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getting there

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I’m gradually building up my fitness again. Gradually is the operative word here. I’ve been trying to get out on the bike a couple of times a week at least but feel like I’m going to have to up that to daily. I managed twenty miles today without feeling absolutely wrecked but I know if I take another break for even a week I will be back to where I started in no time at all.

At least now Spring is on its way so it should be easier to convince myself to go out. It actually felt quite warm in the sun so maybe the weather will help. I could always blame my age for the reticence but I know (and not even that deep down) it’s laziness. I’ve got too used to sitting around over the winter.

spring-time’s near

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Now the weather’s getting better, snowdrops and crocuses are beginning to appear and the frost has gone (for now!), I have decided that it’s time to get back out cycling regularly.

I’ve only been out a couple of times in the last few months and then only for a mile or two at a time. I feel it too. After a ten mile cycle today, my legs are like jelly and my bum is aching. At my age it is telling how much fitness gets lost in a few weeks. I had forgotton what it was like turning around and heading back into a head wind and the burning thigh muscles on an incline which is really too shallow to be considered a hill.

I really need to be doing this distance every couple of days. Especially as I intend to cycle to Edinburgh and back next month. Even just a couple of years ago I could have probably done a cycle like that after a day or two back on the bike following a break. Nowadays I’m going to have to build up gradually over weeks rather than days.

goodbye auld year

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It’s the final day of 2023 and the weather continues to be driech. Yesterday’s snow has gone, washed away by the almost incessant rain.

I’m not one for making New Year’s Resolutions so will continue that for the one coming. What I will promise myself is that I will keep on making an effort to get out on my bike as often as I can.

it’s cold outside

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I went out for a cycle yesterday and the temperature was getting close to freezing. After half an hour I was getting so cold I turned around and headed home. By the time I got inside, my fingers were painful and my face felt as though I had been skelped (a good Scots word meaning slapped!). It was a sunny day but a lot of the route I took was in shade and the temperature drop was very noticeable. I was well wrapped up, wearing several layers, gloves and a hat under my helmet but I still felt the bite.

Am I getting too old for winter cycling?

biking and photography

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I was tidying up this site the other day and wanted to add a few more photos to some of the pages. After going through my photos, I realised just how few I have with my bike actually in them.

I often carry a camera with me, especially if I’m away for a few days. I have a Canon M5 mirrorless camera which is small and light enough to carry in my handlebar bag. It has a 28mm lense fitted and I also take along a 50mm one to capture things that are just a bit further away. I have considered buying a 50-200 zoom lense but will need to decide if the extra reach is worth the weight and the expediture. As I also have a full frame canon which I use when I am out and about on foot, the M5 is only ever used when I am on the bike so I’ve not yet convinced myself.

When I’m touring I also take some photos with my mobile phone. This is mainly if I am going to post them to social media. I tend to keep the pictures in the camera for processing when I get home.

But to get back to my original point, I really must make an effort to include my bike in more of my pictures. I have an anathema to selfies but I suppose I shouldn’t lump my bike in with that.

e-bikes here, e-bikes there

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Recently when I’ve been out on my bike I’ve been noticing an increase in the number of e-bikes out and about. When I was on Arran in September most of the tourers I saw were e-bikes, maybe hired ones being used by visitors who hadn’t brought bikes with them.

Amongst people my age (mid to late 60s) I think e-bikes are becoming especially popular. I just listened to an article on Radio Scotland’s Out of Doors extolling the virtues of e-bikes for people whose fitness is not what it used to be or may even have some sort of disability which excludes them from using a normal bike. An electric assisted bike can really mean the difference between cycling or not for some folk.

For myself, I am going to continue to pedal. It helps me keep my fitness levels up and for cycle touring and camping an e-bike just doesn’t have the range to be practical. So, for the next few years at least, I’ll stick to the old-fashioned way. Not to say I’ll never go electric.

cycle path etiquette

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I went out for a couple of hours on the Forth & Clde canal towpath today. It was busy with both walkers and cyclists. It was difficult to decide who was worse. Cyclists on the right side of the path or walkers on the left. Wouldn’t it be good if some organisation put out definitive guidance on the matter?

I grew up in the countryside and we were always taught to face on-coming traffic when walking on roads with no footpath. This seems to me to be the sensible way to use shared spaces like canal tow-paths. It means cyclists know that walkers can see them approaching. Walkers can stay to the right when they see cyclists coming towards them and the person on the bike can manouever around them. If cyclists are approaching from behind, then sounding a bell and knowing the person on foot will move to their right makes things so much easier. I have often rang my bell and not known until the last moment which way the pedestrian is going to move. Runners seem to do it automatically, maybe because they are using shared paths more or maybe there’s a code for runners they all read.

Cyclists need to realise that if they are passing a walker on their side of the path and there’s another cyclist coming towards them they should give way. I lose count of the number of times I have had to brake to avoid either colliding with someone on a bike or hitting a pedestrian.

Time for me to do a bit of research and find out if there is anything written anywhere.

UPDATE

These seem to be the clearest bits of advice available at present

Sustrans and Highway Code

the stem show

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After trying three different stems, dozens of different combinations of spacers, many handlebar positions and a few angles of rise I still didn’t have the bar set up to my complete satisfaction. By trying two different lengths of stem I worked out the ideal reach would be 90mm with as close to zero rise as I could get.

That meant buying another. The two I had were both bought second hand and I can re-sell them but I decided for the permament one I would buy new. Then I came across an advert for a suspension stem. I had previously considered getting a suspension seat-post but never thought about a stem. I started looking in to the idea and after some head-scratching decided to splash out. There were a few on e-bay, mostly Chinese copies but I decided to go for quality and bought a German made Vecnum Frequence. The only dealer who supplies them in Scotland is a bike shop in Edinburgh and I was going to buy one through their on-line site. Fortunately, I was watching the item on their e-bay site and was offered it at at a good discount. I snapped it up and it arrived this morning.

The quality is good and I think it looks good on the bike. It’s bulkier than a plain stem although not much more than a MTB one which I was also considering. It took a fair bit of experimenting with spacers but I think I’ve got the set-up right. I won’t cut the steerer until I’ve used it for a while as I may still want to adjust the height of the bars again. It will take a longer ride to ascertain if the suspension makes a great deal of difference to the ride comfort but any reviews I’ve read say it does.

I’ll do a fuller review after I’ve used it for a few months and on longer rides.

Koga Denham bars
(click on image for larger view)
Frequence suspension stem
(click on image for larger view)

choices

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I got my new bars yesterday. They are KOGA Satori Denham. With them having a bigger diameter I had to buy a new (second-hand) stem too. The one I got has a 80mm reach and 30 degree rise. I don’t know if this is too much or what the best height of the stem will be. It will be a case of trying different combinations of spacers until I get it right.

I have a few options and plan to try them all before taping the bars or cutting the steerer.

The Met Office is recommending that everyone in the central belt doesn’t leave their houses today, so I’ll spend the morning fitting them.