Worst Ride Ever

Just a quick note really...

Went out on the bike this morning and instantly felt a bit off.. My left foot just wasn't clipping in/out properly and my mudguards were rubbing against my new 25mm tyres. 

I stopped a few times to check my shoe and mudguards but couldn't sort out either and just tried to ignore the noises and uncomfortableness. 

I was just going up through a nice park when at the top there's a curb that you need to unclip to get up and of course I couldn't unclip so ended up toppling sideways and twisting the steerer tube out of whack with the handlebars. Didn't have the tools with me to tighten it up and just gave up and rolled on home to be annoyed at myself all morning. 

Ah well. 

Ready for Winter Part Two

Continental Gatorskins are a bitch to put on.

I was so excited for these tyres when they came in the post. Excitement soon turned to frustration however as I could not get the damn things on my rim. First I tried with my fingers - gave myself a big blister on my thumb - so I moved onto tyre levers. Snapped three of them.
Asked my friend Paul to try, he couldn't get them over the rim either. So I left them for the night.
Came back to them Monday evening with my friend James who managed the front tyre fairly quickly but was as stumped as the back tyre as I was. We chatted and chilled and eventually using a kitchen knife he got it on the rim for. Thank goodness!

I adjusted the mudguards to make sure the wheels span smoothly and I was good to go!
I also added another front & rear light to add to my visibility at night.

Cycled to work on Tuesday in the pouring rain and I loved every second of it. Tyres weren't noticeably different to the old 23's but the difference will (hopefully) be the amount of punctures I get from the Gatorskins. Mudguards performed brilliantly - not sure if I will ever get used to the feeling of cycling through a mini-lake and not getting and splashback at all.

Here are a few pictures of the new tyres & lights. Black bar tape yet to come but otherwise this baby is ready to tackle winter!

Lincoln Wheelers Club Run in the Peaks AKA Sunday from Hell

• This is from a few weeks ago - Sunday 29th Sep. James & I had been planning on joining the Lincoln Wheelers for a trip into the peak district for a few weeks. It would his first time cycling there and my second after the Rapha Condor JLT day although a bit further north this time.

  
  

  Just after I'd packed both bikes in the car about 7am James rang me to say he didn't want to come because he was 'ill'. Then just as I was about to unpack the car (and go back to bed) he rang again to say "feck it" and that he would come.

  We got to the meeting point safely and all set off in one big group. At the first set of traffic lights we lost half the group then regrouped further down the road. Turned the corner and and there was a piss stop (less than 2 miles in), and as I stopped my tyre decided to randomly deflate completely - tube failure, not sure why! So changed that tube over and got on our way... (tube count: 1)

  After about 10miles we split into the short group but we missed our turning so had to get called back, but then 2 other guys went another mile or so down the road, up a big hill before realising they'd lost us! Oops. The next 10 miles or so was fairly uneventful... lots of lovely hills though. Then we had a truely epic decent for about 3 miles. I happened to be leading the group at the time and used the empty roads to my full advantage. I don't think my speed down there was insane but easily hit 30mph for a sustained period of time. Possibly the most fun I've ever had on a bike! But then James had a blow out, a BANG and the seam of his inner tube failed. So we swapped that over and discovered that the tyre is a tad too big for the wheel (don't know how..) but anyway was a pain and used both of the tubes I had with me. (tube count: 2)

  Then we had lunch which was nice.. I had a scone and choc milkshake but most others had a full meal! I didn't think we really deserved a full meal as we'd only done 24miles with about 2000ft of climbing. After lunch we went straight into this huge Cat 3 climb, it was brutal but I loved it. The road just went on and on and then there was this switchback which was awesome. I lead up the climb the whole way and even unzipped my jersey for the cooling effect/to look like a pro. Eventually the others came over the top but we waited for ages for James... he finally comes over the ridge carrying his bike on his shoulders looking like a true hero! I thought he just couldn't make the hill but turns out he had another blowout! (tube count: 3)

  So we take the tyre off to discover that the inner wall/beading has come away and is popping all his inner tubes! Tried to cover the tyre wall with an energy bar wrapper but when pumped up another huge lump popped out... so had to leave James at the top of this hill on his own with a broken bike. Luckily it was a nice cark park with sun and shade and an ice cream man! Felt guilty leaving him but there was really nothing we could do...

  So we carried on, and actually had some brilliant descents but also at least 2 brutal hills - one felt like 10-12% for about a mile.. haven't checked it out on strava but it was HARD! Then going up another hill later on I got a 2nd puncture!! (tube count: 4) Again in my front wheel! - it was so annoying. So that was 4x those cheap Giant inner tubes which popped in one day... don't think I'll be buying them again!

  Then after that it was fairly okay - lots of hills, which I really enjoyed... I beat everyone to the top on every hill ;) felt quite strong and it was nice to get into a rhythm and get up to the top. The final road into Bolsover (where we were parked) was a big hill as well - a Cat 4 climb I believe! So was pretty tough but finally got to the car park, had to google a postcode for this random car park at the top of the hill and set off to find James!! Got myself an ice cream for my troubles and came home. Whew. Crazy, crazy day.

  We were out for over 6 hours for the 50miles (4:30 moving time) but I had a really great day - not sure if James enjoyed the experience quite so much! Will defiantly be doing the route again though as I really enjoyed it!

  Thanks for reading - this was an edited version of what I sent my friend straight after we got home so it was fresh in my mind. Here is a link to the strava.
• 
  

Prendas Waterproof Cap Review

Yesterday (Oct 1st, circa 2pm) I read an article on Inrng about his sponsor for the last month or so - Prendas.
The comments were very, very good so off I popped to check out the website.

As I don't have too much spare cash (although I was very tempted) I opted for something fairly low price, the Prendas Waterproof Cap. I'm rather partial to a nice cotton cap so this was something slightly different. It cost £7.50 and included free delivery.

I came home today (2nd Oct) to find the cap from Prendas on my mat. Talk about quick delivery, wow! Already impressed with the cap I opened it up and put it straight on as I was heading out for a ride anyway.

First off the cap feels a little odd as it is a nylon exterior with a slight foam padding to the interior so it's nice and comfortable. It says Prendas on the peak and Ciclismo on the inside of the peak, in a very pleasing font.

The cap fitted well and looked good under my helmet and got some good attention from my ride buddy tonight. It kept my head nice and dry amid the evening showers and kept the sweat from my hair away from my helmet foam pads. Being a little thicker than cotton it is promising for those colder autumn and spring rides and I'm looking forward to showing it off more in the future.

Thanks to Prendas who can be found here. And the cap which can be found here.