Cheap bike challenge? Matley Wood Hampshire

Hi all,

So recently I bought myself a bike to trash. A Rockrider 340 from Decathlon. Tiny 26" wheels, Tourney gear set, the usual really. It does have an aluminium frame though so...yay?

Anyhew. I thought I'd take it out for a spin with some mates to see how it'd do compared to some "real" offroad bikes. To put it simply it was outclassed. Everywhere.

On gravel, even though I changed out the stock tyres for mud tyres there was no grip. The  800mm suspension refused to push the front wheel back into the ground. It shock absorbance was also terrible, but I'm glad I wore my gloves. It meant that even at low speed, while my friends were cornering at a lowly 12mph they could make the corner. I had to slow down and had very little confidence.

Eventually we made it to the most fun part of the ride, Matley Wood in the New Forest in Hampshire. I've not been down there before, but there are many natural dips making it a good pump track and I actually managed to get some air on my bike a couple of times. It would have been so much easier with larger tyres and less weight!

Anyway. this is my handlebar view of what happened. If you don't catch the audio it's basically my friends warning me it's about to get exciting for a bike that cost £150 with stupid wheels!

Here's the vid:



I did do a speed test on tarmac in case people are interested. Bouncing up and down in the seat in the hardest gear at 27mph. Not too shabby. I wouldn't go that fast offroad though. Jebus.

Here's the strava:

thanks for reading,

Strava KOMs don't last long...

Hi all,

For those who don't know what Stava is, it's a ride logging website. It also has things called segments. These are bits of road or trail, normally uphill or technical and the challenge is to navigate it as quickly as possible. The fastest riders get things call KOMs (or QOMs) "Kings Of the Mountain" (or Queens).

I've noticed that over time I was getting faster, and I held the top 3 times in quite a few of my commute segments. Then I realised a couple were in my grasp.

These are tough segments. Bad entries meaning you can't carry speed into them and bad exits meaning you may have to break. As the roads are narrow chances are you will hit traffic, or the roads are in such a state that if you're forced offline you lose time and speed very easily.

Then one day, on the way home, I noticed something.

No headwind.
No leg fatigue.
Not feeling heavy.
Bike feels good.

So I went for it and nailed both KOMs. Boom! Really happy! They don't last long though. I don't hold them any more. For the sake of a few seconds over a mile. The guy who holds the top spot must have had a perfect run.

Here's the strava link:

Leap to Lepe

Hi all,

This weekend was really busy so the only time I had was a couple of hours on Sunday morning.

I love riding to the waterside, or to the sea at least, so my route of choice has to be Lepe. There's a great coffee shop down there that sells good coffee and ice cream so it's all to the fair. There is a nice 30 mile loop from Totton to Lepe going down through Eling, Marchwood and Hardley and back through Beaulieu and Longdown onto the "Green Route".

I put my camera on my bike for the first time in a while, so I've grabbed stills from the video. I might process it later but nothing cool happened. It may serve as some evidence for the local council to fix the bloody roads though *fume*.

The weather was pleasant enough. A tiny bit of drizzle before I left, but otherwise dry and sunny in parts.

Pictures and what's left of Strava after my Garmin stopped being weird:

Thanks for reading,

Wiggle Spring Sportive 2016

Hi all,

So this year I decided to do my first event. I was fairly nervous to be honest having not done anything like the distance required before but I was certain I could do the distance.

The problem with these events is actually time. If I do this event again I'll keep my average moving speed, but cut my breaks down. Now I've done a few big rides I know what I'm capable of.

The bigger drain on this ride was the wind. It was horrendous. A really strong headwind most of the way round.

I met a friend of mine on the start line, which meant I had a ride buddy. We cleared the first 30 miles quickly, but I really needed him for the last 25 miles. I got huge cramp. Sorry, that's not big enough.

I got HUGE cramp.

Both legs.

It didn't even play nicely. It cramped at extension and reflexion. At one point I had to jump off my bike and lie on the grass for a bit. Eventually it gave way and I could jump back on for a mile or so. It really tested me.

Saying all that, it was good fun. Pretty cool stuff. I met some nice people, I got overtaken by a really old gentleman making a noise like a steam train. I couldn't keep up with him!

I will do the one later this year, but I'll definitely do the spring one next year.

Photos and Strava below:

I don't know who this guy is. 

New MTB. A spin around my home town.

Hi all,

So you buy a new MTB and you want to take it for a spin. So I did. I did a lap of my home town.

This is what I love about cycling, you can go pretty much anywhere, do pretty much anything. The miles quickly add up and start making no sense at all. I left home with the bike, my phone and a drink and basically explored all the paths I hadn't explored yet. Awesome fun, and I was only out for a couple of hours.

Photos below:

It's pretty cool I have all this on my doorstep. I'm a lucky guy!

Thanks for reading,

Bournemouth bounce

Hi all,

In 2015 a friend and I tried to get to Bournemouth and back. Considering that neither of us had really trained for that distance it went surprisingly well. This year, I thought I'd give it a go again. I did it on my own this time as said friend was unavailable.

I packed my usual kit then hit the road.

I took a different route out to last year. I'm still not too happy about going down the A35, especially on the way back. Such a horrible road. I'll look for something a lot better next time.

Anyhew, about an hour and 50 mins later I arrived in Bournemouth. Nice. Good speed. Unfortunately after an hour dossing around on the beach my right knee decided it wasn't going to work properly any more. 30 miles on a shanked knee is not a good thing. Ah well. I made it home in pretty good time considering and I did manage to get an ice cream at the beach which is the most important thing.

Photo's and strava below:

Thanks for reading

Close call with some new cyclists

Hi all,

I'm only posting this because it was a very odd situation and both the car driver and I shared a look as we passed. So there I was, coming home from another hard day at work, hoping that another commute would take place with not a lot going on when all of a sudden...



What I meant to say was:

"The first thing about cycling on a road is to be very predictable. If the car driver knows what you are going to do, they can plan for you. It's safer. Always stick to the left hand side of the road unless signage says otherwise."

What I actually said was:
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!?!?"

Basically they got spooked because they were holding up a car while going around the lorry. The woman then decided to freak out and bail into my cycle lane, while her partner tried to decide between gutter and following her and basically putting himself right in front of the car.

If you are in this position just chill. Signal left. Pull in. Stop. Take a breath. Then move on. Don't do the above, it's plain silly.

Thanks for reading,