What is it?

Please forgive the non-stealth saddle bag…

It’s got black tyres now, so even stealthier.

I’ve used my Fulcrums for cross with Hutchinson tubeless tyres. I also built some Stans rims on Miche hubs and I used them with Stans Raven tubeless cross tyres.

Burping hasn’t been a real issue apart from one night time cross race where I hit a few unseen edges. Even when there has been a bit of burping it’s never been enough to stop me riding. It’s a huge amount less hassle than gluing tubs and you don’t run the risk of rolling them.

I’m 12.5 stones. Depending on conditions I’ve run them from 25psi to 40psi.

The Hutchinson tyres are wide but fast and very tough. The Stans Raven are distinctly delicate and though great to race on I would never buy them again as the sidewalls cut way to easily. I’ve had good experiences using regular Michelin Mud2s on the Stans rims.

I’ve also been running my road wheels tubeless for the last two years and I love them. Doing something like the Flanders 270km I ran them at 90psi and found they really took the edge off the cobbled sections.

I’ve had eggbeaters for about ten years and I love them. The pre-2010 models do need a bit of TLC fairly often, but I reckon they’re worth it. I use speedplay on my road bike and beaters on my XC and CX bikes because like you I like a bit of float.

One pair of eggbeaters that gave up the ghost on me were completely serviced by Pure (CB importers), with new bearings, springs and axles for £25. Their service was exceptional.

My wife, however, swears by Time pedals…

Go tubeless. For me it’s the technology that means I’ll never have to touch another tubular again and that makes me happy.

Stans 355 rims are great for tubeless CX.

Nice bike.

I’ve been taking semantics for years and they haven’t helped me.

I thank you. Good night.

Wynne how did you find Beastway… I love it, a great work out. Did the first few this year but then my MTB died and I’m also concentating more on triathlon this year, so that’s why I’ve been seduced by road riding

I enjoyed it – they manage a good circuit given the space and terrain. I got hauled into it as three club mates wanted to put a team together.

I did it on my cross bike, which was fast, but got bounced around a lot on the rutted ground. I started right at the back of 90 odd riders and overtook about 50 of them, ended up 43rd but finished well above the fourth group I started with. So all in all I was pleased.

By the way I reckon you’re doing it the right way round. Coming from a mountain biking background means your bike handling skills will probably be pretty good. On the other hand, some of the triathletes I’ve met on group rides make me nervous…

That’s what I’ve found. Cryingly expensive too.

Well done for giving it a go. Finishing in the bunch on your first race is a really good effort.

Lots of clubs run chaingangs, which are excellent places to learn fast paced group riding. Not sure where you’re based, but if you’re near South London then Dulwich Paragon runs a range of chaingangs which vary according to ability.

I’ve just gone the other way. I did my first XC race on Wednesday – the Beastway at Hog Hill. That was fairly entertaining.

I had a power bar that I carried on rides for six years and never needed.
Eventually, one day when we had bugger all food in the house, I ate it. It was fine and so am I.

With gels, not only is sugar a good preservative, but it’s vacuum packed as well. It will be fine. Like the 70 year old tins we cleared out of my grandma’s house when she moved in with us….

No, I’m no troll. All reported now.

I am surprised that it’s caused such heated discussion. I will keep yo posted when I hear anything back from the council or the police.

A while ago I did a few years of anthropolgy fieldwork which has maybe given me a more relaxed attitude to people waving guns around. I’ve also had some extremely poor responses from the police when reporting cycling related incidents. In hindsight you’re absolutely right, I should have reported it immediately.

My mate and I, relatively inexperienced road cyclists, were experimenting with drafting yesterday.

Making the (almost certainly flawed) assumption that you’re not taking the p*ss, then are you on about drafting other vehicles or each other? If it’s other vehicles, then good luck with that (you can help me confront the gun weilding morons I met yesterday, as you have no sense of fear).

If you’re talking drafting other cyclists, then get ye to a chaingang. Most cycling clubs run some form of structured high speed group riding training.

Now reported to the police. We’ll see what happens. If I’m never heard from again then thank you for your help.

Once I’ve established whether there is a definite right of way it’d be interesting to get a big group of us up there.

Reported to the Council. Police are the next call.

Hmmm. Pressure on my bladder. Do you think I should go for a pee? Any advice appreciated.

Thanks people. I would have pressed the matter yesterday but my wife was tugging me away (and I don’t mean that in a smutty way).
Spot on with Norheads Lane rc200f8.
Yep, think I’ll try the rights of way bloke as a first port of call.

People in clubs are very idiot

There’s certainly a fair number of them.

The cycling club I belong to runs social Saturday morning road rides. When we started we had about 8 people. Now we regularly get about 60. We’ve had to change the route so that we don’t take so many small lanes and split the ride into different groups according to speed.

What is surprising having observed the growth of this ride is how people initially tend to lose a sense of where they are (and all road sense) when they start riding in a group. It takes more experienced riders to remind people where and how they should be riding.

Broadly speaking, cyclists riding two abreast is fine and actually a good thing as it gives cyclists a road presence. Three or four abreast is daft and will only wind up other road users.

There’s a lot of new cyclists on the road, many of whom are unused to riding in groups. Many of them would benefit from a bit of structured group riding. This is especially true when it comes to racing. Some of the moves are pretty nerve jangling. There’s no great mystery to it.

This is the intro for newcomers from our site:

Most of the following common sense tips on riding in a group can be picked up by just going out on rides with us but here they are just for good measure if you’ve not ridden in a group before:

When you ride in a group on the road it’s even more important than when you’re on your own to pay extra attention to the road and traffic as those behind you can’t see what’s up ahead.

Don’t ride more than two abreast, and only where the road is wide enough. When the road is narrow single out to allow traffic to pass by. When singling out, the rider near the middle of the road slows down to pull in behind the rider that they were riding next to. This avoids the confusion of both riders slowing down at the same time leaving the one in the middle of the road with nowhere to go.

If you’re riding at the front you need to let the riders behind know if there are any holes, parked cars, glass or any other hazards by shouting out of pointing with hand signals. Pass these warnings down the group so that the ones at the back aren’t left in the dark. If people know what’s coming up it makes for safer riding with less swerves and sudden braking.

If you’re in a large group it’s important not to wait at junctions longer than necessary as you’ll get in the way of other traffic and make it hard for them to see. Instead find a suitable place to wait at the side of the road while you wait for others to catch up.

If you have a puncture shout out that you have a flat so that you don’t get left stranded with some in the group wondering where you are. Also, it helps people to know that you’re stopping so that they don’t ride into the back of you when you slow down.

When the group approaches a junction or traffic lights and needs to slow down or stop, shout out, “Easy”, to let riders behind know that you’re putting on the brakes. If you don’t there’s a chance they will ride into the back of you!

One thing to remember about Saturday and Sunday club rides is that they are exactly that, rides not races! Be nice to each other.

A couple of months ago I was out on my cross bike in the lanes of Kent. Two roadies came up behind me and then went belting past me. I got on the rear wheel of one. After about half a mile he got dropped, so I got on to the wheel of the bloke at the front. After about another half a mile we got to a t-junction. The bloke at the front shouted back ‘Ha ha, we dropped that fat f***’. I enjoyed telling him that actually the fat f*** was still there, but that he had better wait for his mate. Hee hee hee. Nothing to do with respect or being the boss of the road – just very satisfying.

A little off-puncture topic.

A plastic bag once blew into the rear wheel of my road bike. Took out the Campag Record rear mech, chain and the driveside spokes of a Mavic ksyrium rear wheel. All in all about £400.

Beware the floating plastic bag.

Lucky heather, anyone?

Nice pics. I wish I’d been with you instead of buried in my own lunacy.
That one of the cow looks unreal – is it levitating? And that tree in the background looks like it’s in a gale.

Well done all who completed it.

I had a stab at trying to the double – Eastbourne to Winchester and back in 24 hours. I know I have it within me, but for me to be able to do it everything had to go just right. It didn’t – despite carefully watching forecasts and trying to evaluate ground conditions. I learnt a few lessons about self sufficiency – and that you don’t have to be somehwere remote (like the Highlands) to get hypothermia.

I left Eastbourne about 5.30pm on 23rd June. It went wrong from the start. It chucked it down for the first two hours. Then a strong headwind really chilled me. Ground conditions were awful. I reckon on being able to ride 99% of the SDW normally, but I ended up walking about 30% of the 50 miles I managed. I was in my lowest gear on some of the flattish sections near the start, just trying to make some headway through the gloop. I was on my cross bike, on the drops just trying to get into the lowest tuck to to make progress into the wind.

Every time I nearly dried out I got soaked again. In addition I was wearing prescription glasses which just kept getting filthy and which I had to stop and clean about every two miles. Even though I’m familiar with the SDW and I had excellent lights, because I couldn’t see well, I missed a few turnings and had to retrace my steps.

My bike got so clagged that something (stick, vole, rock – I’m not sure) got stuck in my rear mech and bent the mech hanger. Gear changes went up the swanny. There was some severe runoff too. Most of the climbs and descents were running with water, and the lower lying sections had turned to a clayey morass.

By about 1030pm I knew I wouldn’t make it to Winchester and I had long abandoned all thoughts of the double. I tried to get to Amberley in time to take the last train to London, but I missed it. Then I tried to find B&B in the village. No luck. The pub had just closed so I went back to the station and tried to get my head down in the waiting room. I didn’t get to sleep. About 2am I sat up with a jolt, shaking uncontrollably. I’m pretty sure I was hypothermic. I walked round the village trying to find anything to keep me warm – bin bags, textiles, old carpet – anything really. Nothing. I contemplated climbing into a large wheelie bin – but it was locked. So I was just walking round shaking and I knew I couldn’t manage like that for long.

In total desperation I returned to the pub and knocked on the door to see whether they had a room. The landlord was understandably not very happy to be woken up. Turns out they don’t have rooms, but after initial anger he and his wife were tremendously kind and gave me a thermal top and leggings and a sleeping bag as well as a flask of coffee and sent me back to the station (because, perfectly reasonably, he didn’t want a random stranger in his pub in the middle of the night).

I went back to the waiting room. I didn’t sleep but I did manage to get warm and pass the time until the first train at 6.26am. I returned the kit at about 6 and got on the train. I really don’t know what I would have done without their help. The consequences would have been good.

I feel like a total idiot. I am an experienced long distance extreme/endurance cyclist and I normally get my clothing/kit choice just about right, but I really mucked this one up. The day before I had packed and then unpacked my bivi bag, thinking that I’d always be able to bail out safely somewhere. I hadn’t counted on the effects of ground conditions, exhaustion and elements. I also think that because I am very familiar with the SDW I was complacent about its dangers.

It’s bad enough to get myself into a dangerous situation, but to then burden random strangers with the responsibility of getting me out of it is almost unforgiveable. Although I was perhaps unlucky, my equipment was not adequate and I hadn’t got a plan B. Pretty stupid.

Lastly, apologies to anyone who heeded my ‘fast rolling tyres’ advice. My fifty miles the other night were harder then any of the complete SDWs I’ve done, so doing the whole thing with those ground conditions is a tremendous achievement.

I’ll be back for more, but not for a little while.

Rich

It was the sticky dark places that did for me last night. I had to bail at Amberley yesterday having covered some of the worst 50 miles I have ever ridden.

Magnificent effort.

Spooky Supertouch cross bike for me. I reckon you’ll get away with some faster rolling tyres – but don’t blame me…

Thanks for the advice, but I have a hankering to do the whole thing (for better or for worse).

I would like to do this but there’s no way I can get to Winchester by 5am, so I’ll set off and try and catch you chaps along the way.

Rich

I’d like to join the ride but I’m not certain I’ll be able to make it. Please would you post up your confirmed departure time from Winchester if you decide you are going to go ahead with it all.
Thanks

Rich

I have some Ambrosio 10 speed cassettes, which are Campag spaced and Shimano splined. They work well. I have a nearly new 12-25 that I’m happy to sell if it’s of use.

Here’s my Argon FR – lightish build.

Indeed. Not all the chalk/slime combo is equally splippery – it’s just some bits that get dodgy and you don’t necessarily know which.

I reckon small tread tyres are the ones for SDWing. I normally use my cross bike or mountain bike with Michelin XC dry tread as you never get that real clag.

It’s not the mud that’ll get you. It’s the sheet ice-like wet chalk, but you probably know that. No tyre will keep you upright on that stuff.

After Re-cycle I think Vince opened a bike shop in Sydenham, South London, called Behind Bars. That closed about five years ago and then I heard that he was in some way linked to the import of the revitalised Spooky brand. Last spotted on the South coast I’m told.

Interesting. Maybe I’ve just been unlucky but I’ve met a greater proportion of real snotty riders recently – many more than I used to meet – and I ALWAYS approach cautiously and in a courteous way.

As to the spooking of horses, one rider recently told me to get off and walk past their horse on quite a wide bridleway. Shouldn’t it really have been the other way round given that I haven’t got massive metal-clad hooves?

I’m thinking of carrying some coconut shells to disguise the sound of Hope freehub.

They breed them on a council estate in Bradford.

That doesn’t sound like a cycling related injury, more like an idiot related injury. What did you do??

Perhaps idiocy. I had a small haematoma on my shin from a pedal knock. When I shaved my leg I must have nicked a folicle just on top of the haematoma. Turns out small warm static pockets of blood are the perfect breeding grounds for germs. Anyway a day later my leg was twice its normal size with an abscess the size of a cricket ball sticking out the front of it. I was feverish. My leg was HOT. NHS Direct – straight to hospital. Septicaemia. No laughing matter.

Hairy legs are just about OK if you’re the baggy short type, but a NO NO with lycra. Just wrong. No argument.

That said, my worst cycling related injury came from shaving my legs. I ended up hospitalised on an antibiotic drip for three days. Not so cool.

I now pluck with one of those Braun things. Don’t be fooled by adverts with women smiling in the shower effortlessly plucking their legs. It’s an absolute sod the first time you use one, but for long lasting hair removal you can’t beat it.

I still have one of the first text messages I got from my (now) wife, saying how she wanted to keep it platonic. Ha haha haha ha.

Think of all the things that don’t happen because you don’t try.

My wife thought there was something wrong with me when I matched my nipples with my flanges. She has no idea.

Carry on up the Singletrack…

Same here. Did Winchester to Amberley on Saturday morning. 20 mph headwind all the way made it feel more like 80 miles than 50. Definitely worth checking out wind directions and speeds if you’re considering the whole route in a day and you’re worried about whether you think you can do it.