Frank Kinlan's Blog

Weekending 16 July06

Monday:Spinning class, bit easier on the arms this week, still sweating buckets. Took a bigger bottle of water in this week too.
Tuesday:1 Hour in the gym after work. Added an extra 5kg on a few of the machines.No exercise bike just the cross-trainer and the rowing machine.
Wednesday:Wirral loop(40miles)took some pictures of the prom at Seacombe, had to turn down a ride to the Ice Cream Farm which was pity but the new toy needs collecting from a service. The toy is a Trek Maddone 5.2 for those that know what one is, thought I deserved a treat as I’ve now lost 3 times the weight of one of these.
Weigh in at St Caths.
Thursday: Wasn’t in the mood for the gym as the Tour De France is on so did a loop down Levers Causeway, up Resthill turned around at the top then did it again.Next time three.
Friday: Got to the gym in my kit only to be told it shut at 8 on a friday, DOH looks like a restday then.
Saturday: Came across old Terry going the Mills down Resthill, rode along with him through the farm at Willaston(didn’t know this route so thanks), second Breakfast of the week then started a Wirral loop with Terry. Went down the lane to the marsh and did the climb that emerges by Ness gardens. A nice climb(thanks again), onto Parkgate, Terry left at Gayton. Terry is 76 by the way! Onto WestKirby, Hoylake and along the sea defences to Moreton Lighthouse where it was time to join the road. Back on coastal route to NewBrighton, Seacombe.Stopped at Woodside to sea cruise ship in Mersey.
Home. 48 miles.
Sunday: Breakfast at the Mills, rode to Ice cream farm with Jim Kevin Alan and Charlie.Back on the canal path. Brilliant sunshine. Another good day out. Up Resthill.
55 miles.

Total 143 miles 1 spinning class and an hour in the gym + a loop up Resthill

Clearing the wardrobe.

It is now four months since I started the course and I’ve had to have a wardrobe clearout. I’ve lost around 4 inches off my waist and the pants just dont fit any more.
Some of them were unworn with the tags on them to boot.
The way things are going the rest of the wardrobe will soon be in a charity shop as well, I’ve dropped at least a shirt size so the shirts too are going to need replacing.

One of the great benefits of going through all this is your not struggling to get anything to fit you anymore. I’m of the impression that the buyers for the shops only ever order a token amount of the largest sizes and if they sell out fast they are never going to reorder them as they have a shelf full of midrange sizes to shift.

Weekending 09July06

Wednesday: 1 hour in the gym after work.
Thursday: same as wednesday.
Friday:Wirral Circular route clockwise(45miles),stopped at Parkgate and the boating lake at New Brighton, swans on the lake.
Saturday:Breakfast at the Eureka Cafe, rode back with Terry as far as the Wheatsheaf in Ness, onto Parkgate, Heswall. Called into see Daves block paving then back home via Station Road and Rest Hill (no problem 1min30)25 miles
Sunday:Breakfast at the Eureka Cafe, joined Kevin and Bill on a ride out to the Ice Cream Farm. Came back via the canal for tea at the mills. Home via Thornton Hough and another trip up Rest Hill. A great day out, 50 miles.

Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool ride report

Rode down to the Birkenhead tunnel and then through it before they closed it off. Which is just as well as I later heard that people were being turned back on the Birkenhead side.

Still I registered on the day and then had to carry the T-shirt around with me, at some points I should have used it as a sweatcloth as it was it ended up going under the new bike to protect the frame from getting scratched on the way home.

The ride: Had a really good ride, saw no crashes but heard about one in the tunnel from a chap I rode the Chester-Liverpool leg with, gather the three of them were OK. Highlights of the trip out were tagging on to a group of four at Gayton and falling off the back of them on the road to Willaston. Neston, Ness and Burton came up and then it was a stop for a Slimmer,s Breakfast at the Eureka Cafe, the third one this week. Rejoined the ride well fueled with only the roundabout on the A55 giving a bit of concern. Met the chap that signed on before me at the Chester stop had a chat and decided to ride back to Liverpool together. It proved to be a good decision as it turned out we have similar abilities and it made for an enjoyable ride back. The hill at Brackenwood didn,t seem as bad this year and neither did the climb out of the Wallasey tunnel, it just goes to show what loosing a couple of stone and getting out more can do for you. Sting in the tail was the emergency exit sliproad at Liverpool tunnel entrance. This is about twice the gradient of the 2 mile climb out of the tunnel itself. Granny ring for me this year although now it wouldnt be a problem on the middle ring.

A brilliant day with great weather will probably do it again next year. I felt for all those doing it on Mountain bikes they,d dragged out the shed, it looked like hard work dragging 40 pounds of steel around with tyres that want to stick to the road.

Breakfast at the Eureka Cafe.

Just to show that I havent I havent been on a starvation diet for the last 4 months Ive decided to do a post about the Eureka Cafe Breakfast.

If I’m doing a ride that starts or finishes at the Cafe I will ALWAYS have this breakfast. It consists of Egg, bacon, tomato, beans and two toast. It is all dry grilled or poached and the only change I ask for is that the toast is dry. It is quite disconcerting to be the only one of about thirty cyclists eating a breakfast but it fuels me for the days riding and I am still loosing weight.

British Heart Foundation portion sizes for Eureka Cafe Breakfast

Meal    Foodgroup Fruit/veg   Bread/cereal Meat,fish   Fats
Egg                                                                     1/2
Bacon 2rashers                                                                     1
Tomato                        1
Beans 5 tbs                                                         1
Toast 2(dry)                                         2

I’ve spoken to Keith and Ann at the cafe about the portion of beans they serve and they measured it out to 5 tablespoons for me.They also replaced buttered toast for dry toast without propting. In fact yesterday it got called the slimmers breakfast!.

Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool ride

The Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool cycle ride is this Sunday 2nd July. I did this ride last year and found it most enjoyable, even the climb out the Wallasey Tunnel.

Keep your wits about you if you dont want to end up as an accident statistic, I saw 3 crashes and 2 of them looked like they were ending up in hospital. A bit of a shock to the system on a charity event, so take care.

My Wirral Circular Route (35-45 miles)

I’ve been riding this circular wirral route now for over a year now, in some cases 3 times a week. Todays ride involved taking a picture of Seacombe seafront for an easy beginers route that I will post once I can get mapping sorted.

This route was published in Cycling News as a favourite ride by Tony Bell, a colmnist of the magazine.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Rides_The_Wirral_article_85686.html

The web article has lost a lot of the detail that was in the magazine namely the map and I’m still working out a way of posting the route in detail, it maybe a tracklog or a pdf of the original article. Hardest point on the route is getting out of West Kirby but i’ll speak more about that at another time.

Looking at the route for some reason it goes down the Chester High road when a far better route would have been though Ness and Burton which is the route I would take every time.

Cycle Computers

It’s well worth fitting a cycling computer to whatever cycle you ride for reasons that are not obvious to a begginer. Apart from speed and distance the most useful function that a cycle computer needs is an average speed reading.

I’ll explain, my current average speed is 13 mph, if I plan to do a 40 mile ride this will take me approximately 3 hours. Maximum speed on todays run was 40 mph down a steep hill, minimum was probably about 7mph. As you clock up the miles the figure becomes a reflection of what terrain you are riding,your effort and which way the wind blows. The figure can be used to give others a guide to when your going to arrive at a destination or if there is a change of plan you know how long it will take you to get home.

Tesco,s do a cycle computer with average speed for £7 so it needn’t break the bank.

Life after Lifestyle and Weight management course.

I’ve set this site up as means of keeping the momentum that the course generated going. This medium may or may not take off but I’m looking for feedback from other people that have been on the course and am interested to know how they are getting on and what pitfalls await.

Cycling wear for XL upwards

It’s hard enough getting everyday clothing thats going to fit you if your overweight but trying to get cycling clothing in the largest sizes possible is fraught with difficulties.

Your going to need a set of cycling shorts with padding and for a bloke he should be looking for a pair of bibshorts. The reason for getting bibshorts is they are not going to roll down over your gut or catch on the nose of your seat when you go from a standing to a seated position. Either way it’s not a situation you want to get into.

If youve got a problem with body image wear tracksuit bottoms over them, they keep you a bit warmer in winter too. Sizing between different manufactures remains a mystery but they are all on the small size.

To cut to the chase on shorts try Decathlon Sports in Stockport they have a blue tag range thats cheap and go up to XXXXL in some ranges, they have changing facilities too.

Aldi and Lidl have cycling clothing and equipment at various times of times of the year under their weekly offers. I started out with this kit, it well made most of it and very cheap. Just be at the front of the queue when the doors open. If it fits buy two of them, as one of them is going to be in the wash.

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