Chasing wheels

For ages I have been falling in and out of temptation to acquire myself something with just the one gear to choose from. Fixed wheel one side and freewheel the other, no derailleurs to get coated in muck as autumn approaches, no downshifting to avoid having to put effort in.

I have envied a Condor Pista and a Bianchi of a similar name.

I have drooled over Surlys and Fujis while all the time considering the Langster as the most suitable to my budget and needs.

The last few weeks I have been forced to settle on a far more practical solution to my desire for single-geared action: leave the shifters alone. I've had the everyday bike stuck in either 42/18 or 42/16 for my commutes to see what it feels like and see if that will work for me if I get a Langster (yes there was an ulterior motive).

I'm actually getting used to the sensation and I'm really starting to enjoy it. The pleasure of my speed being entirely dependent on the effort I put in, without the variable of a different gear ratio, is a very direct one and reminds me of when I used to ride a BMX - a Raleigh Burner Mark 2 in red and yellow that I had until around 1999 when it was stolen - in that there's nothing more complicated than turning the pedals to worry about and you can concentrate on what's going on around you.

Now the logical next step is to go out and get that Langster so I can bury myself further in the experience by learning to ride a fixed wheel bike where if you stop pedalling, you stop dead/get thrown off. So it looks like it's only a matter of time before I cave in and try to get the best price I can find on one. Place your bets for which month will see me cave in.

Posted by Alex on 26 September 2006, 21:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

In nearly as many months we've had coverage of the tour of Britain and the World Championships. Has the BBC turned a corner and decided that cycling is worthy of inclusion in its schedules?

Yes, the critics will argue that the coverage was only highlights but with the ever-informative Hugh Porter behind the microphone, ably assisted by Chris Boardman, today's coverage of the time trials was pretty solid. Maybe it's the interviewees but the reporter they used just didn't seem to click for me - it felt like a classic case of Grandstand using a generalist to fill the gap rather than someone with a bit of expertise.

But there's no denying the coverage was generally good, although with highlights programmes it's very easy to crop out the flat patches. Even so it was more than a match for ITV's Tour de France coverage. Question is, will I be home in time tomorrow for the coverage of the men's and women's road races?

Posted by Alex on 23 September 2006, 19:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

And also home of some bloody big hills which I have just about recovered from slogging up. I took no pictures as I was too busy trying not to be sick or pass out.

It's a lovely place to take a bike and next time I'll definitely be taking mine. My friend Alex, who I was staying with, had managed to commandeer me a mountain bike for our excursions but it felt very odd riding someone else's bike. That at least is the excuse I am giving for my lousy climbing and general lack of ability on the couple of rides we did.

On both days we got passed by local club riders pelting up the climbs on their lightweight road bikes as we laboured on clunky mountain bikes. More annoying was that we got passed by a couple of young lads of no more than 15, who made a point of shifting up and belting past us - two gone 30 blokes wheezing their way up the hill.

Posted by Alex on 20 September 2006, 22:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

The left thigh is still giving me pain so I'm probably not going to go racing tomorrow. As I'm away next week and helping out at a race the week after, this means my season is, in effect, over. I hope my thigh feels up to it tomorrow but I somehow doubt it.

The worst bit is the sense of frustration at not crossing a finishing line all season. OK I didn't really do anything with the season until the Etape in July but, even so, it is now mid-September and I should have finished at least one race by now. OK a lap or two down but at least not a DNF?

Next season I intend to be riding and racing from the start: early-season races from February, Tour of Flanders 140km at the start of April, the Etape in July (UK or French version, possibly both if possible), Hillingdon series on Tuesday nights throughout the summer.

First though I'm off to the south of Spain to Alejando Valverde's home town of Murcia where by best mate lives. We're going to be going mountain-biking in the afternoons when he gets in from work, so I'll get to discover how rusty my bike handling is on the rough stuff. Apparently one of the climbs were going up is one of Valverde's training hills, not that I'll be going up there fast enough for comparison.

I'm really looking forward to it as it's a chance to just ride a bike for fun and go at our own pace. It's not for training, commuting or racing; just for the fun of messing about on bikes for no particular reason. It's something I haven't done in a while although I've been thinking about getting a "fun bike": something cheap, simple and purely for amusing myself with. Maybe a singlespeed MTB or BMX would be just the thing.

Then again maybe I should stop spending on bikes for a while - my latest thing is bidding for old Peugeot road bikes on ebay for a singlespeed/fixed project. If I can get one for 50 quid and build it up then I'll be very happy indeed.

Posted by Alex on 9 September 2006, 22:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

So after my morning disaster I trotted down hoping to catch the back end of the women's support race and, of course, managed to miss it. I did get there in time to watch the Bob Chicken London GP where London Dynamo had plenty of riders showing well for what felt like a home fixture.

Sadly we didn't have as many as, or the ability to organise like, Malcolm Elliott's Plowman Craven team, who made sure that when he got away in the break he stayed away. They blocked and boxed our man, Warrick Spence, and there was no way he could get across. Still it was good to see our bunch of club riders doing battle with a proper team like Plowman Craven who, as I understand it, are able to focus much more on racing than holding down a day job.

The main event itself was a spectacular race for largely the wrong reasons for the press - the much talked about accident involving motorcycle outriders on the finishing straight was right in front of a large wedge of the crowd and certainly did nothing to allay fears about standards of security and safety on the part of the organisers. It has been quite widely discussed on various forums so I shall leave you to read reports elsewhere and decide for yourself.

My impression overall was that it was all a bit parochial - the pro teams lined things out and ensured that their riders stayed out of trouble near the front while the British riders tried to get in among them. The Bike Fest and general on-course entertainment included a military marching band and David Duffield's incessant and uninformative droning, none of which was to my taste.

Boonen's lead out train turned up and his win seemed all too easy, even if Hammond and Cavendish were the next across the line and not far off his wheel. As it's late and I haven't really reflected properly I'll save it all for another time and leave you with a picture.

Posted by Alex on 4 September 2006, 22:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Well my first proper season as a cyclist is turning out to be an unmitigated embarassment. The scorecard so far is frankly comical:

Etape Du Tour: DNF
Ciclos Uno 3/4/Novice race, 20.08.2006, Eastway: DNF (vomiting in a bin after 30 minutes)
Ciclos Uno Novice race, 27.08.2006, Eastway: DNF (retired with broken spoke with 5 laps to go)
Ciclos Uno Novice race, 03.09.2006, Eastway: DNF (retired with thigh strain)

So I am sitting here with a hot sensation in the lower part of my left thigh, towards the outside of my quad, which signals I have pulled something to the extent that I am off the bike for a few days and trying to endure the tube and bus for getting about.

I'm really furious about it as I still haven't cross the finish line once this season. The sense of frustration isn't helped by being stuck on the tube or bus which seems to take forever by comparison to going places on the bike.

Sunday's race was a bit of a disaster from the start. I was feeling a bit stiff and tired when I rode out to Eastway and even after a warm up lap or two I wasn't sure I was on my best form. As you do, I convinced myself that I would be OK so long as I just sat in and didn't come off the back.

Conditions weren't great: a drying track and strong gusty winds. combined with a small field there wasn't much of a group to hide in so I found that, regardless of where I tried to tuck in, I was still taking the wind far too much.

So after about two laps my legs started to go into open rebellion against being aked to drive me on in the group and I slow drifted out the back in an undignified thrashing of limbs as I desperately tried to get back on and stay with it. Sure enough, once I went out the back my heart rate started to soar and my motivation slumped.

By the time I was lapped, about 25 minutes in, my thigh had gone and I was limping round having attempted to hop back on and not lasted long before that screaming pain kicked in, telling me something was not right.

So back to the clubhouse, stomp about a bit, sulking at misfortune once again biting me in the leg, then on the bike again and into town for the Tour of Britain and support races featuring some of my clubmates...

Posted by Alex on 4 September 2006, 21:09 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()