Skip to content

xendistar.co.uk

ramblings of an overweigth old fart trying to get fit!

Archive

Category: weather

I think building an ark would be a wise precaution based on the weather we have had in the past few days. The weather made it more difficult to decide where to have our family day out, the forecast was rain so it was going to need to be indoors, in the end we decided on Trago Mill just outside Newton Abbott in Devon. To anybody that does not know Trago Mills they are a very large store, that sales everything from, food, engine oil, cloths, carpets, furniture, plants, paint, musical instruments the list goes on in one very large store, plus there are many smaller shops on the site and they have there own leisure park set in 100 acres of land.

I have done the drive down that way several times to one of the companies site just outside Plymouth and it takes me about two and half hours, so leaving at 9am I had expected to arrive about 11-ish, it soon became apparent that the caravanner’s of the UK were going to put an end to that idea. With rain falling from the start and progressively getting worse as we headed west, our lovely winding “A” road do not lend themselves to overtaking caravans, so we joined the que behind each caravan till the opportunity to pass presented itself. I had hoped thing would improve from Honiton where we picked up the A30 dual carriageway, but the rain got heavier and the traffic got slower.

By now I was fighting a battle in the car to keep the windscreen clear from fogging up, the only way was to run with the air conditioning on but I was getting to cold, so we opted for switching it on and off to keep the screen clear and the occupants just of frozen. Around 2hrs 40 minutes later we pull into one of Trago Mills large car parks and is by now absolutely *issing down.

The first purchase in the store was an umbrella, not having one with us and knowing the kids will want to go around the leisure park it was a wise investment. We spent a couple of hours (and a few pounds) browsing the aisles. I am pretty sure it has shrunk in size since our last trip (they had a major fire there about 12 months ago and there is a lot of building working taking place at the rear of the store) as we soon found ourself out in the rain again and looking at the food outlets. After feeding time and kids being kids it was of to the leisure park. The rain did not seem to detract them from them wanting to wander around the park. To be perfectly honest many of the rides were closed due to the weather, the daughter wanted to go on the mega slide (a 15ft vertical drop down) but this was closed as it was under repair so the kids opted for the smaller slide (both indoors). Finally we opted for a ride on the train around the park, at least the carriage has a roof even if it did leak.

If we thought is was *issing down when we arrived it was definitely lashing it down now, the sky had that dark foreboding storm colour to it. Once again the battle of the steamy windows started not helped by the fact that we were all wet but this time I decided on raising the temperature in the car so now we would be slowly cooked on the way home. Once the heat was in the car I turned the temperature down and manage to keep the screen clear. The drive home was easier than the drive down despite a diversion due to a road closure (accident). The rain rather than relenting got worse as we got closer to home, standing water was now a major issue.

Not far from home the daughter got a phone call asking her why she was not at work, turns out the manager had asked her if she wanted overtime for Thursday night and forgot to ask her about Wednesday night but put her down for both nights, so now we had to race home, change out of our now drying cloths, drop the daughter of at work and then go shopping.

I eventually got to sit down at about 8:30 last night, I slept well last night!!

Not sure what we are doing today, I want to get my bike finished and lubed up from the weekend and maybe a test ride to see if I am up for the ride tomorrow. My back is feeling a lot better but there is still a twinge every now and again to remind me.

That is it for a few days, I am now officially on holiday and the weather forecast is………………………………..rain :(

Currently sat here trying to work out where to go tomorrow as a family where I don’t have to forfeit two arms and a leg as payment. I have 6 days off including the weekend & bank holiday Monday and tomorrow is the only day we can all go out as a family for the whole day, Thursday the daughter has to start work late afternoon, Friday the wife getting her hair done, Saturday and Sunday the daughter is working during the day, Monday you just don’t want to travel anywhere on a bank holiday. Now add in the rain factor, the wife can’t walk to far my bad back and the fun really starts. The kids have been to all the local attractions so were now looking further a field and drawing a blank, one suggestion was Legoland, £127.80 for 4 (3 adults and 1 child) for a day pass, they must be having a giraffe!! Beginning to think it is cheaper to go back to work…………………

Last night was a good night for weight loss as such, I lost the weight I put on last week, so I am not dis-pleased but then I am not over the moon either. I just do not seem to be able to get a handle on this weight loss thing at the moment, well to be honest for the past two years. I am losing, I have a good week then I put on what I lost, then I lose what I put on, then I put on again then lose that………………………….and on and on it goes.

At least I am staying positive and still going to Slimming World, to be honest it the only thing that keeps me motivated.

Never made it to the Air Show on Sunday as the weather was lousy, heavy rain showers, low cloud and strong gusty winds. We live a couple of miles from the local airport which is used as a staging post for the air show, I heard half a dozen planes take off, never saw one of them fly over head, the cloud was down to about 200ft. I did start cleaning the bike in the gazebo but the rain started to seep through the gazebo so had to pack up and head indoors.

My back is not to bad at the moment, feeling a bit better, still hoping to throw my leg over my bike on Friday (back and weather permitting).

Finally a message to Clive , STOP LAUGHING IT HURTS! and hello to Keiron at Welsh Cyclist

I can sit down as long as I don’t move about, I can stand up, but the transition between the two is bloody painful. I was riding in the Evans Cycles Ride It event at Liphook in Hampshire this morning and I fell backward off my bike and landed on the small of my back. Went down a slope with a slope up the other side, just got to the top of the up slope when I hit a bump which turned me towards the bank and a large bramble bush. I managed to apply the brakes and stop but it was at that moment that I realised that due to the uneven terrain my feet were about two feet above the ground and I fell backwards off the bike and down the slope. While I got back on my bike and continued to ride I was in pain and had to cut my ride short. I was intending to ride the medium route but decided I did not want to get caught out in the middle of the ride unable to continue so I ended up doing the short ride (17miles).

Unfortunately it was not the only fall of the day although the only thing hurt on this fall was my pride, a few miles earlier I narrowly avoided a full face plant in the mud, the front wheel went one way I went the other, ended up laying on the bike in the mud, the right hand side of the handle bars were buried up to the stem in the mud. Also managed to rip the seam on my cycling shorts from the crutch to the bottom of the leg, so I had plenty of ventilation on the ride!!

I had intended to take the GPS with me but it suddenly dawned on me at 10:30pm last night that the GPS did not have the map for the ride, I managed to download the map to the PC, but failed to get it onto the GPS. As we were leaving at 6:30am I gave up and went to bed, only to lay there for a couple of hours unable to fall a sleep. All in all I enjoyed the ride it would of been a much better day had been better prepared and the ride had been without the wind, rain and humidity……………..The joys of muddy bikes!

Short week next week as I am on holiday from Tuesday, had planned a couple of rides during the week but that is debatable. One day going will be a family day out, just not sure where yet, another day will be a local day out and the wife having a hair cut and doing the boys school cloths shopping (one of my ride days), then its the weekend.

I was supposed to be taking the family to the Bournemouth Air Festival tomorrow, but spending 8 hours sat on a rain soaked beach is not my idea of fun, apparently today’s flying events were called of due to low cloud cover. The Bournemouth weather forecast for tomorrow is much the same as today.

Trying to be a really good boy this week with the eating, last Monday was a dismal failure. I have had a good week up to today where I have eaten some flapjack for it riding nutrition it provides, just have to see what tomorrow and Monday brings.