25th June 2015 Oh, bucket!

*

Wednesday 24th 51F, 11C, cool, heavy overcast and breezy, with rain spitting in the air. I spent half an hour wiping over the Trykit with a clean rag. Then rubbing it down with ScotchBrite fine, abrasive fibre. Followed by rubbing the rack to a uniform matt finish and refitting the Goth, leather, saddle bag.

Were I to be <cough> saddled with a painted frame it would already be looking incredibly scruffy. The stainless steel Reynolds R931 frame is very forgiving of my lack of regular cleaning.


The forks are R953 and were quite prone, at first, to thin, horizontal lines of surface rust if not given an occasional, but cursory, wipe over. For some reason the initial rust problem seems to have largely dissipated. A hint of discolouration can be seen around the Sigma, wireless, computer sensor but that's about all. The area around the front drop-outs showed a bit of rust during/after winter rains/snow but easily wiped off. Probably the after-effects of salting the roads. Anybody with a proper water and soap cleaning routine would probably never notice any problems. I tend to go for months without so much as a quick wipe over. This is probably due to my entirely solo approach to cycling. If I had to withstand the gentle humour of fellow cyclists it would be far simpler to keep the trike clean just to avoid their amused witticisms. 

I have hardly mentioned the Sigma but the display has been a model of clarity and reliability so far. Thankfully it has shown no hint of the major problems of my previous computers. Not least its excellent legibility without reading glasses! The only thing I don't really like is the curved tops to the 7s. I glance down to check my mileage and regularly confuse the 7s with 2s. Taking my eyes off the road twice to confirm the actual figure should really not be necessary in this day and age. By the time I look up again I could easily have hit a lump of the gravel which is strewn almost everywhere.

I have to spend a ridiculous amount of ride time reading the road surface ahead to avoid potholes and stones. It would help if I tipped up the display head so I could see the bottom of the 7s, from the hoods, but that would mean changing the tilt again every time I am resting on the aero-bars. I usually have to adjust my Cyclops mirror to monitor the overtaking traffic. So changing the display angle on the computer would add yet another task with every change of riding position.

It stayed dry and overcast but very windy for my short ride. Blowing a gale on the way back!  I passed a couple of farmers out spraying yesterday and by coincidence had a dizzy spell again this morning. My nose is also streaming and I am sneezing so it may just be blocked ears again. Who can tell?

On the positive side, I realised today that my years of lower back pain may have ended. [For the moment, at least.] I'm wondering whether this has to do with the aero-bars? Could the regular stretching to a much lower position have freed a trapped nerve or sorted out a wonky disk? I usually noticed the worst pain the day after I had been doing some heavy lifting. Well, I have been doing quite a bit of lifting recently without being physically penalised for it, just for a change. Ever onwards!

I am now within only a couple of miles of 3,000 for the year at half way. So I really need to get cracking if I am going to keep up my 8k miles per year tricycling average. Last year was only in the 6,000s. I have been allowing myself many more rest days this year than previously. A day without any mileage, at all, makes a big hole in the figures. Conversely, rests days allow time for muscle recovery from the damage caused by cycling. Only 10 miles today. Some people would call that a recovery ride. Others would say it was no ride at all!

Thursday 25th 59F, 15C, cool, light winds, dry but rather cloudy, to overcast, with a few sunny periods. The farmer had kindly trimmed the weeds around his field so I had unusually easy access to the larger, marsh pond. There must have been well over 200 young ducks spread out into in several large flotillas! I saw three Red deer and four hares today. The forest tracks are getting over head height, in tall grasses, with brambles making progress more difficult. Two decorated, lorry loads of students went past with horns blaring and plenty of shouting. A buzzard circled, seemingly unconcerned, overhead. The hedges are full of elder blossom and gorgeous wild roses. I can still hear and occasionally see, warblers everywhere I go, whether on foot or trike. Lots of Greenfinches wheezing too.

Left mid-afternoon for a hilly ride to my first goal 10 miles away. Then another route to the shops and then home. Nearly taken off by an idiot in a mini excavator practising his stupidity by swinging the bucket out into the middle of a narrow lane. What was more amusing was the 7 axle lorry which was following right behind me. One second later and the excavator driver would have had the shock of his life and probably his last. I dived in behind the digger to allow the grateful lorry driver to pass in a huge cloud of brown dust from the digging. Only 22 miles.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

*