I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 51.89km, time: 02:17:34, pace: 2:39min/km, speed: 22.63km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2851052539
A shorter ride today, but went on the machines on the front. I could easily use these every day.
Also, i quite fancy the idea of using Couch to 5K. In case you dont don’t know, its a running gps teacker. I have no proplem with stamina, but it would be great to build up core.
6°C, sunny still and misty start.
I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 73.79km, time: 03:11:29, pace: 2:36min/km, speed: 23.12km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2848921645
And it was gorgeous; rolling mist especially over each stream and drainage ditch. As for wildlife; a buzzard, remarkable because there are so few here; two avocets; some oyster catchers and lapwings. Oh, and a very fast hare, all seen while riding.
I’m, still finding this hard, a winter of neglect is to blame. I can’t say for certain whether i have reached the 1,000 mile mark yet. To this end, i used the weignts machines on southport front.
Anyway, a grand day out and home by 10.00 am.
9°C rain all day until evening.
Decorating: finished stripping the wallpaper in the master bedroom. The aim is to get the walls perfect so wallpapering is a doddle. The plaster round the new electrics needs a skim then I’m ready to start pasting up.
The first layer is off in the small bedroom revealing this 50’s style paper beneath. Before I paper over the good walls, I’m tempted to draw something onto the plaster in pencil. Somebody will find the drawings in a decade or two. Watch this space.
Here the sun sets on a satisfying day.
9C, Brisk W wind but dry and white cloud.
I rode Racelite with MapMyRide+! Distance: 29.02km, time: 01:14:59, pace: 2:35min/km, speed: 23.22km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2845558555
This crumbling restaurant has been abandoned for over 10 years. In it’s hay-day I can only imagine how kitsch it was. Some places deserve to fall down. I may revisit in the spirit of Urbex/HDR photographers. There is some scaffolding which suggests it may get some regeneration in the next year or so.
19C, Sunny, clear and still.
What a thoroughly well organised school Princethorpe is. They started this bronze practice from the school site and took rural routes to a campsite 10km away.
My group were enthusiastic and lively. Though likable, that led them to make some glaring navigation errors early on. I confess, I let them. It was obvious early on that they’d have the stamina to return and correct their mistakes which is what they actually did.
I probably would have made the same mistake at the age of 14. They followed a group in front who happened to be girls.
Their stamina, or lack of started to show after about 8km but the others urged them on regardless. Little time was wasted on rests. We did take time out searching for water which was eventually delivered by their own teachers..
This is my favourite part of DofE, navigation training. Near the finish, they were about to make another (small) error but I said “you’re making a mistake but I’m not going to tell you what it is“.
Notes for next time: my luggage scale is faulty; take a spare water bottle; wear thinner socks in hot weather.
22C, Clear sunny blue skies. Still day one, breezy on day two.
I learn’t more on this course in the first morning than on the entirety of the previous course three years ago. One aspect of their teaching technique was drill. They drilled into us the routine of Assess/check Airway; Breathing; Circulation and then damage checks (ABCD). There were lots of role plays (which I normally hate) but it did build up nicely.
I was kept on my toes all the way through, mainly because I’d learnt so little on the first course.
We finished not long after 5pm each day which gave us a free evening on day one. A little group of us decided to walk up to Mam Tor to watch the sun go down.
The route was gorgeous (pun intended) but we were late for the sunset (20:05). Even so, there were plenty of people on the hill enjoying the beautiful evening. Moving east a little along the saddle is the descent. From here we needed lights. Our companion Karen, was a little nervous about this. I was a little annoyed that my head-torch battery had gone flat and had to rely on a hand-torch. It was plenty adequate.
From a leader’s point of view, this is where it got interesting. Karen knew the route from walks in daylight and took the lead. However, she went off track which immediately seemed wrong to me. It’s interesting because you can see how smart people make mistakes. The combination of stress and changed estimated distance was one thing. Another is that once her stress levels rose, she admitted “being frightened”, and then there is the single-minded determination to see it through. These meant that she didn’t see the over-view and take in all the available clues on that dark hillside. This whole area of compound errors is studied in heuristics.
Heuristics is something I am conscious of when leading teenagers in DofE. More of that tomorrow.
Getting warm soon.
A six day week: Invigilation; First Aid certificate renewal; Lead DofE practice expedition, then back to Invigilation.
Colour testing the Masonary paint. It’s close, a smidge dark and blue. I’m steadily getting this done but my efforts are spread thin over too many jobs.
Next jobs, plaster skim coat, remove scraps of backing paper, hang fresh lining paper etcetera.
Painting is the most satisfying bit but the ceiling will be hard.
13°C, brisk S. Grey but mostly dry.
I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 41.30km, time: 01:47:27, pace: 2:36mint/km, speed: 23.06km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2824385746
Leave supper to reheat after a blast. Again, used the sea machines on the front. I have energy this time so next, build stamina.
12°C, bright start but front building. SW breeze brisk.
I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 50.27km, time: 02:09:21, pace: 2:34min/km, speed: 23.32km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2821770613
It was only 30 miles but it felt like a half century.. I stopped on the front to use some of the exercise machines, they’re rather good. It was quiet at 8am so I didn’t feel too self-conscious using them. They didn’t need any adjustment because many of them rely on body-weight for resistance. If you’re light, the resistance is low.
I walked with MapMyRide+! Distance: 11.96km, time: 01:59:57, pace: 10:02min/km, speed: 5.98km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2819841856
I woke very early this morning, up by 04.30 and invigorated after breakfast. I embarked on the wall even before coffee. Such is the effect of spring and the escape from a recent head-cold.
There were also some unwelcome colours in the canal.
Probably diesel from a barge.
By 7.30 I had done my good deed for the day. Passing a remote cottage, I spotted bank card in the road. Usually, these things are junk but this one was valid and signed. I did the obvious thing and went to the nearest house and knocked. The woman who answered looked worried at first. Perhaps she thought I was police. I was mostly wearing black. I asked by saying [his name] and she said “yes, he lives here“. His credit card was lying in the road and I reached it over. She must have realised and melted into gratitude. “Are you just out for a walk” you’re not police then?
The card was probably good for a few contactless purchased up to £30 each time before it got blocked. However, it’s worth more to hand it over and make somebody’s day instead. You don’t often get to do that.
Micycle 