Giant Pygmy

Since the arrival of the Planet X road bike I’ve had one too many skinny tyred bikes in the garage (as if) so I was quite please this weekend to shift it, and to the first chap who saw it.  That’s it then, the Kinesis is no more and I have a few quid in my pocket!

The original plan was to get some new Sidi shoes, a new lid and maybe a new pair of Oakleys.  That was before my Sigma 70-200 F2.8 went on the fritz and needed to be repaired.  That would have been fine except that when it came back from service it lasted about 5 minutes and died again.  Bastard.

I spent a few days thinking on it and generally losing confidence in it; it’s a great piece of glass but I need to be able to rely on it.  So..  it’s gone back to be repaired again but it’ll be going on Ebay when it gets back - I’ve replaced it with the Canon F2.8 IS version.  It should be here tomorrow, and I can’t wait.

So, with the impetus gained from sorting out the Kinesis I’ve managed to clean up the Inbred and post it for sale on Singletrack, also the Cove Handjob.  They’ve been gathering dust for far too long now and they could be elsewhere getting ridden by someone with more time.  I hope they go to a good home.

Finally, I’m off to complete the Dunwich Dynamo in a couple of weeks.  It’s been 3 years coming but I finally rounded up a couple of folks to come along.  The plan is to take the train down to London with the bikes, do the ride to Dunwich; then have breakfast on the beach and ride back to Norfolk at a leisurely pace - it’ll be a 150 mile slog but I’m really looking forward to it - I just hope the weather plays ball.

I didn’t have a riding schedule for this year, things just didn’t seem to happen like that; I made one commitment, and that was to ride the Norwich 100 once again.  My preparation was woefully inadequate with my biggest single ride being just 34 miles.  I suppose that In my favour were the commuting miles; and I put them to good use today.

I arrived in good time this morning, found Rob easily and ran into Jonesy too, then rolled into the start gate in a reasonable place near the front.  From the off we formed one big group - the front group on the road - and headed north, into the wind through the mist, cold and wet roads.  We looked more like a peleton from a spring classic, talk about filthy!  We had a good pace and managed to stay with the group until about 10 miles from the mid point when it blew apart.  I kept in a small group of four that became five and we maintained a decent pace to Felbrigg.  2:20:00 for 48.5 miles.  

Forming into a big group again we set off for the return leg, down the coast before turning inland at Waxham.  The wind was now pushing us along and the pace reflected it, we were barreling along at over 26mph for nearly half an hour!  I sat near the front, doing my bit from time to time but pretty much hanging on for grim death!  When the pace eased I looked around and realised we had shed over half the group, now we were nine.  The pace stayed high but everyone was tired, the same faces kept pulling it along at the front but some faces wouldn’t come through…  Another sort out saw the group dwindle to 6 and the signs for 10 miles remaining came up,  this was going to be quick!  Cajoling the group down the North Walsham road, passing the 50 milers was a trial, so close to home - but so tired!  When we passed the city boundary did the realisation of our goal strike home, the pace rose and we raced for the cathedral.  Dave pipped me at the end (but after his day, he deserved it) and I rolled in behind him for a time of 4:35:32 an average of 21.6mph a PB for me by nearly 20 minutes!

The fallout?  Who knows.  My left knee is very sore but has improved through the afternoon and my left calf is also tender.  The ride to work in the morning will be the true test!

Thankfully things have been quieter on the road over the last couple of weeks and with the summer weather in full effect I’ve been stacking up the miles; 130.7 last week in four days!

On the email this morning is seems that there are other hazards we need to be wary of; This from Carl B:

Cycled up Earlham Rd this morning.
As I got to the bend by the Catholic church the traffic is all stacked up, get round the bend and there is a stationary car
and no traffic beyond it.

Beside the car is a young lady in a panic “She’s out cold, she’s out cold!”

There’s a lady in her 60’s slumped over the wheel. So my First Aider skills kick in & I think right, first get a response.

Bang on the window - no response

Check the doors - locked

Go around the side window and hammer like **** and …………………..She wakes up !

She was flipping ASLEEP !

And just drove off.

C.

Jeez.

It must be something in the air. I’ve had more near misses over the last couple of weeks than I had all winter and last night was the icing on the cake.

Last night I was forced off the road by a bus, the thing that really irked me was that the driver (aka ‘f*cktard of the year’) was labouring under the misconception that his bus was the length of a family car! Basically he came alongside me, who was riding in a designated cycle lane, indicated and pulled into a bus-stop forcing me onto the pavement. When I remonstrated with him he claimed that he was in front of me! FFS There was 14ft of bus behind me! We were then sat at lights and when they changed I rode in the middle of the carriageway in front of him at a moderate pace to stop him passing me again.  Honestly I’m at a loss for words.

To top it off further down the Intwood road a car tried an overtaking manoeuvre on me round a blind corner, only to be mortally surprised when a car came the other way! Thankfully he stopped in the road rather than hauling left and taking me into the bushes.  He was less fortunate as his window was open and I was able to vent my already agitated spleen directly at him without losing any meaning through the glass. I used this opportunity as therapy.

The start of all this mayhem was last Friday week when i was collected by a taxi driver on St Stephens street. He was doing a U turn in the middle of the road. Or rather, he executed his turn as I came alongside him! Luckily I had a split second to lock the back wheel and get somewhere near sideways, using him as an unforgiving brake. He refused to get out of his cab - and to be fair I was F’ing and blinding at him at the absolute top of my voice, I was STEAMing - then he tried to drive off. The red mist was in full effect and I planted a boot squarely in the middle of the drivers door! That had the effect of getting him out of the car. Me? I legged it. Damage? Just a couple of bruises and a small chunk out of my shin, the bike was fine (thankfully it was the singlespeed rather than the shiny PX).

Ride safe folks.  Watch out for all them other buggers.

Two nice days in a row? Carbon loveliness on the road, shorts too! It was a welcome respite from the all too cool spring weather we’ve experienced of late. Anyway, I was able to take full advantage and give the PX a shake-down at the same time. I ragged it up Ketts hill, then Mousehold heath for good measure - it’s frighteningly quick uphill; I could end up being quite useful when I’ve lost a bit of weight! Couple of points to work through; the brakes squeak under pressure (like stopping from 30mph downhill) and the faux suede strip on the saddle has a tendency to grab at your crotch, hmm. Lunchtime ride out with Rob and JT yesterday saw me clock up 1000 miles for the year to date; slightly later than expected but all the same, happy days!

So, based on the ride experience, I’ve swapped the saddle for the SLK from the Kinesis, keeping the seatpost - I tried the CT2 post and shim, but it’s just too big - and I swapped the stock bars and stem for the Ritchey WCS stuff, also from the Kinesis.  I had a big issue with the Flight Deck mounting kit i.e it didn’t fit!  whci means I’ll have to redo the taping again soon but by the time I’d completed all that and mostly reassembled the Kinesis it was dark and nearly bedtime.  Ride report and photos next time.