12C°C, sunny but chilly for May, the sun is warm.
May be cold
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Category Archives: Summer bike
Raise you a Centurian.
14°C, full sun and dry. Light W.
Ideal cycling conditions and the cafe has reopened properly.
Zing hills
9°C, strong WSW, grey but dry.
Lots of hills and a long grind back in the wind. Writing this now, I can still feel it in my legs.
Though hard work, it was far more satisfying than the last few rides where I felt physically low. It was almost like that feeling after the AZ jab a few weeks ago.
Racelite out.
18°C, no cloud, light E, feels like summer.
I still think this old bike is a good one. It needs a minor service, bearings and lubricant but it still ran well today.
First Zing
11°C, light S, bright sun.
Fine weather means an earlier than usual outing for the summer bike. As of last year, this is primarily the Kona Zing. It went well though the indexing needs a little work.
1000th mile (Zing).
20°C, sunny and dry. Light SW
I’m working over the weekend so need to clock up some miles during weekdays.
Ride till sunset
16°C, moderate W breeze, dry and sunny
A familiar route including Bannister Hill.
50s getting easier.
18°C, light SW. some rain.
These 50 mile rides are definitely getting easier. I painted all morning while the rain poured.
This time, I took the hills from Ecclestone and descended Bannister just touching 40mph. There was no cafe stop but I did stock up on calories at a garage. Today, I rode the 900th mile on this bike, there is no sign of wear in the chain. Also, after checking the age of the wheels – 2014, 6 years! No sign of wear there either; not the bearings nor the brake surfaces.
Hot, damp and sunny 70.
A grand day out! Firstly, headed north along the farmland by the R Ribble. For miles and miles it was under a few inches of water. This low lying, flat land is only 6m above sea level, he water can’t drain anywhere. So far, it has stood there for two days. Humidity is very high and afternoons are punctuated by thunderstorms.
Further towards Penworthan, I checked out the Ribble Way, a potential gravel route. Then to Stoney lane near Parbold and a fast descent of Bannister Land. I touched 43mph. Next a coffee stop. The bit on the map in Formby was a second cafe stop where I met the other half. By the time I got home was almost 70 miles in all.
August sun
17°C, light W, sunny.
That felt easy after yesterday’s slog. This route has several long straights where you can settle into a pace with effort. Below a threshold, it felt easy but step up and muscle burn builds up.
