I’ve not been too happy for a while with having had the Rallye project mixed in amongst all the bikes and related stuff here on rothar.com. It just didn’t seem a very happy mix, so with that in mind I’ve exported all the relevant content and if you’re interested you can follow progress over at the new site, rallye-project.co.uk.
This morning you could tell it was warmer outside because inside it was uncomfortably warm. Time then to crack out my favourite riding jacket and the standard issue gloves. Riding in the kit was perfect and the commute had that fresh air that you get on crisp autumnal days.
Of course tonight come home time, my choice of clothing was wholly inappropriate for the cold wet sleet of winter. The kind of weather that pierces you with a cold chill as icy water finds it’s way down the neck of your jacket, even with it zipped and baffled against the elements. This is the kind of riding that makes you remember why you ride all year around and why getting home to a nice warm household is such a great way to end a ride.
Best wishes for Christmas and a fantastic New Year from all of us.
Rode the bike for a first time in a week today. It felt good to get some power down and the ‘cross bike is very capable in these wintery conditions. Still I had two near misses with numpties in cars on the way home that were completely pointless and achieved nothing other than a) getting the drivers two cars ahead in a stationary queue of traffic and in the second case, b) immediately hooted at by about half on Manchester for then trying to do a right turn across the oncoming traffic at a junction where right turns are prohibited. Nice one, losers.
On the way home from the hospital tonight I bumped into some of the guys from Manchester Bike Polo. They play down the road and no special bikes are required to have a go. Something for the New Year I think!
Our son Marc arrived into the world on Thursday evening. The cheeky chap is doing well and we’re so pleased that he’s with us. Early Christmas presents don’t get any better than this!
Tonight would have been a fairly normal ride home on a freezing cold night and not worth writing about but then two numpties in cars tried to kill me. The first was a taxi driver who cut across two lanes of traffic and then over took me to then slam on his brakes and turn left. Thanks. I’ve got your number Alpha Cars.
Next up was only about 5 seconds later as I approached the junction a people carrier pulled in alongside me and tried to squeeze me into the gutter. I swung my knee out and made contact with the door! The driver was indicating left and fortunately the lights were red so I didn’t get cut up again and made it into the green box at the front of the junction before setting off again ahead of the traffic.
Michelin Cyclo Cross Mud 2’s rock in the snow. That is all.
Crikey it’s cold at the moment. Ended up with a proper ice cream headache riding into work on Friday and with the temperatures still low today I knew it was time to layer up. Today it was time to dig out and don the Buffalo jacket. Mine is a Big Face smock which I bought in about ’94 and it’s still going strong and keeping me toasty, perhaps fortunately I went for the indigo blue colour rather than purple so it seems to have aged well, here it is in action in early 2006.
Snow is forecast over night so it might be a case of taking a mountain bike out tomorrow as I still haven’t switched to cross tyres on the commuter. Winter is definitely here and making it’s mark. My pal Stuart has had 18″ of snow up near Perth!
The keyboard batteries finally reached 2% life remaining and I was getting sick of the mouse consuming AAs like they were made of fromage so I took the plunge and went for the rather lovely Apple battery charger. Small, compact and does the job of refreshing the power in a matter of hours.
I am very tempted by an iPhone4 and have been looking into options. I’ve been weighing up getting one for a long time, but having had a personal mobile contract for about the last 6 years it’s a case of shopping around for a deal.
A great weekend riding in the Peaks with friends. Weather was cold and grey, but the company was great and kept spirits high throughout. Big thanks to Jenn, Robb and Raoul for the invite.
R O T H A R . C O M 