GULE GULE TURKEY…

Istanbul to Perth cycling trip Sept. ’14 to Mar. ’15

After a wonderful rest day in Trabzon where we treated ourselves to a night at a hotel, ate everything that took our fancy and had a good cleanse in the hamam where I was laid out on a marble slab and scrubbed, washed and massaged by a professional wearing leopard skin knickers until she was satisfied I was clean, we remounted our Trolls and got serious about getting to Georgia.

Tea in the Rize hills

We continued along the Black Sea coast for 140km or so through the tea growing  region of Rize. Given the amount of Cay we have consumed over the past few weeks it was nice to see where it comes from. Every inch of arable land in the region is covered in tea plants. They even grow out of the drains on the D10! Loaded up trucks trundle along with leaves blowing out of them scattering the coastal road. The air even smells of tea thanks to the number of factories accumulated in the region.

Steggy and Chris at the Borcka weir

But at Hopa and full of excitement we left the familiarity of Karadeniz (the Black Sea) and turned into the mountains! The first climb was a steep 15km to about 1000m in the heat of the day. Hard work. We stopped at the top for lunch and spent a pleasant hour or so chilling in the shade whilst watching a cow graze on a tea plantation. A fast decent took us through Borcka for supplies and onto a magnificent camping spot on a weir with stunning views and a decent sized hydro electric scheme.

Dismounting for a cay stop  

We continued to climb and wind away into the mountains the next day, this time with a strong tail wind. At descending points we had to use caution as the wind cut some  gnarly shapes into the hairpins, funnelling us in head first, giving half a second to adjust weight before yeeha – a full sideways body slam buffets you out the other side. Don’t look down because the Turks are more interested in building dams than road barriers! At Ardin, the earthworks of a second enormous dam have led us to wonder whether the Turks are using their formidable architectural skills to quietly work away at energy self sufficiency.

Onwards and upwards. The next day saw us climb 1,898m in 37km to an altitude of 2,470m in searing heat. Absolutely brutal. I bonked just 1km from the top, but nothing a honey sandwich quickly prepared by Chris couldn’t sort out. A fast, hair pin free decent took us to the alpine plain town of Ardahan where we checked into a dirty hotel, too tired to camp. A Finnish cyclist, Seppo, whom we’d met the previous day turned up at the same hotel a while later looking equally disoriented from the climb.

Chilling at 2,470m

The fun was only just beginning though. We said goodbye to Seppo after breakfast. He is going to Iran so our roads parted in Ardahan. Rolling through about 45km of beautiful alpine pastures where herds of content looking cattle and fat tail sheep grazed, took us to the foot of our next climb. This was a shorter climb with a 20km descent to Posof as a reward! Yippee!! The climb took us to our highest point of 2,550m. Epic on a touring bike laden with 20kg of panniers! The views were incredible. Spine tingling. The mountains of Georgia were in sight with dark thunder storms complete with spectacular bolts of lightening over them.

Last hill to Georgia

We started the descent, the part we usually love the most. Now Turkey, I need to ask you this: What the hell happened to your roads? They’ve been so good, but then you get to the town of Damsal just before our final climb and hit a good size pothole on entry because it’s either that one or the one either side of it before skidding across loose gravel into the next hole. And that’s the way it stays until a kilometre before the border. I don’t understand why loose gravel has been scattered across the road with a few splotches of wet tar here and there and just left. I know mountain weather wreaks havoc on roads and that you don’t have cyclists in mind when you are repairing them, but surely cars don’t appreciate this system of maintenance either? It put my nerves on edge! We started the descent with joy in our hearts that was short lived. My bike bounced crazily from pothole to pothole, three out of four panniers unhooked at the bottom and clanked against the racks, the road twisted steeply around the mountain giving views into the surrounding valleys, all with thunder storms that were closing in on our mountain. I was trying desperately to burn off speed but couldn’t seem to get below 50kph. Navigating the hairpins as best I could to avoid the gravel I had horrifying pictures in my head. Traffic was still moving past us in both directions and the bends, potholes and gravel were endless. Something felt wrong with my bike but there was nowhere safe to stop. Big drops of rain started to fall and great flashes of light followed by roars of thunder indicated the storm was over us. The pictures in my head got worse and the speed of the descent continued, sometimes having to skip to the outside lane to avoid the worst of the road carnage before hurtling back across to avoid oncoming trucks. The moment the road straightened I signalled to Chris I was stopping. He came up in front of me and asked what was wrong. Between thunderclaps I let out a few expletives about atrocious roads and near death experiences before saying there was something wrong with my bike too. I gave the handlebars a shake for emphasis and nearly dropped my front wheel on the ground as the skewer had come undone… Some things don’t bear thinking about too much, but I need to thank Saint Christopher as I’m sure he had a hand in keeping me safe against all odds on that descent. To sum up, lets just say I had a good sit down in Posof afterwards and Chris bought me the most expensive ice-cream without hesitation.

Another 20km of appalling but rolling rather than steep roads took us to the Georgian border for sunset and we entered our second country with friendly goodbyes from the Turks and hellos from the Georgians. So gule gule Turkey and thank you. You have been the best training ground we could have asked for as we commence our journey. Your people, landscapes and food have seen us arrive in Georgia happier, fitter and stronger, a little more aware of culture and certainly better at handling our bikes and camping stove. Your cuisine has ensured we are not leaving any leaner but we’re not complaining, it’s been a pleasure!

Gule Gule Turkey!

So we’re now in Georgia and for my first hairpin at speed I had to negotiate a rock fall and two savage dogs charging me head on. Thank you Saint Christopher for stepping in again. The dogs tripped over each other and both fell over long enough for me to speed past and find a line through the rock fall. Chris whose always looking back over his shoulder for me breathed another sigh of relief and we carried on. It’s a different country from the outset with a whole host of new adventures and challenges waiting for us by the look of it…

ISTANBUL TO AMASRA – 425KM

Istanbul to Perth cycling trip Sept. ’14 to Mar. ’15

My first impressions of Turkey have been that the food is fantastic, the drivers are considerate, nearly always giving a friendly honk and wave as they pass – in both directions, and the people always seem to be there when we need them. For example, on our second day on the bikes, we had planned to get to Bolu, a ski resort town which would be our first proper climb. We’d spent the day on the D100, a busy highway, doing rolling hills in 39c heat. As we approached the bottom of the climb at around 5pm I needed something to eat to keep me going. We stopped and turned around to go back to a bakery but no sooner had we turned the bikes than a guy called us over from a shop veranda for cay (tea).

Secret men's businessCamping by a lake

He was sitting with a group of men conducting secret men’s business, which there is a lot of in Turkey, and they poured us cay and pushed the chocolate biscuits our way and even grabbed a handful of nuts from the stand out the front. We were grateful and did our best to converse in Turkish, English and sign language for a while. As it happened, none of the men who had called us over actually lived or worked at the shop and they gradually headed off in different directions as did we once we felt good enough to go on.

Not surprisingly, it wasn’t long into the climb before my head started to spin and I was not feeling confident of reaching Bolu still 20km up the mountain. Chris pulled over briefly to look at the view, where it appeared we had actually climbed a really long way already. A family was having a picnic by the road there and waved a bottle of coke at us which Chris declined before I could say anything. Back on our bikes and spinning hard on the granny rings, I lasted probably another twenty minutes, now in 34c heat at around 6:30pm, before it was all over for me and I hit the wall. Luckily it was the wall of a beautifully located et mangal (meat bbq restaurant) built into the side of the mountain. In desperation we asked the lady – camp? With a friendly smile she replied – camp and waved vaguely to an area of garden at the back of the restaurant. We had our bikes round the back and the tent up in about 5 seconds flat. Keeping a little space behind the tent which was hidden from the restaurant, I filled the Ortlieb 5L folding bowl I had insisted on bringing with water from the girls bathroom and in the last minutes of sunshine and overlooking the valley we had climbed out of, had the best wash of my life breaking out the bum flannel and face flannel for the first time on the trip. I even stuck my head in and washed my hair Too much information? Sorry, I apologise, but honestly it’s the basic necessities and the unpredictable ways they evolve that I’ve been appreciating the most in this first week as we settle into our journey.

 Rolling hills

We do seem to be finding a bit of routine. We set off early in the morning full of beans, rolling over the constant hills admiring scenery and thinking how good life is. Then it gets hot and we limp into our lunch stop around 12:30pm where we eat whatever is on offer before finding some shade to snooze in for an hour or so and then do our best to get through another couple of hours in the afternoon. I find there is always an uneasy period late afternoon where I’m tired, hot and bothered and don’t know where we’re going to end up for the night. It seems to be working out for us though, mostly thanks to running into the right person at the right time – and no I don’t always mean literally…

Cooking at our lake campsite

We have camped by a lake with a stunning sunset where the locals came down and partied til dawn, in the mountain restaurant garden, in a field behind a petrol station where the owner gave us ice-cream and let us use his shower, by a path in a random park and then this morning, we descended – at exhilarating speeds – into the beautiful Black Sea town of Amasra where we have treated ourselves to a rest day and found a beautiful room for 100 Lira above a market place. We’ve had a swim in gorgeous clear water, some good food, we’ve read our books sipping cay on a shady strip by the sea and now I’m writing this on our little balcony and it’s very atmospheric…

Amasra on the Black Sea

TURKISH HOSPITALITY

Istanbul to Perth cycling trip Sept. ’14 to Mar. ’15

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It goes like this: Chris and I are walking down the main street of a town, Espiye, with our phones out looking for a cafe with a wifi signal. A man comes up and asks Chris (always Chris) where we are from. ‘England’ replies Chris. The man takes out his phone and makes a call, says a few words including England, and hands his phone to Chris. The man’s daughter is on the other end who asks Chris in limited English what we’re doing. ‘Looking for wifi’ replies Chris. He’s told to hand the phone back. The man finishes the call and taps the shoulder of the closest man sitting outside his shop drinking cay with friends and has a brief conversation including the words England and wiffee. The new man jumps up, runs to the other side of the narrow street, picks up a pebble and throws it at the window above his shop. A man sticks his head out and a shouted conversation including England and wiffee ensues after which the man comes promptly down from his office with his wifi code on a piece of paper. We connect to his signal and stools are drawn up for us on the pavement to join the three men already sitting there. The first man carries on his way job done, the other returns to his office, cay is served to Chris and I and a lively conversation is started in Turkish/English with our three new companions. We learn who they are, get tips for Trabzon sightseeing, are served Turkish coffee (which knocks your socks off if you’re not careful). We completely fail in our quest to find accommodation for Trabzon in two nights time because it’s impossible to search and continue the conversation, but we do learn a couple of new Turkish words to add to our growing vocab and generally have a pleasant time. And this is not a one off experience, but can happen several times a day, though not usually in the busy towns or cities.

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We met Songul and her family in Cide.  Our bikes were being obnoxious about being taken onto the beach to camp and Songul ran down to offer help when she saw us struggling to push them onto the sand from her home across the road. She later came back with her sister Fatma and a huge bowl of watermelon for us. We spent a lovely evening on her beachfront balcony with her family. Her mum who was up early to pray the next morning even helped us load up and saw us off at dawn, giving me a good approving nod when I hitched my special long skirt up into shorts.

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We met Isham in a tiny hill top village where he was waiting for his niece to arrive back from holiday by coach. He took us back to his farm where he made us a beautiful dinner of home grown, organic food, then invited some of his extended family around and we spent the evening sat on a rug on his front porch surrounded by drying corn cobs for the chooks, eating watermelon, figs and hazelnuts and drinking cay. We washed in his bathroom (with an amazing view through the open window) and slept in his living room.

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Outside of Bafra, once again looking for a campsite, a group of kids wanted to  what we were doing. They showed us to the mosque where we could wash in a purpose built bathroom beside it but outside the mosque grounds and then showed us to their father’s field where we set up the tent, again with an awesome view. They even called their English teacher who came out to meet us on a Saturday evening and helped out with translating as Chris ran an impromptu bike coaching session for the kids.

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The next day in Samsun, we needed our final (prophylactic) rabies vaccinations and found the right hospital after quite a lot of trouble. The hospital staff didn’t want to do the vaccination because they didn’t know if their vaccine was compatible with ours, but still they were friendly and as helpful as they could be, even getting an officer from the World Health Organisation on the phone to translate for us. As we went back to out bikes which we had left outside the staff canteen, the chef called us in and insisted on giving us lunch. A good hearty three course meal! Coincidentally our nurse, Sanma, came in for her lunch at the same time and sat down with us. She was such a nice lady. At the end of lunch she took us back to her office and set up Google Translate on her desktop. Then after being given the vaccine name, a call to our insurance company and another to Chris’ aunt Edmee, a retired GP, we deduced that the vaccine was fine and Sanma gave it to us for free, saving us £125 each.

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That night we came across a likely camp site on the edge of a tiny rural village away from the main road. There was a man there watching his cows graze and after the usual sign language/Turkish conversation he told us it was fine to set up camp. His wife Sefika, a very happy lady, came out to see who we were. Sefika was brilliant! She loved our bikes, wanted to see inside our tent, had me chasing a cow around the field trying to milk it (turned out she didn’t even know how to but thought it would be funny!) and then had us into their place for dinner. They are hazelnut growers and it is picking season so they are working long, hard days. Poor Kamal, her husband was propped up at the table trying not to fall asleep. Kamal’s brother Mustafa lived on the same property but in a bigger house and seemed to run a bigger operation, employing his own pickers and sorters. He had come over to our tent separately on his way to the mosque with a torch and candle as he had seen us and was worried we didn’t have enough light. (We just weren’t using ours because of the mozzies). He also joined us for dinner after his mosque visit and although they spoke no english we managed to communicate well, had a really good, fun evening and went to bed so full I didn’t think I’d be able to keep my food down.

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But then later this morning after writing this blog I think we gained a little more insight into Turkish hospitality. We stopped in the small seaside town of Eynesil for a snack and tea and met the resident Mullah. We had seen him walking down the Main Street greeting everyone and noticed that a lot of the people were gravitating towards him but didn’t know who he was until I later asked him whether he was a politician – oops. He came up to Chris and shook his hand and asked us to sit down to tea in the closest cay shop. Chris asked where the Ekmek (bakery) was and the man sent a kid off to buy bread for us. Not understanding we followed the boy but he bought the bread and wouldn’t let us pay. We returned to the cay shop across the street and great fuss was made of putting stools and a bigger table out for us and a few more people joined. They insisted we needed peynir (cheese) to go with the bread and a new tub of it appeared along with dishes of honey and olives and two big cups of tea for us and the standard size for everyone else. The boy who had bought our bread reappeared too with five more kids who transpired to be the Mullah’s grandsons. We chatted and took photos, wrote down Facebook and Twitter names etc. The boy wanted to know whether Chris had a housewife and I honestly couldn’t read his expression when Chris said it was me… Anyhow, once we had eaten as much as we could, the Mullah wrapped up the remaining cheese and bread for us, refused our offer of money and signalled that we had finished. It was another wonderful, if slightly surreal experience of Turkish hospitality and we gratefully accepted the generosity and kindness extended to us. I sensed though that the Mullah was also using the landing of strange looking aliens in his town as an opportunity to put into practice, for the benefit of his people, a teaching from the Koran.

Whatever the case, the Turks have proven to be phenomenally hospitable, interested and welcoming people and if this is what cycle touring in Turkey is all about then it is absolutely the way to go.

Istanbul to Amasra

Istanbul to Perth cycling trip Sept. ’14 to Mar. ’15

For our blog post on this section of our journey please see our sister site, 45 Degrees North.

Here’s a sneak peak:

Camping by a lakeMy first impressions of Turkey have been that the food is fantastic, the drivers are considerate, nearly always giving a friendly honk and wave as they pass – in both directions, and the people always seem to be there when we need them. For example, on our second day on the bikes, we had planned to get to Bolu, a ski resort town which would be our first proper climb. We’d spent the day on the D100, a busy highway, doing rolling hills in 39c heat. As we approached the bottom of the climb at around 5pm I needed something to eat to keep me going. We stopped and turned around to go back to a bakery but no sooner had we turned the bikes than a guy called us over from a shop veranda for cay (tea).

How to pace TT’s down hills

ARC Chainring

Following a recent conversation with previous TCC member Jess Rhodes-Jones I thought it would be useful to share some information with the TT riders in the club.

I posed a question to her: “How do you pace yourself when riding down hills in a TT and what gearing do you have on your bike?”

This was her response:

I run a single 54T non-circular ring (subtly non circular – we make a ring that is designed for the high inertia of TT riding – link here: AeroCoach ARC chainring), but think I’m going to change to our 58T for faster courses this year, as it’s only 1 sprocket difference but have spun out on downhills on some courses.  Cassette is 11-28, but I can’t currently use the easiest 2 sprockets as they rub on my disc (just a cheap Chinese one).  Changing to an AeroCoach disc this year so I’ll be able to get into the easier gears for hilly TTs.  For hilly TTs, I put my front mech back on, and have a standard 53-39 crankset, with the same cassette.  I’d only swap to the double crankset if the hills are steep – I ran a single ring for the Albi amateur world champs course, which was definitely rolling, but no hills particularly steep.

Re pedalling down hills – I definitely keep pedalling and try to keep the pressure on the pedals to maintain power, but I don’t get worried if the power drops, just make sure I keep aero to make up any difference!  The R25/3H course in South Wales is pretty nuts – you get up to 65kph+ within a couple of km of starting the race on a steep downhill dual carriageway, and maintain that speed for c. 2 mins to the bottom of the hill – I keep pedalling to keep the bike straight, but really focus on keeping tucked in, to carry as much speed as possible onwards at the bottom.”
As a follow on from this, here’s some more information on Arc’s chainrings:
Pacing down hill in TT's

Weighing in at only 112g (54t), the solid aero ARC allows you to remove the front derailleur for even further aerodynamic gains due to the special tooth design to retain the chain. The ARC’s subtle shape is designed to mimic the firing patterns of your leg muscles whilst riding, increasing the gearing size when you most need it.

BIOMECHANICS

Due to the higher speeds involved in a time trial, inertia and momentum is much greater than normal. This causes pedal speed to be much smoother, and means that for a time trial (high speed) large increases in gearing and dramatic noncircular shapes are not optimal:

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The ARC increases gearing quickly at the beginning of the pedal stroke as this is when the main force producers activate (gluteus maximus, vastus medialis & lateralis, as well as the tibialis anterior). After this period gearing is maintained all the way through the highest torque phase before gradually decreasing down to a minimum gearing at bottom dead centre. This smooth dropoff is when the effect of gravity and the lower leg muscles come into play.

arcpeakpng

The unique time trial specific design will help increase power output by 3-5w, and allow a smoother pedal stroke than normal. Unlike other noncircular designs you can train on the ARC ring without causing a detriment to your pedal stroke and swap between round/ARC rings without difficulty. In addition, there will be little to no power inflation (<1%) when using the ARC on a crank/pedal based power meter.

ARC TT RINGS (54t & 58T) 

ARC 54t & 58t chainrings are designed for the 40-55kph speeds involved in time trialling and fast triathlon riding. These are high inertia scenarios, where pedal speed is much more consistent than situations involving low inertia (such as climbing). Therefore the ARC carbon rings are optimised with a subtle noncircular shape.

ARC2 RINGS (52t) 

ARC2 52t chainrings are optimised for 30-45kph. As the inertia is lower, the ring design is more pronounced. ARC 52t rings are ideal for lower and/or changeable speeds, such as in triathlon, criterium racing or for fast training.

AERODYNAMICS

The ARC has a full aerodynamic design with custom long teeth to retain the chain, meaning that you can remove the front derailleur. This can save between 1-4w at 30mph depending on the size of the derailleur. It is not recommended to shift using a front derailleur as this may damage the long teeth and will void the warranty.

INSTALLATION

We advise to shorten the chain 1-2 links, ensuring that there is still sufficient length in the largest sprocket on the rear for best chain tension. The B screw on the rear mech should also be set to improve chain tension, please refer to the manufacturer’s details for adjustment.

The carbon ARC chainrings are thinner than a normal chainring, and so in some cases placing spacers in between the ring and spider will improve chainline if the chainline is less than standard. Please ensure that the chainring is protected at all times when not riding the bike, and that framesets with no wheels on are not rested with the chainring touching the ground, as ARC’s long teeth will protrude and may get damaged.

CUSTOM BCD

We can manufacture carbon ARC rings for custom BCD to fit your exact crankset: if you need a chainring with a non 130BCD fitment, then please select the custom order from the drop down list above, and send our team a message with your requirements in the Order Comments box whilst placing your order (eg. Shimano 4 bolt 110BCD). If you choose the custom BCD option please allow at least 3 weeks for delivery as we build the ring to your specification.

A mini-tour of Japan by bike – Gear and setup

Japan by bike

Cheap bikes for touring

30 days in Japan on bikes we got for free (abandoned at a bike shop that Chris works in), with new 5mm tyres, a few spokes, wheel true, new cables & a good clean the bikes ended up costing us around A$50 each.

Anna’s sporting an Australian Gekko City Trail hybrid with v-brakes & 21 speed gears which weighed in at 12.5kg before adding 20kg+ panniers.  Chris has a GT Avalanche 3.0 mountain bike with disc brakes & continually breaking rear spokes.  The bike somehow weighed 17kg plus about 20kg luggage and panniers.

There were a couple of reasons for not spending more on bikes.  One, we didn’t have a lot of money but wanted to pick up some pottery, fabric etc on the way and as we were already over our weight limit for the plane the logical answer was to leave our bikes behind!  The other reason was just to see if a cheap bike could do it.  The first and last time we’d been cycle touring, from Istanbul to Singapore we had a great setup with steel frames, disc brakes and Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres and only had 1 puncture and 1 broken spoke on the whole trip – all 9,000km of it!

Yet along the way we met a Polish guy who was trying to get to Morocco via Russia by bike.  He’d walked into his local Decathlon, bought a cheap bike, crudely fixed his backpack to it and set off. Inspirational or stupid, it was the seed that got us thinking.  Can we get free/abandoned bikes in Australia and ride them all over Japan for a month or do we need serious cycle touring bikes?

Working in a bike shop, people often leave their bikes behind when they cost less to replace than to repair.  With a bit of spare time and some love we were able to take 2 such bikes and give them a new life in Japan.  Upgrades for each bike included:

Anna’s Gekko, hybrid bike

 

1.       True front wheel and tape over hole in rim where spoke had ripped out and couldn’t be replaced.  35 other spokes should be plenty!

2.       New front tyre – Chris has a spare 700 x 28C Mararthon tyre.  A bit narrow but better handling

3.       Front basket installed for carrying pottery, lacquer ware and other artefacts.  Made the bike difficult to park and handle when loaded but served its purpose.  Points to Xavier for spotting Anna had a basket and Garmin on her bike!

4.       Replace grips with second hand – black and pink (not sticky like the old ones)

5.       A couple of new cables and gear tune

6.       Bottle cage and bottle – only space for 1 so we picked up an 800ml bottle for $3 from Wiggle

7.       Seat post – previous owner removed this but we had a box of used posts so that was free

8.       Saddle from Anna’s road bike – Selle Italia Diva.  Was looking tatty anyway and zero cost.

9.       Mudguard set – not that we intended cycling in the rain but would protect bike components, artefacts and panniers.

10.   Pannier rack – taken off Chris’ commuter

11.   New rear tyre, 5mm thick and pretty wide for added comfort, circa 45mm

12.   Fit Anna’s spd pedals

13.   Headset cleaned and regreased

14.   Deep clean

15.   Fit Anna’s Carradice (not waterproof anymore) panniers x 2

 

Total time 2-3 hours.  Cost $70

Chris’ GT, mtb

 

1.       New 5mm thick tyre on front wheel

2.       Clean front disc and check pads – seemingly ok

3.       All new cables, brakes adjusted and gears tuned

4.       Replace stem and handlebar for something lighter – used Bontragger in the box so that’ll do.

5.       Replace grips with second hand, bolt on big surface area and also non-sticky like the old ones

6.       Seat and post missing – found second hand ones in workshop box

7.       Bolt on rear wheel with missing disc rotor taken off.  Found second hand wheel and fitted used, bent disc to.  Bent disc back, new rim tape and 5mm thick tyre.

8.       Replaced broken spokes and true

9.       Test ride felt like a vertical buckle in wheel but this turned out to be the tyre not seated properly – adjusted.

10.   Installed Anna’s ‘Old Man Mountain’ rear rack, suitable for disc brake bikes.

11.   Fit new rear mudguard.  No mounts for front and down-tube large enough to deflect some spray.

12.   Remove spd pedals from commuter and fix to GT

13.   Add 2 x new bottle cages & 800ml wiggle bottles $3 each

14.   Deep clean, lube and grease.

15.   Headset cleaned and regreased

16.   Fit Chris’ Vaude panniers x 2

 

Total time 3-4 hours.  Cost $50

 

Anna’s bike was fundamentally in pretty good condition but needed some work and checking over plus addition of fiddly mudguards etc.

Chris’ bike was a bit of a dog with missing parts, a rusty front wheel (they call it spoke cancer over in Oz) and weighed a ton.

However, both bikes pretty much fit us and didn’t cost very much.  Now we just had to figure out where to sleep!

Where to sleep – in a hammock?

Having left our touring tent in the UK but purchased cheap hammocks in Cambodia we started looking into using them in Japan.  In theory they weighed less and were easy to set up.  As long as we could find trees and work out a way to stay warm and dry we’d be sorted!

Chris setup had setup a hammock in the garden at the beginning of summer so we had a hook fixed to a wall and a tree, from which to test our new rigs.  Here’s the setup on our first night in Japan:

We’ve used 25mm polypropylene straps (with a loop tied in one end) for fixing to the pole/tree.  Straps provide better grip and don’t damage the tree.  The hammock and mosquito net ties into a climbing carabiner at either end and this clips into a knot that we tie depending on length required.  We were going to make a daisy chain but this knot works out much better, with infinite adjustment.  Chris’ hammock contains an Exped down and air filled sleeping mat, down sleeping bag, kindle, woolly hat etc.  Anna sacrified an old down sleeping bag and made it into an under-quilt.  This essentially provides a warm layer under the hammock to keep you warm.  When you lye in a sleeping bag in a hammock the insulation/down compresses and doesn’t work so you need to insulate yourself against the cold air.  Both setups had good and bad points but both seemed to work and didn’t cost more than $20 for some strapping and rope.

In addition to this we both carried a tarp each in case it rained and we couldn’t find other cover.  We did try to rig up stacked hammocks (see below) but as our hammocks had the extra height of mosquito nets, fitting a tarp above them both proved too difficult.

Through a bit of trial and error we managed to find a triangulation of trees that allowed us to hang the hammocks next to each other (top and tail worked best) and still be covered by our tarp.  Here’s one of our favourite spots on a beach by the Sea of Japan:

Its reassuring to know you’re protected from the rain and wind but its so much nicer waking up with a view of the trees above, the rising sun and your bike next to you.  We had a few inquisitive passers-by trip over the guide ropes but on the whole had no problems camping wild.

Safe as houses

Leave your bike anywhere in Japan and it’ll be safe.  Your bike could have a computer, lights, easy to open pockets with all your valuables, hammocks and panniers on it, yet leave it in Japan while you pop into an Onsen (hot spring/public bath) for a couple of hours and people will walk past them and not even look up.  At the beginning of our trip we used to tie our bikes to the loose end of our hammock webbing, lay the bike underneath us or at least in sight but we never had a problem and always felt very safe.  In fact in the last week we wanted to take some time out on a beach in Kamakura (60mins from Tokyo by train).  We simply locked out bikes together with a ‘cut it with a pair of scissors’ cable lock and walk off and left them for several hours.  They were fine.

Milton Keynes Bowl March Criterium Series #1 – Saturday 4th March

Criterium racing

Hello All,

So it’s been a few weeks since I last raced due to work and family commitments, but looking for something new and different, I pre-entered the race a few weeks ago.  However I was in two minds whether or not to race last week as picked up a bit of a cold and was a bit run down and not feeling particularly great. Was still undecided on Friday but legs felt OK when I did a tune up session on the turbo so thought I would make the call on Saturday morning.

Woke up on Saturday feeling OK and better than all week, so off I went for an early race start of 9:30am.  Weather looked good and thankfully no rain but still very wet on track.  For those not familiar with Milton Keynes Bowl – it’s around 1km long, oval (kidney shaped) and not very technical or particularly taxing (made a change from Hog Hill!) – with a slight drag up the back of the circuit to the finish line.  Hmm OK could make for an interesting race then!!

Race briefing and looked to be around 50 riders lined up for the start so sizable field, a lot of raised hands for first time racers and also for first timers at the MK Bowl. Good thing I secured my place right at the front, but also made a mental note to ensure I stayed right at the front of the race and well out of trouble.  Fully expecting a fast start, I was somewhat surprised and bemused, when the race commissaire announced that there would be two neutral laps behind his car before the racing commenced.   So off we went for our two lap procession, two laps later and a couple of toots on his horn we could finally race!

Settled into second place and waited to see how things unravelled…pace was OK, nothing crazy but no major attacks for a couple of laps.  There were however some spectacular fails with a few riders getting too excited, overcooking the corners (yes I know!) and then crashing off the track into the mud and one chap into a lamp post!! (looked worse than it was and turns out he was ok) So third lap in I decided to test my legs up the back of the track on the slight drag to the finish. Surprised by how good I felt and also how quickly I opened up a gap I decided to push on to see if I could tempt anyone to join me….nope no one keen so after one lap I eased up and slotted back in for quick recovery. A few attacks then ensued but nothing meaningful stuck and after a couple of laps recovery, I then had a few more goes myself opening up a sizable gap each time, trying to encourage riders to join me in breaking away but no one was biting – I guess I was being optimistic being a cat 4 race and also with no team mates for support was always going to find that tactic difficult!

So nothing major then for remaining laps until the 5 laps to go bell.  The usual jostling for position but I was firmly in the top five, holding station well and feeling strong for the sprint finish….up we came round the back of the track and I started winding myself up and ensuring I had options for wheels to follow without getting boxed when WACK felt someone go into my back wheel at pace! Trying not to lose control, felt myself sliding out but somehow managed to stay upright and still keep my pace up but then heard the sickening sound of the rider behind me going down and going down hard with crack of carbon and metal and then worse still other riders getting taken out as well.  This all happened in a split second so all I could do was keep my focus and try build up my sprint again.  Put the hammer down and overtook a couple of riders now ahead of me when it dawned on me I was in 3rd place but had lost too much momentum to catch the remaining two riders ahead of me so crossed the line in third place!!! My first thought was that I was lucky not to be taken out, but also that hopefully the riders in the crash were OK as it sounded nasty (two riders suffered broken collar bones :(),  but then also elation that I had finally gotten a decent result and my points to move up to Cat 3!!!

So after a 25 year absence, my comeback to racing is back on track…. and the moral of my story is that if a burnt out 39 year old suffering with continued lack of sleep thanks to a two year old toddler, a nine year old son and a heavily pregnant wife can make it to cat 3, then anyone can 🙂

Seriously though it is a lot of fun and very addictive so anyone who is thinking about giving racing a go, just go for it! I now look forward to more competitive races and hopefully with a lot more TCC team mates involved 🙂

Simon

How many running shoes?

The Recreational Running level 2 coaching course (with Athletics Australia) at the weekend discussed some of the reasons why you might own more than one pair of running shoes.  Its good news if you like shopping!

If you’re out for a long run it can be a good idea to have more cushioning in your shoe which will result in less elastic utilisation and be less responsive.  However, if you’re doing a quality interval training session, using a shoe with less cushioning can increase elastic utilisation in your foot.

When you run your forward motion is made up of 50% ankle elasticity (think less muscle recruitment, more ‘bounce’), 35% hip power and 15% knee.

So how many shoes do you really need?

  • If you run 3 times per week -> 1 pair of shoes is fine
  • If you run 3-5 times per week -> 2 pairs of shoes is a good idea
  • If you run 5+ times per week -> 3 shoes is recommended

As muscular or strength endurance is one of the most important components of fitness for running, its also suggested that long runs should include surface variation i.e. sand, grass, tarmac etc.