Category Archives: Cycling

Mixed canal and road.

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Bright sun and westerly wind. 19°C.

I rode the Kona Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 77.83km, time: 03:51:47, pace: 2:59min/km, speed: 20.15km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2302108298

Today, I broke the saddle. It’s the same break that they always have- immediately behind the clamp on one rail. I never really liked that seat anyway. Later, I rode along a canal from Rufford to join the Leeds-Liverpool canal.​


Another fault has developed recently, the gear change is worse and adjustment makes no difference. The barrel adjuster is at its limit. In fact, it’s beyond. The adjuster is screwed out entirely. Unfortunately, it won’t screw back in. Perhaps the thread is damaged.

Theiving Peacocks.

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11~17°C, sunny with SW brisk wind.
I rode Racelite with MapMyRide+! Distance: 105.83km, time: 04:42:49, pace: 2:40min/km, speed: 22.45km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2191839101

I still enjoy the thrill of getting onto the Racelite. It’s light and fairly nimble but somehow less so. In comparison to my two alloy bikes, it feels rather flexible. If I shake the handlebars as I ride, I can’t really feel it in the seat. The frame flexes. If my job prospects were better, I’d consider an upgrade to a stiff aluminium road racer. For now, it’s good for long distance rides since it’s comfortable.

Today’s pace was not blistering, last week’s cold has not entirely left. The peacocks were funny though.

Look at the cheek, they climb up onto the table and throw the food they want onto the floor. Plates go crashing and they don’t even blink. Peacocks have the minds of criminals.

Hard on the hands.

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15°C, Brisk SE wind, mostly sunny, entirely dry.

I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 72.78km, time: 04:10:50, pace: 3:27min/km, speed: 17.41km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2160239831

It’s all dried and cracked out there. Even molehills are as hard as stone. The big feature of the day is wind. A strong, dry south-easterly, which can only dry out the land more.
The vibration is hard on the hands. Suspension, at least on the front would solve this. The beach was firm too. Overall, average speed was low today. Partly that’s the conditions, you can’t ride off-road as quickly. The other part is that my fitness isn’t as good this year.

Southport front.

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11°C, sunny with strong W, dry.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 62.68km, time: 03:11:43, pace: 3:04min/km, speed: 19.62km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2127494444

Overnight rain dampened the ground somewhat. It dried up during the day.
HDR; although I like the hdr effect on photos like this, it is only an effect. The app uses a kind of bass-relief method rather than genuine multi-exposure merging to create the high dynamic range. It might be interesting to try out the techniques with my new Fuji X-10. It’s a compact camera capable to taking multiple exposure at the same instant. This way, the merge should work without any smudges caused by movement.

Cross the moss.

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11°C, brisk NW, dry and sunny.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 49.14km, time: 02:35:15, pace: 3:10min/km, speed: 18.99km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2123818616

Not much improvisation on kid route today.

Also took two brisk walks totalling about 8 miles. Although there are plenty of public footpaths across farmland around here, there are few circular routes. The best routes use very little road.
I shall sleep well tonight.

Three score and twelve miles.

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14°C, mostly sunny with light wind.
I rode Racelite with MapMyRide+! Distance: 116.03km, time: 02:39:32, pace: 1:22min/km, speed: 43.64km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2099631971

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The view from Bosworth Battlefield visitors centre. North is the village of Mkt Bosworth.
On the return leg, I happened upon this sign:​​

I sense some frustration in the people of Sheepy. It’s a straight road just off a fast A road. The boy racers probably tear around in their hot hatches while throwing a trail of MacDonald’s packaging out their windows. This time of year, the long narrow land-fill sites in our hedgerows are hidden by growing plants. The winter always looks the worst. Am I sounding grumpy? Okay, I better stop then.

Very muddy canal loop.

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5° to 9°C, sunny and very muddy.
I rode with MapMyRide+! Distance: 28.44km, time: 01:52:56, pace: 3:58min/km, speed: 15.11km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2043054158​

Deep, Watery and sloppy mud. Hence the low average speed. Sometimes as low as 5mph. Even so, I still failed to fall off into the canal.
Bright spring sunshine made this a happy ride. The mud was a feature, but it was so watery that most of it didn’t stick to the bike.

Head noodles.

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7°C, moderate W wind, dry & sunny.

I rode the Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 94.45km, time: 04:03:27, pace: 2:35min/km, speed: 23.28km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2028737195

Hard work, just under 60 miles and I’m coming back from some loss of stamina this winter. Now the lighter mornings are here, and other stress has resolved, energy is coming back to me. Drinking both bottles twice still left me dehydrated though. I’m a little worried that my long distance stamina has started the year reduced compared to most years.

Metric Century.

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11ºC, grey but not too dull. light SW breeze.

I rode Arrow; with MapMyRide+! Distance: 112.27km, time: 05:05:28,
pace: 2:43min/km, speed: 22.05km/h. That’s 68 miles to you. I should have done 2 more.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2017927079

Spring is tentatively poking its nose out of the opening in its sleeping bag. Here are yellow tips of these miniature daffodils. Today’s warm weather (11°C), is blowing up the southern approaches from tropical climes. For me, that means no cold feet on a long ride.

The returning 10 miles was really hard. I haven’t done many rides over 40 miles this year so perhaps it’s inevitable. Oh, and I rode yesterday, the day before and before that. Normally, Saturday used to be a rest day.

A usual Saturday.

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7°C, cold SW breeze but it’s drying up.

I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 26.42km, time: 01:46:22, pace: 4:02min/km, speed: 14.90km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/2015532611​

The usual canal loop. The mud was deeper and more watery. However, that’s not so bad because the gloop fell off the bike more easily.
I saw fewer dog walkers than usual for a dry day. One commented ‘it’s probably easier to ride on the road’. True, but I want practice riding on mud, I can only get more skillful.