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Somehow the group I was in missed the hermitage road wait point, and we got smaller and smaller till I was at the back of a group of 4 and the rear ultrarace on my flyer punctured in holland park, swapped tubes but pump then failed to work (I haven't used my mini pump for 3 or 4 years). Walked to shepherds bush tube but not allowed on as bikes not allowed on trains that go in tunnels apparently. Then walked down to hammersmith and got on one to Boston manor (home...).
Loved the ride apart from all that crap, so thanks to the organisers great job. Your advice on preparation was spot on, just wished I'd followed it better...like getting some phone numbers and stuff.
I had heard these continental ultaracw tyres were shit and thought about swapping them before the ride but decided to give them a chance instead. That'll teach me.
Hope everyone else had a troublefree ride or got home safely if they did have problems.
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Read the disclaimer.
Unless you really(really) know how to control your bike under pressure don't show-off too much in the pack.Yes I had read it thanks, don't worry, showing off I won't be...
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In at 12, my first forum ride...have not ridden in a group EVER so I may be a danger to myself and others (why i didn't sign up to the frozen bridges ride as i had originally intended) but I promise I will be careful.
- MA3KTROPOLITAN Line
- Oliver DisSchickt Line
- LoverpoolStreet23
- Howrad Michello
- cani Street Station
- MarlybOWEN R(ee)d
- mmccannon st.
- Crispiccadilly Circus
- Zane Chorleywood
- LaLiLuLeLondon Underground
- Truli's Hill Gate
- Simonw7sisters
- Fulham bROBway
- Mongrelybone
- Woolsden Green
- Latimmeehh! Road.
- Joebilee Line smith
- braker street
- richiembankment
- bikeS NOT ALLOWED destroyer
- 4Plaistow
- lardboyke Grove
- Par(ty_paul)sons Green
- Psy-cle Line
- Strip My Moorgate
- Middleofnowhereton Crescent
- JACKFLAshadwell
- SHAWditch...
- AlDgAte Place
- AlDgAte East (the boyfriend)
- victoria libre
- BlueQueensway.
- upstartminster
- St CrazyJames's Park
- blind dan (i can't really make a good tube analogy with my username)
- chalfont and JAHtim er
- Golders Hugreen ( and I mean that most sincerely folks)
- Kirtburn Park
- JOHNNY FITZ
- david H
- Nurse Holloway Road
- Hauska (+ Bird)
- timmy and the lords of the underground
- Chadwell
- Brother's Lane
- Mornington Crishen(t)
- Dalston Someday
- David Sexual Ealing Broadway
- Hanged_Upminster
- Crimphamson Junction
- Hakiney downs
- Ivandaterripol street
- StepAmy Green
- arniham common
- JOHNNY FTZ
- leystons888ne
- marcola
- KRingZ cross
- Skullyer's Wood
- Russellkibeats Square - First timer, whoooohooo
- Cutty Sarkthroat
- richokingsbury
- velogate.
- izgardam common
- Mansion Haus
- Actony Town
- bowroadieanddoyle
- Digstrict Line
- Antonzi
- Babarican
- kisu_shimo Green
- Isle of 2 dogs (now called Canary Whoof)
- EvansWare Road
- Afternoonington Crescent
- Rabroke Grove
- owee
- t-4003
- PontoonDuck
- St Juji's Park (might bring a friend too)
- Goldjawk Road
- Bayveoswater
- Marcabene
- R_dy
- mAIDA vale
- okwithmydecay
- High Street kattiepington
- yourtottenhamcourtroadlover
- MA3KTROPOLITAN Line
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Don't know about them bars (wouldn't fancy it myself) but just wanted to comment on freshtripe given they are getting some stick here, I used them a couple of times recently -regardless of their different style of product classification I found stuff I wanted there that I had not found elsewhere, And at a decent price. I bought it, they shipped it, I received it, no gripes. When I had questions the proprietor jamie younger responded quickly , helpfully and appropriately.
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here are my bikes and face.
genesis flyer is only just arrived with me, is pretty much as received, except swapped pedals and clips for better ones, and stuck a 17t cog on the other side of the hub from the 18th freewheel it shipped with, and flipped it.
other bike is a conversion i did from an old dawes road bike 9 months ago for my first go at riding fixed. i know the chain is slack, keep meaning to lose a link.
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I had the same concerns when I started riding fixed about 8 months ago, as I have had torn cartilage removed in the past. I set up my conversion with 42/16 which is pretty easy in west London, and never had any problem. However I just took my new flyer out for first proper ride on friday night which is set up as 46/17 fixed, did about 20 miles, next day my knees were very sore. Either it is the extra gear inches or some other aspect of how it is set up, as I have not got round to optimising it yet. But my hunch is that the extra inches caused it, and that is without any skidding which I've always been reluctant to try due to knee problems.
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If you're currently in surbiton then I don't think that you need to worry too much about isleworth being dull...(must confess I've never been to surbiton I am just writing that out of some unconcious prejudice)
Anyway from my experience the worst part of isleworth to live in is the southern end near the stadium, off mogden lane there is a large sewage treatment plant which reeks sometimes.
But if you are looking at the flats I think you mean, by the west mid, then you are well away from that.
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thanks a lot for your input, that's good to know, i shall keep the set up as it is I think (at least its supposed to be a nice part of the country to walk in...). I think i profiled the A591 route initally, but the hills were steeper so i went for a workaround, but i guess the A591 may be safer in terms of condition and width etc.
Like the look of the ride with GPS site also, didn't get that back in my results when i was searching for a way of doing elevation profiles, haven't had to do them before as I sadly only get to ride to commute in last 10 years. Hoping to start doing some (lfgss) group rides this year to change that.
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I need to go to a social event in Ambleside in May, looking at booking the train to Oxenholme from Euston, then riding the last 15 or so miles rather than changing onto another train to Windermere.
I mapped out a route on mapmyride as i wanted to see what kind of elevation profile it would have.
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-kingdom/-windermere/448126385664538658
There is a checkbox for 'show elevation profile' on the right of the map, but to be honest i find it hard to translate this into how it would be, due to lack of experience.
I have only ever ridden fixed gear on relatively flat commute in london but am relatively fit, so wondered if anyone with experience of hilly terrain could check out the route, and tell me if this would be feasible or foolhardy on my usual 71", or if i should drop to low 60's, or if i should consider swapping in a freewheel instead of fixed (or of course just htfu...)
Prefer to do it on my current bike, as my geared bike (cheapish and heavy rigid specialized hardrock) was dismantled and put in the loft recently due to non-use as i haven't ridden it since about 7 months ago when i built my fixed bike up, but would get it down again if necessary.
Thanks for any advice
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^^ the more pungent the aroma , the more propz you get.
if you don't want propz airing and drycleaning will reduce the odour.
gotcha so it's like a status symbol? Was not sure about how the ladies would take it. tried it on this morning when it arrived and my 5 yr old daughter said i smelled funny and looked like a grandad. Now at least I know i should take it as a compliment!
There's a tale told that the house of lords has a lingering smell of stale urine (and the ammonia therein) because of it's use in the dye-ing process and how the smell is released when it gets wet. With the amount of sodden tweed (coming from England's famously grey and wet weather) worn in the house back in the olden days, it doesn't sound so implausible..
Whether or not the above is true I don't know but from my experience Tweed does tend to have a distinctive aroma.
distinctive...maybe that's the [polite] word i was looking for...
at least it'll be nice to have an excuse for smelling of stale urine!
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obviously a lot of people on here with much tweed experience. I just got hold of an old Harris tweed jacket on ebay, looking forwards to the March Tweed Run, but by god does it smell.
Is this normal for tweed? Or is it the smell of the previous incumbent? Will dry cleaning help? Will I be shunned by other riders due to the powerful tweed aroma?
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favourite mice pies of yesteryear:
starbuck's (shameful, i know)
pret (they're pretty good!)
st john's (until i realised that the reason they're so good is because they probably contain vast amounts of LARD)
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Mr Jolly Lives Next Door
Why aren't you in bed?
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The medical profession has a problem with pronunciation more than anything. For example "clostridium difficle" is Latin, and should be pronounced closs-trid-ee-um diff-ick-ill-ay. Not closs-trid-ee-um diff-ee-seal. It's Latin. Latin, Latin, Latin. Not French.
They let anyone into medical school these days.
i work in a clinical lab - i can tell you that the cool kids just call it c diff (pron. cee diff)
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cycle training specifically addresses such issues.
if you cannot turn right or cars are over taking you then your road position is not assertive enough
i was really surprised at how much road they encouraged me to take up
I have always subscribed to that belief since i was hit off by an overtaking lorry back in 2001, funnily enough having had an incident free 8 years, the same day this thread starts someone pulled the most ridiculuous overtake on me i have ever experienced (i have a pretty boring commute).
20 yards from turning right on a mini r'bout in Heston, me well on the right of the lane (assertive?) and hand signalling right, some fucker thinks that they must still overtake me, and goes way out into the other side of the road passing within 2 inches of my handlebars, before cutting back in front of me with only a couple of yards until the road divider at the r'bout entrance, me having thumped on the passenger window and let off some choice obscenities at them, and hoping to find them further up the road wrapped round a lamppost in some form of divine retribution as was seen in richmond park with that bmw last weekend...
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can't actually say I am listening to it. I have listened to it.
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does running a worn chain not increase wear on chain ring and sprocket? I remember replacing a well worn chain (12 1/4 inches for 12 links) on my old spesh hardrock a couple of years ago, first time i had done anything like that - new chain still skipped and jumped over the chainrrings like crazy when pulling away, replaced the chainrings, sorted. Don't know if the worn chain specifically caused increased wear on teeth or if it was just concurrent age / distance related wear which would have occurred even with unworn chain.
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sounds a bit like this, chinese whispers?
YouTube- Drag queen' floors thugs in Swansea, wales, uk street fight. (with music)
Dude, chinese whispers is not the preferred nomenclature
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can't read the article due to web filter at work, but on the general topic - the police are given the bikes, and asked to ride the bikes as part of their job - if the employer cannot show that they have undertaken an appropriate degree of due diligence in ensuring that they have provided the employee with the necessary training in safe use of the equipment, and the employee subsequently injures themselves, then they will sue the arse off their employer - so it is largely about financial risk management.
(I recall the police have a great record of self-inflicted injuries from those power station protests recently some of which reported injuries were very funny and showed the police need to seriously HTFU)
Found it: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/15/kingsnorth-climate-change-environment-police
....ministers justified what they called the "proportionate" £5.9m cost of the operation, pointing out that 70 officers had been injured in the course of their duties.
But data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act puts a rather different slant on the nature of those injuries, disclosing that not one was sustained in clashes with demonstrators.
......
Only four of the 12 reportable injuries involved any contact with protesters at all and all were at the lowest level of seriousness with no further action taken.The other injuries reported included "stung on finger by possible wasp"; "officer injured sitting in car"; and "officer succumbed to sun and heat". One officer cut his arm on a fence when climbing over it, another cut his finger while mending a car, and one "used leg to open door and next day had pain in lower back".
A separate breakdown of the 33 patients treated by the police tactical medicine unit at the climate camp shows that three officers had succumbed to heat exhaustion, three had toothache, six were bitten by insects, and others had diarrhoea, had cut their finger or had headaches.
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kind of surprised it had no mentions already - so i will do the honours:
The National - Boxer
Also - more recently, and on the electronic side:
Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
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If you are new to the bike world then you will have a shitload of questions as you proceed to plan and execute your conversion, and I would point out to you that the majority of these will be answered by existing 'how to' articles on conversions.
You could do worse then starting at the school of sheldon brown. There are many other such articles that I found by googling specific questions, or by using the search on this site, when i went through this process.
http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html
I second that you will need wheels. You'll be lucky to get much change from £150 on these, unless you are looking to to secondhand market.
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honestly - 0.02mm is not going to make any difference on a seat post.
I converted a Dawes bike earlier this year which had an old 26.42mm seat post, and replaced it with a 26.2mm post made by Push, it fits fine and have had no problems. So if you can get a 26.4 then that's even better.
Sine then, on another rescued bike i restored for my son, i took a wad of kitchen tin foil to the rusted seatpost and rubbed it on the rust with cold water, and in about 10 minutes it was gleaming. Wish I'd done that with the Dawes and saved £20.
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The flyer somehow doesn't look really that bad as the earlier photo of it;
I have one of these 2010 flyers on order through a cycle to work scheme, it was the best of the fixed on offer in my opinion (they wouldn't let me order the Bianchi steel D2 2010 because it does not come with brakes and thereore not suitable for cycling to work...)
TBH i have a 'white' theme running through my existing conversion (not in a racist way) with white saddle, oury grips and white halo aerorage track rims and hubs, and i like how it looks. But this flyer...maybe it's the chain that does it...is just too...white. not sure what i will do to make myself feel better about riding it yet. not coming til January anyway.
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yes and had John Humpherys advocating cycling without a helmet like he does because 'research has shown it is actually safer...' although he did acknowledge that there were many people who would argue with him on that (whilst failing to mention why).
Thought he was going a bit beyond his remit by making comments with such potentially serious ramifications for individuals because he vaguely remembers a headline on his 'news' that he might have mentioned once a few years ago, rather than ensuring that the research was scientifically robust, and that he was presenting both sides of the argument objectively, which is what I would expect from someone who was used by the programme because of his 'respectable and educated old fucker that everyone will believe always' tag.
Funny to see those flat pack bikes though.
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On my previous bike I rode 42/16 fixed (69 and a bit inches?)
On new bike i'm now on 46/17 (72") and finding it a bit ploddy when i'm tired or going uphill, makes it feel like a bit of a drag. Am about to order a 44T ring to bring it down to 68.5", think this'll be fine for me.