The road to the alps.
In 98 days I will be at the foot of the Swiss Alps. Chasing Lance, if he makes it due to the collarbone thing he’s got going on. With time no longer on my side the training is now underway to get some miles in the legs before flying out to South Africa for two weeks before I head to London and onto Geneva to pick up my tour group.
Road to the Alps
The road to the Alps for me is the paved with plenty of frequent flyer miles. As mention above, the training is underway. After an inspirational chat to a former “Australian Road Championship” the training and attitude to training is about to change. The old rule of not riding in the rain… is out the window, today I actually pedaled off from home into the pouring rain with nothing other than getting k’s into the legs on my mind. My new house of pain is going to be Mt Mee which kicks off early next week.
Puncture Repairs made Easy
Well I’d be the first to say that I hate patching a tube. While up at TWC today I was given a Park Tools “Super Patch Kit” to try. It’s a bloody winner in my book, after a quick sand to prep the area of the puncture and slapped on the patch, squeezed out any air bubbles and put it straight back onto the pump and it was ready to go.
Now I’m not one to blow a manufacturers trumpet but this is the ducks nuts when it comes to patch repairs. Park Tools have worked with 3M that:
to produce a self adhesive tube patch that stretches, flexes, twists, and turns right along with the tube. No messy glue, no bulky packaging. Lightly roughen tube with the included sandpaper, clean, apply patch, and you’re ready to go. Six patches with sandpaper in a neat little carry along box. Available individually carded (GP- 2C) or in a handy 50 kit countertop display.
It’s now in my saddle bag waiting for the next flat.
Nuts at the Wheel
I just have to plug this post by fatty. For a long time myself and friends head out training without a thought that we might not return, that maybe we will meet our fate in an accident. This is a real issue to most cyclists around the world. As cities grow along with the number of cars on the road too. The danger factor of becoming a statistic of another road fatally is quiet real.
The reason for this post is after doing my usual stop over at fatcyclist.com I read his post “Both sides of the Windshield” Aptly named may I add. As I have training with groups both small and large including solo rides I’d say there is about a 15% chance of having a near miss. The usual statement that comes from someone in the bunch is “if it had another coat of paint it would have taken me out”. The amount of near misses are never considered in road statics and this is across the board not just for cyclists.
The following site will give you the opportunity to Report a “Nut at the Wheel” along with the ability to print off the report and submit it to the police as a report.
Jeff Kerkove
Let me introduce to you my biking blog find of the week. In my ever increasing endeavour to reach out to the biking blog community I’m coming across some great sites this weeks pick is and endurance MTB rider call Jeff Kerkove, his site give you a look at a man that has an ideal training ground and knows how to use it.
I’m now looking to make a trip to Colorado as soon as I lure in a sponsor, little to no chance of that so I’ll need to pay for it myself one day. After reports from close mates that have spent time in Boulder… and happen to bump into Henk Vogels (as you do when in Colorado). All they raved about was the riding and views it’s a must do trip at some point. It’s good to dream! Jeff is living the dream in my book.
The Trilogy
If you need inspiration to Train… here it is
