Unusually after a fast ride in I had a faster ride home yesterday, I can't remember it ever happening before. I had a tailwind, seemed to have all the lights with me and didn't get held up at all on the way home which meant I arrived home in 1:04. This is very rare, even on the road bike I don't often get close to this.
Legs were fine too but I think the tailwind helped a lot as I wasn't pushing too hard.
Showing posts with label Specialized. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Specialized. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Cycle commute - In Shorts!
I rode to work today in shorts! I actually set off with short sleeves too but that was a little ambitious and I dug the armwarmers out after half a mile. My legs felt surprisingly good on the bike today no inkling of yesterdays hill session, at least they seem to be good for something! It doesn't take much to swap them back to bike mode really, not good when your training for a running event though.
My new tyre hasn't arrived for the road bike yet so I took the Spesh. I had a fantastic ride in with what I suspect is a tailwind as I wasn't trying that hard but did my fastest commute time on the Spesh so far - 1:05 woo! Hopefully its not going to be too much of a slog on the way home but its such a beautiful day who cares!
My new tyre hasn't arrived for the road bike yet so I took the Spesh. I had a fantastic ride in with what I suspect is a tailwind as I wasn't trying that hard but did my fastest commute time on the Spesh so far - 1:05 woo! Hopefully its not going to be too much of a slog on the way home but its such a beautiful day who cares!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Commuting
I rode to work today, my quads were a bit sore from yesterdays run so it wasn't sensible to run. Due to falling off on Saturday I have various bruises dotted about on my legs which means I couldn't really get at them with the roller, another reason to stop falling off!
Ride in had a fair headwind for some of it, the last forecast I looked at had a Westerly for the morning but more of a South Westerly (i.e another bit of headwind) for the way home. Quite slow on the really open sections but I just spun the legs out, they weren't up for pushing.
When I got to work and reversing the bike into the cupboard I thought the rear wasn't rolling well, I picked it up and it wasn't spinning. I couldn't make up my mind if it was the brake or not but left it til the afternoon as I was hungry.
I missed the rain that came through for the ride home. I had a bit of a faff with the rear wheel before setting off. The Spesh has a very old pair of Hope C2s on it, as its a closed system you can back the pads off a bit (and if they stick on and heat up then they bind solid) but I couldn't get the dial to move so I jiggled the QR around a bit and that managed to make the wheel spin better.
Out on the road it seemed to be rolling fine and stayed ok for the whole ride. It was a bit of a headwind until Warton where it got more behind me. I was entertained on the Marsh Road as the Eurofighter was out to play, circling around over the marsh making a racket. It was a little distracting and I found myself drifting into the traffic lane, oops. Just as well there was a lull in the traffic, they don't hang around on this road.
It was fairly easy through Preston and home.
Ride in had a fair headwind for some of it, the last forecast I looked at had a Westerly for the morning but more of a South Westerly (i.e another bit of headwind) for the way home. Quite slow on the really open sections but I just spun the legs out, they weren't up for pushing.
When I got to work and reversing the bike into the cupboard I thought the rear wasn't rolling well, I picked it up and it wasn't spinning. I couldn't make up my mind if it was the brake or not but left it til the afternoon as I was hungry.
I missed the rain that came through for the ride home. I had a bit of a faff with the rear wheel before setting off. The Spesh has a very old pair of Hope C2s on it, as its a closed system you can back the pads off a bit (and if they stick on and heat up then they bind solid) but I couldn't get the dial to move so I jiggled the QR around a bit and that managed to make the wheel spin better.
Out on the road it seemed to be rolling fine and stayed ok for the whole ride. It was a bit of a headwind until Warton where it got more behind me. I was entertained on the Marsh Road as the Eurofighter was out to play, circling around over the marsh making a racket. It was a little distracting and I found myself drifting into the traffic lane, oops. Just as well there was a lull in the traffic, they don't hang around on this road.
It was fairly easy through Preston and home.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Commuting
As I still have no car I decided to cycle to work today rather than run, Jez needed his car and was going to be away overnight anyway. The ride in was mostly in daylight, hurrah! I had to carry my laptop as well as my usual stuff so I had both panniers on, the extra weight was noticeable, particularly trying to lumber away from traffic lights etc. I intended leaving the laptop at work.
There was a stiff headwind from Warton to Lytham , I could see by the flags at the side of the road that I was riding straight into it. I passed a coal lorry and did look behind me to see if they had chucked a couple of sacks on coal onto the bike such was the reduction in speed!
It took 1:17 to get to work today, I thought it was slower. I was starving too, so I downed the bottle of energy drink that I now always carry with me in the morning (as I can't face breakfast before setting off) when getting showered and changed then had a large bowl of porridge.
A call to the garage after lunch and they still haven't managed to get the correct seal for the injector!!!! So unlikely the car will be finished today, that puts me in a bit of a quandary as I can't use Jez's car tomorrow. I end up deciding to take the laptop home and I arrange to work at home tomorrow.
I need to pick some bike bits up from Merlin, which wasn't a big deal until I remembered they are no longer in Leyland (2 miles away) but Buckshaw Village (6.5 miles away). I'll have to go by bike.
Ride home was brill, the wind was behind me all the way and I made good speed with not masses of effort. It took 1:10 to get home, which is reasonably quick. A quick pitstop, dump uneccessary baggage, pick up a lock, pick up some biscuits, feed the cat then back out. The cat was very miffed at this!
I rode through Cuerden Park, best time to ride it is at night as there is nobody there then up the A6 and into Buckshaw Village. Into Merlin, pick up the bits then I decide to ride home on the A49 as traffic will have calmed a bit. At some point on the ride home I did the maths....35.5 round trip commute, 10 miles so far in my Merlin run, only another 4.5 or so to get 50.
Why did I do that? I nipped into Sainsburys to get some odds and sods (chocolate) and then had to find two miles so rode down into Bamber Bridge a bit then home. 50.4 milesish of bimbling about on the tank.
I hope I haven't killed my legs for tomorrow's run.
There was a stiff headwind from Warton to Lytham , I could see by the flags at the side of the road that I was riding straight into it. I passed a coal lorry and did look behind me to see if they had chucked a couple of sacks on coal onto the bike such was the reduction in speed!
It took 1:17 to get to work today, I thought it was slower. I was starving too, so I downed the bottle of energy drink that I now always carry with me in the morning (as I can't face breakfast before setting off) when getting showered and changed then had a large bowl of porridge.
A call to the garage after lunch and they still haven't managed to get the correct seal for the injector!!!! So unlikely the car will be finished today, that puts me in a bit of a quandary as I can't use Jez's car tomorrow. I end up deciding to take the laptop home and I arrange to work at home tomorrow.
I need to pick some bike bits up from Merlin, which wasn't a big deal until I remembered they are no longer in Leyland (2 miles away) but Buckshaw Village (6.5 miles away). I'll have to go by bike.
Ride home was brill, the wind was behind me all the way and I made good speed with not masses of effort. It took 1:10 to get home, which is reasonably quick. A quick pitstop, dump uneccessary baggage, pick up a lock, pick up some biscuits, feed the cat then back out. The cat was very miffed at this!
I rode through Cuerden Park, best time to ride it is at night as there is nobody there then up the A6 and into Buckshaw Village. Into Merlin, pick up the bits then I decide to ride home on the A49 as traffic will have calmed a bit. At some point on the ride home I did the maths....35.5 round trip commute, 10 miles so far in my Merlin run, only another 4.5 or so to get 50.
Why did I do that? I nipped into Sainsburys to get some odds and sods (chocolate) and then had to find two miles so rode down into Bamber Bridge a bit then home. 50.4 milesish of bimbling about on the tank.
I hope I haven't killed my legs for tomorrow's run.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Afternoon exploring
In the afternoon I decided to go and investigate a route over to Witton Park, I have an XC race there next month and fancy riding over. Jez also headed off there to fly his helicopter so I could meet him there and if for any reason I CBA'd riding back I could get a lift.
I had been looking at the map for a while, dithered a bit over which bike to take, Ribble or Spesh? If I took the Ribble I could put the route into the Garmin but I wasn't sure on the condition of some of the tracks. I decided on the Spesh, I would take a map and navigate my way over and take my time. I also had a triple MTB ratio setup on the front of the Spesh (road 11-23 on rear but should be low enough) for any cheeky hills, its not the best bike for climbing.
I chucked a lock and some biscuits into the pannier and set off around 2pm, into the murk. I headed out through Bamber Bridge, over and under motorways generally heading for Hoghton Tower. These roads were really nice and quiet and climbed up but nicely, not like the main road. I popped out on the main road near the Tower then headed off into Hoghton Bottoms. This was all new territory, gorgeous area though just a shame it was such a gloomy day.
Down in Hoghton Bottoms I came off the road onto a track, it was this I wanted to check out to see if it was road bikeable. On a dry day probably but it was wet, muddy and fairly bumpy. I have to say the tyres on the Spesh coped admirably it was only when I came to a steep climb that they eventually spun out in the mud, they are "touring tyres".
I had intended to drop into granny and sit and spin up the climb in order to try and keep traction but I couldn't get it to shift down into granny. A distant recollection came back of the front mech on this bike being set not to drop to granny. I never used to have a granny ring on this bike in its commuter set up but the current bottom bracket needed it for chainline reasons.
I was going to have to stand, the climb was muddy and rocky so I didn't think I would get far but I surprised myself by getting 3/4 of the way up before the tyres spun out on some soft mud. I pushed up the last bit, moved through a couple of gates then rolled down into Witton Park and found Jez. I troughed a couple of biscuits and watched him throw the heli around (woo, not!) before deciding I was cold and heading back.
I rode back on the main road until past Hoghton Tower then dropped down through the lanes to Bamber Bridge, I have to say it was much less hassle that way.
20 miles of bimbling and I got to discover even more about the local area. May think about coming out Hoghton Tower way for a run it really was lovely.
I had been looking at the map for a while, dithered a bit over which bike to take, Ribble or Spesh? If I took the Ribble I could put the route into the Garmin but I wasn't sure on the condition of some of the tracks. I decided on the Spesh, I would take a map and navigate my way over and take my time. I also had a triple MTB ratio setup on the front of the Spesh (road 11-23 on rear but should be low enough) for any cheeky hills, its not the best bike for climbing.
I chucked a lock and some biscuits into the pannier and set off around 2pm, into the murk. I headed out through Bamber Bridge, over and under motorways generally heading for Hoghton Tower. These roads were really nice and quiet and climbed up but nicely, not like the main road. I popped out on the main road near the Tower then headed off into Hoghton Bottoms. This was all new territory, gorgeous area though just a shame it was such a gloomy day.
Down in Hoghton Bottoms I came off the road onto a track, it was this I wanted to check out to see if it was road bikeable. On a dry day probably but it was wet, muddy and fairly bumpy. I have to say the tyres on the Spesh coped admirably it was only when I came to a steep climb that they eventually spun out in the mud, they are "touring tyres".
I had intended to drop into granny and sit and spin up the climb in order to try and keep traction but I couldn't get it to shift down into granny. A distant recollection came back of the front mech on this bike being set not to drop to granny. I never used to have a granny ring on this bike in its commuter set up but the current bottom bracket needed it for chainline reasons.
I was going to have to stand, the climb was muddy and rocky so I didn't think I would get far but I surprised myself by getting 3/4 of the way up before the tyres spun out on some soft mud. I pushed up the last bit, moved through a couple of gates then rolled down into Witton Park and found Jez. I troughed a couple of biscuits and watched him throw the heli around (woo, not!) before deciding I was cold and heading back.
I rode back on the main road until past Hoghton Tower then dropped down through the lanes to Bamber Bridge, I have to say it was much less hassle that way.
20 miles of bimbling and I got to discover even more about the local area. May think about coming out Hoghton Tower way for a run it really was lovely.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Bike bimbling
Legs were tired today so spent the day trying to catch up on some chores and picked up some shopping on the bike. I decided to go to Booths and take the slightly more scenic route to get 10 miles or so. Legs seemed to perk up after a few miles of cycling which was good.
Loads of people out and about on the tramway meant lots of dodging. A quick wander round Booths then heading back home. Its been a while since I've had fully laden panniers on the bike, I forgot about the extra weight and nearly dropped the bike when I stopped at the traffic lights. It does make for some interesting effects on the handling.
Home, 10.98 miles (CBA getting the last 0.02!). Unpacked the panniers to find that the cream had opened. The carton only had a foil lid, which had been pierced by something and about a quarter of the, thankfully small, carton had leaked. Lovely, serve me right for just chucking it in though.
I cleaned the cream covered food off and ended up pouring a load of hot water into the pannier, a good test of waterproofness, swirling it round and pouring it all back out to remove the cream.
I stretched my quads out a lot today, found a couple of large knots in the Rec Fem muscle on either leg and rollered them so hopefully they will be good to go tomorrow.
Loads of people out and about on the tramway meant lots of dodging. A quick wander round Booths then heading back home. Its been a while since I've had fully laden panniers on the bike, I forgot about the extra weight and nearly dropped the bike when I stopped at the traffic lights. It does make for some interesting effects on the handling.
Home, 10.98 miles (CBA getting the last 0.02!). Unpacked the panniers to find that the cream had opened. The carton only had a foil lid, which had been pierced by something and about a quarter of the, thankfully small, carton had leaked. Lovely, serve me right for just chucking it in though.
I cleaned the cream covered food off and ended up pouring a load of hot water into the pannier, a good test of waterproofness, swirling it round and pouring it all back out to remove the cream.
I stretched my quads out a lot today, found a couple of large knots in the Rec Fem muscle on either leg and rollered them so hopefully they will be good to go tomorrow.
Friday, February 6, 2009
This Week....
Flown past! On the way home from the Lakes on Saturday the engine management light came on in my car and the engine lost power. It would still cruise along ok but acceleration was a bit glacial. On Sunday, I did nothing due to combination of dodgy car meaning I couldn't get anywhere to go for a hilly run and with it being the day after a proper crash my neck was really stiff.
Monday I spent the morning booking my car into the garage and then not much at all as my broadband wasn't working for a couple of hours. Luckily my work were very understanding letting me work from home and logging on once the broadband was back. I went out for a walk to the post office to check conditions and decided it was too slippy/icy/snowy everywhere to run comfortably (kicking myself for not doing something on Sunday), but did walk for an hour or two taking some frosty pictures.
Tuesday I got to work in Jez's car and did an interval session at lunchtime. I was doing the 5 mins hard, 5 mins easy session again. It was pretty windy but I had the wind behind me when doing the first interval and I set off far too fast! The second one was still wind assisted. For the other three I was sheltered a bit, particularly for the last two as the dunes were in the way of the wind. I decided to try to maintain the average pace of the first interval, which was really hard and on the last one I had to shout at myself not to stop.
I hung on and average paces for the five: 06.47 6.48 6.48 6.52 6.49
Which is quite amazingly consistent for me. The downside was that working so hard meant that two minutes felt like an eternity!
Wednesday I was again working from home, I was supposed to be dropping my car off at the garage. The plan was to put my bike in the back, drop the car off, cycle into Preston to visit Post Office and bank then bimble home. Stupid car decided it wouldn't start!!!!! I tried to locate some jump leads in case it was the battery, none of my neighbours who were in had them (or they were in hubbies car, who was at work).
I should really have some leads so I cycled to B & Q a mile away, they didn't have any. So I headed to Halfords aboout 4 miles away (passing the garage annoyingly) and back. Had to wait for a neighbour with a car to come home, linked it all up and fecker still refused to start. Just belched loads of acrid white smoke out the back. Ah well another wasted morning.
Spent all afternoon trying to contact the garage and trying to figure out what to do with the stupid thing. At about 3pm I cycled into Preston to do the errands I was supposed to do this morning. All the faffing about added up to 20 miles of cycling.
Thursday was tempo run day: 1 mile easy then 7 miles at long tempo pace. It had been snowing a little before I set off but nothing that was going to lie. As I stepped out the door I thought it was a bit warmer than yesterday. There wasn't much wind but I decided to run into it for the first half of the run. I ran down the prom to the monstrosity that is Lytham Quays, then from there to Green Drive, and back along the wooded track I discovered last time and then back to work.
After an easy mile and a bit where I had to slow myself down a lot I picked the pace up a bit. I wanted to see how long I could maintain 8:40 pace. As the snow had stopped it seemed get colder. When I turned back towards work at around the half way point I picked up the pace even more (it was bloody cold). Mile splits:
8.40 8.38 8.36 8.28 8.15 8.14 8.21
I felt I was running quite well at the end, last time I felt I was running that well I broke myself (paranoia). Hopefully as I have to rest on Friday it'll give my legs a good chance to recover.
Monday I spent the morning booking my car into the garage and then not much at all as my broadband wasn't working for a couple of hours. Luckily my work were very understanding letting me work from home and logging on once the broadband was back. I went out for a walk to the post office to check conditions and decided it was too slippy/icy/snowy everywhere to run comfortably (kicking myself for not doing something on Sunday), but did walk for an hour or two taking some frosty pictures.
Tuesday I got to work in Jez's car and did an interval session at lunchtime. I was doing the 5 mins hard, 5 mins easy session again. It was pretty windy but I had the wind behind me when doing the first interval and I set off far too fast! The second one was still wind assisted. For the other three I was sheltered a bit, particularly for the last two as the dunes were in the way of the wind. I decided to try to maintain the average pace of the first interval, which was really hard and on the last one I had to shout at myself not to stop.
I hung on and average paces for the five: 06.47 6.48 6.48 6.52 6.49
Which is quite amazingly consistent for me. The downside was that working so hard meant that two minutes felt like an eternity!
Wednesday I was again working from home, I was supposed to be dropping my car off at the garage. The plan was to put my bike in the back, drop the car off, cycle into Preston to visit Post Office and bank then bimble home. Stupid car decided it wouldn't start!!!!! I tried to locate some jump leads in case it was the battery, none of my neighbours who were in had them (or they were in hubbies car, who was at work).
I should really have some leads so I cycled to B & Q a mile away, they didn't have any. So I headed to Halfords aboout 4 miles away (passing the garage annoyingly) and back. Had to wait for a neighbour with a car to come home, linked it all up and fecker still refused to start. Just belched loads of acrid white smoke out the back. Ah well another wasted morning.
Spent all afternoon trying to contact the garage and trying to figure out what to do with the stupid thing. At about 3pm I cycled into Preston to do the errands I was supposed to do this morning. All the faffing about added up to 20 miles of cycling.
Thursday was tempo run day: 1 mile easy then 7 miles at long tempo pace. It had been snowing a little before I set off but nothing that was going to lie. As I stepped out the door I thought it was a bit warmer than yesterday. There wasn't much wind but I decided to run into it for the first half of the run. I ran down the prom to the monstrosity that is Lytham Quays, then from there to Green Drive, and back along the wooded track I discovered last time and then back to work.
After an easy mile and a bit where I had to slow myself down a lot I picked the pace up a bit. I wanted to see how long I could maintain 8:40 pace. As the snow had stopped it seemed get colder. When I turned back towards work at around the half way point I picked up the pace even more (it was bloody cold). Mile splits:
8.40 8.38 8.36 8.28 8.15 8.14 8.21
I felt I was running quite well at the end, last time I felt I was running that well I broke myself (paranoia). Hopefully as I have to rest on Friday it'll give my legs a good chance to recover.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Cycling In
My legs felt a little dead setting off this morning, after about 20 minutes I decided I was quite hungry. I dawdled in my own little world for about half of the ride until someone passed me on the Marsh Road making me jump. Then I started concentrating on riding. The last 8 miles or so felt fine so maybe I just needed to warm up a bit.
There was pretty much a tailwind all the way in, if it had been a strong headwind like Friday I'd probably still be out there such was my lack of oomph. 1 hour 10 minutes today.
I think I'm going to have a fair old headwind on the way home, not like Friday. The strong tailwind, and the fact I didn't leave work until close to 6pm meaning Warton was quiet, gave me an average speed of 18.01 mph at Lea Gate, just over half way home. I didn't think the Spesh was capable of trundling at that speed for any length of time.
By the time I had gone through Preston the average had dropped down to 16.5 but still quite fast for the ride home, there will be none of that tonight.
There was pretty much a tailwind all the way in, if it had been a strong headwind like Friday I'd probably still be out there such was my lack of oomph. 1 hour 10 minutes today.
I think I'm going to have a fair old headwind on the way home, not like Friday. The strong tailwind, and the fact I didn't leave work until close to 6pm meaning Warton was quiet, gave me an average speed of 18.01 mph at Lea Gate, just over half way home. I didn't think the Spesh was capable of trundling at that speed for any length of time.
By the time I had gone through Preston the average had dropped down to 16.5 but still quite fast for the ride home, there will be none of that tonight.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tired
Had a rubbish nights sleep last night, which surprised me. I was expecting to sleep like a log due to the long run and I was shattered at 10:30 pm and went to bed. I woke up for some reason at 1:30 am and was wide awake for about three hours. My right calf was annoying me, it felt crampy though I am not prone to cramp. I stretched it out a few times and was fine when I woke up in the morning.
I was intending on going for a short offroad ride in the morning but felt like death warmed up when the alarm went off, so I helped Jez get some kit ready and off he went to ride without me (though not on his own at least). I did intend to go back to sleep for an hour or two but the cat had other ideas and kept trampling on my head and yowling at me demanding to be fed. When I got downstairs he already had food, little pest.
As I was up I got dressed and had an espresso, then a larger espresso and I was just about awake. I was feeling pretty stiff so had a half hour stretching session which mobilised things nicely. At about 1:30 I was still feeling out of it but thought I would take the Spesh out for a trundle somewhere to try to perk me up and work up a bit of an appetite as I was supposed to be going to a 4 course Burns night meal in the evening.
I fancied checking out a bit of the Ribble Cycleway from London Road to the Tickled Trout at least. I brightened up immediately I was outside, helped by the sunshine and cold wind. I headed to London Road and saw the signs for the cycleway. As I passed the pub (Bridge Inn?) there were two wide tracks to choose from but no signs, well there were but I'd not noticed them.
So I took the straight ahead track for a bit but it seemed to be heading away from the river and I thought the track would follow it closely, so I turned back. I then took the other track but came round a bend to be faced with a barriers, a car parked in front of it and three men stood behind the car, one with a rifle complete with telescopic sight. Ooo er!
They told me not to mind the gun and were friendly enough! I asked them which way the Ribble Cycle path went and they directed me back onto the other track. I headed back to the pub to start again and then noticed the blue cycle path signs pointing straight ahead.
It was well surfaced track for most of it, lots of gates, and slightly strange arrangement in the cycle gates with opening one gate, pushing bike into little enclosure thing, shutting that gate behind you then opening the one perpendicular to the last one and reversing bike out. I'm not sure if this path is for horse use but if it is then the only way to get a horse through some of the double gates would be to reverse it. When I used to ride horses a lot none of them were overly keen on reversing (unless they were being contrary and were supposed to be going forwards).
There was also a nice deposit of stinking slurry left by a large tractor cutting over the path, it stunk and covered my tyres in crap. If there wasn't a funny double gate set up there was the choice of a single gate on one side of the big gate or a narrow cattle grid on the other side. I nearly slid out on the first grid as my tyres were covered in slurry and it had to be approached at an angle. Luckily, as it was so narrow it was easy to grab the fence and get a foot down before I slid out completely. I took the non-grid option next time.
By this time the track was following the river, they had done some work on putting some flood defences in as obviously part of the track had been washed away by the river. Lots of the vegetation at the side was flattened but I couldn't make up my mind if the river was high or not as I had no idea what it normally looks like near here. The track became woodland hard pack complete with patches of slippy mud rather than tarmac for a while then it became a quite narrow bumpy tarmac singletrack rather than the wide tarmac of before.
I got to the Tickled Trout and headed back the way I came. The trundle outwards was really easy as I had the wind behind me. It was fairly slow progress riding back against the wind. I then cycled over to Booths to pick up some sugar before heading home.
16 miles of bimbling which helped my legs a lot but seemed to give my face really bad windburn, I wasn't out that long so may be cumulative effects of two days but its really stinging.
I was intending on going for a short offroad ride in the morning but felt like death warmed up when the alarm went off, so I helped Jez get some kit ready and off he went to ride without me (though not on his own at least). I did intend to go back to sleep for an hour or two but the cat had other ideas and kept trampling on my head and yowling at me demanding to be fed. When I got downstairs he already had food, little pest.
As I was up I got dressed and had an espresso, then a larger espresso and I was just about awake. I was feeling pretty stiff so had a half hour stretching session which mobilised things nicely. At about 1:30 I was still feeling out of it but thought I would take the Spesh out for a trundle somewhere to try to perk me up and work up a bit of an appetite as I was supposed to be going to a 4 course Burns night meal in the evening.
I fancied checking out a bit of the Ribble Cycleway from London Road to the Tickled Trout at least. I brightened up immediately I was outside, helped by the sunshine and cold wind. I headed to London Road and saw the signs for the cycleway. As I passed the pub (Bridge Inn?) there were two wide tracks to choose from but no signs, well there were but I'd not noticed them.
So I took the straight ahead track for a bit but it seemed to be heading away from the river and I thought the track would follow it closely, so I turned back. I then took the other track but came round a bend to be faced with a barriers, a car parked in front of it and three men stood behind the car, one with a rifle complete with telescopic sight. Ooo er!
They told me not to mind the gun and were friendly enough! I asked them which way the Ribble Cycle path went and they directed me back onto the other track. I headed back to the pub to start again and then noticed the blue cycle path signs pointing straight ahead.
It was well surfaced track for most of it, lots of gates, and slightly strange arrangement in the cycle gates with opening one gate, pushing bike into little enclosure thing, shutting that gate behind you then opening the one perpendicular to the last one and reversing bike out. I'm not sure if this path is for horse use but if it is then the only way to get a horse through some of the double gates would be to reverse it. When I used to ride horses a lot none of them were overly keen on reversing (unless they were being contrary and were supposed to be going forwards).
There was also a nice deposit of stinking slurry left by a large tractor cutting over the path, it stunk and covered my tyres in crap. If there wasn't a funny double gate set up there was the choice of a single gate on one side of the big gate or a narrow cattle grid on the other side. I nearly slid out on the first grid as my tyres were covered in slurry and it had to be approached at an angle. Luckily, as it was so narrow it was easy to grab the fence and get a foot down before I slid out completely. I took the non-grid option next time.
By this time the track was following the river, they had done some work on putting some flood defences in as obviously part of the track had been washed away by the river. Lots of the vegetation at the side was flattened but I couldn't make up my mind if the river was high or not as I had no idea what it normally looks like near here. The track became woodland hard pack complete with patches of slippy mud rather than tarmac for a while then it became a quite narrow bumpy tarmac singletrack rather than the wide tarmac of before.
I got to the Tickled Trout and headed back the way I came. The trundle outwards was really easy as I had the wind behind me. It was fairly slow progress riding back against the wind. I then cycled over to Booths to pick up some sugar before heading home.
16 miles of bimbling which helped my legs a lot but seemed to give my face really bad windburn, I wasn't out that long so may be cumulative effects of two days but its really stinging.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Cycle Commute In
I didn't expect to ride in this week as the forecast earlier in the week was so bad. Last night it looked like the wind wouldn't be as strong (I'll take 20mph as a bit of a breeze) and there shouldn't be much rain so I decided to get my stuff ready.
I was a little tired waking up this morning after yesterdays run but when I looked out the window the trees weren't being bent double and no rain was lashing to I got dressed and out. There was rain for a while as I was heading out of Preston but I didn't really care due to the head to ankle paclite, how did I ever survive without it? The wind was right in my face for most of the ride so it was slow progress at times, I didn't try to push as I'd had quite a hard day yesterday.
It took me 1:14 to get to work this morning but I enjoyed it and it was almost light enough that I could have switched the main light off at Warton. Fingers crossed the wind stays westerly and I get blown home.
I was a little tired waking up this morning after yesterdays run but when I looked out the window the trees weren't being bent double and no rain was lashing to I got dressed and out. There was rain for a while as I was heading out of Preston but I didn't really care due to the head to ankle paclite, how did I ever survive without it? The wind was right in my face for most of the ride so it was slow progress at times, I didn't try to push as I'd had quite a hard day yesterday.
It took me 1:14 to get to work this morning but I enjoyed it and it was almost light enough that I could have switched the main light off at Warton. Fingers crossed the wind stays westerly and I get blown home.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Riding to work
I decided to ride to work today, there had been no banter about night riding and the forecast looked not too bad today. I also want a rest day in my legs before racing on Saturday.
The forecast was for light wind and possibly some rain in the morning with the wind picking up to around 25mph gusts etc and heavier rain for the ride home. The wind was due to be coming from a South Easterly direction which as Jez pointed out would make for hard work on the ride home. I said "that's not too bad and I have my waterproofs anyway".
Ride in was fine, a little cold to start with but nice and warm in my full paclite bin bag ensemble. I took a pretty steady pace to work with no dramas. It took 1:09 minutes to do the 17.5 miles for the particular route I took and it was a really, really enjoyable "I love my bike" ride. Particularly enjoyable was switching the main light off for the last three miles or so as it was so light (spring is coming!!! slowly).
For the ride home my words came back to haunt me! The rain started as soon as I got up from my desk (I laugh in the face of rain!) but the wind didn't seem to bad due to the shelter of the building. Usual faff getting ready and out the door, it wasn't until I left site and turned onto Heyhouses Lane that the wind hit me and I crawled along at 10mph!
It was hard work against the wind for the whole ride home but I can honestly say I never bothered about the rain (apart from the few times it was driving into my face), I was toasty, warm and dry. I slogged it out with my helmet peak set down against the wind for most of the way home. It was so set down that I missed the cut through to the swing bridge on the docks and ended up popping out near Morrisons. I did think of cycling along that way but when I got there it seemed jammed with cars.
I decided to head round the back of the docks as I was supposed to. As I was approaching the cinema I could see loads of tail lights queued, unusual for this bit of road. When I got to the junction to head towards Strand Road it was at a standstill. Cars were backed up, with people trying to get into the queue at random angles. It was chaos, so I rode on the pavement for a while until I got past the worst bottle neck and continued on the road, then down through quiet Avenham Park.
The last section was hard work straight into the wind and I crawled home. It took me 1:25 to do the 18 or so miles home at a snail worthy 12.9 mph. Though it turns out there were major problems on the M6/M55 anyway so I don't think I would have driven home in much less, which was why Preston was so busy. Still quite enjoyed it because I didn't end up cold and wet.
The forecast was for light wind and possibly some rain in the morning with the wind picking up to around 25mph gusts etc and heavier rain for the ride home. The wind was due to be coming from a South Easterly direction which as Jez pointed out would make for hard work on the ride home. I said "that's not too bad and I have my waterproofs anyway".
Ride in was fine, a little cold to start with but nice and warm in my full paclite bin bag ensemble. I took a pretty steady pace to work with no dramas. It took 1:09 minutes to do the 17.5 miles for the particular route I took and it was a really, really enjoyable "I love my bike" ride. Particularly enjoyable was switching the main light off for the last three miles or so as it was so light (spring is coming!!! slowly).
For the ride home my words came back to haunt me! The rain started as soon as I got up from my desk (I laugh in the face of rain!) but the wind didn't seem to bad due to the shelter of the building. Usual faff getting ready and out the door, it wasn't until I left site and turned onto Heyhouses Lane that the wind hit me and I crawled along at 10mph!
It was hard work against the wind for the whole ride home but I can honestly say I never bothered about the rain (apart from the few times it was driving into my face), I was toasty, warm and dry. I slogged it out with my helmet peak set down against the wind for most of the way home. It was so set down that I missed the cut through to the swing bridge on the docks and ended up popping out near Morrisons. I did think of cycling along that way but when I got there it seemed jammed with cars.
I decided to head round the back of the docks as I was supposed to. As I was approaching the cinema I could see loads of tail lights queued, unusual for this bit of road. When I got to the junction to head towards Strand Road it was at a standstill. Cars were backed up, with people trying to get into the queue at random angles. It was chaos, so I rode on the pavement for a while until I got past the worst bottle neck and continued on the road, then down through quiet Avenham Park.
The last section was hard work straight into the wind and I crawled home. It took me 1:25 to do the 18 or so miles home at a snail worthy 12.9 mph. Though it turns out there were major problems on the M6/M55 anyway so I don't think I would have driven home in much less, which was why Preston was so busy. Still quite enjoyed it because I didn't end up cold and wet.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Tempo Run
Today's run was 1 mile easy, 4 miles at tempo pace then 1 mile easy. I ran in the opposite direction to the way I normally head due to the wind direction and I managed to get lost on the way back! The last part of the run is through residential streets and I managed to miss a turning. It added on 3/4 of a mile that I didn't need to do so ended up doing 7 miles in total.
The tempo pace was supposed to be my best 10K pace plus 15 - 30 seconds. My best 10K pace is 8:20 so it should have been around 8:35 - 8:50 range. I averaged 8:20 for the four miles which was too fast really. I spent the whole four miles looking at the pace on the Garmin and constantly trying to slow myself down a bit, I'm hoping to get a feel for pacing soon though I didn't need the Garmin to tell me when I dipped under the 8mm mark as that felt really hard. I found the last tempo mile in particular hard due to overdoing the first three I think. I need to be careful with the speedwork pace as its an injury waiting to happen otherwise.
The tempo pace was supposed to be my best 10K pace plus 15 - 30 seconds. My best 10K pace is 8:20 so it should have been around 8:35 - 8:50 range. I averaged 8:20 for the four miles which was too fast really. I spent the whole four miles looking at the pace on the Garmin and constantly trying to slow myself down a bit, I'm hoping to get a feel for pacing soon though I didn't need the Garmin to tell me when I dipped under the 8mm mark as that felt really hard. I found the last tempo mile in particular hard due to overdoing the first three I think. I need to be careful with the speedwork pace as its an injury waiting to happen otherwise.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Ride home
I decided to wear the overtrousers on the way home and I'm glad I did because it was really cold. It was already starting to frost up in St Annes at 5pm. They really are quite swishy but when I was stopping on the way home and faffing about for ages taking photos they really came into their own as the only part of me that ended up cold were my fingers as I took my gloves off to operate the camera.
I took a few light trail pictures (I'm such a sucker for them).
I took a few light trail pictures (I'm such a sucker for them).
It looks like the orange light trail is trying to head skywards but it was only a car changing lane. After a few on the Marsh Road and a few on the roll down into Preston I thought I better get a move on before things froze any further. As I passed round the edge of the docks the water was utterly still, its so rare to see it like that. St Walburgs (I think) had a lovely reflection:
I had one more faff on the tramway bridge before trying to hermetically seal myself into my gloves and jacket to ride through the ice box and then home. I think I added over half an hour to my commute home and it was after 7pm when I got in and couldn't be bothered thinking about food. Luckily Jez had had an invite to meet up with some friends for a curry - so I pigged out on that with the obligatory pint of Kingfisher (so much for January healthy eating!).
Ice free commute
Hurrah. I decided to ride in today after not getting out last night and according to the forecast it was due to stay above freezing overnight then get really cold again on Thursday night (not sure its going to now but hey ho) so today was seemingly the best choice.
It was wet on the roads on the way in but no ice at all so no slides of any description. I also wore the paclite bottoms for the first ride of any real length today and they were ok, no sweating madly at all and not restrictive. There was a constant swish swish of the fabric but that was mainly drowned out by traffic noise so they may turn out to be the good investment I hoped.
They do look like clown trousers on me though, particularly when I've got the lower legs cinched up. They do look better when on the bike (as most bike kit does) but they fit well round the thigh so unless my stumpy legs lengthen by an inch or so I'll just have to look ridiculous standing around in them.
They did a very good job of keeping the wind off my knees even if there was no real rain today, I felt toasty all the way to work. My knees are usually the bit of me that gets most cold commuting as my tights aren't windproof. Not sure if I'll wear them on the way back home tonight though, depends how cold it is.
It was wet on the roads on the way in but no ice at all so no slides of any description. I also wore the paclite bottoms for the first ride of any real length today and they were ok, no sweating madly at all and not restrictive. There was a constant swish swish of the fabric but that was mainly drowned out by traffic noise so they may turn out to be the good investment I hoped.
They do look like clown trousers on me though, particularly when I've got the lower legs cinched up. They do look better when on the bike (as most bike kit does) but they fit well round the thigh so unless my stumpy legs lengthen by an inch or so I'll just have to look ridiculous standing around in them.
They did a very good job of keeping the wind off my knees even if there was no real rain today, I felt toasty all the way to work. My knees are usually the bit of me that gets most cold commuting as my tights aren't windproof. Not sure if I'll wear them on the way back home tonight though, depends how cold it is.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Daylight!
As I was allowed to finish work at 1:45 pm today I got to cycle home in the daylight. What a difference it makes, it helps it was a nice afternoon too. There were lot of people out and about in the park I cycle through (probably trying to knacker their kids out for this evening).
It makes such a change from the night commute. I have started my usual obsessive checking of the sunrise/sunset calendars again to see how much daylight we get back over the next couple of months (it'll be light after work in March, it when it always happens!).
Came home to wrap the last pressie of Jez's that I had completely forgotten about and opened some chocolates.
It makes such a change from the night commute. I have started my usual obsessive checking of the sunrise/sunset calendars again to see how much daylight we get back over the next couple of months (it'll be light after work in March, it when it always happens!).
Came home to wrap the last pressie of Jez's that I had completely forgotten about and opened some chocolates.
Christmas Eve Commute
I had been kind of planning to cycle to work on Christmas Eve all month. If the weather had been minging I might have passed on it but it is perfect this morning and it frees me from having to deal with any potential traffic problems on the M55/M6 today. Obviously as I've cycled in the motorways will be absolutely clear.
It was a pretty mild morning and lots of mist about on the fields as I climbed the short hill out of Preston. There was a lovely sunrise happening behind me and I almost crashed into a lamppost trying to look at it, then wobbled into the main carriageway of the Marsh Road at one point too. As the Marsh Road is a dual carriageway with cars hooning down it at 70mph minimum it wasn't an intelligent thing to be doing, traffic was at least very light being Christmas Eve. It really was lovely, gorgeous colours all diffused in the mist.
It is a major drawback of cycling west in the morning and east in the evening, I miss all the sunrise/sunset action. I hadn't brought my camera with me this morning anyway which is just typical when there is actually something to look at.
The new tyres seem fairly quick rolling even though they are a little wider at 1.5, I think they should help the handling when the panniers are fully loaded. I actually averaged 16mph today which is the fastest for quite while, even carrying the laptop as well as my usual clothes etc. Legs will probably fall off on the way home now!
It was a pretty mild morning and lots of mist about on the fields as I climbed the short hill out of Preston. There was a lovely sunrise happening behind me and I almost crashed into a lamppost trying to look at it, then wobbled into the main carriageway of the Marsh Road at one point too. As the Marsh Road is a dual carriageway with cars hooning down it at 70mph minimum it wasn't an intelligent thing to be doing, traffic was at least very light being Christmas Eve. It really was lovely, gorgeous colours all diffused in the mist.
It is a major drawback of cycling west in the morning and east in the evening, I miss all the sunrise/sunset action. I hadn't brought my camera with me this morning anyway which is just typical when there is actually something to look at.
The new tyres seem fairly quick rolling even though they are a little wider at 1.5, I think they should help the handling when the panniers are fully loaded. I actually averaged 16mph today which is the fastest for quite while, even carrying the laptop as well as my usual clothes etc. Legs will probably fall off on the way home now!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The P Word!
I set off home at about 5pm but I didn't get very far. Had all the usual clothing and bike faff, lights on, out the door and a few pedal revolutions and I decide that the saddle was too low. I thought it had slipped this morning but now I was sure. I stopped under one of the remaining working lights in the car park to adjust it and as I was looking down at the saddle QR I heard the heart sinking noise of air leaking out one of the tyres - arse!
It took me a while to decide if it was a leak or not, neither of the tyres seemed to be getting softer and I was stood next to a drain, so I moved up a bit just in case it was the drain, nope! I rolled back into my building and into the bike cupboard. It was definitely coming from my tyre and I pinned it down to the rear.
I took it out and moved the wheel round listening but then spotted this stuck in the tyre:
It was in sharp side down (naturally) and had cut right through the tyre, I prised it out and the remaining air in the tyre came with it, ho hum.
So tyre levers out, tyre off rim (came off easily, hurrah), spare tube out, multitool out, mini pump out. The tyre was cut right through so I used the knife on the multi tool to cut a section off the old tube to try to protect the new one a little. New tube in, tyre back on (managed to get it on with my thumbs only, hurrah again). Starts pumping air in. 15 minutes later no appreciable difference in the tyre and I remember why I hate mini pumps.
Someone offers me a lift home, which was very thoughtful but no idea who it was so declined. Someone else who I do know offers me use of the electric pump he has in his car but I have presta not schraeder valves so no go. He also offers me a lift home but it would be well out of his way so I decline, if I have to I'll ring Jez.
Another 10 minutes of pumping and I think there is a smidge of air in the tyre, I phone Jez. He's happy to come get me but does mention that if I've been at it that long then perhaps there is a problem with the pump - d'oh, why didn't I think of that.
Luckily there is one other bike in the cupboard with incidentally exactly the same mini pump as mine, I borrow it. I don't hold out much hope but its quite obvious after a few strokes that it is pushing air into the tyre. I get the tyre up to a fairly decent pressure (go me - mini pumps still suck though). I phone Jez back and suggest he meets me just outside Warton, it'll take me about as long to cycle there as it will take him to drive there.
I did think about cycling all the way home but: I have a pump that is useless, no spare tube and a cut rear tyre, not sensible. It was after 6pm (about an hour after I'd originally set off) when I finally left site, the temperature was dropping and it was frosting up. I cycled through the little park and just comprended as I approached it that the large puddle was actually starting to freeze, nothing I could do but ride over it and hear the ice crunch.
I got to Warton just as Jez did, perfect timing.
I have a feeling that piece of glass is part of the debris from the crash I had to cycle past the other week, my own fault for not checking my tyres. I used to do it religiously when I was commuting several times a week and I need to start doing it again, particularly on a bike I rely on as transport. I also need:
Another pump
Another tyre/tyres (Vredestein don't make the S-Licks anymore, boo)
Spare tubes
Some tyre boot material in the pannier
A headtorch when commuting (used to carry one all the time)
To start checking my tyres for debris, lubing my chain, generally looking after the Spesh.
I was very lucky it didn't happen on the pitch black section of the Marsh Road!
More expense! I almost pulled the trigger on a new Forerunner 305 today, I've been looking for it fairly systematically over the last few days but I still haven't found it. One more try tonight then I think I'm going to buy another one (no big deal if we end up with two, Jez keeps muttering about using it again as its technically his).
It took me a while to decide if it was a leak or not, neither of the tyres seemed to be getting softer and I was stood next to a drain, so I moved up a bit just in case it was the drain, nope! I rolled back into my building and into the bike cupboard. It was definitely coming from my tyre and I pinned it down to the rear.
I took it out and moved the wheel round listening but then spotted this stuck in the tyre:
It was in sharp side down (naturally) and had cut right through the tyre, I prised it out and the remaining air in the tyre came with it, ho hum.
So tyre levers out, tyre off rim (came off easily, hurrah), spare tube out, multitool out, mini pump out. The tyre was cut right through so I used the knife on the multi tool to cut a section off the old tube to try to protect the new one a little. New tube in, tyre back on (managed to get it on with my thumbs only, hurrah again). Starts pumping air in. 15 minutes later no appreciable difference in the tyre and I remember why I hate mini pumps.
Someone offers me a lift home, which was very thoughtful but no idea who it was so declined. Someone else who I do know offers me use of the electric pump he has in his car but I have presta not schraeder valves so no go. He also offers me a lift home but it would be well out of his way so I decline, if I have to I'll ring Jez.
Another 10 minutes of pumping and I think there is a smidge of air in the tyre, I phone Jez. He's happy to come get me but does mention that if I've been at it that long then perhaps there is a problem with the pump - d'oh, why didn't I think of that.
Luckily there is one other bike in the cupboard with incidentally exactly the same mini pump as mine, I borrow it. I don't hold out much hope but its quite obvious after a few strokes that it is pushing air into the tyre. I get the tyre up to a fairly decent pressure (go me - mini pumps still suck though). I phone Jez back and suggest he meets me just outside Warton, it'll take me about as long to cycle there as it will take him to drive there.
I did think about cycling all the way home but: I have a pump that is useless, no spare tube and a cut rear tyre, not sensible. It was after 6pm (about an hour after I'd originally set off) when I finally left site, the temperature was dropping and it was frosting up. I cycled through the little park and just comprended as I approached it that the large puddle was actually starting to freeze, nothing I could do but ride over it and hear the ice crunch.
I got to Warton just as Jez did, perfect timing.
I have a feeling that piece of glass is part of the debris from the crash I had to cycle past the other week, my own fault for not checking my tyres. I used to do it religiously when I was commuting several times a week and I need to start doing it again, particularly on a bike I rely on as transport. I also need:
Another pump
Another tyre/tyres (Vredestein don't make the S-Licks anymore, boo)
Spare tubes
Some tyre boot material in the pannier
A headtorch when commuting (used to carry one all the time)
To start checking my tyres for debris, lubing my chain, generally looking after the Spesh.
I was very lucky it didn't happen on the pitch black section of the Marsh Road!
More expense! I almost pulled the trigger on a new Forerunner 305 today, I've been looking for it fairly systematically over the last few days but I still haven't found it. One more try tonight then I think I'm going to buy another one (no big deal if we end up with two, Jez keeps muttering about using it again as its technically his).
Commute
I woke up feeling very tired yesterday, didn't sleep at all well and mindful of all the bugs going round decided to have a rest day. I felt ok when I woke up this morning so was probably a good idea. I got all my kit on, had a slice of toast and stepped out the house to get the bike and everything was all sparkly - for some reason I wasn't expecting it at all.
It wasn't a hard frost but the road was well covered. I walked my bike to the end of our cul-de-sac before getting on but not clipping in. It was pretty slippy all the way to the centre of Lostock Hall where the traffic volume had cleared most of the road. I clipped in here as it was almost clear but occasionally had to avoid the odd icy puddle. I did think about heading back home as I didn't fancy another hour of riding on ice again. I decided to give myself until the docks to make a decision.
When I got to the docks it started raining, the cycle path was completely clear though very wet so I continued on. The rain got heavier for a while then stopped. There was no more frost at all but lots of water. The wind picked up on leaving Warton (or I probably just turned into it) and the rain followed. It was hard work fighting the wind for the last few miles and just to round things off the rain got really heavy with the odd bit of hail.
My lower legs were pretty wet when I rolled into work but my top half was bone dry, hurrah for Paclite. I do have the trousers in the pannier and I can put them on if its wet on the way home, my knees got quite cold once the lycra was wet but I coudn't be bothered to stop on the way in and put them on. However the sun is shining here now so I might get away with it.
It wasn't a hard frost but the road was well covered. I walked my bike to the end of our cul-de-sac before getting on but not clipping in. It was pretty slippy all the way to the centre of Lostock Hall where the traffic volume had cleared most of the road. I clipped in here as it was almost clear but occasionally had to avoid the odd icy puddle. I did think about heading back home as I didn't fancy another hour of riding on ice again. I decided to give myself until the docks to make a decision.
When I got to the docks it started raining, the cycle path was completely clear though very wet so I continued on. The rain got heavier for a while then stopped. There was no more frost at all but lots of water. The wind picked up on leaving Warton (or I probably just turned into it) and the rain followed. It was hard work fighting the wind for the last few miles and just to round things off the rain got really heavy with the odd bit of hail.
My lower legs were pretty wet when I rolled into work but my top half was bone dry, hurrah for Paclite. I do have the trousers in the pannier and I can put them on if its wet on the way home, my knees got quite cold once the lycra was wet but I coudn't be bothered to stop on the way in and put them on. However the sun is shining here now so I might get away with it.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Uneventful Ride Home
Left work a little earlier than usual to get home and go pick up a parcel (the TV stand I had to reorder). It was really cold as the wind seemed to be coming in from an easterly direction which means I had the cold air in my face all the way home, had very cold fingers for a while.
The road surfaces were a little unpredictable so I rode more sensibly than usual, no massive leaning of bike into turns or anything like that. There wasn't any ice but where they had salted the road it was very greasy, there were also some wet patches and some very dry patches but it varied quite a lot. The greasy salted areas were the worst but there were very few of them by the time I got to Preston.
Tranway was dry but absolutely baltic, I was glad to get to the end of it and get home. I only had time to get changed and have a drink before heading off to a humungous parcel depot to pick up the TV stand.
We then spent the evening putting it together and having some wine, however it took longer than expected and I was quite late getting to bed and was shattered (I knew I was shattered as I didn't want to finish my wine!) which wasn't ideal as I had a race tomorrow.
The road surfaces were a little unpredictable so I rode more sensibly than usual, no massive leaning of bike into turns or anything like that. There wasn't any ice but where they had salted the road it was very greasy, there were also some wet patches and some very dry patches but it varied quite a lot. The greasy salted areas were the worst but there were very few of them by the time I got to Preston.
Tranway was dry but absolutely baltic, I was glad to get to the end of it and get home. I only had time to get changed and have a drink before heading off to a humungous parcel depot to pick up the TV stand.
We then spent the evening putting it together and having some wine, however it took longer than expected and I was quite late getting to bed and was shattered (I knew I was shattered as I didn't want to finish my wine!) which wasn't ideal as I had a race tomorrow.
Slippy ride to work
Rode to work this morning. I managed to get my fleecy layer dried last night but I decided to wear a thin Helly under it for riding to work with the Paclite, would be a good test of the jacket. It was absolutely baltic stepping out of the house but roads were ok, I again stuck to the main roads but the few puddles I saw were liquid rather than ice.
As I was heading out of Preston, just approaching the roundabout at the Audi garage, I took the centre of the road to go round and the front wheel slid away, then the back wheel slid a little. I managed to ride it out but it made me breathe deeply (new expensive jacket jinx trying to make me fall off). I didn't see anything so I'm guessing it was either black ice or a diesel spill.
It was quite frosty and slippy from then and off course they hadn't gritted the cycle path (turns out they hadn't gritted the road either, sure they will have tonight though) so I took it fairly steady. The climb was ok but as I was approaching the Texaco garage I saw a bloke on a road bike trying to get going again but his back wheel kept spinning. I unclipped my feet and put them on the flat side of the pedals at this point as there was a short downhill coming up. It was very frosty and I gained a little speed but I didn't dare touch the brakes and so stayed upright.
Once I got onto the Marsh Road and the roadside cycle lane things were a little better, there was the odd bit of frost but ok. Then I saw lots of brake lights up ahead, not a good sign. I continued riding up past the traffic and could see the blue flashing lights. I could also see a white Corsa facing the wrong way on the verge of the opposite carriageway though I think it was a separate incident. When I got closer to the blue lights there were about four cars who had obviously been bouncing off each other, lots of damage and crumpled crumple zones. Everyone seemed to be out of their cars ok though. I cycled past with the traffic trying to avoid getting the debris into my tyres.
It was frosty until just leaving Warton then it was fine all the rest of the way to work. I had passed Stu heading the opposite way just before the Texaco garage. He said the section of road where the Corsa was and the accident happened was actually very icy as did Jez when he had to drive past it later. its been a sunny day today so hopefully it will have dried off for the way home.
Jacket was great, I was just right temperature wise on my top half and there was hardly any condensation in the jacket which is great. The new jacket jinx still got me as I spilt half my coffee onto the left sleeve onto the nice white stitched Gore Tex logo - its coffee coloured now.
As I was heading out of Preston, just approaching the roundabout at the Audi garage, I took the centre of the road to go round and the front wheel slid away, then the back wheel slid a little. I managed to ride it out but it made me breathe deeply (new expensive jacket jinx trying to make me fall off). I didn't see anything so I'm guessing it was either black ice or a diesel spill.
It was quite frosty and slippy from then and off course they hadn't gritted the cycle path (turns out they hadn't gritted the road either, sure they will have tonight though) so I took it fairly steady. The climb was ok but as I was approaching the Texaco garage I saw a bloke on a road bike trying to get going again but his back wheel kept spinning. I unclipped my feet and put them on the flat side of the pedals at this point as there was a short downhill coming up. It was very frosty and I gained a little speed but I didn't dare touch the brakes and so stayed upright.
Once I got onto the Marsh Road and the roadside cycle lane things were a little better, there was the odd bit of frost but ok. Then I saw lots of brake lights up ahead, not a good sign. I continued riding up past the traffic and could see the blue flashing lights. I could also see a white Corsa facing the wrong way on the verge of the opposite carriageway though I think it was a separate incident. When I got closer to the blue lights there were about four cars who had obviously been bouncing off each other, lots of damage and crumpled crumple zones. Everyone seemed to be out of their cars ok though. I cycled past with the traffic trying to avoid getting the debris into my tyres.
It was frosty until just leaving Warton then it was fine all the rest of the way to work. I had passed Stu heading the opposite way just before the Texaco garage. He said the section of road where the Corsa was and the accident happened was actually very icy as did Jez when he had to drive past it later. its been a sunny day today so hopefully it will have dried off for the way home.
Jacket was great, I was just right temperature wise on my top half and there was hardly any condensation in the jacket which is great. The new jacket jinx still got me as I spilt half my coffee onto the left sleeve onto the nice white stitched Gore Tex logo - its coffee coloured now.
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