Went out for a bike ride today to see if I could get back into the hills.
I had planned to go via the small lake nearby and do the reverse of the route I did at the end of last year. For some reason cannot find the blog entry I'm sure I wrote about it. Could've sworn it was in Sept/Oct 2012 but cannot seem to find it anywhere. Might have to reinstate it from letters etc.
The weather didn't look that hot but was reported to be 15°C at a local display.
First thing I found was that the head-cam or the bike mounted GPS weren't charged. Most annoyed at that. Looks like they don't hold their charge very well. Next time will have to make sure the kit is charged the night beforehand.
The ground is still quite wet after the rain the previous night and also the ice/snow melt. Makes the mud awful sticky and hard to get through. I'm sure my weight isn't helping at all.
The local lake has all but defrosted. Thin layer of ice in the sheltered sections of the shore line was all I could see.
The streams are quite full at the moment.
Just as I got to the bottom of the first climb I had to take off one of the tops I'd put on, otherwise I'd be sweating (a lot more than normal).
There was a sign saying that open flames were not allowed in the woods between April & September. Bang goes my attempt at starting a small fire.
From the descent last time I knew the ascent this time would be quite steep. Too bloody right. Lowest gears all the way and the front wheel was lifting on some of the steep sections.
In some sheltered sections I could see some ice and snow still on the tracks.
I didn't see many people out at all. 1 guy on a bike coming down and then 2 more at the first location I took a panoramic picture. You need to look at it using the photosphere software.
The sun was in and out, which is why the panorama looks a little dark in places. Took a while to sit down here to recover from the climb.
On leaving the scenic spot, complete with fire places, I had a choice of two directions to head in. Either up or down. As I wasn't sure where down would go I headed up, the route I was pretty certain would lead me round the old missile installation.
And indeed it did. The mud was as thick as ever and the boardwalk was still in position.
I met another cyclist coming round anti-clockwise as I went clockwise. He looked a lot more comfortable than I did.
When I got to the second lake the sun was out but the wind was also up. I stopped at exactly the same location as last time for a snack of boiled egg and an orange. Very nice spot to rest it was too.
After leaving here I saw only a few other souls. It was generally uphill climb from here to the farm buildings at Solli.
On one of the few short lived downhill sections there was ice on a corner which wasn't quite solid. The front wheel suspension went in and caused the wheel to dig in and stop. I had to leave the bike quickly as I was too knackered by this point control it properly. I managed to stay on my feet but could have quite easily gone down the slope into a tree.
The signposts were telling me I had approx 3.5km to get to Solli and the farm buildings. I was hoping the cafe would be open to get a warm drink.
The rest of the track towards the farm buildings was generally uphill. The conditions got very sticky in places. Really was looking forward to the road down because I don't think I'd be able to cope too well with a bumpy track.
As I got towards the end the weather started to close in.
The cafe was closed by the time I got there. Didn't find a sign saying what times they were open so it could've been shut since last summer!
I had a small rest before putting a waterproof top and some gloves on, as the temperature was dropping and the rain was starting to fall. Didn't want to get a chill as I tore down the hill at warp factor 4!
Only took a few minutes to get down the hill. There were a couple more uphill sections which I didn't remember from last time but these were conquered pretty easily, despite the knees complaining.
Bit surprised that my GPS logging pebble didn't record the track for the first 2/3 of the track today. Very odd considering it supplied data to the Nexus4 for the ViewRanger app all the way round!?
I had planned to go via the small lake nearby and do the reverse of the route I did at the end of last year. For some reason cannot find the blog entry I'm sure I wrote about it. Could've sworn it was in Sept/Oct 2012 but cannot seem to find it anywhere. Might have to reinstate it from letters etc.
The weather didn't look that hot but was reported to be 15°C at a local display.
First thing I found was that the head-cam or the bike mounted GPS weren't charged. Most annoyed at that. Looks like they don't hold their charge very well. Next time will have to make sure the kit is charged the night beforehand.
The ground is still quite wet after the rain the previous night and also the ice/snow melt. Makes the mud awful sticky and hard to get through. I'm sure my weight isn't helping at all.
The local lake has all but defrosted. Thin layer of ice in the sheltered sections of the shore line was all I could see.
The streams are quite full at the moment.
There was a sign saying that open flames were not allowed in the woods between April & September. Bang goes my attempt at starting a small fire.
From the descent last time I knew the ascent this time would be quite steep. Too bloody right. Lowest gears all the way and the front wheel was lifting on some of the steep sections.
In some sheltered sections I could see some ice and snow still on the tracks.
I didn't see many people out at all. 1 guy on a bike coming down and then 2 more at the first location I took a panoramic picture. You need to look at it using the photosphere software.
The sun was in and out, which is why the panorama looks a little dark in places. Took a while to sit down here to recover from the climb.
On leaving the scenic spot, complete with fire places, I had a choice of two directions to head in. Either up or down. As I wasn't sure where down would go I headed up, the route I was pretty certain would lead me round the old missile installation.And indeed it did. The mud was as thick as ever and the boardwalk was still in position.
I met another cyclist coming round anti-clockwise as I went clockwise. He looked a lot more comfortable than I did.
When I got to the second lake the sun was out but the wind was also up. I stopped at exactly the same location as last time for a snack of boiled egg and an orange. Very nice spot to rest it was too.
After leaving here I saw only a few other souls. It was generally uphill climb from here to the farm buildings at Solli.
The signposts were telling me I had approx 3.5km to get to Solli and the farm buildings. I was hoping the cafe would be open to get a warm drink.
The rest of the track towards the farm buildings was generally uphill. The conditions got very sticky in places. Really was looking forward to the road down because I don't think I'd be able to cope too well with a bumpy track.
As I got towards the end the weather started to close in.
The cafe was closed by the time I got there. Didn't find a sign saying what times they were open so it could've been shut since last summer!
I had a small rest before putting a waterproof top and some gloves on, as the temperature was dropping and the rain was starting to fall. Didn't want to get a chill as I tore down the hill at warp factor 4!
Only took a few minutes to get down the hill. There were a couple more uphill sections which I didn't remember from last time but these were conquered pretty easily, despite the knees complaining.
Bit surprised that my GPS logging pebble didn't record the track for the first 2/3 of the track today. Very odd considering it supplied data to the Nexus4 for the ViewRanger app all the way round!?
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