Aviva Womens Tour.

This morning the Aviva Womens Tour came through Buxton on their way from Ashbourne to Chesterfield, so I took the day off work to watch them pass through. Now I should confess that I don't follow cycling, so know nothing of the teams and riders, but I do enjoy the spectacle of a pro bike race.

I found a nice spot near a roundabout, (next to the Palace Hotel for those that know the area), which I felt would give a good vantage point for photography as the riders would have to slow for the corner.

Walking down into town you wouldn't think that some of the worlds best riders were about to race through, I'm sure that more fuss was made for the mens tour last year. Womens cycling really doesn't get the attention that it deserves, which I find quite sexist to be frank. Mini rant over.

That short time before the riders appear is always quite exciting I find, with the various course cars, police motorbikes using their sirens, the motorcycling marshalls (who I bet wish they had sirens) and the team cars bristling with spare bikes and spinning wheels on their roof racks.

Then the stars of the show appeared, first off a breakaway;

Followed by the main pelaton;

Heading off under an overcast sky;

Followed by a straggler chasing hard;

Another straggler followed (remember that even those at the back will be far quicker than us mere mortals), along with more team and course cars then it was all over, probably much to the relief of the lorry driver who was held at the roundabout for about half an hour...

Again I had the difficult choice of view through a lens or leave the camera at home. My efforts to record this event are to be honest a bit crap. I had the camera (a DSLR) set to auto, a mistake perhaps, and the overcast sky didn't help matters.

Dani didn't join me today, she had an appointment in Sheffield to keep, but she was able to get to Chesterfield to see the finish.

Paul.

The Tour of Britain.

Today the Tour of Britain visited Derbyshire and wound its way through Buxton, so naturally I took a much-needed day of work to go and watch.

There was a sprint stage in town with the race coming through Market Square but we cycled out from town and found a spot on Long Hill (A5004 Buxton to Whaley road), on a nicely manicured verge outside the big posh house. Luckily the weather was warm and dry, and although there was a strong wind it was in the riders favour as they has a good tail wind out of Buxton.

The racers came through in two groups, with several minutes between groups, I took some pics, then it was all over and the road re-opened to traffic. Watching a group of athletes ride past in close formation is always a fine sight, but do you take pics and concentrate on framing the riders, or do you ignore the camera and just wave the group past? Dani took the latter course, and in hindsight I think she had the better idea (especially as my photos are always a bit rubbish!).

After they'd gone Dani jumped back on her bike and rode straight home, whilst I continued on towards Whaley. As could be imagined there were a lot of cyclists out, in fact for a while the road belonged to us. Riding along at speed surrounded by other bikes was enourmous fun, any other traffic was for once forced to travel at our pace, having said that our pace was good! I followed a Landrover 90 for a while, a soft top with the sides rolled up and a girl in the passenger seat photographing us cyclists following behind. Eventually I overtook, and then took the hatchback in front as well, now how often can you do that on a bike on a main road!

Rather than carry on all the way down to Whaley I turned right and followed a bridlepath up a steep grassy field (SK 024762 for the map fans out there) then turned back towards Buxton following the Roman road behind Whitehall. A short off-road excursion perhaps, but quite satisfying in a small way. It was I'm ashamed to say the first time that I've ridden off-road this year. I've been running at least once a week, and I have been out on the road bike when I can, but for the past few months work has taken priority, hence the lack of blog posts. So rather than getting out at the weekends having adventures (albeit small ones) I've been working seven days a week with occasional twelve hour days during the week. Although we need the extra money (house repairs for a start, and Dani is starting university soon) I'll be glad when the overtime finishes so I can go back to getting out and having a life.

Paul.

First road ride of 2015.

I've been rubbish over the winter, not getting out and doing much at all as my waistline will confirm. So last week I went out for a short off-road run (running on paved surfaces is frankly dull!) and today I dug out the Pompi for a short ride.
Leaving the house at 10.50 I headed north out of Buxton, turning off Fairfield Road and the A6 heading along Waterswallows, past the tip and rode Liver'n'bacon Lane (I can never remember its proper name but it avoids the fastest part of the A6) to Dove Holes where I re-joined the A6. Then down to the roundabout, first exit, drop down the woody hill and turn off into Chapel. A short climb up the high street then out towards Whaley. A couple of female cyclists pulled out from Combs in front of me, they looked serious so I hoped to draft them (totally fair in my book, they had gears, I haven't) for a while as the wind was getting a bit strong... However they were coasting along a little too slowly for my liking even though the gradient was dropping. I did think that they would put the hammer down as we were heading downhill, so stayed back thinking that if I overtook them they would cruise past further on when I hit the maximum speed that my one gear would allow. But they showed no interest in speeding up, so I span the pedals and upped my pace. I have to say that I took no pleasure in passing them, I felt it could come across as macho behaviour which isn't my style (I hope!).
Down to the crossroads at Whaley Bridge and left up Long Hill. Which today really lived up to its name...
A strong headwind only got worse with height, which probably explains why I saw no-one else climbing and plenty of smiling thin-tyred folk descending. Still, it can only help build strength and endurance. Probably.
Not wanting to stop on the way up I ground it out, pedals turning slower and slower, stomach feeling emptier and emptier despite a hearty bowl of porridge for breakfast, head staying down ignoring the fine views all around on a fine spring morning. On reaching the summit I stopped for a moment, did up my jacket against the wind and took a single photograph;

Downhill at last! Looking form the summit of Long Hill towards Buxton.

Then its (mostly) freewheeling back into Buxton, followed by a stiff climb up to my house arriving at 12.20, exactly one and a half hours later and totally pooped. Now I could re-fuel, large mugs of tea and hot cross buns being the order of the day.

Should my legs feel up to it I'll be off for a run down in the Goyt tomorrow.

Paul.

One-geared road hack.

About ten years ago I decided that it might be nice to own a road bike. But not just any road bike, being a confirmed singlespeeder (Kona excepted...) I decided that one gear would be quite enough for the tough roads of Bedfordshire. I already owned, and loved, an On-One Inbred, original batch Reynalds 853, so the obvious choice was an Il Pompino from the same stable. The Pompi was basically a steel framed road bike designed by and made for mountain bikers, designed as an all-rounder suitable for anything from commuting to cross. The rear wishbone assembly, copied from DeKerf, is carried over from the Inbred, V brakes are fitted and the rear drop-outs suit a 135mm axle rather than the more usual road standard of 130mm. Hubs, saddle and seatpost are standard On-One mtb items, and the freewheel a Shimano BMX unit. Rear drop-outs are horizontal and there's no mech hanger. The fork is also steel.

On-One Il-Pompino.

When I lived in Beds. I used it for commuting in the summer (I had a Spesh mtb for winter use), hacking between my home in Ampthill and work in Bedford, about 9 miles each way, riding home involved weaving in and out of the traffic on Ampthill Road (great fun!) and then either doing intervals on the open road or deviating to find the bigger climbs.
Originally it had a 42:16 set-up, fine around Bedfordshire but a bit too steep for Derbyshire, now the freewheel has been swapped for an 18T one.

42:18

Commuting often involved locking it up in odd places, so the frame was part wrapped in old inner tubes for a while, now removed, masking tape and stickers. It also saw a lot of use after redundacy struck, being time rich and cash poor it served me well taking me into Bedford on signing on day, and getting me out and about exploring the lanes around Old Warden and the surrounding area.

Shimano freewheels need a bit of TLC from time to time (they used to last about ten months on the Inbred) so its worth turning the bike on its side, spraying some GT40 style lube into the gap between the body and spocket to flush out any crap then dribbling in chain lube.

On-One Inbred mtb hub with a screw on Shimano freewheel. Chain tugs take care of tension.

I do have a fixed wheel to use with it (flip-flop hub), which did see use when I lived down south. One day I'll re-fit it and scare myself all over again on the hills.

Unusually for a bike of mine few changes have been made, in fact apart from the freewheel only the saddle (originally another On-One mtb job) has been replaced. Now perched on the seatpost is a WTB Tr-Lite Titanium, now sadly unavailable, bought cheaply at the time from some on-line retailer. Another one of these sits atop my Inbred, and I honestly wish that I'd bought a few more at the time as they are simply the lightest and most comfortable perch that I've ever sat upon, and probably the best made, the leather covering still looking good after ten years of use.

The best saddle I've ever used!

The bikes looking a bit tatty now (saddle excepted), there's a few rust spots around the bottom bracket and the paint is looking tired in places. One day I'll find the money to buy myself a nice light geared job, but the Pompi still rides well, and there's nowt like riding a singlespeed! (If you need to ask you'll never understand).

Paul.