I went for a ride today and, once more, forgot to take my camera with me.  To be fair I only did a seaside loop, so I’d probably have been hard pushed to show you something new.  Having said that, the fact the sun was shining and the skies were blue might have added novelty value.  As would the sight of my pasty white legs making their way around Somerset.  Unlike the unexpectedly strong headwind, which was not novel at all but at least was in my face on the way out and on my back on the way home.  It was a ride with two goals – to be a recovery ride and spin my legs out and see how they were, but also to test out my snazzy new cycling shoes and Look pedals.  My legs were fine, the pedals went better than I was worried they might though I still need some practice when I set off again, and my new shoes totally rock!  They just make the bike feel more responsive somehow.  They’re comfortable when you’re riding, lovely when you’re out of the saddle, and when you kick off, they seem to wake my wheels up and off we go… Nice :).

Cycling time: 1:46:56 hrs
Distance: 28.21 miles
Avs: 15.8 mph.
ODO: 13722 miles

So, anyone want to know how the eating is going?  Well generally I think it’s working.  Or helping anyway.  I’m not living on paracetamol, which has to be a good thing.  As for the riding – having made an effort to have a better eating strategy before and during the last event, I think I got through it better.  OK, I still nearly lost it, but that’s the point.  Nearly.  I saw it coming, ate the jelly beans, and dealt with it.  I did eat more during the event – though clearly still not quite enough – and I ate at regular intervals whether I wanted to or not.  I had one of another kind of safe bar – irritatingly I’ve forgotten which one – which wasn’t just fruit and nuts and had oats etc in it too, and I think that helped, in combination with the Nakd bars, bananas, and Nuun.  The plan in the long run is to start making my own bars, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.  No excuses – procrastination is a terrible thing…

This Sunday my youngest celebrated her 12th birthday.  The first thing we did when I got back from Pembrokeshire was to make her birthday cake together.  We made a speckled chocolate beetroot cake, from my new cookbook.  All gluten free, wheat free, dairy free…sounds good right?  And it was.  Tasted bl**dy lovely, went down a treat all ’round.  Shame that it turns out beetroot is on the banned list isn’t it?  Doh!  Didn’t even occur to me to check…*sigh*.  And that keeps happening…

So I think it’s safe to say I’m still getting it wrong from time to time but, slowly, I may be getting there…  Live and learn, right? 🙂