Since spending the most money I've ever spent on an item of clothing on my Rapha merino under-layer, I was determined to care for it as well as possible. Firstly of course, being a science-minded kind of bloke, I had to test the ability of merino to resist odour. To this end I decided to wear it until it started to smell. Several rides later, this proved to be about a dozen rides which I was quite impressed by. I knew the garment was hand-wash only so next time I was in Asda I looked for a hand washing liquid and picked up a bottle of Woolite. I washed the under-layer in warm water and half a cap of Woolite in my bathroom sink by hand and the rinsed it thorough in clean water a couple of times and then squeezed out a lot of the water and left in hanging from a line indoors until it was fully dry. There wasn't a hint of pong from the armpit areas and the garment looked like new so I was very impressed.
That wasn't the end of the story however. Last weekend I needed to change the oil and filter on my car but it was cold and raining so I decided to wear the Rapha under a thick sweater thinking that it should be safe enough. However... As I was lying under the car removing the old oil filter, about a table spoon of used diesel engine oil ran down my wrist and I ended up with a circle of oil about an inch and quarter in diameter on the cuff of my Rapha, gutted! After I cleaned up, I poured some neat Woolite on the oil stain , rubbed it in and rinsed it in the sink. To my extreme surprise, I could actually see the oil wash off with the Woolite under a stream of warm water. I then gave the whole thing a wash and let it dry and I was extremely pleased to see the stain now all but invisible - brilliant!
3rd February: Extreme weather cycling! The BBC weather website was predicting a lot of wind tonight, it had the number 40 in a black square which is normally a good sign to stay off the bike and do something else instead. Anyhow... it didn't feel windy in my back yard so I took Awesom-O out for an adventure. As always with the wind, it was a case of positives and negatives. Going up the bypass was amazing, flying along effortlessly at 25mph but going along the farm track was interesting. The wind was coming off the fields was unimpeded, I was cycling along leaning over about 10 degrees and whenever the was a lull in the wind I nearly shot off the path in the opposite direction.
That, and the way the wind was howling through the telephone lines like a horror film set at the north pole, made for an interesting ride. Coming back in along the bypass however was hard work; I was often in my lowest gear and only managing 8-10mph so getting home felt like it took ages. As a slight aside, I've decided to use the very handy 'GET RIDE MAP' feature in RIDE WITH GPS to show routes from now on because it saves a lot of cutting and pasting of screen grabs. Anyhow, an extremely windy 18.1 miles.
4th February: It was gorgeous sunny say today without much wind so I headed out on Awesom-O to do the local 27. I clearly wasn't the only one who appreciated the weather as I saw a lot of other road cyclists and kids on mountain bikes which was cool. One rather odd thing was that I could hear shooting from virtually every wood I cycled past. I don't think the first Saturday in February is significant in any way; maybe the guys shooting were just out like the cyclists were, enjoying the first sunny day of the year? Anyhow, it was 27.5 more miles.
6th February: It was fairly overcast today but not too windy so I decided to risk taking Awesom-O out for a spin. It was drizzling slightly as I set off to do the farm path and back but soon turned into a light but steady rain. Despite this, it wasn't particularly cold or windy so it was still a fairly enjoyable ride. One thing that puzzled me slightly was the sound of something on the bike moving around whenever I went over a bump, starting around half way around. I had a good look around the bike when I got in and found that the rear mudguard bracket that is held on by the rear brake caliper had fractured right through (something a spot of Googling when I got back in suggests is reasonably common)! Anyhow, I've ordered a set of Bluemels which I'll fit when they arrive and it was a wet 19.0 miles.
11th February: The weather was fairly grim today, cold and windy and constantly threatening to drizzle. I dragged myself out of the house and did to the end of the farm track and back and then cycled along the back of the village to have a look at my old school to add an extra mile or two. Not a particularly fun ride but another 22.1 miles for February.
14th February: I took Awesom-O out tonight to do to the end of the farm track and back and, for one of two possible reasons, my legs felt absolutely amazing. I've lost my Aeropress so I made a coffee using my Moka pot (which I suspect extracts ALL the caffeine from the grinds) before I left and called in to see my parents on the way past where I had a few slices of my mum's amazing fruitcake. I forgot to start the Garmin but I think my average was over 16 mph which is good for a winter ride.
I had another peculiar animal encounter on the ride which is always amusing. As I was cycling along a part of the farm track that runs past a pair of semi-detached houses, I saw a large pet rabbit sitting in the road ahead of me so I rested the bike against the gatepost and knocked on the door. A guy who looked a bit like a slimmer Wayne Rooney answered and essentially thanked me for enquiring and explained it was one of two that belonged to the other house and that it was always escaping. At this point the rabbit shot across the guy's drive and disappeared through a hedge so I said goodbye and carried on for a total of 18.5 miles.
18th February: I was having the cambelt and waterpump replaced on my car today at a garage in Holmes Chapel (the brother in law of a mate at work) so I had a good four hours to kill. The weather was looking nice so with this in mind, I drew a 51 mile route and headed down. The weather was nice although a bit windy so it was quite an enjoyable ride although I was getting a bit fed up of close passes at some points but the nature of the roads, fast single carriageways, doesn't help.
I got quite a cool pic of the radio telescope at Jodrell Bank which is impressively huge! At around the 25 mile mark I was starting to tire a bit (Cheshire is supposed to be flat but it definitely isn't!) so I stopped and bought some chunky cherry muffins from a very picturesque Post Office, scoffed one, and carried on. A few miles later I came across the second landmark I was looking forward to seeing, the famous Anderton boat lift near the village of Anderton which lifts and lowers narrow boats the 50 feet between the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal. For some reason I thought the ride would pass the lift at the bottom but, as you can see, I was at the top end. Anyhow, it was quite impressive!
Over the last ten miles or so I was really hoping the ride would end soon, the hill had really taken their toll n my legs! Anyhow, I got there in the end in 3 hours and 10 minutes for a total of 50.7 miles.
Well, it was just as well I got the big ride in in Cheshire as the weather through the rest of February has been rather dire. We've had cold, wind and rain in various combinations along with storm Doris so I've not had much incentive to leave the house. Anyway, staying positive, I managed a much better January and February than I have over the last couple of years and spring has to start eventually, surely? 155.9 miles.
