I went for a run today for the first time in about 5 months. I took it quite easy as it’s been a long time and I was also carrying a carrier bag of very sharp gardening tools. I ran out to a certain part of the Hit the North 2 course to make a start on the superb job of cutting back the weeds with a scythe so that we can fit a hundred or so cyclists on it. All was going well until I was noticed by the local swarm of carnivorous flying insects…needless to say I ran away.

‘A hundred or so cyclists’ should have read ‘three hundred or so cyclists’, but for some reason this race almost died before we got started. It’s going ahead now – just. A third of rider capacity on a 7 mile course for 8 hours…it’s going to be ‘thin’ out there. For those that have entered, the race promises to be a unique and sometimes lonely experience. Why not enter? We’re not shutting up shop for another 10 days or so.

Apart from that, I’m getting back into a training routine now following a few days rest, eating and just having fun on my bike after Mountain Mayhem. Still to come this year are the Kielder 100 (which I expect to be super-ace and will be my main ‘thing’ as far as training is concerned), The 3 Peaks Cyclocross (if I get in) and Dusk Till Dawn (now doing this solo instead of in a pair).

There’s also at least one very, very, very Daft Ride before the end of the summer and a nice long hilly road sportive in August that I’ve got my eye on…

Might be some BIG news soon too – watch this space