Return of the Son of Tim's Blog

WIN

Mon, 05 May 2008 20:09:29 GMT

Riding Again

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:23:26 GMT

I did a small amount of riding last week, about 30 miles in total, just to work and back. But the cool crisp mornings of early in the week turned very windy by the end.

I was down in Bristol again this week and took my bike again. We did another nightime ride round Leigh Woods. I managed not to break anything this time. John had sent me a new chainring and when I compared it to the old one, I think I know what helped bend it. The old one wasn't a shimano one and the little notch that tells you where to line up the rings was about a quarter of a tooth out compared to the new one. When I shifted under pressure, I think the chain didn't engage cleanly.

We rode a different route this time, but it was still good, mostly singletrack, mostly winding through the trees and mud, but some rocky bits. It was obvious where our respective comfort zones were. The others, who ride through trees and mud and roots mostly, were away for those bits. The only time I kept in touch or occasionally made up ground was over the really rocky stuff that is more like our usual Lake District rides.

One problem was that my lights are good for about 1.5 hrs. Unfortunately we were out for about 2.5 hrs. By the end, I had to ride in front of Dean with his lights shining past me to light the way.

We then met up with Karl, who hadn't made it down to Bristol in time, and spent a pleasant evening reminiscing about our mountain biking exploits over the years.

At Last

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:35:32 GMT

I got out on my bike. Only for a bit though.

I took my bike down to Bristol again and this time actually got out to ride it. My friend John and I rode out from the city centre to meet a friend of his at Leigh Woods. I hadn't even got out of the city before I trashed my little ring. I did a particularly poor down shift, didn't quite engage the teeth and folded an inch long section of the ring. No more little gears for me.

It was dark and muddy in Leigh Woods, but great. John's friend took it very easy, but I still suffered. It stayed fine for most of the ride. I managed to stay fairly near the others, but got lost on several occasions when they went out of sight and I couldn't see they trail. Amazingly, no-one was injured, or even had a remotely serious crash.

We finished in light drizzle, but by the time I had ridden back to town it was throwing it down and I was soaked. I dumped my bike back in the car and headed to the hotel. I turned a few heads in reception, muddy and wet.

But at last I've done some mountain biking this year!

Tim

So Much For Cwm Carn

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:54:47 GMT

I took my bike down to Bristol last week, with the intention of going out to Cwm Carn one evening. We settled on Tuesday night, only for it to rain pretty much all day and well into the evening. Heavy, very wet rain. So Karl and I cried off. Joe and Ric went and got pretty muddied up, soaked and frozen. Ric says he was changing gear with his palm on the way home, his fingers too cold to do it.

So my bike did 400 miles, all in the back of my car. I'm down again in a couple of weeks, so maybe then.

I did get out on my bike this weekend. Liam wanted some stuff from town, so I rode in with him, to show him the back way. In all we did 25 miles.

He asked me on Friday night is I could have a look at his bike cos the gears were jumping again. I found the cause pretty quickly, a 4 inch by one inch piece of cloth jammed in the sprockets. Once I'd pulled that our and removed about two tons of dirt from the derailier jockey wheels and the chainrings, things were fine. I did notice that the front brake block was down to the bare metal. "No wonder the brakes squealed" was Liam's response.

We got the tandem back on Thursday, so hopefully we'll get some time out on that this year. We had planned to go out today, but it has rained all day.

Cheers

Tim

Happy New Year

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 18:38:52 GMT

A bit late, I know, but no less well meant. I haven't touched my bike since I got back from Bristol, having ridden Cwm Carn. Not strictly true, I took it out of the car and put it, dirt and all, and put it in the garage. I've just been and cleaned it up in preparation for doing Cwm Carn again next week.

We got no bike related Christmas presents this year. The closest was these for Jayne.

I am in the processes of deciding what events to do this year. A few of the guys are signing up for Harlech Triathlon again. I think I will probably do it, cos its quite a nice friendly event. There is a 50K mtb race in Wales in March that Joe is thinking of. There is also a 24hr at Grizedale but it is the week after Harlech. I would struggle to do both and if the other guys do Harlech, I won't get a team together for the 24hr.

Other than that, I've got no plans. I've put on loads of weight and am a right fat git at the moment. I've got to get back into the habit of running and swimming. I'm paying £200 a year for a swimming pool membership I've used four times.

On an entirely unconnected note, I got an iStuff radio transmitter. This is a short range FM radio transmitter with a headphone jack. You plug it into the headphone socket of an iPod or other music player, select a frequency on it and tune your radio into the same frequency. Then your iPod plays over the radio. Its fantastic. I am a big Radcliffe & Macone fan, but their show goes out when I am doing other things quite often. So I use the BBC listen again facility to listen at the weekend on my laptop. Using the iStuff, I can move round the house without having to worry about wires and speakers. The range is only very short, but works from anywhere downstairs to the radio in the kitchen. If I get it sorted, the DVD/Surround sound player in the living room has an FM radio receiver, just no aerial at the moment, I can get it playing through that!

Cwm Carn in the Dark

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 14:58:39 GMT

I was down in Bristol all this week. The highlight of the week was undoubtedly going to Cwm Carn after work and riding the red route, in the dark.

Firstly, the bike needed setting up with lights. I swapped my halogen lights from the Pompino. The only trouble with this was the battery is a square and is supposed to strap under the top tube with a securing strap round the downtube. Unfortunately, there are no gaps in the frame on the Marin large enough to take the battery. I ended up strapping it under the handlebar stem and managed to rip out the securing strap trying to pull it tight. But it held. I also got Liam's head torch. Again I struggled to fit it. If it went on my helmet, it would either ping off into the undergrowth or it would slip down and knock my glasses off. Eventually, I managed to get it positioned under the rim of my helmet but not knocking my glasses off, but meaning I had to hold my head funnily. I had a crick in my neck the next day.

The Cwm Carn route is basically a long climb up the side of a river valley and over the top of a large ridge, then a fast whiz back down. The valley climb has some quite tricky sections where if you get it wrong, you risk falling 20 or 30 feet down a steep rocky slope into the river. So we skipped those bits and did the majority of the climb on the road. The weather forecast had said heavy rain, and cold, but the rain ran through earlier in the day leaving a strange mixture of warm but misty under the trees and cold and breezy on the tops. Mist coupled with a huge cloud of condensation every time I wheezed out a breath meant that for a lot of the time my glasses were misted up. This lead the interesting dilemma. I was riding slowly because it was dark, but because I was going slow, my glasses steamed up, but in order to clear them I had to go faster, but I could see cos it was dark and my glasses were steamed up. I crashed!

The descent was fantastic. Fantastically slow, but still scary. You can't quite judge the depth of drops, or the size or rocks because of the shifting shadows. You find yourself pulling big wheelies over pebbles, or crashing down drops offs you didn't see. Fortunately, Cwm Carn doesn't have that many drops. Half way down the big descent, my lights failed. Just the halogen's, not my head torch. I caught up with the guys and we tried having me ride in front of one of the others, but that just meant the I rode in my own big shadow. I dropped back to the rear and crept down even slower. The final swoopy bit of the ride has lots of big berms and off camber turns. When you can't really see what you are doing, these become quite challenging. I managed to get down in one piece.

A brilliant night ride. I wll have to do it again, with better lights.

I got back to Bristol at about 11:15 and had to check in to my hotel. What a farce! When I got there (resplendent in Pink Lemonade FC shirt and muddy face!) there were a bunch of guys at the desk. "Can you print this document for us on that printer?" they asked. This wasn't a problem and the guy behind reception started in a very slow and ponderous manner to print the document. As 50+ page document came off the printer it was obvious that half each page wasn't printing. The guys protested to each other but the receptionist said "Oh, that printer is out of toner". "Then why did you use it?" they asked. "Because you said you wanted to print on that printer" was the entirely logical, but at the same time stupid answer. They asked if there was another working printer and yes there was. Unfortunately, it chewed up the first sheet and jammed. All the while I am waiting. Eventually they got it going and the receptionist turned to me. Is he tried to check me in, the computers crashed. Another 10 minutes of faffing about, he decided that he would check me in manually. This took another 10 minutes as he had to keep going back to his supervisor to make sure he was doing it right. Half an hour after arriving, I was registered and went straight to the bar to get something to eat and drink. Handed over my room card to put the meal on my room. "Sorry Sir, there is no credit card registered to the room". Another 5 minutes to get my food and drink, while he check it out with reception.

Christmas Shopping

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:51:26 GMT

Jayne and I had a day of on Thursday to go Christmas shopping. We got into town early, leaving as soon as the kids had left for school. Got parked up and were away by 9:30. Later we heard that the local radio was advising people not to go into town cos all the carparks were full. It didn't seem that busy while we were there.

Anyway, we got through quite a bit. Jayne is very organized and has a list of possible presents for each person. We sweep through the shops, acquiring items from the list pretty quickly. A major stumbling block was Waterstones, where I spent most of the time looking for stuff for me rather than presents. Unfortunately, this was compounded when two of the presents were on a 3 for 2 offer and Jayne said I could pick a third for myself. Aaargh! I hate that freedom. I rarely buy stuff for myself and limit my purchases of books and CDs to a few vital areas; Neil Young and Charles de Lint. Given a free choice, but no obvious candidate from my limited list, the choice is suddenly near infinite.

We managed to get out of Waterstone's with a reasonable array of purchases. Next was Cotswolds and heated discussions vis a vis UK/Euro shoe size conversions and the relative merits of a wind up head torch or a wind up hand torch for an 8 year old who has no real reason to own a torch anyway!

On then to WH Smith's and trying to remember whether my sister is left handed or not. From there to possibly the worst cappuccino I have ever had.

Finally, off to buy a new suit for work. Apart from the disappointment of needing a 42" chest jacket, it was quite a good experience. We had seen a suit I quite liked, a very dark blue with light blue pin stripe. I tried it on and it seemed OK. The sales guy was very good and brought a few different styles to try. We went away with a suit and two pairs of trousers. Or rather we went away with the jacket and have to wait til the trousers are delivered then sent off to be shortened. Hopefully I'll get them next weekend.

Christmas shopping largely done!

Cheers

Tim

Big Day for Liam

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:40:52 GMT

Our middle son, Liam had a bit of a special day yesterday. Along with 40 other scouts from West Lancashire, he was presented with his Chief Scout Gold Award. This is the most prestigious award available to scouts.

Liam is the tall one at the back. The others are members of the Trogz Explorer unit Liam has now moved up to.

Well done Liam!

Technology

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:55:29 GMT

I am paid large amounts of money by a major, world-wide company, to be their e-mail expert. I have day to day responsibility for the UK mal systems and am expected to be involved in the group's long term planning. I am in the middle of designing a middle European mail platform. So I am expected to be technologically adept. I'm not!

As a wedding anniversary present for Jayne's parents, we have bought a scanner and are scanning all Jayne's Dad's 35mm slides. This is the easy bit. The plan was that we would burn the images to CD (or DVD) and they could view them on their DVD player. I burned (burnt?) the first CD. It wouldn't show in my DVD player. Picture size was too big. So I reduced the image size and reburned (reburnt?) it. We sent the disc to Jayne's Mum and got very confusing reports of what was visible. We did a few more discs in various formats. The only format that worked consistently was to burn them as a DVD Video.

Unfortunately, I don't have a DVD burner connected to the PC that the scanner is connected to. So I had to do something slightly different. I could burn VCDs. I got a copy of Nero 7 and gave it a try. Firstly, the Nero install took two gos, failing the first time. Then I followed the instructions to create a VCD slideshow, dragging the 180+ images to the CD. On trying to burn the VCD, it takes an hour to finally display the message "transcoding error". I try again, this time trying to include a fade effect between images. It tells me a slide show can only have 99 images. Why didn't it mention that before, when I added all those images it couldn't deal with. After several more efforts, I still couldn't get it to work. I tried installing Nero on another PC, but neither the CD drive nor the portable CD writer were working. I went on the Nero web site and ran through the FAQs. Nothing useful. I was at the point of giving in, when I saw an upgrade was available (not advertised anywhere else on the web site other in the actual Downloads area). After two hours to download, even though I was on broadband and could, in theory, download at 3 bazillion gigabytes a second, I had the 250Mb upgrade which turned out to be a complete reinstall. I ran the reinstall and tried again.

Still the unrecognized 99 slide limit. I put a random fade pattern between each image and burned a VCD, surprisingly successfully. So I put it in the DVD player. Unfortunately, the fade effects were longer than the images themselves. The result of this was that one image hadn't faded out before the next started to fade in. All 99 images two minutes, in which only the first and last were clearly visible. Finally, after several more tries, I got a VCD burned that would play in our DVD player. It's in the post to Jayne's Mum tomorrow. This is definitely, in terms of hours effort, the most expensive present I have ever given!

On a separate note, the main problem with the Internet is that you can't read it in the bath. Have a look at www.crazyguyonabike.com. Ideal bath-time reading.

Cheers

Tim

Beautiful Day

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:55:17 GMT

I was feeling a bit tired this morning and didn't want or plan to cycle in. But without really thinking I found myself in my cycling gear, so rather than change, I got the bike out. It was a glorious morning. There was no wind, sun shining and just a hint of cold, maybe 0C.

As I've said before, my commute is mostly through rural lanes. There is usually a fine array of wildlife on show. This morning was no exception. I saw three jays. These used to be a rare site anywhere but in quiet woodlands, but they seem to be getting more urbanised. They are one of Britain's more colourful birds, pink and blue. I also saw my fair share of the usual small brown birds, much more the norm. I also saw a heron and a hare.

Coming home was much cooler than this morning, maybe just under the zero centigrade. But still a clear, windless night. I love riding in the dark. You concentrate on the little cone of light and little else. Its a bit Zen like.

Weather for tomorrow is set to be cold and foggy. I might drive!

Cheers

Tim

Winter is Here

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:58:05 GMT

I rode in yesterday for the first time in a week. It was the first real day of winter. Minus 2C at 9 o'clock. I actually needed my buff and my warm gloves. Otherwise it was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining, no wind and a crisp sharp day. My favourite weather for riding.

I got half way in and ran into a cow! Not literally, but there was a cow in the road, which slowed the traffic of me, a van and two old blokes out for a walk. Between us, we got the cow back in a field, not necessarily its field, but a field none the less.

My Swiss project is going to the dogs. Well not exactly to the dogs, more like growing like Topsey, but the deadlines staying the same. I think we are going to struggle. My boss came up with the other team leader. We went out for a coffee at 10:30 and I got back into the office at 4:50. But it was worth it, we got loads of management stuff done, stuff I usually struggle to get through. But it was a day out that I expected to spend in. Only 200 unread emails.

I rode home in the rain. And woke up this morning to more rain. Fortunately, it held off while I rode in, throwing it down about half an hour after I arrived.

I was really tired riding home. Don't know why really, but maybe because of the headwind. 20-30mph gusting higher. Fortunately, mostly it was a tailwind, but still it was hard.

The weather is set to get colder!

Tim

First Ride in Ages

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 21:32:54 GMT

I rode to work today. So what! you might say. Well it was the first time this month. Literally. I haven't ridden my bike since September. I got a cold, which turned into a chest infection. At the same time I had several trips away, where I couldn't take my bike.

Today was the first day in weeks that I was back in my normal work routine. I was a bit wary cos I hadn't ridden for so long. It is dark at 5 o'clock now, last time I rode, it went dark at about 7. It is also officially winter now. I had my new Buff, my thermal undershirt under my Pink Lemonade FC shirt, still on track mitts, but with full finger gloves in reserve. Overkill. I arrived at work in a sweatier than usual heap. Partly due to my not having ridden for a month, partly due to the strong head wind, but mainly due to being way over dressed. This time of year is difficult. I ride in in the daytime where it is usually a few degrees warmer than at night, when the temperature usually plummets. Except today, it didn't plummet. It was probably warmer coming home than it was this morning. So I was equally sweaty coming home. But at least I got a ride in. 12 miles for October! Something of a record low for me.

On an unrelated note, I found out while I was in Switzerland that a colleague has breast cancer. I'm not supposed to know as she hasn't told anyone officially. So what do I do? She wasn't in today so I couldn't talk to her. But what do I do when I do see her? Do I let on that I know or do I pretend I don't?

On a completely unrelated to either of the above, Radcliffe and Macone. This is an evening show on Radio 2 and well worth a listen (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/radcliffemaconie/). I had Tuesday's show on the radio as I drove up from Bristol. The intention was to keep me awake, but I was in as much danger from crying with laughter. The music is excellent as well. Well worth a listen.

Cheers

Tim

Am I a Complete Loser?

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:12:59 GMT

As you may be aware, I had to go to Switzerland this week. There were two problems with this. Actually, there were lots of problems, but most of them were the reason I had to go in the first place. The first and biggest problem was that it is half term week this week. The kids are off all week. Not just that though, Jayne works in a school so not only was she off as well this week, but she can't have time off next week say, when I can. So she's been left with the kids while I swan around Switzerland and then when I can finally have some time off, she will be in work. Not good. Not conducive to happy marriage.

Anyway, the other problem with going to Switzerland is something I've mentioned before. Airports! I'm not a great flyer, I don't enjoy it, I don't like sitting at the airport anticipating it. So why do airlines insist that I arrive two hours before my flight? Check-in takes ten minutes. Security checks take twenty. Then I have an hour and a half to watch planes take of and land while anticipating my aeronautical demise. Also, I have a 60 mile drive to the airport. This can take anything from 1 to 3 hours, so allow two. That means on a quiet day I will arrive 3 hours before my flight. Three hours to wonder if I am waiting in the wrong part of the airport, to wonder if I've booked the right dates at the hotel, to wonder if I'm going to come over as a complete idiot in my meetings. All of which are secondary distractions to the key problem - Am I going to die during take-off?

I think pilots deliberately set out to upset the nervous passenger. They put the power on, shoot down the runway, climb at a ridiculously steep angle and just when you are confident that he knows what he is doing, he eases off the throttle for 20 seconds. The plane goes quiet, there's a slight lurch and the power goes back on. Just enough time to shit yourself, while the slightly less nervous guy next to you can feel smug as you try to dash to the loo, brown stuff dribbling down your leg and the stewardess trying to usher you back to your seat.

Cheers

Tim

Marion Jones

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:54:00 GMT

Well, Marion Jones has admitted to taking banned substances. Its funny how this hasn't caused the furore that recent cycling cases have. I am confidently predicting that the German public TV will now be boycotting coverage of the next Olympics and that the German team will only be sending Eric Zabel and Patrik Sinkewitz. Interestingly, and rather ironically, Jones' gold medal from Syndey will now go to the Greek sprinter who was herself banned 4 years later for missing a doping control.

I have done no riding for the last few weeks. I was in Birmingham last week on a training course, where I picked up a horrendous cold, which I still have. I have also got the biggest cold sore I've had in ages. So I am coughing and sniffing and not riding.

The next month will probably be a bit thin on the riding front as well. I have another course next week and then have to go to Switzerland the week after. That is right in the middle of half term, so not only am I away, but I'm working when I should have been off and Jayne is at home with the boys, cos its half term week. When does it start to get cold in Switzerland?

On a different note, get yourselves the new Steve Earle album, it is fantastic, one of his best. I was in a record shop in Birmingham and they had it playing. I asked the girl behind the counter what it was, then bought it. By the way, does it age me that I've said 'album' and 'record shop'? Or that I am even buying CDs, not downloading?

Cheers

Tim

Dark

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 16:56:51 GMT

I worked a bit later than usual yesterday and the day before. Thursday, I rode home at dusk. It was quite nice, the roads were quieter than at 6ish when I'm normally riding. Friday though, I stayed to nearly 8. By the time I got going it was proper dark.

About 3/4 of my route home is on unlit roads. I soon learned how useless my summer get you home light is in proper dark. I must have hit every pot hole there was. I was also reduced to a gibbering wreck, doing 5 mph every time a car came the other way. My usual winter commuting lights is a 3W and a 10W twin light system powered by a Lead Acid 6V power pack. It is good enough for me to still be able to see even when oncoming cars don't dip their lights.

I think I'll go and put my batteries on charge.

Tim

Autumn

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 21:03:16 GMT

We have had a bit of a cool snap here for the last few days. Monday was torrential rain which cleared Monday night to clear skies and a drop in temps to about 4 or 5 C. Tuesday morning was cold and windy, but bright blue skies. I rode in in my shorts and track mitts. It was just bearable.

I tend to leave a pair of trousers and shoes at work and take clean shirt, socks and boxers every day. I often have to dive straight into work mode and don't get changed immediately. Even so, yesterday and today, my shirts were still very cold to put on.

A real problem at this time of year is low sun. At peak commuting times the sun is very low in the sky, but still very bright. If I am struggling to see when riding, how well can car drivers see me?

It is a gorgeous time to be riding though. The air is crisp and clean. The leaves are turning. It is probably my favourite time of year.

Tim

Trip to Germany

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 10:56:14 GMT

I had to go to Germany this week, two nights in Wiesbaden. I arrived late and my colleagues had already gone to a restaurant to eat, so I jumped in a taxi and told the guy the name of the place. I must have got in the only taxi in Wiesbaden where the driver spoke no english at all, and was also deaf! I got there in the end.

I took the train from Frankfurt to Wiesbaden. It was a series of one industrial site after chemical plant after another. Then suddenly we were going past vineyards and I thought we were out in the countryside at last. Then the next thing was a massive Opel car plant.

Wiesbaden is quite a nice city, the town centre is all cobbled winding streets, set out with cafes and bars. I was on my own Friday night, so I thought I'd take a stroll round town. I find it quite depressing to be in a foreign country on my own. I can never decide where to eat or what to do. So I had a wander through town, chatted with a woman from Amnesty International and went for a beer. I set off back to where I thought the hotel was, but hadn't come to it after 20 minutes of walking. Eventually, I accepted I was lost and retraced my steps into town, where I found a town guide. I had been walking in the opposite direction to where I should have been going. I eventually got back to my hotel.

Saturday morning, I decided to get a taxi to the airport rather than risk getting lost again. This was the fastest taxi ride I've ever been on. Taxis here do not do 180km/hr, not even on the motorway. I arrived at the airport much sooner than the hour before check-in that was required. And a good job too. The much vaunted german efficiency was not on display in the security check queues. I have done 4 flights in as many weeks recently, so I know the score. All metal objects, coins, keys etc, in your bag, coat off, belt off, laptop out of its bag, no liquids, no aerosols. Its fairly easy and straight forward. At Manchester, on the way out, there was one queue. A security man stood at the front of the queue, telling people the rules as they came near and then directing people to the next available x-ray desk. At Frankfurt it was completely different. One queue per passport control desk, leading to its own x-ray machine. No-one was working the queues advising of what was required, so every time someone got to the front of the queue, they needed everything explaining. We'd all wait while they emptied their pockets. Then they'd go through the x-ray and set it off because they sit had their mobile in their pocket or something. Chaos! It took 45 minutes to get through the security checks. My boarding gate turned out to be a 15 minute walk away! Frankfurt has two terminals. On the way there, I'd had to get a 10 minute bus from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 in order to catch the train. By the time I had walked the length of Terminal 2 to the boarding gate, I was a roadway and a fence away from Terminal 1.

Then we sat on the runway for 15 minutes waiting for a slot to take off.

While we're on the subject of security check and liquids etc. Everyone know there are bans on stuff, so why take it? If you need to take it, why not in your checked bags. Especially, why did the lady in front of me feel the need to carry an industrial sized hair spray can in her hand bag? What could possibly happen in the 1 1/2 flight that would need that much hair spray? Why, when asked at the baggage check-in if she had any liquids or aerosols in her had bag that she should transfer to here checked bags, did she say no?

Hopefully, I won't have to fly anywhere for a while.

Cheers

Tim

Long Time No Blog

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 20:42:23 GMT

I've not written anything for a while. There are a variety of reasons, but the main one is apathy. It has been a pretty dismal summer here. Rain and wind seem to have dominated the weather. That is until last week. The first week the kids are back at school and it was a week of hot, sunny days. Things returned to normal yesterday, wind and rain.

But its Autumn now. Autumn is my favourite season. The weather is usually OK, not too hot, not too cold. Although we don't get the range of colours of the turning leaves that you get in other places, the autumn colours are still nice. It was a bit nippy coming home tonight though. It is probably time to break out the 3/4's and the full finger gloves.

I'm off to Germany at the end of the week, Wiesbaden. I'm glad I'm not paying for the fares. I originally wanted to go Thursday afternoon and come back Friday evening. Nearly £600! To come back Saturday morning was only £288. Needless to say, I'm staying til Saturday. I had to go to Switzerland last week. Again fares were high, but accommodation was impossible. There was nothing in the city I wanted to go to, the best was Zurich Airport, £187 for the Swisshotel or £211 for the Hilton. I rang my contact in Switzerland to see if he could get me in somewhere. After 15 minutes he rang back to say no, he could do nothing, so I rang the Travel Agent and said to go with the Swisshotel. She rang me back a few minutes later saying the Swisshotel had gone up to £318!

I'm glad I'm not picking up the bill.

Cheers

Tim

Fixed

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:47:49 GMT

I've been riding my Pompino fixed mostly so far this year. I passed the 1000 miles marker for the year last week. I've noticed a few things about riding a fixed wheel.

I can cruise at 18-20mph and be fairly comfortable. I can push it up to 22-23mph and still spin reasonably smoothly. However, if I am going down even a gentle hill and am being pushed to spin even at 20mph, all my smooth, stylish spinning disappears.

There is a hill on our regular ride route. Its not very long, about 500 yards, but kicks up steeply at the end. I can get up it on my road bike, but need all my gears. I can also get up it on my fixed, in a gear I could never manage on the road bike. I think it is the fly wheel effect of the fixed. The pedals are still trying to turn, even if you slack off for a second. You can't coast to a stop like you would be tempted to on an ordinary bike. A similar thing happens on the tandem. You can have a mini breather while your partner keeps the pedals turning.

I have been riding fixed for about four years now. As I have already said, I am quite a smooth pedaller. I rarely ride anything else on the road. So how come, two or three times a week, I forget I am on a fixed? Usually, because I have the smooth loose limbed style, it results in just a nasty jerk of the legs. Occasionally, it pings me out of the saddle and sends me all over the road. I am lucky my commute is down quiet rural roads.

Mud guards, fixed wheels and rear facing track ends are a pain when you puncture. I rode 2 miles on a flat tyre rather than go through the faff of changing a tube a while ago.

Fat Cyclist Shirt

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:16:49 GMT

Got mine yesterday