30 Dec 2010

Snowy December 2010

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As December was getting a bit long I have split the month as usual. I have scattered a gallery of snowy scenes throughout. Though these were all taken in late December 2010 they may not relate to the adjacent text. I have now brightened them in PhotoFiltre to reduce the blueness.


21st  8-16F, -13--9C, sunny, calm. Despite the cold it was a superb day thanks to the bright sunshine. I soon warmed up and took off the Belstaff jacket and my scarf. Even my hands didn't feel cold though my face and ears did when I went faster. My beard was literally solid with ice from early on. The Aesse jacket was perfect for these temperatures and conditions. I wore skiing goggles to stop my eyes from watering. These goggles also have excellent sun blocking properties without darkening the view. I think I paid a fiver (equiv) for them at a local supermarket.

The back lanes were quite passable except for the drifts where the hedges were missing. The chaps in the snow plough lorries work around the clock to keep the roads clear and their work is undone by selfish farmers. Farmers who receive billions in tax payer's subsidies to care for the environment. The snow banks were over 6' high in places.(2 metres) I took a few snaps but this was the only one where there wasn't a complete white-out from wind-blown snow.


Four more inches of overnight snow remained on the roads leaving the traffic to crumble it and squash it flat. I passed a council worker clearing the cycle paths with a mini-digger. Let's just say that the moron had never ridden a bicycle along a path after he had been busy and leave it at that. So many unemployed and this idiot still has a job! In case this is a bit too cryptic he was leaving deep snow dams across the cycle paths at intervals. Only god knows why!

I stayed on the roads and left the traffic to overtake where and when they could. I was able to keep up 12mph without too much trouble provided I stuck to the thinnest or smoothest snow. Going downhill at 20mph felt a bit hairy though. If one back wheel senses more resistance the trike tends to turn that way. I'm talking about free-wheeling downhill here. Nothing to do with the 2WD. The trike can get quite a bit sideways at times. I just point the front wheel straight downhill and hope.


The new i-GotU GPS logger software is completely screwed up and wont download trips. The Next box remains greyed out! Cancel, and the damned thing clears the logger memory! 23 Miles. (as measured by the Ventus GPS logger)  (Now fixed but the i-GotU logger keeps falling asleep half way around)


22nd 18F, -8C, fresh overnight snow, almost still, watery sunny periods. Feeling unwell in the morning with dizziness. Probably the virus which has been giving me headaches. Christmas shopping all afternoon on snow covered roads. 0 miles again!


The deer ran on across the hill in the distance but were gone by the time I had stopped and retrieved my camera. It was rather cold to strip off my gloves to take pictures. Just for scale there is a car by the dark tree on the road straight ahead. It had passed me in the woods and is just about to make a sharp right turn up a rather steep hill.

23rd 28F, -2C, overcast, blowing a 15m/s gale. Snowed all night with drifting and continuous snow and wind forecast for all day and tomorrow. Not looking at all good for a ride today or tomorrow! My monthly average has collapsed with very little hope of a change to better weather.


24th 23F, -5C, blowing hard, overcast. I spent a couple of hours clearing drifts in the drive then went out for a ride after coffee. The roads had been scraped. Leaving a layer of snow over ice. Except where the hedges had been ripped out. There were drifts up to three feet deep just there and nowhere else. The snow was smoking across the road and blowing in clouds off the fields. I was heading for a supermarket but they were closed! Though I managed to get a French loaf in a small village shop. 13 miles. The damned i-GotU logger software is still blocking trips and then deleting them.


25th December 16F, -9C, full sun, winds have finally eased. Lovely day for a ride, but not today. Merry Christmas! Let's be careful out there. :-)


Another hill surmounted without a problem. I liked the way the weak sunlight shone briefly through a gap in the hedge onto Mr Higgins.


26th 8-21F, -13-6C. Still, overcast. I tried my new lightweight cycling balaclava which Mrs Santa had brought me. It was excellent. Offering protection for my cheeks and chin without the excessive warmth of a scarf. The skiing goggles offering even more protection. It was cold throughout with the roads quite difficult at times. Though I stayed out long enough to do a few miles. Mostly by minor roads. Even quite steep hills were fine thanks to 2WD. It really does give me confidence to take any navigable road. Fresh, six inch deep snow is easily overcome but when it reaches the axles it is really hard work to maintain forward motion.

The narrow strips of road which still looked like bare asphalt were actually ice. The snow was fine when freshly scraped but cars had often made it into crumbly stuff with rather higher rolling resistance. I stuck to the crown of the road wherever possible to avoid sliding off sideways. My new large, cheap mirror gives me an even better view to the rear. Though the flexible stalk is much too long and the mirror vibrates on rough surfaces. It has two clamping screws so I can use anything I like to make a new, shorter stalk.

The chain was frozen and noisy and didn't get any better. I doused it and the gear changers in liquid grease when I returned. The snow I leave on the trike stays there thanks to the unheated shed. So I cleared it off with a stick before putting it away. It will save the gear cables being iced up next time out. 15 miles.


27th 22-25F, -6-4C, still, cloudy. The roads were absolutely appalling! It was obvious nobody had scraped them over Christmas. Where it was undisturbed the snow was fast and smooth. Unfortunately much of it was broken up by tractor and lorry tyres which had crumbled it. On the good stuff I was managing 18mph on the flat but the majority was awful with heavy drag. That meant bottom gear and 5-6 mph! On most of the main roads the ice was corrugated into a vicious washboard. Even the traffic was crawling on the worst of it. The hammering as lorries drove over it was dreadful. I was pulling off when I could to let the traffic pass but it wasn't always easy because of the snow banks on the verge. I saw one young cyclist go down hard on a corner. Fortunately there was no traffic around him at the time.


I set out determined to visit a triangle of three village shops. I managed it but it was a serious workout and I was starving and tired on the last leg. Over three hours (including shopping) to do 23 miles on almost no bare tarmac at all.   


28th 22F, -6C, overcast, misty and still.  My front tyre was as flat as a pancake this morning. Probably a pinch flat from yesterday's grim battle with washboard ice. Once I was out on the roads I discovered they were largely unchanged but there was more traffic about. It felt very cold today.  My centre-pull brake is dragging and the cable ragged. Good job I spotted the cable or it could have been nasty. I think I'll try a side-pull for a change and get rid of the cable hanger.


Only 13 miles so far but I'm going out again after coffee. There is no way to reach 10k miles this year with only three days left. But, if I can manage 68 more km, I shall have ridden 15,000km this year. So I need about 44 more miles. My right knee is niggling so I shall have to try and keep the revs up.


What a hero! :-)  I did another 25.5 miles after coffee and brought back some heavy shopping. Mostly on snow-covered, minor roads. I have beaten 9300 miles and am very close to 15,000 km.

The temperature is now 24F, -4C, almost still, with a heavy overcast. It still feels very cold though I don't know why. I have been out in 10 degrees C colder than this and it didn't feel as cold as it does today. My big blue shopping bag is disintegrating. I have a new purple bag ready but haven't tried it for size yet. It certainly doesn't have the same quality as the blue one. So I shall have to look after it well if it is to last.


29th 18F, -8C, mostly overcast, light breeze. It was much easier  going than coming back because the earlier, smooth snow had been ripped up by traffic. Where the snow had been crumbled it was 3-6mph in bottom gear. I presume the snow plough drivers are all on holiday because none of the roads look any different from one day to the next.


I saw quite a large deer near some woods. It didn't seem to know whether to run or watch me go past at safe distance. I stopped to get the camera out and it ran. At the same moment a snowy breasted thrush landed in the hedge right beside me.  Probably just a well camouflaged song thrush. 20 very cold and tiring miles. I have safely cleared 15,000 km or 9300 miles for the year.


30th 18F, -9C, overcast, light winds. I set off intending to do a 30 mile loop but the roads were very hard work. I was tired and hungry and had no biscuits to revive myself. It was bitterly cold and my beard was soon heavy with icicles. I stopped a couple of times to capture the pretty wintry scenes and my hands were aching with cold within seconds. Even the poor camera went into slow motion! The zoom slowed and the viewing screen took ages to change when I moved the camera! My cycle computers have both stopped recording. The screens show the numbers clearly enough and the 1/10ths change, but the mileage hardly changed at all. 3 miles in 20? Weird! Hands up who thinks I'm a masochist? 20 cold and tiring miles today.

31st December 2010 30-32F, -1-0C, almost still, bright sunshine. A shopping loop halfway by main roads the rest by hilly, snowy lanes. The higher temperatures are allowing the salt to finally start working. The sunshine probably helped. Most drivers were ignoring the speed limits as usual. Though some were holding back and giving me lots of room. I chatted to a few people outside supermarkets who were interested in the trike. The shops were packed with people with long queues.

22 miles to finish off the year. A provisional 9,360 miles for the calender year, or 15,070km. All on a trike. I haven't ridden a bike for at least 18 months. (I have yet to double check my figures with my desktop calculator)

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15 Dec 2010

More of the same

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1st December 2010  23-27F, -5-3C, strong easterly gusts, snowing, occasional sunny periods. Snow coming down at about an inch per hour or more. No problems despite a lot more drifting. The snow. Not the trike. A hill which defeated me last year, because of wheel spin, was a doddle with 2WD.

I wore my fleece, foreign legion hat with ear flaps and neck protection. My face was still really stinging at times in crosswinds. I have a rather short, lightweight, Belstaff jacket which is windproof but breathes well. Some sort of special fabric called Tactel. I wear it over the Aesse cycling jacket for extra protection from the wind, snow and traffic spray. Only 11 miles.

2nd 26-30F, -3-1C, windy, overcast. The main roads were better today but there were still stripes of slush and drifts in places. On a minor road I hit a patch of crumbly white stuff and it was like slamming on the brakes. I ended up in bottom gear and was still struggling. So I turned back before I was committed to miles of the stuff. No problem maintaining grip and a straight line with the 2WD. It was just that the packed snow was so stiff it resisted my wheel movement cutting through it.

I wore two pairs of leggings today and was much too hot. I wore a couple of extra vests too instead of a waistcoat and was hot/cold and sweaty almost from the start.  Once chilled there is no way to take anything off to cool down. The thicker vests were quite damp when I got home. Better to be cold and warm up than too hot and then chilled.

I was nearly wiped off the road by a little old woman in a red car., She had obviously forgotten her reading glasses. After brushing past me she lost it completely and ended up on the verge. Then she over-corrected and shot across the road into the other lane. Obviously satisfied with her wonderful driving skills she put her foot down and went through the speed sign at 67kph in the middle of a 50kph village. Just after the speed indicator board is a lethal crossroads. Where I saw the immediate aftermath of an awful accident involving several vehicles. One of which was sliced in half lengthways. With an ashen faced young women still sitting in it. With nowhere for her legs to be. A Volkswagen mini-bus was lying on its roof nearby.  No sign of the police of ambulances yet so it must have jut happened as we approached. Not bad for a 30mph village consisting of wide, straight roads and perfect visibility.

More than half of drivers today were exceeding the local speed limits despite the difficult conditions. No traffic police or speed cameras = no road crime. 19 miles and I still survived! Whoopee! :-)

3rd 20-26F, -7-3C, almost still, mostly sunny. All the roads had been snow ploughed. Not necessarily down to the tarmac but it didn't  seem to matter too much.  I could always keep going thanks to the 2WD.

I was self-disciplined today and took off the lightweight, Belstaff jacket and my scarf as soon as I warmed up. I was completely comfortable from then on despite the cold. The Easse jacket is fine over just a racing jersey and poly vest when it isn't blowing hard. Racing shorts over poly skiing tights were perfectly warm enough. I wore the skiing goggles again to avoid being blinded by watery eyes. Even the best of  my cycling sunglasses let in too much cold air at these temperatures. I'm wearing the fragile, BBB Hardwear overshoes until they shred and become completely useless.What a waste of money!

 It was such a nice day I rode a normal route despite the mostly white roads. Keeping my speed down to 20mph seemed sensible on the descents. The brakes were crap hidden deep inside a football-sized mass of snow around the forks. Often with a spray of dry snow shooting out of the front of the mudguard. The chainrings and sprocket were completely lost in fluffy white stuff for most of the time. I'm giving the chain, gear changers and gears a long squirt of liquid grease before each ride to combat salt and rust.

Climbing was safe thanks  to a total lack of wheel spin. I could even climb out of the saddle on the steepest bits in 3-4" of powdery snow without the rear end losing traction. Impressive for dead smooth, rock hard, 23x700Cs.  Like an idiot I left my camera at home for the first time in years. There were lots of wintry views to capture and I couldn't do anything about it!

Going through one village I came upon a huge, articulated lorry which had jack-knifed and crushed a car against a house. The lorry was broadside right across the road. The driver was probably taking a short cut through the village to get to the motorway. Rather than taking the slightly longer main road route. They often don't give a damn about speed limits as they blast through the 30mph villages. I have no idea of the injuries to the car occupants. The air bags were completely blocking the view of the interior as I pedalled past the mayhem. A couple of policemen were waving the traffic through the remaining gap. No sign of ambulance or fire brigade yet so it must have just happened. Car drivers were putting their foot down as soon as they managed to push past the wreckage. Totally ignoring the 50kph (30mph) speed limit as always. Otherwise a pleasant enough ride of 21 miles.


Winter, direct ascent.

4th 28-30F, -2-1C, breezy, bitterly cold wind, mostly sunny.  I went out determined to find some hills to test the Trykit 2WD system. The image above shows how well it copes with about 4" of crumbly snow on a long incline. Click the image to enlarge it so you can see how long the hill really is. There is a cottage right at the bottom with a snow covered roof. My hands were freezing in seconds in the strong wind blowing across the hill as I took a couple of quick snaps. I had already removed my lightweight Belstaff jacket and scarf before the climb. I was out for hours ploughing three lonely furrows with hardly any traffic. Only 15 miles.

5th 30F.-1C, still after overnight gales caused drifting. About 5" of snow fell this morning. I rode through over 6" of fresh snow to reach the road without difficulty. The main roads were almost clear from regular snow ploughing. I pulled off to allow a couple of lorries to pass with huge plough blades on the front and salt spraying off the back. They left three lanes of brown slush with arcs flying up from my wheels as I rode on.

Most of the light traffic gave me lots of room. Except for one retard. Who sprayed me from head to foot with slush with his people carrier. Forgiveable, I suppose, as he was driving to the bakers with his spherical wife. No words of mine can make his life any more unpleasant than decades of having to provide emergency sacks of cakes, on a daily basis, for his pet pig. Only 8 rather slushy miles. I hadn't the energy to fight the deep snow on the hilly back lanes.

It seems a drugged-up waster has killed at least eight cyclists who were out training in Italy. The killer was driving without a license having had it taken from him some months earlier for dangerous driving. He attempted to overtake another car and was speeding while under the influence of marijuana. Some overpaid ambulance chaser will plead some tear-jerking garbage. The waster will be given another chance and be released after spending a fortnight on remand watching TV and smoking pot in some cushy jail.

6th 25F, -4C, still, misty, sunny. Main roads almost clear. Side roads freezing crumbly snow and very hard work in places. 19 miles.

7th 32F, 0C, light winds, overcast. Roads variable with slush and snow. Mist down to 50 yards in places. Not that it affected driving behaviour. I was showered a few times by selfish bastards not slowing down in narrow lanes. They say one can recognise people's real psychology by their driving. If this is true then a large proportion of the driving population is either retarded or are dangerous sociopaths. 23 miles.

On a more cheerful note Alan Schmidt has been recognised for his contribution to triking by being awarded the Hans Just Sports Prize for 2010. He won two bronze medals at the World Championships this year and has won lots of other events over the last couple of years. Outstanding! Well done, Alan!

Hans Just Idrætspris 2010

Dansk Handicap Idræts-Forbund


8th 25-28F, -4-2C, misty, still and overcast. Just another shopping trip. Rear changer frozen. One tooth of my Shimano, steel, middle chainring has snapped off into a hook! 15 miles.


9th 25-27F, -4-2C, light winds, sunny. Just a gentle rural shopping trip in the sunshine.  The very first car I met overshot a blind bend and was 100% in the wrong lane as she approached me. How am I supposed to know if she will correct  safely and get back on her own side before she hits me? This is the same village where over 80% of drivers cut every single corner! Many are on their mobile phone as they pass me. Over 6o vehicles have fallen off this stretch of road since I have lived here. Those are just the ones I have seen for myself. Most are probably towed away before I see them. Hardly a month passes without seeing a car on its roof. Or a lorry on its side. Or nose down in the verge. I saw two crashed motorcyclists lying very still in the fields this year alone.  Doesn't anybody care? 16 miles.

10th 18-32F, -8-0C, overcast, almost still. Busier roads mostly clear. I had a headache this morning for the third day in a row. I don't usually get headaches. Once I had reached my first shop I was feeling better and decided to do a detour to add a few more miles. It started snowing, then raining, towards the end. 5 shops. 24 miles.

11th 41F, 5C, gusts to 27m/s, more than 50mph! Mostly overcast. I rode into the wind going and then back with the wind. Crawling at 6-8mph in bottom gear and hiding under the crossbar in places and hanging on for dear life when the wind came from the side. Cruising at an effortless 20mph coming home. A sudden thaw and overnight rain had almost removed the lying snow. Only the compacted stuff was hanging around on the verges. The roads were very wet and littered with small branches. With the wind roaring in my ears, sometimes literally moving like a passing train, I was rather wary of falling trees. There were lots of hunters out in the woods and fields. 16 miles.

I did 12 miles later and watched the golden sun sink behind the trees just after 3.30. The wind had subsided a little but I was still standing up in a low gear to maintain forward motion at times.

12th 29F, -2C, sunny periods, blowing a gale. It was hell out there! At times it was blowing so hard my upwind wheel was lifting! When I hit the frozen run-off from the fields the front wheel was being pushed sideways on the skating rink. My snot was a kite string hanging in the wind. It was so cold my face felt frozen and stung by burning needles by turn. I have no idea why, under these awful conditions, but the sun made me want to take a detour. I managed only 17 miles before limping back home again. Sometimes I was crawling at 6-7mph going downhill. Why do I do it? 

13th 28F, -2C, snow, winds light, sunny periods. It started snowing around 9 am and dumped 4" in about an hour. I set off without any problems onto untreated roads. Using the car tracks where possible to save ploughing my own furrows. No problems govce.ing uphill but I got a bit sideways on the steeper descents. Straightening the front wheel up saved me a few times before I lost the plot completely. The problem seemed to be the front tyre building up snow. So I was essentially floating with no adhesion at all. Only 11 hilly miles today.

I see Google Street View has finally updated where I have seen the camera car, from my trike, but I'm not there! A bit disappointing after waiting months to see the alien out on his trike.  Bwah! :-)

Google Earth 6 is the latest update but it's incredibly slow. Taking about 20 seconds minimum to sharpen a single Street View. Move the camera and it starts all over again! The "bubbles" were much quicker and vastly more useful for scanning for bikes because a sharp scene was visible in the bubbles if one wanted to zip along a whole road very quickly. Hopefully they'll sort themselves out.

They have tidied away all the camera symbols. Now one has to double click on any road and hope they have been along it. I know all those cameras were getting very untidy but they haven't been along many minor Danish roads yet. Some sort of stripe along the virtual road, where they have been, would be useful at this point to save wasting time. Ground View on an un-recorded roads is absolutely dire! I know, I'm a moaning minny.  :-)

14th Out all day. 0 miles.

15th 23-25F, -5C, winds light, weak sunny periods. It felt  bitterly cold in the wind with my face and hands aching from the cold. I tried to tie a scarf around my face but I was getting cold as I struggled with it in the wind. With the scarf flapping all over the place I had to tie it in the front and swivel it around my neck.

The same old problem of hedges and no hedges. There was much deeper snow on the roads where it drifted off the fields in the gaps in the hedges. Where there were hedges the snow was lying in long thinner stripes along the road with stripes of tarmac just visible. Where I was sheltered by a hedge it was as if there was no frost at all.

No real problems on the way back apart from my beard freezing solid from the condensation of my breath.  There's no way to rescue my average mileage in this weather. I followed a Segway for  a while before overtaking him. He was averaging 8mph on big fat, knobbly tyres with a big dog loping alongside. While I wanted to do 10-12mph under the same hard packed, crumbly snow and ice conditions. The i-Got GPS logger failed to get a fix today and had no data to download. 13 hilly miles.

16th 23-30F, -5-1C, windy, heavy, wet snow. A complete waste of time trying to get out today. After a 11F, -12C frost last night we had heavy, wet snow all day with gales. The roads were appalling with thick, icy slush and ridged up snow. The traffic was crawling. Another rest day!

17th 12-21F, -11-6C. Overcast, calm. Dogh! The road was awful.  Covered in thick lumpy ice lying on top of thick black ice where slush had refrozen. I couldn't even go out in the car to do any Christmas shopping. Riding on that mess would have been impossible on a trike. If anyone had braked, because of me, they would not have been able to stop. Another forced rest day. 0 miles.


18th  22F, -5C. still, overcast. Roads atrocious. Christmas shopping out in the car all day. 0 Miles.




19th 12-8F, -11-8C, sunny, almost still. A beautiful day, but rather cold. The roads were covered in hard packed, powdery snow and solid ice. Very rough in places.  No problem with adhesion thanks to 2WD. I left it too late to go very far. Only 11 miles.










A little too late for a perfect Christmas present but a new racing trike has turned up on eBay.

VINTAGE RACING TRICYCLE FRAME BY PAT ROHAN OF PINNER on eBay (end time 28-Dec-10 17:41:05 GMT)

Probably a hand built frame with a Higgins axle? 21.5" One size fits all? Though advertised as a frame and forks it does include rear wheels.

This trike made only, a very affordable, £142. 

20th December  21F, -6C, sunny at times, still. Christmas shopping all day. O miles.

Fed up with the cold weather? Here's some barmy pictures from balmy Shanghai from the 3Wielweb website:

Trike Use









Mileage 2010

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Since I am so forgetful about checking my daily mileage from my bike computer I shall now record it here: Recording my mileage publicly is vitally important to me because it gives me another incentive to continue riding when conditions are very unfavourable. I am using every constructive means available to me to keep building on my fitness. It is absolutely vital to me that I don't return to the state I was in only a few months ago. With paralysing pain over most of my body, very high blood pressure, daily nose bleeds and breathlessness from doing the simplest activities.

I remember the agonising pain of trying to put on and remove my shoes. I could neither bend over from a low seat nor lift my foot! Every night I lay in bed suffering from constant pain in my joints and worrying whether I'd end up in a wheelchair. Thankfully I didn't have much weight to lose but my fitness was remarkably poor considering how much exercise I was getting at work.

Tricycling rescued me from regular visits to the doctor to complain about the latest, debilitating aches and pains. Now I cause the only pain I feel by cycling. I am firmly in charge and any pain I cause is usually gone by the next morning. I am no longer the victim of my age and physical condition. They say you should visit your doctor before embarking on serious exercise. I had nothing to lose. Except the threat of lifelong medication for high blood pressure!

The very long winter is still restricting my routes to main roads. My usual back lanes, well away from the traffic, are still iced up and largely unrideable! (as of March 2010 and counting) This restricts my potential routes dramatically. Riding on the main roads is no fun (at all) when the roads are considerably narrowed by high snow banks. Often making it difficult for the traffic to pass easily. Moreover the risks are far higher due to the damage this winter has done to the road surfaces. They are cracked all over and badly potholed. Which makes selecting a safe path on a trike increasingly fraught with danger in the presence of speeding traffic. One has to find three clear paths for the tyres instead of only one on a bike.

I am now using my GT-120 GPS logger to record my daily mileages confirmed by the maps which it draws on Google Earth and safely files on my computer.Yet another incentive to go out and ride further. The best match between the GPS and computer is to set the bike computer to 2120 for 700 x 23 tyres.I also bought a Ventus G730 GPS logger as backup and use both on every ride now. The bike computer has been changed for the latest model at the local supermarkets. Not always for the better though. These required different circumference multipliers (including 2090) to match the GS loggers. After a very wobbly start the GPS loggers are beginning to agree much more closely.

 Note the use of miles for the daily distance. Not kilometres. Multiply miles by 8/5 (or x1.61) for kilometres.

I have since entered kilometres for the running year total to save anybody doing the maths for themselves. It was my wife's suggestion because she said it looked as if I had ridden much further when measured in kilometres! :-)

I no longer ride a bike, at all, so all distances are on the Higgins 'Ultralite' trike.

I have regularly discovered new errors of addition and have (hopefully) corrected all of them.  I should have checked my mental arithmetic long before now! My skills at addition have always been rather poor. The problem is that every single error has to be carried forwards through every column. Even then the odd typo crops up.

For some reason the Tricycle Association records annual trike mileages to the end of September. Since I kept no records prior to January 1st 2010 those missing three months take a large chunk out of my potential mileage claim. I may have done 2000 miles by the end of 2009 but I changed bike computers several times. (including one lost into the verge on a fast, bumpy corner!) So I have to ignore my mileage between September 30th 2009 and Jan 1st 2010. I was using my natural competitive instincts to keep on riding every day to try and amass more miles than most of the other TA stalwarts. Now it only adds up to a 9 month year and only 7.3k miles instead of a (probably) more realistic 9-10k. Grrr. :-) 

The columns are as follows: 
Date of the month, 
Day's mileage, 
Month's mileage to date, 
Month's daily Average to date, 
Total mileage and Total Km for the year to date. 
R =Rest day (0 miles usually because of unrideable weather) 
Total Rest days for the year.  
BS= Fitted Brooks Professional saddle at 993 miles.

January 2010
                                   Month                 Year
Date      Miles     Total     Avge     Miles     Km

 1..............0..............0...........0...............0...........0 R
 2...........15............15...........7.5..........15.........24
 3...........10............25...........8.3..........25.........40
 4.............0............25...........6.2..........25.........40 R
 5.............0............25...........5.............25.........40 R
 6.............0............25...........4.2..........25.........40 R
 7.............8............33...........4.7..........33.........53
 8.............0............33...........4.1..........33.........53 R
 9.............0............33...........3.7..........33.........53 R
10. ..........0............33...........3.3..........33.........53 R
11..........12............45...........4.1..........45.........72
12............0............45...........3.7..........45.........72 R
13............0............45...........3.5..........45.........72 R
14............8............53...........3.8..........53.........85
15..........14............67...........4.5..........67.......108
16..........15............82...........5.1..........82.......132
17..........23..........105...........6.2........105.......169
18..........21..........126...........7...........126.......202
19..........22..........148...........7.8........148.......238
20............0..........148...........7.4........148.......238 R
21..........19..........167...........7.9........167.......269
22..........25..........192...........8.7........192.......309
23..........20..........212...........9.2........212.......341
24............9..........221...........9.2........221.......355
25..........14..........235...........9.4........235.......380
26..........17..........252...........9.7........252.......407
27............0..........252...........9.37......252.......407 R
28..........25..........277...........9.9........277.......447
29..........11..........288.........10.0........288.......465
30............8..........296...........9.9........296.......478
31..........13..........309.........10.0........309.......499 
              11R                                                    11R

February 2010
                                  Month                  Year
Date     Miles    Total     Avge.     Miles      Km

 1..........10............10.........10.0.........319.......515
 2............0............10...........5.0.........319.......515 R
 3..........10............20...........6.7.........329.......531
 4..........15 ...........35...........8.7.........344.......555
 5..........12 ...........47...........9.4.........356.......574
 6..........10............57...........9.5.........366.......590
 7..........30............87.........12.4.........396.......639
 8..........10............97.........12.1.........406.......655
 9............0............97.........10.7.........406.......655 R
10...........0............97...........9.7.........406.......655 R
11...........8..........105...........9.6.........414.......668
12...........8..........113...........9.5.........422.......682
13.........10..........123...........9.5.........432.......698
14.........17..........140.........10.0.........449.......726
15.........20..........160.........10.7.........469.......758
16.........18..........178.........11.2.........487.......787
17.........20..........198.........11.7.........507.......819
18...........8..........206.........11.5.........515.......832
19...........4..........210.........11.1.........519.......838
20.........22..........232.........11.6.........541.......874
21.........33..........265.........12.6.........574.......927
22.........23..........288.........13.1.........597.......964
23.........19..........307.........13.4.........616.......994
24...........0..........307.........12.8.........616.......994 R
25.........15..........322.........12.9.........631.....1019
26.........23..........345.........13.3.........654.....1056
27.........12..........357.........13.2.........666.....1075
28.........30..........387.........13.9.........696.....1123
             4R                                                      15R


March 2010
                                 Month                   Year
Date    Miles     Total      Avge      Miles      Km

 1..........22............22.........22.0.........718......1159
 2..........15............37.........18.5.........733......1183
 3..........10............47.........15.7.........743......1199
 4..........17............64.........16.0.........760......1226
 5..........23............87.........17.4.........783......1263
 6............0............87.........14.5.........783......1263 R
 7..........28..........115.........16.4.........811......1309
 8..........15..........130.........16.3.........826......1333
 9..........26..........156.........17.3.........852......1375
10...........0..........156.........15.6.........852......1375 R
11.........19..........175.........16.0.........871......1405
12.........25..........200.........16.7.........896......1445
13.........21..........221.........17.0.........917.....1479
14.........35..........256.........18.2.........952.....1536
15.........12..........268.........17.8.........964.....1555
16.........29..........297.........18.5.........993.....1598 BS
17.........31..........328.........19.2.......1024.....1647
18.........22..........350.........19.4.......1046.....1684
19...........9..........359.........18.9.......1055.....1698
20.........12..........371.........18.5.......1067.....1717
21.........23..........394.........18.8.......1090.....1755
22.........24..........418.........19.0.......1114.....1793
23.........29..........447.........19.4.......1143.....1840
24.........30..........477.........19.9.......1173.....1888
25...........0..........477.........18.8.......1173.....1888 R
26.........23..........500.........19.2.......1196.....1925
27.........30..........530.........19.6.......1226.....1973
28.........30..........560.........20.0.......1256.....2022
29.........48..........608.........21.0.......1304.....2099
30.........24..........632.........21.0.......1328.....2138
31.........34..........666.........21.5.......1362.....2193
             3R                                                      18R


April 2010
                                  Month                 Year
Date    Miles     Total      Avge    Miles       Km

 1...........8..............8............8.........1370......2206
 2.........35............43..........21.5......1405......2262
 3.........18............61..........20.3......1423......2291
 4.........30............91..........22.8......1453......2339
 5.........30..........121..........24.2......1483......2387
 6.........25..........146..........24.3......1508......2427
 7.........23..........169..........24.1......1531......2465
 8.........25..........194..........24.2......1556......2505
 9.........30..........224..........24.9......1586......2553
10........28..........252..........25.2......1614......2598
11........27..........279..........25.4......1641......2642
12........22..........301..........25.1......1663......2677
13........10..........311..........24.0......1673......2693
14........26..........337..........24.1......1689......2719
15........23..........360..........24.0......1712......2756
16........32..........392..........24.5......1744......2807
17........16..........408..........24.0......1760......2833
18........23..........431..........24.0......1783......2870
19........26..........457..........24.1......1809......2912
20........28..........485..........24.2......1837......2957
21........17..........502..........24.0......1854......3004
22........23..........525..........23.8......1877......3021
23........32..........557..........24.2......1909......3073
24........21..........578..........24.0 .....1930......3107
25........18..........596..........23.8......1948......3136
26........27..........623..........24.0......1975......3179
27........20..........643..........23.8......1995......3212
28 .......18..........661..........23.6......2013......3240
29........24..........685..........23.6......2037......3279
30........27..........712..........23.7......2074......3323
             0R


May 2010
                               Month                    Year
Date    Miles   Total    Avge       Miles        Km

 1...........8......... .8............8............2072.......3336
 2.........43.........51..........25.5........2115.......3405
 3.........27.........78..........26.0........2142.......3635
 4.........22.......100..........25.0........2164.......3484
 5.........38........138.........27.6........2202.......3545
 6.........28........166.........27.7........2230.......3590
 7.........14........180.........25.7........2244.......3612
 8.........14........194.........24.2........2258.......3635
 9.........28........222.........24.6........2286.......2286
10........22........244.........24.4........2290.......3686
11........17........261.........23.7........2307.......3714
12..........0........261.........21.7........2307.......3714 R
13........12........273.........21.0........2319.......3733
14........25........298.........21.3........2344.......3773
15........18........316.........21.1........2362.......3802
16........28........344.........21.5........2390.......3847
17........25........369.........21.7........2415.......3888
18........54........423.........23.5........2469.......3975
19........25........448.........23.6........2494.......4015
20........47........495.........24.7........2541.......3880
21........22........517.........24.6........2563.......4126
22........50........567.........25.8........2613.......4206
23........45........612.........26.6........2703.......4351
24........39........651.........27.1........2842.......4575
25........34........685.........27.4........2776.......4459
26........24........709.........27.3........2800.......4508
27........26........735.........27.2........2826.......4549
28........34........769.........27.5........2860.......4604
29........34........803.........27.7........2894.......4659
30........16........819.........27.3........2910.......4685
31........28........847.........27.3........2938.......4730
            
1R                                                     19R


June 2010
                               Month                    Year
Date   Miles    Total    Avge      Miles         Km  

  1........37...........37.........37.........2976........4791
  2........50...........87.........43.5......3025........4870
  3........51.........138.........46.........3076........4952
  4........43.........181.........45.2......3119........5021
  5........50.........231.........46.2......3169........5102
  6........52.........283.........47.2......3221........5185
  7........25.........308.........44.........3246........5226
  8........50.........358.........44.8......3296........5306
  9........50.........408........45.3.......3346........5387
10........28.........436........43.6.......3374........5432
11........40.........476........43.2.......3414........5496
12........34.........510........42.5.......3448........5551
13........31.........541........41.6.......3479........5601
14........54.........595........42.5.......3533........5688
15........24.........619........41.2.......3557........5726
16..........0.........619........38.7.......3557........5726 R
17........10.........629........37..........3567........5742
18........34.........663........36.8.......3601........5797
19........50.........713........37.5.......3651........5812
20........61.........774........38.7.......3712........5976
21........37.........811........38.6.......3749........6035
22........57.........868........39.5.......3806........6127
23........58.........926........40.3.......3864........6221
24........28.........954........39.7.......3892........6266
25........48.......1002........40.1.......3940........6343
26........40.......1042........40.......   3980........6408
27........46.......1088........40.3.......4026........6481
28........61.......1149........41..........4087........6580
29........45.......1194........41.2.......4132........6652
30........36.......1230........41..........4166........6707

        1R                                                      20R


July 2010
                              Month                     Year
Date   Miles  Total     Avge        Miles        Km 

 1.........52.........52.........52..........4218........6791
 2.........46.........98.........49..........4264........6865
 3.........42.......140.........46.7.......4306........6932
 4.........45.......185.........46.3.......4351........7005
 5.........24.......209.........41.8.......4375........7043
 6.........26.......235.........39.2.......4401........7085
 7.........35.......270.........38.6.......4436........7142
 8.........27.......297.........37.1.......4463........7185
 9.........51.......347.........38.5.......4514........7267
10........28.......375.........37.5.......4542........7312
11........29.......404.........36.7.......4571........7359
12........29.......433.........36.1.......4600........7406
13........44.......477.........36.7.......4644........7477
14........49.......526.........37.6.......4693........7555
15........37.......563.........37.5.......4710........7583
16........31.......594.........37.1.......4741........7633
17........30.......624.........36.7.......4771........7681
18........37.......661.........36.7.......4808........7740
19........31.......692.........36.4.......4839........7790
20........50.......742.........37.1.......4889........7871
21........36.......778.........37.0.......4925........7929
22........36.......814.........37.0.......4961........7987
23........29.......843.........36.6.......4990........8033
24........31.......874.........36.4.......5021........8083
25........25.......899.........35.9.......5046........8124
26........35.......934.........35.9.......5081........8180
27........50.......984.........36.4.......5131........8261 
28........28.....1012.........36.1.......5159........8306
29........48.....1060.........36.6.......5207........8383
30........12.....1072.........35.7.......5219........8402
31........30.....1102.........35.5.......5249........8450
        
   0R                                                      20R 

August 2010
                              Month                     Year
Date   Miles  Total     Avge       Miles        Km 


 1..........45........45..........45.........5294........8523 
 2..........19........64..........32.........5313........8553 
 3..........25........89..........29.6......5338........8594
 4..........51......140..........35.........5389........8676 
 5..........36......176..........35.2......5425........8734 
 6..........29......205..........34.2......5454........8780
 7..........33......238..........34.........5487........8834
 8..........26......264..........33.........5513........8876
 9..........28......292..........32.4......5541........8921
10.........42......334..........33.4......5583........8990
11.........18......352..........32.........5601........9017
12.........43......395..........32.9......5644........9086
13.........39......434..........33.4......5683........9149 
14...........8......442..........31.6......5691........9162
15.........58......500..........33.3......5749........9255
16.........38......538..........33.6......5787........9317
17.........24......562..........33.........5811........9355 
18.........10......572..........31.7......5821........9372
19.........60......632..........33.3......5881........9468
20.........25......657..........32.9......5906........9508
21.........41......698..........33.2......5947........9575 
22.........49......747..........33.9......5996........9653
23.........41......788..........34.2......6037........9720
24.........25......813..........33.9......6062........9760
25.........28......841..........33.6......6090........9805
26.........52......893..........34.3......6142........9888
27.........25......918..........34.........6167........9929
28.........38......956..........34.1......6205........9990
29.........43......999..........34.4......6248......10059
30.........25....1024..........34.1......6273......10099
31.........30....1054..........34.........6303......10148 

      0R                                                     20R


September   2010
                             Month                     Year
Date   Miles  Total    Avge        Miles        Km   

 1..........40.......40.........40...........6343......10212
 2..........37.......77.........38.5........6380......10272
 3..........36.....113.........37.7........6416......10330
 4..........40.....153.........38.2........6456......10394
 5..........48.....201.........40.2........6504......10471 
 6..........47.....248.........41.3........6551......10547
 7..........37.....285.........40.7........6588......10607
 8..........39.....324.........40.5........6627......10670
 9..........24.....348.........38.7........6651......10708
10..........0......348.........34.8........6651......10708 R
11..........0......348.........32.6........6651......10708 R
12........11......359.........29.9........6662......10725
13........30......389.........29.9........6692......10774
14........27......416.........29.7........6719......10817
15........31......447.........29.8........6750......10867
16........34......481.........30.1........6784......10922
17........29......510.........30.0........6813......10969
18........34......544.........30.2........6847......11023
19........25......569.........29.9........6872......11064
20........44......613.........30.6........6916......11135
21........38......651.........31.0........6954......11195
22........45......696.........31.6........6999......11268
23........46......742.........32.2........7045......11342
24........41......783.........32.6........7086......11408
25........45......829.........33.1........7132......11482
26........40......869.........33.4........7172......11547
27........43......912.........33.8........7215......11616
28........24......936.........33.4........7239......11655
29........25......961.........33.1........7264......11695 2WD
30........51....1012.........33.7........7319......11777               

2R                                                     23R
                                                              
October 201
                             Month                    Year

Date   Miles  Total    Avge      Miles        Km  

 1........28........28........28..........7343.......11822 3 new
 2........21........49........24.5.......7364.......11856 tyres
 3........16........65........21.7.......7380.......11882
 4........50......115........28.7.......7430.......11962
 5........32......147........29.4.......7462.......12014
 6........35......182........30.3.......7497.......12070
 7........45......227........32.4.......7542.......12143
 8........52......279........34.9.......7594.......12226
 9........39......318........35.3.......7633.......12289
10.......28......346........34.6.......7661.......12334
11.......44......390........35.4.......7705.......12405
12.......30......420........35.0.......7735.......12453
13.......26......446........34.3.......7761.......12495
14.......42......488........34.8.......7803.......12562
15.......28......516........34.4.......7831.......12608
16.......32......548........34.2.......7863.......12659
17.......12......560........32.9.......7875.......12678
18.......23......583........32.4.......7898.......12715
19.......22......603........31.7.......7920.......12751
20.......20......623........31.1.......7940.......12783
21.......23......646........30.7.......7963.......12820
22.......35......681........31.0.......7998.......12876
23.......22......703........30.5.......8020.......12912
24.......28......731........30.4.......8048.......12957
25.......21......751........30.0.......8069.......12991
26.......42......793........30.5.......8111.......13058
27.......13......806........29.8.......8124.......13079
28.......23......829........29.6.......8147.......13117 
29.......29......858........29.6.......8176.......13163
30.......33......891........29.7.......8209.......13216
31.......60......951........30.7.......8269.......13313

       0R                                                    23R

November 2010
                             Month                    Year
Date  Miles  Total    Avge      Miles        Km  

 1........36.........36........36.0......8305......13371
 2........27.........63........31.5......8332......13414 
 3........38.......101........33.7......8370......13475
 4........36.......137........34.2......8406......13534
 5........34.......171........34.2......8440......13588
 6........54.......225........37.5......8494......13675
 7........40.......265........37.8......8534......13739
 8........24.......289........36.1......8558......13778
 9........43.......332........36.9......8601......13847
10.......19.......351........35.1......8620......13878
11.......22.......373........33.9......8642......13913
12.........0.......373........31.1......8642......13913 R
13.......35.......408........31.4......8677......13970
14.......19.......427........30.5......8696......14000
15.......29.......456........30.4......8725......14047
16.......21.......477........29.8......8746......14081
17.......13.......490........28.8......8759......14101
18.........0.......490........27.2......8759......14101 R
19.........0.......490........25.7......8759......14101 R
20.......20.......510........25.5......8779......14134
21.......28.......538........25.6......8807......14179
22.......15.......553........25.1......8822......14203
23.........0.......553........24.0......8822......14203 R
24.......39.......592........24.6......8861......14266
25.......22.......614........24.5......8883......14301
26.......13.......627........24.1......8896......14322
27.......19.......646........23.9......8915......14353
28.......11.......657........23.5......8926......14370
29.......11.......668........23.0......8937......14388
30.........0.......668........22.2......8937......14388 R

    
       5R                                                    27R

December 2010
                             Month                    Year
Date  Miles  Total    Avge      Miles        Km  


 1.........11........11........11.........8948........14406
 2.........19........30........15.........8967........14436
 3.........21........51........17.........8988........14471
 4.........15........66........16.5......9003........14494
 5...........7........73........14.6......9010........14506
 6.........19........92........15.3......9029........14536
 7.........23......115........16.4......9053........14575
 8.........15......130........16.2......9068........14599
 9.........16......146........16.2......9084........14625
10........24......170........17.0......9108........14663
11........28......198........18.0......9136........14708
12........17......215........17.9......9153........14736
13........11......226........17.4......9164........14754
14..........0......226........16.1......9164........14754
15........13......239........15.9......9177........14774
16..........0......239........14.9......9177........14774
17..........0......239........14.0......9177........14774
18..........0......239........13.3......9177........14774
19........11......250........13.1......9188........14792
20..........0......250........12.5......9188........14792
21........23......273........13.0......9211........14829
22..........0......273........12.4......9211........14829
24........13......286........11.9......9224........14850
25..........0......286........11.4......9224........14850
26........15......301........11.6......9239........14875
27........23......324........12.0......9262........14911
28........38......362........12.9......9300........14973
29........20......382........13.2......9320........15005
30........20......402........13.4......9340........15037
31........22......422........13.6......9360........15070

   7 Rest days    27 total Rest days for the year.

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