The Merits of Two Feet instead of Two Wheels....

Today we went walking. Which makes a change from cycling-not necessarily a welcome one at first thought, but definitely a good idea retrospectively :)


Anyway, I find walking's really good for blowing out the cobwebs upstairs and to show what such a nice day today was, I thought I'd take a few piccers:

Where's all this you ask? Near Feizor in *cough* Yorkshire...


These 2 below are from the top of Bowland Knotts, a rather large fell with quite a reputation. We drove up today, but sooner or later I'll ride it! 

Anyway, enough of this no-bike nonsense, it's back up early tomorrow morning for a nice sharp 5 hour run up North! Can't wait :)












Tonight I leave you with this...and remember, j'etudie le francais ;) 


(and P.S: I have NO IDEA why there are two random spaces here-I can't get rid of them :S sorry)

Winter...bah Humbug.

That was a fairly 'interesting ride it must be said...a very glustery wind (that's a new word combining 'blustery' and 'gusty' btw) and low misty cloud. Or as we Brits call it, a pretty average day...


Here are some fotos to show you what I mean:

Both were taken up Ashurst Beacon, a rather lovely hill near Parbold.


Oh, and there's an really really quick downhill further on called Bank Top. By quick I mean 45mph+ quick. On a bike. :-O Buttock clenching stuff...;)

Music

Interesting topic this....here are a couple of my fav discoveries, some new, some old that you might like to sample:

• Crimson Dawn-Seth Lakeman
• Cry For You-Andy Timmons
  
• Greensleves-Me and my Dad :)
  
• Searching-Joe Satriani
  
• Toi + Moi-Gregoire
  

Anyway.... this still makes me cringe every time I see it:

Ouch....

Tuesday....Fear it!

I realised today that there's something odd about Tuesdays and College. I hear your snort of derision, but hear me out:

• Today, there had been an accident and two cars had gone off the road on a lovely tight 's' bend about 5 mins from College. Nothing odd there I hear you say, that's true-but we ended up waiting for about 10 mins while one was winched out of a ditch then got to College at about 3 mins to 9.
• A few weeks ago (when it was really cold...remember that?) it snowed badly on a Tuesday-and College closed as a result.
• More than a few weeks ago, our bus (which has to turn round down a one way road every journey) couldn't get reverse gear-so we were stuck there for about 10 mins while the driver attempted (successfully as it turned out) to get reverse. Result? Got to College at about 8:56.
• Even more weeks before that, our bus actually broke down before we got to College....and as a result we were late.

And to top all of that off, the bus very very nearly broke down as we were leaving College this afternoon! 

You may be interested to know I Googled 'Tuesday', 'weird facts about Tuesday' etc, but to no avail. All this leaves me thinking that there's something sinister going on. Or perhaps I'm just waaaay overdue for a holiday...

So now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to hide in a corner unless something else goes wrong. Happy Tuesday!

(Btw, if that's left you feeling bemused/paranoid/worried  then please enjoy this with my compliments: Muppets)

Well today's ride turned out to be far more epic than I'd expected from a quick afternoon spin...


It was raining as I set off (it had been raining most of the day tbh) and I had the age old Cyclist problem of riding in a Cape. You see, Capes make you feel like Rice. Yep, Rice. I say that, because life goes along all rosy until someone (often yourself) decides to 'turn the heat up' and make you work....then it's rather like Boil in the Bag. Literally. So there I was quietly perspiring (it's still raining btw) and I decided to spice up the ride by making it up as I went along...so of course I got lost within the hour. Have I mentioned the fact that there was an EVIL headwind? No? Well there was.


My normal route into Southport was Ok, it was just when I tried to replicate a route me and my Dad used last Wednesday (but in reverse) that the problems began. The problem was pretty simple really: Southport has FAR too many roads, bridges and roundabouts that look EXACTLY the same as all the others. So in short I emerged rather chillier and a little unnerved not far from where I'd entered the town originally about 45mins earlier. Rather a pointless loop really. But I got to practice my eating whilst riding skills when I was forced to eat a rather frozen cereal bar somewhere on the Moss back roads (which takes some doing believe you me) so it wasn't a complete loss :)


Oh, and I only passed one other bikey in the whole 2 hours....and he was going the other way back into the Village as I was leaving. Bit of an omen perhaps...


So to summarise:

• Rain make cycling not fun
• Wind make cycling in cape and rain even more not fun.
• Getting lost really doesn't help the situation.
• Chocolate Geobars are like Rocket Fuel when you're hungry :) 

Now if you'll excuse me I have Biology revision :)

Bored? Well read on....

I just HAVE to share this, it is...wait for it....First Person Tetris! Truly awesome it must be said :)

A blog eh?

Hmmm...this is new. I've been meaning to get one of these things for ages really...and now's not exactly the best time as I should be revising!

So what's this for exactly? I hear you cry...
Not sure myself to be honest, I quite like the idea of having a medium through which to discuss the finer intellectual topics of the moment. In other words, have a rant :)

So watch this space and follow me on Twitter while you're at it.

Or have a search around on my cycling club's website (and you might just see me pop up on a few results pages ;)
Cheers :)