It's Not All About The Bike

This morning it’s the Stanford Hall Duathlon which used to be known as the Sutton Bonington Duathlon but has now moved down the road a bit. It coincides with a steam fair that's being held there and I'm sure the whole event bemuses the steam enthusiasts.

The run course isn't as good as last years and last years was bad (e.g. dull). This year we get a two laps out and back, not terribly exciting. I do a good first run and I'm 7th after it but I feel I've gone out too hard. It was possibly my fastest 5km ever but I don't know how accurately they've measured the course. All the same, I struggle on the first lap of the bike with leaden legs. It doesn't help that the course seems to be on a permanent slight incline, apart from the few downhill bits that appear to be against the wind. I lose nine places which isn't terribly good. One chap comes up behind me on one of the climbs and shouts 'no drafting' as he goes past me. He must be joking, there's no chance of me being able to stay with him to do any drafting. Unless he's rubbing in the fact that, I'm sure, he drafted me up the hill. I do at least lap the back marker, who's a bit of celebrity for being the 'lantern rouge' and still coming back for more. I notice he's riding what is possibly my dream bike, a Kuota Karma. This just goes to prove, that it's not all about the bike.

The first lap of the second run is also hard work but I feel a lot better on the second lap and get back two places to finish 14th. Not too bad.

After a bit of time recovering at home, I feel lively enough to cut the hedge. Basically if I don't do it now, with my schedule, I'm not sure when I'll get around to doing it. At which point I find out just how much you do actually use your arms when cycling. Needless to say, they now ache rather badly. MD tries to help with the hedge; even threatening him with the hedge cutters doesn't seem to put him off. That pup is fearless.

I cook a curry whilst L and I share an Old Peculiar and a German dark lager. Then we decide on a dog free wander down the Plough. We haven't been there for ages because we won't go there with both dogs because Doggo and the pub dog don't get on, so we daren't add MD into the mix. Doesn't bare thinking about.

As it turns out, as we're supping our Supreme in the luxurious surroundings of the lounge bar (dog owners are restricted to the public bar), we find out that the landlord had changed. The old landlord and his dog have moved on. So, MD might be down for a visit after all.