Crunch, Clank, Cough, etc

Both Fuzzy and I have been ill of late.  I've had the same cold (I think) three times now and still feel like I'm fighting it off.  There seems to be a lot of nasty bugs around this winter.

And Fuzzy - the poor bike - started, well, it started with the odd clank and crunch that I thought was coming from the bottom bracket (where the axle of the pedals go through the frame), but as time went on:

1. it seemed to get worse; and 
   
2. I worked out it was coming from the rear axle.

Bizarrely, it was worse when I applied the brakes and even made the noise when I was freewheeling (that's how I worked out it wasn't the bottom bracket).

Anyway, he's been to the shop now and they're replaced a cone and the bearings in the rear axle.  I've yet to take him out 'cos I've been driving, because I've wanted to rest and fight my bugs off.  But in the next few days I should get a ride and start building up the fitness again after three weeks off.

Eek - I'm an evangelist!

I don't really like the word "Evangelist".  It conjurs up visions of shouty men in the middle of town telling people that they're all going to hell at the tops of their voices.  Either that or suit-wearing professional speakers who hold big Christian rallys in stadiums.  Not me at all, and, despite my strong Christian faith, I don't consider myself much of an evangelist.

However, the word originates in Greek and its original meaning is that of a "bringer of good news", and the word is also used to denote someone who is enthusiastic about a cause.  And that's what I was for a few weeks earlier this year!

A man called Tom launched a thing called the "Swindon Cycle Challenge".  This was a friendly competition, with lots of prizes, that got companies across Swindon trying to get their staff riding bicycles.  As a slight aside, I thought that this was a GREAT way to promote cycling.  The organisation provided lots of promotional material and incentives for people, as well as having a good webstie, updated often, with associated email updates too.  They did everything but provide the bikes!

Anyway, as a member of the little sports and social committee at work I took it upon myself to promote this within my office.  I truly became a cycling evangelist!

It was pretty hard work.  I had to do a lot of haggling and persuading.  Some people thought I was a bit weird and there were lots of excuses that people gave for not getting out and riding a mile or for 10 minutes on a bike, despite the offer of free cinema tickets, cycle accessories, and entry into prize draws for those that did!

I was even referred to as "Swindon's answer to Lance Armstrong".  Hah! I wish.

But I think that it's important to promote cycling, make people realise that you don't have to fire up your car to do that short journey.  I'm aware that not everyone can commute by bike like I can, and that if you have children or luggage then it's not really an available option.  But there are LOTS of journeys that could be done by bike, and there are lots of good reasons to do them by bike!

This process has been a real challenge to my faith.  Cycling isn't the only good news I believe I have to share.  I'm willing to become renowned in my workplace for being a cyclist?  Am I willing to become renowned for being a follower of Jesus?  That's a whole world more scary.

Somehow, talking about faith is awkward and embarassing.  Our culture isn't one where we talk much about beliefs, especially if they are controversial.  Talking about cycling, or what music you like, or what football team you support is OK.  But I wonder what would happen if I decided that I needed to be, not a Lance Armstrong, but a Billy Graham; telling people not about two-wheels, but about hope and joy and goodness.  What would the reaction be?  Would it even be acceptable?  Could I use my sports and social club to help promote a prayer group or to advertise church services and events?

I just don't know, and, at the moment, I don't really know how to start finding out.  But I should take courage (ah...that's where encouragement comes from); I've now been an evangelist, it wasn't that scary, it got mixed reactions, but the whole cycle challenge experience has given me a new confidence to talk, not just about cycling, but about my faith too.

New Game....New Dangers

I need to write about this incredibly important subject to warn you of the dangers of a sport that I've recently taken up.

This sport requires:

• excellent balance;
• pin point precision;
• dedication and repeated practice of repetitive actions;
• a good head for numbers.

Yes, I'm not kidding. I've taken up darts!!!

We have a cultural change program going on at work and we have a glorified sports and social club in our office. One of the things this little committee (that I'm a part of) have done is install a darts board.

And I must confess, I've really rather taken to the game, but it's also caused me some problems. I should add the the squeamish can read on, there are no descriptions of gory holes in the head or feet coming up.

Darts Players and Culture

I'm slightly baffed by darts players and culture. Given the list of attributes above, you'd maybe expect the stereotypical darts player to be a geeky, thin, glasses-wearing mathematician type.

So it's slightly confusing that it's mostly played by hairy, overweight man who've spent too long in the pub.

And what's with all the women that are forced to follow it. IF you ever watch it on the telly there's always bikini-clad models walking around. At work, we ordered the board, surround, scoring machine and a few sets of darts from a company called Red Dragon Darts. When it arrived it came with a catalogue which was more soft-porn than precision sport. I don't link to their website for similar reasons - I almost couldn't condone them as supplier!

Bizarre.

The Game

The game is quite addictive you know. Having invested £12 (not much really) in my own darts (it's much better if you get used to a set that you always use) I not only play the odd game, but I'm practicing by playing solitaire "round-the-clock" - hit all the numbers from 1 to 20 in order.

You have to get worse before you get better too. When you start you could hit pretty much anything, but, aiming for twenty, as you do, you usually end up hitting anything from 12 through to 18. 12 and 18 give you pretty good scores. As you improve that range narrows, and you start hitting more 1's and 5's. These are NOT good scores. This is the stage I'm at.

As for hitting doubles...that's a different matter altogether.

Dangers!

I said it was dangerous. Shortly after I started playing my shoulder started to ache. I thought this was a general wearing-out type pain, but then Sally said "Maybe it's the darts?", and I think she's right. It puts a lot of tension on very specific parts of the arm, and the repetitive action can certainly take it's toll.

Also...you may remember my stomach pain from my long bike ride a couple of months back (see the bottom half of this post), well, I reckon this has actually turned out to be darts-related too. When I throw my arrows I tend to lean forward and put all my weight on my front (right) leg. I think my hip flexor was getting quite a lot of strain put on it by this with the result that cycling made it flare up and become painful.

Not kidding...you can really do yourself an injury playing darts. And not necessarily one that involves being hit with a pointy stick.

You have been warned!

Cycle Touring Article

This is a completely blatent note to self. But it deserves a note on why I have to make it.

I have an article on the web. I want to save a reference to it but the site isn't one I'm following with Google Reader via its RSS/Atom feed. Normally I'd spot the article on Reader and "Star" it to remind me about it being useful.

I'm sure there are tools out there that allow me to usefully save links to pages that are of interest. But what/where are they? Any tips gratefully received.

In the meantime, here's a useful article on Cycle Touring for beginners that I spotted. Cycle touring is something I've dreamed of since getting into cycling and, while it's not something I expect to be doing in the near future, I hope to give it a go one day.

Here it is then: Preparing for a Cycle Tour

Pre-holiday Cycling News

There's a few little notes I wanted to make about cycling before I left for Sicily.  Better late than never!

An Almost-Accident

The week before we left for holiday I nearly had a nasty accident.  There's a bit of my ride to work where I head downhill on a cycle path which then meets the corner of a road (if you're really interested it's here on the corner of Affleck Close).  There's not much traffic on this road and I'm always careful descending the shared cycle-pedestrian path because there are sometimes other pedestrians and cyclists.  But once I've hit the road I'm generally pulling away pretty quickly.

On this particular day, a woman in a car was heading towards me (east, if you're looking at the map), and she decided to turn right (south), seemingly without seeing me.

I don't want to relate this story just to have a go at the woman - though I should add that I was wearing my long-sleeved, flourescent yellow waterproof jacket, it was morning daylight, and I was QUITE visible thank you very much - no, these things happen.

What was interesting was the reactions.

1. The woman's reaction in the car was to stop.  When actually, the best thing she could have done was accelerate away as quickly as possible and get out of my way.
2. My brain quite quickly made up its mind that I might not stop in time and I was fully prepared, not for a big crash, but to gently tumble into the side of the car.
3. Fuzzy (my bike, for those not yet in the know), even with brakes really-hard on, refused to be thrown sideways into a skid.  He just wants to keep moving forwards.  I did just about managed to lock up the rear wheel but it's a LOT of effort.
4. We did manage to avoid each other - but the womans face said "What are you doing???".  Indeed.

Yes, accidents happen.  This one, fortunately, did not.  But I was left with a thumping heart and the feeling that, in an emergency, your brain can process a huge amount of information incredibly quickly.

And sometimes that's a very good thing!

Strains, Chains and Velomobiles

Actually nothing to do with chains, but it sounded good and pedals doesn't really rhyme with much.

Well, OK, it rhymes with "medals" but that's about all.

Anyway, during my PB 35 mile ride to Cholsey a few weeks ago I was fighting against an odd pain in the right side of my stomach.

After this ride I had quite persistent niggles with my right hamstring and in my back.

I wasn't sure if these were related.  I'm still not.  But it did get me doing some thinking about my riding position.

Position is all important on a bike because the repetetive, strenuous motion amplifies any minor problem.

I looked at a few things.

• Was I pedalling equally with both legs? No.  So let's do some work on balancing that out.
• Is my saddle straight?  Yes, and it's at a good height too.  But I'm not sure I'm sat on it straight.  Maybe I sag to one side a little?  Have to think about my position there too.
• What about my feet?  Well, my cleats (the clips on the bottom of cycling shoes that clip into "clipless" pedals), weren't in the same position on both feet - so I've adjusted them, and replaced the cleats at the same time.
  

Will all this make a difference?  It's hard to say right now as I've not done a longer ride for a while.  It will be interesting to see how things are now.

Of course, in the background the stretching and strength work that I don't do enough of will have to continue too, and as the nights draw in perhaps I'll get more opportunity to do that.  Then, come next spring, I'll be REALLY fit and ready to go!

Maybe.

Cycling Corollorys

My cycling activities seem to be governed by sods law.  Here is a list of how I think the rule applies to cycling.

1. The speed a cyclist attains is inversely proportional to the effort put in.  In the last couple of days I've done three rides.  Monday I flew without even trying.  Tuesday I went for it and was about 40 seconds slower.  Today I took it easy and enjoyed the ride and came in 20 seconds quicker than Tuesday.  How come???
2. The probability of acquiring a puncture increases with the reciprocol of the distance being travelled.  I.e. the further you go the less likely you are to get a flat.  This makes no sense at all but the evidence speaks for itself; my first puncture I got whilst pushing my bike up the garden path; my second on a short errand into town.
3. The chance of rain increases infinitely when you don't have your waterproofs.  Need I say more?
4. Headwind speed increases exponentially with tiredness.
5. Someone always lights a bonfire at the top of a hill about 15 minutes before you arrive at the summit.

I'm sure there are many more.

Grrrr.

Small Improvements

I rode to Cholsey today. I last did the 35 mile trip on my bike just over a year ago. It was the same time of year, probably the same kind of weather. But last year my health wasn't great. I had a heavy, clunky, cheap bike.

Since then I've acquired Fuzzy (or possibly, Fuzzy acquired me - I can never quite tell), who's lighter, more aerodynamic, with higher gearing and great climbing capability. I've been riding further and faster far more often and should generally be a lot fitter.

I was to my slight surprise then that I managed to do the ride today just 0.4 mph faster than last time!

And thus, I must offer my excuses, for there are senses in which this wasn't a controlled comparison.

1. I had the heart rate monitor on and, though I spent nearly an hour over my defined aerobic zone, I was very aware of not pushing too hard. Last time I would just have been going flat out to the limit of my ability.
2. There was a lesser tailwind. I remember there being a strong westerly last time. There was a slight south-westerly breeze today.
3. I went to the gym on Wednesday and played squash on Friday - it was quite frantic, and so I was probably a bit tired and low on energy.

Err..that's probably it! I wish I could think of more.

Still, I did about a mile and a half more this time around, still got in under 2 hours, and averaged 18.1 for the whole 2 hours (with one 5-minute break to stretch and eat a banana).

It was a GLORIOUS day for it, and I passed a bunch of guys on better bikes, who were cycling to Pangbourne - a little further than I was going, but my pace was significantly faster!

I felt a little woozy afterwards, despite taking in a whole water-bottle full of Rego, and my legs were pretty tired, so I feel like I've pushed myself pretty hard. I don't really do leisurely.

It was fun and I had a great day with my Uncle, Aunt and Cousin once I arrived and then caught the train back home.

Must try it again sometime - only I'm quite quickly running out of summer!!! Eeek!

Addicted?

Cycle mileage has been down of late as recent posts have explained. But, in Sally's absence, I've lined up a 34 mile ride to visit my Uncle in Cholsey (route something akin to this ) and I'm REALLY excited about it!

I've just put some a new front tyre on because some shards of glass hid ripped through my Continental Ultra Gator Duraskin (great, mostly slick tyres with heaps of grip, but, evidently, not THAT puncture proof). I've tightened my brakes. The weather is going to be perfect. And the anticipation is building!

It'll be my longest ride for a while - in fact, it'll be my longest ride ever. The longest being the last time I did this route almost exactly a year ago!

I have better legs, lungs and heart, a better bike, and I should hopefully be up for beating my previous time of just under 2 hours.

Game on!!!!

Wet weather

Another, fairly dull, cycling-related post I'm afraid. More on the garden, slugs, harvesting, music and other stuff to come when I have some time. If that's not a tempting proposition that'll make you bookmark my blog then I don't know what will. Hey, I lead an exciting life!!! ;-)

It's been pretty wet lately. And pretty unpredictably wet. ("Welcome to England" I hear you cry...indeed!) This has caused me some interesting problems like:

• Do I pack my wet weather gear when it's looking dry?
• Do I leave the office when it's raining, or wait for it to clear up?
• Do I don my wet weather gear, if I have it, before doing my commute?
• How do I manage the problem of wet kit when I've been caught out and had a soaking?

Inspiring stuff...I know! ("Yawn")

So I've been thinking about expanding my wet weather wardrobe. But in which direction?

Mostly my top-half is fine. I have a waterproof cycling jacket (but, oh for a Gore-Tex®Paclite®Shell - anyone care to donate me £130?), and your head just gets wet, that's fine.

The problem is shoes, socks, shorts and overtrousers. My overtrousers aren't cycling-specific and send water straight down into my shoes or over-shoes. Without them my shorts get sodden and I'd still get wet shoes. This might not be a bad thing if I had spare shorts. My summer gloves also get soaked and I don't have spares. The upshot of all this is that I've been getting wet, and my kit hasn't had time to dry out.

And decent wet-weather kit isn't cheap. So what do I invest in? Do I go for spare shorts? Or proper over trousers? Do I get a second pair of gloves, or put up with them as they're not too bad to wear when wet. What about waterproof socks? Shoes? 3/4 length overshorts?

Hmm...

I claim that cycling is great in lots of ways, but kitting yourself out can be an expensive chore!

Mixing it up

Sorry - this is quite dull and is really just a note-to-self on fitness progress. The cycling has been going really well of late and I put in a record 254 miles in July. I'm not injured and I'm feeling strong and fit, which is great!

August, though, for various, non-cycling-related reasons has prompted lots of shorter rides and I've mostly just been doing my standard commutes. We're two thirds in and I've only done 89 miles.

But I've also been thinking about mixing up my exercise a bit. I bailed out of a long ride the other day due to being totally soaked through, and Sally and I went for a game of squash instead, which was pretty fun! And just yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in a long time to do some rowing (man, I hate those machines, but it's very good for me), cross training and resistance work (weights machines).

My ride in this morning felt pretty good, so maybe this will be a new way to get even more of a boost!

Though I have to say, there's still nothing like a good, long ride on a nice day and when I am getting out for 10 miles or more it's always with a lot of happiness!

Garmin Forerunner 50 Heart Rate Monitor

I've had my HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) that I got for my cycle training for about 6 weeks now so it's time I did a bit of a write up.

Why Bother?

First of all, why bother with an HRM? (If you haven't spotted already I'm the kind of person that thinks a LOT and so my process of purchasing a new gadget is usually a long and drawn out one that involved justifying my spend and lots of research on the options before actually spending any cash)

Well, I've been cycling more and more and longer distances and spending longer in the saddle. Unfortunately for me I'm the kind of person who naturally pushes myself to my physical limit. I need no encouragement to go faster or harder, I'm always trying to go as hard and fast as I can. This, it turns out, is not good for you. And you can increase aerobic capacity (fitness) by training in the right zones.

So I wanted an HRM to encourage me to ride at a reasonable pace, so as to:

1. Not knacker myself out on longer rides.
2. Help actually improve my fitness and endurance.
   

Makes sense.

A bit about Training Zones

I'm not expert but it goes something like this.

Any training programme recommends spending time at different heart rate "zones", which are percentages of your MHR (maximum heart rate). It is generally considered that there are 5 zones called various things depending on who you ask but something like:

1. Rest/low activity
2. Recovery
3. Aerobic
4. Anaerobic
5. Maximum

It turns out that I was spending most of my time in Anaerobic or maximum. No wonder I was getting tired!

The theory goes that spending time at Zone 3 increases aerobic capacity and endurance, Zone 4 builds strength, and zone 5 is for, well, sprinting and hill climbing.

Why the Garmin?

There are plenty of HRMs on the market. I chose the Garmin Forerunner 50 because:

• It didn't look rubbish
• It was reasonably priced (relatively)
• It's a watch so I can use it for running/gym work as well as on the bike (I had considered a bike computer with built in HRM but dismissed this idea as lesss flexible)
• It has all the features I need.
• It has a data storage function that can wirelessly upload to Garmin software. (I'm a bit obsessive about how fast/far I've gone - now I can track my heart rate too!)
  
• It has the option to link to a foot pod (pedometer) and a bike sensor to expand its functionality.
  

Is it any good?

The HRM is fine! Does what it says on the tin. I've had a BIT of interferance from the bike computer on one ride, suggesting that it doesn't use a coded signal (this would allow the watch to only count wireless pulses from the HRM), but it's only been tempremental the once. You need to make the chest sensors wet for it to work well too!

The sensor takes a bit of getting used to but is comfortable. I imagine that this is true of any monitor.

The watch is a little bulky but not too un-cool. If you have small arms it might look a bit silly. The display is clear and large. Turning your wrist slightly to look at the numbers while on the bike is a bit annoying. In some ways I wish I'd got an integrated bike computer/HRM, but I chose not to and that's the price I pay. It's not too much of a problem though.

The warning alarm that tells you if you're outside of your (configurable) training zone is plenty loud and annoying enough. In hindsight I'd like two different alarms, one to say I'm a little over and one to say I'm REALLY over.

I read one review that suggested that the instructions weren't that good and I tend to agree, I've found a lot out just by playing and button-pushing.

Data storage and transfer works well and is very simple. You can review some of the data on the watch itself but after upload to the Garmin software you can see detailed graphs (data is, I think, every 5 seconds). The software really wants you to be using a more expensive GPS device and functionality is limited when just using the Forerunner 50.

It's a little annoying in that the HRM can't take into account your circumstances. If you're pounding uphill, or in traffic, or trying to keep good up pace on a busy road, or fighting a headwind, you need to be pushing a bit to stay safe, or to get where you're going and having the watch beep at you every 5 seconds doesn't help. Perhaps a mute button would be useful?

Has it worked?

YES! Well, I think so. It's certainly slowed me down as my MyCyclingLog.com stats show. This is frustrating at times, like when you find your training zone only allows you to do 12mph uphill into a slight wind. But I recover quicker and feel better after long rides and evidence would seem to show that I'm getting fitter.

It's helped me "tune in" to my body a bit, know where I'm pushing too hard and where I could go harder - even without the watch now! And as time has gone on and I've done more long rides at lower pace, I seem to be able to go faster for the same heart rate - evidence that my fitness is improving after only a few weeks? I hope so!

So, despite the few things that niggle me about it, I've found the experience pretty good and would recommend an HRM as a training tool for anyone doing regular lengthly exercise. And the Forerunner 50 is a fine place to start!

Update: Bizarrely, just today, BikeRadar published this article about training zones and getting fitter by riding slower. They've renumbered the zones slightly but it's the same theory. And it is only a theory - some of the commentors there disagree with that theory too!

Lots of bike news

Fuzzy went in for repairs yesterday, mostly because he needed it sooner rather than later, but also because I was driving to work anyway so that I could safely give blood at lunchtime and not have to ride home. But there's lots of online cycling developments this week.

Swindon Cycle Challenge

One it the Swindon Cycle Challenge! I only found out about this at the weekend and it started on Monday. The idea is to incentivise people to go and ride a bike for 10 minutes or 1 mile, by running a workplace competition, giving spot prizes to individuals who enter, and team prizes to the companies/departments who get the highest percentage of staff on a bike!

It's really clever and seems to have lots of good backing. They've sent me a goodie bag of lollipops, cycle computers, lights, keyrings, reflective strips and puncture repair kits, and have generally been very helpful in promoting it around the office.

Everyday Cycling

Everyday Cycling have also just released more community features, like groups, blogs, messages and rankings. Like social networking for cyclists.

I don't really understand why this is of benefit over traditional social networking - just join a cycling group on Facebook or something?

Plus, at the moment, the site is really SLOW, so I won't be looking around for too long.

Shame, maybe as it develops and comes out of beta it will be good, but for the time being I'm sticking with Bikely for routes, MyCyclingLog.com for logging and, well, Facebook and Twitter for social networking.

Update

I think that when I wrote this it was my internet connection that was slow. The site is pretty quick now and actually pretty full of useful stuff. Maybe it is worth checking out after all!

General Update

I've not written much lately but have some free time so it's a catchup kinda day. We've been on holiday (write-up of holiday thoughts to come) and feel a bit out of things, but we're slowly returning to normality.

Cycling

Continuing long rides into work and doing my 8.5 mile route most days now. Having new gear (the race blades and heart-rate monitor - review to come) has inspired me a bit and fitness has been getting up along with my mileage.

Fuzzy just had a good clean, but needs a couple of repairs after I took a fall in the rain not long ago, and crashed into a girl the other day. He continues to be my trusty steed and probably my third love in the world!

Of course, with the warm weather and long days, cycling is highly enjoyable at the moment.

Garden

Not getting as much attention as it should but doing well. We continue to fight slugs (beer traps have become less effective but we've taking to night-tie garden trips to kill them and are now using certified "Growing Success" stuff to keep them at bay) and harvest strwaberries. The strawberries have had no attention but have cropped first and delivered lots of tasty fruit already. Excellent!

Here's the garden a couple of weeks ago:

The potatoes, in the foreground, continue to grow well, and the onions are looking good too:

General

Generally we're pretty well. Sal is busy with work, I'm ticking over nicely in the office and not getting stressed - a far cry from last years troubles.

The church plant thinking is pretty much on hold while we wait for God to speak or for things to happen. And there's lots of exciting news from friends with babies being born, people going off to become vicars/ministers.

I also led worship for the first time last week, which was very exciting. For those that don't know what this means, I basically led the music for a church service; I picked the songs, did a little bit of arranging, made sure everyone knew what they were doing, organised the rehersal and introduced and led the songs themselves. It's important that this wasn't something great that I did, I love my God and it was all about getting other people to connect with Him and show their adoration for Him. But it was an important event for me too, so I mention it here state that it went well and that I enjoyed it, and then I leave it.

Life is good!

Race Blades (TM)

There is much dispute in the cycling community about the quality of German manufacturer SKS' Race Blades. After my sister gave me some Wiggle vouchers for my birthday (thanks Sarah), I have now bought some and so thought I ought to chip in to the debate.

First of all, for those not in the know, what are Race Blades? Well, they are clip-on mud guards for road bikes that do not require eyelets to screw into or clearance between the brake calipers and the tyres.

I'm an all weather commuter (and rapidly becoming an all-weather trainer too) and Fuzzy, my Felt Road Bike, doesn't have either eyelets or mudguard clearance. So when I got him I kitted him out with some "Crud Catcher" type mud guards. Not ideal and pretty uncool for a sleek, speed machine:

I tried to re-create this photo with the Race Blades but got the bike (and the weather) the wrong way round and I can't be bothered to do another...here he is with the new kit:

Nice! Let's see some close ups:

Close-up of rear guard	Close-up of front guard	Close-up of front fork fittings

So they look good. But how do they perform?

Opinions vary a lot, I've seen claims that:

• they fall off at the slightest lump in the road;
• they stay on through all conditions;
• they're fine for keeping you dry but shouldn't be used in groups as the person behind will get drenched;
• they're useless in heavy rain but OK for a light sprinkling;
  
• they're not as good as real mudguards for keeping you dry;
• they're a perfectly good replacement for normal guards and a very clever invention.
  

I guess I've had mine for two or three weeks now, through a fairly wet July and a couple of hundred miles of all-weather commuting and I will hereafter join with those who sing their praises!

They were easy to fit and I used the "temporary fittings" so I could easily take them off if I didn't like them. However, the rubber fittings you see in the photo have done me proud, holding the fenders on with little movement through some of Swindon's roughest roads. The extra fittings for blade-style front forks are clever too, allowing secure attachment to oddly shaped aero forks, and they come with "permanent" fixings in the form of some cable-ties too.

Riding with them is fine and you hardly notice them there. There is an occasional squeak when you go over a bump and the blade rubs on the tyre, but a little careful alignment (by tweaking the position of the fittings slightly) mostly fixes this.

It's been a pretty wet July so far and so they've had plenty of rain to cope with and I must say, they do a great job! I've not had any spray come up at me and, unlike the previous crud catchers, the front blade follows the wheel, protecting me even on corners. I have no experience of group riding so can't make any claim about the guy behind me getting drenched. I might have to go with the pro's with their experience of that, however, glancing back, I can't see much spray coming up at all!

My only complaint so far is that you can bash them when track-standing. You need to be careful to keep your foot out of the way when turning the front wheel a lot. Somehow the difference is only a few centimeters, but it is a BIG difference. Even so, when I have knocked the in this way, they've stayed on.

I'm really pleased with my blades. If you're thinking of buying some I would heartily recommend them.

Now where's those permanent fixings?

The Green Cross Code

I've had a few minor incidents on my commute to and from work, and a couple of falls off Fuzzy that were my own stupid fault and didn't hurt anyone else. But I had my first crash involving someone else today.

It was nothing major. I, on my bike, collided with a 10-ish-year-old girl, also on a bike. There were no major injuries but it was quite a shock.

I'd been pulling away from a roundabout. Just past the exit, there was an unmarked crossing with an island. I'd seen the family with a couple of kids on bikes, about to cross from a distance. As I approached, the mother saw me and shouted to stop, and I pulled away from the roundabout as normal assuming that they would.

As I got closer, it appeared that one of the girls wasn't about to stop. I THINK I remember
making eye contact, but if we did she must have thought that I would stop. My initial thought was that SHE would stop. Either that or speed up and get out of my way. But she continued on at the same slow speed. I'd committed to the gap on my left, in front of the girl, but it was shrinking, so I got on the brakes. Too late though. We collided.

I don't really remember what happened then, but we all ended up standing at the side of the road. The mother was more concerned with my welfare than that of her daughter. I think she felt bad because, ultimately, it was the girl's fault for crossing without looking. She stood in silence holding her hand and looking mightily scared. I had a bruised leg but kept my cool and wished them a good day once we'd established that everyone was OK.

I've been trying to blame myself for it - something I'm usually pretty good at - but all I can come up with is that, had I judged it better, I could have avoided a collision; a collision that occurred because the girl crossed in front of me.

It was a minor incident, but it's made me cautious. Maybe next time I'll anticipate the family crossing and be slower. If I was in a car it would have been much worse, so perhaps I'll be driving more carefully in future too.

This is not the first incident of children running out at me. I know that the bike is quiet, but the incidents have occurred on pretty major roads and kids should be stopping and looking hard both ways before crossing. Whatever happened to the green cross code?

It was a bad start to my first day back at work after being away on holiday - a report on that to come! I arrived at work to find that I'd been evicted from my desk and had to move - which wasted half a day! And then I upset someone by sending an email with a SINGLE word in upper-case for emphasis. So all in all, not a great start to the new working week.

Oh well, I guess it can only get better!

Cycle Logs

I'm strangely obsessed with tracking my cycle times!

I think the whole blogging thing, and tracking my life in general, started last year when I wasn't well and wanted to record some of what was going on so that I could spot trends and try to work out what was causing me to be ill, or what was causing me to be well.

My sister has also been a bit of a role model for tracking fitness, I know she's used various tools, electronic and paper, over the years to track her running alongside injuries, nutrition and other facts that are related.

A while back I wrote about where I store my routes. But I've recently been reviewing where I store my cycle logs too. All prompted by t1mmyb's little note on Twitter the other day.

I started out using Google Docs for tracking my times in a simple online spreadsheet. This was OK but when it started getting big and unmanagable I started looking for something better, and decided to stick with www.bikejournal.com. It's a bit clunky but did a good job.

But Tim pointed me at www.mycyclinglog.com. A fab site which is slick, fast, looks nice and does some interesting things. It also allows you to have a "badge" that you can stick on your blog (look right and down), it integrates with Facebook, and has RSS feeds. I love it and I was an almost instant convert.

In fact, in an odd kind of way, it's reinvigorated my waning passion for cycling. Tracking your times makes you want to improve your times! Perhaps having them on public display will make me want to do that all the more!!

Fixing the Felt and Rediscovering the Raleigh

One of my favourite films is Pixar's Toy Story...the first all-CGI feature-length movie, and a very cool buddy story. I'm assuming knowledge of the story here so please forgive me if you've not seen it (and GO see it!).

I'm having a bit of a Toy Story moment. My old Raleigh bike (who I've taken to calling "Walter") hasn't been used much lately. When Fuzzy (my road bike) came along he was so superior in so many ways that Walter got a bit forgotten about. Walter is, if you like, my "Woody", and Fuzzy is my "Buzz Lightyear".

But this week, Fuzzy got a flat. Not on the road, he got cut up by some glass on the garden path. Still, it was a busy week and I didn't have the time to get it fixed proper. So I took to riding the Raleigh to work for a couple of days.

And, you know what, he's not so bad after all. He's a work horse. Solid. Dependable. A bit rough around the edges, but he's there when I need him. OK, so he's a bit uncool, but he's done more than 1500 miles in 18 months. When Fuzzy has problems, I'll need Walter.

And so to fixing the flat. This should be bicycle maintenance 101. It's the first thing you learn to do right? It's EASY. A kid could do it.

So can I just say...a kid could NOT do it with a road bike! Those things are so darn fiddly, the beading's so tight. It's really hard!

Anyway, I fixed the flat mid-week but found a half-inch gash in the front tyre where the glass had got through so I bought two new tyres (700-25 Continental Gatorskins if you must know) and fitted them both today. That's three tyre changes in a week - I'm getting pretty good at them now despite the difficulty level! Yet to give them a good ride but will be interesting to see how the bike handles with different rubber.

Fuzzy also got a good and much needed clean, degrease and lube today. The Raleigh is the workhorse, but the Felt is my slick, lean, fast machine and he still gets much more attention.

To infinity and beyond anyone?

Bicycle maintenance - maybe not as hard as I thought?

Before I bought my beloved Fuzzy (the Felt...my road bike!), I did a lot of research into how to keep it in good nick. I asked questions on internet forums. I read books and magazines. And when it came to getting Fuzzy home I generally thought I knew what I was doing...and I was well prepared for a LOT of time and effort doing maintenance.

My first few rides, having fallen off, were tentative, and followed by a close inspection of parts. But as time has gone on I've become less precious and Fuzzy's not had much maintenance for a while now.

I kinda feel bad about this. But also, he doesn't really need it! He's a bit grubby, but he's well lubricated, the brakes are still strong and the transmission is smooth as silk still.

The key, it seems, it making sure he's looked after when he's wet. The books and forums all said to pay lots of attention to the chain, and to wipe down when you've been out in the rain. And sure enough, this seems to have kept the bike in good nick.

I really MUST spend some time doing some proper cleaning and maintenance at some point but for now it seems that little and often is the key, and it's much less work than I thought it would be.

The Best Things in Life are Free

This was going to be a humorous, Fat-Cyclist-Style list of the best feelings in the world, but for reasons that I can't really bring myself to mention, I've decided just to write about the feeling that prompted the post in the first place.

With the longer days and the arrival of British Summer Time I've been doing my longer routes to and from work. Which has been nice.

But you know what. There's one really great feeling that you get when doing a circular route, and that's the feeling of turning 90 or more degrees, out of an uphill road with a headwind, onto a downhill road with a tailwind. It's a truly glorious feeling and it makes me very happy indeed!

Risky Manoeuvres

I'm beind with updates again, including a big write up of our holiday exploits.

It's been a busy week, and with a 15 hour day at work on Wednesday, I was due a few late morning in, so I've been making use of my longer, 8.5 mile commute to work.

I've had two little incidents that are worth writing up.

Yesterday I did something a bit silly. I was frustrated following a tractor that was doing about 12mph on a single track road. It's was slightly downhill and the wind was behind me so I should have been able to do a steady 25mph, if not more. There were three cars backed up behind it and I was following behind them. I saw that the road was getting a bit wider, so I nipped up the outside of the cars and went for it to get past the tractor.

It was only when I pulled alongside that I noticed the road wasn't too good at the edges. So here I am, on the road bike, riding over rough and unpredictable ground, with a great big tractor about 4 feet to my left.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but looking back on it I really scared myself. One wrong move and I was under a tractor wheel. I'll be more careful next time.

So if Thursday's ride in had something that could have damaged me physically, today's ride home presented an overtaking opportunity that could have dented my pride. I read an article a while ago (that I can't find now) about overtaking, and how you need to be careful 'cos if the person you pass is better than you they'll hunt you down and get you back - to your shame!

And so, a mile or so into my 5.5 miles home, I catch up with a woman on a road bike. She has pretty strong looking legs, a nice bike with a ridiculously small cassette (that's the rear gears), some semi-pro-looking, sponsored bike wear and jersey pockets stuffed full of stuff. All of which says "I'm on a long ride and quite capable of outpacing you for a long time". But she was doing about 15mph up a slight incline - where I'd be doing 19 or 20!

What do you? Is it polite to breeze past in my relatively-amateur-looking gear on my commute home? It seems like an insult. And if I do pass is she going to hunt me down and breeze effortlessly past me shouting that I should try harder? Should I wave? Say "hi"? Ring my bell? All compounded by that fact that she's a woman and any form of communication could be misinterpreted.

AARRGHH!!!!!

Anyway, just like with the tractor, I decided to go for it. I sped up. I got past. I maintained my extra pace for as long as my tired legs would let me. I looked back. And she was nowhere to be seen.

Result!

In fact, according to FatCyclist's overtaking point system I reckon I got 6 points for passing one cyclist! Though I'm not sure if the shaved legs points count for a woman.

So, body and pride intact after 2 risky manoeuvres - it's been a good week's cycling!