Back to normal..... well almost

Sorry for the lack of updates recently..... I've just been so busy.... which, I guess, is a good sign! The week before Easter I had the long awaited visit to the cardiologist, who after a brief discussion and a session on the exercise bike while hooked up to an ECG, proclaimed that my heart appears to have made a good recovery and shows no outward signs of the heart attack. Hey, hey! Great news!

The offshoot is that now I am allowed to exercise as hard as I like which, as I found it is a pulse of 160BPM. The beta-blockers act a bit like a rev limiter which means that I have to train in "Diesel Mode". Hopefully I'll be off the pills by summer and then I should really be able to train properly. The cardiologist isn't too happy with the prospect that I want to race again, however, he did conceed that racing is better than no exercise at all!

The green light was well timed as Fi and I went down to Tuscany for the long Easter weekend to visit Stevie B and Alex. It was great to catch up with them and I got out for a ride with Steve on Friday and watched him race on Saturday (he's still damn fit). Of course, I managed a few geocaches and endulged in some naughty Italian treats (Palma ham pannini's and cream cakes mainly). OK, the weather was pretty bad, just like everywhere else in Europe but getting together with old friends is always special. Funnily enough, as we joined the Autostrada back towards Genova the skies cleared giving a beautiful view over the freshly snow ladden Appenini mountains. We decided to drive home over the Simplon pass (-10°C and drifting snow at the top)and take the Lötschberg tunnel (car on train) to Kandersteg. We reached Bern just before dark as it started snowing heavily. It took us two hours to do the next 15KM.......

The down-side of getting the green light is that I am now back at work 100% (actually 120%, but that's another story) which is making it hard to keep up with the cycling. I'm determined to keep it up though as I've lost a shed load of fat and don't have to buy a new wardrobe of clothes after all! Actually, I'm feeling healthier now than I have for over a year. Last weekend I did 80Km (50 miles) with 850m of climbing at an average of 30KPH..... better than any ride I managed last year.

In reality, I don't have much choice except to stay on the bike. I had a reminder from the finance company for my car the other day that the lease is finished at the end of July. This prompted me to check the conditions. Ouch! Every KM over 60,000 is going to cost me 27 rappen (approx 13 pence) which I'm not prepared to pay. That means that I have only enough space left for a couple of trips to Zürich airport. The car will stay locked in the garage...... and "little Brum" will have to work her stripes off!

The first local time trial is in May..... looks like I'll be riding out to it ;-)) Bring it on!!!