LESSONS LEARNT FROM CYCLING IN SPAIN & WHY NOT TO STAY AWAKE FOR MORE THAN 24HRS

In this episode Amy talkS about her recent cycling trip to Spain and the lesson’s she’s learnt, which will help in her Tour De France challenge planning. Kyle updates on how his 400km Easter Arrow Audax went, including a few mishaps. As usual they end the podcast with a mental health check-in and tip. 

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Hello and welcome to the Amy and Kyle Adventures podcast. Also featuring our dog Chester. So if you hear any noise in the background, that’s him scuffling around. Um, this is the podcast where we talk about all things cycling, marriage, and mental health. And yeah, that’s it really. Anything you want to add to that, Kyle? No, it’s basically me just discussing stuff, isn’t it? Yeah. So I’ve literally yesterday got back from Spain, so I was there for a week. So we’ve not actually had much chance to catch up really, have we? Not seen each other for a while, have we? Seven whole days. Missed me. Eight days, actually. I did actually miss you. Oh, sloppy. To be fair, normally I’m a bit weird. Like, normally when I go away, I don’t really miss people cuz I know I’m going to see them again. I don’t really like I’m not not one of those people that gets really upset about going away or missing people. Like when I was a kid, I never had a problem like going on school trips overnight and things. Like I never That sounds really bad, but like I’d never be like, “Oh, I’m missing mom and dad.” Cuz I was like, “I’m going to see them like in a few days.” But for this trip, I don’t know why. I think it’s cuz I think it’s the longest time I’ve been apart, isn’t it? Yeah. And it’s also like the first trip I’ve gone on abroad, like completely just going on my own. I did actually miss you. And I did I was quite stressed before I went, wasn’t I? Yeah. Very stressed. So, a bit a bit of a background to the trip. So, basically, we went to Calpe in Spain, didn’t we, in January? Yeah. And when we got back, I got a message from a company called Escapar CC, which I always struggle to pronounce because when I see the word, I think I want to say escape, but I think it’s Escapar. No, it’s Essar. Yeah, but I think the idea is it’s an escape. Anyway, they’re a lovely couple from the UK who moved out to Spain 6 years ago and set up this like villa that’s perfect for cycling. So they have like I think eight people a week every week and they take them out on rides and they like do breakfast, lunch, dinner in a really beautiful area and they basically said, “Do you want to come out for a week?” And I nearly said no, didn’t I? Cuz I was like, “Oh, I don’t know if I want to go.” And obviously they invited you, but you’re working. Yeah. And I thought, you know what, it’d be really good training for my tour to France because it’s eight weeks to go now and I could go out there and do seven long days in the saddle sort of on my own. They had set my roots for me. So I thought, you know what? Let’s do it. Let’s go. And I did it. But the week before I went, I was not good, was I? No. I really I don’t know what what was up with me, but like it wasn’t like I was scared to go, but I just got really worked up about it. Like I started I didn’t really have any worries. It was just kind of like this feeling of I didn’t want to go and I just wanted to stay at home and I got really really stressed and like I actually it was so embarrassing. I think in hindsight now like while I was there I came on my period and I think I’m always a bit more emotional before that. So that kind of makes a bit more sense. But I literally cried in the airport. Yeah. That is not like me, is it? No. It didn’t help the fact you left your Garmin at home. Yeah. As we started driving towards the airport. So we were like 10 minutes into the journey to the airport. Bearing in mind like we left it quite late to like get there 2 hours in advance and we were driving. I was checking my bag and I was like, “Oh shit.” I was like I was really stressed to tell Kyle because it was Bearing in mind this was, you know what I’m like in the morning. This was at 2:00 a.m. 2 3:00 a.m. Yeah, it was so early. And I like looked at my bag and my Garmin wasn’t there. And I was thinking, I won’t have put it in my bike box because you’re not meant to put stuff in there with batteries. I was like, Kyle, um, I’ve not got my Garmin. He was like, “Are you joking?” He was like really angry, weren’t you? And I felt really bad. I was like, “We’re going to have to turn around like cuz I can’t go on this trip without my Garmin. I’m not going to know where I’m going.” The funny thing is, I turned around, started driving back towards her to go get the Garmin. And she goes, “Maybe we shouldn’t have turned around.” Yeah. So he just told me to turn around. I’m going to miss my flight now. And then I was like And then I was in a really bad mood. I was like, “Oh well, I don’t care if I miss my flight cuz I don’t want to go anyway.” And I was crying and I was in such a state. And I think I had a bit of a panic attack basically, which I I’ve used to struggle with a lot more. But I’ve not had a panic attack in a really long time. And it just really drains you and makes you feel horrible. But I got through it. We went back home. I couldn’t find my big Garmin and I thought, “Oh, maybe it is in the bike box.” I took my other Garmin and I got there and I opened my bike box and there was my Garmin and I felt so bad. So, I didn’t tell you till I got home, did I? Well, you didn’t actually tell me till a couple of days later. I think I told you when I got home yesterday, didn’t I? Oh, yeah. Did you I didn’t want to tell you cuz I was like, he’s going to be so angry. Um, but yeah, I’m really glad I I went. I did. So I was there for eight days. I did eight R. No, I was there for eight full days, but they ended up doing nine rides. I did a ride when I got there. Then I had seven days on my own, which I did 730 miles. It was actually a bit less mileage than I wanted to do. I wanted to do longer days, but it was really really good there, like where I stayed, but the setup was a bit I couldn’t get up and off early cuz the Spanish lifestyle is get up late and eat late. So breakfast was like half 8. Whereas normally if I’m doing a long day, I’d get up at like half 5, breakfast at 6, be out on the road by 7. So I wasn’t getting out until half 9. So it just meant the maximum ride I could really do was 200k for getting back and things. I didn’t want to get back too late. Um sounds like my kind of lifestyle to be honest. You’d enjoy it out there to be honest. I’m happy to do 200k after half nine. Yeah, you’d be talking to me at that point. Yeah. Um, and then my last day I did like a recovery ride with the other people that were staying there. So, it was really good, but it definitely taught me a few lessons. I think it I’m not I don’t ever really find it that hard to self motivate for a ride. I’m quite good at, you know, if someone gives me says this is what you’re doing, I’ll stick to it. Like I don’t need much encouragement normally to get up and go and do 200k. But there was a few days where I did struggle a little bit mentally like getting up thinking I think it was because one day the guy that planned the route said, “Oh, I’ll do a flatter day tomorrow.” I was like, “So in bed at night I think oh it’ll be nice tomorrow. A bit less hills.” Got up it was 9,500 ft of climbing and I was like that’s not flat. And then I was a bit negative. But then once every time if I started a day negative as soon as I got out on the road 10 miles in I’d be happy again. It’s quite easy to be in that mindset sometimes though when you’ve been doing a lot. Yeah. Yeah, it’s quite easy to find it hard to motivate yourself. I’m pretty good at motivating myself, but we all have times where we’re like in a head like, “Oh yeah, I’m going to do this ride tomorrow and really bump for it.” And then you get up the next morning like I literally can’t be bothered. Yeah. I literally can’t motivate myself to do this. But you always, as long as you I always say to myself, you might not be motivated, but if you’re disciplined, you’ll do it. But when you do it, you feel fine. Yeah. And I’ve never regretted a bike ride. So apart from the one I got hit by a car on, but I won’t talk about that now. Um, but yeah. And then the other things I kind of I think struggled with a little bit was like in the back of my mind I was always thinking this is less than what I’m going to be doing when I do the tour to France challenge. Yeah. But where’s your arm ratio? It’s not far less. Yeah. It’s actually not far off at all. Well, tour to France is going to be it’s 28 days of riding 6,300 400kish. It’s going to be like two 200 It’s like 1,000 miles a week from what I’ve worked out. Yeah. Is that 250k a day? Is it something like that? 225k a day I think. K’s got the stats. So, yeah, but I think the main thing I’m worried about with Tour to France that made me realize while I was out there, cuz there was a few quite hot days. Mhm. And I struggled a bit more and obviously I’m going to have to drink more and probably try and get in the shade a bit more like when I’m stop if I stop for food and things because the heat in France is what’s worrying me the most to be honest. I might try and bring like a little thing that goes on the side of the car. What a little shake. So when we pulling for your lunch, you can like have a little shake parasol. Well, you can sit in the car with the air con on. Yeah, but um we have got a lot of contingencies for like the heat. Yeah, we’re thinking about it a lot. We’re thinking of getting a little ice vest, aren’t we? Couple of ice fest. So, I’m thinking when it’s really hot days potentially starting you off after lunch, say when it’s starting to get really hot with an ice vest and then obviously it’s going to melt and then it’s going to be useless and you don’t want to be carrying a empty warm heavy ice pack on your back. Yeah, I would just meet you further down the road, take it off, probably swap it over, do the same again, just keep you cool for a bit, then take it off, and then keep your water supply. Maybe your hydrop pack on the back. Yeah. With ice in. Yeah, that’ll be good. And also, what the pros do is put ice in tights because then when the ice melt, put it down your back. Yeah. And then when the ice melts, you’ve only got like a pair of tights, which I think the hydrop pack as well that you’ve got. Yeah. The camel is it camel camel back. Yeah. I think that would be really good with ice in. Yeah. Cuz that would not only act as an ice vest, but it’s melt and then I can drink it. Drinkable water. Yeah, that’s a good idea actually. Yeah. So, it’s serving two purposes. So, yeah, the heat that was one thing it taught me is like the heat is an issue for me. I knew anyway the heat would be You’re not a big fan of the heat either. I’m a bit grouchy in the heat. Yeah. So, I think we’re going to have to have some little ground rules of, you know, so we don’t argue because I can be quite grouchy. But I think it’s made me realize I really do need to get some heat training in. So, I’m going to be well, I’ve got eight weeks left now, but four weeks before I’m going to be having really randomly, my coach told me to have hot baths with a hot drink at the same time. So, hot chocolates in the bath. Yes. You’re just going to spike your temperature, aren’t you, and get your body used to it? Yeah. And then I’m also going to be doing some turbo sessions on Ruby without the fan on just Yeah. And maybe with the windows shut possibly. Maybe with some layers on. I mean, I spoke to um you know, Nikki who does triathlon. Yeah. She’s like a really She’s like a Nikki. Yeah. Nik Nikki Bartlett. She trains with like a little tent over a bike. It’s a good idea. Maybe you need to get one of those. So, I’m thinking of doing that. She said she just got it from Audi or something. So, yeah, you don’t need anything special. Yeah, I could do that in the garage. That’ll be hot. So, I’m going to do that for the four weeks before I go like three times a week. Just get myself used to it. Put yourself in the It’s also like the humidity as well. I suppose with a tent, there’s one thing warming your body up. Yeah. But trying to replicate the humidity is a different thing. It’s like you know what it’s like in a tent when you’re camping in the summer. It’s the actual humidity inside a tent that makes it feel worse. Yeah. Almost like sticky. Yeah. That’s what I need to get you. So, it’s probably a good way of replicating that. Oh jeez. I’m going to stink in France. Get your cars on. Good job. I’m in a good job. I’m in a car way well away from it. Well, you’ve got to wash my kit. So, good luck with that. Plenty of detergent will be taken. But yeah, so one thing it taught me is like heat. Another thing it taught me is like selfm motivation. I’m quite good at that. So, I was happy with that because I just st I could have easily gone, “Oh, do you know what? Today, I’m not going to do 200k. I could just do a half day and chill at the villa.” But I didn’t. I stuck to it. So, I was happy with that. The other thing it’s taught me is nutrition, which I knew anyway is a really big thing, but I’ve got to really remind myself that with electrolytes as well is that eating enough, drinking enough, fueling yourself, right, is just as important. I think you did well on the eating side of it and I think you’ve been really good at that recently. There was just one day in Spain where I didn’t eat enough and I felt the effects the next day. So, I’ve just got to remind myself that’s really important for recovery that I’m not fueling for today, I’m fueling for tomorrow as well and the next week. Yeah. And I think that’s going to be helpful with you there cuz you’re telling me like Amy need to eat something cuz sometime it’s like really weird like I was riding along this one day and I knew that I was hungry and I wanted to stop somewhere to eat my sandwich. I was like right next place I see I’ll stop. And then I saw like a little layby and my head was just like oh no next place. Oh no, next place. So I just kept what am I doing? Just stop. But on to George France, I’ll just be there in a car throwing snacks at you like a Yeah. a monkey in the zoo. So I Yeah, I’ll just carry on. I’ll just make sure that I don’t do that silly thing where I’m like, “No, next place, next place.” The only other thing that it kind of made me think about was just comfort on the bike because and obviously I don’t feel too worried because I’ve got my kits with Santini and they’ve done me like a special padding that suits me and tested those different ones out and so I know that’s really comfy and the days I wore that those bibs in Spain I was really comfy but I made a mistake of on day three I wore a different pair of bib shorts which you can’t do which I won’t do in France and like 30 miles in I felt them starting to rub and this is really disgusting but it’s you know real life of endurance where your legs meet at the top cuz I’m I sweat quite a bit and I’m salty sweater apparently cuz I had a sweat test that’s where kind of like the salt will gather and I think obviously if you got a bit of a rub and the salt gather in there as well the salt kind of like burns your skin a bit but it’s like the friction you imagine putting salt on your skin and rubbing it so like in between my legs at the top I started getting a bit of sore and at the end of that day it was quite it wasn’t cut but it was like and it really red and raw and on the verge of like cut being cut. So like day four, five, six, seven, eight, I was riding in a bit of pain like and it wasn’t that comfortable because even putting the comfy shorts back on then because you’ve already rubbed it, it’s uncomfy. Um, so obviously I’m going to make sure I wear the right shorts and also my I had an idea of taking wet wipes with me just every like few hours just having a wipe just get rid of the salt and then I’ll probably swap shorts halfway through the day. There’s no problem swapping over shorts. Clean yourself off. You got a nice dry pair of shorts. Then because in the heat you gonna sweat into your shorts, which makes your shorts damp. Yeah. And the two things that are most uncomfortable is when you’re riding in the wet. Yeah. Or you ride in the heat and your shorts get really wet. Yeah. And then that’s what starts causing discomfort. Yeah. And I’ve got really good shami butter. Yeah. I mean, if you put that on and then put your shorts on, that creates like a seal. Yeah. Which is cuz I am I am sponsored by Shami Butter. Um, and I’ve and even if I wasn’t sponsored by them, I used them before anyway. Um, but they do this endurance shammy cream, which is in like a tin rather than in the tube. It’s a lot thicker as well, isn’t it? It’s really good. Honestly, I’ve only just started using it, but it’s loads thicker, so you kind of have to like get your finger in and mush it around a bit, but because it’s so much thicker and it smells like mint, it smells really nice. Oh. Um, it just it stays on all day, whereas you don’t so you don’t have to keep reapplying it all the time. Like, it would last me with a 200k. It’ still be that fine. So yeah, shammy, clean shorts, wet wipes is the tactic. Kylie, looking forward to washing my dirty shorts while we’re out there. Well, we have actually got your friend joining us for the last week. Yeah, so I might just save it all for her. No, can we get enough pair of shorts so we can save all the washing for her to do? No, please keep them. Yeah, Laura, get them washed. No, I hope I just Yeah, I hope my shorts aren’t too disgusting, but oh well. No, you’ll be fine. I think by the end of the tour, I literally won’t care anymore. But yeah, you’re going to see me looking like I’ve been dragged for a bush backwards to be honest. But but yeah, so Spain was really good. It was so beautiful. Like I 100% they actually said like do I want to go back and actually do like a week where I invite people like there’ll be eight spaces and people can come and ride. So that that might be quite cool to like run a Amy Cycling Adventures Camp or Amy K Amy and Kyle Adventures Camp. So maybe in November, December or January we’ll sort that. So that’ll be really good. Um but it’s such a beautiful place to ride. It feels like it’s a bit undiscovered because Calp is where everyone tends to go, but it was like 50 miles north of Calpe in the Valencia area. Hardly any cars, hardly any potholes, beautiful climbs and really good weather. So, a lot Yeah. a lot quieter. It was a yes from me. So, I’m so glad that I didn’t listen to my silly head, the panic attack mode, and that I went even though I cried in the airport. But it was really funny because I’d kind of like contained myself, went and checked in and everything, put my bike in, and I thought Kyle had gone and then I walked I was just walking towards where you go to the um security and Kyle was there and just burst out crying again. No, I was just waiting to make sure she went through. Okay. Yeah. Um anyone any anyone anyway. Moving on. Yeah. That led onto what I was doing that following morning. Yes. So obviously I was up at 2:00 a.m. Yeah. To take this one to the airport. And so I took it to the airport, got home probably around half 4 5:00 in the morning maybe after taking how you did this. Then I by this point it was there was no point going back to sleep. So I decided to get myself ready and put all my tail fin bags on and whatnot. And then I set off at 9. Well, I actually set off at 8:00 a.m. to go meet Nigel and Stevie from our local club. From our local club, D Mercury. And we went and rode the Easter Arrow, which basically is it’s an Orax, but it’s one of the only things in Ordax that probably is slightly competitive if you want it to be. And you can make any route you want starting from anywhere, but you have to finish in York. The rules do get a little bit complex when you have to be like on the 22nd hour you need to be at a certain distance away from York heading towards York. So it can and you have to take photos of proof and stuff. So it can get a little bit complex in that sense but usually you the minimum distance people do is usually around 300k. Yeah. Have 24 hours. You have 24 hours. You have to use the 24 hours up. In fact, the record was broken this year by someone we know actually. Really impressive. We met him in I think what did they do? 68 km something. 680 8. Oh, I was going to say No, it was a lot. It was a lot. 68k. It might have been more than that. Was it 610? Something like I know it was north of 600. So, yeah. So, we’re headed off of that at 9:00 in the morning. And Nigel had had a few glasses of wine and a few beers the night before. So he was a little bit hung over and grumpy first thing. Bearing in mind I’d not slept at starting this. And I Yeah. So you’ve been up since 2:00 a.m. 2:00 a.m. And now I had to ride for 24 hours. Oh no. And I had to use the 24 hours. But no, we did it. It was good. I’ve not really spoke to you about it. Was there any funny moment? Oh, I know one funny moment. Yeah, there was actually quite a few funny moment. So just going up bit a little bit about the ride is we headed towards well from Derby to Skess then we looped round to Lincoln then up towards York. So we did like a weird like loop to make it 404 km because we just wanted to get the 400 km done. Yeah. You just took it really slow. That’s a really really slow 400 for what we normally do. Yeah. But you have to use 24 hours and it was quite a nice jolly but it was we had 170k of headwind. severe headwind as well like 30 mph gust battling that thing. So I in Spain there was one day 40 mph gust. I was on a 10 mile straight with like a constant headwind of about 25 30 mph with gusts of 40 and that 10 miles felt like about 50 on my own. It was horrid. So we had 170k of that all the way to Skgness. No thanks. Um at least you’re in a group by the Well, yeah. But I wasn’t really sitting behind anyone. Were you being a wheel sucker? Yeah. Well, Stevie, I was usually at the front. Stevie was usually behind. And just to put this in perspective, Stevie is about 6’2 or whatever he is. So, he was definitely not getting any wind shelter from me. And then Nigel was behind Stevie. But yeah, so we got to Skaggness and we actually ended up getting there a little bit quicker than we needed to, but then obviously riding through the night and all that sort of stuff, it was fine. Nice and flat straight to York. Made it made it perfectly. 2 minutes to 9. That’s good. So we took the full 24 hours, got there perfectly. So it was really funny. But there was a few funny moments. One in which well starting with the first funny moment was we went to Domino’s in Skgness to have some Well, we had to have something to eat. Yeah. And I’m not a Domino’s fan. Yeah. But in Skas there’s not many places. People are, but I’m a bit I’m a bit weird with food. Like I just like, you know, my homemade stuff. Yeah. Well, I I’ve had one once in my life and you know Well, I lived in Skgnas for 12 years and unless you’re getting fish and chips, there’s not many other restaurants you’re going to go to. No. So, we went to Domino’s quick and easy. Sat in there for a bit, chilled out. Had plenty of time. Anyway, we sat down to eat. We all had a pizzas. Nigel had a big bottle of Coke, but he’d left the lid undone. So, as Stevie opens his pizza box, knocks the Coke everywhere. light and it’s one of them one and a half liter coke bottles so there’s coke everywhere like sticky and then as as Stevie panicked he sort of grabbed his box grabbed the coke stood up whacked his head on the lampshade about conked himself out and then he want they got coke all over his gloves gloves and then he was just worried about um was he worried he was worried about worms in the no slugs or something in the ants that was it ants he was worried about ants getting on gloves and his shoes in the night. What? Cuz of the coke on them. Cuz of the coke on them. So then he tried to get the toilet. Then he realized he had to get the code off the receipt to get into the toilet. Got into the toilet and then managed to wash his gloves, but then he actually needed to go back into toilet. Go for the toilet um to go for a week. Yeah. And realized he’ left his receipt in there that had his code on. So now we couldn’t get back into the toilet. Oh jeez. So that was a calamity. Yeah. And then the funniest thing that happened was in the night we’d got to live services I think it was on the way to York and just before the sun was coming up and stuff and there was a fair few people in there that we knew. Yeah. That was asleep on the benches as does happen on the Easter. Yeah. But everyone’s shattered. Everyone would just loads of people sleeping cuz everyone’s been awake for 24 hours riding. So just which bearing in mind I’d been awake even longer than that. It’s dangerous really. So, I was there, sat there, had a little coffee, speaking to Nigel and Stevie, and thought, “Right, we’re going to head off.” And I thought, “Oh, I’m just going to do like a little bit of my YouTube with this camera.” I gave Kyle a camera. So, this YouTube will be coming out this week, and I can’t wait for this to go out, but I’ve not seen any of the footage yet. Have you did you record quite a 24 videos? Okay, that’s quite good. Compared to So, it’s not going to be like one of our usual YouTubes that’s like 15 minutes long. Probably going to be about 7 8 10 minutes long. Just a short one, but it’s a recap. So, you know, but I really like the camera and it actually was a good test for me. Yeah. Anyway, so I decided to go back in and film Bob, who we know really well from all just say, “Oh, he’s got a little bit soft. He’s sleeping.” Yeah. Thought I was being quite funny as I’m walking away from Bob. I Oh, they’re all going soft. And then bang, just slip straight on the floor. Still holding the camera. And all you could hear is me hitting the floor. That’s hilarious. Quickly looked around to make sure no one was looking. And yeah, went back to be a bit a little bit embarrassed. That’s hilarious. But it is actually Well, it’s made good content. Yeah. Well, yeah. I can’t wait for You’ve seen the video. You going to edit the video? I will. Yeah. Some practice. I actually really like the camera and it was a good test for me. Yeah. Well, but anyway, it was enjoyable. We got 404 km done. Nice and steady. And you survived it? Survived. And in the end, I didn’t sleep for end up sleeping for about 43 hours. Oh. So, it’s not good for you. A long old stint. Yeah. But I slept well the next day. the train home, didn’t you? Yes, I didn’t ride back. But what happened at the train station? Oh, yeah. Another calamity. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. You just reminded me and I felt really bad for you when you told me. I was in Spain and when Kyle told me this, I was thinking, “Oh, Kyle, I felt really sad for you.” Some Yeah. Basically, so I had to ride from the Weather Spoons to the train station. From York in from York. Yeah. Weather Spoons in to the train station. And I was in a little bit of a rush getting there. So, as I arrived at York train station, I thought, “Oh, you’re going to miss the train.” Yeah, but it was close. So, I was like almost jogging in with my bike in the station. Yeah. Like asking someone what? Oh, no. Cuz I had to pick my ticket up first, didn’t it? Do you remember? Cuz you booked them. Yeah. So, I picked my ticket up and then I was literally like, “Oh, can someone tell me what platform I need to go to?” Yeah. Like panicking. Yeah. So, they told me and it was up and over these stairs. Wasn’t there a lift? There possibly was, but I couldn’t find it and I was in too much of a rush, right, to go looking for it. So, you had your cleats on. So, I had my cleats on. Oh, Kyle. Slippy floor. Had to go up and over one of those like bridge of stairs. Yeah, I know what you mean. At the at the train. So, going up fine. Almost running up with my bikes on. They said your bike with all the tailing bags on. Tailing bags really heavy, which was pointless. Almost cyclross style running up these stairs. Then on the way down as I’m coming down there was a lift. There probably was and I just slipped on the stairs. Bike landed on top of me and I’m just laid in a heap on these stairs. Oh, so you didn’t fall down and we just kind of slipped. No, I did. I just slipped down. Oh, I slipped down with the bike on top. Loads of people around. Loads. Loads of people. Did anyone laugh? Two people that must have been like stewards ran over and helped me get up and was asking me if I’m okay because I obviously whacked my back as I slipped down the stairs. Yeah. So that was rather embarrassing. Did you get back up and pretend nothing happened or did you like you look around? I didn’t really think too much about it cuz I was still in a bit of a rush to get my train but I was really after thinking about it was actually really embarrassed and it did actually hurt because I know you’re okay. I just think it’s funny. Yeah. Yeah. Like I would love to see the CCTV of that. And my bike was really heavy. Did anyone else say anything around you? People just look concerned. Did they? Did anyone laugh? It was a big flight of stairs. No, no one actually laughed. I think everyone was just a bit concerned cuz I’d slip straight on me back. Whacked me back and slid down the stairs a bit. Oh no. With my bike on top of it. Let’s have a look at your back. Is there any marks on it? No, there won’t be no. Oh jeez. I had plenty of layers on luckily. Well, that’s definitely your failure of the week. Yeah. Yeah, I don’t need to failures of the week already since I’ve been home. So, bearing in mind I got home yesterday and today is so Monday and today’s Tuesday. By the time this podcast goes out and I’ve been home a week. So, this morning I took Chester on a walk and we’ve got a door where obviously the door locks. You need the key to get back in like a normal house door. So, yes, I take my key and I 100% put my key in my pocket. I know that I did because when I got home it wasn’t on my keys. Took the dog on a walk. It’s a 45minute loop I do every morning with him. Got back to the house, checked my pocket, keys not in there. I was like, obviously Kyle, you’d gone to work. It was quite a way away. Yeah, quite a way away. It was half 7 in the morning cuz I get up quite early and take him. And I was like, oh jeez. I was like, I’m not going to ring Kyle and ask him to come and let me in because he’s going to be angry at me. And I was like, the only other person with a key is my mom, but she lives like a half an hour drive away. Yeah. Where I was working. And near where you’re working. Yeah. And but I knew that she was driving past my house that day because she was meeting a friend in Derby. So I rung her and I was like, I’ve locked myself out and are you driving past? She was like, I will be but not for another hour. I was like, oh god. So me and Chester had to do the same walk again. So I did this morning and we did we had to do the same walk plus extra because she was longer than she said. So by 8 uh by 9:00 a.m. This morning I’d done 12,000 steps unex unplanned bearing in mind I meant to be you know taking it easy after Spain got home got inside the key wasn’t in there so I’ve dropped the key on the dog walk somewhere probably when I took a poo bag out my pocket now I’ve got to go and have another one call so we got to go and have another key cut cuz now mom’s not got a spare key then failure number two so last night I thought right I’m going to be a really good wife I put the bin out at the end of the drive cuz it’s been collection day on a Tuesday and Kyle normally does it so I was like I’ll put the bin out so Kyle doesn’t have While I was waiting for mom on the dog walk, I said, “Oh, I’ll take the bin back up now.” The bin man hadn’t even blooming bin. I must have been half asleep. So, I took the bin back up the top thinking, “Oh, yeah.” Then later in the day, I put some rubbish in the bin. And I was like, I opened the bin and it was still full. By this time, it was like 2:00 and all the other bins had gone in. And I was like, “Amy, you absolute idiot. You bought the bin in still full.” And I was obviously winning up the drive. I didn’t even think, “Oh, it’s heavy still.” So that’s my failures. Two two strikes. Yeah, it’s not bad. So it’s not been good. But this week I’ve got a recovery week planned and I think I need it. Um so for me that’s going to be I’ve got a gravel ride with my friend Laura planned. I’m going to do a couple of runs and maybe like a little I might ride and meet you after work cuz your van’s having some work done, isn’t it? Oh, it is. Yeah. So I might just do a little 20 mileer just to spin the legs out. Mhm. But I do find recovery weeks hard because I feel like I’m doing less and I don’t like that. But as my coach says and as I always say, like you’re only going to get the benefit from the big ride you’ve done if you let your body properly recover. So, lots of protein. In Spain, the breakfast was so good. Every day I was having porridge, scrambled eggs and scrambled eggs on toast and like a big proper bowl of porridge with nuts and stuff in. So, I’m going to start having more eggs before rides cuz it’s good protein and it worked well. Kept me full for like the first two hours of the ride. That was really nice. Um, but yeah, let’s move on to love me more, love me less. So, this is where we do instead of the tiff of the week, cuz we had no arguments this week cuz we’ve not been with each other. So, that’d be pretty impossible. I’m a bit worried if we had. One thing that makes you love me more, one thing that makes me love me less this week. Want me to go first? I’ll go first. You go first. Go then. I think the things that make me love you more. Yeah. is your dedication and how hard you work and train and stuff like that. That made me think, oh, doing really well. So, and to motivate yourself while you’re away on your own. Yeah. And still be full of positivity, which was nice. The things that make you love love you less is not getting the bin emptied and losing your key again. This is a running theme with Amy. She is an absolute nightmare with keys. Sorry. And I’ve she laughs at me cuz she’s like, “You take your keys everywhere. Why do you do that?” Because I don’t lose my cuz I always go everywhere with my keys. Because as you should do, which is just a nightmare with keys. That’s one thing I’d say. Yeah. Loves you less. And I do. Yeah. I take that because that’s true. Yeah. Right. For you, love you more is how hard you work because while I’ve been away, you’ve plastered the whole garage so it’s ready for me to paint. Pain cave is coming in. Um, so yeah. How hard you work, how determined you are. and just like how much of a supportive husband you are because like when I was in Spain, you’re always texting me like encouraging me and you’re just so supportive of me like taking this step of, you know, going fulltime. I always say full-time idiot, but you know, full-time cycling. No, you’ll always be that cycling and content. So, yeah, you’ve just really supported me with that. So, I’m really grateful cuz, you know, yeah, you’ve just always believed in me. I love you less this week. To be fair, there’s not much I can think of because I got home to a really clean house. She done all the washing. She did all the all the washing. Like it’s cleaned. I was thinking what have I what’s he done wrong that he’s trying to mask here? But I think maybe love you less. No, just been busy. I think it would probably be if I had to say one thing is just a little bit of There is one thing you didn’t do that made me love you less a bit. If I got home and your tail fin was in the dining room still full of your stuff from your Easter arrow. Yeah. that you hadn’t unpacked. When you say stuff, it I did unpack most of it. It was just just my change of clothes that were left in there, which I didn’t end up using. And the bedside is still an issue. There was a pile of clothes on the bedside and loads of fluff on the floor, but you know. Yeah. From new joggers. It’s minor. Yeah. Yeah. You had some new joggers in the And they left fluff everywhere. They fluffed all over the place. So, I did have to get the Hoover out, but I don’t mind that. Yeah. Anyway, we’ll finish how we always do on a little mental health note. So, one word to describe your mental health, mental state at the minute, Kyle, exhausted this week. Not surprised to be fair. Well, I’m going to have to commute this week. And I already feel exhausted from doing all the garage and the plastering and Yeah, cuz I’ve not really stopped. You’ve not stopped and your van’s got issues. So, your van’s in and I need my car this week. So, you’re going to stop. I think I’ve had a lack of sleep from the arrow and stuff as well. It’s all caught up a bit. Yeah. So, what you going to do to make sure you get back to a energized state? Well, try and rest where I can, but it’s not going to be as easy as that this week. But try and recuperate a little bit. Early nights. Yeah, possibly. What about you? My mental state is I’d say trying to think of a word to describe it. To be fair, I’d say probably like peaceful right now cuz I’ve got back from Spain. I’ve got the miles in. I feel like I’ve got a relaxed week ahead to get on top of things. And it’s although it’s always sad coming back from abroad, I do kind of like like getting back into routine. Do you know what I mean? Like getting back into the normal routine. So I feel quite peaceful and Mhm. and content with that. But yeah, I think the mental state is before I went it was not good. I mean panic attack galore but you know I got through it. I think sometimes you just have to really it’s not easy but you have to just force yourself to do the things that you don’t want to do. Yeah. You know, I’m talking like I was forcing myself and doing some sort of exam or something. I was going to bloom in sunny Spain, so I need to pull myself together. I said to I said to myself, I said, Amy, pull yourself together. Loads of people would absolutely die for an experience like this. So, stop acting like a and get on with it and I did. So, I just had to tell myself off and then I was absolutely fine cuz I do I am so grateful like more than I can put into words for these experiences and what I get to do. So, I never want to come across like that take it for granted or that I don’t want to do it. Like it’s just sometimes, you know, sometimes you get nervous about things, but I did it and I’m happy. So yeah. Um the mental health tip I’m going to leave you for this week is what I’m going to be doing. I got inspired by Stompcast, which is a podcast by Dr. Alex George. Absolutely love that podcast. Um about going on your phone less. So this week I’m challenging myself. After we eat dinner at night, the phone’s going in a different room. It’s not going on my bedside table. And when I wake up in the morning, I’m not going to go on my phone until I’ve been awake for at least an hour because as soon as I wake up and you do it as well, Kyle, I’ve seen you do it. You go reach your phone, check your phone, and like you’re overloading your brain with loads of stuff. And I am I think lots of us are addicted to our phones. So, I’m just going to test it and see what happens if I don’t go on my phone like at least 2 hours before bed and in the morning get up, take the dog on a walk, come back without my phone and then, you know, see if it makes a difference to my sleep or how I feel and I’ll report back next week. K, do you think you could do that or is it too much of a challenge? I’m not interested in doing that because I, as I explained to you before that I basically don’t go on my phone for probably good seven hours of my day. Yeah. Yeah. So, the one times I’d probably do go on my phone a little bit is in the morning, which is probably not that good. And at night time, that’s it. Yeah. I don’t go on my phone in the day. It work much at all. Yeah. Cuz you’re on the site, aren’t you? Why? I’m too busy. But I’ll do it and I’ll report back. Mhm. But maybe if I do it, you might want to try. Although, I would quite like if you just didn’t go on it at night because then we can, you know, cuddle. We do do that anyway. That’s a bit, you know, cheesy. Sorry about that. Sometimes feel sad, you know, like when you see like just couples out for a meal together and just both on their phone. Yeah, but we don’t do that. We don’t do that. But like even like at night when you’re watching telly, it’s like you’re so addicted like you’ll be watching telly and then you’re scrolling through your phone at the same time and it’s like we’re just so like addicted to our phones and yeah, it’s a bit you know I’m not going to go off on a tangent here but I suppose we’re you know when we’re on our bikes we’re like we get that time away from our phones but yeah sorry I’m not going to go on a tangent and then I did. Right. Anyway, I’m going to end it there because Kyle’s getting you know a bit grouchy. He’s had a busy day at work and we want to Dinner’s cooking to be fair. We’ve got chickpea curry. Oh yeah. I’ve been soaking the chickpeas for 24 hours. Let’s see if this is one of the better ones. Well, I’ve got a new recipe that I’ve made up. I’m going to put hazelnut butter in it to make like a creamy sauce. It’s 100% hazelnuts found at the local health shop. And I’m going to put some spices in. I’ve got you some naan bread. It’s going to be as you would say. Oh, do your best whistle. Go on. You’re really good. See if how long you can do one for. No. Go on. Do the longest one you can do. Oh my god. Right. I think we’ll leave you on that note. Have a go. See how long you can whistle for and let us know how many seconds you last for. See if you can time it with mine. Yeah. Um, if you’re listening on Spotify, if you could give us a little follow, subscribe, that would be great. If you’re listening on YouTube, if you can subscribe to the channel, we’d love that. If you’ve got any questions for us, please put them in the comments and we’ll answer them in the next podcast. But thank you so much for listening. Really appreciate it. TT to the FN. Tata for now. Goodbye.