Category: Words

This morning waiting at the first set of lights on the way into work a bloke on a red Ribble that had been converted to singlespeed came over for a chat. He was riding crosstown rather than into the city, but he was intrigued to know what gear I was running on the Harry Hall. The 50:16 ratio isn’t the key I assured him, it’s the fact that the bike has forward facing drop outs that give an inch or so of adjustment to the wheelbase and allow any slack in the chain to be taken up irrespective of gear.

His bike was running a singulator and it’s vertical dropouts didn’t give any adjustment. As I pointed out even if you could get a specific gear that allowed the chain to be run nicely, the chain always stretches anyway. The lights changed and we headed off in different directions. Approaching the penultimate set of lights something that doesn’t happen very often occurred. Someone cruised past me with a cheery ‘morning’. Cheeky! The spectacle of being overtaken by a slightly overweight bloke on a nondescript geared road bike who’s wearing some hideous three-quarter length grey and red lycra knickers was too much.

Don’t make any visible signs of effort, but wind up the gear. The speed picks up and I start reeling him in, but that 20m gap takes some time to diminish. I’m on his wheel at the next set of lights and just make it through as they change. Then a sign of weakness, as he crosses the junction he eases off and starts freewheeling. This is it. Engage attack mode. Find an extra few rpm and swing out and pass him using the now downhill section of tarmac to catapult me through the S curves taking a lot of speed into a very tight line through the corners.

Don’t look back. Keep the momentum and power up the short climb that follows. Plough through the next corner taking a wide fast sweeping line into the final straight. Feeling a bit short of breath, but hold that pace. Almost there. Slam on the brakes and take the sharp right off the road onto campus. Made it. Spin through the last few bits to the office building that signals an end to the race in. That was an interesting commute, but do i have to watch my back in future? Maybe Sheldon Brown was onto something with his helmet mounted rear-view mirrors.

Simon Hoe sent me a link to this Downhill Action You Tube video. It’s Carl Seymour’s helmet cam footage from the dirt road downhill section from summit of the Basset de Lona. Part of the Chamonix to Zermatt from a few years ago. Cameo from me near the end.

Hired a van and drove up to the north side of the Ribble Valley on Saturday to pick up some antique furniture for a restoration project. Fantastic spot that must warrant some future exploration. Although I doubt there are many bridleways it must be littered with cheeky bits. I spent the rest of the time not doing much at all. I rebuilt the Candy SLs that had destroyed themselves at Thetford and rode very briefly from a couple of places, but it was largely a weekend of not doing much at all. After two weeks off, it’s back into the office tomorrow.

The weather in Norfolk wasn’t great. Saturday was a nice day and I managed to get a little sunburned, but the rest of the time it was fairly miserable and grey. This included the day in Thetford on Sunday and although it never rained it was fairly overcast and dull the entire time.

A few photos of Jed on his Merlin.

One rider has died and five others remain in a critical condition following a horrifying accident in Mexico. A vehicle driven by 29 year-old Jesse Campos ploughed into a bunch of riders during the third Matamoros-Bagdad Cycling Tour, a family ride in Matamoros, Mexico. United States of America cyclist Alejandro Alvarez was killed as a result of the accident. The 30 year-old is believed to have died at the scene while five others, including a 14 year-old, were rushed to hospital where their condition is listed as critical.

The Sun has some photos from the horrifying accident. The driver was charged with killing Alvarez on the highway near the US-Mexico border. Authorities said the wreck happened 15 minutes into the 34km race yesterday between Playa Bagdad and Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas. Campos, who police claimed was drunk and asleep during the incident, said he was an American citizen living in Brownsville. The US Consulate could not immediately confirm that. “We are looking into the incident in terms of whether American citizens were involved,” consulate spokesman Todd Huizinga said. The Mexican media has reported authorities claim that Campos admitted to using cocaine prior to the accident.

I can’t remember the last time that I rode around Thetford, but a trip home to Norfolk proved a chance to catch up with my old friend Jed, who offered to guide me around. In the corner of the shed I found a rather dusty Conti Cross Country 1.5s and suitable inner tubes. Off came the 2.1 Nevegals and suddenly the bike looked weird. Ultra skinny tyres make the bike look odd, but also cause it to sit a good inch and a half lower to the ground. Quick ride to the pub last night to check all was okay and we’re all set for this morning’s ride.

This morning we parked up at Brandon Country Park and rode off into the woods. After the first section of singletrack, an odd clicking sound and a strange feeling when pedaling meant a stop to check what was going on. Sure enough there’s a problem. The left hand pedal has about an inch of movement along the axle spindle. Bad. Off with the end cap which reveals the bearing has completely disintegrated. Oh well, no way to fix that until some spares and a workshop are available. Just have to ride it and see what happens. The bike rode well, the skinny tyres finding loads of grip, but the small air volume in the tyres led to a harsh ride. The lower ride height led to the crank arms catching through some of the corners too (that’s a first on the Deluxe).

Thetford’s changed a lot in the last two years or so since I last rode my formerly local home trails. Cleared areas have now established trees, new trails have been cut, old trails have disappeared or worn badly. It’s most noticeable at the bombhole marl pits. The once steep entry drop ins and exit kickers have worn down significantly, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had. The pedal held on for another two hours riding but by the end it came clean off the axle. Time to do some singlespeed maintenance.

I like this kind of thing.

I’ve exchanged a few emails with Tim Flooks recently partly to find out whether he’d bought that Ti Deluxe he was pondering for his 50th (it’s due later this summer) and also to work out what to do about the Fox Vans off the Singlespeed. They came off the bike over the winter in favour of the rigid pace forks. They’re the 2004 forks and after several years of riding, the stanchions are worn out and they need a service.

Normally I’d consider buying a new pair, but Tim tells me that the new Vanillas can’t be reduced in travel from the 140mm, which is too much for the Singlespeed because it was designed around 100mm. Thing is that they’re amazing forks too, so keeping them going is an obvious solution. I’ve just booked them in for a service and uplift collection and they’ll shortly be on the receiving end of some top notch fettling.

After speaking to them on the phone, I’m reminded that TF Tuned customer service is amazing too, why can’t all companies you speak to over the phone be that good?