cycling

Today was the 2015 Jack Clements Memorial Little Mountain Time Trial organised by Beacon R.C. It was also the third round of the RTTC classic time trial series.

It is a 39 mile hilly time trial. The first loop is rolling with no major hill, but the second loop takes in two significant hills; it is not a pure climbers course, but it isn’t one for the rouleurs either – it’s a good blend of terrain offering a bit for most riders. It was good to see a big field with close to 150 riders entered. I was last to 3rd man off – no. 154.

Firstly, it was really hard to decide which race to do this weekend. Riding the Beacon meant missing my favourite race on the calender Bristol South Megahilly. It’s obviously a popular weekend for hilly time trials as there is the Teeside Mountain TT and Wrexham R.C. all on the same day.

Anyway I wanted to support the National series and the Beacon is always a great event. I did it back in 2013 and have done parts of the course in other events.

Read more

The fine line between the car door and the SUV.

Where possible I try to look on the bright side of cycling. Look for the positives and avoid complaining about x, y and z. However, when cycling in America (more specifically, Jamaica / Forest Hills, Queens, New York) I always feel bad because it is hard to put a positive spin on it. Cycling in this part of the world is just tough. If you ever wondered why only 0.5% of journeys in America are by bicycle, just come and have a go yourself.

This is a cycle lane on 164th Street. It is part of a recent attempt to offer some form of infrastructure for cyclists. The problem is that if you ride in the middle of the cycle lane, you are at risk of being hit by an opening car door. Most New Yorkers do not expect cyclists on the roads, so you have to expect the worst. It means when I cycle on this kind of cycle lane, I’m hugging the left curb of the cycle lane. I’m riding just to the inside of the left white painted line. If you stray an inch over into the road, you risk getting beeped like crazy. If you have cycle in the middle of the lane you risk getting hit by car door. You feel there is about 6 inches of the whole road, where it’s kind of OK to cycle and hope for the best.

These cars are actually quite small by American standards. 50% of cars seem to be SUVs – which is understandable given the state of the roads. There are potholes galore. To be fair the winter in NY was really cold and tough, it means it’s a constant battle to repair the roads.

Read more

Not the most exciting post to get back into blogging, but you have to start somewhere.

When I got my new Trek Speed Concept it came with Shimano Dura Ace 9000 11 speed groupset. Because I have a Quark Elsa Power meter I have swapped them over, leaving a surplus Dura Ace Chainset.

Good looking four armed crankset

Read more

I currently have five different chain lubes on my shelf at the moment. I’m not sure why I have accumulated so many. But, it gives me something to review.

GT-85

You will find GT-85  in many bike shops and is one of the most popular thin water-displacers. It is excellent as a water displacer and thin lubricant. It is easy to spray on and will prevent rust. After a wet ride, I will give a good spray and spin the chain, allowing water to come off. GT-85 is quite economical, a large 400ml can last quite a long time. However, because it is quite thin, it doesn’t give too much ‘lube’ to chains and as a result, if you rely on it to lube your chain, you can wear through chains quite quick.

It is best not to use this as a lube, but it is good to have around for other purposes.

GT-85 is one of the best sprays for brakes and cables – It helps resist rust, keeps things moving and won’t attract too much dirt. It doesn’t leave much of a residue.

Also, GT-85 makes an excellent way to clean and polish your frame, spray some on, and give a quick polish. You will be pleasantly surprised at how clean it may get. Also, if you do spray on the bike and components, it makes it easier to clean next time.

Great for cleaning, water displacing and using on components, but don’t rely on for overall lubrication.

GT-85 £3.49 (wiggle.co.uk)

TF2 Lubricant

I bought this from Reg Taylor when they recommended as a better chain lube than GT-85 (which I was using at the time). It is a bit denser and stays on the chain well, making it better for long-distance cycling. The added ingredient of Teflon helps to prevent the accumulation of dirt. You can also get this lubricant in non spray form. It is a good all-rounder, if you wanted to get just one chain lube TF2 would fit many of your needs.

I was using this over a wet winter in England, and to be honest, it required quite frequent reapplications. The chain on my commuting bike would often get dry and rusty – despite using chain. On training bike, the chain also ended up quite dry and a little noisy. I’ve seen people claim one lube can last 400 miles, I couldn’t verify this over winter. I would have been better off with a heavier ‘wet ride’ chainlube. On the positive side the chain remains clean and easy to handle.

It will be fine for commuting bike except during very wet winter months.

Read more

It can be hard to motivate yourself to train five times a week through a British winter. But, the spring is the time for early season hilly time trials and these early season races are a big motivation to train hard over winter.

Before a summer diet of flat and fast dual carriageways, the early season offers the chance to do some great sporting courses. With a good winter, I thought that Buxton MTT would make an excellent early season target. If all the planets aligned, it might even be an opportunity to sneak a win in a national time trial series. But despite tapering this week, I’ve picked up a cold at the wrong time, so will miss tomorrows event. It’s a shame because it would have been good to know how I would get on. I will then be away for a couple of weeks, so the next race feels quite a long way off.

Still on the positive side:

• It’s never too early to start doing your income tax returns. There’s always something you can be doing on Good Friday.
• When I return to racing in late April, the weather will be just as windy and wet, but hopefully one or two degrees warmer.
• I’ve had a pretty good run of uninterrupted training. I can’t remember the last time I was ill.
• I have a friend who swears by tumeric. He claims it solves everything from the common cold to bad memory. So if I drink copious quantities of tumeric maybe I will be fit for tomorrow and will also be able to become a millionaire selling a cure for the common cold.
• Tomorrow there will be a strong headwind on the long climb from Longnor. I really wanted a tailwind up there.

The disgraced former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has become the latest celebrity to support the Guardian’s campaign for fossil fuel divestment.

Following what he described as a “dark night of the soul”, Clarkson said he hoped to “regain the trust of the British public” by dedicating his time and financial resources to sustainable energy, road safety and forging mutual understanding and tolerance between people of different cultures and religions.

I believed this article – right up to the point where it said Clarkson supported speed limits of 45mph on dual carriageways.

It just shows early in the morning, I’m prone to gullibility….