Category Archives: Travel

Ewe turned turtle.

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10°C, brisk NW, bright sun.
Rode the RSPB route in vright sunshine. That SSW leg takes you through a field of sheep. They were all ewes, many with lambs, tiny lambs.

Then I saw one motionless, on her side. I stopped and she wriggled. She couldn’t get up. Her huge pregnant belly stopped her righting herself. Ewes can easily die like that so I got off. I walked round to her back on the downhill side right her. Now she really wriggled and kicked obviously getting distressed. Quickly with two handfuls of willy fur I turned her over and she got her feet. After only a short trot, she turned and looked back. Perhaps she thought she was a gonna.

Soon, a farmer came on a quad bike. He was grateful when I explained what happened. I did the right thing.

DofE 2; Cotswolds.

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10°C, after a chilly start.

2.1; met my group in the afternoon and took them out for an hour’s walk before dark. They’re quick and have retained a good set of skills. Bronze doesn’t require much from compass skills so this may be a focus. They seem very fit and confident.

2.2: a longish day of 11 miles. The route is fairly simple, punctuated by some fiddly navigation through villages. My group were superb. Their pace was good and navigation errors were few and small. All that despite one nursing injured knees.

2.2: Another slightly long day. R was still struggling with sore knees. She agreed to try a few things that may help. Their school was inclined to pull her out, erring on the side of caution. I decided to try a few tricks. I lent her walking poles and also gave her the job of navigating the tricky forest section. Pain control is more than popping a pill.


From a distance, her gait was natural and in closer, she looked okay. People in serious pain speak with a knot in their voice; she didn’t. Her expression was also neutral so I decided to encourage R to continue. She finished the day.

The whole group finished the day comfortably and in good spirit. Debrief was nice, a chance to heap praise on them all for their efforts. They were so confident and optimistic, a real pleasure to work with.

Bannister climb

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9°C, some sun, light S wind
This is turning into an regular route for me. Bannister Lane is a benchmark for my fitness. This year, I have only been up on 8 speed bikes, previously I rode up on the fixed gear.

I took no photos so here is some frogspawn in my pond. The frogs left last week but here is some promise for the spring. I say ‘left’ but there are plenty of herons round here.

Hills and strong wind.

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8°C, strong NW with a few showers. mostly sunny.

Round the back of Dalton are some decent climbs and sweeping descents towards Parbold. The Mustang is good on hills despite being heavy. The weight is not noticeable unless you ride with somebody else on a lighter machine.

That return leg was hard in sections exposed to strong wind. Though the thermometer said 9°, it felt much colder.

The cafe was heaving (and quite noisy). Nevertheless, the service was still excellent. Mmm, espresso!

Storm Gareth.

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8°C, Storm force SW Mostly dry.
that was hard, riding into the wind with 50mph gusts. Along the sea wall, the wind blew lifting sand. Some of it rose above eye level. I had to ride on the footpath because I couldn’t open my eyes properly. The return ride would be fun after I used the green machines. I had the coast to myself.

Talking without listening.

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Britain seems to be an increasingly angry place. Were talking about it since the Brexit vote of 2016. The papers, online, radio and TV are filled with people expressing opinions. They are talking but not listening.

Here is a letter to the local paper that characterises the Angry Letter Writer. See below.

His opinions certainly don’t reflect my 30 year’s experience cycling with clubs. However, there were times when drivers made it clear that they were angry with us. I used to notice their reactions when I lived in Bristol, but not in Staffordshire.

My strongest disagreement is with the assertion that club cyclists are the biggest problem on our roads. He has not considered motorists speeding, running red lights, having no insurance, tailgating and so on. In his mind, the nuisance of overtaking club cyclists is greater than the loss of life associated with the driving offences listed above. It is so easy to refute each argument that I won’t bother. The overall theme is anger.

The same letter was published in the Southport version of this paper but the name was withheld. In that case it was signed off as

Angry motorist, (name and address supplied). Has the paper slipped up and accidentally released his name?

Continue reading →

40 miles on the Arrow.

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8°C, sunny with a fresh SW breeze.
Climbed Bannister Hill after a stop at the favourite cafe. I like that climb, it leaves you with a refreshed feeling that lasts all day. Perhaps I will try it on the single-speed soon.
The Arrow bike is running well but it still needs an extra link in the chain.

A fixie and bagpipes.

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8°C, brightening up with increasing SW wind.

1, The birds were lively today. I heard curlews, lapwings and another strange one. The latter’s sound carried a very long way but eventually I got there. A guy stopped his van and had just finished playing his bagpipes. I stopped for a chat; he played in a band in Liverpool and couldn’t practice at home.

2, Look, this is creepy;

On a lamp-post in Formby.

“WAKE UP WHITE PEOPLE

SAVE THE WHITE RACE.

Er what? Save them from what exactly? A quick search using those words returns white supremacists in the USA. What is going on in their poor little minds? I’m not offended by this crass slogan, I’m disgusted by it. Needless to say, I scraped it off.

3, Later, a puncture. The tyre is something that the rubber delaminated from the case. How did I let it get so bad? There followed a nervous ride home, it could so easily puncture again. It didn’t.

4, new pedals:

Swapped from the Arrow winter bike, semi-platform SPDs seem a more natural option on a fixed gear bike.

The black cage is actually plastic and weighs very little. Clipping in feels no different. Shimano do a very wide range of SPD pedals and I may slowly phase in this style as others wear out. It’s only the cross bike that needs the extra mud clearance offered by the minimalist design.

Occasionally, I may ride this machine in ordinary shoes so a wider footprint is necessary. They feel better too and I can see a smoother movement of my knees with less side to side motion. I had no twinges in my knees today. Problem solved!

Getting better at this.

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9°C, misty start but the sun breaks through
I’m so slow to warm up. Beyond 8 miles I felt the long cranks flowing smoothly in time with the raised pace. The old bike is creaky though. It could be the bottom bracket or even the seat rails, it’s rather difficult to tell.
Best of all, my knees were free of any twinges. Old pedals should be a worry; they go out of alignment and it’s knees that hurt.

Shorts in February, really?

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18°C, bright sun with a light S breeze.

Another record breaking warm winter’s day. That average is 1 down from the last ride but I did start a bit sluggish. All was normal after the cafe stop which included one of their wonderful espressos.

The new crankset is not usable yet for an irritating reason there is one chainring bolt missing. Turning over the garage didn’t find one so it will have to be purchased. Spinwell in Southport didn’t have one. Search on.