Chasing wheels

Winter has finally arrived rolling across London with thick morning fog the last couple of days. It's even forced the thick Altura winter jacket out of the closet, although it's gone back in now that I've remembered just how much it makes me sweat. I think I may have to look at a softshell to replace it - Rapha and Howies are top of the list and I think we all know which one I really want. Better start saving then.

More importantly I'd better start training properly. I've noticed I've put on something monumentally stupid like 5kg since the summer and not all of that can be muscle. I've not even been out on my good bike since I flipped the stem and had my cyclefit. I would have gone out on Saturday but there's some last minute Christmas stuff to be done so I might settle for riding down to my mum's on Sunday if I don't go out on a club ride.

From mid-January I won't be doing my daily 30-minute-each-way commute which, ironically, may actually be beneficial as it will mean I'm not going to be too tired to train as a result of commuting. That doesn't mean I won't be cycling to work. Obviously I will be enjoying the five-minute blast up the road to work.

Tomorrow is another chance to commute in thick fog probably which is actually more fun than it should be, just so long as you don't get too distracted by watching your own breath condensing in front of you.

Posted by Alex on 21 December 2006, 00:12 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks ()

Well, I've moved offices which means I'm having to work on a new route in. Instead of the flat side of High Street Kensington and through Hyde Park I'm now north of the park and go up Holland Park Drive before cutting through Connaught Square and other unfamiliar places to get to Fitzrovia.

I don't think my route is as quick as it should be so I need to sit down wit the A to Z and memorise a quick one. Maybe it's just down to a lack of familiarity once I get past the Lancaster Gate roundabout, but that stretch seems to take forever.

On the way back I keep on finding myself drifting up Oxford Street as I've not figured out a more suitable path out again. It feels like being a small dinghy in one of the great harbours of the world. You ghost along praying that the towering hulks of double deckers don't decide to take against you.

You can gently glide against the side of the stationary ones if you so dare but you do so while praying that they don't decide to move towards you and crush you. It's a ridiculously congested route and I'm deperate to find another route out that isn't too circuitous.

Posted by Alex on 16 November 2006, 00:11 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks ()

It should have been a day like any other: pedal to work far too fast while half awake, spend the rest of the day regretting not stretching enough; then cycle home slightly tired and try to remember what I actually planned to buy when I find myself at the checkout in Waitrose on High Street Kensington (I never do remember and I never do come home with what I planned to get).

But today's ride home threw up two events which are cause for remark and rejoice at bit that not every driver in London is hellbent on driving cyclists off the road. Actually, I know most aren't but that's the way a certain section of the "cyclists" lobby likes to paint them. Sadly, this is the lobby that likes to make a lot of noise in a way which tars us all with the brush marked "self-righteous pricks".

Firstly, hammering down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace and trying to get across one lane from the kerb the white van behind me slowed and held its position thus giving me room to manoeuvre out after signalling. Heck, if we hadn't been bombing along at around the 35kph mark I would have let him pull alongside and then pinched him to check he was real. Good thing I didn't seeing as it turned out to be a police van.

Secondly, rolling down High Street Kensington, where you have to keep your eyes open as traffic springs from all sides, a black cab found itself on the inside of me. It needed to get round a carelessly parked car on the left. Instead of squeezing me wider to get out he actually looked in his blind spot, waited for me to back off and then moved out.

I'm still baffled at such gentillesse de route. I'm not expecting it to happen again tomorrow but wouldn't it be nice to be surprised?

Posted by Alex on 8 November 2006, 23:11 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

I was beginning to worry that it would never happen, as I rolled down my arm wamers on the way home on Monday night, but finally the ridiculously mild weather has come to an end. No doubt my decision to take out the clippers and crop my hair back to a grade two was highly influential in effecting this change.

It was a terrifying prospect that all those items of kit - jackets, gloves, warmers, baselayers, the list goes on - wouldn't get a decent outing this year. Having spent a fortune on building up a wardrobe to cover almost every eventuality I feel quite obliged to get some use out of the full range.

I'm quite looking forward to pulling on that long-sleeved merino baselayer for the first time. A little care tip: put them in a pillowcase and tie the end off when you put them in the wash. This stops them snagging on the drum. I've discovered this the hard way as my short-sleeve one is now looking slightly more like a string vest than it should.

I'll do something on winter esentials this weekend when I get a moment.

Posted by Alex on 31 October 2006, 23:10 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

I put on an extra layer against the chill this morning. Did I put on any gloves though? Did I bollocks, so nicely chilled hands tried to battle with the lock when I got to work.

I nearly collected a gorgeous blonde pedestrian in my handlebars in Hammersmith. I would have got angry but she had sparkly eyes, like rain-washed crystal, and a winning smile. She was very apologetic about it - the usual "I didn't see you" excuse - and accepted my point that using the crossing less than 20 metres away might have been safer.

So bright sunshine and a nice crispness to the air through Hyde Park which always cheers me up a bit. You do have to be careful at this time of year though as the falling leaves and slight dampness mean that the tarmac can get awfully greasy.

Then there's the additional hazards caused by conkers, acorns and the sundry other chunks of plant that tend to litter the road as well. If you hit one of these when you're not expecting it, they have a nasty habit of making sure that the wheel in contact skips sideways.

Posted by Alex on 3 October 2006, 08:10 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

I haven't done anything more than ride gently all week simply because I still haven't recovered properly from last Sunday's brutalising. Either I'm still exhausted or my body has given in.

I'm trying to figure out which race I should enter on Sunday - the novice one or the HC/All Cats one. The former would involve getting up earlier but might allow me to finish the race and ride in a race I might be able to handle. The latter will probably involve vomiting in a bin before the hour is up.

Or it might involve me clinging onto the wheels of over-eager teenagers with decent lungs and legs, and not full-time employment to restrict their training and rest. This time I plan on beng a lot more aggressive and not playing "after you" with everyone into the corners. No doubt it'll absolutely shell it down on Sunday as I ride over again.

Rain has been the highlight of my week really. I rode home on Wednesday night with the rain bouncing off the road, my Montane Velolight jacket on my back and the KLF on the iPod, cackling as I whizzed through London getting drenched. Mostly at the feet but not that it bothered me as it wasn't cold enough to chill.

Part of me loves riding in the rain. It's the part that knows I'm not going to have to go more than 30 minutes to get home and plonk myself in the bath or shower and warm up again. I like the sensation of it bouncing off me and forming rivulets as it runs off. I love that moment when I am so saturated that I can see the droplets forming on the peak of my cap and dropping onto the stem and top tube.

My legs are still leaden and stiff tonight and that niggling pain in my hip won't go away. I wonder if I've got that degenerative hip thing like Floyd? I've tried doing my stretches but I think this one is down to lack of rest - Saturday may well be a full "no bike" day.

Posted by Alex on 24 August 2006, 22:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()