Shorts in February, really?

18°C, bright sun with a light S breeze.

Another record breaking warm winter’s day. That average is 1 down from the last ride but I did start a bit sluggish. All was normal after the cafe stop which included one of their wonderful espressos.

The new crankset is not usable yet for an irritating reason there is one chainring bolt missing. Turning over the garage didn’t find one so it will have to be purchased. Spinwell in Southport didn’t have one. Search on.

Racelite new year

15°C, milky sun, warm and dry. light S.

Grabbed a ride on the Australia#¹ route after a morning of home decorating. Today is like spring a month early. The pace is good. I don’t normally get this bike out so soon in the year.

#1, it looks a bit like Australia on the route map; sort of.

Soft pedaling the cross.

13°C, sunny with light breeze.

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/3392284945

I have a teacher’s cold (again). Since it’s an unseasonably warm sunny day, I rode the cross bike anyway. I soft-pedaled along the sea wall. The tide was high making the beach soggy. Cross tyres are too narrow to cope with we silty sand.

MapMyRide is not working properly again. It fails to share the image so here is a straight photo.

A mild cheat

11°C, sunny.

I have to say, I’m happy with the plastering job. I’ve never plastered anything as big as the chimney breast bit this worked. I can smooth my hand over for that satisfying feeling. Okay, so I tweaked it with a little polyfiller but still….

The HDR app is handy here for looking for flaws. Here is one looking abstract.

Stretch your legs

10°C, SW wind and some soft drizzle
To close a rather satisfying# day with a blast on the bike. I rode the Arrow despite it being somewhat poorly. It has a slow puncture and a knackered chainset. Still, the ride went well. The replacement campag record chainset is due to arrive on friday.

#: The satisfaction comes from DIY. The chimney breast is plastered with base coat and I stopped when I ran out of Skim coat.

Berwyn hills: a pre season recce.

5°C, strong SW wind with showers.

This is what DofE leaders do in the off season.


We met up in Carrog to try out a route that is intended for the silver and gold groups at Easter.

The conditions were okay, if you’re dressed correctly. Luckily, the wind was on our backs during the most exposed sections. The only problem was navigating rural land where there were no signs. In one place, the bridal path passes through a private garden. There was no indication on the closed gate that there exists a right of way. The kids will be confused and probably become lost here.