All Change
I’ve had a dramatically large change of plan. Gone is the amble around and about in Western Europe, in comes the west coast of Africa tour!
So far the vague idea is cycle as much of the west coast of the continent:
- 25,000km
- 9 months
- On a MTB/off-road tourer
There we are, the plan. I’m getting so very excited already, much more than I did about the 6 months dossing in Europe idea!
I’m going to begin updating some plans for each country I may pass through shortly, then when I’ve got safety/road/visa/cost information for all the likely countries I’ll get a route sorted!
Sadly I’ll have to bid farewell to Gina and invest/convert another bike to handle the extra stresses of African cycling.
I’ve created a new catagory for the ride as a whole, and one for my plans.
Ideas…
So, I’ve had a new idea. I’m not sure if it would replace my current plans and gear, but it’s certainly exciting…
Here’s a hint:
Front Lowriders
I finally got some front racks that are compatible with the brazeons on the forks. They are the type with an over-the-wheel component, which I believe will give more strength and hopeully prevent any roation of the pannier into some fast moving spokes!
Copenhagen
Among other places I really want to visit, Copenhagen and Denmark are definitely (maybe) going to get a visit.
I follow the copenhagencyclechic.com and the copenhagenize.com blogs (maybe written by the same person?), and they’ve made me fall in love with the city!
The only problem is the same problem thats putting me off many in my tick list, this is the weather, or more specifically the temperature!
Its going to be a cold winter being on the bike all the time wherever I go in Europe, but being in the northern areas will probably make the suffering even worse!
Going Climbing?
I’m laying off the training for a few days….to go climbing! I’ve been so focussed on the cycling recently that I’ve not put a rope on for months and months. In fact the only climbing I’ve done is some regular sessions on Henry Price!
I’ve offered my services as a belay bunny, and I’ve been promised a tour of as many of the 2 and 3* HVS/E1 at Stanage as possible.
My psyche might be back!
Rack Fitting, Testing Panniers
I finally got round to fitting the rear pannier rack that Recycle got for me. It’s super light, and they assured me it would easily take the loads I plan on hauling! I thought it was going to be lots of hassle, and take ages to fit but I had it installed and working within 10 minutes.
I had to use a couple of washers that originally came with my road bike on the seat-tube bottle screws (I’ve no idea why you would space the cage away from the frame??). Also, I only managed to use one of the (two) holes on each top bracket mounting point. Aside from these (possible) bodges, I think the whole thing is actually pretty sturdy!
I then fitted the panniers, which I also thought would take hours. This was done within 5 more minutes!
Excellent, the whole hellish installation only took 15 minutes, I then extensively tested my handiwork by cycling all the way to Henry Price with the bags full of two pairs of rock boots and the bike lock!
Easy Freewheel
Constantine at Recycle sorted me out with the new freewheel. Tests so far give me confidence that I might actually be able to go up hill when fully laden! Result, and they only charged £20 Inc fitting, cheaper than the tool!
They also supplied a cheap/light rear rack, which will be fitted shortly. The front lowrider racks are on order too. It’s all starting to come together nicely now….
Granny Gears
Gina is at the vets overnight, she was a bit scared, but I’m having some granny gears put on, and don’t have the obscure tool to do it in my cavernous bike tool box!
I’ve got a feeling I’ll need something a bit easier than 30/21, the freehub seems to be designed for a hardcore London TT’er: 14-15-16-18-19-21, I’m getting the shop to fit a 14-28 freehub.
Those extra 7 teeth will help lots apparantly. Sheldon Brown’s fantastical gear ratio calculator says that my current easiest gear (30/21) has a gain ratio of 2.9, whereas the new 30/28 granny gear has a gain ratio of 2.2. These ratios and numbers mean very little to me but when I figure it out in percentages, it starts to excite me – the new gear is almost 25% easier!
Let’s hope the 25% isn’t completely wiped out by my estimated 40kg of kit…
I Pay Road Tax
I got heckled this morning on the roll into town, it was something along the lines of:
“Please will you leave the road, as I am in a rush and you stopping in front of me at a red light will delay my journey. I only ask, as you don’t pay road tax, so don’t have the right to use the roads that I pay for. Thank you for your understanding.” [I may have censored the gentleman's comments, I didn't want to make my post NSFW]
I should buy myself an ipayroadtax.com jersey, because I’ll never pluck up the courage to actually tell those people the truth, especially not when they’re in a tonne of metal pointed straight towards me!
Anyway, see this brilliant site for more info: ipayroadtax.com
Day Trip to Richmond
I decided that it was time to go for a real big day out, I have been building up my strength again after the injury and felt that I could handle a 7 hour day again.
My mum is staying in a cottage in a small villiage called Marske near Richmond, North Yorkshire. This is about 70 miles from Leeds so an out&back seemed ideal, especially as I’d get a free lunch out of it!
I finally dragged myself out of bed and was ready to leave by 10:30. The route took me up through Pool, up a big long hill to Ripon, then towards Richmond via Masham.
I left in shorts and a short jersey with just a windshell in my pocket, as it was forecast to be sunny, with cloud. It was very bright to begin with. And I was soon warmed up enough to be comfortable. One problem was the wind, it cooled me down a little too much on the descents and easy bits but this wasn’t the worst part. Every so often the clouds gathered and unleashed a load of water onto me, I must have stopped to put my jacket on and take it off at least 10 times!
The ride was uneventful for the first 50km or so, I felt pretty fresh and the roads were fine, even though I’d done plenty of climbs already. The problems started when I hit the wall, I didn’t really eat a proper breakfast, and the bonk got me on a steep climb coming out of Ripon. At this point the countryside opened up into Swaledale and the road was a lot more exposed, so the wind was right on my face and felt brutal.
The combination of wind and carb-deficiancy really hit me and cut my speed down to less than 25kph. I recovered a little with some energy gel, but the wind was unrelenting. I did eventually make it into Marske for a quick rest before walking up the rough track to the house.
I was immediately plied with food, and felt really good again within a short space of time. As I said, the intention was to cycle back to Leeds the same day, in time for a party at 8:00. However, my knee was complaining a bit on the last 5km and I’m very paranoid about any feeling in it after recovering from tendonitis that crippled me for 3 months so I stayed with the lovely group of very good cooks!
I thought I might ride back today, but the few steps I’ve taken so far haven’t been great. I’ll just continue to wear my mums clothes and hitch a ride home with her later on!
Oh, and Swaledale wins it for me in the Wensley/Swale run off!