You're never too old to learn.. part 1

I recently turned 50...yikes!  

Actually, it doesn't bother me in the slightest that I have just turned 50, because I don't FEEL 50, not that I was expecting to feel any different when the clock struck 1 minute past midnight on the 1st January 2020 but 50 is a big number and I look around at people of the same age as me and I can't relate to a lot of them... apart from those, who like me, are mountain bikers. 

As I get older, I see people of my age shrivelling up and losing their zest for life, worrying about old age, worrying about their health, I don't want to end up like them! I don't want to end up with failing health and dreading retirement.

So I'm doing everything I can to keep my body and mind fit and healthy; eating well, following the Ketogenic lifestyle, being active now, and I hope all of this will pay dividends in later life.  

Riding my mountain bike not only makes me feel younger, it connects me to so many amazing places and awesome people!

I'm very fortunate that my husband Leigh, even after 18 years, is my best mate, my soul mate and my riding buddy. We both started mountain biking together back in 2016 and we both agree that life revolves around our bikes, whether it's weekend rides, mid week evening rides, indoor Zwift sessions together or 2 week holidays mountain biking around North Wales.

So, when it came to my big birthday, I was chuffed to bits when he handed me an envelope which contained a gift voucher for an MTB Skills session with Performance MTB which is run by our friend Andy Hampshire... 

Originally the idea was for me to have a full skills day with Andy on my own where I could improve on areas such as cornering and braking, learn new things such as manuals, bunny hops and even wheelies, things I felt I need for when I race Enduro this year... as I thought about it, I decided that actually the day would be more fun and beneficial if Leigh did it too as he's also racing this year, so I booked us in together.

What started as a 1 day skills session, turned into a 2 day session and it was booked for the first weekend of February with Day 1 at Sherwood Pines, where we would focus on the basics and then Day 2 at Lady Cannings MTB trail centre where we would put everything we learnt into practice in the morning and then venture outside the trail centre in the afternoon to ride some 'off piste' technical stuff... great 😃

A few days before, Andy emailed us both and asked us to complete a Rider's profile, this would give him an in-depth breakdown of our experience on the bike in various areas, where we had ridden, the kind of terrain we liked to ride, what we hoped to gain from the skills course and finally there was a section where we had to rate our ability levels between 1-10 (with 1 beginner and 10 pro) on things such as cornering, riding position, technical descents, technical climbing etc.  

I found this quite hard as I didn't want to overrate myself and come across as cocky so I played safe and gave myself a 7 for most things except technical climbs which I scored a 4 as I'm rubbish at them and 5 for technical descents and terrain!  I never thought any more of the scores until after our weekend and I'll talk about this more in the second instalment of this blog.

Andy would use this information to tailor the 2 days to both our needs, even though we had different end goals in some areas, there were lots of areas we both needed to work on.


Day 1

We agreed to meet Andy at Sherwood Pines at 9.30am, we found him in the large open green near the visitor centre, with various contraptions including an array of coloured plastic cones, a small sender ramp, and a skinny (a long thin wooden board for riding along) and various bits of tree.

The morning started with the basics; cornerning and braking, well we all know how to do that, don't we?  Well, yes but not as well as we could it seems!  I've always favoured 'feathering' my brakes, and tend to use my back more than my front, great for skidding to a stop but actually not great for safely stopping!  So I spent some time trying to tell my silly little brain that the back is for scrubbing off speed and the front is for stopping... I got it eventually!

Then we practised cornering... now I think it's fair to say that everyone has their favourite corner, mine happens to be left, Andy explained about body position, dropping the elbow and leaning the bike and having faith in the tyres gripping and it wasn't long before I was cornering between Andy's yellow plastic cones like a pro! 

Then it was time to practice turning right. Now I have a slight issue with turning into right corners, as I am almost blind in my right eye, so turning my head and looking past the exit on the corner means I almost have to do an Exorcist style rotation of my head but without the projectile vomiting! 😂

I managed to run over Andy's lovely plastic yellow cones on a number of occassions but after some practice I was improving and to be fair, riding a 'corner' made out of cones on a flat surface is harder than riding a real built up right hand berm.

Once Leigh and I had got the hang of the corners, we moved onto the 'Skinny' - a long length of thin wood, about 4" in diameter, mounted on blocks to elevate it off the ground slightly, it had a little ramp on both ends and the idea was to ride onto it and along the length and off the other end... sounds simple doesn't it!

My silly little brain (again) was telling me it's a foot off the ground and if you fall off, it's gonna hurt! What a twat!   

Andy gave us some tips on how to mount it... take a run up and line the bike up, don't look at the Skinny, look past it, focus on something on the other side, which happened to be a football goal in the distance.

First attempt I looked straight at it, got the front wheel on and the back end didn't come close! So I rode round again for a second go, "Don't look at it, focus on the goal net" shouted Andy... I tried to look ahead and I managed to get both wheels on this time and then fell off just before the end! 

Third time I managed to ride the whole thing, then with my confidence up I managed a few more runs successfully riding the entire length 😁

Next on the agenda was track standing, being able to balance the bike whilst standing on the pedals, a very handy trick if you ride up to an obstacle and want to check it out (and impress your mates) before deciding whether to ride over it by either popping the front wheel or bunny hopping it. Despite my best efforts I couldn't manage more than a couple of seconds so I will be practicing this whenever I can!

We then moved onto bunny hopping, something I need to learn to be able to ride over obstacles not only when I'm racing but when out on the bike in general. I've got a lot better riding over things like fallen trees, logs etc but if its more than 4" high I'll walk over it. Andy got his bits of tree out, one being a thick log which he staked to the ground, the other being a long thin branch and he asked us both to show him how we would tackle those obstacles... I just rode over them, my pathetic attempt at popping the front wheel was duly noted! 😂


Andy explained the process of 'popping' the front wheel, Leigh excelled at this and I was rubbish BUT we did discover that I can get the back wheel off the floor with no problems but the front wheel just wasn't having it, Leigh joked it must be because of my little T-rex arms 🤨

Next was the Sender Ramp, I'd been looking forward to playing on this all morning, I love doing jumps, not big mahoosive jumps, but little pop offs, drops etc, anything to get 2 wheels off the floor! Once again Andy explained about correct body position and how to launch and land correctly and that speed/momentum is your friend...   

I was good at this, and happily rode round and round riding over it again and again, much to the amusement of Leigh and Andy who both have this impression that I'm a bit of a hooligan... don't know why? 🤣

That was our morning; learning lots, trying to absorb everything without brain overload! We decided to stop for lunch and after a nice coffee and some food we headed into the Pines so put all these new found skills to the test.

During the summer months when it's light in the evening, Darren from the shop, runs a fortnightly mid week TT race. It's a great little course with some pretty gnarly off piste singletrack including a section infamously known as 'Carnage Corner'... aptly named because it's a tight off camber 180 degree corner where you exit up a rooty little climb.

Leigh and I had tried to ride this right hand corner many times in the past and for one reason or another never managed to get round, and always ended up jumping off the bike and pushing up... well Andy was having none of that!

After looking at the line and reminding ourselves of the cornering we had practiced that morning, it was time to give it a go. Of course being a right hand corner, I had to practice my Exorcist head rotating again, I failed at the first attempt but second time round BINGO! and then there was no stopping me, round and round I went like a kid who has just learnt to ride a bike without stabilisers! I was so happy I asked Andy to film me and I did 2 laps just to prove it wasn't a fluke first time 😁

Leigh did equally as well, and we both agreed we could end our MTB careers right there having conquered 'Carnage Corner'! 😂

Now it was time to try the quarter stroke/pedal technique, another tool when you have to get over an obstacle on the trail, it's basically a track stand into a front wheel 'pop' and it's used to start a wheelie. Once again Leigh got it straight away but I couldn't do it, I just couldn't slow the bike down enough to get that pedal stroke, only managing it when Andy held the bike for me.  I clearly have some stuff to practice over the coming weeks!

It was getting late in the afternoon and gone 3pm, so we decided to wrap the day up by sessioning one of the Downhill runs over at the Jump Park, now Pines isn't known for it's gnarly steep descents so these are more gravity runs but you can pick up some decent speed from the top and if you get it right you can clear the rock obstacles and drop offs.

So we had a play, running backwards and forwards putting into practice all we had learnt that day.  It was good fun and as usual my inner hooligan made an appearance much to the amusement of everyone (I can't help it, sorry!).

It was interesting watching other people come down these trails too and see how 'not' to ride them!

After a final full run, we headed back to the visitor centre, all smiles and heads full of skills, ready to take on Day 2 at Lady Cannings, the following day 😊

Starting the new year as I mean to go on...

It's New Years Eve 2019, just a few hours away from the beginning of a new decade and almost my 50th Birthday! 😳

Social media is filled with posts today about the 10 year challenge, showing pictures of people at the beginning and end of this decade; overweight vs slimmer, more hair vs receding hairline, dark hair vs grey hair, unfit vs fit... well I pretty much cover all of those - apart from the receding hairline!! 🤣

A lot has changed for me over the last 10 years, I've gone from spending every weekend out with my bow shooting at unmarked 3D field archery events, which has taken me all over the UK, as well as abroad shooting at Internationals, to spending all my free time mountain biking. 

I can't get enough of being outdoors and the forest has always been a magical place for me whether it's shooting a bow over unmarked distances at 3D animals or riding my mountain bike, walking my dogs and generally getting muddy!

The biggest difference for me from 2010 to now is my fitness, eating habits and being healthy, inside and out.  I take my fitness and nutrition very seriously these days and am proud of what I have achieved this year with weight loss through the Ketogenic lifestyle, mountain bike training and being more focused, both mentally and physically.

In my job supporting those affected by brain injury, I've run Mindful Meditation and Wellbeing workshops and have tried to change my mindset for the better, removing as much negativity from my life as possible, being more self aware and I will work hard to continue that in 2020 and beyond.

The new year will see me racing Enduro and some Endurance XC for the first time as part of Sherwood Pines Cycles Team and I already have a number of races booked.

1st March - Cannock Winter Classic XC
29th March - PMBA Enduro round 1 at Gisburn
16-17th May - Boltby Bash Enduro 
20-21 June - Mountain Mayhem 12 hour night race (solo)
6th September - PMBA Enduro round 5 Kirroughtree
18th October - Hopetech Womens Enduro Gisburn 


I have a few other 'maybe's on the radar, depending on money and whether I can find someone to share driving with etc.

29-31st May - Tweedlove Enduro, Scotland 

I may try and do some of the Southern Enduro series and some mini downhill events as Forest of Dean etc.

As well as the racing, I will continue to train using the MTB Fitness program, I am currently following the 12 week plan but there is also an Advanced 16 week plan. Training consists of weekly weights sessions, indoor interval sessions on my Proform TDF 5.0 bike using Zwift.

I am returning to commuting to work on my hardtail, which I plan to convert to a singlespeed! It's only 6.5 miles to work with a little bit of elevation but every second in the saddle is time well spent and I'd much rather be riding in than sat in the car in traffic every day 😖

So 2020 is full of exciting stuff, lots of bike time, lots of fun out on the trails with my hubby, lots of focus and hard work.

Happy New Year 🤘

A lesson learned

Thursday evening Hubby and I went out for dinner, we went to Pizza Express as we had £60 of vouchers to use up as they expired that day.

We haven't been out for pizza since going Keto at the end of July, and for good reason, Pizza is so high in carbs, shockingly high, not just the Pizza's which on average have about 128g of carbs, but most of the starters and sides are high too, so potentially you're looking at a 2 course meal with nearly 200g carbs 😮

On the Keto diet you try to keep under 50g net carbs a day (that's total carbs minus the fibre as your body doesn't store fibre it passes through and it's fibre which keeps your stools nice and firm 💩) but if you're serious about Keto and are using it as a way to burn fat for energy (essential for training and riding the mountain bike) then you try and keep your net carbs below 20g a day, that way you'll definitely be in Ketosis and fat burning.

So I've already set the scene here haven't I, been keeping under 20g carbs for the last 5 months and then BAM!💥 we go out for one meal and blow all that hard work and positive eating out the window!

Now, I did read up about the effects of having a 'cheat day' on Diet Doctor

To cheat or not to cheat? That is the eternal question.

Almost everyone is occasionally tempted – are you? 

In truth, we dislike the term “cheating.” We use it since many people relate to it, but what does it really mean? Does it mean you are “getting away with something?” Does it mean you are gaining something unfairly? What it really means is that you are just cheating on yourself. That’s why we prefer the term “going off plan.” That shows we have a plan, we are moving towards a goal, and sometimes we go off plan. And sometimes that’s OK, as you will read in this guide. However, since “cheat” is a commonly used term that many people relate to, we do use it frequently in this guide.

So why cheat? 

1. Politeness or wanting to fit in
2. Impulsiveness
3. Bad planning
4. To take advantage of opportunities 

I think it's safe to say that we're guilty of no. 4 here and the fact we didn't want those vouchers to go to waste as that would be a food sin wouldn't it!

So, what are the effects of going massively over your daily carb allowance, even for one day?  This ⬇ according to Diet Doctor 

Side effects of cheating? 

So, there are bad and better reasons to cheat. What are the typical side effects of cheating? 

Hunger and cravings  

Many carbs make you hungry. You know this if you have given them up for any meaningful period of time. Cheating means potentially inviting hunger and cravings back into your life.Proceed with caution – you could end up in trouble. 

Weight gain  

Cheating nearly always leads to immediate weight gain. First, too many carbs put your body back in fat-storing mode. Second, carbs can lead to hunger and cravings hence you eat more. Third, the water weight associated with high-carb diets returns.Want to look and feel your best? Cheat rarely and carefully.  

Blood sugar spikes  

If you are keeping diabetes at bay with your low-carb or keto diet, cheating is generally a bad idea. When you eat too many or the wrong type of carbs, your blood sugar can spike to dangerously high levels. Over the long run you increase the risk of long-term complications like blindness, dementia, amputations, etc. 

Sickness and acne  

For some of us, cheating can lead to dramatic and fairly immediate setbacks – bloating, stomach upset, gas, or even seizures (if you have epilepsy). Some people get acne and other types of skin trouble, too.If this happens to you, is cheating really worth it?  

Feeling bad  

One of the most annoying effects of cheating is that you often don’t feel great after having cheated. In addition to weight gain, blood sugar spikes and so forth, your mood can suffer – enthusiasm, focus, and confidence fall.This is tough – and with hindsight, makes the decision to cheat seem questionable.

So there you have it, temporary but crap all the same!  So we did it anyway, weighed up the risks and ate the pizza (it was delicious by the way).

Friday wasn't too bad, I decided to Fast for the day, until our evening meal and made sure I hydrated well.  I bloated like a balloon and literally put on 5lbs overnight, I had a bit of a bellyache but nothing too uncomfortable.

Saturday, I went back to my normal weight and stopped looking like a pregnant puffer fish 🐡 "this isn't so bad" I thought!  I made sure I ate healthily and hydrated properly.

Sunday (Today) was when my 'cheat day' finally hit me... firstly I had the most awful upset stomach in the morning, I felt pretty ropey but today was the Sherwood Pines Cycling Club Christmas rides, and I wasn't going to miss that so after several visits to the bathroom, a large glass of Dioralyte and an Immodium and lots of water, I packed the bike in the van and set off.

I felt fine when I got there, the Immodium had worked, I had already drunk plenty of fluids plus I had a 1.5L hydration pack and was looking forward to the ride.  There were 3 rides on, a family ride, a social ride and the Intermediate "Bah Humbug" ride so I joined the latter as it's a good pace with lots of singletrack and technical stuff 😊 About 20 minutes into the ride, I realised joining this group was a big mistake, I felt rough, slow and no energy at all... "it'll be ok" I told myself, "it takes a good half an hour to get the legs going on Keto, stop stressing and just be patient".  Well the half an hour passed, as did an hour and I still felt like total 💩 

Terry the ride leader likes hills, I usually like hills too, especially with the Absolute Black oval chain ring fitted to my Intense Primer as it makes hill climbing easy peasey and going up eventually means going down (my favourite bit) but today every hill sapped me, it got to the point where pretty much everyone left me for dust on the climbs, rather embarrassing to be honest 😳

I soldiered on, quietly suffering and did over 11 miles, as we got back to the Pines, the group decided they were going to do some more singletrack, this was my chance to head back to the cafe, I needed a wee anyway as I had drank loads of electrolytes hoping it would give me some energy, it didn't.

I got back to the Pines, put the bike away and headed to the cafe where the Social ride guys had finished their ride and were waiting, I had a coffee, caught up with some friends and then headed home.

I feel absolutely shattered now, not how I usually feel after a ride and that tells me that not only was the 'cheat day' not worth it, but it's kicked me out of Ketosis and fat burning 😕

As it's Christmas this week I won't be out on the bike again until next Sunday, so that gives me a week to get back on track.

To say this is a lesson learned is an understatement, next time we go out for dinner it will be a big fat juicy steak, definitely not pizza!🍕 

Going 'Keto' and why it's the best thing since erm sliced bread

If you know anything about the Ketogenic 'Keto' lifestyle you'll know I was trying to be funny with that Post Title.. we don't eat sliced bread on Keto, it's full of nasty carbs and things 🤨

Anyway, my attempt at humour is rubbish, so best I stick to riding bikes than telling jokes!



For the last couple of years I have hated myself every time I look in the mirror, I see a short, fat, flabby middle aged woman, unhappy at her shape, unhappy at her level of fitness. 😢

I've been plagued with injuries during that time, both shoulders giving me problems from falling off the mountain bike and falling off walls (at an obstacle race), broken ribs from the latter, lower back problems... all amounting to having long periods of being pretty sedentary, eating the wrong foods, comfort eating, drinking wine and beer at weekends and all because I hated being injured, hated not being able to ride my bike and hated being overweight (I was tipping the scales at 11st 5 at my heaviest) and yep, its a vicious cycle which is hard to break but something had to give and this photo taken in July where I was at my heaviest, the day I got my Intense Primer, made me realise to my horror and embarrassment that I needed to do something about my weight, my diet and my fitness!

I had heard about the Keto diet on social media and started reading up about it, I just happened to be sitting at the dining table one Sunday with my laptop open looking at a website called Diet Doctor and my husband asked "are you thinking of going Keto?" to which I replied "erm, maybe, why?" 

Well it turns out my hubby knew more about Keto than me, he had first heard about it on the HKT Podcast after listening to an interview with World Champion BMX rider Josh Perry who is a huge advocate of the Ketogenic lifestyle.  His story is quite simply amazing and inspiring and even if you don't agree with the idea of Keto, I urge you to visit his website and find out a bit more about his story.

I read some more, lots more actually and we discussed what it could potentially do for both of us with regards to weight loss, and potential improved energy levels on the bikes etc and we decided to take the plunge together and the rest as they say is history!

So what is involved in the process of going Keto?

Before I started Keto I had never looked at my carb intake before, I was always counting calories and believing the way to loose weight was to always be in a calorie deficit. I couldn't understand why I wasn't losing weight when I was regularly burning 3000+ calories a day by doing cardio (indoor bike training, riding my mtb to and from work etc) and only eating 1800 calories a day.  I was always tired and I put that down to exercising.

Since going Keto I've cut most processed foods from my diet, stopped eating bread, potatoes, rice, couscous, pasta, porridge etc all of which used to be consumed on a daily basis even when I thought I was eating healthily.  Eating a huge bowl of porridge for breakfast with blueberries and honey, taking a couscous salad to work for lunch, eating a pasta bake for dinner with vegetables, not realising I was consuming approx 200g carbs a day, no wonder my energy levels were suffering and I was feeling bloated all the time and not losing weight 😕

Keto has made me really scrutinise my diet and I actually eat more healthily now as I can't take shortcuts eating ready meals etc. I have to plan a weeks menu in advance, I cook everything from scratch now, I batch cook and freeze food and whatever we have for dinner in the evening, we have for lunch the next day so we are eating 2-3 balanced meals a day with lots of green veg.

The best thing about Keto is there are alternatives for pretty much everything we have cut out, Celeriac is great for chips, mash and roasties, there's Fathead Pizza made with almond flour and cheese, we eat loads of steak, bacon, pork, cheese, homemade curries etc, there's even Keto bread rolls, naan bread, garlic bread, I've even made Keto bagels.. the possibilities are endless and all low carb!

I have been on the Keto lifestyle for 5 months now, I've shed a total of 23lbs, taking me from 11st 5 to 9st 10, from a dress size 14+ to size 10, losing 4 inches off my bust and 8" off my waist!  Not to mention I no longer feel and look bloated, my mind feels clearer, I no longer feel tired all the time, my joints have stopped aching and the best bit I have so much energy riding my bike, I'm not craving sugary, high carb foods for fuel when I ride and most of my rides will consist of 4+ hours, 30+ miles of cross country mountain biking on nothing more than a Bullet Proof Coffee... amazing!

In the space of 20 weeks I have gone from this ⬇

           

  

To this ⬇

 

I've still got a way to go but I've stopped looking at the scales now and go by how my clothes feel, I'm in desperate need of a new wardrobe but as I am weight training now and building muscle I'm holding off buying too many new clothes.

Losing so much weight and feeling so much more energised has transformed my biking, it's given me confidence and I just feel so much better for reducing my carb intake, cutting out sugars and processed foods and I can't wait to see how much of an impact this has on my racing next year! 😊