Because I was meeting mum and dad (and the vicar!) for lunch at 2 o'clock I decided to abandon ship until I could confirm the tyre was going to stay up so I had a pootle around the village and got back for a quick shower before lunch. The mileage? A massive 7.5 to start September off!
7th September: I headed out to do the local 27 after work tonight, it was overcast but very warm with light winds so it was a hot, sweaty ride. It was shorter than I'd planned because I'd barely got a mile along the farm path and found it was closed! I thought I'd nip through anyway because I was on a bike not a car when I spotted a large sign saying it was closed to cyclists as well - arse! Anyway, I guess people need water so I'll just have to wait for them to finish. 22.5 more miles.
8th September: I really didn't want to go out today but I'm low on miles so I dragged myself out and did the Old Coach Road. It was overcast and very windy but actually quite warm out of the wind. A very bumpy 15.2 miles.
10th September: I did what's left of the local 27 this afternoon. It started off very overcast and a bit chilly but with virtually no wind which is a rarity. Now I'm using my new Topeak Joe Blow pump I decided to do an experiment. I inflated my tyres to 75 and 80 psi to see how comfortable they were. They were comfy but the front on still felt very hard and the rear felt slightly in danger of a snakebite puncture were I to hit a pothole. Next ride, I'm going to inflate them to 70 and 85 psi and see how I get on. Anyhow, the sun came out half way around and it turned into a gorgeous sunny day so a nice ride overall and it was the ride that took the Giant over the 3,000 mile mark which is cool. 23.2 more miles.
11th September: I did the same ride again this evening but with 70 psi in the front tyre and 85 psi in the rear one and I think I've cracked it! Some of the roads on my route, especially around the back of Kirkby, are appalling and the lower pressure in the front tyre made riding such roads much more comfortable.
I don't think they'd withstand a hard pothole hit at this pressure but for day to day riding it's ideal. It was a gorgeous late summer evening (see the pic, taken at the part of the farm track that's closed off), warm and not too much wind, so a very enjoyable ride and 23.3 miles in the bag.
15th September: I was dying to get out on the bike tonight so I necked a mug of Aeropress coffee after work and headed out on the Giant. It was quite windy but the last day or two have been sunny and extremely warm so it was a nice ride overall and perhaps the last chance to top up my tan before autumn sets in. I averaged 17.1 mph which was cool and it was another 22.8 more miles for September.
17th September: I headed out to do the local 27 and found that the farm path is fully open again which was a bonus. It was fairly windy but otherwise it was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day. On the odd occasion I was out of the wind it was actually quite hot so there's clearly life left in summer yet. A good ride and 27.1 miles.
18th September: My mate Joe has finally bought a bike and signed up with Map my Ride so today's ride was a test ride to see if he got an email when I uploaded my ride. The weather was ok so I did the Old Coach Road on the Giant. It was quite a pleasant ride and another 15.6 miles for September.
25th September: It was my third BHF Manchester to Blackpool night ride today, a night I'd been looking forward to for ages. The BBC website said it would rain all night so I decided to take Awesom-O because he has mudguards. I had the traditional chicken fried rice at about 8 o'clock so I'd be full of carb's and headed to Manchester. I managed to get out with the second pod of riders and I felt great heading out of Manchester, it was drizzly but my legs felt good and I was making good progress. At about the twenty five mile mark I fumbled my water bottle and lost it but I thought I could get some water at the feeding station at the 40 mile mark so I wasn't too worried. Just as we left Preston, the slight drizzle turned into a full on downpour. The rain started washing the salt out of my helmet pads so it felt like acid in my eyes and I ended up taking my helmet off and clipping it to my backpack for about five miles until the rain slowed down a bit and I could ring out the front pad. At the 40 mile mark, the feeding station turned out to be an empty car park so that was my last chance to get a drink and I felt I was starting to run out energy slightly. I think being completely soaking must have been using a lot of calories so I necked a gel and carried on. The gel seemed to last about 5 minutes so I ate a Co-op milk chocolate cookie and carried on. The cookie kicked in after a few minutes so I tagged onto a couple of other riders and the sight of Blackpool spurred us on to quite a fast finish.
At this stage, the event usually involves standing around for an hour and a half freezing to death waiting for the bus back to Manchester. This year however, the Beach House bistro was open. I went in and got a coffee and, at the manager's suggestion, sat in the seating area which had huge heating lamps on the wall which were bliss. I was getting warm but it was about 20 minutes before my legs stopped shaking from the cold! Anyhow, to my surprise, my time was 2h 54m which I was pretty pleased with and I'm definitely doing it again next year! 51.3 very wet miles.
29th September: I finally managed to meet my mate Joe for a ride after work today, something we'd been trying to arrange for ages. I took the Giant and he was on his new Giant Escape 3. We did a ride I designed in Map my Ride a few todays that Joe has already done once before.
Apart from some heavy traffic it was quite an enjoyable ride, windy but not too bad and the ride had some nice quiet trails on it. Joe is doing ok, he was a bit knackered but managed pretty well. He has good traffic sense and is fairly confident so that bodes well for the future. He also has a decent cadence when pedalling which is great, I hate seeing people grinding along in a high gear prematurely wearing their knees out. My first 8.0 miles with Joe!
Well, September goes out with another positive mileage figure, 217.5 miles, which is good. It's been quite a good month generally. I got my central heating up and running which is awesome, I conquered my 3rd Manchester to Blackpool night ride and finally got out on a ride with Joe and his new bike. Here's hoping the weather in October stays positive...
