21°C, light SE, sunny & dry
Same route as last week and the bridge is still shut. There’s nothing visibly wrong but cracks can be tiny (if that’s the cause).
It looks like the bridge will be closed until the end of the year.
16°C, light onshore & light clouds.
There’s no squeezing past those fences. There’s no visible reason why it’s closed though. I took a detour north & under the bridge and from underneath, no visible reason.
17°C with a brisk Westerly. A few short but heavy showers raced through.
That was good, not the most impressive average speed but it felt good . There was only the faintest stiffness from the Achilles Tendonitis which is a gratifying improvement.
In Barnswood, the rain falls on a Thursday.
Week One: arrived very early, the compensation for Manchester traffic was unnecessary. Coaches fulls of YPs didn’t arrive for several hours so we readied the tens. That was reasonably easy. Here was the daunting prospect of disruption caused bad behaviour by some kids (from Oldham). As it turned out, only 3 boys were sent home this week compared with dozens previously after online bullying of another lad.
It’s happened again; one of my ex-pupils from QM is one of the Facilitators. I last taught her ICT in 2017; I will look up what she got at home.
Axe Throwing. After shadowing another freelancer, I was assessed and cleared to run my own sessions. We used two sizes; Ravens and Angel axes (there is some doubt about these names, but that what I was told). Anyway, the shaft-handlem axes were harder to hit the target with (I and the wipies found). One of the girls however, missed most of the throws with the angel axes, and heyd had 3×3 throws. Then onto the heavy axes, he hit the first one. She was as amazed as I was! I said, “Somehow, I knew that would happen“. She was so thrilled and relieved after the initial disappointment. That was a fine moment.
There were other lovely kids, especially the girls (who made up 2/3 of the ‘Waves’.
Week two: was easier, perhaps it got used to it. If m step counter is a guide, walking is double my usual. It went from a typical 8,000 to 16 – 19,000. Anyway, I was happy to do the extra evening and overnight shifts. Tuesday totalled 16 hours. Other days were closer to 11h. I’d put this down to girls being more mature than boys at 16 and willing to engage in interesting conversations. They listen better than the boys so they learn quicker in the Activities. I mainly did axe throwing, fire building and orienteering with groups of 14 at a time. I didn’t like Shelter Building as much. Eah session was 1h 30m but that’s too long for Shelter.
Staff were better on week two. Las weeks, there were three who were shirkers. Others felt that they were doing extra to fill the shortfall. Also, I go to know he regulars.
Friday is packup day. The weather was better, it was warmer again. The morning started misty after yesterday’s relentless rain. Rain marred last Thursday too.
18°C, moderate Westerly and sunny later.
That felt good, I could have ridden more but home needs were pressing. Fine tuning the position has helped greatly, the bars are turned up a bit and the stem is shorter and higher. He aim was to ride up Bannister Lane, he nearest decent climb round here. My old fashioned, narrow gears means it’s all out of the saddle. After the summit, I usually feel refreshed.
17°C, grey and light S breeze.
The Chase was quiet and dry. I took a stop on the way home for a refresher. Last time I came.uo here, I wrecked the rear mech by the burnt out car: it’s not there any more! It must have stood there for over a decade in the firing range. Now there is only a sooty mark.
28 ~42+°C, light breeze, strong sun.
That was a very hard day. I picked a route similar to a previous visit in 2016, up to Lluc about then south to return at low level. The day was hot to begin with and it’s likely that I was not fully hydrated. I really suffered from the 2nd hour onwards. My legs were empty on the climbs and I ran out of water just before the summit. In all, I drank at least 4 litres and was still dehydrated. It seems likely that I was not fully hydrated to start the day and no fully acclimatised either.
Anyway, the bike was a Cube Attain Disc 60 cm. It’s not my favourite on from recent years (the Ridely was though). The reach wasn’t quite right for me and the handling is a bit twitchy on the climbs. The brakes were great thought, especially on those fast descending hairpins going south.
The day got hotter and hotter; in Caimari, the pharmacy showed 40°C on their sign. Some of the south facing valleys were definitely hotter than that – perhaps 45°C.
23°C, no wind & dull grey.
Set off on the Kona Jake to the chase via lanes that should have gone to Wandon. But on getting disorientated I popped out near the start. When I lived here, I would never have made that mistake. I would have retained my sense of direction.
The rest of the route was familiar and I stopped for a coffee in the forest.
A good day out which means I’m ready for the coming holiday.
18°C, calm, dry & sunny.
Rode apace today. My cruising speed improved after the cafe stop.
24°C, full sun & light wind.
I chose a route to take the climb to Col de Soller from north towards Palma. There was none of the expected shade climbing this way but it felt better than last year.
I was convinced the frame had a few cracks. I was wrong about this – the problem was some protective tape in the frame. No doubt the stuff was applied to prevent the frame getting scratched. It was the edges of the tape that felt like cracks in my fingers.
Micycle 