5861 miles in total so far
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Calculations calculatons
So - if my last calculations were on 26th July pm. That means i have done a further 75 commuter rides at 27.1 miles = 2032.5 miles.
Plus -
1 lakeland weekend of about 30 miles
local rides around Lee & Cragg Quarry about 30 miles
Riding to Bolton for 2 days Jury service about 25 miles
1 Long Mynd weekend of about 30 miles
total = 115 miles
As this is an estimate I will call it 100. So 2132.5 miles to add. means this year i have done
Plus -
1 lakeland weekend of about 30 miles
local rides around Lee & Cragg Quarry about 30 miles
Riding to Bolton for 2 days Jury service about 25 miles
1 Long Mynd weekend of about 30 miles
total = 115 miles
As this is an estimate I will call it 100. So 2132.5 miles to add. means this year i have done
Thursday, 17 November 2011
In the darkness no one can see your grimace
So it's definitely winter now! Carrying two panniers is noticeably more tiring in the wind and with a few fast rides this week my legs are really feeling it. All good though....
My bike is need of a new chain and chain rings. When i put any pressure on the peddles it makes a horrible grinding noise that was quite off putting but I am getting used to it now. I have brought the Rohloff specific chain ring remover and a very large wrench but still need a workshop chain whip. Then i will have all my tools ready and will just need to get the rings and chain.... Will be lovely to get it sorted. Earlier this month i changed the oil in my hub so that should be good for another 5000kms.(6 months)April / May 2012
As i get the hang of riding with additional clothing Spring seems a very long way away now....but a new chainset will make it all feel quite refreshing.
My bike is need of a new chain and chain rings. When i put any pressure on the peddles it makes a horrible grinding noise that was quite off putting but I am getting used to it now. I have brought the Rohloff specific chain ring remover and a very large wrench but still need a workshop chain whip. Then i will have all my tools ready and will just need to get the rings and chain.... Will be lovely to get it sorted. Earlier this month i changed the oil in my hub so that should be good for another 5000kms.(6 months)April / May 2012
As i get the hang of riding with additional clothing Spring seems a very long way away now....but a new chainset will make it all feel quite refreshing.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Last week of Summer time
As quickly as my summer top was on, now it has gone. In this the last week of summer time - it's been getting cold and wet.
At the start of Sept I was called in to do Jury duty in Bolton which meant a change of commuter route. It rained heavily both days and made me realise that in heavy traffic, it's really nice to have a cycle path. The route i take in to Manchester is well laid out.
I have been riding a lot with roadie dudes which has been a real eye opener to how strong their lungs are. Granted, I am riding a heavy, un-aerodynamic climbing frame but all the same, I can cope for so long but there are a couple of guys that after a few miles I just can't keep up.
We visited the velodrome at the start of October and saw the National Championships. Really good fun, the girls loved it to but i did keep wondering what would happen when one of them threw a piece of cheese on the track wiping out Hoy and Kenny and the like!
A week later I was riding back and got chatting with a roadie dude who said he had done a couple of races in the UCI Senior races, nice guy who flew up the hill away from me when i was said i was jiggerred.
Have been riding with the girls in the trailer a few times which is really good fun. Does make for a pretty knackering time of it though!
My spinning is going well but legs are generally nackered these days. I went riding with the guys last weekend and did Long Mynd and Eastridge Woods. Fantastic couple of days of very different riding - Love my bike so much.
At the start of Sept I was called in to do Jury duty in Bolton which meant a change of commuter route. It rained heavily both days and made me realise that in heavy traffic, it's really nice to have a cycle path. The route i take in to Manchester is well laid out.
I have been riding a lot with roadie dudes which has been a real eye opener to how strong their lungs are. Granted, I am riding a heavy, un-aerodynamic climbing frame but all the same, I can cope for so long but there are a couple of guys that after a few miles I just can't keep up.
We visited the velodrome at the start of October and saw the National Championships. Really good fun, the girls loved it to but i did keep wondering what would happen when one of them threw a piece of cheese on the track wiping out Hoy and Kenny and the like!
A week later I was riding back and got chatting with a roadie dude who said he had done a couple of races in the UCI Senior races, nice guy who flew up the hill away from me when i was said i was jiggerred.
Have been riding with the girls in the trailer a few times which is really good fun. Does make for a pretty knackering time of it though!
My spinning is going well but legs are generally nackered these days. I went riding with the guys last weekend and did Long Mynd and Eastridge Woods. Fantastic couple of days of very different riding - Love my bike so much.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Danger Panda and i saw a crash!
The other day when going home i was stopping at a junction where a car was pulling across a line of traffic and a racer flew past me and slammed straight into the car - Ow!! he snapped his frame in half and either dislocated or broke his thumbs. again, Ow!! I really feel that other than under / over taking buses and trucks this is the most hazardous activity. Officially it would be the car drivers fault. It is a common occurrence caused by polite drivers leaving space for drivers to pull across traffic. I had stopped because I saw them pulling across. a timely reminder for me to be continually vigilant.
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Summer Top
Well a few months have passed very smoothly on the biking front.
I competed in the Singletrack Classic Weekender at the start of July which was as always a lot of fun. The cross country ride was really enjoyable this year but doing it billy no-mates meant the Saturday was a bit boring and I didn't stay to enjoy the evening festivities. I finished the Downhill with a very similar time to last year and although I messed up on the hill climb and log ride, durrr, (2 minutes penalty) I finished the cross country in the same place as i did last year - 34 out of 182. Not bad but next year i really do intend to do better and get down into those 20s - maybe.
Mark gave me a summer flourescent top yesterday and it really feels like I skim through the wind although it also means i feel particularly naked which certainly speeds you up.
A couple of weeks before another mad adventure on the bikes in the Lake District so i need to get off road again and get moving about above my bike.... My cadance and HB monitoring is going really well and I am undoubtadly smoother and more skillfull on the road now.
For now though - I have totalled up my mileage and it looks like I am at 3725 miles.
Crickey!
I competed in the Singletrack Classic Weekender at the start of July which was as always a lot of fun. The cross country ride was really enjoyable this year but doing it billy no-mates meant the Saturday was a bit boring and I didn't stay to enjoy the evening festivities. I finished the Downhill with a very similar time to last year and although I messed up on the hill climb and log ride, durrr, (2 minutes penalty) I finished the cross country in the same place as i did last year - 34 out of 182. Not bad but next year i really do intend to do better and get down into those 20s - maybe.
Mark gave me a summer flourescent top yesterday and it really feels like I skim through the wind although it also means i feel particularly naked which certainly speeds you up.
A couple of weeks before another mad adventure on the bikes in the Lake District so i need to get off road again and get moving about above my bike.... My cadance and HB monitoring is going really well and I am undoubtadly smoother and more skillfull on the road now.
For now though - I have totalled up my mileage and it looks like I am at 3725 miles.
Crickey!
Friday, 10 June 2011
Cadence & Heart Rate are king
Seems like ages since I blogged - Thanks to Mark I now have a heart monitor, I have been using it for 3 days and today was my first day with it on my handlebars.
Heart monitor
178bpm max, weather and traffic effects my speed so much that it can get quite annoying. If I accept these two aspects and rather than use speed as a measure of my activity and use cadence and heart bpm as a way of measuring myself. I think I have more control over the activity and I think will mean i am less annoyed by the weather or traffic.
I need to do a full week but i seemed to max out at 178 this morning and had been able to keep it up over 160 for pretty much the duration of the 50 mins in and 55 back yesterday. Tonight though i couldn't do this at all though and really had to fight to get it up to 168 just for a few seconds. It is Friday tonight though. More use is needed for me to understand it better.
We went camping near Coed LLandegla with Kel, Jon, Aim and Dave and took the girls in the trailer on the blue route. They were really thrown about on the rough sections but loved it and when we finished they seemed to be really excited. I was able to over take a few people on the climb which was nice, ( the girls slept on the way up) of course I don't know if they had already done the loop 10 times that day but it felt good anyway. After that we need to get them helmets though!
I was leading a shaven legged girl on a little bike this morning and he said when we stopped at the lights he caught me up and said 'How do you make something so heavy go so fast'. Which made me feel really good. I laughed and just said that I liked the reliability. It is a real boost when people say that sort of thing.
Over the last few weeks My bottom bracket was getting more and more wobbly so i ordered some new bearings and replaced them. Fantastic - some real saving will be made there over the coming years. It seems that I am getting through my bearing in a few months! It's nice to be getting all the tools though and actually this challenge is giving me that. I brought a new larger adjustable spanner, and longer 8mm hex key (formally called an Alan Key).
I measured a new top speed of 36.8mph
All is going well, I have now completed XXXXmiles.
Heart monitor
178bpm max, weather and traffic effects my speed so much that it can get quite annoying. If I accept these two aspects and rather than use speed as a measure of my activity and use cadence and heart bpm as a way of measuring myself. I think I have more control over the activity and I think will mean i am less annoyed by the weather or traffic.
I need to do a full week but i seemed to max out at 178 this morning and had been able to keep it up over 160 for pretty much the duration of the 50 mins in and 55 back yesterday. Tonight though i couldn't do this at all though and really had to fight to get it up to 168 just for a few seconds. It is Friday tonight though. More use is needed for me to understand it better.
We went camping near Coed LLandegla with Kel, Jon, Aim and Dave and took the girls in the trailer on the blue route. They were really thrown about on the rough sections but loved it and when we finished they seemed to be really excited. I was able to over take a few people on the climb which was nice, ( the girls slept on the way up) of course I don't know if they had already done the loop 10 times that day but it felt good anyway. After that we need to get them helmets though!
I was leading a shaven legged girl on a little bike this morning and he said when we stopped at the lights he caught me up and said 'How do you make something so heavy go so fast'. Which made me feel really good. I laughed and just said that I liked the reliability. It is a real boost when people say that sort of thing.
Over the last few weeks My bottom bracket was getting more and more wobbly so i ordered some new bearings and replaced them. Fantastic - some real saving will be made there over the coming years. It seems that I am getting through my bearing in a few months! It's nice to be getting all the tools though and actually this challenge is giving me that. I brought a new larger adjustable spanner, and longer 8mm hex key (formally called an Alan Key).
I measured a new top speed of 36.8mph
All is going well, I have now completed XXXXmiles.
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