Back On The Road..

At last, I should be back out on the road after tomorrow.  All being well I will have the stitches removed from the operation on my back tomorrow afternoon and get the all clear for ‘bending over the bars’ again.

I had thought at the outset of this, a further enforced break in my cycling that I might actually be tempted to get out on the bike before the prescribed time.  However circumstances dictated that this wasn’t an option.  I seem to have been continually busy with something or another taking place most days.  On the days that were ‘free’ cycling wasn’t usually an option because of the glorious summer weather we are NOT having this year.

The ‘new’ Colnago has been loitering in the garage all poised and ready to go for about a week now.  The final task on that was completed the other day after I had managed to source some RED ‘Colnago’ branded handlebar tape.  For some reason the Colnago tape in red was very hard to come by.

It really has not been a good year for consistent cycling for me so far.  I have never seemed to get more than two weeks into a regular riding pattern before something crops to disrupt things yet again.

I had big plans of being fit early in the year and then having a good season of regular racing but it just hasn’t worked out that way yet again unfortunately.

A Week On Wheels…

Mon 6th May Around Milton Keynes

I set off on a 50 mile ride around the perimeter of Milton Keynes on a route I have done before.  It is a very rural and hilly route.  It was a pleasant ride at a steady pace.  As Monday was a national holiday in celebration of ‘May Day’ there seemed to be plenty of other cyclists about celebrating the pleasant spring weather on their bikes.

I did encounter one of my fellow club members on a different mission at one stage and we rode together for about 10 miles before going our separate ways.

Tues 7th May Fast Ouse Valley

This was a fast ride around my ‘Ouse valley’ route as I was trying to ride my bike more than I have done recently so I had a quick 20 miles in the late morning.

Wed 8th May a.m Clophill Loop & A p.m. Ouse Valley Ride With Harry

I went for a ride with Steph from the cycle club around one of my favourite rides which Steph had seen on Strava so I introduced her to it.  She is a very strong rider who does many miles every week.

I should have seen the warning signs in that.  It was a very hard ride of just over 47 miles with no cafe stops but neither of us likes to stop anyway.  Just as well as there was actually nowhere to stop on the route.  I do it quite comfortably on my own with no stops but the increased speed would have made a cake and coffee interlude very welcome.  My legs ached from the start due to the increased riding I had been doing in the previous five days.  I managed to keep them turning to the end.. just.

This resulted in me revising my increased riding plan for a couple of days of recovery time before the Saturday ride.

Sat 11th May TMK Carlton

This turned into a very hard ride.  Firstly because I battled the 12 miles to the start of the ride solo  into a terrific head wind and secondly the ride itself was hard and fast pretty much from the start to the finish.  The final average speed on my Garmin was 16.9mph, and for the first 12 miles, on the way there, I only averaged around 14.5mph such was the strength of the wind.  All this despite the fact the published average speed for the ‘C’ Group should be 15/16mph.

The thing is that there are a few riders who should probably move up and be riding in the ‘B’ Group if they want to ride that fast.  They seem reluctant to that.  If they did it would help reduce the excessive numbers there are in the ‘C’ Group every week and the ride would be more comfortable for the regular riders in the group.

It wasn’t so bad because we were in a group and I made sure to keep away from the front, my legs were still aching from my exertions earlier in the week.   However some struggled because once again the group split in two.  Not because of some plan but due to natural selection because of the speed.

Sun 12th May, 27 Miles with Harry

This was  a pleasant ride for us around a local loop north of Olney.  A steady pace and we probably could have gone a bit faster but I don’t want to rush things.  He appears to be quite content so just sit behind me for now or maybe he just doesn’t like to come past?

The weather today, Monday,  is not good.  I had vaguely arranged a ride with Harry again tomorrow afternoon but I think it will be too wet according to the forecast.  I might get a longish ride in on Wednesday but the forecast for then isn’t good either.

I Rode The Road To Roade

This afternoons bike ride made for a nifty title I thought.  I was actually going to do a different circuit that took me near to but not actually to Roade.  However as I was pedalling and thinking, as I do when I am cycling, I thought to go to Roade would make a nice title so I had to go there to qualify.  It made it a ride of just over 35 miles and fifth successive day of cycling.

Click Image For Ride Stats

It was a lovely afternoon for a ride.  I had spent the morning creating a road bike for my Grandson Harry to use on his first exploratory bike ride with me tomorrow.  I had offered him the chance to have a go just after his birthday as he has expressed some interest in the cycle racing on TV.  I was 15 when I first took up cycling properly and really got into it from then on.  Who knows it might be in Harry’s genes too?  To add to his Rugby, Football and Cricket CV.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Plan ‘A’ was for him to borrow my Specialized bike with maybe a few adjustments.  He was 15 last week and is pretty much the same size as me so not a lot of adjustments would need to be made.  However in a moment of genius yesterday I thought of using the frame from the ‘fixie’ bike I had made up but never used.  I was sure I had enough stock of spare parts hanging around in the garage that would enable me complete the job.  This would solve the problem of him not having a bike on hand to use as he wished.  I could make up this bike and leave it with him all set up and he could hang on to until he either decides against cycling or he gets into it and we can invest in something a bit better.

So this morning I set to to create a bike from what I had in stock and was  pretty much finished by lunchtime.  It just need a cassette block fitted and find a chain long enough.  I left these jobs to do until after my bike ride.  I didn’t want to waste the opportunity for a shorts and short sleeve shirted bike ride in the nice ‘warmish’ sunshine.

I completed the bike on my return and now we await the events of tomorrow!  It looks pretty good I think.  The frame is a Raleigh Dynatech Titanium, so its quite light and the complete job is just a little heavier than my the Specialized but he is young and fit and I have to retain some advantage!!  Maybe not quite the latest fashion in frames but as long as the seat, handlebars and pedals are in the right place for a good riding position thats all that matters for now.  Carbon Fibre can wait until later.

Time Flies..

Well, where did those four days go ?  We had family to visit from Good Friday until today, Easter Monday, and it seems like only yesterday we were preparing for their arrival !  They do say though that time flies when you are having fun.

During the course of the weekend we went through the spring time change, putting our clocks forward by one hour.  Maybe the loss of that one hour is what made the time seem to go quicker?

So now we have some nice long evenings to look forward too and can make use of the after evening meal slot for outdoor activities.  Hopefully the weather will play its part soon and start behaving itself as it should at this time of year.

The Felt bike will emerge from its winter hibernation at the next available opportunity, probably tomorrow afternoon.  Thats another sign of approaching spring and summer weather hopefully.. its about time for it I think.

A Quiet Day At Home…

After a flurry of activity, over the previous few days with blog changes and setting them up there has been a distinct lack of outdoor activity.  I have neither been cycling or photographing.

Yesterday was mostly spent re-organising my photos on the computer and the external back up/storage disc drive.  Those RAW format files take up a lot of room!  I converted the photos I have already edited this year to .jpg files and moved them on to the Computer hard drive.

The RAW files are around 22mB each picture, once converted to .jpg they are around 14mB as a lot of data is stripped from the RAW files when they are converted.  My plan is to keep an untouched copy of the RAW files just as they are downloaded from the camera as back up on the 2TB external drive.  Also another copy of them on there converted to .dng files.  I will work on editing these .dng files with Adobe Lightroom 4.  Once edited I will  copy them to the Hard Drive in .jpg format for printing or posting on the internet in further reduced size.

On a separate partition on the external drive Apples ‘Time Machine’ software makes hourly back ups of whats on my computer and the external hard drive. After the initial full back up it only makes a note of any changes, not a complete back up every hour. I have 1.5TB for photos and 0.5TB for the back ups.

Also yesterday was my Granddaughter Daisy’s 11th birthday so that was cause for a family get together after school and into the evening.

This morning I spent some time in the garage working on bikes with some fine tuning adjustments to the Specialized bike wheel bearings and gear adjustment after the work and test ride the other day.  I also changed the cassette block on the Felt in preparation for its re-appearance on the 31st!  I didn’t hang about down there too long though as its very cold still.

This afternoon I watched a mountain stage of the Volta a Catalunya (Tour of Catalonia) bike race in the comfort of my sofa in the warm.  There is always some spectacular scenery to be seen on the mountain stages of bike races.  After almost 5 hours of racing already, todays final 12km, 10% average gradient climb was topped off with snow.

Hopefully I will fit a bike ride in tomorrow morning if the weather holds up as it is supposed to and or get out and take some photos, watch this space.

Sundowner Road Test..

After I finished working on the bike, I had a ‘cuppa’ and watched the bike racing on TV, it was still nice and sunny and not too cold. The perfect ingredients for a bike ride and road test of my earlier repair efforts.

It was an invitation I couldn’t refuse.  It didn’t take me long to get ready as considerable less clothes were required than of late.  Still not exposing my knees or arms though.

I decided on my mid length Ouse Valley route, the hillier version, all the climbs are included within a shorter distance.  The bike went well and I went well too, surprisingly.  I averaged 16.9mph for the ride which equals my previous best for the circuit and that was a summer ride on the Felt.  I am still on the Specialized until the end of the month.

Click Image for ride details

On the westbound leg it was nice to see the setting sun for a change even if it was low and in my eyes.  I was home around 6pm and it was only just about starting to show signs of getting dark, it also started to get cooler once the sun disappeared.  Altogether though a satisfactory ride both for me and the bike.

Bike Works..

No bike riding today although it was nice enough for it.. especially compared with recent weather.  When checking my bike on arrival at Stony Stratford for the ride on Saturday I noticed an unhealthy sound coming from my back wheel area.  It sounded like some grit or something had got into the bearings.  I had no choice but to continue with the ride home and kept my fingers crossed.

This morning after breakfast and a few chores and when it was a bit ‘warmer’ I knew I had an appointment with my bike down the garage.  It needed fixing before I rode it again.  I gave the wheel spin as the bike hung on the rack and it seemed quiet actually.  Nevertheless I stripped the wheel down completely, quick release spindle out, removed the axle, removed the cassette and took the freewheel off.  I gave everything a thorough clean and reassembled it all again with waterproof grease and all seemed well.  I also got the chain cleaner gadget out and ran the chain through that a few times before applying a judicious spray of lubricant.  It definitely needed it after the last few rides, plenty of water about.

Now I am all set for a ride tomorrow, hopefully, but whats the betting the weather gods are not with me?

Bike Stable Update

Felt F3, Best Bike

Specialized Allez, Winter/Training Bike

Kona Kula, Mountain Bike

Claud Butler, Touring BIke

Dynatech 725 Ti, Fixed Wheel

Kona Lava Dome, Town Bike (Ex MTB)