Mileage update

Improving, but could do better.

On the way to work today, I passed 1500 miles for the year. On the way home from work tonight, I'll pass October's mileage total.

Singlespeed Definition

SS is all about being under prepared and drinking beer. The less technology and effort the better. I don't remember Vikings having Thrust and Blow Meters on their battle axes.
SS'ing is pain, regret, poor gear choice, hangover-laden excuses, facial hair, negligence, piss-poor maintenance, death, and mad skilz that most certainly pay the bilz.

Rich of Team Dicky posts a comment, after Dave Harris fits a Power Tap on a singlespeed.

[via Cellar Rat]

Great Milk Stout Ride 2007 - Official Report

I've already written about my Darlington - Great Milk Stout Ride - Darlington ride, but I get a special mention in the official report so I'm posting about it again: 5th Great Milk Stout Ride – 30 September 2007 (pics).

How do online bike shops make any money?

I just bought a few things from Wiggle: a new bike light, the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioche and a reflective rucsac cover.

* The lights were cheaper than buying the separately as they were in a combi pack.
* All three items were listed for lower than the RRP.
* There's an extra 20% off lights in November.
* There's an extra 10% off all orders over £50 in November.
* P&P was free.
* I got a fiver off my order with an e-voucher that they'd sent me because I'd not bought from them for a while.
* Hamsterley Trailblazers get 10% of the order, because I used their affiliates link to go to the shop.

How the hell do Wiggle make any money?

Update: Everything arrived this morning, with a free pack of Haribo jelly sweets. The lights are bloody bright!

October Riding

A rubbish month for riding. I lost four days of commuting with a bad knee. I lost another week with a chest infection and another week with half-term. No proper rides and just two trips for work.

the worst month since records began!

Total: 75 miles

(Total so far for 2007: 1356 miles (136 miles per month - on course for 1627 miles for the year))

No bike ride, but the veg patch gets closer

Instead of going for a ride this morning, I did some more digging. I finished digging over the second bed, made a brick pathway running between the two beds (using bricks we've found in the garden over the years), transfered some more rabbit-poo goodness into the beds and put the two wooden ends to the first bed.

Each of the two beds if 2.2m by 1.2m, so we've got about 5.25 sq m of growing space in these two beds. The old bed is 2.3 sm m and the small patch outside the back door is about 1.5 sq m. So that's about 9 sq m of growing space in the back garden.

(I did make a quick trip to work and back this afternoon, for a massive 5 mile ride...)

The Good Life

We made a start on our veg patch today. We dug up turf from the side of the house, roughed up the "soil" underneath and then shovelled on the soil from where the rabbit pen used to be; seven years worth of rabbit poo and bark chips have made brilliant soil! We've returfed the old rabbit area with the grass we dug up.

We finished digging for one 1.2m by 3m bed today and I'm going to put in another tomorrow. There's space for another two or three the same size if we need them. We've got a small area outside the back door we can use for herbs and salad leaves, plus the area we used this year for tomoatoes and sweetcorn. I'm going to build a wooden edge for the beds, using the wood from the small rabbit pen.

E was a brilliant help, finding worms to put in the beds to make the soil better. L took off her shoes and socks and wandered about in the dirt barefoot.

I'll try to snap some photos tomorrow, but I'm also going to try and get out on the bike; I'm in danger of not hitting triple figures this month!

Edit: I just worked out that I've only done 43 miles so far this month. I'll be doing another 18 over Monday and Tuesday next week, plus 5 on Saturday to get to West Park and back. That's 66 miles, so I need to do 34 miles tomorrow at least.