Rode Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 63.72km, time: 02:40:31, pace: 2:31min/km, speed: 23.82km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2549450442
Today, a steadier pace over the afternoon outing. However, the sun blazed and the wind light.
16C, grey and damp.
I rode Arrow with MapMyRide+! Distance: 49.82km, time: 02:10:09, pace: 2:37min/km, speed: 22.97km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2539294065
First night ride of the autumn. I went out on the Arrow which ran smoothly. However, the bottom-bracket creaks very loudly. I struggled to fix that last year and it has become worse in storage over the summer.
12°C, Brian’s gale, sunny
I rode Mustang with MapMyRide+! Distance: 26.93km, time: 01:28:01, pace: 3:16min/km, speed: 18.36km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2537231175
Quick canal route to clear the figity feeling and fizzy legs. My weekly milage is significantly lower currently compared to normal October weeks. It’s time to start night rides.
I rode Kona Paddy Wagon with MapMyRide+! Distance: 79.90km, time: 03:13:53, pace: 2:26min/km, speed: 24.73km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2514787049
It’s getting easier! This is how life used to be before full time teaching. Now I’m middle-aged and feeling a little youthful. All because of rest time.
12°C, white cloud and stillness.
I rode with MapMyRide+! Distance: 74.70km, time: 03:03:39, pace: 2:28min/km, speed: 24.41km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2507628494
Calm between storms make for a good ride on a single speed bike. Currently, we are experiencing somewhat below average temperatures. This photo doesn’t really show how high the tide is. I am used to seeing the sea far out from the Southport sea wall.
Today was a very satisfying ride, much needed.
14°C, sunny and strong W wind.
I rode The Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 57.86km, time: 03:38:32, pace: 3:47min/km, speed: 15.89km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2499624422
Monday afternoon on The Chase is quiet with only a few dog walkers. Actually, it’s brilliant, I saw only two other cyclists too. Not only that, but I’m getting better at this too. Precarious descents don’t seem as steep as my confidence grows.
The nicest ride back home is along the canal. Here is a picture of a very narrow tunnel. I wouldn’t like to try this on a mountain bike with wide bars.
13°C, grey with soft but bearable ground.
I rode The Jake wth MapMyRide+! Distance: 24.24km, time: 01:22:07, pace: 3:23min/km, speed: 17.71km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2489252846
The usual route with today. I raised the pace on ground that allowed some give. Previous times here, the ground was so hard that jarring slowed the pace. It was a full start however. So, I put the lights on. That led to something odd on the canal. A guy steering a barge shouted at me “would you switch off the flashing light, it’s distracting me“.
How peculiar. If I did that, by the time I’d pressed the button, I would have ridden past the boat. He wouldn’t see any benefit by then. So why should I bother?
I didn’t.
18°C, sunny with light SE breeze.
I rode Racelite with MapMyRide+! Distance: 98.56km, time: 04:13:17, pace: 2:34min/km, speed: 23.35km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/2483606477
Like wading through treacle. My legs didn’t warm up until about 15 miles. I shouldn’t be harsh on myself because I haven’t ridden for 2 weeks but in that time did plenty of exercise in hiking. Another ride or two will bring them back.
12°C, sunny but rain at the end
A day to wait, cleanup and packing the minibuses carried on against a background of sun and a cloud inversion.
A cold front drew over us as the day finished bringing rain, heavy rain. We waited. Then, Group B arrived, They finished first! Happy, relieved, tired and very smelly. They wanted chips. At 4pm, chip shops haven’t opened but I drove off in search, and found. Group A completed just before our return and by the end of the hour all groups were in. I was beaming contented grins at them and heaped congratulations upon them all. A fine end to the year’s expedition season.
The drive back is normally a bit of a come-down. Unlike last year, they didn’t fall asleep in the bus, they discussed the week. They recalled the day that things ‘sort of clicked’. It was Wednesday, the day they faced camping up on the moors that did it. I felt the huge, warm glow of job satisfaction from this.
there is a lesson to learn from an experience like this. It’s wider in scope then the expedition, navigation and all those campcraft skills. It is about the way we think when faced with problems. Finding blame has it’s place but certainly not within an ongoing situation. Blaming prevents clear prioritisation and adopting a working solution. That’s the posh was of saying that blame is pointless. Blame is a feature of our society, heads will roll, somebody is culpable and the buck has to stop; and so on. Maybe, but first, the problem has to be solved.
12°C, rain of the drizzly variety. Sun later.
Our assessor gave them a low level route which was mostly the Trans Pennine Trail. The tops were shrouded in hill fog and rain fell heavily at times. We decided to walk the reverse route to meet them.
This section of the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) runs on a disused railway. The tracks are long gone rather like the Tissington Trail. Then, the railway runs through a tunnel below the Moors. The opening of the tunnel is blocked by a gate and electric fences. It’s drafty but sheltered from the rain. We sat here and ate lunch while I got the stove out for a warm brew.
As it worked out, we saw both groups about half way and only separated by half an hour. Our next idea was to head across the moorland to make a walk of it. We turned north into classic Hill and Moorland territory.
Just visible on top of this ventilation shaft is a walking boot. I have no idea how long it’s been there or who threw it. From here a track heads south west passed some pillars. the pillars appear to be some kind of mount for theodolites. I presume a system was set up to dig the shafts in the days before laser measurements were first used.
Anyway, our own track amounted to 5 hours 40 minutes and brightened up into the afternoon to sunshine.
Micycle 