First part of the training started with watching The Long Way Round. An excellent and enlightening series by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman on their world trip on two BWM Enduros. We learnt a lot about some of the issues we might encounter and some of the places we wanted to visit.
Next part of the training is our general fitness. Neither myself or Matt are fitness fanatics (hey i did run a few marathons Steve!! MH) but neither are either of us too overweight. Maybe need to cut down 5-10KG which is easily achievable given we have about 5 months before we set off.
More importantly than losing weight is increasing or general physical fitness. Sitting on bikes for that amount of time for somebody who's not ridden more than 60 miles in any one journey is going to be quite a physical challenge. My training plan needs to be realistic or I know i'll give up quickly so my plan is to initially start running 5k once a week and do Spin class twice a week for 30 minutes. Hopefully building up to weekly 10k runs, 45 minute spin classes and some core strength such as Pilates or yoga.
Matt is a gardener and spends all day on his feet doing physical work so is probably in better condition than me who spends all day sitting at a desk drinking coffee but still needs to lose a few KG given his love for red wine ;-)
On the subject of alcohol, I like my beer but have decided to do a "dryathlon" for January - a month of no alcohol. Partly to detox after excessive NY celebrations and partly to help kick start my fitness plan.
*** UPDATE - I FAILED ON THE DRYATHLON. LASTED 5 DAYS :-( *****
Additional training that I feel will be necessary for me in particular is some longer bike rides. Its winter in the UK right now and pretty damn cold, wet and windy. I don't mind the cold but rain and wind aren't my idea of fun biking. As soon as the weather gets a bit dryer, im intending my longest single journey yet of 200miles to visit my parents. After that, I'd like to do an overnight trip over to Belgium and start test driving some of the luggage so I can work out what I can and cant carry
** UPDATE 11/03/14 - Did 400 mile return journey over the weekend. Belgium trip next .... No issues with riding position but the naked Duke does cause me some head and neck discomfort on the motorways. Havent got the PUIG screen delivered yet though,.
CYCLING IN LONDON
Broke my single speed frame commuting to work !!
Pot holes the size of small dogs
Fresh Build
Just finished MK 3
Short video of 1 night commuting on my bike in London with a http://gopro.com/
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