I left work early, harbouring thoughts of doing 30 or 40. No rain for a
couple of days now but the roads are still fairly wet – possibly from
thawed frost? I took the Boardman.
I set off at about 3:15,
thinking of doing a Twycross. But I changed my mind after the first few
yards, and decided to head south instead. Had to go through Hugglescote
rather than Donny Le Heath to avoid a closed road, which meant an
annoying wait at traffic lights. Down through Ellistown, Bagworth,
Newbold Verdon as usual. As I neared Newbold I realised I hadn’t brought
a phone with me, which meant I’d be somewhat stuffed in the event of a
mechanical failure. It was also getting a bit cold. So I decided I’d
keep it down to 20 miles or so.
Rather than taking the right along Kirkby Lane I continued on to Desford, and turned back from there.
Quite
a beautiful sunset. The only bummer apart from starting to feel a bit
icy was the rush hour traffic at Ibstock on the way back. Overall quite a
pleasant run out.
Was surprised to see some frost on the pavements at Ibstock; didn’t think it was quite that cold.
While
half-heartedly clearing up in the garage at the weekend I came across
the old Cateye Velo 5 bike computer that I’d removed from the Boardman,
because it had developed an occasional habit of cutting out for the odd
couple of miles. I decided to give it another chance and put it back on,
after cleaning the contacts. And it did behave itself on this ride.
Very accurate too; agreed with the GPS to within 0.01 miles over 21.71.
I
put some titanium stem bolts on too; the steel ones I’d put on there
only a few months ago had already started to develop a bit of surface
rust. Annoyingly, one of the six bolts in the set I bought had been
machined differently somehow, with a small round hole instead of a
hex-shaped socket for an Allen key! I was only going to use four of
them, but I’ve contacted the supplier anyway.
No rain today, although it rained quite a bit yesterday and the roads
were wet. I took the Prof out again, partly because I wanted to reassure
myself that the squeak from the rear wheel had definitely disappeared,
and partly because I’d re-angled the handlebars yesterday and wanted to
test the new configuration. I also replaced the steel stem bolts with
titanium ones, though I was fairly sure they were secure.
Left
the house just before 1000. The general idea, since a wind was blowing
from the west, was to pedal up toward Donington, take the sharp left to
Melbourne and from there continue on to Shardlow and head east toward
Derby. I’d only hatched this plan shortly after leaving the house, it
wasn’t properly prepared and as it turned out, it was nonsense. I was
sure you could get get onto the road from Shardlow from that road and
thought I’d done so before, but looking at the map now – clearly, I
hadn’t. I must have gone through Donington to do that.
Thus I found myself at the northern end of Swarkestone Bridge having a What Now? moment, but decided to take a left, west along the long, flat road that goes to Willington. Not been along there for a month or two and it’s a pleasant run, despite being an A road. I decided I’d go as far as Hilton, which I’ve only done once before. So I did that. Very pleasant out there in the sunshine, and not as cold as I’d expected. I’d decided on a two sock strategy without overshoes as I haven’t adjusted the pedals on the Prof yet and the overshoes would have made clipping in a bit tricky.
I must get some new ones. I did have a splurge of
retail therapy on Amazon yesterday and bought a couple of inner tubes
(didn’t have any spares for the new bike so I’ve been taking a bit of a
punt going out on it), a supposedly lightweight cycling backpack that
isn’t particularly lightweight, a pair of new ultra light and
inexpensive bottle cages and a new, simple bike computer (a Cateye Velo 7
– tried and trusted). And some more titanium bolts.
Anyway – I
arrived at Hilton and spotted a pub on a little retail park on a
roundabout. I had a quick lunch there, sausages and mash and a half
lager. Not a particularly inviting place, with a view of a Tesco Metro
and a roundabout, but the staff were friendly and the food was fine.
Took a bit of a chance leaving the bike outside – I couldn’t find
anything suitable to fasten it to! My lightweight bike lock was too
short to tether it to the table or bench. But I only left it unattended
while I was ordering the food and got away with it.
Had
a look at Google Maps on my phone as I finished off my Carlsberg
Export, and decided to head back as far as Willington then come back
through Repton and Hartshorne, to Ashby – I’d had an idea to try that
route months ago but never got round to it.
Annoyingly, the bloody rear wheel squeak made a reappearance shortly after I set off.
Repton
is a very picturesque little town and home to a prestigious public
school. But I don’t think I’ll do that route between Willington and
Ashby again, or at least not between Willington and Hartshorne. It’s
very rural and quiet and almost reminiscent of the lake district, being
lined by hills. But it’s too climby.
At Hartshorne I stopped at a bench and examined the rear wheel closely. I prodded it a bit and tugged gently at the spokes and after that, the squeak vanished again. I have a theory that it’s the rear disk fouling one of the disk pads. It does disappear for a few seconds after braking. From peering intently down the gap between the pads, it looked like that might be the case. Why it doesn’t do this for the first 20-odd miles, and never when I don’t have my weight on the saddle I have no idea. But I’ll adjust it anyway. Apart from that I’m very happy with the Tricross – it is a little bit more sluggish than the Boardman but it’s comfortable and feels very dependable. It definitely absorbs road bumps and buzz better.
Ended
up on 39.17 miles. Should have come back the way I’d gone; I’d have
done another few miles and they’d mostly have been considerably flatter.
But an enjoyable run out nonetheless, and something a bit different.
I
used the Garmin Edge 25 that I bought a couple of months ago to track
the ride. I’d never got round to trying it. it sits nicely on the stem
and works well except that I couldn’t get it to pair with my phone for
some reason. But it shows up as a mass storage device when you hook it
up to a computer so it’s easy enough to get the track off that way.
No rain today. The roads were a bit puddly from yesterday’s
precipitation but since I hadn’t been out on two wheels since Saturday, I
wanted to get 20 miles in or so.
I was also keen to reassess the
rear wheel squeak situation on The Professor. I did take it for a 50-60
yard spin to check it out on Monday and was surprised to find that the
squeak had gone. I did a bit of Google research at the weekend, which
suggested that spoke rub can cause it – so I carefully applied a small
squirt of GT-85 to the points where the spokes are in contact with each
other on the wheel, before setting off.
Whether that was what did
the trick, or whether it’s just one of those things that disappears of
its own accord, I don’t know. But I didn’t get the squeak at all over
20.18 miles. Very happy about that because it was loud, persistent and
bloody annoying. I’ll check that none of the spokes are loose next time
I’m in the garage; I do have a spoke wrench somewhere.
Quite
a cold day and I didn’t bother with overshoes. My feet did suffer
slightly but not enough to bother me. I need to get some new overshoes
anyway; the ones I have can interfere with clipping in and out. Speaking
of which, the new pedals are a bit too tight, I’ll have to adjust them.
Bikes, eh! You’re never short of something to do.
Got back a
good 15 minutes after sunset and didn’t need to attach a front light,
although I had one in my backpack. So I made good use of the additional
half hour of afternoon daylight since the nadir in December.
So – I had a vague plan to do a Fondo today. The weather looked
alright-ish, with a strong wind blowing from the south according to the
BBC weather site – so I thought a trip out east would work quite well. I
was keen to try out my new winter bike, having set it up with new
pedals on Friday (Shimano PR-R540s, white ones since they were cheaper).
I got up at about 0800, made breakfast, visited Facebook and found the awful news that Neil Peart had died. Since I was due to ride the Tricross for the first time about half an hour later, I decided I’d name it Neil. Or The Professor. Or both. I decided to do 67 miles in his honour.
So
having consumed adequate toast and coffee, I removed Neil from the
garage and set off at about 0835. I hadn’t tried or adjusted the pedals.
I just hoped they’d work OK. They clip in a bit tight, but they’re
fine. I took an Allen key with me in case I wanted to make a saddle
height adjustment and I did do that, after about 4 miles, in
Thringstone. I decided my legs weren’t extending properly on a
downstroke, so I raised it a few mm. Seemed fine after that.
First impressions : it rides very much like a road bike. Certainly, it doesn’t have the zing or zip of the Cannondale or the S Works, but it rolls along comparably to the Boardman. Maybe a shade more sluggish. I’m not sure. It does feel different – the bigger tyres (32Cs) give a more cushioned ride, and it feels sturdier somehow.
Strangely, the right brake lever operates the rear brake, rather than the front.
I’m not a fan of the secondary brake levers on the top of the bars, but I’ll just leave them. They remind me of a similar arrangement on my old Raleigh Routier 30 years ago, although they were physically joined to the levers out front. These are separate, although they share the same cables. Quite a clever design. The gears (Sora) are changing very smoothly and positively. Feels a bit more refined than the Boardman’s Claris groupset and quite honestly not much different than the 105 groupset on the Cannondale.
Had a very pleasant run out east. I
was pleased to see that the standing water on the football pitch at
Normanton on Soar has drained away now, though there’s still water
running across the road at the usual wet spot near Cotes. One thing I
really like about the Tricross design is that the cables that would
normally run under the bottom tube are housed within the frame, so they
don’t pick up splashes.
Got to Eastwell, where I took this pic,
after about 31.5 miles. I continued on until I’d done nearly 33, then
turned back – my reasoning being that if I came back through Coleorton
rather than Thringstone on the last few miles, I’d add about a mile. I
was wrong about that, as it happens.
Shortly after I turned for home came the Oh Fuck moment as I found myself riding into a bastard of a headwind. I really had to struggle to get home. I was actually only one up from the granny gear on a longish downhill stretch at one point, and tempted to change down. The other highly annoying thing was that about ten miles from Eastwell, when I turned 5 Live off on the DAB, I noticed that the rear wheel had a pronounced and constant squeak. Dry bearings, perhaps. I’ll take it back to the bike shop and have them sort it.
I decided a Rush album would be an appropriate listening choice on the way home, for a period of reflection. I chose 2112,
which although not my absolute favourite record best represents the
Rush I fell in love with aged 16. After that, I listened to United vs
Norwich on 5 Live.
I did get a bit of respite from the headwind here in there in parts of the route well sheltered by trees, or when the route meandered in a different direction for a stretch – but mostly I had to push hard to get back, sometimes battling fiercely for a few yards. I was absolutely bollocksed after about ten miles of it. Not unsurprisingly this took its toll on my knees as well, which became fairly sore and feel a bit beaten up now. Not a setback though, I don’t think. I’ll just have to rest them for a couple of days.
To top it all, over the last ten miles I had to put up with a gloomy cold drizzle as well as a headwind. Grim.
I’d
been thinking of stopping at the Greyhound on the way back, but didn’t.
I stopped at a bench a few hundred yards further on instead and had a
pork pie.
As I got to Coleorton and pedalled past the Kings Arms pub I realised that I’d be about half a mile short of 67 miles on arriving home. So I did a sort of short circuit of nearby roads to push my distance up.
Very much a game of two halves, that one. I can’t say I enjoyed it overall.
Anyway 67.63 miles and that takes me to a fairly decent 172 miles in January, only about 6 less than I did in the whole of January 2019.
Rain due this evening but I took an extended lunch and deployed the hybrid on a moderate Twycrosser at about 2pm. Not too windy, or too cold. A bit damp. Puddles here and there. Back before sunset which is now a slightly more tolerable 16:09.
I used my ageing Garmin 310XT for a change and for some reason the ANT+ app that transfers data from it has stopped working properly. I resorted to starting up my Windows laptop to get it onto Strava but that didn’t work either. However the watch says 21.68 miles and I’ll knock off 0.01 for getting off the bike at a wee stop.
I’ll just stick to the Bluetooth watches or the phone, what a faff. The 310XT probably needs a reset.
Anyway 104 miles this month, well ahead of where I was this time last year (60 miles).
Seemed a bit cold out there, but I wrapped up warm and took the Boardman
out, hoping to do 40 or 50. On call again alas, so once again I applied
my usual strategy of doing an elongated route, with home roughly in the
centre. I planned to go south first, then up north, possibly over
Swarkestone Bridge and over Derby way, then back home.
I planned
to go down through Ibstock, Ellistown, Bagworth – but I absent-mindedly
missed by turn at Ibstock. Rather than turn back in Ibstock I decided
I’d busk it and find my way to Ellistown without backtracking. But I got
lost and ended up back on the A447, so I went that way instead. No
matter.
I went down as far as Kirkby Mallory then turned across
for Sutton Cheney, with the intention of coming back up along the
Twycross route the “wrong way”. Pretty much like I did a week ago,
except that I went the right way at the junction with the A447 this time
and didn’t take a detour to Stapleton.
Started to feel very cold suddenly though, cycling west along Fenn Lanes – probably because I was cycling into a headwind. Definitely the coldest I’d felt on a bike for months, and at this point I started to harbour thoughts of heading straight home and having a cosy Saturday afternoon in. However once I turned north for Twycross I seemed to warm up slightly and the Sun even came out briefly – so I decided to press on. I realised that the road I was on would take me to Measham in a few miles, so I decided that I’d head west from there for a bit, rather than going up all the way up over Swarkestone Bridge. I thought I’d go to Coton in the Elms and back.
However
a few miles from Coton I saw a signpost to Lullington, so – since I was
only going to go a few more miles before turning back – I thought I’d
go there instead. I did. The last half mile or so to Lullington was
obscenely muddy though, so I decided to try to come back a slightly
different way to avoid it. I followed a sign to Coton, intending to
return the usual way from there – but came unstuck at a junction when I
took a wrong turn. This took me to unfamiliar territory – Linton, High
Cross Bank and a village called Castle Gresley. At this point I thought
I’d better consult Google Maps, which suggested that my best bet was to
come straight down the A444, turn off for Moira then come home through
Ashby. So I did that.
Really
a thoroughly enjoyable run out, with the challenge of attempting to
navigate home from unfamiliar surroundings giving it a nice, adventurous
twist.
Near Kirkby Mallory I saw two crows (I assume – largish
corvids anyway) pestering a buzzard, which was sitting on a post. The
buzzard didn’t seem that bothered but the crows were swooping around it
and dive bombing it. I assumed they were trying to get it to go away and
I’ve just googled this behaviour – “mobbing”, apparently.
One day in early January 2015 a friend called Rob (aka ‘Moving Target’) started a thread on the old (now sadly defunct) Counterparts message board for Rush fans, suggesting a sort of Counterparts “cycling club”. I think I said I’d aim to do 500 miles in 2015.
I only had the hybrid at
that time and although I’d used it for the odd 7 or 8 mile run out in
previous years, I hadn’t used it for over a year – possibly two. I went
for my first cycle ride of 2015 on January 7th, took a wrong turn onto a
farm and got bitten by a dog. But I wasn’t deterred. I found the
practice of recording my distances on a spreadsheet and sharing my
experiences with like-minded people quite motivating. I bought a proper
road bike and ended up doing 2702 miles that year and 5775 the next,
increasing my distances gradually.
And since I set off on that cold day in January 2015, I’ve now cycled a total of 20,001 miles. Here’s to the next 20,000.
Didn’t entirely feel like cycling today but since conditions were decent-ish, I though I’d get the cycling year off the ground with a Twycross. Since my strategy for this year is partly to try and stay ahead of my year-younger self, I wanted to do at least 25 to build up a bit of a lead (this time last year, I’d done 22 miles on my first ride of 2019).
I left work at about 3:30pm and set off not long after. Only half an hour before sunset and it was already getting dim as I withdrew the Boardman from the garage, but I had excellent lights with me. I wore a decently powerful head torch, but had a handlebar-mounted torch as well. Both work quite well but the head torch is excellent for checking a GPS watch.
Definitely cold and very blowy on the early part of the ride, facing into the wind coming from the south. Nice to have a bit of a tailwind on the way back.
Really dark out there in the country after sunset. Pitch black. Very atmospheric.
Did a typical Twycross route of moderate distance; 30.16 miles. A decent start to the cycling year, and to the January campaign.
Hoping I can do a Fondo on Saturday – according to the forecast the wind will be blowing from the west, so I’ll think about a route over in that direction.
I juggled about with the monthly weightings on my spreadsheet based on likely weather and holiday commitments, and it’s given me a target for this month of 303 miles.
Downed tools early yesterday afternoon and withdrew the Boardman from the garage at about 14:50. For my 133rd and final ride of 2019 I wanted to do at least 24 miles, which would see my yearly and monthly distance figures edge up above 4300 and 400 miles, respectively. I also wanted to go over to Markfield, where I bought a house with my then-partner Sara in December 1989. It’s become something of a sentimental Christmas holiday tradition to cycle over there, this last couple of years.
I well remember returning here in the early hours of January 1st 1990, thirty years ago exactly. It wasn’t a Happy New Year and by the following December I was lodging with a submarine engineer in Derby but that, as they say, is a whole ‘nother story.
A dry, cold day but very little wind and the roads were mostly dry. I went out through Ibstock, Ellistown, Bagworth then over to Markfield from Thornton.
Came back a slightly different way and when I got back to Bagworth, I turned south to do a bit of the southbound route that goes down to Stoney Stanton, though I didn’t go nearly that far. Wasn’t sure exactly how far south I needed to go to get my distance up over 24 miles so I pressed on until I reached the turn for Kirkby Lane in Newbould Verdon which from memory I knew to be 10 miles from home by the route I intended. At that point I’d done about 18 miles.
Back on 28.52 miles. And that was a wrap for December (403 miles), and for 2019 (4304.55).
For 2020 I’ll aim to do the same distance, I think. A simple strategy would be to try to stay ahead of my 2019 distance total for the same point in the year. Should be easy to get out in front early on as my knees were in a worse state than they are now and I was doing substantially shorter distances in the first half of the year.
But my main ambition for next year is to do a few 100+ mile rides. Didn’t manage any this year; my greatest distance was 76 miles.
I went bike shopping this morning, at Halfords. A few post-Christmas
bargains there, but I didn’t buy one. I was quite tempted by a Voodoo
Limba, a budget “gravel bike” that I thought would do quite nicely as an
additional winter road bike. But in the end even at £288 I didn’t think
it was worth it. This particular one was in the clearance sale –
possibly because it had a broken bell (which I’d have taken off anyway)
and a missing bar end plug (which I’d have replaced with a mirror).
Normally they’re upwards of £400.
Halfords advertise a “free bike
build” on their website, as if you’d normally walk into a bike shop and
come out with boxes of parts. But the quality of their bike building
leaves something to be desired – whoever had put the stem on this one
had managed to get the handlebars crooked, so that you’d have to ride
with your right hand a few mm further back to keep the front wheel
straight. Any easy fix of course and I’d probably have flipped the stem
anyway, but it does show how shoddy they are.
In the end it was
the wheels that put me off. They looked a bit cheap, and having front
and rear disk brakes, presumably not that easy to replace. Disk brakes
are, for me personally, a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. They
add unnecessary complication (and indeed weight) for no discernible
advantage with respect to my own cycling behaviour.
Anyway I came
home empty-handed and an hour or two later, decided I’d have another
run out. I assessed that the roads were dry enough today to allow a run
out on the Planet X, which made me feel a bit better about my limited
winter bike options. I withdrew it from the garage at about 1:25pm.
Didn’t
take a proper front light with me but I only wanted to do about 30, a
medium-long Twycrosser. And it was a pretty standard Twycross run
through Sheepy and Ratcliffe until I got to the turn off for Upton on
the A444. I took that, then a right onto Stoke Rd to reach Fenn Lanes.
Haven’t done that for a long time.
Conditions
were starting to get a bit dim by the time I reached Cadeby and I
didn’t fancy doing the often-muddy stretch along Sutton Lane on the X,
so I kept going until I came to the A477, which runs parallel northwards
to the road I’d normally take through Bosworth and up through the
villages. Although I had a few options to take a left from the A477 and
onto the usual route, I didn’t take any of them. I decided the
better-surfaced A road would be a better option to get home quicker
after sunset on a bike only equipped with flashy blinkers. I’ve never
done that before; come home all the way past Bosworth on 9 miles of
A477. Not a lot of fun but it wasn’t too scary and I was confident my
rear light would keep me visible from behind.
Back just in time, I’d say. Dark by the time I was rolling the bike into the garage.
A gloomy and cold day in NW Leics, and the roads were wet. But at least it wasn’t raining. I’d pondered doing a longer ride today but since the conditions weren’t great and I had a not-inconsiderable Laphroaig-induced hangover, I decided not to. I thought I’d do 40 or so though and, mindful again of a need not to overwork the Boardman during the winter months, I took the hybrid.
I set off without a clear plan, but found myself heading
out down Standard Hill and Donington Le Heath. Not often I go that way.
Reached Ellistown and decided that I’d do at least part of my route
south, in the direction of Stoney Stanton. I got as far as Kirkby
Mallory where I saw a road sign to Sutton Cheney, which is at the
extremity of a longer version of the Twycross route. So I thought I’d go
to Sutton and do the first half of the Twycross route backwards from
there, which (I estimated) would give me about 35-40 miles in total. So –
I followed the road to Sutton. This brought me to a junction with the
A447, but it wasn’t clear whether I should turn left or right there. I
wasn’t sure which part of the A447 I was on.
I chose to turn left
and by the time I reached Stapleton, I’d realised that this was the
wrong choice. The turn-off for Sutton was quite some way behind me. No
matter – I turned off the A447 there, and thought I’d see if I could
navigate home from an unfamiliar location. Fun! And a bit of an
adventure. I followed a road to Dadlington and from there, saw a sign to
Sutton. That brought me to Fenn Lanes and comfortable familiarity. I
set off on the Twycross route backwards from there.
I
decided to do the smaller Orton detour from Sheepy. I hadn’t done it
backwards before. But I missed a turn and ended up doing the longer
detour that bypasses Twycross altogether. Again though – makes it a bit
more interesting to have to work out the route home. Back home through
Snarestone, Swepstone, Heather.
Saw a huge bird of prey sitting
on the hedgerow as I passed, along Sheepy Lane. I pulled up alongside it
in the hope of getting a photo, but as I reached for the phone in my
pocket it decided it wasn’t having it, and took to flight. A buzzard I
think. I also saw a large white bird in a group of pheasants near
Ratcliffe Culey – apart from its pure white plumage, it looked just like
a pheasant, with the same long tail feathers. An albino pheasant?
Really
a fun run out. Nice to do a few miles of unfamiliar road. I realised
after about 10 miles that I’d left the house without any breakfast, but I
seemed to be doing OK. A stollen slice (in festive lieu of an oat bar)
and a small pork pie kept me going. Actually felt a bit better after my
ride than when I started it. Fresh air and a bit of exercise won’t
actually defeat a hangover, but they do help.
Back well before sunset which round these parts is still the unfortunate side of 4pm. But not for long.
39.26 miles; 340 this month – a decent working majority.
Still pondering whether to get a cheap second winter road bike, to take the strain off the Boardman. I do have too many summer bikes, but I don’t want to demote one of them to a winter bike. Perhaps I shouldn’t have taken the other Boardman to my mum’s house where it only gets used once in a blue moon.
