Finished my first book of the year on new year’s day is a bit of an achievement, but I did start it a month or so ago.
The book focuses on his last year as a professional cyclists and insights into life in the peloton.
Not quite as satisfying read as the Fall and Rise of David Miller but fascinating none the less.
This week I have been back on my track bike, for the fist time since my crash in October last year. Now in recent months I have been cycle commuting on my road bike, but somehow it is different and slightly scary to be back on a track bike.
Scary but good.
It also looks like it will be a hundred mile week. Which is challenging, but will help me get my fitness back.
I have done well this week on my cycle commutes this week. I have managed to cycle more than 100 miles, (ok it was only 101.5 miles, but that still counts).
Not cycled that kind of distance in a week in a long time, might have been over a year.
What made it even more brilliant is that I averaged 15.5 mph over that distance! This is amazingly fast given that this was riden in rush hour traffic.
My legs are a bit tired, but I’m very happy with my effort. GoMe.
This evening while cycling home, I was shouted at by a driver as the overtook. Amazingly it was actually audible, as the Doppler effect and engine noise. The shout was..
“Cycle lane”
Which I think was a reference to the fact that I was cycling in the road, rather than one of the new and mostly decent cycle superhighways.
I smiled, and shouted back
“Road”
While pointing out the very nice road that I was riding along.
I think that this little exchange my have upset the driver, and not exactly helped with car v cyclist relations, but if your shouting things from cars I don’t think your ready for calm discussion about the highway code. So no big loss really.
During this post the author details his latest mishap and the resulting rapid horizontal realignment that followed. However in order to abate your worries I can categorically state that I’m fine and not badly injured. The bike is barely damaged at all.
So that being said what happened.. well I was not even a mile from home when I cross a small section of shared space before I turn left and join the main road. Picture if you will a small road that used a long time ago to be a rat run, that cyclists are still allowed to use to get to the old T junction.
On the junction is some pedestrian lights (technically a Toucan crossing) that allow cyclists to cross the road. No idea why actually as there isn’t a cycle path on the other side of the road. My plan is to turn left, and as I approached the pedestrianised section I watched the lights change to give pedestrian (and cyclists) priority.
I’m heading left so I plot a path between the pedestrians, not going too fast as I’m not unsociable, into the clear road.. it’s clear because the busy traffic is stopped at the lights. So I turn in and start planning to get back up to speed..
Then things go bad so very quickly, my nice wide empty road now contains a dust cart going the wrong way. The dust cart was doing a big swinging maneuver so it could reverse into a service road on the other side of the street. The driver had anticipated that anyone would be coming the other way as the traffic lights were red.
I hit the brakes knowing that as I’m currently cornering it will only be a matter of time before I lose it and hit the deck. That seemed a better option than hitting the oncoming dust cart.
As a result I have some road rash on my elbow and a large bruise on my hip. Which is just the extra aches that I didn’t need after yesterday’s excursion. Anyway apart from being annoyed at myself and a bit fragile, nothing much to report.. will need to patch up the handlebar tape, but that is it for damage to the bike.
See I’m fine.. nothing to worry about. Could have been worse, if I had hit him I doubt that I would have managed to damage his paint work.
This evening I attended my first ever road bike training session on the velodrome at Herne Hill. It is also the first time that I have been out on the improved surface, and that was put down at least five years ago.. Which just proves that I have been really useless at getting out and doing any training..
Which might explain why it was quite such hard work and why I was one of the slowest out on the track.. and there were more than 70 out, so it was very busy.. but that did make it a touch scary at times. I locked up my rear wheel once as the group I was in slowed down suddenly..
In 2 hours at the track, (which includes safety briefings and suchlike) I was cycling for an hour and a quarter, during which time I cycled 24 miles at an average of 18.5 mph.
When I was getting down to the track regularly I was averaging just a touch better than 21 mph. (i think) So I am a fair bit down..
It was a good session, and I have worked hard, maybe I could have pushed myself a bit more, but on finishing my legs are fizzy so I did do a solid workout. However, my shoulders are very tense, so my bike setup is wrong, so I will have to look at that.
Looking forward to next week’s session, see if that settles down a bit more so you can ride more smoothly.
Struggling to think of things today, it was a normal ish busy day at the office, I made some progress and hopefully pushed some of my projects along, but nothing really stands out.
I did get out for a very short walk at lunchtime, which was good, didn’t get far, but it was nice to get away from my screen for a bit, so I should count that. It was a nice bright clear day, so it would have been a shame not to have seen some real daylight.
Stopped to chat to a chap in Dulwich, he was stood beside the road with his bicycle and looking a bit fed up and cold. Then I realised that the front wheel of his bike had been destroyed. It wasn’t just buckled it was fully destroyed, he had been hit by a car pulling out of a side road. The driver had seen the car in front then assumed that it was safe to pull out. The rider had a small cut on his leg but was otherwise walking and talking, and generally being amazed at how unhurt he felt.
He was glad of someone to talk to while he waited for his sister to come and pick him up.
So it was nice to be friendly and to look out for someone, I know that I have depended on the help of strangers in the past, so try to make a point of making sure that other cyclists are ok.
Did make me feel glad that no one has tried to kill me for a while now, so that might be something to be happy about.
Actually think that no one trying to kill you should be the bases of most good days, it is something that we all take far to much for granted.
I picked up this book for a quid from the supermarket, it documented Brad’s 2012 year of success. It was a bit light on detail for me and just too fluffy.
Hey it had fun facts, and bold words to indicate that they were in the glossary. Really complicated cycling words like peloton. So it was never going to be a the greatest cycling biography.
But it was an easy enough read, but mostly reminded me that I really want to read David Millar’s book.
Today has been a real mixed bag, and quite frankly a bit of a struggle not to be overwhelmed by it all and stop looking for the positive, and just want to curl up and hide under my desk.
My bike ride to work was good, it was the first time in a long time that I cycled what I consider to be the standard ride to work. Which is about 12 miles, the shortest route I could do is about 8 and a bit miles. The 12 mile route takes me past Parliament Square, and if I am on time lets me hear Big Ben chime 8 o’clock, which I always think to be a good thing. I was running a bit late so it was about quarter past this morning so I missed it, but it was a bright sunny day, so I was really enjoying the ride.
Even if the Embankment is a bit of a mess with roadworks at the moment.
When I arrived at work, I had my first oh no moment. I had forgotten my security dongle, so couldn’t get into the carpark. A quick shout to security and they let me in, it always pays to say hello and be friendly to security, means that they know who you are when you get stuck.
So they let me into the carpark, but I couldn’t get to the bike cage. Where I normally keep the bike, and where my bike lock lives.
So I hid my bike around the back until I popped up to the office to borrow one of the other cyclists dongle so I could get to my lock, given he was on earlies so wouldn’t be about to let me out, I locked my bike up to the standard racks in the carpark, as I knew that I would be able to get it back from there.
Even that took longer to sort out, as I had to go back to the office twice to pick up my keys, and then trousers so I could get changed.
At which point I realised that there was a pair of trainers in my desk drawer where my work shoes live. Arg. I had taken the train in on Friday, and forgotten to change my shoes before going home.
So I would have to spend the day in my cycle shoes, which at least are mostly black. At which point I was glad that I don’t wear race shoes, as you really can’t walk too far in them.
Only a few people noticed so I mostly got away with it.
At this point I decided that I deserved cake, fortunately there was a Macmillan cake sale being held by the company on the first floor, so I headed down to buy 3 bits of cake. Which was really tasty, (I was mostly good and didn’t eat it all at once.)
Now Mondays are always quite busy and meeting heavy, at least 3 of which I have to sort the minutes for, today had the additional pressure because I am giving a presentation to the London office tomorow morning, (8:45) and had to finish of my slides.
What broke me was returning to my bike to go home, and realising that my lights were missing! Arg.
Now the carpark should be basically secure, it is only use by 1 car, the other cyclists and the smokers. Given that my bike is normally in the bike cage I feel ok about leaving my lights on the bike, but today it had just been in the carpark, and they were gone.
So I looked the bike up and went to chat to security, to learn that where I was locked up is not covered by the outside cameras. The cage has a good level of camera coverage, but where I was parked is a blind spot. I admitted that I accepted that it was my fault I really shouldn’t have left them on the bike, and that I would speak to the building management team in the morning.
Now fortunately I also have lights on my saddle bag so I still had a rear light for the way home, but I would be without a front light, now it wasn’t going to be dark on the way home, but I would have rather had lights. I felt a bit invisible as I stomped on the pedals and cycled home pushing hard as a way of working out my emotional energy. It was that or have a cry and I really didn’t want to..
I also realised that I am still unfit as I was overtaken cycling up Crystal Palace, I was giving it everything I had and doing about 14 mph uphill and I was still overtaken. Now the 2 chaps in question were serious and doing training, I know this because when they got to the top they turned around to roll down the hill to do it again.
When I finally made it home, I rolled into the garden, and remembered that I had been to Halfords on Sunday, and I had taken my lights off before that journey. So my lights where on the floor of the shed where I had left them..
Which is a relief, but has just left me a bit drained.
Tomorrow I will have to fess up my mistake to the building manager, oh well, that is still better than having to buy new lights.
Right dinner eaten, bag sorted for tomorrow, so I will have my work shoes and pass tomorrow. Time for an early night.
1) The revelation that a chocolate teapot is actually useful, you could eat it.*
2) Nope can’t think of anything else today, I’ve had another busy / stressful day at work with me eating lunch at my desk and then leaving late.. Followed by a completely avoidable rear puncture.. ** Which was even more annoying as it was only 24 hours since my last one.
At that point I headed for the nearest train station and just gave up on the day..
Didn’t have long to wait for a train, so perhaps that is a win..
Right tomorrow is Friday, so hopefully that will be better.
* It is the same with dipsticks, brilliant at what they were designed to do.
** I failed to hook my saddle bag on correctly, so it ended up pushing my mud guard against the tire, and then it went bang…