, I've struggled to get out of bed in the mornings, commuting mainly one-way each day. Considering holiday season is approaching fast, some big rides are needed soon! I'm pretty excited about my new mountain bike which should be built up in the next week or two; that should put some spunk back in the old legs.

End of Week 7

[(7x250)* - 1568.8**] - (8x9x1.609***)] + 89**** = 154.4km*****

* Scheduled distance

** Current ODO reading

*** How far I managed to drag my sorry ass round the 10-under course last weekend

**** Difference between ODO reading and distance already cycled at beginning of this challenge (- subsequent offroad rides not measured)

***** How far behind 'schedule' I am now. I am in effect on 1595.65km to date. I say 'schedule' since I inadvertently but rather luckily included a safety factor of 1.083 into the schedule by basing my monthly mileage (1,000km) on 4x7day weeks, instead of calendar months. Being an Engineer however, I'd be much happier with a safety factor in the region of, say 5...I think I'd need to give up work and get a devorse Lawyer. Ten under was excellent, 15 brave guys (some of them absolute beginners) from the office took part as part of various sized teams. The course was wet and rather technical with lots of rooty off-camber wooded sections; not the easiest for novices - well done to all!

Schedule Slip-sliding..

Ended this week on 1,297km, inc Monday's MTB ride (ODO reading 1270km), which considering I should be on 1,386km by now is not a brilliant start to month 2. Bearing in mind I've got a wall to knock down on Saturday, Harris' Birthday bash on Sunday and am in the Netherlands Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday next week, I'm really going to struggle to get anywhere near 1,000k's this month. Next weekend is 10-Under the Ben - a 10hr Enduro event near Fort Bill; 10hrs offroad requires a big effort, I'll be tired the following week, but may only clock up 100k's or so in the process - this month's going to be a struggle.

Olivia rode further than me on Tuesday - having fun above at Cambus O'may.

Slow start to month 2

After a successful 1st month, I've had a rather relaxed start to my second. It's going to be catch up again for the rest of the month. I didn't ride at all Friday & Saturday - did some offroad (27km - see profile above) with Steven today and am commited to another Family day tomorrow. I'm determined to complete this challenge, but equally determined that it's not going to govern my life. I think the key will be in using my time more efficiently, by commuting more; i.e. riding to and from Aberdeen more regularly. In theory, if I did it 5 days a week, I'd cover 285km, exceeding my schedule - crawling onto my bike at 0615 in the morning however is not as easy as it used to be...

Getting Offroad today was great fun for several reasons, firstly sharing a ride and chatting with a good ol' friend is always fun, secondly I was muddying his bike (which means I didn't have to wash it...) and thirdly it happened to be a very nice Cove Stiffee (thank you very much Clubby). Getting muddy is also such a refreshing contrast to commuting over the same routes day-in-day-out. Looking forward to more of the same when I finally get my new bike built up.