Few Too Many

There was a cheeky wee pit stop to be made along the journey home tonight - a few pints with my excellent DB, Cris.

Regardless of how many pints the law says you can consume before becoming unsafe on the roads, I would say that I definitely had too many and that I'm very glad that I made it home in one piece.

Good chat though and excellent company, maybe the risk of death was more than worth it.

;o)

Weekly Total: 22.25miles

Back on the trail again

Any resolve about cycling in every day last week seemed to get washed away with the rain and wind that prevailed so it seems like its been ages since I was on a bike and making the journey in to work.

A lovely morning to be back on the trail, however, sunshine and no wind. Taking the canal path meant another opportunity to slap on some tunes and enjoy the scenery and music and general good feeling of starting your working week on a Tuesday (it was bank holiday yesterday).

I was gutted, therefore to pick up ANOTHER slow puncture just before I reached my destination. I'll have to fix that at lunchtime.

Punctures and Midgies

Stepped out of work this evening to find that I had a flat tyre. I'd only just changed the tube the other day so I did wonder whether it had just been a couple of colleagues playing a prank but, sure enough, when I took the tube out and pumped it up, I quickly found the slow puncture that had avoided my previous inspection.

The rest of the journey back home was generally fairly placid apart from an unfortunate series of events where firstly a midgie managed to get trapped behind my cycling glasses and then squashed behind my eyelid, then I managed another couple ended up in my gaping mouth and finally, the coup de grace, one brave midgie managed to end up bing snorted up my nose as I took a deep breath in just before one of the climbs en route.

Surely thats me achieved my RDA of protein for the day?

No bike tomorrow - apparently its going to be torential rain.

Weekly Total: 20.62miles

Creaking and Clanking

Back on the bike again this morning and it felt good to shake out the legs after the weekend.

The bike is making some rather impressive noises now - creaking, clanking and even the odd grinding noises echoed through the morning ambience and I can't tell whether its just the chain slapping or whether its coming from either the bottom bracket or rear hub or both. Wherever its coming from, it basically means that its about time for that service so I'll make the phone calls today and book it into a shop for the weekend.

Better dig out my credit card while I'm at it. :o(

Feeling Flat

Apart from snapping the zip off my cycling jacket just before setting off, I was thoroughly enjoying my cycle home last night. That is, until the final mile or so before I got back to the house when I somehow managed to pick up a slow puncture.

I decided that I was close enough to just use my miracle pump to just reinflate the tyre and limp back home where I could take my time to change the tube properly. Ultimately, however, this proved to be the wrong decision as I ended up having to stop 4 more times in that 1 mile stretch, each time I made the decision that I was close enough to limp home without having to change the tube.

When I did finally make it home, I set about replacing the tube with a spare I had in the shed. This spare tube had previously had a puncture but had since been repaired and I was pretty confident that it would hold up without any issues.

When I went to remove my back wheel and take out the punctured tube, I noticed that the tread on my back tyre was worn right down and that there were a number of rather large slashes in the tyre. Obviously time for a new back tyre. Luckily I had a semi-slick tyre available so a quick change of the tyre and the new (repaired) tube was slotted into place and pumped up. Every looked good - sorted.

I felt great this morning. Sun was shining, it was a little warmer than it has been the last couple of morning and I was looking forward to getting back on the bike and speeding my way in to work. Unfortunately for me, it now transpires that my repair job was a load of rubbish as, when I wheeled the bike out of the shed (all dressed in my cycling gear), I realised that the back tyre was flatter than it had been yesterday when I got the damn puncture in the first place. There was no other option, I had to take the train in to work and rue my incompetence as a bike mechanic.

I guess I'm buying new inner tubes today.

Weekly Total: 46.16miles

Good start to the week

I cycled yesterday and again this morning and each time the journey has been fairly quiet, generally easy paced and thoroughly enjoyable (although fingerless gloves and shorts were most definitely inappropriate apparel this morning).

The bike is making a few interesting sounds just now, but I reckon it will hold out for a month or so before I have to bite the bullet and get it serviced.

Weekly Total: 34.84miles

Day Off

Last nights cycle home was a difficult one. Basically I've overdone it this week, pushing myslef along faster and harder than I have for ages had left me completely drained and wishing I'd decided to catch a taxi home.

No bike today, but congrats to my amigo, Simon, who has kick started his cycling career again and had a thoroughly enjoyable cycle in to his work. Already a big fan of day-glo colours, Simon will feel right at home in the world of lycra and spandex.

Weekly Total: 70.23miles
Overall Total: 834.90miles

Because I'm Worth It

Lovely cycle home last night and an even better cycle in this morning.

The canal path + music combo is proving to be a real leg burner as you can really charge along the path and enjoy the music without paying too much attention to things like the nasty noises your bike is making, or how much you are gasping for breath. I've really been trying to push myself hard this week and its been brilliant.

On a completely different note, my beloved sister sent me a care package this morning. As a marketing brand manager for L'Oreal, Natalie has kindly sent me a couple of samples of L'Oreal's new 'Mens Expert' products so my face is all lovely and smooth and moisturised.

Shame I'm still an ugly bastard, but thanks anyway, sis!

Weekly Total: 58.55miles

Brr

That sunshine was fairly deceptive this morning - it was bloody freezing!!

Sitting Duck

I almost killed a duck today.

Well, maybe thats a little over-exaggerated, but its definitely true that I ran over a duck on my bike. It wasn't my fault and I most certainly didn't try to hit the poor thing, but it ended up headbutting my front wheel and looking slightly dazed and confused after the incident.

The poor wee thing had been chilling happilly under a bush when it was startled by a jogger running past it. Unfortunately for the duck, I was also passing the jogger in the opposite direction at the same time, so when the duck panicked and flew towards the canal, it's escape was impeded by the spokes of my front wheel. I felt pretty bad and stopped a little way down the path to see whether it was OK. It seemed to me that the duck had a thoroughly bemused expression on its face (kind of like 'what the fuck just happened?') but after a wee shake of its head it staggered to its feet and stumbled down to the water, probably eager to tell his mates about his experience.

Sorry, Mr Duck.

Weekly Total: 23.45miles

Tune

A wicked weekend of BBQ's, camp fires, fajitas and poi has left me knackered. I decided to head into work a little earlier this morning so that I could take the ride at a slower pace and just enjoy the sunshine. I also decided to try riding with the iPod.

I bought a pair of Sony headphones a few months ago on the recommendation of a friend of mine. I've found that the in-ear style is actually very comfortable and the sound that you get from the earphones is incredible - far better than the original iPod earphones could produce. This morning, however, I decided to test whether the in-ear style could overcome the noise of the wind whistling past my ears while cycling - it does. There was still some wind noise, but you could hear the music perfectly clearly and it certainly made the canal journey a little more interesting.

PS - special shout out to my DB who had himself a nasty kitesurfing accident on Saturday - heal fast amigo.

Fresh Mountain Air

A lovely cycle in this morning, spoiled by a puncture just 15mins from work. I quickly had the wheel off, the inner tube out and replaced and then reached for my latest purchase, a Blackburn Mtn Air mini-pump.

For the past year or so I have made do with the cheapest mini pump I could find (bought in Halfords last year and pumping up tyres has generally involved me pumping as hard as I could to get enough air in to the tyre to get me to the nearest petrol station and air pump. With the new pump (as recommended to me by Cris), I was able to pump up my new tube with the minimum of effort and to a higher pressure than I was actually running my front tyre (which had been inflated using a foot pump). This little silver stick of air is brilliant - buy one.

Not cycling home tonight, I'll hop on the train instead as we are apparently going to have an after-work BBQ on Troon beach. Hope the rain stays away.

Weekly Total: 53.22miles
Overall Total: 764.70miles

Home

Another sunny journey home, fantastic stuff, exactly what I needed after a particularly strange day at work.

Weekly Total: 42.53miles

Sunny Weather?

The cycle home last night and the cycle in this morning have both been basked in glorious sunshine. I'm not going to suggest that this means that we're in for a lovely and hot summer, but it certainly beats cycling through the rain.

On a more sombre note, today is the day that my work will announce a number of redundancies across the company. I'm almost certain that none of these will fall on my immediate colleagues, but we have been warned that we will know people who are directly affected.

Personally, I'd take the money and run.

Back on the Road

It was a wet night last night and that left the roads with puddles all over the place. A perfect morning, therefore, to try out my new Gore-Tex trousers which were very kindly donated to me over the weekend by a very good friend.

The difference between these new trousers and my old waterproofs is vast. The Gore-Tex material felt light and airy and extremely comfortable while I always remember feeling incredibly clammy and uncomfortable in the Endura trousers. The cut is far better on these trousers too, the trouser leg appears to be a more acceptable 32 inches long as opposed to the ridiculously short 29 inches that the Weatherpant came in (even in XL size!).

All in all, it was an enjoyable cycle although it was also bloody boring compared to the type of riding I was doing over the weekend!

Weekly Total: 10.54miles

Biking, Beer and BBQ's

I'm knackered. Absolutely shattered. Just got back from an amazing Bank Holiday weekend in Dumfries and can't wait to get a chance to climb into a bath and soak away the aches and pains from the weekend's events.

The weekend was centered around a day of mountain biking on the Hardrock Trail at Dalbeatie. The route is some 26km long (approx 16 miles) and is easily the most difficult terrain that I have ever attempted to cycle on. It's is a technical and tricky route that meanders through the hills of Dalbeatie with some nasty looking obstacles like The Slab and the Terrible Twins to add some extra spice to an already incredible zesty experience. The whole day was a magical collection of banter, abuse, technical riding and all out machismo.

Download the route map here: Dalbeattie Route Map (1mb download)

The evening entertainment was to be a BBQ at Jamie's. 'BBQ' is perhaps not a fair representation of the sheer quality of the hospitality, the amount of food we had to eat and how much fun the evening was. With our better halves and siblings joining the party, we were treated to a fantastic abundance of charred flesh and copious amounts of beer, although there was a distinct lack of cake.

The next morning was a hazy affair, a few of us were nursing the after effects of the previous evenings alcohol consumption and a few others were nursing their bodies after the effects of the day's riding. The rain showers and thunderstorm did little to dampen our spirits, however, and we all moved on to the next part of the weekends entertainment, an afternoon and evening of entertainment at the Cairnyard Lodges courtesy of Jacqui & Cris.

The majority of us went for a walk in the afternoon after we arrived at the lodges. I didn't know this, but just a couple of miles up the hill is another astonishing mountain bike trail, the ridiculously difficult Kona Dark Side trail. We walked up to the trail and along the actual timber path that the designers appeared to expect cyclists to be able to ride. It was difficult enough to walk along the skinny planks that were nailed to the tree stumps, so it was with the greatest admiration and respect we stood aside and watched as Derek, Pete and David all attempted various sections of the track with varying degrees of success.

A long day out in the countryside was then followed by a glorious evening of pizzas, tasty Moscow Mules and a few hours of poker to finally appease the select few players who were desperate to play for a cash prize (they all failed to finish in the money).

The breakfast fry-up the next morning was a perfect finish to what had been a perfect Bank Holiday weekend and I'd sincerely like to thank Jamie, Jacqui and Cris for their generous hospitalities and also Iain, Si, Gareth, Derek, Pete and Seonaidh for keeping me and the kids so very entertained the whole time. It was almost spiritual.