Stawy Morka, Kępno

I really struggle with landscape photography.

If my friend Andy had been with me when I took these, he would somehow have got things just right and produced something that you'd happily hang on your wall. 

But even using his lens and taking 50-odd pictures, I'm still not really happy with any of what I took.Maybe if I'd stood a bike against that bench...

I must practice...

These were taken at the Morka fishing lakes, about 500m from my in-laws' flat.

My Commuting Year.

For the last few years I have been following Chris' most excellent lockring.not.included blog.

People often tell me that they admire my commitment to riding, especially through the worst of the weather, but his daily pictures and cataloguing of the changing of the seasons almost always get me wishing that I'd gone further on the way home (or at least used the fixed gear).

Once again, his year's mileage stats makes mine look pretty pitiful, but here goes...

Total distance: 7487km (4653 miles)

Ridden to work: 148 days

Run to work: 16 days

Car to work: 37 days. Given that I wasn't allowed to ride a bike for 6 weeks at the start of the year, I'm still pretty please with what I have chalked up, although it will of course be much more next year (as everyone who does this sort of thing says at this time of year).

Winter:

Spring:

Summer:

Autumn:

As I've said before, getting up early every morning and riding to work won't add years to my life, but it certainly adds life to my years...

Snow Ride

I blew away a few cobwebs earlier with a ride out from Kępno.

It had been snowing before I set off and so the layers of black ice that covered the roads were masked with a fresh covering making staying upright and moving forward at the same time quite a challenge. The further I got from town, the less traffic had compacted the last months' worth of snow and the easier it became.

Air temperature was -8 Celsius (17F) that meant my breath froze onto my beard in lumps.

After 12km or so I headed into the forests. Logging work continues whatever the weather and so the tracks through the woods were passable. 
 
The route is here if you're at all interested.

Critical Mass in Wrocław on Friday, followed by a party in the Rynek (one of the most beautiful squares in Europe) and then on to the Czech Republic on Saturday for a couple of days of budget skiing...

2010 (so far) In Pictures

Christ on a bike, ChristMASS is a week away...

Another message from the nice people at Leicester Critical Mass:

Hello Folks.
The third Leicester Critical Mass is just a week away and anyone who has ridden either of the first two will probably, like us, be moist with excitement.

What has made the first two rides has been the people. The costumes, the smiles, bicycle bells and great positivity.

You're all lovely.

But so are your friends, so why not bring them along next week? 

Wrap-up warm, deck your bike with boughs of something christMASSy and we'll see you at Curve at 6.

CML

ChristMASS

King Creosote's World Tour of Fife.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to go to Scotland to follow King Creosote on the first three nights of his World Tour of Fife.
I should have written all about it at the time but didn't. So instead, here are a few pictures from the trip...

Sunday - six and a half hour drive from Leicester to St. Andrews. Drunk students, mexican food, the Ramilnes and KC performing the Queen of Brush County to 60 people.

Monday - rain, shaving foam and rich students, waves, Mark's sister and KC performing Inner Crail to Outer Space for 40 people in Anstruther village hall.

Tuesday - a low, wintery sun giving all day twilight, waves, a walk to Crail, a meeting with Kenny himself and a chat about the difficulty of F chords and KC performing '12 O'Clock on the Dot' for what felt like close, personal friends.