Diary of a Medic-on-a-bike: August 2011

August has been a month of change: new job, new hospital, new house, new city. Thankfully the new house has plenty of space for bikes and the carpet is dark blue rather than beige. The new housemate has been known to get out and about on two wheels and even suggested doing turbo sessions in the living room!

Of course, all of this change has meant having to find some new cycling buddies. I seem to have landed on my feet (or on my wheels) having found a great group to ride with: plenty of banter, good hard rides and some female company too!

As for the new job, the slightly more “compatible-with-life” working hours and less intense shifts have left me with more energy and motivation to get out and go training after work. I’ve found myself clocking up 250 miles some weeks, despite five full days at work!

We haven’t had many races over the last few weeks. It’s been good to have a bit of a break, to get to know some of the local riders and to learn some new routes. There seem to be big hills in every direction!

Iona and Vicky raced at Darley Moor last weekend. I’d had to make some tough “livfe vs bike” decisions. In the end, “life” won and I spent the bank holiday weekend in St Andrew’s [although I actually spent most of it sitting on a train!] at a friend’s wedding. It was well worth it and despite a 21mph wind, I enjoyed a wonderful ride along the coast on the Sunday morning. The scenery was absolutely stunning.

We have one more Team Series race (next weekend) before we head off to Ireland for Ras na mBan (a five day stage race in Kerry). You’ll be able to keep track of our progress on our blog.