I'm rubbish.

No really I am. I’m full of excuses too.

All my best laid plans haven’t really taken off! Christmas bivvy was cancelled (wimped out and went for a ride around Ladybower). To be fair I kind of didn’t see the point in sitting out in the cold and dark from 4.30pm just for the sake of doing it. I’m itching to get out but will wait until March when I can coax some friends out to join me.

Afan didn’t happen this month either, just haven’t had the time to get away for a whole weekend. I am doing an Audax on Sunday though so it’s not as if I’m not riding! 65 miles at this time of year should be a nice test of fitness. I’m still feeling relatively strong although the pounds have crept on over Christmas.

The turbo trainer has been promoted from the garage to the dining room and occasionally gets glanced at. I’ve managed three sessions on it this week and I can see that picking up with time.

Purchases? The last couple couple of weeks have seen a few new additions. Firstly, I’ve revolutionised my whole shaving experience by switching to a DE safety razor which is a nice retro twin sided bladed approach to shaving. I started with a cheap Boots job but have since bought a Merkur 34c. I’m pretty impressed and have tweeted a few times about it. Shaving’s actually become more enjoyable and a lot closer. I feel more manly too. GGGRRRRRR.

Another blade in my household is a Mora knife which should see some outdoors action as the year goes on. I’ve also picked up an MSR Pocket Rocket because my meths stove leaked in my bag and I’ve just found it too messy to work with. I’ll take the weight penalty for the ease of use. I think that because of the convenience of gas the MSR will see more action.

Second Yoga lesson this week and I’m still enjoying it. I think Matt took it easy on our first session because this week I really ache. I’ll report back in due course as it’s still early days but I think it will have great benefits to my core strength.

And breathe...

Every winter it's a struggle to out on the bike but in the last couple of weeks I've been a bit more motivated to invest in my cycling.
Unfortunately the weather has been pretty awful on my days off so I've not put in as many miles as I would like but I'm feeling optimistic about riding. No huge plans for any major events but I do have a few ideas.
I can't say that the cycle show in London last week was particularly exciting. All much of the same really so I won't bore you on the details. I'm just glad that I blagged a free ticket rather than paying for one!
The main reason for my positivity is that I had my first Yoga session last night and it's stimulated me to think more about my breathing and posture. It's early days but I'll give a more detailed post in the next few weeks.
Happy new year everybody.

What's cracking?

Thought i'd give you a bit of an update for where things are at the moment.

Riding has taken a dip lately, just struggling to find motivation if i'm honest. No real targets to train for and the dark nights aren't inspiring me to get out and ride. I bought a new light thinking that being able to see where I was going might help but i've only used it twice in the last couple of weeks and on the second time, a funny looking man lingering in the woods made my ride a little uneasy. I should really man up!

Now that my winter road bike is freshly serviced, i'll get out a bit more in the evenings to try not to turn into too much of a blimp. I need less days like yesterday where I sack off my ride after 4 miles and go for a Pizza Hut buffet. Didn't attempt the full record of 17 slices but put in a steady 14 with a side salad.

I've bought a few new pieces of bivvying kit. Mainly Alpkit stuff - a few dry bags and such like. Also got a cheap down sleeping bag from Millets in the sale which they reckon has a comfort rating of -4 degrees and an extreme rating of -21. Think this is very optimistic though as it is really thin. I'll give it a go though and if I freeze to death, i'll know who to blame.

One bonus of the cold weather is that i've been allowed one of my Christmas presents early - my lovely Alpkit Filo jacket. It's proper toasty and for the money, a bit of a bargain. I can see why the sleeping bags are so popular now and think that if I live through winter, i'll treat myself to one of their bags asap.

I have a bivvy trip lined up for the Christmas break (if I don't squeeze one in before). I'm meeting up with a friend who's also keen to give it a go and we're heading out into the Peak District. Should be a good laugh. I've bought a hip flask for the occasion so I can drink myself to sleep. I'll post pictures and a full on kit list when it happens so keep your eyes peeled.

Not much else going on. Still considering the Mach n Back but will wait to see how this first trip goes. I think at the least, i'll be heading to Afan in January for some trail centre riding.

Customer Service?

I took my Allez in last week for a service at Bike Plus. Ordinarily I use GB Cycles but Bike Plus is a sister company and it was easier for me to park on my way to visit some friends.


The gears weren’t shifting well and the bike hasn’t been serviced professionally since I got it. I’ve generally worked on it myself but I thought a full service would do it some good heading into winter. I must have picked up a puncture in the morning, prior to dropping the bike off as the front tyre was flat when I put it on the car.

I dropped the bike in and agreed to the £120 full service, explaining that I’d punctured that morning and would like a new tube put in whilst the bike was being worked on.

I collected the bike yesterday and all seemed well so I decided to go for a ride. I got 2 miles down the road before the front was flat again and so had to change the tube. I was so annoyed, I just returned straight home. It was my only real chance of a decent ride this week so I was even more fed up.

I called Bike Plus to see if they’d changed the tube to be told the mechanic put air in it and it seemed to stay up so they thought they’d save me a few pounds by not changing the tube. Now, I’m no mechanic but in all the years I’ve been puncturing tyres, I’ve never seen air repair a tyre. Generally, when a tube gets a puncture, it needs to be repaired or replaced. I wouldn’t have minded so much if I had been told this when I collected the bike as I’d have changed the tube myself, prior to going out or even if the shop had said “you know what, we screwed up.” Instead, I get a shrug of the shoulders and a “not bothered” attitude.

I won’t be using them for a service again……

Motivation

I have none.

That is all.

Taking back nature, one step at a time.

I ventured out on my mountain bike yesterday in the vague hope of finding some wilderness. I struck gold.

I’m used to following my nose on the road but when it comes to off road riding there’s always that nagging doubt that says, “don’t do it – you could die.” Ok maybe, I’m being a bit extreme with the death part, especially living in Surrey but I’m sure you get the theme of what I’m trying to get at here, for a city dweller, I put myself outside of my comfort zone.

Fortunately, I had a route planned on my Garmin Etrex so I wasn’t truly alone out there but for the first time in a long time, I felt like I really was away from it all. I set off from home and headed out onto the North Downs – while I think of it, why are they called Downs? I did a fair bit of climbing. Optimistic mapmaker perhaps? You wouldn’t like to see their 2am girl after a few beers. “Yeah, she’s really good looking……..”

Anyway, so I’m in the wilderness and it’s fun. It’s really fun and I’m asking myself why don’t I do this more often? 4 hours riding around, slipping in mud and crashing through undergrowth is a great way to relieve the stress of normal life. All within 15 miles of Croydon, in the “busy” south east.

Whilst on my mini adventure (which some would call a “bike ride”) I found a beautiful bivvying spot on top of the North Downs (Ups) ridge. Great views, soft comfy ground and close to a pub which holds regular topless modelling competitions – ok I made that last bit up but as I didn’t actually go into the pub, I can’t say for definite that they don’t. My punishment for finding this spot was a puncture but I still think it was worth it.

So when am I bivvying you ask? Soon. I’m practically there with my kit list. I managed to convince my lovely other half to buy me an Alpkit Filo jacket (in Ice Blue if you’re asking) which looks amazing value and should be extremely warm over winter. I considered the “Lego Blue” but I remember my brother getting a Lego man’s head stuck up his nose and that’s a risk I’m not willing to take. I’ve also got an Exped pillow coming from Santa Claus and some nice warm insulated mountain bike shoes. The only thing that’s really stopping me is the weather. I’m scared I’ll freeze to death at night. My sleeping bag is a 2-3 season bag and I know that by having my down jacket, I “could” be ok but for my first bivvy experience, I want it to be warm. I don’t want to have a freezing cold experience that will put me off what will be a good adventure. So, I’m going to wait until I can afford a down sleeping bag. I figure that if I’m going to buy one, I’ll get the best out there and wait until I can afford an Alpkit Pipedream 800 (or 600 in combination with my Filo if needed) which should mean I can theoretically sleep out in snowy conditions and it will be light and not too bulky. I was hoping to do the Mach and Back mountain bike ride in January but that looks like it won’t happen now. I also need to get a tarp to give me some options if the weather turns sour but I might just opt for a micro tarp which would cover just my torso.

One other thing left to buy is a hip flask. I’m determined to get a taste for single malt because a) it is cool and b) I want others to perceive me as being cool. My only concern is that this could turn into an issue in itself. Cold winter night out on the moors – acceptable to have a wee dram? Yes. Nippy morning out on the bike with friends? Nothing wrong with a little convenient drop from a hip flask, especially if you share the wealth. Cold morning outside? A shot to warm the cockles – sounds good to me! Snow outside and a slow morning at work…….. this could lead to a P45 but on the upside, I’d have more time to ride which is always a good thing.

Wacky races...

It's becoming a bit of a tradition that at this time of year, my friend and I ride along some of the route amongst the cars of the London to Brighton Veteran Car Rally.
It's a pleasant morning out and this year we were blessed with mild weather which meant our loop was longer than that of previous years.
Although the route is relatively flat, it's far from easy as our egos dictate the need to sprint against the old cars whenever possible and try to outdrag them on the hills, the result of which left me pretty ruined by the end of the 45 miles.
Still, 30 year old legs are still more than a match for 100 year old cars. Should I be proud of that though? Perhaps not...