On / Off Seasons

Posted on October 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

After a first rough stuff ‘on-season’, it’s now the ‘off-season’, as rough stuff pioneer, Walter McGregor Robinson (aka the Wayfarer), termed them, so I shall be hanging up the bike clips until the next on-season, beginning 1 April 2012, though don’t expect me to be out on day 1! I have a grand plan for next year.

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Posted in Diary

A Fanfare of Pheasant

Posted on October 6, 2011 | 2 Comments

Up early after my first decent night’s sleep, to be greeted by a spectacular sunrise over Llyn Efyrnwy (Lake Vyrnwy). This was the last day of my Berwyn tour, and though I had a good many miles to cover, I allowed myself half an hour to just sit and savour the stillness and splendour of dawn over the lake, before washing breakfasting, packing and striking out for what promised to be another glorious day.

Dawn over Lake Vyrnwy

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Posted in Diary, Rides, Routes, Ruff Stuff

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Valley of the Long Stream

Posted on October 5, 2011 | 2 Comments

Another beautiful day, which despite a terrible night’s sleep, promised new vistas, new challenges and new cycling adventures. No rough stuff today though, all road with the exception of a mile of track down from my camp into Llandrillo.

the track into Llandrillo

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Good Omens!

Posted on October 4, 2011 | 3 Comments

If there isn’t an ancient Chinese proverb about auspicious beginnings not necessarily producing auspicious endings, there ought to be.

The Wayfarer
For my first truly rough stuff ride (the first day of a 3 day tour), I chose a route considered to be an excellent off-road track and of no small symbolic significance to boot. The Nant Rhyd Wilym pass, traversing the Berwyn mountains of northeast Wales, was a favourite of rough stuff cycling pioneer, Walter MacGregor Robinson, who wrote cycling articles in the early part of the previous century under the pen-name of Wayfarer. In the 1950s the Rough Stuff Fellowship dedicated a memorial to him at the top of the pass; since then the route has come to be known simply as, The Wayfarer.

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Posted in Diary, Rides, Routes, Ruff Stuff

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BioLogic Reecharge Power Pack Review

Posted on September 7, 2011 | 1 Comment

The Reecharge mounted on my bikeAs I said in an earlier post about the BioLogic Reecharge Power Pack I’d do another post once I’d had a chance to try it out properly. This meant taking it with me on a number of rides to find out how it performed following a route with GPS, tracking a route and just charging the phone without running either of those. But before reviewing its performance here’s an explanation of what it actually is and how it works with a bike.
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Posted in Kit

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A Pain in the Butt . . .

Posted on September 5, 2011 | Leave a comment
A man suffering from piriformis syndrome

Image courtesy of the Medical Multimedia Group

. . . or, medically speaking, Priformis Syndrome appears to be the problem I’ve been having since May. It started on a ride and, at the time, appeared to be a hamstring injury to my right leg, though I was also feeling discomfort at the top of my left leg.

I suspect that it was a hamstring injury – the doctor and a sports therapist thought so too – but it seems that Piriformis Syndrome started at the same time. Continue reading →

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Posted in Diary, Health & Fitness

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Road to Nowhere

Posted on July 19, 2011 | 2 Comments

Finally the demand of regular blogging ran into the squidgey, latex wall of nothing much to blog about. Everything till now had been preparation for actually doing some off-road cycling which still hasn’t happened, primarily due to injury though I did manage to get out for one trip, though not very far, before the injury. My mini adventure was a bit of a disaster, but as happens with problems, I learnt stuff. Here’s what happened and what I learnt. Continue reading →

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Posted in Diary, Rides

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