Pretty random combination of things right there don’t you think? I agree!

So first to a cycling update. I have been cycling! I went out on both Saturday and Sunday around Wallingford in Oxfordshire. My current schedule says that I should be doing 10-15 miles on each of Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and what with all this being away stuff then I have not been as diligent as I might have been. So inbetween spectatoring at a six-a side under 11s football tournament on Saturday (well done Ed!), and then marshalling at the Thames 10k run on Sunday morning (well done Mel, you were fantastic!), I got a couple of rides in.

I went on both occasions towards Nettlebed and Ewelme and RAF Benson, and did about 12 or 13 miles on both occasions. It was hot on both days, and so pretty hard work for me right now in my current state of unfitness, but rewarding nonetheless. I definitely need to get this thing into a routine, or I am not going to be anywhere near ready for this ride in September. I am already worried about it, especially the first day. 96 miles with about 7,000 ft of ascent is going to kill me, especially when I then I have to get up and do the same thing again for four days running.

So last night (Tuesday) I went out also. My legs were (I am ashamed to say) pretty tight from the weekend (told you I wasn’t match fit yet didn’t I), and I wasn’t even sure how far I would get. As it turned out all went fine, and I had a great ride. I did 16.2 miles in 56 minutes, my best average so far, and so I was quite happy. I know I have a long long way to go with this, but that is the best I can do right now, and so I will keep persevering.

Oh and also I have ordered my nice new shirt for the GBBR – there is a piccie of it below, and we get them as part of our entrance monies. Apparently all 200 riders (hope I am still one of them by them!) will wear them as we ride into Twickenham together on September 4^th – should be great!

So where you might ask does the Oktoberfest and the Zugspitze fit into this? And what in fact is the Zugspitze, I hear you say also.

Well, since staying with Heather last week you may know that we are plotting to do a little (!) trek next year, possibly Aconcagua (in our dreams perhaps). Well there was a little gap in this year’s schedule, and I mentioned to her that I had always fancied going to the Oktoberfest in Germany. So Heather said “I’ll come!”, and that was that! The Oktoberfest is of course the world’s largest carnival, with about 8 million attendees. Most people (like me:)) will be there for the beer tents and the sausages, as I will be able to indulge heartily in both as it will be about two weeks post the GBBR.

Here is a little piccie of the inside of an Oktoberfest beer tent to whet my appetite, if no-one elses:

Looks like an awful place, doesn’t it:)

And then whilst planning the Oktoberfest Heather mentioned that her not being a big beer drinker might mean that she didn’t envisage spending three weeks there just drinking beer. I thought that was a bit selfish personally, as I think three weeks of beer drinking is a perfectly normal thing to do, and I may well need someone to carry me out of the beer tent each evening:). So anyway, I agreed, and suggested that we combine said little trip with a little walking too – well it would almost be rude not to, as we will be at the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, an area I absolutely love.

So after a little bit of googling I came across this:

This, ladies and gentlemen is the Zugspitze. The Zugspitze is the highest mountain in Germany, at 2,962 metres (just under 10,000 ft) above sea level. Impressive huh? Apparently you can get up it in about a day and half, and so it is going to have to be done!

So we are off there, subject to sorting out the logistics, towards the end of September. And so it looks like September, with the GBBR at the start, and the Oktoberfest and the Zugspitze at the end, is going to be a busy month, although not so at work. Hmmm, maybe I should book the time off work pretty quickly……….