Looks like summer, but it’s cold.

Posted on 15th May 2016 by essiep

I rode fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 84.86km, time: 03:18:54, pace: 2:21min/km, speed: 25.60km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1474829699
That’s 52 miles to you.

A field in Dalton, where an intimidating sign warned off trespassers. Looking left, the eye is drawn to the door of a sandstone church. Looking ahead, I could see all the way to Wales. It was that clear.
That was a very satisfying ride, it felt easy to life the pace as the bike felt light. That’s partly the summer wheels, partly the fine, energising sunshine.
It’s remarkable how quickly the summer takes hold.

I’m going metric.

Posted on 14th May 2016 by essiep

I rode Cyclocross with MapMyRide+! Distance: 31.24km, time: 01:33:30, pace: 3:00min/km, speed: 20.05km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1473311243
To tie in with hiking, I will try recording rides in metric. It’s going to take some getting used to.
Besides, the Jake has new tyres, a pair of gravel tyres, Schwalbe CX.

Somewhere in West Lancs.

For today’s conditions, they were perfect. Rolling is much better on tarmac and hard tracks. There are plenty of those this time of year. The only problem I had was a slow puncture caused by disturbing the slime inner-tube.
What a gorgeous day, not warm but blazing bright sun and fees blue.

Innoo solar battery pack

Posted on 10th May 2016 by essiep

Review: relatively low cost for its power storage, and fairly robust. I chose this one because I need recharging on the go, especially backpacking. Last week, I ran it down to one car with 3 charges, mine and other people’s phones.
Since then, it’s been propped up on a south facing window sill in bright sunny May conditions.
Seven days later, it has built up 1 more bar of charge. I accept that these charge indicators are arbitrary, but will it really take three weeks to charge up in full sunshine?

After 1 week in full sun.

50 miles cyclocross.

Posted on 8th May 2016 by essiep

24°C, light SE, bright sun very dry.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 49.43mi, time: 04:02:36, pace: 4:55min/mi, speed: 12.22mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1463746063
The route shows several diversions, they were to collect water. Today was hot, the speedo read 28°C and the Jake has only one water bottle mount. At least those canals have lots of places to stop and re-fill.
The ground is hard with all that mud dried out. It’s actually quite jarring on hands.
It’s certainly time to fit the summer gravel tyres. They should be faster, soother and probably more hard wearing.

Diamond abseil.

Posted on 5th May 2016 by essiep

20°C, bright sun and little wind.

Matthew Bolton College.

Four staff, and five kids from our school went to Matthew Bolton College for a Diamond anniversary of the DofE publicity stunt. Royalty arrived about 11am and we were prepped on what to say. The publicity guy said something about how to answer. ‘Don’t just nod when asked something, you will want to tell your relatives when you get older’. I’m not star struck, I hate all that swooning adoration that the royal family attract. We didn’t vote for them, why should I care about them. They live the life of luxury and privilege at our expense. Don’t ask me to swoon.

Anyway, the abseil was fine, no hesitation because of height. I felt no fear and I don’t mind looking down. The only awkward moment was climbing over the edge. It’s easier when the rope is fixed higher because you can get your feet up easily. I was able to spring outward to get over the windows. Inside, there are windows sills. Students sat there to spectate so I pulled silly faces as I passed downwards.
A great day out.

Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge.

Posted on 1st May 2016 by essiep

4°C, sunny start and snow on summits. Hail and snow later.

Diamond Challenge training hike. Climb the three peaks in Yorkshire under 12 hours. Started at Horton-in-Ribblesdale. It’s a very popular event this, the crowds were building when I got there at 6.30. A fell running event was setting up as was a Sikh Three Peaks Warriors event!
Booted up, we started on 7am dead. The return was at 17.58, eleven hours. We considered that decent when slowed progress on snowy summits and the fell runners race got in the way.
From a personal view, I probably went too fast at the beginning and flagged near the end. Despite saying that, I led most of the day.

MapMyWalk screen, before mapping.

The going was mostly secure. Lower down, there were limestone pavements, in a few places polished like limestone does. All the peaks were, however gritstone.
Gritstone offers good grip even with a thin coating of snow. It’s almost May now, so the ground is warm enough to prevent much ice forming. Most of the white we saw, was soft snow.

Seeds’ half-life.

Posted on 23rd Apr 2016 by essiep

2~9°C, bright sun.
Do seeds have a half-life? This window propagator was seeded with Magnolia from an old packet. The use-by date was 2012 and about half have germinated.

Bosworth Battlefield.

Posted on 17th Apr 2016 by essiep

9°C, light NW breeze, sunny but looked warmer than it felt.
I rode Racelite-8 with MapMyRide+! Distance: 56.16mi, time: 03:42:25, pace: 3:58min/mi, speed: 15.15mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1432128283
April is a little cooler than average right now. It’s nice and sunny but the shadows are cold. Quite a contrast to the warmth of the direct sun. All this make choosing clothes for the ride rather tricky.

The is only the second outing om the racelite this year, and I forgot that it’s a bit of a strain to ride at times. The position isn’t right, I’m too stretched out at the front.

Seed of an idea.

Posted on 17th Apr 2016 by essiep

Getting dark now, 5°C and clear.
We walk about 6km/hr on good, flat sooth ground. About 4mph, or 40 miles in 10 hours, 80 in 20.
Would it be possible to walk 100 miles in a day?

That sounds pretty hard-core, but it’s developing into an idea that might be more realistic:
Walk to Lancashire in say 36 hours along the canals.
There’s one that gets you in Runcorn from near here. It’s the Trent And Mersey Canal. Okay, it does weave about a bit, and the route would probably total more than one hundred.
I could pick a summer month that has shorter hours of darkness, short enough not to get through too many batteries for the head-torch.

Just a thought.

Continue reading →

Review: Rocket Ron.

Posted on 16th Apr 2016 by essiep

I rode cyclocross with MapMyRide+! Distance: 16.10mi, time: 01:33:52, pace: 5:50min/mi, speed: 10.29mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1429852881
New tyres: I’ve not ridden the ‘cross bike as much this year. More, recently, a cluster of difficult to fix punctures, and slippery conditions put me off more.
Today, I rode the Jake with new Schwalbe Rocket Rons. Suddenly, it was obvious, the Challenge Grifos were worn out.
What a difference, I have grip back even in deep slimey mud. There are some stretches of this favourite route that have quite deep mud. Next to a canal, you don’t want to loose control. Besides, that water is cold and would ruin my phone.

Rocket Ron 33c.

I shall definitely buy these again. The grip is excellent and with a lighter inner-tube, handling is much improved. I could power through the deeper mud and keep feet dry. Only once did I have to put a don’t down. In the past, I have got off and run alongside the deepest mud.

Micycle

Mike thinks b/hikes

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