July 2019.

6th July: Well, the big project at work is in the tidying up phase so it was definitely time to give more thought to riding. It had been a rather strange day so far, raining and cold for July but it had dried off and brightened up by the afternoon so I decided to take the Strael out for a spin. As I set off it struck me that although it was fairly sunny, the air itself felt fairly cold for the time of year. I guess it depends on where the general air mass over an area is coming in from; anyhow, I carried on and soon forgot the cold. I did the usual three ups and downs and then came back via the OCR.

I made the big mistake of stopping for a pee on the side of the road and getting my legs shredded by the brambles, my legs felt like I was bathing in acid when I had my post-ride bath. One cool thing worth adding was that as I was coming back up the path at the part where Outlet Lane run both ways around a couple of houses, there was a beautiful young fox standing on the path in front of me! He took off and a fair rate of speed along the tree-line but an amazing thing to see! 25.4 miles to start July off.

Photo credit: Tambako The Jaguar.

13th July: After a few days of not very July-like weather it was quite pleasant today, overcast with the odd patch of blue sky appearing so I took the Strael out for a ride. It was pleasant enough although very windy on the 'up' part of the farm path and I saw a few other roadies out enjoying the weather. I'm still not sure about my new Toupe saddle. It definitely makes my bum ache but I think that's exacerbated by my Orro shorts which aren't much good at all. Anyhow, the bolt on the Hope seat-post keeps coming undone so, whilst removing the bolt to apply some blue Loctite, I tilted it down slightly more than it was to see if that helps at all. Another 25.3 miles.

21st July: Well after a couple of days of heavy rain I finally managed to get out today. I decided to take Awesom-O out for a rare summer ride in case there was stranding water everywhere but I needn't have worried. It was overcast with the occasional blue patch and not too windy so it started out as a quite enjoyable ride. I say started because the ride quickly went downhill. As I was heading around the corner onto Lodge lane I noticed my front tyre was rapidly going down. I stopped on the corner to change the tube but in my haste I think I shredded the tube as the CO2 just whooshed straight out the tyre again. As I was changing the tube, I noticed several large black mosquitoes buzzing around but didn't think anything of it. I had a tube and a CO2 left but I couldn't be arsed fitting another one so decided to walk the 1.8 miles home. I didn't notice anything that afternoon but the next day I had six huge mosquito bites! I'm definitely applying some Jungle Formula before the next ride... Anyhow, a final total of 25.3 miles.

24th July: It's been pretty warm today, I drove home from work with my air-con on full blast which I don't like doing, so I was determined to get out for a ride. Awesom-O is still out of action with a punctured front wheel so I took the Strael out figuring it must be dry after all this heat. It was breezy but not too bad and overcast with a fair bit of blue sky so a pretty pleasant ride overall. I'd slathered myself in Jungle Formula No.4 mosquito repellent after getting bitten last time. I felt a bit like a greased pig but I didn't get bitten. One thing i wanted to mention on here is that I switched to using a safety razor a few weeks ago and have been absolutely loving it! A good razor can be bought for £8-£40, lasts forever, and involves zero plastic packaging as they, and the blades, are packaged in paper and card.

It's way better for your skin causing way fewer ingrowing hairs and shaving spots and it's massively eco-friendly. The blades cost as little as 7p a shot and last 2-6 shaves depending on your beard growth and if you use a synthetic shaving brush and a refillable pot of shaving cream or soap, you aren't exposing your skin to harsh chemicals and there's no steel can to recycle - it's a massive win all-round! The Muhle R89 in the picture was around £32 and is a good, mild razor ideal for people starting shaving with a safety razor. Anyhow, 25.0 pretty enjoyable miles.

27th July: Well today was a good lesson in avoiding puddles when it's raining! It was absolutely pouring down so I decided to take Awesom-O out for a spin. If nothing else, it would be a good test of just how rain resistant my current lube of choice (White Lightning Wet Ride) really was. Anyhow, I decided to do a lap of the fishing pond and as I was riding up Siding Lane there was a huge puddle across the path. As I went to cycle through it, my front wheel hit something and stopped and I got launched off the bike! I think the fact I landed in three inches of water helped as my clothes were fine but I had a real bump on my head and I've grazed down the outside of right calf. Awesom-O was fine but the bar tape on the right hand side is wrecked. It was raining so heavily that I wasn't any wetter than I had been pre-crash so I decided to carry on. I was wearing a bright yellow water-proof jacket that I bought from Go Outdoors a few years ago. It was waterproof but it was soon as wet on the inside from sweat as it was on the outside so I decided a hot bath was a better idea and headed back for a piddly 11.3 miles.

Well, for various reasons, including an unseasonable amount of rain, I didn't manage to get out again so July goes out with a less than ideal 112.6 miles. On the plus side, the White Lightning Wet Ride lube is a keeper. Awesom-O's chain has completely dried out and there isn't a speck of rust on it!