An Annual Report...?

I didn't intend this to become an annual update, but apart from a few runs and related blog entries in January - it was September 2007 since I was keeping a regular update.

I don't know how easy it will be to get some momentum back with this, or even if blogging is still popular these days. Is Facebook the new blog, I ask???

So, since January... what has happened?

Well Robert Thomas Parkes was born on 14th March, so he's 8 months old now. He's starting to crawl (more of a drag really), but the big milestone we're waiting for is him sleeping through the night!

I bought a rowing machine around that time too. The intention was to make a form of exercise available which was even more convenient than running. However, shortly after buying that we started a bathroom renovation which used the 'rowing area' as a storage space. So that put a block on rowing, and even after the bathroom was finished in about August, it took a while to start to get back into that.

So another idea came up... cycling to work!

I've had my road bike for 20 years and my mountain bike for 12 years - neither of which have been used much since leaving the UK in 1995 (the mountain bike was bought in Hong Kong, but rarely used there).

The obvious journey to work is via a very busy road (Victoria Road). So even though the journey is only about 15km, that had put me off the idea for so long. But having spoken to a few work colleagues who cycle around Sydney - they pointed out the cycle routes that criss-cross the city.

So I figured out a route, got my mountain bike serviced and fitted with new inner tubes and slick, Kevlar lined tyres (and new peddles since one peddle got lost in transit from Singapore) and was ready to go.

But the wife took a bit of convincing, then it was rainy on and off for a few weeks. So I just managed to start yesterday.

And what a success. Despite my lack of bike fitness, it is still a quicker journey from bed to office than the train. Bike takes 1:15 -which includes 10 mins getting up and ready, 45 mins cycling and 20 minutes showering & changing at work. Whereas the train takes 1:30!!

I cycled in today too. But I think I'll have to get into it slowly as I could feel that my legs were a bit more tired today. So perhaps start with a couple of days a week, a couple of days rest, a couple of days rowing and I'm sure that I'll get the strength and fitness back fairly quickly.

I think I'll stick to the mountain bike, because the route is a bit uneven and skinny tires may be a bit of a challenge. But it would be interesting to see how much quicker the road bike would be!

I'll see how the mood takes me to keep updating here...