17°C, moderate NW.
24.8 kph (mean) is quick for me, a bloke in his late 50s. I’ve barely ridden the Paddy Wagon this summer but I jumped on it today. With little time, I put the hammer down and rode swiftly. This is possibly the fastest ride of the year by me.I ran this m
I ran this morning too!
15°C, grey morning.
Walk, run, machine, run, repeat. I’ve never been a runner, considering myself too heavy for it. But I’ve done 4 runs in the last week.
17°C, stiff W breeze, dry and sunny.
This week I have mostly ridden the CX. More gravel roads in gorgeous sunshine and dry. Everything about the bike feels right, except it hasn’t got a working speedo. Part of me doesn’t miss that.
17°C, light S. Lots of sun.
Something bit me on this ride. I didn’t really feel it but my lip swelled up as I rode. During the tricky part of the embankment where I couldn’t let go of the bars. I did get a quick swipe but thought nothing of it. Towards the end, it looked like a Botox failure (mind you, botox always seems to look wrong).
Another thing I brought home was the smell of cow maure. The nature reserve allows cattle to graze the other side of the embankment. One part of the embankment was thick with dung and no way to get past to avoid it. My shoes and the tyres were caked in it. that suff is very difficult to wash off.
17°C, 50% cloud, light S wind.
Today, I combined several gravel style routes to make up a 2 hour outing. The tracks were dusty but it was well worth it.
16°C, moderate SW, full sun.
That was refreshing! After supper, the sun was glorious so out ce.the Jake CX from the shed. It’s got a new headset from Hope and a new bottom bracket. Wow, that made a difference. It’s so silky and light at the front end. Next job ought to be the wheel bearings. The Chaim has plenty of life.
18°C, light SW. Sunny
My old shoes for the summer bike were Carnac. They’ve lasted a decade but I’ve noticed a waggle of my left knee which has reduced down-force. They must have lost their shape over the years and it’s ruined my cadence. Now that’s all fixed. I had to stop 4 times to make adjustments to the shoe-plates but now, all is good.
Apart fdrom this, several repairs are complete this week on the Kona Jake CX. It has a new Hope headset and Shimano bottom bracket. I’ll report if I notice any difference in handling. The wheel bearings still need doing.
In a way, this marks half-way. Milage so far 3,152km, I make that 1,940 miles. Milage is down while working on DofE because that’s many weekends where I can’t ride.
24°C, full sun, 0 cloud, dry and close.
What an excellent day out. Okay, my legs complained about doing another 50 two days after the previous. Conditions were perfect. Warm days like this cause quite a thirst. On the return, I was stuck for somewhere to get a refill. then I spotted a standpipe in a driveway. It didn’t look like anybody was home so I sneaked in and got a litre. that saved the day.
Summary for the week. Warming up after a cool weekend. Strong sun and little rain.
Ridden the Zing, Jake and the Paddy Wagon this week. The first day felt hard and was rather disheartening, but as the week wore on – it felt more natural. I’ve worked away most weekends on DofE so that has interrupted my cycling habits.
Rides were 36.1+ 51.7+27.9+ 21.5+32.6 = 169.8km
So that’s 104 miles in 5 days. I’m happy with that even with the low pace of several.
Some repairs are pending. My summer road shoes are falling out of shape, the left tends to tilt my foot outwards which then changes the whole leg. My left knee sweeps outwards with each stroke and lowers the prower into the pedal that side. Those Carnac shoes are ancient, I’ve forgotten when I bought them, probably in the 90s. A new pair are on order.
Secondly, the headset on the Jake cross bike has gone notchy so I’ll get replacement races soon too. Next problem is lubrication in gear cables. Muc-off lube tends to dry up quickly making gear changes hit & miss. I’m going to try a heavier grade of oil. Maybe confine the thin dry lube to the shifter mechaisms.
18°C, Kona Jake, full sun with a light SW breeze.
Sought out several new gravel routes across farm lands. This was very fine.
The shoes feel much better than the road pair. The Carnacs I use with Look pedals seem to be distorting out of shape. The left one, especially has a twist that effects the pedal stroke.
Micycle 