The plan fell to pieces....I woke up early and was feeling full of beans, wifey was not...I thought it might be a nice idea for me to go out on the club leisure ride...I passed the idea past her whilst she was still dazed and half asleep....she said yes :-)
I jumped out of bed, put multiple layers on, threw some breakfast cereal down my neck and headed of to the Chippenham Rugby club for the start of the leisure ride...The Peugeot hasn't got dirty this week yet, so I thought I would take the Merida....It needed a clean after yesterday anyway...
I arrived at the Rugby Club with about 5 minutes to spare, I paid the 10p for the route sheet, then promptly dropped my gloves in a puddle :-(
At 9:30 we headed of towards Chipping Sodbury via Badminton along some rather dirty and wet country lanes....both me and the bike were minging :-(
When we got to the tea room Simon and myself decided against stopping and headed on back towards Chippenham.....I had chores to do when I got home :-(
We followed the route sheet most of the way home until we hit the B4039 then we sat on the main roads back home.....with an absolutely amazing tail wind :-)
At one point I left Simon as if he was standing still..I dropped down onto the Aero Bars and shot of at 30+ mph....He did mutter an expletive as I shot past him :-)
It was nice to get out and I had NO ill effects at all from yesterday...if anything I felt even stronger and more energetic today...
The Garmin had the ride as 41.35 miles in 2 hours 36 minutes with an average speed of 15.9 mph, route here...
When I got back home I warmed up in the shower, had cheese on toast for lunch, tidied the house up then set about cleaning the bike up....
I even cleaned the rear cassette up, even though I have now ordered a new one...hopefully it will arrive before the weekend...
One day I may even get my bike cleaning down to under 2 hours....
So my first 150 mile weekend of the year has now come and gone...And I currently feel no ill effects at all......now I deserve some cake and cider :-)
8 comments:
Nice one on todays ride, good rate too considering the 3 rides you did yesterday!
Can't believe how mucky the bike got though, still came up nice by the look of it
@Matt...It was quite a tough head wind to start off with today...but that meant for a nice fast return home :-)
Yes the bike got VERY dirty on the country lanes :-( The chain is the real thing that suffers, one or two of the links had already started stiffening up, but a clean in white spirit and a re-lube sorted it all out.
Just hope that the new cassette turns up in time for teh weekend now....
You put me to shame on the cleaning thing JB, my commuter got what my Nan used to call "A cat lick and a promise", a quick hose down and a good lube, all done in 10 minutes flat. I must make the time to do a proper job. Difficult with the family though.
@Clive....you are about to find out how expensive replacing road bike components are! I go for the look after it and it will last approach!
Still a bit gutted that I have to replace the cassette already....I went through 2 last year on it :-(
Advice noted. I promise, honestly...
Lol, Road bike components are expensive but MTB parts are worse. At least road bike parts seem to last for a reasonable period of time if you look after them, MTB parts wear out instantly if you just think about getting them muddy.
This is the main reason why i've gone SS / Fixed. The parts last longer (even if you don't clean them) and they're a LOT cheaper to buy when they are worn out.
@Red....that is of course why peeps ride fixed, or have old steel stead's for the winter :-)
As you know my winter bike is fully maintainable, BB, wheel bearing's and all :-)
I don't think people realise quite how much of the modern bike is consumable...in my first iteration of being a cyclist the only consumable was the tyres and tubes, now its tyres, tubes, wheels, chains, cassettes, BB etc..etc..etc
Think I've said it before, I'm about as fastidious as you when it comes to bike cleaning. Can take me a couple of hours too.
Red is right though, MTB parts wear out much quicker, especially when you get them all caked in mud - acts as a nice grinding paste working it's way round all the drivetrain.
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