Month: June 2019

I wanted to do a Twycross after work. Just 22 miles or so. And old-fashioned, standard issue Twycross. I couldn’t leave my desk until 6-ish and I didn’t fancy spending the entire evening on a bike. Besides, my knees hadn’t quite recovered from speeding home to beat the darkness on Monday.

So I took the Boardman out again, at about 6pm. There seemed a slight risk of rain and anyway, I’m enjoying the way the Boardman is running on its new chain and cassette. All very positive, everything working smoothly.

Decent weather: not much wind and occasionally sunny. Warm enough for shorts. The grey clouds that loomed intermittently did not follow through on their threat of rain.

So I’d done about 17 of my 22 miles when my rechargeable DAB ran out of juice. No worries, I thought to myself – I’ll just use the BBC Sounds app on the phone. It was at this point that I realised I didn’t have my phone on me, and the pocket where I’d stashed it was unzipped.

Bugger.

I’d stopped at the Gibbet Post bench about two miles earlier so I tracked back there, scanning the road as I went. I didn’t find it so turned back homeward again from the Gibbet Post. I wasn’t going to repeat the whole 17 miles.

But as I pedalled along Heather Lane with about a mile to go to home, I noticed a mobile phone on the road in front of me, with its battery ejected a few inches from it. The battery was looking rather scarred and distressed, but the phone itself was fine! Apart from the fact that the rear cover was missing, and faint scratches to the lens filter.

I couldn’t find the rear cover. But I’ve put a spare battery in the phone now and it’s working fine. I guess I was fortunate to lose it over the first two miles of my ride, on the only stretch of road I was due to return to.

Anyway – including an additional 3 or 4 miles from tracking back, that’s 25.69, according to the bike computer. And since it recorded just 0.03 miles less than the actual distance over 40+ miles last time, that’s good enough for me.

I was using the phone to record the track so I had to synthesise one for Strava. I didn’t get the back-tracking part particularly accurate and it came in at 25.93, but I put the correct figure into the spreadsheet. I’ll adjust Strava somehow. I’ll stop recording early next time or something.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2426656721

91 this month already. Probably no more cycling until Saturday now.

Not able to leave work early yesterday, but I wanted to do 42. Thought of doing the route down through Desford to Stoney Stanton and back, but ultimately decided on another non-circular Twycross, which seemed more in my comfort zone somehow. I decided to do 21.12 miles, then come back the way I came.

Set off at about 17:55 on the Boardman. I might have taken the X but I still haven’t wiped off the excess lube off the chain from its last relube. And I just felt like a run out on the red one.

Conditions were dry and almost warm, but I wore a thick layer on top under my jersey and leggings anyway, assuming it would be colder later. That was a mistake as it turned out; I was too warm for the first half of the ride. But I enjoyed myself nonetheless.

Picked up some rain for a few minutes near Ratcliffe but that had stopped as I pulled into Fenn Lanes, and I wasn’t troubled by it again.

After 20 miles or so, pedalling along Fenn Lanes, I realised I’d be close to my favourite bench at Sutton Cheney at the 21.12 point. When I hit 21.12 miles I could see that it was only about 80 metres further ahead so I pressed on, and stopped at 21.17 (according to the bike computer anyway). Stopped there for a break and did a couple of hamstring exercises and two calf stretching exercises.

I’d thought to stuff my leggings in my back pack there but as I set off again, I was considerably less warm so I kept them on. I realised that I’d been listening to a conversation about cricket for about an hour on 5 Live, so I decided to flip to 6 Music. I love my little lightweight rechargeable DAB but it does have one Achilles heel – it doesn’t do station presets, and selecting a station is bizarrely non-linear. You can’t expect to arrive back at the same setting if you do + then -. Weird. Anyway I settled for Planet Rock, and Alice Cooper’s show.

I glanced at my watch a couple of minutes later and it was about 8pm! I’d assumed I’d be back before 9:30. Sunset was 9:21. But at this rate it looked like I’d be pedalling home in the dark, and I didn’t have lights of any description. I took off the little LED blinkers I leave on there to clean it a couple of weeks ago. And because I’m a twat^*, it doesn’t even have a rear reflector.

So, I put my foot down. I pondered taking a shorter route home, but decided I’d rather take my chances. Right knee was getting a bit sore about ten miles from home, but I think that was more the exertion than the distance. Feels a touch hurty now as well. But I probably won’t have the combination of time and weather to do 40+ again for a few days.

Alice kindly played Freewill as I made my way along Atterton Lane. Just lovely to be out at that time of night, near sunset. The roads were delightfully quiet after 9pm.

Still enough light to see in front of me at 9:45pm as I pedalled along the last mile to home, but I certainly should have had lights on. Oh well. Interestingly I would have been fine in Hartlepool, where sunset happens 11 minutes later than NW Leics.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2421225762

42.43 miles and 65 done this month, a decent start to June after 3 days.

*very rare moment of self-deprecation

I took the black Boardman up to my Mum’s place in Hartlepool for the weekend, with a view to leaving it there for a bit. I haven’t used Zwift for about a year, and it’s just sat on the Kinetic trainer like a useless ornament in the garage.

It differs from the red Boardman that I more frequently use in that it still has the standard wheels, as well as the standard stem, seat post and bar tape. It also has a carbon fork, by virtue of its “special edition” status. Despite all this it’s a very similar ride.

Took it out on Friday evening to do a run out to the Transporter Bridge and back. A bit blowy, especially along the coast. A very flat route. When I’ve done this one on the hybrid in the past I’ve wished I was on a road bike, but ironically the road surface is so scrubby and rough on the last stretch north of the Tees that I realised I’d probably be better off on the hybrid. I decided I’d had enough a few hundred yards short of the Transporter, and turned to come back.

Quite an interesting route this one. Takes you next to the North Sea at Seaton, and through the Seal Sands, a natural wildlife reserve. But also takes you past swathes of industrial scenery, including a nuclear power station.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2412329365

17.86 miles, which brought the May total to 370 miles (rounded up).

Yesterday evening, I kicked off the June campaign with a trip inland, past the Trimdons. The first 3.5 miles involve climbing from an elevation of 60 ft up to about 410 feet. Quite a nostalgic trip this one, as I used to do this route in the late ’80s on my old Raleigh Routier. I wouldn’t normally do a run out without having a day off but since the previous day’s cycling was all flat, and not a long distance, I thought I’d get away with it. And I did.

Only 22.41 miles but I left it a bit late before going out, and was expected back for dinner. Next time I’m up there I’ll perhaps keep on as far as Durham.

Came back a different way, through the village of Elwick. I used to frequent a pub there called the Spotted Cow, in a previous life. Beautiful view of the sea in the distance over Hartlepool, coming down the hill from there. And indeed of industrial Teesside.

22.41 miles. This month’s target is 287.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2415511977

Glad to have got a bit of use out of that bike this weekend. I’d only ever used it on real roads once before.