Nightrider

Buoyed by the success of the Dunwich Dynamo I’ve been out riding in the evenings recently. After riding the whole night in darkness an hour at dusk doesn’t seem too much of a challenge. Having bought a pretty decent Cateye font light that cost more than some bikes I’ve bought and a Gore gilet I’m set up for evening rides. Shame the weather isn’t on my side.

Hairspray and handlebars

Cycling thrives on insider knowledge, like many other sports. One tip I’d never heard was that hairspray should be an essential part of a cyclist’s tool kit. Well in their workshop at least. Every struggled to get handlebar grips to slide on and then stay in place? Well not with hairspray – it lubricates the bar allowing the grip to slide on, then sets preventing it from swivelling off.

My daughter’s trike (a very stylish red Giant since you ask) is now ready for action. Let’s just hope she doesn’t change her mind about the style of grips!

This is probably going to be of more interest to fixed-gear Hoxtonites than three-and-a-half year olds concerned about their old, perishing handlebar grips.

UPDATE – it turns out this isn’t insider knowledge anymore. Font of all things cooled and fixed, Fresh Tripe are also in the know.

Olympic report

It’s a good job I waited until the end of the Olympics to write something about the success of Team GB’s cyclists otherwise I’d have been tied to the computer for two weeks.

The “gold rush” from the cyclists has been a success in so many ways. Here are a few of the things that have struck me:

• The hard facts of money-for-medal funding shows that Team GB secured a record haul of medal, totally dominating the discipline for the annual salary of a Premiership footballer. Ironic really that David Beckham should be chosen for the closing ceremony – hardly the face of a new generation.
• These athletes are true competitors – Shaneze Reade refusing to settle for a silver medal. Again compare this to England’s footballers who are consistent only in the poor international performance
• Seeing genuine, hard working athletes like Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton getting wider public recognition
• Really putting cycling on the map as a sport for all. Yes, sailing, kyacking, rowing all great – but with a £50 second-hand bike you are one step closer to being the next Chris Hoy
  Watching the reaction of the mainstream press – there’s no doubt about it there’s an intangible “feel good” factor that surrounds Team GB’s success.
• Listening to Kate Garraway gushing over the size of Chris Hoy’s thighs means that cycling is mainstream
• Reading gossip about David Brailsford’s photo opportunity with Ronahaldinho in the Daily Mail makes for a refreshing change from stories of “lycra louts jumping red lights”
• David Brailsford’s clever manipulation of the UK press’s obsession with teenage obesity, the credit crunch and knife crime saying that cycling could successfully address all three
• Bradley Wiggins saying in an interview that he wanted to appear on the Jonathan Ross show – if only he’d won his 3rd gold in the Madison then maybe he would. Despite the fact he won as many golds and broke as many world records as Rebecca Adlington, he not young, blond or female, but then that doesn’t stop Ricky Gervaise from regularly appearing on the show.

It’s been a canny move by Halfords getting into bed with Team GB. The Boardman range looks classy, is ridden by top riders and whilst it doesn’t have the romance of say a Colnago Master looks a very impressive range, particularly the time trial F1 machine. Spot on product development and perfect timing from Halfords.

Dunwich Dynamo – Done it!

I spent most of Saturday night and Sunday morning cycling from London to Dunwich and it was great. Older cycling columnists talk about “the fellowship of the wheel” but since most of my cycling is solo I don’t see much evidence of it, however it was there in spades on the Dynamo.

Firstly the start in London Fields was a veritable orgy of road bikes. I was amazed by the number of single-speed bikes (both fixed and free) planning to attempt the 120 mile ride. Cycling fashion in all it’s guises was represented – what is it about fixed gear riders and chinstrap beards? One guy wearing a pitch helmet – not a great idea for cycling around north London (or “bandit country” as the route map described it) another who’d taken the sleeves off a tweed jacket to create a sort of tweed gilet.

One of the things I liked most about the ride was the lack of overbearing organisation – no marshals, no official start time, no sponsorship just a photocopied A4 sheet describing the route (they’d run out by the time I went to get one) and a tea light in a jam jar to mark the first 60 miles of the route.

The weather was perfect and cycling through the back roads of Essex, flanked by cornfields with the sun setting and only the hum of tyres on tarmac was a sublime experience.

The ride, for me broke down as follows
0 – 30 We set off early which was definitely a good move. Although we were taking it very easy, it was nice to bag 30 miles without even breaking a sweat.
30 – 55 Our initial group started to fragment and I pressed on with a couple of strong, younger riders. As we left Epping Forest for the Essex countryside, the roads narrowed, the traffic thinned and the sun was setting properly. I was starting to worry about the bike being a little over-geared. I found myself frequently in the 42x21 (the bike’s lowest gear) and lagging on the short climbs.
55 – 68 This was probably the toughest part of the ride for me. Having started fairly early, there weren’t lots of riders on the road. And when there were, it was just small groups of 3 or 4. Occasionally I’d draft behind some and stick with them for a few miles, usually getting dropped on the climbs. There was an interesting incident – a family of four waving at everyone from a mini-roundabout at 11.30pm. With the pubs closed, traffic light and for much of this stretch I was riding alone and without the reassurance of a blinking tail light ahead of me. It also suddenly dawned on me that I was freezing cold. Trousers a long sleeve jacket and five minutes out of the saddle restored me. I arrived at the “lunch stop” at 1am, 15 minutes after the first pair from our gang. A brightly lit, spanking new village hall filled with cyclist clacking around the floor on cleated shoes awaited
68 – 90 We set off again as a group at 2.30am and within a few miles had fragmented into smaller groups each riding at it’s own pace. Most commented on how putting the “lunch stop” beyond the mid way point gave a good psychological advantage. As dawn started to break we were again swooping through traffic-free back roads
90 – 100 This was another tough part. I had set off for the second leg telling myself that I’d stop at least twice. Whilst the sun rise and conversation kept my mind away from thinking about stopping too much, I was starting to will the miles away.
100 – 120 A group of about 10 riders formed all intent on finishing the ride. There wasn’t so much chatted now, just an eagerness to get the ride over with. Dunwich was signposted from 7 miles out and aside from one tricky section with very loose stone chippings the roads were reasonably smooth.

This was rapidly followed by a superb fry up at the Dunwich beach-side café and a snooze on the beach before the transport to take us home arrived.

Here’s a few links to various bits and pieces
An animated route map charting our progress
http://bbarker.co.uk/animate/test.php?multiplier=1000

Someone created a nice video which captures the feel of the event
http://www.yournews.itvlocal.com/Clip.aspx?key=495EF5005A3E5395

And there are some photos of our gang
http://bbarker.co.uk/photography/Dynamo_2008/

and some more here
http://picasaweb.google.com/chris.ruggio/DunwichDynamoXVI

Done In By Dunwich?

Well for better or worse I'll be riding the Dunwich Dynamo: 120 miles from London to Dunwich on the East Anglia coast. Two things make this appealing - it's at night and loads of people are doing is. One thing makes me nervous it's 120 miles.

Where as many athletes "taper down" or build up and "train through" an event like this, I've adopted a "reverse taper" - with minimal training, I'm hoping that my leg muscles remember how to keep the pedals turning for 120 miles.

With just over two weeks to go my preparation has comprised the following;

• one 10 mile ride, however this was up hill, into a head wind and with a child on the back
• new bar tape
• fixed the sticking back brake
• skipped a muffin at lunch
• cleaned cycling shoes
• 5 mile bike ride to station - this went very well
• 10 mile ride home from Winchester across the Downs with laptop and work clobber
  

The Dynamo is apparently simple - I've been told to think of it as three 3.5 hour rides. Alternatively I could think it as 12 round trips to my local railway station. Surely it can't be that hard (or boring). I mean if Alberto Contador can get dragged away from his beach holiday and get into form in eight weeks to win this year's Giro, I've got to be able to manage this?

In my favour are

• It'll be dark so nobody will see you suffering
• All my "training" so far has involved either a child on the back of the bike or work kit
• Most of my riding has been done either on an elderly fixed or with a child - both of which count for double miles
• This ride was originally started by couriers and is in East Anglia - it's got to be flat?
• A warm minibus awaits to whisk us back home (thanks Big Nick!)
• Two small children have given me plenty of sleep deprivation so riding through the night shouldn't be so hard - should it?

If my hectic training schedule allows it, there may be more posts!

Raleigh Topshopper

Topshop’s in on the act. Cycling’s cool – with petrol at £1.25 a litre it’s better for today’s fashion-conscious woman to give up her car than stop buying clothes. In fact Topshop are keen for you to buy more clothes because no self respecting lady is going to get on a bike wearing what Evans has to offer.

Their website’s got a little video showing girls in short skirts weaving around London’s backstreets riding Pashley bikes. For visitors to their website, Topshop offers some routes for young women in short skirts and hotpants.

As ever – more people cycling is a good thing. I find it interesting and slightly disappointing when big business and retailers latch onto cycling as the “next big thing” for their own ends.

Form follows Finland

Having just returned from a very enjoyable holiday in Finland, I was impressed by the variety of bikes being ridden out there. Of course it’s easy to be envious of the miles of segregated bike lanes, covered parking facilities etc

What really impressed me was the Jopo bike - something that looks like the mongrel offspring of a Raleigh Chopper and a Raleigh Shopper. These it turns out are perfectly suited to the Finnish climate. Sensible mudguards for the rain, pedal back brakes to avoid the salt munching through the rims, plenty of clearance to allow for snow tyres. Also they’ve got an integral rack, kick stand and wheel lock.

They were originally designed in the 60's with the objective of being suitable for any rider - can't really imagine a bike manufacturer aspiring to such an idea these days. The design's been resurrected and they're back in the shops - read all about it and buy one if the sterling:euro exchange rate goes up.

It must be all those long winter evenings and sitting around in saunas that make the Scandinavians so good at design – they’ve simply got more time to think.