Cycling 2025

[Fishy]

Another 30 miler earlier today .. thought id head inland to avoid the worst of the gusty winds.. didn't work really still very windy in parts..

[Slim]

Fitted a Schwalbe Lugano II to the rear Roubaix wheel, to match the Lugano (I) I fitted to the front. The II apparently has inferior puncture protection, but better rolling resistance compared to the I.

I'm disappointed by all the flashing (as I believe it's called). The little protrusions from the moulding, and the little fin that's formed from rubber seeping into the seam in the mould. Probably doesn't make a practical difference but I may go round them all with a sharp knife, or a guitar string cutter anyway. Carefully.


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[Fishy]

Another 30 miler earlier today .. thought id head inland to avoid the worst of the gusty winds.. didn't work really still very windy in parts..

and again today.. still gusty... bit sunnier..

[Nickslikk2112]

Feels like another restart for me. Five days off and it's back to square one.
Was later out than intended as my Garmin wouldn't switch on. Got the old Garmin out, not used for years but it still had 81% charge. I knew it would run out quickly but didn't think it would be done after 26 minutes.

Still, I also had my Garmin Vivoactive 5 watch on, which does an HR measurement, but that was showing 95 when the Edge 520 said 151, yet when that turned off the Vivoactive seemed to start reporting a more "normal" figure. Although it then never dropped much, so I suppose it evens out.

Weather looked OK, but at my furthest point from home it began hailing. Nice. After five minutes the sun came out again. Proper nice. The last three miles were under hail attack again. Nice.

I got 18 miles in, that's another incremental mile from the previous ride, so it'll do.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13861503029

[Nickslikk2112]

And today I got out for 20 miles. Incremental gains. That's the way to go. Edge 1040 worked, that's the main thing. Probably taper things off for the rest of the week.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13879911310

[Slim]

Showers were forecast for the afternoon and it was definitely cold this morning, but since I hadn't been out on a bike since Sunday I felt the need to get 50 or 60 km in today.

With the wind coming from the north unusually I decided a trip up to Derby was in order. Up through Melbourne, over Swarkestone Bridge, up Infinity Park Way. I found Moor Lane and had a sneaky look round the grounds of the Rolls-Royce recreation centre where I used to go shooting in the early '90s.

I did briefly consider repeating my old cycle ride home to Oakwood from there. But I decided against it. I came round the ring road and pedalled south along Chellaston Road, back to the roundabout over the A50.

Then I headed homeward via Weston, Aston and Shardlow. From Shardlow I had a brief excursion west back toward Derby. Nice bit of flat road. Then I turned back to Shardlow. Cavendish Bridge, down through Donington, Top Brand, Griffydam et al.

The weather warmed up nicely when the sun came out in the afternoon. I did pick up a few spots of rain going past the airport but I couldn't call it a shower.

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Noticed a shocking traffic jam on the A50 when I passed over it, what a way to spend a Friday afternoon.

Listened to more of the Reacher novel. The plot has taken an odd turn and a lot of the tension has gone out of it, I suspect it's not going to be one of the better ones.

Nice to get out. Back on 67.73km.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13880879263

[Slim]

It wasn't brilliant weather for cycling - a bit cold and cloudy with a threat of showers later on. The wind was coming from the north-east. I had two ideas in mind - either to do the usual eastbound route, or to go up toward Newark.

The first 25 km is the same in either case and just before I got to the crossroads at Rempstone, I decided to do the Newark route. I wasn't going to go nearly that far. Just enough distance for a fondo. But I hadn't done that route for four years.

I went as far as a village called Barnstone, then, having done nearly 51km, I turned back.

Well - I'm not doing that again. Nice to reacquaint myself with those roads (and acquaint myself with some short stretches of new road, where I took wrong turns) but the roads were shocking in places. I do remember that they were a bit rough, it was always the downside of doing that route. But it was worse today than I remembered. I was actually getting quite angry rattling over what passes for a road surface in parts of Nottinghamshire.

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I'd be happier doing it on my gravel bike, but then again it's the heaviest bike I own and there's a fair bit of hill climbing over that way.

After Belton on the way back I took a detour down Forest Lane, hadn't done that for years either.

It was colder than I expected. I picked up a few spots of rain but nothing troubling.

Listened to more Reacher and footy on 5 Live.

Back on 102.23, that was my fourth fondo this month. And that's 2003 km done this year now.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13901113055

[Slim]

A mild and sunny, dry day. But with a strong-ish wind coming from the east. I thought I'd do the eastbound route, or a variation on it. Usually the route curves round Loughborough, to the north. But this time I thought I'd go straight through the town.

I actually nearly took the usual route on auto-pilot and went up Gracedieu Lane to Belton rather than continuing to Loughborough. But I returned to the intended route via Forest Lane.

Loughborough was depressingly urban and busy with traffic, as I thought it would be. But if I were to do my long ride to East Lincolnshire and back, I'd likely be going through there before 0500, and it would be fine I'm sure. Would save a bit of distance, and possibly a bit of climbing.

I also took my occasional detour through Walton on the Wolds and Paudy Lane before joining the traditional route at Six Hills. I turned back short of Eastwell as I'd actually added distance a bit by exploring round where my ex-partner's parents lived in Loughborough, and by doing the Walton detour. I didn't want to do much more than a fondo as the headwind had been really annoying. Much nicer on the way back. Came back through Wymeswold and Rempstone (ie avoiding Loughborough, as usual).

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Finished the Reacher novel. It turned out to be really daft. Not one of the better ones. Lovely sunny mild day, although I thought I'd need to take a layer off in the afternoon, and I didn't.

That's 740 km done in March now, happy with that. That was the fifth fondo this month. I've only done more than four in a month three times previously.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13919317000

[Nickslikk2112]

Didn't manage to get out for 15 miles on Sunday. Felt too jaded, then it rained.

No excuses for not going out today though, sunny and warm enough for no base layer. Probably warm enough for short sleeves, but I've still got a big scab on my right elbow that I keep covered up. With my luck I'd have come off and scraped it up again.

Still not feeling up to much uphill work, not that I ever do, but it's all bloody hard work at the moment. But I'm sure taking it slowly and steadily will pay off. Did three laps of my Sutton Scarsdale/Heath circuit and my heart rate came down each time. Still not getting down to Zone 2 but getting closer.

Up to a 25 miler now, see if I can get up to 35 by the end of March.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13916074595

[Nickslikk2112]

And today a 26 miler. More of a "proper" ride too, out to Tibshelf and back. Another lovely day for it and thankfully I was back before it got too warm.

Still suffering on the uphills though, Noticed I ranked 13 out of 15 for the week on one hill on Strava. Normally I'd expect to be say 4 out of 15. Mainly used by casual riders and not the keen roadies.

On the way back from Tibby I saw a Deer run across the road about 50 yards ahead of me, I slowed down on the offchance it would be followed by others, but it was a singleton, had disappeared across the field within a few seconds too.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13925979589

[Nickslikk2112]

Didn't feel like going out today, but I perked up after a good dump and set out to make the most of the sunshine. It was certainly a lot warmer but I stuck to long sleeves and bib tights as Mrs S would be after me with the rolling pin if she thought I'd be presenting her with a double dose of cycling kit to be washed.

It was certainly warm though, it's not very often I unzip my jersey, but I needed that airflow today. Went out and did a few laps of the flattest bit of road I can think of, then came back up what is known as Cardiac Hill. It's not that bad, but it feels it when you're not fit.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13935630933

[Slim]

Missed a perfectly serviceable cycling day today because the BBC told me there'd be rain. There wasn't. Missed a brilliant cycling day on Thursday because I wasn't supposed to eat all day in advance of being intimately probed by the medical profession, and working up an appetite wouldn't have helped.

But at the moment Monday looks like a good one.

[Slim]

Another pretty nice day, low winds, plenty of sun forecast for the afternoon. My intention was to do the Lower Westbound Route, with the twist that I'd go out through Ashby and Moira rather than Heather and Measham. I've done this before in the dim, distant past. It doesn't save any distance or climbing, but I wanted to avoid the traffic and speed bumps in Measham.

Actually I messed up by going up through Coleorton on auto-pilot, but it was easy enough to make my way over to Ashby from there, and fortunately the roundabout over the A42 wasn't too busy.

Well - it was nice to do that for a change, but it's no less hassle than Measham really. Anyway after I got to Kings Bromley, I decided to keep going down the A515 rather than turning for Abbots Bromley. Quite nice down there. This time I went all the way down to Lichfield, and had a look round the northern outskirts. Hadn't been there since the '90s, when I went to a pub there with my Rolls-Royce section leader at the time. I did pass a pub and wondered if it was the same one. I turned back after nearly 50 km.

Back up to Kings Bromley, and I thought to add a few km by going up toward Yoxall for a bit then coming back down. But instead I decided I'd do something a bit more adventurous. I thought I'd keep going all the way up to Sudbury, then go home via the Upper Westbound Route and the beloved A road. The main road up there is a bit of a rollercoaster ride so I was a bit trepidatious, but it's much more tolerable going north than south. The main climb is much less steep.

Back the usual way through Hatton, Hilton, Willington, Swarkestone, Melbourne and Coleorton as usual.

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Glad to have combined those two routes, I've been intending to try that for quite some time. Without the excursion down to Lichfield it would come to a bit less than a fondo. Today though, 118.93km.

Really nice out there. I had to take a few layers off at Lichfield, after which I was down to bare legs.

I had to stop to let a train pass at Hilton. Interesting that the gates are manually operated. A person comes out of the building next to the tracks and opens and closes them by hand. I'm sure that some level crossings were automated back as long ago as the '70s. At Lullington I had to stop to let a funeral procession pass. Very elaborate. Two horses drawing a carriage and a long line of mourners.

I listened to 5 Live, LBC and the John Scofield live album Pick Hits Live which I hadn't listened to for years. Recorded just before his best studio album, which is a bit of a shame. Misses some stellar material.

First run out for the Roubaix this year, and its first time out with new tyres. I think the white sidewall stripes suit the bike.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13976764721

[Nickslikk2112]

All a bit Stop/Start for me for one reason and another. Anyway, it was a dry day so out I went, but under orders from Mrs S to back by One. She has her reasons.

That gave me a couple of hours anyway, so I just did the ride out to Heath and do a few laps round there and Sutton Scarsdale. The old heart rate still isn't down to where I'd want it to be, but it's not shooting up as high as it was either.

Still out on the Gravel bike, even though I'm on paved roads 100% of the time a lot of them aren't very well surfaced so a chunky tyre gives that bit of a confidence boost.

First ride of over two hours since January and the first over 30 miles. Doubt I'll do a 35 mile one by the end of March as I wanted, but hey-ho. I wasn't back until after one either, but then I knew Mrs S wouldn't be ready to go out to work by then.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13982164007

[Slim]

The weather was supposed to be really nice today. I'd hoped to do 80km, or maybe a fondo. But it was foggy out there when I looked out of the window, not long after I got up. And cold. I might have tolerated it if I was going to do a particularly interesting ride but since I'd intended to do a minimal fondo at most, I hung on for the temperature to rise a bit.

Set off eventually at about 1255, by which time I'd decided to settle for a Bypasser. It was a pretty ordinary one except that I did a bit of excursion, as far as the A5, down the Dad's Army route. And I did a small detour through Upton on the way back up.

Very nice out there by the afternoon. Warm and sunny. I think the wind was a bit stronger than I'd been led to expect.

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Listened to coverage of the emergency budget on 5 Live. Back on 69.05km. Nice run out.

928km done this month now, which is a record for a March. And I think I can get that up to four figures.

https://www.strava.com/activities/13994435622