Yay! finally the weather has brightened up. Yesterday I had a short ride up to Consett and back with John and Michelle on the mountain bikes, today a quick blast out on my De Rosa Idol. I got the De Rosa late on in the winter months of last year so only got to ride it once, so I was looking forward to some finer weather so I could go for a pootle out on her.
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| De Rosa Idol 2015 |
Not really much to write about as I only did 14.6 miles on local roads. I took in a couple of steady inclines and aim to build my fitness up gradually. I have to say I do find riding the roadie quite a challenge, it's a totally different position on the bike I absolutely hate the road clip in pedals and as the bike is so light and skinny I can be a tad wobbly. I'm using TIME pedals which only have entry on one side, so after doing a little bit of research I think I'm going to replace them for a set of SpeedPlay's, as they have entry on both sides of the pedals and they also look like the cleats are a lot lower, so hopefully easier to walk in.
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| Up the top road on the De Rosa |
I managed to get a really neat dropper post from Jenson's USA. I looked all over for a manual, lever actuated post in black and hit on here. The seat post works really well for me with having a prosthetic leg, as it allows me to get on and off my bike and also ride with my saddle at the correct height.
I'm still using Ern's Go Go Gadget adjustable pylon too. Something he knocked together in his shed. The pylon allows me to ride with my seat post up nice and high, yet not rock on the saddle. Before i always found I was either riding with my saddle to low or if I popped it up I was stretching on my prosthetic side because of the leg length discrepancy. This is caused because the prosthetic ankle is fixed at a 45 degree angle so no dorsi or plantar flexion.
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| Spotted some Moo Cows |
All in all enjoyed today's outing, however it was slightly marred when I was almost knocked off by a Silver VW Van. I had got onto the bypass heading up past Greencroft. This is a relatively straight, wide road and yet the van driver felt the need to come past me at 70+ mph and give me about 12 inches of room between my bars and theirr van. Why do people feel the need to do this? Why can't drivers just take 30 seconds of their time, check to make sure there is no oncoming traffic and then manoeuvre giving a cyclist plenty of room. I have to admit whilst I love cycling I do hate riding on the roads for exactly this reason.
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| Rode through Burhope |
After my near escape from the hands of the Grim Reaper in their VW Van I decided to pop in and see my Aunty Claire and Uncle Dave for a nice relaxing cuppa and to catch up on local family gossip. Then it was an uneventful (thank god) ride home.
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| Cracking Day, lived to ride another day |
I think the next thing on my wish list is a mini-cam, just something I can pop on that's light and easy to use for when I'm out on the roadie. If nothing else it will be useful to capture all the inept drivers in my local area and show my fan base that I am riding correctly on the road and not just making this stuff up. It's proper scared me today and it's not the first time i have had this happen locally.
Tis true, the number of near misses with vehicles passing way to close is nuts! BTW i use SPDS onthe roadie. and they even come in white.. ya dont have to use posh roadie stuff ya know ...
ReplyDeleteHi Si, yeah I was going to change over to SPD's, however when chatting to Craig the bike fit guy he recommended Speedplay's. I have been encountering a few knee pain issues, obviously in my good remaining knee lol. The Speedplay's are pretty neat as you can adjust the float on both the pedal as well as on the shoe at the cleat.Plus and a big plus they come in a Baby Blue the same colour as my bike lol
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