Happy New Year

The period before New Year is my wife’s busiest period. Normally she works 4 days a week but in December it is full on 5 days a week. It seems the reinsurance industry does all its renewals on January 1st and they leave it to the last minute to play off the various reinsurers and place the business. This is the first year that she hasn’t been sick with flu over the Christmas and New Year period.

I have already had to threaten to confiscate the Wii my son got for Christmas. My son and I had discussion around the fact that as Santa brought it so I can’t take it away, except I pointed out that I pay for the electricity and I was not going to let him use it. He is currently serving a one week ban on both the Wii and the DS. When his mother later threatened to take the DS away for a day, not knowing I had already imposed a ban, she was met with “so what, Dad has already taken it away for a week”.

He also got a new Alonso (in Benetton colours) and Raikennen (in Maclaren colours) for his Scalextrics. So far neither has been able to beat the Ralf Schumacher (missing front wing due to collisions) in Williams colours I bought second hand on ebay the other year.

I always take the Christmas period off to cover the shopping and childcare but that doesn’t allow free time for lots of cycling. I am usually too busy trying to complete the list my wife has prepared. This year as well as the usual shopping, childcare and general maintenance it included digging up a trellis in the garden that had been installed using a lorry load of concrete. A jackhammer had to be hired at great expense to break up the blocks of concrete before two trips to the municipal dump. Good training maybe but it nearly killed me.

We spent New Years Eve at the holiday home in Bognor. My son and I drove down and went to the local swimming baths (surprisingly clean for a school holiday period) whilst my wife came from work later by train. My wife, much to my surprise, actually suggested I take my bike and cycle back. New Years Eve we had a very nice Chinese take away and were in bed by 10:00 PM but I did hear the canon fired from the sailing club at midnight before turning over and going back to sleep.

New Years Day we, as a family, cycled along the promenade, a grand total of about 5 miles. I was on an old mountain bike that is maintained down there. The mileage doesn’t really count so I wasn’t using my Polar CS600. I ws cold and my son moaned most of the way in the way that 8 year olds do.

January 2nd, my first ride of 2009. I cycled the 58 miles back from Bognor, in the fields the drinking troughs and ponds were still frozen, however, the sun was shining as I came through Coldharbour I still had energy in my legs so rather than skirt Col Ranmore I decided to divert up Col Ranmore. I then went on to Mont Box and home. The whole journey took just over 4 hours door to door including stops.

On Sunday January 4th, M and I braved the frost. We were riding out to Shere to meet the Guildford Pootle-oners. On the way we came across a car that had just done a flip on the ice and landed on its roof. Good job too, as if we hadn’t of seen it we would have probably hit the ice and come croppers ourselves. Fortunately no one was hurt. We stopped but the driver (in his 30’s) was phoning his Dad to say he was all right but the car was a right-off.

We met the lads at Shere. We were already in the Lucky Duck drinking tea/coffee when they arrived having done the epic journey (all of 7 miles) from Guildford. We were ready to leave but they were ready to warm up so we stayed in the Lucky Duck for another 45 minutes.

When we left the café time was getting tight for M and I. M had been given responsibility to pick up his offspring from the childminder and then go on to pick up his partner from her work. What didn’t help was me getting another puncture (since getting home I have now put a new tyre and tube on the front wheel). By this time we were well beyond both our curfews so we left the Pootle-oners on the top of Ranmore heading in the direction of Leith and we headed for Mont Box, Leatherhead, Esher and home. M was riding like a man possessed and it was all I could do to hang on to his back wheel. After leaving him (half hour beyond curfew) at his house I cycled the last 4.5 miles home rather slower, despite my own breach of curfew (arrived 50 minutes after curfew). Another 52 miles banked.

2009 is going to be a challenge in a number of ways, work (will I still have a job, and will it be the job I want), holidays (we still haven’t booked for 2009), and my sons hormones (his answering back and constant challenging, both physically and verbally, is wearing thin on the patience of his parents, hence my new years resolution to be more patient and less irritable).

I have already entered for the 2009 Dragon Ride, Hampshire Hilly Hundred, and a ride in the Chilterns which I can’t find the entry acknowledgement for at the moment (that’s organisation for you). I don’t yet have an Etap entry and I am not going to do the Marmotte with the other Guilford Pootle-oners as there is no way my legs are up for that.

I have sent an entry off for another Audax on January 11th. It is 108 Km and called Watership Down. It starts at Kings Worthy near Winchester and I am doing it with my friend S from Team MK and other members of Team MK. My participation depends on The Wife and also on my son’s chauffeuring needs.

One thing I will not be doing is the Atlantic Challenge (rowing from the Azores to Antigua) despite the fact that S of MK is full of enthusiasm to join me on the event. The wife has put an absolute veto on this event. It starts December 15th 2009 but we are leaving it a bit late to get boat and sponsorship, not to mention training. Mind you, the way the banks crashed in 2008, we might just have free time on our hands, there is just the problem of the financing. Anyone know a sponsor willing to put up £35,000 to finance the two of us to punish ourselves across the Atlantic? The race only takes about 70 days finishing some time in February 2010.