Bike maintenance Monday. I needed to replace the front mech cable on the GT Grade. Good job I wasn’t relying on the end cap that Clarks provided with the cable! 😀 #Cycling

NGL that was hard. Haven’t cycled much lately, so 100km ➡️ / 900m ↗️ was a bit of a challenge. Blowingstone Hill up on to the Ridgeway wasn’t the lung-buster I feared it might be, but the other climbs gradually wore me down! ☕️ stops in Lambourn and Hampstead Norreys helped. #Cycling

#Essex vibes today - visited Sarfend with the kids, letting the train take the strain. #Southend was as expected, except for all the police and security guards. Dread to think what the place is like once the booze kicks-in… Anyway, now on the way back to the Shire unscathed! 🏠

Managed a short-notice ride today: train to Pangbourne (Berks) then a steady zig-zag through the Chilterns woods finishing n Cholsey (Oxon). Loved the woods - silent, save for the odd deer or pigeon. Nice to see some different colours too - getting bored of everything being yellow. #Cycling

I like to dip in to the Transcontinental Race to see progress. This year it's from Trondheim, Norway to Kalamata in Greece. Swiss rider Robin Gemperle currently leads after 45 hours. www.lostdot.cc/race/tcrno12 I also like to see the DNF reasons. One rider scratched due to "frame split"! 😱

Late decision to do this one and my first decent ride for over a month. Chose a flat run over to Faringdon. Stiff headwinds going west so hunkered-down on the aero bars. The landscape very parched everywhere, although Faringdon-Clanfield-Bampton showed signs of some showers. #Cycling

Rain - it exists! Bamford. Evidence!

Time for a ride today. It’s been a while Hope this isn’t some sort of omen! #Cycling

This sums-up how much cycling I’ve managed to do this last month. Sometimes Life delivers other priorities! Not #Cycling 😕

Farm Hill, #Cholsey. Beautiful sunset tonight, with Wittenham Clumps in the distance. #Cycling

Back out on the bike today for a leisurely coffee run up to #Abingdon. I’m a bit miffed that my Ride Every Day streak came to an end on Tuesday (thanks a lot #StarlingBankBikes 😕), but, well, there are bigger things in life to fuss about! #Cycling

Tonight’s Beryl bike bash took me over to #OldTrafford and #Salford. Turns out my ride was more enjoyable than the ENG v GHA match! Cycling 10 miles round a big city was interesting but tiring. I don’t envy you peeps that do it every day. Manchester is an amazing place, must come back. #Cycling

#Salford sunset by bike this evening. #Cycling

Went exploring #Manchester tonight on a #Berylbike. Red brick and cobbled streets - all very Coronation Street. Quite enjoyed the change of scenery. #Cycling

I’m on two day work trip to #Manchester, so decided to rent a #Berylbike. It was rough as you like - bag o’ spanners! 😂 #Cycling

Good afternoon from my #CrossCountry train from #Oxford to #Manchester. ✅ Yes, it’s late (23 mins at this point) ⏰ ✅ Yes, it’s heaving, but I have a seat 💺 ✅ Yes, the air-con is practically useless (in a heatwave) 😰 ✅ Yes, it’s going to be a long day. 😴 😕

The weather is swinging towards “Flaming June”, so naturally I go down with a damn cold 🤧 Managed a short trundle around #Didcot this evening - gotta keep my 2026 #RideEveryDay streak going. #Cycling

“Flaming June” - my arse! More like Junetober. 😀 #Cycling

Bike maintenance observation from this evening: K Edge chain catcher bolts are made of marshmallow. #Cycling

Rear brake got really stiff, so fixed that. Bottom bracket clunking, so fixed that. Now front mech won’t shift properly, so need to fix that. The uber-annoying thing, is that having unwrapped/re-wrapped the left shifter+cables, I now have to repeat it for the front mech cables! 😕 Bloody bikes! 😀

Dear learned #cyclists, I have a hole in the bottom of my BB shell. What’s it for - letting water out? It seems to be letting water in! Should it be blanked-off? #Cycling

Bike maintenance today. The rear brake on the GT Grade was getting stiff. Took the outer housing off to find this absolute mess! Photos don’t do it justice. Inner cable was rusted, I think where moisture got in and pooled in the low point. But what the heck is all that flaky black crap? 😱 #Cycling

Went up to #WittenhamClumps this evening, to pedal-away the mental baggage of a rather frustrating day. Found some new paths with some particularly smoooothe gravel. 👌 I find this sort of thing medicinal… #Cycling

I know it’s irrational and I’m sure it works fine, but even just looking at these “lefty” fork bikes is unsettling! 😀

This is as close as I’m getting to a ride this afternoon - picking bits of yesterday’s scenery off the Grizl and giving it a wash! Despite the baking temps yesterday I somehow found mud! 😀 #Cycling

Took Gretl on a decent off-road loop today. I think that’s it for long treks off-road for a bit - some of the trails were flanked by waist-high nettles and my legs got a right rashing! Got lost several times but all part of the fun! Also lost my phone 😱 but luckily found it. #Cycling

Morning from a field. I’m roaming the Shire this morning, before it gets really too hot. I waited here a couple of minutes listening to the sounds of the countryside waking up. Lovely. #Cycling

“Don’t forget your dreams” #Cycling

Rode back from #Reading via #Shiplake and #Henley this morning, with a nice coffee stop at #StokeRow stores. Did a few new climbs too - Chalk Hill south of Henley was a bit of a "wall" but no problem getting up it. Greyhone wood above Peppard Common was another peaceful #Chilterns gem.

There is a glitch in the Matrix. I’ve managed to go from Bed to Train-with-bike in 1 hour. And I even have coffee ☕️ My usual routine is to plan everything to the Nth degree, but this morning I’m slightly winging it. #Cycling