14th March 2015 Spring? What spring?

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Saturday 14th 34-41F, 1-5C, cold wind, clear with sunshine. My walk was marked by lots of Mallards, rather fewer Fieldfares but only two Herons. The wind remains cold and easterly. My ride seemed to be into a headwind going both ways! You really have to laugh at the work going on along one stretch of road. They have installed dozens of brand new drain covers in dips 4" below the average road surface! All are installed directly in the path of the cycle lane. Of course they are! Perhaps the local council intends to charge cyclists for a ride on their new roller coaster? Or they have plans to host the extreme mountain biking world championships as soon as the usual mud and debris collects in the cycle lane? Only in Russia Denmark. 15 miles. Mostly up and down. Burp! ;ø)

Sunday 15th 40-42F, 4-6C, windy, sunny periods.  Another day with a cold easterly wind roaring in the hedges and treetops. I was greeted by an irritated squirrel in the more distant woods. With its repeated chirruping it obviously thought it owned the place! I know the feeling. I don't like neighbours either! Two deer were more modest further on and toddled calmly out of sight into the undergrowth. Then I came across a family with toddlers further on again.

What with the increasing number of MTB tracks it's getting like Picadilly Circus in there! As I headed home along the busy road, two clubmen passed me at speed chatting loudly, with a helpful following wind. The sky has become overcast now with the wind expected to gust to 30mph again.

Angry squirrel, in formal evening dress, apparently 'levitating.' Taken at full 12x zoom on my TZ7. The truly observant will notice the squirrel is resting on a tiny twig.

I put the trike on the workstand after coffee to try playing with the gears again.  Moving the rear changer cable to the other side of the clamping screw made the indexing worse. Returning the clamping to normal and adjusting the tensioner greatly improved the change but I still can't call it perfect. Sometimes it is very slightly hesitant to change and at others the chain rattles lightly as if seeking a natural resting place. I'll go for a ride after lunch to see if it can be improved further. It is still only 42F outside and bitterly cold standing in the wind. This despite having two high, but bare hedges just to the east of where I was working. Gloves were essential!

I weighed the Carradice Camper with the Abus U-lock and a couple of spare inner tubes while I had it off the trike. Over 2.5kg. That's at least 5lbs in old money! Some people spend literally thousands just to save 50 grammes! I spend 20 quid in the supermarkets and bring back another 10 kilogrammes!

It was still gusting hard as I rode north being buffeted by every gap in the hedges. For some unknown reason I decided to detour back from the shops. Lots of birds of prey including another Kestrel. I found myself in bottom gear several times on quite short rises while heading straight into the wind. Which may be cause for future concern on a long ride. Particularly while heading home, as usual, into the prevailing wind. The gear indexing is much improved with just one phantom change. It still lacks that precise feeling on the change. Only 14 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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