Weeks 23~26 Junes pedalling related activities

Week 23

3rd of June 43.84 km going home on randonneur

4th of June 43.7 km to work on randonneur

 

8th of June  301km rough diamond audax

A jolly good ride with Tim (his report can be found here) this was to be one of my fastest rides ever, a significant moment was looking at my odometer and realised we'd done the first 200k in 9 hours something. Tim who was a little weary from big miles earlier in the week had commented on how speedy I was which I had put down to him being slower but he wasn't I just felt like a whippet out the blocks, a great day out and my first 300 km completed in a very reasonable 15hrs ish

 

Total for the week 388.54 km

Week 24

nothing

 

Total for the week 0

 

Week 25

 

For a few years now I had wanted to be able to cycle to work every day but 28 miles each way is just too much, I have tried and the most I have done is 3 days a few times and once 4 days but it is really tiring. By chance I found a different train route which I hadn't previously been aware of which I thought might be manageable, this would entail a 10 mile ride between home and Ascot train station and 7 miles ride between Frimley train station and work, cost was favourable, working out cheaper than the car so I hatched a plan for a trial run.

 

20th of June 28 km trial run on train home on evo

Not knowing the terrain exactly I opted for taking my mountain bike, I needn't have as I didn't need to go off road, the route was pleasant and took about 25 minutes with me riding almost as quick as I could to the train station from work. Train journey took 20 minutes then it was off at Ascot for the stint home. This for future rides would be pretty straight forward, however I had chosen Royal Ascot week to do my trial run. Arriving at the station I could see a sea of people, the chaps in top hat and tails, the ladies in the posh frocks, disappointingly the ladies in particular more than a little inebriated seemed more intent on pushing their way onto the train than letting me off, grubby mountain biker with his bike verses drunk tart in her Sunday best....I won, fortunately their chaperoning better halves were more polite and saw more sense and let me off without an incident. The ride home was really pleasant with lots of horse and carts out and so many people wafting about in their finery. I plodded along and arrived home after about 40 minutes

The journey had been a success, now to try it in reverse.

 

21st of June 27.5 km trial run to work on train on randonneur

now I knew the route could be done on my road bike I went for the speedier option and went into work on the randonneur, this was with a reading book and my clothes for the day to replicate what I would need to carry doing a round trip.

I loved it

the scene was now set, at every opportunity cycling/train was to be my primary means of getting to work.

 

Total for the week 55.5 km

Week 26

nothing

Total for the week 0 km

Total for the Month: 444.04 km

Weeks 18~22 Catchup again, a précis of May

week 18

No Riding this week but lots of tinkering.

Firstly it was time to say good buy to my Orange Elite.
I packed it up properly having acquired a bike box from my local bike shop. Quite stressful when you pack up something like this to ship off when someone has spent a significant amount of money on it. The postage cost me loads in the end as I decided to add insurance on at my cost but at least it was going.

Next up was Scotty.
Scotty sold for quite a bit more than I expected, too much I would say, having been in constant communication with the chap who won it in the end I decided to make it the absolute best I could prior to sending it, the winner was happy to wait a couple of days extra so I set about rebuilding the rear mech which had got a bit stiff, replaced the tyres and tubes, new brake blocks and some new cables and went through the whole thing cleaning and lubing and ensuring everything was absolutely spot on, all told I probably spent a couple of evenings and about £80 on improvements which a lot of people wouldn't have done but my conscience was eased so I was happy.

Total distance achieved 0 km

week 19

Still no riding
Having got rid of the Elite I had to rebuild my Evo2 to put the drivetrain back to being fully geared and with suspension forks and a few other bits.
Like most people who consider upgrades and um and er over the cost breaks of SLX to XT and so on I can honestly say XT is worth it. My Elite had brand new SLX drivetrain on it, the same model which had won loads of reviews, it felt alright and never gave me any trouble, however when it came tot rebuilding the Evo I dug out all the old XT drivetrain which I had meant to put on ebay, still covered in mud, bolted it on and it indexed way better than the new SLX kit I had said fairwell too. never again shall I ponder the merits of spending the extra loo laa.
Built up with the Fox Talas forks which I had also meant to put on ebay and my Juicy 7 brakes of my Sub3 and it was ready to rock and roll again.
Sad as it is I know, it felt so right to be building it back up like building an old hotrod to put up against modern Italian supercars.
I was quite satisfied that I had made the right decision.

Total distance achieved 0 km

week 20

As they say "The proof of the pudding is in the eating"

13th of may 10.52 km on evo after rebuild
Quick lunchtime blast on the Evo was brilliant, proving yet again that no matter what configuration of parts I hang off this frame it just feels right

15th of may 21.12 km on evo at swinley forest
Swinley Forest blast around the red and blue runs with the chaps at work, all on their full suspension mortgaged mountain bikes, well I was keeping up and faster in many areas and never slower, proof yet again that you don't need all that tech to go fast and have fun.

Total distance achieved 31.64 km

week 21

Back in the habit

bit of mountain biking bit of road riding, just enjoying turning the pedals

20th of may 10.32 km on evo
21st of may 44 km on randonneur going home
22nd of may 44km on randonneur going to work
23rd of may 21.20 km on evo at swinley, chain snapped

Total distance achieved  119.52 km

week 22

Just a commute this week

29th of may 48k cross country route home on evo
30th of may 43.8 km to work on randonneur

Total distance achieved 91.8 km

Total for the month 242.96 km

Week 17 The pressure is off

I had found the need to ride stressing me out that i wasn't enjoying riding and the thought of riding which is one of the contributory factors to bailing out of LEL, but the now that the pressure is off, my desire to ride is back again.

Monday
With the weather forcast looking good for monday i sorted all my stuff out for a commute home. It was a cracking ride, i absolutely flew home and i smashed my faster ever previous time, considering i am not as fit as i have been, i was quite impressed.

Tuesday
An equally fast commute into work but possible my most dangerous, 2 near misses, the first being a carefree van driver, chatting to his mate cut a corner entering a roundabout and closed me out, i saw it coming so no real drama but a good reminder to get up earlier and to keep my witts about me. The second was less than a mile later, a bloke waiting to cross the road seemed to only see cars as a guide to whether to cross or not, despite my bright orange jacket and bike he just stepped out, i locked up the tyres, accidentely a few impolite words jumped out of my mouth and the bloke barely even noticed the whole incident, proving my accidental words to actually be justified....perhaps.

Friday
One goal i have kept hold of is to continue with RRtY (Randonneur Round the Year) with the end of month luming i booked a day off to cycle with my buddy Tim.
He had a "Perm" event already lined up to do called "Cotswold and Thames 200K", in advance i contacted the organiser and followed suit.

A full report of the ride from my buddies perspective can be found here

its so long since i did i can't remember the details myself but it was a lovely ride.



Total distance achieved: 296K

Week 16 Maiden voyage of the "RANDONNEUR"

Can it be that different to "Scotty"

Until this point everything had been about building the bike, from the cutting of tubes, welding them up, selecting the parts, getting it painted, the assembly and finally the showing off.
Throughout this journey in the back of my mind has been the little doubt that what if it rides like a dogs dinner or even will it ride the same as my current workhorse. How different can it be? given that my current bike is fitted to me and the contact points of my new bike have been measured and positioned to replicate exactly the same fit...how different can it be?????
I am asked many times, usually whilst Mrs 'O' is complaining about my bikes to someone else, Why do you need so many different bikes? of course there are many justifiable reasons to cover up the real answer...i want more! but when asked about buying bikes i always recommend sitting on a bike before buying it remotely via the web or eBay etc as from my experience sometimes a bike just feels like a bike and sometimes it feels special, even better, sometimes it feels really special, naturally of course sometimes it feels like putting on a pair of shoes 2 sizes too small and on the wrong feet.
So what about the RANDONNEUR, i have spent a shed load of money, significantly more time, pouring over every detail of every aspect, what if it feels like a pair of shoes 2 sizes too small and on the wrong feet?????

Monday
The weather looked fine enough but to be honest i couldn't care less, it might be a new bike but it will be ridden in all the weather that this little island of ours sees, so no matter what, I'm going riding.
My plan was to go for a "shakedown" run at lunchtime, my old 15 mile route then if all was OK and perhaps with some adjustment i would commute home and back in the next day.
My new saddle felt minimalist! the bars soft and wide, the pedals new, the gear shift slick......It rode like a dream, i flew along, quite emotional, I was riding a bike I had made and it was very cool, this thought went over and over and as i went past the occasional pedestrian i felt like a peacock showing off his feathers, always ready for someone to stop me and "Wow, that's a cool bike, where can i get one?" shallow i know, but hey anyone can dream. The weather stayed cool and cloudy and before i knew it was back at work with a surprisingly sore butt, not a good sign given i had only gone 15 miles!
The journey home was equally smooth and sadly equally if not more so.....SORE!
It occurred to me on both at lunchtime and on my home that riding my new bike was at times a strange experience, i felt like i was almost flying, that the bike wasn't there, i was totally unaware of the machine i straddled and i was just travelling, progressing along the lanes as if i were hovering but not lazily, this thing was quick.
My conclusions........YES, 2 bikes set up for the same person, really can be that different, did it feel like a pair of shoes 2 sizes too small on the wrong feet, NO it felt like your favourite slippers with running spikes underneath them, albeit perhaps with a small stone in one of them, until i get used to the saddle!
I was so chuffed

Tuesday
i was looking forward to my trip into work and to getting to work as so many people were keen to know how the bike went, equally interested to know if it could be that different to any other bike. The journey went by trauma free and both my commute journeys were recorded pretty much in as quick a time as i had ever done.

With time on the bike there was much opportunity for thought and reflection, for planning and deciding. What to do next?
Reflecting on my above statements about bikes feeling different it became very clear that never again would i need to ride "Scotty" it wouldn't e needed as a winter hack as my new bike had disc brakes to make winter riding safer, additionally this would help fund tools, parts, FRAME BUILDING JIGS, mmmmmm Jiiggssss, but not enough! so attention then turned to my other bikes. Again in the same vein my "posh" mountain bike the Orange Elite had always felt like an ok bike but only ok, it certainly looked cooler than any other mountain bike i had ever seen and it rode ok but it was only ever OK
By comparison my old Evo felt like the best mountain bike in the world, every time i got on it, no matter what i changed or did to it, it felt fantastic and made me smile every single time. Decision made, Scotty and Elite were going on eBay with new enthusiasm to clear other stuff out too.
I had signed up to do the heart of England 300k on the Saturday but having missed so much time from the family exercising my obsession i bailed, this reducing the number of distractions allowed me time to think on my future cycle(ing) related exploits and of course spend some quality time with the kiddie winks.
By Saturday i had both bikes and my old Sub3 full sus frames prepped and ready to be posted on eBay, little did i realise the previous week that those would be the last rides i would do on them, anyway, switch flicked in my head, they are going.

Another decision this week was to not pursue my entry into LEL (London Edinburgh London 1400K audax)
Much thinking about what makes me tick, reflecting on the buzz i have got from building my bike, from making something with my hands, something i used to do, being creative.
I have never been competitive from a sport perspective and it came to me that LEL was more like ticking a box to me, it was going to take a huge amount of sacrifice, particularly time wise, then for a week of pain that i may not complete and for what, so i can tick a box. Nope, that ain't fun in my eyes, so with a heavy heart i withdrew my entry, the heavy heart was because i would be letting my buddy Tim down. I had encouraged him to enter, we had talked so much about doing the event together, we were entered as a team too, but i lack his mental strength and determination as well as cycling strength, instead i will provide a supporting role, anyway i can.

Target for the week: 100k.......no more targets
Total distance achieved: 114K

Week 15 It's all about the bike

Not much ridin' but plenty of Buildin'

The focus this week without a doubt had to be completing my homebrew "Randonneur" road bike in time to exhibit it on the Downland Cycles stand at Bespoked the handbuilt bike show

Monday

Starting to look like a finished bike, i got the cable outers on the bars and the Specialized Bar Phat on and all wrapped with Spesh bar tape.

I had previously discovered that the rear brake cable outer wasn't long enough to reach the rear disc brake cable so after ringing round all the local bike shops i was pleased to discover that Mountain Trax had the Shimano SLR cable outer i needed.

Regarding cables, i have been through much deliberation over this often overlooked component. Originally my research had convince me that Gore sealed cables were the way to go, the choice of cyclocross racers for well protected accurate and consistent braking and shifting. Alas as usual this would not be a "No brainer" GORE have decided to pull out of the cable market and as such, supply is limited, so lots of price checking meant the only places still selling them were quite pricey. This would have meant an investment of around £80, for cables!!!!

I read more reviews and found that Shimano SLR cables were praised by all who used them, this is what was supplied with my drive train components, so very quickly the "no brainer" which was apparent to me was use the SLR cables i already had at no further expense.

Outers fitted, it became apparent that the inner rear brake cable wasn't long enough Doh!

Tuesday

Lunchtime ringing around for the right brake cable yielded some interesting information......relatively...if you get your bike serviced by a shop and need a cable change, don't expect cables befitting of your high end dura-ace or campag. All the bike shops i tried all use average cables. I wanted Shimano SLR as the inners are coated in PTFE making the action smoother and no need to lube. This was not to be and in the short term an Aztec cable was purchased only to find some days later that i had a Goodridge PTFE coated one in my toolbox Doh! again.

despite my brake cable whinging this was essentially final build day, cables fitted, chain on, gears indexed. Woo Hoo it's rideable.

I set everything up basically according to the bike fit numbers and spent much time observing my creation for the remainder of the evening.

One last finishing touch would be to add some nice stainless steel screws to all exposed bosses, these would be purchased local to my work and assembled prior to going to the show.

Wednesday

Respite from the new build cam in the form of a trip to the newly re-opened Swinley Forest, this time with a slightly different mix of reprobates.

Steve, bless him, hadn't been out on his bike much of late and did start to struggle as were the rest of us, we were just better at hiding it, managed to complete virtually the whole of the blue and red, just missing out a bit of the red at the end to get back at a sensible time.

IT was just as cool as the previous week and will be repeated many times over I'm sure.

Dave the tart, much to the admiration of Steve had a portable pressure washer, i looked on, partly in disgust and partly in envy.

Thursday

photo shoot required of my new bike in advance of the bike show. Took it to Dorney common, by my house to get some nice images to shamelessly post on facebook.

Friday

Off to Bespoked

Straight from work, everything loaded the night before, excited and anxious, no idea what to expect.

I thought i would be there in time for the press opening but i got it all mixed up and was there for the main opening. Wheeled my bike in through the trade entrance and installed my steed.

It looked pretty insignificant, lined up with other course examples, hardly noticeable despite it's bright orange livery, no matter, i had arrived and all was set for an inspirational and immersive weekend.

Saturday

After a night at a local hotel and a hearty breakfast is was game on for lots of chatting and promoting.

So many people were so complementary of my bike, most surprised that it was made on the course, which gave further inspiration to those considering following the same path.

My plan had been to go home on the Saturday but i was loving it so much i decided to stay with family on the Saturday night and go back for more on the Sunday. It wasn't just the many compliments that made me want to continue, i was loving the atmosphere, talking non stop bikes and not having to apologise for it. Being able to expel my passion to the many that wanted to listen.

I would have a little wander every couple of hours to try and take in the other stands in some detail, photographing details for future inspiration.

Sunday

Sunday followed the same format as Saturday and I loved it, right through to kicking out time, i had been there for every minute that it was opened.

My last comment for the week will be to mention my favourite bike,there were some real corkers and my other favourites were all amongst the lesser known builders but the can be only one true favourite and here it is.

OK, it's a rubbish picture, i have many detailed ones of it, The attention to detail was exquisite, the colour matching to the leather grips and saddle was amazingly accurate, i could go on and on. and on.......

Target for the week: 0 (rest week)
Total distance achieved: 22.2K

Week 14 Low mileage, high quality

Didn't manage any riding on Bank Holiday Monday but got myself set up for a ride after work Tuesday.

Tuesday

Decided to give the Minley Manor race lap another go, what with the clocks going forward, thought I would have more light to get it done.

Weather was beautiful and quite warm which was rather handy as I had inadvertidly picked up 1 summer glove and one winter, my summer hand only got chilly initially and then was fine for the duration of the ride.

The ride went well, the first bit that took me to the race course was quick and dry, on reaching the course I went the correct direction this time, it was reassuring to recognise parts of the course better, now I was going past them in the correct direction.

It was still very difficult to track the route exactly, I have a feeling that I didn't reord a clen track in the first place but I managed to track it well enough to complete the lap and found the spot where I had camped 18 months previous.

Wednesday

Bunch of chaps at work had suggested a trip to Swinley Forest to have a look at the newly opened Trail centre style runs. This was planned in for Wednesday. Previousley it had been necessary to get a cycling pass which gave you insurance, parking was free. Now the arrangements are different, you don't pay to cycle, only to park, which as I can cycle to Swinley from my house I reckon I prefer this idea.

The new, "trail centre", swinley forest, wil have a green beginner course, a blue intermediate and a red advanced course. The red course wasn't fully opened and to be quite frank was poorly managed from a "you can go here but you can't go there" point of view.

We took to the blue run which was fully open and it was pretty full on from "the get go" what a naff phrase but it seemed to fit. A quick succession of ups and downs with us feeling the need to pedal hard between the trail features, it was good fun and we were quickly pleased with the new trails. One of our group, Dave, felt poorly part way through the blue run at the point where the Red run starts so he decided to call it a day and make his way back along the Blue whilst the rest of us continued along the Red.

The Red route didn't feel like a step change in ability was required but i think that was more a reflection on the Blue run rather than the Red. We kept finding bits which seemed clear/open and then it putting us into sections which were definately closed but sometimes giving us no exit options other than to continue along the Red. 

A great deal of hanging on was required on some of the sections, having previousely abandoned my full suspension bike my but was getting a fair old pounding but i was holding my own through the twisty and bumpy stuff. 

Much excitement was had.

It did make you feel like you wanted to pedal as much as possible so we kept haveing to have breathers at the section marker points.

All in all we had a great time...except Dave...and shall be revisiting swinley very soon.

Thursday

No riding but much excitement...the arrival of my frame back from paint just in time to build it up in time for "Bespoked" handbuilt bike show.

Sunday

Other commitments dictated that i couldn't fully build the bike up over the weekend but i got as far as assembling all the components on reading for cabling etc.

Target for the week: 200K

Total distance achieved: 45K

Week 13....back on the road again...

After a short Hiatus i was back on the road again.

Although failing again to commute to work i had arranged to do the "Solent-Hungerford 200K perm" with my cycling buddy Tim. Having not cycled for nearly 2 weeks i was a little concerned that this might hurt but i have done enough 200K rides now that they don't frighten me, knowing that i have always been able to finish and have previously got up some of the steepest climbs in Britain.

Thursday

The drive to Hungerford was pleasant, it reminded me of the drive to Newbury 18 months previous before the start of mine and Tim's Isle if Wight adventure. Bizarrely the other parallel to this was that we would be cycling in the same vicinity as the same said ride.

As it as an audax we had to gain proof of all of the controls points so we opted to park in the Hungerford train station car park to gain our first "Proof Of Passage" which was on the course anyway.

The first stage was so pretty, lovely countryside side roads with few cars to bother us, a great start. We had a quick stop at Ludgershall where Tim blagged a post office stamp for our POP, malt loaf consumption and some nuts were the fuel of choice and on our way we went.

Second stage was equally pretty and felt strangely familiar, with so many country lanes cycled, this was not a surprise as a lot of them do essentially look they same, then 50K in we passed a pub and Tim said that's the "Broughton Buffalo Burger" pub, by Jove (note to self, not sure if i should be using this word) he was right. 

On our isle of wight adventure we had stopped at a pub for lunch on the way and had a Broughton Buffalo Burger, which we both agreed at the time and since that this was the best burger either of us had ever had, being such a great burger we attempted to find it on the way back from the isle of wight  but failed as we had been looking for it in Broughton, not as it turned out in Houghton. This explained why the roads seemed familiar and fuelled the conversation for some miles as we reminisced, unfortunately it was too early in the day for the pub to be open and serving the legendary burgers so we continued with aching tummies. We arrived at Romsey in good time but the control was a fuel station so no sit down brekkie, more snacking and we were on our way again.

Stage 3 to Stubbington was a bit naff to be fair, the roads, fast but busy and the road surface was a little course. I was starting to feel the ill effects of not riding for a while, aches and pains were starting to creep in, bizarrely they were old aches that i hadn't felt for a year or more, can 12 days off cycling really make that much difference. 

As we approached Stubbington we first had to negotiate some fiddly little roads that were down by the sea front, although cold this was nice, a different kind of scenery to what we are accustom to.

Despite my hurting legs we still made reasonable time and got to our control at 13:30, the half way point. Time for some lunch, which came in the form of a Lancashire hotpot in "Donny's" a little cafe of the new chintz retro cool variety, lots of remanufactured signage and clocks that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Cath Kidston store. Whilst in there i listened to my messages, noticing a missed call, expecting it to be yet another PPI call, but no, this was a fantastic call, it was from Bob Jackson Cycles to say that my new frame was painted and could i ring to arrange payment and delivery, you bet i can!

Stage 4 was undertaken with new enthusiasm,,i was so excited about my frame, i annoyed Tim mile after mile saying "Guess what?......my frames ready" he politely humoured me as he could see i was quite excited. i can't really remember what the roads were like, we had stopped at Stubbington for a long time and it was quite chilly so a distraction was quite welcome. Denmead, our next control gave another opportunity for Tim to blag a post office stamp to save us buying anything, which he did.

Stage 5 was undulating, in a nice way, pain of long slog uphills but followed by long down hills, this was to be the last stage in daylight, the scenery was pretty and vast, the view across the surrounding farmland went on forever and it felt like we could have been in any time of Britain's history, the reminders of the 21st century of course being the occasional car sweeping past us. The temperature was dropping significantly and as we approached our penultimate control we were feeling the cold. The control was to be another fuel station. To warm us up we scoffed warmed pasty things and drank hot chocolate, after some faffing we put on extra layers and lights and prepared ourselves for the final 40K.

Stage 6 roads were remote and were made to feel more remote by the declining light, we could have been anywhere, it felt like so many of our other adventures, always finishing in the middle of nowhere in the dark in peaceful surroundings with only the drone of our thoughts and voices to keep us company. The stage went quickly as we chatted about all sorts of things and the miles evaporated, very rarely encountering a car, We pretty much stumbled into Hungerford, there were a couple of cattle grids and then the car park, we had been bumbling along so happily that it was no effort, except a pretty serious hill not long before Hungerford but it was OK.

A surprise met us in the car park in the form of Aid who had originally found this ride and had planned to be riding it with us, was in the car park waiting for us. For our last POP we decided to go into the pub for a drink and a chat with Aid.

Overall a great ride, really enjoyable and the weather was the best we could have been blessed with given the current climate.

Sunday

Quick Blast on the mountain bike.

Having listened to Tim explaining the merits of "stealing" routes from strava i found a route from "The Guardian" newspaper which was right by my house. 

It comprised mostly of Cycle route 4 and 52 but looked like a nice 15 mile route along tow paths. Tried to get up early Sunday morning to give it a go, with the clocks changing this was tough but i got going eventually. 

It was lovely being out before the dog walkers, there was a light frost on the ground but i was warm enough. i quickly thought that this route would be ideal for my single speed but not wanting to move my gps mount onto it again i used my elite which, in hindsight, was probably a good thing as i was still a little sore form the 200K ride a couple of days previous. 

The route took in some of Dorney rowing lake which it turns out is still not fully accessible following the Olympics, this was to provide some tricky obstacles, namely barbed wire fences.

i cut the ride short as church was early  today to make way for a special "Open to all" Easter service afterwards.

I concluded that this would be a great ride for the family when the weather is a little warmer.

A new addtion

This week i was also distracted by acquiring a little project, a 1993 Clockwork Orange, it's in pretty ropey condition having had a chequered life, originally being raced at a high level i am lead to believe. 

This had the potential to be a clean up and sell on kind of ride but it's in too bad a condition for that. I'd always wanted a clockwork orange, it was the bike that sparked my interest in Orange mountain bikes when i was a teenager, they were the stuff of legends, they didn't make them when i bought my Evo otherwise i would have purchased one then. I have already had thoughts on having a retro year of cycling next year, mainly road riding some beautiful vintage road rides in Europe but i may consider restoring this little gem and doing some retro mountain bike events too. By chance it turns out that the cycle shop that is painting my new bike also paints Orange bikes for Orange as and when they need them to, so they have the correct colours and decals so i can see where this could be going in the future :-) for now though i have covered it in WD40 and it can sit for a while before i try and get the seatpost out which is jammed, then I'll take it from there. It occurred to me that i now own 3 generations of orange mountain bikes 93,03 and 2012, so i suppose i will have to keep it.

Target for the week: 150K

Total distance achieved: 219k