I have just entered the Brompton World Championship race to be held at Blenheim Palace.
Catch that, a world bloody championship!
Anyway, rules state I must wear a suit jacket, collared shirt and a tie.
I don’t have a tie – disaster!
Anybody got a spare tie that would complement my delightful bike and wouldn’t be impaired by a gallon of sweat?
Popularity: 21% [?]
Here’s a quick pictorial introduction to the new bike recruit.
The Brompton is squeezing alongside the other two bikes and trying to carve out a niche for itself.
So far it’s doing very well and I’m beginning to worry about what I’ll do with the other two.
I wonder if I could have a go at a sprint tri with it? It certainly needs to have a go at some sort of challenge event just to cement it’s street cred.
A marvel of British engineering.
Here it is in transition mode – notice the sweet pea holder built into the Brompton bag – how useful is that?
Just to continue the bike porn theme, here it is in full glory.
I’ll just finish by plugging the WizzBike – the best bike shop I’ve come across so far. Superb service, it’s based in Brentford but well worth the trip if you are interested in Bromptons, folders or Pashleys.
Popularity: 27% [?]
The bike shop rang unexpectedly today to say that the Stumpjumper was fixed already! Seems the shock failure wasn’t so catastrophic after all, but it did somehow swing around to being all my fault again. Ho hum!
I left the shop with a rejuvenated bike and a swanky new high pressure suspension pump. Apart from that I wasn’t in the slightest bit prepared for my cycle ride today. I didn’t have my spd’s, helmet, lights or a map/gps to help me get from Liverpool Street to Mortlake and I didn’t have a clue how to get home.
By 6pm in February it is way too dark to cycle without lights so I’m afraid I had to “share” pavement space with the peds to save myself a 10 mile walk. I decided to hug the river home as the pavements are wider and there was more chance of finding cycle paths. Also, as I live on the river, provided I picked the right direction I was bound to find my flat eventually.
The embankment is absolutely beautiful at this time of the night so I overloaded my phone with night shots. I think the Samsung D900 handles low light conditions particularly well.
Still trying to avoid both pedestrian and vehicular collisions I took the rash option of the Thames trail from Putney to Hammersmith Bridge. Without lights or even a segment of moon the track was pretty darn scary – my first attempt at night riding.
The path was so waterlogged that at one point I worried that I’d managed to ride off the bank and into the Thames.
There were a peculiar amount of runners choosing this spooky stretch for their evening run, given the choice I would definately opt for the bright lights of the embankment.
Got home eventually, absolutely filthy and determined to eat more carrots.
Stumpy went in the shower and blocked my bath up again so I’m not sure where I’m going to get cleaned up today.
I missed my usual date with the treadmill this evening due to all the excitement so I’ll have to try and pick that up tomorrow if I can ignore the ironing for another day.
Popularity: 32% [?]
I finally got round to dragging my bike across London to get the shot suspension checked out.
Seems it is indeed shot, the piston has reversed or somesuch and needs to be replaced. I was happy to discover that it is my fault for riding the bike with the suspension locked out. The fox suspension unit comes with 3 settings, one is super bouncy, t’other is designed for more efficient pedaling and the other is lock out for when you don’t want any bounce. Apparently I am only supposed to use this setting for hill climbing, using it for any longer than this will result in catastrophic failure!
I got home and turned my bedroom upside down to find the manual, I am more pleased to discover that the official line on the lock out setting is that it is used for “Hill climbing and road riding” so it aint my fault!
The kind people at Cyclesurgery have taken it off my hands anyway and are agreeing to fix it under warranty so thankfully I will not be forced to have screaming ab dabs in the middle of the store.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Big Gurls Bike
Originally uploaded by warriorwomen.
So the weather guys got it right, we did have a smattering of snow this morning. Not a lot but enough to make me reach for the big girls bike with its extra wide tires for commuting stability in the slush.
The bike didn’t feel too comfortable on the way in and I noticed that I was clipping my pedals on the floor as I turned corners. On the way home this evening I nearly found myself under a truck as I hit the tarmac while ducking and diving a bit. Struck me that somehing was clearly amiss, what sort of mountain bike is set so low that the pedals mash the dirt on every bend? On inspection it seems that the rear suspension is shot! You can just about make out in this photo that the suspension triangle is a bit tight. Flippin irritating.
I still have the cold. Tomorrow will mark 2 weeks of infirmity. I have a feeling I might be improving though, I’m not as chesty and I only used half a box of tissues today. This is great news because I’ve booked myself in for a heavy weekend of running. I realise I’m probably being rash but I’m going stir crazy.
On Saturday I plan to try out the Bushy Park 5k Time Trial which looks like a great event, run weekly by volunteers with an amazing website listing everyone’s time and position against previous performances. I’ll provide an update this weekend. On Sunday I’ve signed up for a 5 mile AdiRun organised by The Sweatshop, also centred around Bushy Park.
Popularity: 25% [?]
Can you believe it? It seems that I am so short, that I have to buy a girls bike!
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I went in to the bike shop to pick up a men’s Specialized Stumpjumper FSR comp, but even the small is too big for me. The women’s frame is only just ok, but I have to make do with the puffy colours.
I’m not really complaining, its a beautiful bike. I ended up getting the Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Expert, which is just a tad above my current skill level, but it was the only one in stock. What can a girl do?
I pick it up tomorrow, after they have removed most of the seat post length. Can’t wait to have some fun this weekend. Got to get my skill level up quickly, you can’t have a bike like that and then start behaving like a wuss on the trails.
Popularity: 25% [?]
I am just teetering on the age of buying my new bike. That will be about the 6th bike purchase this year and leave me living with another bike in my shower for a while. Ah well – it is another beauty.
The bike in question is a Specialized Epic. Yes I have moved over to the other side – mountain biking! Well at least at the weekend, for the rest of the week I’ll be happy on my Sirrus Pro.
I’ve started collecting together a load of reviews on the Epic:
Bike Mag review
Bike Magic Review
MTBR user reviews
Here’s the marketing blurb:
For 2004, the 1/2lb (220g) lighter Epic chassis delivers the “Holy Grail” of uncompromised FSR suspension in the rough stuff and hardtail-firm efficiency on smooth terrain. Optimized for Brain shock and sporting serious processing throughout — M4 Alloy, ORE down and top tubes, every tube fully butted and manipulated, sealed cartridge bearings at every pivot. 90mm rear wheel travel.
Specialized Brain Adjust IQ shock (manufactured by Fox Racing Shox): air sprung with adjustable rebound, and spherical bearings that eliminate all shock side loads. Adjustable threshold setting dials-in Brain sensitivity.
Light, fast wheels—Stout hub with Skraxle up front, Shimano XT in the back; laced to Mavic 517 rims with DT Revolution spokes.
Rock Shox SID Team forks with 80mm travel, adjustable rebound, lockout, and alloy steerer.
Intelligent spec achieves lightweight and speed potential –XTR brake/shift levers, Avid CD Ti brakes, Roll-X tires, and on and on.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Well its taken me a shockingly long time to let you all know but I’m afraid Peryl is no more. Way back in October, I discovered a fairly major crack in the frame of my airnimal chameleon ultegra. That was not a particularly good day for me. I had an OU maths exam in the morning but I was up early and thought I would take my mind off things by washing the airnimal in the shower.
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Aaaaargh! Just look at the damage….
Can you believe that? To top it all I missed my exam with all the stress and trying to contact airnimal and Ben Haywards to get some kind of response.
I have to say that the outcome was very positive. Ben Haywards were excellent, they really went out of their way to make it convenient for me to return the bike, actually allowing me to drop it off outside of hours. Airnimal believed that the weld had been overheated during its manufacture and replaced the entire chameleon frame under warranty. I think the new machine was back with me within a week.
Anyway, once bitten twice shy as they say. I decided she had to go and promptly sold the new bike on.
Now I’m the proud owner of a slightly cheaper Specialised Sirrus, another ultegra model with flat bars and disk brakes. I think its better suited to my well built self.
Popularity: 30% [?]
I’ve just taken Peryl in for a bit of a service, her gears aren’t changing too well and no amount of fiddling by me is making much difference. The guy at BikeFix reckons that brake cable has been used for the rear mech instead of gear cable so he is going to change it for me. So long as it fixes the gear change I don’t really care.
While I was there I decided to invest in a pair of the new tyres now available for the Chameleon. They are the Panracer Pasela touring tyre, they apparently have a little more tread than the Technova although they look very similar. I’ll let you know what I think later.
I damaged my tyres on the Sightseer audax, I got the wheels caught in a ridiculously fine grid – a bit like a cattle grid that spanned one of the roads. Everyone else seemed to sail over it but the combination of small radius and width left me stuck. It has ripped the side of both tyres and gauged my rims.
No puncture incurred though which is amazing. Having said that I will get hundreds now.
Popularity: 23% [?]
I’ve had a few teething problems with Peryl the Airnimal Chameleon, since I got her nearly 3 months ago.
No real problems, it was just a shock to the system to move from the comfort of a hybrid with front suspension to a twitchy, road bike. I had aches and pains particularly in my elbows and wrists but the main problem was the price. It is a shockingly expensive machine and I suppose it has to be said that I can’t quite afford it. Don’t get me wrong, I have paid for it, but really I can’t warrant such an outlay. Now that its my only bike I have worries about trips like going to the hairdressers and the shops – I just don’t want to leave her outside.
Anyway, thats enough moaning. I think its all an excuse to get another bike – like I need to be a two bike household!
Things have really improved since I came back from my holiday though. My elbows recovered, I bought some extra padding for the handlebars and I started having fun. She is after all a lovely bike.
I’ve just entered us both into an audax. Its my first and not one I would have considered doing on my old cannondale. So the date is set, 6th July, me, Peryl and 100km of london streets. Exciting init.
Popularity: 20% [?]
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Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow!! What a ride!
