To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain....at cycling's core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach.

It doesn't matter if you're sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies.

If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport.

Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy.

Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks.
Scott Martin

Today is one of those perfect days for cycling into work. Clear blue skies here in Telford UK.

Since I started the spinning classes I've pretty much steered clear of cycling into work but it's definitely a sign that my fitness has improved dramatically now that I'm back on the bike. Wow! what's going on here! Cycling to work AND spinning classes combined! Now there's progress.

There's a huge improvement in cycling terms and I zoomed up the incline where last year I could see people laughing at my attempt to ride up the hill. There's massive progress here.

Made spinning class Sunday morning even though I had a bit of a self inflicted after the England match the night before. Then again Monday and I'll be doing today and Thursday. Friday night we're off to the pub to watch the match!

I managed to pick up a towbar mounted bike rack on ebay which is going to be perfect for those trips over to North Wales. I seem to have had good success on Ebay just lately.

This rack will carry four bikes so it's perfect for the family and it'll come in for some good usage if the weather is any good this summer. Looking forward to cycling around Lake Vrynwy so I'll plan that as my first outing and take some pikkys.

I've started going into cycle shops for a look around. Just how weird is that!

On Monday I was passing the local shop and realised I'd not been in a bike shop in my life. So I took some time out and had a gander.

There, in the middle of the shop was a beautiful bike. It's a Raleigh tourer with full pannier set so you can casually saunter off to some remote part of civilisation and put up your tiny tent.

Get outta here!

Maybe next year.

Storebuilder Blog - Cycling to work/Fitness