Dirty bikes and wet bums

Slowly but surely getting back to riding, neck still sore, but physio has identified the problem, essentially a tangle of knotted up muscles around neck and shoulder. However today, the sun was out, the sky a glorious blue and whatever happened I was going to get on my bike and ride.
Only 23 miles, and not at great pace, maybe I am just not born to be a fast rider, but very very enjoyable. It's weird to be thinking that it was only 23 miles, as that's not a bad distance in itself, but not much of an achievement these days.
The bike got filthy and has a hideous squeak, so upon my return it was a good cleaning session and strip down of the rear derailleur. Not something I'd ever attempted before, in fact I'd never taken my own chain off before. What a biff.
Funnily enough, the process of cleaning and maintaining the bike is almost as much pleasure as the ride itself. Perhaps in future I'll save the energy and just go out for a bike clean.
With about a month off riding, not sure I'm going to make my 2000 mile target by the end of the year, not unless I get out and put some long miles in, or at least get out and do some riding in the dark. An experience I have yet to partake of.
One achievement I have, is that this must by now be the longest I have stuck with any form of voluntary fitness. Perhaps there's hope for a long life yet.

Good versus bad

In the news department....

Still not cycling properly, partly because neck is not yet fixed, and partly because I hadn't finished building my new bike. 

However on Friday I finally finished it all off. So I am now the VERY proud owner of a beautiful white carbon framed racing bike - weight without pedals (this is important) is 7.7kg. From getting the riding bug I wanted a Cannondale Supersix at a cost of £1800, this is the one I was holding out to and agreed not to get to September 2012 at the earliest. It weighs 7.9kg and is rubbish compared to my bike!

Only managed to get out on the bike today and after 5 miles, neck aching and rear gears all a jumble, decided to call it a day, I think I now have them sorted out, 2 hours of fettling on Friday was clearly not enough. Now I'm not a stupid person, I was even a member of Mensa until I realised it was a bit boring, but I'll be buggered if I can get the hang of setting those blasted things up.

So now, I'm going to have to take the risk of riding at night time, because the clocks have gone back... so that we can have more daylight! What? Did you slow down the rotation of the earth by moving the hour hand? Or have we in fact got exactly the same amount of daylight, but,  so that an industry that employs a miniscule number of people (and an even smaller number of British people) can have a bit of a lie in - yes farmers. Get up earlier and plough your fields, or turn the lights of your stupidly big and cumbersome tractors on. Leave the clocks as they are so that when kids come running out of school desperate to get home and play on the x station they can do so in the daylight, whilst I stand a fighting chance of getting out on the bike after work. Rant over. for now.

Anyhow, even with gears all over the place, neck ache and a stupidly strong wind felt great to get out for just a short while, and more determined than ever to make sure I carry on riding through winter.