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After yesterdays very wet ride the temperature dropped enough for the heating to come on this morning.
This along with all the trees/heather beginning to change colour and undergrowth dying back has resigned me to the fact autumn is here.
So today to celebrate and embrace that fact we went for a short ride, then shower, quick bite to eat and headed to the local brewery for a few beers.
Swift walk home in the drizzle then a takeaway curry.
How are you embracing the change?
I wore a long-sleeved jersey for my bike ride today.
Chasing the sun 🤔
I'm struggling to embrace it at the moment. Autumn's arguably my favourite time of year. I love bright crisp Autumn days, wonderful colours & that Autumn smell but in recent years Autumn just seems to have been a washout.
After this year's rather excellent Summer I'm still holding out hope for a proper Autumn.
I wore a long-sleeved jersey for my bike ride today.
Are you an Ebiker?
Some dick on hear said he noticed they always wear warm clothing. 😉
Well be doing that for a week next Saturday with some Spanish riding.
Same here!
Making apple pie - we have an abundance of apples currently.
Just left Ainsa and it was hot. The riding and the views were amazing. Thinking of going back in 2027 and spending longer in the surrounding area. 🤔
Need to do some research
Hope you both have as much fun as we did 🥳
Put the CH on. In my defence I have just returned from a fortnight in Andalucia.
I’ve found a blackthorn where I wasn’t expecting one and now have enough sloes for a litre of hedge-brew, and will be checking whether the apples are ripe enough to pick tomorrow.
Put the CH on. In my defence I have just returned from a fortnight in Andalucia.
I've done the same. In my defence I was cold.
After sleeping for the last few months only under the duvet cover, I have put the duvet back inside. The thinnest least-tog one of course.
Picked a kilo of rosehips to make syrup, I'll bottle it up for the winter ahead. Delicious vitamin c boost and perfect on pancakes or as a hot drink or in gin
Double post
Double post
I wore arm sleeves on my ride and I can sleep again at night. No heating on yet. And prepped the Zwift set up.
I've had a good sulk and felt really tired, possibly SAD systems starting, maybe just suffering from too many big effort days on the bikes.
With sunset now being barely after 1920, it's getting increasingly difficult to do a decent ride outdoors after dinner before it goes pitch black and it will be nigh on impossible in a couple of weeks.
Gutted there is no sign of an Indian summer this September.
after this afternoons bike ride...
rewaterproofing my jacket!
has anyone tried this stuff ? https://muc-off.com/products/rain-shield-re-proofer-250ml
New Winter socks arrived.
Put proper mudguards back on Gravel bike.
Building up a list of Tat quality cycling bits and bobs to sell over the dark months.
All lights charged up.
Will dig out the 'change of seasons' box from the attic soon, and put away most of my summer gear.
My first autumn in Scotland for decades.
It gets dark quickly here. It's colder than the south. I have a lot of apples and blackberries. I'm going to start having porridge for breakfast (with apples and blackberries).
Thanking god my late summer cold/COVID seems to be buggering of!
Put a new front tyre on the hard tail for the next 6 months.
Cleaned a bike for the first time since March or something
New outdoor furniture arrives Wednesday 😎
New outdoor furniture arrives Wednesday
I console myself with the fact you'll be saying it's too hot to ride soon. 😆
Massive mudguard and light went back on the MTB on Wednesdays night ride.
Sweeping leaves every day from now to winter.
Generally love autumn but struggling so far this. The early nights can sod off frankly. Been struggling a bit with depression most of this year anyway so I'm a bit more wary of SAD symptoms than usual as I don't need that thrown in the mix as well.
I've put my slippers and a sweater on this morning.
Still wearing shorts though.
I've had a good sulk and felt really tired, possibly SAD systems starting, maybe just suffering from too many big effort days on the bikes.
With sunset now being barely after 1920, it's getting increasingly difficult to do a decent ride outdoors after dinner before it goes pitch black and it will be nigh on impossible in a couple of weeks.
Gutted there is no sign of an Indian summer this September.
Get a light? Night riding is fun.
Heating kicked in this morning. No chill in the bathroom, towels felt warm and not damp. Made a Monday morning almost bearable
Wife has started lighting scented candles 🙄 whoever invented them , why !!!!!
Wife has started lighting scented candles 🙄 whoever invented them , why !!!!!
To counteract the smell of autumnal wet socks on the radiator?
Strained last year's sloe gin which is nicely matured now.
Picked 1.5kg of sloes for a bumper batch this year.
The first toad in the hole is surely just around the corner.
I think tonight's ride will be a Zwift session in the garage. First one since late March. Always feel better after a spin on the bike, be it regular mountain bike, e- mountain bike, road bike or Zwift, but actually finding the motivation to swing my leg over a bike is always the biggest challenge and darker wetter evenings aren't helping.
At the moment though, I'm all fired up for a ride tonight. Let's see how the day, and 2hr public transport commute home, leaves me feeling this evening. Wish me luck!
Arm warmers came out for the first time in 6 months.
And I’m now sleeping under a duvet rather than just the cover.
I think I’ll also have to accept that it’s now just too cold for flip-flops on the morning dog walk.
Still wearing shorts though, obviously.
Well, so much for wishing myself luck!
Still relatively fired up for a bit of a workout last night, I left the lab and headed homeward. My bus was cancelled, and the next one on the hourly service got into Buchanan bus station 30 minutes late, giving me a delightful 210 min commute home. Oh, and the guy who sat down next to me was unbelievably minging drunk.
Not to be deterred, I nipped out to the garage, and had my first Zwift session since March. 20km, 220m of climbing in 40 minutes. Not bad for me in my current state.
Showered, watched a bit of telly and bedtime. Then I had the joys of a low level diabetic hypo, pretty much all night. Not bad enough to realise what was going on, but just enough to keep me awake most of the night
4.45am, my alarm doesn't go off. It was the panic in the eyes of my cats that alerted me to the fact their breakfast was 30 minutes overdue and I had no time to sort my own. So I fed the beasts and quickly rushed out the door to try and catch the bus I was now late for.
I'm sitting on it now, broken down at the side of the motorway. Lucky White Heather, anyone?
Opening the shutters on the sunny side of the house and airing in the day rather than at night.
Canons Ashby visit on Sunday (lovely autumn garden) followed by getting the log burner on
My first autumn in Scotland for decades.
It gets dark quickly here. It's colder than the south.
We haven't gone past the autumn equinox yet, sunset is still slightly later the further north you are.
Off to Spain on Friday for a week of riding. Should provide a nice little epilogue to Summer. Also booked a few days away in Aviemore for the October holidays which will, no doubt, feature starry night skies, crisp Autumn days and/or a chance to test some new wet weather gear.
Cook stew tomorrow.Pork, Brussel Sprouts and Tatties I think.
It’s 24°c here today, probably because it’s still summer. Autumn doesn’t start till the 22nd.
as for celebrations, going to a pumpkin patch and a pumpkin maze, drinking pumpkin beer and pumpkin spiced lates and possibly having some pumpkin pie. Anything involving pumpkins really.
With sunset now being barely after 1920, it's getting increasingly difficult to do a decent ride outdoors after dinner before it goes pitch black and it will be nigh on impossible in a couple of weeks.
That’s what lights are for. Although there seems to be a segment of the cycling community who are obviously unaware of the concept.
With sunset now being barely after 1920, it's getting increasingly difficult to do a decent ride outdoors after dinner before it goes pitch black and it will be nigh on impossible in a couple of weeks.
That’s what lights are for. Although there seems to be a segment of the cycling community who are obviously unaware of the concept.
I have lights, i've not fitted them to a bicycle for 10 years though.
Not riding my bike because it's dark doesn't compute.
Night rides are ace - although I didn't do many last year tbh, but that's generally down to not being around in the week and riding was mostly at weekends
Re: Autumn, I'm still trying to deny it in my head although the outside has different opinions.
Hopefully we get some crisp days and beautiful colours - hate it when we get a storm early/mid autumn and it offs all the leaves early 🍁
One positive - some of my favourite clothes can come out of the wardrobe. Check shirts, boots, parka, hats etc
Not sure why I took this crappy picture last year, probably something to do with the Frahm coat
Taking every Friday off between now and Xmas. Going to go do stuff with the better half. Loads of stuff to see and do we've never got round to it. Unless it's a crisp autumn day in which case I'll be going riding 🙂
Having missed the summer through injury, I'm making the most of the autumn!
Wore a hat going to work.
Put mudguard on the hardtail.
Bought cough medicine today.
Off to Spain on Friday for a week of riding.
Switchbacks by any chance?
Basque MTB's High Pyrenees trip. Very excited and mildly bricking it.
How do I celebrate Autumn? Cooking some very delicious Japanese curry stew (must be the real deal imported from Japan). Try it. Very easy to cook and taste good too. 😀
Just done 2500 vertical in an 83km loop over some Basque cols. Nothing unusual about that except it was 33°C on 17 September. Or when Autumn can't be arsed to kick Summer out.
All these people coming to Spain... there's a lovely late summer heatwave here at the moment, which is going to break this weekend... so hopefully you'll all have decent weather, but I'm not sure it's guaranteed!
So at least in Madrid Autumn hasn't really hit yet. I did have to wear a light jacket while walking the dog once this week, if that counts?
Spring here, so celebrated by buying a 1977 Mini Moke. Now the race is on to get the big overhaul work done before it turns oven hot in what will undoubtedly feel like only a weeks time.
Staying indoors in the dry, feet up and reading lots. S’posed to be warmer and dryer for a few days, so I might get the bike out and go for a few rides.
Put my winter duvet on just before heading to switchbacks for a weeks riding where yesterday it got up to 32 on our day off. It’s going to be a shock to the system to return but glad to have missed some heavy rain.
Winter quilt, roast potatoes, proper south westerlies at West Kirby Marine Lake and hoping the new radiator I ordered for the living room gets here before I need to turn the heating on.
I used to get a little week of melancholy when I had to accept the summer has gone but after the last few years of hot weather (maybe coupled with moving to a house with a south facing garden) it's now more of a relief
Sprouts are back in the supermarket 👍
Our walnut tree is being exceedingly prolific!
it's getting increasingly difficult to do a decent ride outdoors after dinner before it goes pitch black and it will be nigh on impossible in a couple of weeks.
Sorry if I'm suggesting the bleeding obvious, but I always ride before dinner (known as tea up here) - did you consider that?
Trying to meet autumn by being grateful for the lovely long summer this year and re-finding my wet riding skills on Tuesday's ride (not bad but room for improvement).
I adore the sun, warmth and late nights of summer - seemingly more so as the years go by 😩
For this reason I'm not looking forward to winter at all and Autumn is just a prelude to the misery that is on the horizon. So I'm not 'celebrating' it at all - instead I'm trying to make it go away with a trip to Croatia next week and maybe another trip somewhere properly warm in my most hated month, November.
When the inevitable happens the stoves will be fired up, I'll probably embrace cooking more than during the summer, spend time in the barn prepping the boat for next summer and we'll grab every opportunity we can to get to the beach.
I've also had this stupid idea that I'm going to get back on the rowing machine and set a low target of just 1km every day [I'm here] until Xmas. That starts after Croatia 😉
(I also fancy learning to TIG weld! I don't have a requirement for it but it seems like a fun thing to try ..... we'll see about that one.)
I am now planning out the winter turbo setup again. Sadly not enough apples or hops came through this year for me to brew cider like last year or make a beer with the hops.
Oh yeah, I need to start moving firewood in again.
I'm trying to make it go away with a trip to Croatia next week
Just back from there, really missing the weather and amazing coastline (if not the mardy locals so much 😆 )
Well we'll be on a boat so not too much local interaction 😉
It's nice.... this will be our 4th trip!
Not a celebration but today definitely marked a shift in clothing requirements for my commute!
Had to break out the softshell jacket, full finger gloves and a buff.
Chilly on the platform waiting for my delayed train this morning. Cars in the station carpark overnight were frosted over.
Just to add to my previous comment, it got very windy the other evening, when I went out to deal with the birds and hedgehogs food, I noticed the wind was practically blowing my apple tree out of its pot, which led to around forty minutes of me tethering the tree in place, then deciding to strip the tree of all its apples, before all the branches broke off. I’ve now got five or six kilos of very sweet, juicy apples to work through! The most I’ve ever had from the tree has been eight or nine or so, if I was lucky.
🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎😋
On a hill overnight for the equinox with good food and a decent single malt. There's a tent in there if you look hard enough.
I’ve got up early and made the first soup of the season - my wife is celebrating with a cracking cough!
Sweet potatoes and apple with some spices and other vegetables.
Still chasing the sun. Trails above Pietra and Ranzi today.
