Nah its July!
So far this week has been unremarkable which is kinda good. Monday, whilst a bit overcast was not a bad day, a bit of garden maintenance then a stroll to the Swedish shop for lunch. Not that going much further was on the cards, my feet were still complaining about Saturdays hike!
Yesterday was bike day, a gentle meander was the choice of the day, Clevedon for some lunch then a longer loop back, i must admit to a second stop for tea and a huge wedge of carrot cake just because! It ended up a tad over 107km but i somehow avoided gaining too much altitude even if there were quite a few climbs.
And so to today. When its out the sun is hot but there's enough cloud up there to make it quite bearable most of the time. In teurn that has meant i've been doing my bike mechanics al fresco. First up was prepping my CX/tour bike to go to the shop - a quick clean and make it just about rideable - i had started a strip service when the 'problem' arose thats causing the shop visit. So one bike down.
Next up was a bit more involved, fixing up a vintage atb so that it can be used. We are talking proper old skool from the mid 80's, rigid steel, 21 speed. It had somehow remained pretty much original and surprisingly new tyres and brake cabling have been enough to get it running. Sure, ideally it needs more work but a couple of hours fettling and £20 in parts has made it a runner again. There is another bike languishing in the back but i think that'll be a bit more of a job to sort and to be honest its very borderline whether its economic to fix it, it probably cost about £100 new and it could cost that in parts, its a shame but sometimes thats the harsh reality.
So i'll be off to drop my bike off in a bit then its grab some shopping on the way back or it'll just be the home grown cherry and rhubarb crumble thats waiting to go in the oven for tea.
The forecast is looking quite warm and sunny through the weekend so i guess i'll be spending a bit of time out doors, next update will of course be Sunday.
for now though,
Tchusse,
Madeline Anafrid
Comments
During this heat wave...
... Just be careful! Easy does it! Don't forget to replenish your electrolytes. I assume that your head is mostly covered by the helmet...
Don't forget to control your blood pressure. It tends to go high in this kind of weather and further increasing it with exercise is not always a good idea. At our vintage a little bit of hypertension could lead to the loads of hospital visits.
You assume a lot thete
Why oh why would you think I’d wear a lump of polystyrene on my head to ride, especially in this weather? The current fascination with cycle helmets is born from American risk aversion and outside of competition there is no, I repeat, no evidence to support their widespread use. Yes I own helmets, they get used for competitive riding only.
Given that I’ve been riding/racing for something approaching 45 years, I am well aware of my bodies needs and reactions throughout the year. I’ve been replenishing electrolytes longer than you’ve know the word.
But thanks for your concern
Madeline Anafrid Bell
... Wide brim straw hat...
... is a better protection against sun, but not very good if you move at more than 3 mph ;-)
Never owned a helmet myself but have about 2 minutes of total flight time from all of the occasions where I was flying off my bicycle :-)
In another 1200 years I will be eligible to get my pilot license ;-)
We are sinking here
At least that is what it seems like. The forecast is for 4-6 inches of rain in the next 24 hours with added gale-force winds. Can we have some of the UK's sunshine, please? Norway would appreciate it. The local river is a raging torrent and the big rain drop hasn't even started yet.
Samantha