What did 2015 look like?

Yes is that time of the year when we come to look back and see what this year left us... In my case it was a year full of ups and downs but where I want to remember that I finish better that the way I started..

You remember how my year began?

At the end of 2014 they just removed the cast of my leg and at the start of this year I wasn't even allowed to step on this leg...

After a few weeks the doctors gave me the OK to start doing some "light" cycling indoors... Light cycling hahahaha...!!!! But so it began the route back to be on my feet...

It wasn't long after I got back on the trainer or turbo trainer like my friends here in the UK called it that someone recommended me certain indoor product to keep me motivated during my rehab period.. That was the start of a new friendship with the program..The developers and a whole new lot of other people riding indoors for different reasons.... That was the start of Zwift and me...

And the picture from the top explains how much time I spent on the bike when I wasn't able to do anything else basically.. 4305 km indoors..! That is a lot of time on the saddle..!!! But it really helped me to get back on my feet and walk almost normal now... Funny memory?? after a few sessions with the physio they told me "Keep doing whatever you are doing at home" that is much better then anything else they could do for me....

But to me was easy to spend that amount of time on the bike.. I had the support of my family and friends from all over the world.. And that made the whole rehab process much easier..

The key moments of the year? Let me think for a minute... If I had to pick one... YES..!!! Has to be the +Giro d'Italia +Discover Northern Ireland  you know the event to remember the time that the Giro started here in Belfast..

What was this all about? It was somewhere around 200 km of misery, rain, wind and cold weather that lasted over 7:30 hours... Where I had the pleasure of meeting a cycling legend like Stephen Roche...

Where Richie Porte was riding as well but I could not take a shot of him.. (he missed it)

There was lots of people, the organization was very good but I hope they do better with the rest stops and the food that they give there... Gels and whatever the other stuff was is not enough.. But they know they messed that part up...

But after all the hard hours on the saddle it was all worth it when I finally got home to get the kiss of my personal podium girl...

The +Strava link to the route of that event?? Giro di Italia Northern Ireland 2015

After June the weather was up and down... We didn't have a real Summer and that truly bothered me.. I never got into a real rhythm where I was comfortable on the bike.. So my fitness was on and off as well...

Had good months and bad months...

So now that we hit the end of the year I look at my numbers and see:

DISTANCE: 9536 KM

TIME ON THE SADDLE: 362.5 HOURS funny.. Almost 1 hour a day in average..

It was a great year if you considered where I was coming from... Now that we reached the end of it all I can do is look back and say THANKS to everyone involved in my getting back on the bike and almost at 100 % in everyday activities...

Thanks for reading and sharing

Pablo

The Report Guy

The Weekend Report Club Strava

It stopped raining...!!! Hurry up..! Lets go for a ride..!

I rode outdoors...!!!

Since work and life messed up with my training this I decided to actually slow down and back up a little with all the training… I was very tired all week legs felt made out of lead and I wasn’t enjoying the training anymore… That said… yesterday I had a complete lazy day where all I did was wash my commuter..

Today was a nice cold day where the rain gave us a break so I went out for a ride..!! Or maybe 2 rides?
First since I was planning to take it easy I took the CX bike and joined the B team at 7:30 to head out for a steady ride with some fair weather..

The boys before sunrise

I got the feeling people was chasing me today….

But this one has to be my best shot of the week… Sunrise..!

Finally sun light..!!!

And as I was riding by Samson and Goliath I had to try to take a picture..

So my ride became two rides.. as I joined some of the other guys on what they called a little more after the traditional Sunday Ride… Next time I have to ask what a little more means… At this point I had like 40 km on my legs at a nice steady pace.. Now it was time to go for a little more..

The little more involved all climbing..! over 800 meters in less then 60 km.. I haven’t climb that much in who knows how long.. Add to this all I had was a sandwich and a cup of coffee for breakfast.. Only a small water bottle and I was riding the CX bike… PERFECT RECIPE..!! To what you are asking? To meet the guy with the hammer…!!! No it wasn’t Thor.. It was Mr Bonk.. around 80 km I felt like shit and couldn’t pedal anymore… Well fast anyways.. And we were still going up and down the Black Mountains… Pedaling squares and seeing cakes and empanadas in my head…Till we reach the final point up, then I had a little to drink before the downhill and it was some sugary stuff that helped with the final push home for a nice 105 km and 1139 meters or so said +Strava 

Now I am ready to go to bed and sleep till Tuesday...

Thanks for reading and sharing

Pablo

The Weekend report Guy

True Belfast weather

Hello friends..!

Has been a while since my last post right? Well is sort of hard to find motivation to write anything lately...

Life is getting better and we are all healthy... We are all working and the kids going to school.. So life is falling into the normal category... I was off work for a long time and that was not good at all...

Well when it comes to riding let me tell you that I have a nice commute every day when it comes to riding to work.. Is 10 km each way where most of it is on cycling lanes or even cycling paths.. The infrastructure here is very nice and seems like a lot of people uses bikes to get around.. Lets face it is faster then the car in a lot of cases.

Everything is great right? Almost..! The only problem is that is raining every day...!!! No I am not exaggerating.. !! Is really wet here..!! OK we have different kind of raining here.. Light... Drizzle.. Hard... And biblical proportions..!

What you don't believe me??? Look at this..!!!

Man and I had 3 mini lakes this day that I had to cross that day... As you can see it goes from side to side of the street and over the side walk (is a cycling path there as well)

To all this lovely weather you need to add the wind factor.. Yesterday coming from work felt like climbing invisible hills for 30 minutes.. And you had to keep in mind the wind while riding in between buildings or a car go by you.. It was very interesting..

Did I mention that it seems to be always dark? I leave the house at 7 am... (dark this time of the year) and leave work somewhere before 5 pm when is also dark... Good thing I look like a Christmas tree on the bike and this helps riders see me right away.. (and I prefer to lose a minute here and there and no my life in a minute)

But Sometimes it stops raining and you can enjoy the place a bit more and spot some great images...

Thanks for reading an sharing

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy