Worded Wonders

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  • If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit...

    • 2 Feb 2012
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    …join our club.

    At the start of the year I decided to join a cycle club in order to get me out and about on the bike a bit more. After checking out the local clubs I went with Iceni Velo as they looked to be quite open and welcoming and had an active forum. Since joining I’ve yet to attend a Sunday morning club ride as a) it’s been quite cold first thing on a Sunday, and b) I have to convince Chloe to get up early on a Sunday :)

    I have however been on two other events with the club, both of which have been part of the member-initiated hill training on a Thursday night. Whilst I’m more than happy to go out on my own and get the miles done as I did last Thursday, it’s a lot nicer with other people there to encourage you and help out should anything go awry. This evening I managed to stay with the fast group throughout, even taking a turn on the front for one lap of the 2.1 mile route. I managed to rack up 8 loops in all and 24 miles (including there and back) and genuinely had a great time, even though by the end I couldn’t feel my toes, or fingers and had ice in my water bottle.

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  • 200

    • 31 Jan 2012
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    In January I managed to cycle 200 miles. Go me. I suspect February will not be as impressive looking at the weather forecast but hopefully from March onwards I can step up the mileage and get some longer rides under my belt. I think I may reach up to 500 miles a month if all goes to plan….

    200

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  • King of the Hill

    • 27 Jan 2012
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    I like cycling. A lot. To that end I decided to enter the Hethersett 60 last year. At that point the longest distance I’d cycled was 15 miles, done in a lunchtime at work. I upped that to 22 miles one sunny Sunday in November and then more than doubled that last weekend when I covered 52 miles, some of it including 13 miles in excruciating 30-40mph gusts, another 6 of which involved cycling with the bike at a 15 degree angle to stop from being blown into a ditch. I did most of that 52 miles with my venerable “colleague” Phil who also managed to up his personal best mileage to about 35 miles.

    So, after that I think 60 is going to be easily do-able. Next comes the Norwich 100 . I think that’ll be a lot harder. I’ve put myself in the 8 hour time bracket but hope to do it quicker than that. I won’t guess at a time till I’ve done the 60 first!

    So anyway, why King of the Hill? Today I cycled up Gas Hill. Twice. By the time I reached the top of the second run I thought I was going to collapse but I managed it. Maybe I might attempt the Gas Hill Gasp this year….

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  • Bikes

    • 26 Sep 2011
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    • Random crap cycling photos
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    In July, my employer signed up to Cyclescheme, a way of buying a bicycle from your pre-tax salary in monthly instalments and saving between 40-50% off the cost of a new bike. I'd been after a new bike for ages but couldn't quite justify the cost given that my old Halfords hybrid bike still worked, even though it was a bit cheap and had a tendency to misbehave. After having researched and thought it through for some time I had already decided I wanted a road bike and after chatting with the good folks at Street Life I went and got myself a Specialized Allez Sport Triple:
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    As a novice to drop handlebars, skinny tyres and the much higher riding position I was a little nervous on day one but soon got used to it and now wouldn't dream of riding anything else. Compared to my old hybrid it's lighter, more responsive and has a much better gear ratio - even in top gear I'm still able to pedal at a decent rpm without having my legs whizz round like a lunatic. I also find I'm enjoying cycling a whole lot more and have just started up a lunchtime cycle from work to get my stamina up in preparation for some much longer rides I plan to do next year. However the main advantage of the Allez on a day-to-day basis is that I'm now even faster getting to/from work. I can comfortably reach home by bike quicker than I would have by car: This was my previous best run home from work on a windy day in May with a 20.5mph average hitting a max speed of 30.1mph: And my best since getting the new bike, 23.2 mph average, 32.7mph max (I've since reached 33.4 on the same route):
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  • King of Cycling

    • 1 Jul 2008
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    • Random crap cycling link
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    Home in 10 minutes and a top speed of 28.4 mph. Go me!
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