Plas-y-Brenin 2

Posted on 14th May 2015 by essiep

11°C, brisk NE, rain set in all day.

Day Two, trying not to feel like a cheat, I have walked in this area before. It’s that forgotten region between the Arenig and Ffestiniog.
Although light rain and reduced visibility dominated the day, we used the time to read the land and match with contours. Each of the six of us were given a short leg and others had to identify where we got to. Points of interest were pre-industrial settlements or simply, contour rings.
Lunch at a shooting hut.
A very good day with Mike, an expert on the local wildlife. We found outcrops of pyroclastic flows. Also there was evidence of the woodland character that is suppressed by sheep farming there.

Plas-y-Brenin 1

Posted on 13th May 2015 by essiep

13°C, thin cloud and still
Day one on a staff training course for D of E. Woke before anybody and walked about the lake while I waited for breakfast.

Later

Continue reading →

Seventy-four

Posted on 10th May 2015 by essiep

11 to 16°C, brisk SSW, sunny early and later. Noon cloud.
I rode Racelite-8 with MapMyRide+! Distance: 74.25mi, time: 05:06:41, pace: 4:08min/mi, speed: 14.5mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/978943357
Longest ride of the year so far. I haven’t done enough of these in ’15 but this marks a steady build-up towards some century rides in high summer.

And Two cafe stops.

7am canal ride.

Posted on 9th May 2015 by essiep

11°C, brisk SW and grey cloud. Dry.
I rode Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 17.8mi, time: 01:39:10, pace: 5:35min/mi, speed: 10.76mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/977307793
Started early, 7am start and saw few people. The return via Chorley was hillier that I remember but there were no surprise traffic on the narrow twisty lanes.

Mapmyride has strange bugs. If I change the ride type to cyclocross, then the GPS fails to work, change it back to Road Cycling and it’s back to normal. Even changing the ride type after my return voids the mapping. I will hold out for an update.
home:

Another tree felled. I have enjoyed this cherry every spring, it put a magnificent show in flower and the colour glowed against the morning sun. Now it has gone and I am bereft, I hate to see a healthy tree cut down.

Evening canal 13

Posted on 6th May 2015 by essiep

11°C, W brisk, 3/5 cloud.
Evening cyclocross: did a short route on the Jake in a loop on the canal.
13.5 miles in 1h 20.
GPS failed again. It’s a bug in Mapmyride that started on the 30th April update. Again, it failed to connect to the GPS sensor mm my phone so would only record the time for the outing.
I have cleared the data for tomorrow’s commute, so it should be okay.

Breaks in the cloud produced long shadows and a blaze of colour from fields of rape. Big grin.

Which bike today?

Posted on 4th May 2015 by essiep

16°C, mostly sunny with a light SW breeze.
Which bike today? What a good problem to have- fixed gear or cyclocross?
I rode fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 50.34mi, time: 03:09:48, pace: 3:46min/mi, speed: 15.91mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/970325615
‘Rode up Bannister Hill after riding up to Dalton. The big climb felt harder than last time, but this is the first time I have climbed up both.
Good ride at a decent pace.

Venus Fly Trap plant. I like these chaps, they could star in a good animation.

Cross thread.

Posted on 2nd May 2015 by essiep

11°C light rain under grey sky.
It should have been a simple job.
For a few weeks a cracking noise came from the Arrow’s bottom bracket. This has happened before when warm weather started. It’s as if the warmer, expanded metal gap loosened the lock-rings.
It should have taken an hour to fix it. It took over two.
The threads were stripped on the left side. That is a worrying sign of possible damage to the threads in the frame; a job for a frame builder.
Eventually, I got it out, cleaned the inside threads with a wire brush and got swarf in my finger.
It’s done now, but to play safe, I have a new bearing on order.

Leaf litter.

Posted on 2nd May 2015 by essiep

6°C, grey cloud, dry so far.
Gardening is easy. Two winters ago, I collected bags of leaves from work. The caretaker collects them in the autumn and fills a skip. I then, bag up warm handfuls of slowly decaying leaf litter. I can drive about five bags each time.
Now I have rich, nutty smelling compost to scatter into my top soil. The plants will be grateful.

This is a clump of Spanish bluebells. I don’t even remember planting them, so perhaps they have taken care of themselves.
May is the best month.

MapMyfail.

Posted on 1st May 2015 by essiep

11°C, light NW..slight snow.
MapMyRide failed yesterday. The app refused to communicate with the GPS sensor. Other GPS apps worked as expected, but not MapMyRide. Strange because there were no updates that could be a simple explanation. Other software updates?

Eventually, I decided to uninstall the app and replace it. However, using the app manager, I noticed the Clear Data button, so tried that.
After logging in again, success!

Micycle

Mike thinks b/hikes

Monthly Archives: May 2015