Rhinog afternoon.

Posted on 27th Jul 2013 by essiep

22°C-ish,clearing but rain evening.
Climbed Rhinog Fawr 724m alt (according to my phone GPS app). There were a few groups of people on the summit, mainly those who had taken the same route as I.
We all agreed that Wales was very quiet compared to usual for an end of July weekend. Anyway, after a very slow start that saw us leave at 11.30, the day just got better starting with sunshine on that summit.
Now I’m lying in the tent in the pouring rain on this, the last night before we go home.

Llanbedr beach.

Posted on 26th Jul 2013 by essiep

26°C, no. wind, no clouds.
Moved camp. South to Llanbedr. There is a very nice flat walk around the old airfield. It’s a nature reserve with few paths. This shows in the lack of erosion of the ground, the bare sand is created by rabbits, not man. Walking through willow-herb, clouds of butterflys filled the air.
I walked west towards the sea. This stew should be a quiet stretch of beach. Dunes form more ridges than expected, but eventually the last one reveals the sea.

There were people, but not many, and they were separated by large gasp. It was a while before I noticed that they were all naked. I have walked into a naturist reserve.
So I went for a swim. No need then, to get my clothes wet.

Cwm Bycham is very still this evening. The only sounds are from livestock, their belly calls reverberate as if the sound is feeling it’s way across the rocky sides. The sound seems to probe the shard of the land as a whale might.

Downpour

Posted on 23rd Jul 2013 by essiep

21°C, thunderstorms,

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

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.

Imperial century.

Posted on 22nd Jul 2013 by essiep

19°C, grey, some drizzle, e wind.
Long Ride! Distance: 101.72mi, time: 06:36:19, pace: 3:54min/mi, speed: 15.40mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/333764455

Finally done a 100 mile bicycle ride. I took a steady pace right from the start and had two cafe stops. There was some rain, some light wind from the east but it brightened up later.
The best thing is that I was comfortable right to the end and felt alert too. I could have kept going, maybe another 20 – 30miles with a snack stop. Perhaps the moderate weather meant that there was no dehydration to cope with
The bike was faultless, and comfortable too. All that maintenance work in the spring was to avail.

And a hill profile-

That profile looks like the Alps, but the app stretches the vertical scale. Staffordshire does not look anything like that.

Day one.

Posted on 20th Jul 2013 by essiep

19°C, mostly cloudy, windy.
First job of the holiday is done. I used a palette out of the skip at work to make a new garden table.
Before:

After-

After about 3 hours of wood working

The wood preservative is drying now so I can’t use the table until tomorrow.
How satisfying, I keep going out to look it over. Almost inevitably, I mind turns to other similar projects- I have another garden table that is slowly collapsing with rot.

Something old, something new (michaelturiano.wordpress.com)

Devastation.

Posted on 18th Jul 2013 by essiep

27°C, milky start.
I feel loss- the dog’s favourite field hat been cut. The grasses have turned to seed and well. But those spectacular thistles are wiped out too, just as they reached flowering. Shame, because I enjoyed their magnificent growth this year. Yesterday, they were taller than me. Now, all gone. I feel the loss.
Maybe sentimental I know, maybe they had to be cut to reduce the fire risk. It’s all dry and yellow here in this heat-wave.

Three rides.

Posted on 16th Jul 2013 by essiep

27°C, more perfect weather. CA+CR 55miles.
On a fine evening like this, what better way to use it than ride for hours, basking in the amber light. This 35miles, plus the usual 20 mile commute makes an impressive total for a work day.
Wouldn’t it be fine to get a metric century this coming Sunday?

I blogged about these structures last year, they were a puzzle at the time. These solar panels follow the sun, here reaching over their right shoulder for the setting sun. This time of year, that’s almost in the north. Quite a stretch.

200lbs.

Posted on 16th Jul 2013 by essiep

27°C, clear but muggy.
I’d enjoy cycling more if I were to loose some weight. Currently 14st 9lbs but I feel a bit squidgy round the waist. If I take off 5lbs that makes a round 200lbs, a good figure to aim for.
With that I could hill-climb with confidence, perhaps ride with a club more often.

Rosie cooling off on the slabs.

Bannister Hill, 9.30″

Posted on 14th Jul 2013 by essiep

22°C, clearing. Perfect.
MapMyRide! Distance: 39.40mi, time: 02:21:42, pace: 3:36min/mi, speed: 16.6mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/327169155
Yesterday- broke my best time up Bannister Hill, today, broke it again. The strategy today was to keep up the pace after pud summit to High Moor which is the end of the Mapmyride climb. All this was done on the 42×16 Fixed Gear.
A fixed would make an excellent hill-climb bike for those end-of-season hill races. That is when you have carefully chosen the gear for if specific climb. This ride needs a gear that is not too low to take advantage of some false flats where you can build up speed.
Overall, the conditions were perfect and my fitness- much improved.

I have only just found how to take a screen-capture from this phone; so here, at last is a hill profile.

Walsall drivers see no red.

Posted on 9th Jul 2013 by essiep

27°C, hard sunshine.
Walsall drivers have an annoying habit that I have blogged about before. Tonight, coming home through the hazardous Rushall lights I stopped to wait for green. When it came, I clipped in and rode forward only to brake for a brown mini-bus taxi coming from the right. He jumped a red light. I shouted in frustration

“red means stop”

He swore, really he did, as if I had done something wrong.
The next lights, the same thing happens, this time a silver car. He swore too.
What are the chances of that?
This happens more often in Walsall than other places I ride.

Micycle

Mike thinks b/hikes