Dark, single-track lanes.

11ºC,cold, dry and clear.
First ride though those narrow lanes I have explored recently. It felt like a test, to find out whether view are safe in the dark. Tonight, they were. As long as there is no ice or slippery mud, then it should work well enough.
It’s great to see so little traffic.
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|~~~~~~~o_o~~~~~~~|
Posted from a mobile.

Jodrell bank

12ºC, heavy rain.
Day out at Jodrell Bank as a birthday outing for the 10 year old.
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The dish was parked upright, probably because of the heavy rain that beat down all day.
The youngsters loved it, though view were the kind of kids who would be receptive to this kind of thing. In my view, the shop could be better stocked with books suitable for adults. They put on talks all day, mainly for kids but we adults got to ask questions too.
I bet the Cheshire cyclists use their cafe all the time. What a fine cafe it is too. I had the best goat’s cheese wrap I can remember.
Posted from a mobile.

A most satisfying day.

12ºC, 3/5 cloud, mod W.
CA:36 miles.
Jobs done– marking while Dave measured the staircase; replacement part for the clock-radio arrived; paint some outside door-frames; go cycling, and enjoy feeling recovered.
Every holiday is the same- feel semi-ill with tiredness for days on end, then come to life mid-week.
Even the bike rode in a more sprightly manner. Those two hours yesterday carefully cleaning the derailler gave sweet, almost silent gear changes. The sun shone.

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Hawthorn berries are made of ruby.

Posted from a mobile.

Over the top.

12°C, rain,
I hit a car this morning. It pulled out, in front of me by a hotel near work. Traffic was slow and I was overtaking on the right at low speed. A car pulled out of the hotel and drove right at me. I rode at only ~9mph, but couldn’t stop in time to avoid landing on the car’s bonnet. In that split second, something snapped inside and I banged my fist  down on the windscreen and mentioned something about French connection UK. For a millisecond, part of me wanted the glass to break.
With the adrenaline up, I got up and rode on to continue my journey. Not the textbook action, I admit.
No injury apart from a tiny graze on my forearm.
Confusing, but at least the guy woke up.

Posted from a mobile.

Backache.

17ºC, wind + rain
Recovery ride- with MapMyRide! Distance: 38.74mi, time: 02:35:56,
http://mapmyride.com/workout/413076053

Recovering from backache, something that may stem from the cold that plagued my last 2 weeks. Perhaps the lack of exercise or excessive time spent in the car caused that.
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This picture tells me to get a better phone, one with an auto-focus camera. Close shots like this would not need all that pixlr treatment to hide the blur.
Posted from a phone.

12mph.

15ºC, E wind.
Drive- heavy traffic and mostly stationary. Average speed was 12mph, meaning it took over 50 minutes to get there. I drove because I am still ill, but what about all the other drivers? Why are they in their cars? I don’t know where they get the patience, why don’t more of them do the obvious?

Posted on my phone.

Help! I need a mathematician.

17C, rain later,
Are you a game theorist? If you design a game where you gain points for finding things. The aim is to collect a score but I want to be able to work out the identity of the original finds from the value of the score.
Perhaps, the scores should each be a prime number. Then, somehow adding them up will give values that reveal the identity of the component values.
It could be applied to something like a treasure hunt or maybe, spotting driving offenses.
Today I passed a woman driving while applying nail-varnish. That should get a lower score than applying makeup in the sun-visor mirror.
Anyway, can it be done? The score identification system I mean.
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Posted on my phone.

14,207 calories!

18C, Easterly, sunny.

Total miles this week is high and I only felt the miles in my legs on steep climbs. These after-work extensions are wonderful. I only remark on them because I will have to scale them back soon as the nights draw in.
weeksRIDE

Look at that- fourteen thousand calories!

Weeford mushrooms.

11-18C,dry light breeze.

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Most nights after work, I ride the scenic route home. This adds about 2,000 kCals to my daily expenditure. With about 3,000 cal per day, for a chap my size I could work out my consumption of food. My weight stays about the same, so I must eat 5,000 a day. Is that right, have I missed something?

Posted on my phone.

Dragonflight.

22C, light W. 1/5 cloud.
CR: 81 miles, 6,044 kCal.
Ideal day for a ride: in the sunshine. Plenty of whiz in my legs and only some work stuff to get back for.
Roads are quieter than normal but still. I have picked routes along lanes. Nearing the St. Harold estate, I rode alongside a dragonfly going in the same direction. We travelled in parallel for a while before she turned hedgeward. If they didn’t have compound eyes, I imagine she would have winked before going off alone.
It was an honour to travel with such a noble creature- they have been around since carboniferous times, if not before.
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Suit of armour at Bosworth battlefield cafe, 2nd stop on the day’s ride.
Posted from my phone.