Citrojim's Pixo, Saxo and Cycling Tales

[Zelandeth]

Must have been something in the air last night - was gone 6am before I really dropped off. Then up at 7:30 for an appointment...blarg!

[CitroJim]

Must have been something in the air last night - was gone 6am before I really dropped off. Then up at 7:30 for an appointment...blarg!

The moon does strange things to us Zel

[myglaren]

Had the camera all ready and went out at 2:30 ish but it was too high in the sky to be of any use, just looked like any other moon.

It did have our local owl excited thought, hooting away just outside our house for ages.

I had my son's dog here over Christmas and when I took it out late at night the owl had it very perplexed.

[Zelandeth]

We used to have a barn owl living near to my parent's house which made a pastime of sitting on the shed roof and scaring the living daylights out of me when I was out there after dark.

They ain't nicknamed screech owls for nothing, and at point blank range are LOUD.

You'd have thought that after ten years I would have been expecting it...but nope, still made me jump every time.

[Hell Razor5543]

When we lived in the Borders of Scotland we had an Alsatian dog. She slept in Mums' room. Her room and the living room had chimneys. One night an owl perched on the bedroom chimney, got comfortable, and then announced its' presence. This caused a few issues.

Mum was woken by several things. This included the noise echoing around her bedroom, and an Alsatian then trying to climb into bed with her, terrified out of her wits. Mum was pushed out of bed, the dog (wrapped up in a duvet) also fell off the bed, yipping in fear, the bedside table went over (breaking the bedside light), and the pillows burst. Mum managed to get to the door and switch on the bedroom light. The room looked like a bomb had hit it (feathers everywhere, duvet wrapped dog bouncing around the room, bedside table and contents on the floor), to the point where Mum went and slept on the living room sofa (she could NOT face cleaning that up at that time of night).

There was a stunned silence from the chimney!

[Gibbo2286]

That's a really funny tale James

On the earlier subject of masks I was watching a documentary where surgeons were performing an operation and instead of the usual taped up masks they were wearing a sort of cotton balaclava on their heads and up over their noses.

[CitroJim]

Not happy with this cold weather It's keeping me off my bike... Not ridden since Monday and now getting cabin fever

Own Work

I did enjoy that one... 30 cold but lovely sunny miles... I'm the one on the right if in ay doubt!

I did a ride on Sunday in even colder weather - one of those days when its so cold and dry ice cannot form... About 15 minutes in I looked at my gloved fingertips and they were covered in hoar frost ❄

Monday's may be my last bike ride for a while I fear At least until this silly weater goes away... I love my cycling and not much stops me but the risk of ice and falling with broken bones as a very likely outcome is not for me! I'm not completely mad... Not Quite

It's not stopped me running though Got out for a short one yesterday morning on what was a skating rink... I ran slowly and carefully I was running during the early part of the 'school run' I know I have allergies and intolerances to traffic fumes but I was shocked at my preceived level of traffic generated pollution yesterday... The air was truly filthy - I could have cut it with a knife

This morning... What a surprise I looked out of the window at 4am and it looked very icy. I didn't rush out to run but thought I'd risk a little one later and see how things were... I went out and found no ice, just rather cool I took full advantage and enjoyed a great 7 mile run at a very brisk pace It got colder toward the end with little bits of snow in the wind...

Then there was a 'Dawn Dip' as it got light and a very hard frost indeed descended... Clear windscreens were soon well and truly frosted over...

I don't belive Dawn Dip is related to Hidden Dip but you never know...

Shamelessly nicked from the Interweb...

hidden-dip.jpg (28.51 KiB) Viewed 89 times

[RichardW]

You just need more bikes, Jim!!

Saw a bloke out riding a 'fat' bike in 4" of snow last winter, and one the the guys here had studded tyres on his bike - effective, but hard work - if you stop pedalling on a light down hill, it slows down!! Good for winter training I guess....!

[CitroJim]

You just need more bikes, Jim!!

Said no cyclist ever!!!

Saw a bloke out riding a 'fat' bike in 4" of snow last winter, and one the the guys here had studded tyres on his bike - effective, but hard work - if you stop pedalling on a light down hill, it slows down!! Good for winter training I guess....!

Those who do things like that are seriously hard One of our club members often joins us for rides on her fat bike with 3" tyres and she can't half move on it too

For my winter training, when I really can't get out, I now have one of these badboys... Not mine but on very long-term loan

Own Work

Soon I'll be able to hook it up to my laptop and go on virtual rides...

[CitroJim]

My allergies are worse than I realised Robyn needed new wipers for her C1 today so we went into Halfords....

I had to leave pronto... Robyn thinks the cause was the paint aisle... I can still taste it and feeling the effects now

Halfords is now strictly out of bounds...

[Zelandeth]

Sounds like you need a trike Jim. Ice then is annoying, but at least you're less likely to wind up in A&E if you hit a patch.

Ever tried riding one?

We've got a TW Bents recumbent one here which is a nice comfy thing to ride, and if I didn't have the C5 it would probably see a lot more use. Folds up too which makes it slightly less of a pain to store and transport - as it's LONG. Only real complaint of it is that has the turning circle of the Titanic.

It's a heavy old thing, but you don't really notice that once you're moving...it really is quite a different experience to riding a bike.

If you'd like to give it a try feel free to let me know as you're most welcome.

[CitroJim]

Sounds like you need a trike Jim. Ice then is annoying, but at least you're less likely to wind up in A&E if you hit a patch.

Ever tried riding one?

No, that's something I've been wanting to try for ages...

If you'd like to give it a try feel free to let me know as you're most welcome.

Yes please!

Right now I'm off out into the onservatory to ride an hour to nowhere... Far too risky to run this morning

[van ordinaire]

have a look at zwift.com - you may find you are not alone.

[Zelandeth]

It's about bloody time I actually cycled more than a few miles from home...methinks I need to dig the trike out this coming week and bring it over to you Jim.

99% of what I do is just going out and riding around in the same circle with the dog time after time...so a new journey might be a good thing.

I think one thing it really could do with is better tyres...my favourites are the City Jets by Schwalbe - for trikes anyway where the structure works really well to give a decent degree of shock absorbing without needing really wide cross sections and the associated rolling resistance. They transformed the C5 anyhow.

Jim - if you need anything grabbing for you or yours from anywhere local please don't hesitate to drop me a text or something. I really don't mind taking the odd five minutes out here and there to save you hassle. I'm pretty much smack in the middle between anywhere you're likely to need stuff from. I don't care if it's Halfords, IKEA or ECP, you know where I am - I like being able to be helpful, so it's really not a chore. If I'm busy and can't manage I'll just let you know.

[CitroJim]

have a look at zwift.com - you may find you are not alone.

Problem is Van, Zwift costs and on my retirement budget I cannot justify it... There are less costly alternatives I'll be looking into as time goes by... For now I'm content to ride it wearing the bone conductors and enjoying the wireless or music

It's about bloody time I actually cycled more than a few miles from home...methinks I need to dig the trike out this coming week and bring it over to you Jim.

Zel, please do and I'm always very happy to go out for a cycle with you... I know loads of lovely rides around MK and many that go nowhere near the roads and are a bit off the beaten Redway tracks too

Jim - if you need anything grabbing for you or yours from anywhere local please don't hesitate to drop me a text or something. I really don't mind taking the odd five minutes out here and there to save you hassle. I'm pretty much smack in the middle between anywhere you're likely to need stuff from. I don't care if it's Halfords, IKEA or ECP, you know where I am - I like being able to be helpful, so it's really not a chore. If I'm busy and can't manage I'll just let you know.

That's very much appreciated Zel Especially as some retail establishments such as Halfords, are now strictly off-limits for me...

I'll soon be needing some new running shoes but that's something I must do myself... Happily, not allergic to Up and Running yet but the Trek bicycle shop next door is always a risk - to my wallet

I was able to run again this morning Weather totally different... I ran in warm rain and so loved it I ran 8 miles...

I thin came home and did a further 20 minutes of weights and a session on the Turbo

Now resting up and reading the forum before going out for a proper bike ride