Category Archives: Cycling

Feed some goats.

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13°C, dull and some slight drizzle.
I rode Fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 55.7mi, time: 03:28:15, pace: 3:44min/mi, speed: 16.1mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1028530015
A fairly ordinary ride on the Paddywagon. Start was late while I waited for some light rain to finish. The day steadily picked up and I met some amusing goats.

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They were interested to see me, more so when I pulled a beech leaf nor them to eat. The others ran over when they saw that. Another reached up trying to get more from the tree. He tried so hard to reach, even stretching his tongue to hook the leaf. No good, it was just too high.

Ilam for a spud.

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I rode Racelite with MapMyRide+! Distance: 86.54mi, time: 05:58:43, pace: 4:09min/mi, speed: 14.48mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1018364791
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Big ride in cool but bright sun. North westerly was fresh which reduced my choices. It’s usually best to come home with a tail-wind. Therefore, The Peak District fitted perfectly. Riding up there, there is frequently shelter in the lee of hedges.
Anyway, my legs were fresh dough to add an d up loop before coming home.
A great day.

Bang!

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14°C, light SW, bright sun.
Rode home on the Arrow, with MapMyRide+! Distance: 23.50mi, time: 02:07:35, pace: 5:26min/mi, speed: 11.05mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1012762447
Burst a tyre: maybe I hit a piece of metal, the hole but is quite large.

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No point trying to fix it and I was 3.5 miles from home. However, it was a very fine evening, so I walked. An old friend from my club days, left me to it after I said what I was going to do. Shame, we had lots to catch up on.
Significantly, four group of cyclists offered to help fix the obvious puncture. There is an honourable community out there.

Green blood.

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12°C, moderate W wind. Sunny and dry.
I rode Jake cyclocross with MapMyRide+! Distance: 38.4mi, time: 03:00:16, pace: 4:41min/mi, speed: 12.8mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1006508127
It was  chilly early start this morning, and of course, the roads were very quiet. Good conditions even after a night of rain that left trails softer than hard-pack.
Puncture caused by a thorn. The tyre deflated quickly at first, but I wanted the Slime inner-tubes to work so I left the tyre on. I blew the tyre up three times in all and could see slime bubbling out of the hole made by the spike.

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Eventually the deflation became slower. And the last leg of the ride was along a canal towpath. A surface like that makes sensing  a soft tyre more difficult.
The tyre is holding pressure now.
I think.

200th mile.

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11°C, light wind but dull grey.
I rode Cyclocross Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 14.59mi, time: 01:22:24, pace: 5:39min/mi, speed: 10.62mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/996576491
Actually, it’s my 195th mile of the week, but so what?
I have that empty feeling that comes after a week’s high milage. My tanks are empty. The ride this morning was nice enough, start at 6.50 and get home just after 8am. Surfaces are quite firm now as we get towards the end of May.
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My Ceanothus in full bloom. I worry that its weight may topple the non-too strong trunk. If so, it would fall into the pond. It needs a stake.

Canal commute.

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19°C, light wind and clear sky.
I rode Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 16.5mi, time: 01:19:18, pace: 4:48min/mi, speed: 12.5mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/994624185
Rode Cyclocross on the commute today. I took the normal route in, but returned along the canal. It winds around and industrial estate and some rough housing. But in May, everything is lush, water lilies in the canal, a heron fishing and all sorts of water fowl. Perfect weather though I was over dressed.
It’s a shame the canal only gets 5 miles from home. There is one nearer, but it’s a large loop round.

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The surfaces are better than other canals I use, wide and often ash covered.

Fixed 61

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12°C, white cloud and one shower. Strong W.
I rode with MapMyRide+! Distance: 61.8mi, time: 04:26:08, pace: 4:18min/mi, speed: 13.9mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/988541573
Riding fixed in wind is not recommended. Wind is a weakness of single speed bikes, it turns the ride into a long steady climb up a hill. That hill can easily be ten miles long. The trick is to choose a route that crosses the wind direction as much as possible.
Speaking of hills, I got up Bannister Hill again, also after Dalton.
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Joey in the woods.

7am canal ride.

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11°C, brisk SW and grey cloud. Dry.
I rode Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 17.8mi, time: 01:39:10, pace: 5:35min/mi, speed: 10.76mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/977307793
Started early, 7am start and saw few people. The return via Chorley was hillier that I remember but there were no surprise traffic on the narrow twisty lanes.

Mapmyride has strange bugs. If I change the ride type to cyclocross, then the GPS fails to work, change it back to Road Cycling and it’s back to normal. Even changing the ride type after my return voids the mapping. I will hold out for an update.
home:
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Another tree felled. I have enjoyed this cherry every spring, it put a magnificent show in flower and the colour glowed against the morning sun. Now it has gone and I am bereft, I hate to see a healthy tree cut down.

Evening canal 13

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11°C, W brisk, 3/5 cloud.
Evening cyclocross: did a short route on the Jake in a loop on the canal.
13.5 miles in 1h 20.
GPS failed again. It’s a bug in Mapmyride that started on the 30th April update. Again, it failed to connect to the GPS sensor mm my phone so would only record the time for the outing.
I have cleared the data for tomorrow’s commute, so it should be okay.
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Breaks in the cloud produced long shadows and a blaze of colour from fields of rape. Big grin.