10°C, light at first then rain. Heavy rain to return, included hail.
Kona Jake: missed exercise recently so set off thinking the forecast was exaggerated. I was cold on arriving at the cafe and got pelted with hail on the return.
16°C, strong wind.
Rode the Arrow because it’s too windy to use the single speed bike. The route worked well: head out downwind and come back along a route sheltered by more hedges.
Warmer and warmer. 12 – 16°C, unnaturally Hugh temperatures.
I’ve been for early runs 3 times this week, and used the Green Machines each time. Setoff was around 06.30 in darkness for about 25 minutes . This is a good habit despite that nagging ankle injury from the GR20.
Mustang: grey damp and no wind
Pushed back the ride to get some maintenance done. The Zing has a new chain that I failed to fit. Shimano chains have a single-use pin to close the chain. I broke it. The Jake also has a new KMC chain which was easy to fit but there’s a problem. The cassette is worn out on about 4 cogs. It’s the original on a 2015 bike, so that’s a decent life. The jockey wheels were almost toothless. Changed them too.
Great, an hour’s work and now 2 bikes are unrideable. At least I got a run this morning.
16°C, occasional showers, low sun in strong SW wind.
Each time I ride the Zing, I think it’s the last ride this season. The weather has been surprisingly mild, 17°C today. The problem is that my winter bike is so heavy in comparison. The fixed far better (when the wind is light).
Tarleton ditch: I took a bridle path towards Tarleton to get off the main road. Immediately after passing three folks, my rear wheel skipped. That tipped me off, the bike fell flat and I rolled down an embankment in the rushes. No harm done. I bet they weren’t expecting that. The youngest was walking on her phone but she hadn’t filmed it. I asked.
Banks Birdshot: on riding along the edge of RSPB by Gorse Derry, I could hear gunshots. A cloud of birds took off in front and more shots sounded out. Then the clatter of pellets swept across the grass. Some of them hit me.
Back to form. Ran this morning which was rather nice. My knee hurt at one point so I walked it off for a hundred metres. It worked. The ride was near enough a summer average speed. Perhaps last week I was fighting something off, was that the reason for low speeds?
Woo, I’m running again. It was only short (1.6 miles) but my ankle was without pain, only residual stiffness. This is notable for me because I’ve been off running for over a month.
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In the Botanical Gardens there are better Green Machines. Those are the same as the ones that used to be on the sea front. The location is nice too.
Morning walk + a tentative jog to test my Achilles. All good, and these green machines are much better than the smaller selection in Cossens. There’s not even any neo-nazi Whiterose propaganda stickers there.
Three days, rain then sun.
Day 1, mainly route planning under cover but. We did a walk first before the rain arrived. I got back just in time. The biggest problem arose in the rain. The outside classroom had a decent cover but was open at the sides. The wind blew rain over our maps and pens. Writing route cards was impossible.
Day 2: A day of tricky navigation through the forest.
Day 3, I was up early, then set off for a walk before breakfast into the dark. It wasn’t really dark with all the light pollution from Stafford, Rugeley and Cannock. I could switch off the head torch for some time.
Micycle 