Hellebores flower early and enjoy fairly shady positions in our north facing front garden.
Sailing to Shirley Animal.
Strange title? I sailed my pedal powered dinghy today and headed north on the 127 mile long Leeds/Liverpool canal to just beyond the place pictured above. The time worn graffito reads “Shirley Animal” and the spot is referenced in the names of segments in the athletics app. Strava in various different activity types, though canoeingContinue reading “Sailing to Shirley Animal.”
Dogs and mountain biking.
Our dog, Freddie, is totally unsuited to being a trail dog. I couldn’t possibly take him with me on a mountain bike ride for several reasons. He’s rather too small and could easily get run over but more than that he would be bound to find far too many interesting things to sniff at andContinue reading “Dogs and mountain biking.”
Flower of the Week, 26th March.
I thought I’d feature one plant each week in a Flower of the Week series. Nature, or more precisely our garden, decided otherwise. Spring is progressing quickly and it would be a shame to miss emerging plants at their best so I now intend to feature the plants not when I decide but when theyContinue reading “Flower of the Week, 26th March.”
Riding a classic mountain bike.
The weather has continued to be gorgeous and the trails are almost bone dry so today was an ideal opportunity to ride one of my 3 classic mountain bikes. I already owned my 2004 Whyte JW4 before I realised that, just like for cars and motorcycles, a classic scene exists. I bought the JW4 asContinue reading “Riding a classic mountain bike.”
Clear blue skies for a boat trip.
Today was a perfect day for a trip in my pedal powered boat with cloudless skies and temperatures of 18 Celcius. Any warmer may have been less pleasant since it takes some effort to drag the boat to the canal on a wheeled trolley. Once on the water it’s a recumbent cycling experience, laid backContinue reading “Clear blue skies for a boat trip.”
Flower of the week, 23rd March.
My wife, Ali, and I are fanatical gardeners. Few people ever get the chance to see our garden so I thought I should share it with the world. Each week I’ll feature one flower. This time a common one in the form of the daffodil. Spring is definitely with us and we are enjoying aContinue reading “Flower of the week, 23rd March.”
Trying something different.
Last week I walked my dog, Freddie, up Great Hill which I often ride on my mountain bike. I’d spoken to a rider at the summit and found that he was intending to ride straight down the trail to White Coppice which was a route I rode with friends until about 10 years ago. IContinue reading “Trying something different.”
Boating in the sunshine.
Unlike mountain biking, which can be enjoyable in a variety of weather and trail conditions, I’ve found that using my homemade pedal powered boat is far better in good weather. Today was perfect with cloudless skies and temperatures as high as 16 Celcius or 61 Fahrenheit. I waited until the afternoon to take the boatContinue reading “Boating in the sunshine.”
Riding Great Hill.
I like my rides to have a training value since I’ll only ever ride 2 or 3 times per week so today I rode to the top of Great Hill. Not only does the route involve a decent amount of climbing but it has a superb downhill from the summit. Returning over a smaller Hill,Continue reading “Riding Great Hill.”
Mountainbiker 