6th, 7th, and 8th of Sweat!

I actually hadn't planned on going out for a ride on Friday after doing a long ride the day before but when I realised no one else had been out and that I was less than 12 miles from reaching one hundred I decided to do a lap of Yeovil.  To make it long enough to reach the 100 milestone I had to take a detour via Odcombe which is a route I've done many times so this is what I did.  Just a short 11.9 miles but enough to take my total to 101 and be the first of us to crack 100!

I made yet another cleat based mistake and stopped only 20 or 30 yards from the top of a short climb.  I tried in vain to clip back in nearly falling over in the process but failed!  I need up walking the few yards to the summit and then clipping in on the flat.  I really need to get my mindset right for hills, I know I have the power to get up them but I fail in my head before I fail in my legs or chest!  I've even considered swapping back to normal pedals for a while until I get more confident with climbs but this seems like a step backwards so I think I'll avoid it.

Saturday was a huge day for Tom, he rode to work with a scenic detour (20 miles) and then an even bigger detour on the way home taking his total for the day to 50 massive miles!  He was a little way behind prior to that but now has a commanding lead and will be hard to beat to 400.  Jon also put in a respectable 20 miles meaning in one foul swoop I was dropped from 1st to last place!

Sunday the 8th marked the second day in a pretty lazy weekend for me, I nearly didn't go out at all but I wanted to collect my old mountain bike from my brother in law so I drove to his house then rode it home - just under 8 miles.  We had a family BBQ planned for the afternoon so I also used it to go to the shop to get some wine, only 2.6 miles but it all adds to the total.  Riding my ageing mountain bike with its poor brakes and gears that change by themselves is hard work compared to my slick new road bike, its definitely old faithful but it needs a lot of TLC if i was going to use it for any length of time again!

I wasn't expecting Tom to ride again today after his 50 miles yesterday but in a demonstration of his determination to be first to 400 he went out again and did another 20!

As I write the totals are as follows:  Tom is out in front on just under 140 miles with Jon and I trailing him on about 111 miles.  Jon has picked up a niggling injury in his leg which accounted for his rest days at the weekend but he's confident of getting back in the saddle tomorrow (Tuesday).

Today (Monday 9th) marks the first day this month that none of us have been out on our bikes!  I'm annoyed at myself really as I set my alarm this morning but once again I snoozed it and went back to sleep fully intending on going out after work instead - and that didn't happen either!

Kimberly ran a huge 9 miles yesterday before the BBQ so she is well on target for her half marathon this next weekend.  Mum has been swimming every day apart from Saturday but her challenge is an "average" of an hour a day so a couple of longer swims later in the month an she will make up the time.

Today was an exceptional day for sponsorship with some fantastic donations from members of my extended family bumping up our total raised by £235 in one day to an impressive £673.  I must keep reminding myself why we are doing this as I reach for the snooze button on my early alarm call...