Well that passed without a flutter

Man, I was soooo excited about hitting 10,000 miles on one bike. Never before had I achieved such a feet on a single bike. Ever.

Gotten close, yes. I'd covered over 9000 miles on a Single Speed but never the big 10.

It was soo cool working up to 10k. Got taken out, fell off, shiz broke, it felt like a real challenge.

I was really looking forward to it. Thought to myself  'yeah, i'll service the bike as reward' and made plans for banners and a party for all to attend (ha!). Then it happened. I just cycled my 10,000th mile like any other. I didn't even finish a ride on the number, I just cycled straight through it. I think it was a commute home, mile 13 out of 25 or something equally forgettable.

I was going to sync my 10,000th mile ride with a ride out with a couple of buds and stop for a pint on route but that didn't happen for commitment reasons. It was all just a bit meh

So anyway, I did it and it was like any other mile. Same old shiz. Another mile, another commute.

So now my 2016 Allez is my most ridden bike ever. 11,727 miles. It's in dire need of a clean and a gear service. The current cassette has only done 2590 miles so that's good for another 2590 miles but the chain is stretched to the point of concern.

Due to my accident and a wheelset swap, the chain has done a 1000 miles more than the cassette, old cassette stayed on the Ultegra wheel as a spare.

So if it doesn't snow too bloody much, I might get round to swapping the chain in the next few days.....Hooray for 10k!

Saddle Woe

I recently had the nose of my saddle break on me. This upset me a smidge. I've had this particular saddle for about 5 years. It's a 2013 model of the Specialized Toupe Comp gel.

Great saddle, such a personal thing a saddle. £100 for a new one. £100!! Damn that's a lot of money.

It the grand scheme of thing's, its really not. When you work out how long you sit on a saddle. For me it's a 25 mile commute, that's 25 in each direction, 3 time's a week, probably, usually. I recon my now broken saddle has done at least 25,000 miles. I would assume more, it's been on at least 4 different bikes, It literally gets put on every bike I ride. Simple.

I've now bought a new version of that saddle. The 2017 version it would seem. The shape seems the same but the foam seems a little deeper with a ridge where there didn't used to be one, that said, the old saddle was 5 years old, so I guess designs change with time, i've just missed the changes.

I do sit on the nose of my saddle, not sure why, just find it more comfortable. Whatever. I did think about buying a different saddle. I want to try a Brooks one day, not one of the older range but one of the new  C17 saddles or perhaps the narrower C15. I generally go for 143mm width with a saddle, My point is, anything new I'd need to test. So I stick with the tried and tested.

This image still makes me sad. When you find something that works, stick with it. Then buy it again. If it's that good and it works, it's worth keeping.

Roundabouts and shiz

I ride alone. A lot. It's a commuting thing. I have 2 ride buddies at work that sometimes choose to ride with me. One of them wants me to piss off 50% of the time but that's another story. Mostly it's a commitment thing. I think :) 

Anyway. I ride alone. A lot. So I just get on with it. I like to think I ride in a bold manner. I don't ride in the gutter, I ride so when a car goes to overtake, they have to overtake in to oncoming traffic. As they should. Quite right too. You're not squeezing me.

So I rarely get feedback on my riding style. Aggressive yeah. Ave it. Potentially dangerous. I don't believe so but I've never really thought about it. Yes I do ride aggressively. I do it to hold road position and keep my line. Ride submissively and you'll get taken advantage of. Simple as that. Ride in the gutter, cars won't cross the white line to overtake as they won't deem it necessary and the only one that suffers is you. Ultimately.

I'm a driver too you know. I also have a motorbike license. I am aware what's around me, always. I have to be.

Riding alone I go for gaps that aren't made for two. This was highlighted to me the other day when going for a gap on a roundabout. Done this 1000s of times before. No dramas. This gap was gradually getting smaller as I approached and I had company. The roundabout had 4 entry points, as I was approaching there was a car coming straight on, turning right and one entering from the right to go straight on.

This gave me a small window but one I was happy with. That is, if the cars continued at that constant pace but they didn't. The car turning slowed and the car going straight on quickened.

I was going right and my bud going straight on. He'd seen this and worked out he'd have a better chance of survival by stopping to give way like a decent road user should have.

I kept going. The car turned in front of me. I hit the gap the car behind me went straight on. I'm not sure what evasive action was taken but I assume someone had to break because of me.

So there is bold, clever riding and there is being wreckless. That move fell into the latter category. 

Not one of my finest moments on a bike. One I will surely learn from. Now i'm taking in the feedback of my fellow riders to make myself a better rider. I have 3 kids. Time to stop going for shrinking gaps and start thinking more about my riding. 

Excuses

Man I love this.....This post has been inspired by that GCN video, you know the one.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw7HC8z_zZs

I have a HUGE list of excuses, some genuine, some maybe not so much.....Love deploying a good excuse. We all do. Especially when it comes to the commute and one of your riding buddies clearly has better form than you. You can sense it almost immediately as you leave the office. 

Someone injects a bit of pace and you just know your legs aren't having any of it. So they start rolling round your mind. You start questioning what you're wearing, the bike you're riding, their bike, their gear. Your's is defo heavier. 100%. You ok the sitch with the fact you've been riding all week and they've just appeared for this day. 'fresh legs'. 

And so it commences.......My list: 

'I'm using a 52 FFS, who specs a 52, how can I climb with a 52!' (kicked the ass out of this one)

'This jacket is too big, I'm too hot to chase any times' 

'I'm wearing the wrong shoes, these winter boots are too heavy' 

'I'm clearly wearing the wrong kit for the conditions, I'm too *Hot/Cold/wet/dry (*delete as required)

'My chain has stretched, I'm nursing the bike until I swap the chain out' *Currently using this.

'My wheels are too heavy' 

'There is too much traffic today' 

'I have a new bag and it sits higher on my back, I can feel it pulling me back. Must be the wind resistance, ' *this is a new one for me, bigger bag, 4 litres more storage space. This will be deployed soon enough. 

Clearly there are plenty more. 

The best excuse I've heard for actually riding the bike is this, which was used when a mate that seldom rides, rode on a freezing cold morning. 

'I couldn't be arsed to defrost the car' 

Brilliant.