Category Archives: Cycling

Wild and windy across the moors.

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7°C, strong westerly wind, dry but grey.
I rode Mustang with MapMyRide+! Distance: 61.81km, time: 02:57:08, pace: 2:52min/km, speed: 20.94km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2635188499​

I like this bike more now. that’s the difference 1cm makes. Earlier in the week, I put a longer stem on to relieve the pressure on my hands. It has mostly worked. anyway, today’s ride, though a little slow, was comfortable. I rode the hill climb up Bannister Lane near Parbold and got up there comfortably. It wasn’t easy but it wasn’t painful either. Later after a garage stop the route turned into the westerly wind. It’s nice to have gears for times like these. what I really like about this bike is the handling. It’s very light at the front, probably designed that way to make up for sluggish handling  with big gravel tyres. I have 28c road tyres on this wheelset; though it would make sense to go up a size for winter rides, perhaps to 32c.

Fear a Gazump?

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5°C, light W but dry.
I rode Mustang with MapMyRide+! Distance: 27.46km, time: 01:18:45, pace: 2:52min/km, speed: 20.92km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2632971148​

My seller’s estate agent phoned today. It’s complicated, but the seller called for ‘final offers’. You pitch your best offer for the house and hope that another interested party doesn’t make a higher bid. Even though I was told last Friday that the house is practically mine, it was at risk. I could be gazumped. The purchase isn’t legally binding until ‘exchange of contracts’. That’s almost the last stage. Searches, mortgage and surveys are always done and paid for. A buyer who is the victim of gazumping is very vulnerable right up to that time. It’s precarious and risky. There is nothing in English housing law to protect us from gazumping.
The worst part, personally, is the anxiety that all that time is wasted. Time to imagine how you’ll adapt to your new home, where to put things and what improvements to make to the house. Over time, we all adapt our house to make life easier and fit in with our personal needs.
I’m starting again, and I want to use the opportunity well. Structural updates need to be done first. For example, adding power sockets, moving lights and shelves. The most dramatic changes can’t be done yet. It needs a decent kitchen and even better, a utility room to the side.
As you can see, my head is full of thoughts and I don’t want it shattered by loosing the house. Gazumping is an appalling prospect.

The agent phoned a few hours later to say ‘the house will be mine’. Phew.

Route to my new house.

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5°C, light breeze, sun and showers.
I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 44.69km, time: 01:53:02, pace: 2:32min/km, speed: 23.72km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2630644450​

A duck died today. That marred my outward stage. Crossing the moors the road approached a wood. Suddenly it erupted with a fusillade of shotgun blasts. There were 4x4s parked on the lane and men with dogs standing is fields. Small groups of birds flew quickly away from the wood. Good, some escaped.
Then I saw a shape scurrying across the field, it was a bird unable to take off. It was very fast though, desperate no doubt. Then a dog ran from the Hunter and chased it down. Efficiently, the dog returned the bird, a duck. The next thing I saw was the worst part. The hunter took the bird from the dog and held it out at waist height. He swung the bird in a circle to break its neck.
Seconds before, that bird had enough fight to make am escape though it was wounded by shot which prevented it taking to the air. It’s speed across the field was as great as the adrenaline filling it’s blood. Hope was dashed when the dog was sent after it.
I found myself filling with rage. At the top of my voice I swore at these men. At least one looked round so they must have heard me. What else could I do?
What despicable examples of humanity were these men?

Two rides, two bikes

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9°C, light W breeze, light sun.
I rode Paddy Wagon fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 36.81km, time: 01:34:44, pace: 2:34min/km, speed: 23.31km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2628640216

I rode Mustang with MapMyRide+! Distance: 34.22km, time: 01:40:52, pace: 2:57min/km, speed: 20.36km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2629007473

Half a year since I rode twice in the same day. I’m owed this mmdwadtdp a 3 day abstinence. This morning and last night I was becoming rather irritable without spending energy. Worse because I have more energy than me late after some good news on Friday.
I’ve bought a house. It’s been a long time searching, 3 months. Not just gaining a house, but also loosing a mortgage.
Now, I can look forward and stop feeling as though I’m treading water. Thus, more ‘go’ in my legs while riding.

Dazzling tarmac

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12°C, sunny and still, yet roads.
I rode Arrow with MapMyRide+! Distance: 69.82km, time: 03:17:28, pace: 2:50min/km, speed: 21.22km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2624397079​

Excellent conditions for a winter ride. It was so good that I extended the route, and then extended again. I had plenty of energy too (though the average speed wouldn’t suggest so).
Riding into the sun on wet roads is fraught with the risk of dazzle. This near to solstice, sun’s rays are never that bright, even at noon.
All sounds good? Today was the first day that I took a vitamin B12 supplement. A deficiency g said to cause lethargy. Perhaps that has been the problem all along. Let’s see how this pans out.

Fixed in Southport.

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9°C, light breeze and sun.
I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 42.km, time: 01:49:01, pace: 2:34min/km, speed: 23.33km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2621786563​

A respite from winter weather. Even the wind gap dropped so I rode the single-speed bike.
Average speeds lately have been low movie gravel bike. Back on the fixed is a chance to push a bit faster. Winter clothes are a bit cumbersome on this bike. A higher front would work better.

A puncture, a run and one terrified barnowl.

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4°C, moderate NW breeze, dry but cold.
I rode Mustang with MapMyRide+! Distance: 30.60km, time: 01:44:54, pace: 3:26min/km, speed: 17.50km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2618452087

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Punctures are always annoying. at least it happened in the front tyre, but the spare tube was the wrong size and the patch didn’t stick. That meant a run to a bike shop. A run because I had an appointment at 2pm. From Formby Country Club to Formby Cycle shop is 2.1 miles and I had the adrenaline. Actually, though it felt stressful, I was quite satisfied with the run. Maybe I should go for a run sometimes.
Outside the country club, a guy offered to help and we tried to fix the wretched tube. My spare was too thin (<25c). A quick visit top the shop got spares that I need and I was back on the road in only 15 minutes. that wasn’t the end of the stress. I belted home working hard to make the deadline.​

On the outward leg, I used  If it were up to me, I’d ban it.

Fizzy and bad tempered.

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2°C, big melt all morning, another snow dump followed in the evening.
I rode Mustang with MapMyRide+! Distance: 31.34km, time: 01:29:08, pace: 2:51min/km, speed: 21.10km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2616335668

Slow and short, but I desperately needed it after a week of turbo sessions. I hate the turbo but there’s no alternative with the depth of snow and ice we’ve had.
Refreshed by sunshine and blue skies, I will sleep properly tonight.​

The latest snow craze to hit England is igloos made from recycling boxes. This one that appeared near my house is typical of the genre. The blocks have gaps, but so what?
These make a refreshing change from Michelin-man snowmen. Good work in my opinion, I wish I’d made one now.

Beach to beach.

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2°C, brisk N wind, dry and sunny. Significant wind-chill.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 45.80km, time: 02:41:30, pace: 3:32min/km, speed: 17.01km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2599320025​

Today, I reversed the beach route for variety. A strong wind ran along the coast from kid north so I wasn’t deflected as much. The sand does turn to impossible soft patches without much warning. Sometimes easy sometimes you get bogged mown. Some was hidden under a moving veil of drifting sand. Wider tyres would help greatly but for now, lower pressure would too. I fell once and rolled out on the soft sand.
Actually, that’s the first time I’ve fallen in quite a few years. Good that it happened onto sand. Riding along with the drifting sand is a good sensation.
There are interesting structures standing on this beach. Amidst the shifting sand banks are darker shelves of more solid, peaty sand. It’s starting to consolidate into rock. Some of these strata lay in the beach, others were cut from dunes and showed clearly in the banks. Are these evidence of beach raising? Were they darkened by vegetation during interglacial periods when sea-level was lower?