A grand ride on a grand morning!

Small preparation for next Saturday's Willy Warmer!  Just a 35 mile loop from Wargrave through Henley Ipsden and Caversham, but enough to make coffee and cake at the Caversham Cafe (loacted in the precinct close to Costa Packet) feel well deserved.

Preparation for Long Distance Cycling

With thoughts of entering next year's London-Edinburgh-London Audax ride  I came across these words of wisdom on http://biketouringnews.com as advice for would be distance riders.  Unfortunately I can find no credit to the original author, but whoever it was has my sincere thanks for humour that is so close to the truth and also my apologies for editing the piece for the UK market!

Step 1: Get a spaghetti strainer and several small sponges. Soak the sponges in salt-water and paste them to the inside of the spaghetti strainer. Place the strainer on your head. Find a busy road. Stand by the side of the road and do deep knee-bends for 18 hours. This will acclimatise you to a day’s ride.

Step 2: Take some 200-grit sandpaper and rub your rear-end and the insides of your legs for about 20 minutes. Rinse with salt-water. Repeat. Then, sit on a cricket ball for 8 hours. Do this daily for at least 8 days.

Step 3: Each day, take two £20 notes and tear them into small pieces. Place the pieces on a dinner-plate, douse them with lighter fluid and burn them. Inhale the smoke (simulating car-fumes). Rub the ashes on your face. Then go to the local hotel and ask them for a room.

Step 4: Take a 1 pint plastic bottle. Fill it from the toilet sink of a local petrol-station (where the mechanics wash their hands). Let the bottle sit in the sun for 2 or 3 hours until it’s good and tepid. Seal the bottle up (kind of) and drag it through a ditch. Walk to a busy road, place your spaghetti-strainer on your head and drink the foul water from the bottle while doing deep knee-bends along the side of the road.

Step 5: Get a pair of Dutch wooden clogs. Coat the bottoms with WD-40. Go to the local supermarket (preferably one with tile floors). Put the oil-coated, wooden shoes on your feet and go shopping.

Step 6: Think of a song from the 1980′s that you really hated. Buy the CD and play 20 seconds of that song over and over and over for about 6 hours. Do more deep knee-bends

Step 7: Hill training: Do your deep knee-bends for about 4 hours with the salt-soaked spaghetti strainer on your head, while you drink the warm foul water and listen to the 80′s song over and over (I would recommend “ I'm a cowboy/On a STEEL horse I ride!” by Bon Jovi). At the end of 4 hours, climb onto the bonnet of a friend’s car and have him drive like a lunatic down the twistiest road in the area while you hang on for dear life.

Step 8: Humiliation training: Wash your car and wipe it down with a chamois-cloth. Make sure you get a healthy amount of residual soap and road-grit embedded in the chamois. Put the chamois on your body like a
loin-cloth, then wrap your thighs and middle-section with cellophane. Make sure it’s really snug. Paint yourself from the waist down with black latex paint. Cut an onion in half and rub it into your arm-pits. Put on a brightly coloured shirt and your Dutch oil-coated wooden shoes and go shopping at a crowded shopping centre.

Step 9: Foul weather training: Take everything that’s important to you, pack it in a Nylon corodura bag and place it in the shower. Get in the shower with it. Run the water from hot to cold. Get out and without drying off, go to the local convenience store. Leave the wet, important stuff on the pavement. Go inside and buy £10 worth of Gatorade and Flap Jacks.

Step 10: As Archimedes hypothesised: “Use a simple lever to move the Earth from one place to another”. After doing that, go around your house and lift heavy things that you never imagined a person could lift. Surprise yourself. Do 1,000 sit-ups. Then 10,000. Eat lunch. Repeat. Argue with every girlfriend/boyfriend you've ever known and be RIGHT. Solve all the problems of politics, faith and economics. At the end of the day, get into a huge tub filled with hot soapy water and relax, because tomorrow is another BIG DAY ON THE BIKE!

Step 11: Headwinds training: Buy a huge map of the entire country. Spread it in front of you. Have a friend hold a hair-dryer in your face. Stick your feet in treacle and try to pull your knees to your chest while your friend tries to shove you into a ditch or into traffic with his free hand. Every 20 minutes or so, look at the huge map and marvel at the fact that you have gone nowhere after so much hard work and suffering. Fold the map in front of a window-fan set to “High”.

This is really quite unbelievable!

Watch "Martyn Ashton - Road Bike Party" on YouTube

A Challenge for the Uncompetitive Cyclist - Part 5, the Henley Hilly Hundred

 Organised rides are undoubtedly becoming increasingly popular with more and more cyclists signing up for events ranging from the humble “club run” to mass European sportives and there’s no doubt that the use of the web and social networking has helped spread the word.

A few years ago, as a “non-club” cyclist I would have been blissfully unaware of organised rides taking place that were literally on my doorstep. I say blissfully because this weekend saw me enter the local “Henley Hilly 100” (HH100), a ride deliberately planned to incorporate the maximum amount of hill climbing over the 100km distance. The ride had been organised as an Audax 100km and as such carries with it the French Audax terminology of Populaire meaning a shorter Audax event and designated as a Grimpeur indicating that the ride is hilly.

Having completed a couple of DIYs earlier in the year and with half an eye on next year’s London-Edinburgh-London spectacular, the HH100 was my first foray into the world of organised Audaxing.

The start point was the welcoming Memorial Hall in Sonning Common, a charming village at the edge of the Chilterns in South Oxfordshire.

As a lone rider it could be seen as a bit of challenge understanding the intricacies of an Audax ride on your first time out. It could be for instance be easy to get too ensconced in the provided tea and biscuits to realise that you have to collect your brevet card… and get it stamped. And to add further to the learning curve there’s the control point at the halfway stage where you have to get you card stamped again and there is also information that you have to collect and record enroute to validate your correct passage around the course. When I found out about all of this Audax “paperasse” prior to the ride, it did seem like an unnecessary amount of faff; however on the day it did all become an essential part of the Audax experience!

It’s hard to say how many riders were taking part as many were still arriving as the first set off, I’m guessing there were 30-40 on nearly every type of bike from MTBs to Cervélos, the age range was equally variable, although at 50 there’s no escaping that I fall right on the average age of Audax riders. Although it would have been tempting to linger at the hall for another tea and a biscuit, I set off with the first of the riders at 9:00am; the group formed into loose bunches with most riders, including myself, content at self-pacing. For the first 50 Km, I rode in the loosest of bunches or riders of a similar vintage; the hills were challenging but riding with others did add the smallest pinches of competition along with corresponding levels of pain!

The café stop at the Village Centre Coffee Shop at Chinnor was excellent and is one I plan to include in future rides of my own. With a fried egg sandwich nicely put away and brevet card stamped I set off for the hills once more. By this time, the loose bunches had all but dispersed completely. Riding alone during an Audax event is not at all unusual; you can be as sociable or reserved as you wish and no one is likely to take offence. With the hardest of the climbs out of the way and an encouraging tailwind the remaining kilometres passed quickly. Since I’ve started Audaxing, I’ve got used to measuring distance in kilometres and have found it strangely gratifying; you finish the ride with a much more impressive tally than one measured in miles and they do click round so much faster during the ride…win, win!

Arriving back at Sonning Common I signed my brevet card, though I have to admit I have no idea what I was signing for, it was then stamped and added to the sizeable pile of those who had finished before me. Unexpectedly there were further refreshments of cakes and more tea and the chance to exchange pleasantries and admire other peoples bikes. The whole day had in fact been so pleasant, that if it wasn't for the fact that Audax cycling is full of French vocabulary you would swear that it had been invented in England..

Ring Any Bells? Retro Brass Bell from Lion Bellworks

Much of my cycling involves the use of paths and tracks that are shared with other cyclists as well as walkers, joggers, horse riders et al. And so, to maintain harmony between all I favour a friendly ring of the bicycle bell to alert others of my presence. The problem is that the majority of bike bells available on the market today are frankly rubbish, at best they ping as opposed to ring and those that do ring are ineffectual as an attention getter.

The Retro Brass bicycle bell designed and manufactured in England by Lion Bellworks echoes the great tradition of both English bell makers and classic retro bicycles. The bell dome is made from solid brass and the mounts from laser cut stainless steel. The design is elegantly simple with a spring mounted striker positioned outboard of the dome providing a loud and musical sound with a long sustain. In practice the bell fulfils its function beautifully, the loud musical note rings at the perfect pitch to gain attention but does so without annoyance, even in the most pastoral of settings.

Verdict 5 Bolts - Buy Now from Amazon

Burning a hole in my pocket!

I've had the good fortune to receive a £50 voucher to spend at a local bike shop, AW Cycles; this came courtesy of Reading Borough Council as my prize for cycling the most miles for Reading in the 2012 European Cycling Challenge.  But, I have no idea on what to spend it on!  Jez Andrews on his excellent blog "Following the Chainline" has a feature called "Want it Wednesday" which prompts readers to post details of their latest bike related "want"   The only question is... what do I want?

Jamis Aurora 2012 Review - Part 2 - On The Road

I bought the Jamis Aurora with long distance riding in mind so the planned 200 mile ride to West Devon was the perfect opportunity to find out if my money had been well spent.

The only modifications for the ride were to swap out the pedals and saddle for SPDs and a Brooks B17 and the front wheel for one equipped with a dynamo hub as I would be cycling through the night. I also fitted a small pannier to the rear rack to carry essentials for the journey.

Pedals, Lighting and Saddle

Heading West through Reading the Aurora zipping past the mostly stationary rush hour traffic on the A4 was huge fun. Stable and sure footed the Aurora holds its line extremely well but is responsive enough to accelerate smartly away when required. It’s the first time I’ve ridden a bike with bar end shifters and I have to say that I like them; they provide a reasonable visual indication of the gear you’re in and are quickly accessible from all positions on the bar.

A nagging headwind kept me down on the drops for long periods; it’s year since I had rode any distance on dropped bars and riding on the drops is something I had never found particularly comfortable. I had set the bars on the Aurora a fraction below the height of the saddle and within the larger cockpit of the 62cm frame I was extremely comfortable in all positions. The Aurora also really glides along beautifully over rough roads which helped to keep long ride fatigue at bay. The cushioned handlebar tape provides a very basic level of shock absorption and despite riding without mitts for much of the ride my hands fared better than ever before on a long ride.

Braking however was a very different affair, whilst competent enough on dry roads, the Tektro Oryx cantilevers were horrendous in the wet with violent brake judder on the front wheel on steep descents. I think the poor performance could have been due to the compound of the pads which wore rapidly over the course of the ride. Additionally this type of cantilever brake requires some skilled adjustment of the straddle wire and yoke angle to obtain the best performance. I shall change the pads and see if some further adjustment will improve matters, but my initial impression is that the brakes are the weak spot on the Aurora.
5 Aug 12, I have since readjusted the brakes, shortening the effective length of the straddle wire to provide a greater mechanical advantage.  This seems to have worked well and I'm now happy with the amount of stopping power and modulation.  The amount of juddering has also reduced and I'm optimistic that with a new pair of premium pads the Oryx Cantis will redeem themselves completely.

On long rides even the most minor imperfection in a bikes performance can become intensely annoying. Apart from braking on wet roads this was the most relaxed ride I’ve ever completed. After 20 hours in the saddle, in challenging conditions, the Aurora got me to my destination without any delay due to mechanical problems and most significantly without and aches or pains. Comfort and ride quality is undoubtedly the Auroras biggest strength and therefore makes this bike a serious consideration for any price conscious cycle tourist.

Verdict 4/5 Bolts

Jamis Aurora 2012 Review - A Traditional Steel Framed Tourer

The choice of off the peg traditional touring bikes in large frame sizes is extremely limited, even more so when the budget is under a £900; at 6ft6, I was looking for a frame size equivalent to a 24 inch traditional geometry frame. Comparing frame sizes on paper can be extremely confusing as there are some many variations in the way frames are sized giving rise to the use of “virtual” measurements for tube lengths and standover height. The Jamis Aurora frame is a rarity these days in that it has a horizontal top-tube which makes the assessment of frame size far easier. The largest frame available for the Aurora is 24.3 inches measured from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube, with a top tube length of 23.2 inches and a standover height of 34.5 inches this frames was about as perfect a fit that I was going to find in a mass produced machine.

Jamis is a brand that was previously unknown to me, of U.S origin it seems to have quite a history as a bicycle manufacturer dating back to the 70’s. Today Jamis bikes are sold exclusively in the U.K through Evans Cycles and at £699 in their summer sale the Aurora seemed well worth a punt!

The Aurora is only available in one colour which is described as “walnut” which could be awful depending on which end of the walnut colour spectrum Jamis are describing. I was pleasantly surprised when seeing the bike for the first time to see that the “walnut” is in fact an understated metallic dark brown… which on reflection sounds even more unappealing than “walnut”, but hopefully you can see what I mean from the photos. Overall, the entire bike looks distinctly unremarkable, other that it reminds me of my bikes as a much younger man in the 70’s that had steel mudguards painted to match the colour of the frame; yes the mudguards are walnut too, as is the rack! It’s a question of taste for sure but I do like this look.
The TIG welding of the double butted Reynolds 520 frame is consistent and the tapered stays and sloping fork crown gives the frame a traditional and refined appearance. The forks are equipped with low-rider carrier braze ons and double eyelets on the fork and rear dropouts. The dropouts are forged as opposed to higher quality cast components but this is an area where costs can be kept down without majorly impacting performance or reliability.

The drive train is a mixed affair with every major component coming from a different manufacturer or groupset SRAM 11-28 speed cassette, KMC Chain, microSHIFT bar end shifters, FSA Alpha Drive triple 48/36/26T chainset, Shimano Tiagra RD-4500GS rear and Sora FD-3403 front derailleurs. This whole arrangement works better than you might expect; the bar end shifters are a wise choice providing a more forgiving simplicity of operation over a more expensive STI option. The front shifter is a friction lever rather than indexed and allows easy trimming of the front derailleur to eliminate chain rub in any combination. However, the front gear change could be have been improved considerably if the front derailleur was a top pull, this would be consistent with the direction of the rear gear selection and would alleviate the appreciable effort required to overcome the spring resistance when selecting a higher gear by having to pull up on the lever. Update: I've since spotted that the cable to the front dérailleur was incorrectly routed under the spigot before the cable clamp rather than over it, reducing the mechanical advantage of the shift lever.  Correctly routing the cable has made a huge improvement, and I've found that there is an advantage to the mixed bottom and top pull dérailleurs in that double shifts are very slick and easy to perform.

What did impress me however, was the inclusion of 175mm cranks as standard on the larger frame size as did the wider 440mm handlebars. The handlebar stem features a shim in place of traditional spacer stack that allows easy height adjustment of the bars by simply slackening the stem clamp and sliding the bars to the desired position. This is a bit of a gimmick, but one that works well enough and very useful when initially sizing the bike

Braking is provided by Tektro Oryx cantilevers paired with Tektro RL340 aero brake levers. Despite the bike being checked prior to my collection by Evans, the setup of the brakes caused some alarm. Cable alignment was sloppy with both straddle cables needing adjustment, with one being routed over the cable retaining screws and one brake cartridge that had not been tightened. Minor faults perhaps, but ones that should not have escaped both factory and store.

The rear pannier rack is a sturdy and capable carrier with a maximum rated load of 18kg. The tapered design platform does make mounting a rack bag slightly problematic but does reduce any tendency for the rack to whip under load. I like the design and think it looks neat and quite stylish.

Ubiquitous on bikes of the price range are the budget Alex ACE19 rims; paired on the Aurora with Tiagra 4500 hubs laced with 14g spokes, the spoke tension appeared even and the overall build quality good. 700 x 32c Vittoria Randonneur tyres complete the wheelset which from my own experience are a superb choice for distance touring.

Although a bike is pretty useless without a saddle and pedals, I do wish that there was an option to buy a bike without them; to me it’s like having a stranger buying you a pair of shoes! The supplied saddle is a spongy affair that would be fine for occasional use over short distances; the pedals are rather good quality platform touring pedals complete with clips and straps. But I am forgetting that someone might be buying this bike who has yet to form a preference for such things, in which case both pedals and saddle are a good enough starting point.

Coming soon: How the Aurora performed on a 300km Audax ride

A Challenge for the Uncompetitive Cyclist - Part 4, A Sleepless Night

A 300km day ride, by Audax standards would appear to be something of a middle distance event, which gives some indication of the madness of long distance cycling. Although I had registered the planned 322km ride to Tavistock with AudaxUK, I was by no means certain that I would be able to complete it within the required 22 hours 22 minutes for it to be officially recorded as an Audax ride. 

The purpose of the trip was a weekend with family in Tavistock and the target was to arrive in time for the wine and curry feast planned for Friday night. I had decided to use the Jamis Aurora for the ride, a wise choice in that the Aurora is a lightweight steel framed tourer but not so wise in that this was a new bike that I hadn't previously taken further than 30 miles. It was prepped for the ride with dyno hub wheel and lighting from my workaday bike and a single small rear pannier for tools and food. I set off at 17:50 on Thursday night and wanting to get away to a good start I braved the A4 through Reading towards Woolhampton where I would take up the B and C roads that would form the rest of the route. The weather was not ideal, heavy rain and a 10 – 15 mph headwind, but the hedgerows and trees lining the minor roads did provide some protection from the worst of it. It was properly dark at 22:00 when I reached my first planned fuel stop which was fish and chips at Pewsey. After this 30 minute meal break in Pewsey's well appointed bus shelter I was away into the darkness heading for my next rest stop at Glastonbury.

Bus Shelter at Pewsey © Copyright Chris Talbot

Over the following 5 hours I had the roads to myself, save for the occasional fox and badger that would leap out in front of me, often perilously close to getting run over. Thankfully my road kill tally remained at zero, though I knew it was probably me who would have come of worse if my nocturnal friends hadn't have been quite so deft. At just over the half way point and at around 04:00 I passed Glastonbury on the A39 and headed for the Golden Arches of the 24hr McDonalds and my second fuel stop. I had thought I might take a nap at this point, but the unnecessarily loud music and bright lights meant this wasn't going to happen; a deliberate ploy by the pesky clown I wager! By the time I left Glastonbury it was daylight, the rain had stopped and my first unplanned foray into a muddy field happened! I had tried to plan the route to avoid such delays but I was just so glad to be wearing my waterproof sandals!

Luckily there was a bridge!

By this stage I was getting a little tired and decided to skip my planned 3rd fuel stop at Tesco’s in Cullompton and press on to Bradninch and refuel with my own supplies in the delightful thatched bus shelter at Bradninch.

Bradninch Bus Shelter © Copyright Sarah Smith

During the ride I came to appreciate the availability of bus shelters; for sure cafes and coffee bars are mostly a more enticing proposition, however they are rare on back roads and after for cycling in the rain for over 15 hours a bedraggled and dirt caked cyclist is perhaps not the most favoured of clientele. The bus stop at Shobrooke in Devon was a superbly appointed example and it was a hard not to get ensconced for a "power nap".

Shobrooke Bus Shelter © Copyright BazzaDarambler

From Shobrooke it was onto Okehampton and the Granite Way that forms part of National Cycle Route 27 that provides a sedate passage around Dartmoor before the final descent into Tavistock. The Aurora had proven itself to be a comfortable and reliable machine and the promise of wine and curry had kept me going when energy levels started to fall. I completed the ride in 22 hours with over 40 minutes to spare within the Audax permitted time over the 300km distance. Time enough for a couple of hours kip before the curry was served!

Final Destination! Westbridge Cottages - Tavistock

Apologies for the lack of my own pictures in this post but for the most part it was dark and raining so many thanks to the bus shelter snappers as credited!

A Challenge for the Uncompetitive Cyclist - Part 3, DIY Audax by GPS

Audax events have traditionally required the participant to pass through a series of control stages along a predefined route. To obtain proof of passage the ride would be issued with a “brevet card” which would then get stamped at each control point. A completed brevet card for therefore provide proof that the rider had completed the ride and the required distance to be awarded the brevet for that particular event.

In recent years Audax has acknowledge the use of GPS devices and their ability to record detailed track information, including time, speed, elevation and positional data. Audax UK now permit riders to plan their own Audax rides and submit GPS track logs in place of the traditional brevet cards as evidence that the agreed route and distance were completed within the time allowed.

Initially when I found out about this type of event I did think why anyone would want to faff about with membership, entry forms and virtual brevet cards just to have a ride “officially” recorded as a qualifying Audax ride? However, if you’re interested in planning and riding long distances, the extra discipline required to plan and complete them within Audax regulations does bring a new dimension and perhaps an element of madness to what might otherwise be just another casual cycle tour.

Tomorrow evening I set off on a 300km DIY Audax by GPS for Tavistock, this will be the furthest I’ve cycled within the maximum time allowed of 22hrs. Here’s hoping my bicycle pump doesn’t get stuck in my trouser leg (for the Monty Python fans amongst you).