Bullet Proof

Well, almost. After the fiasco of the other night I decided to get my ass in gear and order the new tyres. So went for Schwalbe Marathon Kevlars which are supposed to be almost bullet proof. Hopefully, this will drastically reduce my chances of an unplanned deflation (bar pinch p&nctures and faulty valves). The tyres are nice, they look like they belong to the bike (with it being a cross bike rather than a road bike, the 700 x 32c has reduced the gap between the forks). They have a reflective strip which should make me look like something out of Tron when I'm riding in the dark. Went out on a route that takes me about an hour to do on my road bike. It took me the same time, so that's cool, but I did notice the difference with the rolling resistance. As soon as I stopped pedalling the bike would immediately slow down and it wasn't as fast downhill. But I managed to keep pretty much the same time so I should be alright going to work, if only a little more knackered. Also, it was nice not having to worry about hitting potholes and rough road surface, because the state of the roads are getting really bad.

Double puncture...

Only went and summoned the bloody puncture fairy today. Was talking "unplanned deflations" with someone at work and must have accidently said the word "puncture". Twice. Coz that's what I got. I had one tube on me, replaced it (after checking the tyre) and it immediately got punctured again.
So I phoned my brother but he was at work, so I phoned Brad but he didn't answer, so I phoned my sister and her husband argued that he couldn't come because my bike wouldn't fit in his car! WTF! The wheels come off you knob! More like, he didn't want my bike in his new car. I seriously thought for a minute that he was gonna let me walk the 10 miles home! In fact, if it hadn't been for the fact that I was freezing I would have told him to shove it!

Maybe I should take up potholing as a hobby...

Considering it's not minus temperatures I can't believe how cold it is out on the bike. Went out for 40 mins, which was about all my hands could take. Hit a MASSIVE pothole in the dark, saw it at the last minute and nothing I could do about it except get out the saddle to take the pressure off the bike. Surprised it didn't damage my rims to be honest. I'm definitely reporting that one tomorrow. If they don't do something about it soon they'll have to replace the drain as well. The road near my mum's house is really bad too. They fixed some potholes last year and when I came back last night nearly the whole road has opened up (it was fine when I left in the morning). It's a good job I bought the cross bike coz I'm gonna need those knobbly tyres!

Takes me back...

... to the first time I went clipless. Took the bike out for a very quick spin today (well, it was bloody freezing when I got out there!) and the pedals were so tight to clip in and out of that I was actually nervous LOL Maybe I should have adjusted them before I left the house. Seat needed to go back a bit but, other than both those things, it felt fine.
Not sure whether I'm gonna ride tomorrow as planned, it felt proper icy cold tonight yet I know it was about 3 degrees (felt like minus temperature) and it was only 8pm. I only went to my sisters 1/4 mile down the road and I put off coming back! I think that when I'm tired I can't take the cold... and man... I'm tired tonight!

It's good to go...

The bike is now up and running. New saddle, stem, brake cables, pedals and a new vee brake on the front coz we couldn't get a suitable cable hanger for the canti's. Looks better than the cantilever brake anyway. Just need the guy to bring around the cross tyres but it's got road tyres on at the moment so is rideable and I can use it. I will probably keep the road tyres on until I get mud guards anyway. Less chance of a wet ass.

Blown away...

Or nearly! Had to go to 3 bikes shop today which would have been a 20 mile round trip so decided to do it on the bike, until I got 50 yards down the road. Talk about windy! I indicated to turn right around an island and first had trouble getting into the right hand lane and then nearly got blown off round the island! So decided to abandon it and get the car out instead! I don't fancy being blown into the path of a lorry or a car... or even the gutter!

These things have a habit of growing...

... Looks now like I might be doing all 5 of the Great Swims for a charity (www.greatswim.org). Probably SOGB (Special Olympics Great Britain) that my company support. And I might have recruited a few others from work too. Decided to do the 2 mile distance for each one just for the extra challenge. Well... it's not worth driving all that way for one mile is it??

2 miles...

Not on the bike tho! I've just put a reminder in for the Great North Swim which is either 1 or 2 miles. They'll email me when they start to take registrations. I think I might go for the 2 mile as I can do that in a pool so, even though it's open water, I don't think a mile will be that much of a challenge. Then again... it depends how cold the water is! It is Lake Windermere after all!
Better get up tomorrow and go swimming then! (",)

Another hour on the turbo tonight, which equals 15 miles. Just coz I said so :)
O yea, did 1 km swim yesterday too.
Taking the bike to Toddy's tomorrow to do the stem and cable, and the pedals are on order, should be here in a couple of days. So hopefully, will be able to go out on it at the weekend :)

I didn't like it at first, but now I do. I put the tape on but it was so bright blue it took over the bike, and I wasn't sure about it, but I walked in to the kitchen this morning and thought "yep, I like".
Then I email Toddy and told him I just need the stem replacing and he said if he has to do the cable he will have to take the tape off. oops ha ha. o well, if he does, will just have to buy some more.

Well... it's been decided.

Blue it is. Blue Bar Tape. You wouldn't believe what an unbelievable hard decision that was! I mean, I thought pink, but the pink and white saddle wasn't quite big enough... so then I thought white, but then I found a saddle with a little bit of blue on it, so that was it! Blue! and it's a really nice blue and I think it will look luverly.
The bent mudguards have come off, the frame is now shiny and clean, Brad is going to give me some SPD pedals, and swap the casette to the new wheel tomorrow, i've bought a new shorter stem... in white of course, but that may have to be done by Toddy as the cable will need re-routing and I'm not too confident with attaching cables.
When I told the guy in the shop I had a Scandinavian Frame on it, he was like "do you mean a Scandian frame?"
"Er... LOL, yes maybe, something like that!" ha ha (nothing like embarrasing yourself in the shop!)
Then he told me that I got a really good deal because they are really good frames, which is what Brad said, and what Phil said at work. Whoop! (",)

It's arrived...

Brad brought my new (well, not-so-new) bike around. It's muddy LOL. I don't think the guy has ridden it only a couple of times, I think a few times, but it's in good nick which is the main thing. It's been stored a while with the mud caked on! But a few baby wipe over the frame has started to bring out it's true beauty. In fact, it's not just white, it's an irredescent white. A good wash at the weekend will see it back to looking new. There's a couple of things that need looking at, like the mudguards are bent, so I will have to sort that out, and I need a shorter stem and a new lady-seat! And white handlebar tape would look better than black. And one of the cables looks slightly rusty so will probably get that replaced, but all in all, still a bargain. It's got road tyres on it at the moment, but Brad's taking the guy's money to him tomorrow and he's gonna bring the knobblies back with him, which they couldn't find in the dark when he went to pick it up tonight. I must admit, I'm so tempted to do it up for my brother but then it IS white so maybe not, he can have my yellow one :) Besides, Brad told me off for saying I'll give it to my brother.
O yea! I need pedals LOL!

Bagged myself a bargain...

1km swim yesterday and one hour on the turbo today. Gonna try and do something everyday.
Bagged myself a right bargain too. I missed signing up for the cycle scheme during November because I thought I didn't need a new bike yet, and then regretted it because thought it would have been nice to get an off road bike. Anyway, whinged about it to a mate and he contacted me today to tell me his mate was selling a cyclocross bike for £300, hardly used, and only used on the road anyway.
Looked up the bike (Voodoo on Halfords website) and it was £1k brand new (thought it would be!). I haven't seen it but Brad is a good cyclist and knows what to look for and he says it's bang tidy and in really good nick. Whoop! What a bargain. To be honest, even with the fact that its been ridden a few times, I reckon I got a much better bargain than using the cycle scheme because if I'd bought a £1k bike on the cycle scheme it still would have cost me over £600 in end.
So obviously I bit his hand off and he's bringing it round tomorrow night. Well, you can't pass up a bargain like that! And it's white (",)
Now I can arrange a pub/bike crawl using the pubs along the canal path, yay.
Will prob give my older road bike to my brother now as really I don't need 2 road bikes and a cross bike, that's just greedy... or is it?

Reset

Have reset the ticker for this year. Kept the target the same as I've stupidly signed up for the Dragon Ride (gulp! note to self: stop letting friends talk you into this shit) so need to get some serious training in. Just for the record, for every hour I spend on the turbo... I'm classing it as 15 miles, because that's my average out on the road, and icy weather was a big factor in me failing my target last year and we're due a lot of it in the next couple of months. Plus I need motivation to get on the damn turbo anyway.

Freedom!

After a few weeks on the turbo, managed to get out on the road today. Freezing cold but loving the freedom of the road instead of the boredom of the garage! Not sure if the turbo training had done me good, or whether it was just the freshness of being out on the road, or maybe just having had a break from it, but felt on top of the world. Only did an hour tho... bloody cold out there!
Went for a swim after but only did 20 lengths before the world and his dog descended on the pool, so nipped to the steam room instead. Obviously all the "new year resolutioners" have hit the gym. Damn. Anyone would think I pay my off-peak membership to SHARE the pool!!! LOL. Hope they all give up soon and give me my pool back. To be honest, this might sound snobbish, and I suppose it is, but I think my gym is a bit chavvy! Especially for a posh hotel! The other day I nearly had to tell a couple in the spa that they do rooms and to go and get one! Like I wanna watch that behaviour in the spa!!! Someone should tell them that sex is for beautiful people... not fat people in the spa. LMAO.