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| Out and about listening to a few tunes |
Monday 3 July 2017
Irepressible Me, bouncing back
Wow just looking back it has been around 3 months roughly since I last posted. The reason, well without going into it too much I just have not felt well. To be honest this year so far has been an extremely tough one for me. I mean in many a persons eyes it will not seem too dramatic, but for me and how I have been feeling both physically and mentally it's just been...Mmmmm what word comes to mind... how about Turmoil.
Sunday 16 April 2017
You know when something is up, but you just cannot put your finger on it?
As the post title says "You know when something is up, but you just cannot put your finger on it?"... well upon my first ride out on my Silverback Synergy Fat I put my finger or should I say fingers straight on the problem. Omg the brake levers are the wrong way around. Now after a few rides I find I am continually going for the rear brake and confusing it for the front. It does nothing for your street cred when you are trying to show off and do a skid and whip your bike around, when in reality each time I almost go over the bars lol.
This immediately brought back memories of my trip to Ogden Utah in the US of A to meet up with my awesome friend Mark Peterson and of course his absolutely fantastic parents.
You see upon my visit Mark had arranged for me to get a loaner bike. A Trek Stasche 29'er from a very kind gentleman named Matt Howard who runs The Bike Shoppe. The bike was practically brand new and was fitted with a dropper post. This was my first go using a dropper and it converted me, so that all my bikes run droppers, yes even my road bike.
Anyhoo for those of you in the know you will know that not only do American's drive on the wrong side of the road, but also their brake lever set up is slightly different to here in the UK. The left lever is the front and the right is the rear in the US, whilst we are the other way around. I wasn't aware at the time and even when I had discovered forgot. Now yeah you will probably think "It's no big deal", however imagine flying down a trail trying to keep up with your good buddy who happens to know the trail and coming to a tight right hand turn, then grabbing for the brakes. "Oh crap" you confuse which is which and your front wheel starts to wipe out. Mark's friend Lance was following close behind and he found it hilarious when I shot off into the brush. Thee stuff I went into reminded me of those tumble weeds you see on the old western movies. It was a case of "agghhh" "oooooh! and as I came to a stop in the middle of this scrub a "phewwww!". Now that could have been so much worse.
The following day I was recounting my near miss to Mark's dad Cliff and he said "you do know there are rattle snakes in them there hills". Really well I had no intention of going in there again. Saying which as I recall whilst out on a steady upward ride up into the hills I encountered a switch back which was tough to manoeuvre due to my prosthetic side. Luckily there was a tree to grab on to so I could stop and hold myself up. Unluckily when I pushed off, "ahhhhh" not enough momentum. I can't unclip whilst riding with my prosthetic side so ended up tumbling down the side of the bank. It was funny as I was more worried about Matt's bike so as I fell I tried to hold it out and protect it. Mark immediately stopped and shouted "Hey are you ok dude", once he got my reply "Yeah I'm good" he burst out laughing.
So getting back to the Silverback Synergy. At moment it is fitted with Shimano Deore's with 180mm discs. To be honest even if the brakes were the right way around I would have thought about changing the set up, the Shimano's just don't seem to have enough power or bite.
Last year I bought a set of Sram Guide CR's for my Ibis to replace the old Elixr's which snapped at the master cylinder on two occasions. Anyhoo the new Sram rear brake has been sticking from the start so this has put me off going for that brand. Now my Hope's on my Sandman, they are another story. They have never failed, plus you can pretty much buy every component separate if you need to replace something. So I have decided to opt for a pair of Hope Race Evo 4's along with 180m floating rotors. They don't come cheap, coming in at just under £180 per unit, but at least I know I won't be grabbing the wrong lever and going for a trip over the bars and that the Hope's have great stopping power.
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| Just some of the Peterson clan. I love these guys |
You see upon my visit Mark had arranged for me to get a loaner bike. A Trek Stasche 29'er from a very kind gentleman named Matt Howard who runs The Bike Shoppe. The bike was practically brand new and was fitted with a dropper post. This was my first go using a dropper and it converted me, so that all my bikes run droppers, yes even my road bike.
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| Here is Matt and da man that is Mark Peterson |
The following day I was recounting my near miss to Mark's dad Cliff and he said "you do know there are rattle snakes in them there hills". Really well I had no intention of going in there again. Saying which as I recall whilst out on a steady upward ride up into the hills I encountered a switch back which was tough to manoeuvre due to my prosthetic side. Luckily there was a tree to grab on to so I could stop and hold myself up. Unluckily when I pushed off, "ahhhhh" not enough momentum. I can't unclip whilst riding with my prosthetic side so ended up tumbling down the side of the bank. It was funny as I was more worried about Matt's bike so as I fell I tried to hold it out and protect it. Mark immediately stopped and shouted "Hey are you ok dude", once he got my reply "Yeah I'm good" he burst out laughing.
So getting back to the Silverback Synergy. At moment it is fitted with Shimano Deore's with 180mm discs. To be honest even if the brakes were the right way around I would have thought about changing the set up, the Shimano's just don't seem to have enough power or bite.
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| Silverback Synergy with wonky brakes |
Last year I bought a set of Sram Guide CR's for my Ibis to replace the old Elixr's which snapped at the master cylinder on two occasions. Anyhoo the new Sram rear brake has been sticking from the start so this has put me off going for that brand. Now my Hope's on my Sandman, they are another story. They have never failed, plus you can pretty much buy every component separate if you need to replace something. So I have decided to opt for a pair of Hope Race Evo 4's along with 180m floating rotors. They don't come cheap, coming in at just under £180 per unit, but at least I know I won't be grabbing the wrong lever and going for a trip over the bars and that the Hope's have great stopping power.
Saturday 15 April 2017
A Ride to The Hub on Newcastles Quayside.
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| Baxter |
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| Baxter, he is such a good lad |
Sunday 26 March 2017
Work no rest then play
It was my first full day back at work today, after my 2 week phased return following being ill for 5 weeks with that nasty strep infection I told you all about in a previous post.
I am now going to use a word my boss Dan uses a lot to describe this morning as I awoke and looked at the clock or should I say clocks and that word is Discombobulated. I mean my alarm on my phone went off ok, correct time and all. I was not late, however when I went down stairs into our kitchen the kitchen clock was an hour slow. The Oven clock is always wrong so that was not helping matters and the Microwave, well it came out the Ark so it no longer works. I just thought 'Ahh the battery must have died in the clock'. I then had a quick cup of coffee from the Tassimo, a nice Latte and some sort of coffee yogurt thingy that Ern sometimes get in. As I went into the living room to check out the mornings news I noticed that that clocks battery had also died...D'oh no it hadn't obviously the clocks had gone into some other time zone, backwards or forwards or whatever. I checked the news as surely they would know the right time.
On Sundays I can spend a little longer in the house as there are no annoying numpties on the road and it's a canny drive in. I hate driving in during the week because as well as numpties, muppets, cocks and bell ends, there are also with all intensive purposes buffoons just waiting to cut me and Tango up, beep at us for not going fast enough or make it there mission in life to get in front of the bright Orange Smart car and get one place ahead. I mean that morning coffee will be getting cold.
As I got in to Tango I was thrilled to see that when I turned the ignition key and my radio sprang to life blaring out some group I had discovered just the other week, that my clock was reading the correct time. I was not so thrilled when I had to adjust not only the dash mounted clock but the digital one, especially as all three clocks now read a minutes difference and my OCD kicked in. 'Ahhh bollocks' what do I care I am not the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and I was not late, BBC One's news had told me so.
Anyhoo a full shift at work 8am until 4pm. By the time I got home, it was approaching either 5:45, 5:46 or 5:47. Clothes off, leg off, mountain bike gear on and BTK Crossover on. Juice in bottle, GoPro in backpack, grab bike and I was off. I mentioned in one of my other blogs I was going to start riding the bank up to Wagtail Lane as a means of gauging my fitness. It's a canny click and once up it the lane continues with ups and downs past the wind mills. I definitely found the bank easier today. Not only that after I adjusted my saddle yesterday evening and Ern had a look at the cleats on my shoes I am happy to say the medial pain in my knee appears a lot better. I forgot I did not tell you about the pain I got from Saturdays ride. After 22.5 miles when I came in my good knee was absolutely killing me. I honestly thought I had damaged something. It's not great having a bad leg when you have your own two legs, but it is even worse when you only have one and it starts hurting. Saturday evening I could hardly hop whilst using my crutches. As I sat at my computer I did some research into the cause of knee pain and came across this great article which I have taken advice from and it appears to work.
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/take-care-of-your-knees-part-2-17445/
Again just a short tootle out tonight. I have an idea of roughly how far 9 or so miles are and at the moment I am happy just building up my fitness, not over doing it, yet pushing myself where I need to.
I managed to get a few shots with my GoPro whilst out, so all in all a canny little ride out. Mind you not sure just wearing a short sleeved jersey was a great idea it was a lot cooler than I thought.
Once back, oven straight on and 3 Southern Fried Chicken breasts along with a packet of Uncles Ben's Rice. I am a poor eater, something I should really sort. I can kind of go all day then binge. Been in shower, full tummy and Ern has just brought me a nice cuppa whilst I finish off writing my blog....Cheers Ern!
I am now going to use a word my boss Dan uses a lot to describe this morning as I awoke and looked at the clock or should I say clocks and that word is Discombobulated. I mean my alarm on my phone went off ok, correct time and all. I was not late, however when I went down stairs into our kitchen the kitchen clock was an hour slow. The Oven clock is always wrong so that was not helping matters and the Microwave, well it came out the Ark so it no longer works. I just thought 'Ahh the battery must have died in the clock'. I then had a quick cup of coffee from the Tassimo, a nice Latte and some sort of coffee yogurt thingy that Ern sometimes get in. As I went into the living room to check out the mornings news I noticed that that clocks battery had also died...D'oh no it hadn't obviously the clocks had gone into some other time zone, backwards or forwards or whatever. I checked the news as surely they would know the right time.
On Sundays I can spend a little longer in the house as there are no annoying numpties on the road and it's a canny drive in. I hate driving in during the week because as well as numpties, muppets, cocks and bell ends, there are also with all intensive purposes buffoons just waiting to cut me and Tango up, beep at us for not going fast enough or make it there mission in life to get in front of the bright Orange Smart car and get one place ahead. I mean that morning coffee will be getting cold.
As I got in to Tango I was thrilled to see that when I turned the ignition key and my radio sprang to life blaring out some group I had discovered just the other week, that my clock was reading the correct time. I was not so thrilled when I had to adjust not only the dash mounted clock but the digital one, especially as all three clocks now read a minutes difference and my OCD kicked in. 'Ahhh bollocks' what do I care I am not the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and I was not late, BBC One's news had told me so.
Anyhoo a full shift at work 8am until 4pm. By the time I got home, it was approaching either 5:45, 5:46 or 5:47. Clothes off, leg off, mountain bike gear on and BTK Crossover on. Juice in bottle, GoPro in backpack, grab bike and I was off. I mentioned in one of my other blogs I was going to start riding the bank up to Wagtail Lane as a means of gauging my fitness. It's a canny click and once up it the lane continues with ups and downs past the wind mills. I definitely found the bank easier today. Not only that after I adjusted my saddle yesterday evening and Ern had a look at the cleats on my shoes I am happy to say the medial pain in my knee appears a lot better. I forgot I did not tell you about the pain I got from Saturdays ride. After 22.5 miles when I came in my good knee was absolutely killing me. I honestly thought I had damaged something. It's not great having a bad leg when you have your own two legs, but it is even worse when you only have one and it starts hurting. Saturday evening I could hardly hop whilst using my crutches. As I sat at my computer I did some research into the cause of knee pain and came across this great article which I have taken advice from and it appears to work.
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/take-care-of-your-knees-part-2-17445/
Again just a short tootle out tonight. I have an idea of roughly how far 9 or so miles are and at the moment I am happy just building up my fitness, not over doing it, yet pushing myself where I need to.
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| Coming doon the farmers trail, no not that farmers trail lol |
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| I'm balancing here...honest!!! |
I managed to get a few shots with my GoPro whilst out, so all in all a canny little ride out. Mind you not sure just wearing a short sleeved jersey was a great idea it was a lot cooler than I thought.
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| BTK Crossover |
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| BTK Crossover in flexed whilst out of the saddle |
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| Coming around the corner at the bridge near Qukaies |
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| Over the ickle Stream |
Friday 24 March 2017
A little tootle out on the Silverback Synergy Fat
With my new job I am now working more hours, 30 over 4 days. This means I get Thursday,Friday and Saturday off. Yesterday even though the sun was shining through my bedroom window when I awoke I just felt 'nowt flash' as they say. So it was a relatively boring day lounging about.
This morning again the weather did not look too bad so I decided to go for a short tootle out on my Silverback Synergy Fat Bike. As I went to get my bike I thought 'Ooh there is still a nip in the air', so I popped my old Royal Racing soft shell jacket on top of the 2 base layers and my Royal jersey.
I manoeuvred my bike past both Ern's new car, he has been getting a 64 plate Citroen Multispace and my little car 'Tango'. I then pushed my bike through our garden intending on going out at the front of the house. Yay all set to go, as my bike was outside on the pavement I pressed the lever to drop my saddle and 'Grrrrrrr' the bloody thing had gone wonky again. The seat post, which is a Race Face Turbine dropper did the same thing just last week. I am now regretting not going for a Rock Shox like on my Sandman and Ibis Mojo. The Rock Shox uses hydraulics and the only prob I have ever had is wear and tear, where the post starts to get worn and moves a tiny bit side to side. The Race Face is an air, plus cable operated system. For some reason the cable keeps getting stuck, this means the post just will not stay down when sat on. It will not lock.
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| Great to be out |
I manoeuvred my bike past both Ern's new car, he has been getting a 64 plate Citroen Multispace and my little car 'Tango'. I then pushed my bike through our garden intending on going out at the front of the house. Yay all set to go, as my bike was outside on the pavement I pressed the lever to drop my saddle and 'Grrrrrrr' the bloody thing had gone wonky again. The seat post, which is a Race Face Turbine dropper did the same thing just last week. I am now regretting not going for a Rock Shox like on my Sandman and Ibis Mojo. The Rock Shox uses hydraulics and the only prob I have ever had is wear and tear, where the post starts to get worn and moves a tiny bit side to side. The Race Face is an air, plus cable operated system. For some reason the cable keeps getting stuck, this means the post just will not stay down when sat on. It will not lock.
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