Fog! Oh How I Hate Fog

Created on October 13th, 2006 in Outdoor Life

When I managed to rouse myself this morning I looked out the window to see the cyclists nightmare, FOG. Motorists don’t look where they are going in good visability, let alone when they can’t see very far. I tooled up with no less that four blinky lights to try and improve my chances of survival.

When I first started spinning out around 200 miles a week on the bike, I was quite positive but now I realise that the odds are against me and It’s not so much a case of if I get hit by a car but when, I currently reckon about once every two months for a minor bump of knock down and I’m yet to have a major accident. Funny how I spend my breakfast pondering my chances of making it to work alive while other people watch the news and talk to their kids.

Cycling In The Rain (And Why Motorists Suck)

Created on September 30th, 2006 in Outdoor Life

So I was minding my own business cycling to cubs last night in the rain (and it wasn’t that gentle good for making love in rain in either it was the heavy smash your teeth out rain).  And all around me the motorists seemed to have lost the plot, they were doing what normally would be considered crazy but in the wet just mental.  Overtaking so close that they could have got on the bike with me and just pretending they were in an F1 race even though the traffic was solid.

Crazy, just crazy.

I must admit I like cycling in the rain, no one will bother you that much and the rain stops you from getting too hot.  You just have to change when you get to your destination or enjoy stinking like a wet dog.

Kona Dew Deluxe (Day 3)

Created on June 1st, 2006 in Outdoor Life

After some first day teething problems the bike seems to be settling down nicely, arriving today was the icing on the cake. My new Shimano PD-M324 SPD Pedals, these are a bit of change as they have clips on one side and normal bear claw pedal on the other letting me just nip out to the shop without having to find the right shoes.

I decided to go for a cruise around Canon Hill park yesterday evening and Beard only just getting his bike back off me came along. The dew cruised the paths and bits of singletrack like a dream, however Beard kept showing off and jumping off steps and the like. Hmmm, I kinda miss chunky wheels for that but the speed and ease on roads and paths makes me more than happy for now. I’m still sort of tempted to retro fit the Scott with big chunky tires and a fixe drivechain just for mucking about at weekends but I have spent all my money for now so it’ll have to wait.

Kona Dew Deluxe

Created on May 30th, 2006 in Outdoor Life

After thrashing my 8 year old Scott Apache Hardtail to death I finally got round to upgrading to something a little more suitable for my daily commute.  Armed with my trusty debit card I took a trip to Pro Bike in Kings Heath and got my hands on a Kona Dew Deluxe and then in the eyes of some ruined it by having mudguards and a expedition rack fitted to it.  I’m still getting comfortable with it but I runs real nice and weighs almost nothing and should I hope help me start cutting down my commute time.

I fill you guys in more once Iv’e been out playing.

Spirit Stoves From Recycled Material

Created on September 18th, 2005 in Outdoor Life

After reading several sites on the internet about building spirit stoves from various cans and tins, I decided that this would be a splendid activity to do with my scouts. Not wanting to look like a fool I have spent the weekend experimenting with various ideas to produce my version of the pepsi can stove. I call it the minimal waste single can stove. I am putting some info and instructions up in the projects section which will appear here. The final design boils a pint of water in about 4 minites and uses about 25ml of fuel to do it.