New Stuff

My new grips for the DK arrived this morning from Chain Reaction. They are ODI Longneck ST BMX 143mm if anyone is interested. Below is a picture of them:

Last night I was was working and while I was on my lunch break I was looking at a facebook page that I am a member of to buy and sell BMX race bikes and up popped a Dialled bikes frame with 90% of the bits to build the bike do I bought it 😀 It was £130 so it was much less than the £400+ they usually go for all be it with lower spec parts than the expensive bikes. Here is a picture of most of the bits:

I had been looking for a while for a pro xl 20" any really liked the Dialled bikes as they are chrome frames like the Speedwagon which I really like. Luckily last week I also bought a cheap 180 mm GT crank off of the same group which I can now use 😀 

I haven't decided what to do with the new bike yet I have 3 choices:

1. Build it as a full on race bike and start to double up at races in the 20" and Cruiser this will be an expensive option as it will cost me about another £800 to get the bike fully race ready. This will been a great option as I will get much more race practice and my fitness will improve as I will be effectively racing twice.

2. Leave the bike as it is and race it anyway and change parts as and when needed. This is my preferred option as it will not cost me any money. And I will get the same benefits as above.

3. Leave the bike as it is and use it to train on so that the cruiser feels slower and easier to ride for races. This means I will get some of the benefits but not as much as options 1 and 2. 

I will mull this over for the next few weeks to see how I feel.

Buying the Dialled Bike has made on decision for me I am definitely not going to spend any money on the DK and I am going to ride it break-less and as is until things break and need to be replaced. I am planning to use this bike to learn freestyle on the way to work and back and also take it to the park to play with my son so it doesn't have to be anything special and I will be swapping out bits regularly as it will be hitting the floor a lot.

This afternoon I am going to remove the break and fit the new grips and maybe take the DK out for a bit of a ride with my son to test it out. I am still debating whether to put pegs on it or not as I have 4 pegs lying around to I may well put them on. I also want to slam the back wheel as far forward as possible to help with my manuals as I am going to start my 60 day manual challenge on Monday using the DK as the practice bike. 

I am currently making a list of tricks that I want to start learning over the next few months here is the list so far:

1. Manuals

2. Bar spin

3. Opo bar spin

4. Hop180 to fakie

5. Hop 360 

6. Grinds

At the moment these are the basic trick that I want to master, I can kind of manual now but not for very long so this shouldn't take too long to get better although I am going to do the 60 day manual challenge and video my progress just out of interest. Also the Manual is really important for racing as well as freestyle so I plan to spend more time mastering them than the other tricks which are more for fun. I used to be able to barspin and 180 so I do not expect them to take too long to master although the bar spins are going to be a bit tricky as I have had to change the way I ride due to my lack of ankle ligaments meaning that I can not ride right foot forwards any more or my ankle comes out of joint and effectively gets sprained meaning I can't walk for a week or so which is not good. This means that regular bar spins are now opo bar spins and opo bar spins are now regular bar spins. So in theory I should be stronger at opo bar spins than regular bar spins. 

I am just sorting out the harness for my action cam so that I can have some footage to put on here. I am also starting a youtube channel where I want to document everything that I am doing as a record of my progress and also as a resource to help other people get fit using BMX as their main method of exercise. I am still deciding whether to have one channel and put everything on the one channel (Race training, Freestyle and Fitness/ Weight loss) or Split the content into 3 separate channels. I think I will probably just have one channel as I can edit the daily videos into one longer video. I will also make it easier to manage than having to have 3 places and the blog to manage content every day.

Today and tomorrow I am planning to make a couple of bike check videos of the Speedwaggon and DK as my first videos as I have not started training properly yet then on Monday I will start my training properly. I have decided that I am going to reduce the number of long rides I doi as it is difficult to find an hour+ a day in one lump to dedicate to exercise so I am going to change it up and do sprints Monday, Wednesday and Friday's and then if I can fit in 2 long rides on Tuesday and Thursdays as a recovery from the sprints. I am thinking that I will do the sprints from 5-5:30 am on the weeks that I am working the early shift before I have breakfast then they are done. This will leave me free to ride with my son after work doing the manuals and stuff on the street after work. On the weeks that I am working the late shift I have all day to do the sprints while I am at the track practising track specific skills so it is not a problem. 

I have just finished removing the break from the DK and installing the grips. Below is a link to a video of a quick bike check I did to show off the bike:

https://youtu.be/v9IUlYS-wxY

Failing goals

This week hasd been crazy which has meant that I have not been able to complete most of my goals. The only goals that I have been able to complete is drinking 3l or more of water a day and also drinking lime water 30 minutes before eating breakfast in a morning. I must say that I am feeling much better for doing both.

I plan to get 2 more exercise sessions in tomorrow and Sunday so that I can make the weekly goal of 3 sessions a week so lets see if I can do it or not.

Re-adjusting Training

I am going to re-adjust my training as I am still a bit sick from the Flu I had the week before xmas and after the ride yesterday I am feeling worse.

I am going to hold off on the circuit until next week to give my body time to get used to exercising again and also let it get over the flu before I get into the regular training. Luckily I am working lates again next week so I will have time to do the circuits next week. Also next Monday is a bank holiday so I will have time to do the circuit without having to rush.

For this week I am going to ride my bike every day and also concentrate on my drink and food goals of drinking 3 litres of water a day, having lime water 30 minutes before breakfast and eating 3 bananas and 3 apples a day.

I am just drinking my lime water now so that is goal one achieved for today.

Pretty Successful Day

I managed to do 3 of my goals today. I rode my bike for 1:06:07 for 15 miles and climbed 701 ft. I also drank over 3 litres of water and didn't drink any Soft Drinks only water.

I didn't do the circuit or eat 3 apples and 3 bananas today as we didn't have any in the house.

I am going to start the exercises tomorrow morning when I wake up and try and get to the shops and buy some apples and bananas so that I can complete all of my goals tomorrow.

Circuit worked out

My daily circuit will consist of the following exercises:

Squats 20 reps

pressups 20 reps

wall squats 30 seconds

crunches 20

lunges 20

back extensions 20

calf raises 20

plank 30 seconds

I have decided that to not over train I am going to only do this circuit every week day to leave the weekend for rest or to make up for missed workouts so my revised goals until 27th of March are as follows:

Short Term Goals:

Drink 3 Litres of water a day.

Drink lime water every morning 30 minutes before eating breakfast.

Do the circuit above every week day (Monday-Friday)

Do at least 1 hour of aerobic exercise 3 times a week.

Loose at least 10kgs by 27th March 2017.

Do the 60 day manual challenge.
Eat 3 apples and 3 bananas a day.

Long Term Goals:

Drink no fizzy drinks at all for 1 year.

Do the circuit 5 days a week EVERY week for a year.

Loose 33.65kgs by 26th December 2016.

I am currently looking at ways to tweak my diet to help with the weight loss. Most noticeably dropping ALL fizzy drinks from my diet again as I have started to drinks some fizzy drinks even though I haven't been drinking coke but as my weight gain shows ALL fizzy drinks need to be dropped. This is why I have set the goal of not drinking any fizzy drinks for a year.

I am also researching a healthier breakfast as my current one doesn't seem to be working very well at the moment. After the 3 months I will re-evaluate my goals and set some new short term goals which will probably be more BMX racing related such as sprints 3 times a week to replace the cycling sessions and introducing HIIT training as well but I will have to see how sucessfull my weight loss is before I can do this.

Time to change

It is officially time to get back in shape. I am officially the heaviest that I have ever been at 103.65kgs!!! This is 16 stones and 5lbs more or less. my ideal weight is  between 70-80kgs so I am at least 23.65kgs over weight. That is almost 4 stones over weight!!!! I new I was fat but I didn't realise that I was that bad. According to the BMI matrix which is a bit floored as it doesn't take into account muscle mass I am Obese my BMI measurement is 34.6 with a measurement of 30 or above being obese.

That said it isn't totally my fault as I have been injured for the last 4 months so I haven't been able to ride my bike or exercise (although I could have been using the exercise bike if I wasn't so lazy).

The laziness has to stop NOW! I have been thinking about the best way to get back in shape and I have decided that I will start exercising today. I have been researching online and I have found that one easy way to loose weight is to drink 3 or more litres of water a day. That is an easy thing to do both at home and in the office when I am there so that is my first goal for the next year. My second goal is to drink warm lime water every morning 30 minutes before eating as I have found that this helps with my welbeing and seems to reduce the amount of times that I get sick during the year. My third goal is to do a basic full body - body weight routine every morning when I wake up for the next year. to start with I will do 20 reps of all of the exercises and then build up. The third goal is to ride my mountain bike for at least 1 hour 3 times a week. On top of this I need to start doing bike sprints at least twice a week as well as bmx specific skills training at the weekends.

I have decided that I am going to focus mainly on weight loss for the next 2-3 months to try and get my weight down to around 90 kgs and then I will replace the long bike rides with the HIIT training that I was planning to do as I think that I am too out of shape to start HIIT training just now.

Added to this I am going to do one Pilates session a week to work on my flexibility and body positioning and balance.

For the next 3 months my morning routine will be as follows:

Wake up
Make and drink warm lime water.
Do exercise circuit
Eat breakfast
Shower and get on with the rest of my day.

Regarding the cycling sessions and Sprint sessions, I will have to fit them in around my work shifts. When I am on late's it is easy as I have all day to workout before I have to pickup my son from school at 3:30. When I am on early's it is a little more difficult but I am thinking that I may do an hour ride at lunch then it is out of the way as I get really lazy after work.

I am just researching the body weight exercise circuit that I am going to to do every morning at I will post it once I have it finalised later today. For today I am going to do the workout later as I don't have it ready to go today. When my son wakes up I am going to do my first cycle ride with him along the 2 tunnels cycle path as he has wanted to go along it for a while now since I found it. For this week I am planning on going out every day for a ride to make the most of the fact that my son is on holiday from school so my schedule is more relaxed than normal.

DK decisions Made

Had time to take some pictures of the DK and clean it to make some decisions about the break and what to do about it. After checking the wheel I have decided to go breakless as if I want a break I will need a new back rim so I am not going to bother.

I am only going to shell out for new grips and that is it. Luckily the tyres are holding air so I don't have to shell out on new tubes either.

Here are some photos before I washed it:

And here it is washed:

I am going to Crucial in Bristol tomorrow to get the gearing changed so I will get the new grips and I will then take off the old grips and put on the new grips tomorrow afternoon.

Mount Hawke

I decided to take my son to Mount Hawke before I picked up my new bike as it was 30 minutes away. We got up this morning at 6am and we were at the skatepark by 10am. This place is amazing. My son rode his bike for an hour and then switched to his scooter as it was too busy.

He did his first drop in on the mini ramp within 10 minutes of being on the scooter and I haven't seen him since which is a great sign.
Here is a video of his first ever drop in.


After MountHawke we went into Truro and picket up my new DK General Lee from the Guy who I bought it off of on facebook.

The bike looks OK it had 2 flat tyres and the as he said before the brake doesn't work.

The tyres are both pumped up now and seem to be holding air so no problem there. After xmas I will take the bike to crucial for a services and will either get them to take the brake off all together or swap it out for a new lever, gyro and caliper as I need a break to stop me looping out when learning manuals.

Once it has been cleaned I will take a few more photos.

I have been looking online and seen a few places that people are using bike stands to practice manuals and finding the balance point. I am going to get some wood and build a couple of stands for my park bike and my sons park bike so that we can use them as part of our manual challenge starting on Jan 1st.

I havent been able to exercise at all this week as I have been sick as well as the broken rib. The rest has done me good as I am not feeling any pain any more. I am going to rest until Jan 1st to make sure that the rib heals. This will give me 8 days to get in somekind of shape before the next Bristol Winter Series race on Jan 8th.

Broken Again!!!

Played basketball on Wednesday night and managed to break the rib in my back again!!!

Even though I have a broken rib I did my interductory session at Pilates this morning which went really well and I really enjoyed it.

I have spoken to my Pilates intructor and have decided that I am going to rest over christmas and new year and then strat doing one session a week to work on all the imbalances I have in my knees and ancles and work on my flexability as it is really poor. She also noticed that I have really poor range of motion in my hips which we will work on.

I am also going to pick up my new freestyle cruiser next week so once my rib is heeled I will be able to start learning freestyle.

Time to get fit!!!!

It is officially time for me to get back in shape. I have just weighed myself and I am the heaviest that I have ever been in my life! I am 102.1KGS!! That is 16,07 Stones. Luckily I am starting my training tomorrow after work.

On a plus side this has given me more motivation to get training. Also I should loose a fair amout of weight quickly as I am so far over weight. Usually when I get really heavy I drop loads of weight to start with and then it takes longer to shift weight after about 88KGs.

I am planning to train really hard on fitness up until around the end of February and then concentrate more on the BMX as race season starts in March. I intend to ride at the track at least 3 times a week during the time I am fitness training and then ramp it up as race season get nearer. I am going to focus more on skill than on speed as I think I have the speed and it is my technique or lack of it that is holding me back.

I have seen a few people who have done the 60 day wheely challenge and I think I will start this next year for my new years resolution. Basically you spend at least 30 minutes a day practising wheelies for 60 days and it is that simple. I am going to do the Manual challenge not the wheelie challenge as I need to get good at manuals more than wheelies.

I have just bought a used DK General Lee 24" off of a Facebook group and will be picking it up on the first day of my holiday on 19th December.

Here are a couple of Photos from the add:

I am also hoping to start going to the skatepark next year as we have a really good one near our house so it seems like a good idea. Also a lot of people are using park riding to improve racing as it helps with jumping which I am really poor at.

Back to Training

When I woke up this morning my legs felt good and well rested so I decided to go to the track and do some full laps to make my legs tired again.

I also took off my clip-less pedals and put the flats back on as everyone says that it is better to train on flats in the winter. I also wanted the flats as I am working on manual-ling and don't want to be clipped in if I loop out as I am not used to the new bike yet.

I did 6 flat-out laps with 3 minutes rest in between reps which was a struggle with my current fitness level and my legs are sore again!

I then did some manuals on the first straight to practice manual-ling doing a leg pump to bring the front wheel up not pulling on the bars. I also concentrated on looking over the lip of the jump which surprisingly helped.

I also did a bit of pedal manual practice over the tabletop on the second straight which I have got smooth now. I want to try and learn to pedal manual the first double on the first straight as it is faster than manualling but it is quite hard. I will continue pedal manualling the tabletops for now to practice my pedal manuals and also try and pedal manaul the first double for the next few weeks to try and get it dialled.

The weather today was great and there was even some sun as you can see from the picture below you wouldn`t believe that it is December in the UK!:

Rest Day

I am having an impromptu rest day today as my whole body is aching from racing on Sunday.

I am going to start the HIIT program next week as I need my body to get over Sunday before I start as I do not want to over train and get injured before I even get into shape.

I found a really good HIIT program that incorporated the majority of the body weight exiercises that I want to do into it so I am going to this program instead with a little bit of modification in that I will start with one set every day for the first 2 weeks to ease into it and then move onto 2 sets for 2 weeks and 3 sets for a further 2 weeks I will then do the 3 sets twice a week to maintain the gains and start to focus on bike specific training.

The program that I have found is on you tube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLrKgwICkWA&t=424s

It is sold as loosing 10KGs in 2 weeks but I am not in such a big hurry so I am going to stretch it out to 6 weeks to not over do it.

I will start on Monday and train every weekday for the allotted time and keep a record here of my weights and weight loss.

The video is great as it also has a built in timer so you can do watch the video to do the program.

Sunday I will weigh myself and record my weight I will also measure my Vertical Jump as I am curious to see how this program will affect my Jump as there are a lot of similar exercises to most home vertical jump programs.

Also a secondary goal of the weight loss is to improve my basketball fitness as well as my BMX fitness so I will see.

First race back

Yesterday I took the S&M to Bristol for the winter series races. I initially was going to do the warm-up and gates to get used to the bike and the new stem and wheels but it felt so good as did my shoulder so I decided to race.

During the gates in warm-up the bike was amazingly fast in face in my first 2 gates I beat people I had never beaten before by over a bike length to the first corner. This is mainly due to the Onyx hubs which worked as advertised and had instant engagement and my pedal strokes seemed more powerful as well.

In the races I got 2nd, 1st and 4th and took 3rd in the final but my legs were shot after the 2nd moto as I hadn't done a full lap for 3 month.

I also found that the 41-18 gearing was too low as I was spinning out about 3 pedals before the first jump and I was getting overtaken by one or 2 people by then. I have really liked the 42x18 gearing on the DK but unfortunately the S&M doesn't have enough chain stay clearance to put a 42 cog on the front as it only has less than 1mm clearance which is a little too close for my liking.

Last night I was looking at the charts and I can't make up my mind which gearing to go for. A couple of the really quick local racers run 39x17 and a few more run 37x16. I am leaning towards the 37x16 as I was running 36x16 which I liked but found it a little bit too spinny so 37x16 may be better.

Also more of the national riders run 37x16 and are really fast so if they are fast on it I can't have any excuses.

Here are a few photos of the bike after the race:

Apart from the gearing I am really happy with the bike and can't wait to actually ride it properly.

Yesterday's race showed that I need to get in shape quickly so I have decided that I am not going to race until the next Bristol race in January and concentrate on getting by fitness and leg strength back this month. Looking at the photo's from yesterday I need to loose a bunch of weight as well as I look like I have swallowed a beach ball. I also weighed myself last night an I am over 16 stone so I could do with loosing 3-4 stones.

I order to get back in shape I am going to do the following training:

Mondays - AM - Body weight exercises
Mondays - PM - HIIT training on the exercise bike

Tuesday - PM - Sprints

Wednesday - AM - Body weight exercises
Wednesday - PM - HIIT

Thursday - PM - Sprints

Friday AM - Body weight exercises
Friday PM - PM - HIIT training on the exercise bike

On top of this I will do my normal track based training as I always have. I am thinking of doing a more endurance based focus at least 2 times a week by doing 3 laps at a time. I also to continue to focus on Manuals and tap manuals in order to get faster.

New wheels

Picked up my bike from Crucial BMX in Bristol and the new wheels have been built up and put on the bike. They look really nice and are so light and the hubs are amazing really zero drag and absolutely no sound at all which is weird.

I also fitted the Elevn 53mm Stem that I bought off of facebook as the S&M stem I bought was too long.

The frame is looking really dirty as I took the bike in to be worked on after doing gates on the Saturday and didn't have time to wash it.

The wheels are Onyx hubs with Box Focus 24x1.75 rims with black spokes, Crupi 24 tooth rear cog and Maxxis DTH 24x.1.75 tyres.

I also swapped out the Shimano bottom bracket that came with the frame for a Chris King bottom bracket that comes with a 5 year guarantee and the grease can be changed. I also bought a Sinz hollow pin stem and a shimano DXR left handed break lever to swap the right handed one that was on the bike,

I have left my old wheels with tyres and tubes so that I can use them for training on with the profile freewheel that I have at the moment although if I stick with the 37x16 gearing I will need to sell it and get a 16 tooth profile freewheel.