Vic's coast to coast

Last weekend we drove north for the annual Scotland coast to coast, a beasting from Nairn to Glencoe via Fort Augustus, travelling by bike, foot and kayak.

The 'experts' did it in a oner on the Saturday (although reviewing some of the pics, a lot of them looked far from expert!) and the 'challengers' took two days with a camp stop overnight in Fort Augustus.

The distances and terrain are what I would call manageable, not ridiculous, they are most definitely a hard physical challenge but what really set the race apart was the weather on day two. Compare and contrast:

Day 1

 

Day 2

Howling winds (gusting to 60mph) and mingin squally rain characterised day 2, and the last kayak stage had to be cancelled for safety reasons, but fair play, Vic, Jenny and Rachel all completed.  There was a lot of very tired, wet and battered competitors crossing the finishing line with a fair few DNF's, no doubt due to the conditions. Vic finished 18th women (80 finished) and in the top 40% of all the competitors, although apparently she wasn't 'competing' (really? as soon as the results were released she was on it!)

Overall a tough but challenging event made all the harder by the weather, who know's next year we might even go for the mixed pairs event.....maybe.

Fixie fun

Well it's taken a while, as I bought the frame about 18 months ago, but after some top level tinkering i've finally got the fixie road ready, and all for £273.

Frame, forks, handlebars, stem, headset, seatpost, saddle, cranks, bottom bracket (used) £105
Wheels (new) £140
Chain (new) £8
Pedals (new) £20
Brake lever, brake caliper, brake hoods, brake pads, cabling, tyres, bar tape FREE - well I found them all lying around my garage and not being used, does that count as free?


Gearing: 48/16 (79 inches) Good gearing for a bit of grunt!

Weight: 9kg (not the lightest, but I never bought if for that)

Maintenance: Now it's built, a clean and an oil and that's about it.

Difficulty with front brake - fairly easy as long as you remember not to stop pedalling

Difficulty without front brake - too much for a fixie newby like me to contend with

Climbing: Love it! as long as it's not too steep the direct feel out of the saddle is amazing

Training: Great as part of an overall training programme but not to be used solely

Limitations: No bottle bolts (i have a cable tie solution but don't want to ruin the aesthetic)

Fun factor: It's great :-) The direct feel, simplicity and lack of noise make this a definite WIN!

Why carry what you don't absolutely need?

Some say i'm obsessive about weight?! Weight of rider, weight of bike, but light is right in the cycling world, whether TT or road and unfortunately finances aren't infinite for the lowly domestic amateur so rather than spending thousands on the latest aero this, light that, it'll save you 30 watts marketing bulls**t, I approached the problem from a different angle:

Get rid of everything you don't use or need!

My main thought provoking culprits for this attitude were Andy Wilkinson's bike, Adam Hansons homemade carbon shoes and pretty much everything Graeme Obree has ever invented.

If you spend enough time looking, thinking, analysing and doing you can sometimes reduce the weight of your racing machinery by 100's of grams, often kilos, and the beauty of it is, the more you remove the more streamlined it generally becomes.  Think, 'what don't I need' and get rid of it, simple!  Here's one example:

Not only are the pair 87g lighter, they are more efficient due to decreased rotational weight and they are more aerodynamic so oversocks aren't required saving a further 44g - total rotational weight saving of 131g (try and shave 131g by buying a new wheelset, it'll probably cost you a couple of hundred pounds)

Why carry all those sprockets on your disc, you probably don't use half of them? Small 44t chainring for flat TT's - do you ever use it?  Bar tape - why? Foam padding inside helmet? Clothing? Aero gloves? and of course the major one........weight of rider? (and don't underestimate the effectiveness of this, or the difficulty in doing something about it)

These are just a few ways you can reduce weight, reduce drag and keep the bank manager happy. 

Give it some thought, take a few risks and YOU WILL go faster.

Disclaimer: All machinery must be safe and comply with race guidelines.

Son of tin....pimped

This project was started in Nov 2012 but has been on the back burner (see what I did there!) while the cycling took priority. Now the season is coming a close i've had some time to geek it up and finish what I started.

My remit: Stove system had to be small and light (no shock there), work with gas or wood, both stoves needed to work at the same time (i.e. beantin fire to get rid of midges and stove to cook), little impact on environment (gas probably not the best choice for this but I prefer it's functionality over fuel burner), efficient and large enough to cater for two if required.

Main problems encountered: Fitting it all inside cookpot (filing and elbow grease sorted this), weight (end product was 70g lighter than standard jetboil containing gas canister), cost, windbreak - this was the final problem to overcome as the pocket rocket gas stove is awful in the wind, but with a bit of thought, some internet trawling, a saw, file and a tin of tomato soup, the windbreak was born :-)

Pretty chuffed with the final product and it works a treat, let me know what you think.


NB If anyone tries something similar make sure you do a 'burn off' on the tins before you use them otherwise your first stove test will end in disaster and probably a trip to A & E!