Spend, spend, spend!
Been shelling out a few bob today, in the name of cycling of course!
Picked up a set of Cateye lights as recommended by Rafe, or see them HERE, which should make my intended commute a bit safer during the winter months, I was not keen on the commuting to work as I would be leaving home at around 5am and not returning home till around 8pm and of course it is VERY dark at those times, also the roads are generally unlit and in the middle of no-where, so these and a reflective vest may make me stand out a bit better.
I have also been and bought a pair of padded shorts, so hopefully things will be a bit more comfortable, I thought I would go the whole hog and get a long sleeved jersey and waterproof jacket too, hopefully they will all fit but I’m not so sure…I will post pictures if they do! Would not dream of posting pics if they didn’t, I think there are laws about that sort of thing anyway!
Gave the bike a good clean today, it had a lot of mud and horse poo on, honestly, I think horse owners should be forced to clean up in the same way dog owners are. The bike also got a good oiling and shes ready for a ride out tomorrow morning, going for around 25 miles with a tea stop with a friend in Abingdon. Really looking forward to it actually.
Will blog the details tomorrow afternoon.
Just as a thought, I always put my ride times from what the computer says, so it’s actually the time the wheels spend turning not the overall time taken, how do the rest of you do your times?
Those CatEye HL-EL320 are bloody good
Padded shorts and “udderly smooth” are great
My Ribble is FILTHY mate, not cleaned it after taking it down a canal tow path
We all do the same mate, its about time CYCLED !
phew, glad I have been getting times right then! sounds daft, as I have more than enough padding in my arse, just looking forward to some additional padding there
Yeah and one side effect of losing weigh is your ass loses that and it hurts even worse, gets better and is worth the pain tho
Padded shorts & padded arses have a different characteristics!
Yeah, I just need the padding on my arse to slip a bit, would be perfect then!
Cycling is all about spending money really
Excellent purchases though, reckon you’ll see a major benefit from those.
I hope you didn’t really put oil on your bike! If you did then I’ll have to give you some maintenance lessons too!
Good luck with the 25 miles. What happened to the easing yourself back into it? Take it steady enough to enjoy it, but hard enough to make it worthwhile!
Yes, time spent riding is what matters. Ignore time spent standing at the side of the road puffing your heart out after a hill
I did use some oil, GT85 or someting similar I think, I’m guessing this isn’t right?
GT85 has it’s uses , and I’ve always plenty of it in the workshop. But a decent chain lube is better. People all rave about their own favourite brand, but any “proper” wet weather (for winter) and all weather or dry (for summer) will do. Another one for the Christmas present list.
In fact, a few more whilst I’m on a roll… I know you have a stand which is fantastic so can’t have that. A claw brush – inexpensive but fantastic if you want to keep your cassette looking new and lasting as long as possible. A removable chain link OR a chain cleaner. I bought the chain cleaner first, but then discovered removable chain links and think one of those and an old 2L pop bottle is better. Finally, some citrus based degreaser.
Don’t bother with a dedicated bike cleaner like Muc-Off, you can get general purpose cleaners that do just as well. I use one by Swafega that costs 1/4 of the price of Muc-Off and dilute 1:10 so it’s 40-50 times better value for money. And there’s always Fairy Liquid! Ignore the muppets that say fairy etc. (or even Muc Off) rot the frame. If it did, what would people with aluminium saucepans do? Just make sure you rinse your bike well after a clean, whatever you use.
Hope that helps.
Righty ho, will have a look for some proper chain lube. I did pop a link out on the chain a few weeks back, it was a nightmare putting the pin back in though, cleaned the chain with some “Gunk” which seemed to do a great job.
Will put a claw brush on the christmas list, probably with blank looks all round
Get a removable link, one that you can pop off with just your fingers and put back on again. Ridgeway cycles in Wantage should be able to supply good lube & a claw brush.
will go and have a look at Ridgeway next week, hopefully I will be feeling better by then and the course will end early!