My homemade, pedal powered boat took a long time and many incarnations before I was satisfied with it. I tried 4 different propulsion systems before I found one which propelled me at a satisfying speed. I then only needed to strengthen it for reliability and I had a boat which I could cruise around inContinue reading “Modifying my boat.”
Road riding at speed.
After an Indian summer during September we now have something more like a monsoon. I know that this is technically in the wrong order but it’s what we now have to cope with. During Britain’s tenure in India the monsoon would be followed by a glorious period of weather which was not too hot andContinue reading “Road riding at speed.”
My best boat trip so far.
We didn’t have anything important to occupy us on Sunday afternoon so I thought a trip in my homemade pedal, powered boat sounded like a good idea. My wife, Ali, is not convinced by the boat and flatly refuses to accompany me and bring the dog, Freddie, along. He did get the chance to seeContinue reading “My best boat trip so far.”
I just needed to get out.
Weather and life have got in the way of my mountain biking. OK, I could have ignored the drizzle and damp ground and ridden anyway but I seemed to have a lot to do in the last few days. I used my pedal powered boat 2 days ago and it’s easy to use this asContinue reading “I just needed to get out.”
Following the river to the end.
I’ve followed our local river, the Yarrow, on my mountain bike from it’s source at Horden Stoops at 1,066 feet above sea level back to home. Today I thought I should do something I’ve been thinking about for a long time and ride from home to the point where the Yarrow joins the bigger RiverContinue reading “Following the river to the end.”
Great Hill. Enjoying it whilst the weather holds.
We had a very late spring this year. It snowed in May and the garden and countryside were weeks behind what is expected. I’ve been surprised, therefore, to see an early autumn. Some tree, like the horse chestnuts, have already changed colour and lost leaves. Meanwhile were having a good, dry and often sunny spellContinue reading “Great Hill. Enjoying it whilst the weather holds.”
Two downhills, two punctures.
Maybe I should have joined the modern age years ago and fitted tubeless tyres to my mountain bikes. The reasons that I haven’t are a slight aversion to change, the difficulty and expense of making the change and the fact that around 3 punctures per year are barely inconvenient. I can certainly remember 2 punctureContinue reading “Two downhills, two punctures.”
Normal service is resumed.
After a brief but welcome Indian Summer we had rain and thunder yesterday afternoon. It’s like returning to normality after a glorious period of dry trails and has meant that my last ride using the 2004 vintage Whyte JW4 may be it’s last outing of the year. I don’t like to put my classic mountainContinue reading “Normal service is resumed.”
Making hill climbing easy!
Using my pedal powered dinghy has revealed to me that I tend to use a rather slow cadence, that is the rate at which I turn the pedals. On my last few rides I’ve been practicing upping that speed of rotation and have learnt a lot. I live in an area of hills which areContinue reading “Making hill climbing easy!”
Spinning those pedals.
I’ve been giving cadence, that is that rate at which I rotate the pedals, a lot of thought recently. It isn’t mountain biking which has brought the matter to my attention but using my pedal powered boat. In the boat it’s not possible, due to the resistance of the water, to spin the pedals atContinue reading “Spinning those pedals.”
Mountainbiker 