Spin down the Derwent walk to Swalwell Country Park n back

This morning I was up in the Consett area and I had the bike with me so I decided to go for a quick spin out. I parked up at Delves Lane and I was going to head to Parkhead but it was blowing a near gale, well 20+mph, freezing cold, well around 9 to 10 degrees with rain showers so that was a no go. Because of the lovely summer weather I headed over to and through Blackhill park to pick up the Derwent walk line which is sheltered nearly all the way down. There was quite a few others out with dogs etc so slowed me down a little. Once I hit Swalwell I did a loop of the mound in the park then headed back up to Consett. This time I went around Berry Edge / back of the new housing estate and come out at the truck crossroads before heading back to Delves Lane. All in 23 miles with 1100ft of climbing - freezing cold / wet. I was pleased to get back to the van to get changed in to some dry / warm clothes and put the heater on max before going to my next job. Below are a few snaps from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon-

Weekend Catch Up and some new goodies

What a weekend we have had, we have never stopped! It was Janes birthday on Friday so we decided to have our first day out as such on Saturday since the start of lock down. We headed down to Harrogate early morning and the A1M was lovely and quiet. We parked up and went for breakfast at Spoons and that was also lovely and quiet. After that we hit the shops for some retail therapy as they say! I had a look around Prologue bike shop - some lovely and very expensive kit in there to drool over! and Specialized Concept Store which looked like it had been robbed, hardly any stock left at all! but there was some lovely kit in there as well! I had to keep my hands in my pockets apart from a new 750ml water bottle.
We also had a walk around the town and that has gone right down hill since we were last there in Nov. Loads of shops have closed / empty retail and food outlets. Still a lovley day out. No afternoon tea at Bettys as they are not opening until the 27th July so we had a walk down the hill to another coffee shop and got well and truly ripped off! I was going to call in past Chevin Cycles on the way back but missed the turning in so kept heading home.
Yesterday was catch up day around the house etc, washed, degreased, dried, charged and lubed up the Creo SL, cleaned out my van, gardening and jobs around the house, 14 hours later I sat down! shattered and no time for cycling.
This week the forecast was supposed to be red hot and dry well as I am typing this its lashing rain but warm and the forecast is cloudy and not so warm this week, not too worry.

 

I also bought a copy of these magazines as well -

This is a new mag to market all about E Bikes

 

and I bought this months Cycling Plus as they have a huge article / review on the new Cannondale Carbon Topstone Lefty! cannot wait to have a read on what they say about this bike.

Fresh Goods Sunday - Morvelo Series Emblem Socks - Fluro Yellow

I discovered Morvelo cycle clothing when I bought a pair of socks for a cancer charity which were produced by Morvelo. I loved the fit and feel of the sock straight away but I do wear a low ankle sock when its hot weather so these are ideal when its not too hot and not cold enough for winter socks. I bought these as they were the same as my other pair just a different colour / logo. I have a size 8 / 8.5 size foot and thought the L/XL would have been spot on but they are slightly on the large side. I am not sure if the S/M would have been too small, who knows. Anyway these are still lovely and comfortable, the feel on the material is also great. They are fitted
/ shaped in the right places and the arch is like elastic. They are no good on muddy offroad routes as they would get up the eyes in naffs. They are good value in my eyes if you shop around for a discount.

RRP £10 and I paid £8.50 from Cycle Republic (when they were open!) the Gateshead branch shut along time ago but has now reopened as Pure Electric, some how I cannot see that lasting long either but I might be wrong.

Manufacturers blurb - Morvélo socks are constructed predominantly from a highly breathable Coolmax® fabric that wicks excess moisture away from the skin. They're anti bacterial to reduce odours, and high elastane for a comfy, snug fit.

Features

• SkinLife & Coolmax yarns
• Low-level compression
• 6” cuff
• Lightweight top for added breathability
• Ribbed support band around the arch
• Made in Portugal
• Global Organic Textile Certified: defining environmentally & socially responsible manufacturing

Fabric

• 85% Polyamid
• 10% Skinlife
• 5% Elastane

Care

• Machine wash at 40ç
• Tumble dry low heat
• Do not iron
• Do not bleach
• Do not dry clean

	UK	Euro	US
S/M	5-8	38-42	6-9
L/XL	8.5-12	42.5-47	9.5-12.5

New Schwable Inner tubes & servicing Ritchey WCS XC spd pedals

Even though I run all my bikes on tubeless system now I always carry at least one spare inner tube just case the Stans does not seal a puncture. Since I fitted my new deep section DT Swiss wheelset I only had one spare inner tube which was the right size / fitted so I ordered some new replacements. I tired a couple of local bike shops but no one stocked this rare combination!
Good old Spa Cycles came to rescue - 700c x 28-45mm width and 60mm long presta valve. So I now have a new spare inner tube in the seat pack and one in the tool bottle and a 3rd spare in the van for just in case situations. I have the older spare in the garage as a fourth back up.  Yes I know I could have used shorter valve tubes with an extender but I am not keen on them and have some major failures using extenders when out on ride.

I also decided to service my Ritchey WCS XC pedals. It is a simple job - 6mm allen key and some good quality grease. Unscrew the end caps, one is the opposite thread, smear in new grease and some new grease in the end cap and screw back on the pedal body gently. All the old grease will flush through at the opposite end, if this does not come through the first time repeat again until the grease flushes through. I do this every 4 months or so. Keeps the bearings nice and smooth.

Mainly Garvel 35 mile local loop in the cold, cloud and wind!

Todays early morning ride was a longer loop and mainly on the old railway lines. I picked up the Broompark to Consett line at Baxters Farm. From there I headed straight up to Consett. It was not that warm but the climb was warming me up. Once at Consett the sun did try to come out but that was short lived. From Consett I picked up the line to Sunderland but came off at the Birtley junction. From there it was through Chester Le Street then the A1657 cycle path all the way home. The lines are running reasonably fast but still damp / muddy in places. There was not many people out today and the Garmin was reading around 9 to 11 degrees. I had a head wind for most of the downhill from Consett to Birtley which made it feel even colder. The bike and my legs were going well and enjoyed the ride apart from the cold, could have worn my arm warmers! Below are a few snaps, not many as I had my head down! All in 35 miles in 2hr 25 min, ave 14.4mph and climbed nearly 1400ft. Enjoy and hopefully more soon but saying that there is two days on near continuous rain coming!

New sock day!