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 Arrow with MapMyRide+! Distance: 68.78km, time: 03:02:49, pace: 2:39min/km, speed: 22.57km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1905252578
If I didn’t have so much work to do, I could have ridden far more. In this mild weather, all, I want is some stamina training, damn this job.
7°C, light SE wind, dry but salty roads.
I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 86.77km, time: 03:38:25, pace: 2:31min/km, speed: 23.83km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1896343307
18km further than last week, and a few km/h quicker too. Okay, there were no hills today, but no gears either.
5°C, light NE, no rain but damp roads.
I rode mustang with MapMyRide+! Distance: 26.82km, time: 01:38:33, pace: 3:40min/km, speed: 16.33km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1891190354
It’s not always obvious what to do when you notice the first signs of a puncture. If it’s dark and there are no light-up places to fix the tyre, what do you do? This night, I decided to inflate with the pump because the deflation was slow to start with. Then ride on as far as I could before it deflated too much. Unfortunately, next time with the little pump, deflation got faster.
Stopping to re-inflate 3 times isn’t so bad, but the time between each re-inflation was getting noticably shorter. The last interval was less than a 1km. I walked the last 4km home in all (in quite a bad mood, and hungry).
Next day, I did the repairs. The thorn that was guilty, was surprisingly long and difficult to remove. These puncture-proof tyres make pulling thorns out very tricky. If you don’t get it all out, the new inner-tube goes flat immediately. Retrospectively, the choice to walk was probably about right.
Dry, rather cool at 7°C with light NE breeze.
Rode Arrow with MapMyRide+! Distance: 68.90km, time: 03:00:32, pace: 2:37min/km, speed: 22.90km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1886134235
At the cafe stop.
Rode the Arrow for the first time in nearly 6 months.I’m riding the Raleigh gravel bike to work now so the Arrow has been neglected. I was beginning to think that I may not need that bike anymore
This morning, all I had to do was blow tyres up and take the carrier off, and then get on.
However, it did actually feel rather strange when I did get going. The riding position felt odd over the bars. After a few miles I rank into the right position and ‘found my legs’. That seat will have to go forward, raising it wasn’t enough. It’s okay to have differences is position on the various bikes, but this change is too much. I expect a similar feeling when starting out on the Mustang next week. At least the brakes and gear-change are good.
Conclusion, it’s going to be good to keep this bike as a specific winter ride.
Strange phenomenon, every so often, I noticed crescent shaped patches of wet road as I came home. There were dozens of them, full road width and distinct from the otherwise dry tarmac.
Here is one, I laid my bike next to it for scale.
9°C, grey with a light shower at the end.
I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 80.95km, time: 03:17:49, pace: 2:27min/km, speed: 24.55km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1864452062
Late start because of the time it takes to fit winter wheels. While doing that, I fitted the winter tyres to the cyclo-cross bike. Thanks are getting boggy and slippery now and will remain so until about April.
Today’s side felt good. Although I averaged 16mph, it was the feel that mattered. Over 50 miles, I had energy right to the end. I wasn’t left quivering at the top of each climb and I was happy to put on a burst out of the saddle to keep the pace up.
Better than last week then.
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.
Micycle 