Wifey bought me some more cycle gear from Aldi today :-)
When I got home I changed into a new pair of shorts and top and went for a rather wet and windy cycle ride.
I planned on doing my 'normal 20' but there was another major accident on the A3102 near Hilmarton (The second one in a week) and the road was closed :-(
I turned around and battled against a headwind and headed for Calne town centre, a 4x4 thing overtook me and braked instantly to give way to cars coming the other way- I braked and the rear tyre skidded on the wet road (I was hoping the now slick rear tyre would last another week or two! I now guess it won't) Thankfully I stopped! But I did treat the rest of the ride with a bit of caution.
Once in Calne centre I headed for the country, when I was at a point that I could head home I realised that my ride would only be about 15 miles...so I headed in the wrong direction to get a few more miles!
I must be mad, it was wet, windy and poor light! But I was enjoying it!
When I got home and got in the shower, I didn't feel cold but the hot water felt like it was stinging on my hands and legs, but on my body it just felt warm. It was a very strange sensation and I guess means that my hands/arms and legs were in fact cold!
The cycle computer had tonight's ride as 25.67 miles in 1 hour 41 minutes with an average speed of 15.1 mph.
Interestingly Lyneham Met office had the wind speed as 11 mph SSW and the temperature as 10.4 deg - Not cold! I will have to watch the effect of rain and wind on my body temperature, over the winter I had lots of extra layers on and I was conscious of keeping warm.
The RunGPS plot of the ride can be found here...
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Day 386
Newspaper photographer took my picture for the paper today :-)
Stopped work at 5:45 and went out for a VERY windy ride. Lyneham MET office had the wind as 22mph Westerly gusting to 29 mph! I thought it would be a good idea to ride up of all the local steep gradient hills in one ride :-) - Naish Hill, Bowden Hill, Bencroft Hill, Wick Hill.
It did lead to a very convoluted route!
The cycle computer had the ride as 31.85 miles in 2 hours 7 mins with an average speed of 14.9 mph
The RunGPS plot can be found here...
Stopped work at 5:45 and went out for a VERY windy ride. Lyneham MET office had the wind as 22mph Westerly gusting to 29 mph! I thought it would be a good idea to ride up of all the local steep gradient hills in one ride :-) - Naish Hill, Bowden Hill, Bencroft Hill, Wick Hill.
It did lead to a very convoluted route!
The cycle computer had the ride as 31.85 miles in 2 hours 7 mins with an average speed of 14.9 mph
The RunGPS plot can be found here...
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Day 385
I am VERY tired after last night's concert!
Saxon were excellent :-)
Night off tonight playing computer games :-)
Saxon were excellent :-)
Night off tonight playing computer games :-)
Monday, May 4, 2009
Day 384 (Bank Holiday Monday)
Had a fantastic lie in!
Eventually got up and did the normal Sunday tidy up (Put back a day due to yesterday's cycle ride).
I then busied myself cleaning and re-oiling the Merida, it had been suffering from a sticky rear de-railleur. (Not any more!)
Whilst I was cleaning the bike I missed a phone call from the local papers photographer :-( The picture will now be taken on Wednesday..
I set of on a nice short ride at 1:30, into a rather harsh headwind (Lyneham observation had it at 19 mph WSW gusting to 31 mph).
I headed out of Chippenham to Corsham (Via country lanes) then headed to Pickwick and Five Ways before turning towards Atworth and Shaw, where I had a rather good Tail Wind :-)
At Shaw I turned left and cycled up Goodes Hill, at the bottom of the descent I turned right toward Lacock then up Naish Hill. Then it was a right turn at Sandy Lane and a head wind back home.
The cycle computer had the ride as 23.59 miles in 1 hour 36 mins with an average speed of 14.6 mph.
The RunGPS plot of the ride can be found here...
Ohhhhh going to see Saxon tonight in the O2 Academy in Bristol :-)
Eventually got up and did the normal Sunday tidy up (Put back a day due to yesterday's cycle ride).
I then busied myself cleaning and re-oiling the Merida, it had been suffering from a sticky rear de-railleur. (Not any more!)
Whilst I was cleaning the bike I missed a phone call from the local papers photographer :-( The picture will now be taken on Wednesday..
I set of on a nice short ride at 1:30, into a rather harsh headwind (Lyneham observation had it at 19 mph WSW gusting to 31 mph).
I headed out of Chippenham to Corsham (Via country lanes) then headed to Pickwick and Five Ways before turning towards Atworth and Shaw, where I had a rather good Tail Wind :-)
At Shaw I turned left and cycled up Goodes Hill, at the bottom of the descent I turned right toward Lacock then up Naish Hill. Then it was a right turn at Sandy Lane and a head wind back home.
The cycle computer had the ride as 23.59 miles in 1 hour 36 mins with an average speed of 14.6 mph.
The RunGPS plot of the ride can be found here...
Ohhhhh going to see Saxon tonight in the O2 Academy in Bristol :-)
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Day 383 (Sunday)
Had a very late night!
Managed to wake up and get up reasonably early, had porridge for breakfast then set of for a cycle ride at 8:30 am.
I set of towards the Severn Bridge, stopping just before Rudgeway to take a picture of a ruined church (I have seen it a few times and want to find out a bit more about the place)
I added a new Severn Bridge picture to my collection!
Once across the Severn in Chepstow I turned left onto National Cycle Route 42 - It was a fantastic country lane route that went all the way to the top of Gospel Pass :-)
The first clear view of the Black Mountains was quite daunting.
The first major climb of the day was out of Abergavenny up the aptly named Hill Road (Pen Y Pound)
From here it was a rather nice and cooling downhill run, then started the rather long climb to the top of Gospel Pass.
Not quite at the top, but at the end of the steepest climb (Looking back down the hill)...
Just a little more to go...
The views from the top were stunning and the roads were awesome.
Now I was a bit of a fool today, I forgot to take any spare batteries for the GPS Phone. It survived until just before the top of the mountain (Well about 200 foot below the top). I cycled a little bit further on toward Hay on Wye, then I decided that it may be safer to back track my route and meet up with wifey (She was following me and set of from home about 2 hours after me)
When I got back to the top she was just coming the other way :-) (thankfully!) I turned around and went back down towards Hay on Wye to a parking area and had an Ice Cream :-)
We agreed that I would cycle back down the mountain and meet her at the bottom for a nice drive home. So I turned around again and cycled back up to the top! (Not bad I cycled over the mountain top at least 3 times!)
But the ride down was certainly fun! (And Fast!)
When I got to the bottom I loaded the bike into the back of the car, had a nice pint of cider in the pub, and wifey drove me home.
We ended up getting home at about 6:30, then went out for an evening meal.
The cycle computer had the ride as 88.14 miles in 6 hours 51 minutes with an average speed of 12.8 mph.
The RunGPS plot can be found here...
A couple of top tips from today's ride are....
Don't do a cycle ride up a mountain in a north westerly direction when the prevailing wind is North West! - Normally I do loop rides so I end up with a tail wind benefit at some time....Not Today though!
If you rely on GPS navigation don't forget to take spare batteries!
Managed to wake up and get up reasonably early, had porridge for breakfast then set of for a cycle ride at 8:30 am.
I set of towards the Severn Bridge, stopping just before Rudgeway to take a picture of a ruined church (I have seen it a few times and want to find out a bit more about the place)
I added a new Severn Bridge picture to my collection!
Once across the Severn in Chepstow I turned left onto National Cycle Route 42 - It was a fantastic country lane route that went all the way to the top of Gospel Pass :-)
The first clear view of the Black Mountains was quite daunting.
The first major climb of the day was out of Abergavenny up the aptly named Hill Road (Pen Y Pound)
From here it was a rather nice and cooling downhill run, then started the rather long climb to the top of Gospel Pass.
Not quite at the top, but at the end of the steepest climb (Looking back down the hill)...
Just a little more to go...
The views from the top were stunning and the roads were awesome.
Now I was a bit of a fool today, I forgot to take any spare batteries for the GPS Phone. It survived until just before the top of the mountain (Well about 200 foot below the top). I cycled a little bit further on toward Hay on Wye, then I decided that it may be safer to back track my route and meet up with wifey (She was following me and set of from home about 2 hours after me)
When I got back to the top she was just coming the other way :-) (thankfully!) I turned around and went back down towards Hay on Wye to a parking area and had an Ice Cream :-)
We agreed that I would cycle back down the mountain and meet her at the bottom for a nice drive home. So I turned around again and cycled back up to the top! (Not bad I cycled over the mountain top at least 3 times!)
But the ride down was certainly fun! (And Fast!)
When I got to the bottom I loaded the bike into the back of the car, had a nice pint of cider in the pub, and wifey drove me home.
We ended up getting home at about 6:30, then went out for an evening meal.
The cycle computer had the ride as 88.14 miles in 6 hours 51 minutes with an average speed of 12.8 mph.
The RunGPS plot can be found here...
A couple of top tips from today's ride are....
Don't do a cycle ride up a mountain in a north westerly direction when the prevailing wind is North West! - Normally I do loop rides so I end up with a tail wind benefit at some time....Not Today though!
If you rely on GPS navigation don't forget to take spare batteries!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Day 382 (Saturday)
Got up early and it was sunny :-)
Made Porridge for breaky, then went for a walk in West Woods with Wifey and Rosie (Dog)
The Blue Bells are well and truly out and looking as stunning as ever!
We actually saw some deer amongst the Blue Bells, but they were a bit to camera shy and I was a bit to slow!
I have been guessing how far our 'normal' woods' walk is for a fair while so I decided to gps track it today...the RunGPS plot can be found here... (As you can see I stopped a few time to take photies :-)
On the drive back from the woods we saw a sign that's up there with "Giant Car Boot Sale" and "Slow Work Men in Road" :-)
Exactly why would people run slowly in the road?
When we got back from the walk we went to the supermarket for lunch and did some shopping for the weekend.
On arriving back home I gave the bike a quick clean and then set of for a completely unplanned ride :-)
I set of on the A4 towards Patterdown and then turned towards Lacock and headed up Naish Hill (We have now worked out that it is Naish Hill NOT Nash Hill). At the top I headed onto the A342 after cycling through Sandy Lane I turned of the busy road and headed cross country to Headington and Stockley.
Sandy Lane has one of the coolest wooden thatched churches I have ever seen!
From Headington and Stockley I headed out towards Tockenham then Dauntsey, turning right to the Somerfords, at Sutton Benger I headed back down the A4 then turned right to Foxham.
I finally cycled up Wick Hill then down Bencroft Hill and Stanley Lane arriving back home at 5pm.
The cycle computer had the ride as 44.5 miles in 2 hours 29 mins with an average speed of 17.8 mph.
The RunGPS plot can be found here...
Made Porridge for breaky, then went for a walk in West Woods with Wifey and Rosie (Dog)
The Blue Bells are well and truly out and looking as stunning as ever!
We actually saw some deer amongst the Blue Bells, but they were a bit to camera shy and I was a bit to slow!
I have been guessing how far our 'normal' woods' walk is for a fair while so I decided to gps track it today...the RunGPS plot can be found here... (As you can see I stopped a few time to take photies :-)
On the drive back from the woods we saw a sign that's up there with "Giant Car Boot Sale" and "Slow Work Men in Road" :-)
Exactly why would people run slowly in the road?
When we got back from the walk we went to the supermarket for lunch and did some shopping for the weekend.
On arriving back home I gave the bike a quick clean and then set of for a completely unplanned ride :-)
I set of on the A4 towards Patterdown and then turned towards Lacock and headed up Naish Hill (We have now worked out that it is Naish Hill NOT Nash Hill). At the top I headed onto the A342 after cycling through Sandy Lane I turned of the busy road and headed cross country to Headington and Stockley.
Sandy Lane has one of the coolest wooden thatched churches I have ever seen!
From Headington and Stockley I headed out towards Tockenham then Dauntsey, turning right to the Somerfords, at Sutton Benger I headed back down the A4 then turned right to Foxham.
I finally cycled up Wick Hill then down Bencroft Hill and Stanley Lane arriving back home at 5pm.
The cycle computer had the ride as 44.5 miles in 2 hours 29 mins with an average speed of 17.8 mph.
The RunGPS plot can be found here...
Friday, May 1, 2009
Day 381
It would have been so easy not to have gone for a ride tonight!
The evening was overcast and a little dark (Like going back in time a couple of months to the dark ages of winter), I gave myself a mental kick up the backside and got changed - eventually setting of at 7pm.
It was the same as always when I feel a little lazy and lethargic, the thought of going out is the hurdle, once I was on the bike and pedaling, a smile appears and I wonder what all the mental drama was about!
I was even contemplating extending the ride, but the light was not good so I ended up doing my normal 20!
The cycle computer had the ride as 21.31 miles with an average speed of 18.2 mph in 1 hour 10 minutes.
The RunGPS plot can be found here...
Wifey contacted the local news paper (Gazzette & Herald) and they are going to put me and JOGLE in the paper next week, with a photo!!!! (I am actually quite Nervous about it)
And finally, even if you don't like cycling you can't fail to be impressed by Lance Armstrong in this video...
The evening was overcast and a little dark (Like going back in time a couple of months to the dark ages of winter), I gave myself a mental kick up the backside and got changed - eventually setting of at 7pm.
It was the same as always when I feel a little lazy and lethargic, the thought of going out is the hurdle, once I was on the bike and pedaling, a smile appears and I wonder what all the mental drama was about!
I was even contemplating extending the ride, but the light was not good so I ended up doing my normal 20!
The cycle computer had the ride as 21.31 miles with an average speed of 18.2 mph in 1 hour 10 minutes.
The RunGPS plot can be found here...
Wifey contacted the local news paper (Gazzette & Herald) and they are going to put me and JOGLE in the paper next week, with a photo!!!! (I am actually quite Nervous about it)
And finally, even if you don't like cycling you can't fail to be impressed by Lance Armstrong in this video...
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