Death by Yorkshire

June 16th/17th.  Malham, Yorkshire.
The walking around Malham Cove and Gordale scar was pleasant and easy enough with incredible scenery.  Awesomely massive inland cliffs and strange rock formations that make you feel tiny and unable to take it all in at once.
.....And then came an afternoon of cycling..... 20% gradients that only seem to keep going up, and up and up.  Why???  this isn't fun! is it???  oh great! now lets have buckets of cold rain and make my hands and arms go numb!  When it did finally go down I thought I'd take advantage of the coffin beckoning velocity to get some speed up and kill off the next uphill grind, but no!!!  of course there's a cattle grid at the bottom, of course there is!  Bec just ignored my moaning and pushed on.
After the first 10 miles I pulled myself together and actually very much enjoyed the rest of the cycle, speeding along in my top gears on undulating hills across open Yorkshire country I was actually laughing uncontrollably out loud at the thrill, because, well I'm weird like that.
A great place to visit..... even for the cycling!
Anyway here's a load of photos.....

RRRC

As we all know the rules of the road are different for cyclists than for motorists, there are certain things us pedal pushers can get away with, rules we can bend, laws it's okay to ignore.  Now the two minor crashes I've had recently can not be pointed to as a result of these relaxed rules of the road, getting hit by a car on a roundabout (not my fault), and falling off after hitting an over zealous dog (not my fault) are just the type of incident we cyclists have to learn to cope with.  I feel it's about time someone put down in writing the revised rules of the road for cyclists (RRRC)

• Switching between road and pavement at will is any cyclists right.  sometimes it's to avoid traffic, sometimes we spot a handy shortcut or sometimes we just feel like it.  Don't beep at me, I'm allowed to do it.
• Signalling to turn is not always necessary, if I'm turning left it is certainly not a necessity and if I've moved to the middle of the road it's pretty obvious I'm turning right anyway without sticking an arm out.
• Traffic Lights - now you should probably stop at a red light most of the time but again if your turning left then most junctions will probably be safe to jump the lights.  This can be taken at the riders own judgement.
• At a pedestrian crossing what's the point in waiting for a red light when nobody is crossing? And when someone is crossing just go when they've gone past, waiting until they've fully crossed the road to the other side is a silly rule especially in the case of a slowly hobbling pensioner.
• It's night, you've got no lights but don't worry, you're a cyclist so you can ride on the pavement!

The RRRC are not a license to flaunt road safety but more a common sense approach to embrace the benefits of cycling over driving.  There are undoubtedly more points we could add to this list but the thing to remember is yes cycle safe but also exercise your right to cycle smart.

disclaimer- I will not be held responsible for any person who becomes hospitalised or becomes the victim of road rage due to illogical and irrational drivers.  Following the RRRC is at your own discretion and therefore you are responsible for your own safety.  Note that the RRRC relates to UK roads and readers from America or any other country that drives on the wrong side of the road should switch left for right and right for left.

Pot holes

Now I know everyone is complaining about pot holes already but on my route to work there are holes in the roads comparable to the grand canyon. Remember that programme called kickstart that had the trail bikes going through an obstacle course? Well that's what it's like for me cycling to work.  quick decisions need to be made, its either swerve around pot hole in front of oncoming traffic or phone for a rescue helicopter to  fly me over the gaping chasm to safety

Sitting down is what Britain does best

Spent the day watching rowing and cycling and first two golds of the olympics for GB, particularly enjoyed Wiggins and Froome in the time trials.  Now that the sitting down events are in full flow the gold medals should come flooding in, after all sitting down is what Britain does best.
Inbetween sitting watching olympic action we have also been teased by the olympic ticket website dangling a carrot that says athletics tickets are available!!!.....click select tickets.....you can't have them though! aah ha says the website, but there's more available!! look! sunday night- the 100m final! yes quick click select,  wow, yes they're available......in the £725 seats...  etc etc etc.

deflated? nah!

Getting into the cycling now, the speed and feel makes riding a mountain bike comparable to driving the Flintstones car with rocks for wheels.  However after only a week I've totalled 4 flat tyres caused by the pothole ridden roads of Crewe, not sure whether its due to shite inner tubes or a kamikaze riding style, probably the latter.  Anyway the regular practice has reduced my puncture repairing time from 2 hours to 10 minutes.