The good weather has stayed around for another week. Not as warm and sunny as last week but despite the grey skies and chilly winds it has stayed dry which is the most important. As my fitness is at a pretty good level and I’m going back to work tomorrow I thought it would be a good idea to get my 100K done nice and early this month, especially as the weather may not last.
I was tempted to go a longer route this month, especially having seen one of the guys in the club doing a great 110K route last week. However, I’m still not comfortable going far from home and having to use garages and shops for comfort breaks and food stops. I decided to stick with a similar route to the last two to be on the safe side and be able to have my break at home again.
I modified it slightly again though. This time I did three overlapping loops. Clady to Ballybofey (37km), Strabane to Killygordon (37km) and Clady to Killygordon (26km). I had my break at 74km which was perfect again. This route worked really well as there was a gusty, cold SE breeze. This was a real hassle on the first loop but the second one used the wind better by going down the sheltered back road and back the main road with a bit of a tailwind. The third loop was OK too but short enough not to matter.
At 52km the sun came out briefly and I stopped to eat a bar and admire the huge 5.5m tall metal sculpture at the border in Strabane. It’s officially called “Let the Dance Begin” but in typical irreverent Irish humour it’s known locally as “The Tinnies” as Tinney is a local surname. The artist is Maurice Harron who is a very far out family relation. The site of the sculpture is highly significant too as it’s the former location of the “Camel’s Hump” British Army border checkpoint from The Troubles and dismantled in 1999 after the signing of The Good Friday Agreement (1998).
click the image to view on strava
The tone of the recent government announcements about lockdown restrictions suggest that we might see some relaxations from early April. I hope to go somewhere more interesting and further away for next month’s challenge🤞
So today I did something very different. I’ve made and uploaded my very first YouTube video!
The idea behind it came from a video I watched by Mark from the Twin Peaks Wild Camping channel. The concept is to go out into the woods, make yourself a tea or coffee (a brew), film the process and upload it to YouTube. The purpose is to speak about mental health and especially mental health in men who are particularly poor at talking about mental health issues.
I feel that this is a very important topic and needs as much publicity as possible. This blog won’t get that out to a very big audience but I am tagging two other channels that I follow. They are Paul Messner and Simon A Bloke in The Woods. Between them they have just over 200K subscribers and if they accept the challenge then that is big publicity.
I don’t go into anything too personal in the video but I think it’s important to highlight that everyone struggles with their mental health at times. Sometimes people who seem the happiest on the outside are unhappy on the inside. Sometimes this is just a day here and there and sometimes it’s many, many days at a time. Keep an eye on those around you, especially your friends. Don’t be afraid to check if they are OK. If you are struggling with your mental health please know that you are not alone no matter how much you may feel you are.
Here in Ireland there are two main organisations for anyone looking for help or just someone to talk to.
This is also why I was out on the MTB yesterday. I wanted to do a bit of exploring to find a good spot, somewhere pleasant to sit and film and where I wouldn’t be disturbed. I found a cracking spot along the river in my local Monellan woods. This is also why I made the alcohol stove and billy can earlier in the week. You can watch the video below to see how I got on.
This morning was getting some jobs done about the house. Tempocyclist will be glad to hear that one of them was cleaning my bike which was on the plan before he published his latest blog 😄
Post lunch the idea was a ride on the road bike of approximately 60km but I just couldn’t get motivated for it. I think it may have been a bit of burnout after 6 days in a row but I’m mostly blaming it on the weather. It was cold here all day with a mist hanging just overhead giving a hateful grey and gloomy feel to the day. Just over 2 hours on the road in that was totally unappealing.
Instead I decided to get the MTB out instead. I fancied an hour or so wandering around the local roads and forests. I ditched the usual gear and threw my walking trousers over my bib shorts and stuck on my hiking shoes having switched my bike pedals to the flats. I wanted to be able to jump off the bike and do a bit of exploring in Monellan.
In the end up I was out for almost 2.5hours including just over half an hour exploring. I even took time to stop for a few photos.
A slog on the road turned into a great local wander. I even found a cracking spot along the river for tomorrow morning. I’m really glad I decided to change my plans.
Amos Decker — the FBI consultant with a perfect memory — returns to solve a gruesome murder in a booming North Dakota oil town in the newest thriller in David Baldacci’s #1 New York Times bestselling Memory Man series.
When Amos Decker and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison are called to London, North Dakota, they instantly sense that the thriving fracking town is ripe for trouble. The promise of a second gold rush has attracted an onslaught of newcomers all hoping for a windfall, and the community is growing faster than houses can be built. The sudden boom has also brought a slew of problems with it, including drugs, property crimes, prostitution — and now murder.
Decker and Jamison are ordered to investigate the death of a young woman named Irene Cramer, whose body was expertly autopsied and then dumped in the open — which is only the beginning of the oddities surrounding the case. As Decker and Jamison dig into Irene’s life, they are shocked to discover that the woman who walked the streets by night as a prostitute was a teacher for a local religious sect by day — a sect operating on land once owned by a mysterious government facility that looms over the entire community.
London is a town replete with ruthless business owners, shady government officials, and religious outsiders, all determined to keep their secrets from coming out. When other murders occur, Decker will need all of his extraordinary memory and detective skills, and the assistance of a surprising ally, to root out a killer and the forces behind Cramer’s death. . . before the boom town explodes.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
It’s a while since I read any David Baldacci books and I was looking forward to reading another installment in the Amos Decker story but this was a bit disappointing. It felt like the author was just going through the motions and that this is a book written for money rather than a good story.
The biggest problem is that he tries to take three different mysteries that are only loosely connected. It would have been better to drop to one or probably two and keep a tighter storyline.
The author also depends too much on Amos’ perfect memory as a crutch. I lost track of how many times that he sat down, accessed his “cloud” and suddenly had a flash of inspiration that became a significant break in the case.
Will Robie and eventually Jessica Reel are pretty much shoehorned into this book. Again they’re used as a crutch to make storyline moves, they always seem to be in the right place at the right time and it does neither character any great favours.
The overall story is worth reading and I did enjoy the book. The three cases have merit, I just would have liked to see two of them developed better. It was also nice to meet Amos again and see how his personality is changing and developing. The final reveal did surprise me in the end up even if it was all a bit “Scooby Doo” and “those pesky kids”. Now that he’s updated Amos’ story I hope he is considering a return to the Camel Club.
Part of the attraction for bikepacking for me is the additional gear especially tent options, sleeping systems and cooking systems. The Alpkit Bruler is currently top of my wishlist.
As well as the many professional versions out there, alcohol stoves have an amazing variety of DIY options. Try a search of YouTube and be prepared to disappear down a deep rabbit hole!
One of the simplest options is the tuna can stove which sometimes referred to as the cat food stove, due to the similar can size.
I have a plan for later in the week that requires some sort of cooking system so I decided to try and create one of these DIY stoves. I watched an interesting (to me at least!) video of slightly more complex versions of the tuna can stove and picked the one I thought would be easiest to make.
stove stage 1: supplies & tools
Supplies: Tuna can x 2 (identical size), soup/beans tin x 1 (all empty and labels removed), wire coat hanger.
enjoy emptying them first
Tools: Needle nose pliers, tin snips, drill, 12mm, 5mm & 3mm metal drill bits.
stage 2: inner layer
Take one of the tuna cans and using the needle nose pliers put a series of crimps in the sides approximately 2-3cm apart. Do this by gripping the side and twisting the pliers to one side. This creates vents for the alcohol vapour and allows you to slide this can inside the other with the base facing upwards.
stage 3: external burners
Using the 5mm bit drill a series of holes close to the top of the outer can approximately 1-2cm apart all the way around the can. I’m not sure if it’s correct but I also drilled through the inner can.
Change to the 3mm bit and drill smaller holes in between the first set. Neatness and accuracy may help here but don’t seem to be a priority on any of the videos I watched.
stage 4: top burner hole
Using the largest drill bit you have (mine was 12mm) drill a hole in the centre of the top of the stove (ie. the base of the inside can). Using the tin snips cut slits in the edge of the hole and press the edges inwards using the side of the needle nose pliers. Repeat the cutting and bending until the hole is still roughly circular and as wide as you require. I used one of the circles on the base as a guide.
bigger snips will give you a neater hole
That’s the stove complete. Denatured alcohol is the cheapest and easiest fuel to source. It’s most commonly sold as methalyted spirits.
If you prefer to watch a video from someone that knows exactly what they are doing the YouTube link below is where I got the design and instructions.
billy can stage 1: body & handle
This is a lot simpler. Using the large drill bit make two holes, directly opposite each other close to the top of the soup can.
Cut a piece of the wire coat hanger approximately 20cm long. Bend back the ends of this inwards approx 1-2cm making hook shapes. Shape the rest of the wire into a curve making the rough shape of a handle. Pass the hooks through the holes in the side of the can and squeeze them tight using the pliers to stop the handle slipping out when in use.
stage 2: lid
A lid isn’t necessary but it will retain heat in the can, speed up the boiling process and use less fuel. I used the lid from one of the tuna cans. Using the large drill bit make a hole in the centre of the lid. Cut a piece of the wire coat hanger approximately 6-8cm long. Bend the two ends until they meet and push half their length through the hole from the outside. Bend the edges back to prevent them pulling back through and leave a loop on the top.
The remaining piece of the hanger can be used as a hook for lifting the lid or the whole can off the stove without burning your fingers.
That’s the complete DIY cooking system. I plan to use it later this week. This plan will involve creating a YouTube video which I’m a bit leary of but I guess it will be good to get outside my comfort zone.
niall harran 