GLOOMY

No pictures for October or November. Up here in Aberdeen the adjective "grey" adequately describes the scene.
Over the past month the temperature has begun to drop.
The past evening my on board cycle thermometer reported 0 degrees C, which is chilly :)
With the wind added in the total chill factor was -11 degrees C on the skin.. ouch.
And it will only get worse.
Bu t we keep the mileage up to 35 miles per day... dont want to get podgy over christmas and undo all the marvelous summer work :)

Yum Yum, Mr Moon Birthday Cake.
Trifle topped with diamond jellies, coconut Ice, Fairy cakes, Orange cake, scones, al made from scratch by Daddy and Auntie Lorraine.

Even at the height of summer if it is your third birthday, a fleecy pink dressing gown can raise a pretty smile.

Wow, July and August have been very busy months.
Lots of cycling, 3rd birthday for our daughter, Highland Games in Aboyne, camping in Braemar.
Genuinely kaa--pooped.
So plenty of updates to write and pictures to post but a new time for Tabitha will start on the 28th when she starts nursery at the Gaelic Language School.

A complete June.

June is complete. Rode the bike on 30 days. Covered 795.5 miles.
As of the 4th July inclusive, 28 days covered 830 miles.

A lonesome ride

With the family away in St Andrews, the trip to Aboyne was a quiet affair. Only me, the bike and a 50lb trailer. The damn flag... just adds drag. Next time I 'll leave the Italian shoes out of the bag.

A short family outing.. minus children

After much yomping, honking, bonking and related exercise we decided upon a quiet restful ride to Ballater.

The key question "What is Leona thinking"?.

1) hmm Jewellery Shop

2) hmm I am hungry

3) uhh when do we go home?

Answers on a postcard

Grampian DA at the peak of the Cairn O'Mount

and the Cairn

Ahh.. the view from the Clatterin' Brig Restaurent of the Clatterin' Brig while the rain is a clatterin'.

What a decision.

15 miles to Pain or 3 miles to cakes and pies.

Created a new personal high. 752 miles on the bike in 28 days. I have three days left to make the 30 days of June an 800 mile month. I am happy now that my wrist is recovered after 3 months off following the "car" incident.

Some stats:

1) 1.7 million pedal revs in 316 hours
2) 194,000 Calories burnt.
3) Equivalent to 57 lbs of bodyweight.
4) Actually lost 30 lbs of bodyweight
5) Still calculating how many Danish pastries make a pound of bodyweight.
6) average RPM 96.

Cairn O'Mount

Another weekend past, brrr you can almost feel winter coming. Friday was an easy but very wet ride out from Aberdeen to Aboyne.
Saturday, a mixed activity day. Auntie Lorraine is bowling for the ladies, Leona and Tabitha are planning on doing nothing much. Daddy will be cycling over the Cairn O'Mount.
9am Saturday, still in bed and no wafting scent of bacon. I get up to investigate the lack of breakfast. Simple,, there is no bacon and worse there is no bread. So back to bed.
40 winks later I rise. Lycraed and caffeinated I set off with waves and ta ta's behind me.
Drizzly rain has forced the waterproofs out of the pack, so spinning and sweating I reached Strachan to find blazing sunshine. I peeled and searched out a watering hole.. none found but I did locate a General Store. Two pies purchased, 1 eaten 1 packed. A glug of juice moistens the palate before the ride out to the Cairn.
Please be mindful, I had never been over the Cairn O'Mount not even in a car, I had heard many rumours aboutthe Cairn. " it is very steep" " I couldnt get the car up the bottom section" "be careful on the Devils Elbow". So I was somewhat anxious as to what I would find.
A serious climb. Starts with a 1 in 10 just past the Feugh. A lumpy 2 miles follow. A sharp 1/2 mile climb, another lumpy 2 miles. Wow a very sharp descent, down a right hand bend at 1 in 10.
Another 1 in 10 climb out of Glen Dye, then one more sharp descent before the climb proper.
2.5 miles, average a strong 1 in 10. climbing to 1400ft or thereabouts. The descent on the southside is shorter and steeper 14%, 16% and steeper stretches.

The Clatterin' Brig cafe was a welcome sight. Bacon, cakes and tea. Then wait. The Grampian DA were out on a run through Inverbervie and returning via the Cairn. The rain was 20 minutes past, the road drying. Then on the bridge a bunch of Yellow Jackets. I joined them for the return climb up the Cairn. Now my choice of gearing was seeming odd. All the others were riding in the inner ring of the triple. Yours truely was on 53/42 with an 11/21 block. Early doors the hill was tough on 49/21. Rpm down to 50's. As the climb rose the gearing was tortuous, causing 1 stop but no walking. Eventually to the top, amazingly not last or close to last. Definately need to choose 50/39 with 12 27 next time.
A short pause for sweeties at the top, then descent and lumpiness back to the Penny Farthing for more hot drinks and the usual debates over speed and calories.
For me, job well done. over the Cairn in both directions in one day.

Another Wednesday, another Grampian DA pub run. This week Aberdeen to the Northern Lights at Hatton of Fintray. This week was extra special as one of our members celebrated a birthday. I won't name the individuals around the table as I don't want their work colleagues to know they consume alcohol while wearing skin tight Lycra. I was planning to change the names to protect the innocent but there isn't an innocent one among them ;)

Happy Birthday Wilf..

Wee Callan takes a dram. The Brides Mother dancing. The Father of the Bride(left) and Tabitha's Great Grandpa Phillip are propping up the bar. Actually we discovered later that the bar was propping them up :)

Ever the punishers of legs and bums, we attended an Evening Reception on the Saturday night.
Lisa and Scott were celebrating their marriage, village friends of Leona.
We cycled in and out. A few photos.

A Heron found time to scan for food in the River Ythan.
The girls watched from the shelter.
Had nobody seen the fishing Ban??

In Ellon, we sought shelter at Safeways. We found shelter but no hot pies.

Aberdeen to Ellon.. It was forecast as overcast.
It was plain that it would rain. It did assisted nicely by the wind.

return trip

No photos from the return trip. Too much energy expended in the heat and the headwind.

After the trip to Dinnet and the tour of Strathdon we left the doorstep looking like a cycle park. We had to, homecooked lasagne was waiting.

We stopped at the Colquhonnie Hotel for lunch, they served us tea and cakes last year so we returned but alas no cakes. Hospitable folk though at the Colquhonnie and we were presented with delicious Espressos and biscuits which we ate on the lawns overlooking the hotel entrance.

As with most of the Highlands odd things are everywhere. I am still trying to determine the purpose of the Totem Pole at the entrance to the hotel. Definately worth a visit http://www.colquhonnie-hotel.co.uk/

We set off from Aboyne from Strathdon, we considered cycling around GlenBuchat, but it was very hot and windy. So we decided to take a detour.. look what happened :)

A brief water stop at Inchmarlo, 9 June

Wow, we had a baking hot weekend in Grampian. Sun tan all round.
Friday, 32 miles Aberdeen to Aboyne. Me, Mrs Me and Mini-me in the trailer.
Saturday, Mrs Me and Mini-me sat tripped off to Dinnet in the trailer. Me and Mini-me's Auntie tripped off to Strathdon from Aboyne, 3300 ft cumulative ascents, some harsh steep sections over the 43 mile trip. Sunday return trip for the family back to Aberdeen from Aboyne. a scorcher of 75f into a 12mph headwind.. we burned of the Rowies today.

We have plans for a trip in the country this weekend.. more photos to come.

The Humpert AHS is a very useful handlebar system for touring and commuting use.
The bars are hinged either side of the headset clamp and may be locked via 2x 4mm Allen bolts in almost 180 degree position, this is useful for travelling as the bars can be folded shut removeing the need to demount the front wheel. Also the bar ends, the horns, are supplied loose; see upper picture; they may then be set in any position to suit the rider of the purpose.
The bottom image show the AHS fitted to my Trek 7300fx and set to allow the wrist to remain reasonably straight. Shown here is the 90mm Bontrager stem, I did try out a Vario stem but found the Allen bolt locking mechanism to be a little awkward for my liking. http://www.humpert.com

Ritschie 2 Baby Carriage

This always draws attention when we transport junior. Lots of people ask about where we bought it? is it heavy? does she enjoy it? so here is the definitive lowdown on her.
It is a Ritschie 2 KiddyPorter. It has a honeycombed aluminium sandwich base with a folding internal cage that is tensioned for strength. Overall weight, sans infant, is around 18.5 kg. It connects with a standard Weber hitch. We bought it in summer 2003 to coincide with the birth of junior, we used it from 4 months old with a pre-formed back rest insert but removed that as she grew.
It has been used to transport 50kg bags of sand, groceries oh and of course a child. The longest trip has been 45 miles in 1 day, average 10.5 mph. Cautionary note, towing the trailer requires extra leg strength and much cake as fuel. On a still day towing is ok but the slightest hint of headwind and it is akin to drawing a caravan up a vertical slope. So low gearing is required and high cadence recommended. Typically I will use 38/24 but when the wind is hard as it often is in Aberdeen I will be found spinning in 26/30 or lower. Thank heavens for MegaRange. Due to the weight a solid rear triangle is required on the towing bike, I generally use the Trek 7300fx or the Dawes SuperGalaxy.
Does our daughter enjoy it? Absolutely. She can talk to me, invent stories, inform me of my excess speed, point out animals and objects on the way, sometimes she even sleeps. As she has grown the towing effort has increased but that actually make the trip all the more "real" for me.
So where did we get it? Edinburgh Cycles Aberdeen, price £500 or thereabouts. May seem expensive but 3 years use, so far, has made this one of the best value cycling purchases I ever made. These are very difficult to obtain in UK now, best check the Weber.de site for dealers ( but it is all in German). Any questions on the trailer just drop me a mail and I will add further bloggets.

Trek 1400

Trek 1400, very different from the stock bike. Onl;y the frame is original. This is my current strength development bike. Using the DMR singlespeed conversion it runs 48/16 with development of around 75 inches and freewheel so most Grampian hills hurt the thighs. Here fitted with SQR Tour saddle bag and Ironman spinachis. I may get round to replacing the 105 STI's with Aero Brake levers but more likely to locate a frame with specific fixed gear bike and then convert this to a TT bike. The most noticable thing about this bike is the silence, there is no chatter from a derailleur, it is smooth and very very silent.

Trek 2300

Trek 2300, Ultegra 53/39 c/w 12-23 block. Replacement Aksium wheels.. The stock Bontrager Race Lites broke with fatigued nipples. However this is still a nice bike to ride and relatively light.

The keen eyed will notice Look pedals, Cateye CDW and Carradice SQR for those rides which require sandwiches.

CTC Grampian District Association Runs in June

http://www.ctcgrampian.org.uk/runs_june_06b.htm
note the frequent pub runs !!

Cycle Grampian

http://www.cyclegrampian.co.uk/index.html This is a reasonably fresh summary of the facilities for cyclists in and around Aberdeenshire.

Bikes, Bags and Baby Carriage.

Leona and Tabitha squinting in Ellon.

By George She's got it!

date 07 June 2006
time 14:30 UK

Subject.
2 year 10 month old child visits lavatory unattended, performs, flushes and washes hands.
Father is reported to be ecstatic and naturally self-congratulatory over his efforts at toliet training.
Time will tell if the training sticks.
Message Ends.

Another Lollipop !!!!

A family day out in Banchory. Leona, Lorraine, Tabitha. Many sandwiches eaten and someone ate a very cold ice-cream.. hmm I wonder who?

Me and the babe sitting by the river in Ellon, May 9th 2006. The first warm day of the year in Aberdeen.

Welcome to my Blog.

Over the coming months I will be adding allsorts of information about things I like/dislike, links I use, leisure activities and the odd photograph.
I hope you enjoy.

thx
Steven