Well today started badly as I had the supremely daft idea of doing my commute on the main roads. I would rather do the "ice cream " run on Rivi with no brakes and blindfolded, what an absolutely stupid, brainless idea it turned out to be.
Nobody in a car it would seam at that time in the morning can see no more than the end of their bonnet and have an arc of vision no greater than straight ahead, how they don't kill each other, let alone kill more pedestrians and cyclists is any bodies guess.
Now it has become apparent that 8 Months of heavy regular commuting has killed my cassette and chain and they now require changing, this will have to wait until after my Holiday as all funds need to be directed at my trip and weekend bike for the next 2 weeks.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Wot no Ride!!!
Well no ride today as its been raining, now normally this would not bother me but I do not feel 100% and I cannot be bothered to clean my bike again. Also I have not had chance to burn my new brake pads in so I don't want to go wearing out 2 new sets in 1 ride.
Now this might seem like a set of very poor reasons but I will be on Holiday soon and I want to keep things working without too much fuss.
Richard was not up for a ride today and Rob may have been if he was not in the Lake District, will text later to find out if I missed out on as ride partner.
New tyres on the commute, got rid of big and knobbly, now I am running smooth and fast (Panaracer UFFDA?) City jump tyres (not for me) and they roll a lot faster but pick up more debris, oh well cant have everything.
Now this might seem like a set of very poor reasons but I will be on Holiday soon and I want to keep things working without too much fuss.
Richard was not up for a ride today and Rob may have been if he was not in the Lake District, will text later to find out if I missed out on as ride partner.
New tyres on the commute, got rid of big and knobbly, now I am running smooth and fast (Panaracer UFFDA?) City jump tyres (not for me) and they roll a lot faster but pick up more debris, oh well cant have everything.
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Ladybower Loop (Brill)
Richard on top of First accent and view towards Derwent water.
Well I got out with the new bars and helmet and had a blast of a day with Richard.
We did the Ladybower loop, and it was hard work but bloody good fun, technical in places (by technical I mean you had to push) it was a day of new experiences and skills, it was FAB (still buzzing).
We kicked off from the car park opposite Ladybower Damn and headed straight into an extremely technical climb!!! by a Pub (did not see name) this was when the first batch of rain caught us, not to much trouble as it was drizzle more than anything else, we had 2 bad bouts but it was warm come the afternoon so it did not worry us.
Any way will not go into too much detail as it will bore you, but if you have a spare 4 to 5 hrs go and do it, but check you have plenty of disc pads as they wear away very quickly with the grit stone paste (will be changing both ends tomorrow).
Again great ride with Richard, had a blast and a laugh and will be doing it again as soon as I can.
We did the Ladybower loop, and it was hard work but bloody good fun, technical in places (by technical I mean you had to push) it was a day of new experiences and skills, it was FAB (still buzzing).
We kicked off from the car park opposite Ladybower Damn and headed straight into an extremely technical climb!!! by a Pub (did not see name) this was when the first batch of rain caught us, not to much trouble as it was drizzle more than anything else, we had 2 bad bouts but it was warm come the afternoon so it did not worry us.
Any way will not go into too much detail as it will bore you, but if you have a spare 4 to 5 hrs go and do it, but check you have plenty of disc pads as they wear away very quickly with the grit stone paste (will be changing both ends tomorrow).
Again great ride with Richard, had a blast and a laugh and will be doing it again as soon as I can.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Mid Week rant!!!
Why oh Why oh Why do I bother driving a car (only when I have to) for work.
I had the misfortune of having to get in a car and travel down to sunny West Sussex on weds 15th, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! what horrible things cars are and the people that drive them, if i had one idiot thinking he was Jenson button I had a Thousand, Reps? I know they have a job to do but does it have to involve speaking on the phone, drinking a skinny latte and looking at themselves in the mirror!!!! I miss the commute.
God I love my bikes, at least you can get off road and think and breath without the fear of Johnny small in the trouser dept rep boy trying to kill you and 100 other unfortunates around you.
Any way bike matters now. New cranks on the commute still fine, have now fitted new bars to crashed bike and have tried it out, much better in feel and width from previous so well happy.
Hoping to try them out big style on Sunday as Richard has suggested the "Ladybower Loop" he has done previous so here's hoping nothing goes wrong.
I had the misfortune of having to get in a car and travel down to sunny West Sussex on weds 15th, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! what horrible things cars are and the people that drive them, if i had one idiot thinking he was Jenson button I had a Thousand, Reps? I know they have a job to do but does it have to involve speaking on the phone, drinking a skinny latte and looking at themselves in the mirror!!!! I miss the commute.
God I love my bikes, at least you can get off road and think and breath without the fear of Johnny small in the trouser dept rep boy trying to kill you and 100 other unfortunates around you.
Any way bike matters now. New cranks on the commute still fine, have now fitted new bars to crashed bike and have tried it out, much better in feel and width from previous so well happy.
Hoping to try them out big style on Sunday as Richard has suggested the "Ladybower Loop" he has done previous so here's hoping nothing goes wrong.
Monday, 13 July 2009
No Ride!!!
Well as mentioned in the last post no ride Sunday! this was to help get over the little crunch last Sunday, as I have been suffering a bit with the ribs.
What did happen is Richard came over with his old Giant full sus with a bag of bits that needed fitting, now normally fitting bits to bikes is straight forward, but when you mix old and new, things are never that straight forward as we discovered 5 hours later and only a new bottom bracket, some very posh XT shifters and some "Peaty"(bit flash but comfy) lock on grips later, we discovered that new rear and front derailleur's do not mix with 9 year old bike design.
So Richard is now looking for "bits that fit" and then we can give it another go.
Hopefully I will be back out Sunday as I have managed to commute daily with only slight discomfort (usual of bad drivers, incontinent dogs and deaf school kids) so fitness has been kept up.
Here's looking forward to Sunday.
What did happen is Richard came over with his old Giant full sus with a bag of bits that needed fitting, now normally fitting bits to bikes is straight forward, but when you mix old and new, things are never that straight forward as we discovered 5 hours later and only a new bottom bracket, some very posh XT shifters and some "Peaty"(bit flash but comfy) lock on grips later, we discovered that new rear and front derailleur's do not mix with 9 year old bike design.
So Richard is now looking for "bits that fit" and then we can give it another go.
Hopefully I will be back out Sunday as I have managed to commute daily with only slight discomfort (usual of bad drivers, incontinent dogs and deaf school kids) so fitness has been kept up.
Here's looking forward to Sunday.
Monday, 6 July 2009
Sunday Ride (Crash)
Well Sunday did not go quite as planned, 1st we changed venue from Tockholes to Winterhill and Rivington, then I decided to cut the ride short by doing a spectacular Endo that ended with me flying 15 feet through the air and managing to knock every ounce of wind out of me, as well as cutting short my flying lesson with my head (new helmet now acquired), damaged shoulder and bruised ribs I managed to bend my bars.
Bit of a day as you can see but the other 3 went on there way after making sure that I was O.K and able to get my sorry behind home.
New bars already ordered courtesy of the On -One (Planet X) sale very cheap bars at present and new shiny helmet (Matt black) stealth I believe.
Gave the bike full check over, Forks are fine so decided to service headset while it was apart so at least some good came from it.
Word to the wise, 18 stone at 20 mph and 15 ft travel are not a good recipe for a relaxing Sunday ride! but fun all the same.
Don't know if I will be out this Sunday as pain is very intense (not as young as I once was).
Bit of a day as you can see but the other 3 went on there way after making sure that I was O.K and able to get my sorry behind home.
New bars already ordered courtesy of the On -One (Planet X) sale very cheap bars at present and new shiny helmet (Matt black) stealth I believe.
Gave the bike full check over, Forks are fine so decided to service headset while it was apart so at least some good came from it.
Word to the wise, 18 stone at 20 mph and 15 ft travel are not a good recipe for a relaxing Sunday ride! but fun all the same.
Don't know if I will be out this Sunday as pain is very intense (not as young as I once was).
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Sunday's Ride
Well after a 2 week break from riding off road I will be out this Sunday with the gang over at Tockholes. We did this ride about 2 months ago and decided it needed further exploration for alternative routes. looking forward to it as the view from Darwin tower is superb, here's hoping for the weather.
New chain set seems to be behaving, and is much better than the old square taper as more power seems to go to the back wheel (gear or 2 higher) so meaning a quicker time to work.
New chain set seems to be behaving, and is much better than the old square taper as more power seems to go to the back wheel (gear or 2 higher) so meaning a quicker time to work.
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