September 2017.

2nd September: It was quite warm today with blue skies and hardly any wind so the Strael got another trip out. I've been doing some research on vitamin D and exercise and there's definitely something in it. Because it's created by the action of sunlight on exposed skin, rather than being common in food, it's very easy to be deficient in vitamin D and apparently most people are.

I mention it because when I set out today I really didn't feel like a ride but I ended up enjoying it and averaging 17.0 mph which was very good. I noticed this performance boost last winter when I took vitamin D so I've ordered some 5,000 iu tablets and my parents can have the rest of my 1,000 iu stash when they arrive. Anyhow, 25.3 miles to kick September off.

9th September: I really dropped on with today's ride. The BBC weather website said it would rain all day today and all weekend. As it turned out, today was actually hot and sunny albeit with a very strong wind. I took the Strael out and did three ups and downs of the farm track. It was hard work with the wind but quite an enjoyable ride overall. I hadn't taken into account the recent rain however; there were a couple of huge muddy puddles and the bike, and myself, were absolutely covered in mud by the time we got home - who said buying a white bike was a good idea?! Anyhow, a fun ride and the vitamin D must be working because I averaged 16.7 mph despite the wind. 25.1 miles.

16th September: Well, after a week of terrible rain and wind, including storm Aileen, I finally managed to get out for ride today and did the local 27. It was actually quite sunny so I took the risk of the puddles having dried out and took the Strael and luckily I was right, they'd pretty much dried up. I was wearing a new top on the ride as well. Autumn's on the way so I spent my Christmas money early and bought a Castelli Alpha FZ jacket (reduced from £175 to £99 from Merlin!) and some Velocissimo 3 bib tights to go with it. It was too warm, about 15 c, for the tights but I wore the Alpha over my Lusso bibs.

The Alpha is made from Gore Windstopper 150 so it breathes really well and has a mesh zip up front section so if you get too warm, you can undo the main zip and still have the mesh section underneath to keep the jacket from flopping around. Despite it being too warm really, the jacket was great. I had it unzipped a few inches so I kept cool and I wasn't a sweaty mess when I got it so it's definitely breathable. On a similar note, the 5,000 iu vitamin D is definitely working, despite the strong wind I averaged 17.1 mph which was very good, I'm usually slower when it's windy. 25.1 more miles.

17th September: Another nice day today so I managed to get out and do the same ride I did yesterday. It was a gorgeous day, very windy but super clear with largely blue skies; a real sign that autumn's on the way. It was fairly windy but my legs felt reasonably good so quite a fun ride, the average was looking good as well until the wind got up a couple of times as I got closer to home but 16.6 mph isn't too shoddy and it was another 25.1 miles. Incidentally, I wore the Castelli jacket again and was boiling so I'm going to put that away for a few weeks until the temperature starts to fall a bit more.

24th September: Being short of miles this month I really wanted to get out for a ride yesterday but I somehow pulled a muscle in my neck which was really annoying. Anyhow, it feels a lot better today so I took the Strael out for spin. Given the terrible weather we've had so far in September, today was a real surprise. It was warm with some blue sky and not too much wind, at least initially. My legs felt great and, despite the wind getting up a bit mid-ride, it was a fun ride with an average of 17.2 mph which is good for me. 25.1 much needed miles.

25th September: The weather was quite nice today. It was started overcast but some blue sky appeared eventually and there less wind than we've had recently. Because of all the recent rain I decided to take Awesom-O because he has mudguards and I didn't fancy getting filthy.

The ride started well but I soon ran into a snag half way up the farm track, BT were installing new poles and had a van parked right across the path. I decided to divert towards Aughton and ended up having fun ride just exploring wherever I fancied going and finished with a handy 28.7 miles. Due to other commitments I didn't make it out again so a disappointing total for September of 154.4 but I'm still massively in the green for the year so here's hoping for a more pleasant October.