MCC Club Ride - Glossop

The weather forecast for the May Middleton CC club ride looked stunning - clear skies, wall-to-wall sunshine, light breeze - and it certainly lived up to it, as I rode to meet my fellow riders a few blocks away from my place.

Myself and Paul expected a very small gathering of club members (as has happened on the previous times we've led rides) and were pleasantly surprised to see a turn-out of 5 other riders - Simon B, Arthur, Joe, Steve & Janet C. Steve & Janet had ridden a 10 mile TT the previous day and Simon had ridden with Rochdale Triathlon Club (with Chris Newton (yes, THAT Chris Newton) leading the ride into the hills he loves), so it was expected to be a slow day, especially with me not really riding anywhere since the injury with the climbs that this ride held.

After a very quick off-road stint to cross the canal we took the group into Fairfield and past the lovely new canal side apartments before heading towards Audenshaw and alongside the old Robertsons Jam factory, which is sadly being pulled down. Up and over the M60 and soon we were heading towards Dukinfield with Paul leading and me bringing up the rear to ensure that there were no stragglers - it's ok if I straggled seeing as I knew the route!

Once in Hyde a climb with max gradient of 6% sorted out the fit from the not-so-fit (me) with Paul and myself bringing up the rear. The other riders hadn't had an enforced 3 month ban from bikes; nor were they riding classic steel machines; nor were they carrying a little extra weight. They were all on alloy or carbon frames with compact gearing and hadn't lost the strength in their legs due to not being able to train. Paul stayed behind to ensure I was ok, seeing as previous rides didn't have climbs as long as this.

Once at the top of Mottram Rd and safely around/over the horrid motorway roundabout, more climbing brought us to Mottram Moor and the super fast descent down Mottram Moor down to the A57 Woolley Lane and the final descent to the outskirts of Glossop. After descending so fast, it was a trifle mind-numbing to then be pootling along at the speed of a snail as we hit traffic and tail-backs on the narrow road into Glossop Centre and the cafe opposite the Market Square.

After receiving funny looks from the bikers outside the cafe - it's a biker cafe in both respects of the term, and they looked at us as though to say 'where's the engine?' - we joined the queue inside for yummy food. Not entirely sure where Simon puts all his food - huge burger, chips and gravy were all snaffled down by this guy!

Soon we were heading back home. It was all going so well until Simon punctured and it seemed to take forever for his tyre to get back onto the rim. I told Paul that I'd head off up towards Mottram Moor seeing as I knew I'd be so slow climbing back up it and that I'd meet the rest of the guys at the top, most likely up at Roe Cross. So off I went. Once across the river my speed dropped and the gears were clunking down towards granny as I began the long crawl back up what I'd previously hit 40mph coming down. Legs spinning I expected to see my lungs clinging onto my teeth as they held onto life; but no, for some odd reason I was managing to just spin my way up the hill. Bizarrely, I wasn't too sure if I was happy with that! The worst was yet to come though as I turned off Mottram Moor and tried to get up Roe Cross Rd and past the little frog in the stone. By now I was in the granny gear and wishing I had a great granny gear as I ground my way up towards a welcome rest and breather.

A rapid descent followed with me passing half the group who had shot off, only for them to pass me again due to unforeseen circumstances. As I happily hurtled along I hit a pothole or lump in the road (dunno which) and saw one of my bottles come flying out of its cage and head towards my face. Luckily my quick reactions stopped the inevitable thwack in the mush as I managed to catch the bottle between my knees. Still hurtling along, looking like a right numpty and coming up to a set of red traffic lights I had to take swift action and swoop into a side road to slam the brakes on and catch the bottle before I could either unclip or fall over!

After another mile of descent we were heading through Stalybridge and past Stamford Park and its boating lake towards the Ashton/Mossley border. After Steve, Janet and Simon turned off for home, soon Arthur, Joe, Paul and I were heading through Daisy Nook and Littlemoss with the intention of getting Arthur back to the Manchester Velodrome and his car.

Once at the velodrome car park a brief chat with Arthur boosted my confidence in my riding ability. Arthur is one of the clubs best riders with not much slowing him down, so when he said that he thought I'd done amazingly well on the ride as there were some tough climbs it went down very well. He said I'm a better rider than I think and jokingly told me not to get fit if I can ride like that when not fit!

Personally, I am impressed with how I did. the last time I came out this was was when I was fit and I struggled more then than I did this time. Granted my legs felt like they'd run out of gas by the time I got to Glossop, but I managed the worst climb of the ride in the way home without stopping; and that for me is a huge thing.

Stats - view route

Glorious, hot, clear, sunny

Maximum speed: 40

Average speed: 12.1

Miles: 27.66

Climbed: 899ft

Time: 2:15

Climbs -

Hyde - Mottram. 2.86 miles with max 6%

Woolley Lane. 0.43 miles with max 8%

Mottram Moor. 0.54 with max 8%

Roe Cross. 0.99 with max 13%

Friday Fun

I had planned on cycling on Friday, but decided to go for a wee wander instead. But I'm glad I did.

I set off towards Berry brow and past the Millstream Animal Shelter heading up towards Woodhouses via the narrow, twisty lanes that climb up Medlock Road and past centuries old cottages with very sweet names: Rose Cottage, Pear Cottage, Christmas Cottage, Clayton View.

Once at the top of the hill and into Woodhouses proper I came across a little building that looked like it was a little church or sunday school (although I'm not convinced of this seeing as there is a church at the other end of the road and the village doesn't seem big enough to warrant 2 churches).

A stint in Daisy Nook followed this on road section. Lots of Mama Ducks were around with their broods, including a Coot leading out a brood of Moorhens!

Sadly the old Pinch Farm has been left to fall apart and is now a dangerous derelict building. Only the old iron bridge over the canal is still in good shape. Take a look here to see the farm in all its glory.

Further along the canal is the ford and wooden bridge by Sammy's Basin and the old locks descending down to the Dark Tunnel and the Yellow Bridge area. I turned off just by the side of Sammy's Basin to enter the woods and follow the valley down to the stone slab bridge over the Medlock and then climb back up the valley side to bring me out by the Yellow Bridge (where it used to be anyway).

Once I'd had a brew at the visitor centre I crossed over Stannybrook Rd and set off along the Jericho Trail to pass Cinderland Hall Farm and follow the route of the now defunct Hollinwood Canal. The main portion of the canal that is 'open' water is that in Daisy Nook; once on the Jericho Trail there is some water but it's very full with reeds so there's no water fowl about, but there is still plenty of wildlife.

Sadly as I was walking along here, my memory card became full so I ran out of space for pictures.

This portion of the canal brought me out in Littlemoss by the Railway Pub and gave a pleasant walk through Greenside to the fiveways roundabout and through Sunnybank Park and later Seymour Rd Park to my moms.

Stats - view route

Sunny, clear, hot, gentle breeze

Miles: 7.5

Climbed: 180ft

I Wonder

Having read quite a few cycling blogs I've noticed that a lot of people base their average speed on what it reads on the pc when they look down at it, rather than the speed it ends up reading due to stops, slowing down for lights etc. Is this a more realistic way of doing it?

If so, what seems to be rather slow on my readings would actually be a fair bit higher - I'm usually around 17mph when I look down at the pc and rarely below 14 unless I'm trying to get up those darn hills or slowing to a halt at lights.

What say you? What is your average based on - the actual reading off pc including the slowing down etc, or the average you're at when you look down at the pc?

Appointment rides!

Seeing as I had an appointment in Ashton at 9:30 this morning, I though better of getting the bus which would take me anywhere up to 40 minutes due to roadworks for the metrolink causing havoc (it's going to be passing my place with a stop directly over the road from me), so I rode to the appointment instead. I also wanted to try out my windshell seeing as it was a little chilly out.
After leaving my place and getting onto the A662 very easily (despite it still being rush hour) thanks to a HGV that stopped the traffic for me, I had a fab fast ride for a couple of miles, seeing as I could weave my way past the traffic getting clogged up at the huge holes in the road. As I neared Ashton I noticed my chain was jumping a little. Each time it decided to play up I was pulling away from lights and pushing really hard; the chain jumped before I even got my other foot clipped in, so it would frequently slip off the pedal resulting in a few painful sudden drops onto the saddle for me (ouch) and watery eyes. After the third time I decided enough was enough and pulled over to sort it out - it was proving very hard to find anywhere to stop earlier due to being on the portion of road that is stupidly fast-paced and joins the motorway very close to where I was.


After hoicking Everest onto her saddle and playing the chain a bit, I realised what had caused the problem. When I wash her, I always take the wheels off to wash them separately and to ensure she gets a thorough clean. When I put her back together after her last wash, I'd obviously not pulled the rear wheel back far enough for the chain to be correct, so obviously the playing up was due to the chain being a little lax. Easy enough to sort out anyway!


It did mean I looked a little grubby when I got to my appointment though.


Afterwards i didn't want to come straight home, so carried on with the route I did on Tuesday 19th but with a tweak - I would ride up the very evil hill that is partway along Oldham Rd by Bardsley.

So, after 7 miles of undulations I pushed myself into riding up the 20% Bardsley Hill. Sadly I didn't time myself, but I don't think it took me too long. After that, it was to be very muddy as I took Everest through Daisy Nook and Medlock Vale before my usual hill climb attempt.

This hill may not look much - it may not even look like a hill - but it's an evil thing that drains you of energy while you push away and wonder why it feels so hard!

Once home I noticed that both myself and Everest was very mud-splattered - had to clean Everest before I took her into my place.

Stats view route
Cool, very drizzly, warming up rapidly
Maximum speed: 59.7 apparantly!
Average speed: 11.9
Miles: 16.61
Climbed: 371ft


Bardsley Hill view hill
Miles: 0.12
Climbed: 72ft at 20% max


Hill climb
Maximum speed: 10.3
Average speed: 6
Miles: 0.44
Climbed: 102ft at 19% max
Time: 2.20 mins

Bank Holiday Ride 2

Following Saturday's ride I decided I really needed to know if I was still able to ride beyond 20 miles, so Sunday became the day to try it.


As the day dawned beautifully sunny and warm I left the long sleeves and leg warmers behind and set off towards Cheshire and Chorlton Water Park to find the car park filling up rapidly and hastily made my way to the trail around the lake for an anti-clockwise loop dodging joggers and fishermen - it seemed like everywhere I looked there were people fishing!


After having a chuckle at the sign posted at the end of the wooden bridge over the Mersey - what are they trying to say? - I enjoyed the sprint down to Kenworthy Wood, through Wythenshawe Park passing by the Hall and onto Altrincham Rd where I could continue my sprint to the Shaftesbury Avenue roundabout where, finally, the bridge repairs have been completed and both lanes in both directions were open to use. No more lorries up the butt getting up and over for me.


This part of Timperley has the best cycle path I have ever been on - it's alongside a busy dual carriageway-esque road (which makes you think it's be awful right?) Wrong: the cycle path is as wide as 2 lanes of the road and is separated from the road by a verge and has lovely gardens to cycle past.

Once back on the road and past Altrincham Municipal Golf Course/park/cricket ground/thing and I'm praying for the traffic lights to stay on green, so I can have a run-up to the evil 18% climb across another bridge. Thankfully my prayers are answered and I breeze across the bridge and continue on to the busy T-junction and the joy of trying to cross 3 lanes to get into the correct one for my turning.


I knew there were roadworks and the bridge at the end of Seamon's Rd was closed off so one of my routes was unrideable, so I chose the next best one through the lovely area around John Leigh Park and Oldfield Rd. i knew I'd have to follow Oldfield Rd as it veered left somewhere along here, but still managed to take a wrong turn! A wrong turn that proved great for me and embarrassing for another cyclist.

The wrong turn took me to a part of the world where this cyclist regularly trains and was busy doing so when I turned up. His training was hill repeats on a hill he knows very well and zooms up. A hill that I would crawl up. A hill that, after riding for 15 miles already, I led him up. Led him up quicker than he usually gets up. After reaching the top I had to try and turn right onto the very busy and wide A56 and then further on get across umpteen lanes so I could turn right again onto Charcoal Rd alongside Dunham Massey grounds.

At this point I wasn't even ready for a rest or lunch, so I continued riding with a lovely loop round the country lanes through Dunham Town to the very sweet little Sinderland Methodist Church and through Dunham Massey village, back past the boundary of Dunham Massey and onto the Lavender Barn for lunch.


After the best cheese toastie I've had in years, I set off on a mission to sprint for as long as I could. Zooming along White House Lane I managed to pick up a fellow cyclist who tried his best to stay on my wheel, poor love. Every time I stopped at lights or a junction he'd catch up only for me to leave him behind in an instant. Every time I looked back he was there trying to get back on the wheel, but I eventually lost him after 5 miles when I turned off through Northenden. When I stopped through the lights to see how he was doing, the look of relief on his face was huge - I think he regretted chasing me for so long!


After Northenden the route became so straightforward I could ride it with my eyes closed (but won't, to be on the safe side ;oD) - straight along Palatine Rd/Wilmslow Rd to the turning for the Bike Docs and then on to the Velodrome and round to the Medlock Vale for a quick breather before attacking the long hill climb/test I've been doing recently.


Stats view route
Hot, bright and a gentle breeze.
Maximum speed: 30.5
Average speed: 13.1
Miles:39.79
Climbed: 456ft


Dunham hill climb stats view hill
Maximum speed: 11.5
Average speed: 8
Miles: 0.34
Climbed: 98ft at 13% max
Not sure of time - didn't hang around to find out.


Hill climb stats
Maximum speed: 10
Average speed: 6.8
Miles: 0.44
Climbed: 102ft at 19% max
Time: 3.01 mins

Bank Holiday Ride 1

On Saturday I decided to play around with one of the routes I've been riding recently and turn it on it's head. I also left a portion of it out altogether.

So, it began with a nice sprint of about 1 mile along my main road to turn off as though going to the Velodrome (my route to the velo anyway) and up and over the speed humps that never seem to slow anyone down! Heading down towards Philips Park extension and I seem to be hurtling along at warp speed. Doesn't my body know that it was seriously injured not long ago and has no fitness or power in it??????
Once round the twisty turny section and onto the short twisty 8% hill to bring me out, slap bang, into crudville - derelict buildings along one side of the road. Right hand turn and I'm (trying) to sprint up Briscoe Lane to All Saint's Church but my body has now realised it was injured and seems to be having a massive strop as I kinda trundle my way along. Sigh. This is only 2 miles into the ride and already I'm screaming internally at myself to stop the legs being an arse and get their act together.

Once I get to a 4% rollercoaster section all the screaming seems to have worked as I flew through it towards Ashton Hill Lane and once at an annoying mini roundabout - this one perched just metres away from another roundabout and perched on a hill - a right hander takes me to a valley with a fast 8% descent and a (very unlike me) 6% uphill sprint at the other side and the top end of Woodhouses.

Coal Pit Lane used to be a cyclists worst nightmare - country lane with numerous potholes, narrow with only 1 passing place, lunatic drivers and a housing estate just shoved over to one side of it. Now it's a lovely smooth road - still have the other problems though. I positively flew along here to Knott Lanes and then began a great descent - 10% to begin with, then 15% and finally 20% all in a hill less than half a mile long. Fab!

Near the end of the hill the brakes get slammed on or the entrance to my off-road section is missed (happens to me a hell of a lot seeing as I enjoy that downhill so much!). Daisy Nook and the Hollinwood Canal is the port of call now hurtling along to the very necessary bacon butty and mug of tea. At this point I'm feeling a little foolish for wearing my nice new long sleeved club jersey as bought for me by the bro (Paul) cos I'm feeling extremely sticky. I could have taken it off as I was wearing my compression vest, but that'd mean I had nowhere to put the jersey unless I shove it into my bibshorts; i didn't really want to look like the hunchback of Notre Dame for the rest of the ride, so I just shut up and continued to get sticky!

Back on Everest and back to those 20% lock climbs; then back to that valley, only this time I was flying down the 6% side and climbing back up the 8% side to bring me out onto an unusually quiet Oldham Rd (A62) where I decided now would be a great time to punish the legs for wimping out so early into the ride. So sprinting I went. Only for a couple of miles, but still it felt good. Back down the twisty 8% hill and onto the second off-road bit - Medlock Vale, which is looking lovely now that all the work has been done on it to make it safer and more accessible.

As I've motioned in recent posts, I now seem to end my rides with a hill climb/test/repeat. Today was no exception as I went for the longer climb.

Sadly I forgot to change my bike pc from bike 1 to bike 2 (as I do when doing hill repeats etc after a ride) to record the time, so alas there're no stats from that particular section. Sorry to all you geeks out there. Also, there are no pictures as I forgot my camera and phone - sorry Jon!

Stats view route
Warm, still
Maximum speed: 28
Average speed: 12.7
Miles: 15.79
Climbed 322ft

Strange but true.

Now I know that the Welsh and US folks have unisex names (Kerry, Lesley etc) in the past, but to think I may've been named after an Anglo-Saxon king?? Hmm, I'm not convinced about that!

It turns out that in amongst the slightly strange variants of names in bygone times, there lived a King Anna! I know that he did live in a rather serene and beautiful place though - Blythburgh (a little village) in Suffolk; a place surrounded on 3 sides by salt marsh and the River Blythe. Maybe this is where my love of villages and rivers comes from?

Out & About

Even though the weather was quite pants I decided it'd be good to get out for a ride. Usually I would get the main body of the ride out of the way and finish with a hill repeat or singular climb, or maybe a sprint. Not today. Oh no!

Today, for some extremely odd reason I decided to turn things about a little and it ended up in this order - sprint, hill repeat, main ride & (just to kill me off) a longer hill climb.

So, it all began with a sprint of about 3 miles (with a max gradient of 5%) to the entrance of Medlock Vale. After I sorted out the bike pc to record my efforts separate from the main ride, I set about doing 5 repeats of the hill. This section of road was recommended to me by Amy as the perfect spot to practice hill repeats due to the gradient - if Amy recommends it, it must be good!

After knackering myself for a good 15 minutes or so, the last repeat began the start of my main ride. After turning off the hill I joined a speed-humped road to take me past Droylsden High School's enormous playing field and left past the school itself, a cemetery and to the fun of the Fiveways roundabout (the place where Paul has been hit a few times, poor love); I usually avoid this like the plague, but couldn't be bothered turning off down one of the side streets. Once safely across, I headed up Chapel St and Medlock Rd to get onto my usual route to Daisy Nook.

My route changed a little from the last time I rode it again once I got to Oldham Rd in Ashton, as I decided to test the legs by going up Wilshaw Lane and it's little sting of an 8% section. Up along to Lees Rd and I turn left and prepare to hear the muppets at the 2 high schools I have to pass to get to Alt Hill Lane and my fun, twisty sections.

The first section of the descent is a 5% drop of 36ft to Alt Hill Rd, then onto a 6% drop of 138 twisty & single-laned feet and finally onto a rolling max 4% massively wide section to bring me out to the last 20% drop of 56ft in less than 0.09 of a mile! Finally I'm at Daisy Nook and the start of the off-road track section - the part that Everest has been longing for!

Naturally as it'd been raining almost non-stop for a few days the tracks were lovely and muddy and all too soon I had the compulsory skunk-tail as I flew along the track to Sammy's Basin and the first of the lock descents which would take me to the Dark Tunnel and the welcome butty and tea stop. Once I'd made a few hound chums - Blue, the ginormous Great Dane and Molly, the very cute tiny Jack Russell - I set off again refreshed and ready for action. First port of call was those locks again - 3 of them with a max gradient of 20% and cobbled/rutted/muddy, you name it and it was probably there under my tyres!
After hauling ass up the locks I very nearly came off crossing a ford - just before the wooden rickety bridge is another cobbled section, only these cobbles are loose and very, very wonky, and very nearly tipped me off into the ford!

After following my usual route back from Crime Lake end of Daisy Nook to Medlock Vale (not the direct route, oh no!) I had another trail section through the vale and back to THAT hill for yet another hill climb attempt. Only this time I made it more evil.....I would add another quarter mile to it. Ha ha ha...I'd obviously gone mad! Or had I?

Stats view route
Mild, windy & rainy
Maximum speed (mph): 71.1 apparently
Average speed (mph): 12.4
Miles: 19.55
Climbed 459ft

Hill repeat stats view hill
Maximum speed: 10.7
Average speed: 7.00
Best time: 1.50
Climbed 85ft in 0.26 miles with max 19% gradient

Hill climb stats
Maximum speed (mph): 11.3
Average speed: 7.7
Time: 2.55 mins
Climbed 102ft in 0.44 miles with max 19% gradient

Dear God!!!

I was having a browse through some old, old photos of me earlier today and came across this awful one of me at my primary school. By the look of it, we're all doing some sort of needlework....didn't realise I went to school in the Middle Ages!

I'm the one right at the front with the girl in white looking at me. How bad is this photo?!!!!

Joke

As sent to me by my good chum Andy D -

Clubbers in Wigan have taken to using dental syringes to inject Ecstasy directly into their mouths. This dangerous practice is known as "E by gum!"

Apologies if this offends anyone in Wigan!

Apps

As mentioned a while back I'm now back on the job hunt market. Today was a fine example of such a day -

I've filled in 15 application forms (by hand!)
Emailed 5 companies with my CV & cover letter
Filled in 3 online apps
Gone boggle-eyed
Got a very numb butt
And my knees feel like they've been kicked by a donkey!

What's the betting that I get not one reply back?! :oD

Is this really safe?

While on my way to an appointment I decided to head along Robert Sheldon Way towards the huge Ikea building at the Ashton end of the road.


As i was wandering I came across these fellows and he got me thinking. Is it really safe to be putting sculptures along an always busy dual carriageway? There are seven sculptures in total (the others can be seen here) and they represent the local leisure interests and facilities.


One of the sculptures is located by the side of one of the huge roundabouts that are along this carriageway. I know if I was on my bike along here, I'd be peeking at them, so what's to stop the drivers doing it?


Granted, I like the sculptures, but I just think that they may have been better placed - you can tell these are on such a busy road in the shot of the footballer - he's behind a barrier you get on motorways!

Perplexing.

Soul Selling

I had the thrill of an interview/induction today for a company that sounded great. Out came the work clothes, boots were polished and I even made an effort with the make-up. I arrived early as per usual and had a brew while waiting for the person to arrive.

After receiving a call saying he was going to be late as a business critical problem had occurred, I settled down with a good book - Tolkein's biography.

After several more drinks the interview got under way. Blah, blah, blah - all was going well. Blah, blah, cold calling, blah - eh? Blah, blah, must have ...sales each day...blah, blah. Say what?!
Cold calling, imperative sales??????? Erm, what started out well ended up making my blood run cold; I'd worked in sales for 3 years, both cold calling and inbound and hated it with a passion!

It seems my personal advisor hadn't been told that this job was a sales job or he'd not have offered me the interview cos he knows I'd rather sell my soul to the devil!

Oh well! I'll just have to keep looking.

Everest Liberation

Say Hurrah! Everest got liberated today and she got to play out!

After all the pondering I've been doing since Doc said I can ride again and, what with all the crummy weather, when I saw today's forecast I just thought if I'm gonna get out and try riding again, now would be a good shot.

So after a little bit of faffing about I set off and immediately headed in the direction I usually do - towards Daisy Nook and up Littlemoss and Newmarket Rds. Once at the crossroads I had to do a fast bit of thinking - do I feel strong enough to go straight across and up Wilshaw Lane with it's nasty kick in it, or go a little out of the way and head up Cranbourne? Just as the lights changed to green Everest decided she wanted to go the slightly easier route (isn't she good to me?).

Once on Lees Rd (in the rain) with Hartshead Pike looming on the hill in front of me, I chose to go through Park Bridge down the steep twisting lane - nothing like that road to ensure you get over your fear of turning left (was turning left when I got hit by the car in Feb). Once through the lanes there and back onto Ashton Rd I took Everest for a spin in the mud through Daisy Nook and to the visitor centre for a bite to eat.

While at the centre Everest found herself in lust with a Spesh Stumpy while I fed the squirrel that lives in the woods there.

After a breather I set off in the mud again to Crime Lake, past a few friendly fellows (horses) and up the hill there to cross the M60 and head through Failsworth and down to the railway crossing at Berry Brow. Annoyingly I only remembered the crossing was closed today when I got down the bugger of a hill to it. So begrudgingly I had to turn tail and climb back up it and find an alternative route to get to the other side of the crossing.The alternative took me to the far side of Clayton Vale (Medlock Vale) for another off road section. Everest and her new tyres coped brilliantly and all too soon I was at the point I wanted to be - my hill repeat section. Although I knew I was badly unfit, I thought I'd still give it a shot and did rather well. You'll see how well when you view the stats.

Although I've not ridden since February, I'm a little unsure whether I'm happy or not with my average speed on this ride as you can see from the look on my face! On the brighter side my pelvis didn't hurt at all and the legs only struggled half the time.

The route can be seen on mapmyride - main route & the hill

Stats -

Cool, light winds, rain

Max speed: 26mph

Average speed: 11.2mph

Miles: 16.26

Hill stats -

Max speed: 10.6mph

Average speed: 7.4mph

Miles: 0.25

85ft of climbing (max 17% gradient)

Searching

Since being discharged from the Fracture Clinic it means that I can now get back to looking for a new job - what fun!

I found it bad enough before the recession in looking for a new place to work with only 3 interviews (Greater Manchester Police, GP surgery and M.O.D being the nice guys) out of hundreds of applications.

I've always had the problem of generally being over qualified for jobs I go for; when I worked in bars/restaurants I applied for a job as Manager of a lovely little listed pub near the place I was working. I got an interview and all was hunky-dory until they asked how long I'd been in the industry. It seems my 8yrs was way too many years for them as they wanted someone they could train up from scratch!

The same has happened since I changed careers. Having worked a year of Facilities Management was great, but I've been finding that every place I look they want less time in the industry. And that was before the recession hit!

Still, I've got plenty of experience of filling in application forms. hey, maybe I should do that for a living?