Back again.................

Never stopped riding, just the blogging that got put on a back-burner.

We're all going on a summer holiday......

.....well, I am.

I am off to the Netherlands in May. I am riding the Ronde van Nederlands, and have given myself 10 days to do it. before I bought the route map I worked it out to be roughly 600 miles. Now I have the route map I can see it is 750 miles. That's 75 miles per day. A few people have commented to me that it is a bit too much, but I am doing it regardless. I can always shortcut and use the train to catch up some miles if I get behind (but I don't want to)

Ronde van Nederlands

Anyone that wants to can read about my exploits here: Blog you like

Au revoir

Mileage so far

Not doing too bad, but considering the weather I'm lucky to get what I have so far. Still, compared to this time last year, I am 60 miles ahead of that total, and still have all of February to go.

Reasons not to cycle - #1

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242362/Woman-driver-killed-cyclist-mother-freed-fainting-wheel.html

A totally abhorrent case.

If she 'fainted' at the wheel, or can't come up with a reason for her lack of awareness, then surely she should be banned for life from driving?

The poor family of the victim are sentenced to life without a loved one, making this person do without driving a range rover for the rest of her life is the least a 'judicial' system should do?

Winter blues

As the weather gets colder, it is all too easy to forget riding a bike.

For some it is....

For me, there's nothing quite like a crisp morning ride to get warmed through. With temps hovering around zero, it is watching for ice, not the cold that is the main problem.

Last Sunday I met a few people for lunch in Pocklington, and I rode there with a bloke called Damian from Beverley. It was his first proper ride since getting his new bike. We rode a lumpy route there, but on the way back I got him to ride up a big hill to get the climbing out of the way. We were then treated to 6-8 miles of downhill and gentle rolling hills instead of a constant 14 miles of up and down by reversing the earlier route.

New film out

Brilliant film by the bikedarlington blog team.

http://bikedarlington.blogspot.com/2009/11/beauty-and-bike-premiere.html

How's the @rse doing?

When I first started really riding lots of miles 4 or 5 years ago, I used to get a bit of a sore bum. The last 2 seasons have been the highest mileage-wise, but no real problems. Even so, I decided to buy a Brooks saddle (B17), and have done about 30 miles on it so far.











My initial thoughts are good. The 'load' seems to be spread over a wider area, thereby reducing pressure 'hot spots'.

My only gripe is I tend to slide forwards a bit, but am putting that down to 'newness'. I have moved the seat forward a few mm on the rail, so time will tell.

I did tilt it back one notch on the seat post, but that instantly put pressure (that I did NOT enjoy) on my gentleman's selection, so I tilted it forwards again.