That was a good ride. I say that because I’ve had a winter of interruptions that have cost me fitness.
Fixie 67k
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Winter slog.
Arrow, 6°C, brisk SSW, storm brewing.
That felt hard. The average speed is a dismal 11mph. I’m heavy on a heavy bike. I chose a sheltered route back to minimise the headwind. Still, the figures are disappointing.
The Arrow is nearly 30 years old and is showing signs.
Cracks
17°C, bright sun and light easterly.
The frame is cracked, I’m pretty sure. There is nothing to the touch inside the seat-tube, but the welds on the outside have many. It’s where the top-tube joins that’s the problem.
At least I can easily get the Racelite back on the road. There’s a few changes it needs. The handlebars are too low and too deep. They are old Cinelli 66-44 bars from the 90s. The reach is too deep such that they are unusable on the hooks.
2023: 1,004.3 miles
2°C, drizzle/sleet. Light grey and strengthening easterly wind.
Annual 1st quater target = met. That was the main reason for this ride though I have over a week before equinox (my self imposed deadline). We’re under Yellow Warning for snow, but there’s none.
Back on the bike.
6-9°C brisk SW wind, clear and sunny.
It’s been a while since the last bike ride. Icy weather has stopped me venturing out. Some days were so bad, I daren’t even go for a run. That means the default is the gym or at home, the turbo. I get ratty at these times and feel a constant fizzy agitated feeling in my limbs.
Back to normal now.
Turbo times
I’ve left the turbo up so I can get on each day. I hate riding the turbo.
Before the freeze.
Kona Jake, 5°C, light E, light overcast.
Icy weather is due in a few days. Let’s wait and see the best way to deal with running on frosty ground in the mornings. Meanwhile, I’ll bank some hours riding. This is the 4th day in a row with 25+ miles. I’ve got layers sorted out now so getting cold isn’t such a problem.
Did you see that?
Light start, turned very heavy on the return leg. 9-7°C, strong wind and very heavy rain to coming home .
Just as the rain got heavier on the return leg. my route turned into a narrow strip of woodland by the river. There’s a few cottages and a narrow lane that leads to a school. At Eyes lane, anelderly runner zipped by in the other direction. What’s remarkable was that in the developing storm, he was naked from the waist up. Raindrops got larger in the squall. Was he heading back to jump in a sauna for that ho/cold shock thing that’s popular in scandinavia?
Note to self: at the café in I took a few minutes out to add some pressure to the rear wheel. As soon as I set.off, the bike felt renewed. The handling was crisp again and the bike seemed much faster.
DofE 20: White Peak
A chilly Sunday morning starting at 5°C, but the stars were magnificent overnight.
Bastia -> home
New moon 🌑
Starting in Camping E’spiranza. I visited the nearby beach and got a snack but wasn’t impressed. So headed back to find food at the campsite. That worked out well in the end. Another GR20er arrived having finished the same day. It cost her a ton to get the taxi from Conca to here (€300). I think she was a doctor, a gynaecologist.
The change at Geneva was stressful. There was a very long queue for bag drop, over 50′. Then straight to border control for another long queue that left only a few minutes before gates close. There were stressed staff whom I said ‘you’re doing a great job. She was delighted.
It was made bearable by a conversation with a change.young English woman who’d worked in Geneva as an Au Pair. And interesting cameo unfolded too. In another zigzag of the queue, a young family filed along with 2 small girls and wheelie bags. One of the kids was sitting/riding the smallest bag, being towed by dad. He shuffled forward and the kid toppled back. Mum dove forward with both palms upwards to catch her head before it slapped onto the stone floor. That was heroic! I was so impressed, I was more pressed than any famous sports goal. I said to the other “if I ever make a film, that scene will be in it!”.
I got moved into another queue for the Manchester flight which ended the conversation. Immediately, I was in another conversation with a young American couple. It’s good this! We were interrupted again by the need to move on to gates, time was pressing.
Another queue that looks long and a Vietnamese woman who looked very unsure whether she was in the right place. I did my best (she was).
Micycle 