Christmas.

In the next copule of days I expect to recieve a delivery from a big dude in a red coat and hat with a white beard. This delivery will be in the form of a new back wheel for Stig, a fixed wheel no less!

I haven't told him yet but he is soon to undergo surgery. I will be performing a cassettectomy on him so that the next time I ride him, I better remember NOT to stop pedalling

I probably wont get on the web between now and the New Year so I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Cold Turkey

...as in "I'm going Cold Turkey". There is loads of snow out there and I can't play in it!

Due to work commitments, I have spent most of the last week getting to and from work by car. I want to be riding to and from work on the trusty rigid MTB.

I'm missing riding my bikes.

I guess it isn't summer any more.

When I woke this morning I noticed a definite chill in the air. I looked outside and saw the reason- the first proper frost of the autumn (or is it winter yet?). After yesterdays wind and rain I have accepted that the summer is definitely over. As I arrived at work yesterday, my crewmate got into work at the same time, driving his Porsche. he commented that only a dedicated loon would ride in the weather w were experiencing. That got me to thinking. Am I a dedicated loon or just someone who has experienced the full range of weather conditions England provides for me to ride in and has equipped himself to deal with?

My summer riding kit is basically a pair of bib shorts, a short sleeved jersey, ankle socks, mitts and sunglasses.

My autumn/ winter kit is any combination of the following-

For feet. Sports socks, GoreTex over socks, Sealskinz socks, touring shoes, GoreTex overshoes.

For lower body. Padded shorts, knee warmers, quick dry cycling trousers, Rainlegs.

For upper body. Short sleeved base layer, long sleeved base layer, arm warmers, windproof fleece cycling jacket, windproof fleece gilet, waterproof cycling jacket.

For head and neck. Windproof skull cap, micro fleece head and ear warmer band, Buff, motorcyclist neck tube, helmet.

For hands. Endura singletrack gloves, Specialized Equinox gloves (knackered but baggy enough to fit over-) coolmax inner gloves. Waterproof heavyweight gloves.

For eyes. Interchangeable sunglasses/ clears.

I have learned that the important thing is to get the layering right. Too much and I sweat so much that I am soaked at the end of the ride. not enough and I am still freezing at the end of the ride though I will have perspired slightly and the cold makes it worse.

The trick is to accept that you will be cold for the first 5 minutes or so after which your physical efforts warm you up just right.

I do wish however that I could find some shorts with a windproof gusset. The coldest bit of my body in any ride always seems to be my nethers. Getting to the end of a winter ride and needing the loo can be a bit of a problem with cold and withered nethers. You guys out there will know what I mean. You lasses don't know how lucky you are!

Nice ride in this morning.

On my commute in today I was passed by someone who gave me a cheery "Good Morning" on his way by. It gave me a bit of a start as I wasn't aware of his presence. He was wearing Wycombe Cycle Club kit and riding what looked like a nice road bike. I Good Morning'd him back and then prepared for the chase. I soon realised however that I hade met my match and then some. I managed to keep him in sight as we rode into Bourne End where I started to examine his riding style. For some reason he kept getting out of the saddle to pedal. After a little while of this I realised he was on either a single speed or a fixed! I managed to make ground on him as he waited for some traffic lights and discovered he was riding a nice Ribble fixed gear bike. We started to chat. We stayed together until Burnham on the A4, where I slowed to cool down. I established that he was severely dedicated in his riding. 40 mile return journey every day and Audaxes. He was chatting away about a 400 mile 48 hour event he had taken part in in the West Country. No wonder I couldn't gain on him till he stopped.

I didn't get his name but I have no doubt that one day we will ride together again.

Whoever you are, thanks for the company this morning. Oh, and by the way- chains a bit slack!

Commuter Racing

Forgive me Cyclists, for I have sinned. It has been two weeks since my last sedate commute.

Yes, I admit it. I have once again fallen foul of the urge to race every cyclist I see on my commute. Picture the scene, Yours Truly mounts his steed and rides out from Fuzzy Towers with the intention of having a gentle bimble through the early morning mists. I ride through Marlow full of the joys of being on the bike when, in the distance, I spy what turns out to be my equivalent of the red rag waved at a bull- BLINKENLIGHTS! I try to ignore them but it is useless. There is a cyclist ahead of me who I just know has looked round and seen my own BLINKENLIGHTS. I can hear their thoughts in my head "Bike behind me. Must NOT get caught by the bike behind me. Must go faster!". Before I know it, the race is on. I drop a cog at the back and start to work harder, closing the gap between us. Sometimes the gap closes slowly because the cyclist ahead is powerful and a worthy opponent. Sometimes the gap closes rapidly because I am so awesomely powerful but the gap ALWAYS closes. This can create a quandary for my prey. When they look back to see how much they have increased the gap between us by, what do they do when they see me gaining on them. Some of the commuters I race are made of stirling stuff and accept that I am going to blow them into the weeds, so acknowledge defeat by returning my greeting as I pass. Others however are weak losers. They see me gaining and start looking for the next side road to turn off, as if that was their true route to work or home. I know what is going on however and revel in my glory as I see them bail out. Once the pass has been made, I continue on, arriving at work or home with the glow of victory in my mind. I AM INVINCIBLE!

That is how the scenario plays out in my head anyway.

What is probably more accurate is that the BLINKENLIGHTS I see ahead are attached to a bike being ridden by someone far more mature than I am and who probably couldn't give a damn if they get passed by another bike. On the occasions when the other rider is as juvenile as I am and gets sucked into commuter racing mode, the process is probably far different. A couple of days ago, the BLINKENLIGHTS ahead were attached the the back end of what looked like a top end hard tail mountain bike. As usual, I was riding G G G G Granville so got down on the drops and accelerated past. A minute or two later however, MTB man accelerated past me, giving me a nod as he did so. That was it. Race was ON! I tucked in behind and followed for a few minutes then put the hammer down, blasting past him. I stayed ahead for a good 5 minutes but, as we were riding through Bourne End which at that time of the evening was very busy with traffic, MTB man came into my peripheral vision passing me on the pavement (sidewalk in American). he glanced at me as he passed and I could tell that he was gloating, thinking how strong he was overtaking a racing bike on his hard tail. I was ready for him though. I thought right back at him "Racing Bike? Racing Bike? This is a Touring Bike AND it has got loaded panniers on it!" I was passing him again as I thought this at him. I finished the communication with "Shove that in your pipe and smoke it mate!". We duelled like this for another couple of miles, neither of us willing to give quarter. The race was interrupted however when we got to a large roundabout. we both had to stop and wait. It was at that time that we both realised the folly of our ways. "Alright mate?" I said to MTB Man. "yeah, I'm good. Nice to have company."

The traffic cleared and we both pulled away, full of the warm glow of a shared experience. I started to chuckle to myself, thinking about how stupid we were, letting ourselves get carried away like that. All we were doing was riding home. No one was racing. We were just riding home.

MTB Man still bottled it and took the first available junction because he KNEW. I was too strong for him. As for me, i was just toying with him, being nice to lull him into a false sense of security. if he hadn't have bottled it, I would have done him good style on the road into Marlow!

Back in the saddle

Last week and the beginning of this week saw me commited to the extent that riding was not an option. From Wednesday morning through to the following Thursday morning I was either training or doing family stuff. This meant 8 days without riding. Yesterday morningh I was up at 5:00 a.m. for work. getting back on the bike for a ride to the nick through the mist and developing dawn was ace. It was only 8 days but I was amazed at how I missed the ride. It doesn't look like I'm going to hit 300 miles this month though- bummer.

The Boy done good!

My youngest son is a bit of an artist. When he was succesful in obtaining GCSE's to allow him to continue in sixth form, we bought him a tablet laptop whicjh he spends hours on. The other day I saw him doing some art work on it. I asked him to send me the result when he had finished. What I recieved was 3 images which represented the progress of an Anime ispired digital painting he produced as follows-


Which became



and finished as



Any guesses as to which video game inspired this?

I'm quite proud of his ability!