14°C, full sun and dry. Light W.
Ideal cycling conditions and the cafe has reopened properly.
Raise you a Centurian.
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Category Archives: Travel
DofE 1
Cold nights and warm sunny days, bone dry.
In some ways, spring is similar to last year. Bright, cloudless skies and cold nights. Both nights saw frost on the tent which would have been a problem for all groups. We can’t really expect kids to take winter bags. It’s a shame that he kids can’t camp (due to Covid rules). For many, it’s the best part of DofE. Some will not have camped before and this would be a good way to start.
I’ve made fun of the campsite here, but really, it’s an excellent site. More so when the shower block is finished. There is a railway line next along the camp which often has heavy freighters passing in the night. I noticed these in the first night but not over Saturday night. According to other staff, there were just as many. Few people sleep as well on the first night out.
Cold wind and warm sun
8°C, brisk NW, full sun.
Feeling good : beautiful weather though cold.
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.
Easter Milestone
Tomorrow is Easter day, a long standing milestone for me. Every year, I aim to get 1,000 miles ridden by easter. Despite getting Covid at christmas and a slow recovery, I have made it with a few hundred to spare.
Racelite on
winter duties
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.
Corner well
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)
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.
That didn’t work out well.
5°C, moderate SE wind, sun at first but heavy rain to finish.
Set out on the recently serviced Kona Jake. Just like I used to a few years ago, I rode down the canal towpath and found it almost empty. Here was mud in abundance though. He tyres worked well enough with improved grip on the rear. I put an old 35c Grifo which actually came with the bike. I took them off a few years ago because of he huge number of punctures I was getting. He first month of owning the Jake I got 11 punctures.
Anyway, all went well, even along the Sefton Way, a converted rail line. It was a string of puddles surrounded by deeper mud. It’s actually easier to ride through the middle where gravel can be felt.
Then the rear tyre went soft. At first I hoped it would make it home, especially since rain had started. I stopped to as pressure and fumbled with cold muddy hands. The tyre hardened, for a while. It’s now got a self-sealing Slime tube which should have held it. It didn’t last long. I know there are lots of hawthorn trimmings en-route but I was still annoyed.
{arts of the return ride were on a very soft tyre, others I walked. By now the rain was heavy and the road rippled with thin riverlets running along. I didn’t get cold though.
Micycle 