A little too easy?

One month into 2013 and the plan to take things a little easier with the cycling this year is coming along nicely. A combination of dark mornings and evenings, rain, snow, ice, wind and a mindset of actually wanting to do less miles has seen me ride just 298.44 miles in January. This is my lowest monthly total since December 2010 when I covered just 139.26 miles. 

And do I feel good about this? No, not really. If I’m honest, I’m actually finding it harder to do the shorter rides than I would if I was racking up double the distance. I’m already noticing a drop off in my fitness and my average speed is lower than I’d like. Okay, riding in the dark doesn’t help, and the strong winds certainly don’t, but I’m sure the biggest issue is the lack of riding time. Time for a re-think maybe!

Having said all that, the week of proper snow we had mid-month (before a slight melt turned it to ice) was great fun to ride in and the GT Avalanche 1 mountain bike that I purchased back in November proved to be ideal for the conditions. As well as the mountain bike allowing me to carry on riding when the snow arrived there were two or three evenings when I actually added a few miles onto the journey home, just so I could play in the snow for a little longer!

Taking time out from playing in

the snow at Alvaston Park!

Help protect the Stone Curlew!

Yet again, one of the UK’s endangered bird species is under threat. This time it is the nesting grounds of the Stone Curlew, a bird already on the amber list of conservation species.

Please take a moment to visit the follow web site, read the petition and add your name. This needs to be stopped before it is too late!