March started with a snow day and threw in another halfway through. Snow days down in Cornwall are rare, but they came like buses this year – wait for ages and then 2 came along together.

This cold and wet weather led to more days not commuting than I was comfortable with, but I was in no rush to get ill or have an accident. However, this meant I tried to use the good weather to get out and ride as much as possible and when it snowed, I switched onto the mountain bike.

I am lucky to live in a place which has great road routes to cycle, but I’m also close to the trails. This meant that although the roads were not suitable for riding, the trails felt like a
white adventure playground. Heading up to the sky spur, I was able to look out to sea and take in the views.

I still managed to get in a few days of commuting and a couple of short rides. I only did 114 miles in March, which took my total for 2018 to 358 miles. Although this was less than last month, I have noticed an increase in strength and speed. In tandem to the miles, I have been working on my core strength too. This was a real weakness last year and I struggled when holding myself for long periods of time on the bike. At Blackbushe pedal car race last September, I had to stop with back pain as my core wasn’t strong enough. Therefore, one of my goals of 2018 was to improve my core through a series of exercises in a plan from my best man, who is a fully qualified personal trainer.

Hopefully, we will soon see better weather and I can continue to improve my form ahead of the summer. An 83 mile sportive in the New Forest as well as a return to pedal car racing up in Bruntingthorpe should help me clock up the miles in April helping my endurance. These should also bring some intense and prolonged efforts to further improve my speed.

Milage so far this year

January – 112 miles. Total – 112 miles.
February – 132 miles. Total – 244 miles.
March – 114 miles. Total – 358 miles.

On a different subject, my mum has been busy again. As well as making me an item of clothing I’ll share next month, she made me a matching bag cover. This incorporates one of my favourite TV and film series: Marvel. This bright and colourful bag really shows my character and I’m looking forward to wearing it in the next few days.