Steady off road 30 miler in the heat

 

Last ride of the month to get me over my 300 mile target. It was red hot and sunny from the off but a little cooler in the shaded stretches along the old railway lines. I hoped onto the old line at Langley Park then along to Broompark. I turned left here and along to Bishop Auckland. The lines are still bone dry, dusty and rock hard so easy going. I had a headwind all the way through which was pulling on my tired legs from yesterday's 50 miler. Once I reached Bishop Auckland I was a little early for Fifteas tea rooms to open so did a loop around the town then I was the first one in the cafe. As normal I had a sausage sandwich before heading back to Langley Park. Half way back it clouded over and the temperature dropped from 26 down to 22 degrees. I also had a tailwind and it felt like I had new legs! I was not planning on going to far but it was 30 miles on the nose with 1000ft of climbing in 2hrs 17mins. Below are a few few snaps from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon- 

FRESH GOODS SUNDAY - SIDI SRS Carbon Ground Inserts Treadplates & Ritchey SPD Cleats

 

My SIDI Mtb shoes needed a good clean and tidy up and thought I would treat them to some sole plate replacements. The heel and toe plates still have loads of life left in them but the middle plates adjacent to the cleat have worn down. 

Before I start wearing any new Sidi shoes I always strip them down, ie undo all the bolts etc and put loads of copper grease on them and the cleat bolts. So when I come to replace the plates the bolts etc re way easier to remove in theory. On these everything come out easily and was around 20 minutes and both shoes had new plates on.

The cleats are also worn so I replaced them as well but I have a few spare Ritchey spd cleats from new pedals which I have bought over the years so they did not cost me anything. I did not notice just how work the cleats were and the bolt heads so they took some more effort to get them loose.

The shoes nearly look as new as where they come out of the box now on the soles, well nearly! 

RRP is £45 from Saddleback but after some shopping around I bought them from Balfes Bikes for £28 which is a massive saving but had £2.99 p&p on top for 48hr delivery. 

I am back and another Stan's failure during a longer local gravel ride - 50 miler.

 

Yes I have been off the bike for a while for one reason or another but after looking at this months mileage on Garmin I was down. So that meant I had to drag my lazy arse back out on a bike. I was up at 4.30am for some daft reason and could not get back to sleep. I got up after 5.30am and out on the lines before 6am. It was lovely and quiet and cool. The Garmin was hovering around 11 degrees but there was sunny spells. I parked up ta Broompark and decided to have a long out n back to hopefully get a 50 miler in. I was heading towards Parkhead / Crawleyside along the old railway lines but once I was out of Lanchester a previous repaired patch on the front tyre give way and Stans was once again sparying 6ft in the air covering me and the bike yet again. I thought it was not going to seal but after nearly emptying all the Stans and air from the tyre it sealed. I got another 5 miles up the track and aired up the tyre but it started again so I quickly jumped back and started riding again and it resealed and held some air. Once I reached Consett I pumped the tyre back up again and it was not leaking for what I could see. I opted not to go all the way to Parkhead just in case. I turned and headed back down at Whitehall [icnic area. Once I was at Langley Moor I phoned Jane and she was up so fetched out my spare front wheel and we met up at Toll house road lay by. It was a quick wheel change and I was back on my way. I was down on mileage so once back at Broompark I headed straight on to Stanley Crook. I did a road loop up at the top then back down again. All in I did 47.5 miles so not far off my target in the end but what a state I was in and not to mention the bike. Below are a few snaps from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon- 

Local road ride on singletrack country back lanes inc a split rear tyre - covered in Stans from head to toe in near 30 degrees heat

 

First time out on the road bike in a very long time and what a disaster. I thought I would take the Creo 1 road bike out for a spin today as I was working out in the wooley back with loads of quiet singletrack country backs lanes, not to mention hills. Within three miles of setting off I managed to obtain a rather large cut in the rear tyre and the Stans had no chance of sealing what so ever so it sprayed me and the bike from head to toe. After I let the remaining air out I could not open my seat pack, the zip is seized solid and I pulled the plastic pull thing off. Problem number two the washer on the tubeless valve was on so tight I could not loosen it with my fingers. By now the sweat was pouring out of me in rivers and I was sick as a chip. I used the axle on the knurled part of the washer and hit the end of the axle with my palm a few times and just managed to loosen it off enough so I could undone it with my fingers. Some old sealant was on the threads acting like Loctite. I managed to un bead one side of the tyre and I had a couple of spare tubes in my tool bottle. I had a Co2 in there as well and I had one with the head in my pouch thing I carry with my keys etc in. I whipped in the new tube and used one 16g cartridge and it was ready to rock n roll again. Myself and the bike were still covered in Stans and was worse than normal with the heat. Back on with the ride in the sun, wind and heat. I enjoyed being back out on the road until I got skimmed by two cars and were within inches of my bars. This is why I have not been out on the roads, it frightens the living daylights out of me and spoils my ride. Not too worry now I was a nervous reck and still covered in Stans. If it was not for the weather I would have called it a day and headed back but I plugged on and did my small loop. Below are a few snaps from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon-