Back from Scotland....soul reset and ready to go

Having spent a week riding great trails with friends, eating too much and drinking more I am back in the riding groove. My fitness made a last minute return and my handling skills were bored of kicking about in the attic so they made the 5hr trip north too. Its nice overtaking the full-sus boys on a rigid singlespeed with flat pedals.

The pedals were great, especially when the 10mm pins turned up from Ebay on Tuesday morning. The TNF Hedgehog shoes were grippy on and off the bike and did not look too odd in the pub :) I noticed no real problems climbing and none descending once I got the hang of having my heels down (like riding a horse...not that I have for years) Only down side is that the lovely Ox Blood red paint is coming off...oh well.

Pedal pins are available from these guys (you will need M4 for DMRs) and in 8 or 10mm depending how deep the tread on your shoes are.

Time for tea and cake.

Alex

Disapointment...and a pick-me-up

Against the advice of my wife I listened to Muse's new single. Not good compared with their previous stuff.

Luckily YouTube has a fine range of songs from The Haunted :)

99 live

Gets the Peter Dolving seal of approval.


Alex

NEW TOYS....sorry for shouting :)

My Epic bags turned up today so I quickly packed them with the bivvi kit and slapped them on the bike for a quick test. In the bags is my complete kit except food and fuel bottle. To be fair I will probably have a camelbak with waterproofs, 1st aid kit, arm and leg warmers, buff, cap and sunglasses in it so that will pretty much empty the front pocket on the bar bag (just leaving the tools, tube and pump in there)

The rear bag fits a huge ammount in and is a triumph of fabric engineering. In there is a folded and rolled 3/4 sleeping mat, cooking kit, wash kit, trousers, long sleeve top, cycling shorts and jersey, wind proof and over trousers. Again a few of the light items might make their way to the camelbak or for summer touring I might loose some of it (if I can garantee the weather!)

New on the bike is the Hope / DT front wheel to match the back...sweeet.

Off to fettle some more.

Alex

Things I never thought I would say...

Why is there a crocodile on the roof?

Solitude 29er for sale

Two in one day eh? What are the chances of that.

A bacon sandwich is a dead pig being cuddled by two slices of bread.

goodnight.

Alex

Avid and Maverick on Ebay...

Need to ship them out so the Avid Juicy 7's and the Maverick SC32 / DT Wheel are on Ebay for silly money!

Avid Juicy 7's

Maverick SC32

WTB Stem

Happy bidding!

I will be out and about this next week and have planned some S24HON rides, double nice if my stuff from Eric at Epic Designes arrives :)

Alex

Photo update

Went out on the rejuvanated Blackbuck today. Only a short ride over Leckhampton to try and bed in the new pads in the Avid BB7s and check that Thomson stem and post were sat correctly. The WTB Rocket saddle was pretty nice considering it is pretty skinny compared to the Speed saddle on the Solly.

I did a 1st attempt on the Jones wrapping method and it turned out pretty well although I have an idea to tweak it.

Also pictured is the new Ti Stove...light and boils pretty fast. I hope to use it next week on a couple of trips.

Alex

Another break in service

Just back from Scotland (sans bikes for once) although I seem to have come back with two bottles of single malt, some great memories and photos.

Now that I am back I am trying to get my riding mojo back in prep for the week off I have in September and still no plans for. I know that Eric is shipping my seat bag and handlebar set up next week so at least I will have a way of carrying stuff...somewhere.

I have fitted the rigid forks back on the Blackbuck to give them another go with the beefy WTB Stout rescued from Becca's bike. It will be interesting to compare it to the Maverick SC-32's...I expect it to be rougher but much faster handling. We'll see. The impetus for this was the lovely thread on MTBR.com with the Don McClung bikes on it.

Another thing I am trying are flat pedals for more sedate riding and road stuff. The idea of just taking some Vans Old Skools on tour appeals as with size 12's spare shoes take a lot of room in the bag. We'll have to see how sucessful this is as I do enjoy being clipped in on technical stuff. For road I have no concerns so stay tuned for the results.

Right, which whisky to try now...