The Final Cut

Well I got an email from Andy at Phian last night and I think we've cracked it, the design for my race wheels seems to be complete. Any opinions feel free to leave a comment, but I think they're nicer than some factory wheels you can buy.

Agonising Wait

My frame is still not here. It was meant to be here on Tuesday and it is now Friday, and I probably won't have it until Tuesday next week. A month waiting for the frame when I should really have had the whole bike by now and be racing on it. So much for that idea.

The shop begginning with an "R" in Preston which you can probably guess, even refused to compensate me in any way for the huge cock-up on their part. I think a call to trading standards may be in order to see if I am entitled to anything.

I'll keep you posted.

Wheely Good?

Right, I want everyone's opinions. The designs of my new Phian wheels have come through. They're not final so here are the 2 designs I've been sent. What do you think?

Just One Disaster After Another

On Tuesday we met Jonny, the new kid on the block, and tonight we did a group ride, the 4 main youngsters in the club. It started off well, it got better, we climbed some hills, did some work, then climbing into Caistor Jonny's front mech twisted, so after a few minutes with an Allen key I got him on the road again.

We thought this was all of our bad luck and carried on. Then about half an hour later we were set on the way home, and had made it onto the drag, and Jonny somehow managed to physically wrap his chain around his crank arm. After some moaning about how oily his chain was, I managed to fix it, and we were on our way again.....or were we? Dan got clipped in, rode onto the opposite side of the road, shouted "my chain is off" and a split second later so was he. This was rather amusing so we won't count this too much as misfortune.

A couple of miles later, Jonny's chain was off again, fortunately not in a bad way, and 20 seconds later we were moving yet again.

At the end of the drag we had our customary sprint, which I won as I tend to, but managed to ping a spoke, which has pretty much written off yet another wheel. Dan managed the same thing a few days ago.

So to summarise:

1 front mech mechanical

2 chain problems, 1 of which very difficult

1 crash

2 wheels written off

Kharma? Perhaps, but what on earth for?

Ups and Downs

Cycling is full of ups and downs. My old bike is dying, but I'm getting a new one. My new frame arrived today, but it's the wrong size. So much for getting the bike ready for a couple of races before the season finishes. The replacement frame should be here on tuesday though, and I'm going to try and arrange it with Rourkies to book my frame in for spraying and building the moment it arrives so as not to waste any precious time. I may still be able to get a race on it before I leave for uni again.

Dan's bike is taking a little longer than previously expected too, but he's been told Saturday at the latest, so he should be riding it on the Sunday club run all being well.

A Graduation?

Well as you know I recently inherited an apprentice, Danny, who is doing very well. He's got a long way to come obviously but he's learnt the basics and is always improving. Is it time for him to flee the nest so to speak?

Probably not, he needs to learn a lot more, is the answer. But tonight I believe I have received a new apprentice who we believe to be called Jonny. He came to watch the tail end of the time trial at Fonaby tonight, stayed around for a chat, then he, Danny and I rode back to town together.

We imparted a bit of knowledge, or as much as one can do in 10 minutes, and Jonny is keen to come out for a proper ride with us.
It's good that we have a couple more youngsters coming to the club, and that Joe and I are here to help them through learning the ropes, and now Danny is able to impart some knowledge and talk more about being a new rider in the club. It will definitely benefit the both of them and we look forward to seeing them progress through the ranks and eventually reach the pinnacle of physical condition and racing with the best in the club.

Damp? That's Absurd!

Well three words describe my feelings about time trials: horrible, horrible and horrible. The course may well be slightly in my favour if I was trained up for time trials, so went all out from the line as I always do, rode conservatively up the hill, then blitzed it down the drag and after last turn. Needless to say in the last few kilometres I was dying: the curse of the non-tt specialist. I don't understand the concept of sitting at a constant wattage and cadence for 20 minutes when you can draft behind people and sprint, which seems so much more fun. Let's face it, Mark Cavendish can't time trial for his life, and I am the same.

I don't care though, as today I did do a 23 minute without being warmed up or trained up for the event, and was on a standard road bike that is falling apart. This was the least of my worries however, as when waiting on the start line for my number to be called, the heaven's decided to open. And open they did, with some flair I must say. Torrential downpour started, with a dash of hail stones thrown in for good measure. With the marvellous road surfaces of West Lindsey district council, the road collected the majority of this water in large pools, meaning I was constantly weaving around the road to keep on the slightly safer part, even if it meant riding like a Frenchman (on the other side of the road).

I shall not be riding my new bike in the wet and dirt I assure you, and I shall bring a bag to time trials in future so that I can carry overshoes if neccessary, and I might even race in my wonderful race cape rather than let Joe drive away with it as the rain started. Lesson learned, be over-prepared for time trials or else!