4th December: I got out and did the OCR this evening as another pre-work week brain awakener. The weather was fairly average, cool and not too windy. It was a fun ride, my legs felt pretty good and the leaves are starting to clear so I managed to spot and avoid the big cracks in the tarmac unlike the last couple of times. I definitely came up with a 'note to self' for the last hundred yards or so - 'Slow down!' - there are a few sections of greasy mud and it's a miracle I haven't fallen off yet... Anyhow, another 15.6 miles.
7th December: In a rather round about way, I managed to get an afternoon ride in today. As it's Christmas, and to try a quench my thirst for another n+1, I've decided to get Awesom-O a custom paint job. After an afternoon of Googling and checking out various forums and blog posts, I read of a place in Liverpool called C & G Finishes. They've been around since the 60's and I believe they used to do a lot of the painting for the many local frame builders back when most bikes were still made in the UK. They don't have a website but I emailed them via Yell and got an email from a guy called Gerry who said to visit the shop if I wanted to see what colours they offered. So, I booked half a days flexi and headed into Liverpool. Gerry seemed like a nice bloke when I mentioned that they were quite hard to find and that I'd only seen them mentioned on a couple of forums, he gave me a wry smile and said the order book was always full and they didn't need to advertise, always a good sign!
We chatted for a bit and when I asked whether they used glass beads or sand for the paint removal he explained that they use steel shot blasting to get the old paint off as it leaves a better key on the steel for the paint to stick to which was interesting. They did have some colour sample swatches on bits of hardboard but he said they could do any colour really, within reason, but I've decided to go for plain cream. When I asked how much it would be to do the forks as well he said that because they were doing the frame anyway, it wouldn't cost any more to do the forks so they're going to be plain black. Anyhow, that's a job for spring lined up as Awesom-O's a winter bike so I told Gerry I'd see him sometime in the new year and headed home and did the OCR plus the farm track for another 21.2 more miles.
10th December: Awesom-O's shifting has never been great and the cassette was looking a bit worn so I started today by replacing the cassette and the rear gear inner to try and improve the shifting a bit. I then headed out to do the OCR and had what was, for me, a first. I was about 50 yards past two blokes with a large gangsta-type dog when I heard loud, angry barking and this huge dog is running along side me barking it's head off trying to decide whether to attack me or not! Weirdly, I wasn't that worried and my adrenaline didn't kick in but I was quite relieved when, after about 30 yards of chasing me, it decided to obey it's yelling owner and go back to them. I carried on and realised it may be time to call quits on the OCR for the the winter because it's just getting muddier and muddier and I had to give Awsom-O a proper wash when I got home. Anyhow, my legs felt good, Awesom-O is shifting very well and it was a fun ride and exactly 22.0 more miles for December.
14th December: I managed to get out tonight and do a route I've not done before which combined bits of various other of my routes. One quite cool thing was that as I slowed down for a corner on Outlet Lane I looked down and there was a tiny mouse crossing the path in front of me. It looked a bit startled but carried on once I'd stopped and got to the other side of the path.
This was followed shortly by a rather cretinous incident which annoyed me somewhat. I was cycling down Intake Lane when a driver coming towards me around a bend refused to dim his full beams. At least he knows the internationally accepted gesture for wanker now, anyway. Anyhow, an enjoyable enough ride overall and another 18.7 miles.
17th December: Well, it was an awesome ride today for two reasons. Firstly, I decided to spend my Christmas money from my parents on Awesom-O! I bought 105 5800 shifters, both mech's (I thought the rear one would be usable buy I'd forgotten it's a 10 speed), a Ritchey handlebar and an 11 speed cassette from Wiggle and I had a spare FSA chain in my spares box so on Saturday morning I had a large coffee and got started. It was nerve wracking but by taking it easy, downloading Shimano's workshop guides and watching a few Youtube videos, I got him done!
Secondly, it was fairly foggy but patchy when I set out on the ride (I did the same one I did on the 14th but added Siding's Lane) but by the time I was coming back down the by-pass, it was an absolute pea souper! There was a ned on a mountain bike and a jogger coming towards me and I didn't see them until I was about 15 yards away but luckily they'd seen my front light. I had to stop in Sidings lane to rotate the bars up a bit to get the shifters in a comfortable position and the left shifter still needs to come up a bit but I was extremely pleased with the new 11-speed Awesom-O, his shifting is really flawless now! A fun ride and another 19.4 miles for December.
19th December: I'd booked today off because it felt wrong doing a full week right before Christmas so I managed to take Awesom-O out this afternoon. I did what was basically the local 27 but instead of doing the bit through the industrial park, I took Perimeter Road which is basically a road that allows HGVs to go around it rather than having to go through it. The weather was ok, not too cold and not too windy so it was a pleasant enough ride and 25.6 more miles.
21st December: I was determined to get out for a ride tonight because getting a few miles in was very important and the weather is going to be seriously grim for the next few days. I needed just 9.9 miles to hit the yearly target so I headed out to another hybrid of my various local rides.
I did the farm track and back where I saw the hare again, he leapt out of the field, ran across the path in front of me and ran down into the opposite field which was very cool and then headed back in via Coach Road, Ben Lane and Intake lane and then through the village stopping at the chippy to buy a few mini spring rolls on the way. Anyhow, I did it and there are still a few days to go so let's see what happens... 15.6 miles with a total of 2405.7 so far.
24th December: I took Awesom-O out today because we're currently experiencing storm Barbara and I wanted to say I had cycled through it. It was pretty windy so I ended up cycling up and down the by-pass a couple of times and then came all the way back down and home via the industrial estate and the shared use path. A very windy ride and 16.4 more miles.
25th December: Well, today was another first in my cycling career. I was just going to do the OCR because it was still extremely windy but as I got half way down, I could see a gang of kids on scramblers coming towards me. Oh well I thought I'll head back to the bypass and go exploring instead. I wasn't that lucky however because as I was heading up the bypass, the bikers came past me and headed up the bypass, half of them on the cycle path and the other half wheelying up the road. To be fair, they were reasonably well behaved, I stuck to the left of the path and they rode past me quite safely and one of the pillion passengers made me chuckle, he was clutching a green plastic 5L petrol can - refuelling on the go! Anyhow, an extremely windy ride, especially around Crawford and King's Moss where it's very exposed and quite elevated, and another 17.1 miles.
26th December: I fancied trying a new route today so I drew one that entailed heading down the East Lancs and then heading cross country to Billinge from behind. It turned out to be quite a hard ride. I know Billinge is quite elevated and my village is only a few metres above sea level so I knew there may be a bit of climbing involved. What I didn't realise is the climb started at the East Lancs and didn't relent until I was actually in Billinge!
One slight downer was a visit from the puncture fairy. I'd decided to stop at the Co-op on the way home to grab some groceries and felt my rear tyre going down very slowly over the last mile or so. It's only a 700 yard walk to my house from the Co-op but I couldn't be bothered pushing the bike so I wasted a CO2 capsule inflating the tyre again and rode it home. The climbing, and the fact that it still very, very windy made it a hard ride but quite satisfying once I got back in and another 13.3 miles.
27th December: I started off today fixing Awesom-O's back tyre which by now was completely flat. I took it off and found 3 or 4 seperate bits of glass well embedded in the tread, all of which appeared to have penetrated right down to the puncture protection layer. Anyhow, I winkled them all out and replaced the tube and headed out to do the farm track and back. It was a fairly uneventful ride apart from cycling past four neds on mountain bikes on the way back down the farm track, I heard a fair amount of effing and jeffing as I went past but I had startled them by shooting past them unannounced. Anyhow, 15.8 more miles.
31st December: I was hoping to get out and do 30+ miles today because my mate Joe challenged me to hit 2,500 miles for the year. I headed out on Awesom-O to do the local 27 with Billinge tacked on but the bloody puncture fairy visited again just as I was heading down the farm track. I was so cheesed off I called my dad for a lift. As it turned out, there was no reception so I had to bite the bullet and change the tube AGAIN. Anyhow, not trusting the tyre by this point I headed home via the most direct route possible for a miserly 12.4 miles but a pretty respectable 2,480.7 for the year which after the disappointing result last year was very pleasing!
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