Is it a whale........is it a gorilla.......is it an elephant..... No it is a Flying Scotswomen in Raith top!

Tarragona arrival of La Vuelta

 I turned 3.........mumble mumble 2ish.......more mumbling this week and my lovely friends went and got me a personal trainer to get me through my last month of triathlon training! I must be mad cause I know this is going to hurt but I am excited to get my swim, run and cycle looked at by a pro! 

Hope you enjoy this serving of P n B! 

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR MATCH-DAY PROGRAMME! 

With a family visitor coming to visit this week. Of course I am excited to have a guest but I am a little more than excited that within their suitcase should be a sparkly new  Raith Rovers replica shirt for me to parade around Catalonia.  With the impending visit I have been planning things to see and do. One of these is to be a day visit to the Roman city of Tarraco (now Tarragona). A day wandering round some ruins and a wee picnic-what's not to like? It also just happens of be the day La Vuelta cycle race rides into town. When I asked said family member if they minded going to see this their response was "as long as I don't have to cycle". I suppose you never forget how to ride a bike, but that doesn't mean you want to.

Since living in Barcelona and not having a need for a car I have become a cyclist. What started out as something that just made life easier getting from A to B has become a litotle bit more. My first bike was a 50€ foldable blue  ex-IKEA bike. I got it from a bid on the Internet and it served me well. With few days where the weather is to bad to take the bike the saving on transport costs paid for the bike a few times over. Unfortunately the wee blue bike was only good on the flat in a city and around BCN there are some very nice mountain cycle paths. Time to upgrade to the bog standard, cheapest mountain bike from the local sports store. After a few bumps and flights over the handle bars the bike and my relationship could only grow and blossom.

Cycling as a sport has never really interested me outside a wee glimpse at the Tour de France during the holidays when nothing else was on the tele. I have to admit I couldn't really understand it. All the coloured spotted jerseys and the endless climbing up mountains. How were they doing it every day? Could they be doing it every day?

As some of you may know I did a triathlon last year to raise funds for Raith Rovers Supporters trust. Not only did I survive the swim, run and cycle I think I actually enjoyed it. So much so I am doing it again this year. I have increased my distance, so I thought I should take the training a little more seriously and step it up a gear. I started to get a little more interested in the cycling part and had to admit after the swealtering, gasping, almost-dying climbs up (locals call it Mont Juïc I was calling it) Everest, the 40kph free wheel down was as thrilling as any roller coaster. Addictive thrilling! With this newfound addiction and the triathlon becoming a bit of a hobby I treated myself to a proper road bike. I am all set, training plan well under way and a new bike to zoom around on.........what could go wrong. Agujetas that is what! Agujetas are the pains in the muscles that prevent you from moving said muscle the morning after, and Oh my! was I suffering from these. With only 1 rest day a week in the training plan and a new cycling position I am very aware of my legs!

With this newfound pain I had a new respect for the pro cyclists. They must have superhuman legs to be able to get back on that bike day after day. Well unfortunately we all know that some cyclists were not the supermen they appeared to be. The tour has had some terrible press over the past few years and doping is never far from the headlines. But it is not just cycling, athletics has been also getting its fair share of bad publicity. To quote Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson "pressure to be the best is all-consuming". Ben, who lost medals and records to doping is to front an anti-doping campaign with a plan to take Johnson back to Seoul and on 24th September, the anniversary of the 100m final, for him to stand in lane six in the same stadium he made history, and unroll a petition calling for greater action in the war on drugs to "improve the waning credibility of world sport". Lets hope it makes the desired statement. Unfortunately doping headlines are still being made but let's hope that things are getting better.

So as I ice bath my legs and look forward to my rest day watching the pros zoom past on my bike should I be respecting their greatness or questioning it?

To follow the lead up to TRI-ing 4 the Rovers 2013 check out the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TRIing4theRovers and see me and my new bike "flying Scotswoman"