Ian Greasby

F A N T A S T I C !!!

No more sitting on the Siberian Sufferlandrian Static Cycles! It's all done and I'm on my way home.

Bye bye snow, ice, work and noisy old uncomfortable sit up and beg gym bikes.

This month is REST MONTH ! (I know, not ideal timing and probably not what most personal coaches would recommend, but……I don’t have a coach so I can do what I want!)

I'm off driving a 4x4 pick-up flat-out through the desert at the UAE Desert Challenge Rallye for 6 days. This will involve plenty of pies, curry and beer before, after and possibly even during (pies, honest!) That and a fair bit of motorcycling planned will refresh the mind and rest the legs.......... and get some weight back on, cos I’m getting too skinny!.

I've just calculated the numbers for this month in Russia, and amazingly it’s almost the same as last month...... but slightly more:- 

500 km's over a total of 24 hours on the Gym/Room bike (at high cadence). A 6km run in 28 mins each Friday and 20km over 3 hours on the ski machine (on max load). And about 10 x 20 minute blasts on weights.

This month 2 England rugby games, the Qatar MotoGP and yes....... several more episodes of The Professionals and a few Sufferlandrians helped me through!

The sponsorship money has slowed down, but I have some cunning plans to try to reach the new target of 4,000. But just in case your pockets are burning….. here's the link   www.bmycharity.com/iangreasbytourdeforce  Thanks. 

After Abu Dhabi I've got a plan to do 4 or 5 days one after the other which all ends in a big Sportif at the end...... bring it on.

Option 1: Bedroom bike                   The Chain Gang                 Option 2: Gym Bike .....  choices, choices

Well after a long and enjoyable "Outdoors in the UK" February……it’s back to the reality of being “Sentanced in Siberia”……

Thankfully not the hard labour camps of old, but it’s definitely prison like being kept in behind the bear fences. And even if we were allowed past the fences, with the need to work from 6am till 8pm, Seven days a week, it’s always dark anyway…. Oh and pretty deep in snow!

But all is not lost. Although no Mountain bike, or Road bike to choose from...... I have the unenviable luxoury of either

a)      my Room Bike or

b)      the Gym Bike !!

Wahoooo!!  - variety, dear friends.......is the Spice of my Life!

The Room Bike has a half eaten seat, the height is stuck far too low, one of the pedals is held on with zip ties and duct tape, but .....I can watch the lap top whilst pedaling.

The Gym Bike actually fits me AND I can listen to my 80’s i-pod music all night (glorious?).

So…....that’s been my life since returning. I’ve managed a spin almost every day in the 2 weeks completed. The longest was whilst watching and streaming the England /Wales rugby “live”. (Well done boys). But 'cos the internet is so slow here, and kept locking up, my planned 1.5 hrs turned into 2.5 hrs….. without me noticing - every cloud / silver linings…..and all that!

I have to admit, the novelty of Sufferfest Sufferlandrian stuff has rapidly waned….. but pre-recorded episodes of The Professionals and the film“Who Dares Wins” (remember that one from 1980?! ha ha) certainly helped keep the monotony at bay!

The numbers for the first 2 weeks here:-  18km run (3x6km), 300 km's cycled over 14 hrs (various 30 min, 1 or 2hrs), and 3 x 30 mins on the pesky ski m/c.  As I've said before...if that doesnt sound much, try it yourself after a 14 hour shift! If it wasn't for Lewis Collins the numbers would be a lot lower!

2 more weeks to go…….One more Rugby International, the F1 season starting......and the whole of Series 3 (Professionals!) still unseen! You've got to be jealous?

The money is still dribbling in...... peoples promises slowly arriving...... and a whole team of friends on the other side of the world are doing a 21 hour (1 hour for every day I'll be cycling!) spin-a-thon for WWMT's benefit....more on that next month! Thanks to all the "Good Men" out there.    

And to everyone else....please don't forget if your wallet is burning a hole..... www.bmycharity.com/iangreasbytourdeforce

Thankyou !