17C, lighter WSW wind, CA:45 miles
Extended my ride home tonight. Up the High Street of desolation that is Brownhills, straight on, along a canal tow-path and then onto Cannock Chase. Eventually clocked up 45 miles arriving home in fading light. I shalln’t do this for much longer, though it’s done the job of making up for tomorrow’s drive. Not looking forward to open evening- it makes for such a long day.
18C,
The media haas been full of 9/11 ten years on stories this week. I expected to really hate all of this, but as it happens, there have been some moving personal accounts. Opinions varied hugely on questions like “is the world safer after the War on Terror?”. Even high ranking US govt. men had seemingly balanced views on this, Bush had been advised to drop the term but decided to stick to it because American’s aren’t bright enough to adjust (how ironic). It was reassuring to remember how we felt threatened by that war on terror- it did indeed create a huge recruitment drive for the anti-American groups as we warned at the time. The reassurance lies in being right ten years ago. With hindsight- GW Bush was every bit as bad as we thought at the time, he did make the world a worse place, a less safe one. Many more US soldiers died in the various campaigns than civilians had in the World Trade Centre. The USA can’t begin to imagine how much the world hates them, and why.
I have to take this opportunity to answer the challenge that we don’t feel any diminution of our civil liberties. We do: detention without trial, tourists who are arrested for taking pictures of ‘sensitive’ buildings in London, and for most people- the conduct of security checks at airports.
Light cloud in complex layers. 19°C & less wind. CR:35 miles after school.
The brightest Type-A supernova is at it’s peak tonight. It’s hidden under some thin high stratus cloud right now, which is a bit of a problem. The object is faint anyway, you’d need binoculars at least, so the slightest cloud renders it invisible. I’d really like to see a supernova sometime in my life, even if it’s faint & non-descript; it’s the thought, that’s all.
Rode after school tonight. The shower is still out of action so I left promptly and hit the road on two wheels at 5pm. I got two hours in and still arrived home ½hr. before sunset. Feel-good.
Windy & cooler, CR:25 miles
Rode after work today, the shower has been cleaned of legionnaires, but is has to be tested before I am allowed to use it. Early evening light is fading fast now it’s September, but at least I could ride the ‘best’ bike and choose my route. A real feature of holiday rides is the effect of proper rest. Real athletes must benefit so much from deep rest, the effect on your energy levels is so strong.
Missing a day’s ride in the holidays feels just like stress, by the end of the six weeks, you need to ride.
17C , some rain
I am forbidden to use the shower at work. Legionellosis has been detected in the showerhead, the boss told me I couldn’t ride in tomorrow because of it. There must be a way around this, maybe wash in a sink for just one day- it depends how long it takes to sterilise it. I have to wonder about the shower here at home- perhaps I should remove the head and leave it in a bucket of bleach overnight. It’s maybe worse here because I only shower at home once a week (the mostly shower at work). Is this why some people leave the showerhead lying on the shower floor to let the water drain?
19C, rain early & late. CR:57 miles
Well, is that all there is? All there is to a summer holiday? Work tomorrow & today’s ride has removed fizzy-legs that has bugged me so much while doing that damned marking. Sad that I didn’t make it to Scotland this year.
Next year is my 10th in this school; so what do you get for 10 years service? A: a stomach ulcer? Maybe this academic year will a bit better than last.
11°C, perhaps upto 21°C, light cloud. CR:28 miles
60 Watt bulbs will cease to be made in the Eurozone from today. The govt. have effectively banned them amid media stories that folks are hoarding incandescent bulbs. I suppose it’s a bit like the food parcels passed over the fences of schools that adopted healthy eating policies. A policy undercut despite the apparent benefit to the populous. News reports always show mercury-vapour lamps as the new low-power replacement. They have, just like last time, ignored the other alternatives. There are a number of types: tungsten, mercury-vapour, Halogen and LED. I have always hated mercury-vapour lamps, especially strip lights because of the quality of the light. That means for me, flicker. They flicker at 50Hz which is quite annoying when seen in peripheral vision though less obvious seen directly. The colour of the light is odd too- slightly pink in direct light but the room is cast with a green glow that is so obvious in photographs taken in that room. My choice- Halogen where I need bright light, LED if not.
Maybe a fritillary?
19C, cloudy, CR:29 miles
Our local free newspaper is a lot of fun. It’s full of schools boasting of their record breaking GCSE results. It’s their best year ever, they exclaim. But wait, it’s always the best year ever, the results have gone up each year for the last 24 years. So, of course it’s their best year. It would be weird if the results stayed level for a year. How many years does it take before they notice the pattern.
Are they all too sensitive to risk upsetting the teenagers by telling them it’s all getting easier?
It’s the last day of summer but looks as if autumn is already here. The remaining green plants are starting to turn already. The long dry spring is said to be the cause of an early autumn.
15°C Rain
That week of rain cost me half a stone in weight. Good result then, it was a bit late coming off this year. Cycling feels better for it. It was only four days of long walks in practice a minimum of six hours for most of them, not desperately strenuous, simply long. the first one turned into a quagmire, a boggy Moelwynnion ridge which became increasingly windy and wet. the Rhinogs are better for that sort of walk probably. As the days wore on, the air dried, and some of my kit did too. It ended beautifully, though rather smelly in the car. I was sad to come home, but more rain did approach.
That was the good bit, now it’s only one week ’till the new term. So much to do still!
Self seeded, perhaps from birdfood, who knows?
11C, rain. CR:60
Only to echo last week, the GCSE results are out today, likely to be the 24th consecutive year of higher results. The changed course structure will get some of the credit this time, it’s more modular now, so girls will probably do better. This story is worn out.
BBC The Education minister wants to end modularity, so perhaps we’ll see the boys catch up from nest year. The Daily Mail report was interesting, in almost every respect, they got their fact diametrically opposite to the truth. They said boys were closing the gap (the gap has widened), that the yearly grade inflation (which they blamed on Labour) had finished (the increase is about the same as last year). They couldn’t have got it more wrong. Why do people buy this newspaper, everything they print is wrong?
Later: Sunshine after an afternoon decorating. Rode for 60 miles and felt really strong. No aches, stiffness or discomfort, the ride simply flowed nicely. The end of the summer holidays is often like this.
Micycle 