December 5, 2008 – 9:02 pm
A lovely crunchy night run on the lingering frozen snow - legs are still feeling last weekends race. (I really need to start measuring some distances and times to make recording any of this half useful)
November 30, 2008 – 9:45 pm
Its been a while since my last fell run,
I had forgotten how enjoyable/hard they are. Finished at the bottom third of the field (the infamous Nick Craig finished 2nd - I didn’t realize he was a fell runner as well).
Image credit Richard Seipp
November 29, 2008 – 7:25 pm
2nd ride on the Genesis iO* and first proper frosty/icy/crackly ride of the winter. So far I’m impressed. It has a definite springy, almost flexy feel but that’s no bad thing.
I was surprised by the old 04 Marzocchi Comp fork I fitted to it which actually feel better than the Reba’s on the Voodoo. They bob around a fair bit when climbing out of the saddle (as singlespeeding that’s on most climbs) in comparison to the Reba’s and their motion control gubbins but they feel very comfortable working well over small stuff and feeling good (and better than the Reba) on larger hits.
The iO feels confident when descending and feels faster on rocky descents than the Voodoo Bokor - I think this is mainly due to the been less pinged around - could be the geometry or even the tyres (I had forgotten what a good tyre the Halo Choir Master Lite is). Roll on the winter!
*History of my Genesis iO reynolds 725 frame
- Purchased 2nd handaround October 2007, the previous owner had won it at the Single Speed World Championships held in Avimore that year (I think) for ‘Most Spectacular Crash’
- Spent over a year getting dusty in the spare room.
- Finally built up last week with a little help from 18 bikes
View more photos of the Genesis iO on Ice
November 28, 2008 – 9:33 pm
Forced myself out for a run this evening as:
a. I’ve done nothing all week (night rides been called off)
b. Stretch of legs in preparation for Sunday’s Famous Grouse fell race
November 25, 2008 – 10:16 pm
Late traveling for the Leeds 10k on Sunday morning due to an iced up car amongst other things. Roads were already closed (for the race) and there was an accident on the diversion route so left with no option but to run to the start from Kirkstall Abbey at the 5k point (the race was well under way by the time I arrived at the start (cue: ‘oi mate your running the wrong way!’, etc )).
I actually started behind the car that follows the last runner so ended up running with the chickens for the most part. I was quite pleased with my time of 47mins for the 10k as I had ran the extra 5k at a fair clip.
November 25, 2008 – 9:48 pm
The winter has knocked on the door, let itself in, poured a cup of tea and generally made itself at home so here’s a quick (think Haiku) and long over due update of my ’summer’* 2008:
The elbow healed.
Enduro 6 was dry
Sleepless was wet
Mountain Mayhem was wetter
Hit The North was wet
TransWales was very wet
*bike related
13 days post crash and I’m still in a sling. Although the effect of my bruised ribs has been more uncomfortable than the actual elbow fracture (I fractured the ‘radial head’ by the way). The ribs had me really worried as it really effected my breathing on my right side, this was confirmed by a visit to another A&E (I would definitely recommend Stepping Hill as my A&E of choice, MRI is depressing even for a Casualty department!) and another X-ray which showed my right lung was slightly smaller than my left because of the internal bruising. Think of a lardy guy sitting on your chest 24 hours a day - thankfully this sensation is slowly fading and I’m now able to take nearly a full right lung full of air. I visited a private physio (as wasn’t offered physio at the fracture clinic) which proved to be really helpful and insightful. I’ve been given a number of different exercises that will hopefully ensure full mobility as I’ve discovered elbow injuries can be a real ‘pain’ (ahem) and some never heal 100%. Should hopefully be back on le bicycle in 4 weeks!
In other news I hand delivered our teams Mountain Mayhem entry form to ensure our place as apparently entry is pretty tight and missed the Saturday morning post. The application was released midnight on Friday 29th and we dropped the entry of at 3pm on Saturday they’d already had 70 hand delivered enteries!
February 27, 2008 – 11:10 am
Doing a regular loop around Chinley Churn last night. Pulled my front wheel up at a stream at the bottom of a descent and the next thing I knew I was lying in the sand (its like a beach up there!) nursing my chest that had just slammed into an embedded rock, and couldn’t I straighten my right arm. JP fixed my front pitch flat and I rode/rolled the mile or so back home.
Was concerned about my chest and arm and went to A+E - after x-ray’s chest fine just badly bruised/swollen which effects breathing slightly and fractured broken - now sat at home full of Co-Codalmol watching daytime TV with my arm in a sling (fracture clinic tomorrow).
**Fracture clinic update** Doctor thinks that I don’t need physio and should be able to regain a decent about of movement in two to three weeks -mmm… still pretty painful 6 days after the event…
Doc said elbow should take around 6 weeks to heal.
Had just signed up for Enduro 6 as well, and also messes up my Trans-Wales training : (
(Was riding my shonky rigid bike, Don’t think I would have lost it with a suspension fork. that’ll teach me!)
February 24, 2008 – 4:27 pm
Went out just as the rain started and finished just as it ended wanted to go for a long one (again) but got cold wet and miserable so after 2 hours headed back. I’m always surprised just how much harsher the weather can be just a couple of hundred feet up.
Bike: Voodoo Bokor
Tyres: Continental Speed Kings 2.3 (not bad in the wet either, although noticed back tyre slipping out on wet tarmac climb)
Weather: 9°c ish, windy, raining, ‘orrid
Distance: Dunno Cateye Strada lost its data again halfway round
Route: Chinley Churn >Peep o Day > White Lady > Hayfield > Lantern Pike > New Mills
Av. Speed: Who knows, not that quick though
In other events I attempted to fit brakes to new frame, although the fork mounts seem to slightly off and may need to take the file to ‘em (I couldn’t align the Hope facing tool either).
February 23, 2008 – 7:19 pm
Finally got around to purchasing the zip ties (major achievement!) so fitted the CatEye computer. Although 3/4 of the way into the ride on a particularly exposed and windy climb my speed read 68 mph! It seemed to fix itself after a few seconds though but still my experience with the Cateye Strada has been fairly irritating so far.
As per usual on a Saturday I found myself getting out the door far to late (4pm) in the day to get any decent millage in without lights - so opted for the usual local Strines > Mellor loop. After a hard climb up Hall Lane I turned onto the road at Mellor to see a roadie 20 metres or so behind and gave it everything up to the turn off to Mellor Church. Expecting to be caught all the way just before the turn off I glanced round to see the guy right on my back wheel, he probably could have cruised past at any point. An enjoyable fast loop.
According to Cateye Strada my average speed was 12.3 mph (but need to knock a bit of due the 68mph thing!)
Bike: Voodoo Bokor
Tyres: Continental Speed Kings 2.3 (growing to really like these)
Weather: 11°c ish, slightly wet ground, windy
Distance: According to Cateye Strada 11.4 miles (but who knows!)
Route: Local Mellor loop (Brook Bottom Rd > Strines > Hall Lane > Mellor Church > Bogguard Road > Brook Bottom Rd
Av. Speed:12.3mph (maybe?)
Also finally got the forks fitted to my new bike, Genesis IO.
