Category Archives: Cycling

Bannister hill

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6°C, some rain.

Busied today doing work things. I have a secret glider in the attic for the escape.
Rode with MapMyRide! Distance: 28.89mi, time: 01:44′ speed: 16.64mi/h. http://mapmyride.com/view_route?r=7630849290788667393
There is a gap in that route, probably the GPS signal was lost in the rain. I did get up Bannister hill in good time though. Next time I could ride up the big climb twice.

note for next weekend: replace the chain, it’s way over the limit. Fixed gear bikes certainly eat chains. Take wheel bearing tools too.

Oh snow.

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2C, light snow, heavy north-easterly,
A thread of snowy weather hangs over us. We have been warned of severe wind-chill, but its slippery surfaces that worry me. Why? Because I have the fizzy legs.
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There are persistent thoughts of mountains creeping into my mind. A longing, but wait until Easter my boy.

Friday is a good day to…

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-1~+2, NE wind, light, dry. …to ride. I rode fixed 42×17 with MapMyRide! Distance: 56.90mi, time: 04:10
http://mapmyride.com/view_route?r=3819258234418495489
The big problem today was to keep warm. The penetrating icy wind occasionally blew light snow flurries from the east. At half-way, I pulled into a cafe that is part of a garden centre. It wasn’t all that warm in there either. But they did a decent onion soup and tea came in a pot with a knitted Cosey. Then I noticed an excellent space-heater. This roaring great machine blew hot air that could be directed inside your jacket. I stood there for a while, turning slowly as if on a spit to dry out my damp clothes. Damp layers are a quick way to cool very quickly, not what I wanted at all. Further, pulling layers up to let the warm air into base layers, I felt prepared to resume the ride.
This ride included Bannister Hill which is a beast. It’s always satisfying to reach the top without a stop on the fixed gear. Today, I failed near the top where it starts to level out. Shame, but not really uprising considering how I felt on the approach. Two weeks ago the climb was okay even though I was still recovering from the winter’s cold. Perhaps today’s cold air was the cause.
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Bosworth

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9°C, light SE, Clear. CA:60 miles.

Tracked today’s with MapMyRide! Distance: 60.31mi, time: 04h 49m,
So many smiling faces today. The sun, clear skies and lack of cold air has affected us all. Some of the old guys can be really quite grumpy, but even they were cheerful today. No doubt I was smiling too. It wasn’t until after 40 odd miles that I could feel that a long ride is possible. Average speed was no big deal but stamina roused more as the miles passed.
Some roads were still flooded from last week’s rain though; at least four  flooded the whole road width, that I remember. The technique that works best there  is to ride through the water with the cranks level. Then ratchet the pedals to get through the water without immersing shoes. The only caution is hidden potholes and stones. Even on a day like this another twenty miles with wet feet could be pretty miserable.

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Two buzzards picking at a swan’s corpse.

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8°C, sunny, still, CA:30

Tracked ride with MapMyRide! Distance: 29.80mi, time: 01:54:51, pace: 3:51min/mi, speed: 15.57mi/h. http://mapmyride.com/view_route?r=544671779495346177
Passed a strange sight- two buzzards feeding on a dead swan near Elford. It was like a Breugal painting, one of those with a haunting, ominous medieval moral.
The ride was good, as has this whole day been altogether.

Fix the head-wind.

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I rode fixed gear 42×17. MapMyRide! Distance: 43.36mi, time: 03:27:35, pace: 4:47min/mi, speed: 12.53mi/h. http://mapmyride.com/view_route?r=620135990495698553
Took a similar route to last week after I said I should do the same distance. Difference was that I rode up Bannister Hill (without a stop). The hill felt fine. No, that hill never feels fine, but it didn’t make me feel sick or wobbly afterwards. So that as fine as it can be. Even the wind failed to reduce my progress as much as last week. I could still pump the pedals round rather than grind them over on each stroke. I give myself a pat on the head for all that. Even the post ride recovery was reasonably painless. Okay, the road speed was low, but I argue that the air-speed was much higher in that westerly wind.

Ince Blundell

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4°C, NW breeze. CK: 22.3 miles.

Fixed 42×17 gear rode with MapMyRide! Distance: 22.31mi, time: 01:35:22, pace: 4:16min/mi, speed: 14.04mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/view_route?r=948135982116619097

Ince Blundell is, today, a newly added shortcut away from the Formby-Southport dragstrip. What a funny place though, it has lots of bungalows, and what appears to be bytes large cemetery. So, a place to go to in your latter years. I would be nervous buying there: it’s so flat, low and near the sea.

Good to ride in the sun even if a bit cold without my warmest kit.

First 100

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8°C, mild wet and windy.
Soaked riding in yesterday. A short sharp one hit half-way to work. The sky was clear when I set off, and again when I got there. But the shower was so heavy that cold trickles ran down my neck inside my shirt and down my arms. For a few minutes, I was forced to stop because I could not see. That was the hail part.
Still, the week’s total stands at one hundred miles. A good start.