Category Archives: Travel

Mynydd Mawr again

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24°C, Sun

Very hot in the mountains this time. This time we could see from the summits, the vistas were vast and far ranging. Some have said it is possible to see Ireland from these peaks.  Thought sceptical at first, I conceded, though still await that view myself. Two litres of water is simply not enough for days like this, I’d need a 3 litre water pack but that’s quite a weight, and there is no water on the peaks, the rock is very dry, there are no springs and no ponds.

Camper’s tip: to conserve gas when cooking rice or pasta- boil as normal for 10′ then switch it off and let stand for a while, then put the gas back on to re-heat. Much of the cooking, especially with whole-grain, is re-hydration, so some standing time is as good as continuous heat.

Mountain lake

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24°C, light winds, no clouds.

Swim in Llyn Cwmffynion. First wild-swim of the year in a hidden corrie beneath Nantlle ridge. The water was shallow, only knee deep so no real swim I admit. The ridge was clear this time, the view almost endless and the hills rich in thick velvety emerald grasses and bilberrys. I simply wanted to stay and to stay. In the end we were drawn down by the thought of a quaint mountaineer’s cafe in Rhyd Ddu.

still no indexing

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20C, Sun.

Carpet cleaning machine: Rug-doctor is surprisingly effective. It’s noisy and can’t get into the pokiest corners of my attic but it does turn the soapy water into the appearance of old cold coffee. Strangely satisfying, in a domestic way.

Campag-8 gears still don’t index, even after replacing the cassette today. I’m just as puzzled and annoyed by this problem as the last time I posted about this. I really don’t want to upgrade the drivetrain to 10-speed or worse to get a slick gear-change. Those systems are fiddly, difficult to tune and unnecessary.  There is really no need for more than 8 gears (x2) on my bike. I’m not just saying that just because I’m a single-speed bike rider.

What is the solution to this?

Indexing

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18C, Sun+ 1 shower, Sth wind, RA:60 miles

Summer bike: I used to regard this as my ‘best’ bike, it’s more difficult now while the gears persist in playing up. They still don’t index properly across the middle of the 8 cogs. It’s the middle three that give all the trouble, changing gear is fine at first, but after a few hundred yards the chain jumps onto the smaller cog. There could be a number of reasons for this:

  • Worn cogs
  • dropout alignment
  • snagging inside the (new) cables
  • dragging cable sheath underneath the handlebar tape

I remain baffled and slightly irritated by this. It’s going to take yet more time & money to fix. Oh well, next weekend I’ll ride the fixed-wheel.

electrical skies

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21°C, close & warm, storms brewing.

Nearly two months of dry, now the lightening.
It has been a bad day for amphibians. He was only crossing to get to a stream, I tried to help. On the ride to work, he was flopping in the other lane. I grasped the brakes and put the bike down, turned and waited for the traffic to clear. the first few straddled him, then I looked left to check it was clear & looked back. Now he was lying on his back, all limp & lifeless. Damn, bad start to the day. I grieved quietly for him all day. I really wanted to save him.

Large globe raindrops now tap on glass and crackle in growing puddles. I shall go and listen.

Alternative Voting system has been rejected by voters tonight. Why, was it too complex? Did so few do the maths? I’ve waited 20 years to see some semblance of democracy appear in British politics: it seems that this nation will get the politicians it deserves. Don’t forget that Britain’s favourite newspaper is the Daily Mail.

cooling 49 miles

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16°C, confused winds, CK:49 miles

Longer ride today on the Fixed, but less energy from me. Rode for 3 hours with slightly too-thin layers on. the effect is to drain away warmth that takes hours to replenish after getting home. I’m still a little chilly now. The, admittedly light, wind blew from the west today. But looking up at clouds that moved in another direction- is that what wind-shear is?

Have I really have got another 2 days off.

Riding in the o-zone

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c24°C, clear but anvil clouds building. CK: 40miles

Met office have issued  warning of smog over the weekend. they say that the still air and bright sunshine cause gasses in fumes to react and produce ozone. It’s a problem for asthmatics and kids, this is quite interesting. It’s interesting for me on days like this where I have been out on the bike. Sometimes, when I get home I have a little cough, a strange one that feels achey in my lungs. Could this be a hint of the “tightness” that asthmatics complain of?

Riding on the 16t: as the ride wore on, it started to feel right. There were a few difficult hills but I could touch 30mph on the descents so it’s all about compromise. Overall, the average speed should be up on the 17t cog. I bet that winter rides will need that 17t again though, the difficulty is spinning out on fast descents. I never can keep the speed up in the cold weather anyway.

Nant Gwynant

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upto 21°C, still & no cloud

Just got back. It was great, but I’ve brought a cold with me. It’s been strange, it came on tentatively on the drive there. But it held back for quite a few days, drawing my strength in the background while I climbed mountains. Now I’m all bunged up and have gone to bed with a roll of tissue paper. No, Wait! that sounds terrible.

Another interesting physical process can be noticed when falling asleep. As you drift away in a campsite, sometimes you snap back. When you do, the first thing that snaps back into focus is the sound of the river (on the opposite edge of the camp). It jumps into your consciousness almost as if someone has thrown a switch. This can happen repeatedly until you finally do fall asleep.

Anyway, where have I been?

  1. Rhinogs: walked up Rhinog Fawr, clear & cold.
  2. Nant Gwynant, Yr Aran (the summit cleared, much to my surprise)
  3. Nant Gwynant: Climbed Y Llewedd (on the Snowdon horseshoe)
  4. Nant Gwynant: Moel Siabod– near Capel Curig. A fine mountain with an ice scarred east face hidden by soft grassy slopes to the North & west.

Geraniacae

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18°C, clear. Ck.53 miles

It’s not easy deciding which gear to put on the single-speed bike. In this hilly terrain, it’s useful to have a higher gear to make use of the descents and their higher speed. If it’s too high you can’t get up the climbs though, too low and your pegs# spin uncontrollably. On balance, I am going to revert to the 42×16 that the bike came with when I bought it last new-year.

#”Pegs” is a typo for legs, I decided to keep that one.