31 January 2013

Doing it again?! (Part I)

So, after almost three years of complete radio silence, I have decided to try and kick start this blog again. I am sure the lack of activity has left a huge hole in the readerships’ lives….for that I can only apologise. Please start checking back more frequently.

You would assume that the lack of reporting on here is indicative of a dearth of interesting events to report over the past few years. That couldn’t be further from the truth, but the working assumption is that they were of little interest outside of my immediate circle… perhaps they still are.

Since finishing the Tour de Force in 2010 many things have happened. Most immediately, I finally had an operation on the collarbone that was broken for the duration of those three weeks in France, only to find upon opening me up, and much to the surgeons embarrassment, that it had fully healed and the proposed bone graft and pinning was no longer necessary. A result of sorts.

Probably the biggest event, and that which has shaped much of the ‘lost years’, has been Vicky and I moving to Hong Kong. [EDIT: we also got married, which I am informed should also be mentioned here]

Life in Hong Kong has presented lots of interesting opportunities, many of an eating, drinking and junking variety, but also a surprisingly diverse range of sporting and outdoors activities too! Given the purpose of this blog is not to document my social life I will spare you those details and focus on the healthier aspects of Hong Kong.

Although Hong Kong is regarded as one of the world's great cities (and it really is!), out of the total 1,092 km² of land, about three-quarters is actually (usually very hilly) countryside. That coupled with the fact that the water/beach is never far away and the consistently better weather than the UK makes it a great place to spend a lot of time outdoors.

Wakeboarding at Tai Tam, HK
Since we have been in Hong Kong I (and Vicky) have spent a lot of time wakeboarding, hiking, cycling, competing in aquathons and triathlons (in Hong Kong and further afield), half-marathons, trail running and even some swimming.

Paragliding in Bali

Whilst I may touch on some of the other events or activities I will be undertaking over the coming months, the primary focus of this blog is cycling and will be to document why I am doing (some) of the Tour de Force again in July 2013, my training leading up to it and then the event itself.

You can expect upcoming blog entries to include, training ride reports, the challenges of cycling/training in Hong Kong, planned cycling holidays/trips, Strava (and not Garmin Connect), some of the more geeky power meter related elements of my training (it is genuinely interesting, I promise), how to fight back the urge to kill yourself when using a turbo trainer, a short series on the “Hills (or more like Walls) of Hong Kong”, Mt Ventoux (the TdF and beyond), my new (modestly priced) custom built frame and perhaps even a short film (or two).

Hopefully it will be interesting enough to secure more regular readers than just my mother (I do need to call you more often, I know) and my (understanding) wife. I actually enjoyed reading back over some of my older blog entries from 2010, so if nothing else, I can look forward to a similar experience at some point in 2016…