Very quick gym cardio session on Roy's new exercise bike

My last meeting of the day over-ran yesterday and I wanted to get back to see little Eilidh (11.5 weeks old now) before she went to sleep for the night, so I did a very quick cardio gym session at my work (Cranfield University). It only lasted 25 minutes but blimey did my quads complain after the race on Sunday.

I thought I'd try the new exercise bike in the gym. It's not your usual affair - more like a proper racing bike but without wheels. Semi-wincingly narrow saddle, gear shift lever (not buttons) and triathlon style handlebars for leaning as if pedalling furiously downhill into a wind. The gym manager Roy is an ageing competitive cyclist ;-) and he has translated a local undulating 10 mile time trial route onto the bike. Apparently the record is around 17 minutes, set by an MSc student who also happens to be some Scottish junior champion. I thought I'd give it a crack.

I warmed up for a minute which involved a lot of groaning (worrying for a warm up) then let rip. Or well at least tried to. I puffed my way round half the course in just over 10 minutes before my quad burn became too much and I had to admit defeat. The fell race certainly took its toll on the old legs! I'll be back sometime soon ...

I finished off with some running on a machine (never that satisfactory really) and a wee bit of rowing. My legs feel quite refreshed today so I'll go out for a run tonight.