Changing priorities

The intention was for this weeks blog to have been stunning Go-Pro footage of me carving my way around the singletrack of the Surrey Hills. However, my wife is expecting our second child imminently and after she suffered a dodgy night I decided I should be staying closer to home on Sunday. So here I am sitting in front of the keyboard empty handed!

Family priorities mean cycling has been slipped quietly to simmer on the back burner for a while. Well that is the impression I like to give to my wife anyway! I do normally have a training schedule drawn up that extends at least two months in advance. However, I have entered zero mileage and no ride targets at all for January and February. I’m just going to see how it goes and grab any opportunities to ride that I can. Once Junior has made their appearance and the tide of visitors and well-wishers has slowed, I will begin to get an idea of what life is like with two little people to look after. Then I can plan the return of some kind of structure to by riding.  By the middle of January I would normally have all my races and goals for the year pencilled in and priorities planned out. Here at least I have entered race dates in the calendar, but there are no particular goals beyond the fact that it would just be nice to be there and taking part! This means I haven’t persued sponsors for 2016, as that would have tied me down to certain commitments.

In fact the squeeze on my free time has already begun. For the first time in years I resorted to leaving a bike at the local shop for some maintenance. A large part of my enjoyment of cycling comes from the tinkering and fettling with bike set-up. So it was with a heavy heart that I handed over the road bike for a new bottom bracket and rear mech. I collected it on Friday and I immediately could see things that weren’t done the way I would have liked to do them. Don’t get me wrong, the work had been completed and everything was working wonderfully, but it’s just small things like splitting the chain in the same place as the original joint so there are not two potential weak spots. The sort of fussiness you can have when you work on your own bike in your own time.

So this probably won’t be the last blog I write this year without a defined topic. In fact you can expect some downtime once the latest addition to the household decides to make their appearance. Come February the 7^th I probably won’t even have time to realise I’ve missed the first race of the year !!

Challenge Strada Bianca Tyre Review

I promised a review of the Challenge Strada Bianca tyres I bought last week for my commuting bike and here it is! It is a lot shorter than I had been expecting.

Despite being covered in Italian branding, the tyres are hand made in Thailand; the tread stuck to one side of the bead and a red puncture protective layer on the other. Because the adhesive doesn’t need heat to cure Challenge claim the tyres are more supple than normal mass produced tyres which are created by injecting hot rubber into a mould. In theory the result is a smoother more compliant feel out on the road. Unusually this also means the tyres are supplied completely flat like a belt.

Now, I had read that this layout made them tricky to fit, but nothing had prepared me for the frustrating hour of sweating, cursing, blood loss, broken tyre levers and damaged inner tubes. My problems weren’t just down to the unusual profile, these tyres are INCREDIABLY tight! When with a deafening ‘SNAP’ I finally heaved the final inch of bead into place, I stood back, took a deep breath and considered my options. The scenario running through my mind was a cold, dark morning commute, the rain beating down on the tarmac around me. The front tyre is flat and I’m still 30 minutes from the office. What would be my chances of getting the tyre off and back on again with shivering numb fingers? The answer was obvious - absolutely zero!

So off the tyre came and before the second even made it out of the box they were winging their way back to the distribution warehouse they came from. In their place I purchased a set of 28mm Schwalbe Durano tyres. I reviewed these previously on my blog and have been using them very reliably for over 2 years now. At £20 each they were half the price of the Strada Bianca’s, and although I’ll never know for sure, I very much doubt the performance is half as good.

As well as the benefit to my bank balance, I popped the Durano’s on by hand without a tyre lever in sight. After the first ride I also pulled three shards of glass from the front tyre large enough to start my own stain glass window. The tyre was still inflated, so the puncture protection definitely works. Experience tells me they are durable and I like the grip and rolling resistance. The only question is why I didn’t buy them in the first place, the likely answer is I was lured by the Italian marketing.

So if you had been hoping for this review to be all about the beautiful, fluffy, cloud like quality of the ride, you’ve been disappointed. However, if you wanted so save yourself £40 I hope this review was helpful.  

A week off!

Today is my 7^th day of abstinence from the velocipede! Back in October, when I was feeling low and really wanted a break, I promised myself a week out of the saddle to celebrate the end of the year and give my weary limbs a rest. It is a testament to how much I must have needed some time out, that I have actually enjoyed this period of inactivity. Normally after a few days I would be climbing the walls, grumpy and generally driving my wife mad!

I admit that the persistent wet and windy weather has certainly made it easier than it would have been looking out the window at crisp bright winters mornings!

The void has not obviously been without thoughts of cycling. I have been busy pillaging the online January sales to rebuild the commuting bike. It’ll shortly be upgraded to 10sp XT with Challenge Strada Bianca 30mm tyres for winter commuting duty. The full off-road tyres will be back when the trails emerge from under 6 inches of water. I’ve also been back to Light Bicycles ordering a new set of rims for the MTB race bike direct from China. So expect reviews of all these goodies in the weeks to come.

So the itch is now back, tomorrow morning I’ll be up early and out in the dark unlocking the shed preparing for the ride to work. I’m already looking forward to this weekend and I don’t even know what I’ll be doing, but it’ll involve a bike and coffee!

New tyres, wheels and drivechain are on the way!

My cycling year in numbers

End of year stats! Mission acomplished, my target of 8000 miles was achieved with the last ride of 2015 on New Years Eve.

Totals:

• 8004.2 miles
• 548.9 hours 
• 100,374 metres climbed

Average:

• 22 miles per day
• 1.5 hours cycling per day

S-Works Stumpjumper Race Bike - 1557.2 miles
S-Works Stumpjumper Commuter - 2599.6 miles
Trek Madone Road Bike - 3620.8 miles

Jan	653.8
Feb	609.6
Mar	622.5
Apr	518.6
May	778.6
Jun	718.5
Jul	606.9
Aug	748.7
Sept	655.2
Oct	616
Nov	727.6
Dec	748.2

Total

8004.2

Christmas Holiday

Merry Christmas!

After a couple of days of almost constant eating and drinking it was time to get out on the bike and make the most of the holiday and a rare appearance from the warm firey thing in the sky.

Alex from the South Downs Bikes store in Goring organised a trip to the North Downs. The Surrey Hills trails are prolific and far more technical than those nearer to home on the South Downs. Many are famous in UK mountain biking folk lore, such as 'Barry Knows Best' and 'Yoghurt Pots'.

It was a big social group so progress was slow, but it was great to be back out on the MTB. I've been on the road bike almost exclusively since October and had almost forgotten how much fun nailing a trail with a group of buddies can be! A Christmas treat to myself!

Final challenge of 2015

Freelance bike mechanic Bruce Berkeley is currently in Australia preparing to take on one of cycling’s oldest records. Over the 12 months of 1939 Tommy Godwin cycled an astonishing 75,065 miles. That is a mind boggling 205 miles a day – EVERY day!

In comparison my own annual goal of 8,000 miles seems fairly modest. However, if I want to spend time with my family AND hold down a 9 - 5 job, then averaging an hour and a half in the saddle each day is actually pretty challenging.

A 2 hour plus commute has formed the back bone of my annual mileage. Weekend off-road rides and races during the summer can sometimes be quite short, but training rides around the lanes in the winter ramp up the average.

Over the next year Bruce will be desperate to stay healthy and injury free. If he falls ill or has an accident it’ll be extremely hard to make up the deficit of a few days off the bike. Avoiding the accidents and hospital visits of previous years has helped me consistency rack up the miles in 2015. Only once during the year have I failed to chalk up at least 100miles from Monday to Sunday and even then, during my week away on holiday, I nipped out on a hire bike for a couple of early morning outings before the family woke up.

It was towards the end of September that I realised 8000 miles was a realistic goal. My previous best, last years 7178, was going to be easily eclipsed and I wanted a fresh target to aim for. Reaching my new objective was not going to be easy, 2100miles in 13 weeks was going to be tough. Especially with the introduction of the school run Monday to Wednesday reducing my commuting opportunities. I planned a schedule of 4 rides a week, which is the most I could reasonably hope to fit in. A 20 mile evening ride on Tuesday, two 38 mile commutes, Thursday and Friday, and a 50+ mile weekend ride.

I have stuck to this plan religiously, but heading out regardless of the gales and torrential rain, no matter how I’m feeling has been really tough. With limited opportunities to claw back any missed rides I've done well to limit my losses to around 60 miles. With exactly 2 weeks to go I am currently 402 miles short of the magic number. 

Its a personal goal and just a number, with little meaning in the grand scheme of things. My body is desperately screaming to take a week off and have some rest, but it has got to a point where I've got tunnel vision! I also feel it is now or never. My second child is on the way in February, I can’t see myself getting close to 8000 miles again for some time, possibly ever!

It is going to be a tall order, but while there is still a chance I’ll keep on cycling!

Nostalgic look back at 2015

Its December and time to settle back in front of a warm cosy fire and review the year that’s been and look forward to what 2016 will bring.

New bike in February

Back in February the year got off to an exciting start with a trip to Spain to pick up my new S-Works Stumpjumper. After my struggles trying to adjust to the Yeti ARC geometry last year, I immediately felt right at home on the Stumpy! I think I described it at the time as like pulling on your favourite slippers – it just felt instantly right!

There can be no doubt that the highlight and primary focus of the past 12 months was the National XC Championships. The technical challenge of the Hadleigh Olympic course added to the anticipation (and trepidation!) ahead of my first National Championship event. I really relished conquering my fears during two test days at the venue. Yes, I could have raced better on the day, but I didn’t take any risks and focused instead on making sure I finished. Having targeted the top 20, I was personally delighted to come away from Essex with 14^th.

Deans Drop - Hadleigh

2015 was also the year I completed a life-long ambition to cycle the 100 miles of the South Downs Way. It was a great day, with good friends, that will live long in the memory. Plus, it’s a tick on the bucket list!

South Downs Way

Back on the race track there were top 10 finishes overall at the Brass Monkeys Winter series, 6^th at the Summer Monkey in June and 10^th at Brighton Big Dog. These marathon events suit my riding, and desire for a challenge.

It is always nice to stand on the podium, as it is something I don’t get to do very often. 3^rd place at round 5 of the Southern XC Series is a sunny day I look back on extremely fondly. The fact I was racing Darren the entire race and stood on the 3^rd step with friends and team mates around me, made it more special.

On the podium at the Southern XC

2015 will go down as my most enjoyable year as a cyclist. Yes, there were the races and personal challenges, but what I have really enjoyed is just getting out there and riding my bike. The dry weather allowed me to regularly commute home off-road  around Stansted House and over Kingley Vale. To demonstrate how often I did this, the road bike didn’t come out of the shed at all from April right through to September. Is there a better way to relax after a stressful day in the office than ripping deserted, dusty trails?

The best commute!

So, time to look ahead to 2016. At the moment I need glance no further than the 15^th February, the date my wife is expecting our second child. I can’t wait! I’m no spring chicken and if I am honest 2015 has worn me out! I’m looking forward to taking time off with my family and not worrying about weekly mileage targets, specific events or training rides. 

2015 Stats as of 1^st December

Races:          8

Top Ten:       6

Podium:        1

Wins:            0

 

Mileage:        7,256

Hours:           502