September 2026 has been extremely busy with lots of running around everywhere apart from anywhere overseas, sadly. A few weekends were taken up with travelling which then meant that weekly Sunday group rides with the Crazy Catz and TICCC had to be missed, which was a pity. I've also tried a new app called RealVelo which looks useful.  Oh and that travelling?

August 2026 saw the continuation of the heatwaves hitting the UK which meant that workouts in the Pain Cave were done early and were very sweaty nonetheless! But it was nice to mix in some real-world cycling as well as the virtual stuff: I used the Brompton to drop off the ST for an annual service and to collect it afterwards…

July 2026 saw a couple of heatwaves hitting the UK and of course July always means the Tour de France. I've been watching the coverage on TV for as long as I can remember now but never really got involved in any way ... until this year.  This year, it started in Barcelona with two and a bit stages and finished in Paris on the Champs-Elysées.  

June continued my normal exercise regime with a combination of rides on ROUVY as well as getting some of my usual  John Hallas' Weekly Challenges on FulGaz done.  On ROUVY, I was doing their challenges and an occasional Sunday morning group ride. There was a change of plans with me heading off to Cyprus for along weekend in the sun rather than going to Dublin for something work-related.

May was a further continuation of my normal exercise regime with a combination of rides on ROUVY as well as getting some of my usual  John Hallas' Weekly Challenges on FulGaz done.  On ROUVY, I was mainly going their Giro d'Italia-themed challenges, such as the Maglia Bianca (completed) and Maglia Rosa (nearly done) ones and a Together Around the World challenge to honour…

April was a further continuation of my normal exercise regime with a combination of rides on ROUVY as well as getting some of my usual  John Hallas' Weekly Challenges on FulGaz done. I still need to actually go ahead and arrange a partial knee replacement, which we'll do in the early summer, if I can get some answers to some queries I've raised...

So March continued my normal exercise regime with a combination of rides on ROUVY as well as getting some of my usual  John Hallas' Weekly Challenges on FulGaz done.  I've also recently enabled the warm-up and cool-down features on ROUVY to actually record the distance I'm cycling before and after each structured ride. I still need to actually go ahead and arrange a partial knee replacement, which we'll do in the early summer...

After the hideousness of the 40 days of January 2026 things improved with a much quicker February. I continued my normal exercise regime with a combination of rides on ROUVY as well as getting some of my usual  John Hallas' Weekly Challenges on FulGaz done.  I've also recently enabled the warm-up and cool-down features on ROUVY to actually record the distance I'm cycling before and after each structured ride.

Well January 2026 went like every other January: long, wet, dull, and about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit. Anyway, here are January 2026's statistics, with work being somewhat slower and Alison being away for a few days for a family funeral. So I continued my normal exercise regime with a combination of rides on ROUVY as well as getting some of my usual  

Another year; another review. 2025 continued my fitness consolidation with a combination of real-world activities when we were on Fuerteventura and virtual activities in the UK (and Thailand where I didn't venture outside the hotel to exercise), using the home gym equipment in the Pain Cave. Since early November 2023, we've been back full time in the UK - other than holidays, of course - so the Pain Cave is visited pretty much every day first thing before work.

Happy New Year! It's the 1st of January 2026, but here are December 2025's statistics, starting with a week with no real exercise, after I had the steroid injection into my knee to see if that will temporarily help with the everyday crippling pain, rather than moving straight to my recommended knee replacement surgery to sort out my lack of cartilage and arthritis in that knee.  

We had another fortnight's holiday in Corralejo, Fuerteventura, so I again hired a Specialized Allez Elite from Easy Riders Bike Centre and went for a morning ride each day from the villas at Bahiazul along the FV-1 to Tamaragua and/or the FV-104 between the shore and the famous dunes. In total, I managed 300km whilst we were there (plus some walking/hiking).

It's the 1st of December and it's the start of a strange week: last Friday, I had a painful injection into my knee to see if that will temporarily help with the everyday crippling pain, rather than moving straight to my recommended knee replacement surgery to sort out my lack of cartilage and arthritis in that knee.  The consultant then told me, "no swimming and no saunas" - due to the infection risk - and "no running at all, ever, no cycling for a week, and drastically reduce my step count", all for the first week of December.

Much later than usual as I forgot to do the stats and only realised when we were on holiday last week, so my apologies. October was much of the same as September whilst trying to clear the decks at work for our imminent holidays. So I was doing more virtual rides on ROUVY, and I've even enjoyed a Group Ride with Wout van Aert (from the pro cycling…

I mentioned earlier this month that I was finally taking the plunge and trying out ROUVY, so I have, and I've been enjoying some of the group rides with a group calling themselves the Crazy Catz who are on both FulGaz and ROUVY and Strava as well. Running though has taken a back seat after some more consultations and an MRI: I need a partial knee replacement but I've decided to grin and bear it for a bit and try some injections later this year to out a plaster on it...

Well I've taken the plunge and paid for a year's subscription to ROUVY (£160 for the year) to run alongside my existing FulGaz (£86) and JRNY (£135) subscriptions. Yes, September's going to be expensive with both ROUVY and JRNY renewals, the former for virtual cycling and the latter for the Bowflex T56 Treadmill (and indeed JRNY do virtual rides as well).

Nearly all of my riding is virtual: the UK's roads aren't up to road riding and the UK drivers even less so, seemingly filled with frothing, enraged gammon motorists hating all those "woke" cyclists, blah, blah. So the only time I actually ride on the road is when I'm away on holiday in Fuerteventura, when I hire a road bike from the guys at…

August was back to normal after a busy July being was mainly spent in Bangkok so it was back into the Pain Cave with less running and more cycling. The reduction in running is entirely due to my knee being super-painful having aggravated something in it in Thailand, due to overuse. So I also made an appointment with a consultant who has now recommended and MRI before deciding what course of treatment it will need, surgical or non-surgical.

When you've got a few days holiday in Corralejo, Fuerteventura, why wouldn't you hire a Specialized Allez Elite from Easy Riders Bike Centre and go for a morning ride each day from your villa at Bahiazul along the FV-104 between the shore and the famous dunes? In total, I managed 324km whilst we were there (plus some walking/hiking).  See my March 2025 Stats post…

May began with me looking forward to a long weekend in Cornwall on the BMW R1250RT and that didn't disappoint, even if it - meaning Cornish Pasties, cream teas, and pub meals - led to a few days off from the Pain Cave. Most of my time other than that was spent in the Pain Cave for more FulGaz rides, mainly my usual  

Actually, no panties, and they're running shoes, and nothing to do with Ian Dury.  But apart from that... I've previously owned and used and abused a number of pairs of running shoes and in fact I've tracked their lives on Garmin Connect, so I can work out when they need to be renewed.  Decent running shoes should be replaced around 300 - 500 miles of use, so 500 - 800 kilometres.

April was me coming down to Earth with a bump after a really enjoyable March. Most of my time was spent in the Pain Cave for more FulGaz rides, mainly my usual  John Hallas' Weekly Challenges, but during April (and May, although I finished it in April!), the FulGaz Coastal Explorer Tour. Anyway, here are April's stats: Activities: 23…

I realised I hadn't done a proper update on the main challenges I did on FulGaz last year and this year: the Grand Tour 2025 and more importantly, perhaps, the Ironman Pro Sprint Series. I can't link to them, sadly, because with FulGaz' acquisition by ROUVY, the event pages have disappeared. Happily, though, I managed to screenshot the overall leaderboards/General Classification ("GC") tables so I would have a permanent record of how I placed overall.

March started with that work visit to New Delhi for a Hearing.  The hotel had a pool and allegedly a fitness centre; the former I didn't really get to use because we ended up working well over 70 hours that week, including the weekend, and the latter was better than it looked on their website.  The treadmill also linked properly to my Apple Watch Ultra and launched an Apple Fitness+ run which appeared to show video on the main screen and the photos that were mentioned came up on the Watch.  

February started with some new work coming onto the horizon that was soon confirmed with a week's visit to New Delhi for a Hearing.  The hotel had a pool and allegedly a fitness centre; the former I didn't really get to use because we ended up working well over 70 hours that week, including the weekend, and the latter was better than it looked on their website.