14°C, light gry skies, no wind. CK:53 miles
Weekend up North. Saturday was I tired or was I harbouring some latent poorliness? After Sunday’s ride, it was obvious that all those debilitating feelings the day before were exhaustion. The ride went well- it felt so natural to be back in the fixed-gear. Muscles ached towards the end but nothing that would have been mended by a cafe stop.
9°C, drizzle. CK:40 miles
I normally hate riding in the rain so this ride was remarkable. The mild air, relief from strong winds and a strong desire for a good ride drew me out. The route included High Moor from Parbold up that steep climb which I have been up before. I have not made it to the top on the single-speed though, but for some reason today I ground on. There is a slight relaxation of the incline about half way up so I stared at that. Once I passed it, the effort didn’t reduce, but it did cease to increase, which was good enough. The last part just before the crest involved pulling on the pedals in addition to weaving. Weaving does decrease the incline slightly.
It seems a double victory to get to the top without any foot-down stops- I am heavier (14st 9), the wet, and my ankle problem which decided it was a good day.
I now have feet that feel considerably better than before. A very good day out in the rain.
There is a fly in the house- what are they doing here in early January?
28°C, crisp sun. CR:80.5 miles
The efforts on Tuesday have borne fruit; the Campy gears are not indexing perfectly but they have stopped slipping unpredictably. That does mean the summer bike is a pleasure to ride once more. How long has it been?
20C, 
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Carpet cleaning machine: Rug-doctor is surprisingly effective. It’s noisy and can’t get into the pokiest corners of my attic but it does turn the soapy water into the appearance of old cold coffee. Strangely satisfying, in a domestic way.
Campag-8 gears still don’t index, even after replacing the cassette today. I’m just as puzzled and annoyed by this problem as the last time I posted about this. I really don’t want to upgrade the drivetrain to 10-speed or worse to get a slick gear-change. Those systems are fiddly, difficult to tune and unnecessary. There is really no need for more than 8 gears (x2) on my bike. I’m not just saying that just because I’m a single-speed bike rider.
What is the solution to this?
8°C, W winds, no clouds (yesterday) CK:44 miles.
They don’t get as much showery weather as us- it’s the coastal climate I’d say. To pay back for that, there are the stronger westerly winds.
Nice long cycle ride in the black flatlands of Lancashire. The 42×17 is just right for that landscape, I have finally decided. In an ideal world, I’d change the handlebars for slightly wider ones 44cm ones (like my other bikes). Wider bars feel right when out of the saddle “honking”.
Micycle 