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Despite the bank holiday weather being as rubbish as ever (unless you like wind and persistent rain), the last few days have been good fun. Barbecue on Saturday where I consumed a year’s supply of protein (no rippling muscles have started to appear yet, which seems like a bit of a swizz) then a ride over to Macclesfield on Sunday down some of the Pennine Bridleway. I remembered to do some running with the cross bike on the way too; getting some funny looks from the walkers that I went past in the process, bike on shoulder whilst running up Lantern Pike. It was fun though despite me really needing to spend some time getting the brakes working as they should before I do another big ride on this bike.

It’s funny how disc brake manufacturers would have you to believe that their products are relatively maintenance-free. In the last couple of years I’ve had to almost constantly lavish attention on the Avid cable brakes on the cyclocross bike because if I don’t (and I haven’t been), they get all underpowered and noisy. This is in spite of adjusting the pads before a ride to make sure that the brake levers don’t reach the bars before the brake actually starts to slow the bike down. Still, I’m guessing that they’re still a lot more powerful than the cantilever brakes that I’ll no doubt be using before long….

 Yesterday we took the girls for a ride on the East Lancs Railway for the Teddy Bears’ Picnic in Ramsbottom. Kids go free as long as they’ve brought Teddy. We shared the afternoon with some Morrismen and some gun-toting cowboys from Bolton. They weren’t very good at all – only one gun seemed to work properly.