Tiny rides of 2023

[wafter]

First tiny unpowered ride of 2025 and I did unsurprisingly puke my guts up halfway round. This happens alot when I throw in some exertion.
I also accidently ran a big ring front and big cog back which jammed up everything. Took about 10 mins between drowning in snot (I have man flu) and coughing my guts up to fix that.
But alas I made it home alive.
I've a long way to go before I'm even remotely fit again.
View attachment 761042
4.3mph

Crikey - at least you got out though!

Is manflu the only reason or are there other factors afoot? I had a double-dose of something nasty at the back end of last year and objectively my fitness remains signficantly degraded; thinking either garden-variety post viral fatigue or long covid.

Wishing you a swift recovery

 

[Vantage]

Nah just man flu. Diabetes makes bugs like the common cold a bigger issue than with non diabetics as our immune systems are a bit crap.
Puking my guts up has always happened when I've put some exertion into something. My lungs can't take it coz I am at the end of the day, a complete and utter wuss

 

[wafter]

Nah just man flu. Diabetes makes bugs like the common cold a bigger issue than with non diabetics as our immune systems are a bit crap.
Puking my guts up has always happened when I've put some exertion into something. My lungs can't take it coz I am at the end of the day, a complete and utter wuss

lol - oh dear; glad to hear it's nowt more serious.

Likewise I did a bit on the rings earlier; doing ostemsibly very little had me creaking and groaning in a very short space of time

 

[a.twiddler]

5/2/25
Tiny Ride Today
Shopping on the Linear

Cold but sunny today. Needed to get a few items from the town centre so as the Linear had the tools and gear aboard from my last ride I rode that. Out through the gate, right towards Swanlow Lane to the uphill traffic lights. The light was green as I approached, and from past experience I expected it to change any second but no, straight through and still on green as I reached the other side. Someone must have complained, as the phases now seem to have been extended.

The wind was in my face as I carried on along Swanlow Lane but it wasn’t holding me back much. I was soon at the A54 roundabout waiting at a red light, then straight on down Delamere St to extend the ride a bit. It didn’t take long to reach the point where I turned right downhill to get to the town centre. A rider on an MTB coming uphill on the pavement unexpectedly said, “Hey! Great bike, mate!”. I nodded and smiled in acknowledgement.

A little further on I turned left into a rather steep muddy lane which led to the sports complex playing fields. Nothing the Linear couldn’t manage even with one hand on the bars, one finger on the back brake lever and the other hand holding the camera.

Down through an A frame barrier, a whiz down the path between the playing fields. Out on to the road leading to Grange Lane then along Grange Lane to the town centre traffic lights. As I approached the lights I slowed down. Would they change to green? Plan A, continue to the lights and turn left. Would they remain at red? Plan B, turn left on to pavement cycle path. Still red, so plan B it was.

Some may wonder how difficult it might be to ride a LWB bike along a pavement cycle path but certainly here there is no problem. It winds about a bit but it’s easy to negotiate. Pedestrians seem aware of the separation and keep to their side.

I came to the junction at the next set of lights. The cycle path stops at the road, then continues on the other side. Cyclists have to cross in front of the lights, which seems a bit odd. I went left here, did a U turn then stopped at the lights. When they changed, I went across the dual carriageway then right at a roundabout, right at the next one then into a supermarket car park and locked up at a barrier.

As I was getting my bag out a spry looking grey haired man stopped and said “that looks comfortable”. I said that it was. “Where are the bars -oh, they’re under the seat.” I moved the bars to demonstrate the steering rod. He said, “last time I saw something like this, it had enormous chopper handlebars sprouting from the front!”. He went away looking pleased.

I went in to do some shopping. When I came out the pavement was quite crowded. After unlocking and loading up, I sat and waited for the congestion to clear. When it didn’t, I decided to leave via the car park since it was clear. Left at the exit roundabout, right at the next on Dingle Lane, over some speed humps. Across the pavement at the end into Queensway, then through some estate roads on to uphill Gladstone St. and Townfields Road.

I noted the readings on the Garmin gave me about 4 mph here yet the bike tracked straight. Not for the first time I wondered how accurate the Garmin was at low speeds on hills. My speed felt higher than that, and in pre Garmin times with a wheel driven bike computer at 4 mph or below the bike would tend to be hard to keep in a straight line uphill. I can only conclude that either I’m better at riding it slowly now, or the reading is inaccurate compared with a bike computer in these situations, or a combination of both.

Speed increased as the road levelled, until I came to a halt at the Swanlow Lane lights. I set off left downhill and kept momentum up after my uphill turn off. I’m definitely going better on recent rides. I continued downhill through the lanes past my back gate then turned round in a side road to round up my mileage before returning to my back gate.

Distance 5.24 miles. Max speed 20.4 mph. Average speed 7.6 mph. According to Garmin.
Ascent 142 ft. According to Bikehike.

 

[wafter]

Necessity for eggs as well as escape from the house / my head drove me out into the fog on the Brompton.

An intentionally sedate waft in normal clothes as I couldn't be arsed to get changed, although still donned the jacket / beanie / gloves on account of the cold and damp in the air.

A largely unremarkable ride - the waxed-for-the-second-time-in-as-many-weeks chain deliciously quiet, perhaps fewer dickheads than usual while people seemed more friendly too; for some reason.

Scored half a dozen, stopped for a dead-hang but no rings as I'm really struggling with energy at the moment..

Better for getting out but hardly a ride to aspire to..

 

[wafter]

Awoke utterly exhausted as usual but this was eventually trumped by the need for eggs and the desire to chuck a few more easy miles on this week's already-pretty-plump-pile. In addition the perverse demands of my OCD brain continue to drive the compulsion to stuff as many miles up the Br*mpton's ailing drivetrain as possible, in order to satisfy my absurd curiousity regarding how much longer the current chain will last relative to the now-deceased original.

Out the door after a night of wind so disconcertingly strong that it was rattling doors inside the house, into an astonishingly mild and spring-like morning. While certainly not the first ride I've enjoyed this year, it's definitely the only one so far where the weather's really made me want to be outside.

Off to the farm shop in the still blustery conditions, struggling at times as I still feel completely drained; unfortunately failing to escape the attention of my stalker as she passed in her latest notjob-filled Chelsea tractor. Scored a couple of boxes of eggs and had quick chat with the farmer before heading back through the village and out the other side for a bit... just because I could.

Stopped at the community centre on the way back for a dead hang; a reasonable 45-second effort rewarding me with a couple of good pops from my left shoulder / traps - probably the result of farmers-carrying the Br*mpton around various shops earlier in the week.

Back into the village to the butchers for mushrooms and ginger before heading home - now sat enjoying some of the spoils with the back door shamelessly wide open for the first time this year.

While I'm sure we're not out of the woods yet today feels very much like spring has landed; and everything feels so much better for it

ADDENDUM: Now it's fugging raining

 

[a.twiddler]

8/2/25
Tiny Ride Today
More shopping on the Linear.

I had a list of stuff to pick up so just a quick run to the shops today. Out of the gate, across the road, away to the right towards Swanlow Lane. A cold wind, a few random spots of rain. Once moving, things felt better. Right at the lights where I had to wait a while between two streams of moving traffic before getting going. Not such a pleasant experience. Again, once moving things felt better.

Left and downhill. Plenty of cars about. Sometimes I can roll all the way down hardly touching a brake lever or turning a pedal, but not today. Cars were the problem. The ones abandoned outside houses choking a lane that could be occupied by the moving ones. Cars hurried past me then stopped for oncoming traffic, causing me and others to stop then start again. It’s so commonplace that if the only way you ever travelled was by car, it would become invisible and you wouldn’t even think about it. That’s the way it is. It’s hard to think outside the (tin) box.

It didn’t stop me enjoying my ride. Soon I was outside my first port of call where I locked up outside and went in. I was soon out again, loaded and ready to set off. Into the car park, out on to the road, Traffic was busy here, with two lanes to cross when turning right, a filter lane into this car park, then the lane I wanted. Visibility was restricted by traffic queuing for the traffic lights on the left, meaning traffic coming from the left might suddenly appear. A bit tricky on any sort of bike, and I was tempted to wheel to the nearby pedestrian crossing. Still, a gap appeared and I completed the maneuvre without mishap. Yes! I Am Traffic, I thought, then turned left on to a pavement cycle path which took me round the corner.

Now, I Am Cyclist, I thought. Amongst the many questions that random people have asked me about this elongated two wheeler since I’ve had it has never been, “Is it legal?” I would have replied that it falls within the definition of a bicycle, has two wheels, is pedal powered with the required number of brakes. I followed a woman walking very slowly alongside another car park until I reached a barrier outside another supermarket where I locked up.

Out again, across the car park, left at the exit roundabout, right at the next, down Dingle Lane over the speed humps, across the pavement at the end into Queensway then through various estate roads.

Before I reached Gladstone St. I passed some teenage boys. One of them said, “Hey! Look at that s**t bike! Is it hard to balance?” “It’s not bad, actually” I replied, wondering if the word he used was equivalent to “sick”. Not heard that word applied in praise before, at least that's what I hoped it was. Into Gladstone St and Townfields Rd. To the top of the hill, left at the Swanlow Lane lights, downhill then into my uphill turnoff, through the lanes and to my back gate.

Distance 4.32 miles. Max 19.2 mph. Average 7.6 mph. According to Garmin.
Ascent 109 ft. According to Bikehike.

 

[a.twiddler]

22/2/25
Tiny Ride Today
Yet More Shopping on the Linear

Surprisingly mild this morning, sunny even, so I ventured out to the shops on the Linear. Out through the gate, across the road then right towards Swanlow Lane. The uphill lights turned green before I got there but stayed green until I’d got across. The timing has definitely been changed to give you more time from this direction.

I rolled in a relaxed manner along Swanlow Lane until I reached the A54 roundabout. There was a big gap in the traffic and the lights were green so I was able to keep on rolling straight on to Delamere St. I continued for a mile or so before my turn off appeared on the right. No traffic so I was able to turn without stopping. I rolled downhill for a spell before turning left into a steep, narrow, muddy lane that led to the sports fields via an A frame barrier.

I wanted to get a photo going through the barrier so I stopped at the top to get my camera out. An old lady with a small dog was slowly making her way up so I waited. Someone else passed me on the way down with another dog. Finally all was clear so I carried on.

There were many people about on the path beyond the barrier, as a ladies’, or girls’, football match had just finished and they were slowly heading back to the car park.

I tinged my bell as I came up behind a family group and a toddler on a tiny bike tinged enthusiastically back.

I gradually passed many of them and hoping to get away from the crowd headed for an exit that came out on a road. As I drew near I realised that the gate was shut so did a180 degree turn in an adjacent parking space and headed back up the path to where everyone was turning towards the car park. After a few more ting tings and “pardon me”s I came to a path that led directly to the road and was able to get under way again. Soon I was on Grange Lane, heading towards the town centre traffic lights.

I was quite pleased that I’d not put a foot down since I came through the barrier despite pedalling virtually to a standstill several times and doing a tight u turn, not to mention very slowly getting through some right angled nadgery bits on the path. Either the Linear is just very good for this sort of thing, or it’s me! The Spirit does well at this sort of thing, and the Grasshopper, for all its other quirks, enabled me to do this sort of thing too. Also the novelty of twiddling a thumb shift lever on the Linear handlebar to ring a bell attached way out in front never fails to make me smile.

I decided to follow the pavement cycle path rather than the road just so I could take some pictures. As you pass a bus shelter a lapse of concentration could lead to you hurtling downhill into an underpass with a tight right turn at the bottom and a steep flight of steps straight ahead to bring you to a halt if you didn’t brake in time, rather than following the level path.

As you come to a side road, there are traffic lights but no pedestrian buttons to help you cross. The cycle path stops at the road in front of the traffic lights, then starts again on the other side. I found this a bit odd.

I followed the pavement round to the left then U turned to come to a stop behind a car which had stopped at the lights. This was the first time I’d put a foot down since the A frame barrier at the entrance to the playing fields. Straight across on green, right at a roundabout, then right again into a supermarket car park to lock up at a barrier.

Once I’d rounded up my few items, herded them up and headed them out to my panniers I set off across the car park. I thought I might take a different route back but having turned left at the two roundabouts I was irritated by the amount of traffic so turned right into an entrance, turned round and went straight across the last roundabout into Dingle Lane.

The usual route back then, over the speed humps, across the pavement into Queensway and through some estate roads. Uphill on Gladstone St and Townfields Rd. Straight on at the Swanlow Lane lights. Past a group of girls one of whom shouted, “Hey mate, like your bike!”. Left at the next T junction swooping downhill then levelling off and left at another T junction. Before long I arrived at Swanlow Lane again to turn right in the Church Minshull direction.

After a mile or so I turned right into a lane. An oncoming car stopped and flashed his lights to go, as there was a queue of cars behind him.

Soon, after a bit of downhill then uphill, I passed my back gate. I thought I would round up the mileage to 7 miles or so, so I carried on beyond for a bit, then turned round and came back.

Whether it was because I hadn’t been out for a ride for two weeks or just that it had been a particularly nice ride today, I felt good for the rest of the day after that.

Distance 7.19 miles. Max Speed 16.4 mph. Average 7.6 mph. According to Garmin.
Ascent 213 ft. According to Bikehike.