Crumbly decals

Even before I'd started work on building the bike, before I'd even raised a hex key with determination, I noticed some of the rather lovely decals had started to flake off, like skin from a sunburned shoulder. I could have cried.

In the grand scheme of things, what's a decal? It won't stop the bike from working! However, I'd like the world to know that I'm riding a Surly, and I'd like my Surly to look its best.

Only one decal has crumbled - the left-hand (and therefore less visible clean side) "Cross Check" on the crossbar (I assume that crossbars became toptubes when they ceased to be horizontal. My Surly has a horizontal toptube, which makes it a crossbar), but it fell off with such ease that I do fear for the rest of them, particularly the lovely little letters going down the back of each seatstay and down each fork.

I sent an email to Surly in America via the website on Monday evening. (I really didn't think it would be good to contact Tredz, my retailer, about such a minor niggle, as it clearly wasn't their fault)

I received a reply this very day, 48 hours later, asking for a shipping address to send replacement decals, and offering apologies. 

Surly, I am impressed!

Test Flight

Not quite race-fit, as the front tyre punctured on the way home from the test flight.

Hardly anything of substance made it across from the old bike apart from the wheels, so it feels very very different.

Have to get used to operating downtube shifters again, feels very strange after so many years. New, smaller chainset means all my gearing feels different too. I was so used to the old gears I'd know exactly how many gears I had in reserve while climbing, and how near to top I was while descending. I'll have to re-learn all that.

The jury's out on the butterfly bars. I'm sure they'll be cool, but it's hard to know where to put them for best results. Where they go dictates length of brake cable, so it's important to get it right.

Awesome colour!

Schoolboy Error

Building the Surly, I left off around 9pm last night with "just" the cables to connect, watched a bit of telly, went to bed, and was awake again around 5am, so I got stuck in.

I turned the stem upside down to raise the bars and turned the bars around. This could account for it.

I connected both brakes, adjusted tension, clipped and crimped cables, and was admiring my handiwork when the phrase I teach the kids in Safe Cycling whispered into my ear "Don't get left behind!"

I'd connected the brake levers to the wrong brakes! (Right lever to rear brake, left lever to front; very continental!)

The bike is now built (just giving the wheels a polish) and that, I am pleased to say, is the only error to report, and fairly easily fixed.

work in progress...

The Surly is almost built! Just the chain and the cables and we're there.

It's been a good day. All has gone well.

Up early tomorrow for the few final things, then out for a ride, hopefully.

Surly

My Surly Cross Check frame arrived today. I was at work. My friend Pete had just texted me "is it here yet?" when Mrs H phoned to tell me it had indeed arrived. I really wanted to go straight home!

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When I did eventually get home, unwrapping it was a joy. Beautiful colour - "Robin's Egg Blue" - bit like Bianchi but bluer. and nice bold fun graphics.

Tomorrow I need to borrow a headset press.

A friend in need...

My dear friend Carole Edrich is following in my tyre tracks (in reverse, if it's possible to follow someone backwards) and cycling from London to Pembrokeshire (and on via the ferry from here to Ireland) in a couple of days. I made the journey from here to London a couple of years ago, not long after Carole had been diagnosed with cancer. I cycled there to take part in the Breakthrough sponsored ride from London to Cambridge. A 290 mile ride to get to the start of a 50 miler... nice warmup!

Carole is doing to raise money for Cyclists Fighting Cancer. I have advised on the route, and how far I think she should try and ride, and will hopefully get to ride some of the welsh stages with her, work and weather permitting.

Please consider sponsoring Carole; her justgiving page is here. "Every Little Helps" may be the nauseating tagline of one of the most unethical retailers on the planet, but every little does indeed help causes like this. You all know how passionate I am about cycling, not so many of you will know that I lost my Dad to cancer when I was 12 years old. There was no cure back then. It's a different story these days, thankfully, and it's charities like this which are at the forefront of providing care for cancer sufferers. They really do need every penny they can get. I have worked for a charity which provides adapted cycles for disabled riders, and know only too well how expensive some of these machines can be. I also know what joy and independence they can bring, and that is priceless.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE, dig deep in your pockets, piggy banks, search down the back of the settee... any penny you can spare will be very well used.

 

Changing of the seasons

Today was my last day of Cycle Safety training, for this academic year.

Tomorrow we have the annual meeting at County Hall to decide who's doing what where next year.

I was hoping that by now I'd have landed either the Bike It Officer's job or the Project manager's job with Pedal Power, but not having been granted an interview for either, it was obviously not meant to be. Shucks.

I'm not too bothered (though I would like to know why) - I'm quite happy as I am. I can pick up some extra hours at Bluestone over the summer, and I can go back to teaching cycle safety next year. I can also get some much needed time to myself and time with my family. Win win win.

I've had solid work through may, June and July. Some weeks I've been commuting 25 miles a day for the whole 5 days - that's 125 miles a week just travelling to and from work. It makes the nearer jobs seem much much easier! In the midst of all that I threw in the Tour of Pembrokeshire, 60 miles of abject misery in relentless rain and driving wind.

Looking back on my first year as a cycle safety trainer - I love it. Deeply.

I have worked in 5 very different schools.

2 very small village schools.

1 very large school with a very wide mix of pupils.

2 schools with "bad" reputations (for different reasons).

I can't say I've found any of it "easy".

I have found it all deeply satisfying, very enjoyable and ultimately rewarding.

I now wish to train to teach National Standards, and extend my school base. Bring it on!

Paying attention

I gave the man in Tredz my email address:

"it's jimboharwood, all one word, all lower case..."

he wrote down Jimbo Harwood.

"No spaces..."

he wrote down JimboHarwood.

"There are no capitals..."

"Yeah, I know, that's just the way I write."

No email received so far.

Carpe Tedium

Phone message from Tredz picked up yesterday (Tuesday):

New frame ordered from supplier and will be delivered to Tredz (not here) by the "end of the week" (Not Wednesday then, as stated in the shop.)

When it arrives it will be shipped to me "as soon as possible" and SHOULD be with me "sometime next week" (Not this Thursday then, as stated in the shop.)

Life gets tedious, don't it...

Coincidence?

I think not!

I was reading the conditions of entry for the Three Peaks Cyclocross, a race I have always wanted to enter.

Rule 5 states:

• Only competitors riding cyclo-cross bikes with drop handlebars will be allowed to take part. Mountain bikes (or any other type of two-wheeled transport) are not permitted and anyone who appears (in the opinion of the race officials) to contravene this rule will be disqualified and/or prevented from taking part in the race.

Now, I bought some "butterfly" or "figure 8" handlebars when I was last in the local shop, as my wrists are getting painfully bored with "flat" bars, and the limited hand positions they offer. I do have a pair of drop bars, but don't really use them.

On closer examination of my new frame, I discovered that it has braze-ons for downtube shifters, and decided instantly that it would be a crime not to use them. It then occurred to me that, by taking the gear controls off the handlebars and onto the frame, I have opened up a whole set of possibilities for interchangeable handlebars.

Inadvertently, I have also opened up a whole new can of worms vis-a-vis the rear wheel! Because the downtube shifters are non-indexed, it matters not a jot whether my rear wheel has 6,7,8,9,10 or even 11 gears! As long as the chain is adequate for the cassette, the shifter will cope with any number of gears!

I cannot believe how this new venture is panning out! I had planned to buy a Surly frame during my 50th year, and build a bike up from the ground, but lost my job at the wrong moment. Luckily my friend gave me a frame in return for work done for him, and my bike got built anyway, with, most importantly, handbuilt wheels. Now, that frame has died (stripped threads in the bottom bracket) and a new phoenix must arise from the ashes.

How hard can it be?

Last week the bottom bracket of my tourer started making with the horrible creaks clunks and groans which imply a new one might be in order. I decided to use the opportunity to upgrade to Hollowtech 2, which involves the purchasing of a whole new chainset with integrated bottom bracket. When it came to fitting, it became clear that the threads inside the bottom bracket shell were worn beyond redemption, and the left hand bearing is left just turning on itself with no hope of ever tightening. Condition: fatal.

Having scoured the interwebs for ferrous frames, it quickly becomes apparent that the only viable option for replacement steel frames is American company Surly. I've long lusted after a Surly Cross Check, and discovered that they can be ordered through local Welsh company Tredz, and decided to pursue this further.

On their website, they state that delivery is free, but that you can ensure "next working day delivery" for an extra tenner. I tried contacting them to check whether they had Surly frames in stock, to no avail - you just can't get through on the phone.

I decided to take a chance and travel to their Swansea shop on spec.

Not a Surly frame in sight, but an alarming number of red-shirted surly shop assistants, of varying degrees of cluelessness. The first one led me to a computer, typed in "Serley" and announced that they do not stock anything by that maker.

I instructed him as to the correct spelling, and he found the frame I was after. "We don't have stuff like that here though, we'd have to order it in for you, and you could come back for it, but you'd have to pay for it up front, 'cos it's expensive, like." Then he disappeared.

I found another chap at the checkout, who was a little more polite but equally unhelpful and disinterested, so I just left the shop, which is on an enormous business park with nothing else nearby save for bathroom showrooms and car dealerships. I watched the one bus per hour cruise past on its way back to town.

After a couple of ranting texts to my wife, I decided the best thing to do was go back into the store (whatever they say, it's not a bike shop, and definitely not a "bike lovers dream and a great place to spend time regardless of whether you're looking to buy or browse.". It's like Tesco without the groceries.) and try and salvage something from a so-far wasted journey.

I singled out an older looking guy, and stood in front of him till he noticed me. I patiently explained my dilemma. I asked if they could get a Surly frame delivered to my home as soon as possible. There were a few too many ifs and buts to make his answer entirely convincing, but I decided to order and pay for the frame, as it was preferable to the alternative, which would be to return home empty handed, transfer money to my wife's debit card and order online. We'll see if it turns up before the end of the week. I have my doubts.

I did manage to buy the brakes I wanted.

Coming home on the train, I wondered what state the world has come to, when you can't just go to your local bike shop and buy something as fundamental as a frame. Bikes are sold as bikes, fully built. In the bike shop I worked in, the owner would usually refuse to customise a bike in any way, and would only sell it as it came in the box.

Locally, almost anything I ask for has to be "ordered in". I can get the basics - cables, chains, brakeblocks, but anything like a chainset will not be kept in stock by any of our local dealers. It will invariably take longer for them to get it than it would for me if I ordered it online. Don't they realise they have to be competitive with time as well as price? I don't mind paying a little over the odds to support my local bike shop, but having to wait 10 days instead of the usual 3 is pushing it a bit.

Buying a frame has been much harder than I imagined.

Random

Random is a fashionable word, innit?

I don't ordinarily use it myself. I've even had occasion to argue its suitability. Can something be, like, totally random, fairly random, randomly random? I see random as an absolute - something is either random, or it's not.

This is:

As I was cycling my merry way to work this sunny morning at around 7.30am, I passed through the eternally sleepy village of Jeffreyston, Pembrokeshire. On the edge of the village is a bench. Not a very pretty or appealing bench, made from recycled burger boxes by the look of it, and it doesn't offer a splendid view or anything, it just faces a tangle of trees on the other side of the road. This morning, as you can see in the photo, it had a crumpled vinyl copy of Abba's Super Trouper album on it (which wasn't there when I came back that way this evening). How random is that?

Midsummer's Day

It was a dark, dingy, dismal morning. I could not rush around getting my stuff together, as I simply did not have the energy. The children were being hassled, harrassed and shouted at to get dressed as usual, and you can't swing merrily from room to room gathering stuff together as there is a child in every doorway moaning about something and getting under the feet.

So, I was ended up setting off for my commute to Haverfordwest about 15 minutes later than I would have liked.

It was raining. Again. A mere drizzle at first, but it grew in heaviness and wetness once over the water. It was a hard ride. I got drenched.

My group of schoolchildren were sat outside their classroom like a group of refugees when I arrived, raring to go. I hate being late for anything, but when you're late for children, it's worse. It had stopped raining, but was still overcast.

As the day wore on the sun did appear briefly, and it stayed mercifully dry for us. My cycle home was quite humid, though with quite a strong breeze.

It's evening now. Raining again.

Dad's Day

Father's Day.

Handmade cards, a cup of tea in bed (after being woken up far too early by an overexcited No.1 son showing me a spider he'd collared), some chocolate, and a couple of DVDs. What more could the heart of man desire?

I had a church service to lead, but it was a late one, starting at 11am. No rush.

My wife was working in the local park in a craft tent most of the day, so she took the kids with her after church, while I came home to prepare dinner (roast chicken, mmm), after which I watched one of my new DVDs, (Paul) to see if it might be OK for the kids to watch (it isn't). Very funny though.

Made the most of the solitude and got stuck into some knitting. I'm knitting a hooded cardigan for No.1 daughter and have just started on the sleeves. I'm knitting them simultaneously on the advice of more experienced knitters, and it's proving to be sound advice. I will also try and knit the two front panels simultaneously, so there. 

So, what does the craft of knitting have to do with the sport of cycling?

Well, it's good exercise for the hands. After a ride my hands and wrists are usually quite painful, or completely numb, neither of which is a comfortable state of affairs. Squeezing brake levers, twisting gear shifters, and taking my weight is all my hands do on a ride. When I get to work I have to wait a while before my fingers can manage a spanner or a hex key, so anything which gets the blood circulating and articulates the joints is a good thing. 

I'm not sure who's proudest when I see my children wearing something I've knitted them. Mammy knits them much better things, but if they can tell their friends their Daddy knitted this for them, well, it's a bit special, innit?

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Not cycling

Today is a not cycling day.

All week I've been commuting to work in fair weather and foul, averaging around 25 miles per day.

Today is a "rest" day.

The family are out for the day manning a stall on a craft fair (not my idea of fun at all).

I've just done the shopping for the weekend - walked to the supermarket with my rucksack and hauled it back full of heavy stuff - half a dozen tins, a chicken for tomorrow, various vegetables and potatoes etc. My legs just don't notice the extra weight.

I need to spend time in the house; cooking dinner, tidying up etc, and getting myself and the living room ready for our moment of peace between 8pm and 9pm this evening. The weather outside is bordering between sun and rain with no telling which way it'll go. Quite a blustery wind blowing in from the west, so not ideal cycling weather anyway, but I really would like to go for a "pleasure ride" (ie climb some hills that I don't have to!). I know I'll start to get edgy if I don't!

My older brother has spent his entire life running. Oh, he works as well, but running is "what he does". Not just around the park, either - he's a FELL runner. Up and down some of the biggest hills in Britain. In his 60's now, he's been told to stop. He's had surgery on his knee, and the condition is not about to improve if he carries on pounding the hills like he does. A friend has loaned him a bike, but he hasn't been out on it once. He used to cycle loads as a teenager, but gave it up in favour of running (the daft lad). I wish I could lure him onto the bike. I've tried, but to no avail. He doesn't think it would be the same.

I agree. I don't run. It hurts. I'm fairly tireless when I walk, and can cover some distance, but where I could walk around 20 miles in a day comfortably, I could cycle 5 times that distance, with a comparable amount of effort.

There's also the joy, for me, of knowing that I'm riding on a bike I've set up myself. I know where every nut and bolt is and how tight it is. I know how much tension is in the spokes, even, because I built the wheels myself. I know how hard the tyres are.

All you do before a walk is put your shoes on - where's the skill in that? Most of my children can manage that most days!

But, today is not a cycling day.

Midsummer Blues

I know I'm not on my own, because even though my best friends told me I was completely maaaad for turning out at 6.30am on a very rainy Sunday morning for the Tour of Pembrokeshire last week, hundreds of other friends did exactly the same thing.

However, you'd think that working in the bike hire department of a holiday resort, I'd be among sympathetic people when it comes to cycling to work. Not so.

It was fairly clear they didn't believe I'd cycled 60 miles that wet day. Thankfully there are photos aplenty here (my number was 431) to prove that I was there, but why did I need to prove it?

This morning, it was fairly cold, with a bit of light drizzle which had soaked me through by the time I got to work. It rained all day but I still worked outside (because that's where I like to be). It was raining heavily when I cycled home. Wetness is a fact of life in Wales.

So, why are people amazed that I cycle in such weather?

Best job in the world?

It's not everyone's cup of tea, and a few years ago I would NEVER have imagined myself doing it, but being a Cycle Safety Trainer has to be one of the best jobs I have ever had.

On Monday, at lunchtime, I bumped into Dave, a fellow trainer with whom I worked last year, a retired fireman. We were discussing the job over a Tesco lunch, and Dave said "I never go home from this job feeling I've had a bad day".

I thought about that a lot afterwards, the words echoing around my head like a mantra.

I thought back to a couple of weeks ago, when I was at quite a difficult school. The first two days I arrived home a seething mass of stress and tension, because the children, many of them from gipsy families, were very demanding, and I didn't feel the work I was doing with them would add up to anything. The last day, though, everything clicked. They all did really well in their assessments and written tests. I was on Cloud 9, and I can't wait to get back there again next year.

My current school is similar. A big school, I'm there for 3 weeks. It's a 12.5 mile cycle there, then I have to walk a mile or so carrying heavy road signs to mark out my territory, then back to school, then walk out again with my groups. It's physically very demanding and the children are mentally demanding. The local traffic is insane, to say the least, but we have to work with what's there.

The kids get stuck in, and they cope with whatever I, or circumstances, throw at them. They're ace.

The LSAs who have to come out with me usually start off quite diffident. They don't want to be there and have obviously drawn the short straw or they've done something wrong for which this is their punishment. I try to involve them in any way I can, and they invariably come back having enjoyed the experience, and wanting to come out again.

At the end of six hours, I'm completely drained of energy and emotion, and I still have to get the kids safely back to school and put my signs away. I still have to cycle 12.5 miles home.

Today, I could have sang all the way, and I still have a week and a half to go.

The Tour of Pembrokeshire 2011

Yesterday (Saturday) I cycled 25 miles or so in absolutely perfect conditions - bright sunshine and a quiet but refreshing breeze - to and from Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, to register myself for the Tour of Pembrokeshire. My bike was rolling very nicely with a fresh new chain and brakeblocks and a general cleanup and I was feeling good. My speed averaged at just over 14mph for the trip, pretty good considering the steepness of a couple of hills.

Today (Sunday, obviously) I woke at 5.30am, had a hot breakfast of fried eggs and beans on toast, packed a saddlebag with food and tools and set out for the start line. It was raining, and I soon discovered it was also windy. I'd nikwaxed my windproof top, and the rain was rolling nicely off and my armwarmers were keeping the chills at bay. My legs, however, were soon completely numb from the knees down (no exaggeration). I got to Saundersfoot later than expected due to a 9mph average speed, and only had a couple of minutes to get in line for the first bunch to go. I'd met my friend Paul at the line, who was acting as a motorcycle marshall. He thought I was bonkers to even turn up.

Carbon-framed bike straddled by lithe-limbed and callow youths streamed past me up the very steep climb out of Saundersfoot, and continued to do so for the rest of the morning, though not quite as frequently.

My original intent was to beat my previous long-distance record of 95 miles in a day, and complete the 117 mile long course. I didn't care what time I did it in. However, it was now patently obvious that conditions were about as unfavourable as it gets, and that there was going to be no letup within the forseeable future. I had the option of shorter 80 mile or 60 mile courses, but they all ran together for the first 10 or 15 miles, when the longer course split off to go up and around the Preseli Hills. When we came to the junction I had no hesitation in selecting the easier option.

When I say "easier", I of course mean "shorter". There was nothing easy about it. There is no word for flat in Pembrokeshire.

After around 40 miles, we reached the first Feeding Station. I'd already stopped for a snack about 5 miles back, but was ready for a little rest, and further fillage. Free food is free food.

I think I'd decided then that as the route passed within a few hundred yards of my house I wouldn't be going any further than that. There didn't seem to be much point. When I reached Pembroke Dock I'd covered just over 60 miles, in 6.5 hours, with a couple of lengthy stops, in terrible conditions. I'm happy with that, for now. 

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Ligaments

I don't think I've done anything to them before, though quite how I've gone so long without hurting one of them I don't know. I got some pain in both my knees during and after the ride on Thursday evening, but nothing extreme, so i thought it best just to "ride on through it". I couldn't stand afterwards.

The next day my knees seemed OK so I went on a ride with a friend, during which my left knee was giving me twinges, but again, nothing so bad i had to stop or even ease off. Some of the hills on the homeward leg were a bit painful but I coped.

Yesterday I was in pain from the moment I woke. I was only going for a short ride anyway, so I applied the ibuprofen gel liberally and set out. I was in pain the whole time. I could apply no pressure to it whatsoever. I was limping badly uphill, practically riding one-legged, and had to cut my short ride even shorter.

I applied a bag of frozen peas as soon as I got home, and more gel. I did take a slow walk on it, just to keep it moving, but even that was sore.

Today I rest.

I'm applying icepacks for a couple of minutes every hour or so. There was no pain first thing this morning which is an improvement on yesterday, but there is soreness now. I'm just sitting around with my leg either flat or up, and I'm going nowhere.

The Tour of Pembrokeshire

Le Tour de Pembrokeshire is on 12th June 2011.

There are 3 distances: 63, 82 and 117 miles.

The most I have ridden in one day is around 95 miles, so I've decided to go the whole hog and do the big one. What's the point if it's not a challenge? It would also seem that the older I get, the bigger the challenge I'm ready to face. Two rides of between 40 and 50 miles have started my preparations. I have a nagging pain in my left knee which is a worry, it only hampers me on steep hills, when I have to overuse my right leg, which is not ideal. I'm trying a painkilling gel today, and may resort to a support bandage, but that will be a very last resort.

Next week I plan to be back at Bluestone on Monday and Friday, and I will lengthen my commutes both ways.

Tuesday to Thursday I will be at Fenton School in Haverfordwest, a fairly easy commute along the wonderful Brunel Cycle Trail. There are some nice variations I can take.

My plan is just to keep riding, so that by next Sunday my legs are just turning automatically. My stamina is fine, but I need to do some work on speed.

I'm raising money for Pedal Power in Cardiff while I do this, please feel free to donate whatever you can on my justgiving page, every penny donated will make a difference!