Today's Ride

[Frankenorange]

I ride through the city at night
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Brilliant photo that

 

[Markybeau]

I ride through the city at night
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You are the passenger

 

[bikeworkshop]

You are the passenger

And I ride and I ride.

Although other RBers ride and ride and RIDE!

 

[Markybeau]

A week away in Dumfries and Galloway. Literally around the corner from 7Stanes Dalbeattie. It has rained heavily on and off for most of the week. I also have, what the orthopaedic therapist believes to be, adhesive capsulitis aka a frozen shoulder. It's great, especially if your favourite exercise is offroad cycling. Fate conspired to give me a break this morning. The weather broke and the painkillers worked. Marvellous. It was also my first experience of hydraulic brakes on a bicycle. What a brilliant idea - brakes that actually work in the wet!

12 miles. Very wet, very muddy, spectacular scenery, no-one about, as it should be.

 

[basketcase]

I'm amazed you could actually ride the road through that logged area - Around here, the trucks and skidders would have made it a quagmire

 

[moonlite]

I also have, what the orthopaedic therapist believes to be, adhesive capsulitis aka a frozen shoulder.

Sympathies -- my missus has had this since February and it's been really hard for her -- lots of pain, weakness in the arm, and restricted range of motion. We made the mistake of taking her to a sports physiotherapist, whose ministrations probably made it worse. It's finally coming right -- hope yours gets better faster!

I hadn't ridden since Sunday due to various matters getting in the way, so today I decided to combine a ride and a run to get my money's worth. Also, have been bored with my usual routes, so this seemed like a good way of shaking things up. And the unceasing wind here meant getting out on the road bike seem a little unattractive.

So I set off on the Unit, mainly because it has flat pedals so I could use running shoes and not bother with changing footwear. The bumpy Rene Herse tyre on the front reminded me of one of the reasons I haven't ridden t his bike much, but even so, it's a lovely ride, especially with the Pace fork. Uphill was hard work -- gears do have a purpose, after all!



I then hid the bike behind a bush -- not that many people come this way mid-afternoon -- and set out for my run. Suffice to say, it was a bit of a slow affair after toiling up the hill. But it passed, and then it was back on the bike for a nice cruise home. All in all, it all fulfilled the objective of doing something a bit different. I'll keep it in mind for the next time things need shaking up again.



(Just noticed there's a fly on my nose -- probably a sibling of the one I inhaled on the way up the hill)

 

[al-onestare]

Dank. Dark. Mild.

A window of opportunity inbetween heavy rain and wind. 13 degrees, 11-12mph S breeze. Solid cloud and thick mist on the hills.

Mega-quiet so I'll take that for November There's a view there somewhere...

 

[Totoro]

Short trip today was going to walk but decided to take the bike and see if I can get anywhere near bike fit again. Very glad I did, much enjoyed. Just 3 miles, half of it climbing, looks slippy out there but it was no drama. Got back and cleaned the bike, lubed it and put more air in the tyres which it needed. Brought it inside before the rain started, perfect timing.

 

[bagpuss]

A cruise round the Derwent, Trent and Dove flood plain areas today. So very flat apart from the last 10 miles. Part of the route took me across the WW2 RAF station at Church Broughton. It was used for early Jet trials. All very hush hush at the time .

 

[moonlite]

Out again on an MTB today, this time the Soma Groove, which despite being heavier than any of my Konas, is good for chucking about rough and rocky terrain.

Ventured into what I've taken to calling the 'badlands', a large tract of sloping territory near a large-ish river, which has been forested, burnt and left to fester for about five years. Now there are more and more signs that 'they' are preparing either to replant the trees or develop for farming or even residences. This means that what were rough and rocky tracks are now being graded into gravel roads. It's a double-edged sword -- on the one hand, there's less 'singletrack' as I would have called it, but some bits have been opened up that used to be quite thickly overgrown.



At one point I spotted a Sacred Kingfisher, which is a woodland version of the bird, but still pretty and relatively rare. I followed some of the rougher paths for a while, but it became clear that the weather was changing -- what had been a nice 25C sunny afternoon became overcast with a chilly wind, so decided to get home for a nice Friday arvo Gin and Tonic. Cheers!