At the beginning of the year I set myself a little challenge, I wanted to try and cycle at least 2,500 miles this year. At the time, I thought it should be attainable if I didn’t chicken out of riding to work when the weather was bad and also threw in a few longer “fun” rides at weekends. Well, today I passed the 2,500 mile barrier!
On the whole it’s been an enjoyable experience so far if you ignore the five punctures I’ve picked up, the numerous soakings when I’ve been caught in the rain and the occasional close call with cars/vans/buses that treat cyclists as target practice! February 3 is one day that stands out above most this year; it was the day I lost the use of all but one of the 21 gears on my bike due to the whole of the gear mechanism freezing up! Conditions that day were not good!
The purchase of the Cannondale Bad Boy in April had a positive effect on my riding and I soon started to up the mileage I was riding. In early May I completed the 40-mile Vale of Belvoir sponsored ride for the British Heart Foundation, the following morning I rode for another 25 miles just to spin my legs out. There have also been Sunday morning rides of 30 miles, 40 miles (twice), and a 50 miler. I also got a little carried away on a rather nice Sunday morning in June and returned home with 60 miles under my belt! The plan is to work up to a 100-mile ride at some point next year. Well, that’s the plan!
At the end of Sunday’s birding blog I posted a couple of photos taken with my phone, that’s because I’ve killed my poor old digital camera! After being with me for more years than I can remember, and taking over 7,000 photos, the Kodak gave up the ghost on September 5. I’d cycled over to Allestree Park to watch the cyclo-cross racing and after taking just two photos the camera died. The last ever pictures from the camera are below!
On the whole it’s been an enjoyable experience so far if you ignore the five punctures I’ve picked up, the numerous soakings when I’ve been caught in the rain and the occasional close call with cars/vans/buses that treat cyclists as target practice! February 3 is one day that stands out above most this year; it was the day I lost the use of all but one of the 21 gears on my bike due to the whole of the gear mechanism freezing up! Conditions that day were not good!
The purchase of the Cannondale Bad Boy in April had a positive effect on my riding and I soon started to up the mileage I was riding. In early May I completed the 40-mile Vale of Belvoir sponsored ride for the British Heart Foundation, the following morning I rode for another 25 miles just to spin my legs out. There have also been Sunday morning rides of 30 miles, 40 miles (twice), and a 50 miler. I also got a little carried away on a rather nice Sunday morning in June and returned home with 60 miles under my belt! The plan is to work up to a 100-mile ride at some point next year. Well, that’s the plan!
At the end of Sunday’s birding blog I posted a couple of photos taken with my phone, that’s because I’ve killed my poor old digital camera! After being with me for more years than I can remember, and taking over 7,000 photos, the Kodak gave up the ghost on September 5. I’d cycled over to Allestree Park to watch the cyclo-cross racing and after taking just two photos the camera died. The last ever pictures from the camera are below!
Cyclo-cross at Allestree Park.
As for the racing, I don’t think I’ll be taking it up any time soon. The standard of riding in the senior’s race, and the quality of the bikes, was way above my level! I hope to attend more rounds of the race series over the next few months, hopefully with a fully operational camera!
No comments:
Post a Comment