Well you, son of T de F Rider...

Today I did something I hadn't done for 52 days.  Not like I was counting or anything, but yes, I cocked my leg over a bike and turned the pedals.  I managed a massive 11kms on the turbo trainer in the back garden.  About a 20 minute ride.  My legs barely noticed, but my lungs felt like I had just grimped up Alpe D'Huez in the big ring. Despite this poor performance I am hugely pleased and somewhat relieved that I managed that much without my back or ribs aching.  I sat on my bike, spinning a low gear, grinning, no headphones on, no distractions, just listening intently to my body.  In all honesty, waiting for something to give in, crack or fall off.  Thankfully nothing did. It was a big leap forward considering that at the beginning of July I couldn't walk more than two steps without getting out of breath.  I couldn't bend over, couldn't dress myself, was generally in a terrible state living on morphine to allow me to be able to breath in dee...

I can now state "My season is in ruins"... ...and it was all going so well. I'm sorry to report I've had a major "off" descending the Coll de Femenia last Monday (13th June). I had just picked up a hire bike in Puerto de Pollensa for few hours of pedalling in the sun and mountains of Majorca this week in-between lying in the sun with a few beers and lazing in the pool. Unfortunately all those plans have been ended by over cooking a corner a few turns down from the top of the Femenia.  I had just spent, what felt like forever dragging myself up the 7.7km climb in 29 degrees heat.  It had occurred to me more than once on the way up, "what the hell am I doing?  I could be lying by the pool".  Still, I pressed on and eventually reached the summit.  Obviously I stopped to take the obligatory selfie. A happy Scott only a few minutes before the crash I then set off back down towards Pollensa and the sanctuary of the hotels pool/bar. A car...

You would probably guess that most people would say that they don't think about where they sit on a bus. But a recent study using 4 years worth of data* suggests otherwise.  This applies mainly to the frequent bus user in particular as they use previous experiences of bus rides to influence their decision. Infrequent bus passengers are initially distracted by the novelty factor to make any sort of calculated choice. This research is based on frequent  commuter passengers typically spending over 20 minutes on each journey. First of all, the bus type plays a big part in seating tactics. For example the back seats on a single decker bus are viewed very differently to the back downstairs seats on a double decker or indeed the upstairs back seats. Here's a break down of the areas and my advice on where to sit to achieve the ultimate goal for a sole traveller... A double seat to yourself... Lets face it.  First aim is to sit by yourself.  Secondary to that...

I discovered from Twitter, I think, that racing is returning to Birkenhead Park this year.  This prompted me to writing a little blog on my experiences through the 80's and early 90's of my all time favourite course. I actually raced around the park on 44 separate occasions and won there 6 times. Before I get into the story of my times racing round the park, I will give a little background history, on the park itself. (Oh blimey, I'm almost writing an informative blog!) For the uncultured of you reading this, Birkenhead Park was opened in 1847 and was the first park built with public money, after the town of Birkenhead asked Parliament for the powers to use the money to build a municipal park.  More famously though, the designer of New York's Central Park  Freddy Olmsted visited Birkenhead Park and used some of the features from it in his design for Central Park. Birkenhead Park has recently been the subject of an £11.5 million renovation, fund...