Never one to take too much of a rest, I spent saturday afternoon sailing with Nikki and her Dad (Simon) on the Mini. We had some good breeze, and had a nice blast down from Lymington to Cowes. However we soon discovered that sailing with a boat chock full of stuff does not lead to the smoothest of rides. Instead of taking off down the waves, our little Mini was following it's nose, tripping up over itself. A massive broach out soon highlighted the need to boot off some kit! Still, it was exciting, and that was with just the medium sized kite up.
On our way back in we had a look at the furling gennaker, working out how to set it. It turns out that hoisting it on the leeward side doesn't work too well, as the sail unfurled before we had the halyard and pole made. Trying to hoist in a rush (as we were getting quite close to the shore at Lee on the Solent) also certainly didn't help! We also tried the 'french way' of hoisting the kite; just pulling on a bit of tack line before fully going for the halyard, then making the kite to the pole at the end. This worked pretty well as it stopped the tack from snagging on the guard wires- a trick Nikki picked up from her recent excursion to Lorient, where she got to train alongside other Mini sailors.
After sailing it was time to catch up with some friends and enjoy an early christmas dinner. The following day I had signed up for the Wight Wiggle cycling sportive, tackling the 'epic' route of 62 miles. I was feeling a bit unprepared on the morning of the start- having failed to have attached my new pedals, and so not having had a chance to try out my SPD shoes, it was going to be another ride around the Island in trainers- proven, by myself, to not be the quickest of bike set-ups. On top of that, I was also starting to regret the glasses of red wine I had drunk the evening before. Still, this time round I at least had my padded shorts and a rather attractive pink jacket Mum had sent through the post. Already a little behind for time, I opened the front door to find the car windows thick with ice, and no de-icer to be seen anywhere. Luckily Nikkki appeared in her pyjamas and started scraping off the ice with her driving licence, while I dashed around filling up a kettle with warm water. In the process I lost my road map, and, I thought, all hope of making registration and the start line in time!
The latest in cycling clothing...
I eventually pulled out of the drive some time after eight, making my way towards Yarmouth. At the start there were loads of bikes- around 600 people had entered. I couldn't see anyone wearing trainers or a pink jacket, just snazzy, well specked racing machines, and some shapely backsides. Anyway I toddled along and set off on my own, for a pleasant, although cold (zero degrees when I left!) day's cycling.
It was a very well organised event- arrows marked the route the whole way round, and encouraging signs- such as 'it's only gravity!' and 'think of the glory!' making it a bit easier to push up the hills. I clearly still have a lot to work on in terms of riding technique, and fitness too, no doubt. I was mostly over taken the whole way round, but was pleased to see that there were a number of people behind me- well until I stopped for a wee and a few cereal bars. I must have stopped in total for about half an hour, so I was well within the bronze category for rider times. Oh well, next time I will be quicker!!!
Cycling the Island with the AOA and OC Sport team, a couple of weeks before hand
Enjoying some cake and drink!