Mud Fest

....so the supposedly warmer days, and a couple of 'free' hours pencilled in for the Sunday, along with some renewed vigour of getting on the bike......

Anyhow, found this brill site, which may not be new for anyone else, but I think its K9's 'nads.

Side by side maps, the OS on one side and google sat view on the other. Plot your course & download as a GPX. I then convert to a route(TCX) for the Garmin.

So a 25 miler, encompasing the West Leake hills, which sounds quite grand, but since hills aren't really our thing round this way, and bridleways are only linked with tarmac, its a bit of an XC challenge.
Found some nice new pieces of wood to ride through, but with the whole of Saturday raining, the ground in places was a bit swampy. Let just say, and Pnik will get this, one steep downhill, I had to get off & push. The bike would not move. There was so much mud clay stuff between tyre & forks, that the front wheel siezed. Deft work with piece of stick get it moving again. Front mech was destined to be stuck wherever it felt.

So, although not aching on way in Monday, lets just say, it took a little longer.

...and as if by magic.,..

...the other one appears...

Well, whadya know. I just happen to glance over to the blog, and I find some recent posts.

My biking has been limited, generally, to the daily commute. A flat tarmac 10 miles a day keeps the legs and cogs moving. Quite extraordinary how the bike gets so filthy without mud. mental note to buy a chain cleaner/scrubber thing.
Running the gauntlet with Notts rush hour traffic is fun. I now have two bright flashy lights on the front, mainly to light up the canal towpath, highlighting the logs & flotsam that seems to go with narrowboats.
Ahh, there was a customary new year ride with Pnik up at Sherwood pines. We did the kitchener trail, which, I suspect, was a tad longer that Pnik originally assumed. Got to pace yourself a bit. I know we dont really have hills, but we have mud. Lots of it.

offski, backson.
J

Not so gorgeous Sunday.

Got my kicks on the turbo this morning. I have to be gentle though as the donor bike has a dodgy rear axle. So long since I've been on it had to move the collected conservatory detritus out of the way first, bags of logs, buckets and more bellies and crocs than we have feet!
Warmed up with Babyshambles and moved on to the Clash. Great tunes although I had to be old school wired for sound as the Bluetooth was as flat as Holland.

Now to parental duty. Take the kids swimming, they don't fancy the sea so to the pool. More cash number 1 has lost goggles.

Laters