Its all just riding bikes...

It's my birthday!

2007-05-22T17:05:00.000Z

Yay! No riding or bike related presents though, but lots of energy giving cake - yay!

Yesterday, I had a comedy argument with someone taking their dog for a poo in Bradgate Park at 8:15am.

Apparently I'm not allowed to ride my bike there. Who knew?

However the rangers can drive their 4x4's about the place doing stuff like this:

Oh well.

But Spokey Dokies make me happy...

Claire and I have managed after a mere one weekend of looking about to find a house to buy that ticks all of our boxes and has a wow factor. It has a workshop (big shed) for bikes. Looking forward to moving down the road to Quorn and adding a few more miles to my commute. The new house will be great too as it'll be our house!

Come back summer!

2007-05-17T19:26:00.000Z

Just the three commutes tis week after CLIC24.

Tuesday, completely soaked and muddied after it peeing down on the way in. Forgot my towel too, had to resort to the big pile of (hopefully) clean towels on the rack.

Felt absolutely dead on my feet on Wednesday, so I took it easy and took the car. Took a towel and more showergel in to prevent further forgetfulness.

Thursday, more rain woot! Not as bad though. Legs really tired for some reason.

Friday, sunshine - yay! Headwind - boo! Legs a bit better.
Yay! Summer's back!

CLIC24, Il pleu beaucoup!

2007-05-15T18:20:00.000Z

As the dust settles on CLIC24 for another year...hang on that was last year, no dust this year thats for sure.
Well despite the daft conditions CLIC rocked.
I did 7 laps, Alan did 5 and Pat did 3.
Mike rocked by doing 11 solo laps - good work that man.

Most importantly though, lots of money was raised for CLIC-Sargeant.

The rigid singlespeed was the bike of choice in the quagmire. Just a bit of lube on the chain and a bit of superglue on the grips and we were good to go.

Riding in today I got soaked...and forgot my towel. Less than ideal.

The brown eye bogey levels were topped up though.

It was this muddy:

Two weekends - two events...

2007-05-10T20:50:00.001Z

Well I haven't posted for bloody ages...(pattern appearing?)

In bike news - been riding the geared bike with quite big forks mostly, don't know why but just have. I have finally sorted out the singlespeed's brakes (bloody Hope-less) before heading to Clic24 this weekend.

The creaking noise that annoyed me for a good couple of weeks tuned out to be my 1 year old Scott Team shoes falling apart at the sole basically the glass fibre bit decided to unbond from the rest of it. Rubbish. But they have been replaced with some nice sturdy Diadora ones - perfect for pushing up hills and such.

The Dyfi last weekend was great - great course, great people, not so great weather. Free Howies T-shirt too - bonus.

Clic24 this weekend - should be good, weather looks mixed.  Taking both bikes, plan to start out Singlespeedy, and break out the gears and bounce if need be.

Only 3 in our team so it might be a bit harder than the year before last. Not sure what we're doing about night laps yet. I'm sure it will all work itself out though.

I promise to post more... Oh and Aprl KMage = 511

Not blogged for ages...

2007-03-28T20:36:00.001Z

Been a bit busy see...

So here are some thoughts:

Snowboarding rocks - it's like mountain biking but slidey-er.

Drivers who over take cyclists then attempt to kill them but braking suddenly suck. They especially suck when you hit the back of them. They suck even more when they leave the scene of the incident without leaving their details and infact speed off. Hopefully the coppers will sort him out, if not karma will. New jobs are cool especially when they are not dull.Off road commutes rock. New wheels are ace and Hope ProII hubs are LOUD! But in a good way.

Bring on the Summer!

A good day...

2007-02-20T07:32:00.001Z

First day at new job...

Fastest midweek training ride of the year so far. Over 17mph average.

Woo yay!!!

Black Anodized cheese…

2007-02-12T15:58:00.000Z

Well that really didn’t go as planned.

Saturday Night: sort out bike and kit, newly purchased water bottles (without black mould), energy drink at the ready.

Sunday Morning: drive to start of Audax, put bike together, tighten up seatclamp. Thread strips out of seatclamp. Seatclamp appears to be made of some sort of black anodized cheese. Swear. A lot. Drive Home. Eat bacon sandwich. Steal clamp off wife’s bike. Ride 39 angry miles.

I can feel a strongly worded email to Specialized UK coming on.

In better news I now have a permanent job - woo hoo! I can actually start thinking about getting my favourite old frame built up again… I would be lying if I said I didn't have a spreadsheet for the build already...

2007-02-09T10:38:00.000Z

Yesterday the UK got a good dose of snow. Rather than drive into work (which I have been doing recently – shame on me) I decided ride in the long way on the Love/Hate.

As I left the house just after 7am there was just a few snowflakes in the air and on the ground. Riding through Swithland woods the ground was completely frozen which very rarely happens in there. On to Bradgate Park for some early morning Cheeky Trails action and there was just a light dusting of snow but there was definetly more coming down. The trails were running superfast, say “Good Morning” to the deer, a muddy ditch that looks frozen but isn’t catches me out and pitches me over the bars landing on the hard frozen ground on the other side. Ouch.

Continue through Bradgate pausing only to take some photos of ducks and deer around a frozen lake, along with some gratuitous shots of the bike on the frosty ground. Its really coming down now.

Out of the park and up the hill to Markfield, 32:16 and Maxxis Minions at low pressures do not for easy road climbing make.

Past Billa Barra Hill and down the cheeky footpath trail to the Industrial Estate. There is a good covering on the ground but the frozen rutted mess of the footpath can be still felt underneath.

Into work for a hot shower and a Bacon Cob.

Spend more of the day looking out of the window at the snow coming down hoping it doesn’t melt. It doesn’t.

Ride the same way home but get a slush puppy enema between the fun snowbound offroad bits. Take in more Bradgate Park Trails and the singletrack in Swithland woods. Pausing briefly to take pictures of snow illuminated by lights.

Snow makes everything really hard work but Maxxis Minions work surprisingly well as snow tyres.

The big melt is due over the next 24 hours just in time for the Rutland and Beyond Audax I’m planning on doing on Sunday. The forecast is liking like rain/sleet and 2C temperatures. Joy.

Another Crispy Nightride and New Socks!

2007-02-07T12:11:00.000Z

Out last night for the usual Tuesday night ride, more crispy frozen goodness. The Singlespeed has got its rigid forks back and it feels much better like that. With a set of squidgy Oury grips and some big fat Maxxis rubber to smooth out the rocky bits. I reckon its just about ideal for taking on the mountainous terrain around Leicestershire.
In lung news, it would appear that having a couple of lungfuls of Salbutamol before a ride seems to sort out my lungs a treat and they were fine in cold last night.

I am starting to become obsessed with cycling socks, I seem to wear them constantly apart from when I’m actually cycling! Its proper thick Merino sock under winter boot weather at the moment, so my burgeoning collection is just being worn whilst at work etc.

The latest additions:

Made by Sock Guy for Twin Six and supplied by Minx Girl/Russtler.

If you’re going to wear sock with pink skulls on you have to be fast, so I best get training that bit harder.

Hopefully if the forecasted snow turns up tomorrow, I'll have a nice snowy ride to and from work tomorrow. Might even get up really early and go via some cheeky trails!

Belated scores on the doors, Afan Argoed in the sun, The PA is being resurrected, My lungs are officially rubbish, Audax this weekend…

2007-02-06T12:19:00.000Z

The mileage for January:
Road – 278.71miles - not bad.
Off Road – 52.5 miles - all at night a bit rubbish really but I have been road riding at the weekend. [Edit, I missed out on nightride]
Total – 331.21 miles

This weekend we headed down to Afan Argoed and I wheezed my way around the Skyline trail after having what appeared to be an Asthma attack on the first climb. No power in the legs and lungs contracting to the size of an eight year old’s made life somewhat difficult on the singlespeed. Pictures can be found on Pat’s flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/66688582@N00/ . However the weather was gorgeous with dry trails for the most part at great views.

We planned to ride on the Sunday too but much wheezing forced us to abandon that idea and we headed back early. Shame.

When I get a proper job, ie not a temp job, I’m going to build up my Dialled Bikes Prince Albert frame up. It’s going to be built up pretty much with the same sort of stuff it had on it when we were touring Europe (130mm Z1 Freerides, Saint Brakes, strong components, 2 rings and bash). It’ll be my Fun bike for big rides in big mountains and when I want to run gears. A few bits will move back from the singlespeed and some bits will be bought new and the forks need a service too. All in all it’s going to end up costing about 300quid to go from one bike back to two. I even have a spreadsheet. Can’t wait to do it as I miss that bike. Hopefully the job interview will go well this afternoon… So Mr Lees, why do want this job? Well…I have a frame…

After a trip to the doctor it would appear I am Asthmatic again. – Boo! But I now have performance enhancing drugs (a Salbutamol Inhaler – hardly EPO) – Woo! Did a easy road ride last night in the cold and a couple of preventative puffs of the inhaler seemed to do prevent bronchial constriction. – Yay!

Rutland and Beyond Audax this weekend, bobble hat, saddle bag and kagool at the ready. 100km or so and a couple of café stops. Should be ace!

Plan for the day…

2007-02-02T12:05:00.000Z

1 - Spend the day daydreaming at work, read old copies of Dirtrag, surf the net, eat free lunch (woo yay!), write pointless nonsense.

2 - Go to job interview, try to do well.

3 – Drive to Ian’s, empty the contents of my car (bike, beer, kit) into his, change from suit to weekend scruffy wear, drive South Wales for a weekend of bike riding in the Sunshine!!!

We'll be riding at Afan Argoed on Saturday and then somewhere else on the Sunday.

Woooooooooohoooooooooooooo!

The all new Love/Hate – Wales version.

2007-01-31T16:38:00.000Z

Apologies for the cleanliness of my bike, ie sorry its clean, its normally much dirtier.

The my Singlespeed mountain bike got a bit of a clean over the weekend, its also got a change of bars and grips going from a set of weird Mary Bars that I didn’t get on with and a set of worn out WTB grips back to the dialled bikes Pablo Escobar risers with a set of DMR zip grips.

The suspension forks that have been on the bike since the new year will stay put until after the weekend when are heading to Wales. Hopefully they’ll make the 46km Skyline trail at Afan Argoed a lot more comfy than last time. The last time I did that trail, I had a blister on one hand and really sore forearms. But that was with rigid forks and a pair of ergon grips that I really didn’t get on with. I should think it will be a much comfier experience.

In things that suck news: I appeared to get an asthma attack last night. Whilst riding up a hill at a fair old lick on the singlespeed my lungs got tight, I have been coughing well now since the event. It seems that the cold dry air triggered the attack. Hopefully my lungs will be all better for the weekend though. They are certainly better than they were last night which is progress.

Also in things that suck news: why is it that I now have to have a Yahoo account to use Flickr, I used to use my email as my login but now this apparently not good enough. Bit the same as blogger now liking you to use google accounts. That doesn't worry me so much as I use gmail, but there you go.

Friday night surreal road ride...

2007-01-29T17:08:00.000Z

Good weekend? I had a nice one. Started in fine form on Friday night with a 17 mile nice and easy road ride which to me over 200 road miles for the month. However I had an Albino Stag cross my path in Bradgate Park (bad omen?) and further along I saw an OAP on a powered wheelchair in a balaclava. OAP IRA? Slightly surreal.

Saturday was a “shit to attend to” day but the Love/Hate got its old bars back after a dalliance with a set of daft Mary Bars. It also got a good clean and a new set of brake pads. It also has a freshly rebuilt rear hub with a fresh freehub. In non-cycling news Claire and I got attacked by geese and swans whilst trying to feed the ducks.

Sunday, out on the road bike. Lots of road miles. Longest training ride since the summer - 73.98miles. At the end of the ride I notice my saddle is right back on the rails, which explains why I’m sliding forward on the saddle. Doh! That’ll get sorted tonight.
This weekend a few of us are meeting in South Wales for a Day at Afan Argoed (most likely for the Skyline trail – 48km of fun) and then a day somewhere else. Woo yay!

Monster post! Frosty trails! Crap Hubs!

2007-01-24T12:27:00.000Z

Woo yay!

Winter is here, out last night for our normal Tuesday nightride and the trails varied from chocolate slush puppy to rock hard frozen loveliness. A thin layer of frost covered most of the trails in Leicestershire biggest deer related tourist attraction which didn’t effect traction when climbing but as soon as you braked you pretty much guarantee’d locking up your rear wheel – mental fun!

However our favourite singletrack descent through the woods has now got a big tree over it which I can’t see getting moved anytime soon, though I’m sure a line around it will become apparent.

We had a covering of snow overnight and if it looks like it’s going to hang around until tonight I can see me heading out for some snowbound night ride action, but it’ll probably be gone by this evening dammit [12 midday and its gone boo!].

In further “isn’t bike kit crap news”…
I need to service my rear hub, the freehubs making bad bad noises and now the cones need adjusting as there is a bit of play. Luckily I have the exact same hub to use for spares and I have robbed a 10mm allen key from Ian, why do I not have a 10mm one? More to the point why do I continue to punish myself by buying cheap crappy hubs? Since I bought my Marin (now there was a decision based on too much thinking and not enough gut trusting),where my current front wheel originates from, I have got through the following rear wheels:

1x XT Hub with Mavic XM321 rim supplied by my local LBS – cause of death the hub internals died when the free hub body started to ream out the threads it was mounted on, however the I had to keep on adjusting the cones and the build quality was less than stellar.

1x Deore Hub with Mavic XM321 rim supplied by Chain Reaction Cycles, had to adjust the cones a bit but it was fine until I got to Morzine where everything went a bit wrong and I starting breaking spokes. But that could be due to the huge amount of (ab)use on the back of a the Prince Albert (a hardtail for the uninitiated) with Big-ish forks over the summer. Getting a couple of high speed pinch flats probably didn’t help matters either.

1 x Deore Hub with Mavic XM321 rim supplied by a robbing Frenchman in Morzine. The current wheel, still nice and true but the freehub hasn’t been great since day 1 and now the cones need adjusting. It will get the full strip down, swear at it, chase the bearings from under the fridge and put it back together with loads of grease and a healthy freehub.

However I have sworn never to buy a frickin Shimano hub again as they have rubbish seals however getting a cartridge bearing hub for under 75quid seems to be a bit of a task except for the DMR revolvers which are generic Taiwanese jobs. But that’s what I shall be buying next when this one finally dies.

Also note to self when lifting bike over fences to access trails of the cheeky sort hand bike over the fence to your mate with the non computer sensor side facing him otherwise you’ll not get any mileage collected for the rest of the ride. Grrrrrr

In mileage news, I’ll pass the 200 road miles mark the next time I head out on the roadbike which was sort of my aim for the month with just about a week to spare.

Other People’s Bikes Part 1.

2007-01-22T12:34:00.000Z

Ian likes bikes, actually lets be a bit more specific, he likes bikes from the North.
He is a regular customer of one Mr Brant Richards, in fact he has his own parking space for when he dashes up to the grim Northern Industrial estate to pick up yet another Taiwanese lovely. He has bought 3 Planet X/On-One frames in the last 18 months and had one before that. He has also had a Cotic Soul but seeing as he rode it about every 4 months it had to go. Rumours that the Cotic was bullied by the other bikes for being up-its-self with its posh 853 tubing and posh Midlands ways, are yet to be confirmed.

Here’s the first of his brood a slidey dropouted inbred (named after the local inhabitants near Mr Richard’s home), and is currently fitted with Hope brakes and Pace forks. Ian has a penchant for unreliable British made technology it would appear.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/65/163772465_78b44400ec_m.jpg

He has also fitted a set of weird bars also by on-one called Mary bars (aka H-Bars for paupers or the married), which allow him to point his lights for night riding either to left or the right but never straight ahead.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/52/155846217_0688ebf1c5_m.jpg

A blue On-one Pompino, Pompino is Italian for a favour your Mrs does for you on your birthday.
Ian’s commute vehicle, after a bar swapping merry-go-round, he appears have gone with the flipped and chopped drop bars, with matching bar tape and whisky bottle corks in the ends. Niche.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/29/349271860_69b192f192_m.jpg

Twin illuminating marital aides keep his the car drivers away from his back wheel on the ride home from his Evilmegacorp job. Not sure why he has a yellow cockring around his seatpost though…

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/45/163772324_86cccf40b3_m.jpg

What you can’t see is that he has also fitted a phil wood cog to match the tattoo he has on his forearm, not sure what happens when he needs to change ratio though as it might look like a tattoo of a ex-wife’s name. Or maybe not.

Yet another 80mph trip to the grim North brought another frame back sunny Leicestershire.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/125/354202144_b23c5d7d90_m.jpg
Pictured here nestled amongst the rest of his babies, Ian is actually yet to ride it as he in a fit of madness trusted Dave Hinde to deliver a set of wheels for the new build, which he is currently waiting for and will be for at least another week I reckon. Continuing the daft bars theme it will be outfitted with a set of weird flared drops.

I’m a lazy lazy boy...

2007-01-22T11:02:00.000Z

Events* conspired against to keep my riding minimal this weekend. No MTB rides, no big Road Miles and to make matters worse Ian dropped by on his way back to his house in the midst of a 40 mile ride.

I did get out however and do a 17 mile speed ride which saw me dying on my bottom in the last mile or so going into an evil headwind. The new wheels I fitted seem nice enough, especially having cost relatively little money (55quid for a pair of wheels can’t be bad even if they last one season)

Lots of riding planned for this week with good cold clear weather moving in, so unless the snow shows up (highly unlikely) it’ll be a solid 70 miles during the week. I might well need my new thermal headwear though.

* New wheels to fit, lack of light and choosing funky new eyewear.

Coming soon - like later today if I'm bored - Other Peoples Bikes...

Road miles, broken wheels, fancy handlebar mounted wizardry, strange bars and mud.

2007-01-19T13:17:00.000Z

Well…road training is going quite well. After this weekend I should be well over 200miles on the road for the month to date. That is assuming the new wheels I ordered to replace the spoke snappingly (rear) shite and spoke looseningly (front) shocking wheelset that came as standard on my Specialized Allez, show up [ohhh hang on they are at my loacl post office - woo].
They are cheap as chips Vuelta’s, hopefully they will do the job. I don’t ask much from a wheelset as long as they stay true and go round I’m not bothered about flashness or weight.

Last weekend I did 68 miles on the road which was nice as I didn’t cramp really and felt loads better than the 50, I did the other weekend. However I wouldn’t recommend riding with the following in your stomach. 2 rashers of bacon, 2 sausage, 2 egg (fried), 2 hashbrowns, beans, 2 toast, grilled tomato. It sat a bit heavy to say the least.

If the wheels don’t show up, then I’m going to take in some gnarly bridleway action on the singlespeed, best wear my best waiders then [Thats that muddy bullet dodged then...].

Only 2 MTB rides in the last 2 weeks due to lots of road miles but what mtb riding I’ve done has been shite and muddy anyway as it’s not been a cold crisp winter, more of a biblical flood winter. But I have now got a cordless computer on the MTB, so I’ll have loads of data from MTB rides assuming I can remember to wake it up after whisky stops on nightrides. It seems to go to sleep after 5 mins of inactivity (a bit like me), I’m sure I’ll forget occasionally but hey ho, it’s better than snapping wires. How the data gets from the sensor to the computer I have no idea, I think it must be witch craft*.
I’m also currently trying a set of mary bars by Norths favourite dealer of inbreds, on-one, lent to me by Ian. Initial thoughts, they are odd and I’m not sure if I like them yet. I’ll give them another couple of rides or so and then decide.

*radio waves

Riding Aims for 2007...

2007-01-08T11:32:00.000Z

As its 2007, there should be 7 goals for me to strive to meet…

1)Ride a Road Century.
After doing 80miles at a canter at the end of the summer when I was fit, and feeling like I was going to die doing 50 at the weekend, it would suggest that there is work to be done.

2)Ride an Audax or two.
Apparently it’s a strange cycling world of kagools, seatpacks, tea and cake. Sounds ace. Might be able to combine it with aim 1. Cyclotouriste de Vlaandren in Belgium is on the cards too. Mmmm cobbles, in April, Belgium. I think I’ll need that kagool.

3)Ride a 100km enduro, Singlespeed.
I’ve never done one of those 100km enduro things, I’ve always done the middling 75km option or chilled out on the slacker 50km option. Time to do it properly. And seeing as the most XC bike (actually it’s the only current working MTB) in the shed is a singlespeed, I think I’ll use that.

4)Do another 24hr Race, maybe solo, maybe Singlespeed.
Oh, I don’t know, maybe in a team, maybe in a pair, maybe solo, most likely Singlespeed for the reasons above.

5)Ride places I’ve not ridden before.
Scotland for example…

6)Ride 1500 Road Miles and spend 500 hours on any bike.
1000 seemed way too little, 2000 seemed a bit to much. We’ll see. Only 1450miles and 496.7 hours to go. I already have a spreadsheet.

7)Have fun.
Which looking at the above might be a touch tricky, but I’ll make sure there are plenty of chilled rides with beer and café stops too.

Where we rode last summer...

2006-12-20T13:18:00.000Z

Summer, remember that? When it was hot and dry, when a cold beer after a long ride was the norm, not ahot bath. Well this is what Claire and I got up to over the summer...
After getting back from our trip to the Southern Hemisphere we headed out to Europe to take in the European summer, culture, food and certainly not least mountainous trails. Think of me as a Mountain Biking Alan Wicker...

Spanish Pyrennees - Puigcreda
The first place we did any proper riding was in Quixans near Puigcerda just over the border from France.
We did one ride called the La Ruta de la Contrabandistas,which took us over the border into france and back again. The route to be honest was pretty disappointing with a lot of time on small dirt roads and only 200 metres of singletrack. Also there was the issue of signing.
A bit rubbish but a half descent warm up. The area does look like it boasts some excellent riding though.

Pyrennees - France
After spending time cruising about looking for an open campsite anywhere near open trails, we settled for a few days in Axat.
As Axat is a small place with little tourist info we secured an IGN blue map from the local Presse and planned our routes.
We did a couple of rides here, the riding is very very steep, but we managed to find a more gradual ride for the first day with Claire.

Then the second ride I tackled was way steeper with a long hike-a-bike push for the first couple of hours. The descent down though was amazingly good rocky singletrack. Right on the limit of my (albeit rusty) skill level.

Provence - France
We spent a couple of days in the Luberon Valley. We were thankful we did! We found a really cheap, empty campsite in a wood with the best bakery down the road. We decided to have a couple of nights here and we spent our full day there riding our bikes on a waymarked trail that took in some great views and even better singletrack. We are both actually riding half decently by this point.

Lake Garda - ITALY
Lake Garda, one of the places I have always wanted to ride, and boy did it meet my expectations. Due to Claire coming down with Stomach lurgy and spending a week in an Italian hospital, I had an extra week with my mornings free to ride before meeting her in the hospital.
In the end I had nearly three weeks in Torbole (just along the coast from Riva) and got to ride a lot of the trails. Now normally you'd think, 3 weeks, you should ride all of it. But there is SO much riding you could ride here all summer and not get bored. Highlights included The 601 trail (one of the most famous trails and rightly so), La Adrenalina DH course, and trails north of the lake up the valley above Arco.
Torbole is probably one of the coolest places on earth for bikers, with 4 bike shops, loads of bars and restaurants and a really chilled attitude.
Pic-o-rama

Slovenia - Bovec
We really got lucky in Bovec, we were there when a outdoors sports festival was taking place. Free guiding! I was guided around the local trails by a Texan named Joe, which was slightly odd. Did a couple of other ides, one a epic XC affair in a Thunderstorm and a trip up Kanin MTB park, which was basically a freeride park with lifts that only work half the time. It wasn't working the day we rode so we had a huge climb followed by a great descent. Loads of North Shore style stunts some very scary some less so.
The regular riding in Slovenia is highly recommended with loads of super techy singletrack.

The Jura - France
We had a week in relative luxury staying in a cabin in the Jura with my Parents, the weather was absolutely scorching with melting tarmac on the roads, managed to find some pretty good riding here but nothing to write home about, don’t get me wrong it was pretty good, but I had been spoilt by this point. However the Jura does have some fantastic riding further South East.

Pfalzerwald - Germany
Two days of fairly hardcore driving through France, Belgium, Luxembourg and then Germany got us to the Pfalzerwald, apparently one of Europe’s best kept secrets for mountain biking according to Christian Kraemer (organiser of the 05 singlespeed mtb worlds.)
It didn't disappoint, we got a map and headed out on each of the three days we were there. We only explored a tiny percentage of what's on offer but the trail system is incredibly well organised, not surprisingly, and we found plently of excellent singletrack to keep us entertained, there isn’t anything too gnarly but the riding is good XC stuff.
All around the area we explored there we wonderful red stone formations. Apparently is a bit of a mecca for climbers, we did see a few come to think of it.

Gorge du Verdon - France
Another couple of driving days got us down to the Gorge du Verdon, where we met a friend of ours.
We had a very pleasant week with her. We canoed and pedaloed in the gorge, I rode my bike and the girls disappeared off for a couple of days to sunny St Tropez, well near it anyway. I was left to my own devices and to endure the worst thunderstorm in living memory. 6 inches of rain in 2 hours!
The area is very steep and very very rocky, these factors make riding really hard both endurance-wise and technically. To be honest you’re better off on foot than on a bike.

Chamonix - France
Claire and I spent 10 days or so in Chamonix. We did a couple of bike rides together on the waymarked routes (the only legal stuff in Cham in July and August), despite there being not huge amounts of legal riding at this time of the year, the riding is fantastic. We also hiked up to a glacier, lazy-hiked (with the aid of a telecabin) and I took the bike up to 2425m on the telecabin and rode down to the valley floor which was pretty cool. The ambiance in Chamonix is aided by the great micro brewery here.
I want to go back in June when you can ride all the trails, the riding isn’t any better, there is just more of it.

Morzine/Portes du Soleil – France
You’ve read about it, seen it on the telly and on the web. The riding here is amazing. The infrastructure of lifts and maps and just generally being geared for bikers is amazing. The Prince Albert got an absolute pasting but apart from busted rear wheel from pinch flatting at warp speed 8, and taking a while to slowdown whilst going down a very very rocky trail.
I met a couple of top people whilst we were there, Craig and Ilana. Overtaking people on Downhill Bikes on downhill courses on a hardtail was a highlight... as was running into a load of Chocolate Foot regulars in Morzine.
Ilana

Watch your rotors when removing your rear wheel!

Craig

Zermatt – Switzerland
We wanted to visit Verbier, but bizarrely there is no camping there. So it was straight off to Zerrmatt, well I say Zermatt, I mean Tasch. Zermatt is carfree so if you have a camper, you stay a few kilometers down the valley in Tasch.
The riding in Zermatt is restricted due to conflicts with hikers (a bit like Chamonix) but the riding that you can do takes you up high into the mountains and the trails really are great. The fact you can see the Matterhorn too is great. You can ride out of Tasch up to Zermatt up a great techy singletrack trail too. A bit cheeky but ace.
You can ride wherever you like out of Tasch too and the trails are as good as the ones around Zermatt, if a little less spectacular visually.

We had a great time out in Europe and would recommend it to anyone.

We both took hardtails with Disc brakes and Marzocchi forks, which proved to be very reliable. I was particularly impressed with the way my Dialled Bike Prince Albert inspired confindence of some truly terrifying terrain.

EMSSC 06

2006-12-18T11:14:00.000Z

This weekend a group of finely tuned slackers from around the East Midlands and worse, gathered at a top secret location to battle for the dubious title that is the East Mids Singlespeed Champs.

In the early afternoon on Saturday, the contenders arrived and tea was swiftly brewed and slowly consumed, but at half two, we reached critical mass and group inertia pushed out into the weak December Sun.
A few tweaks and checks were made but we were soon off.

A chilled lap of Swithland Reservoir, took us to our first port of call The Griffin Inn, where quick liquid refuelling pit stop was supped.

Then we headed into a quagmire of a bridleway up to Swithland woods, took in some its finest Singletrack and had to switch our lights on to peer through the quickly on setting gloom.
Under the cover of darkness we headed onto the cheeky trails of Leicestershire’s biggest deer related tourist attraction and took in some fine cheeky action. This is where the Champs were to be decided, a “who can get the furthest up this slippery steep slope challenge”. After huge amounts of cheating by yours truly it was declared a draw. We would need another way to decide, one in true slack disorganised style.

We finished off our ride back through the mudfest that is Swithland woods.

Back at EMSSC HQ (also know as “my house”), tea was taken then beer tucked into whilst everyone defilthed themselves. Huge quantities of fried goodness was consumed and more beer and wine drunk.

After our fish suppers/pies/kebabs had gone down and settled a bit, the massive Christmas cake that Claire and I had baked was cut and sampled. It got thumbs up all around and I have no reports of food poisoning, that can be confirmed.

The crowd for cake grows restless.

We still didn’t have a winner however so we decided to have a chat about it. I got nominated and despite my shyness and modesty I was crowned EMSSC 06 champ.. However new EMSSC rules state the defending champ has to organise the next Champs! Stitched Up! However I do have the Glove of Love to call my own now (along with some very nice Sockguy socks to keep my feet warm (donated by Madison, not that they know it)).

More alcohol was consumed and tales of daring do swapped late into the night.

With bleary eyes, we set about subduing our hangovers with tea, coffee and toast.
Before:

After:

Another ride was on the cards today, a café run. After a bit of chilling, we set out and all eventually found their way to Beth’s Kitchen, the finest Organic eatery in all of the Midlands.

Big pasties, chunky chips and pink soup was consumed with keenness only usually found in starving animals on BBC Wildlife documentaries.

After the ride home our last guests/competitors left EMSSC HQ and Claire and I looked in wonder at our overflowing recycling bin.

If you came, thanks for wicked weekend, If you missed it, you were missed but hey, there is always next time.

Danbert
East Mids Singlespeed Champ ‘06

Photo's by The Placid Casual.

your host....

2006-11-28T13:00:00.000Z

Can't be arsed...

2006-11-21T15:24:00.000Z

Can't be arsed to ride for some reason. I'm motivationally deficient. I'm lacklustre.

Not sure why, haven't done a night ride offroad for 2 weeks, not ridden offroad come to think of it for 2 weeks. That's a bit rubbish.
Done a couple of commutes (45 mins each way - 9.5 miles) on the roadbike last week, will probably do the same this week but couldn't be arsed yesterday. Popped out on the roadbike for a quick spin on Saturday.

Maybe its the weather? Its proper cold and windy but not really wet. Not bad for the time of year then, so can't be that.

The bikes are fine seem to be working pretty well with only a couple of minor niggles, but we'll gloss over them.

Went for a hike at the weekend in the Peak District over the weekend, it was ace. Maybe that's it, maybe its the relatively shite terrain around here that's to blame.
Maybe I'll stop bloody whinging and make the best of it.

Nightride it is then! And I'll commute tomorrow too, hopefully.

Really want to get back into the mountains though...on foot.

The difference between boys and girls...

2006-11-16T15:08:00.000Z

it's all in the socks!

Crispy morning ride pt deux

2006-11-06T13:46:00.000Z

Frosty trails!

Crispy Morning ride

2006-11-06T13:45:00.000Z

Mist in the valley below...

Community (Care in the...)

2006-11-02T16:32:00.000Z

Cycling can be if you want be a solo pursuit. Nothing wrong with that, I'm quite fond of the odd solo road or trail ride. I did a hell of alot of them in Europe this summer, to the point it was odd riding with other people when I got back.

But riding with others does add a certain something to the ride for better of for worse, whether its a shared smile at the end of a particularly sweet section of singletrack or a shared grimace on a super steep climb.
However Group inertia can get to be a bit of a drag when numbers of riders are pushing double figures.

Around the world, Bike forums and email inboxes are alive with talk of group rides and arranging who's bringing what whisky and sweets on winter night rides.
Like little elite squads of singletrack soldiers, groups are heading out into the night armed with lights, the aforementioned alcohol, and warm clothing and riding trails not normally permitted under the watchful eye of the sun.

If a bike is ridden on a footpath and not a soul sees you, is it naughty?

Question: If all your riding buddies stopped riding tomorrow, would you keep riding?

I would, I reckon most people would too.
Riding is what you make of it, whether riding on your own or with others.

Early Morning iPod Ride. (In Lake Garda)

2006-10-31T13:37:00.000Z

The alarm clock wrenches me from a particularly pleasant dream and its 6am. Early morning ride o'clock. Dark chocolate for energy and caffeine content is consumed. Slighty whiffy kit on. Pack and bike sorted the night before so we are away with minimal faff. The happy go lucky voice of Thom York is in the headphones.
Half hour spin up cyclepath dodging the sparse joggers as we go. Nausea stabilizes. More upbeat tunes on the iPod.
Through Dro as it wakes up, then off road up towards the lake. Tiniest mistake on one of the numerous short yet steep technical climbs and i'm pushing. Nausea rears its ugly head. The fizzy water I mistakenly bought not helping. Take turnoff and head down the singletrack to the lake, missed it out last time, shame as its a bit good. Chilli peppers rocking. Wake up crusty climbers cheeky camping by the lake.
Take 5 at the lake, take photo of nice cliffs, retrace tyres tracks back to turn off. Keep trucking north. Front wheel nearly washes out on corner, properly awake now. Metallica rarrrrr! Exit out onto farm track.
Through Petramurata. Climb up above the road. Back onto singletrack. Look left, my word that's a drop. Down the fast and loose bit saying 'ciao' to the smiley Italian bird pushing up the hill.
Climb up the last proper climb of the day, mess up one section and have to push until it smooths out a touch. Beasties are Super Disco Breakin'. My god I smell. Superfast fireroad descent, mess up that frickin corner again. Back onto the last singletrack section. Last and eviliest technical climb, not cleaned yet. Not going to happen today. Last singletrack descent, the really good one, pretty much pin it even the nasty drop off into rock garden goes surprisingly well with just clacking the pedals once.
Scare some lycra glad germans coming up the good descent. Odd bunch.
Back on to cyclepath, spin back, feel smug and tired.
Dodge germans roaming in packs. Shockingly high lycra quotient.
It's 10am.

too wet

2006-10-30T21:13:00.000Z

it was too wet for pictures on saturday.
sunday was a missed opportunity!

Coedy Carnage

2006-10-29T22:19:00.000Z

Well Coed-y-brenin lived up to expectations especially on the Carnage front...

I arrived at Ian's a wee bit before 5pm on Friday, bikes were loaded, Alan showed up, more kit was stashed in Ian's Volvo and before long and after just one more cup of coffee we were speeding towards Wales in the Silver Bullet.

Our tea stop was in the next village west of Welshpool where we stopped at a great family run chippy and consumed fried food a plenty.

We arrived at the Camping Barn called Cae Gwynat 9ish and settled in for the night having unloaded the Volvo and opened the beers.

Just as we were running low on beer Pat rolled up in his Campervan with a couple of six-packs of beer which were opened immediately.

Midnight rolled around, everyone was getting sleepy but The Swisser and his mate Dave hadn't shown up yet, it was decided that they had stayed in Telford overnight. It wasn't like they could have gotten in touch with us as there is pretty much no mobile signal in the valley. So we zipped ourselves in our sleeping bags and headed for the land of nod.
At 1:07am (yes I looked at my watch), Lex and Dave stumble into the camping barn. swearwords were uttered by not much notice was taken. Good job we forgot to lock the door.

It turns out Lex had plugged the postcode of the Camping Barn into his GPS (which the web link Ian sent out to everyone, said very clearly not to do) and was sent wildly off course and had been driving about in the dark for an hour and a half looking for us. Ha ha.

Ah well, the next morning, after a cup of coffee we were off and riding with a minimal amount of faffing and heading straight to the Coed-y-Brenin visitor centre for breakfast. After Brenin Breakfasts all round we headed out (after I fell down the stairs in the visitor centre - an omen?) into the rain to tackle the Brenin Beast, 46km of welsh trails.

The first hour or so passed uneventfully apart from Dave having a minor tumble jarring his back and heading for the carpark.

After a short steep downhill, a quick stream crossing and steep pitch up, Pat found himself on his back in the stream having fallen down bank having been unable to unclip upon stalling on the pitch. The hilarity.

The next normal wet service was resumed until on a steep downhill with water flowing down the trail, Alan had a minor off and I had a proper over the bars incident and came off with a bruised hand, bruised man boob and grip that no longer has an end on it.
/it gets a bit hazy from here on in.../
More slippy slidey fun until we got the half way cake stop and cake and hot drinks raised spirits.

We chugged around the rest of the route, enjoying the climbs and enduring the descents. Or vice versa.

Comedy rotating grips added an extra level interest to the proceedings. But zip tying them to the bars seemed to help matters.

Back at the bunkhouse people got warm and dry and the pub was invaded. The Tyn-y-Groes served up fine ales and mediocre food but extra baskets of chips for the Lees boys kept us happy. A few carry out Leffe's to see us on our way and we were all asleep by half eleven.

The next morning we were greeted with blue skies, so we got ourselves down the road to the visitor centre in record time and were waiting for the cafe to open. More brenin breakfasts allround and four of us were of to ride the Tarw trail (formally known as the redbull). Pat headed home after breakfast as his back was sore after his spill the day before. The trail was ace, just the right length for a morning ride, lots of good singletrack, very quiet with most riders seeming to ride on the other side of the valley. Two minor incidents,Iann snapped his chain and Lex had a proper off on a wooden bridge. The last section of trail was probably the best bit of singletrack I rode all weekend.
Back to the cafe for a quick piece of cake and a cold drink (not that we had any choice, they had run out of water again) and then back to the barn to shower and get on the road.
Once loaded up we were speeding back to the midlands stopping only to fill up with snacks from the spar in welshpool.
Back at homeI i put the washing on and then collapsed.

Carnage count:
Dan: bruised hand, two bruised hips (one from falling down visitor centre stairs), bruised man boob (possibly with cracked rib)
Ian: bruised knee
Pat: bruised forearm, bruised back.
Lex: bruised forearm

Fried breakfasts eaten:11
Kilometres ridden: 60 or so

Ace weekend!

We're all off...

2006-10-27T11:00:00.000Z

to Coed-y-Brenin! We're all excited apart from those who have the lurgy and can't come.

We're going to spend the whole weekend riding bikes (woo!), drinking beer(woo!) and eating (double woo!)

Stand by for photos and report on Monday.

If you're in Coed-y-Brenin this weekend we are very sorry, I'm not quite sure what for yet but its always best to get apologies in, in advance.

Roadtrip Rules...

2006-10-23T09:09:00.000Z

We're heading to the newly renovated Coed-y-Brenin trail centre this weekend.
Now as much as I like weekends away biking with mates there are a few rules that if followed makes life so much pleasurable for everyone involved. The following have been gleaned by bitter experience.

1. Lycra is not to be worn as an outer layer before midday. If you have a hangover you really don't need to see that sort of thing. Any outer Lycra is frowned upon.
2. Chill out. If there is a big group, you'll be covering ground slower than normal. Just chill out.
3. Be self sufficient. By all means share tools with a mate but no one like a tube/pump/tool/snack scab. Having said that next time I'm taking a couple of 99p Decathlon tubes and charging people 10 quid for when they inevitably flat. That'll pay for some cake.
4. Don't be stinky. No one likes a stinker.
5. Take of your fullface helmet in the cafe/car. You look like a retard. No really you do. Yes you, you window licker.
6. Stop whinging. Or the abuse will worsen.
7. Breakfast foods must not include tuna. Or pasta. This wrong on so many levels. Just the thought makes me wretch.
8. No patching of tubes whilst on the trail. Bung in a new one, don't make your mates hang around for you. Unless you've run out of spare tubes, in that case see Point 3, much cheapness.
9. Don't bring a daft bike. 40lb freeride bike on an allday epic XC ride? Don't be daft. Singlespeeds are fine as long as you have the leg power/speed to get up most hills and keep up on the flat bits. I may be flouting this rule this weekend but I managed to get round the Skyline Trail at Afan Argoed on the one speed without too much hassles despite the daft grips.
10. Don't be a faffer*.

i've been at the photoshop again....

2006-10-20T22:16:00.000Z

The slippery slope of pimpery...

2006-10-18T10:50:00.000Z

Now for along time I've been the kind of guy who eschews the expensive end of the bike market.

To quote Keith Bontrager:
Strong, Light, Cheap - Pick Two.

I picked cheap and strong. I'm very much a Titec and Deore kind of a guy. Or at least I was...
The singlespeed frame came with something alarmingly beautiful. A Phil Wood EBB.

Nice isn't it. The machining on it is exquisite in a engineering geek kind of a way. Bear in mind this will be mainly hidden in the bottom bracket shell and will have holes worn in it by the set screws. Plus mine has extra holes machined into the sides to add extra pimpness and save weight. Dribble.

This weekend I broke a seatpin, luckily my genitalia remained intact but the ride finished before it even got going.

On return home and after a quick hour and a bit on the roadbike to at least get some riding in, the search for a new seatpin began. 27.2mm in diameter, black and at least 400mm in length. Online stores were scoured. Something strong and cheap was looked for. No joy. hmm... Something reasonably priced? Like a Salsa Shaft, nope. My favorite Ireland based bike emporium had 2 suitable options a Race Face job in black with a weird clamp (fifty five pounds to you , sir) and a Thomson Elite. Sixty Pounds. For seatpin. I've never spent more than twenty five quid on one before.

"Buy" button hit. A smidge over twenty four hours later and it was in my sweaty paws. It's a bit nice and I have been eyeing up the Thomson stem...

This might be quite expensive.

ps: I would like to thank the dog walkers who use Martinshaw Woods for leaving large numbers of Dog Poo landmines there. There is nothing like a quick coating of dog poo to bring your biking buzz down.

downtown street race

2006-10-17T20:40:00.000Z

A new event on the calender, the twentyfourseven downtown street race in bridgnorth, shropshire....

yes, that is cardboard. but don't worry, it was protected by a layer of sellotape...

mountain ash: my favourite track

2006-10-17T17:31:00.000Z

i love this track

it has big drops, sweeping corners, rooty singletrack, berms and jumps

the new bottom section will be sweet once drainage is sorted

pics are courtesy of adolfo crespo (photographer for howies)

12 inches

2006-10-17T16:55:00.000Z

this bike is so much fun

get a 12 incher

launch it off some jumps

you can even do tow-ins from a 26 incher

but remember to always wear protective gear!

Today I'd rather be...

2006-10-11T09:30:00.000Z

cruising around a city (a nice one like Vancouver or Christchurch would be good) on a bike, any bike, chilling at Cafe's and drinking fancy coffee. Not sitting at a desk waiting for the phone to ring with a sore knee from where I fell off my bike at low speed last night.

My knee better be better before the weekend or I will not be happy.

10 Things to do before I die...

2006-10-10T09:36:00.000Z

In no particular order...

1. Solo 24 hour race - properly this time.
2. Transalp/Trans Rockies - The Transwales just doesn't seem to have the same cache for some reason.
3. Race the Grand Divide - Absolutely daft idea.
4. Take a long Cycle Touring Trip - at least a month, somewhere amazing.
5. Take a big long USA MTB roadtrip - Moab, Crested Butte, Idaho, all those places I've always dreamed of going.
6. Ride BC and The Canadian Rockies - hang on I've done that. But I really want to go back...
7. Ride Europe's sweetest singletrack - I've done lots of it this summer but there's always more...
8. Take a Western Spirit Trip - they are the daddies when it comes to Biking holidays, widerness camping, gourmet food and unbelievable riding.
9. Leadville 100 - pain in large quantities in Colorado Rockies.
10. RAGBRAI - Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. 10,000 riders ride across Iowa. Good times.

photoshop

2006-10-09T11:51:00.000Z

a bit of a change for today's picture.....

messing about with photoshop last week and came up with this.

click picture for a bigger version.
my next project is portraits of my riding buddies with their bikes (but not necessarily on them). you'll see....

Big Day Out...

2006-10-09T08:43:00.000Z

I found myself down in South Wales over the weekend, so after walking up Pen-y-Fan on the Saturday Pat and I headed over to Afan to have a crack at the 46km Skyline Trail.
After a brief faff and a quick trip to the bikeshop to grab some essentials we were off.
I took my only Mountain bike, the rigid singlespeed (silly idea?) and Pat was on his Kona Coiler.
The first climb out of the valley at Afan is always a shock to the system but on the singlespeed it was unusually bad, going from cold legs to sharp uphill in about 30 secs. Once I had wrestled my breakfast back down into my stomach and got into a rhythm it was fine.

The skyline takes in some really nice singletrack and some long-ish fireroad sections, normally fireroad = dullsville, but the views are stunning so its all fine.

The route basically follows an alternating fireroad singletrack rhythm and we continued around the loop ignoring the bail out routes.

After 25km pats legs were getting knackered and crampy but frequent refuelling kept his cranks turning.

After 30km my hands were very sore from the pounding they were getting on rocky singletrack and the ergon grips not getting on with my weird hands) I decided to try out. You can have them back Mike. The grips that is not my hands.

The last 20km were really hard on my arms and hands, I was barely able to hold on, on the downhills, JuJitsu stretches helped a bit.

Pat punctured on the last descent and my pump malfunctioned so he had to walk the last downhill, lesson learn't take two pumps.

A late lunch at the DropOff cafe helped ease the pain in Pat's legs and my arms.

It was a great epic ride.

Recent(ish) trip to caersws

2006-10-07T15:47:00.000Z

i went up to see my buddy and curtis/howies sponsored rider dan yeomans at his house in mid wales

after a hard night of drinking

we went riding at caersws downhill track

i got schooled on the dirt jumps at top

but ask dan who was first to the bottom of the course

well he was on a hardtail

'Nam bikes

2006-10-03T15:02:00.000Z

The Vietnamese love bikes. And mostly ride singlespeeds - ride for the discerning socialist, Bike of the people!

Above a couple of Hanoi Ladies enjoying the ride.

Daft Commute home...

2006-10-02T21:03:00.000Z

Decided to drop in our friends MikeT and JudeT, who have just got back from honeymoon, on the way home from work.

Had a cuppa and talk about this and that and before I knew it it was half six. The ride back from theirs got a bit sketchy with the rapidly failing light.

As I had my "don't run me over" lights on rather than my "oh, theirs a rock/pothole" lights on, the descent down off Beacon Hill towards Woodhouse Eaves at 30mph was a bit sketchy...

New Bikes ROCK!

2006-09-29T11:18:00.000Z

Took the new Dialled Bikes Love/Hate Singlespeed out for its first ride and despite a couple of wee issues (rubbing disc brake and having to tweak the chain tension with the EBB) it ROCKED!

It climbs nicely, stiff enough to be efficient but not so stiff it beats the snot out of you. Heading downhill the Surly forks are very direct but the big front tyre takes the sting out. It likes the singletrack too.

the position is spot on for my ape like upper body and arms, but I did go up a size from my geared bike from the same manufacturer, Dialled Bikes.
This meant that I could run a shortish stem whilst having a bit more stretch to get the power down whilst throwing my weight around on the climbs

I'm very very happy with it really.

To make the grin even bigger we had dusty condition on our ride last night, in September, in Leicestershire. A rare treat indeed.

The new bike will get its second proper ride (I don't think of commuting as proper riding for some reason) at the Viking Challenge this weekend, which'll probably be a clag fest. But at least the cakes will be good.

Got 'er done...

2006-09-27T18:31:00.000Z

Its a Dialled Bikes Love/Hate by the way...

Well that was easy...
The new singlespeed is all done and I think you'll agree it's a beaut.
Full report after I've give it a damn good thrashing tomorrow night.

Let the building commence...

2006-09-26T15:39:00.000Z

All the bits for the new build (Dialled Bikes Love/Hate) have arrived.
I know what I'll be doing tonight.

2006-09-20T15:57:00.000Z

There isn't a blog called "It's all just holding bikes above your head" so this one will have to do for today's picture....

2006-09-20T11:22:00.000Z

Waiting...waiting...waiting...

Autumn seems to be on the way which means winter will soon be running along behind it.
Which in turn means mud. Gears and V-brakes don't like mud. The last winter I spent in the UK I had a choice. Do I run the the geared hardtail with discs or do I run the rigid singlespeed with V's. I ran the geared bike mainly as I hate V-brakes. Also the singlspeed's chain tensioner left a bit to be desired.

So after a couple of dry rides on the singlespeed I decided I wanted/needed a bike to ride all winter with the minimum of faff. i.e. A disc ready singlespeed. So I've ordered one from that nice man Mike at Dialled Bikes . Its called the Love/Hate, you can run it singlspeed or put gears on it. It has an eccentric bottom bracket and a rear mech hanger you see. Marvellous.

To make this financially viable (we're a bit poor at the moment), lots of bits will be scavenged from the two previous bikes.

All the bits I need have been ordered, now the waiting begins...as long its build ready for the mudfest that is the Viking Challenge in a couple of weekends time, I'll be happy.

2006-09-15T14:18:00.000Z

It has been a while, but here is a picture that I took while riding my bike.....

2006-09-15T09:04:00.000Z

Downhill bike, Freeride Bike, XC Bike, Roadbike?
Lots of suspension, a bit of suspension, no suspension?
Big tyres, little tyres, knobbly tyres, slick tyres?
Lots of gears, one gear, fixed?
Road, Off-road, BMX track, on a wooden ladder somewhere in canada or Bedfordshire?
Fullface helmet and armour, XC helmet and baggy shorts, road helmet and full lycra?
Messenger bag, hydration pack, tubes and energy bar shoved in jersey pockets?

It doesn't matter. They're all good.

Ride bikes, they're ace!

No niches here, if it involves two wheels we'll write about it.