Week 17 metrics

20th - 26th April:

• Total distance: 48.9mi
• Total elevation: 1,844ft
• Longest ride: 11.67mi
• Time in saddle: 3h 45m

...more through stubbornness than inclination or enthusiasm.

Week 16 metrics

13th - 19th March:

• Total distance: 22.2mi
• Total elevation: 1,299ft
• Longest ride: 12.02mi
• Time in saddle: 1h 33m

The COVID lockdown continues to rob me of commuting by bike, and of any motivation. Currently not feeling any inclination to spend more than 45 minutes in the saddle at a time...

Little by little

It's been a while since I last weighed my bike, but since then I've had a new bottom bracket, new chainrings, new crankset and new pedals, so I thought it was probably time for an update. If I'm honest, I wasn't expecting too much - in fact, I was even braced for an increase, because I've had to use distinctly middling components. But it turns out I was replacing middling components too, and they were twelve years old, so... Anyway, using the time honoured method of standing on the bathroom scales, taking a reading, picking up my bike, taking a second reading, and then subtracting one from the other, I concluded that my bike, my knackered old relic from another life, is now down to...

About black hoops

Earlier this year I switched tyres, replacing Schwalbe Durano Plus with Hutchinson Fusion 5 Kevlar Pro Tech. In other words, I replaced wired tyres with much lighter foldables. Strava tells me I've done very nearly 400 miles on the new rubber now, so what's the verdict?

My primary concern with tyres is always puncture resistance. There's nothing that grinds my gears more than squatting down at the side of the road in the pissing rain, getting covered in cack whilst trying to get tyre levers under tight-fitting rubber. Honestly, if I'm within five miles I'd rather walk home, pushing the bike. So I was a little bit disappointed, if I'm being honest, to pick up a puncture in one of the Hutchinsons, despite their move-touted Kelvar-iness. Reader, I walked home, pushing the bike and silently swearing the whole way. But punctures happen. This, like >90% of all the punctures I've had in the last three years, was picked up on a cycle path, where detritus of all sorts accumulates. Honestly, is it any wonder I prefer the road? But I digress - the Hutchinson's puncture can be written off to bad-weather cycling, I hope.

Beyond puncture protection, what else can I tell you? The Hutchinson tyres are much lighter than the Schwalbe, less than half the weight. This, I guess, is down to not being wired... and, you know, not having the extra 5mm of rubber that the Schwalbe's start off with. As it is, I coupled the change of rubber with new lightweight tubes and a shiny new and (guess what) lightweight wheelset, and can really feel the difference. And that's not all - being foldable, the tyres feel a bit more forgiving, more pliant - they soak up the bumps a bit better, is what I think I mean. I say "think" because the difference is marginal... but it is there. This takes a bit of getting used to - I've cycled over bumps and thought, "Uh-oh, tyre feels a bit flat," but it isn't - it just gives a bit more going over whatever the obstacle is. This pliancy probably means they won't last as long as the Schwalbe, but time will tell on that score. One thing I can tell you already though is that they are much harder to get onto the wheel - you might want to think about three levers, rather than two, unless you have thumbs of steel...

Oh, and there's grip. I don't think the Hutchinson's are quite as grippy as the Schwalbe were. Whether this is down to the more pliant rubber or some other characteristic, I'm not sure. What I can tell you is that there are corners I've had to ease off slightly for, in the wet, that I didn't before. Of course, this could just be because I'm arriving at them faster, on my new lighter wheels...

TLDR: lightweight, comfortable hoops that promise much and, thus far, are delivering. Not perfect though: hard to get on, and could be grippier through wet corners. ★★★★☆

BUY: Hutchinson Fusion 5 Kevlar Pro Tech, currently £33.99 from Wiggle

Week 15 metrics

6th - 12th March:

• Total distance: 33.6mi
• Total elevation: 1,168ft
• Longest ride: 10.57mi
• Time in saddle: 2h 51m

And motivation? Less than zero...

About postponement

The reason for this blog was to document the training, the bike upgrades, the sponsorship push and everything else related to my attempt to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats, 980 miles in 9 days... in September 2020.

At the weekend, I received email confirmation that the event (the Deloitte Ride Across Britain) is being cancelled this year, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. September sounds like a long way off, but the organisers have (correctly) realised that it's going to take a long time to get through this, and a long time afterwards for life to return to even a semblance of what was considered normal before.

My place on RAB has been rolled over to 2021, so I'll still be doing the ride, but now not for another 17 months.

I understand the reasoning behind this, it's the right decision, and of course I get that everyone has more important things to be thinking about at the moment. But at the same time, if it's alright with you, I am just a bit gutted. Delaying by a year means that my already creaky body is going to be even creakier. Nobody gets fitter or stronger as they advance through middle age; the decline might only be slight, but it'll be there. And it's not like it was going to be a doddle this year, so next year...? Plus I bought into the idea that this year's RAB dates meant that I would be celebrating a landmark birthday slap bang in the middle of the ride. Not so, next year...

I suppose there are plus sides. I suddenly have an extra twelve months in which to raise much-needed sponsorship, should anyone's thoughts return to charity at any point (I haven't attracted any sponsorship in the last month, for obvious reasons). And maybe, assuming I still have a job and there are still functioning bike shops, maybe I'll have time to save up for a super-light race bike. Maybe.

Even so, here's where I insert an appropriate visual metaphor for my current mood...

Week 14 metrics

30th March - 5th April:

• Total distance: 15.3mi
• Total elevation: 171ft
• Longest ride: 10.8mi
• Time in saddle: 1h 00m

...and motivation? Zero.