Bad News- It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m sat in the office.
What’s wrong with that? It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m sat in the office of course! I should be out riding. I look out of the window at blazing sunshine. I should be out of the Cannondale, putting the miles in and topping up the ‘Cyclist Tan’- nice brown arms up to mid bicep, nice brown legs up to mid thigh. Obvious breaks in the tan caused by gloves, sunglasses and socks. Instead, I’m sat in the office, praying that someone remembers I’m here and gives me some work to do. I can only create so much work out of nothing.

At least I still get the miles in on the daily commute. Just over 10 miles each way. I have a monthly target of 300 miles minimum. So far for 2009 the tally is as follows-
January- 356.67
February- 307.05
March- 373.57
April- 143.76 (On holiday- week in Hong Kong and week in Tokyo, no cycling)
May- 307.5 (still got the ride home though)

I started logging my rides in September 2005 on http://cyclogs.org/home.aspx
My best month to date was January 2007 where I rode 444.68 miles. My best year was 2006 when I rode 3,759.55 miles. I don’t know why I log all the rides, it gives me a target to aim at I suppose.

A phone call! Someone HAS remembered I’m here. I have some work to do again.

Time to go.

Luv n’ Stuff.
Fuzzy

More bits about me and cycling

A few lines about my current stable. Like many cyclists around the world, I suffer from N+1 syndrome. N+1 is the equation relating to the number of bikes a cyclist needs where N = the number of bikes the cyclist currently owns. My current stable of useable steeds is as follows-

G G G G Granville, my Ridgeback tourer- trusty workhorse/ commuter bike. Purchased to replace the sadly departed Knuckles-

my Saracen Morzine road bike, the first 'serious' bike I purchased when returning to cycling. He was 'killed' by a reversing supermarket delivery van that overtook me then forgot I was there.

Then there is Pete (named after a really good mate from school) -

my Cannondale R800 'best bike'. Used for those good weather weekend rides when i just have to get out and do some miles.

Next is Stig, aan indeterminate Puch road/ touring bike rescued from a skip and slightly restored-

Stig is my winter commuter. I plan to onvert him to a single speed/ fixie by getting a flip flop hubbed rear wheel for him.

Finally there is my unnamed Raleigh 1990's steel framed rigid MTB which I use as my utility bike- trips to the shops etc. No images of it at the moment.

I will also show you my former trusty work bike Swoop 1-


A Smith and Wesson Custom patrol bike. A really great bike to ride.

I have had hours of fun on all of these bikes.

Think I'm sad giving my bikes names? As I said in my first post- this is my world.

Do I really want to do this?

Well folks, here I am. Welcome to my world- The Secret Cyclist. Why Secret Cyclist? Well, as you can see, I am a Police Officer in the UK and, until recently, I was a cycle patrol officer. Yes, you read right, a cycle patrol officer. I got paid to ride a bike! One of the jobs I used to get involved in was plain clothed patrols, riding an area, looking for misguide individuals up to no good. Hence the blog name.

I have toyed with writing a blog for a while now and decided to make the leap today. I don' t know how this will pan out but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. My inspiration for the blog is another cycling site, Elden Nelsons' http://www.fatcyclist.com/ , a site I have been visiting for some time now. If I can be half as good as Fatty's blog then I will have exceeded my expectations several fold.

Why am I writing this blog? Well, I like to share cycling (and other) experiences and this seems like an ideal way to do it. I have had some practice, I write articles for IPMBA News. IPMBA is the International Police Mountain Bike Association http://www.ipmba.org/ which publishes a quarterly magazine. I do the 'News form the UK' section and contribute articles reviewing equipment etc. This however is the first time I have strayed into writing for folk outside of Law Enforcement. I am also a member of an online forum 'yacf - yet another cycling forum' http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php which I visit and post on regularly.

I plan to update the blog on a regular basis, with my witterings and ramblings about matters cycling and otherwise. I don't pretend to be knowledgeable about things, just willing to say my piece. I also don't pretend to be consistent. I regularly exercise my right to be awkward and change my mind on a subject but hey, this is my world so I am allowed.

Please visit and say hello. If you have something to say about my ramblings, feel free. I will try and keep my writings clean (though at times I may vent my spleen at something) and all I ask is that you do the same.

Thanks folks.

Luv n' Stuff.

Fuzzy.