Commutes/The not-so-great figure of eight DNF

Quite an active week on the whole. Plenty of riding and plenty of adventure. Plenty of menace too. Managed to squeeze in 3 work and back commutes which was nice. The first 2 rides were relatively uneventful, however, the third was certainly eventful.

On my third commute, after work, I met up with a couple of mates - Jamie and Andy. We met up at the 'Canalside' cafe and bar, on the tow path next to the Gas Basin. This was such a lovely place for a meet and greet. This was a celebratory meet of sorts - I was returning their brevet card and certificates for completing the York Arrow event we completed last season. It was lovely to reminisce and talk bike nonsense for a spell. Was also nice to down a couple of pints of 'Black Rat', some quite potent scrumpy cider. After our meet, we all set off together - all retiring to our respective homes. It was cold, dark and wet. Andy was first to break off at the Five Ways junction. Later, Andy remarked how drivers just seem to speed up in bad weather conditions. It is well known, that most folk in Birmingham (and beyond) want to kill cyclists.

Please don't kill cyclists

Jamie and I continued along together following the tow path to as far as Bournville. I think this was the worst weather I have ever commuted in. Having drank so much I kept needing to stop for an emergency wee. Once Jamie had departed, I was still less than half way home. After what seemed an age, I finally reached home. I found I could cycle fine, but once off my bike it was difficult to walk.

Timmy no-mates

During the weekend, I decided I would ride my recently created DIY PERM - 'The not-so-great figure of eight' 200k audax. Things were bad from the start - none of my mates (for various reasons) were able to cycle with me, Lunar had kept me awake since 4 a.m. and my wife would rather I didn't venture out that day. Maybe I should have stayed at home...

At just after 7 a.m. I set off. The first leg to Henley-in-Arden was fine. Fine for me at least, I saw a couple of cars had crashed just before reaching Henley and car bits were sprayed all over the road. In fact, I saw these cars twice because once reaching Henley, my route reversed and followed some same road back onto section 2.

Section 2 was a longer stretch to Whitlenge. Things started ok and I cycled some paths that feature on my work and back commutes and cycled round some of Arrow Vale Lake. Nice. My route continued and took me past 'the Hardy's'. For the most part, nice roads were followed but cycle paths and mucky lanes featured too. At around the 30k mark, I was faced with the option of passing through a ford.

I didn't pass through the ford but shortly after got soaked anyhow because the heavens opened big time. I got soaked through to the skin. Wet, cold feet! Was real pleased once I reached Whitlenge and particularly the Whitlenge tea rooms! This was such a welcome stop because not only did I eat a full English breakfast that was scrumptious (and washed down with a pot of tea) but I also stripped off and dried my gear on a oil heater. I stayed here for about an hour, refusing to leave before the rain had stopped.

The road travelled (spot the mis-hap)

The next leg was menace. The weather was ok and the roads were fine. However, all was not well. I cycled past a bunch of 'terrors' on horses, with dogs, who were taking part in some hunt. Worse still, my route went wonky as I got confused where my route crossed paths with itself and took the wrong turn. I discovered my mistake but added extra k's and was generally annoyed with myself. I often do this silly sort of stuff. Eventually, I reached Bidford the next control but k wise, I should have been in Winchcombe. Grr.

Would the route get hillier? Maybe we'll never know!

Roads I had never cycled before started leading me towards (I believe) Winchcombe. With less than 10k to go, my rear wheel felt wobbly. I dismounted to take a look and BANG! The tyre blew right in my face. Good job I was wearing glasses! Damn! Game over. The tyre had blown, so much so, a massive hole was ripped in the side of it. So much for Specialized armadillo tyres. Pah!

I often carry a spare tyre but as Murphy's Law would have it - I didn't on this occasion. Was no use replacing the tube when it would be so exposed. I could fit a finger inside where the hole was blown. Thankfully my cousin Aid was able to pick me up and drive me home but he took an age to arrive. Was only one thing to do while I waited patiently...

... and have a drink in the nearest pub! So annoyed that game over was called after I had cycled 109k. The not-so-great figure of eight really turned out to be not-so-great. Unfinished business! Sadly, I think that destroys my plans of an RRTY award this season. On a brighter note, I cycled 284k this week which was nice. Oh, and Jamie reminded me that I completed a perm event from the Saracen Club and got a mention for being the first non-member to do so. It ain't all bad!

No cycling/Arrivee/Recognition

I knew this was going to be a naff week on the cycling front. My work commute was out as I was on a 5 day study course in Birmingham. The venue for this course had no shower facilities so cycling to and from here was out. Felt miserable as early as Tuesday and I had not cycled any miles and the withdrawal symptoms were kicking in - irritability, low mood and occasional hostility. In a bid to cheer me up, Strava sent my some data detailing my achievements thus far in 2014.

By midweek my withdrawal symptoms had gotten worse. Remedy was quickly found once I discovered that my latest copy of Arrivee magazine had arrived in the post. Better yet, me and my buddy Chris (well, half of him) featured in said magazine.

Arrivee No. 126 2014, Tim at Front, Chris on Right

On the photo above, Chris and I were cycling the Windsor-Chester-Windsor 600k event. You'll notice we were both wearing cycling caps.  This point was made because back in 2011 (when I cycled PBP) Chris et al gave me much grief for wearing a cap. Cap wearing is a common feature among my friends now. This point can be demonstrated in the photo below - Jamie and Andy as seen in the same edition of Arrivee. Nowadays, some folk are giving me grief for wearing sandals...

Arrivee No. 126 2014, (L-R) Andy, ?, Becky and Jamie

Our friend Becky also rode on the event pictured above - the Venetian Nights 200k. Jamie and Andy featured again in the same magazine for cycling an awesome 300k Standing Stones event. So cool that my friends and I were all featured. Except Ron. Ha! However, Ron did have a claim to fame when he was featured back in 2010.

Arrivee No. 110 2010

Friday was a better day. My course finished early. This meant I had time to fit a quick ride in. Took my single-speed road bike out for a quick blast and felt much better for doing so.

Saturday was cool too. Lunar woke up and demanded to be put in her cycling gear and then kept repeating 'bike'. Only one thing for it, I just had to take her out for a quick 10k jolly! If that wasn't cool enough - the organiser from the Arrow Event completed earlier in the year (last season now) must have got wind of my earlier withdrawal symptoms. Indeed, 'my' team (that is my good self, Chris, Ron, Jamie and Andy) had brevet cards all returned along with a tacky but funky French flavoured certificate for completing said Arrow!

Lunar Cycle/Sandals/Commutes/The fall

Started the week by fitting my rear winter tyre to Jenny, my single-speed cyclo-cross commute bike. Swapped the wheel skewer mount from front wheel to rear and added a rear light. Finally, placed the Hope  Vision 1 light to the bars. Cleaned up the bike and made her ready for the next commute.

My first ride of the week was with my daughter Lunar. We went for a 15k trek using Queenie, my single-speed MTB. Is always nice to share a bike experience with my daughter and she always gets real excited. What was also exciting was the fact that this was my first adventure testing out my new foot wear. I was wearing sandals! Yes, SPD sandals - a fancy pair of Exustar SS 503's to be precise. I know sandals shouldn't really be worn with socks but to be fair they didn't look too bad with my Sealskinz (water-proof socks). My feet didn't get the chills either in what I guess was about 10C. Will be interesting to see how my feet in sandals cope (or otherwise) with winter weather. This particular pair of sandals was gotten from Spa cycles for a mere £45 (they are keeping the low price up until the New Year).

Tuesday's commute was cold. It must have been around 5C and a thick mist hung in the air. I had partially prepared for the cold weather and was wearing a thin mid-layer between my merino base layer and waterproof jacket. This kept me warm but any colder and I think a thicker mid-layer will be needed, maybe a long sleeve jersey/jacket. A further buff around my neck and across my face might be needed too! Legs were fine - I was wearing knee warmers for the first time. No knocking knee's here! My feet were cold - not unbearably but cold all the same. I chose to wear my sandals plus Sealskinz socks. Hmm perhaps shoes or thicker socks would prove better?! (My current Sealskinz socks have a thermal rating of 2, they do a thicker sock with a thermal rating of 4. Hmm). Am quite pleased with my sandals, they are comfy and don't look too bad. The soles could ideally be a little bit stiffer and I should play around with the cleat position to optimise them further. On my return journey it rained, but at least my feet stayed dry!

On my Wednesday commute it was colder still, about 1C in fact. I was well prepared in that I had an additional Rapha type buff thing around my neck, a long sleeve jersey as my mid-layer and was wearing my Sidi cycling shoes with 2 pairs of socks (Sealskinz and a cool max pair) and toe covers! Oh and 2 pairs of liner gloves were keeping my hands warm. Quite toasty really and not too hot. It was much warmer on my return and a few layers were removed. Was a nasty commute back home because I fell off my bike (clipped the side of the entry 'thing' to the tow path) while racing another 'random' cyclist. That'll teach me! This particular night was bonfire night but relatively few rockets were seen screaming overhead.

Sure it was cold but at least not this cold!

Final commute was much warmer. Downside was that the cold weather had been replaced by wet. Was hoping to ride a DIY 200k perm over the weekend but the fair weather pixie got hold of me and prevented me from venturing out.

Dark Nights (aka The Frights)

My first commute of the week, on Monday, felt rather spookily unusual. The clocks had gone back, so the ride into work was in daylight which was nice. Better yet, the canal tow path was fully open, so I had quite a different trek to work than of late. On the flip side, the cycle back home was in the dark. Kids were on half-term and for whatever reason they appeared to quite like shouting ghastly screams as I sped past on my bike. Worse still, I cycled over a poor rabbit on my return journey.

''We sailed along the fields of green
I didn't know it was my last scene
Nay, goodbye, nay, adieu
I couldn't see the rabbits hiding out of view
Maybe light caught in my eye
And we were thrown into the wild rye
I hope you know my love was true
I couldn't see the rabbits hiding out of view''

On Tuesday, my Hope Vision 1 light arrived in the post. Was very pleased how nice this light looked aesthetically. The way it sits perched at hub level on the wheel skewer mount was just great. My next commute would test both the light and skewer mount out for sure! (I purchased this light from Winstanley's Cycles for less than £60 which included rechargeable batteries and charger. I think they had made an error, as they are selling the light alone for £95. At time of blogging, couldn't find a better deal elsewhere).

Was able to test and try my new light and mount on a further couple of work and back commutes. The light was mighty bright and this was set on the medium setting. Perfect illumination lit up the country lanes just fine. The mount annoyed me to be fair - it was too low to reach the light and change settings. Obvious really. I think I will add the light to my bars after all and maybe use the mount to set up a rear light. Watch this space...

Getting ready for the winter commute

Had a relatively quiet but fun week on the cycling front, covering only 48k. However, made good use of the week in terms of future preparations. Indeed, not only did I create potential routes but I also readied my commute bike for the winter season.

First off, I acquired a funky little KCNC wheel skewer light mount. This piece of kit allows a light to be mounted off the bars (and in line with the hubs). I just need to get a decent commute light for my Genesis bike now. (I have a Hope Vision 1 in mind). The blue bone-head was just for effect. If this works well, I might invest in another for my road bike which would get rid of endless cable from my dynamo hub up to my bars.

The next thing I acquired was a Continental Top Contact Winter II tyre. This tyre will be great over the Winter months as it will allow me to cycle over snow, frost and ice. The tyre has many features including a reflective strip, temperature resistant up to -25C, proven tread pattern for assured winter grip and a high level of puncture protection. My buddy Chris had raved about these tyres last season and assures they are the business. These tyres are not cheap - they can cost anything between £35-50 each! I paid less than £30 for my tyre (from Tredz who priced matched and then gave a further £5 discount voucher). For sure, I need a second tyre but will have to wait until payday. These tyres will be changed back after the Winter season.

The other thing I prepared was a potential 200k route. This route, I hope, will be suitable for a single-speed adventure as it is not overly hilly and never climbs higher than 150 metres at any point. I used 'Ride with GPS' to create the route and am hoping to use this as a DIY perm for maybe November and December. I have entitled the route 'the not-so-great figure of eight'. Any guesses why?

The not-so-great figure of eight, 200k DIY perm

In terms of actual cycling, I had 2 mini adventures. The first was a quick blast on my single-speed bike. This was just a quick route check on my planned event above. I cycled to the first control and then got lost trying to make sense of my Garmin. I've had my Garmin ages and should have learnt that purple route lines take priority over white ones! Silly me.

My final ride was on the day that the clocks went back. And talking of 'back', I had Lunar on the back of my single-speed MTB. We picked up where I got lost the day before. Following the rule that purple lines win over white ones, we found our way. I guess you could say this was a 'Lunar Cycle'.

Lunar's debut/Events/Mr Pickwick's Autumnal Outing/Commute/Wheels/Inspiration

No blogging for a short spell because I caught an evil bug. This bug took a while to pass. No cycling whilst the bug was with me.

A mighty creature is the germ,

Though smaller than the pachyderm,

It's customary dwelling place,

Is deep within the human race.

First ride after my short abstinence was a quick jaunt with Lunar and Kim. This was Lunar's debut ride! Lunar appeared real pleased to be sat on the back of my bike and was proud of her buff and helmet. I would have taken Lunar out in the past only it's taken this long for her head to fit her 'small fry' helmet.

Lunar liked going over bumps and things very much which pleasantly surprised me. On Lunar's first trek we cycled all the way to Arrow Vale Lake, cycled round it and then returned home. Kim cycled all this way too but appeared to be out of puff during the whole ride.

On Lunar's first cycle we covered about 15k. We both hope to have further cycling adventures together soon. Oh what fun!

Had lost my mojo a little. I think this was because I'd gotten ill and a lot of my buddies had entered PBP which I'm unable to ride next year. To help get my mojo back, I entered the following events.

Sat 18 Oct 2014206kmMr. Pickwick's Autumnal Outing from Tewkesbury

Sat 03 Jan 2015206kmMr. Pickwick's January Sale from Tewkesbury

Sat 21 Feb 2015120kmSnowdrop Express from Whitlenge, Hartlebury, S of Kidderminster

Sat 18 Apr 2015310kmPlains from Poynton, S of Stockport

Better yet, I am hoping to convert the Snowdrop Express into a 200k plus event and ride my first ECE! An ECE is an extended calendar event. Essentially, if I add distance to the event (by riding to the start, and riding from the finish), I hope to convert it into a point scoring event. It's complicated, but I think I've nailed it.

By mid-October my mojo had come back. To celebrate, I completed another 200k audax with Ron and Chris. This audax was Mr Pickwick's Autumnal Outing, a 200k Black Sheep event organised by Mark Rigby. This was a great audax and the first event to be completed for the 2015 season (which strangely started 1 October 2014). This was one of the few Black Sheep events that I had not previously cycled.

GPX track log of Mr Pickwick's Autumnal Outing, 206k

Ron, Chris and I all met up in Tewkesbury with a whole bunch of others ready for the start. This event was really well attended. For an Autumn day, the weather was great. Shorts and bare arms weather. At just after 7.30 a.m. we set off. For the most part the ride was undulating in nature and followed nice roads within a rural setting. The first leg was a 52k stretch that took us to Tredington. Was most disappointed when we reached the control because it was just a garage shop. How we all wished for a full English breakfast!

Hilliness profile of Mr Pickwick's Autumnal Outing

We had battled the early hills in stage one and so left Tredlington with an air of relief. Daventry was the next control but I kept reading the signs as 'dysentry'. Took few photo's on route but did stop to take pictures of a 'lizard' that Chris had spotted.

Chris's Lizard

On the flip side, Ron said it was a newt

In our eagerness to eat, we didn't stop at the official control in Daventry. Instead, we stopped at the first eatery we spotted. This was a great control, it was a 'spoons pub. I ate a lovely chilli egg noodles and chicken dish. Mmm, delicious. Despite Ron cycling his new funky SL 4 bike on this event, it was my bike that received positive comments on this adventure. Indeed, a drinker at this control commented (about my SL 3) 'that's a nice bike. You best lock it up or else I'll nick it'. Hmm.

Suitably fuelled we left Daventry and headed for Chipping Norton. Chris was off form today and his left leg was giving him grief. My right knee had a niggle too. We considered swapping legs but figured that wouldn't work as we'd only give a bad one away and receive a bad one in return. Both Ron's legs were fine and he was off - we didn't see him again until the finish!

The 3 of us, before Ron's departure

Chris and I stopped at a familiar control in Chipping Norton. The service was friendly enough but the food wasn't great and overly priced in my opinion. I ate a carrot and ginger soup. My quick visit to Sainsbury's (just up the road) was better where I purchased lots of fun size Twix bars. I got some ibuprofen for our pains too but that never seemed to help.

3-D hilliness profile of Mr Pickwick's Autumnal Outing

The last stage was a 57k trek back to the start. Just like the first stage, this stage had a few pulls and a few lovely descents. Despite Chris being in some pain, we were not quite the 'lantern rouge' and were aware that at least 2 cyclists were behind us. Started to get dark during this section but that was fine as we were suitably lit up. Very pleased to report that we didn't get cold or wet during any of this event. The tail end of this audax was great as it was mostly down-hill, a descent of at least 12k or more! Indeed, a very speedy descent took us into Winchcombe and then a more gentle descent took us to the finish in Tewkesbury. When we got our brevet cards stamped at the finish, we caught up with Ron again. Ron had already consumed 3 pints of beer at this point! All agreed, we had a lovely autumnal outing!

My other cycle adventures were the usual commutes to work and back. The canal from the Mail Box to University was still closed. I do hope it opens again soon.

Lin and Chris donated some stuff towards my retro project which was great. Lin gave me 2 complete mountain bikes - all in bits and a road bicycle wheel. The bikes are a little small for me and the road wheel has too few spokes for a retro build. However, I plan to build up the bikes and sell them, possibly to fund the retro project. The wheel will come in handy elsewhere. Chris gave me 2 vintage wheels which will be just great fitted to my retro Raleigh Esprit. More building must take place soon.

People ride bicycles for all sorts of reasons. I ride mine because it's a form of meditation for me. Some folk's reasons are quite bizarre and wacky, such as the person in the pic below. Whatever your reason, go ride your bike!

I've got a bike,

You can ride it if you like,

It's got a basket,

A bell that rings, 

And things to make it look good..