That’s what I was taught growing up. Unfortunately, that didn’t bode well with my plans to write a post-a-day through 2011. Began well but broke down in middle of 2nd month when a string of bad news and unplanned travel hit me. I did try to give it a shot a couple of times after that but never got going.
Nonetheless, I don’t let any setbacks dissuade me (or I won’t be here, or anywhere, today). So, here I go with another plan – 30 days of biking. Yes, the challenge is on and today was the first day.
Today was also the (hopefully!) last day of test riding bikes for purchase. So, between test rides and the rides to/from the two shops, I rode about 15km today. That was the ‘well begun’ part from me. Let’s see how the well done part turns out.
I’ve signed up for #30daysofbiking and am eagerly looking forward to it. If you are into cycling, were into cycling at some time in your life or would like to (re)connect with cycling, I suggest you give this a try. There are no constraints on what to ride, how long to ride, how to ride, who to ride with or where to ride. The distance is up to you. Just ensure that you get on that bike at least once every day irrespective if it’s a ride around the compound, to the grocery store or a 600km audax. Really, what are you thinking? Just go to 30daysofbiking.com and sign up. Then ride, and share…
In other news. The bike has been in pretty sad state lately with a lot of muck and the badly bent back wheel. I took care of some of its problems today. Spent over an hour cleaning the bike thoroughly – with a brush & a toothbrush to get the muck and dust off, then with a wet cloth to wipe the stains and finally with WD40 to clean the really nasty stuff including the greasy grime accumulating between the gears and sundry other unreachable places. Of course, I later spent another half an hour thoroughly cleaning my makeshift bike garage (a.k.a. Rags’ kitchen and the only room in our apartment without carpeting). The effort was so draining that I was dripping sweat almost all through in this not-so-warm weather with heating off but I loved the outcome. It is a special feeling to see the bike smiling at you all cleaned up like it was when I first got it home.
Since I’m planning to buy a road bike sooner than later, I’ve decided to put full mud guards on the hybrid so I can use it comfortably in all weather conditions for city commutes. Getting that full mudguard set was the second task of the day. Popped in to the new Halfords outlet that has opened up just around the corner and signed up for their bike care plan. If you have a bike, are not sure you can service everything yourself and have an Halfords nearby, I suggest you too sign up for their bike care plans – costs just £18.99 for an year’s contract which includes free labour on any parts fitting (bought from them or elsewhere) and some free servicing too. Given that the alternatives, Evans Cycles and Cycle Surgery, had both quoted upwards of £20 for fitting these mudguards, the bike care plan has paid for itself already. So tomorrow (or day after, if things get really busy), I should get the clean and shiny bike back with a full set of mudguards.
Yes, that still leaves the issue of bent wheel and I really need to research first which wheel I want to get. Of course, the bike care plan shall help there too since I can now buy my first choice wheel from the place which has it cheapest and then get it built & fitted at the neighbourhood Halfords, FoC. :)
Click image for larger size
Finally, while at the store, I also saw one of the road bikes that is in my ‘short’ list of 10 bikes – Boardman Team BB30 with 105 groupset and a really sweet price point of £999. The bike has got some really good reviews on both road.cc and in the (I think) Cycling Active. On a subjective note, of all the bikes I’ve seen so far, this is the only one whose colour scheme (Gray body with White & Yellow decals) I really liked. Of course the bike, like most road bikes these days, pairs the 105 in rear with a compact chainset while I want a triple if I go with 105. I’m sure though that this can be resolved. The bigger issues lie elsewhere.
First, Boardman sells in the UK exclusively through Halfords and the guys and Halfords told me that they do not allow test rides. This is a big issue. How can I spend a kilo pound sterling on a bike without even test riding it? At the minimum, I need to feel how comfortable I am with the fit and the riding position as well as get an idea of how responsive it is on corners and climbs. Despite falling in love with the bike on first sight (compared with not being attracted to some other bikes on my list despite seeing them many times in stores), I will not purchase it without a test ride. What a pity to rule this bike out :(
And that is not the only issue. The other issue relates to geography. If I buy this bike, I intend to use it for a few years. However, given our situation right now, we aren’t sure how long are we in UK for. A global brand like Trek is unwilling unable to service its warranty in UK on a bike bought in India barely an year ago. Will Boardman, a British brand with a no-test-ride policy, even entertain my warranty servicing requests if I move to another country tomorrow? I’m not so sure.
Thus, despite all that it has going for itself, this bike drops from top 3 to rank bottom in my short list of road bikes. Sad.
Looking forward. Tomorrow, I shall hopefully get my current bike back with the new mudguards on it. Also, time, mood and weather permitting, I shall head to a few other bike shops to feel and (fingers crossed) test ride some of the other models on my short list.
You, in the meanwhile, should sign up for #30daysofbiking, get your bikes cleaned and serviced and get ready to roll.
My closest relative in this country, dad’s elder brother, lives in Uxbridge. Being the eldest son, he had gone to India for grandpa’s last rites and only came back last week. So, last Friday I went over to see him. There was also the small matter of collecting the barfi (Indian sweet) that Ma had sent for me through him :D
The ride, overall, was pretty easy – hardly any inclines, only a light headwind and temperatures not too much below double digits.
But (yes, there’s always a but), that didn’t meant there were not hiccups. For one, on the ride to Uxbridge, I decided to avoid the main roads as long as possible. That meant I had to take the inner roads with lotsa turns which meant just one thing – stopping every 500m to check the map on phone. That meant no momentum and really no ensoiment*. Was further disappointed when I finally did join the main road (A4020/Uxbridge Road) and saw that the road had dedicated cycle lanes and paths on both sides while I’d been struggling with directions and traffic on the smaller roads avoiding it.
Had a good time with Tayaji (north Indian term for dad’s elder brother) including a long chat that wouldn’t have usually happened if we had our better halves around. He even made coffee for us :)
The trip back should’ve been much easier with the earlier discovered bike lanes and the wind on my back. Unfortunately, barely 3 kms into the ride back, I felt the back tyre touching the breaks. A quick check confirmed the fears – it was out of shape again. It also reminded me that I’d forgotten to restart the GPS on the way back. I loosened the brakes enough to stop the touching but the ride thereafter was cautious, and unhappy. I haven’t ridden 500kms since I got the bike back from Evans after wheel truing last time and it’s spoilt again.
Nevertheless, the ride was easy – cycle lane to Shepherd Bush and then a quick straight route home through Notting Hill and Maida Vale. A nice and simple 50km ride to-from Uxbridge.
I haven’t been blogging much lately and do realise I need to get back to it. However, since I still can’t get my head together enough to write anything sensible, I though I’ll start small and easy.
So, this is another brief post about a ride I took earlier this month to Upton Park. The purpose of ride – you wouldn’t have guessed it – was to buy ‘Indian’ Maggi at a store there. Of course, there was also the added incentive of having some good chaat at Vijay’s Chaawala across the road from the store.
The ride to Upton Park was relatively easy but had to stop frequently to check the route on mobile. Apart from the first 2-3kms to Camden, the whole route was completely new to me and frequent stopping didn’t help my speed. Towards the end, the route ran on the outer boundary of Olympic Village and gave me some brilliant views of the upcoming facilities, specially the much talked about aquatics centre (which, on the outside, is complete except for polishing the looks). Unfortunately, I wasn’t carrying the camera for this ride so couldn’t take any decent photos.
Later, I had to do a double take on a small section and then find a new route for the final 5-km section as the route suggested by mapmyride.com had been closed as it passed through the Olympic park.
Anyway, reached Upton Park in time and bought enough of a stash of Maggi to last us a month or two. Followed it up with an alu-tikki chat, some jalebi and a chai at Vijay’s to top up the benefits of the ride.
The ride back wasn’t easy though. The wind was now heading into me, the light was failing (I’d taken too long gorging at Vijay’s) and the cold was starting to bite. Nevertheless, made home in good time – faster than the to-journey since I didn’t have to look at the map too many times.
Over all, I liked the ride. The route, despite having quite a few traffic lights and turns, was better than the cycling through central or City. The terrain was mostly flat with only a few mild rises here and there. And, most importantly, there was good desi food to be had at the end. Now who doesn’t cycle 20 odd kms for a good samosa, jalebi and chai? I definitely do :)
I am trying but my mind is still not at rest, hankering back to memories and people in India. Staying home alone didn’t seem a good idea in such a case so I headed out on the bike again yesterday, despite the 3-7°C temperatures – only my 2nd ride of the year. Took almost the same route as last time just removed Camden & Chalk Farm and added Kensington Gardens.
It was a fine 42km ride with an average speed of 22kmph despite all the traffic lights, pedestrians in the park and a south-southeasterly wind, though the max heart rate of 186 was a bummer.
On the other hand, the ride did what it was supposed to – took my mind off stuff and stole away a few hours of alone time. Worked out really well on that account :)
I finally went cycling today – a sweet and steady 40kms around town. My first proper ride this year considering all those rides to Tesco, Bank, Roma and Chalk Farm didn’t even touch the 5km mark each.
The pain had been building up inside me for some time now. Cycling is, apart from being an exercise and a pastime, also my favourite way to relax (point 4 on this post) , clear any anxiety and cleanly gather my thoughts. Cycling cheers me up and not having had a good ride since end November was killing me. A few weeks ago, I realised I wouldn’t last long like this and might end up doing something stupid. So, I picked up the bike and went over and finally got the tyre & wheel issues sorted out at Evans. Then, just as I was ready to start cycling again, a couple of job interviews arrived making me delay the start yet again. By the time I got over with the second set of interviews, I was already publicly ranting that I needed to start cycling soon. But the weather had taken a turn for the worse again – 4 days of winds with average speed of 25-40 km/h. I had to wait again. Finally, yesterday the winds relented but thanks to an overnighter, I spent the day in dream-world. Out of frustration (at having missed on a perfect cycling day) and possibly as a side-effect of the two beers, I managed to sleep early yesterday and was rewarded with another mostly clear and mildly windy day today. After more than two months of dithering over minor repairs, hiding from bad weather and just procrastinating, I finally made it out today.
It was not easy. The wind seemed harder than the forecasts had suggested and my, usually powerful, legs much weaker than I’d known them to be. The 5 kgs I’ve put on since I last cycled only added to the dead weight. The mild inclines in roads felt like small hills, the lack of stamina was obvious within first half of the ride and the readings from heart rate monitor were pretty disturbing. The only thing that didn’t pain like it did last march was my bum – it had survived the winter without much softening up :)
I wasn’t as fast or aggressive on the usual sections (chelsea embankment and regents park outer circle) as I usually am, and the gears gave some problem while shifting (specially 5th to 4th). However, given the long break, the ride felt good and I even stopped for a sausage & bacon sandwich at Honest Sausage before completing the final 10kms.
Have decided to at least attempt to ride everyday this year with some ground rules for those attempts – rain is acceptable as a reason not to ride, cold is not acceptable, work may be acceptable on a one-off basis, using gym bikes when out of town is acceptable.
Topic of the day is: What’s the most important thing you’ve been putting off? Why haven’t you done it yet? What do you need to make it happen?
Good topic, can keep it short and sweet.
Anyway, here is a short list of things I’ve been putting off:
Get the cycle’s back wheel repaired. Been putting it off just because I’m embarassed of going again to Evans and reminding them of the issue. The issue: They trued my buckled rear wheel and it was bad within 5 days. I went back and they promised to true it for free but when I went back to collect the bike an entirely different set of employees charged me for it. I was too embarrassed to ask. Anyway, after some goading from Rags, I did ask them for a free repair next time. And after much reluctance, they agreed to it. I got it back a few days later. But thanks to snow couldn’t use it and when I could, noticed something wrong – the front wheel inner tube had been changed, from schraeder to presta! I gave them the bike to true rear wheel and they changed the front wheel. Anyway, after much shouting on twitter, their SM team contacted me and got the branch manager to contact me. That was more than a fortnight back. Now when I go, I shall have to explain all this again. And the tediousness of it all is making me postpone it everyday.
Apply, formally, to TD, EC, CS, Inq and TC. After much thinking, I decided these are the firms I really want to work with – each of them is in one of my two key interest areas and they’re either small or innovative, just the kind to keep me challenged as well as happy. Why haven’t I applied so far? Procrastination. And the fear of rejection. In fact, I did informally approach the chief of one of them on twitter other day. He was polite. And curt. Scared me even more.
Visit relatives. They haven’t been always good to me, but then which relatives ever are? And they were never so bad towards me that I won’t visit them despite being in the country for over 6 months. This is downright insulting on my part, and I’m ashamed of my behaviour. Why haven’t I visited? Because of the fear of two questions – what do you do and why are you not married. I don’t think I can answer these questions to their satisfaction yet. I’m satisfied with the answers to those questions, but they will never get those. So, I hide.
So, there. Three fat points and I’m done with the obligatory post of day. Shall soon be writing another one though – on my experience of installing Ubuntu on my old laptop, and my first impressions of this new OS.
I have always believed that one thing that has helped car companies fend off most competition from alternate modes of transport is their ‘ownership’ of the roads. They have, very successfully, made the common man believe that roads were invented for cars to be driven on. They have made him forget that while the history of cars on the road is barely a a century old, the roads themselves have been around since at least the times of Romans. And they have used this new memory to force through restrictions of usage on other vehicles similar to those on cars, despite the vast variance in their size, power and nature of use. And this – the privilege to consider roads as automobile-driver’s right – is not something they will let lowly cyclists, pedestrians or segway riders take away from them easily.
With their bottom lines improving, I was expecting the American car companies to soon go on a war against urban cycling and this, prompted by them or not, is the best news they could have heard:
New York City’s cyclists will be required to register their machines and carry a number plate.
The young Republican, doesn’t help to his or his party’s reputation as big fat Elephants who fail to understand anything not helpful to big business or the rust belt:
Displaying a deep understanding of urban cycling culture and a commendable appreciation of the difficulty of carrying a wallet whilst riding, Councillor Ulrich suggested that many riders involved in accidents are without identification because “they’re in Spandex or whatnot.”
Left to me, the appropriate punishment for this young councillor would be to make him live a few weeks in Girona watching dozens of ‘spandex’ covered cyclists rove around practicing for, say, the Giro. Then make him live for 6 months in a city like Amsterdam or Copenhagen with his much loved cars occupying the roads in harmony with the thousands of cyclists.
Update: Another article on the road.cc website points to similar targeting of cyclists by lawmakers on US’ west coast. Seems like the lobbyists for car companies are already back in full flow. As for the points addressed in this second article, I’m split.
I support restrictions on using headphones/earphones while cycling as they tend to hamper ability to concentrate on traffic on road – whether automobiles or other cyclists. However, the same is also relevant in cases of pedestrians, specially joggers, using the headphones. While cycling on a shared path, I have been forced to stop plenty of times by a someone jogging in middle of the path oblivious to my approach behind him. Of course, they don’t hear my bells and trying to cycle past them is potentially dangerous for both of us. So, if safety is the only concern: do ban those headphones, but not just for cyclists – for everyone using shared paths or roads.
On the other issue – banning young children from bike trailers – I would just like to salute the incredulity of the statistic conjured up to support the ban: percent of riders biking to work at least three days a week have some sort of crash that leads to an injury. On first reading, it sounds acceptable. Now read it like this: If you ride your bike to work at least 3 days a week, sometime in the many years that you continue to ride, you are going to have a crash related injury. Yeah, right. I’m sure there’s a higher probability of some such injury if I walk to work 3 days a week for rest of my life – from some dog rushing at me to slipping on the ice to stumbling on an uneven pavement block. I think I should stop walking too, then. Not happening.
But then, in that country, given the state of that country’s public debates right now, anything can be pushed through under the guise of safety – either public’s or the nation’s. Won’t be too wrong then to pass a few cyclist-unfriendly laws as being for the safety of automobile-industry.
