'It's getting better all the time', or using Strava's training log on the morning road bike commute.

Any excuse for a Beetles track first thing in the morning!

I want to write a post on bike porn and I keep putting it off because I feel I will end up becoming quite scathing on bike snobs and my love of vintage heavy frames will checker my writing. Not that my writing needs any excuse to be worse than normal but I think a more reasoned viewpoint might be needed.

Instead I am writing today about a trend of improvements I have noticed on my daily commute. Yes it is still fledgling and early days but there is a clear trend of speeding up (or misusing Strava!).

OK before we begin lets put a bit of context to this. I am a teacher and as such the amount of books, work, laptop, and food changes day to day depending on what I am doing post school day or how much I had done the night before. For instance this week I have done very little after school apart from plan my lessons because marking has not fully kicked in yet - plus I am pottering at home a lot (more on that later).

All of the above means the mass of my bike is changing day to day however there are days where it is heavier than others, although as my pace is increasing with each journey I don't think the weight of the bike is a factor (at this moment) for my speed to work. Now I am only looking at going to school as after school there are days where I have had a meeting or have had a busy day and am more tired than others (naturally affecting my performance!). The more scientifically accurate data to look at is the morning commute when I am refreshed and ready to smash out the ride in - that is similar base line.

Another more anecdotal factor to consider is that I am more used to the bike and the route in each day. However again there are mitigating factors to this - weather conditions each day affect how much I feel I can 'push' the bike, so far it has been bright and dry - no atmospheric issues to report! There is also an issue with traffic as I haven't encountered to much road traffic on my route. When I say too much I mean there is traffic, naturally, but there is not much that is slowing my progress to work too much. However the moments on the way home when a giant lorry is behind you itching to overtake and your a pedaling as hard as possible up a hill, well that isn't as fun as it could be. One thing I know that is making a difference is knowing the route better. Being able to judge when to sprint to get up a hill, knowing when I might need to coast to conserve a bit of energy or when a tight bend is approaching makes a huge difference to overall pace. However this familiarity is breeding full blown contempt with some of the roads - especially around the industrial estate I have to go through - which are horrific in places (broken tarmac, potholes etc).

Yet every time I finish and Strava presents me with my uploaded ride it is nice to see the little trophy appear with a series of PB's. Especially in the last few days where I have been riding single speed - just not changing gears. I especially like seeing the average speed increasing. From 22.7km/h to 23.7km/h to 25 km/h (first day single speed) to this mornings 26.2km/h effort.

Speaking about single speeds (this is the pottering bit), as it seems to be the appropriate moment. I have sold the Emmelle and am currently rebuilding a '72 Raleigh road bike (steel frame, decent nick, resprayed in bright yellow). The Raleigh I have decided will be a lightweight single speed bike, something I have read up on and seems to be a good choice as a winter training bike (though I am not going whole hog and making a fixie). Also my commute doesn't really need gears - only a couple of 'rises' nothing major, so the removal of the most problematic mechanical component makes sense.

I shall of  course continue to monitor my progress on Strava using their rather impressive training log and with any luck I can continue to get quicker and more importantly feel stronger/fitter in time for a proper assault on next years sportive season. With any luck the progress will continue to improve but obviously the law of diminishing returns will soon start to kick in.

Or something like that...

National Cycle to Work Day

...seems to have missed Maidstone.

I rode in this morning as part of the new, 'might as well ride as much as possible' however I saw only one other person riding this morning.

The weather was perfect for riding, a dry crisp morning. Not a cloud in the sky and a very good ambient temperature. The type of temperature that is cool when you start but not frigid. However I noticed on road.cc that today is national cycle to work day.

This is the first I have heard of this, there seems to have been organised events in Bristol (which I would have expected) and Manchester but other than that it doesn't seem to have been a very 'national' thing.

A fair few responses on the website show that people support cycling to work and a lot of people do commute to work by bike. However if this is truly national cycle to work day it doesn't appear to have been organised as a national event. I looked on the Sustrans website - a UK charity that arranges and organises cycle routes and is a big charity for safer riding - yet they have no information about national cycle to work day.

This isn't a moan but more a plea, if we are going to do an event like this then surely it needs to be organised en masse with all local councils on board and really pushing it.

Otherwise it will forever be an event that passes the majority by.

The daily commute by road bike.

OK so this is very early doors but a few quick things I have learnt from commuting by bike. Firstly that my gears are not quick 100% indexed meaning that they take a little to slot in.

This does not sound like too much of an issue but when your trying to get to work without anything breaking any odd sound can make you nervous.

Secondly I've learnt that I can't judge performance at all. I felt that going to work I was slower than when I'd biked the route previously. I felt a similar thing on the way home. However looking at Strava my speed and times were not too bad at all. Plus I even set a few new pbs on some segments.

In addition to those two things I know that some roads on my route are both rubbish and busy. Not a great combination. Also that extra filing cabinets are perfect places to stow your gear during the day!

I have also realised that some people are just knobs. A guy on a mountain bike was loudly breaking behind me while I slowed for a red light. He then pulled a wheely as he ran the red light and proceeded to ride on the pavement. Utter knob, and he wasn't wearing a helmet.

My rides can be found here and here.

The next step is to get this commute done regularly. I feel that this means the gym might have to take a hit this year.

That however isn't the end of the world though.

Swinley Forest Mountain Biking

I have half a day left until the dreaded return to school. The fact I am a teacher and this is a career choice does nothing to lesson the blow of the impending end of holidays. Holiday blues are very much a thing and very hard to shake.

One way is lots of food, drink and good company. That was the weekend and it was epic even if I did over indulge on Jura!

Another way is carpe diem with the time left. Yesterday I spent half the day in school arranging tables for the new term (rock and roll) and the other half of the day bumbling down the m25 with Geoff to hit Swinley Forest.

Geoff has ridden Swinely a few times and my mate Roy lives near there and keeps trying to get me to head over. I have to say I was very impressed.

The parking, whilst very busy, was also much cheaper than our local single track centre of Bedgebury running at £4 for the day. The blue route which seems to be the biggest and the basis of swinly is very good.

Now it is worth mentioning here that it rained on the way to Swinley (near Bracknell) and the blue route is mostly small pebbles in the ground. As a surface I hate it because you can feel the tires popping and skipping in a similar fashion to I can imagine pave feeling like.

However the added rain meant that it was very treacherous so whilst the blue route is not ridiculously fast it is very tricky with the wheels bouncing all over. Even more challenging when wet. Yet it is a very enjoyable and accessible blue route.

Where Swinley really seems to come to life is its red route. This is phenomenal and some of the best single track I have ridden. This includes the mountain centres in Wales too. One of the best things is there is a clear distinction between blue and red. Which is a bit of a bug bear if mine when places only really change grading due to length of track rather than difficulty.

On to the route.

It is fast, tight and challenging without ever feeling overly dangerous. It is very well designed and mixes flowing sections with tight twisty technical ones. As I said there isn't loads of danger but the angles of berms, the drops and narrow trees certainly get the pulse racing and keep you on your toes.

I had a great time and we blitzed it in just over 1hr30 meaning if you were inclined you could easily repeat it all in a morning or afternoon.

If you get the chance to head there I would certainly recommend it and of you find it too simple wait until there has been a bit of rain and go back.

The ride can be found here if you wish to look at it.

Road bike for commuting

So I messed up a wheel when trying to true it.

Bugger.

Having looked at the cost of replacing the wheel on eBay I decided that as much as I like the Emmelle and plan on commuting on it I don't want to keep throwing money at the bike. Really it is meant to just be a work pony. Which brings up a dilemma on what to do. Fortunately my Raleigh is a bike I'd like to put a bit more money too so I hatched a plan.

First I took the wheels off the Raleigh. This was actually more tricky than it should have been and I still don't understand why. Probably because I was doing this using frenetic energy!

Then I took the wheels off the Emmelle.

Thirdly I put the Raleigh wheels on the Emmelle. This was the easiest part of the job.

Forthly I moved the light brackets onto the Emmelle and voila it is now ready for commuting.

Quick pump up of the tires and a trial ride around the block and job is a good 'en.

Hopefully the cycle to work scheme comes through at work. This is a scheme that allows you to buy a bike up to a thousand pounds using a loan from your employer. You then pay the bike off in small chunks from each months pay. The true bonus of this is that the cost is without paying VAT which means you can get a better bike for your cash. If this comes through then great because I can get a very nice road bike for commuting but if it doesn't then no danger as the Emmelle is now functional.

This is great because when I cycled to my old job I loved the way it woke you up and made you more alert for when you started your day. Plus it is always nice to have done some exercise at both ends of your day. I have bobbed in on my bike to my current work and it isn't a bad ride. What is nice though is that I can ride a long way home when I can and have a great post day workout ride.

Outstanding!

Now all I have to save up for is some new wheels for the Raleigh...

Failing to true a wheel.

So I have a couple of bikes to finish and sell. One which is the Emmelle has already had its brake cables repaired and functions quite nicely except for a slight buckling of the rear wheel.

Armed with a spoke key I thought I would have a go at truing the wheel. I have seen it done in shops and read guides, besides it wasn't too buckled, so it couldn't be difficult.

I started by checking spoke tension and tightening loose sets of spokes. Eventually I got the wheel running smooth with a little bit of wobble.

If only I had stopped there.

Buoyed by my moderate success I continued to tweek the spokes.

Then disaster. The wheel started getting worse.

I tried loosening ones I had tightened but this made no difference. I kept working and the wheel started to creak and crack and deform more and more.

It no longer moves though a full rotation and starts to jam on the bike frame.

Bugger.

I will have another go at it tomorrow as I do not really want to buy a new wheel for it. However I feel I have broken the wheel now.

Which sucks to be honest as everything was going so well.

If I can get it slightly straight again I may be able to get it fixed in a shop, if not a new wheel is probably needed for the bike to be road worthy.

I don't feel angry though as even though I have failed at this I have learnt a lot about truing a wheel.

Mostly that it should be left to people that know what they are doing. Or that you should know when you have done enough with a wheel and can't do any more.

Boxing a bike...

So I managed to sell the road bike I had part restored however the buyer wanted to arrange a courier service to collect it.

Fair play so I headed down to Halfords and collected a bike box which they were only to happy to get rid of.

Once back home I took the wheels off. So far so good. Dropped the handle bars and then tried to take the pedals off.

Now I have managed to loose my pedal spanner which makes this job difficult to start with. Added to the fact the pedals have been on the bike forever and there was no budging. Just lots of swearing.

Giving that up as a bad job I manipulated the bike into the box and then had to cut the box in order to accommodate the pedals. A liberal application of bubble wrap and some jigging to fit the wheels in. Lots of tape to seal the box and done.

The day of the pick up came and I had an opticians appointment early. The buyer hasn't told me what time the pick up might be so I presumed it would be later rather than earlier. Got back to find I'd missed the pick up.

More swearing.

Called the courier (3 times). Eventually got the bike collected and gone.

Now I'm not selling bikes to make a lot of money. Mostly just as a little project and also to give me something to practice repairs on.

However I don't think I ever want to go through the hassle of this again. Yet the buyer was in London which if I am to be selling more bikes will be the closest big market for the bikes. So I might have to lump it in order to shift them at a decent price.

Tricky.

Goodbye Deathtrap, A Love Story.

Well it isn't quite.

When I first moved to the South East a few years ago I borrowed a bike off the other-half's family. Then when we moved into our own house I sold my broken mountain bike - the Ragazzi - on eBay and used the funds to buy a working mountain bike.

This was the Coventry Eagle Colorado. A fine (if heavy) beast of burden.

On our first ride out disaster struck. I had managed to make it out around four miles and the rear tyre punctured. Being still fairly new to this biking melarky I did not have a puncture repair kit, or tools, or a spare inner tube, or a pump. Basically I made every schoolboy error possible.

It was a very hot day, I remember it being a very hot day and being very hot on the walk back.

Four miles is a long way to trudge in the heat.

Naturally I didn't have a water bottle.

Muppet.

So I finally got home and the next day I went into town, bought some new inner tubes, bottle and bottle holder, a little rubbish saddle bag for inner tubes and gubbins to be kept in and also some replacement tyres as the ones the bike came with were a little tired out (pun intended and indeed rubbish).

I then mangled my way through replacing the inner tube making all kinds of mistakes - including taking the whole tyre off and then on and off again. Basically the whole enterprise took me nearly an hour.

I then replaced the front tyre and added all my new fangled kit to the bike.

Perfect.

Only it wasn't. About 2 miles into the next ride the rear wheel locked up. I got off gave it a jiggle and started riding and it did it again. In all my rubbish repair work I had somehow moved the axle through the wheel and misaligned the wheel. This meant that the wheel when I put it back in the frame looked straight, however as soon as I sat on the saddle and started to pedal the wheel began to move itself and this resulted in the locking of the wheel against the frame.

Another walk home.

Not the best of starts. The rest of the summer passed and the bike gathered dust in the back garden.

I then decided to take the bike to Halfords and get them to have a look at it. The man there repaired the wheel for no charge but condemned the bike based on various issues with the gearing and derailleur.

So the bike went back on eBay.

The bike sold for the price I paid for it (winning) and everything went well.

The winner paid for the bike but never came to collect it. So the bike sat in the garden for another year. In the mean time I got hold of a road bike and started putting in the kilometers on that and also began mountain biking in Wales etc.

Earlier this year I was training for the Ultra Marathon and Geoff was doing similar. We were both getting bored of all the training and running was no longer being fun. However up on the Downs near where we live we started to spot mountain bike trails that looked pretty good fun and also see more and more bikers up there.

Not being suitable for the road bike I dug the Eagle out pumped the tyres up and we went exploring the Downs as mountain bikers rather than runners.

This is where the new lease of life for the bike comes in. I have no doubt the bike has been ridden on tow paths and down country lanes etc. I do not believe for a second that is has ever been ridden on trails properly before I gave it a sound thrashing.

For a start the frame is insanely heavy, the wheels are standard kid style mountain bike ones offering minimal grip on 'interesting' terrain and the brakes are a token gesture that even when you are at full brake you still accelerate.

Which naturally made it perfect.

The Downs is primarily chalk cliffs, so it is quite skiddy at the best of times. There are flint deposits dotted about everywhere meaning a bike with no suspension judders about quite a lot. If you add in the loose leaf flooring (meaning even on a decent hardtail the paths are treacherous) then you get a pretty hairy ride. Especially when you are having to grip the brakes with more than just one finger owing to them being old school ones.

Yet it wasn't that terrifying. Mostly it was a blast, I mean yes hills were a pig as the bike now has about 5 gears all in (18 to start with) and that was the result of hours of manipulation and alteration in the garden - the first time I went up the downs it had 1 gear! I also changed the brake pad style and tightened them up meaning that there was a little bit more stopping to the bike - not much but a bit more. In fact on one descent (so steep we struggled to walk back up it) I had one foot left on a pedal, both brakes on full and ended up having to park the bike into a tree. On others I had no idea how the bike was ever going to stop and somehow found an extra little bit of brake by over-braking which is something I didn't think you could do!

Geoff named it 'deathtrap' after he had a quick go on it and went straight into a bush. However for all its faults going off piste it was a great bike for sharpening skills on and becoming a more confident and stronger rider. The bike more than held its own especially with durability and helped to cement my love of older bikes. Especially ones that can be tweaked and altered to increase performance past what they originally were meant for and then keep on going even when you throw anything at them. That is once you work out how to fix minor issues (punctures etc) that might present themselves.

However with the P7 on long term 'borrow' and my other road bike projects the time came to move the Eagle on. I was not going to ride it again now I had a hardtail and despite my nostalgia for it there was and is no space to keep it in our yard. So it went back up on eBay for a third time.

It was sold yesterday and the young lad who bought it (for not much at all but that's not the point) came to collect it today.

I assume as he looked about 12 he bought it for his paper round (he is probably off to uni and wants a run about).

So hopefully he gets some use out of it - or at least what use the bike has left.

83km of fast descent and hardly braking, still going strong.

Goodbye my Coventry Eagle Colorado it has been emotional.

I now have to retire the bike on Strava where it has logged in 83km under my ownership. For a mountain bike that until this year spent most of its life under a cover in the garden I don't think that is too shabby at all.

Get on your bikes and ride.

My friend sent me a text with the attached picture. It is so true! I am currently on a mini tour of old uni haunts in Yorkshire (Gods county) before heading to Corfu for a bit of summer sunshine.

One thing I have found myself doing now is assessing bikes when I see them. I developed a similar habbit when I was running a lot in that I would look at and assess peoples running styles (because obviously my gait is perfect).

However now I look at bikes; hybrids, roadies, expensive and cheap mountain bikes. Look at the frame, the make, the colours and the condition of the bikes.

It really feels odd to get excited by an old Dawes road bike chained up by the side of the road. Especially when its in slight disrepair. Same as I get frustrated when a nice mountain bike frame is ruined by cheap components.

All very odd.

Coming back to the image I find myself wanting to ride my bike much more than I actually end up riding. Something I must find a way around soon.

Somehow.

Cycling to work is definitely a way around this. Getting a bike rack so I can take the mountain bike out easier. Although the biggest issue is getting bikes through the house.

If only our back gate was a proper access point and not an awkward gate forcing the transport of bikes through our narrow house.

Those are just excuses though.

My bikes over time.

OK so I was sorting the garden out the other day and moving all of my bikes about, covering them up, taking photos of the ones for eBay (here and here if you are interested) when a thought occurred to me. The thought concerned all the bikes I have owned over the years.

The more I thought about them the more I missed some and others, not so much. So I decided to drag the 5 people who read this on a trip down memory lane.

The Tricycle:

Strictly speaking this is not a bike but it was the first thing I remember having that had wheels that I could ride - apart from maybe a Postman Pat van...

In fact I don't remember ever actually pedaling it. I only remember the pedals being broken and just spinning. I do remember the fact that it was red, black and yellow and that you could attach a handle to the back and get pushed along - something we used to do with my sister when she was little. I think the pedals were directly in the wheel though (not in the middle like the picture). However what I most remember was riding it down the slope in my parents back garden when I was younger. Often leading to crashes and much hilarity for all. I think it was here that both my enjoyment of XC and fear of falling were born!

My trike was very similar to this but I am sure the pedals were on the front wheel and the seat was black.

The Raleigh Burner:

Looking back at my bike history I have had a lot of Raleigh bikes. This is fine because they are a solid make, however it does not lend a very exotic bent to proceedings!

The Burner was my first true bike although I am sure I always referred to it as a BMX! It started with stabilizers and I remember learning to ride on a pub lawn by falling off many times until I got my balance. I think this was done on grass as my Mum expected me to bin it quite a lot and didn't want the bike scratched up! I also have memories of riding this on whilst wearing a GIANT polystyrene helmet that made me look like Toad from Mario - safety first eh? 

I had this bike for an absolute age until I was physically too big for it. I rode it to my Nan's and back, up and down my street, wherever I could really. I also remember my first large crash on this where we were riding down towards a nearby park and I pulled my front brake exclusively. Head over handlebars and into some bushes and nettles. 

Good times!

Apart from the Dennis the Menace stickers and some 'clickers' in the spokes this is pretty much how I remember the Raleigh except I am sure it was badged as a BMX!

The Unknown Bike:

I remember a Christmas where we all got new bikes. I remember it was my first mountain bike. I remember it was a bike I first started doing paper rounds on. I remember crashing it lots and racing my friends down the street. I can't remember any other details on it. I have no idea where it went, what colour or brand it was. Strange how I have such vivid memories of all the others apart from this bike.

Raleigh BMX:

I think owing to breaking the first mountain bike or outgrowing it I ended up bike-less. This as you can image was a tragedy for me. Although I don't recall it being a major incident just something that happened. One day I had a mountain bike, the next day I ended up with my neighbours old BMX. 

This was a strange thing, I must have been 13+ but I really don't remember the transition. I just remember cold mornings opening the garage to fetch out the BMX in the dark. I remember it being the heaviest bike in the world and I also remember it being an absolute pig to pedal. Yet of all the bikes I have had this is the one I miss the most. From a paper boy point of view it was great, could be mistreated as much as possible - no gears, one brake (I think), tiny wheels that never seemed to puncture - brilliant. 

I remember my most stylish crash on this bike too, going down the hill on my parents street in the snow and the bike skidded out from under me, owing to the bike not being high off the ground I landed fairly softly (snow as well) and then skidded down the rest of the hill on my paper bag. 

Lots of fun but slightly scary as I got towards the main road at the bottom!

The picture below is pretty much how I remember the bike but I am sure the frame was MUCH larger and the wheels were tiny! Although this might be a distortion of the truth based on the fact it was so hard to pedal! As I said I really want another BMX but am told I'm not allowed - the other half says I would look ridiculous on one, she is probably right too.

Maybe.

I remember the BMX being really hard to pedal but a lot of fun once you got it up to speed.

The Ragazzi:

At some point it was decided that I couldn't continue with the BMX (which mysteriously disappeared shortly after) and a new mountain bike was needed. What was chosen was a full suspension Ragazzi in blue and yellow, yes I am in the photo below but I couldn't find another one! Anyway I kept this bike right through from being a teenage to a late 20's person. It was a lot of fun to ride, even if it gave me the most mechanical problems ever! I remember changing tires, broken gears and exploding rear shocks! 

Still I got a lot of riding out of it and lots of enjoyment, plus it was easier to pedal than the BMX! 

One downside was that one bike rides with my mates I discovered that I was not as strong at riding as I always remembered myself being. Often being left behind and lagging for both power and energy. Something to this day that I am still trying to improve on! However I also remember being the quickest down Bardy Lane  of all my friends, even though it was rapid and had some very blind corners - this daredevil approach to downhilling has completely gone now!

I do also remember freaking out whenever the bike fell over (happened a lot) and touching up the paint work with model paint! Odd what comes back to you when you have a little think...

I had a love/hate relationship with this bike but it served me well for many years!

The deathtrap (Coventry Eagle Colorado)

This one is worth mentioning for the fact that I brought it as a stop gap bike to get some fitness in. It then broke and got condemned by a bike shop. I fixed it myself (to a fashion) and smashed it about the Downs. The deathtrap name comes from Geoff who upon learning that the brakes did nothing wondered how I hadn't killed myself on it. It works fine now, if you were going to only ride it on bridleways and roads, but I would not recommend XC for it!

Despite the limitations I have gotten a lot of XC use out of the Colorado!

The current stable:

I have written about the Scorpio and the P7 before so I won't add to it here except to point out these are my current bikes.

Extras:

Below are the Emmelle Prestige road bike and Raleigh Mercury that I have 'restored' (basically cleaned up and got working) and will be selling as soon as I get them from my parents house. Although I am tempted to keep the Emmelle for commuting but I don't have room really...

The one that got away:

When my Grandad retired, that is to say stopped getting paid for work but still worked fixing things up for people, he was given a Raleigh 3 Roadster (I think - seems to be the one that matches my memory the best). 

I always remember him riding this bike all over, I remember the bike always seeming to be massive to me, I also remember it sitting in our shed gently rusting away after he passed and the sadness that my Mum had when she finally skipped it. 

He loved riding his bike - although he was a very dangerous and wobbly rider - and I remember him being upset when he finally had to stop riding. I never got to ride this bike although I would have loved to. 

With the rise of restored vintage bikes maybe one day I will get to own a Roadster too.

There we have it, a quick sprawl down memory lane (on a bike naturally). Would be interested to hear what bikes people have owned and what they remember about them.

Chris.

Bedgebury smashed.

Went to Bedgebury today with Geoff. The difference knowing the bike and not having to hire one coupled with the Wales trip made is easy to see.

Absolutely smashed it out of the park. Not the quickest but a big step up for me.

Check out my 16.3 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/175212518

The danger of Strava.

OK so having eaten, showered and being on second cup of restorative coffee I can check my Strava from this mornings ride.

I still wish I had managed to eek it out to 50km but maybe next time.

One thing that always strikes me is the discrepancy between how you feel a ride went and the records it produces. For instance today's ride (see link below) felt slower than normal, mostly because I was just spinning my legs and taking my time.

However it would seem I set a series of personal bests on segments along the route. This was surprising but probably not too much. Especially after a week of hammering up and down mountains in Wales (I will write up the rest of the holiday).

However getting stronger on the bike, also getting better at pedaling (staying out of the big ring and increasing the cadance on lower gears to go faster for longer) is one thing. Certainly other than a route I do with my friend Alan there are no real records I am after.

Yet here is the issue. I am nowhere on the lists when it comes to the top riders. That's fine for me. I ride because its social and I enjoy it. However I can see how people would want to chase them. I remember Geoff smashing down a trail as fast as he could to get a KOM on an off road segment near us (Geoff is the best mountain biker I know) yet he was still almost half a minute off the top of the segment. He couldn't understand how someone could go that much faster than he did on the route. On a road ride its similar. How can someone smash a route 10-15 km/h faster than I'm going when I'm ringing all the speed out of my bike?

In don't doubt that people can do it but some segments, especially on the road, can't be done that quickly and still be safe.  I think while the leader boards are good to see how you stack up they have to be taken with a pinch of salt to prevent people obsessing or risking themselves for what is essentially a digital d@ck measuring contest.

When that takes over I think Strava might not be a great thing after all.

Check out my 49.5 km Ride on Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/174699981

Back on the road again.

So 2 days after the mountain biking odyssey is a finished I was back on the road bike giving the legs a spin. Not the fastest and a bit annoyed not to make 50km (49.6km in the end) but a good steady ride.

Finished road bike.

There are a few things still to write about the Wales mountain biking trip. That is for another day.

I have just finished restoring the road bike. Sorted the brakes. Cleaned it down. Replaced the saddle. Rewrapped the handle bars the only thing I couldn't fix was the front wheel being slightly off -either handle bars or wheel but I can't sort it. Oh and it might want a respray at some point.

Pretty pleased with the results but am now shattered...

First day of Wales trip.

OK so we have pretty much done our first days riding and are sinking beers and getting ready for dinner.

Apart from a shed load of m25 and Bristol traffic the ride to Cwm Carn was pretty sweet.

I will be honest I was very hesitant and the following the climbing (which was a lot of fun) my initial downhill was very hesitant and nervy. However by the time we hit the latter parts of the run all nerves from the South Downs 100 had gone and I was flying along very happily. In fact all my time on the downs and in the gym have paid off quite well. I am controlling the bike well and climbing/descending with strength and skill. What is quite nice is that I seem to be slightly quicker in the descents than Nick now (not really near Geoff) even if he retains the edge on the climbs.

This was the first time we rode Cwm Carn and we hit the Twrch which I will would heartily recommend to anyone as it is challenging but forgiving and quick.

The second ride was when we reached Afan lodge we bumbled along to Blue Skar which was where Geoff came off and massively buckled his wheel the last time he was here.

On the way to the route Geoff and Nick started freewheeling as if they were descending. Nick then decided to steer which his shoulders not his hands. This lead to him cartwheeling through the air like a rag doll and being dumped in the grass verge.

Needless to say we treated this bin with sympathy and laughed until we cried. Nick was fine by the way.

Blue Skar is a very open and almost simple trail. With quite a bit of fire road style climbs. Now I am not the best climber however this was manageable but the open nature if it in the sunshine meant I quickly overheated and had to stop to cool off.

The downhill sections though were brilliant. Almost all of it flowed really swiftly from one curve to another.

All in all day one gave us 24km or riding and almost 700m elevation gain.

The photos below are in no real order due to blogging on my phone. I will also edit this when home with my strava for the rides.

Oh one last thing I should say is I have borrowed Geoff's mates (Mr Bob) Orange P7 bike. Last time I was here I rode an Orange Crush and loved it. So far the P7 is really living up to expectations. It makes a lot of noise but is very poised and really quick. It also feels very safe and sure which fills you with confidence when riding it. My only niggles are the slightly spongy rear break and the dodgey gears. However the bike just needs a service and so far has handled everything I have thrown at it.