And did those feet in ancient timeWalk upon England’s mountains green?And was the holy Lamb of GodOn England’s pleasant pastures seen? And did the Countenance DivineShine forth upon our clouded hills?And was Jerusalem builded hereAmong these dark Satanic mills? Bring me my bow of burning gold:Bring me my arrows of desire:Bring me my spear: OContinue reading “God save the King.”
A boat trip whilst the weather is still good.
I used my pedal powered boat as late as the 26th October last year so I may still have another 7 weeks when it’s reasonable to get out on the water. Cold water is dangerous so even though I’ve never had even a moment when I felt in danger in the boat, it doesn’t seemContinue reading “A boat trip whilst the weather is still good.”
Flower of the Week, 4th September.
Facebook reminds you of your life in previous years and a brief view informs me that autumn is coming early this year. It’s possibly due to the fairly warm and dry summer. Maybe the plants have flowered and seeded earlier than normal and are now gathering their energy back in the roots. We have veryContinue reading “Flower of the Week, 4th September.”
My first big ride for a while.
I had a target for this year which involved an almost exclusively off road ride of 40 miles with a healthy 4,583 feet of ascent. I rode the route on the 6th of June and since then have only ridden 5 rides of over 15 miles. I have realised that my fitness has suffered somewhatContinue reading “My first big ride for a while.”
Facing a big challenge.
In January I set myself 2 targets for the year and added another later. I have accomplished 2 of the targets so far in the form of a downhill sprint, where I wanted to beat the fastest ever time on the app. Strava, and an off road ride of over 40 miles with over 4,500Continue reading “Facing a big challenge.”
Third time unlucky?
They say “Third time lucky, third time unlucky”. I set myself 3 targets for my mountain biking this year and I’ve already accomplished 2 of them, but will I be unlucky with my third? I didn’t seem to be doing enough training for the first challenge, a ride of 40 off road miles with 4,500Continue reading “Third time unlucky?”
Trying to train.
In January I set myself 2 mountain bike riding targets for the year, then added another later. I’ve achieved 2 of the targets in the form of a ride with over 4,500 feet of almost exclusively off road ascent and a short, twisty, downhill sprint, where I wanted to beat the fastest time recorded byContinue reading “Trying to train.”
Boat training.
My pedal powered boat is now a good form of training as an alternative to mountain biking. It’s powered by a paddle wheel which only wants to turn around 30 times per minute at cruising speed, which is walking pace, and I have geared it down with a chain and sprockets so that the pedalsContinue reading “Boat training.”
Cramps.
The older I get, the more I seem to suffer from leg cramps. This week the problem has been in my calves but it can appear anywhere from foot to hip. I may have allowed myself to remain dehydrated after gardening in the relatively warm weather and never really got on top of my hydration.Continue reading “Cramps.”
Flower of the Week, 19th August.
Our garden moves on. As one flower fades another grabs the attention. The perennial rudbeckia, Black Eyed Susan, is finally showing her black centred, blazing yellow flowers. We originally bought 2 or 3 inexpensive plants which grew big. You can easily dig them up and split them or just dig a clump out to spreadContinue reading “Flower of the Week, 19th August.”
Mountainbiker 