Combing my hair….

New convenient van parking place discovered in Sheffield

One word: Fabulous

Taken a while to edit this video. Stage One of the folding bike LEJOG: Land’s End to Bristol with quite a few unplanned diversions on the way

I think I knew this already – but I am grateful to Planet X for helping me confirm my obsessive nature.

If this video doesn’t make you want to load up the paniers and pedal off, I don’t know what will.

Video by Blanche from the Vimeo World Cycle Group

Thanks Greg for alerting me to this one, I am sure Chris Hoy will be watching with interest

Just about ready to ready off to Lands End for this year’s Folding Bike Challenge. This handlebar shot shows:

• Non-matching brakes – following an emergency replacement of the front (LHS) set up following the SLX caliper starting to leak oil onto the rotor
• Handlebar mount for GoPro camera
• Rixen Kaul stem mount for map holder
• Cat Eye computer with nearly 1899 miles on the clock

Just got to spend a day on the train to the start now.

Fabulous video – almost makes me want to take part in four years time. But then the video is only 14 minutes long, unlike the event…

For the last week I have been getting used to the Tout Terrain Metropolitan which I have got from Bikefix. I got the bike as part of my search for the ultimate commuter – by which I mean a bike I can ride 52 weeks a year when I am doing my short commute. [My short commute is 8 miles daily using bike-train-bike] The bike has a number of features which lend it regular commuting:

• An internal hub gear – in this case an Alfine 11 speed
• A hub dynamo
• Hydraulic disc brakes
• Fitted mudguards and plenty of clearance

However the two features which specifically attracted me to the Metropolitan are an integrated rear rack and even more importantly, a Gates carbon belt drive.

I have made a number of immediate modifications to the bike. I am unlikely to use the integrated stand so I removed it, together with the Tubus Racktime clamps as I already had an Altura rack. That saved a grams. I then swapped out the rather broad Selle Royal saddle Read the rest of this entry »

I’m grateful to John Bibby for alerting me to this video. I like the idea of microadventures. It strikes me as a great way to combine the challenge of an adventure without all the expense and environmental impact of long-haul flights etc. It may be a sign of advancing age but I have never been convinced that a gap year in New Zealand represents more of a challenge than a month’s Inter-railing and what this shows is that the challenge can be found even closer to home. That said, I think that there was probably a lot more planning that went into this trip than the video reveals – crossing the sounds in an inflatable boat is probably only advisable at certain points in the tides for example.

Here’s how to microadventure