Ride 10/12/2016

On a “warm” winters day I decided it was worth getting the road bike out and doing a longer ride since it was dry but overcast, the only contention I had was the 15 mph head wind on the out leg ride but on the turn to home this would be a tail wind which was much appreciated. Although this wasn’t a hilly ride I was still knackered by the time I got home, 53 miles in 3.5 hours is a respectable time for me especially in winter when i don’t normally do these rides. Anyway the long hot bath at the end of the ride was worth the effort

Ride 03/12/2016

Well it started out as a dull foggy day with very little wind so I decided to head to Hopetoun House. I know the route is on the “route 76” cycle path and a lot of it is off road and it’s been a while since I’d been there so headed out that way to begin with. I didn’t know what way to take back but I’ll make that up as I go along. Managed to stop at the Kenneil Steam train railway and watch the Santa Polar Express steam train take the kids away didn’t take any pictures though. Once I hit Hopetoun I headed back towards home but went via the canal, you can see this quite clearly in the elevation graph, dead flat and then the last couple of miles on road to home.

Ride 26/11/2016

Another cold frosty morning so decided to do a mixed bag ride where I was off road on road and on cycle paths. I headed up Shieldhill over to Armadale and along to Airdrie. Down to Cumbernauld and back to Falkirk via the Canal, 3 hours of cycling and I was rewarded with cold finger and cold toes but I did get close to 40 Miles but doing it on my mountain bike meant it was a slow 40 miles.

Ride 19/11/2016

On a cold bright frosty Saturday morning I decided it was wise to use the mountain bike for today’s ride, I didn’t want to fall off the road bike and damage it any way and I’ve fallen off the mountain bike a few time because I’ve hit ice with it. Wind was minimal and I didn’t have any particular route in mind so I went wherever the whim took me. Headed out to bo’ness first then over to Bridgend an up hill to Beegraigs Country Park and a round about route to Linlithgow. Headed back home after that as I wanted to be back for lunch.

Ride 12/11/2016

Bit of a dull overcast day but little wind and no rain so did a loop to steps and back going via Kilsyth, Kirkintiloch, Steps, Greengairs and Slamannan to Falkirk. A decent ride for this time of year

Ride 05/11/2016

It’s a bright sunny day but a cold one at only 5 degrees, didn’t have any route in mind so made it up as I went along. Not too windy today but I was in a head wind on the leg back home. So the basic route was along to Linlithgow and Kirkliston and then swung back home going through Livingston and bathgate with a slight detour to go up to Shieldhill and back down to Falkirk. 45 miles knocked out but thankful to get back home as I was starting to get a bit cold.

Farewell High Wycombe Day 3

Well it’s the last day and I decided to cycle to Windsor which I have cycled to before but not from dad’s house. It’s actually quite close only just over 14 miles to get there, so it didn’t take long to get there. Took a couple photos and then headed back home. All in all, it’s been a good 3 days of cycling albeit small rides but places that I grew up in and cycled as a child. I’m reminded of the first bike I ever had, it had stabilisers and Dad trying to teach me how to ride and then without the stabilisers. As I grew I remember cycling down the drive and down the road without using my brakes which given dads house is on a hill side and the drive is like 10% gradient with the road not being much shallower I must have been quite mad! I won’t dare do that now. I head home on Saturday and I’m in London tomorrow so farewell High Wycombe it was nice knowing you…

Farewell High Wycombe Day 2

Well it’s day 2 and Garmin decided to go stupid on me and not record the first 7-8 odd miles to Marlow Anyway I’ve never actually ridden to Marlow so decided to do that today and have lunch by the Thames. It was then on to West Wycombe a place I learnt to drive but again never ridden the bike too. There was a site there that I had seen for 40 years and wondered what it was but never got around to going there so I made the effort today. I ended up at a place called Hell-Fire Caves which I didn’t know about, it wasn’t the place I could see at the top of the hill, that was further on. Anyway it looks like an interesting place but you need to pay to get in and I wasn’t carrying my bike lock so I couldn’t go in. As I carried on to the top of the hill I could see what I was after a place called Saint Lawrence Church which has a very distinctive globe on the top of its spire which is what I can see from a long way away or when I drove past it going to Princes Risbourgh. It has a very unusual octagon shaped building around the back of it which you can’t see from the road. Suffice to say I did take photos but I forgot the camera cable to upload the photos so I’ll do that at the weekend when I go home. Tomorrow will be my last day of cycling if I get any done as the house cleaners are coming tomorrow as well so we’ll see.

Farewell High Wycombe Day 1

So this will be the last time I cycle in Wycombe, the place I grew up in and learned to ride a bike. For the record I’m at my dad’s old house before we sell it and this will be the last time I come to High Wycombe. I’m glad my cycling memory is still intact as I was cycling roads I hadn’t done in nearly 30 years, so it was a nice surprise that I could remember where I was going :-). I started by heading to all the schools I used to attend and then on to Loudwater where I used to live old forge road hadn’t changed much, albeit the surrounding area had, and number 4 was still there but only a different colour. I then continued on to Beaconsfield and Gerrard’s Cross where I used to ride my bike for a job I had there. It was then onto roads I hadn’t cycled before heading to Amersham and then back to Hazelmere down to the Rye and back up Hatters Land hill which is where the secondary school was that I went to, after that it was back to Dads. Tomorrow I’ll be heading the other way over to Marlow and West Wycombe.

Ride 08/10/2016

Just a little ride today after collecting my bike from its service and upgrade to Shimarno Ultegra groupset Also had to get new wheels on since I was going from a 10 speed to a 11 speed so got some Mavic Ksyrium 700C Wheels.

Ride 10/09/2016

Well after a week with a stupid tummy bug I finally started to feel a little bit more normal today but not enough to do a big ride, so I kept it to a small one, I certainly didn’t want to not ride at all though A small quick ride to Cumbernauld and back and I’ll live with that. Next week I’ll be starting my China ride so this and maybe, depending on the weather, rides through the week will be my last training rides.

Ride 03/09/2016

So after riding a good 5 years on my SPD cleats and pedals I decided it was time to try some proper road shoes, since I’m riding more my road bike than my mountain bike. So last week I bought some Garmin Vector 2 pedals and a pair of Sidi Kaos Road shoes cost me a fortune but the pedals do have power meters on them. I’ve never used Sidi shoes and today’s ride was my first ride with them. I kept the ride to a short one as I’m not sure how my body is going to react to this change but this mornings ride went without a hitch and I never fell off my bike which is a good thing The statistics the power meters give you is a bit over whelming but interesting and compared to my Bontrager shoes the Sidi ones are as good if not better, they allow for a bit more tightening around the foot. It’s still early days with these shoes and pedals but I certainly like what I feel :-D. Weather wise today was a bit dull with a few spats of rain but little wind so although today’s ride wasn’t the fastest it was still quite quick.