7°C,strong W, with even stronger gusts. Clear and sunny.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 29.00km, time: 01:37:45, pace: 3:22min/km, speed: 17.80km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1921438703
Punctured: and got a lift for the last 3km. Shame because the first 16km were good. Good, even in this wind which was stronger and colder than the last outing.
10°C, westerly gale, mostly dry but grey.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 31.77km, time: 02:10:51, pace: 4:07min/km, speed: 14.57km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1919957957
Barbara is the name given to the second storm of the winter. Conor, the third. Today marks a respite between the two storms which means dry weather, but very strong wind.
I had a mishap ten miles from home. I rode through a puddle, nothing remarkable about that. This one hid a sharp edge which have the whole bike a severe jolt. I was lucky not to fall off but then I looked down. The back tyre was completely flat. The sharp edge caused a pinch puncture that was not repairable.
At this point, I found a brake pad in my hand. Replacing the wheel dislodged the pad. It’s a tiny thing and I have never serviced disk brakes before. I don’t really know how to assemble them and now was not the time to learn how. After some nervous fidgeting it back into the slot, it seemed to work.
I swapped the inner-tube and carefully rode home on a tyre softer than ideal. Low tyre pressure is the likely cause of all this to begin with.
11°C, still, clear and drying out.
I rode Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 23.71km, time: 01:30:56, pace: 3:50min/km, speed: 15.64km/h.
Towpath pause.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1912095641
The mud is soft, black and deep now. This confused the wheels who couldn’t decide whether to go the same way. The whole bike feels different when veering about on soft tyres. That aspect is fun with only a certain frisson of dread because the canal water looks deep and cold. I grinned most of the time, probably.
I rode the Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 26.15km, time: 01:31:07, pace: 3:29min/km, speed: 17.22km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1852682429
At the end of a day with a groggy head. This cold outing cleared my mind somewhat.
It’s certainly time to change to winter tyres. The mud is soft enough to make gravel tyres too slippery. I can still remember how much better the Schwalbe Rocket Rons are than the original set. They are notably slower on tarmac however.
Rode the Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 64.00km, time: 05:56:49, pace: 5:35min/km, speed: 10.76km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1827047048
Six hours in the saddle, but it didn’t start well. I left home along cycle tracks and picked up a puncture from thorns. Punctures are always annoying. More so from a cycle route, the hedges were trimmed and not swept. Fume.
The tyres on my cross bike have self sealing tubes which should heal up after re-inflating a couple of times. Six stops and pumping air is enough., clearly it wasn’t working. Eventually, I put a patch on the tube and that sealed it. However, the pump wasn’t working properly by now. It’s a two action pump and soon stopped compressing air in one direction. The other direction would only pump on the pull stroke, so I couldn’t get all the pressure I wanted.
Soon, I was on the Chase, a bouldery forestry land. Fortunately, the stones are rounded (Bunta Pebble Bed) which reduces tyre damage.
Anyway, the ride:
Coming down from Castle Ring is am area not covered by the map I took. Looking up, I could see the clouds sweeping from the east (I didn’t have a compass either). Finding north wasn’t difficult, finding a suitable path that didn’t peter out was less reliable. One section led to a tall fence, tall enough to stop Red Deer (there are some here). To escape that dead end, I rode through what looked like a reclaimed quarry. The rain stopped.
A day riding off-road beats your arms. All that vibration and resisting it by bracing is eventually tiring. If I did this enough, my arms would certainly build up.The return leg, by canal was lovely. All that sunshine blazing through the best of autumn colours was spectacular. A fine day.
I rode the cyclocross with MapMyRide+! Distance: 25.88km, time: 02:02:36, pace: 4:44min/km, speed: 12.67km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1824892241
Habits can be hard to break, especially when you don’t think about them. Today, my Saturday early ride was changed simply by taking the route the opposite way round. It made all the difference.
We’re getting closer to winter, the ground is becoming softer, almost too soft for these tyres. For now, these gravel treads will do, but the winter knobbies will be needed soon.
I rode Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 59.60km, time: 03:07:05, pace: 3:08min/km, speed: 19.11km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1813937243
Autumn is the start of the Cyclocross season, so it’s fitting to ride on the Jake. It’s windy today which makes the fixed gear a poor choice. There’s always a long leg into the wind, not much fun.
Today, the ride was largely gravel tracks and canal towpaths. Not so many fishermen were out today. They can be a bit annoying when I have to wait for them to move those enormous poles out of the path.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 23.61km, time: 01:35:13, pace: 4:02min/km, speed: 14.88km/h.
Canalside apples.
22°C, bright and sunny. Light SW.
I rode with MapMyRide+! Distance: 25.16km, time: 01:16:28, pace: 3:02min/km, speed: 19.74km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1718709494
I’ve listed today’s rides separately because of their different character. Firstly a short one on the race bike and then to work on the cross bike. Finally, I returned along the canal.
Total, about 42 miles.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 70.44km, time: 04:40:08, pace: 3:59min/km, speed: 15.09km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1597123868
I stayed upright, I even passed some mountain bikers on a climb. Later, just as hunger dominated my thoughts, a nice cafe appeared near the Katyn Memorial. Food meant I could continue riding. So the next leg, the Glacial Bolder.
I used a leftover map from easter’s treasure hunt, a training exercise for Y9s who had signed up for bronze. My group didn’t make it to this checkpoint and I wanted to see it. It’s on the edge of a heather moorland that is dotted with warning signs about mine subsidence. Actually, there were stories about people disappearing up here, in particular, a young lad. It turns out tattie stories were nearly true, he was actually rescued by miners.
Most of the tracks were of coarse round pebbles, the Bunta Pebble Bed. The same deposit that Birmingham is built upon.
Mostly dry and dusty, they were no real hazard today.
At the Glacial Bolder, a guy was with a group of teenagers and we got chatting. There are groups of youngsters all over the chase today, in small groups carrying rucksacks. I asked whether they were DofE, but no. It was part of the NCS Scheme.
My bike at the Glacial Bolder for scale.
The Glacial Bolder is am erratic from RW Scotland.
Later, I rode north and eventually got to the canal at Great Hayward.
Here’s another curious picture:
Rhubarb?
Look at the size of it! It must be 10ft high, oh sorry I’ve gone metric, it’s 3m.
It looks like wild rhubarb to me, but is it?
Anyway, I’m recovering now. My arms have taken a battering from the vibration and my tiredness is mostly dehydration.
Micycle 