First Tracks

Woke up the other morning to a couple of inches of snow so decided to finally take my fatbike out where it was designed for. OK it's only a couple of inches but better than nothing. Rode up to the Ridgeway and once I'd passed the farm mine (and a fox's) were the first tracks.

Things got a bit narrow in the woods

The fat tyres floated over/through the snow rather than digging in like a regular tyre. More like skiing in powder than on piste.

After a few miles it started getting colder so I decided to turn round, must investigate some warmer clothing!

Strava Madness

Well I noticed on Strava that I'm only 12 seconds off a King of the Mountains on one of my local segments. As that was done on my singlespeed mountain bike it should be fairly easy to beat, especially as I've just set up the Peregrine as 'monster cross': fat tyres, rigid forks, gears and drops. That should make it easy to make up those seconds, especially as I can pedal down the down hill bit in the drops rather than coasting.

I don't think it's relevant but my best time was set when I was fitter, lighter, on a calm Summer's day on a dry trail. It's been raining for about a month here non-stop, the farmer down the road has built a huge wooden boat and the trail has about as much grip as a greased ice rink.

Ignoring the fact that the rain was horizontal I set off, warming up nicely on the 2 miles  to the start - OK I may have pushed a little too  hard but I was good to go. Up the first climb, I was certainly faster. Of course I couldn't prove it  as it was dark and the driving rain was blinding me but I had a plan and was sticking to it (unlike my tyres to the trail) nothing could go wrong. Over the crest of the first hill I changed gear in anticipation of cruising down the other side, and taking enough momentum to help me up the other side.

Which was great except the wind hit me like a train, no chance of coasting down there (not that that was on the agenda I was a dead cert for the podium) I changed back down through the gears working as hard to get down the hill as I was to get up it. Eventually I made it into the dip at the bottom. Literally. Being a minor valley, it was of course flooded and I came to an ungainly stop in the clay.

Hauling my bike out of the quicksand I attacked the final slope ignoring the wheel spinning in the clay making slower progress than I'd hoped, fighting both the wind and the hill. My lungs were making a desperate bid for freedom as I gasped for air. Perhaps now a tiny seed of doubt had planted itself in my mind?

And then that tiny seed grew into a fully fledged beanstalk as my rear wheel popped out of the dropout. This was of course due to the awesome power that I was putting down and nothing to do with shoddy maintenance. Taking shelter under the beanstalk I did the honourable thing. I gave up and headed for home.

So 'Anonymous Rider' your KOTM is safe for the time being. But I have you in my sights!

Dusk 'til Dawn 2012

Ooops! Wrote this weeks ago but forgot to publish!

What could possibly go wrong? I'd entered "Dusk 'til Dawn", a 12 hour mountain bike race that, as it's name suggests runs overnight with 2 people that I 'know' from a cycling forum.

Well the preparation didn't perhaps go as well as I'd hoped, moving house and a summer that resembled a monsoon cut down on the amount of riding I did but I wasn't as unfit as I could have been. I'd managed to meet up with my local bike shop, for a couple of off-road evening rides.

First hurdle came as I loaded the bike into the car. I'd just got everything in when I could hear the ominous hiss of escaping air. Somehow I'd managed to gash one of the tyres. Fortunately I had a spare in the shed and was eventually on the road. At least it happened at home rather than half way round the M25.

Three hours later I was pulling into Brandon only to see my teammates, recognisable from a photo on the forum riding in the opposite direction.A quick game of telephone tag later and we managed to meet up to plan our tactics get something to eat. Bob volunteered to do the first lap, which was a relief for me at least as I don't like riding in large groups and hopefully the field would have evened out by the time my turn came.

Sure enough it had so I set off my lights making a pool in the darkness. I could see a group of riders ahead of me and slowly drew them closer. As we chose not to have a practice the first lap was a voyage of discovery for me. Over what on a map seemed to be a fairly small and flat area - remember it was in the middle of Norfolk - the organisers had managed to put together an interesting course with a mixture of twisty singletrack through the woods and stretches of fireroad or double track for overtaking (or being overtaken!). Not that stopped a few people barging through where they couldn't really, although on the whole the majority of the overtakes were safe and courteous.Managed the first lap in around an hour and passed over to Steve for his lap.

We then retreated to the restaurant tent and tried to keep warm. Our saviour the whole night was the cheerful folks on the catering van who provided a never ending stream of tea, coffee and, the highlight, baked potato with chilli! I think that is what kept me going as we shivered through the 'off-watch' period. My thermometer was reading around 0C and with each lap the frost was getting heavier on teh gound. We soon fell into a pattern of 2 hours resting: chatting, snoozing, drinking tea and generally trying to avoid hypothermia and one hour of riding. As I got more used to the course and it dried out during the night I was able to put in some faster laps - well they felt faster but the official times still haven't been published.

Highlights of the race for me were 'Santa's Grotto' where someone had strung multi-coloured glow-sticks from the trees and had set up a sound system playing a selection of classical music - truly surreal. My turn came for the final lap before time ran out, it was just getting light so finally I was able to see where I'd been riding all night. There's something special about riding as the sun rises and it gave me a lift that I was able to pass a few riders. At this stage people were more tired and happy to pull over and let you past. As I overtook one guy he looked at my lack of gears - I was riding single-speed - and shouted "that's what I like to see, singlespeed and going for it". After that I had no choice but to put my foot down and sprinted (a relative term)  for the line coming in just before the 8 am cutoff. Overall we did 11 laps between the 3 of us, and whilst we didn't trouble the podium, achieved our main aim of getting round and having a good time.

And now, 48 hours later would I do it again? Well maybe. I learned a few lessons about endurance racing that night the most important being bring a tent and a change of clothes. We were the only people in the catering tent for most of the night and spent most of it very cold despite wrapping in blankets and other riders were surprised at how unprepared we were. I think the psychological boost of getting into something warm and dry after each lap would have helped enormously. So the jury's still out...

Finally, thanks to Steve and Bob for a great night!

2 Wheeled Human Powered Dune Buggy

The Pugsley lives!

Using a mixture of spares from the shed and some online purchases I transformed this:

Into this:

I've even managed a few test rides. The Pugsley is probably best described as cycling's answer to the Dune Buggy. The fat tyres make it very different from anything else I've ridden before. On the road it seems to have a mind of its own - which was even worse until I sorted out the tyre pressures. Now it's not really the ideal conditions for the fat tyres, at 3.7" they're a LOT wider than normal mountain bike tyres which are about 2.2" and run at a lower pressure. The width combined with the low pressure means that they float over snow, sand and mud. At the moment the temperatures here are in the high teens (remember this is London in March!) so snow is, at best, an unlikely proposition; the only sand locally is in the children's playground or the pile I found in the car park in the picture above and we have a drought warning so mud is fairly scarce too.

Having said that it's also great fun on normal trails. Despite the lack of suspension it gives a smooth ride as the big tyres absorb a lot of the vibration and bumps, the big wheel diameter helps it roll over obstacles (rocks, roots, small dogs...). As the scratches on my arms and legs will testify it's maybe not as precise as my other my bike but I suspect that's more a case of a bad workman blaming his tools than any inherent design flaw.

It's also a head turner, as I came home through the park a group of teenage skateboarders stopped me to ask questions: is is harder to pedal?, is is slower than a normal bike?

So all I need now is some snow, lots of rain or a trip to the beach to properly try it out.

Excessive Weight Gain

A freak eBay 'accident' now sees me the owner of one of these:

A Surly Pugsley 'fat bike' - that's just a stock shot from Surly's website, not mine - hopefully collecting mine this week.

Need a few parts to get it ready for the trail but then I'll be good to go. Looking forward to playing in the mud, sand and snow (for the one official day of winter)

The Second Law (and the others!)

There are 3 basic laws that govern our life. At least I've found them useful.

The first of these is "Do not travel faster than light". This one was invented by Einstein sometime last century. `Scientists are quite agreed on the reason behind this. Now whilst most people's eyes tend to glaze over at the thought of theoretical quantum physics it really is quite simple. If you do then you'll end up travelling back in time and killing your grandfather in a 'crime de passion' and marrying your grandmother. Things just won't work out because you remind her too much of a younger version of her dead husband and she has trouble living with the memory. Eventually this causes a breakdown a in the space-time continuum and you'll suddenly vanish in a puff of non-existence. Probably not the best way for anyone to start their day. And not to forget the weight gain associated with high speed travel, I mean just look at any regular business traveller. All that jetting around and they inevitably pile on a few pounds. Remember they're only travelling at half the speed of sound, just extrapolate that a little and you'll see that old Albert was on to something.

Which brings us to the Second Law. Sir Isaac Newton proposed the Second Law in 1687 and published it in Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. In brief it states:

"The change in velocity (acceleration) with which an object moves is directly proportional to the magnitude of the force applied to the object and inversely proportional to the mass of the object."

In other words an object will keep moving unless something happens to it. So what does this mean to me? Well, when cycling I try to expend as little energy as possible, whilst getting from A to B (or more usually from A back to A via a series of indeterminate points) as quickly as possible. Now, cyclists face a range of opposing forces: friction from the road and the bike itself, wind, hills and having to slow for corners! There's very little that can be done about the first three at least once the ride has started but I'm working on the last one.

The normal technique for riding a bike (or most other vehicles) is to go fast into the corner, hit the brakes late and accelerate out of the turn. All fine in theory but my bike is set up as a single speed - exactly why that is is a whole other topic - which means I lack the ability to accelerate by shifting up through the gears so I need to find another solution. Since I can't accelerate so easily I need to take as much speed out of the corner as I can which means going in faster, or trying not to hit the brakes. In other words, "Conservation of Momentum", or attaining the mythical "flow".

The theory is quite simple, commit to the turn, look where you want to go, get your weight in the right place and it will all work out fine. The practice is a little more complex: for a start the surface is muddy, rooted and rutted, I go into the turn thinking all the right things, have the OMG moment "I'm going way too fast for this!", hit the brakes and the wheels lock up. This is where an unintended consequence of the Second Law cuts in...

With the wheels locked there's now nothing keeping me and the bike in that perfect arc, matching the curve of the trail. Instead I'm obeying 300 years of traditional physics and continuing at a high speed in a straight line (it works for and against you that Second Law), sideways and directly for a bunch of trees. Now is probably not the best time to remember the advice that I was given about skiing off-piste in the woods: "Don't think of it as skiing in the trees, think of it as skiing in the gaps". That inner voice sure knows when to pick it's moments. No, the only thing to do is relax, slide and hope that nothing soft and delicate comes into contact with anything hard or pointy.

Which, despite the fact that the only New Year's resolution I've managed to keep is "Don't make resolutions" brings me to, let's call it an objective rather than a resolution, for 2012. To improve my technique on the bike this year.

And the Third Law? Well that's actually borrowed from skiing.

"Don't eat the yellow snow"

Cabin Fever

Going mildly (and expensively) stir crazy here!

Had a minor operation on Saturday. My wife says to clarify that it was a hernia repair rather than a vasectomy as "everybody" knows that with "men of my age" it's either one or the other.

Anyway, no real drama, like clearing the shed or doing the filing it was just something I'd been putting off until, last Thursday I called the surgeon who said he could do it on Saturday. So I'm housebound, and as I'm most comfortable lying down bedbound. So far I've avoided the siren call of daytime TV and spend my days listening to music, browsing the internet and practising Sonic the Hedgehog in a vain attempt to avoid humiliation by my son when he next challenges me to a race.

As I can't ride my bike I'm doing the next best thing and reading about biking and other people's bikes (all in the name of 'research' planning my rides for this year). Unfortunately this leads to a condition known as 'gear envy'.

 Now as any reputable medical professional worth their salt will tell you cabin fever and gear envy is a pretty potent combination and not one for the weak of will. Which brings us to the expensive part.  In my delirious state I have somehow managed to acquire a brand shiny new freewheel, and since it won't fit my existing hub, an equally shiny hub for it to fit it on.

 Must go as the men in the white coats are coming to take my wallet away.

Don't be afraid of the dark!

Couldn't sleep so I strapped some lights to the bike and headed for the woods for the first 'night' ride of the winter.

It's a totally different experience riding a familiar trail in just a pool of light. Many of the normal cues were gone (well invisible) so the normal method of slow down just past the tree stump for the right hand didn't work and I had to rely on what I could see in my lights. Some turns were overshot and others taken faster than I'd thought possible. I once read a piece where the author advocated skiing blindfolded (on an easy slope!) and relying on the feel of the snow rather than looking at the terrain and this was a similar approach as I found I was getting more feedback from my tyres than looking at the ground to stay in control.

I'd originally planned to ride the loop the 'slow' way going up the steeper hill rather than down it and then come home along a flat path  but as all I saw were some startled rabbits and nonchalant foxes and I was having so much fun that, when I got to the top of the hill  I decided to come back down. That was a blast! Not quite flat out, but certainly on the 'edge'!


And yes, those weird sounds that I couldn't identify certainly helped to keep the speed up in the darkest parts of the woods....

London to South Coast Offroad

Well I made it!

First of all a big "Thank You!" to everyone that sponsored me so generously.

Signed on at 7am and made my way to the start to find that we couldn't leave until 7:30. Still at least that meant that I was in the front row of the grid :). Eventually we were allowed to go and for a moment I was first, even though it's not a race!

We started by going through Richmond Park with deer looming eerily out of the mist and their weird barks booming around us. I set a steady pace on my singlespeed and was soon left behind by the group I started with on geared bikes. A few minutes later I was left behind by the second group, never mind I was happy with the pace I was making.

The route continued along the towpath by the river. After an hour I was warm enough to stop and take my jacket off when disaster struck! I pulled out my iPod only to find it was flat so I wasnt going to have any music to motivate me.

As soon as we crossed the M25 the route cut into the woods and became more interesting with sections of single track and muddy paths with just enough challenge to keep us on our toes, although I wouldnt have wanted to be one of the later riders (apparently 1000 people had entered) coming through some of the muddy sections. Although looking at the state of my bike this morning I may have done them a favour by bringing most of the mud (and stuff that doesn't smell like mud, but I won't go there) with me. Sections of road linked the off road sections together providing some variation.

By now I was slowly passing those who'd rushed past me at the start and were probably regretting their initial pace and from then I passed more people than passed me, playing cat and mouse with a few riders as we took our break stops at different times. Coming out of Shere disater struck for real, there was a loud bang and my chain had come off! That's not supposed to happen with a singlespeed! Closer investigation revealed that the wheel had slipped out, something that I can only attribute to the superhuman amount of power my legs were pushing out. Either that or sloppy maintenance. Problem was quickly resolved and I was on my way again.

The middle section of the ride followed the Downs Link that connects the North and South Downs Ways. Thirty or so miles of flat straight railway track. At least I could make up some time. This was teh point that I regretted not putting a faster gear on teh bike as my top speed on the flat was limited by how fast I could pedal rather than how hard. Nevertheless I made up some time despite a puncture about half way along.

The flat section ended eventually and we hit the final climb, up onto teh ridge of teh South Downs Way. Apart from a couple of places where I had to stop because the trail was blocked by other riders this was teh only section that I had to walk. Even then I was not much slower than teh one person I saw ride all the way up. And by then he was so exhausted that I passed him on teh flatter section at the top. Next a flinty track before we descended into Shoreham.

The last few miles are best forgotten; it's hard to find anything nice to say about Shoreham Harbour so I'll say nothing at all. This was made up for by the welcome we received as we came into Hove. The finish area was surrounded by people who cheered every rider in (as did most of the marshalls on the route) and, most importantly, a burger van! I was apparently in the top 50 riders in, and the first single speeder (and possibly only as I didn't see any others!).

All in all a great day out, and a great sense of achievement. I'd have liked a more challenging route but that's not really viable given the number of riders and the range of abilities, if I want more challenge I can easily find that for myself. I covered the 75 miles in 7 hours 10 minutes with a moving average of 11.8mph and raised nearly £400 for the British Heart Foundation.

British Heart Foundation London to Brighton in the South Coast Off-Road Bike Ride

On Saturday September 24th I'll be riding from London to Brighton in the South Coast Off-Road Bike Ride to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. It's  a 75 mile (120km) ride, mainly off road and, just to make it a little more challenging I'll leave the gears at home and ride ‘singlespeed’ - so I will really have to work hard!
 
I'd appreciate any donation - of whatever size - you feel you could give to sponsor me in supporting this worthwhile cause. I’ve set up a page at Just Giving where you can donate online
 
In case you don't know about Just Giving, it's a totally tried and tested and simple way to sponsor. Its secure and they won't give your details to anyone, and will never contact you. Also they arrange that gift aid is claimed

South Downs Way in a Day

Well it seem like a good idea at the time. The South Downs Way in a day; no problem, leave Winchester at 6am, ride for 10 hours and home in time for the Tour de France highlights at 7. What could possibly go wrong?

The South Downs Way is a 100 mile mainly off road path between Winchester and Eastbourne which is thought to follow a Bronze Age trading route.  A little research soon found me a track to load onto my gps, a paper map was bought from Amazon and water points noted. A little more research stated "very little of the Way is flat". Armed with this nugget of information I decided that I knew enough.

Things started to go wrong 10 days before. There was a delay getting the new rim that was to be built into a geared wheel. Something to do with Bastille Day apparently. No problem last year somebody rode the 'double' (Winchester-Eastbourne-Winchester) on a singlespeed bike in 19 hours so it might just take me a little longer. I put a larger sprocket on to help up the hills (32:18 if you're interested) and all was set. 

Saturday morning at 6 saw me under King Alfred's statue as planned and in was underway.  The first few miles weave through the outskirts of Winchester and then it's the South Downs Way proper. The track was in great condition dry and deserted. I only saw 3 other people in the first 3 hours!

About 10 miles out of Winchester it was clear that I'd been lucky with the weather as there'd obviously been heavy rain which made parts of the chalky ground more slippery especially when going uphill but I was making good time averaging faster than I needed to make my finish time. I had to get off and push a couple of times but was still doing well. 

Every so often the peace of the rustic trails was disturbed by a reminder of 21st century life as the trail crossed the main roads and the calm was disturbed by the by the roar of traffic drowning out my iPod which, set to shuffle, was sending out motivational tunes. 

Beacon hill saw the first big challenge and was the first place I couldn't blame having to walk on a lack of gears. Once up there the views made it worth while, right down to the English Channel which was to be almost constantly in sight for most of the rest of the ride. 

Not that I was taking much notice of the views at the stage. The ride had settled into a pattern of grinding slowly up the hills; getting off to push and save energy as the hills got steeper and descending as fast as I dared - I hit close to 40mph on one steep wide grassy descent; food was a combination of gels, Powerbars, flapjack and energy drinks. My gaze switched from admiring the view to watching the distance to the next turn tick down on my gps and my estimated arrival time slipped further and further away as I walked up more and more hills jumping off my bike each time the track pointed upwards. 

At 4 pm relief came in the form of the Cafe at Saddlescombe, a mug of tea and pannini providing welcome relief from concentrated chewy carbohydrates. Refreshed I was able to push on a little faster but was nearly tempted by the option of bailing out at Brighton, just a short roll downhill from Ditchling Beacon and even, a couple of hours later by even the bright lights of Newhaven!

Just beyond Streat Hill my gps decided it wasn't going to play ball any more and insisted on pointing me back the way that I'd come. Fortunately the signage along the way is very good - most if not all of my off piste lapses can be attributed to my over enthusiasm in hurtling downhill rather than any shortcoming in directions. I wouldn't recommend it but it should be possible to complete the route without map or gps, relying on the signs. The temperature had started to drop now so it was on with an extra layer. As walking uphill was easier than riding at least I wasn't going to overheat. 

The sunset somewhere close to Firle Beacon but on the open heathlands I was able to press on without losing too much speed on the downhill sections. As a precaution I'd packed some lights "just in case I need them back from the station to get home at the end of the day" and these were fitted to help light the way through the dark wooded sections. Now mountain biking at night is great fun if you know the trails or you're feeling fresh but with neither benefit my pace was dropping as I had to slow to avoid crashing and inspect every pole to see if it had a direction marker my gps still stubbornly refusing to point me in the right direction. 

After what would have been, in daylight, an exhilarating descent into Jevington, but in pitch darkness involved riding the brakes and avoiding the potholes I decided to follow the road to Eastbourne, the prospect of walking up another hill and what another rider had described as "a run you'll really enjoy" being too much for me. I found the station in Eastbourne easily and was in time for the last train of the day, 25 minutes later. As I walked up to the ticket barrier and the guard said "you'd better hurry the London train's about to go." It seemed that the previous train was running late so I was able to get home an hour earlier - for some reason the last train, despite leaving only 30 minutes later arrived an hour later. Finally home at quarter past midnight. 

Highlights of the day: a deer bounding out in front of me on the way out of Winchester, Swifts feeding above a field, a glider soaring over the ridge, the views before I got too tired to appreciate them and finally sinking into my my own bed. Almost everyone I met was uniformly friendly, lots of great conversations with other people on the route, just out for a walk, doing the route (more sensibly over 2 days) or section by section or the one other person I met who was also trying to do it in a day. 

So all in all about 107 miles in 15 hours, one puncture, nearly 7000 feet of climbing and two very stiff legs the next day.

But I have 'unfinished business' because I didn't do the last 5 miles I can't claim to have completed it so I'll be back, but with gears, definitely and fitter, maybe?

Singlespeed Swift

Singlespeed Swift
Originally uploaded by paulfulford

Img_0117.Jpg

Look Mum No Gears!

Picked up my new Singular Swift yesterday.

Was originally supposed to have an Alfine hub but delays in delivery broke my patience and I had it built up as a single speed.

Went out for a short ride to test the setup this afternoon. A lovely ride, fast responsive and stable; the first bike I've had in 40 years that I've been able to ride 'no-handed'.


Initially I had doubts about the compatibility of single speed and my knees off road but I'm beginning to reconsider the idea of gears at all!

Enjoy the Silence

"Listen to that noise"


"I can't hear anything."


"Precisely."


I dug my single speed out of the shed yesterday, pumped up the tyres and checked the brakes and took it out for a ride this morning.


I'd forgotten how quiet it is!!


Great to ride along with just the sound of the tyres on the road.

The Pitter Patter of Tiny Wheels

New Bike on the Way!


On Saturday I test rode this:

And in best Victor Kiam fashion I bought one!


It's a Singular Swift. Now I just need to wait for the frame to arrive and Shimano to launch the Alfine 'Spinal Tap' hub. It goes all the way to 11.

Riding the California Hills - Pt 2 Laguna Beach

My final few days were spend riding in the hills above Laguna Beach. My landlord kindly lent me an old Cannondale, technically his daughter's and formerly his wife's. A little too small but it got me out. 

I must have been doing something right because on the second day I was stopped in town by someone from "a couple of cities away" asking my advise on what trails to ride. All I could do was tell him where I'd bought my map.

The terrain round there is steep; long climbs sometimes too steep or dusty to ride up but once up there some great rides along the ridge. My favourite area was Moro Canyon and Moro Ridge. Riding along the ridges when the visibility cleared really gave a "top of the world" feeling with the Park to one side and the Pacific to the other.  

Just a walk in the park then!

Yeah right! (truth be told I was going the other way had no suspension and minimal brakes and as it was too steep to ride up. But on another day...)

The ridge once I'd climbed it

Riding the California Hills - Pt 1 Ojai Valley

"He says you can't ride that bike, give him a ring and he can sort you out"


That bike being my brother in law's early 90's Carrera Gryphon, an old school rigid mountain bike. I'd already experienced the joys of its old brakes and lack of suspension on a quick ride that morning. Going downhill was fine, it was the stopping that was more of an issue!


"...you'll need suspension and some decent brakes on the trails. Meet me at the shop and I'll show you round"



So the next morning I met Kelly, father of a friend of my nephew and owner of Project Ride for a quick tour round the local trails. Kelly took this off the back of his car:

Kona 'Hei Hei' 29er

A quick fettle to swap the brakes round and change the pedals - the last thing I wanted to do was to grab a handful of the 'wrong' brake - and we were off. Despite his comment about suspension Kelly was riding a rigid '69er' and ripped my legs off uphill and downhill all morning.


The first short drop to the river bed looked easy enough and I followed Kelly down only to encounter a hazard not normally faced by British riders: dust! The trail was so dry that the tyres left a 'smokescreen' behind them making route finding almost impossible. Fortunately the big wheels and full suspension lived up to their reputation and I drifted easily over the rocks. The next 90 minutes contained more of great trails: rocky riverbeds, singletrack through the woods and fireroads. I finally admitted defeat when it was obvious that my legs would carry me no further.


The next couple of days were spent on local trails. I gave up on one described as "the first quarter of mile is a bit technical, but you'll be alright" I gave up when I had to put the bike on my back and climb but found another easier route.


My final ride was an hours hard climbing (almost 1500' in 3 1/2 miles) followed by 15 minutes rapid descending.

Ride Profile

A Shadowy Figure

Think I got pwned today

Took my mountain bike out for a quick spin this morning on the closest that my part of London has to offer in the way of singletrack. Relatively steep with a few roots and ruts thrown in for good measure, not much possibility of a loop so I ride out for a few miles and then come back. Not what the experts would call technical but challenging enough for me and makes me glad of the suspension.

Anyway on the descent on the way back I passed a chap with a Surly Cross Check coming the other way. The only slight consolation that I can draw from the encounter was that he was pushing his bike up the slope that I ridden up 20 minutes earlier. We stopped for a chat which was when he told me he was going to ride down the other side!  The slope that I'd been thanking the fact that I had suspension for!

Chapeau to that man!

Early Morning Ride

Early Morning Ride
Originally uploaded by paulfulford

Quick picture from yesterday's ride.

Do gears cause laziness?

I celebrated the start of 'Summer' by switching from my singlespeed to my geared Peregrine and noticed that my average speed dropped significantly. The Peregrine is a little lot heavier but I don't spin out at about 24 mph so the 2 should balance each other out. Looking at my riding I realised that whereas on the singlespeed I just push harder when the road got steeper or the wind blew on the geared bike I'd just drop a gear or 3 and spin. So today I deliberately pushed myself, staying in a higher gear and managed to achieve a higher average speed (I also achieved a new top speed of 80 mph but suspect that there might be a degree of measurement error!!).