New toys and the enjoyment of getting back into training after several weeks of disjointed riding were the feature of this week, with no competitions this weekend though the weather has shown that winter is nearly here.
My left knee now seems back to normal now, though I have found that perhaps I was irritating it by having my seat too high on various bikes, particularly my turbo trainer. On rest night next week I will get all the bikes out and a tape measure and try to optimise not just seat height but for/aft position too. Most people who try my race mountain bike tend to comment it is very ‘long’ so in will be interesting to put some figures to it.
This week I finally received my new light a Hope Vision 4. This 4 LED light is one of the best on the market and as I got a good price through Ada I decided I’d give it a go. Although the weather forecast for Friday evening was horrible the ‘Berkswich year 2 dads ride’ went ahead and I got the chance to try out my new toy. One of the other Dads had his Chinese Ebay specials out for their first outing which looked very good value to but I think their lumen claims are a fair way off the mark. The Hope 4 was just awesome, particularly on low where the battery is alleged to last 30 hours. I used the full power on a couple of descents and immediately pulled a huge distance out on the two Simons, one an ex bmx racer who is normally all over my rear wheel.
The weather got worse and the mud and sand mixed with brake discs and chains was making horrible a noise but my noise got very loud on a climb out of the Sherbrook Valley. I stopped and eventually diagnosed it coming from the rear brake. Wheel removed showed the spring to be mangled up inside the caliper. After removal I tried to get the pads to seat but ended up riding home carefully with only the font brake. Lesson, a spare brake pad srping will join the little bag of spares and tools I always carry in my pack. For interest this now contains :
Chain Splitter, 2 allen keys, 1 tyre lever, 1 Tube, 1 Rear mech hanger, 2 SRAM power links.
With several good rides under my belt this week I am hoping to resume a full training schedule next week but have decided to lay of the running for a few more weeks to make sure I do not get any niggles returning.
Had a similar thing happen in the summer, rode 90% Penmachno with no front brake, bit scary but fun! Decided it was my fault for trying to squeeze one last ride out of my pads
You can ride the Avids with no spring at all, just rubs (a bit more than they do anyway). I’m not sure one can hope to take spares for every eventuality, over the past 3 years I’ve broken 2xhandlebar, 2xseatpost and 2xforks…