9°C, sunny. CR56 miles
After 12 days I am recovered. Today’s ride was far better than I expected, I have lost less form though gained some weight (it seems). Anyway, spring is in the air, flowers out and the sunshine bright enough to show up how much cleaning is required.
-5°, very dry.
The ice has largely gone, but this drying Siberian air is back. With clear pavements and roads dusty with salt, I decided to ride to work. It was fine too, only my feet were a little numb by the time I got there. Probably the same tomorrow. That’ll cheer me up, guaranteed.
-4 to +1°C. Light clouds. No ride, 40′ on turbo.
Drive to work. It’s far too icy after last night’s fog dropped to the ground in the early hours. Then it froze. Traffic was thick which meant an average road speed of 12 mph. That is crap, if I did a speed like that on the bike, I’d be ashamed of myself and would keep quiet about it.
The car wasn’t entirely happy about today either. When I start it, the radiator fan runs on full even with ambient temperature at -5°. Does that mean a temperature sensor has failed?
My moment of maths glory today. A guy at work showed software that draws graphs and he placed a circle on the origin with X^2+y^2=4. His question was how to double the radius of the circle. And, it was me that got it out of all the staff. Then, warming to the subject, I got the expression that moved the circle along the x axis too. My moment of glory you must admit.
-5 to –3°C with snow
Hard ground, hard mud and hard cowpats is what we found in the White Peak area. The grass crunches and rock sold mud ridges jarr underfoot. The temperature has barely been over 0°C all week. I’ve been up there for a Duke Of Edinburgh Award related course which went well. We did a short walk which had a route that would prove tricky for the kids doing their expedition. At the half-way point, we stopped for sandwiches. This is when the snow started. Firstly light, but it fell on hard frozen ground and stuck immediately. Some of the flakes were visibly perfect little hexagonal starfish. We were all well wrapped, so no discomfort.
It’s like this kids; all the paths are marked white on the ground, so they’re dead easy to follow.
The drive home was a different matter. I had to drive at about 25mph after sliding about behind a lorry that was floundering sideways up the hill at Draycot. I’m not so worried about crashing and getting hurt, not at that speed anyway. I really don’t want to wreck my car, that’s all.
Anyway that’s enough for tonight- a lot more of the white stuff to come, we’re told.
-3.5 to 0°C, light ENE, thin cloud, very low humidity
I had to pull over on the drive to work today. The sun was poking its orange bald head through a forest on the horizon and more remarkably, beaming an orange shaft of light upwards to the clouds. It looked so striking that I found a layby and jumped out with my camera. The light was still low so the picture is blurred by camera-shake. Even on the drive to work, you have to make time for something like this. There are islands poking out in the ocean of mundanity.
4°C, light wind & cloud
No ride, Strangely empty feeling & hot in belly.
So it’s a trip to the beach for the loyal poodle. She ran well.
-1 to 3°C. Clear, CA:43 miles
Three hour ride today. I really needed this one for its de-stress effects. The start was hard though, legs felt empty and riding hills was a disproportionate effort. I don’t really know what caused that so I rode along puzzling over plausible causes. Was that the stress causing the weakening too? I will never know, but it’s possible. It’s also possible that last night’s supper was guilty- too much cheese and not enough of the usual carbos.
Here we are, a new week. This one comes with a dark cloud hanging over it however. Maybe that will clear on Thursday.
Maybe not.
9°C, drizzle. CK:40 miles
I normally hate riding in the rain so this ride was remarkable. The mild air, relief from strong winds and a strong desire for a good ride drew me out. The route included High Moor from Parbold up that steep climb which I have been up before. I have not made it to the top on the single-speed though, but for some reason today I ground on. There is a slight relaxation of the incline about half way up so I stared at that. Once I passed it, the effort didn’t reduce, but it did cease to increase, which was good enough. The last part just before the crest involved pulling on the pedals in addition to weaving. Weaving does decrease the incline slightly.
It seems a double victory to get to the top without any foot-down stops- I am heavier (14st 9), the wet, and my ankle problem which decided it was a good day.
I now have feet that feel considerably better than before. A very good day out in the rain.
There is a fly in the house- what are they doing here in early January?
10°C, sun & strong wind. CK:57 miles
Good Christmases have to include a good bikeride, this one was despite the wind. It was warm (relatively) so much that I sneaked into a farm to use a standpipe to replenish my water bottles. Several recent rides have been spoilt by dehydration so I’m keeping on top of that. Using a 42×17 gear felt just right too. My troublesome tendon is not noticeable when riding without overshoes. Those things put too much pressure on that achilles tendon. A good day followed by deep sleep.
12°C, light cloud, light NW. CA:29½ miles
Flagged a little on the ride today, especially near the end. Dehydration was probably the cause. Took until 9pm to feel back to normal and stop worrying that I have an oncoming cold.
Micycle 