Category Archives: Weather

Unmentionables

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19C, heavy rain.
Collected some furniture from Bolton. There is the drawback of buying through ebay. The drive was not too far but it meant travelling to towns entirely unfamiliar. West Lancashire looks quite okay, not exactly “desolate” as the Tories think.

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The satnav did not, however, cope well with a closed road in the town. It took me over circuitous routes, each time, back to the road closure.
The guy who sold it explained that he’d moved house recently and that his wife used it to “keep her unmentionables”.

Downpour

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21°C, thunderstorms,

Woke early to the sound of thunder, later came the downpour to beat all.

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Arrow ride tracked with MapMyRide! Distance: 42.79mi, time: 02:42:39, pace: 3:48min/mi, speed: 15.78mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/335549677
I went out on the Arrow after the rain fearing that more was to come. None did, but the bike handles well enough for a summer ride.

Heatwave.

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We have a heatwave to come. Rumours are of two weeks worth but ten days seems more likely. England has not had hot sunny days in July since 2007. The whole nation seems delighted.
Interestingly, there is a significant number that express a dislike of summer. Perhaps view feel some social pressure to keep quiet about it though, so there could be many people who feel that way.
I am not one.

Dust devil.

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18°C, clear blue, light wind.
Ride with MapMyRide! Distance: 80.92mi, time: 05:21 pace: speed: 15.09mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/273429400
The bike ran smoothly, all that work in the winter to replace bearings and so on, has transformed the bike. Gone are the annoying clicks, skipping gears and poor handling. It feels new, and more comfortable than I can remember for years.
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Then, a natural phenomenon not seen by me for years. A dust devil swept across a ploughed field near Clifton Campville. I stopped to watch, fascinated. Not seen one since the early 1990s.

A day of firsts.

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14°C, sun, cloudless.
Rode Racelite: MapMyRide! Distance: 35.95mi, time: 02:12,  speed: 16.4mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/262780484

A day of firsts, first ride in shorts, first without a helmet, first butterfly in the garden, first bumble-bees. All that work on that bike has succeeded. Before setting off, I took the bottom-bracket out and carefully re-fit. The ride was silky smooth.
BTW: if I count the rides, this year to now, it’s over 1,200 miles.

Pond

No signs of any frogs. yet.

 

Derby lane snowdrifts.

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4C,cold light snow showers.
Rode in Leicestershire with MapMyRide! Distance: 51.22mi, time: 03:44:45, http://mapmyride.com/view_route?r=9110435700007763969
Dry but Derby lane was impassable because of snow drifts. Other cyclists warned me about the route, but the northern end of the road was clear. So, I turned in. Snow has drifted where there were no fences and wind had blown straight off the fields. I walked the bike over the crunchy snow/ice; bemused.

That dreadful easterly wind has eased too. Shame I didn’t get photo, but it was too cold to stop.
A great way to start the Easter holiday. 51 miles has left me all warm, right through a night that reached -4C.
All is well. Today, I will take the winter bike in for a service so will ride the fixed for the next week.