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Date:
3rd March 2007 No riding this week as events and the weather conspires against me. However, I do manage to do some maintenance on various rides to bring me up to my full complement of five bikes that are ready to take out and ride. During the week I went round to visit dialled Mike and finally collected a head tube badge for the titanium frame. Whilst I was there he not only gave me some replacement stickers for the Prince Albert too but he also showed me the signed off CAD drawings for the new steel version of the Kobe, Mike's first ever frame. It looks very exciting and I have told Mike that I will have one when they finally make their way from drawing to real frames sitting in Mike's front room! So back to my garage and the first simple task was to badge up the head tube. After that, the front brake needed bleeding as the lever has been pulling back to the bar recently. Whilst doing this I decided to take 3 or 4 inches off the cable to make it neater. This was done in about half and hour and looks much better now and that's bike number one done. Next up was the Raleigh road bike. I finally sourced a replacement axle of the correct length (second hand from another cycling forum) and this was a two minute replacement as the bearings were already renewed and in place from previous occasions when I have tried to fix this. Pumped up the tyres and fix a flat on the rear and replace the seat and seat tube that had been on the Prince Albert and the Raleigh is number two ready to go. I was at work earlier this week when Huey called. He was in Cyclepedia in Surbiton and had spotted somesecond hand SRAM X7 shifters in the "bargain" bin. Given they are only £17-99 brand new on Chain Reaction I wasn't going to pay the advertised price but Huey did some negotiating on my behalf and they were duly purchased and delivered. All that remained was for me to fit the right hand shifter to the Specialised SX that has been sitting unloved in the garage since our fateful visit to Bedgebury in November. Replace the shifter, trim the rough edges off the cable outer, repair the flat and also replace the flat pedals with some black DMR V8's again sourced second hand (and free) from another forum. Bike number 3 good to go. On to the Prince Albert and this was a simple renewal of the stickers although it took a fair while to peel off the old ones. Another saddle from my spares box and the slightly bent seat post and the PA is number four. The new lo-vis stickers look much nice than the originals. Oh and Sam's BMX is ride number 5. No maintenance necessary there although Sam does have a nice saddle on order for that; more on the saddle next week.
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Date:
10th March 2007 A Saturday afternoon ride this week and Rob and I are joined by two new members of the forum, James and Nyal. We set off to do the Rabbit route in bright sunshine and despite the odd muddy section the trails are fantastic. Across Belmont and up to Woodmansterne where on the climb up to the village disaster strikes as James's mech hanger screws shear off as a large branch jumps into his chain. Luckily for him, the mech and chain are fine but we don't have any spare screws and so he heads for home which is luckily mostly downhill. The remaining three carry on and complete the route. It really is a glorious day and the trails are busy with walkers, dogs, horses but not many other riders. My lack of fitness becomes apparent and I struggle the last quarter of the ride but it was great to get in some decent mileage and lets hope the weather holds for the next few weeks as we are off to Afan at the end of this month.
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Date:
17th March 2007 I rode round to see Orlando on Thursday evening to pick up some bits he was giving away. It was a nice mild evening and I took the road bike, now back in business following my efforts two weeks ago. Anyway, this gave me an opportunity to stretch my legs and it's always nice to get 12 miles in mid-week. So back to Saturday afternoon as Rob and I aim for the better weather (rain forecast for Sunday). We decide to do the Rabbit Route/Big 8 combo, a first for me but Rob shows me even more new trails as we head cross country from Belmont via the top of Banstead High Street and across to Woodmansterne. After picking up the Rabbit Route we eventually come to a long road section that brings us onto Babylon Lane (great name) and then onto the Big 8 route at the foot of Reigate Hill. Up the climb where we show our prowess by catching up a larger group already halfway up the hill, before carrying on along the North Downs Way. We detour off to the right to cross the M25 and are then into some more previously unridden trails (unridden by us, that is). After messing around along the side of Walton Heath golf course where Rob tries to get a decent shot of me we decide to try and find the dirt jumps on the heath. Well, not exactly dirt jumps but a nice little bowl with some kickers and steep roll in's or drops depending on your skill level. Back down to Epsom Downs and then across to Banstead crossroads where we pick up the Banstead Downs trails down to Belmont and then a short road trip back into Cheam where we met. From here it's a four minute ride across Nonsuch Park back to my house. A good ride in some awesome weather. The first ride in a long time where I didn't bother to take my waterproof and my stamina was much better this week following the mid-week ride. it's amazing what a difference riding twice or more a week makes.
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Date:
24th March 2007 Another Saturday afternoon ride and this time Cas comes out with me for the first tinme since before Christmas (although he has been riding still), James returns after fixing one of his bikes and we are joined by Orlando and a newcomer, Jim. The route takes us from Cheam via a circuitous route to Epsom Downs, Box Hill and back on a bitterly cold afternoon. The pace is fast and needs to be, every time we stop we all start to get a chill. Across Headley Heath where Rob has discovered some great new singletrack sections and down the steep descent to the foot of the hill. We all heat up on the long, long climb up Happy Valley although James cramps up and struggles up the last steep section. After a nice cup of tea and treacle tart at Box Hill Cafe we head off again although James is still struggling with cramp. A different route back but we do the newly disovered singletrack section again and then back towards Cheam in the fading light as the last evening of winter turns even colder. Two punctures for James don't help but we finally reach Cheam some 35 miles later. A really good but tiring ride and a great warm up before our visit to Cwmcarn and Afan this coming Friday.
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Date:
30th March to 1st April 2007 See full ride report on the Welsh Weekend here and for all the picures see the Wales Weekend photo album. |
February
2008
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