Ride 39 of 100
Thats 3 metric centuries for Feb done, Imperial sort for March required.
Anyway, another ugly ride, constant nagging headwind regardless of the direction I was riding, struggled to maintain 15mph average, its not getting any easier, I'm not going any faster, in fact its just getting harder and starting to knock my enthusiasm back.
On the positive side I got a real close up view of a Sparrowhawk.
Sunday 28 February 2010
Saturday 27 February 2010
A red bike
Ride 38 of 100
A new bike appeared in the house last night, mudguards fitted, computer fitted, saddle position tweaked, bars tipped up ( a bit), tyres pumped up.
Cold, grey, gloomy, not a day for riding...
But
A new red bike
40 miles in shattered back lanes, cold, wet and aching, my chest is showing signs of infection (again)
I enjoyed it but have no desire to do it again.
A new bike appeared in the house last night, mudguards fitted, computer fitted, saddle position tweaked, bars tipped up ( a bit), tyres pumped up.
Cold, grey, gloomy, not a day for riding...
But
A new red bike
40 miles in shattered back lanes, cold, wet and aching, my chest is showing signs of infection (again)
I enjoyed it but have no desire to do it again.
Thursday 25 February 2010
Muddy happy daft
Ride 37 of 100
embrace the mud
enjoy the trail
energize the day
exhaust the demons
and don't forget to wash your gloves :-)
embrace the mud
enjoy the trail
energize the day
exhaust the demons
and don't forget to wash your gloves :-)
Wednesday 24 February 2010
Bleak
Ride 36 of 100
Pedal pushing today, not much pleasure to be had, cold, rain, muddy damaged roads, new lambs, buzzards, kestrals, horses, cows, all looked as fed up as me.
A waste of a days holiday.
Pedal pushing today, not much pleasure to be had, cold, rain, muddy damaged roads, new lambs, buzzards, kestrals, horses, cows, all looked as fed up as me.
A waste of a days holiday.
Thursday 18 February 2010
Sunday 14 February 2010
Tunnels and Bridges
Ride 34 of 100
I lost count of the number of tunnels and bridges I rode under today, a longish ride with a 50/50 split of off and on road, upping the saddle time now in preparation for the summers races.
Lovely sunlight in me eyes for the first half, and for once the wind on my back for the second half, 2 bananas, a cliff bar (are they getting smaller ?) and 2 litres of Nuun helped me keep my legs spinning.
Lots of small hills to struggle up in memory of Marco, I didn't do him proud but its the thought that counts.
I pod makes life easier, a bell on the bars helps in the politeness stakes, new windstopper jacket works just great in these low temperatures.
7 Jays
3 Buzzards
a flock of long tailed tits
1 litre of Rego, 1 glass of beer, 1 glass of Prosecco (in keeping with the Italian theme for the day)
I lost count of the number of tunnels and bridges I rode under today, a longish ride with a 50/50 split of off and on road, upping the saddle time now in preparation for the summers races.
Lovely sunlight in me eyes for the first half, and for once the wind on my back for the second half, 2 bananas, a cliff bar (are they getting smaller ?) and 2 litres of Nuun helped me keep my legs spinning.
Lots of small hills to struggle up in memory of Marco, I didn't do him proud but its the thought that counts.
I pod makes life easier, a bell on the bars helps in the politeness stakes, new windstopper jacket works just great in these low temperatures.
7 Jays
3 Buzzards
a flock of long tailed tits
1 litre of Rego, 1 glass of beer, 1 glass of Prosecco (in keeping with the Italian theme for the day)
Friday 12 February 2010
Thursday 11 February 2010
Aimless
Ride 31 of 100
The sun came out again this afternoon and I had to ride despite needing to rest, so I just pootled along local trails, head full of Yo La Tengo seamlessly in tune with the trail, long soft instrumentals through the woods, sharp spikey bursts for the climbs, mellow harmonies for the sun trail.
The last few miles into the sun made my legs better, stopped to watch a Sparrowhawk for a while, looked for the Kingfisher, almost rode into a dog walker hidden in the glare.
Kitchen smells of mud.
The sun came out again this afternoon and I had to ride despite needing to rest, so I just pootled along local trails, head full of Yo La Tengo seamlessly in tune with the trail, long soft instrumentals through the woods, sharp spikey bursts for the climbs, mellow harmonies for the sun trail.
The last few miles into the sun made my legs better, stopped to watch a Sparrowhawk for a while, looked for the Kingfisher, almost rode into a dog walker hidden in the glare.
Kitchen smells of mud.
Wednesday 10 February 2010
Tick
Ride 30 of 100
First milestone of the year ticked off today, a metric century of off road riding.
Sun - ooh thats nice
Snow - ha ha thats funny
Wind- please stop anytime soon
Snow - hmmm
Snow - thats not funny now
Sun and snow - huh ?
more snow - weakening now, 45 miles in and a gel is required
sun - gel kicked in just as the sun came out
warm sun - last ten miles now
wind - into the wind for the last 5 miles, final kick
and relax.
First milestone of the year ticked off today, a metric century of off road riding.
Sun - ooh thats nice
Snow - ha ha thats funny
Wind- please stop anytime soon
Snow - hmmm
Snow - thats not funny now
Sun and snow - huh ?
more snow - weakening now, 45 miles in and a gel is required
sun - gel kicked in just as the sun came out
warm sun - last ten miles now
wind - into the wind for the last 5 miles, final kick
and relax.
Tuesday 9 February 2010
Kingfisher
Ride 29 of 100
The sun came out just as I was leaving work, the trails were even drier after a days worth of wind, retraced my route from the morning ride only this time I stopped for ten minutes to watch a Kingfisher fishing in the dying light. This is the first one I've seen at this stream for over two years now.
Riding the perimeter singletrack into the sun was fun, being half blinded but feeling the warmth on my face was a pleasure I've not had the pleasure of for a good while now.
It was tempting to go on further but mindful of a big ride planed for tomorrow I headed home.
The sun came out just as I was leaving work, the trails were even drier after a days worth of wind, retraced my route from the morning ride only this time I stopped for ten minutes to watch a Kingfisher fishing in the dying light. This is the first one I've seen at this stream for over two years now.
Riding the perimeter singletrack into the sun was fun, being half blinded but feeling the warmth on my face was a pleasure I've not had the pleasure of for a good while now.
It was tempting to go on further but mindful of a big ride planed for tomorrow I headed home.
One week of sobriety
Ride 28 of 100
Woke up clear headed and wanting to ride, trails drying out now, sky "just" starting to lighten up, 45 mins of single speed spinning on the 69er, coffee, porridge with mamarlade to sweeten, work.
Woke up clear headed and wanting to ride, trails drying out now, sky "just" starting to lighten up, 45 mins of single speed spinning on the 69er, coffee, porridge with mamarlade to sweeten, work.
Monday 8 February 2010
Sunday 7 February 2010
Culture clash
Ride 26 of 100
Heavy legs and restless sleep caused me to rethink todays metric century ride, instead I spent the morning in town visiting the book shops, enjoying an expensive coffee, however I had an urge to ride and so I ventured out this afternoon for a casual stroll on the bike.
The snow prepped Trek 69er was refitted with spuds, the tyres pumped up and lights fitted, casual clothes, no helmet, Ipod and a smile and I was off down the TPT, just slowly spinning along, actually enjoying the cold and grey.
3 hours later and I was home, not at all sweaty for once, probably only 30 miles but enough to take the sting out of yesterdays legs, bath, cup of tea, bag of crisps and done.
Heavy legs and restless sleep caused me to rethink todays metric century ride, instead I spent the morning in town visiting the book shops, enjoying an expensive coffee, however I had an urge to ride and so I ventured out this afternoon for a casual stroll on the bike.
The snow prepped Trek 69er was refitted with spuds, the tyres pumped up and lights fitted, casual clothes, no helmet, Ipod and a smile and I was off down the TPT, just slowly spinning along, actually enjoying the cold and grey.
3 hours later and I was home, not at all sweaty for once, probably only 30 miles but enough to take the sting out of yesterdays legs, bath, cup of tea, bag of crisps and done.
Saturday 6 February 2010
Mud, sweat and almost tears
Ride 25 of 100
A visit to the valley today saw six of us setting off into the fog, ground conditions were wet and slippy, before we even hit the off road section I knew I'd brought the wrong bike, can you ever be on the wrong bike ?, yes when you are setting off on a mild tech ride in slither conditions and you are on a cross country race bike with steep angles and dust tyres ! whoops !
Anyway, it was no matter and didn't spoil the day, even a near miss with a wall couldn't take the smile off my face.
Stoodley Pike, Great Rock, Mooch.
All good :-)
A visit to the valley today saw six of us setting off into the fog, ground conditions were wet and slippy, before we even hit the off road section I knew I'd brought the wrong bike, can you ever be on the wrong bike ?, yes when you are setting off on a mild tech ride in slither conditions and you are on a cross country race bike with steep angles and dust tyres ! whoops !
Anyway, it was no matter and didn't spoil the day, even a near miss with a wall couldn't take the smile off my face.
Stoodley Pike, Great Rock, Mooch.
All good :-)
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