Just to bring it all up to date, the past couple of weeks have been a slog. The wife is on the job hunt, several agencies call asking if she is happy to be put forward for this job etc. and then that the last we hear of it, just so demoralising.

Anyway I am not going to witter on tonight, hopefully riding tomorrow, not sure exactly where or when and maybe on Sunday if I can get out before the weather comes in.

Finally a couple of earworms (an earworm is a song that sticks in your head and won’t leave) that I have had running around my head lately

The weekend of the 5th, 6th and 7th May were booked to go to Tosside (Gisburn Forest)in Lancashire to meet up with some friends from a mountain bike forum. I had planned to leave early Friday morning going to our branch in Preston and then when finished head over to Tosside about 40 minutes away for a weekend of trail riding. Things did not go to plan, Thursday night I got a phone call at 9pm to say that the power had again gone off at head office (they had had power problems all day but we had been told by Eon at 5pm that everything was sorted). So a change of plans for Friday morning, I now had to get to head office before they start work on Friday morning. They start at 7:30am and I live 130 miles away, you do the sums, at least head office is sort of on the way to Preston.

I arrived just after 7am and thankfully all the servers fired up without a problem, but by now it was rush hour time so we hung around head office before hitting the road shortly after 9am and headed for the M5\M6. Preston was reached just after midday after an interesting drive through the town centre (missed turn off on M6, sat nav choose the route through town).

Things did not improve with the job I had to do at Preston, missing instructions, people not putting me through correctly on phone systems and idiots on the other end of the phone. Once everything was working (well at least my part was working) I phoned the alarm company, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts to get things working I was told that they would need to call me back which may be on the following Monday I told them that I would not be there on the Monday and that they can come out and resolve the problem themselves, I had had enough.

We eventually made it to the camp site by early evening, lovely and sunny but a bit windy, a small group of riders went of for a early evening ride but I decided not to go, but then I decided that I would and got changed and then headed out towards Gisburn Forest (we were and 1/2 mile from the forest). I came across the new Hope trail and headed off down the trail. The first thing I will say is it not really my sort of trail big jumps and big drop offs, not my sort of ride by I got to the bottom and met up with the riders. After a play and chat we decided to ride back up to the top and do another ride down the Hope trail. Once back at the bottom we headed back into the strong wind back to the camp-site.

Back at the camp site I came across a problem, despite filling the water tank up with water the previous night our water tank was empty, not good. In the end I used the on-site facilities and then joined everybody else for our hot pot evening meal (provided by the camp site manager). It had been a very long day so it was not long before I was heading for my bed. I wanted a good night sleep for the following mornings ride.

In the end I had a lousy nights sleep, got up with a stinking head ache. As I sat there drinking tea and feeling sorry for myself, my phone rang it was my son, “Dad we have got a leak”, then I heard my daughter in the background and my son past the phone to her. Apparently she had woken up to water coming through the bedroom ceiling in our room. We made a few phone calls and past on instructions but in the end there was only one thing we could do, go home. So we packed up, said a quick good bye to everybody and embarked on a 295 mile 6 hour drive home.

By the time we got home the leak had stopped, I was in no mood to venture into the loft so I decided that was going to be a Sunday morning job. Unfortunately at around 1am in the morning the leaking started again and in short I just lost the plot. I could not sleep in the bedroom I was curled up on the sofa and the black clouds were now at ground level.

Sunday morning dawned and I was in no mood to venture into the loft so we did the only thing we could do and called a plummer, it was a cost we could do without but we had to fix the leak. Thankfully they came out quite quickly and considering it was a call out on a bank holiday Sunday it was reasonably priced.

By now it was to late in the day to do anything so I just sat on the sofa feeling sorry for myself for missing out on the weekend.

The miserable weather has stopped me from riding lately, I went out riding this past Saturday and Sunday but both were shortish rides. I did consider riding yesterday except it rained and it rained again tonight. Tomorrows an early start, Thursday is shopping night as it is our sons birthday on Friday. So it is the weekend now before I get back on the bike.

So it was with some determination that I climbed on my bike at midday yesterday to go for a ride, the sunny warm weather forecast for Saturday morning turned out to be wet and windy. The rain stopped about 11am and most forecast were predicting showers with the rain coming back early evening. As I am a way bank holiday weekend riding I really wanted to get out and ride otherwise come next Saturday morning it would be 3 weeks since my last ride. The weather forecast for Sunday (today) was heavy rain and wind, (for once they were right) so I had to take my chance.

Before I went go riding I changed my tyres back to my winter mud tyres having fitted my summer tyres some weeks ago. Like the rest of the UK, since they announced a drought, it has not stopped raining. On taking the rear tyre off I found a very large thorn stuck in the tyre, the tyre was not flat so I guess the thorn was pretty well sealed in the tube only letting a small amount of air out of the tube. Because of the Sunday weather forecast I had planned to do a long ride on the Saturday, but with the morning rain I changed that to going on the clubs Saturday afternoon easy ride. But with black clouds looming I ended up leaving early for a ride on my own with the intention of getting back before the black clouds deposited anymore of there contents.

The local heath was just like riding in the middle of winter, mud and water everywhere, went wide in one corner, the bush grab my handle bars and steered me further into the undergrowth, fortunately I managed to get off the bike before being enveloped by the bush. I was not so lucky next time, going down a narrow trail my front wheel caught the edge of the sunken trail, as it was so muddy rather than ride up the edge the wheeled turned harder against the edge of the trail until the bike stopped and spat me out over the handle bars and in to the undergrowth, brambles make for a soft but prickly landing.

The creak I mentioned a couple of blogs ago was again missing, I have a theory on that, but I need to test that theory and wet weather is not the time to test it. Start tin to ramble so I am out of here

What has got me wound up this past few days is the fact that I need to purchase a mobile dongle for work, just one dongle but Orange seem to be happy to ignore my offer of money for a 12 months contract. I thought (how ever foolishly) that it would be easy to go to the Orange shop and purchase a dongle, well it would of been had I been happy to purchase it in my name and pay for it via my bank account or via my credit card. But it is for work and I won’t be the one using it, apparently their system can’t handle a purchase for a business in the shop (or though I have had some thoughts on this more later).

So I thought I would phone Orange Business on Thursday afternoon, three times I tried, three times got through the menu system and three times I was cut off. So I clicked on that little button on their web site that say arrange a call back, twice I clicked and filled in the form have and guess what no call back. I tried calling them again to day, this time I got through the menu system, the phone rang and rang and rang and then a nice lady told me my call was important to them and they would answer the phone soon possible, then it rang and rang and rang and then the nice lady…………….. you get the picture, (Before anybody says well buy one from one of the other mobiles communication companies, I can’t, it has to be Orange, it is a long story).

Now I have been thinking, that I can’t be the only person wanting to buy a dongle (or phone) from an Orange shop for business. Was it just to much trouble for the shop assistant to process my order (we got as far as sitting in the little cubicle and tapping away on her screen). So I am going to try one of the other Orange shops in the area. But what gets me is the stupidity of it all, I just want to purchase a single Orange dongle and so far Orange are refusing to deal with me.

If you work in a mobile phone shop that deals with Orange, you could be my next best friend

Yesterday morning the heaven opened, I was planning on going out in the afternoon but decided to give it a miss. I was not the only one, only two riders turned up for the ride, they went on the ride and never had any rain for the duration of the ride…

Went out this morning, decided I needed to do long ride after yesterday non ride and as there was some new paths I had found and wanted to try and I also wanted to have another test of my Zero High5 tablets so I decided on a home to Moors Valley Country park and back ride. A total of 32.8 miles with 80% of it off road and unlike previous ride from home to Moors Valley, I did not ride over the same section of trail more than once. I can report that I did not have any problems with cramps although that may be related to the fact that it was not particularly warm this morning so I was not sweating as much as normal. In fact it was that cold this morning that I had to stop after about a mile and put my winter gloves on rather than my fingerless gloves that I started with. By the time I got home I was knackered.

Now for a farewell, I started this blog on the 6th May 2009 it was just general chit chat nothing special, no theme. Like many new blogs it soon seemed to loose its way and within a few months it was on its way to becoming another dead blog. Towards the end of 2009 I came across a blog called MassiveMTBer (Don’t ever stop). The blog was written by a guy called Clive Chapman, he had a serious weight problem and had rekindled his love of cycling as part of a plan to get his weight back to where it should be. I found the blog easy to read, well written, funny, humorous, frank and honest. In fact it was good enough for him to be asked to pen a couple of monthly column for one of the national cycling magazines, that no mean feat.

This weekend Clive announced that he had penned his last blog post, with a new job and new coaching commitments (he is a rugby coach) he does not have the time to continue writing a daily blog. But Clive blog has touched so many guys with a weight problem who have got back into cycling as part of a plan to get there weight under control it is really going to be missed. His blog was a kind of meeting place, not in the real sense like meeting your mates in the pub. But in the way where you knew that other guys with the same weight problem as you were suffering from were there reading the same blog. Clive’s frankness honesties of his own weekly weight ups and downs made those readers reflect honestly on their own weight when it came to standing on the scales. Clive’s blog became a sort of weigh loss club for guys.

Good luck with your future Clive, you blog will sorely be missed.

Idiot 1) I am waiting at a traffic light controlled Tee junction, I am on the side road (the upright part of the tee) waiting to turn right onto the main road, my traffic light changes from red to amber, engage first gear, lift the clutch, start to release the hand brake and from my left comes a little moped, straight through his obviously red light and continues across the junction like it is not there.

Idiot 2) Out shopping this morning, approaching a Tee junction and the car in front indicates that it is going to turn right. Not a problem except that they take up position at the junction in the middle of the lane. There is enough room to the cars right to actually get another car between them and the middle of the road. As a consequence of this I am blocked from pulling up to the junction and turning left.

Idiot 3) Another red light jumper but this time on a pelican crossing. There is a cars in front of me as I approach the crossing, I am slowing down as the light is already on red, the person starts walking across the crossing from the right and the car in front continues across the crossing without stopping. Just as well it was not a mum with some kids that like to run across the crossing.

Idiot 4) The local councils around here enjoy placing those chicane type traffic calming road blocks on side roads. Twice this morning I had somebody drive in to the middle of one of these and then indicate for me to proceed past them. Problem is there only room for one vehicle at a time in these traffic calming road blocks, am I supposed to drive over them??

Idiot 5) Finally, I kept the best till last, earlier this afternoon I was driving up a side road, there is a car a short distance in front of me which indicates to turn left into another side road which is the same direction as I am intending to go. As I turn into the street the car in front has pulled into a parking space on the left hand side of the road. As I get closer to the car it indicates right and pulls out of the parking bay in one move and moves into a parking bay on the right hand-side of the road, I have to brake to avoid running into him. As I pass him he tries to turn left out of the parking bay into the side of me (he actually heading for another parking bay on the left as I watched him in my mirror once I had passed), he then has the cheek to honk his horn at me because I was in the way of him continuing his parking bay slalom down the road!!

Please, if you ever see me driving like any of the above then let me know and I will hand my licence in.

Question is what do I do now? I don’t really want to fork out £15\20 for new bearings as it is less than a year old and it would seem the fault was with the bearing when purchased. Hope gave me the options back in October when I contacted them. But having ignored their previous offer to send it back to them I may have shot myself in the foot if I contact them again about the bearing. I think at the moment it is a case of watch this space….

No ride today, windy and wet. I woke up in the night to a very cold back (other half had pinched all the quilt again) and I could feel the blowing in from the open bedroom window. Lifting the blinds this morning revealed a rain splattered window and the pampas grass waving happily in the garden. The rain has been on and off all day while the wind has been getting stronger all day.

A little windy

So with no rides today I did what everybody else does on a wet bank holiday Monday, we went shopping, we are now the proud owner of 6 Tomatoe plants and 6 pots of onion seedlings (is that the right word baby onions??). It was suggested that I spent this afternoon stood out in the wind & rain getting wet and cold replanting said plants etc. the reply to that is not printable…….

In a quest for a cheaper life here is a web site I used recently to purchase some electrolyte tablets. The company is called Dolphin Fitness, they seem to do all the energy drink type stuff that cyclist normally use and certainly cheaper than what the local bike shops are charging. My order was delivered a day earlier than advised when I placed the order (I took the 5 day free postage option). Hope it helps somebody out there.

Tomorrow night is stepping on the scales night, I am not hopeful…..

Friday evening I got a call from work, the end result being I had to go in to work at Newbury on Saturday morning to resolve a small problem, that was the end of the plans for Saturday and the club ride I was intending to go on. Fortunately the Newbury branch is not that far from the Croft Trail at Swindon (from Newbury compared to home), so assuming it did not take all day to resolve my small problem I was going to ride the Croft Trail. Saturday morning I was up early (as Saturdays go) got my bike on the van along with my riding kit and was heading for Newbury a little after 8am and arrived a little after 9am.

By 10:30am I was heading down the M4 to Swindon, all morning the weather had been grey and drizzly and now was no different. Thankfully by the time I arrived at the Croft trail the drizzle had stopped. I was soon out riding the trail, I have been to Croft twice before but they have added a new section since my last visit so I decided a steady ride on the first lap to remind myself of the trail and acquaint myself with the new bits. The new bits I liked accept for one corner which was a case of up onto a little hump, turn 90 degree right and down a little drop off between two trees, with the exit bearing to the right and climbing up a small hump. First lap, I clear the drop off but end up arguing with a tree on the left on my exit. Lap two, I am really getting to like that tree on the left as this time I end up head butting the tree (thankfully I had my cycle helmet on). I decided a new approach to the hump was required, but first I required a pit stop, so at the end of the second lap I returned to the van.

As the wife was with me I decided to try to get a few photographs, unfortunately none turned out very well, this was the best of the bunch.

Not sure why the so serious expression

After the attempted photo shoot I went off on another two laps, I remembered to try something different on the hump drop off and I am happy to report that I managed to avoid the tree on my next two laps.

At about 3.5 miles per lap, that was a nice 13\14 miles ride. The Croft trail is a great little XC trail, the trail twists and turns on a narrow strip of land along side the M4. If you are in the area then give it a visit but I don’t think it is the sort of trail you would want to make a day trip to visit.

Saturday night was my favourite pass time………..NOT! the family party, I just don’t like family gatherings. I think this saying say it all

“you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your relatives”

It must have been one of the few times I was happy to act as dads taxi to my daughter (she had another event to attend) and I had to drive her to that so that meant that we had to leave early….

Tune in tomorrow for the next instalment…………return of the creak!!

Thought I would to a gentle loop around Throop this morning, everything was going well until I got to Hurn Forest, the tree felling is still going on and the little bit of single track I ride when I get into the forest has been completely lost, I decided to follow the deep tyre track out to the main path and go from there. Everything was ok until we got to a boggy bit and it seems that they lined this section of the tyre tracks with small logs and branches from the trees they had felled to help get the machine through the boggy bits. I lost the front wheel on one of these logs, hit the side of the trench on the left and fell to my right, somewhere in this I managed to hook my ankle under a small branch at the side of the trench, then as I fell onto the hump of tree debris between the tyre trenches I managed to somehow pull another branch on to my leg just above my knee pinning it down. My bike came to rest on my legs and where I was now lying over the hump my head was looking at the forest in an upside down way. I eventually managed to free my left leg and use it to push my bike of my other leg. I could not move my right leg as it was still pinned at the ankle and above the knee, I pushed myself up on my arms which then released a bit of the pressure from the log pinning me above the knee, I could not move the log that was pinning my knee as I was actually sat on it (or another log that was holding it in place). I eventually managed to wiggle myself free but I guess it took a couple of minute all toll from the point of falling off to being able to stand. I imagine that had anybody seen me they would of thought it was quite funny, thinking about it now it is but at the time it hurt and was considering shouting for assistance (I had past a couple of dog walkers when I rode into the forest).

Having regained a vertical stance, I carried on up the tyre trench onto the main path and the rest of my ride which was thankfully uneventful. As I went across Parley Common my leg started to hurt and at first I thought it was a cramp affect from yesterday ride (I got cramps in the same place yesterday). So I decided not to push it and head for home rather than head back to Throop and home via the river. It was only later that I realised that it was infact where the log had pinned me down earlier, there is no bruise there yet but I expect by tomorrow morning it will be showing.

The afternoon was spent chasing a creak on the bike, I stripped the left hand pedal and gave that a good clean, will see if that has resolved it or not. I is definitely on the left hand-side and from the crank area. Not sure if I am riding mid week this week, would like to do a slightly longer ride but I need to plan a route so unlikely to be this week and with a 4 day weekend I guess I will do several two or three ride if we get the weather and maybe get the Whyte rolling again.

Tuesday morning dear son told me as he was on his way to school that he had a dentist appointment that afternoon, a quick phone call to the dentist confirms this, so your truly spent half the afternoon collecting son from school and depositing at the dentist. Tuesday night was also weight in night and the less said about that the better.

Wednesday I get a phone call early evening from the wife to say that the car she was a passenger in had been involved in a minor accident but she was ok-ish. That evening dear son is coughing for England.

Thursday morning, there is no broadband connection, this annoy the wife as she can’t get her Facebook fix first thing in the morning. Dear son comes down stairs to breakfast barking like a bull frog, no school for him so I am on baby sitting duties for the day. I phone Virgin Media later in the morning to report the fault and get through to a knowledgeable guy in a UK call centre. He can see my fault it is an area fault and it has been reported. Trust me this is a big improvement on some of the call I have made to Virginmedia. I take the opportunity to ask him how I can guarantee getting a UK call centre when I phone up, I can’t apparently it just depends who busy, he then tells me that the call centre I am calling Liverpool is closing the following day and he is redundant. Virgin loss, they are losing a damm good operator. There is confusion later in the day over times and we don’t get to go to the school for the parents evening.

Friday, dear son is still barking like a bull frog for England, so I spend a second day on baby sitting duties. Not only this but my work laptops decides it is going to play up, I have had enough this week so I wipe the hard disk and reinstall. Sounds a bit drastic but it is something I been thinking of doing and now was the time to do it. Wife comes in complaining of shoulder pains.

Saturday, wife wakes up complaining of shoulder still hurting. I am going riding over the Purbeck in the afternoon so we pop out for a bit of shopping and then back home to get the bike ready. There was one big hill on the ride and it kicked my arse, I had to walk the first remainder of the first section after only riding about 200yds. Once I had got past the initial incline I was able to ride the remainder although at a very slow pace. Then for the last couple of miles the cramps kicked.

I got a text message from the wife by the time I got back to the van, “hurry up I need to got to A&E, shoulder is killing me”. SO a very quick 90 minutes was spent at the local A&E with the wife. Shoulder problems are related to the car accident and probably caused by the seat belt pushing down on her shoulder in the accident.

Just wondering if I should stay in bed tomorrow?

Today's ride, refuelling in the centre of Corfe Castle

Went out for a ride yesterday, choose to ride in the New Forest, It was shorts and tee shirt weather again. I did a loop which included 3 large inclines, one close to the start and two about two thirds of the way round, one after the other. Well the first incline a long loose gravel climb required a pit stop half way up, I was feeling I had left my climbing legs at home. The section till the next hill went pretty much as normal although I did notice it did not matter which direction I was riding the wind was always in my face?

The good bit about the second climb is that it is on tarmac and starts gently (it also the longest). The bad bit was that this section was also the final run in area for a 10k fun run so dodging runners was on the cards. Ducking under the obligatory plastic tape across the road (bare in mind this is a public road still open to traffic) I continued towards the pub where the hill kicks upwards. Now I normally stop at the pub but with all the runners and families milling around I decided to head on upwards and take a rest at the top of the hill before I ride the short down hill bit before climbing back up again.

I arrived a gasping wreck again having beaten the hill with no stops for a rest. I took a 5 minute break, the next hill was gravel, it is also one of my nemesis, I don’t think I have cleaned it to date. Having rested and determined to get as much hill out the way I shot off down the short hill, I was soon pedalling up the hill and then soon into the granny ring, I just kept pedalling away till I reached the top, again a gasping wreck. Not bad two out of the three hills cleared (and I cleared the hill yesterday I had targeted on the heath as well), maybe my hill climbing is getting better.

I carried on across the open heathland of the New Forest headed under the A31 and set my sights on Burley. Now the problem here is I have done this ride at least a half a dozen times but I don’t think I have ever ridden the same route back to the car park twice. I always seem to find myself on a different path back to the car park. Unfortunately I found myself heading in completely the wrong direction and found myself needing to climb another large incline. Unfortunately a pit stop half way up put paid to my decent hill climb average for the weekend.

While I never set a time for the ride with the intention of racing around the ride to beat my fastest time to date, I did complete the ride in the time I had expected so I was happy with that.

Going to try and get an evening ride in this week, now the evening are getting brighter and we are having an early summer

One day this past week (can’t remember which) one I was going from desk phone to mobile and back to desk phone answering calls with little or no time in between to actually do any thing in between.

Boss: What did you do all day?

Me: answer the phone

Boss: and?

Me: answer the phone!

I was just complete madness.

On top of this I had to travel to head office around trip of 280 miles and then the next day I was at an employees house sorting out there ADSL connection which was a round trip of 300 miles, the joy of driving.

And while this has been going on I have had the pressure of the wife’s non-employment looming over me. At least I can reveal that as of 9:30am Monday 26th she will be back in the land of employment. A phone call to see if she was interested in a job, a phone call to go to an interview (for said job), an interview (for said job) and a phone call with the offer of a job, all in the space of 6.5 hrs. There was a loud audible sigh of relief when the news broke in this household, it is such a relief.

Not sure if an evening ride is going to be possible this coming week, the wife job has a couple of late finishes and with the clocks moving to BST, will just have to see how things settles.

Went for a ride this morning this is what happen half way round my ride

Inner tube bursting out after the tyre blew off the rim

(I can’t be bothered to rewrite the story so here what I wrote about the event on the MBR Forum)

The story, with the summer weather here I took my mud tyre’s off and put the Maxxis Larsen on this morning then went for a ride over the local heath. There is a long descent with about 6 railway sleepers as step on the way down. On the second step I jumped off the step but went a bit off line and landed on the grass bank and got a big kick from the rear end as I continued on down the path. I stopped at the bottom checked the rear wheel, particuarly the spokes but everything seemed ok. I then rode about 3/4 of a mile along wide gravel path, the last 1/4 up a long steep climb. At the top I am a wheezing gasping wreck and as I rolled down the trail there a sort of a thud, the back wheel locks up and I come to an abrupt halt, the picture was what I saw when I got off the bike.

The back wheel took some getting out, the inner tube was a slime filled one and it was difficult to get enough air out of the valve without it sealing up. Tool me about 25 minute all toll. I am glad it went when it did as the next section was down hill through some tree and then down a short steep hill

It is funny really because as I was fitting the summer tyres this morning I noticed that a section of the side wall on Kenda tyre that goes on the front wheel was wearing through (which is what happened to the other Kenda tyre) so I thought I better be careful and take it easy on that tyre until I get a new one (which I have done ready for tomorrow), but it was the rear tyre that played up.

I will leave the story about getting home from the ride to find I had been locked out the house as everybody had gone shopping for another day.

So as I stepped on the scales at slimming world tonight I watched the digital read out as it first flew past my last weeks weight and then came back down to rest 4lb less than last week, I think it was then that I let out a loud sigh…. I think that was very good considering I lost the plot Friday night after the bad news (I’m a stress eater). I was even more surprised by the fact that I won slimmer of the week and had a large bowl of fruit to take home.

In regards to the doctors I have have some new cream to try which will hopefully resolve my problems and stop it flaring up again. I was a bit surprised when he said it was two years since I had the last lot of cream, which was why they would not let me have a repeat prescription and had to make an appointment.

Don’t think an evening ride is going to take place this week, have a couple of ideas for the weekend but need to check what the weather is offering before I decide.

Was hoping for an early night to night as I am up early and off to head office tomorrow but that not going to happen now especially as the daughter said she might phone me to come and collect her from the concert she is gone to if she comes out too late for the bus. The last two days have been a case on answer the desk phone and the mobile rings, answer the mobile and the desk phone rings. I spend half the day answering the phone and the other half trying to catch up where everything is behind.

I repaired a fence panel today that got damaged a month or so ago in that storm we had. Not sure why I was mending the fence as it is not our fence but I removed the panel during the storm after it got damaged to stop it being blown around my garden and damaging anything. Was hoping the neighbour would get it sorted but they are only renting, so either the landlord could not be arsed or they never told him. Never even got a thank you.

Have not mentioned this yet but Tuesday was weigh-in night and I was a little peeved, in fact I was totally peeved as I had not lost any weight in the previous 7 days. I thought I had had a reasonable week, not perfect but then I had not pigged out either, either way I was not happy. Now that the stress level will be rising because of our circumstances and my eating as a way of releasing stress, it is not going to be a good mix. To make it worse I can feel it starting to creep up on me, I over-indulged in a couple of foodie bits yesterday and today I am feeling pretty low. Hopefully I can hold it together to get a proper result on Tuesday.

Saw this on one of the blog,s I follow, if you need any inspiration then this has plenty. Watch this video. If only I could find Toby’s will power.

Idiot number 2, a cyclist who rode down a pavement because traffic had stopped moving (not a deal breaker but mentioned to give a broader picture of the idiot), rode in and out of stationary, slow moving traffic and on coming traffic, rode through 2 red lights on pedestrian crossing and a lollipop lady crossing. Is it any wonder cyclist get a bad name?

Idiot number 3, a motorcyclist who over took me and had to duck under the mirror on the van as he was that close to the van as he was riding into on coming traffic on a narrow road and then when he passed me immediately braked, why?? He then proceeded to ride off into oncoming traffic again. It he continues to ride like that there is every chance his genes will be removed from the gene pool.

Idiot number 4, a young school girl, stood on the corner of a road junction, about 5 mtrs from a zebra crossing. She had looked up the road towards me, I had seen her and assumed she was waiting for a friend. That was until she just stepped off the pavement in front of me, she did a very good job of ignoring me as I slammed on the brakes to avoid running her down. Another contender to have there genes removed from the gene pool.

Now for pear-shaped, I am once again the only wage earner as the wife’s temp contract has finished suddenly. Not what we wanted and not something we are in a position to handle at this time. It is looking a bit grim at the moment.

The esplanade from Branksome Chine to the pier was busy with cyclist, runners and the general public. It was also cold from the sea mist, making it to the peir approach it was almost like somebody had turned a heater on. By the time I got to Meyrick Park I had to put my lights as the darkness descented, but it was good for 6 o’clock.

About a mile from home I was whizzing along the pavement when an approaching runner started to wave his arms at me and stand in the middle of the narrow pavement so I could not get past. Here we go I thought, a lecture about you should not be cycling on the pavement. So when I reached the runner I was very surprised when he said “do you mind dropping your light a bit mate, your blinding me and probably the oncoming traffic”!! er yeah was the best I could reply. I lowered my light (magicshine 900 lumen), he bid me farewell and off I went again.

A short ride of 10 miles about 50% off road and 50% on road not my favourite combination but it is a fun quick ride. Best make the most of it as the cycling ban for the summer on the esplanade is only just around the corner.

Front Wheel
Stem
Rear Brake
Seat Post
Rear Mech (dérailleur)
1 tyre (currently in the shed as it is more a summer tyre than a muddy winter tyre)

There is not a lot of the original bike left is there? Bits of the bike have been changed either through, fault, personal choice, wore out or upgraded. Having given you what left I suppose I should tell you what happened to the other bits:

Frame, exchanged under warranty
Front dérailleur, changed due to damage
Rear wheel, freehub wore out
Handle bars, changed for personal choice
Handle bar grips, changed for personal choice
Saddle, changed for personal choice
Front forks, upgraded
Headset (bit that connects forks to the frame for steering), wore out and upgraded to better model
Bottom Bracket\Crank, wore out and upgraded to a better one
Front brake, upgraded to a better model as the old one needed servicing
Pedals, changed personal choice
Tyre, sidewall split
Lots of inner tubes!!

That list does not take into account the servicing of the components during their life on the bike. The hub (Hope Pro 2) on the current rear wheel has been rebuilt, the forks have been serviced recently (complete strip down and all new seals) after failing while out on a ride. Then there has been a several cassettes, chain rings, chains and brake pads fitted as the previous one wore out.

I am not even going to try and put a price on this as it would likely scare me, but to me it is the price of exercise, fitness, freedom and fun. What price would you put on your enjoyment??

I decided yesterday that I wanted to do something different, I was weary of my lack of fitness of late but in the end I decided on riding from Badbury Rings to Chettle in a big loop. I had my concerns as my legs were aching after yesterdays ride and that was only 18 miles, this was 22.5 miles.

The day dawned misty and over cast but by time I had got to Badbury Rings the sun was shining, short sleeved shirt was the order of the day, my arms started cold but my body was warm, certainly to warm for wearing the jumper I was carrying. For the first time I was going to try some electrolyte drink, after the mess of Cannock Woods in January I worked out that I should be using electrolyte based drinks not energy drinks, hopefully this would solve my cramp problems.

The ride starts as a slow steady climb up bridleways and Drove paths, up but slowly enough not to notice, unless your thighs are aching from the previous days ride!! I was remembering to drink the electrolyte drink (along with the plain water I took as well), while my legs ached there was no sign of the cramp.

My doubts about the distance of the ride were well founded, by the time I got to the steep climb at Sovell Down (16.5 miles) my legs were gone but at least there were no cramps. It was a slow push up the hill, followed shortly after by another push up the next hill near Moor Crichel. After that my legs were able to cope with the other small humps I came across on my way back to the car park at Badbury Rings. It was a slow ride completed without cramp and the bonus being that my legs don’t ache after the ride as they have done previously. It looks like the electrolyte drink was a success.

Tomorrow nights ride will just be a simple short ride, nor exactly sure where yet, just a simple ride to put some miles under my belt.

Back home with the new shiny rotor I quickly fitted the new rotor to the wheel refitted the wheel, fitted the brake calliper and it was still rubbing on the calliper. After checking the internet for inspiration I decided to take all the bits off and start again. It was only as I was taking the adaptor off the forks (for those non cyclist out there, there is an adaptor that fits onto the front forks that the brake calliper is bolted to), that I noticed that there was a small arrow printed on the adaptor saying up, it was currently pointing down doh! Refitted the adaptor the right way up, refitted the calliper, adjusted the fit and everything was working as it should. In my defence what I will say is the instruction that came with adaptor had drawing on showing the positioning of the adaptor on the forks, one picture showed my adaptor fitted to the forks in a position that was actually upside down. There were no specific instruction just general instruction, it was only the arrow on the adaptor which pointed out my error.

By now it was to late for the shopping or the club ride, so I opted for lunch and an afternoon ride on my own. I had been reading on the local club forum about exploring Ramsdown Forest, this is normally part of my Throop Loop ride. So I set off towards the Stour River which for a sunny afternoon was quite quiet, I was expecting a running battle with walkers and their dogs. If I need any proof that spring was here, a mouth full of bugs did that and had me grinding to a halt coughing and spluttering much to the amusement of those around me. I made it down to Throop Mill where I met two fire engines, an ambulance, ambulance car and a police car blocking the entire road. It seems as though somebody had had an accident on the river bank about half mile away and this was as close as they could get. As I crossed the bridge over the weir I could see a group of florescent green jackets down along the river bank to the west of the weir, I was heading east.

In Ramsdown Forest I decided to ride up to the view point, I have only done this once and as I want to improve my hill climbing it seemed like a good idea at the time. By the time I got to the top of was a gasping spluttering wreck again and again an amusement to those already at the top of the view point.

I took the opportunity to have a rest and take some photos (see below) before heading back down the way I came up. I did some more exploring around the forest and while I did try a couple of paths I had not ridden before none of them revealed anything special. From Ramsdown I decided to carry on like I would do on a Throop Loop and headed out towards Hurn Forest and then out onto Parley Common and home.

A very pleasant afternoon and where until near the end of the ride I actually felt I had a pair of riding legs, hopefully they will be there again tomorrow!!

Looking west towards Hurn Airport, you can just make out the roofs of building on the industrial estate alongside the airport.

Looking out towards Ringwood (hidden behind the trees) A338 in the middle ground

Looking east towards the Isle of Wight and the needles

Been a while since my bike has snuck in to a picture