7~1°C, sunny pieces
…lower the saddle too far & your knees ache.
7°C, cloud, S. wind & some rain.
That tendonitis was unnoticeable yesterday. Why was that, the new bike with new pedals or was it the old shoes? The seat is lower on that bike so I will try lowering the seat on the other bikes half an inch or so. It seems possible, though I lowered the seat in the spring, that it’s still too high. Could that be the why this tendinitis has taken so long to heal. It got worse while riding the commuting bike only. Perhaps the summer bike is set up better, but I’ll see in the early spring. these things usually result form multiple causes.
I just don’t know.
+5°C, sunny & strong onshore breeze
Better than I thought. The handling is fine, it’s reasonably nimble, though I didn’t push it on those wet black muddy Lancashire roads. the only problem I can think of is that the gearing seems rather tall. I shall get a 17 tooth cog & try it. It’s always a compromise when you only have one ratio but at least the cogs are cheap & easy to experiment with. The landscape was swept by strong westerly winds though: they’re always a struggle. I totalled 60Km with the speedo set to a 26″ wheel. Have yet to work out the equivalent 700x28c
Lancashire is a pleasant surprise, at least the planes around Formby & Southport were. The place often reminded me of the Somerset flats, the black soil, deep straight drainage ditches and the roads that follow field patterns so that there are numerous right-angle corners.
2°C, and dropping. snow tomorrow.
Damned icy this morning, yesterday’s rain froze overnight so no cycling. Not good.
This evening rode around on the fixed; it’s weird! Kicking off and clipping in while the cranks are turning is odd. I’ve got used to coasting to a stop & standing on one pedal to get off the seat. That’s how I’ve done it over the last 25 years. This bike keeps your feet turning and it’s odd, that pumping up & down is odd and wrong. May the gods allow me to learn this without falling off. Can I learn new tricks?
-2°C, light cloud.
Last day, bit of a rush. Fit in a tight schedule, but I may have a new bike by the end of the day: if it fits. Rode 40 miles yesterday, more today if it’s no too cold.
Later: Did 38 miles today, the cold air softened after midday.
Okay, so I got it:
It needs a bit of customising- the stem is too short, it needs lights and probably mudguards. I rode it a bit and it seems very nimble, so far I’m impressed. Well, I did buy it.
+2C, rain & sleet. Melting.
I have a new place to put videos- Vimeo. It’s like YouTube, but rather more grown up. That’s most obvious in the comments columns; so far I have not seen any of the Tourettes comments that is the norm on YouTube. Have a look here
Kona do a single-speed that may be just right. I only found it today, supplied by Evans. The frame is square- meaning the toptube & seat tubes are the same length. With a change of stem, this could do the job with its 23.5″ top tube. It even has mud-guard ‘eyes’. I’m trying it out next week; in the meantime, think over where I’m going to store it.
Kona Paddy wagon
-3°C still damned cold.
No convincing end in sight, though only -3°C, this could easily go on for 3 months. But it won’t!
I’ve missed 1,000 miles of cycling because of ice. the end is nigh.
-12 to-10°C
For part of the journey, we dipped into -12C air. Yeah, it’s colder than last winter. It’s like a scene from “let the right one in”, or maybe Narnia out there.
This is a jolly album, it has folk overtones with complex overlapping rhythms & percussion. Beginning to think that I like it.
0°C, fog & black ice.
Black ice: rain all day yesterday, then the sky cleared at night. The resulting black ice was scary to say the least. On the footpath, you could stand still, and look down to see yourself slowly moving even on a shallow slope.
It’s not brilliant this car. The engine is starting to misfire occasionally, oddly enough near the end of a long drive. The boot doesn’t always close properly, there is the whirring of an electric motor that pulls it shut, but a rear light cluster seems to stop it- maybe the car is not that well put together. Also, I miss the fuel consumption gauge; it’s nerdy I know, by it would help you get used to gear changes on a 6 speed diesel car that you don’t know.
It’s got curvey door mirrors, so what? Well, with the mirror mount with stylish curves the wide view is actually blocked by the mirror bezel. What’s worse is that unnecessary blind spot is also a view blocked by the door post when looking rear-right. How stupid. the other irritation is that the seat is too small. The boot doesn’t always close, it seems to snag on a mis-aligned light cluster. Oh dear.
Micycle 