Saturday, 27 April 2013
Friday, 26 April 2013
A Long Weekend in Historic York
We wandered around on foot and saw -
York Minster
... which dominates the skyline from every direction.
Oh wait, what's that...?
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Direct Action does work!
Ten days ago and feeling rather sceptical as to any positive outcome, I reported this series of potholes to Central Bedfordshire Council:
We can be Models... just for one day
Yesterday Adam and I joined in a photoshoot for a promotional campaign on sustainable travel, to be run jointly by Sustrans and Central Bedfordshire Council. We've been promised copies of the professionals' shots in a few weeks (a selection now HERE) but here are a few that I snapped. It was a fun day!
 |
| a bit of bike fettling! |
Monday, 22 April 2013
An aborted FNRttC
Unfortunately, the night ride did not go as planned for me. We have speculated on the causes of my knee problems and can only in hindsight wish that I had worn my trainers -- rather than stiff-soled cycling shoes -- during our Friday afternoon walkabout and that I'd stretched properly before the Off from York Minster at midnight. Whatever my mistakes may have been, my knees were feeling "tight" and uncomfortable before we'd left York, and this only worsened, eventually developing into sharp pains in both knee joints.
The night was cold -- significantly colder than the 4 degrees Celsius that had been forecast. The ride is mercifully flat but unfortunately this also means no hills to get yourself warmed up. My thigh muscles never really warmed / loosened up. I regretted leaving my Gore Windstopper jacket at home in favour of the lighter Pearl Izumi Barrier Elite jacket (which nonetheless did an almost-good-enough job at wind/cold protection, over a long sleeve baselayer, short sleeve jersey and long sleeve jersey - all merino. I also wore SmartWool 3/4 knicks with knee-high ski-weight merino socks, with Gore big tights over the top. So 4 layers on top, 2 on the bottom. Shoes were another error in judgement: my summer (mesh top) Specialized Riatas, rather than the Shimano MW81 boots I've been wearing in similar temperatures all winter.
The ending was in the circumstances no surprise. 20 miles out from York, I was cold and hurting and took the decision to abandon the ride in Goole where there's a train station. From taking that decision, I fought a hard mental battle for the further 10 miles to Goole, in something of a headwind. The three TECs on the ride - Adam, Marcus and Jurek -- were just lovely. Jurek was suffering with the cold as we were going so slowly on my behalf, but he got in front and set a steady pace. Big Marcus served as my windblock: I settled in behind his rear wheel and followed his line. Adam rode beside me. We didn't talk much but the support was palpable. When we came upon a group stopped at the side of the road, the TECs had to stop to lend a hand. I carried on by myself -- to keep warm if I could -- but was soon joined by local chap Mark, who til then I'd only known by his handle on the YACF forum. He kept me company and distracted me with chatter about the local area, til the mob at the back along with the TECs caught us up just short of Goole.
Adam and I sat inside the 24-hour Tesco for a little more than 3 hours until we could catch the first Hull-bound train at 6.46am. The train journey was about 45 minutes. We reached the breakfast cafe nearly an hour before the people on the ride did. They were a happy boisterous lot, the vocal consensus being that (a) that was a glorious sunrise, wasn't it? and (b) It Was Very Cold!!!
Adam wrote a rather good ride report here.
My tale of the rest of our long weekend in York will follow shortly, with photos.
CYCLING LOG: 15-21 April 2013
Thursday, 18 April 2013
A Friday Night Ride to... Hull! And a weekend in York
Very much looking forward to tomorrow night's FNRttC, the York to Hull edition! It's 72 miles, the first half of which is flatter than a very flat thing, much of it running alongside a canal that is in fact higher than the road we'll be in. In the second half, there are three hills. Count them, three. The first is long and steady and something of a relief - nice to exert the legs a bit! The second is brutally steep and mercifully short - best walked. The third is the b*stard. The gradient varies and the road winds around through a village so you're not quite sure how long it's going to go on for. The grounds begins to level off and you're think you're nearing the summit then you round a bend and the road kicks up again. Grrr.
Very much looking forward to this. And this time there's no possibility of backing out, whether for legitimate reasons or psychological ones!
Weather forecast has been improving steadily all through the week as Friday night approaches. We're now being told temps about 7-8 with winds 8-12mph. Lovely!
Last year we were booked on a particular train and had to hang around all day in Hull. My not-yet-healed Achilles was in agony so we spent the entire day in the pub!
This year, instead of heading home after breakfast, we're going back to York (by train!) and treating ourselves to a weekend of sightseeing.
Really looking forward to it all!
A few pics from last year -
Very much looking forward to this. And this time there's no possibility of backing out, whether for legitimate reasons or psychological ones!
Weather forecast has been improving steadily all through the week as Friday night approaches. We're now being told temps about 7-8 with winds 8-12mph. Lovely!
Last year we were booked on a particular train and had to hang around all day in Hull. My not-yet-healed Achilles was in agony so we spent the entire day in the pub!
This year, instead of heading home after breakfast, we're going back to York (by train!) and treating ourselves to a weekend of sightseeing.
Really looking forward to it all!
A few pics from last year -
 |
| Gathering at York Minster before the off at midnight. Local FNR'er Kat distributes home-made cake! |
Monday, 15 April 2013
30 Days of Biking: Day 15
12 miles on the Cross Check. Oops, no photos. Spring/summer gear on from head to toe today - wouldn't have imagined it a week ago.
Sunday, 14 April 2013
CYCLING LOG: 8-14 April 2013
|
||||||
| 20.07 km in 01:10:30 hours at 17.08 km/h on Surly Pacer. Forgot computer today. No real idea of time/speed but it was my usual route to Harpenden for Pilates and back, so I'm using stats from last such ride. Only thing is, the wind direction has reversed in the past week... bringing Spring! So battled against quite a head wind going down, then found the wind had shifted slightly more westerly for the return journey so had cross wind rather than tailwind on the main road, and then through the Peppercorn - Slip End - Woodside zigzag had more or less the opposite as we had going down. Took photos of potholes near the pig farm on Manor Road, to report to Central Beds Council. Capstan thermometer said temp was about 62F (didn't check what this is in Celsius). Wore S/S Primal jersey with SmartWool armwarmers, with L/S Smartwool jersey and Pearl Izumi Barrier Elite gillet. On the bottom, I wore my Ibex El Fito 3/4 knicks - exposing my shins for the first time this year! Feet: SmartWool socks and Spesh shoes. Head: Walz wool cap. Actually got too warm struggling in that wind going down, so ditched the arm warmers for the return and was still a little warm - feeling the heat through the black sleeves of the jersey! Adam meanwhile wore S/S jersey and cotton cap. He's half-alien.
Tags: road
|
||||||
|
||||||
| 23.37 km in 01:19:56 hours at 17.54 km/h on Surly Pacer. Loop from home through Stockwood Park then to Harpenden via Sustrans path, back via usual loop through Slip End and Woodside. end odo 2124.4
Tags: road
| ||||||
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)