Iam Miro

Komoot always names the rides when I upload them. I usually change the name, but today I’ll leave it. It felt like my first London ride, and it was in the morning. I had a short ride on my schedule and, since it was early, I decided to go and check out Cutty Sark, it felt like a good idea at the time. It wasn’t as great as it was in my head as i remember but then I saw the Thames Barrier, this was for the first time in my life — and I’ve lived in London for almost half of my life. I left around 6. The temperature was the same as yesterday, but I felt cold. I returned home after five minutes to get a jacket, and thank God for that — I wore it for the rest of the ride. I’ve never seen that many runners before, like today — along the river and everywhere else, all the time, wherever i turned. I visited parts I’d never been to. It was nice, but I still prefer getting out of London. I’ll ride into London when I get the chance, but only early, to miss all the traffic, and people. Got another puncture today — front wheel. The sealant sorted it out, but I’m questioning the tyres. I’ve had these visible sealant-spraying punctures maybe twice in one or two years on other tyres, so this feels like too much to have teo of them in two days. Let’s see. Now home: second breakfast, a footie game to go to with my boy, and then chill.

The night was good and I slept well. We agreed on a time to meet in the morning and everything went smoothly. The lady offered us breakfast, so we sat down to eat. She was very chatty, telling us lots of stories. Andrei was happy to talk, while I kept checking the time because we were running late — until the guys texted asking when we were coming. It was a nice, cold morning, and the route started with a climb straight away, so we warmed up quickly. The views didn’t disappoint as we were right in the middle of the national park. It was cloudy, but fine. Soon we hit the off-road sections, passing through the Penmachno MTB trails, with lots of forest trails. The other two guys hadn’t had breakfast, only some bits and were already looking forward to lunch in Betws-y-Coed village. It was about 50 km from the start that day. I recognised the place as I’d been there before with my family. It’s a really nice village — it felt like a ski resort, just without the snow. We had a nice lunch, some cake and coffee, and took a proper rest. After lunch, it was climbing again, with about 56 km to the finish. We had a train to catch and didn’t want to miss it, as that would have meant even more delays getting back to London. The trails were great, with beautiful views and an amazing sunset. We had one obstacle on the way that Andrei kept talking about — a bog. I don’t remember how long the section was supposed to be, but it had a reputation for being an unpleasant finish to the ride, about 7 km before the end. I didn’t mind — I’ve been through bogs and rivers before, so it was all part of the adventure. In the end, it wasn’t that bad and we didn’t get very wet. That last section was fun — dark, not always knowing exactly where to go, but so close to the finish. It was a great feeling. We reached Conwy, where we caught the train. We had some time before departure, so two of us went to a shop to buy food and then to the pub, while the other two went straight to the pub. The train ride back was great — sitting, chatting, and having a drink. It felt good to be warm, with a sense of achievement in both mind and muscles. Once we got back to Shrewsbury, it was time for the long car journey. After arriving in London, I still had another half-hour bike ride home. It was almost 1 a.m., but it felt good. It was a successful trip.

The day didn’t start as planned. We stayed in a hotel and I woke up around 2 a.m. after hearing knocking and banging on a door, thinking it was our room. It turned out to be next door or nearby. Someone opened the door and an argument started. I was trying to count how many people were involved in the shouting — I think it was two couples. Then, around 5 a.m., we got the news that the other two guys coming to ride had to turn around back. One of the bikes had fallen off the car’s bike rack and the handlebar was eaten by tarmac, it needed replacing, so we could stay in bed a bit longer. Once it was time, we got dressed, packed our stuff and bikes, and headed off to meet the other two at the train station in Shrewsbury. After an hour-long train ride to Machynlleth, we stopped for a quick coffee, did some handlebar adjustments, and set off. We started on roads and smooth cycle paths, made a few more bike adjustments, and soon hit the first hills — steep as a wall, but fun. The off-road sections were much better. The weather was great, the views were beautiful — what’s not to like? Because the temperatures weren’t very high and the climbs were steep, usually on the sunny side, the descents were cold, steep, and in the shade. I had to keep putting on and taking off my top layer constantly. It was ridiculous. We were behind schedule and had no time to waste. We had a B&B and a pub booked for the night and knew the pub served food only until a certain hour, so there was no time to hang around. Once it got dark, the temperature dropped and we were really looking forward to a warm place and some food. I was eating nonstop on the bike but still felt hungry for proper food. We reached the pub in Trawsfynydd, ordered food, and I changed out of my wet clothes into something dry and warm — it felt great. The boys ordered soup and burgers (questionable burgers). I ordered only a burger, not sure if more would be too much. I probably should have ordered something else, but it was fine — it was nice to eat something hot. Our accommodation wasn’t far. There was supposed to be another pub with a kitchen, and two of the guys decided to take a shortcut. Andrei and I stayed on the original route around Llyn Trawsfynydd, near the nuclear power station. It was a really nice gravel section with no wind for a change, and a bit spooky riding past the power station at night. Soon we arrived at the pub in Ffestiniog, but there was no food at all — the kitchen was closed. I don’t know why, maybe because of the time of year. Anyway, we had a drink and went to look for the B&B. Two of the guys stayed in the pub accommodation. We found the place, and a chatty lady showed us around. Then it was shower, food from whatever we had, and I shared since I had plenty. We dried our clothes, charged our devices, and went to sleep.

Another weekend was here, and I had a nice off-road ride on my mind. I had to go—I wanted to. Last weekend, the previous ride ended with the derailleur not working. Since it started working again when I got home, it went from Defcon2 priority to fix it down to Defcon4, or even Defcon5, and I didn’t do anything about it. Typical. Now, the night before the ride, it suddenly became my problem again. I checked it and found it was working intermittently, so it instantly went back to Defcon 2—but it was too late to sort anything out properly, obviously. So I started preparing my other bike, but that turned out to be too much work. I hadn’t used it for a month; it was left untouched in the corner after the last race, so I had to come up with another plan. I played around with the derailleur and found a “solution”—temporary only, an on-trail fix as they call it. It was working in the living room, but would it work on the trail? After being used and shaken properly? I didn’t know. We’d see. I woke up early, checked the derailleur—still OK. Let’s go. Got to the train—still working. Got to the trail—still working. So, let’s have some fun and beat the shit out of it 😜 I took pictures, enjoyed the views, rode in the fog—basically in the clouds. Then I saw the sun, and the views opened up again. Beautiful views. What a beautiful morning it was. So good. Today I took it easy, kept a controlled pace. I already feel tired, like I’ve had enough of everything. I’m looking forward to a few days off—off the bike, I mean—so I can get hungry again and train more. I’m glad I went out. That ride felt exactly like what the doctor ordered.

Been out late, had a few glasses of wine, chatting and eating, but felt good so decided to go for an early one again. Left home at 5:30, on the trail by 6:30. A nice 4-hour ride was planned. Took it easy, but my rear derailleur had a different idea. It stopped working at the beginning of the route. Pressed the button on its body—all good again. Five minutes later, it stopped once more. Pressed the button, the LED came on… and then it completely died. Wouldn’t connect to the app, not even to the pod/controller. I ChatGPT-ed the issue, spent some time on it, and found no solution. So I turned around and decided to go home—riding the whole way single-speed. About 40 km. Yeah, why not? There are nutters who do 1,000-mile ultras on single-speed bikes, met few of them on races. I was brave… until a muddy hill 😂. The image of a comfy sofa, warmth, and nice food won in my head, so I decided to take the train instead. I cycled to a station that turned out to be closest. Thought, I’ll have to wait for a train anyway, maybe I can catch a better connection from the next station, so I added more distance and kept going. In the end, I caught the same train I would’ve taken from the first station—but after cycling more and having to push hard just to make it. I mean, I still had some sort of fun. Not as planned, but it actually worked out better for my other life—the family one. I got home earlier, could go to my boy’s full game, and continue a lovely sunny Sunday with family. Sometimes bad things happen for a reason. The funny thing is, the derailleur started working again at home, usual stuff 😜 Still playing up, not fully dead, but it definitely needs a warranty call. Better to have this issue now rather than in the middle of absolute nowhere during a race in mountains. Let’s call this ride: “Call for Help?” 😄

Usual early ride to the train station, this time heading to Guildford. I started at 6:30 at the beginning of my route. The sky already looked amazing, and I kept stopping to take photos — it’s just part of my riding, I guess. This time the views were truly stunning; you can see for yourself if you like them too. Not far from town, in the middle of nowhere, in the dark, I saw lights and people standing around with head torches. I had no idea what was going on — thieves planning something? Walkers heading out early? As I got closer, I said good morning and chatted with one of them. It turned out to be an ultra trail running event: 100 miles, and even some 200 miles. He pointed to two guys standing on their own and said, “Those ones are not the 100-milers — they’re something else.” This was a feeding station stop, which explained the crowd. I left them behind and soon joined one runner going uphill, chatting as we went. He had started at 2 p.m. on Friday; it was just before 7 a.m., and he had only 12 miles to go. Not bad at all. I’d finally fitted new tyres, and the grip was absolutely brilliant 🤩. I had so much fun and felt so confident on the bike — no sliding side to side at all. Maybe a bit too much pressure, though, so I stopped to let some air out. I unscrewed the valve core fully for a second together with cap, screwed it back quickly… and of course had to pump the wheel again anyway. Silly me. As soon as I reached the edge of the Surrey Hills, the views were insane: inversion, clouds, sun — straight out of a postcard. I sent a photo to the wider family whatsapp group and asked them to guess my height above sea level on picture for a prize. Guesses came in at 700, 900, even 1,400 metres. After I hinted that I was in the UK — where the highest point is only 1,345 m — and that the real height would be “surprisingly laughable,” the winning guess was 135 m. Actual height: around 120 m above sea level. It was a beautiful morning — sunny, incredible views, what’s not to like? Power numbers and everything else were high too, not intentionally, just a really good grip i say as i pushed on flat and hills. Cane out of bushes and onto Whitedown Lane, steep road climb i did not long ago. i was not ready fir this today but climb without any issues. Coming back into Guildford offered another above-the-clouds view, town was covered by a clouds. Once I dropped into town it turned low-visibility, cloudy, and cold, what a day.

Sunday ride. Looked like it would rain where I wanted to go, plus I had an extra thing to do in the morning, so I thought I might not ride at all. Maybe I could go on the road, but I didn’t really want to. I wondered where I could go that’s a bit off-road near me. Of course—along the Thames, then Richmond Park, Wimbledon Common… oh yeah, I’ve done that many times. So I planned it, woke up early, and left at 5:20. I was in a good mood. This is basically a night ride. No one anywhere—literally empty roads. I love it. I reached the river and had fun. Not pushing it, just enjoying it. It started raining earlier than it was supposed to, but who cares—once you’re wet, you’re wet. Still warm enough, so all good. The Richmond Park deer were just chilling here and there, not bothered by me. Two-hour ride, not cold, just a bit wet, and home before sunrise. So yeah—night ride.

Another early morning — woke up at 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep. Stayed in bed till 5, then got ready for a ride. Left home, train, and was on the trail by 6:50. Took about half an hour to get through the first 3 km with all the faffing, taking pictures, and sudden need of number two, luckily found public toilets in the middle of nowhere, lifesavers. The ride felt weird — felt slow and barely any effort going in, just a chill spin. Checked the normalised power and thought, … not bad.” Still rolling on worn hard-pack fast tyres, so with all the mud from the recent rain (and last night’s rain), it was basically like riding on ice. Ordered proper winter/mud tyres which arrived on Thursday… but one was black and the other brown. Waiting for the matching black one next week. Near the end, tried to chase a train. Pushed hard but realised I wasn’t going to make it, so added a few extra kilometres to kill time. Weather was mild, no rain, a bit windy, some sunshine — pretty decent overall. It was muddy but i took ass saver, didnt like it before as not looking good, but it was great, it did save my ass. “it did what it said on the tin!” I had fun, this was a good ride.