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Cycling log - random events in the day of a cyclist II

I'm suspicious now. I bet you actually hated the pain and frustration associated with a singlespeed so decided to kill it. My bet is the replacement is going to have gears, lots of gears...! ;)

haha, I'm currently window-shopping for a single speed replacement - one gear to rule them all...
 
Why, is the bike wrecked? I thought it just needed a wheel or two and maybe a fork?

Mine got thrown down tbe road in a big way, LBS declared it BER, the insurers gave me the replacement value (sort of, it was notionally factored in but in reality £800 is lost in the noise) and I replaced the wheels, fork and saddle. Job done, the frame gained a few cosmetic marks. Of course, you may be unlucky and have a bent frame.
 
The back wheel is a write-off, the mudguards have followed suit and there are numerous scrapes on the frame and handlebars. It might well be that the bike will live to tell the tale but in my mind it's as dead as a dodo. I don't want to ride it again, but I guess that all depends on what the insurance company are prepared to pay.
 
The back wheel is a write-off, the mudguards have followed suit and there are numerous scrapes on the frame and handlebars. It might well be that the bike will live to tell the tale but in my mind it's as dead as a dodo. I don't want to ride it again, but I guess that all depends on what the insurance company are prepared to pay.
You need to get a quote for full repair at a shop. If this is more than the bike is worth, the insurers will write it off and pay you. It's then notionally theirs, so you need their sayso to dispose of it. This is as simple as saying "if you have not made arrangements to collect this within 1 week it will be disposed of" and waiting a week.
it's up to you whether you repair, sell as is or junk the thing once you have sorted out the insurers. I'd repair it if it's OK, but that's me.
 
Tonight I decided to have a go at getting back the KOM I'd lost a couple of weeks back. It's a rocky/gravelly section that's just under 2.5km long which, while on average being slightly downhill, has a mix of ups and downs on it (although nothing major either way). The guy that took the KOM off me initially took nearly a minute off my time, and since then someone had taken about another 40 seconds off that plus I'd been pushed all the way down to 4th by someone else who'd bettered my time by a few seconds. All of those were on gravel bikes by the looks if it and it's definitely a segment that's more suited to them than a mountain bike, although the first 1/3rd or so is quite rocky so probably quicker on a mountain bike as a rigid bike with narrower tyres would get pinged about a bit.

When I'd ridden it before I hadn't been aware it was a segment so pushed a fair bit harder this time and managed to improve my time by quite a lot (over 2 minutes) so got the KOM back by a good 30 seconds or so. The segment seems to be a lot more popular recently though, so I suspect I might not be keeping it all that long but we will see. I picked up a couple of 5th overall as well - not a chance I'll be improving my time by enough to move up the leader board on either of those though, as they were quite tough and the KOM times are impressive. They're very bumpy (and overgrown, and boggy - and generally not very nice in fact!) and while I was on the Soul tonight, which is a hardtail, I can't see I be all that much quicker on one of the full-suspension bikes either.
 
As predicted, back to work = no cycling in the week.

I need a different job.

You're lucky. I haven't had a week off since Christmas. But then we're both lucky, because some poor sods have had lots of weeks off and no money. Money and time - never seem to have both at the same time.
 
I must admit I have enjoyed working from home full-time the last few months and it's certainly been a fact in my getting back into cycling. We were supposed to be 100% office based but I'd mostly only go in 2 or 3 days a week and suspect I'll do less than that when we do go back (which I think will be several months yet)
 
If I could work from home



Obviously ain’t gonna happen!

Once upon a time my office used to look something like this - which would also have made working from home a bit more of a challenge!

5476848243_c0c13d4914_b.jpg
 
I drove over to Decathlon at Braehead just now to see if they had any of these single-speed bikes in stock so I could see how it is in the flesh. It turns out they never had any, what's more, they haven't had any for ages and they don't expect to have any more in the near future. They never had much of anything relating to cycling in fact - a plague of locusts must truly have descended upon Decathlon and snapped up every last nut and bolt of a bike. Okay, a slight exaggeration there, but they only had about 10 or 15 bikes in stock so in theory you can walk into this particular store and buy a bike. But it won't be the one you want, it won't the colour you want, it won't the size you want and it probably won't be the gender you want. It's a seller's market for bikes right now, that's for sure!

Incidentally, I thought I'd pop into IKEA at Braehead to pick up a footstool but as soon as I drove into the car park and saw the epic queue, I drove straight back out and went to Sainsbury's instead. What's going on - did the world just about end or something???
 
I was attacked by a dog whilst cycling round a playing field yesterday. I think it was a juvenile doberman.

I think this was my third actual attack in 25 years of mountain biking. Being botherd by dogs is irritatingly common, but actual attacks are, thankfully, rare.

It was about 30 yards away to my right when it noticed me. It legged it straight towards me, no barking or snarling. I've seen this before with this type of dog - quiet/confident aggression!
I took my usual avoiding action... off the bike immediately and put the bike between me and the animal.
The dog leapt at me and hit the bike full tilt, claws rattling off my frame. It tried a couple of times to circle me but I kept the bike in the way. The owner, a young guy of about 18, was calling it and apologising profusely. It finally went to him but he then spent about 2 minutes trying to catch it. Eventually he got it on the lead and I was able to cycle on.

We had the usual discussions: "That dog is dangeraous, If you can't control it, it should be on a lead". "But it's never done that before" "I should report that dog before it harms a someone". "I'm really sorry, it's never done that before".
At least I didn't get the usual "He's only being friendly" :rolleyes:

Fortunately I only have a few scratches on the top tube to show for the encounter.

Not sure if I should have taken some pics and reported it. I think I'd better google the procedure for reporting dogs, for the inevitable next time.

TBH I'm pretty pissed off with dogs. dog owners, dog shit. There is an epidemic of irresponsible and incompetent dog ownership in the country.
 
I drove over to Decathlon at Braehead just now to see if they had any of these single-speed bikes in stock so I could see how it is in the flesh.

That looks to me like it'd weigh more than the sun however apparently they're 11.6kg (although I'd be interesting to see if that's actually true) which isn't too bad given the cost. You'll definitely need to grow a beard and carry a man-bag as that does look like typical Shoreditch hipster shite though!

It turns out they never had any, what's more, they haven't had any for ages and they don't expect to have any more in the near future.

They won't sell any in Glasgow as no-one would be stupid enough to buy one anywhere that isn't completely flat. Well, almost no-one... ;)
 
TBH I'm pretty pissed off with dogs. dog owners, dog shit. There is an epidemic of irresponsible and incompetent dog ownership in the country.

The vast majority of us are responsible but like all things (including cyclists) it's a tiny minority that give us a bad name.

Where I live you don't tend to see a lot of dog shit left lying around but we do see a lot of is massive piles of horseshit on the paths and trails. I can't understand why it's acceptable that someone's animal can shit wherever it likes without any requirement to either clear it up or at least move it off the path.
 
Does horsey poo endanger public health like doggy doos does?

Not a clue but it's deeply unpleasant having to wade through it - and there can be a lot of it. If it's been raining it tends to get washed all over the track as well so it's impossible to completely avoid returning home with your bike and clothes smelling of horse poop! Some of the trails around here are quite overgrown at the moment as well so it's not easy to spot before you actually come into contact with it.
 


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