Show us what you did today, thread
- Thread starter clockworkgazz
- Start date
epicyclo
Senior Retro Guru
There's nothing like Jamie's cheery presence to encourage you to get out on the bike.
Once he headed North I started on my bike cull preparations. Which consists of building up as many bikes as possible, riding them, and deciding yay or nay.
I'm a single speeder from way way back, but a couple of wee medical problems lately have had me using geared bikes for a while. (Can I use the excuse of being old and frail?) It had got to the stage where I was beginning to think I'd lost the ability, age, health etc.
So I built this bike from my parts pile.
A 29er Scandal repurposed as a single speed gravel bike, but I figured I wouldn't spend much time in the dirt so I geared it for easy spinning on the road with a 42 front ring and a 19 on the rear. (I should know myself better than that)
I headed down the hill from home to the main road, but decided to short cut through the woods. From there on it was mad time and the bike barely touched surfaced tracks for the rest of the afternoon.
No bike has felt so right to me for a long time. I lugged it over fences and stiles, followed all sorts of odd tracks, hammered along grassy verges, idled along farm tracks, attempted the odd monster climb, and my legs came back. Frabjous joy!
I suppose Jamie would regard this as one of my typical "road" rides.
I predict in a few years people will regard the On-One Scandal as a post-retro class.
That one is definitely not for the cull...
Once he headed North I started on my bike cull preparations. Which consists of building up as many bikes as possible, riding them, and deciding yay or nay.
I'm a single speeder from way way back, but a couple of wee medical problems lately have had me using geared bikes for a while. (Can I use the excuse of being old and frail?) It had got to the stage where I was beginning to think I'd lost the ability, age, health etc.
So I built this bike from my parts pile.
A 29er Scandal repurposed as a single speed gravel bike, but I figured I wouldn't spend much time in the dirt so I geared it for easy spinning on the road with a 42 front ring and a 19 on the rear. (I should know myself better than that)
I headed down the hill from home to the main road, but decided to short cut through the woods. From there on it was mad time and the bike barely touched surfaced tracks for the rest of the afternoon.
No bike has felt so right to me for a long time. I lugged it over fences and stiles, followed all sorts of odd tracks, hammered along grassy verges, idled along farm tracks, attempted the odd monster climb, and my legs came back. Frabjous joy!
I suppose Jamie would regard this as one of my typical "road" rides.
I predict in a few years people will regard the On-One Scandal as a post-retro class.
That one is definitely not for the cull...
epicyclo
Senior Retro Guru
But you should see the "road" ride I have found for your next visit...Jamiedyer":3r0jbcb9 said:That looks a great gravel machine, also looks like it passed the test with flying colours.
You do realise that this is not the way you approach a cull
Jamie
And hey, I got rid of a frame today (Raleigh Bomber) - he even wanted to pay for it, but I declined because I got the frame free originally.
And another one I was on the point of chucking may actually be a rare 1940s classic... (but I hae ma doots)
epicyclo
Senior Retro Guru
Road ride?
Hey, Jamie - fancy a road ride?
Jamie when asked was he enjoying his road ride....
Nice afternoon out, and actually a real road ride for once, although only 28 miles.
Still it was a good workout for me on the singlespeed because there were a couple of decent sized lumps to ride over and because Jamie had a derailleur on his bike (I'm sure there's a wee Cancellera sized motor in there somewhere ).
Jamie kindly helped me with my cull, by giving me a bike he was culling. My wife is not sure that's how it's supposed to work...
Hey, Jamie - fancy a road ride?
Jamie when asked was he enjoying his road ride....
Nice afternoon out, and actually a real road ride for once, although only 28 miles.
Still it was a good workout for me on the singlespeed because there were a couple of decent sized lumps to ride over and because Jamie had a derailleur on his bike (I'm sure there's a wee Cancellera sized motor in there somewhere
).Jamie kindly helped me with my cull, by giving me a bike he was culling. My wife is not sure that's how it's supposed to work...
A couple more photos from the ride yesterday with Brian on the Black Isle and back to Brians.
A good ride though it was very cold and the headwind was a real pain, it just seemed to really suck the life out of you at various points of the ride.
Saying that though, as usual it was a very enjoyable ride with a few good climbs to get the blood flowing. With a coffee and cake stop at North Kessock with a ride back around the shoreline to Redcliffe. A productive day as well as we also fitted the headset to a frame and fork I am about to put together.
Jack Taylor was it's usual lovely riding self and I really do need to set this up with the stuff I have for it rather than the bits and pieces currently on it. It rides beautifully now but a bit too racy in both stance and gearing. I did fit the black mudguards that were originally on it in the morning as I thought it may be wet but thankfully they weren't needed.
Brian had his Scandal that is really a bit of a sleeper as this thing weighs nothing is running high volume tubeless and from my perspective looks like it rides and sits on the road very nicely.
Looking forward to Clubbies ride and just need to see what to ride.
Jamie
IMG_0743 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
IMG_0750 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
IMG_0758 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
IMG_0761 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
IMG_0746 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
A good ride though it was very cold and the headwind was a real pain, it just seemed to really suck the life out of you at various points of the ride.
Saying that though, as usual it was a very enjoyable ride with a few good climbs to get the blood flowing. With a coffee and cake stop at North Kessock with a ride back around the shoreline to Redcliffe. A productive day as well as we also fitted the headset to a frame and fork I am about to put together.
Jack Taylor was it's usual lovely riding self and I really do need to set this up with the stuff I have for it rather than the bits and pieces currently on it. It rides beautifully now but a bit too racy in both stance and gearing. I did fit the black mudguards that were originally on it in the morning as I thought it may be wet but thankfully they weren't needed.
Brian had his Scandal that is really a bit of a sleeper as this thing weighs nothing is running high volume tubeless and from my perspective looks like it rides and sits on the road very nicely.
Looking forward to Clubbies ride and just need to see what to ride.
Jamie
IMG_0743 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrIMG_0750 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrIMG_0758 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrIMG_0761 by Jamie Dyer, on FlickrIMG_0746 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr
Re:
Not from today, but yesterday I rode the "UK's Premier Gravel Event" the Dirty Reiver.
I loaded up the van on Friday and drove down to Kielder Castle in Northumberland to register, and spent a chilly night in my "ghetto camper" aka sleeping bag in the back of a van
I woke early to find the temperature was a balmy -3*c, and headed up to the event village at the castle for a much needed bacon butty and warming cup of coffee.
Pretty soon the riders gathered en masse for the start at 8am.
There was an impressive array of bikes there, more gravel type bikes than I remember from 2 years ago though, with a few MTB's there as well.
The first few km were neutralized to allow everyone to spread out a bit, there definately seemed to be more riders than i remember from 2 years ago, someone said there were over 800 entries, not sure how true that is though.
The first 25 miles to feed station one passed by quickly, mainly forest roads and then out onto the moors. The sun was shining and temperatures rose to a sweltering 5*c
Soon after leaving the feed station I started feeling rough, every incline was a big struggle, but the long gravel road downhills were an absolute blast! Hitting over 40mph with the bike skittering over the gravel surface was exhilerating.
I perked up a bit as I arrived at feed station 2 with around 60 miles done. I collected my drop bag of food and contemplated my options. I'd signed up for the 200km route, but given how I felt I thought another 60 miles would be a pointless exercise in self masochism, so after leaving the feed station I took the turning for the the 130km route instead.
The last 20 miles or so included some nice swooping Single track around Kielder water, before arriving back at the start/finish.
I actually felt "ok" at the finish, but was glad I wasn't still out there grinding up the climbs!
I think the 74 miles and just over 7000ft of ascent took me 7 hours or so.
All in all it was a really good event, not quite up there with the forthcoming "Strada- Be Manky" , but well worth the journey down to the Borders
Things I remember...
- being overtaken by a guy on a Jones bike, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and socks and sandals !
- seeing several guys on Single speed bikes who promptly disappeared into the distance.
- the nutter who rode it on a ROAD bike!! Complete with caliper brakes and 25c tyres.
- the several retro-ish Cannondale mtbs with the Headshock system, which seemed like it worked out pretty well tbh.
A few pics, some from me, and others from the Facebook group...
Not from today, but yesterday I rode the "UK's Premier Gravel Event" the Dirty Reiver.
I loaded up the van on Friday and drove down to Kielder Castle in Northumberland to register, and spent a chilly night in my "ghetto camper" aka sleeping bag in the back of a van
I woke early to find the temperature was a balmy -3*c, and headed up to the event village at the castle for a much needed bacon butty and warming cup of coffee.
Pretty soon the riders gathered en masse for the start at 8am.
There was an impressive array of bikes there, more gravel type bikes than I remember from 2 years ago though, with a few MTB's there as well.
The first few km were neutralized to allow everyone to spread out a bit, there definately seemed to be more riders than i remember from 2 years ago, someone said there were over 800 entries, not sure how true that is though.
The first 25 miles to feed station one passed by quickly, mainly forest roads and then out onto the moors. The sun was shining and temperatures rose to a sweltering 5*c
Soon after leaving the feed station I started feeling rough, every incline was a big struggle, but the long gravel road downhills were an absolute blast! Hitting over 40mph with the bike skittering over the gravel surface was exhilerating.
I perked up a bit as I arrived at feed station 2 with around 60 miles done. I collected my drop bag of food and contemplated my options. I'd signed up for the 200km route, but given how I felt I thought another 60 miles would be a pointless exercise in self masochism, so after leaving the feed station I took the turning for the the 130km route instead.
The last 20 miles or so included some nice swooping Single track around Kielder water, before arriving back at the start/finish.
I actually felt "ok" at the finish, but was glad I wasn't still out there grinding up the climbs!
I think the 74 miles and just over 7000ft of ascent took me 7 hours or so.
All in all it was a really good event, not quite up there with the forthcoming "Strada- Be Manky"
, but well worth the journey down to the Borders Things I remember...
- being overtaken by a guy on a Jones bike, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and socks and sandals !
- seeing several guys on Single speed bikes who promptly disappeared into the distance.
- the nutter who rode it on a ROAD bike!! Complete with caliper brakes and 25c tyres.
- the several retro-ish Cannondale mtbs with the Headshock system, which seemed like it worked out pretty well tbh.
A few pics, some from me, and others from the Facebook group...
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