Highlight of the month was the World Rally Championship coming to Wales , more specifically Deeside next to the Toyota factory . To be honest you wouldn’t have known it was happening due next to non existant press and TV coverage.
I took the Van out to Llandegla on the Wednesday before the qualifying session. There is a night time MTB session so the carpark was open until 8pm. 
Lashing rain and hail punctuated the night with a healthy walk to the stage. I will add the video when I can get Google drive sorted. It took me about 5 hours to warm up after I got back to the van.
Next day it was a trip to the service park at Deeside. Again more pictures to follow.
Saturday was the Rallyfest stage at Chirk Castle. It was packed with cars taking hours to get in. This meant an early exit as it had the potential to turn into a mudbath.
This was it early on, I’ve given up taking pictures of rally cars with a mobile phone as they move too fast.
I had a mail from WordPress the other day, 7 years I’ve been doing this, doesn’t time fly. That prompted me to look at the British Heart Foundation site, It’s like the high street, charity shops and sponsored rides. You have to look for the heart and diet stuff, I was not very impressed by the direction they have taken.
Bought some of the Aldi Pro Cycling kit so that is due for a review in due course. It does appear to be well made with an improved pad. The coolmax pad of the old winter gear just didn’t get on with me.
The WRC did bring home to me how narrow the roads are for next years Tour de France. I’m going to have to book a site early as soon as the window opens.
Had a bit a f a busmans holiday holiday at Cheshire Oaks Caravan Club site(Fairoaks), same high standard as most of the other club sites with a bit of motorway noise in the background while outside the van. Stay the two nights to get some charge in the battery, fill up the water tank, empty the toilet cassette and get rid of the grey waste. Gave the van a clean too for good measure.
Had a cold trip out to the Eureka Cafe on Saturday with the temp down to 1,5 Deg C. Only one in there on arrival as the Saturday training rides had probably left. Christmas had come early as Anne , Holly and the staff were wearing reindeer antlers. 28 mile ride at the end of the day with a few stops.
Took the van and grandkids out to the Ice Cream farm at the weekend which was a first for a while. Not been since the Cafe and playbarn have been segregated. Dropped the kids off and returned the van to the storage only for Val to notice one of the tyre pressure led warning lights flashing. Can mean one of two things, the tyre has lost air gradually or I’ve picked up a nail. No time to look at it then so it is first thing on the agenda on the next block off.
The van seems to have less moisture in it these days as the crystal dehumidifier no longer seems to fill up as fast.
Been through a couple of the links on the side bar to see what others are doing , well I’m not alone in having a rough patch or two. I’ve spent a while trying to sort out all the pictures and videos on the phone as it is now full.
I’ve seen the future of Strava on the Google devfest that Paul presented at and it’s Google Glass. Segment warnings on the HUD , it had to happen. I’ll be trying to borrow his pair for a Strava test.
Been on the wagon for a week now and hopefully it is going to stick this time. Made the mistake of coming home from work via Runcorn only to get stuck in traffic for nearly 2 hours.
Another theme change is in the pipeline along with a return to the weeky updates. Some of the Pages are due for retirement or a spruce up.
Note the bike and not the name.
The end of the month has had me coming to grips with Google Chrome which was a bit mixed at the end of the day. I just want to get my pictures off the various devices and it hasnt gone well.
Had another trip out with the grandkids, this time to the Ice Cream Farm, things have changed since we last went. Still not a bad place to go if you want to read the Sunday Times in the playbarn.
The month ended with a 48 mile Wirral ride taking in the Coastal Path and the Wirral Way. The MagicShines had to go on low power as the battery seems to have lost it’s charge after last weeks battery trial.
I’m still not getting on with the Aldi Cycling Pro pads for whatever reason.
My first attempt at embedding a map in the blog why they wont let garmin connect do the same god knows.
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