Which Bike?

Stumbled across a 'Dirty Jo' frame whilst looking for some new forks and bagged myself a bargain, now I'm facing the dilemma of which bike to take on the c2c, do I take the Giant full susser or the hard Tail 'DJ', which bike to I build up to be the number one machine???

At the moment I'm thinking the DJ, it's a super light frame and maybe the hard tail is better suited to this not so rough ride, most of my fitness work is done on the river/canal banks and I hope to get some man made trails in at Cannock Chase so the DJ is probably more suited to my main usage, just keep the NRS for my hacking around on the rough stuff.

Of course money is the biggest factor right now in our current financial climate so I haven't got loads of cash to throw at building up the Dirty Jo, so compromises on both set ups will have to be made.......oh what to do...........

7th January 2009

Home - Along Trent to Holme Pierrepont and Back

Distance = 23.1 miles
Time = 2 hrs 20 mins
Cadence = 80
Ave Speed = 9.9 mph
Top Speed = 16.7 mph
Weather = Overcast, dry, 3c

I've been far too lazy over the winter with only a few very short hacks close to home, time to get going proper again, too much today if I'm honest but hey ho.

Aiming to do around 50 miles per week at the moment until I get back into it properly, the c2c will see mileage of around 35-40 per day but obviously there will be some big hills involved so I want to be covering a 60 mile ride (with hills) at least once a week along with a couple of 30 milers as I approach the big day.

16 October 2008

Home - Route 67 - Centenary Way - West Hallam - Dale Abbey - Risey - Home

Distance = 20.1 miles
Time = 2 hrs 14 mins
Cadence = 80
Ave Speed = 9 mph
Top Speed = 28.7 mph
Weather = Sunny spells, dry, 15c

First proper ride on the NRS was good, bike nice and smooth and really feeling the weight difference on the hills, lot of field work today hence the low ave speed. Also my first ride out wuth clipless and cleats, only one off when I lost traction in the mud, must get some winter tyres.



Sustrans Marker - Stanton, Derbyshire



Dale Abbey

10th September

Home to Attenborough nature reserve - Beeston Marina - Beeston Canal to Lenton - cycle path past QMC to Woolaton Park, through Woolaton Park on Robin Hoods Way to Hemlock Stone and Trowell, route 67 to Sandiacre, across Toton sidings to home.

Distance = 19.71 miles
Time = 1hr 55 mins
Cadence = 79
Ave Speed = 10.3 mph
Top Speed = 24.8 mph
Weather = Sunny Spells, Dry, 16c

Enjoyable ride taking in Wollaton Park and Hemlock Stone, accidently found some single track and a couple of hairy desents whilst loosing Robin Hoods Way, cant wait to get the new bike out and do some more of that.


Cadence up slightly again which is pleasing.



Kayak's on Beeston Canal



Hemlock Stone

Scrap the VAT

On line petition set up to pursuade No 10 to scrap the vat on bikes accessories and parts.

"There's been a lot of talk lately of the impending price rises affecting Bikes & cycling equipment that are going to take effect in 2009 and the way those rises are likely to impact cyclists.

We've already recently discovered the the UK Government doesn't have the ability to make any changes to the amount of import duty charged on Bicycles imported into the UK as that's all controlled by Europe. However, one thing they do still have control of is VAT.

So I've set up an online petition asking the Prime Minister to do the following:

Zero rate VAT on Bicycles & Tricycles valued over £129

Zero rate VAT on all Bicycle safety equipment (not just helmets)

Reduce (Special rate) VAT to 5% for all Bicycle parts, components & accessories.

The Petition runs until February 8th 2009 and if there's any chance of having some success we need to get as many signatures as we can!

It will take you all of 2 minutes to sign the Petition, your details won't be used for any nefarious purpose and you'll potentially be doing a great thing for Cycling in the UK.

There have been a couple of similar Petitions started lately but none of them have gotten anywhere near the required amount of support - please don't let that happen again! For this to be effective we need to get as many people as we possibly can behind this Petition.

That's me done. Please sign the petition!"

Scrap the VAT blog

Petition

Currently working on..........

I'm currently working on getting my cadence up to an average of around 90 rpm, anyone who knows a little about cycling will know that this benefits greatly especially in endurance events as well as every day riding. Lance Armstrong used to cycle at around 110 rpm +

At first I was unsure that peddling faster would actually make things easier but how wrong was I.

I aim for around 90 rpm whilst on the flat, this I will increase over time, my average is being brought down whilst off road and coasting down hills. Maybe I'll never hit an average of 90 rpm but if I can get well into the 80's I'm sure I'll feel the benefits. In 1 month I've upped my average from 70 to around 76 so I'm heading in the right direction.