Back on

Posted on 27th Nov 2021 by essiep

5°C, very strong N, dry and cold.

Had an unplanned layoff. That cold lasted 3 weeks. Then some days of bad weather to add to frustration. How I cursed it.

Anyway, I’m ventured out on the Arrow, I need gears in this wind. This building site has reduced the road to 1 lane for a good 300m, controlled by lights. I arrived on red and set off on the change to green. About 3/4 the way through, the opposing traffic came head on. The woman driving the Audi accused me of running a red light. I told her I went on green.

I was quite annoyed at this being neither ours faults. Quite why she thought it was ok to drive at oncoming traffic aside.

Return the keys

Posted on 27th Oct 2021 by essiep

15°C, sunny with light SW.

Broken up for a week’s holiday, but I have work’s keys. I’ve missed cycling over the last month. Every weekend, I worked away and only rode,maybe only twice a week. Though the distance wasn’t enormous, I was disproportionally exhausted for the last 10 miles.

Corner well

Posted on 19th Feb 2021 by essiep

11°C, dry but strong S. Grey cloud.

In all my cycling, I can corner better than this guy. It’s obvious that he took the corner too fast, it’s not as if there was no warning. See the chevron signs behind. The car isn’t too badly damaged, the windscreen isn’t broken and the driver’s window is open. My guess is that he climbed out.

Anyway; cycling. The big feature was the wind. It’s very hard to make up for slow stretches, you never really get the speed back with a tailwind.

Warmer at last (+10°C)

Posted on 15th Feb 2021 by essiep

Arrow, 10°C, light S, sunny.

Clocking up the miles on the old Arrow. I’ve had this since 1994, a steel Audax bike. It needs some updating now. For a winter bike, it’s too low at the front and too stretched. The best idea is to choose new bars with some uplift and a shorter stem.

Hilly.

Posted on 29th Jan 2021 by essiep

9°C, calm, grey and damp.

Climbed Bannister Lane hill, twice. Once the north route and then the Parbold lane route. From the start, I could tell this would be a good ride. I’ve started from a low base since having Covid-19; now I’m building fitness rather than just recovering from that persistent virus.

Rats

Posted on 22nd Jan 2021 by essiep

Arrow, 4°C, light W, bright and distant clouds

Getting better each day despite starting from a very low base. In effect, I’ve had a month off thanks to Covid-19. Now muscles are all fizzing like they’ve bounced back from that time off being ill. The year ahead is looking quite uncertain again with the possibility that foreign travel will be difficult this summer. It’s all to do with new coronavirus variations, I’m hoping I have some immunity to the main ones for the foreseeable.

As for cycling, most of the flooding has receded, there are no closed roads now. Croston usually floods so I approached it gingerly. All was clear. There was another noticeable effect I hadn’t anticipated. The last half-hour was hard, I blew up. Perhaps dehydration, but certainly poor form dues to the time off. Nonetheless, my muscles feel tight and it makes me feel stronger. During that illness, I felt terrible after even a gentle ride – all empty inside. that’s a markedly different feeling to normal post ride fatigue.

Each season has its own roadkill. Flooding appears to have brought rats out of their burrows, or sewers or where ever they live. I saw dead rats in 3 different places, big fat rats in the road. They were almost the size of a small cat.

Grey, gloomy November.

Posted on 30th Nov 2020 by essiep

9°C, mist and drizzle higher up. Still.

It felt cold in he damp air today. Nominally, 9°C should be comfortable but not so today. Higher up, near High Moor there was light rain too. I need to fit another water bottle, I was so dehydrated by the time I got home.

Now the speedometer is playing up again. The speed often read double what it should be and he distance was about 30% below. I will have to replace it. This time, it will not be wireless.

1 day warmup

Posted on 22nd Nov 2020 by essiep

9°C, brisk W

4 days without a ride and feeling frustrated and fidgety. A short blast is such a good way to clear that feeling.

I’ve had an annoying time with repairs not working out well:

Fit new chain but it skips on the old cassette – so changed it.
Spare cassette also skips so must be worn out too.It’s been in storage for years.
Decided to pull out the commuting/gravel bike and it has a puncture.
Eventually went out on the commuter with its gravel wheels.
2 cassettes and 1 chain binned. Replacements ordered.

The problem is keeping track of how old componants are on bikes when you have 6. It was easier when I only had 2 or 3 bikes. Now it seems like a cluster of repears have come together.

Two rides

Posted on 19th Nov 2020 by essiep

15°C, sunny with a brisk SW.

Sunday: pulled the bike out and found the front tyre flat. I decided to swap to the gravel wheels and take in some non-road routes. Though the distance is no big deal, the time reveals a decent day out.

Tuesday: fixed the puncture and put the road wheels back in. The fault was a punch puncture. I did find fitting the tyres rather difficult.

Friday the 13th

Posted on 13th Nov 2020 by essiep

Damp but some sun. Light SW wind, 11°C.

November is normally the wettest month here, this year is no different. There is lots of surface water around and nowhere for it to drain in this flat landscape. I rode the Mustang with its Marathon tyres. Before setting off, I bloew the pressures up and that makes more difference to handling than with any other tyre. The last ride felt like the brakes were on. I have mixed feelings about those tyres.

Micycle

Mike thinks b/hikes

Category Archives: Winter Bike