The importance of recycling

Recycling has many benefits. Not only does it help towards saving the planet and making us feel better about ourselves, it can save a crap load of stress.

When Knuckles, my now deceased Saracen Morzine which I used as a commuter was dealt a fatal blow (reversed into by a truck which knocked me off and put a hefty dent in a seat stay) I dismantled him and saved as much as possible. As a result, his front wheel, complete with deflated tube and tyre were hanging in the garage roof.

What relevance is this? I hear you ask. Well, when it came time to leave for work this morning I was busy doing things at home that needed doing before I left. This meant that I was running about 30 minutes late (I usually get to work about 30 minutes early). It was at this time that I discovered Stigs front tyre was flatter than a hedgehog that got run over a fortnight ago. Cue much effing and blinding and the odd "Oh No!!! What am I going to do now?" cos I knew changing the tube would take a while but then a was hit with a flash of inspiration- Knuckles front wheel!

I ran to the garage, retrieved the wheel, swapped them out and inflated the replacement. I got to work, showered and entered the office dead on time.

That is why recycling is important.

She's right you know....

In this article my friend Bicycleslut advises regular check of ones steed or things could get a bit 'emotional'. She knows her onions! I had an annoying noise from the bottom bracket area of Stig for a little while and couldn't work out what it was. Well, yesterday I solved it. 4 of the 5 bolts securing the chainring to the spider were finger tight or looser! That could have got really 'emotional' if I had been hooning it down a little hill.

Check your tackle riders! You know it makes sense.

The lycra is out!

I don't know how long this will last but, it was warm enough today for me to go for my bib knickers instead of my trousers. I also ditched the long sleeved base layer in favour of short sleeves. A recipe for impending blizzards probably.

I subscribe to a few news feeds looking for bike patrol stories and I saw this in one of the e mails I got sent- very inspirational-


Bike repain man in Afghanistan

Tap tap tappity bl***y tap!

...and other noises.

This morning as I rode Stig to work an annoying, worrying and irregular tapping noise was eminating from somewhere withing Stigs bowels. It started about half a mile into the ride and sounded like it was coming from the headset area. I knew it couldn't be a headset problem because I was riding in a straight line. I kept looking around the bottom bracket area and trying to see if I could feel any knocking or anything else during my pedal stroke. I couldn't feel a thing out of the ordinary. After about 20 minutes of fretting over whether this was the sound of Stig in his death throes I sussed it out. My left shoe lace dangly bit was a little bit longer than usual this morning. The tappity tap noise was the plasticated end of the lace hitting my water bottle- Doh!

The other noise I heard this morning was a kind of Spoing sound. I can only describe it as the sort of noise made by a tired old mattress or sofa when you sit on it. I looked around again and then relaised what it was. I coud see Snowdrops that had flowered. The Spoing was Spring in the final stages of winding itself up to, well, spring!

Wahoo!

Hey Gang! How is everyone?

I've been out of circulation for a while due to workload (at work and at home) and have been neglecting my blog. Excuse me while I hang my head in shame.........

OK, that's enough shame for one day.

My mileage log is looking more neglected than my blog. Unfortunately Cyclogs, the logging site I use has been experiencing problems and the guy that runs it needs to rewrite some of the code. he is in the same boat as I was and we will have to wait for him to get time to do his thing.

My mileage is also taking a bit of a beating. I am sure I am nowhere near the mileage I was at same time last year. To be honest, I haven't been enjoying my saddle time so much recently. Part of the reason for this I think was that I wasn't reaching my targets. I have decided now that I am going to bin the target of 300 miles per month. I will still log my miles but not get so worked up about reaching the 300 miles. I am going to get back to getting the miles in because I want to ride- not because I need to reach a magic number. Another reason for not enjoying the riding is because I am getting hacked off withe the weather. I don't mind riding in the cold or the wet, or even the odd cold wet ride but, this winter seems to have been going on for ever! Now the days are drawing out and the weather is improving, I am starting to get the buzz again!

I had a good ride home the other evening. I am still on Stig and am developing a bit of a taste for riding fixed. Anyhoo, as I was riding along the Bourne End to Marlow road, a roadie on a nice Scott (CR1 I think) blasted past me. I hadn't heard him coming so was a bit startled. Anyway, he started to pull away so I tried accelerating to keep up (yep, you got it- Commuter Racing mode was well and truly engaged). He was on soot and titanium chimera whilst I was on a steel and luggage laden fixed so I was on a hiding to nothing but I kept trying. When I reached the A404/ A4155 roundabout though, he had sat up and I managed to pass him. Had I caused him to blow by working hard to reel him in or was he resting? I know what I think.........