5°C, dry with white clouds. Light NW, salty roads.
Decision, which bike to take today. What a fine problem to face when you have two.
Rode fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 18.9mi, time: 01:11:22, pace: 3:47min/mi, speed: 15.9mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/867946215
Quick blast on white salty roads. No frost, but good conditions.
-2°C, Clear sky, light NW breeze.
Cold commute tomorrow. Fitted the new rear wheel for the ride. Very low temperatures are forecast all week. Bitter.
Here is another photo from Sunday’s outing on the cyclocross bike. Here, I am riding back from a dyke on the shore of the Ribble estuary. It looks like a flood effort on the edge of mud-flats. It’s a large nature sanctuary, dull of birds I don’t recognise.
With hindsight, I should have practised moving mounts and dismounts. It’s a competition technique for CX races but would also be useful on soft grassy land too. Like a roadie, I get on and pedal off. Trouble is, the first turn can spin the wheel. If you trot along then get on, you already have momentum to balance.
Next time…
3°C, strong NW wind, Clear blue and dry.
I rode CX with MapMyRide+! Distance: 47.03mi, time: 04:16:06, pace: 5:27min/mi, speed: 11.02mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/862070367
The canal section left me with a puncture to fix. I rode a good 2 miles before it needed a top-up. This tactic didn’t work for long, as ever. Deflation accelerated so the tube had to come out. Ironic because I stopped to chat to a guy who had just repaired a flat by the canal.
The calorie counter above may need some adjustment to account for the slow surfaces today. Average speed was only 10mph, about 5 lower than a road ride. At least the speedometer agrees. I shall write a post about this speedometer another day.
Anyway, I can now see why mountain bikers are often the last to change shorts for longs in the autumn. Off-road seems to offer the best shelter from cold wind; speed is lower too.
Maybe 6,000 miles this year is unrealistic.
Light snow, 2°C, North wind 12,
You have to trust your wheels. The rim years the most and that’s where failure is most likely. The braking surface becomes thin with years of braking. Once thin, the surface can fracture- I know, the happened before. The tyre pressure exerts a strong force outwards, so breakage most often happens just after inflation.
What I really don’t want to have, it a failure 20 miles from home, in the dark. Nightmare.
The idea that led me into the bike shop was to replace the rim and have a re-build. The old hub gap been rebuilt half a dozen times, had several axles and free-hubs. So I came out with a new pair of wheels. Confidence. Shimano still make the same hub with the same bearings as the old STX hubs I bought in the 90s.
Rode kona CX with MapMyRide+! Distance: 42.30mi, time: 03:31:38, pace: 5:00min/mi, speed: 11.99mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/854663071
Slow average speed, but hey, it’s off-road. I took a canal towpath to to the Sefton Cross pennine route. It’s a disused railway line which runs up to Southport. Perfect terrain to try out my new cyclocross bike.
Then on along Southport sea front to the north. At the end of the sea walk is a short track that usefully cuts out a busy roundabout. But I witnessed an unfortunate scene. A hawk, disturbed and took flight along a ditch, in its claws it carried the still live body of a songbird.
After passing the familiar landmark Martin Mere, I made my way back along the same canal towards the start. The bridge I left the water looked like the first one but led to a public footpath. I hope I was legal riding on that route between fields.
Negotiating paths like that demand non-stop concentration, especially the bit past The Saracen’s Head. I really didn’t want to fall in the canal in front of that audience. Next time, make sure your phone is in a waterproof bag.
The whole route was within the bounds of familiar routes, but it felt like I was travelling on new territory. Often, I could not be sure where I was, which canal bridge was coming up or how far remains.
7°C, sunny, light SW breeze.
Finally it’s mine, I bought the Kona Jake today.
It features disc brakes, chunky 32c tyres and 10 speed cassette on the back. I took it on a test in the middle of the city and immediately, the size felt right.
Looking at components, I will have to buy some new tools. The shifters are the same as that bike I hired last summer.
Tomorrow, I will ride it in more realistic terrain than the streets of Liverpool-1 this afternoon.
I rode 8-speed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 38.5mi, time: 02:47:50, pace: 4:2min/mi, speed: 13.8mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/846930091
It started well. The ice was insignificant and the sun-bright.
In the last 10 miles, clouds built up and the temperature dropped. I didn’t mind the 6 or so miles in rain until a flat on the rear wheel. The rims were covered in black slimy muck and my hands were soon cold. Cold rubber is stiff making the tyre a bitch to get off. By then, my hands were too cold to undo that little nut on the valve.
I must have got something right though. I could not get the pressure high, but it held while I rode the last miles.
Now for some soup, a good way to warm up.
7°C, gale force winds, sunny.
What shall I do about insurance? The cycle-to-work scheme requires insurance on the bike which is an issue that’s problematic. My other bikes are not insured because the costs outweigh the possible benefits. Insurance premiums quoted so far, appear to assume the bike will be stolen within three years. I have three bikes, and owned at least one for the last 35 years. I have yet to get one stolen. So my assessment of risk suggests the premium should be less than £30 a year. Otherwise, it’s cheaper to put the money into a savings account.
Here is an edited publicity shot of the yellow version. I will learn to like that colour.
♧
I rode 8-speed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 23.84mi, time: 01:36:06, pace: 4:02min/mi, speed: 14.88mi/h. http://mapmyride.com/workout/837206651 Windy ride home with some decent split times. Some due to the brisk wind, some due to my feeling upbeat about my new bike. Evans rang me today to say their supplier has my Kona in stock. It’s on order and I set the Cycle-to-work scheme in motion. I could have it by the end of January. The only drawback is, they can’t get it in blue. They are sending the yellow version. ¿♡?
The photo is only a shop. Looks more like a scene from a ufo film. Strange, the things you see while you are out in the night.
5°C, moderate W, dry and clear.
Commute 18 miles.
Ordinary ride home marred by a puncture. A forced stop in the dark is never welcome but fortune smiled. There was a pub nearby with blazing bright carpark lights. So I carefully fixed it, really don’t want it to go down in some inky black lane.
After another 5 miles, there was another guy fixing his puncture, so I stopped for a chat. Nice bloke.
No sign of comet Q2 near Orion, a veil of cloud in just the wrong place.
Expensive whisky in the supermarket. Decimal places are important Co-op.
Micycle 