Tag Archives: Kona Jake 2015

Jake: Cannock Chase,

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5°C, light cloud, muddy & cold. Still.

Kona Jake: this short but sweet. Even though my ankle was sore, it felt fine once riding even though the start was immediately a climb. Sunset is early around now (15.55) so I was.glad to get an hour’s ride. The whole time, I only saw half a dozen people. There was mud, mostly decaying leaves on the trails. Around the Rifle Range area, there were cleared forests and huge piles of trunks by the trail sides. Rifle Range Corner itself was closed by cones when I got to it from the north. The area will look different when the DofE season starts next year.

An excellent outing, worth the struggle to change in the changing robe.

Wrestling with an angry gale

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8°C, milky sun and strong southwest wind.

Not today’s picture, but it’s the mood

Grabbed the Mustang gravel bike for a ride and it came out with a puncture. So much for I destructible Marathon + tyres. I may have hit something on last night’s ride in the dark.

Instead, I went out on the Jake CX. Then had another problem. The rear tyre went down after 6 miles. It’s got a Slime self sealing tube to I stopped to re-inflate it. The pressure held but was rather low. I struggle to get it firmer than 40psi (which is a bit low for my weight). Remarkably, the pressure held. For the next ten miles. They keep a stirrup pump in the cafe so I bumped it up to 70psi. It stayed so the ride was back to normal.

However, the return was into a growing gale. There were gusts up to 40mph and I crawled along at 8mph. Nonetheless, the sun still shone.

From this morning’s run

Before the freeze.

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Kona Jake, 5°C, light E, light overcast.

Ended with the green machines. 2×16 reps.

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.

That didn’t work out well.

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5°C, moderate SE wind, sun at first but heavy rain to finish.

Set out on the recently serviced Kona Jake. Just like I used to a few years ago, I rode down the canal towpath and found it almost empty. Here was mud in abundance though. He tyres worked well enough with improved grip on the rear. I put an old 35c Grifo which actually came with the bike. I took them off a few years ago because of he huge number of punctures I was getting. He first month of owning the Jake I got 11 punctures.

Anyway, all went well, even along the Sefton Way, a converted rail line. It was a string of puddles surrounded by deeper mud. It’s actually easier to ride through the middle where gravel can be felt.

Then the rear tyre went soft. At first I hoped it would make it home, especially since rain had started. I stopped to as pressure and fumbled with cold muddy hands. The tyre hardened, for a while. It’s now got a self-sealing Slime tube which should have held it. It didn’t last long. I know there are lots of hawthorn trimmings en-route but I was still annoyed.
{arts of the return ride were on a very soft tyre, others I walked. By now the rain was heavy and the road rippled with thin riverlets running along. I didn’t get cold though.

Crunchy sands

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16°C, blazing sun with crisp shadows.
A gentle outing along the coast. Much of the ground has dried out, that thick gummy mud has set leaving soft loose sand in places. This was a pleasant relaxing ride.

Those dark bands are coal. Yes, it surprised me but they may date from the last war. Further up the coast are bands of rounded house bricks. Apparently, they were Ribble from the Liverpool blitz.

Kona, 1 year.

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One year ago, I bought my Kona Jake. Remember how excited I was? In that time, I clocked up almost 1,000 miles on it add have no regrets about the choice. I clearly remember those nervous outings on slimy surfaces. Contrast that with improved bike handling now. It’s a transferable skill, I ride the commuting bike on muddy lanes less cautiously these days. There’s justification for a CX bike in anybody’s stable.

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A good purchase.