CycleSeven.org
Its all in a day for us multi taskers I suppose!
My friend Tina joined me today, to ride 150km for Audax UK (using the GPS system). Except this time, we were adding a bit more to see if we could both cycle 100 miles. My usual route for this ride is 98 miles. Today, I managed to make that important Century and succeeded in cycling 104! WAY GO! Big pat on back and slab of cake!
Continue reading My first Century, a bit o' Cyclocross and Shopping… »
I repeated Lejog with the CTC this year, having done it last year, also in July.
British cyclists are obsessed with this tour and indeed there are finer tours you can do in Britain, but this one has the feather-in-the-cap element and I think that that's the attraction.
I decided around Christmas to repeat it, as Mary suggested it and I enjoyed it quite a lot the first time. I cycle all year round, but for this I decided to get extra fit and did about 12 weeks of around 200m/week, including two centuries, some hard hilly stuff , etc. I wanted to lose weight, and I started at 14.10, as against 15.12 last year. Big difference.
I once had a girlfriend who referred to her moped as "Horse". Strangely, I never met Horse, but I imagined something old and large, with plenty of character.
Bicycles are the same. Perhaps more so, because a bike is an extension of a person, a remarkably simple machine that converts leg movement into speed and distance. When all goes well, this occurs without thought. We don't consciously pedal or steer, any more than we consciously place one foot in front of another when we walk. We just think ourselves there and, hey presto, there we are, whether this is popping into the kitchen for a coffee or nipping down to Mozzers to restock the larder.
The Isle of Wight has suffered from drought this summer but this week the rain has returned with a vengeance. We had two inches on Sunday and its continued in a similar vein all week which has come as rather a shock to we soft southerners! When I was a big tough northerner (or was I just rather younger?), and skint to boot, I used to accept sitting in a puddle as a fact of life but now I've been looking at ways to try to avoid it. There is a wide range of waterproof leg wear for cyclists but is any of it actually worth the hassle?
Holland cycle tour route plan
Mrs Taylor has organised this one single-handedly. She's been on some Dutch bike route planning website or another and planned the following for us in September:
Our new coalition government, playfully nicknamed the ConDems by some wag, has been at it again: the military can expect to have to pay for their own pea-shooters; a new generation of infants are to have their milked snatched; and more recently drug addicts and alcoholics have felt threatened by a consultation paper that asks whether they should have their welfare benefits withdrawn if they don't pull themselves together. Or at least seek help.
The cheque's in the post. A final payment and ownership of the Ridgeback will pass to me.
Continue reading Cycle to Work schemes: are they dead in the water? »
I've had a couple of visits from the p*nct*re fairy recently. Looking back over my records I was surprised to discover I've actually done over 5000 miles on these same tyres – no wonder I've started to get punctures! I've been trying to make them last as long as possible as they've been discontinued (Michelin Krylion 700×25) but Chain Reaction were promising to have stock in in September. My first puncture was on a club run so I just fixed it as fast as possible. The second one was a front wheel puncture and I spent some time checking the state of the tyre. News was not good, if the front is in that state the back must be a right mess. New tyres were needed urgently, waiting until September would not be wise! Continental Gatorskins were duly ordered and arrived on Thursday. 'Will this take long?' asked Dennis as I moved my bike into the kitchen where I do all my bike maintenance. 'No, no, its just a five minute job' I assured him.
CycleSeven 2009-2010