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.

September Riding

Started the month with the Hell O' The North, and then finished with the Great Milk Stout Ride.

Proper rides: 166 miles
Commuting: 95 miles (19 days riding to work and back)
Business: 16 miles

Total: 277 miles

(Total so far for 2007: 1281 miles (142 miles per month - on course for 1704 miles for the year))

Darlington - Great Milk Stout Ride - Darlington

Rode to Hamsterley to take part in the Great Milk Stout Ride, 26 miles around the forest, and then rode home again.

Distance: 66 miles (20 - 26 - 20)
Surface: Road/off-road/road
Time: 1.5/3.5/1.5 = 6.5 hours
Weather: Dry
Bike: Inbred ss (with 2.1″ tyres, 32:16)

simplicity

Try to live simply. A simple lifestyle freely chosen is a source of strength. Do not be persuaded into buying what you do not need or cannot afford. Do you keep yourself informed about the effects your style of living is having on the global economy and environment?

- Quaker Faith and Practice, Advices and Queries 1.02.41 (scroll down)

We've got a copy of the Quaker Faith and Practices book at home. It's great to dip into.

I read Thoreau's Walden a couple of months ago, after seeing it mentioned so much in a lot of the blogs I read. A lot of what he wrote on simplicity really chimed with me, and I keep being reminded of things he wrote when doing something completely unrelated.

Hell O' The North 2007

My second go at the Hell O' The North ride saw me cut an hour and a half off last year's time. Crap weather again, especially considering yesterday's sunshine. Riding the singlespeed was fine, apart from some of the more gradual decents where I just couldn't keep up with the geared road bikes. I see a geared road bike in the near(ish) future...

100 miles. 2500 feet of climbing. Three Counties. Two chocolate milkshakes. 8 hours 35 minutes. One gear.

Distance: 100 miles
Surface: Road
Time: 8 hours 35 minutes
Weather: Wet and windy, but warm
Bike: Solitude (34:18 singlespeed)

Update: My right knee has died
Update (03/09): My right knee's still bad. I swore a lot on my ride home from work. Otherwise, just a bit of a sore neck - my legs feel fine.