July 2017.

2nd July: I'm very pleased to be able to say that I kicked July off this year with a new milestone in my cycling career, I've finally done a metric century! I've decided to try and do a sportive a month while the weather holds and the only one in my neck of the woods was the 'Hoy 100' hosted by Evans Cycles. There were two routes on the day with riders able to choose from either a 100 km or a 100 mile route with Sir Chris Hoy himself joining the longer ride. Naturally, being a wuss, I signed up for the 100 km route and showed up at Arley Hall near Lymm at about eight in the morning. I signed in and zip tied my number to the bike and headed for the start line. It was pretty well organised and we were let out in batches from about 8:45 so we were soon on our way.

Apart from some appallingly potholed and broken up roads around Altrincham it was a pretty enjoyable ride. It was mainly sunny blue skies with a few clouds and pleasantly warm rather hot. I was worried about running out of energy later in the ride but I was fine, I'd had some chicken breast and brown rice for breakfast and had a few Soreen mini bars with me along with my usual 750 ml bidon of squash and I only ended up eating three of the Soreen mini bars. I was feeling a bit flat over the last few miles but I reckon if I'd have eaten the last two bars I'd have flown in. The end was very well organised as well, we were given an event casquette, a finishers medal and a voucher for a free burger or hotdog as we got back in which was very good, freshly barbecued with lots of salad. Also, given the slight coincidence of the Giant passing the 4,000 mile mark on my first ever sportive, I passed the '10,000 miles since I started cycling again' on this, my second sportive with a current total of 10,003.5 miles. A satisfying ride and 106.2 km to start July off.

5th July: I took the Giant out after work this evening planning a relaxed ride to loosen my legs up again after the weekend's sportive. It was fairly warm and sunny without much wind so I took the shortcut to the farm track and did three up and downs before heading back. It was a gorgeous evening and I saw a lot of other cyclists about and ended up having an amusing encounter on the way back in. I saw a rider on a road back up ahead of me and decided to reel him in. As I got closer I spotted that he was on the same bike as mine, a 2015 Giant Defy Advanced 2 so as I passed him I turned and said "Nice bike!". I'm not sure he'd spotted that we were on the same bikes because he replied, in a slightly bemused tone of voice, "Thank you!" in a surprising rich Scottish burr. Anyhow, a very pleasant ride and another 25.1 miles.

8th July: Todays ride was well though out and planned but actually turned out to be something of a bungle tour. I'd planned a nice 42 mile route in Ride with GPS that headed towards Leisure Lakes but then skirted Southport via a quiet cross country route and then met up with the end of the farm path for home. It was fairly warm and sunny without much wind so I was enjoying the ride towards Leisure Lakes until I got to the first part of the 'new' route. It was a private farm track! As is often the case drawing your own routes, it can be very hard to see what kind of roads you're including in your route. I'd drawn the route with Ride with GPS set to satellite, it would be more sensible to have it set on Map to  distinguish which tracks are actually roads and which ones aren't. Anyhow, I turned around and carried on and ended up having a quick wander round at Leisure Lakes before heading back the way I'd come. 32.6 miles.

12th July: I really dropped on with the weather tonight; we've had a lot of rain recently but today was hot and sunny without much wind so I took the Giant out for a spin after work. I took a shortcut to the farm track and did three up and downs and I clearly wasn't the only person enjoying the sun as I can't remember the last time I saw so many cyclists out. My legs were struggling for a while to start with but kicked in eventually and I averaged 17.0 mph on the ride which is pretty good and another 25.1 miles.

15th July: It rained this morning so I knew it was going to be wet out there so Awesom-O got a rare summer ride. It was overcast but warm without much wind and my legs felt great from the start so a pretty enjoyable ride. I took the shortcut to the farm track and then did three up and downs as it gradually got brighter but windier. One thing that was very noticeable was the sheer number of birds I saw, they were everywhere, I even saw a goldfinch and a crow drinking from the same puddle which was odd. I think the crows are this years young because I regularly see four hanging about together and they're not as cautious as the parents are when I cycle past. Anyhow, a fun ride and another 25.6 miles.

18th July: Another pleasant and fairly sunny today so I took the Giant out for a spin after work. I took the shortcut to the farm track and did three up and down and then came back a slightly longer way. The wind was fairly strong so it was a case of flying along the track on the way out and then battling the headwind on the way back in which was hard work. It wasn't all bad though as I somehow managed to average 17.2 mph which was pretty good. A hard ride but another 25.2 miles in the bag.

24th July: I had the day off work today so I was really hoping the weather would be nice as we've had a lot of rain recently. As it turned out it was a glorious day, hot and sunny with big fluffy clouds in the sky and hardly any wind so I took the Giant out for a spin. I'd intended to do the usual, three ups and downs of the farm track, but unforeseen circumstances put paid to that plan. I was heading outwards on my second 'up' when I found a couple of Transit vans delivering a small digger had blocked the track so headed back and went exploring.

I ended up taking a very scenic back road into Aughton before turning around and finishing the ride with a loop. Because I hadn't been out for six days my legs felt great and it was a very enjoyable ride over all and possibly one of my last on the Giant. I can't say too much at the minute but this picture of the quick release temporarily adorning the Giant is a clue... A very enjoyable 25.7 miles.

29th July: Well, the rain finally stopped at around mid-morning so I was glad to be able to take the Giant out for a ride. It was actually quite a nice day with little wind and big white clouds suspended in a blue sky so I ended up exploring a bit.

I did a length of the farm track and back and then got bored with that so I ended up heading into Aughton the back way again which is very scenic and did some exploring there. Unfortunately the road ended up at a dual carriageway at both ends so I didn't get far but at least I know that now. I then came back the long way around the loop and rode up and down Church Road to add a bit of distance. A fun ride and another 26.4 miles towards a total of 251.7 for July, it would have been nice to reach 300 again but it's been quite a wet month and there's always August to look forward to.