I Can Take a Joke, But...

Maybe I should rename this blog 'Be Warmer Tomorrow', but I'm not too hopeful!

Several weeks of too wet, too icy and too much else to do means I can't help but feel wistful for those uncannily warm days just twelve weeks ago...

This was Hadrians Wall on 10 September:



And this was the start of our return journey, coast to coast, at Workington on 11th:

It was as warm at it looks.

Roll on spring!

Roy

Some Tips on Climbing

Some tips on climbing technique in this brief video from Livestrong:



All I'd add to this is that it's a lot easier to anticipate what gear to use when you've got more experience behind you (and unfamiliar hills can still catch you out).

Secondly, once you're on the hill, unless you're racing it's better to be in too low a gear and pedalling faster than it is to be in too high a gear and straining, especially for your knees!

Roy

Celebrate Your Successes

celebrating a very minor triumph

...but not for too long.

Reaching the top of a big climb, like the culmination of any big effort, brings a real sense of triumph. It doesn't really matter how many people have done it before, especially if it's your first time.

So we should recognise our achievement and allow ourselves to enjoy it.

Sometimes that's a hot chocolate from the cafe at the summit, as we enjoyed at the top of Hartside in September or the Col de Tourmalet two years ago. Sometimes it's the fantastic descent that you've worked so hard to earn.

In scientific terms, what you accumulate by climbing is potential energy, which you lose as you descend again. In fact, you convert some of that potential energy into kinetic energy - the rest is lost to friction - and that will get you a little way up the next hill, as you know.

But it can be disappointing to discover how quickly that energy is lost and how soon you have to start pedalling again.

So our triumphs are inevitably short-lived. Does that mean we shouldn't bother achieving in the first place?

No, because today's triumph is, if nothing else, great training for tomorrow's bigger challenge.

The biggest success stories come from people who took on the biggest mountains. And they did that after starting with the foothills and building their strength (physical or mental) with ever bigger challenges.

Because the more you do today, the stronger you'll be tomorrow.

Roy