On my bike

[Chittychangchang]

^Second only to Buckingham Palace in the UK.
Carnt wait to revisit and explore inside after lockdown.

Got lost and dehydrated yesterday exploring country lanes with few sign posts to the west of the local international airport.

Still a ghost town..

Plenty of history in these parts..

The Covid 19 testing stations that were also deserted..

A 3 hour ride turned into a 5 hour battle for survival with no water, managed to snap a couple of pics before I found the oasis..

Buttercups

Signs and decisions..

The Oasis..

Yes I did cool off with an open water plunge 30oC and sweating in the saddle for four hours with only half a litre of water.

The Oasis saved me

[PAG]

Been a while since I've been in the saddle, so had to get a grip of myself and get out on the road again today. Just a short and leisurely one, around 20km, keeping to the area of home to Phuket Town. Weather cloudy but hot, no wind to speak of, and quite good visibility.

The steed chosen for the day. Note the face mask ready for action hanging from the Garmin mount.



Looking towards Phuket Town from Saphan Hin park.



Koh Phi Phi on the horizon from the same spot.

[Chittychangchang]

Nice ride and views!
Cheers for sharing.
An extra 5km next time?

[Chittychangchang]

Another marathon four hour scorcher in the saddle.

With all these rides my body has changed from a gym goers shape to a cyclist shape in a few months.

I can crack walnuts with my bum cheeks now.

Visited the British Cycling Velodrome and the home of the English football champions.

The Etihad and the Velodrome are literally a stones throw away.

Time for a spot of lunch at the Maine Road chippy.

Pie,chips and peas with a drink for under a fiver, the view...priceless

Cycling around the urban areas these chrome capsules are scattered every couple of metres on the roads, discarded out of car windows.Must be the latest drug of choice for the masses..

A detour to pay respects to one of the greatest clubs the world has ever had, now unfortunately only a blue plaque remains..

Anybody want some walnuts cracking?

Enjoy, CCC.

[NamPikToot]

Cycling around the urban areas these chrome capsules are scattered every couple of metres on the roads, discarded out of car windows.Must be the latest drug of choice for the masses..

Laughing gas canisters, hippy crack. A few footy players have been caught on it, wasn't Sterling?

yep

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/32295792

[Chittychangchang]

Got a new t-shirt today

[David48atTD]

Great update Chitty

---

PAG ... is yours one of those fancy bikes which change gears by flicking the brake handle?

[PAG]

Great update Chitty

---

PAG ... is yours one of those fancy bikes which change gears by flicking the brake handle?

Similar. Conventional gear change is mechanical, i.e. a wire cable moving either the front or rear derailleur. Both my bikes have electronic gear change, in Shimano speak, Di2. This makes gear changes quicker, more accurate, and require less maintenance (wire cables stretch after a while which makes changes 'sloppy'.

With Shimano Di2, there are two small levers on the brake lever, differentiated by their surface. The smooth one is for changing up, the dimpled one for changing down. This is the right hand lever which controls the rear gear cassette.



The rear derailleur. The small junction box attached to the seat stay is called a D Fly. This transmits information to my Garmin by bluetooth, in my case I've set it for Di2 battery strength and which rear gear I'm in.





The left hand lever controls changes between the large and small ring on the pedal crank.



That particular bike has hydraulic disc brakes, which are particularly good in wet conditions. Stopping/slowing is more sure, particularly on fast downhill runs. Conventional rim brakes again require more maintenance due to cable stretch. There's also a risk with rim braked carbon wheels 'exploding' due to heat build up during heavy braking.

The front disc set up.



The rear rim brake on my other bike.

[David48atTD]

Mate ... great post and I appreciate the insight.

BTW, your bike probably cost as much as the last car I bought.

I remember what you paid for your Tyre/Tube and thought ATT Christ, that's as much as a tyre for the car!

---

Chitty ... over to you

[Chittychangchang]

Last time I visited the Derbyshire town of Casleton was on a mountain bike,the near death experience has haunted me to this day.
Circumnavigating the Devils Arse!

Time to banish the ghosts of four year ago, and hit Casleton and the surrounding area on my trusty road bike.

Nearly at Sheffield

Paragliders launching off Mam Tor in the distance.

Jeez its hot today, could history repeat it self.
Refreshing,fast, breazy descent into the Casleton basin.

Its getting hotter.

Could murder a pint, sadly still a ghost town.

A cup of tea would be nice

Even the chippy is shut, argg.

Time to head up and out ,jeez i've sweated out half my bodyweight.

Had to push my bike up the last stretch of hill climbs, the embarrassment.

To be fair,it gave me the opportunity to digest the natural beauty and spot a few caves.

CCC

[misskit]

Lovely little village. Can’t help but wonder what Free House means.

[Shutree]

Lovely little village. Can’t help but wonder what Free House means.

A Free House is not tied to any brewery. The landlord can sell whatever brands he chooses. I always pick a Free House if there is a choice.
The beer, unfortunately, is not free.

[Shutree]

A Free House is not tied to any brewery. The landlord can sell whatever brand

he/ she/ they chooses.
Sorry, my politically correct meter was out of batteries

[Dillinger]

^^^ Pub

[bsnub]

^^^ Pub

You couldn't huff and puff to stage one you lard ass.

[Mendip]

Fantastic stuff... the limestone scenery reminds me of the Mendips!

You've made me wish I was back in the UK right now.

[Edmond]

Lovely there this time or year.

BTW, your bike probably cost as much as the last car I bought.

Don't know about PAG's fancy bike, but this similar electronic gear one cost more than the new car in the race.



Fortunately there aren't tramlines in Phuket.

[Dillinger]

^ There are the storm drains, which any other country would turn the grids sideways

You couldn't huff and puff to stage one you lard ass.

That's only a little hill, Slapper freeewheels up those.

[Dillinger]

A trek to the shop, 10 days ago

[Chittychangchang]

That's only a little hill, Slapper freeewheels up those.

Had to lean forward on the handle bars to stop wheelying up that monster.

[Chittychangchang]

A trek to the shop, 10 days ago

That padded seat cover is luigiesque

Is that a cheese flavoured magnum in your drinks holder?

[Chittychangchang]

Lovely little village. Can’t help but wonder what Free House means.

A Public house is just a name for any pub

A freehouse is independent of any brewery

a tennanted house , the landlord owns the business but the brewery the premises ad the landlord is generally tied to sellimg what they tell him to

a managed house is entirely owned by the brewery and the landlord is just an employee

[Chittychangchang]

Melted into the tarmac yesterday with some monumental hill climbs around Fernlee Reservoir in the Peak District...

Soaking up the rays and scenary..

Brutal..

A well deserved Friday fish and chips..

[Mendip]

^ I get a bit homesick seeing pics like these... the limestone scenery is very Mendipy.

And the last pic is just superb!

[somtamslap]

Lovely stuff. The North is far superior when it comes to riding than the South, or East - only the Southwest can rival it for views, but I do have a soft spot for the South Downs; picture perfect, very easy on the eye, rolling neatly nibbled hills as oppose to the more jagged Yorkshire and Cumbrian peaks.

But one has to play the hand they're dealt; so I - living in the SOutheast and if it wasn't for the children having settled in school I'd be OUT of here, Dorset or Devon is where my eventual base in Blighty will be - sort out the highest point in the area and rode up it from all available tributaries. And thus the Leith Hill Octopus was completed last Saturday - 75 miles with 7,000ft of ascent. I would've taken pics but was too busy smashing myself into oblivion.