R O T H A R . C O M

There’s something special about riding on the road when all the traffic lights line up for you. Sometimes the timing is all wrong. Every set of lights you reach are on red or worse, change to red just as you approach them. I’ve been over enough bonnets and dented enough wings to know not to mess with traffic and in my time in Manchester I’ve seen enough riders taken out to know not to jump the lights in this city. Those boys in their Too Fast Too Furious rice burners are always just around the corner ready to lay down some rubber as they launch off the cross traffic junction.

Other times, like tonight, you just get it right. There are eight sets of traffic lights on the way home from work. Tonight I hit them all on green and for some strange reason it felt good. Like I had one over on some one. As I peeled off the main roads into the leafy lanes of suburbia with nothing more than errant squirrels to consider, it felt that the day hadn’t been so bad after all. I’m still on the mend, but my rasping chest tells me that I’d be a fool to push my luck at the Dyfi this weekend.

Instead I’ll be faffing about with axle stands, trolley jacks and expensive german automotive parts with the aid of a Haynes manual and a socket set. That and I was going to see the attractive old bit of Lamb with someone beautiful, but it turns out the tour has been postponed, so maybe we’ll have to find something else to go out and do instead.

I seem to have contracted an evil form of the lurgy. It started on Sunday morning with a sore throat and it meant that by Sunday night I was coughing up horrible green stuff that was trying to choke me in my sleep. I dragged myself into work on Monday for a meeting with an external third party and spent the entire day trying to stem the flow from my runny nose.

Last night I was in full fever mode and woke up with a t-shirt that was soaking wet and even more phlegm. So after dealing with a few emails via the Blackberry and phoning the boss I went back to sweating it out and eventually woke up at 4pm. Not feeling too great right now, but I intend to test the medicinal properties of single malt in a bid to rid myself of the infection. Just hope it clears up soon.

On Saturday I did a deal with one of the guys in Harry Halls for a set of road wheels. A second hand pair of Bontrager Race X Lites with a free pair of all Condition S-Works Tyres are now in my possession and fitting these in the place of the Bonty Selects and changing the pedals from Crank Bros Quattros to some Candy Tis has shaved a pound of the weight of the Harry Hall Elan.

Since I rescued the bike from landfill and eventually built it back up it has changed slightly from the original photos. I’ve slowly upgraded the shifters and mechs and brake callipers to Dura Ace over the course of the last year. The latest changes mark the fact that really it’s not going to get much better than this. It currently tips the scales at 8.80kg (19.4lbs) and until I can afford an Indy Fab, it’s the road bike.

Speaking of roads and riding issue one of the Urban Cyclist is out now. I’ve downloaded it for free, but you can also pay for a printed copy to be posted out. Finally this is for Alex:

After destroying the last pair of race shoes through use, I’ve invested in the latest version. I’m not convinced by boa type systems that use a wire or vectran cable to close the shoes, so the S-Works versions didn’t appeal, although I can’t say I am a fan of the horrible red soles in any case. So  I’ve gone for a new pair – 07 Specialized Body Geometry Pros with the carbon soles and very nice they are too.

I have one niggle with them. On the inside of each shoe on the arch side of the foot I can feel the mounting point for the X-Link strap. This seems to be because there is little (if any) padding between the inner mesh fabric and the shoe outer into which the buckle and strap mounting points are attached.

I had thought it might be the screw (being too long) that holds the strap to the strap mount on the shoes, but it’s definitely the plastic mounting for the strap. The lower part of it below the screw is the bit that is causing the problem.

Although on the first ride this didn’t seem an issue, on the ride to work they were really uncomfortable to wear because of the pressure point this creates. I had a think about what I could stick on the inside of the shoe to stop this from happening and after trying foam and rubber and various options decided that if the shoes don’t fit make them fit.

Out came the scalpel and just before I started operating on them, I decided I’d remove the cross link strap completely. I was quite surprised to discover that this immediately made them more comfy to wear. A closer look revealed why – below the lowest eyelet was a 15mm strip of strap that protruded into the inner of the shoe creating the pressure point. With the help of a burly pair of sharp scissors I chopped off the excess strap material and refitted them to find it had cured the problem.

I’m fairly sure other riders must have had this problem too or are at least putting up with it. It seems such a little thing, but is has made all the difference.

I spoke to the team at Independent Fabrication with my IF Owners’ Club hat on. We’ve decided to get some joint publicity via a new biking publication. This is what we came up with:

If you ride fixed, commute or have to deal with urban city biking on a regular basis we think that you’ll like the new ‘zine. The Indy Fab fixie in the photo belongs to a nice guy from New Zealand who has not one, but two rather special bikes.

Yesterday was a road ride in a chain gang with the University team. This is quite a big development as I haven’t been out on what is a proper roadie bike ride for about five years. Sunday’s ride took in Swiss Hill up the back of Alderley Edge and the cobbled climb up from Bollington to the top of the Brickworks. Cracking climbs and some ace descents too. It was good to get out and home again before the rain.

I bumped into Femke van Schelven‘s dad on Saturday. Since finishing her physiotherapy degree and qualifying she’s made the highly sensible choice to take a year out and race. She’s used her dutch roots to make a base in the Netherlands and is racing extensively in the Benelux region for the Moving Ladies team. It seems a long time since we worked in Harry Halls together, but I’m stoked to see she’s mixing it up with the pro women.

Jeff Guerrero and Brad Q. from Dirt Rag have parted ways with Karen and co and gone on to setup their own fanzine – Urban Cyclist. I suspect that Maurice will ensure that Dirt Rag goes on without them being involved and will continue (I hope) to represent a quality mag run by nice people. I ain’t going to be cancelling my subscription because of it. I’m sure the changes in staff will allow some more cool people to get involved in DR.

I think that Jeff and Brad’s new venture is just going to fill a fairly unexploited niche in the market. I’ve an article I’m going to fire over to Brad and some pics from my trip to Boston last year for Jeff. We’ll see what happen’s next.

Now up to version four the new website for the former Singletrack Magazine Information Bureau (a reference resource of the magazine contents), is now live.

There’s a host of few new features including a page with all the covers on, more information (including cover and contents photographer credits for each issue) and better search facilities and product test categorisation. Check it out if you want to find out when that product you’re thinking of buying was last tested.

I’m updating the Owner’s Club Website today. I’ve decided that Porter Pink and Carbon go well together too.

Following on from reading Alex’s post the other day about the company he works for made me ponder the following. The employer in question is currently on the cusp of a new ‘Green Environmental Policy’. Alex points out his firm makes nothing but money and burns nothing but graduates. It made me wonder if the following leaked memo is also from them:

VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES
Company Policy: Effective from January 2007

Dress Code

It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary. If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a raise. If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a raise.

Sick Days

We will no longer accept a doctors statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Annual Leave Days

Each employee will receive 104 Annual Leave days a year. They are called Saturday & Sunday.

Bereavement Leave

This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend to the arrangements. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.

Toilet Use

Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open, and a picture will be taken. After your second offence, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the Chronic offenders category. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sanctioned under the company’s mental health policy.

Lunch Break

Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy. Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure. Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that’s all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplation’s, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

It’s not just Formula One cars that suffer from tyre blisters…

The Continental GP4000s on the road bike have been getting a bit battered since the more powerful Dura Ace brake callipers were fitted last year. I’m not convinced it is actually blistering, but locking up the rear wheel isn’t doing these tyres any good.

What happens to a tyre during build up to blistering, is that the chemical composition of the outer casing, begins to change, usually due to too much heat. Road debris is however another common cause. This can rip little chunks of rubber out of the tyre, especially when friction (generated under braking) makes the tyre hot and therefore very soft and easily damaged.

These are often mistaken for blisters, because the visual evidence is similar. Real blisters occur when the tyre gets hot and the outer rubber begins to melt and crumble apart. This usually happens in small areas and the rubber can bubble. This can look like a blister and after it occurs, rubber begins to chunk off and leave little holes in the tyre.

Sometimes you find a product that is just so good that you never want to use anything else. Specialized Body Geometry Pro Mountain Bike Shoes have been my weapon of choice for well over five years. After a couple of seasons of racing and riding including a TransAlp and the Cape Epic the third pair of shoes are now going to have to be retired.

The upper has worn through to holes on the outside edges of both shoes and most of the rubber sole lugs have been cut clear away – that remaining isn’t properly stuck to the shoe any more. When I was out riding last week there were a couple of sketchy moments when, needing grip all the shoes had to offer was slippy plastic and I might as well have been wearing a pair of road shoes. This enforced retirement comes at a bad time, because it’s really too warm to wear the other riding option – a pair of Shimano Winter Boots – and leaves a very old pair of Cannondale Trail shoes (normally used for commuting) to take up the role of appropriate riding wear.

Alex Leigh over at Pickled Hedgehog found a rather amusing link to a chap called Mike Grieve. Mike clearly fancies himself as a bit of a contender for the Redbull Rampage, but unfortunately he’s finding that there is a fairly steep progression curve to becoming a freeride demigod.

With more YouTube madness out there it was interesting to see that the Norwegian behind this video – skiing down Europe’s largest escalator at the Angel Tube Station in London, actually made it into the national news via the BBC website. Finally anyone with any interest in fast cars will find this short clip of American rally driver Ken Block setting an immense 175ft gap jump in a Works Subaru more interesting than watching recent F1 Gran Prixs. I suspect the broken windscreen that resulted from the landing was the least of the worries to the structure of the car…

This came through via email today:

I want to thank those of you that have provided us feedback about out MyOutdoors.net project. It has been quite valuable in developing the site. Unfortunately, we have not had time to continue marketing the site and have decided to see if anyone else would be interested in continuing to develop it and are putting it up for sale.

If you have any interest in the site, please let us know and if you think any of your readers might be interested in it, we would greatly appreciate spreading the word to them. We’ve spent a lot of time on the site and really hate to see it languish. Here is the blog post we made about it, with links to our listings:

http://myoutdoors.blogspot.com/2007/04/myoutdoorsnet-is-up-for-sale.html

Thanks again for your support. With some of your help, hopefully we can find someone who will be able to devote some more time to it.

I did think that for a minute it was Outdoorzy, but then it soon became clear that it was actually a completely different site. I’m sure that things will work out for them. Although it was a US orientated site in terms of content, the application of Google Maps and the added content was a great idea. Other than Google Maps, they use AJAX and XML to deliver info without readers constantly having to reload the page, providing a smoother web experience and an interactive application.