April 2018.

5th April: The weather's been really poor recently, constant heavy rain and wind but there's an area of high pressure over the UK at the moment and the weather is supposed to be gorgeous for the next few days. It's been a gorgeous warmish sunny day today so I decided to risk taking the Strael out to do the usual. I wasn't sure if the two big puddles would have had time to dry up so I was pleasantly surprised to see the first on had almost dried up and carried on up the path. I was less pleased however to see that the second puddle was a good twenty feet long and a couple of inches deep still but I guess I can always give him a good wash tomorrow. I've finally decided that the Brooks saddle isn't really suited to the Strael. The back bit under my bum is very comfortable but the nose is too wide and presses into the top of my thighs in quite an uncomfortable way. A couple of weeks ago I found a guy on Amazon UK selling tan Charge Scoop saddles for a very good price so I bought one for my spares box. I'll get it fitted over the weekend. 25.0 miles to start April off.

8th April: It rained most of yesterday but today was a beautiful day so, to clear my head after a rather nice pub lunch with the 'rents, I took Awesom-O out to do the usual. It was fairly sunny with little wind and maybe 12 °C so, for the first time this year, I wore my Lusso shorts instead of my Castelli longs!

It was a very pleasant ride, the sound of birdsong really heralds the arrival of warmer weather. There were loads of gold finches flying around the hedgerows and I lost count of the number of male blackbirds I got shouted at by. Awesom-O was running well with his new chain and the Pedro's syn Lube so quite enjoyable ride overall and another 25.0 miles in the bag.

14th April: I've had a weird cold for the last week, all the symptoms of a cold, in the correct order, but only about a quarter of the normal intensity, very strange! Anyhow, it was an absolutely gorgeous day today, blue sky with a few clouds and around 16 °C according to the BBC weather website. It's rained a bit recently so I took Awesom-O out because of the two huge puddles and I didn't want to get the Strael filthy. As it turned out, the puddles were both more or less gone so I could have taken the Strael after all. I debated just wearing a short sleeved jersey but took the Castelli Alpha instead. It was so warm in the sun I was actually too hot so I should have stuck with short sleeves after all. Anyway, it was quite windy but still a fun ride over all and another 25.1 miles.


21st April: It was unseasonally hot and sunny today so I took Awesom-O out to do the usual. I was on the first 'down of the path when I came around the corner and was confronted by a group of about thirty elderly people out for a group walk - definitely another first! Anyhow, at that point I decided to go exploring. I ended getting slightly lost and ended up going though Aughton and on towards Formby when I decided to turn around and make my way back as I was worried about getting sun burned. I eventually ended up in Ormskirk and got home via Edge Hill college along the dreaded Ormskirk road, or close-pass highway as it ought to be called. Anyhow, 27.3 miles and I did get slightly sun burned...

25th April: Today was a day of typical April weather! It 'd been grey and overcast all day at work with the odd light shower and as I was driving home the rain on the M62 became so heavy everyone put their headlights on (OK, except for a few Ford drivers...) and slowed down. Ten minutes and a few miles later it was warm and sunny with largely blue skies, very odd indeed. Anyhow, I'm very short of mileage for the month so I took Awesom-0 out to do the usual. I soon regretted it though as it was extremely windy. I almost turned around until I thought of rule #5 and decided to try and do at least one up and down. In the end my legs felt very good so I managed two up and downs for a rather tough 19.7 miles.

27th April: It rained all day today but I decided to take Awesom-O out for spin, at the very least I could finally test how waterproof the Pedro's Syn Lube was. The ride didn't start well as I got close passed riding out of the village, I knew I was going to be because I could here them accelerate to get past me before an oncoming car did. A Ford again... Anyhow, it wasn't too windy and, quite strangely, the two big puddles weren't even full although Awesom-O did get really filthy from all the mud on the path. I suspect there's been a lot of farm activity going on as there was lots of wet mud everywhere. Oddly, as I was on my second 'down' I could see a large 4x4 coming towards me so I pulled into a driveway to let him pass and he slowed down, gave me a really evil look and beeped his horn before carrying on. Whether he was blinded by the immense 20 lumens of my Knog Chippy or had just had a bad day at work, who knows? Anyhow I finished the ride. It wasn't that enjoyable because it was one of those odd rides where my legs never really kicked in. Another 25.1 miles.

29th April: As it turns out, Pedro's Syn Lube isn't 100% waterproof as there were a few rusty links this morning. On a related note, I'm currently testing the theory that it's degreasing the chain all the time that leads to short chain life so I just added one more drip of Syn Lube to each link, gave the cranks a few spins, and left Awesom-O hanging from the wall hanger. Because it hasn't rained for a while and it was quite sunny, I decided to take the Strael for a spin. Because I'm short of mileage and I'm determined not to miss another month I set myself the challenge of doing five ups and downs of the farm path instead of the usual three. The new Scoop saddle was comfortable but tilted too far down and forward so I stopped at the end of first 'up' and adjusted it. It was much more comfortable after that so I carried on. It was fairly cool, around 10 °C, and deceptively windy. Heading up the track was great - fast and not much effort involved but it was much harder work on the down stretch. Anyhow, I plugged away and eventually did the five and headed home. Aside from one close pass (a Ford again, spot the theme yet?) it was a tough but uneventful ride and a much needed 36.4 miles.

30th April: The weather wasn't ideal today but I was determined to get the monthly mileage in the bag so I took the Strael out again aiming to get around 18 miles in. It was dry but chilly and really windy so not much fun but I plodded on. Because I've not done it for ages I decided to get to the farm track via Dairy Farm Road and the OCR, both of which proved that skinny steel tubes and 28 mm tyres can't completely compensate for horrendous road conditions but ho hum...

Anyhow, it was horrendously windy, heading up the track was hard work and I was leaning over occasionally and feeling the wind tug my front wheel but a lot of fun heading back at top speed. I managed two ups and downs before I was due at the 'rents for spag bol so I managed 18.1 miles to end with a fairly satisfying 201.7 miles.