Whoop!!

Apparently according to another blog post in November I now need to buy some clothes from Howies.  To be fair, I think I might wait a little longer and hold out for the single speed bicycle I promised myself when I reached 90KG.  Not sure how Briony might feel about that considering I’ve only just had a new bicycle in Febuary and I’m off to Sweden for 3 weeks really soon.

Since November my focus has really changed, back then I needed to bribe myself and didn’t imagine I’d be living with the most fantastic person.  It’s taken me 6 months to shift 7 Kilos, lets see if we can do 10 kilos in 10 weeks and be 90 Kilos in time for the Jamboree.

Right, back to it.

When I came back to cycling 3 years ago, I was very much into the special clothes and equipment scene. If some company made a gadget that looked a bit pretty I bought it, to the point where my knackered old mountain bike looked like a Christmas tree. When I bought the Kona I started doing the same thing.

In the last six months whilst cycling through the winter for some reason I felt compelled to do the opposite to the point where all that is left is the bike, some lamps, a computer, and a rack. I’ve stopped wearing Lycra and now just wear some Craig hoppers and a shirt and tuck my trousers in my socks. The only piece of special equipment I use now seems to be my shoes which double as comfy trainers.

And before anyone shouts I do wear a helmet.

The difference now is that I have stopped trying to be this ultra fast commuter who is training for his place on the next race while getting to work. But someone who rides because they enjoy every minute they get on the bike. Even if it’s snowing.

“If you ask a motorist if they would
like to see more cars on the road,
the answer is almost always NO”

“If you ask a cyclist if they would
like to see more bicycles on the road,
the answer is almost always YES”

Peace.

The short of it means that I’m stuck out on the white bike for a bit at least until the dew is fixed. The white bike suffers from all sorts of quirks like chain slip and wobbly axles and such but just seems to keep tanking along. Shame it’s not very comfortable or quick, in fact it’s the opposite. One of these days I’m going to strip it down to the frame throw all the dodgy mechanicals away, paint it bright pink or yellow, and build a fairly cracking bombproof shopper out of it.

I now need to find somewhere in the region of £50 to £100 to get this sorted out so I can start covering my commute normally again. All in a month where I’m struggling to find the money to eat, begging at this point seems an attractive option.

Peace.

I worked out that the previous rear wheel must have travelled somewhere in the region of 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometres for the Europeans) before giving out, the rim only doing slightly less after being replaced previously and built on to the original hub.  The guys at Scott cycles offered me a choice either a new hub built into my existing rim or a whole new wheel.  In the end a had an entirely new wheel for the quite reasonable sum of £45, although I spent about £56 after having the job of transferring the cassette, disc, tire and a new tube fitting.  All I had to do was put the wheel in and adjust the rear calliper a touch.

I must say the new wheel is slightly trick, for me anyway with black rim, hub, and spokes; it looks quite cool stuck in the back of my muddy old Kona.  After a week or two it’ll be covered in muck and blend in but at the moment it looks quite nice.

To celebrate riding again (I was off the bike for a whole week), I have ordered three new bottle holders, two bottles and a mount to sling one of the holders under the down tube.  I’ll keep the lower holder for the airzounds air tank so the thing is out of the way, and I can remove the nasty Velcro mount they supplied.

Peace.

But …

Please don’t ride on the footpaths, they happen to be for pedestrians, cyclists get the roads and occasional cycle paths. Riding on the pavements just makes everyone’s life harder, some of us cycle all year round and hate being reminded about how cyclists endanger pedestrians with our reckless ways even though the majority of us don’t. (It is also an illegal act that has a fixed penalty associated with it.

Please don’t block the tow path and cycle at 3 miles an hour, honestly I can actually walk faster than that and the timing of my commute means that I need to travel at 16mph at least on the tow paths. If you can’t ride at pace that’s OK but please don’t block the path for other cyclists.

Red lights mean stop for all traffic, not just cars, they include bikes as well. Please just follow the rules of the road. Crossing a red light is a particularly stupid thing to do and a collision with a motor car really hurts, more so when it’s side on.

And Finally …

Have fun and be safe out there, while remembering that some of us cycle all year round regardless of weather and such and are not going to be impressed by our commute time trebling so you can pootle along slowly.

When I first started spinning out around 200 miles a week on the bike, I was quite positive but now I realise that the odds are against me and It’s not so much a case of if I get hit by a car but when, I currently reckon about once every two months for a minor bump of knock down and I’m yet to have a major accident. Funny how I spend my breakfast pondering my chances of making it to work alive while other people watch the news and talk to their kids.

Crazy, just crazy.

I must admit I like cycling in the rain, no one will bother you that much and the rain stops you from getting too hot.  You just have to change when you get to your destination or enjoy stinking like a wet dog.

I decided to go for a cruise around Canon Hill park yesterday evening and Beard only just getting his bike back off me came along. The dew cruised the paths and bits of singletrack like a dream, however Beard kept showing off and jumping off steps and the like. Hmmm, I kinda miss chunky wheels for that but the speed and ease on roads and paths makes me more than happy for now. I’m still sort of tempted to retro fit the Scott with big chunky tires and a fixe drivechain just for mucking about at weekends but I have spent all my money for now so it’ll have to wait.

I fill you guys in more once Iv’e been out playing.