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- Australasian Leg: Prep (4)
- Australasian Leg: Ride (1)
- Europe Leg Ride (4)
- Europe Leg: Prep (8)
- Ghosts in the machine (3)
- Rides (6)
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Category Archive:
Europe Leg: Prep
“Over-preparation is the foe of inspiration” – Napoleon Bonaparte
Out on the bike yesterday for some much needed last-minute fitness training. 20 miles into the ride, I suddenly realise that I haven’t got ANY tools with me whatsoever. No tyre levers, no multi-tool, no inner-tube or patches – not even my pump! It’s been a very busy period recently, but to head out on a ride without any kit is inexcusable.
I decide that it’s a bloody long walk home if I puncture, and so head back home fairly sharpish. The excuse to head home early is actually quite welcome as it’s not much fun at all out in the bitterly cold and windy conditions.
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It’s the Final Countdown…
Last post before heading off at stupid-o-clock tomorrow morning. Final preparations are now thankfully complete. I always forget the complications that taking a bike on a plane introduce; it’s time consuming to clean & pack the bike, as well as remember all of the small but vitally important bits and pieces to take with.
Something that I had overlooked was that we no longer had access to the Jeep, and that Fiat Cinquecento’s are little bigger than a mouses’ earhole. Needed to buy a roof rack for the car which has doubled both the value and weight of the little Italian stallion. Bike box fits on snugly enough; I only hope that we don’t take off when accelerating onto the M20.
“I’m desperately trying to figure out why kamikaze pilots wore helmets” – Dave Edison
Economics can sometimes be a much greater agent of social change than almost anything else. It certainly influenced me today as I found myself parting with nearly 25 earth pounds for something that I think is unnecessary, overrated and possibly dangerous.
The European Leg of the ‘Continental Cycle Climb Challenge’, as hopefully you are already aware, is to take place in Spain this month. In 2004, ‘Espana’ decided to make the wearing of cycle helmets compulsory – a fine of 90 Euros payable by those poor unfortunates refusing to comply. Strangely, there are several exceptions in which a rider does not by law need to wear a helmet; if it is hot, if the rider is in a built up area or if he or she is climbing up a hill.
Erm… anyone who has ever been to Spain would know that a UK equivalent list of exceptions would include: – if it was raining, if it was dull and miserable, if there was a steady flow of aggressive and impatient motorists trying to get past, if the kids on the estate were trying to happy-slap you, or launch a stick between your spokes…
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“It takes a long time to become young” – Pablo Picasso
Well, I’m impressed. Hugely impressed. At 35 years old, I was the youngest member of a truly lovely bunch of 19 ladies and gents who turned out in full force for the 75th Anniversary ride this week. A 75 mile ride along the canals and through the lanes of Staffordshire and Cheshire; I’d half expected the distance to be too much and for the pace to have slowed considerably as the day progressed and the tea-breaks got longer.
But these Golden Oldies are made of much mightier stuff, and the peleton moved swiftly and purposefully all day, despite some poor weather and minor mechanical issues.
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“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.” – H.G. Wells
Well old ‘Herbert George’ couldn’t have been more on the money. Why is it that nearly all of us ride bikes as children – enjoying the freedom, empowerment and sheer joy of riding – only to abandon cycling at the end of adolescence? What a shame that so many adults forget the simple pleasures of riding a bike. My guess is that pressure to conform and the pressure to consume (cars) serves to undermine cycling as an ‘adult’ pasttime.
Luckily, not everyone feels the same way: There’s a bunch of ‘kidults’ that I’m going to have the pleasure of riding with on the 17th August. My dad and some of his friends are planning a celebratory 75 mile bike ride around Staffordshire. 1 mile for every year of their lives.
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My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium…
Well, it looks increasingly likely that the Euro Leg of the ‘Continental Cycle Climb Challenge’ is going to have to be postponed. It’s still snowing in the Sierra Nevada, and there’s little point in heading down there only to be frustrated at not reaching the top of the ‘Veleta’. I reckon that I’ll probably wait until mid-August/ early September now.
In the meantime, it gives me the chance to make better preparations than those made so far; coming off the back of a ridiculously cold and long winter. Last week I totally stripped down the bike. After a little online retail therapy, it’s been built back up now with a spanking new rear-cassette, rear-derailleur, chain, chain-ring and crank arms and all new cables (inners and outers). Scotty’s not looked so good since I bought it almost 5 years ago (for £275!). That bike’s been thrashed to pieces and doesn’t owe me a single penny…
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