its all about stodge, bikes, MTBO and the outdoors
With my old trusty Miry getting very tired, Orifix have kindly leant me a new Orifix MTBO map board to try. I tested it today using the optional height raising pieces and I like it. I will try it on the model race on Sunday at the European Championships but first impressions are good and I will probably use it in the finals.
Thanks Orifix
http://www.orifix.net/index.php
I’ve had a woolly summer of training, a few niggly injuries has made it a bit disjointed, but I have been continuing to concentrate on strength. I’ve been feeling great during the last month so now it is a case of tapering to next weeks championships. This week I have been doing a fair bit of MTBO practice on areas locally I think are most similar to what we can expect in Russia. Cannock Chase, Sutton Park and Delamere Forest have been great with a few bits of urban thrown in – local housing estates that are mapped to sprint specifications. I’ve also done a little fast cadence turbo session and a lap of Cannock Chase’s Monkey trail to get speed up my legs and get my eye back into more technical XC riding.
Off the saddle I have given the bike a thorough service and have spent a few hours trying to find Russian versions of Google street view to have a look at Vyborg. I also now have my Russian visa, which took some getting….
So it’s now time to pack the bike, make sure I haven’t forgotten anything and get myself to Gatwick on Saturday !
After having issues with my Avid Elixir CRs for a while the UKs SRAM service centre agreed to have a look at them even though they were nearly 18 months old. On the phone to a very helpful service administrator I also mentioned I was having issues with the lockout on my REBA SL fork. ‘Bung that one in the post too and we will have a look at it’ was her answer!
Yesterday I got a neatly boxed package back with some fixed Elixirs and a full service on my REBA’s free of charge.
Fantastic service and turned around in just a couple of days, ready for getting the Bow back in fine fettle ready for the European Championships in September.
Thanks SRAM Technical Centre www.sram.com
I pulled a muscle in my groin the other day so have been having treatment at Stafford Chiropractic clinic and not riding. So time on my hands. Always looking positive I took the opportunity to get my race bike up to speed ready for the rest of the season, sorting out various problems I have been nursing for a month or so.
Cycle Shack have had the rear wheel in for what looks like its final service, the Roval Controle is looking very tired after nearly 3 years but should be OK to last out the season, its loose spokes now tight and true. I also gave the freewheel a service.
I’ve had my brakes and fork looked at (more of that in another post) and last on the list is a headset service and some new cables.
I’ve also got some new shorts, thanks CycleShack. They are Italian rh+ from http://www.zerorh.com I initially got a medium as normal but those Italians are a little on the small side so I’ve exchanged them for a large now. They should be good for next weekend Sleepless in the Saddle if I can be fit in time and CycleShack can juggle a team together.
In the mean time Ill carry on with the Visa application for Russia which is turning into a administration nightmare !
So one more treatment on Friday, a weekend of recreational rides and then back to the training….
A photo taken by a colleague at Llandegla recently. Very classy !
I needed a fast road ride today so though I would pay a quick visit to Adrian Timmis’s new shop in Barton under Needwood. Specializing in higher end road bikes and particularly bike fit, CadenceSport’s new premises are very swish being an ex kitchen showroom. Ada has added some tour memorabilia and of course the de rigor 42 inch plasma on the wall for watching the action unfold.
The journey there was quite amusing, I came up to a couple of fairly long slow moving traffic jams. I edged to the front twice to find a steam roller, complete with caravan in tow, Fred Dibnah style. The smell was fantastic and looked so right chugging through the old villages of Kings Bromley and Yoxall. I later noticed a sign for a steam rally near Barton, they had a long way still to go!
http://www.bartonsteam.co.uk/
Lots of photos of the new shop on Ada’s Blog – http://cadencesport.blogspot.com/2011/07/shop-tour-2.html
I lent my bike and shoes to a friend whilst on holiday in Cornwall the other week. I went off to the beach, Mark went off for a ride. Apparently on returning from an enjoyable ride Mark couldnt figure out how to release the ratchet mechanism on my Spiuk shoes to get them off. Everytime he tried they got tighter and tighter until his feet started to go numb. He tried my phone which promptly rang next to him in the Caravan so using impressive ingenuity looked through my contacts until he found someone he knew was a biker (Alan H) and promptly phoned him for advice on how to get them off. Alan helped and after a few tries Mark finally found the release buttons and blood rushed back into his feet !
http://www.spiuk.co.uk/acatalog/MTB_Shoes.html – £65 at the moment and fantastic value.
Thanks Purple Harry for continuing to support me.
True to their advert the Purple Harry products last longer than other well known brands, I’ve just run out of the bike cleaner, despite a winters use and still have ¼ bottle of maintenance spray left.
Purple Harry have also just launched some new branding, a much more distinctive black bottle and some smaller bottles. Rumour too that they are thinking launching a lube !
Its arrived just in time to get the paintball paint splashes off my bike from the last recce of Swynnerton Camp on Tuesday night where the British MTBO Sprint Champs are to be held this coming weekend!