Cyclist falls from the skies

At the start of the week I was very alarmed to hear about thousands of birds falling out of the sky in Arkansas and other similar events happening all around the world.

My blog site also took a dip as the word 'birds' surged to the most searched item in search engines.

Religious bloggers soon loaded their own sites with Bible verse, Hosea 4:1-3: "The land dries up, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea are swept away."

My main anxiety was not from being hit on the head by a 'Pythonesque' blackbird, but from the omens that such an event may portend.

It even made me look at my Christmas presents in a completely new light.

I got a T shirt that depicted a man falling from his cycle

I also got a funky new cycle helmet .....Were these signs too?

In a state of near paranoia I visited York just after Christmas I noticed a bike that appeared to have been thrown in the river.

The culprit probably was unaware that the river Ouse was frozen and the cycle lay bruised and broken suspended on the surface, there for all to see and to haunt him.

Was this a sign for me too ? Did it for tell an impending cycling disaster?

I certainly was not going to take any chances !!!!!

On New Years Day I cycled ......... very tentatively

On the 2nd day of the month....... just tentatively

On the 3rd day my caution was fading

My the end of the week I scoffed with cynicism of 'The signs' that I had previously encountered and cycled with gay abandon.

My exuberance masked my senses and I failed to register the odd slipping sensation coming from the chain.

Today I set off as usual at 6am in darkness with an icy road -3 degrees c.

After about 5 miles and whilst travelling about 20 mph the three images ambushed me.

My chain snagged in the derailleur, which sheered off and tangled within my back wheel.

I had two options:-

Crash right and be hit by a car

Crash left and cross my fingers

I opted for the second one and was dispatched from my bike just like in the picture.

At that point my helmet came into play as my main impact was on my head an shoulders.

Then thirdly as i looked around I saw my bike suspended on a film of hard frost.

Spooky !!!!!!!

Anyway I had to take a day off work and take bike to bike hospital.

New rear wheel and new rear derailleur system which hurt me far more than my head.

So the moral of the story is if blackbirds fall in Arkansas make sure your helmet is on tight

All I want for Christmas ............

As the winter weather continues to keep us locked in its frozen jaws, I have finally conceded defeat in my attempt to cycle 6,000 miles this year.
Even if the snow and ice were to miraculously disappear, I would still need to seek further divine intervention to rid me of my current 'medical affliction', before I could remount my two wheeled steed. Fortunately I have gratefully avoided winter bugs and colds for some years now.
I find it frustrating when work colleagues feel they need to stay at home every time they are forced to buy some tissues.
You would not get that from me !!!!!!
I would literally have to be at deaths door with the old 'grim reaper' the other side pretending to be delivering some late Christmas post.

......... when I have had to take time off my ailments have been far more serious.
For the past two years I have obviously had pneumonia but still went in. Alas this year I am sure that I must have swine flu which I cant beat off.
It has probably lay dormant in me since my visit to Texas where it had blown over from Mexico and lodged itself in my cycle helmet. There is no other rationale explanation.

Thankfully tomorrow sees the arrival of the winter Solstice or the shortest day of the year.
After that the days get longer, each one after the another and boy will I be counting.

The actual celebration of the winter Solstice is seen as more important than the Summer one as if if effectively the start of natures 'cycle' - I knew Id get the word cycle in somewhere.

The Saami, indigenous people of Finland, Sweden and Norway, worship Beiwe, the sun-goddess of fertility and sanity. She travels through the sky in a structure made of reindeer bones with her daughter, Beiwe-Neia, to herald back the greenery on which the reindeer feed.

On the winter solstice, her worshipers sacrifice white female animals, and thread the meat onto sticks which they bend into rings and tie with bright ribbons. They also cover their doorposts with butter so Beiwe can eat it and begin her journey once again.

All I can say is that its a good job Beiwe and Santa travel on separate nights as things could get a bit messy.

Anyway on to the more serious stuff . If I cant cycle at the very least I can think about cycling and more importantly next years events.



This year will see some new events I and The Mules will be completing.



June 6-8th 2011 Inclusive.
Morecombe to Bridlington following the Roses Way from the west to the East Coast of England.

26th June 2011
Flat out in the Fens -112 mile Sportive across eastern England.

9pm 9pm Friday/Sat 8th/9th July 2011
Charity 24 hr challenge for 'Help for Heros' cycling for 24 hrs with a prise for the sponsor who selects the correct mileage for the event.
We have decided to organise this ourselves around East Yorkshire.



27th August 2011
Anglo Mules trip to USA where Karen and Simon will be joining Joanne and I in competing in the 30th Anniversary of Hotter than Hell 100 miles Sportive.



4th September 2011
Manchester 100 mile sportive.



Now all I want for Christmas is lots of Cycling gear, a tape worm to lodge in my digestive system for a couple of months and the temperature to get above freezing on Christmas morning !!!!!!


I dont ask for much...........................



Merry Christmas to all readers , see you on the Road.

Bah Humbug - not me

As the early winter grips with its icicle teeth, cycling is now forced from my attention.

Even the prospect of 'spinning' has now been taken away from me.

The snow piled up so high on my local leisure centre that it brought down part of the roof - forcing it to close along with its classes.

Initially this was a big blow

Cycling for me is a bit of an obsession, but to be fair it is also much more than that.
I love commuting by bike and the feeling that it gives me. To know that with each mile I save 'x' amount of pence in petrol and also provide society with a moving billboard.
Showing that travelling by car does not have to be the conventional way to travel.

I love exploring my beautiful countryside at a pace that is quick enough to keep my interest yet slow enough to absorb what is visually on offer.


I love being a 'Mule' as part of the Travels with my Mule cycling team. I love the camaraderie of team work, competing and riding amongst large groups of other like minded people.

Today I ventured into town by foot.
As a cyclist I have always been able to relate to the expression 'Its just like riding a bike' but now I was ironically applying this to the prosess of walking.
A bit like Bambi in that early Disney production, I could have been mistaken for somebody that had already tucked into to the Sloe gin.
I was dressed in multiple layers of warm clothing and wearing boots with grips like tractor treads.
The pavements were thick with ice from old grey snow.
Snow that had tried in vain to thaw only to be crystallised during the night offering a morning 'slip up'.
My lack of cycling was making me heavy, both in mind and body and my progress was laboured.

My hometown Beverley is a pretty place, with traffic excluded from its main thoroughfare which leads between two market areas. Wednesday Market and Saturday Market.
As I followed this course I was entertained by brass bands playing Christmas Carols.


I have always associated brass bands with my native Yorkshire and when they play Carols it gives me goose bumps. Through emotion rather than the wind that is blown into the assorted instruments.

The street was filled with Christmas shoppers creating a sea of assorted bobbing winters hats and joyous faces. Children delirious with expectation, mothers anxious with anticipation and fathers weary with frustration and of getting their wallets out.

The air was filled with the smell of roasted chestnuts and Cinnamon and shimmering with festive cheer.
As I tapped my foot to the deep sound of the Tuba player and mouthed the words to the carol, I smiled and my mood instantly lifted.
You see there are some days in the year for cycling, some days for resting from cycling, but there should also be days when you should just take it all in.

Advent seems to fit this bill

sNOw go

Early winter has gripped much of UK including East Yorkshire.........meaning the bike stays in the shed and the feet are used instead

Managed to get out on Friday before things got too White !!!!!!