Told You So - Fuji Sportif 2.1 Road Bike

There was always a chance this would happen, after spending hours researching bike makes that I was familiar with, the decision was finally made. Which means, somewhat to my surprise, I am now the proud owner of a Fuji bike.

I am still not entirely sure what swayed me into buying a make that did not originally make my manufacturer based shortlist. Maybe the specification, or discovering that they are better known than I first thought, or perhaps the understated colour. Whatever it was though I am very happy with the bike, it turned up on time and well packed from Evans Cycles, everything works perfectly, the size and riding position are spot on for me and although the pedals will need to be replaced with clip less versions at some stage, it seems to be very good value for money overall.

What had not occurred to me was just how fast a good road bike was going to be in comparison with my battered old mountain bike. The same amount of effort on the pedals has the wind whistling past your ears on the Fuji, which is fantastic, but slightly disconcerting initially. Obviously this was the point of buying it in the first place and I am sure that given a few weeks it will seem completely normal.

So part two of the triathlon plan is now in place and in fact the training has commenced. Well when I refer to training it means that my sporadic running has now been increased to everyday and a few rides have taken place, although not at any stunning pace so far, while my fitness levels increase.

Unfortunately this does not allow me to be completely smug yet as the speedo swimming goggles that arrived on my fiftieth birthday have still not been immersed in water of any type. One thing at a time though, the goggles will get an outing soon, in the mean time the gradually push back to a reasonable fitness level continues and appears to be going well so far.

Andy

Running, Cycling and Swimming - Maybe it is time for a bit of commitment.

Approaching a milestone age tends to give one thought for what should be achieved in the following decade. In my case there is a constant reminder that I will be fifty in less than a month, due to the flow of 'interesting' life insurance mail that has been arriving for the past few weeks.

However I am approaching this birthday with a sense of purpose, viewing it as an opportunity to make some commitment to my random fitness regime. Fortunately my natural build allows me to stay in shape quite easily, it also causes people to inform me that they were like this until twenty, or thirty, or even forty. Well I am about to be fifty and there is still no sign of me putting on any weight, so it seems to be genetic. 

The point about this is that I look like a long distance runner and have indeed dome some half marathons in the distant past, but none in the past twenty five years or so. I do get out and run sometimes, but it is intermittent, a couple of five kilometre days, then nothing for a week. My intention has been to put this right and start a proper schedule for a while and I am determined that this will happen.

I have also always been quite a keen cyclist, although the tatty mountain bike that gets used at present is probably not ideal for what I have in mind. You see training for and completing a triathlon has always appealed to me, there is one point which worries me though, swimming. It shouldn't really, I can swim, it just does not seem to come naturally. Obviously my genetic gains did not stretch this far as my parents were both fine swimmers, unlike me. However it may be that practice and training could me the key, when analysing my swimming it becomes clear that lazyness is the main problem.

So I shall make the effort, firstly by getting my running back on track, as it comes easily to me and will improve my fitness levels. The mountain bike will start to get a lot more use and I will venture down to the local pool and try and improve my distance and technique. There is no intention here of breaking any records, just the feeling that this could be a great personal achievement if I can manage to complete the challenge. Also my stock of excuses as to why I have never taken part in a triathlon has run out, so know is the time, probably.

Andy

Dad Land

The definition of 'dad' is a difficult one, we are after all individuals so there is no one size fits all description available. Certainly the general idea is that we are always there for our children and will love, support and teach them to the best of our ability. 

However despite all of these responsibilities there still remains a place in our heads that is probably best referred to as Dad Land. This is where a plethora of ideas rattle around, fun, childish, exciting thoughts, things to do, pipe dreams, theories, it's all in there waiting to be released. Obviously 99.9999% of the time this is exactly where all these ideas remain, but occasionally something slips out and comes to fruition.

Skydiving, road trip, trekking, well yes possibly, or it might be something much more straight forward like buying a new shed, making a fantastic kite which may, or may not, fly, taking a course in butchery, book repair, scuba diving, the list is in fact endless and probably in a large part just fantasy, but it is still all up there just waiting to escape into the real world.

Then of course there is Dad Stuff, power tools, gadgets, maps, compasses, bikes, toys, games, again a huge list, which is probably not exclusive to dads, and contains everything from our childhoods through to the present day. Scalextric, video games, board games, yes please and we are always happy to play. Compass or GPS, either or both and we know how to fold the map as well. Swiss Army Knife or Gerber Multitool, well I'm sure you get the idea, if we have it then we will attempt to use it and if we don't then we need it.

Finally for now there is sport, watching it, supporting our children and advising them on how to to it better, (part of our make up is that we do know better than our children, a theory that becomes harder to prove as they get older), and of course taking part. The last is possibly the most difficult as age does catch up however hard you try to ignore it, nevertheless this does not prevent a kick about or game of tennis with the kids, training for marathons, or squeezing into Lycra for a Sunday morning ride on road, or off.  Armchair or actual, it doesn't really matter, there is something that draws the majority of us to sport and all the paraphernalia that goes with it and there really is no point in explaining to the children how at their age you used to wear the same thick cotton football shirt for all sports if you have a collection of breathable tops for every possible situation cluttering up the wardrobe.

Andy