Anyone else brave Storm Bert and get out today? Had a break in the rain between 3-4, a rather nice 8c which didn't really make a difference after bombing through flooded lanes combined with 30mph gusts. Muddy, wet and cold but much better than staying indoors!
Definitely gonna have to pick up some winter tyres
No Storm Bret here, but it´s been sunny, muddy, icy, and chilly as well, as I was chasing the sun until I found the snow up in the mountain behind the city...
So when my toes were solid frozen, I returned back home.
Almost 24 km , with 910 m alt and 1:45 hrs.
Cheers.
Yesterday was single digit temps, thermal layers, gloves and skullcap yet still frozen to the bone. Today was double digit temps and shorts were more than adequate - ofc still very muddy and partially flooded in some places which made the hour I spent this morning cleaning the bike completely redundant when it ended up covered again within 10 mins of being out
According to the Met Office, the temperatures could be as high as 17°C but the gusts of wind could be as high as 60 miles per hour. Hmmm. I thought I'd try riding in Storm Bert. It might be interesting. A bit of a challenge. I would be careful.
Having done it, I don't recommend it.
With a crosswind whipping over open fields, I was leaning into it by about 10° to stop being blown off course. Riding straight ahead but leaning at a 10° angle works but it's a bit of a slog. Dodging broken twigs, sticks and branches was to be expected. Getting hit by flying twigs was like nature's way of saying 'I'm the boss here'. But Storm Bert's really underhand trick was blowing thorns off the hedgerows: two punctures, one in the back tyre and one in the front.
I rode under this tree on the outbound stretch, keeping a careful eye on it as I thought it looked ready to fall. On the return stretch, it had fallen:
My local park was closed today due to high winds. So I rode off elsewhere muttering about it being an over reaction to a windy day... Anyway, turned out they were probably right after about 10km I got hit on the head by a 'flying' piece of tree, No damage to the bike (or me) thankfully, but I took it as a message to head back to the ranch!
Warm for the time of year, cloudy and very breezy!!!
Hot, hot, hot here over the weekend and today. Went out after 5pm when a bit of a breeze came up, figuring it would be a little cooler.
Have been trying to get the final tweaks done to the Jake -- last time out the chain kept getting caught in the spokes, so spent a while adjusting the limit screw to prevent that and it worked beautifully during a few circuits of the garden . . . but as soon as I hit a decent hill out in the wild, back the chain went, 'over the top' and into the spokes. Climbed off with much cursing and managed to get it onto the cassette again, only to find when remounted that the wheel had gone a bit out of true and the tyre was contacting the chainstay at every revolution, making a persistent 'zzk zzk zzk' sound.
I decided to continue, noting that it was the corner knobs of the tread brushing the stay, rather than the tyre casing, so less likely to blow out. But on the next fast gravel downhill, on some juddering surface corrugations, there was a twang and a loud rattling sound -- I'd broken a spoke! A first in many years' riding. Fearing the rear wheel would suddenly collapse on me, I turned around and came home, having covered about 20k with 200m climbing. Am now contemplating getting the rear wheel fixed and wondering if this bike will ever be completely hassle-free.
I took the new to me Fuji for a spin down to Seaton and Axmouth to do some shopping now that it has stopped raining, the Axe Valley was pretty flooded.
