14th of June Marias day of Exhiliration, Excitement, Testing her body and Aquiring New Skills

Five hours of Testing, Training

and having Fun

Editor's Preface:

Maria was the only Operation Transportation Leader to take up the offer of free Fitness Testing from LeisureWorld (- so far at least!). You can see below that she seemed pretty happy and excited beforehand. Afterwards she admitted that the test exercises were pretty intense at times.

 

I gather that the testers ask you to cycle at your fastest to see what your optimal heartrate is. The bike they use for the test is pictured below.

Maria must be super fit I reckon, considering what she decided to do after fitness testing and three hours of cycle skill training...

Read on to find out!



Maria is all smiles before Deirdre puts her through her paces

Maria writes:

So today was the bike skills training day. It went well I must say!

 

I found that when we were talking about what to do I felt quite anxious, but when actually DOING it, it all came naturally. The teachers were so helpful and informative.

 

 

Maria demonstrates how to find the optimal saddle height to cycle safely with minimal effort. 

Watch the video on : http://youtu.be/m0ImKe-Hem8

 

Some of the Stunning scenery to be appreciated by cyclists adventurous enough to brave Cork's hilly North-side.

 So far cycling amongst traffic has been a lot less scary than I imagined. After the training I still had an hour before I had to collect my kiddies so I went for a ...cycle on the new back road by Apple Computer which was just amazing. The scenery there is stunning and there are cycle lanes on both sides and very little traffic so I was able to really let myself go and have fun.

Something that really surprises me is HOW good cycling actually feels. Its nothing like driving or walking- it's really exhilarating and exciting. Initially I joined Operation Transportation for the practical benefits of cycling but I'm fast discovering how much fun it really is!!

15th June, Maurice Danaher Gets Checked and Trained up

Maurice Must Be More Assertive?

According to Maurice:

Today I did a fitness assessment in LeisureWorld near CIT at 9.30 am. This was easy enough, but I was told my blood pressure was a bit high so I will need to get that checked out.

 After coffee, I went for cycle training with Darren MacAdam O'Connell and Miro Wartena.

Some of the cycle training seemed basic enough to me but still I learned how to be more assertive on the road and especially how to avoid cars turning off to the left cutting across me and also how to keep clear of car doors opening.

Learning about the Five Points of Contact to engage when breaking. 
2 hands on the handlebars + 2 feet on pedals + 1 area on your seat = Maximum Brake Power

 For more such tips see:
http://www.patrickjohnmccrann.com/blog/bike/how-to-ride-your-bike-like-a-veteran-part-1)

Did not do the bit on going all the way around the Wilton Road roundabout as I had to leave for lunch. I was quite tired by the time I got back home around 1 pm for lunch.

The weather was OK as we managed to avoid any heavy rain with just light showers.

Editor's Note:

Mr. Danaher can be seen and heard onthe Youtube channel linked to this Diary. See him kick off an interesting discussion on Junctions here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLe_HNPxMPM&feature=youtu.be

16th June 2012, Christine's Diary

  

What happened on Training Day?:

Christine was captured on camera by the blog editor:

Short clip of Christine on Training Day in Fitzgeralds Park above and photo below...



Christine's Bike also got the all-clear before the test from Adam D'arcy- one of Cork Community Bikes Safe Cycling Instructors.

The video clip above is from:
http://www.youtube.com/user/OperationTransport