With just 1 more day at the office, preceded by our final spinning session tonight, it’s all about the final preparations now.

Andy, on his last training ride yesterday, suffered from a cycling catastrophe which led to this email…

“Just had a disaster with bike, rear mechanism, the hanger, the chain and spokes have broke!! Nightmare, was on last big training run!!”

…and his coming home with a new bike – better now than next week is all I can say to that! #toocloseforcomfort!

In other news, out kit is finally dispatched and should be delivered tomorrow morning. To the wire but after many moments doubting it would turn up at all, after some serious communication issues over delivery dates, the arrival of our tops will be a testament to Ian’s sterling negotiation skills. Fingers crossed till he has them in his hands.

The reward system to manage the boys’ behaviour is taking shape too. A “good boy” badge will be awarded at the end of every day. I’m thinking some sort of haribo type prize for the person who earns it the most during the trip. I do also reserve the right to not-award the badge – Christine, we will be conferring on this issue! Awards will also be made for falling off, “oops” and for general stupidity, “loser”.

All that’s left to do now is pack, kit and bikes, make it to the airport on Saturday morning, and persuade easy jet to let our plastic wrapped transportation on to the plane. Oh yes, and to do a sun dance because the weather may be hotting up in the U.K. but, come Saturday, and more importantly on our first day of riding on Sunday, Italy paints quite a different picture!

2 weeks today and we will be riding in Italy. Scary thoughts then that today was the first time I’ve been on a bike for 4 weeks. After a weekend away, the Manchester 10k, and a weekend of sickness, a 50 miler in the Cheshire hills was a daunting but necessary return to the saddle.

We have Chris Byrne to thank for a beautiful route round the cat and fiddle after he posted a Strava link the other week to his favourite ride. We all agreed that we could see why. Gorgeous houses on the roads out through Bramhall and Poynton, fields of buttercups, lambs bouncing, and plenty of blue sky.

Today was the perfect day for cycling; finally warm & no more than a light breeze. No surprise that the hills were crawling with Lycra.
I’ve always found cycling to be a social sport. It’s lovely to be able to chat to new people on an uphill slog – they all think we’re bonkers though on our touring bikes with panniers, especially Mark who tried out his front panniers for the first time today, which he bought to try and balance the weight following an earlier purchase of a pannier robust enough to safeguard his SLR.

Unfortunately the legs weren’t as enthused about the ride as the head so we had to stop frequently, consume many Haribo (ok, that’s is normal cycling behaviour) and take the climbs at a frustrating pace.

Lunch was at the cat and fiddle; teaming with bikers, cyclists and walkers. Sandwiches and a pint – of chips, plus a game of dominoes, set us up for the ride home, along with the first ice cream stop we’ve managed on a ride (summer is here, if only for the weekend, and even if the ice cream was only from Asda).

I won’t comment on how long the 50 miles has taken, it was all about recovery and being back in the saddle. Jelly legs to finish but it’s done, and still nice enough to have tea and cake in the garden to relax.

Today’s ride came with a very valuable lesson – do not let Mark plan a training ride. With the hills in Italy looming ever closer the training rides need to incorporate the things we normally try to avoid. Today was all about finding the hard ones!

With Becci missing out on training today it was down to just Mark & Ian. Ian, the official route planner, decided he should let someone else be responsible for the route for a change. In hindsight he’ll say that was a mistake.

With the sun shinning, birds singing and the Peak district calling. We headed out into the countryside with a little “off roading” along a canal for good measure but soon got stuck into the smaller hills. After about 30 miles and just before the biggest hill we stopped for a tasty but incredibly massive feed at Anchor Inn – in a sign of concern Mark kept to just the one pint of bitter.

The training rides so far had all missed out on the important off roading so it was a nice surprise when the Garmin directed us off the tarmac and down a dirt path. Always adventurous we followed the instruction and cycled through what is best described as a small pond in the middle of the path to reach a gate. Awaiting us on the other side of the gate was a rocky path with a small ‘stream’ running down it.. After some derogative words form Ian about the route planning common sense prevailed and we headed back to tarmac to find a different way.

We soon were back on the path well trodden and headed up Mam Tor for the biggest climb of the day. Checkout this panoramic view from the top, via google plus.

The rest of the ride was plain sailing apart from repeated assurances there were no more hills which were generally promptly followed by a bend and another big climb…

All this lead to a lovely Mellor pub stop in the The Devonshire Arms which just happened to have love Jazz playing – you got to love how things just come together!.

It’s not all about the Manchester training. We are an international bunch. Christine, who’s Swiss, has a slight advantage over us Brits by being born into hills has been putting in training too..

Today she went for a 30miler as her first ride being clipped onto the bike, unlike Ian she’s taken to them straight away and didn’t fall off!

Importantly the ride took in some nice views and tasty treats! Bring on Italy.

I should start today’s post with a Happy 1st Wedding Anniversary to Andy and Lez. A good excuse not to use a rare week off for cycling.

60 miles today saw us attempting the route to Sutton hall again, with much more satisfying results – and not just because we completed the ride with all parts of our bikes in tact. I’m not quite sure the same could be said of Ian though; with a back strain from putting his bike in the car and a couple of close encounters of the Tarmac kind, there were a few moments where Mark & I doubted his ability to finish (or more accurately, start!) As always however, we sold him short and he soldiered on like a trooper.

The wind has continued to complicate matters by slowing us down but the Garmin elevation says we climbed 3300 feet today. Road names like Bull Hill Lane give you an idea of what we were dealing with. We are still worried that the climbs will be worse in Italy, but with a new cassette on my bike I have a better range of gears so there is scope for a little bit more. One guy cycling past us commented it that “it’s hard enough without luggage.” He looked like he does climbs like that on a regular basis though and was referring of course to our panniers carrying all but the kitchen sink. We may not go very fast but we always have weight, and I like to think, in many cases, go further than the cyclists with bikes you can lift with a finger!

The sun stayed out for most of the day despite earlier predictions of the weather over the past week suggesting rain or even thunder storms (Christine, I fully understand why you don’t want to go out in the rain- weather watching this morning would have lead to a day off if we’d woken up to a downpour – but remember in Italy- we’ve just got to get on with it).

After admiring the scenery and watching many little lambs jumping round the fields we arrived at Sutton hall. I think I am developing a love affair with the place, it’s so beautiful and the staff are so helpful- they even laugh at Ian’s jokes and refill our water bottles. We refuelled with a hearty feed and pudding (the joys of cycling) and Mark chilled out with a couple of beers; Ian and I preferring tea once again.

The journey home was sedate by comparison with a windy pootle back via congleton and Alderley edge (I can’t help but admire the beautiful houses on route with maybe just a hint of envy).

I have decided today that a group charter may be required to help me and Christine manage the boys. I’m still working out the details but some sort of sticker reward scheme for good behaviour springs to mind, assuming we can ignore the bad- it’s basic child care techniques right?

Training now being in full swing, we have made other progress this week and almost all our accommodation is booked for the trip. I am particularly excited about our Tuscan accommodation which comes with a pool, tennis court and BBQ. Ian has also been busy and ordered the tops, so we will at least have all the gear…

With 7 weeks till we fly I think we are all somewhere between excited and apprehensive. Not long to go now! Bring it on.

Sunday saw our first really long ride of the training. 80 miles down to Nantwich to see Mark’s parents for his birthday.

Somehow we managed to cycling down in nice conditions despite each town we went through being recently soaked with rain.
The ride back was slightly more problematic with a 17mph head wind slowing us down but we did stop off at a lovely pub for beer and tea.

Rick Milnes I could almost hear the comments you would have been making.
The journey home was somewhat more eventful and involved us riding in an accidental circle through mobberley. Much swearing at the garmin and gradual nightfall did not do much to help the situation. Eventually it just became too dark to see the road, let alone be seen properly so we decided to aim for the nearest train station. With a 40 minute wait for the train at mobberley we sought refuge in the station pub, warmed up with a cup of tea in front of the fire and made friends with the cat.

Half an hour on the train saw us in Stockport and, following a well lit ride up the A6 we made it home for 9:00 pm. 70 miles ridden even if they didn’t quite get us home.

This week we headed out for a 55 miler, intending to lunch at Sutton Hall near Macclesfield. We made it up some fantastic hills near the Robin Hood Inn at Rainow. All those spinning classes are starting to pay off, although Italy will no doubt be worse. After enjoying a long descent towards Macclesfield I had a problem. Snapped chain, and that hairy moment where I could see myself falling off with my feet still clipped to my peddles. Somehow I freed my feet, and, I don’t know if it was luck or judgement, managed to stay upright and avoid my chain getting stuck in my wheel. At this point however we were both freezing and even contemplating fixing the chain was too much. We decided to head back up the hill to the pub, neither of us quite sure how far we had to go, having so happily whizzed past on the descent. Fortunately it wasn’t far so we ordered lunch and called for assistance. Why pubs in the hills don’t have wifi I don’t know. Poor signal meant the only way of communication was by text message but location passed on, Ian and I ate a mediocre Sunday lunch while mark drove to the rescue. Although he came equipped with replacement chain, I was so cold I bailed on the ride home, preferring a 4 wheeled chariot with heating, and leaving Ian to ride by himself. I did feel proud of myself when we drove down the big hill Ian and I had climbed, particularly factoring in wind and hailstones. Maybe Italy will be ok???Ian’s solo ride also sounded eventful. Stories of harassment from boy racers and…

…but, as always he was “aaaall right”.
So, more of the same next weekend. Who’s joining us?