It's still about the bike

The Olympics are well and truly under way and all eyes are now on the London track.  Wiggo fever has gripped the nation and Paul's BIkes is being inundated with requests for road bikes.

Since I last blogged I've really been focusing on getting fit since my crash in April.

I've not been able to bring myself to write too much as I have been a bit apprehensive about getting back on to form and to getting close to some of the targets I had set myself when I decided to get back in the saddle at the close of last year. And to be honest, I've focused on proving myself on the road, rather than on the page. There's nothing like pinning a number on to expose yourself to peers and competitors - and also to yourself. How good are you? As good as the timekeeper tells you. With that in mind I've lived and breathed the bike. To detriment of other things at times but hey. You only live once.

Since my titanium clavicle upgrade I have pretty much dialled in to getting my diet right and also getting the right kind of miles in and getting dialled in mentally to suffering on the road and then enjoying the races.

I've been very fortunate to have some great support from many quarters and some very fond wishes from fellow club mates, rivals and other testers on the local circuit. It is wrong to single people out but Andy Herbert has been a big factor in my recovery, partly because of his direct support and secondly because of his racing ability and infectious sense of humour. Thanks Andy!

Andy Herbert at the IC25

Between Morphine imbibing and riding again in earnest I also volunteered was stitched up to help run the HNCC open 25. Supporting Neil Fraser and the rest of the Nomads was no real chore and being off the bike gave me something to do. I learnt a lot simply by watching and listening. It also gave me the chance to attempt to coach some team mates and offer words of advice. Some people even listened.

Ben, James, James, Mark, Nick, Nigel, Keith - at the IC25.

Seeing juniors Ben Wilson and Ryan Witchell develop has been rewarding and I'll probably find the time later in the off-season to get BCF a coaching course under my belt. I've even managed to beat them recently - that won't happen too frequently I suspect.

Despite not riding I ended up being roped in to help run Neil JJ Fraser's excellent HNCC open 25.

Pinning a number on for the first time around the HNCC course on 29 May 2012 and just nipping under "evens" (20mph) on my road bike was a real test at a personal level. A 29 minute 10 miler isn't particularly quick for me but at the time it was a colossal achievement given I'd only ridden once since hitting the deck (the first ride back was with James Gomm  that involved shandy in Pirton).

Progressing from this baseline I've managed to almost clock a sub-hour ride around Ashwell on the IC25. I even snapped a pedal at the start line at that even so as to make things fractionally harder than they needed to be. I was really pleased with that time, as I was with my spin around the HNCC 10 course yesterday evening. I'd got well under the 25 minute mark despite being hampered by a car in Old Warden. This should give me a decent aggregate "best four" rides for this year. A time that will be a marked improvement from my times of seven to ten years ago. Something must be going well, even if a new bike is a contributing factor.

Although I'm sometimes ribbed by my non-cycling mates (I do have some) for being a bit obsessive - doing 250 miles last week feeds their prejudice nicely - the simple fact is that this is a sport where you have to invest effort and focus to get returns. I may have over cooked it in the last ten days as my 40 year old bones and muscles are taking a little longer to recover and are certainly letting me know now.

Chasing "30" signs and pegging up every hill over the course of two successive 70-85 mile rides doesn't help. But it was massive fun and the sausage roll at Grafham tasted better for it. And someone asked where my kids get a competitive streak from.

The one thing I have learned this year is that not having cycling in my life for several years managed to not only mask my waist line, it also left I void that I didn't realise was there until I turned the pedals again. Let that be a warning to you all.

Bring on September and the open events and maybe a late season PB.