19 days

December has been grim, I have hardly been outside. I've ridden on the trainer for thirteen days. Mostly because of the weather. I'm more risk averse than I used to be, a little snow didn't always stop me.

a picture from a time when I did take risks

But now it does, and I think for good reason. Earlier in the month I thought six days was a long time to be stuck indoors. The monthly miles have nosedived as has my motivation. I've missed a few days in the garage. Sometimes I was busy; I could still have fittted in a ten mile session, but I didn't.

Now it's warmed up the heavy, persistant rain has returned. I hope this won't stop me riding over the Christmas period.

Oxted cycling club have some rides organised for tomorrow. I also intend get out every day for the rest of the year. 

Hopefully my motivation will return.

New bike day

My last brand new bike was a Raleigh Chopper.

Since then bikes have been secondhand. My brother gave me a Peugeot mountain bike, which was replaced with a two year old Kona Blast. Next was a very old Carrera road bike. I bought the Giant Defy in May 2019, it's now ten years old.

Over the years my priorities have changed: I want to compete in time trials, ride faster and further, and have better brakes. While making the latest steed faster, this years carbon wheels have been a slight backwards step as far as stopping is concerned, especially in the wet. 

I have been saving a long time for this purchase. I sold most of my photography gear to fund it as well. It wasn't getting used and was loosing value as technology improved. I still have a small digital camera and lenses that will work with Nikon film cameras so I haven't severed all links with that hobby. Hiring equipment is easy should the need arise.

I'm not sure how much value the Defy has, the wheels are still worth a fair bit. I should think someone from my club will buy them.

The new bike is a fairly custom build, because I had some specific parts in mind. Standard sizing from a mainstream manufacturer would have supplied handlebars that were too wide, and the price point would have compromised on the type of wheels I wanted. I avoided additional purchases and having to sell the unused parts. I was also able to tweak other parts of the bike to improve the fit. The stem, it joins the handlebars to the forks, comes in many lengths. Ross had a few for me to try.

This whole process is another reason to consider your local bike shop. It's not always cheaper to buy online or from a chain store. I don't expect any problems, but if there are I'm not reliant on support over the phone or email. He is just a very short walk from my house.

The frame is from LavitaVelo the wheels are from Hunt, both UK based. The rest is from the usual suspects. Ross at Ross Cycles spec'd it after we chatted about what I wanted.

He also took pictures at various stages of the build. Another option only open to you if using a bespoke or local bike shop. 

to slam or not to slam

 

When I've ridden it for a few miles we can alter the handlebar and saddle height. Swap the stem as well if needed.

bike nearly finished

I haven't ridden it yet; way too icy outside. A review will follow.

A week on the trainer

For over a year I have ridden the trainer in the garage after work. No more mixing with impatient commuters for me.

The trouble is I become stir crazy by the time I've completed the Friday night session. Saturday with the Oxted CC is eagerly anticipated. But this weekend I was busy first thing. I got home at midday; go out or not? By the time shopping and lunch had been completed it was starting to get late, and my thoughts turned to not being out after dark. So it was a forty minute stationary trip. A bit of a break to write some words here and then back out at five for my normal ten miles.

Sunday morning is usually a visit to Westerham for coffee with Matt. Overnight was very cold, down to around two degrees. It was not going to be much warmer with the rising of the sun, so I suggested we should meet in Tatsfield at 09:30. Running very late meant I took the road bike so only arrived shortly after the arranged time. The eight miles being covered in thirty minutes.

Matt had just ordered his tea and cake, it didn't take very long for my coffee to be brewed. Our usual chat about this at that ensued. I felt so relaxed, it had to have been being outside, on my bike. I love riding the mountain bike: it soaks up the ruts of poorly maintained roads, the disk brakes are dependable and the thicker tyres are a little less puncture prone. But the road bike is so much more responsive and fun to ride. In the dry the brakes are less of a disadvantage as well. 

Whilst riding I often imagine myself in a job where I'm paid to be out on my bike, or to write blogs and articles.  Maybe Rapha, Le Col etc will read this and call me; fingers crossed.

Until they do I'll produce content for the pleasure of it.

Lowering the impact of holidays and travel

 

I read and watch a lot of bikepacking/touring content. This time of year especially it's away from the UK, somewhere warm. Which is great, I can understand the desire when home is so cold and wet; except for the environmental cost.

It nearly always involves flying. Magazine articles discuss riding sections of various grand tours, and I'd like to do them. But the default way to get there isn't by train or ferry, both much better choices. I know they still pollute, certainly more than visiting local destinations, but not the amount that a plane does. One problem is cost, flying is subsidised, and train travel is not. No tax on aviation fuel for example.

The wider picture is that going abroad is still considered a proper holiday, anything closer to home, or a "staycation" less so; I hate that word. I think it was invented by the travel industry to further push their agenda and make not flying a sign of having missed out.

I have looked a train travel; it's not good if you want to take your bike. Some companies don't allow bikes, other do but require them to be boxed up. This is similar to flying so maybe not so big a deal. If you have to change services, it could become one.

Driving as an alternative is a consideration, but it's still not as efficient as public transport. And our roads can't cope. Between 1994 and 2021 the number of cars grew by 10,679,421. That's an increase of nearly 40%. Not to mention the cost of pasking, not what you pay into meters etc. The space needed to park is finite. And looking at my local area there isn't any left. Pavement parking blights the lives of too many. Being forced to walk on the road is unsafe, and may even be impractical if no dropped curbs are available.

Bike hire in popular locations is growing. The quality of the kit available seems on the whole to be good. So traveling without your bike could be an option.

Ferry travel is usually just ride on with little hassle. But it won't be suitable for many destinations, and is slow.

The furthest you can go in one hop is northern Spain. Which could get you to some Vuelta stages, and with a bit of riding to the Pyrenees.

The problem is time; it takes a day from Portsmouth to Santander. I think it's worth it to cut-out air travel though.

Hitching a lift on a cargo ship is another, even slower, option if you want to go further. This is becoming more widely available.

I'm not suggesting everyone only uses bikes, or never travels any other way. Just that more consideration needs to be given to the impact of destination and transport choices. And it's not just for holidays. Day to day decisions can have positive outcomes.

In short, we need to re-evaluate the way we travel.

What is depression?

For me it's an umbrella term. 

I'll start this by saying I'm no expert, these are just my thoughts.

Depression doesn't just mean feeling low, unmotivated and unsure of the future. 

Anxiety, stress, low self esteem; they all contribute. 

The voice that says your aren't good enough, you won't succeed, your lack of skill or knowledge will be found out.

They all swirl around, maybe not always front and center affecting my life. Sometimes it will be just one symptom. And I can cope, other times they gang up and present more of a challenge.

 

A better definition of depression would be that it depresses quality of life, it stops you seeing and reaching your potential. It limits you, applies blinkers and reigns you in.

When it gets bad I stop looking too far ahead. 

 

Are there goals I can achieve that are closer?

Are there causes of stress or anxiety that I can't control?

What can I control?

Perhaps the hardest is to remember my successes. Why are mistakes so crystal clear and easy to recall?

I also look for distractions, probably a bit controversial this one. A mindfulness course leader said this is not a good tactic. But it works for me. I get on my bike and pedal and gain perspective. Especially at the end of a working day I can switch off; most of the time. Having a stresser in my head isn't healthy. I don't sleep or relax, both build over time to then affect all parts of my life. Maybe it's why I'm feeling the way I'm at the moment. Too much is getting in the way of cycling, or making it difficult.

I start the process of boxing up my issues and worries. 

Each box has a label: needs to be sorted soon, can be kept closed for a while, I can't resolve the contents, and not important.

I live for lists: partly because my memory isn't great, but also to cope. I feel less overwhelmed if I have  a plan. I'm sure a lot of people who know me wonder why I always need to see the future and work to rules or instructions. It's because if these are in place, I can then stop worrying about it.

 

It mainly comes down feeling in control. I am anxious because I haven't at least planned what I might do. Even if I'm not sure of the solution, I need a next step or task.

Keep it clean

 

Bike mainetance maybe cheaper than yearly spending on a car, but it still a consideration.

Two new tyres for the Kona, one for the trainer, sorting a brake problem on the Giant, a new lock and rear light cost around £150 over the last thirty days. I don't commute so my outlay could have been higher.

Each time I have ridden into work I've saved £14.10, so that's £52.30 in total. Doing it everyday would cause more wear and tear, although I'd still be ahead over the year. I'm glad though that it's only once a month, because WFH is even cheaper.

What can I do to reduce costs? 

Keep the bikes clean; something I have been very bad at in the past. I rode until they stopped, then half-heartedly pointed a hose at them. My mileage has increased considerably over the last couple of years so that level of concern would have resulted in way higher expenditure. I'm sure Ross looked on with dread as I walked into his shop back then. 

The picture at the top is a bit extreme. Half way along the South Downs Way the bikes were suffering; at several points the wheels were so clogged they stopped turning. We did hose off the worst of it at the overmnight stop. But hadn't planned, as I would have now, to at least bring chain lube. Everything was pretty badly worn at the end.

a typical condition

The view above is what the bikes would usually look like. There was a gradual build up of mud, not so bad for the frame and wheels maybe. But not good for the brakes and gears. I used to get home, lock up the bike in the garage and forget about it for a week.

 

I once had a b&b owner not want my bike taken inside for overnight storage because it looked so bad.

Only when the chain started to jump off the sprockets at almost every change would I head over to see Ross. A cursory clean would never provide the hoped for improvement. Everything lasts a lot longer now, and Ross has a smile on his face as I approach.

A clean bikes makes dealing with punctures and a dropped chain nicer as well. You still get a bit mucky hands but it's an easier clean.

 

It's also a good time to check for damage or fatigue. It's better to deal with something you discover now than on the road when a failure could have catastrophic consequences.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Russell if you are reading this; I know what you're going to say about my clothing. In my defence, I didn't know any better and black was pretty much the only colour companies produced back then. It was almost all off-road too.