Cross-country with Brian and Andrew

Inspired by Gerard's new blog, Oxford Cycling Routes, here is the bike ride I did today with Brian and Andrew:

"Guided" by Brian's 15 year old map, we tried to take a short cut across a farm between Wendlebury and Charlton-on-Otmoor (between about 42-45km)...I wouldn't advise replicating this...I got by OK on my 25mm tires but it wasn't the best! Luckily it was dry as it would have been miserable in muddy conditions.

Christmas in July

Francisco Perez Sanchez of Caisse d'Epargne, speeding up Constitution Hill

Yesterday, I think I had the best time I've had while standing up that I can think of in recent memory. I make the trek to London to watch the Prologue stage of the Tour de France accompanied by Gerard, Lucas and Aileen.

It was a bit of a fraught bus journey in the morning as a lot of roads were closed in central London, so it took the bus a lot longer than usual to set us down in Victoria. From there, it was a short stroll along car free roads to take up a position on Constitution Hill, behind Buckingham Palace. We were mid-way between Hyde Park Corner and the Flamme Rouge, the red pennant that marks the 1km to go line. I thought this a good place to watch the 7.9km individual time trial, grand-stand kick-off of the Tour as the cyclists passed by once on the way out and once on the way back.

Despite the fact that an estimated 1 million plus spectators were around the course, we got there early enough to be close to the front of the barriers and after a time, I even managed to get a spot right at the front. This gave me a good view of Stuart O'Grady overcooking the bend at Hyde Park corner and going for a tumble. You can see Stuey on his arse in the photo below.

Stuart O'Grady crashed at Hyde Park Corner with 1.2km to go.

This was unfortunate as he had ridden well and had the fastest intermediate time of all the competitors until that point. Also, I picked him for my fantasy cycling team for that stage and of course, he's Australian.

Indeed, I cheered myself hoarse for all of the Australian cyclists including Robbie McEwen, Brett Lancaster and Michael Rogers. I cheered loudest for my home-town favourite, Cadel Evans and was quite chuffed when during the build-up to the race, he gave a wave in my general direction as he hopped over the central barrier to do another reconnaissance lap of the course. I like to think that it was prompted by me yelling "Cadel!!" at the top of my lungs!

I also lent my support to the British cyclists, Bradley Wiggins (who finished 4th), Mark Cavendish, Geraint Thomas and Charlie Wegelius. I clapped politely for David Millar but I'm not a big fan because of his chequered past.

Anyhow, no-one could match the power of Fabian Cancellara, the reigning World Time Trial Champion on the day, who took the Prologue in a time of 8min 50secs, covering the 7.9 km course at an average speed of 53.7 km/h!!!!

A fine beer capped the day off nicely, before hopping back on the Oxford Tube. Now, I'm typing this watching the peloton on TV as they speed their way through Kent on the first proper stage...still with a big smile on my face from a really enjoyable day out. For a cycling nut like me, it's like Christmas in July!!!! Equally as good as watching a mountain stage of the tour on the Col du Galibier with Damon in 2005!

My palmarès - Part 1

"Well that's my feat, I don't want to diminish it/Came in third that's a podium finish....Came in third, honourable mention/Booked my seat at the losers' convention."-The Fauves

Lines from "Podium Finish", from one of my old favourites from Melbourne, The Fauves. I recommended clicking the play button on the player that I've embedded below to use as a soundtrack for this post. This and other b-sides are freely downloadable from their website.



Anyhow, this post is to inform you that I've added to my cycling palmarès in the past couple of weeks. For those of you that don't know, a palmarès is the French term used in cycling that translates as "prize list"...so a list of wins, places and other notable results that you've had in past races.

I'm not that much of a cycle racer. Despite liking cycling a lot, I don't have the dedication to train enough to race seriously. However, once in a while I enter a (semi) competitive event and have had a couple of modest successes.

This is how my palmarès (I use that term in the loosest possible sense) looked as of 2 weeks ago.

2001
1st Montmorency Hillclimb. Montmorency, Victoria, Australia.

Not as impressive as it sounds. This was a short sprint held on the slightly uphill main drag of this outer suburb of Melbourne as part of a community festival.

Other results:

2004
23rd 4 July. Cycle Messenger World Championships. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

I was pleased at this result in the CMWC, held just up the road from my old stomping ground in Calgary. I know I always bang on about this but I think that cycling 8hrs+ in constant rain (about 10° C) to qualify and then 5 hours in intermittent rain during the final is an achievement. I even finished ahead of Kevin "Squid" Bolger. It was an improvement on not qualifying for the final of the European Cycle Messenger Championships in London the previous year. At the very least, it's a good war story to tell at the pub!

Over the past 2 weekends I've added a couple of distinctive results. The first of which is:

Other Results:

2007
5th 27 May. Gran Fondo Cymru (Sporting Route). Bala, Gwynedd, Wales.

Gran Fondo Cymru 2007

This event was held in Snowdonia National Park in Wales and last year, Gerard and I participated in the inaugural edition of this cyclosportive as detailed in the posts "A Hill too Far" and "To Ride or to Puke".

In 2006, we did the 180 km/110 mile Gran Fondo route, but this year a variety of factors (not least laziness) meant that we were both under-trained for that distance...not to mention the Welsh hills! Therefore, we decided that the 60 km/40 mile route was the go, seeing as we'd already shelled out £25 to enter and also paid for accommodation.

Although this felt like a bit of a cop out for a while, the nearer the date of the event, the more it seemed like this decision didn't seem such a bad thing when we saw the weather forecasts. The whole weekend was forecast to be one huge downpour with max. temperatures fluctuating between 1° C and 10° C, depending on when the Bala metcheck.com page was reloaded.

The profile you see above is downloaded from Gerard's GPS unit and you can see that even though the distance was only 60-70 odd kilometres, there were still some hills to be reckoned with.

The first half of the route was into a stiff wind...at its worst maybe 30mph. Also, the spikes in the second half of the ride were pretty draining, exacerbated by the incessant precipitation and the cold conditions...probably about 3° C before windchill on average. I recovered quickly enough to have a strong run in the last 10km back into Bala to clock a time of 2hr 42min 54sec, placing me just off the "podium" in 5th. The caveat here is that all the super strong cyclists were all busting their butts on the 110mile Gran Fondo route and the 125 mile Super Challenge but not bad nevertheless. 5th out of 68 finishers, according to the official results sheet (85-ish starters).

Doing a 3 hour ride instead of an 8+ hour one had other advantages apart from spending less time in the freezing Welsh weather. It also meant that I wasn't completely knackered like I was in 2006 and was able to enjoy my afternoon and evening more this year. The trip back to Oxford via Port Meirion was also quite pleasant...the sun came out!

However, I promise to train earlier and more frequently for next year's GFC!!

Stay tuned for my account of extending my palmarès further by getting on the "podium" of last Friday's Oxford Bingo Alleycat!

Bicycles of Oxford - Ghost bike

Bicycles of Oxford - Memorial. Posted to Flickr by Platform 3. Originally posted by Brown Rice and reposted with permission.

Here is a photo of the "ghost bike" that is parked at the corner of Broad St and Parks Rd that is a memorial for Tsz Fok who was killed on this spot by a left turning garbage truck in April, as I mentioned here. RIP.

I think the bike was prepared by the Oxford Cycle Workshop, a very worthy bike shop. Their myspace page is here.

Fakenger/Posenger/Exenger

Hi I'm Ed the exenger — Photo by the inimitable Andy White @ fyxomatosis

"From short pants to cool hats and bags big enough to hold a filing cabinet, bike messengers everywhere have a unique style. Riding a bike through the crowded streets of any city requires a wardrobe of practicality and freshness that clearly distinguishes couriers from geared-up roadies." pedalpushersonline.com

My recent post about the recent Oxford HGV death that" linked to Moving Target "the world's most useless messenger zine" gained me a link in its sidebar (thanks Bill), making my pageviews spike upwards dramatically. This made me pretty happy as Moving Target is a site that I regularly read.

Now my post has fallen off the end of Moving Target's homepage linkroll and my millions of page views are now back down to the usual tens of thousands only. So, I thought I'd attempt some blatant traffic driving and discuss the rising popularity of the fixed gear bicycle and the concept of the fakenger/posenger/ex-enger...inspired by the fact that the fakenger article on MT is its most popular apparently, so I thought I'd sell out. I can't wait to see my Google Analytics stats go psycho!...or not.

Here is the Urban Dictionary's definition of fakenger and posenger.

I admit it, I am a posenger (exenger). I once worked as a courier and it was one of the best times of my life. However, I haven't delivered a package since 2001 but I'm dressing more like a "courier" now than I did when I was actually picking and dropping. Also, in 2003 almost two years after hanging up my pager, I obtained a fixed wheel/gear bike which is in direct contrast to the courier ghetto bike that I used when I was on the job.

I thought I'd attempt to coin my own term for it though, exenger... ex-Messenger...to try and differentiate myself from the hipster masses. Whaddaya reckon?

Associated with the fakenger/posenger meme is the rise of the fixed gear (or fixed wheel) bicycle AKA fixie. I've noticed quite a lot of internet talk about the fixed gear bike trend/craze/fad. I've also noticed that there are definitely quite a few more fixed gear riders on the streets of Oxford than in previous years, which I guess isn't surprising given the coverage in publications such as Cycling Plus and also the influx of students from the USA now that term has started and the weather has improved.

I did a search on Technorati the other day and discovered that there was a big spread in the New York times last Sunday about fixed gear/wheel bicycles. Does this mean, as Iconic's blog suggests that riding a bike with a fixed wheel has jumped the shark?

Couriers and the accoutrements of the profession have long percolated into popular culture viz. Crumpler (and other brand) courier bags becoming ubiquitous, Kevin Bacon's Quicksilver movie and numerous articles about "urban assault riders" with "kamikaze, counter-culture" lifestyles being examples.

So, couriers have long had cred and cachet but now it's become a damn sight easier to obtain the paraphernalia. Anyone can walk into their local Specialized dealer and buy a Langster fixie for £399/$600 or a Kona Paddy Wagon (£450) to get that special Zen, courier feeling...notwithstanding the fact that a lot of couriers don't even ride fixed bikes. There are also an abundance of courier (shoulder) bag makers on the Web that will ship their wares to any location to help you complete "the look"

My take (probably not surprisingly) on it is that I think it's fine to mimic the courier thing...one less car and all that. However, in a bid to big myself up...with only a little digging it's possible to discern the exengers (like me) from the fakengers who have never been a working courier. In your face fakengers...vive l'exengeur!!

Despite all that, the messenger "look" is a darn sight better than golf chic being the new punk, in my opinion...and as Iconic says:

"if, in a year, fixies are no longer hip...well, enjoy the great prices on cool bike gear."

I might have more to say on the matter later but that's all for now. Time to ski Mt Mattress.

The smallest fixie in Oxford

Every now and then I go down to one of the colleges in Oxford and help out a bit at the regular bike maintenance session. Students and staff can come down to get the advice and expertise of Gerard, Andrew, Lucas and sometimes me in exchange for a little bit of beer money.

Often, the "bicycles" we work on are terrible examples of the cycle maker's "craft". You know the type...ones with MountainForce 3000 and British Street Demon decals on the downtube which should actually read Shitbox 3000 and Non-British Road Muppet instead. It's kind of depressing that some of the brightest minds in the country can't even crack open a bottle of chain lube from time to time.

Next time I go, I'm thinking of sitting out the front like a bouncer and saying things like:

"That bike's too crap even for this poverty stricken bike workshop...you''re not coming in"

or

"I'll teach you how to fix the puncture yourself so you don't have to keep coming back but I'm not doing it for you"

Anyhow, the other night I tinkered with a little BMX style bike, a bit like the one pictured above. It belonged to the little boy one of the post-graduate students. When I arrived, Lucas and Andrew had just finished attending to it but when its owner came back and took it for a spin it turned out that the chain was a bit loose so I tightened it up for the young tyke and he happily pedaled off with his mum.

The thing that tickled me the most about the bike was that the vehicle was a fixie. It didn't have a kick-back brake (there was a front caliper) or a freewheel...it was a direct drive, fixie. I nearly tried teaching the lad to trackstand or skid but decided against it.

Little things please little minds

This morning's cycle to work was somewhat a "bummer". My arse got a bit soggy because I forgot to clip my butt spray protector onto the pushie before setting out.

On the way back from work, I saw a lady laying on the opposite site of the road who had come off her bike. She was being attended to by some passersby, so I hope she was OK. My guess is she lost it on the slightly damp road...although the bitumen wasn't that wet, so maybe there was some oil or the naughty bike lane white line paint tripped her up?

Anyhow, the early evening turned out to be quite nice. So after dropping Kate at the train station (she's in London to see her bro and for business), I saddled up on Theodore the Fixie and meandered through central Oxford.

The pic above shows the Radcliffe Camera, the reading room of the University's Bodleian Library. You can't see it in the photo but three sides of the Camera are paved with cobbles so I rode round it pretending I was Stuart O'Grady in the Paris-Roubiax.

I do like cycling through the old bits of town. The Radcliffe Camera was finished in 1749 and the vaults of the church where the photo was taken from is one of the first places where lectures were delivered as early as the 11th century!!

After visiting Radcliffe Square, I paid my respects at the corner of Broad St and Parks Road where Tsz Fok died last week before heading back towards home up the broad and lovely avenue, St Giles.

I grabbed a bite to eat at Manos, a Greek deli near my place and felt good about the world.

St Giles Street. Uploaded to Flickr by Sacred Destinations

Be careful my cycling friends!

Danger Lorries!, Uploaded to Flickr by hugovk under a Creative Commons Licence

News that a cyclist got killed by a truck today in Oxford made me want to remind you to be extremely careful when passing Lorries/Trucks/HGVs/buses on the left hand side. Be careful!!!

I don't know for sure but my feeling is he got squished by a left turning lorry which apparently causes 55% of cyclist deaths in London

Bill Chidley, London messenger "identity" (if that's the right word) fakenger and vociferous HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) safety agitator talks about the issues on the Moving Target 'zine blog.

Also, if anyone in Oxford wants to be put in touch with a qualified cycle instructor, let me know as one of my work colleagues is one.

My other cycling safety tip of the day...don't send text messages while cycling!

Cycling...still infinitely better than being a cager!

Keep the rubber side down!

Paris-Roubaix video

Via the wonders of Youtube...here is the glorious victory of Stuart O'Grady as described in Flemish:

Go Go O'Grady the Great!!!

"Stuart O'Grady", uploaded to Flickr by Coda under a Creative Commons Licence

I was inordinately happy to return from an enjoyable cycle around Otmoor this afternoon to find out that Stuart O'Grady has become the first Australian to win what is probably the most important one day professional cycling race, Paris-Roubaix.

Little Johnny Howard should be giving everyone a day off work tomorrow because this is as big as Australia II winning the America's Cup in 1983. I think that's unlikely to happen though.

If last weekend, Stuart Appleby hadn't lost his 2 stroke lead in the final day of the US Masters golf tournament and become the first Australian to win, it would have been comparable to Stuey's effort

The race was first held in 1896 and it starts in Compiègne, outside of Paris and ends in a velodrome in Roubaix 260km/160 miles later. The race doesn't go up any big hills but it does traverse 50km of hideous cobbled sections.

When I say cobbles, I don't mean a short stretch of nicely laid, cobbled driveway...I mean stretches of road that are basically just farm tracks, as can be seen in this pic. I think the race was dry today, but the slightest rain shower makes the course dangerous, muddy and slippery...leading to many crashes.

The most "feared" cobbled section, the Arenberg Forest stretches for 2.4km. The peloton flies over the cobbles at speeds in excess of 45km/h (say), which is about 30mph. Stuart O'Grady's average speed for the whole 260km was 42km/h.

Compare this to my ride today. It was only 40km and my average was probably about 28-30km/h...my cycle computer is broken so i can't say for sure! The longest I've ever cycled in one day was just over 200km and my average was about 25km/h!!

Read more about the victory in this article from cyclingnews.com.

Congratulations Stuey!!!

Update - Here are some photos of the auspicious occasion

My life as an Urban Cyclista AKA How to clean your bicycle in a shower

Bicycle Shower, originally uploaded by Platform 3.

Being an Urban Hipster^® and living close to bars, restaurants, pubs, the canal, an arthouse cinema and the town centre has its advantages. However, residing in a block of flats/an apartment block does pose some challenges for the urban cyclista. For example, where to put your numerous bicyles to protect them from the elements?

Well in my flat, the entrance vestibule has been rechristened "The Bike Shed". At any one time there is at least one bike in there and most often two. One of them does usually stay in the outside, covered bike rack, but sometimes all three are inside. Repairs are often done in the living room, using a collapsible repair stand.

Another challenge is what to do when your trusty steed gets mucky. Our flats used to have a firehose in the courtyard but since they renovated the exterior of the block, the hose is no more. It's a shame, since after a rainy, muddy ride it was handy to be able to give the treadly a quick spray.

Gerard and I are trying to get our bike fitness back after a quite slack winter. We went out for a ride on Sunday and got rained on. As a result, Edward II my Avanti Corsa needed a wash. So, I resorted to a trick i've used before...Taking his front wheel off and putting him in the bath.

British showers are quite often "power showers". They give a boost to crappy water pressure and also guarantee that the water stays hot even in the face of crappy Economy 7 hot water heating.

From the Ed's Bicycle Beauty Salon brochure..."The shower head on our power shower provides a luxurious bike wash for any self-respecting bicycle. A bit of a spray, an old rag and if you're feeling really decadent, some soap will leave your paintwork and shiny bits looking and feeling like new"

Remove bike from the shower, give it a wipe down, making sure your give the chain a good dry. Then use your favourite chain lube to ward off the Evil Rust.

After you're done pampering your pride and joy, jump in the shower yourself with some Cif. You'll need it to clean the bath. Even though the mud and grit washes away readily, the grease and brake pad gunk do have a habit of sticking to the enamel.

Happy clean cycling.

Road pricing

Tony Blair's Prime Minister website has a feature where the public can create online petitions. This feature hit the headlines today because of a large response to the petition, "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Scrap the planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy."

You can read what the BBC had to say about it here.

I think that road pricing is a good idea, so I signed the counter petition "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Don't Scrap the planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy."

Hopefully, I'm not alone and there will be many more names added...for as the site Cars-r-Coffins says....erm, um....oh yeah "Cars are coffins!"

Panaracer Pasela Club tyre snow performance report

Well I made it into work OK. I could have done with more chunky tread on my tires though. I'm on some Panaracer Pasela Clubs (see above) that I had lying round and they are nice on regular pavement...not so good on snow.

So a couple of slightly sketchy, foot down moments but not too bad! Props to my crazy bike handling skillz.

Tyre pressure

Looks like I'll be deflating my tyres for a little more traction on Thursday morning....

Aloha Damon and Tara.

My close friends in London, Damon and Tara are leaving tomorrow for a stint in South America, so I thought I'd immortalise them in a blog post.


The above photo is of Damon, myself and Gerard (the cycling trio) at Damon and Tara's farewell dinner the weekend before last in London.

Since I first met Damon on a charity bike ride between Oxford and Cambridge in 2004, we've shared some great cycling times. For example, going to the Tour de France in 2005, participating in the London bike courier roller race Rollapaluza IV, a 120 mile cyclosportive last year and many enjoyable training rides. In the couple of years I've known him and Tara, they have become good friends and I hope that their adventure is all they want it to be.

Aloha!...or should I say Adiós!