A frosty cycle commute – Goscote to Leicester.
I’ve doubled the speed and split it into two parts to fit it on youtube. (Filmed Wed 16th Jan 2013)
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Out for the first round trip of the year. (last weekend was just a trolly ride to the leisure Centre)
Such a different ride to the daily commute – out in the country, on roads (actual roads!), letting your body drive the bike and ride!
In comparison, “the daily commute” is a dodge-fest, a series of trolly rides between and around numerous obstacles, detritus, and incompatible structures and traditions.
It’s been a while since I rode out on the ‘open’ roads. I used to ride them on the commute but considered them too dangerous and so in September switched to the ‘cycle-path’ jungle.
Riding today brought me to entertain the old road again.
The problem with the cycle-path v mechanical-pedestrian v automobile route is that it seems a series of compromises:
- It seems to say as a cyclist you should be on the road not the pavement but you are not a motor so you need your own painted-line cycle-path to be in.
- Then they advise to “claim your road” you are a road user, and you should ride in the road like the other traffic.
- Some ‘authorities’ even advise caution about cycle-paths: “If there’s a cycle lane on the left, Owen advises caution: make sure before using it that the lane is sufficiently separate from the traffic?”
- Most routes are a combination of shared pedestrian path, cycle path, road and other. If it’s an unfamiliar route it’s near impossible!
- When you ride the pedestrian path you pass numerous people cycling on the road.
- On the Shared path you get daily comments and gestures to “get on the road!”.
- When on the road you get regular comments to “get out of the way”.
- When on the road you have to decide, am I compatible with the traffic or should I cut my losses and not risk death.
- Two or more driver’s vehicles in collision = insurance claim.
- Cyclist and driver’s vehicle in collision = serious injury or death.
As I say sometimes it’s near impossible – other road users do not have to constantly decide where do/should i fit in here?
#keepcycling ?
Anyway the ride on the relatively open country roads of Leicestershire was again a joy.
#keepcycling !
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Daily Bread…
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us… ?
Today was a normal Saturday.
Thankful to Em who did a 4 hour stint teaching swimming.
We had dancing first thing, or at least thought we did (Doesn’t start till next week).
So we did a small Tesco shop and a library visit to stock up on books for the next 3 weeks.
Soup and salad for munch. Nice.
Then the first trip out on the bike this year (except for the daily commutes).
Met up with Em at Gymnastics. Then a trip back…. Many roads and paths full if debris and in parts very slippy and dangerous. But the fresh air, nature, endorphins…. Gr8.
Endorphins kept buzzing on my return, and so homemade pizza dough (thanks to netmums) with the kids for their tea.
Then dough was pummelled and rested and a loaf of homemade bread was created! Thanks again to Holly’s recipe from GBBO. Gr8 therapy.
The kids tucked away and a curry from a jar was sizzled, ate and enjoyed.
I am thankful for our daily bread.
All u need is:
500g strong white flour.
10g salt
5g caster sugar
7g sachet of dried yeast
350mls lukewarm water
Simply mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl with a metal spoon just till it’s together, and leave for ten minutes.
Tip onto the table and knead it 10 minutes. This is therapeutic, enjoy it.
Put it back in the bowl and cover the bowl with clingfilm.
Leave on the side (in a warm place) until the dough has doubled in size, about 30 minutes…
Tip the enlarged size dough onto your table and push down a few times on the dough to release air bubbles. Do not knead it. Then fold and shape your dough to your preferred bread shape and place on a baking tray.
Don’t cover the bread. Leave the tray on the kitchen top till the loaf’s double in size, another 30mins. Top the loaf with seeds or supt if u want.
Make some quick cuts on the top of the loaf and put it on the middle shelf of a 200deg c oven.
Bake for about 35 mins. Check the bread occasionally and rotate or change shelves if it’s over/under doing.
Bread’s done when it sounds hollow when you knock the underneath.
Thanks Holly, full details here.
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Gwithian 2012
Having lived in West Cornwall until I was twenty something years old, Gwithian/Godreavy Beach in Cornwall is a place I spent many hours as a boy and young person.
Those who know it will probably also consider it a special place.
Carbis (St.Ives) Bay is a unique formation and the stroll along the East edge of the bay from Godreavy around to Hayle is quite an experience.
It’s become a Christmas – New Year tradition to take the stroll if we’re in Kernow seeing the folks etc.
The best time to experience it is without emmets… therefore Autumn through Winter and Spring. It is every-changing, and the extremes from sunbaked bluest of blue days through to the wildest of salty howls can be ‘awesome’ (in traditional sense, not in the youf speak sense).
If you go to West (proper) Cornwall on Holiday, be sure to seek it out.
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2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,900 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 7 years to get that many views.
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I recently heard someone, a scientist, refer to what they saw as ‘awe-inspiring’.
To inspire awe? It’s a common notion, even in this age where we know how everything works and are masters of our own kingdoms. Supposedly.
An off the shelf definition: magnificent, amazing, astonishing, awesome, breathtaking, grand, impressive, majestic, mind-blowing, remarkable, stunning, wonderful…
Wikipedia quotes “Awe is an emotion comparable to wonder but less joyous… an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extreme…”
It quotes Paul Pearsall “…a sense of connection with a startling universe that is usually far beyond the narrow band of our consciousness. …the 11th emotion, beyond those now scientifically accepted (i.e., love, fear, sadness, embarrassment, curiosity, pride, enjoyment, despair, guilt, and anger).”
Ah ’emotion’, that old chestnut.
What would the world be like without emotion?
It’s a tradition… Meat pies and Ginger Biskwits for Crimble!! They don’t stay around for long.
Recipes (from last year) here: Ginger Biskwits Mini Meat Pies
Happy Christmas. Pass the Port!
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a simple real ‘down-to-earth’ event
It’s almost Christmas and even the sternest of critics is likely to hum at least a bar of something related to Christmas over the coming few weeks.
Many will have heard the Christmas story again (you can find it in Luke 2:1-20). Surprisingly the written part of this story is relatively short. The details in the Biblical account have been somewhat embellished overtime by high and pop culture retellings.
For me it helps to ‘realise’ the story to know that the flowery bits are there due to colourful imagination and that in essence it was possibly a simple real ‘down-to-earth’ event.
Many take for granted that Jesus was born in a stable, it’s hard to un-imagine the imagery; however, the Gospel never mentions exactly where the baby was born – just where he was laid afterward. It’s just one of the embellishments built into mythology surrounding the Christmas story that we take for granted.
Did Mary ride a donkey to Bethlehem? Perhaps, but there are various other possibilities. The Bible doesn’t say how she got to Bethlehem. It only says that she came with Joseph.
Did Mary arrive in Bethlehem the night she gave birth? The Bible does not suggest this. They could have arrived weeks earlier. The Bible simply states, “while they were there [in Bethlehem], the days were accomplished that she should be delivered” (Luke 2:6). Arriving in town well before her due date would make more sense.
Thanks to Huw Spanner for these thoughts:
There were no inns or stables in first-century Bethlehem! The Gospels imply that he was born in a house full of family. Ordinary houses then consisted of a lower ground floor where the family’s animals spent the night and an upper ground floor (ie a stone platform) where the family lived and slept. The manger would simply have been an alcove in the side of the platform. More affluent families would have had a first floor – an upper room (as in the Last Supper) for relatives and other guests to stay in.
Early translators didn’t really know what the Greek word meant, so (IIRC) they guessed it meant “inn”. There is no mention of a stable in any of the Gospels in any translation. But first-century Bethlehem was much too small a town to have an inn, let alone a stable. Besides, the reason Joseph was in Bethlehem in the first place was because he had to go back to his home town for the Roman census. Therefore, he would have had family in Bethlehem, and all his relatives would have come down for the census. No one would have stayed in an inn (even if there had been one) if one of their extended family had a house locally – if for no other reason than that it would have been very insulting to their extended family. Joseph and Mary had been engaged when she became pregnant, and they were certainly married by the time she gave birth.
Thus, the situation the Gospels imply is that Joseph’s family home was full of visiting relatives – the upper room was full – so the baby was put in the manger. The house would have been warm, the manger would have had hay in it and Jesus would have been surrounded by his extended family. A very different picture from the one that Christmas carols and cards, and authors of blessed thoughts and Nativity plays, like to paint.
… in essence it was possibly a simple real ‘down-to-earth’ event.
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Bad boy, dirty boy, in your bed!
Without a full rear mudguard…
With a full rear mud guard…
’nuff said?
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The Bike needed Tender Loving £s
You may have noticed my tweet last week that “the bike” needed some TLC (and some TL£).
Alas the wheels (rims and hubs) that came with the specialized crosstrail sport disc 2011 were ‘average’ quality and arguably not up to the job.
It’s been 2 years since I bought the bike. It’s done its best to combat the conditions experienced but the rear wheel – the one that takes the most pounding – gave up last week. The front forks are sprung so that takes a bit of impact out for the front wheel.
The rear wheel’s rim was cracked in 3 places where the spokes enter it and the freehub’s splines were considerably worn – an ex-wheel!
This week’s tally: an ex wheel, the car’s rear ex-tyre and an ex-washingmachine! Arggh! All this week!
In Oct 2011 my initial foray to the suggested “cycle-route” was shocking!
In August 2012, I moved off the death ride route (normal roads) to the shared “cycle facilities”.
The bike now has to deal with a lot more grit, debris, crap, tree roots, curbs, potholes, etc. I’m learning to accept it. I now concede the new route is arguably the wiser option.
The winter obviously sees a lot more debris and wet crud. So although I survived last winter I’ve now opted for the full guard on the rear, I just had a splash guard before. This might protect the mech and chain set a tad. More dedication to cleaning is needed too! Hufff!
I am no bike expert, so I rely on people’s advice and the LBS – City Cycles Thurmo
After two years it’s now got:
A new back wheel: Mavic A119 rim and Shimano FH-M525A hub.
In the summer we had to replace the considerably worn SunTour/SRAM chain set (ring, chain and cassette); with a Shimano megarange CS HG41.
So yes, annually the £ has to be spilt somewhere, but just remember there’s no Tax, MOT and insurance and the previous ~£54 a month fuel costs are now zero.
I bought off the shelf, but on retrospect- if you’re buying a new bike, spend more than you can afford (invest) for a bike that will be used daily – in the long term, the bike is the sum of it’s parts!
#keepcycling
As mentioned, I concede that the cycle facility route is the wiser option – I guess I’ll report again on that in due course.
Jules P Richards 