February 2018.

4th February: It was an absolutely gorgeous day today, blue skies and barely any wind, so I really wanted to get out for a ride but dad texted and I ended up having a pub lunch with my parents in the afternoon so decided a ride in the evening would be a good way to clear my head. I ended up heading out at about six o'clock so I headed up the bypass for the farm track. It was really cold, maybe 1 or 2 °C but there was still barely any wind so it turned out to be quite an enjoyable ride overall and 25.0 miles to start February off.

10th February: The weather's been terrible recently, raining a lot and a couple of really cold days so I was determined to get out this weekend to get some mileage in. It was raining today but not too cold, maybe 5 or 6 °C, so I took Awesom-O out to do the farm track.

On the way there, I spotted a field where the farmer had let the cattle out into a field of sprouts which was cool; I can only imagine the smell in the cow shed tonight! Anyhow, it was raining and quite breezy, so a fairly rule #9 ride, but an OK ride overall and 25.0 miles towards the monthly total.

13th February: Quite an annoying ride tonight. It was very cold, maybe 1° C, but barely any wind so I took Awesom-O out for a spin. I got halfway up the bypass and realised I'd forgotten to put my overshoes on! Rather than turn around, I decided to carry on and see how far I got before the cold set into my toes. It was a very enjoyable ride initially, my legs felt great, but by the time I got to the end of the farm path my toes were absolutely freezing so I headed back home and grabbed a kebab on the way. A 20 minute hot bath when I got in saw my toes return to a colour resembling real human being and a not very good 13.7 miles.

15th February: The weather was going to be fairly decent today so I took Awesom-O out for a spin after work, not forgetting to put my overshoes on this time! Before I set off, I fitted Awesom-O with some new lights I'd bought following a review article on road.cc. They're called Orb, by Cateye, and are small red LED lights that replace your bar end plugs to give you improved visibility from behind. They operate on flash, blink and constant so I ran them on constant, the See.Sense is on pulse duties and I think you can have too much of a good thing.

The weather was cold, maybe 2 °C, and quite windy but at least it was dry. The wind was hard work on the outbound part of the track, particularly on the last run, but good fun coming back with wind behind me! The lights were good, it might have been coincidence but all the overtakes I got were grade 9 or 10 which is very unusual (where 0 is getting knocked off and 10 is the driver using the other side of the road like they're supposed to). Anyhow, a funnish ride and 25.1 miles. Oh, and I stopped for a kebab on the way home, I must stop doing that...

17th February: As I was getting Awesom-O out today, I heard a slight clunk as I put him down in the yard. I suspected his headset had come slightly loose again but thought it was odd because I had definitely fixed him properly recently. I checked the front wheel and found it move side to side about an eighth of inch - the bearing are toast at 1,816 miles! Anyhow, I decided I might as well ride him because I was all dressed and ready to go. The weather was beautiful, no wind, reasonably warm and a blue sky full of clouds so definitely a sign that spring is on the way. I decided to do the 27 25 route and apart from a couple of close passes, a white van (surprise!) on the way out of the village and a woman in a Fiesta later on, it was a very enjoyable ride. I took the axle and bearings out of the front wheel when I got in and the bearings are indeed toast, one is still very smooth but has some play in it, the other is extremely rough and has a lot of play in it. The wheels are Hunt Dura and the bearings are 609-2RS size so I've ordered some SKF replacements from www.simplybearings.co.uk who are a superb one stop shop for anything bearing related. Anyhow, another 25.1 miles.

20th February: The bearings for the front wheel arrived today so before heading out for a ride I decided to fit them rather than take the Strael. Before I started, I cleaned out the recesses in the wheel and greased them lightly to reduce water ingress and the chances of the bearings seizing in place in the future. Fitting is actually pretty easy  but you need a 17 mm 3/8 socket plus a larger socket to act as an anvil. Lay the wheel on it's side on a firm surface and seat the bearing over the hole. Place the socket (open hex end facing the bearing) on the bearing and lightly tap the bearing into the hub. When the sound changes from hollow to solid you know the bearing is seated. Now lightly grease one end of the axle and feed it through the hub from the opposite side and insert it through the new bearing.

Now place the larger socket on the firm surface with the square hole facing upwards and place the wheel on it with axle inserted through the square hole. You can now use the 17 mm socket to seat the second bearing into the hub just like you did with the first one. Now just re-attach the end caps, tighten the 2 mm grub screws to stop the caps falling off and refit the wheel to the bike. After that, I took him out to do the farm track as usual. It was about 4 °C and not too windy so it was a pretty nice ride overall. I hadn't noticed the wobbly front front wheel before (you rarely do when a problem grows from nothing because it creeps up on you gradually) but the front of the bike definitely felt super smooth and quiet. 25.1 more wintry miles

Next day update: About half way around the ride yesterday I started to hear the front tyre make skittering noises whenever I went over over any damp mud or sand and assumed a bit of muck had started to build up under brake area of the mudguard because that's where it's closest to the tyre. I've just cleaned Awesom-O's chain and was putting it back on when I noticed two huge plumes of dried mud on the bottom end of the mudguard around the plastic flap. In the end I had to use a knife to remove about half a kilo of nearly dry mud! I can only assume some mud built up on the back of the plastic rivet that holds the flap on and as the damp mud was flicked up it started to build up - weird!

24th February: It was blue skies and sunny today and it hasn't rained for a few days so I took the Strael out for a spin. It wasn't too bad going up the bypass but the wind on the farm track was horrendous. It was blowing across the path but must have been slightly diagonal because going up the track was pretty normal but coming back along it was horrendous, I was struggling to maintain 11 mph! The ride back was all into the wind too and my legs were burning by the time I got home. On the plus side, riding the Strael again was fun and the brakes are just as impressive as I remember them. Another 25.1 miles.

Well, thanks to a rather liquid Sunday lunch this weekend I didn't make it out over the weekend and Britain is now suffering what the press are calling the 'Beast from the East'. We're on our second day of temperatures well into the minuses and most of Britain has had lots of snow so a slightly disappointing mileage of 164.1 for February. On the plus side, Awesome-O now has new front wheel and headset bearings so he should be good for another year or two and I've got a 75 mile sportive on Sunday, weather permitting, so here's hoping March is a good month!

Update: I got an email last night saying Sunday's sportive has been cancelled. The UK has had a lot more snow with continuing freezing temperatures and Storm Emma has hit the UK today on top of everything else so perhaps not entirely surprising...