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April
2008 |
Okay
- you know you have been there too. That feeling that this little hobby of yours
has become an obsession. First it's the expensive bike, then the kit, now for
the upgrades and finally building your own website. Read how one man slowly turned
from normal human being into demon mountain biker.
Despite
cycling a lot as a teenager, like a lot of other people I lost interest as soon
as motorbikes, cars and girls came into my life. However, I rediscovered the joys
of cycling after almost a 20-year absence in 1998.
After
a fairly slow start, my interest has mushroomed. This site evolved from the realisation
that I was slowly becoming something of an obsessive Mountain Biker.
Anyhow,
I got to think about how often I actually had been out and where I had gone. I
developed my notes from a few dates on my wall calendar and eventually, I decided
to catalogue my cycling exploits in the form of a diary based website.
I
hope you find the site interesting and possibly even amusing. Please make any
comments on my forum.
Early
April 1998. I had been invited to a days cycling with my mates at work. They had
all been out together six months previously and said how good it was so I agreed
to go. Only trouble was I didn't have a bike. I had talked to my mates and apart from one nutter
who had paid around £1000 for his bike the rest of them just had your average
£150 'mountain' bike. I couldn't dream of spending £1000 on a bicycle. What about
all these bargains you saw advertised in the newspaper etc.? Surely you could
get a much better deal.
My requirements were pretty simple. I wanted grip
shifts because I had poor memories of my Sturmey Archer 3 speed and bar ends because
they looked really good, oh and quick release wheels and ummm... that was about
it! I
went to Halfords in Epsom and after about an hour in there I emerged with an Apollo
Terra 18 speed that met all of my requirements. £160 and I had a real bargain
(or so I thought at the time). It even had a quick release on the front wheel.
By the way, what is the point of that? Do they think you are only going to get
a flat in the front?
At this stage of my biking career I had heard that there were some bikes out there
that had suspension forks but I was unsure about the benefits and anyway, they
were out of my price league. The Apollo Terra was modified during
2001 with dia_compe
v-brakes, Specialized Team_Master
and Team_Control Tyres and saddle.
I also removed all the transfers from the frame to try and disguise the fact of
my misguided purchase.
Late
April 1998. The first experience of mountain biking. We started from Damon's flat in Chichester about 10 o'clock and cycled until about 4 o'clock with a pub lunch.
We covered about 30 miles (12 on the road) taking in some great bits of the South Downs. It was a classic XC ride. Wide open chalk bridleways with its fair share of bogged down paths. Steep clims and fast descents that terrified me. The scenery was fantastic but given that most of us just turned up on the day without having ridden for at least 3 months, took forever to ride and left us all totally exhausted.
I remember pushing the rigid
Apollo up a lot of hills (soon to be a recurring theme) and being very careful
coming down the slippery chalk hills with my canti-brakes full on. Still I felt
more comfortable on the road and the Apollo
came flying down some tarmac. I thought it was because I was such a great rider
but some months later realized it was cos the flipping thing weighed a ton.
I felt particularly battered and bruised from the rigid bike and lack of any padding
in the rear or on my hands. I was totally exhausted at the end of the day and
thankful I didn't have to drive home. However I must have liked it because I came
back for more.
some dubious cycling fashion going
on here At this stage my idea of cycling gear was as follows:
I would also be carrying a non cycling specific adidas rucksack with my pump, spare tube, lunch etc. This was heavy and wasn't meant to be worn all day and with the combination of the shell jacket and the cotton t-shirt beneath, the straps would really start to rub halfway through the ride. The apollo had a cheap pair of plastic flat pedals on that obviously didn't grip my trainers very well. I experimented for some time with the short plastic toe clips that at least stopped my foot sliding off the pedal but like any toe clip, were a pain to get into and out of. The added weight at the front of the pedal means the pedal spins on its axle and it is always upside down whenever you go to use it. |
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