Bosworth

Posted on 17th Feb 2013 by essiep

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.

Two buzzards picking at a swan’s corpse.

Posted on 16th Feb 2013 by essiep

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.

Posted on 3rd Feb 2013 by essiep

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

Posted on 2nd Feb 2013 by essiep

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

Posted on 1st Feb 2013 by essiep

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.

On seeming normal.

Posted on 29th Jan 2013 by essiep

12°C, windy westerly, CA:20.
Ride in warm wet air. The round trip was typical winter at 1h 22m. Only a few minutes from the average. I feel alive again.

First ride

Posted on 28th Jan 2013 by essiep

6°C, V. Windy, sun. CK:43miles
Rode a loop in Lancashire- Parbold and the flatlands by Bank. The hedges were low and sparse so no shelter from a strong westerly. Those last miles were hard and slow even on the 42×17. I was standing on the pedals even on level roads.
I have lost form, even though I was reluctant to admit it.
Next week, I should do the same milage and see how it feels. Then, if that’s okay, add 10 more the week after.

You do too much exercise.

Posted on 25th Jan 2013 by essiep

-4°C, calm & icy.
Last day of snow, a heavy fall is coming this afternoon.
More turbo time to keep me sane but…
A colleague said in a firm voice that:

(I)” you do too much exercise, half an hour a few times a week is enough”.

Only a few decades ago, millions of men would work 10 or more hours a day burning far more calories than I do on the bikes. It was normal then. Now it’s normal to do barely any and shorten their lives by 10 years. I said that it’s un-natural to do none and our bodies suffer long term (and short).
Besides, it’s fun.

Still no ride

Posted on 21st Jan 2013 by essiep

-2°C, thick snow everywhere.

2nd Snowday: it’s the 21st of January and I still have yet to ride a bike this year. Of this, I have never known.
At least I did a few turbo sessions this weekend, 70 mins today and a long walk with Rosie in the deep snow.

Back to work tomorrow.

Thousands take a ‘snowday’ as nearly 5,000 schools close and commuter chaos follows icy conditions (independent.co.uk)
Woman found dead in snow after night out (independent.co.uk)

Turbo effect

Posted on 20th Jan 2013 by essiep

-2°C re-frozen snow. No thaw.
40 minutes on the turbo, plus other stuff as a warm-down. Not much, but it’s an encouraging start. I had no trouble keeping warm in the evening nor overnight. Such is the effect of exercise, it keep you warm for days.
There is bit more snow to come, and this wintry weather is said to last two weeks. Grief.

Micycle

Mike thinks b/hikes

Category Archives: Cycling