All things smooth tarmac and braving the traffic
The hoods of torture So, as detailed in the previous post my eBay Winter Bike project had had a pretty strong start. My bargain 1990’s Dawes Galaxy had been treated to a complete drivetrain refresh for less than the cost of a contemporary rear cassette, and I’d even found some less offensive bar tape to …
Continue reading Winter Bike Part 2 – it’s not easy being retro ……
I’ve never bothered with a specific bike for winter training. I’ve either just ridden my usual road bike all year round and accepted the increased need to perform distasteful tasks like cleaning and lubing the chain more frequently, or just ridden off road for most of the winter. After all there is to my mind …
Continue reading Buying a Winter Bike – Is this the path to all year round riding?
A surprise appearance on a Strava leaderboard leads to a worrying obsession
Cometh the winter, cometh the season to plot how to spend whatever disposable income and free time you can seek past your significant other in the pursuit of next summers cycling goals. For most cyclists this is a pretty clear nivarna - we all want to be faster, look cooler (and slimmer!) and perhaps most …
Ever had a ride when you get home and wish you hadn't bothered? One when you've spent almost the entire ride wondering if fishing might actually be the sport for you and how much a decent rod and reel would cost? Well I did yesterday. I've had such rides before and I'm sure I'll have …
So long time to blog, and seeing as the last one was written around the subject of Fish Keeping, it's even longer since I put both middle fingers to keyboard on the subject of bikes and the riding there of. Well mea culpa (whatever that means), sorry, I know I've been letting down my loyal …
Continue reading Spring has Sprung at last – Time to ride mes amis……..
'Built not Bought' is a tag line and sticker now currently popular on the modified car scene. Displaying one on the back window or bumper of ones 'ride' proclaims to the world at large (or at least the tiny proportion of it that actually cares) that those ill-advised styling touches and that badly installed exhaust …
Continue reading Self Build Satisfaction – ‘Built not Bought’
One of the best things about riding during the UK winter is the way that mother nature helps to level the playing field. For a start when the roads take on their winter plumage of mud, frozen cowshit and massive potholes that seasonal British beast the 'winter bike' makes its first appearance of the year …
Continue reading Winter Riding – The great sartorial leveller
Remember remember soggy November, shit weather, crashes and snot - goes the UK riders parody of a well-known children's nursery rhyme. Yup, November is my full-blown excuse fest month. The slightest thing can keep me indoors and off the bike. Sainsbury's delivery? no problem dear, I'll stay in all day waiting for it in case it comes …
During my knee induced layoff I've been pondering my rather meagre cycling achievements. Since what I now like to refer to as 'my riding prime' pre-dated the digital age its highly unlikely that my best results from my racing days are recorded anywhere except in my fading memories. Past glories such as my heroic third …
Continue reading Strava – The route to minor cycling immortality or a descent into madness?
The Declining Cyclist 