I have the kind of gravelly cough that feels like there is broken glass in my throat. Still have to work through.
No cycling this week.
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Author Archives: essiep
DofE 2: Bury st. Edmunds, training
A daunting long drive is the result of some poor planning by me. And it’s only 1 day’s work. Is it worth it? In all, 240 miles including a stop off to visit mum. I have negotiated a stay in a local scout camp which should be good.
D1: that was straightforward, we got through the material in good time and the kids did a thorough job. The route cards were done in an Excel spreadsheet which had a few good functions. It would work out journey times from other values the groups inputted. An oddity was that it had no cell protection. Overall, it was a good system that combines traditional methods with a spreadsheet. Functions were not as thorough as eDofE’s but it lacked the infuriating bugs
The Journey Begins
The obligatory intro post from WP. This is the place I want to host.my hiking & cycling posts. As of yet, I don’t know how to extract the relevant tagged posts from my initial site and import them here.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
DofE 1: Abingdon in-school training
+6°~-3°C, calm hi high-pressure sets in.
Same start as last year with similar weather, cold dry and frost predicted. I’ve been give permission to camp in he school grounds which solves two problems: the campsite is 7 miles away and is likely – waterlogged.
d1: been here before, and familiarity brings some ease. We have toe groups to take through a classroom based training booklet. The kids are delightful and eager. One of the girls is the younger sister of one from last year, she even texted to check, and Flo’ said I was the best one. Wooo! This group declared themselves “massive Miranda fans”. That meant catchphrases from the show sometimes, bare with, bare with!
Overnight, I planned to camp but given the chance to bed down in some kind of annex, I took it. With some time to kill, I did another page in the A5 sketchbook.
Day two, a Sunday. More classroom training but with added trips outside. I showed them how to put up a tent and finished the syllabus.
The centre manager wants instructors to have the same groups on practice in march. I’m only on the reserve lists so sadly…..
Latest: I’m on! I’ve been moved off reserve and will now work with both groups in march.
Winter fortells spring.
5-8°C, sunny and calm.
Fresh, mild warm air the at doesn’t smell of spring yet. It’s still dark early but uncharacteristically mild. Storms are approaching.
Does this route look rude to you? No? Okay, it’s just me then.
Warm winter wind.
13°C, strong S wind, dry.
Hills and drizzle
10°C, sunny out but bands of drizzle in the afternoon, light S wind.
In the morning, feeling lively, I took on some hills – Dalton and Bannister. The Arrow is great for long steady miles. The steel frame soaks up the bumps along with 28C tyres set to 70psi. That was a nice ride, not even the rain made it cold.
The frame needs some attention. There are some rusty pits hidden beneath one of the tubes.
To the machines…
6°C, brisk NW, dry and sunny.
But there were the machines… Gone! Let’s home they’re away for maintanence.
Twycross by Arrow.
10°C, sun, light breeze and dry.
The photo was taken near an underground bunker by Elford. Such a strange structure which now has a visitor’s book. Not an official one, but an old sketchbook with a few mindless comments and badly drawn porn.
A slow and steady ride which passed Twycross Zoo. This time of year, their hedges are bare so you can see in. I looked in and two giraffes looked out.
Just like old times when I lived here, the miles effortlessly rolled by on he near empty roads. My mind wandered all over and the effort to ride got lighter and lighter. This bike used to by my steady winter ride (and commuter) but now I have others.
One thing I always like about these silhouette shots is the halo around my head. It’s something in the way leaves reflect light back along their path. I don’t mind the shallow ego boost nonetheless.
2 hours, Arrow.
7°C, dull and damp, but that’s as bad as it got.
Micycle 