I rode Arrow with MapMyRide+! Distance: 54.12mi, time: 03:47:00, pace: 4:12min/mi, speed: 14.31mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1372582069
Dry salty roads, and a cold northerly.
Speed rose as time went by, and I turned for good only because I was cold. Wrong clothes.
It takes hours to warn up once home if you have been cold for along time. Days like these, I need a hot bath. The shower doesn’t do it.
I rode The Jake CX with MapMyRide+! Distance: 10.39mi, time: 01:46:36, pace: 10:16min/mi, speed: 5.85mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1371496079
Cold and deep mud, only once did I stop to run around the mud patches. The others, I powered though. Not once did I grind to a halt, nor fall off. Result!
Then a puncture.
The pump let me down, it barely offered any pressure so that after vigorous pumping, the tyre had lower pressure than before.
I will take it apart to see whether it is too dirty to keep pressure. Maybe, it’s just crap.
By now, the pressure is so low that I couldn’t ride, that meant a 4 mile walk home.
Good job that I like walking.
I rode the ‘paddy wagon’ with MapMyRide+! Distance: 28.20mi, time: 01:54:46, pace: 4:04min/mi, speed: 14.7mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1363319339
Took the flattest route. Warm-up was a full 12 miles. Yes, it took that long before I felt sort of normal. All that time a little voice told me I should go home.
I blame yesterday’s irregular food. I ate plenty in the morning, but didn’t have a proper evening meal.
The same thing gap happened in the past when I had chips for supper. I don’t have chips any more. Pizza is nearly as bad.
I look quite pale in the mirror.
12°C, grey, clearing to sun later; very strong WSW.
I rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 52.68mi, time: 03:49:16, pace: 4:21min/mi, speed: 13.79mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1354437681
Furious howling wind, a tempest even. I tried to select a route that makes the most of the wind direction. Ideally, yet want to come home with a tail-wind. That’s not possible here, upwind is out to sea. Second choice then like a sailor, choose cross-winds. For most of the day, it worked well. The return leg ayr very hard though. Flat, for exposed moors offered no shelves from hurts over 40mph. There was I, standing on pedals, head down trying to offer a small profile, still only able to make 9mph. How my muscles burnt, and how my legs complained.
I map glad to get home.
Geology: stopped in Crossens for a reason you’ll have to guess at. There is a prominent bolder outside a water-works. It was easy to identify as granite. The large square crystals were clear as there is very little weathering on this bolder. It has a plaque:
Crossens erratic.
I rode Fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 34.53mi, time: 02:25:45, pace: 4:13min/mi, speed: 14.21mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1352912209
That was an early one, 8am start; which is unusual for me in February.
This rain marks the start of a long finger of wet weather that stretches thousands of miles across the Atlantic. It’s one of those dreadful fronts that runs parallel to the wind direction bringing non-stop rain for days and days.
That was the bad bit. The good bit was the hill climbs. Two this time.
The biggest spike is Bannister Hill; the one before- the village of Dalton. I can’t recall ever doing both climbs in the same ride.
I got home feeling pretty good too.
Note to self:1, take more early morning rides.
2, learn how to make my own flaplack.
7°C, brisk SW, mostly clear with some showers.
I rode Fixed Paddy-Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 9.60mi, time: 36:30, pace: 3:48min/mi, speed: 15.78mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1350870575
Not much time, so had a quick blast with the fixed. Cold wind blew from the southern approaches, on a short one, that doesn’t really figure.
Today has not been an example of a well used day. This ride did blow the cobwebs away. Without cycling, I would have lost my marbles long ago.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 18.33mi, time: 01:26:13, pace: 4:42min/mi, speed: 12.75mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1345027265
Much faster today. The puddles are shrinking and surfaces firmer. In response, I put the hammer down. This north east wind is piercing though. It eats through your clothes and bites your skin underneath.
I did set off with the intention of riding the ‘cross. The fixed gear Paddy Wagon has a flat rear tyre. So it seemed series, at the time, to jump on the Jake.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 16.50mi, time: 01:33:42, pace: 5:41min/mi, speed: 10.57mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1342875599
Very squidgy, the back wheel was all over the place.
The rear wheel slid all over the place. Sometimes the front too, but I stayed upright. With a few more weeks of this cold bright weather, the mud could thin.
I rode Fixed. with MapMyRide+! Distance: 51.99mi, time: 03:42:53, pace: 4:17min/mi, speed: 13.99mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1337951053
Climbed Bannister Hill for the first time in ages, possibly six months. Last time I went up weighing about a stone more. It still felt hard though, but my lungs didn’t feel as though they were about to turn inside out.
A very satisfying day’s ride.
9°C, no rain but very wet roads, minor flooding in places. Storm Henry is brewing up.
I rode Arrow with MapMyRide+! Distance: 49.59mi, time: 03:44:52, pace: 4:32min/mi, speed: 13.23mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1329584081
I’ve worked hard today. Up before five, catalogued more LPs, marked for 4 hours, then rode all afternoon.
First proper Sunday ride of ’16. Windy, wet roads often covered in mud. The average speed is quite low and it all felt like wading through treacle. Another week to build up should improve on that. I have lost form during the previous fortnight. With patience and effort, I can pull it back soon.
Easter is early this year, so the question remains, will I get the usual 1 thousand miles done in time?
Found a new cafe today in Shackerstone. Well, new to me it is. The place was empty; these places do struggle in January each year. However, the guy running it was very amiable and probably appreciated some company. I shall go back in the next few months. It will probably fill with steam train people in the summer. The coffee smelt good but I opted for tea, can’t risk disrupted sleep.
I took no photos today, so here’s one from yesterday:
What are you doing in my kitchen, it’s still January?
I carefully lifted her off with a piece of paper, then put her in the first place I could think of- a Spider plant pot.
Micycle 