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

The Women’s Tour passed our house this afternoon, but I walked a few minutes to a nearby shallow valley. Quite an interesting and exciting twenty minutes or so what with the huge number of motorcycles and the support vehicles.

 
Road and gravel for me today, traffic, climbing, mud, puddles, sidewall flint puncture, 150 mins for what was 90 mins without this, all the usual adventures but enjoyed the ride anyway. Dirty bike to go and clean now.
 
Started off in thick mist, road out of town into sunshine and White Lane where I took part in my Club's annual Hill climb. White Lane is also the home of the BEC hill climb which is run next week. It's the oldest continuing cycling event, established in 1887. My time probably didn't trouble anyone who rode in 1887 on a much heavier, slower bike! Still you have to pin a number on your back once in a while.
 
Started off in thick mist, road out of town into sunshine and White Lane where I took part in my Club's annual Hill climb. White Lane is also the home of the BEC hill climb which is run next week. It's the oldest continuing cycling event, established in 1887. My time probably didn't trouble anyone who rode in 1887 on a much heavier, slower bike! Still you have to pin a number on your back once in a while.
Hill climbs are horrible, only some one & have never really felt the need to do so again.
 
IMG-1495.jpg
 
Road bike tyres have almost doubled in price!!! What's going on!
Brexit? Supply shortages or discounters no longer discounting and the market working on the margins that they need to survive?
 
Not gone any further than 30 miles this week, done a few shorter quicker rides. A rather close, close pass this evening from a bloke in some kind of Vauxhall who needed to get to a res light before I did.

Made the later one by a white Audi almost polite.

A lot colder today.
 
Yep, tyres are looking expensive. I’ve had one of those bloke has issue to fix, bloke metaphorically goes into his cave until it’s solved sort of mental spaces this week.

Last week’s gravel adventure on closer inspection had put a gash of a few mm into the rear sidewall, Surrey Hills flint on the ‘light’ trail I expect. I do use inners by the way rather than tubeless. Thought about buying a replacement 32mm WTB Exposure (renamed Expanse a couple of years ago) but instead bought a pair of Schwalbe 35mm G-One for £65 but between a busy working week I’ve had lots of head scratching with this one.

A bit of a bu88ar to fit the Schwalbes as new tyres often are until they have been on and off a couple of times (I do think tyres get bad reviews for tight fit when often it’s because they are new or poor technique and I learned this over time and from others more experienced than I). Having fitted them okay then spinning the wheel, I found they look buckled but it was the tyre only, the rim was fine of course. I could see the tyre centreline clearly not straight and although it appeared seated properly when looking round the sidewall it looked a little deeper and shallower here and there.

Never experienced this before so I started again and reversed the tyre but same issue, I can only assume some incompatibility between the tyre and the wheel which is the original 21mm or so whatever-wheel-they-use on my Whyte Dorset. It’s got me foxed as the WTB and the Schwalbe are both tubeless compatible as I understand it but both should be fine with inner tubes so perhaps the WTB were okay as they are UST standard and the Schwalbe not.

The Schwalbe may have to go back though so I’m going to glue a bit of rim tape inside the WTB and order a new one most likely. And a single WTB Expanse 32mm is nearly £40, it pains me to see the price of bike tyres compared with the price of car tyres.
 
Not gone any further than 30 miles this week, done a few shorter quicker rides. A rather close, close pass this evening from a bloke in some kind of Vauxhall who needed to get to a res light before I did.

Made the later one by a white Audi almost polite.

A lot colder today.
Those passes are no fun but out in my white Audi this morning (sorry!) the cyclists seemed to insist on riding two abreast no matter the road and the bends ahead, thanks chaps, by the time I get out later the drivers will have used up any patience they might have started out with.
 
@Paul L I had similar problem when I ran the original 27" wheels on my old Raleigh. Whatever I tried I couldn't get the Conti tyres to sit properly on the rim. Not that pleasant to ride due a permanent washboard effect.

I eventually changed to 700c wheels when I updated the bike. All I have left of the 1984 bike is the frame and forks
 
Yes thanks CC, I have superglued an inch or so of rim tape inside the 32mm WTB and about to go and test it on a short 10 mile road and gravel loop. I have resigned myself to keeping the Schwalbes for different wheels in the future unless Merlin will happily take them back, we’ll see.
 
Yes thanks CC, I have superglued an inch or so of rim tape inside the 32mm WTB and about to go and test it on a short 10 mile road and gravel loop. I have resigned myself to keeping the Schwalbes for different wheels in the future unless Merlin will happily take them back, we’ll see.
Top top - the next time you empty a toothpaste tube the cut open and washed out plastic case is a perfect tyre sidewall repair patch. Just slide it in, blow it up. I used one for a year not long ago, to cover a small nick that I didn't want to see scrap a tyre.
 
Those passes are no fun but out in my white Audi this morning (sorry!) the cyclists seemed to insist on riding two abreast no matter the road and the bends ahead, thanks chaps, by the time I get out later the drivers will have used up any patience they might have started out with.
They are entitled to ride two abreast, it stops people in white Audis attempting to overtake them around blind bends.
 
I noticed the large poppies are starting to appear on cars, I had a really good look at one on the front of a land rover as it drove straight at me. Such fun.

Really quite mild today, had a pleasant spin out in what felt like the last of autumn.
 
You might have misunderstood me woodie, I’ve been a passionate cyclist for over 30 years and defensive to the abuse and poor driving from many drivers including Audis, there are many cyclists particularly when 2 or more are together with an FU attitude.
 
I found myself lining up at a traffic light stop line alongside a single-decker bus the other day. I was there a good 20 seconds by myself when the bus pulled up right alongside me so that we were both side-by-side on the line, as it were. I was obviously quicker at moving off when the lights changed but it became clear straight away that the bus driver was committed to overtaking me on the junction so I backed out of it as I didn't want to get squeezed between the bus and the pavement after the junction.

In fairness, the junction is probably about 20m across so there's a gap to pull off that move if you're driving a car, but it was an aggressive/inconsiderate move for a bus. It just so happens I wasn't in a rush so I had no inclination to compete with the bus to keep it behind me just for the sake of it. But it was a disappointing encounter considering bus drivers are 'professional' road users. Fwiw, isn't an advanced stop line at this junction.
 


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