Friday 18th Oct 2013 - 1st crash of the season

Well today was a bit exciting.

Set off this morning in sub-zero temperatures but clear skies so not too dark. I noticed a bit of frost on the landlord's car. Clue #1

The road looked wet. Clue #2. At position #1 I thought I'd have to take it easy because there might be ice on the road.

I was going slower than normal down the hill and a car was quite close behind me. I decided to pull into the bus stop at #2 to let them pass. They did, but only eventually as they were going soooo slowly. Clue #3

After they over took me I came back onto the road and followed them round the two 90° bends as we proceeded down the hill. I was frustrated at how slow they were going. Still clue #3.

As the van in front accelerated a little bit, on the flat by the vet's I also put my foot down. This is where I slipped onto the left side of the bike. Position #3.

As I slid along, I almost managed to get back onto my feet. Thankfully it was smooth black ice as it meant I didn't scrape too much off the clothes. Later I found out that the left pedal had been flattened.

As I was picking myself up I heard some skidding going on behind me. Initially I thought it was a car heading my way, but when I looked round it turned out to be another bike slipping over as well. Looked like they'd seen the car stopped behind me with its hazards on and tried to goa round it.

What struck me most was how black he was. Black bike, black hat, black top, black leggings and black shoes. There didn't appear to be any reflective material and certainly no lights in evidence. If he hadn't have fallen over I doubt I'd've seen him at all.

In comparison I have a bright yellow rain jacket, white helmet with two flashing lights (one red, one white), two pannier bags with reflective piping and a flashing light on each. At least people would be able to see me if I crashed and was unable to get up on my own. Doesn't stop the inital crash of course but reduces the risk of it getting worse.

In the shower at work I noticed some scrapes and bruises to my lower legs. Left neck muscles not too good either. Still alive though.

So that means it's the end of the current tyres, which have been hard used during the season and don't have much track left on them anyway. Spikes will be put on tomorrow morning before I go or do anything else.

Can't do it tonight as I'm going out socialising in Sandvika.

6th October 2013 - Lakeside walk

Yesterday I bought a bigger rucksack so that I could experiment with carrying stuff I might need if I decided to go into the woods during the winter time.

This morning I had decided to go for a walk around the local lake. The plan was to stop part way round and cook the sausages and bacon over the trangia or an open fire, whichever worked best.

The only fuel I could find at a petrol station a couple of weeks ago was white spirit. Not used that before in a trangia, but it is advertised as being multi fuel so thought it could be that bad.

Loaded the bag up with a poncho, knife, saw, water, stove, fuel bottle, gaiters and extra layers of clothes. My issue has alway been that I can walk, but when I do I sweat. If I cut down on the amount of clothes I just get cold on the surface, but still get wet. To try and obviate this problem I decided to just wear a single thermal layer with a buff neck collar. Didn't really work as I still got wet with sweat and in the cold temperatures it got chilly quite quickly.

I had decided to go around the lake anti-clockwise because near the end would be a nice little area to do the cooking.

As I got to the entrance for the lake walk it was obvious there were a lot of people out for their Sunday walk. Joggers, speed walkers and the odd cyclist joined the mass of families. Even the smallest kids were carrying rucksacks.



Setting off at 1145, I stopped off at the cafe after about 20mins to get a warm drink. There were waffles on offer but I decided my fry up would be enough.

A short way on from the cafe I went down to the beach so that I could have a look at the little toe on the left foot. The nail needed a bit of trimming. Hadn't been a problem up til now, but the walking boots were obviously pushing the toes together more than normal.

The weather was clear and sunny if a little chilly and the path seemed to be crowded. There didn't seem to be that many places to sit and enjoy the view, unless you're prepared to sit on the ground, so I got round most of the walk in about 1.5 hours.



The sun was in my eyes for part of the walk and I think clockwise would be the more sensible route next time so that I can see the path more clearly. It was quite slippery on the exposed roots in places.



When I reached my proposed cooking location there was already an extended family cooking polser (hotdogs) over a wood fire. It is a popular thing to do on a walk over here and I'd already seen a larger fire earlier in the walk.

 I tried to get the trangia stove going with the flint and steel but it just didn't want to light. I even tried soaking a bit of cotton wool in petroleum jelly, but even though this lit  it didn't get the white spirit going.

I didn't think I was going to get anything cooked so had an orange instead.

Not long after that abortion the family left. I moved into their location which still had some smouldering pieces of wood, to see if I could get a wood fire going instead.

It was a no go. The wood I collected, after a brief search, was too wet and just wouldn't catch, even with a burning glob of petroleum jelly acting as a source. Even with some local assistance suggesting moss and dried bark off the trees it just wouldn't catch again.



I was feeling fairly peckish at this point so just gave it up and headed back home to cook on the stove instead.



After lunch, approx 1500hrs, I got out the trangia again and decided to see if it would light with a match instead. It did, eventually, but it had a tremendously smoky flame that I don't think it is a good choice of fuel. It took approx 15mins of the centre fuel reservoir burning before the outer burner ring caught, at which point the smoke became intolerable. Have to find some meths from somewhere.