Author: Richard Morris

Eight Months Later…

| Richard Morris

Later

So we’ve had the ST for a little over 8 months now, in which time it’s carried us 5,500 miles.

Part of that has been to travel down to the myriads of kids and grandkids in the South West as originally intended and as the 11 grandkids (so far) are all of that sort of age, it’s meant loading it to the gunwales with presents at Christmas, for instance:

Cram Packed!

We’ve also bought a Ford load space carpet mat to protect the OEM carpeting in the estate area as I do shove the Brompton into back when I pick up the youngest stepper from work sometimes, and we also want something for when we start putting full-sized MTBs or similar in/on it.

That will be the next move: fitting some roof rails and bike brackets to the roof.

So what have we learned to date?

Well it’s fairly economical but that’s only to be expected when it demands to be driven quickly, and it is fast and it is quick as well.

It’s spacious.

There are some nice design touches, like a separate loadspace below the main flat boot area with its own waterproof tray to stow wet shoes and boots away from coats and clothes; and like the retractable carrier bag holders and bungee bag areas behind the wheels. And of course the remote handles to fold down the 60/40 split  rear seats.

Other features we love? Well there’s the dual zone heating/cooling, the heated seats and best of all the heated steering wheel. The displays are very clear and quick to react, and I can just put my iPhone in the bay and it charges and connects wirelessly, although as it’s pretty much black I forget it’s in there when I get out…

Features we loathe? Obviously as the car is later than July 2024, it comes with the nagging, but fortunately we can turn that off with one long press of the limiter button on the steering wheel. So our normal routine is get in, throw iPhone into storage area, press the ST button, and press and hold the limiter button.

One problem we’ve had so far is that when the temperature drops below zero, the hand sensors in the door handles to lock and unlock the doors don’t work.  And another is that the iPhone can overheat when it’s providing navigation and it’s on the wireless charger, so it turns itself off to prevent overheating.  Not good if you’re relying on it for navigation. Fortunately the built-in navigation seems to work OK.

 

2024 Statistics

| Richard Morris

2024 continued my fitness consolidation with a combination of real-world activities when we were in the UK and in many parts of Europe (but not the Middle East where I didn’t venture outside the hotel to exercise), using the gym equipment for use in Alison’s personal training venture.

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.

This definitely helps with the pain by building support for the affected areas including my knackered (necrosis-riddled) knee and the pelvis and spine from the motorcycle crash. ‘Helps’ but doesn’t get rid of the constant pain that I have had to come to terms with.

Anyway, moan over, here are the stats:

2024 Statistics

2024 Statistics

That one instance of using the gym? Yes just after Christmas when I decided to get some coaching from Alison as a PT to try and do some upper body work for a change, Must. Try. Harder.

Still, I’m impressed with the stats: 4,218.76km on bikes (real and virtual) with that epic 162.89km “Death Ride” back in February; and another 700km on two legs.

Not bad for a 62 year old?

Weight-wise? On the 1st of January 2024 I weighed 86.2kg with a body fat percentage of 24.5% and on 1st January 2025, I weighed 88.0kg with a body fat percentage of 24.6%.  I can live with that, but there’s still room for improvement.

December 2024 Stats

| Richard Morris

December 2024 and my usual spike in weight whilst trying to cope with shorter, darker, drearier days and more work, work, work with deadlines to hit.

And did I mention three Christmas Dinners and a Christmas party?

Over on FulGaz, I completed their Around the World in 80 Days challenge and their Ironman Sprint Series as well as doing some more of John Hallas’ Weekly Challenges as usual.

Plus I continued with yet more (painful) treadmill runs with JRNY as well.

Here are Decmber’s stats:

December 2024 Statistics

December 2024 Statistics

Activities: 32 Distance: 384.40 km Time: 20:06:28 Calories:  18,978

Turning to my weight, at the end of November I weighed 85.9kg and at the end of December I weighed 88.1kg, which is up by 2.2kg!  Way too many Christmas Dinners and Mince Pies!

November 2024 Stats

| Richard Morris

November 2024 was more work, work, work keeping me busy, plus a number of trips into London for work and pleasure (The Script and London Grammar) and Motorcycle Live at the NEC Birmingham, all of which somewhat disrupted my training schedule.

Over on FulGaz, I continued their Around the World in 80 Days challenge as well as doing some more of John Hallas’ Weekly Challenges and another Ironman Sprint Series ride. Plus I continued with yet more (painful) treadmill runs with JRNY as well.

Anyway, here are November’s stats:

November 2024 Statistics

November 2024 Statistics

Activities: 29 Distance: 406.37 km Time: 17:52:00 Calories:  17,145

Turning to my weight, at the end of October I weighed 86.7kg and at the end of November I weighed 85.9kg, which is down by -0.8kg.  Still eating too many sweets and dried pineapple of an evening with the cats!

October 2024 Stats

| Richard Morris

October 2024 found me ‘head down, arse up’ working like a Trojan with three Expert Reports to finish and issue!

It’s still important to keep on top of my fitness – especially when doing a couple of all-nighters – so I tried to make sure I kept to some sort of routine.

Over on FulGaz, I started their Around the World in 80 Days challenge as well as doing some more of John Hallas’ Weekly Challenges and a couple of Ironman Sprint Series rides. Plus I tried some more (painful) treadmill runs with JRNY as well. Phew!

Anyway, here are October’s stats:

October 2024 Stats

October 2024 Stats

Activities: 30 Distance: 448.11 km Time: 18:47:15 Calories:  16,242

Turning to my weight, at the end of September I weighed 87.1kg and at the end of October I weighed 86.7kg, which is down slightly at -0.4kg.  Still eating too many sweets and dried pineapple of an evening with the cats!

First Drive For A Fit Body – Personal Trainer

| Richard Morris

At the weekend it was time for Alison to meet ‘her’ car, so off I went on Sunday down to Street in Somerset to pick her up from a few days staying with family.

The original plan was to meet in Taunton, especially as Waze was showing road closures on the A303 around Stonehenge, but what actually happened was that they were governing closures, scheduled to finish at 9.00am on the Sunday and I didn’t leave until after then.

By the time I’d reached the usual turn-off towards Street, ETA to Taunton was showing as 11.15am and they hadn’t left Street yet, so I re-routed and was at Street by 11.05am, which meant I could unload the car (mainly gym mats and some left-behind grandkids’ toys).

We then drove to Taunton with me explaining all the killer features Alison would need to know, like how to quickly turn off the nanny nags and why she should always have it in ST Mode – like we do the Sport mode on the Abarth 124 Spider – and get her connected to the car for BT, CarPlay and the FordPass app.

Coming back to Street, Alison took over the driving: she’s not really driven that much since moving in with me 10 years ago, so familiarising herself with a new car – where the clutch bites, how much to accelerate and what the steering’s like – was what that was all about.

Her verdict? Very nice to drive.

That’s just as well given all the money we’ve spanked on a car ostensibly for her to take to the West Country for family time.

And then home, via a very circuitous route and re-route chosen by Ford’s navigation system to avoid some of the issues with the touristy route back.  We still sat in a lot of queues as usual around Stonehenge, so much slower coming back.  The M3 as we joined it wasn’t much better either.

The plan had been for Alison to drive back, but happily I was told to do the honours instead.  Alison couldn’t get over how much leg room she has with the ability to then recline the seat, unlike my lovely 124.

Overall? Fairly economical. Fast. Quick. Comfortable. Well-equipped. We even had a cool bag plugged into the 12V socket in the boot for perishables for dinner and a bunch of new plants in a tray and in the rear passenger footwell, including rose bushes and honeysuckle. Plus a carry-on suitcase. A proper family car!

Overall mileage when we got back was up to 362 miles with a busy weekend next weekend to look forward to as well.

Pick-Up

| Richard Morris

No, it’s not a pick-up; it’s been picked up. Today!

I was dropped off at Group 1 Farnborough on the first wet and miserable day in a couple of weeks – with bonus mud all over our road thanks to the road builders further down – to do the final paperwork, pay for the dash cam we’ve had fitted and drive it home.

And here is is:

Its first longer drive comes this weekend with a 250 mile (or so) round trip with Alison getting to drive it back.

July 2024 Stats

| Richard Morris

July 2024 saw another 10 days’ holiday and trying to cram in some of FulGaz’s challenge over the course of the year, the FulGaz Ironman Sprint Series which I had started a few months ago.

The holiday was our second long distance trip on the BMW R 1250 RT  starting in Northern Spain and heading across the Pyrenees into France before heading north through Switzerland to Luxembourg before heading back to the UK via Belgium and France.

Most of the luxury hotels we stayed in put rest and relaxation above exercise so trying to hit the gym was difficult plus we were travelling for many hours each day.

Anyway, here are July’s stats:

July 2024 Statistics

July 2024 Statistics

Activities: 29 Distance: 342.23 km Time: 14:15:47 Calories:  12,836

Turning to my weight, at the end of June I weighed 81.9kg and at the end of July I weighed 84.7kg, which is up a massive 2.8kg.  Most of which was gained by eating, drinking and being merry in some fabulous hotels and restaurants…

Order Update

| Richard Morris

Last week we were on holiday on the BMW R 1250 RT LE driving through Spain, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium when we got a call from Group 1 Ford telling us that our car hadn’t actually been reserved!

That was the bad news.

The good news was that they could get hold of one with the same specification but with the Driver Assist Pack (Driver Alert, Traffic Sign Recognition and Adaptive Cruise Control) as well, but they’d need to charge me a little extra towards it.

I was concerned that would take it over the £40,000 list price issue, but I was assured that that doesn’t include the first year’s VED figure, so with that taken off, it’s still under the £40k ceiling.

The other news is that it should arrive in August: good because it means we get it sooner, but bad because that means it’ll be a 24 plate rather than a 74 plate.

So we went ahead and agreed over the telephone (confirmed by email the next day).